Gone West is a Little Big Town-type country soft-pop foursome comprising Colbie Caillat, her fiancé, Justin Young, her longtime collaborator, Jason Reeves and his wife, Nelly Joy. The latter pair were also in a duo together called High Dive Heart.

The quartet came together after they all worked together on Caillat's 2016 album The Malibu Sessions, and then went on tour to support it. This song explains the band's name. Young told Billboard: "We're all from west of Tennessee and when we're not in Nashville, chances are we've gone west - back to Iowa, Texas, California or Hawaii. Each verse is about going to our significant other's hometown and bringing them to Nashville. It's autobiographical and kind of our band's theme song."