Shy Carter Talks ‘Beer With My Friends’ and New Artist Journey

Shy Carter, David Lee Murphy and Cole Swindell are “seeing life through a rose-colored, neon lens” in their collaboration, “Beer With My Friends,” released earlier this summer. The unapologetically country song finds the three artists trading lines as they sing about a stress-free night out with friends and a couple of beers. Aided by high-powered country guitars, the tune opens with the group singing the energetic chorus before keeping the groove going in the verses. The song was written by Carter, Murphy and Bryan Simpson, and Carter says after Simpson came up with the initial premise, the song flowed out quickly.

“Right away that day, [Simpson] just came in and was like, ‘Yeah. I had this idea, ‘Beer With My Friends,’” Carter told Sounds Like Nashville. “He just started singing a little bit of it, and we just looked at him like, ‘Yeah that’s awesome.’ David started singing along with him and that was it. It just came through real fast.”

Including Murphy on the track came naturally, said Carter, as the two recorded their own demos of the song and then decided to mesh their versions. They had room for one more artist on the epic country jam, however, which is when Swindell came into play.

“I’ve been wanting to work with Cole for a long time. I really love his music,” says Carter. “I would run into him here and there and we were just like, ‘Man, we gotta work, we gotta work.’ He’s on the same label at Warner, so I had them reach out to him and just see if he liked it and if he wanted to do something. He told me that as soon as he heard it, he knew it’s a smash and he wanted to get on there. That just came together pretty effortlessly too.”

Carter then brought in country superstar Kenny Chesney and legendary producer Buddy Cannon to produce the track and solidify its unique country groove. Carter, Murphy and Swindell are also featured in a feel-good video for the track, which was released August 13.

As his second official radio single following his debut, “Good Love,” “Beer With My Friends” continues to establish Carter one of the genre’s most promising new stars. Although the Tennessee-born singer is new to the artist side of the business, he’s been working as a songwriter for many years and boasts a long list of song credits, including Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue,” Charlie Puth’s “One Call Away,” Kane Brown’s “Good As You,” and more. The music veteran says he doesn’t mind being called “new” despite his lengthy experience in the business, and he’s looking forward to introducing his brand of “country soul” music.

“I would say it’s a really soulful take on this beautiful country music. It’s like country soul, baby,” he says of his music. “It’s got a lot of different flavors in it, which, my music’s always been like that. It’s always been inclusive of anything that’s just good. Anything that can bring value to the song, I want to put it in there. I’ve got some heartfelt songs, and some fun songs, and just something you can feel that can put a smile on your face and make you feel good.” Carter is currently working on a project that will feature both “Good Love” and “Beer With My Friends.” The singer can also be found opening for Tyler Rich on his Two Thousand Miles Tour beginning September 28 in San Jose, CA.