Marcus Hummon is the songwriter behind some of country music’s biggest hits, including Rascal Flatts‘ “Bless the Broken Road,” The Chicks’ “Ready to Run” and “Cowboy Take Me Away” and more. Hummon also wrote Sara Evans‘ “Born to Fly,” a No. 1 hit for Evans, and the title track of her third studio album.

Hummon just released Songs for Emily, a record that takes the poems of Emily Dickinson and reimagines them with modern music. Hummon and Evans have been friends for decades. So it only made sense that when Hummon needed a duet partner for his “I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed,” from Songs for Emily, he reached out to Evans to sing with him.

“We’re very good friends, actually,” Hummon tells Everything Nash. “I’ve known her a lot of years, seen her kids grow up, and all that kind of stuff. So we have a good relationship. Really it has to do with the nature of that particular poem. ‘I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed.’ Emily Dickinson’s poems were not titled, and they’re generally known from the first line. So that’s why I call it that. But it’s a wonderful, joyful, playful, somewhat mischievous portrait of summertime, of her love of nature, of the transcendence of it, depicting herself as actually metaphorically drunk.

“And one of the things that sets Sara apart is that she can project joy,” he adds. “And has a wonderful sense of humor.”

Why Marcus Hummon Knew Sara Evans Was Perfect For ‘I Taste A Liquor Never Brewed’

Hummon knew from early on in Evans’ career that she had something unique. Evans, more than most, has been able to transcend genres and interpret songs that make them stand out. It was exactly what Hummon needed for “I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed.”

“We’ve written several things, and ‘Suds in the Bucket’ is a great example of it,” Hummon shares. “So given that the way I wanted to approach that particular poem in this album, where I’m basically reimagining Emily’s poetry, some of the famous poems through through the prism of Americana or country music, or my version of that is, I wanted to have tempo. I wanted to have groove. And also, she’s a great groove singer. So all those things just kind of pointed to Saraa and. And right about the time that I was trying to decide who to ome sing on that, uh, I actually did her podcast. So serendipity plays a part.

The Story Behind Sara Evans’ ‘Born To Fly’

According to Evans, “Born to Fly” is the first song Hummon and Evans wrote together. The song was inspired by Evans’ oldest child, Avery, along with a terrible phone call Evans received.

“Sara had just had Avery,” Hummon recounts. “She had just had her first child. And so she was not that long out of the hospital and writing. I remember she was in sweats, and she was just being Sara, which means really funny and engaging. I remember Darrell was kind of being really quiet, and we really weren’t getting anywhere with a song. It was just one of those things; it just wasn’t really happening. But I wasn’t terribly worried about it. And then she got a phone call, so she left the room.”

While Evans was out of the room, Scott lamented that they weren’t getting much traction with the song. But after Evans returned, everything changed for the three writers.

“She walks back in the room, and she’s got tears in her eyes,” Hummon remembers. “She’s crying. … She was crying. Both of us, typical guys, we were just frozen. And I was like, ‘What happened? What, what is it?’ And she said, ‘Well, that was the record company. … The record president called, and he said, ‘You had the baby, time to lose the weight.”

“Our response to that was, we sent out for two extra large pizzas,” he remarks, “and we wrote ‘Born To Fly.’ It took us like an hour right after that. That’s a true story.”

Find “I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed,” Songs for Emily, and all of Hummon’s music at MarcusHummon.net.