"Every Other Weekend" is a duet 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, o ...

artists

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

and

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...

, recorded on the former's 2007 album '' Reba: Duets''. The song, written by

Skip Ewing Donald Ralph "Skip" Ewing (born March 6, 1964) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since 1988, Ewing has recorded nine studio albums and has charted 15 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts. Career Ewing was born ...

and Connie Harrington, is the third and final single from the album. When shipped to radio, Chesney's vocals were replaced with Ewing's, although for most of its chart run the song was not credited to either duet partner. It peaked at number 15 on the ''

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 advertis ...

'' country singles charts in 2008, and number 4 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

Content

"Every Other Weekend" is a ballad backed by

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

and a string section. It alternates between the male and female duet partners, who take the roles of a divorced couple that share custody of their children and exchange them "every other weekend". Despite the fact that they are divorced, both characters state that they still love each other but are unable to tell each other in front of their children.

Recording history

McEntire recorded the song as a duet with

on her 2007 album '' Reba Duets''. The song first charted in late 2007-early 2008, credited to both McEntire and Chesney, based on unsolicited airplay. Upon its official release as a single, it was re-recorded with

's vocals replacing Chesney's. The song was credited to "Reba McEntire with Skip Ewing or Kenny Chesney" for one week, and then credited to just McEntire for all subsequent weeks. Airplay for both versions was counted when the charts were tabulated.

Critical reception

Jim Malec Jim Malec is an American journalist and pop music critic known for writing about country music. Malec attended State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, where he worked as an editor for the college's student newspaper and was involved in a cen ...

, reviewing the Skip Ewing version for The 9513, gave it a thumbs-up rating. He considered Ewing a more traditionally country voice, and thought that Ewing was more effective than Chesney at conveying the emotions. Kevin J. Coyne of Country Universe, gave an A rating to the album version, and a B to the Skip Ewing re-recording. He said that Chesney "steps up his game" while Ewing "pales in comparison".

Music video

The music video was filmed in early June 2008, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. The video was directed by Roman White and features

Joanna García JoAnna García Swisher (''née'' García; born August 10, 1979) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Sam in '' Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1994–96), Vicki Appleby in '' Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), and Cheyenne Hart- ...

and Steve Howey, both of whom starred in McEntire's sitcom '' Reba'' as Cheyenne and Van, respectively. Chesney and Ewing do not appear in the video, although Chesney's recording is used. The video premiered on CMT on July 8, 2008.

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 2000s ballads 2007 songs 2008 singles Kenny Chesney songs Skip Ewing songs Reba McEntire songs MCA Nashville Records singles Country ballads Male–female vocal duets Music videos directed by Roman White Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Songs written by Skip Ewing Songs written by Connie Harrington Songs about divorce