country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
group
Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini ( fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukul ...
, written by lead singer
Zac Brown
Zachry Alexander Brown (born July 31, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and co-founder and lead singer of the country–rock Zac Brown Band, as well as electronic dance music group Sir Rosevelt. In 2019, Brown released a pop su ...
and Wyatt Durrette. The song was released in November 2009 as the fourth single from the band's 2009 album '' The Foundation''. It is the band's third Number One on the U.S. country singles chart.
History
Wyatt Durette was inspired to write "Highway 20 Ride" while driving along Interstate 20 between
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
and the Georgia/South Carolina state line in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...
to drop off his son, Wyatt IV, so that his mother could pick him up. Durette told ''
Country Weekly
''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''.
Overview ...
'' magazine that, during one such trip, he began to think about "how yatt IVwould perceive imas a father." After he showed some of his lyrics to Zac Brown, Brown helped Durette finish the song.
Music video
The music video was directed by
Darren Doane
Darren Doane (born September 20, 1972) is an American filmmaker, actor, and music video director.country music their 'new
.'" Leeann Ward of Country Universe gave the song an A, referring to it as "touching and tastefully constructed" and saying that it "may turn out to be one of the best singles of 2009." Mark Deming of Allmusic, in his review of the album, stated that the song, as well as "Free," "show the influence of the more sentimental branches of the Texas singer-songwriter tradition." Pierce Greenberg of Engine 145, in his review of the album, referred to the song as a "geographical heartbreak song." Jessica Phillips of ''
Country Weekly
''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''.
Overview ...
'' magazine gave it four stars out of five, with her review calling it "honest, not syrupy" and describing Brown's "powerful vocals" as a standout.
Chart performance
On the week ending December 19, 2009, the song became Zac Brown Band's fourth consecutive Top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts. It debuted on the Hot 100 at #98 on the week ending January 30, 2010. It has since reached #40, becoming their fourth consecutive Top 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In April 2010, the song became Zac Brown Band's third Number One single on the Hot Country Songs chart. The song reached over a million copies in the US in April 2014, and as of February 2015, it has sold 1,058,000 copies.