Songfacts®:

• Dean Madonia has been writing country music in Nashville since 2002. He met up-and-coming country artist, Tim Dugger, through a mutual friend who was producing Dugger. Madonia and Dugger wrote "(I Called Her) Tennessee" in their first writing session together.
• In our interview with Dean Madonia, he revealed Dugger's intention for the tune: "He just wanted to write a song about partying and spring break and I was like, 'Well, I lived in Fort Lauderdale for 20 years so I know a little bit about that.'"
  
  Madonia explained that they came up with the title first, which can sometimes make it difficult to write a song. When they got near the end of it, they needed a hook. "I thought of some people that I've known that we just called them by their state name: 'Okay, there Michigan. Hey, Alabama,'" said Madonia. "And it was like, 'Hey, I never knew her name so I called her Tennessee,' and we both looked at each other and were like, 'Yes!' So that was like a gift. It just came."
• Tim Dugger is an Alabama native who relocated to Nashville, Tennessee. Dugger is a huge NASCAR fan and plays a great deal of concerts in that circuit. He became a favorite among the drivers and their crews, which ultimately led him to Nashville, where he signed a record contract with Curb Records.