Rascal Flatts Hits Home Run with ‘I Like The Sound of That’
“I think it’s very universal and very hip and cool and that’s exactly what we look for in a country song," said the group's Joe Don Rooney.
On Wednesday, July 13, friends, family and industry insiders gathered at First Tennessee Park, the home of the Nashville Sounds, to celebrate another milestone in Rascal Flatts’ impressive career… the group’s 16th No.1 hit with “I Like The Sound of That.”
“You know, it’s funny for us. This album, Rewind, has been really special for us because it just luckily won’t go away,” Joe Don Rooney told Sounds Like Nashville and other media. “We had this song on the backburner for a long time, for the life of the project. ‘I Like The Sound of That,’ once we decided to go with it, everybody was on board. Everybody believed and it’s amazing what it’s done for us.”
But how did the trio know that the song penned by Shay Mooney (of Dan + Shay), Jesse Frasure and Meghan Trainor would be a hit?
“For me, I thought it was current. It talks about blowing up cell phones, talks about all that stuff that a lot of the younger generation talks about in a hip way that all generations get and understand,” Rooney added of the Flatts’ choice to release the track as a single. “I think it’s very universal and very hip and cool and that’s exactly what we look for in a country song.”
Jay DeMarcus; Photo Credit: John Russell
“And it was up-tempo. You can find good up-tempo songs. You get a lot of those pitched to you, but to find great ones that will stick with you, that can have some kind of impact, are a little tougher. But ‘I Like The Sound of That’ did that for us, for sure,” added lead singer Gary LeVox.
The trio credits much of their success to choosing the right song by looking at two main factors.
“I think one of the first things we look for is the strength of the lyric. We always try to pick songs that mean something or have some way of saying something different that’s a familiar topic,” said Jay DeMarcus. “Everybody can sing about love, but how do you put a new spin on it and make it different than what you’ve heard before. The other thing is the melody. The melody has to stick with you. It has to be mind-numbingly easy for you to sing back so days later, you’re still humming it in your head. I think those are the two main elements that we look for and we always have. Since day one, we’ve always said it, we don’t care who writes it or where it comes from, we want to cut the best songs we can get our hands on.”
“I Like The Sound of That” is the fourth single from Rascal Flatts’ album Rewind, following singles “Rewind,” “Payback” and “Riot.” They are currently in the studio working on new music. Additionally, the band is currently out on the road for their Rhythm and Roots Tour with special guests Kelsea Ballerini and Chris Lane.
