Scotty McCreery is thrilled with his new single, “Bottle Rockets,” out now. The song features one of McCreery’s favorite bands, Hootie & the Blowfish, and their debut single, “Hold My Hand.” The group is fronted by fellow Grand Ole Opry member and country singer, Darius Rucker.
“Darius has been a friend now for a long time,” McCreery tells Country Now. “So I was hopeful that maybe they would want to do this, but you never know, especially when the song probably means so much to them. But I nervously texted him and he got back to me and said, ‘We’d love to do it.’ The song turned out better than my wildest dreams.”
Rucker co-wrote “Hold My Hand” with Mark Bryanm Dean Felber andJim Sonefeld. They are all listed as co-writers on “Bottle Rockets,” along with McCreery, Brent Anderson, Derek George, Jeremy Bussey, Monty Criswell, Frank Rogers and Bobby Hamrick. The song was inspired by McCreery thinking about the summers of his youth.
“I was talking about my last summer with no job,” McCreery recalls. “I didn’t have a learner’s permit, but my buddies did. So they were driving everywhere and hitting the beach. No responsibilities. It was like, man, I just remember that everybody’s like, ‘Oh, these are the golden days.’ It was like, ‘Oh, whatever.’ But man, those were good times.”
Intertwined with those memories for McCreery are memories of Hootie & the Blowfish, who became the soundtrack of his summers.
“Hootie was on the radio,” McCreery remembers. ” Hootie was on our playlist and stuff. So that was just a natural tie-in to have them part of the song.”
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The song, which follows his recent hit single, “Fall of Summer,” is a reminder for McCreery of the joy of his younger years, before he became a household name.
“This song takes me back to those summers of having fun with no responsibilities with good times and good tunes,” McCreery said when the song was released. “For me growing up in the Carolinas, Hootie & the Blowfish were just massive and such a huge part of great summers growing up. That’s what this song ‘Bottle Rockets’ is about.”
McCreery is headlining his own UK Tour this month, which begins on May 24 in Belfast, Ireland. He will also head out on the road later this year on the co-headlining Two For The Road Tour with Dustin Lynch.
“It’s new for both of us, I think, this co-headlining thing,” McCreery acknowledges. “We’re bringing all his gear and my gear, putting it together and making one big show. So should be a lot of fun. I think we’re going to get our heads together and try to come up with a show that fans haven’t seen before.”
McCreery’s Seasons Change: Platinum Edition will be out on June 20. Find all of his music and upcoming shows at ScottyMcCreery.com.