The Funny Truth of How George Strait Wrote Kicked Outta Country

George Strait’s “Kicked Outta Country” is one of the many George Strait songs that we’ve enjoyed listening to as of late. He wrote the song with Jamey Johnson, the songwriter for ACM’s 2009 Song of the Year, “In Color.” Strait’s “Kicked Outta Country” is one of the two recordings he did for his box set, Strait Out of the Box: Part 2.

The funny thing about how George Strait and Jamey Johnson wrote the song is that they weren’t in the same room when they did it. Yes, they weren’t even in the same state during that time. Instead, the two genius songwriters wrote the song through text! 

Would you believe that? They were working the lyrics back and forth through text. In one interview, Strait laughs while saying they wrote the entire song through text. 

He adds that it’s a common thing these days because people do it all the time. Strait claims he sees artists like Bubba Skyping and writing a song with someone somewhere. According to him, it makes things easier. Strait says he’d scribble something down and send it to Jamey, who would then send something back to him. 

As for what George Strait’s “Kicked Outta Country” is about, it draws inspiration from the artist’s music career. The song talks about his life as a critically acclaimed country music artist who gets lesser airplay as the years go by in the industry. He pulls no punches with the song as it recounts what it feels like for a musician whose work seems to fall out of place from current radio formats.

During an interview, Strait talks about several legendary artists who also found their songs receiving declining patronage from radio stations. However, he does point out that even if there was a lack of support from radio stations, it didn’t prevent those legendary artists from continuing with their passion.

George Strait and Jamey Johnson also worked in the past on “Give It Away,” one of Strait’s biggest hit songs. Sadly, despite getting a record-shattering 60 number-one hits, Strait’s 2015 Cold Beer Conversation received an abysmal amount of attention from the radio. 

Click here to listen to George Strait’s “Kicked Outta Country” and hear what it says about his experience of getting less radio airtime as he continues his career.