Story Behind the Song: Billy Ray Cyrus and Johnny McGuire, ‘Chevys and Fords’
Johnny McGuire, formerly of Walker McGuire, released "Chevys and Fords" as his first solo single in 2019. The mid-tempo track finds McGuire and special guest Billy Ray Cyrus reflecting about their down-home, country roots, in part based in the trucks that men typically drive in small southern towns: Chevys and Fords.
"They were red, white and rusty / All dented up and dusty / They were sitting in that church parking lot / Every Sunday," McGuire and Cyrus sing. "Out in front of the bars or parked under the stars / With a girl in your arms who don't want nothin' more / Than a guy from a long line of Chevys and Fords."
"Chevys and Fords" was penned by McGuire, his former bandmate Jordan Walker, Rodney Clawson and Ben Hayslip. Read on for the full story behind the song as told by McGuire and Cyrus at the 2019 Canadian Country Music Awards.
Johnny McGuire: I wrote the song about a year ago, and I met Billy Ray in Los Angeles while we were filming an Audience Network thing. [Cyrus' daughter] Noah Cyrus was there filming that day, and her guitar broke, so I let her borrow my guitar. Billy Ray walked in and said, "Man, you saved the day, thank you so much. If there is anything I can ever do for you, let me know."
So, I thought, "I'm going to call him out on that," sent him the song, and about two days later he wrote back, "Let's do it. Let's get in the studio," and we recorded it.
Then [Cyrus' remix with Lil Nas X of the hit] "Old Town Road" came out, and we kinda just wanted to find the right time to put it out, and we did ...
Billy Ray Cyrus: I love country music, and I love a great country song. This song that Johnny wrote struck me as both.
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