Martina McBride recently appeared on NBC’s hit show Songland and after collaborating with producer-panelists Ryan Tedder, Ester Dean and Shane McAnally, the superstar selected a new song to add to her catalog.
McBride released the new track, “Girls Like Me” to streaming services earlier this week. The song was originally written by Songland songwriter HALIE and her brother, recording artist Michael Tyler, Dan Swank, and Lexi Lauren. HALIE, who moved to Nashville after graduating high school in 2018, was then paired with Dean to adapt the song for McBride. Writing a song for the country icon was a dream come true for the budding songwriter.
“I grew up listening to Martina and ‘This One’s For The Girls’ was one of my favorites,” HALIE shared in a statement. “We wanted to write a song that girls can relate to in an honest way. I wanted them to know that it’s ok to have insecurities. I’m so glad I get to deliver that message through Martina McBride.”
McBride felt an instant connection to the song and its message.
“I love the message of this song,” she said. “We’ve all gone through things in life and have dealt with insecurities and mistakes. HALIE wrote this from a young woman’s perspective and I needed to be able to sing it from the perspective of someone who has already been down this road and is saying basically, ‘I’ve been where you are and it’s all going to be ok.’ There was so much of the lyric and melody that I loved and once I was able to find the way to flip the narrative, so to speak, it all came together beautifully. I think the message is powerful and relatable.”
McBride went on to co-produce the song with Nathan Champman, which was a challenge in itself due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Studios are closed and you are not allowed to gather musicians together to record. I have to say that I don’t know how I could have made this record without Nathan. He is such a gifted musician, singer, and producer and was able to play and record all of the instruments on the track from his home studio,” McBride shared. “Aside from our initial meeting, before isolation began, when I played him the demo and we talked about doing this project, we were never in the same building throughout the entire recording process. But we both had the same vision and we were able to communicate that into a beautiful finished record.”
Click above to listen to “Girls Like Me.”
Songland airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.
