Lee Brice raised a glass with Nate Smith and Hailey Whitters to kick off the weekend on Friday (April 26).
The trio of country hitmakers joined forces on “Drinkin’ Buddies,” a collaboration that serves as a tribute to the good friends that can “make a bad day better.” Zach Kale, Chris Destefano and Justin Wilson wrote “Drinkin’ Buddies,” and Ben Glover and Jerrod Nieman produced it. Brice has been teasing the song for weeks on his social media pages, including prompting his Instagram followers to guess which artist joined him on the track. The “One Of Them Girls” artist confirmed Smith and Whitters were his “Drinkin’ Buddies” earlier this month.
“I’m lucky to have the right drinking buddies. Truthfully, some of my best friends. My brother, Lewis, Jerrod Niemann, we’ve kinda been hitting it together for about 20 years. But now I got a couple of new drinking buddies, Nate and Hailey. We’re about to add them to the group,” Brice said in a video shared on Instagram on April 13. He added in a statement on Friday: “We all got 'em, we all need 'em, so let’s raise a glass to 'em! Cheers to all our Drinkin' Buddies out there. Huge thanks to Nate and Hailey for bringing this thing all the way home! Can’t wait for y’all to hear this one!”
“I got a probably too many stories about my drinking buddies, but I could tell you this: My new drinking buddies, Nate Smith and Hailey Whitters, I got surprised and Hailey busted a beer bottle over my head in our video. And then I decided since that happened I had to pour some whiskey over Nate's head in the video. And it was definitely a surprise. So, if you see that video and you see surprise on his face and/or mine, you can see why it was actually a surprise and it was fun,“ Brice shared with iHeartCountry. He said the camaraderie between himself, Smith and Whitters was “natural” and instant.
“When Lee asked me if I wanted to be a part of this song with him and Hailey, it was an immediate yes for me!” Smith said in a statement. “I was honored. I am a huge fan of the both of them and this song just brings such a fun energy. I have had a blast collaborating with them on this!”
The anthem with Smith and Whitters marks Brice’s latest collaboration following the emotional ballad, “Checking In.” Brice released it with Christian pop duo for KING & COUNTRY. They debuted earlier this year ahead of the duo’s newly-premiered biopic, Unsung Hero. The collaborations join Brice’s career-spanning hits, including “One Of Them Girls,” “Rumor,” “Hard To Love,” “Love Like Crazy,” “I Drive Your Truck,” “Memory I Don’t Mess With,” “I Don’t Dance,” “Parking Lot Party” and many others. Listen to his latest single here: