Tyler Farr Says Blake Shelton Wanted to Record ‘A Guy Walks Into a Bar’

Tyler Farr recently earned a No. 1 hit with "A Guy Walks Into a Bar," from his sophomore Suffer in Peace album. The song, written by Jonathan Singleton, Melissa Pierce and Brad Tursi, was a huge success for Farr, but it almost got to another major country star first.

“We were on [Jason Aldean's] Burn It Down Tour last year, and Blake [Shelton]’s wife Miranda Lambert joined us for a few shows," Farr recalls to Country Countdown USA. "So one day, Blake was hanging around backstage, and I hear him say, ‘Where’s that song stealer?’ Turns out he also had the song on hold. He comes over to me and says, ‘Let’s hear it, song stealer.’"

If you're wondering, Shelton was joking about the "song stealer" thing, and there's no hard feelings between the two singers. Shelton offered praise to Farr after hearing his version of the tune, and the two have become buddies.

"I played him my recording of the song, and he says, ‘Well done, brother, it got to the right person,'" Farr recounts. "So it was cool to get his approval. Then, last fall, he invited me to his hunting camp in Oklahoma. So we’ve become pretty good friends because of this song.”

Even though he knew it was a bit of a gamble, Farr purposely selected "A Guy Walks Into a Bar" as his lead single from Suffer in Peace.

"It wasn’t the typical thing that’s going on in country right now," Farr tells The Boot. "You hear a lot of uptempo [songs], with the happy-go-lucky, sing-a-long thing, and it really separated itself from that to me, and I wanted to do that with this album, separate it from the rest. I think that song stands out when you hear it on the radio, and when I go to pick a song, if I didn’t write it, I think, 'Sure, it sounds like me; I’ve either lived it, or could have lived it, or will live it in the future.'

"I wanted this album to be genuine and authentic and real, and "A Guy Walks Into a Bar" went very well with my voice," Farr adds. "I think it stands out on the radio, and I think that’s why it’s connected so well with the audience."

Farr has a packed summer schedule planned: He'll be performing several solo shows and serving as the opening act on select dates on Aldean's 2015 Burn It Down Tour. He'll also be planning a wedding, as he recently got engaged.

A list of all of Farr's upcoming shows is available on his website. Download "A Guy Walks Into a Bar" on iTunes.

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