Walker Hayes is joining Zach Williams for a new song, “Jesus’ Fault.” Written by Hayes along with Michael Farren, the song is on Williams’ latest album, A Hundred Highways, out now.
“It’s always fun to collaborate with great artists,” Williams tells CMT of working with Hayes. “Having my band there to be in the video with us made it even that much more fun.”
“I felt really proud to be able to work alongside such a great guy and great artist, and to have my band there with us was even sweeter,” he adds.
“Jesus’ Fault” might be a Christian track, but Williams channeled one of country music’s biggest superstars for the song.
“I feel like we kind of tried to capture this Garth Brooks “Friends In Low Places” kind of ‘90s country vibe,” Williams tells Country Now. “So it feels really fun.”
“Jesus’ Fault” marks a new chapter for Williams, who until now has written all of his songs, including “Chain Breaker,” “Fear Is a Liar,” and his “There Was Jesus” duet with Dolly Parton. But as soon as Williams her “Jesus’ Fault,” he knew he wanted to include it on a project.
“So this is the only song I’ve ever recorded that I didn’t have a hand in it, really,” says Williams. “A friend that co-wrote the song with Walker sent me this song in a voice memo, and I was just so intrigued by the title. I was like, ‘What’s ‘Jesus’ fault’? Like, what is this?’ When I started listening to it, I [could] relate to that lyric so much because of my own personal story, and I know the people in the fan base that I have coming to my concerts, I know they’re gonna relate to it as well.”
Williams and Hayes may not have known each other before “Jesus’ Fault,” but their stories are similar. Like Hayes, Williams also struggled with addiction, until he decided to completely turn his life around.
“I started thinking, when I got my life together back in 2012, I didn’t have an explanation for anybody that was asking me, ‘Why have you changed?'” Williams reflects. “It was almost like, ‘Don’t blame me, blame Jesus’ When I heard this song, I was like, ‘That’s everything that I wanted to say.’ So I called Walker and I was like, ‘Hey dude, I heard the song that you guys wrote and I want to record it, and I would love for you to be a part of it, if you want to be.’ He was busy, I was busy and I said, ‘Well, why don’t you just let me go in the studio and record the song, and when I get it to a place that I’m happy with, I’ll send it to you.'”
Once Williams took “Jesus’ Fault” into the studio, and finished it, Hayes quickly agreed to join Williams on the song.
“When I sent it to Walker, he called me freaking out,” Williams recalls. “He jumped on it and kind of took it to another level because he has his own style and his own thing that he does, and I feel like it meshed really well on this song.”
“Jesus’ Fault” is just one of 15 songs on A Hundred Highways that Williams is proud to have on his latest project.
“The entire record I feel like I’ve kind of touched on all genres of music that I’ve grown up listening to, and I tried to put a little bit of everything on this,” Williams says.
Find “Jesus’ Fault” and all of the songs on A Hundred Highways here.
