Rascal Flatts' Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets includes some heavy hitters in music. The 10-track project features collaborations with both country music and pop stars, including Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, the Jonas Brothers, and more.
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It's a far cry from what Rascal Flatts initially envisioned for the record.
"Initially ... it was gonna be people that opened for us on tour or somebody that our music has influenced," lead singer Gary LeVox reveals to ABC News Radio. "And you know, it was such a long process to get it all done."
Rascal Flatts has had plenty of hits to their credit, which is why it might seem that artists would argue over which songs to sing. Fortunately, that never happened.
"I've had people ask me like, 'How did you pick who to sing what?'" Jay DeMarcus says. "And it was cool because we just let them kind of pick their song. And everybody landed on a different one. There was nobody fighting over the same song. It was pretty cool."
Rascal Flatts and Kelly Clarkson's "I'm Movin' On"
Life Is A Highway: Refueled Duets closes with one of the stand-out tracks on the record, their "I'm Movin' On" duet with Kelly Clarkson.
"'I'm Movin' On' that Kelly did was such a magical, moving moment," LeVox says. "She had already done the vocal by the time I got in there. We just kind of listened to it really, and it was so good. And I think at that point in her life, that song, she was living it. And so, it was just right for her to do it, and us just put a little salt and pepper on it."
The song starts with Clarkson's soaring vocals, with LeVox surprising listeners by coming in at an unexpected time, adding to the magic of the song.
"I think it's kind of a nice surprise when you come out of nowhere at the end of that last verse," DeMarcus tells LeVox. "And that song, the kind of singers you guys are, it'd be easy to do every lick and every run and sing in the stratosphere. But that song is about the emotion of that message. And that's what was front and center for me. When she sang it, you felt it with conviction. And so, I think the restraint that's shown on that arrangement is perfect for the message of that song."
