After ringing in the New Year with a brand new, worldwide recording contract with Universal Music Group Nashville, Hot Country Knights unveiled their debut single during a press conference in Nashville on Thursday morning (Jan. 23).
During the event, the group debuted the ’90s country-infused “Pick Her Up,” a collaboration with Travis Tritt.
“The sound behind ‘Pick Her Up’ is Hot Country Knights 101…it’s so hot that I have advised the radio promotion department at UMG to wear oven mitts when delivering it to Country radio,” said HCK’s lead singer Doug Douglason. “Travis is an old buddy of ours…we go way back and everybody knows when you need a hit…you call Tritt. We appreciate his support and all our friends in the biz that are coming together right now to help us finally get our shot.”
The song, which officially hits country radio on February 3, was produced and written by Dierks Bentley along with co-writers Jim Beavers and Brett Beavers. The track marks the group’s first official radio single, and if Thursday’s press conference is any indication, it’s the first of many releases from Hot Country Knights. During the event, the band also shared the track “Asphalt,” a hilarious ballad featuring some interesting wordplay and the patriotic jam “USA Begins with Us.”
Originally formed in 2015, Hot Country Knights is comprised of Bentley (aka Douglas “Doug” Douglason) and members of his touring band. HCK consists of lead bass player Trevor Travis, lead guitarist Marty Ray (“Rayro”) Roburn, keytar/fiddle player Terotej (“Terry”) Dvoraczekynski, steel guitarist Barry Van Ricky and percussionist Monte Montgomery. The group previously opened up for Dierks Bentley and has shared the stage with artists such as Miranda Lambert, Jon Pardi and Thomas Rhett.
