Elle King has teamed up with country singer Dierks Bentley to release a new single, “Worth A Shot.” The pair dropped the song Friday (May 13), and they stopped by Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music Country to discuss their collaboration.
Bentley revealed that the song was written by two of Nashville’s top wordsmiths, Shane McAnally and Ross Copperman.
“Shane McAnally and… I’m trying to think who else [wrote] ‘Worth A Shot,’ Bentley shared during the show. “But Shane’s just one of the biggest writers in Nashville, and everything he writes is a hit. This song, actually, I heard this song during COVID and it was a… Ross Copperman’s a writer on it, that’s how I heard it. Huge smash. I heard it and I’m like, ‘That song is a hit,’ he said.
Bentley also shared that he’d cut the song prior to turning it over to King.
“I actually cut it at one point, because I’m like, ‘I just love this song,’ he continued. “And then, for some reason, it came out to me that Elle [King] was interested in it. And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ I was struggling a little bit on my record trying to figure out what I was doing. And I hate to stand in the way of a hit… And as someone that writes songs, and is respectful to the songwriting community in Nashville, the last thing you ever want to do is hold up a hit. Get in the way of it, or hold onto a bunch of songs… So when I heard that Elle was interested in it, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, please. Because this song needs to be heard on country radio,” Bentley explained.
King added that she was in the studio working with Copperman when she suggested having Bentley sing on it. King described the experience as a “full circle” moment.
“Ross Copperman and I were in the studio for two days,” King said. “And we must have cut maybe six or seven songs, just trying to figure this thing out. And at the end of the day, it’s really a true testament to how absolutely incredible all of these musicians are, that are studio musicians and session players in Nashville, and these just monster players… And so we’re like, ‘Well, let’s just try it. Let’s just try it.’ And so we messed around with the key a little bit. And he played it for me and I was like, ‘Oh, what? I don’t know if I could pull off a song like this.’ And we laughed, and we’re like, ‘Well, what if Dierks sang on it?’ And it’s interesting how it is a full circle, because Dierks is the one who really extended his hand and took a chance on me with ‘Different for Girls.’ And once I saw the shiny rhinestones of country music, I was like, ‘I’m in it. I want in it.’”
Bentley echoed King’s sentiment, explaining that he feels like the “perfect foil to her in so many different ways” and that they’ve established a good partnership and friendship.
Bentley and King previously collaborated together on “Different For Girls,” a track which appeared on Bentley’s 2016 album, Black.
Besides their brand-new collaboration, King is also hard at work making her first country album, she revealed during the interview with Bannen.
Meanwhile, Bentley is preparing to hit the road on his Beers On Me tour featuring support from Travis Denning and Ashley McBryde.
