It’s a decades-old conversation: When fans see a coach bus outside a concert venue, some of them are bound to wonder if the artist they’re planning to see that night is in there and, if so, what they’re doing. Increasingly, there’s a good bet they’re working with a couple of Nashville songwriters to create new material.
Thomas Rhett’s current collaboration with Jordan Davis, “Ain’t a Bad Life”? Written somewhere in the Dakotas. Jelly Roll’s “I Am Not Okay”? Penned while the bus was traveling on an interstate in the Carolinas. Lainey Wilson’s “Somewhere Over Laredo”? Finished on her bus in Montana with co-writers Dallas Wilson and Trannie Anderson after an initial start by Andy Albert.
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“We will write songs anywhere,” Wilson says.
Artists co-write the majority of their own singles in modern country music. If songwriters want to get in on the action, the best way is to meet the artists in their natural habitat—and that means writing on the road.
“I would say 75% of my No. 1 songs have been written on the bus or on some sort of writing retreat,” notes Corey Crowder, who co-authored the current Nate Smith/Tyler Hubbard single, “After Midnight,” on Hubbard’s bus in 2023. “I’ve definitely had them where I wrote it in a writing room, but there’s something about not being on Music Row. There’s not really anything to do other than sit and write songs. And there’s something about watching somebody perform and then writing in that headspace.”
Hubbard’s duo, Florida Georgia Line, didn’t necessarily invent the idea of writing on tour, but they gave it a good jolt during the 2010s. They scheduled writing into their day on numerous trips, sometimes conducting two simultaneous writing sessions—one in the front room, the other in the back—on the same bus. It meant one less business item they had to wedge into their time at home after returning to Nashville following a weekend run.
“It certainly made life a bit easier when we compartmentalized and wrote songs while we were on tour instead of trying to do it only in town—especially as I started growing a family and having kids and needing to spend time with the family while I was in town,” Hubbard says. “It worked really well. And even now, it works great. You’ve got a lot of time to kill on the road, so we write songs and hang out.”
Hanging out is an extra benefit. Typically, when publishers book co-writes for their composers in Nashville, the appointment is focused on work. The writers may hit it off, but it also might be one of two or three writing sessions for the day. There’s not much time for bonding once the song is finished.
Not so on the bus, where they go through the mundane details of daily living in a road environment—sleeping in a bunk bed, acclimating to a new backstage area, grabbing a beer after the concert. Interactions in those settings create more of a shared experience.
“I’ve slept 500 nights in those beds,” says Ashley Gorley, whose road successes include “I Am Not Okay” and “You Should Be Here.” “It’s funny to think back about all those times, going out and trying to get to know artists.”
It’s not for everybody. Between soundcheck, meet-and-greets and scheduled meal times—not to mention unplanned hurdles or interviews to advance future tour dates—artists often encounter a lot of start-and-stop on the road. It’s further complicated by the rigors of traveling. Touring can be physically exhausting, and artists need to be in top shape when they hit the stage.
“It can be very draining,” says Dan + Shay vocalist Shay Mooney. “I don’t know how people do it, honestly. Songwriters, if they’re not performing that night, that’s probably a different thing. But I think when you’re the artist-writer, and you’ve got a show to put on that night, that takes precedent. It’s tough to do.”
One aspect that songwriters particularly appreciate is the change in scenery. Instead of a familiar writing room on Music Row, they get to see other parts of the country, different rooms and the vibe of an artist’s fan base.
“There’s something special about being able to play a show, see a reaction from an audience, take that energy, see what is connecting and try to channel that into a song,” George Birge says.
But, as one veteran songwriter puts it, the trend toward going out on tour with artists has made writing country songs even more of a “young man’s game.” As writers’ personal lives evolve—they get married, have babies, get up early to take the kids to school—the late nights and drinking associated with road life become less attractive.
Artists are “ready to rock ’n’ roll when they come off the stage,” songwriter Neil Thrasher says, noting that writing on tour has always been uncomfortable. “I’m ready to write the next day at noon, and they’re sleeping. So, I could never get anything going.”
Ultimately, the inconvenience is highly rewarding if it yields a hit, and plenty have emerged from the bus in the last decade or so, including Eric Church’s “Talladega,” Cole Swindell’s “Forever to Me,” Dustin Lynch’s “Hell of a Night,” Lady A’s “Bartender” and Old Dominion’s “Song for Another Time.”
In the end, going out for a weekend with an artist is a dance of compatibility. Hygiene, manners, personality traits, patience, respect for the band and crew, and passion all matter.
“You get invited out on the road by an artist based on [if] they feel comfortable with you,” says Anderson, who saw the road-finished “Somewhere Over Laredo” compete for a Grammy this year. “Do they want to give you a bunk and have you in their personal space? We’re really thankful that Lainey doesn’t mind us in her personal space.”