Rascal Flatts has returned to the music scene after a lengthy break and is fired up with new music and a fresh tour. It’s all product of a re-vamped perspective and appreciation for their career.
After being forced to cancel their originally scheduled farewell tour in 2020 due to the global pandemic, the guys will finally hit the road with their 2025 Life Is A Highway Tour, named after one of their most iconic singles from 2006. Originally sung by Tom Cochrane in 1991, the song became a hit for Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus after Pixar presented them the opportunity to cover it for the movie Cars. Eighteen years later and still a fan favorite, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t a fairytale fit right from the start.
During an appearance on Rob + Holly’s Friday Night Takeover, Rascal Flatts bassist, Jay DeMarcus, shared he had major reservations about recording the song when it was first presented by Pixar Films owner at the time, John Lasseter.
“I wasn’t sure about it. I have to admit, I was like, ‘I don’t know that I want to be the third artist to redo ‘Life is a Highway.,’” DeMarcus shared. “I was just kind of like, ’I don’t know that I want to be attached to that song that’s already had several iterations done of it.”
In addition to his hesitations surrounding the song itself, Jay shared he had a hard time wrapping his mind around the movie’s plot which also added to his hesitancy.
“He [Lasseter] sat down and had his rough sketch storybook of Lightning McQueen and Mater all these [characters],” Jay recalled of the lunch meeting they attended for the initial pitch. “He flipped through and he’s like, ’all these cars talk to each other throughout the movie, they’re like people.’ I remember sitting there thinking, ’God, this sounds like the worst thing ever.’ Talking cars, that’s a hard thing to wrap your head around.”
It was the trio’s label president at the time for Lyric Street Records, Randy Goodman, who ultimately encouraged the guys to go for it calling it a “wonderful opportunity.” “Looking back now, I was completely wrong. I’m forever grateful that the song had the impact that it did. It really had a whole new life because of the movie and because of our version.”
It’s not just the song that has been timeless for the guys, it’s also marked the beginning of a meaningful industry relationship as it was the first time they ever worked with now long-time producer, Dann Huff.
“That was the very first song we cut with Dann Huff,” DeMarcus recalled. “That started our relationship with him.” Rascal Flatts went on to work with Huff for several more projects including their 2006 album, Me and My Gang, and their 2014 album, Rewind.
To bring it all full circle, Huff is also one of the producers on the guys’ brand new single featuring the Jonas Brothers, “I Dare You.” “We went into studio with Dann Huff and cut the track and it was so much fun after all these years to be back in with Dann and making music with him,” Jay expressed of the new single before sharing how the song came to be a collaboration.
“They [Jonas Brothers] came to us with a song they had written with Shay Mooney from Dan + Shay and they said, ‘I feel like this is a really great song for Rascal Flatts to cut. In fact, we would love to cut it with you if you’d ever like to do a collaboration.’ We jumped at the chance,” shared Jay. “Who doesn’t want to do a song with the Jonas Brothers?”
“I feel like it’s very much a Jonas Brothers chorus, but it has a little bit of a Country twist on it and I think Dann was able to beautifully marry both styles together and I’m really proud of it.”
Check out the new song below, plus, hear all about the story behind it and some of their other biggest hits by listening to Jay DeMarcus’ full interview with Audacy’s Rob + Holly above.
