Husband and wife country duo The Dryes have had a busy year. They released their latest EP Dear Heart in May. Since then, they have shared two more singles—“Day Drinkin’” dropped in July and an acoustic version of the song came the next month. Tomorrow (November 22), they’ll release their latest track “Ain’t God Good.” American Songwriter is proud to premiere the song today.
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Earlier this month, Katelyn and Derek Drye sat down with American Songwriter to discuss the new track, its origins, and the impact it’s had on their listeners.
[RELATED: Daily Discovery: The Dryes Pay Tribute to Dolly Parton in “Dolly Would”]
The Dryes on Writing “Ain’t God Good”
The Dryes weren’t planning on writing a song when they penned “Ain’t God Good” with their longtime collaborator Michael Farren. Instead, the song sprang from a deep, late-night conversation.
“It was about 2:30 in the morning on the back porch with bourbon and cigars. I think that kind of lubricates the conversation. So, we were just having some honest talks and had a guitar around and started singing,” Derek recalled.
“We were on our writer’s retreat in North Carolina, the first one we’ve ever done that’s been outside of Nashville. We were sitting on the porch, like Derek said and one of our co-writers had his wife there as well,” Katelyn explained. “We were just sitting around talking about life and all the things it throws at us. And Derek and Michael just started into this song. Like, they just started singing it, as they do a lot when we write,” she added. “We write with Michael Farren a lot. He’s written a lot of the songs we’ve released with us. It was one of those that just fell out. We all just started singing along and finished the song that night,”’ she recalled. She added that they immediately knew there was something special about the song.
“I think it says something that’s true to us about something to lean on despite all the throw-your-hands-up moments whether it’s an illness or something terminal or just general anxiety. You’re not diminishing that by saying ‘I’m thankful for another day’ and still counting your blessings,” Derek said about the song.
Playing the Song for the First Time
“Ain’t God Good” is a moving song, no matter how you hear it. However, the first time The Dryes played it in front of an audience gave the song a little more meaning for them.
“We all know the world is very divided and on top of that, so many people are going through so many hard things every single day. I think that was what brought it home for us. We wrote it last year but we hadn’t been performing it out or anything up until this past summer,” Katelyn said. “My cousin passed away. He was sick his entire life. At the age of seven, he had a brain tumor that landed him in the hospital, they immediately took him to surgery. He had a stroke during surgery so he had complications for the rest of his life. He had other tumors after that,” she recalled.
“My aunt was his caretaker. Her entire life was devoted to taking care of him. She called us when he passed away and wanted us to sing a song. She said, ‘I want y’all to sing one of your songs. I don’t care what it is but I want it to be something you and Derek wrote.’ So, we were in the car driving and it popped up in my brain and I sent her the lyrics,” Katelyn said. “The second verse is, honestly, her story. That wasn’t initially in our thoughts when we wrote the song but we sent it to her and she was immediately like ‘Yes. This song is great. Do it.’”
The Dryes on the Impact of “Ain’t God Good”
“We did it at the service and we’ve been doing it at shows since then,” Katelyn said of the song. “It’s crazy because we do country music, so most of the time our shows are in bars or opening in arenas for somebody and people will have beers in their hands and tears flowing down their faces with their hands raised. It’s been really cool to see this song come to life,” she added.
“I think it’s a reminder of some basic desires we all have. We’re hyper-aware of things that are going on in the world and this song centers us as a couple,” Derek said of the song.
“It’s been pretty cool, too, to see people say ‘I’m not even a believer but this song Ain’t God Good gave me chills.’ It’s super cool to us,” Katelyn added. “Like, if it makes them feel a little bit better about themselves, I think we’ve done a good job.”
“Ain’t God Good” will be available on all streaming platforms tomorrow (November 22).
Featured Image by Sean Hagwell
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