Backstage Country

LISTEN LIVE

Dan + Shay’s ACM Song of The Year Nominee ‘Tequila’

“We have been know to drink a fair share of tequila,” Dan Smyers of Dan + Shay says about the song “Tequila,” nominated for the ACM’s Song of The Year…

Dan + Shay's ACM Song of The Year Nominee 'Tequila'
Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images

"We have been know to drink a fair share of tequila," Dan Smyers of Dan + Shay says about the song "Tequila," nominated for the ACM's Song of The Year Honor at Sunday's award show.

"When we got into songwriting we were with our friend Jordan and Nicole and writing with the title 'Tequila" and originally we thought that would be a cool, up tempo party song," said co-writer Dan Smyers. "And then we thought, 'You know what? That would be cool to spin it and make a heartbreak song. And tequila often brings people's memories back and take them to a special place and that's what we described in the song."

He continued, "So we wanted to keep it vulnerable and emotional and it starts off with a piano and Shay's vocal and it lets that lyric really sink in and get big and epic and anthemic by the end of the song."

The song has been the duo's biggest hit to date and won the guys a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Croup in February.

Dan + Shay will be performing on the ACM Awards on Sunday, which airs live from Las Vegas on CBS.

-Nancy Brooks

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.