«I just thought this song was a smash,» Moore shares of the just-released track.
Hot on the heels of his 11th No.1 single, country hitmaker Justin Moore has teamed up with rising star Priscilla Block to release a smoldering new duet: “You, Me, And Whiskey.”
Written by Jessi Alexander, Brock Berryhill, and Cole Taylor and produced by Jeremy Stover and Scott Borchetta, “You, Me, And Whiskey” tells the story of a couple who is longing to feel like themselves again after constantly getting wrapped up in the daily “nine-to-five” of life. After they realize they’ve been “burning it at both ends” for far too long, they decide to finally make time for themselves once again.
“It was you, me, and whiskey all night long/ Sinkin’ to the bottom of them country songs/ Fire burnin’ hot ‘til the last drop’s gone/ Let’s turn it up, turn it up/ ‘Til we take that black label buzz too far/ And say them things that stay in the dark/ Ain’t nothin’ as sweet/ Ain’t nothin’ as strong/ As you, me and whiskey all night long,” Moore and Block sing on the chorus of the radio-ready hit.
The lyrics are relatable and Moore says that’s something that drew him to the song in the first place.
“I’ve been married for fifteen years and we have four kids and every night we’re doing something for the kids – whether it’s one of them has softball practices, one of them has got cheer or a football game, or whatever the case,” Moore pointed out over a video chat with Country Now earlier this week. “You do have to make a concerted effort, in particular, when you have kids, but even just married with jobs and different things you do have to make a concerted effort to make time for each other. It’s not easy to do.”
Out now and going for adds on October 24, “You, Me, And Whiskey,” marks Moore’s first duet officially being released to country radio.
“There’s a lot of moving parts with all that stuff and this was the perfect timing for one and I just thought this song was a smash,” Moore explained.
After being pitched the song, Moore was on the hunt for a duet partner and after playing a St. Jude benefit show with Block earlier this year, the Arkansas native knew she’d be a perfect choice.
“I had obviously heard Priscilla’s name but hadn’t had the opportunity to play a show with her until that point and I remember being a newer artist and those were really intimidating to me to, you know, go before I had any hit records and sit there and try to hang in there with a bunch of guys or gals that were playing hit after hit after hit and I’m going ‘nobody cares what I have to say or sing,’” Moore recalled.
“And she stole the show, quite frankly. I mean, sang her butt off and just was really great with the audience – captivated – and her songwriting and skills she had I thought were great. When the song came across my desk, so to speak, obviously it was a duet, and I thought ‘man, I wonder if I can maybe convince her to jump on this with me.’ Fortunately, she said yes for whatever reason so I’m excited about it.”
For Block, the chance to sing alongside Moore was “a dream come true.”
“I’ve been a fan of Justin for so long. You know, when we got to play that show together, I’m kind of freaking out anyway and then I got a call for this song and I’m like ‘absolutely!’ I didn’t even think twice,” she told us. “I listened to it and the song just felt so me, it felt so right. I’m so excited about it and this is my first-ever duet.”
The stars aligned and when it was time for Moore and Block to cut the song, Moore says he had one major goal: “Don’t screw it up.”
“The songwriters did a great job writing it and when you’ve got the perfect duet partner the only thing to do is don’t screw it up! So hopefully we didn’t, but I’m really proud of it and I think it came out great.”
Ahead of Friday’s release, the pair took to social media to tease the song. They had fans guessing who they’d be releasing a song with after sharing cryptic teasers online. In one post, Block was seen holding Moore’s signature cowboy hat with the caption, “New song next Friday. With a cowboy. You do the math.” Fans flocked to the comments section to make their predictions.
“Oh my gosh, it was so fun! Obviously, I love getting fans involved and I feel Justin just has such a signature look – I do too, with the hoops and the hair and he has the cowboy hat thing – I was like ‘we should get people guessing and excited about this,’ so it’s just been really fun to be able to get together a couple weeks ago and just take a bunch of pictures and kind of plan out the launch of it,” Block shared.
Moore says he let her take the lead on the social media teasers.
“Yeah, that’s all her. I’m terrible who’s those things,” he laughed. “But I thought it was a good idea and a lot of fun.”
After getting to know each other during the photoshoot where they sipped on – you guessed it, whiskey (Crown Royal to be exact) – Justin Moore and Priscilla Block say a music video is in the works.
“We haven’t picked a date for it yet – but we definitely are excited to be doing a video. I’ve actually not done a video for my last couple of singles…but it’ll be fun to shoot a real video for the first time for me in a while,” Moore revealed.
Block says her “wheels are definitely turning” when it comes to the music video.
“I get really excited just creating a storyline and just getting people involved and I don’t know there’s just something – I’ve never been able to do a duet, so this is really fun. Whenever I listen to a song, even writing songs, the minute I’m writing it I’m thinking of what the music video is because I want people to see the story kind of through the video…We’ve got awesome people in place to make this video epic so I’m really excited!”
“You, Me, and Whiskey” is set to appear on Justin Moore’s upcoming album, which is expected to be released in 2023.