#FlashbackFriday to "Neon Cowgirl" from Dan + Shay's 2023 "Bigger Houses" album: A look at the talented people behind the song

Have you ever wondered how much time and effort and how many people it takes in the studio for a song on an artist's album to come together? The majority of the time, Dan + Shay keep all of these details behind closed doors until the songs are released. The duo spends a lot of extra time in the studio compared to some artists to ensure they are writing the best songs possible for their fans, recording the best take of their vocals and the instruments played on each song, and the overall producing, mixing, and mastering of every track to make sure each one has the best quality sound on the album, streaming services, and on the radio.

#FlashbackFriday to 2023 when the duo released the song "Neon Cowgirl" from their Bigger Houses album. Let's take a look at all of the talented people who were involved in the making of the 11th track from their last studio album! In my opinion, the majority of these individuals do not get enough credit for what they do behind the scenes. I want to give them the spotlight they deserve below!

"Neon Cowgirl" was written by Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney, and co-writers Zach Crowell Jessie Jo Dillon, and Ashley Gorley. Smyers produced the track alongside popular country music producer Scott Hendricks. In addition to the two producers, there are other people who help make the song sounds its best before it goes on a CD, iTunes, and streaming services, including Masterer Andrew Mendelson, Digital Editor Brian David Willis, Mixer Justin Niebank, Additional Mixer Drew Bollman, Engineer Jeff Balding, and Assistant Engineer Michael Water.

Now, let's get down to breaking down the performers on the track. Mooney provides the vocals while Smyers also sings vocals and does the programming. Next up are the talented musicians who really bring the song to life. On "Neon Cowgirl", Aubrey Haynie plays the fiddle, Derek Wells is on electric guitar, Ilya Toshinskiy on electric guitar, Paul Franklin on steel guitar, Gordon Mote playing the keyboards and piano, Jimmie Lee Sloas on bass, and Nir Z on drums and percussion. 

All of the information listed above can be found under each song on Spotify and other streaming platforms, inside the album booklet, and on the Genius website https://genius.com/Dan-shay-neon-cowgirl-lyrics .

Below is the lyric video for "Neon Cowgirl"! I invite you to watch it and listen for all of the instruments I mentioned in the paragraph above!

I have always found what goes into the song making process to be very fascinating. Most of the time I listen to the vocals and instruments together. In the coming days and weeks on each of Dan + Shay's albums, I plan to focus on listening to the vocals the first time through and then focusing on the instruments the second time around. Finally, I will listen to both things together. I know I will hear things I haven't listened for before when going through these processes! This will also give me a deeper appreciation for all of the talented individuals who helped bring "Neon Cowgirl" to life!