Lee Brice and Dallas Davidson’s titular original song ‘The Neon Highway’ is the ‘heart and soul’ of the country music drama
“Reading that script over and over just to make sure that I did not mess this up was a challenge. It was different. It was hard,” declares Academy of Country Music award-winning songwriter Dallas Davidson about his first time writing a song for a film. For our recent webchat about his song “The Neon Highway” from the film of the same name, which is performed by Grammy-nominated and ACM-winning country music artist Lee Brice, Davidson adds, “I wanted to write a song that fit the script and that was my goal. I hope it connected!” Watch our video interview with Davidson and Brice above.
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“The Neon Highway” was written by Phillip Rob Bellury and William Wages, directed by Wages and stars Rob Mayes and Beau Bridges, featuring appearances by country music stars Brice and Pam Tillis, with the titular original theme song sung by Brice and written by Davidson. The film follows an aspiring country music singer-songwriter, whose dreams of making it in Nashville are shattered after a devastating car crash. Years later, while struggling to make ends meet, a chance encounter with a country music legend reignites his dream as they form a partnership to navigate the challenges of an evolving country music scene.
“Lee and I go back 20 years,” Davidson says when reflecting on what the song represents about artistic expression and enduring friendship. As the song’s chorus begins with the refrain, “living the dream on a neon highway; only way I know to do it is to do it my way,” the songwriter explains that “that line just flew out because when we write songs, we really get in touch with who we are,” while Brice adds that “he’s always done it his way, and Dallas is not shy to tell you, ‘this is what I’m feeling; I want to be honest.’ And so he’s going to be honest with you at all times,” he says. “There’s so many moving parts and so much work that goes into it, and heart and soul. You still try to do it your way, to walk the line of what you do, so it’s so gratifying because it could easily go the other way, and it’s like you’re just putting your heart out on your sleeve.”
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