Adam Doleac has a song with Thomas Rhett, out now. The two combine their talents on “Bar Named Jesus,” a song that Doleac is rightfully proud to have out in the world.
“This one actually just started with a title,” Doleac tells Everything Nash. “I wrote down that title probably four or five months before I actually ended up writing the song, ‘Bar Named Jesus.’ Sometimes it’s how it catches my eye, and I thought, ‘Man, that’s a really cool looking title.’ But at the time, I had no idea how to write the song. I had a feeling that it’s one of those titles that could be a really, really great song. Or, you do it wrong, and it would end up cheesy and too preachy or something like that.’
“I took it into the room with Chris LaCorte and Josh Jenkins, and we kind of pieced this thing together one line at a time,” he continues. “I remember the first line we got was ‘Where the well ain’t whiskey and it don’t run dry.’ And we sat there and were like, ‘That’s a really good line. We love that. Let’s go to the next one.'”
Doleac goes on to say that the chorus came together line by line, and the finished product was something that felt “really powerful” to Doleac and the other writers. Doleac also reveals that they intentionally wrote the song in third person, so it would become something that others could easily relate to as well.
“I think we landed on a song that hopefully is a very powerful song, and hopefully can have the power of someone hearing it one day and maybe bring them back to Jesus,” Doleac says. “Maybe they haven’t talked to Jesus in a while, and this song makes them reconnect.”
Doleac has been a longtime fan of Rhett, who was his first choice to include on “Bar Named Jesus.”
“I sat down and thought, ‘Okay, let’s shoot for the stars,'” Doleac remembers. “‘Bar Named Jesus,’ I thought it was special enough where I didn’t feel bad sending it to almost anyone. I maybe wouldn’t have sent Thomas a song about drinking beer, and ask him to be on it, just because we weren’t that close of buddies at the time. I just dont’t think I would have done it. Something like ‘Bar Named Jesus,’ I think that it had the power of him hearing the song and wanting to be involved immediately. I sent him the song. When I sat down to think of who my dream feature on this song would be, Thomas is on the top of that list.”
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Doleac sent the song to Rhett, who didn’t reply right away. But when he did, it was a resounding yes to being a part of the song.
“I sent him the song that night, and I would love to be able to tell you that five minutes later, Thomas Rhett texted me back and said, ‘Absolutely. I want to be a part of this song,” Doleac recalls in a video shared on social media. “But that is not the way it went, at all. Three months later, it’s 9:00 in the morning, and my phone rings. I answer the phone and Thomas is actually crying. I’m like, ‘Are you okay? What’s going on?’ Keep in mind, I’ve never spoken to Thomas on the phone, ever, at this point. He goes, ‘Man, I just had the biggest God moment I’ve had in the last two years, and I wanted to call you and tell you about it right now.'”
Rhett was driving down a busy road in Nashville, when he had an unlikely encounter with a homeless man, which convinced Rhett to join Doleac on “Bar Named Jesus”
“[He] had his windows down, had it turned all the way up, and had come up to a red light,” Doleac shares. “And the chorus was screaming out of the car, and at the red light that Thomas stopped at, there was a homeless man sitting at the base of it. He actually stood up and said, ‘Hey man, what is that song you’re listening to?’ So Thomas, being the person that Thomas is, tells this homeless man to come over to the window of his truck, lean in, and listen to the chorus of this song. Thomas said that the line turned green, traffic’s rolling by, and they just stayed put in place, listening to ‘Bar Named Jesus.’
“He said the homeless man was crying, and then Thomas started crying,” he adds. “And that was the moment that Thomas called me and said, ‘Hey man. Yes. I want to be a part of ‘Bar Named Jesus.’ I just saw what it can do, and I think this song’s gonna help bring people to Jesus, and I want to be a part of that.'”
Doleac already has a large, and rapidly growing, fanbase. But with Rhett joining him on “Bar Named Jesus,” Doleac is now getting introduced to an even bigger audience, although that isn’t his first priority.
“Just hearing the story and the impact that this song has had has been really special,” Doleac explains. “To be honest, if this song changes one person’s life, job done. That’s amazing. I get to make music for a living and to get to touch people in that way, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Not only for his talents, but even more importantly because of his beliefs, is why Rhett is perfect for “Bar Named Jesus.”
“Thomas is just a very godly guy,” Doleac says. “Big family guy, big Jesus guy. And so he checks all the boxes of things that I look up to in an artist and in the music industry. Love his family and the way that he incorporates them into his life, and his music … I sent it to Thomas first before I sent it to anybody. Luckily Thomas said yes .. I think he is the perfect person to help spread the word of Jesus through this song.”
Find “Bar Named Jesus” and all of Doleac’s music and upcoming shows at AdamDoleac.com.