Southern Boy

Album: Southern Boy (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • This Jeremy Stover, Luke Laird and Barry Dean penned song pays tribute to Chattanooga teen Cameron Scroggins, who died of cancer at 16.

    Stover was inspired to write the song after meeting Scroggins, who despite his illness was always upbeat and never lost his smile. "The first time I heard the song and didn't know the back story, I thought of me and my buddies back home," Rager told Taste of Country. "It sounded like me and my friends riding around Friday nights trying to pick up girls in trucks. Then when [I learned] the back story of it I was like, 'That's a story people need to hear.'"
  • The song features Rager's fellow Georgia native Jason Aldean on duet vocals. "Having him on a song is a real dream come true. He's grown into this big brother to me," Rager said. "I've never done a radio tour before or CRS before and Jason became that veteran presence I could go to. I could text him and be like, 'Hey man, I have a question. Give me a call when you have a chance.' He's really been a great influence to me on the music side of it, but he's been a big influence on the personal standpoint, too. It's been really good to have his support and his ears."

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