NBC Griffen Palmer on Songland
The latest episode of Songand featured Grammy-nominated country duo Florida Georgia Line, made up of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley.
They burst onto the country scene in 2012 with “Cruise” and have since had five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country chart, plus dozens of other hit songs. The duo can boast three of the five longest-running No. 1 hits on the Hot Country Songs chart: “Cruise,” “Meant to Be,” and “H.O.L.Y.”
At the start of their episode of Songland, producer Ryan Tedder said of the duo, “These guys are killer songwriters. They write hit songs for everybody else, including themselves, and they created their own genre within the country genre.”
Ahead is a rundown of their Songland episode, including the winning song and how to download it, but be warned of spoilers.
Contestants
Ahead of the performances, the two guys said they were looking for “something with energy … something that we feel, something that our fans will know is us.”
“We really love the concept of Songland and the fact that it really showcases songwriters,” said Hubbard. “Ultimately, we’re songwriters at heart, that’s our No. 1 passion.”
The four contestants who performed for them were:
- Shawn Austin, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, “Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”
- Lukr, Hanover, Pennsylvania, “Hopes High”
- Victoria Banks, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, “That’s a Country Song”
- Griffen Palmer, Pickering, Ontario, Canada, “Second Guessing”
The three artists chosen to advance were Lukr, who was assigned to Tedder; Griffen Palmer, who was assigned to producer Shane McAnally; and Shawn Austin, who was assigned to producer Ester Dean.
The Winning Song
The song Florida Georgia Line chose to record was “Second Guessing” by Griffen Palmer. The duo said that that was the song they “fell most in love with.” During the workshopping portion of the show, the duo advised Palmer and McAnally to take out some of the song’s references to drinking because they think the song is so beautiful that it might be “a wedding song,” so they wanted the whole piece to reflect that “sweetness.”
After the performance of the revamped version, the duo said of the song, “I love what you did with the production, the guitar licks you added. I think the tweaks that were done on the chorus really helped solidify that hook. This is Nashville now, man, you guys nailed it.”
“To have your songs enjoyed by other people and for them to believe in them enough to record them is one thing, but a band that you really love and admire recording your songs is a completely different thing, so I don’t think I’ve completely comprehended what is going on yet.
“Griffen is super talented. The toughest thing to do is do a really clever twist and play on words and I think he already had that nailed down,” said Hubbard. “It was just up to Shane and Griffin as a team to put the other pieces together. We were highly impressed.”
“We’re leaving with a love song. It feels like it’s good for us now, it feels like it could be good for us 50 years from now. It feels timeless,” added Kelley.
You can hear the full song on Songland’s and Florida Georgia Line’s YouTube channel and download it now on iTunes and Spotify.
Songland airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, following new episodes of The Voice.
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