Jackson Dean’s ‘Blacktop Blues’ and The Tug of War in Country’s Limelight: ‘The Beauty of Nashville Is That It’s a Song Town’

Between a frenzied undertow of slide guitars and a focus on laidback country life, Jackson Dean ’s “Blacktop Blues” depicts a guy in a hurry to slow down.

It’s kind of like a driving vacation: The tug to go somewhere new is strong, but when the escape comes to a close, somewhere near the end of the trip home, an anticipation returns, though this time it’s the excitement that comes from getting settled back into a place that feels right.

For Dean — and for just about every other country artist — it’s a familiar emotional cycle that accompanies touring.

The motivation to hit the road, present the music and see the faces of the fans is addictive, but after days of long bus rides and transitory environs, there’s a buzz that comes from getting back to the family.

“I got everything that I dreamed of, you know — a woman, and a cabin, and a dog, and one of the coolest jobs on planet Earth,” Dean says.

“It’s a cool bit of life that I’m getting to lead.

But I’m still out there four or five days a week, God knows where … so you’re gone all the time, and you’re just like, ‘Man, I need to pet my dog and kiss my lady.’ So, that song, ‘Blacktop,’ is all about getting home and getting back to respite.” Nashville’s songwriters have their own version of that story.

Hawkinsville, Ga., native Jimi Bell (“Last Night Lonely,” “Backup Plan”) exemplifies it, feeling the constant pressure to wax poetic about a lifestyle he no longer encounters every day.

“You take all these people from the corners of the earth, and bring them all together and put them all in a city and [say], ‘All right now, create for me,’” Bell notes.

“You take them out of the environment where they are naturally from, and the experiences that they had, and it can be frustrating at times.” That tug of war between big-city and small-town life emerged when Bell, Tucker Beathard (“Chevy Silverado,” “Rock On”) and Luke Dick (“Choosin’ Texas,” “Burning Man”) met up in May 2025 for a writing session at Little Louder Music.

Bell proposed a title, but it morphed into something else.

“His idea was ‘Red Dirt Blues,’” Beathard says.

“The next thing you know, we came up with ‘I need a little red dirt for my blacktop blues,’ like try to get [three] colors in there.

We had this hook and concept, and we spent a lot of the day mapping out some of it.” That mapping included the introduction of another shade from the palette, the contrast of a green country field versus a couple of weeds sneaking through urban concrete.