When Drew Baldridge sat down with Tim Nichols and Jordan Walker to write “Senior Year” in 2018, he had no idea how meaningful the song would become only two years later. With so many activities associated with the senior year of high school canceled because of COVID-19. the song took on an unexpected twist no one anticipated.

“A family friend’s daughter posted a picture on Facebook, and underneath that she wrote ‘First day of senior year,'” Drew told Everything Nash. “I just remember thinking to myself, ‘Wow, I remember my first day and how often it was like being the king of the school and just feeling that emotion. I was like, ‘Man, this has never been written about really, that I know of.’ I sat down with my friends, Tim Nichols and Jordan Walker, and we got to talking about it. And before you knew it, the first line fell out. No time. ‘I remember that first day feeling like the King / Sitting out in my truck, freshmen, wishing they were me.’

“I think as soon as we got it, it only took us like an hour to write,” he continued. “As soon as we got done, we all knew there was something really, really special there. And what’s crazy is, when we wrote it, we never thought the senior year would disappear. We just meant, ‘Enjoy that time. It’s going to go by fast.'”

Drew has been traveling all over the country, performing “Senior Year” for high school graduates, mostly as a gift to the various classes of 2020.

“I’m not trying to make any money out of it,” Drew revealed. “I’m not making schools pay for shows. What we’re doing is, ‘Hey, if you could put me up somewhere or help some with some of the costs on the plane travel, that’s great.’ But we’re not making them pay a big fee or anything. I’m not playing any shows anyway; they’re all canceled. I can’t do anything. And I was like, ‘Well, I might as well be going out and playing music for these kids if I can.”

The whole idea began when Drew posted on social media, asking if anyone wanted him to come to their school, and was stunned by the multitude of messages he received.

“I just started doing it,” said the singer. “Last week we were in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Then we went from Lansdale to San Diego and then from San Diego to south of Portland. And then we ended up in Seattle on Monday, we played Seattle, south of Seattle … We played there on Monday.”

On Thursday, June 18, Drew will play close to his hometown, in Watertown, Tennessee, at the Stardust Drive-In Theatre, for the Watertown High School seniors. Download or stream “Senior Year” at DrewBaldridge.com.