Brantley Gilbert‘s latest album, So Help Me God,, includes the song “Heaven By Then,” which features two of his musical heroes, Blake Shelton and Vince Gill. It was Shelton Gilbert reached out to first, fulfilling a dream he had for a long time of collaborating with one of his musical heroes.
“I’ve been a big fan of [Blake’s] for a long time,” Gilbert reveals on Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen. “Blake’s one of those that he’s always been nothing but kind and cool to me. When I came on the scene, especially back when I was drinking, I was a little different. I looked a little different, acted a little different than a lot of these cats up here. And it never bothered him a bit. He’s just always treated me the same and been kind to me, and I’ve always appreciated that …If I had a bucket list, he’d be on it.”
It was while working with his co-producer on the track, Brock Berryhill, when Gilbert had the idea to also invite Gill to join the two men on the song, as far-fetched as the idea seemed to him at the time.
“There’s an undeniable high part, the high harmony that needs to be there, but I wasn’t getting there,” Gilbert recalls. “I mean, it was almost immediate. You just know when you hear that part, it’s like, ‘Dude, if Vince Gill did this, it would be unreal.’ What are the chances of getting two legends, in my opinion, on the same song? And he signed off on it and did it, and it came back and it sounded like… It was just a pinch-yourself moment. I’ll never be able to tell those guys, but even for a songwriter, it’s hard to find words to thank somebody for that.”
Gilbert is one of several writers on “Heaven Help Me,” along with Berryhill, HARDY, Jake Mitchell, Randy Montana, Hunter Phelps and Taylor Phillips. The song came about in the most unlikely way, when several of them were together for a writing trip to Texas, although the song wasn’t written when they were at their best.
“Every night we do something a little bit different,” Gilbert shares. “One night we’ll go to this local hole-in-the-wall bar that is literally held up with toothpicks and cardboard, but it’s a karaoke joint. That night we got back and as you can imagine, it’s three in the morning. So the guys that drink have been drinking. I had to quit drinking a little over ten years ago. I’m allergic to it. I’ll break out and handcuffs and bad decisions.”
It was HARDY who picked up the guitar and began playing, and Gilbert knew right away that something magical was about to happen.
“If he picks up a guitar … everybody just starts paying attention,” Gilbert says. “I don’t remember how many writers were on the song. It was everybody that was outside on the porch when it started. Taylor Phillips was talking about something and he said, ‘Shoot, man, I hope I’m in heaven by then.’ And HARDY slammed his fist on the table and stood up and he said, ‘Damn it Taylor. Why would you say that in a room full of 10 writers?'”
Find music and tour dates at BrantleyGilbert.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Valory Music Co.
Read ’12 Country Music Singers Who Are Sober’ here.
