Rising country stars Ernest and Hailey Whitters have announced their new Countrypolitan collaboration, kicking off with a cover of the classic Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ track ‘Islands in the Stream.’
Singer-songwriter Ernest and rising country star Hailey Whitters have announced COUNTRYPOLITAN, their new collab born in a co-writing session that honours the deep history of country duets records. Their first single, a sparkling cover of the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers classic “Islands In The Stream,” is out now alongside an official video directed by Harper Smith. They have also their debut COUNTRYPOLITAN, a 7-track collection produced by Jake Gear (Hailey Whitters, Flatland Cavalry) that will be released on September 17 via Big Loud Records/Songs & Daughters/Pigasus Records.
“When we were hashing through song ideas for this project, we knew we wanted to for sure do a cover. Ern brought up the idea of ‘Islands in the Stream’ and of course me, being a huge Dolly fan, was all about it,” explains Whitters. “Jacob Durrett laid the foundation for the reimagination of this song and I think he brilliantly found a way to reinvent the song in a way that can appeal to a newer, younger audience of country music listeners while still maintaining the integrity and feel of the original version. In both the visual and sound of this song, we wanted it to be bright and happy while continuing to spread a message and feeling of love and unity. I hope when listeners hear this song they can feel that.”
“I had mentioned an ‘Islands In The Stream’ cover because of the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton comparisons we both get,” shares ERNEST. “I wish Kenny Rogers were still alive so I could shake his hand, and I hope he would approve.”
The COUNTRYPOLITAN EP was inspired by a love for classic duets records by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, Tammy Wynette and George Jones, and Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty that ERNEST and Hailey were raised on, but haven’t heard a modern version of. In addition to “Islands In The Stream,” the EP features six original songs written by Hailey Whitters and ERNEST.
“The idea for this project came about one day as I was going down the rabbit hole listening to old country duets,” explains Whitters. “It seemed like back in the day everyone used to release collaboration records: Dolly and Kenny, Loretta and Conway, Tammy and George…. you don’t really see full length records like that anymore and I was thinking it would be fun to do a project like that in today’s modern era. I sat on the idea waiting for the right partner and the first day Ern and I wrote it just felt like a natural fit.”
“I didn’t know it at the time, but Countrypolitan means the Nashville sound,” adds ERNEST. “This is such a cool side project because I love old school music. It was fun to write with that in mind, but still with a fresh perspective. The production on this project is awesome, and the band was great. There are real strings, real fiddles. It feels like it all came together in the blink of an eye.”
COUNTRYPOLITAN Tracklist:
01) Islands In The Stream
02) Say Anything
03) String Me Along
04) One Less Whiskey
05) White Limousine
06) Every Piece Of Me
07) Neon Silver & Jukebox Gold
