"The Heart of Dixie" is a song written by

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records ( ...

Troy Verges Troy Verges is an American songwriter of country and pop music from Louisiana. Career His first cut as a songwriter was a track on Faith Hill's '' Breathe''. His credits include the singles " Wanted", recorded by Hunter Hayes; "Beer Money", r ...

and

Caitlyn Smith Caitlyn Smith (born June 13, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She was raised in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Smith's debut album ''Starfire'' was released on Monument Records on January 19, 2018. Her second studio album, ''Supern ...

, and recorded by American

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, ...

artist

Danielle Bradbery Danielle Simone Bradbery (born July 23, 1996) is an American country pop singer. She won season 4 of NBC's ''The Voice'' in 2013, becoming the youngest artist to win the competition at age 16. Bradbery's record has since been eclipsed by Sawyer F ...

. It was released on July 16, 2013 as her debut single after being crowned the winner of the fourth season of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'', and the lead single of her eponymous debut album ''

''.

Composition

The song is in the key of

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...

and has a moderate tempo of 84 beats per minute. The verses are in time signature (3+4+3+4) before changing to in the chorus

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of country music blog ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' gave the song a mixed review, stating that although Bradbery's "natural sweetness" shines in her "admirable" performance, the sixteen-year-old lacks the experience and conviction needed to be a good musical storyteller. ''Roughstock'' responded more positively to the song, which contributor ''Matt Bjorke'' felt was right "in her element" and left him feeling "excited to hear what she has in store for her full-length debut album". Bjorke lauded the "timeless arrangement" as well as Bradbery's delivery, which he described as having "the confidence of someone... twice her age". ''Nashville Gab'' gave the song an A− rating for " appinginto what Danielle does best" and highlighting her "effortless" and "authentic" vocals. The blog cited such influences as

The Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

and

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...

in declaring "The Heart of Dixie" exemplary of "country-pop at its finest".

Music video

The music video was directed by

Shane Drake Shane C. Drake is an American music video director and producer originally from Redding, California. He has directed videos for many artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne, Trivium, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic! a ...

and premiered September 23, 2013. The Music video starts off with Bradbery arriving at the Butterfly Hollow along with her friends. There are scenes where Dixie is packing up her things and hitting the road. Bradbery eventually meets an older Dixie who is the owner of Butterfly Hollow.

Chart performance

"The Heart of Dixie" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart for the week of July 27, 2013. As of March 2014, The song has sold 375,000 copies in the US.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heart Of Dixie, The 2013 debut singles 2013 songs Danielle Bradbery songs Republic Nashville singles Songs written by Caitlyn Smith Songs written by Brett James Songs written by Troy Verges Song recordings produced by Brett James Music videos directed by Shane Drake Big Machine Records singles Republic Records singles Songs about the American South