HomeEF CountryElle King & Dierks Bentley share inspirations behind new song 'Worth A...

Elle King & Dierks Bentley share inspirations behind new song ‘Worth A Shot’ with Kelleigh Bannen

Elle King and Dierks Bentley join ‘Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen’ to chat about their new song “Worth A Shot.” Elle also shares what country fans can expect from her upcoming album, and Dierks explains how “Worth A Shot” got into Elle’s hands in the first place after he initially cut it.

Tune in and listen to the episode in-full anytime on-demand at apple.co/_TodaysCountry.

Dierks Bentley on the Origin of How “Worth A Shot” with Elle King Came To Be
Shane McAnally and… I’m trying to think who else [wrote] [“Worth A Shot.”] 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.” I actually cut it at one point, because I’m like, “I just love this song.” 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 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.


Elle King on Being New to Recording Music in Nashville
When they asked me who I wanted to produce my record. I know Ross because of “Different for Girls” and just from being around in Nashville. And I’d worked with him a couple times. But also, I didn’t know how much of Dierks’ stuff that Ross produced. I’m still learning about everybody in country, and who I need to mind my Ps and Qs with, and who I can get in with. And I’m still just like, “Get in where you fit in. Wherever they’ll let you in, go in and be rowdy, but respectful.”


Elle King on Working with Ross Copperman and How Dierks Bentley Ended Up Singing on “Worth A Shot”
[Ross Copperman and I] were in the studio for two days. 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.”


Dierks Bentley on Working with Elle King
I feel like I’m the perfect foil to Elle in so many different ways. My voice just holds the line there pretty good, down the middle. It’s good for her to bounce her amazing voice off of, because mine’s just toeing the line. I don’t have any tattoos, so I’m the opposite there in that way. We ying and yang really well together. And some of my rowdier days are behind me. So it’s a good partnership and friendship in so many different ways.


Elle King on Being Happy to Officially Be Part of the Country Genre
I don’t want anyone to think that this is coming out of left field or anything, because I was laughing about like, “America’s Sweetheart” has always been a country song. And I also got signed to a rock and pop label because of a banjo song called “Good to Be a Man,” which is a country song. So I feel like it’s a nice nod of, I had to go through all these things to end up where I feel most at home now. And I’m very happy to be here.


Elle King on What We Can Expect from Her First Country Album
My country record, I want to do it my way. And I’m from Southern Ohio, and people in Southern Ohio, my family, all my cousins, I’ve got like 300 nieces and nephews. They love country music. And I grew up listening to country music. I grew up listening to bluegrass. And I’m a banjo player. And so I have a lot of those things that are meshed in with what makes me, me. Which is also blues, and Southern rock and roll, and a lot of bluegrass string instruments. So it’s going to be a melting pot of what country is to me in my heart.

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James Daykin EF Country Editor

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