Drew Baldridge has a Top 15 hit with “Tough People,” a song he wrote with Adam Sanders, Jordan Walker, and Luke Combs. The song was inspired by Baldridge’s slow climb in country music, and his frustration with not seeing his dreams become a reality.
“When I was going through that time, that’s how I felt,” Baldridge recalls of writing the song, while at a recent media event with Everything Nash and other outlets. The song says in part, “Keep on fighting when you’re back’s against the wall / Keep on getting back up when you fall / Keep on keeping your head held high / ‘Cause I still believe / Hard work pays off / Good beats evil / And tough times make tough people.”
“Tough People” follows Baldridge’s “She’s Somebody’s Daughter,” which became his first No. 1 single, and the first time in history that an independent artist landed the top of the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart,
“We wrote this song, I recorded it in December,” Baldridge remembers. “And then the next month Luke Combs recorded it. I was like, ‘That’s cool.’ But also … I wanted it. And mind you, [‘She’s Somebody’s Daughter’] was in the 50s at the time, so it made tons of sense for Luke to record it.”
Before Combs was able to record “Tough People,” he first released his Fathers and Sons album, which by then meant that Baldridge’s “She’s Somebody’s Daughter” had hit the Top 10.
“I called him,” Baldridge remembers. “I said, ‘Hey man, I don’t know wha you’re doing with that song, but if it doesn’t mean as much to you as it does to us and what we’re doing, just let me know.’ He sent me this sweet voice message that I’ve still got, and he said, ‘Drew, you wrote it, you should sing it. It’s your message. I will root you on all the way to No. 1 with it.’
Baldridge admits he second-guessed his decision to not let Combs record his song, but is now grateful that he kept it for himself.
“Luke recorded ‘Tough People’ first,” Baldridge tells People. “I was looking for a second single and I had always loved ‘Tough People,’ but I just felt like the song was already his.”
Baldridge later ran into Combs, and thanked him for giving up the song so he could record it.
“I saw him in Nashville when ‘Tough People’ had just reached the Top 15 and I thanked him and he was like, ‘Shut up, man,” Baldridge remembers. “He said, ‘Don’t say thank you. This is your moment. This is your song. I’m so happy for you.’ And he was so kind. And it’s just been another one of those things where you see why when you take a chance on yourself, you never know what might happen.”
After making history with “She’s Somebody’s Daughter,” Baldridge admits he had a tough time choosing which song to release next.
“Picking the second single was almost harder than picking the first, because I wanted to make sure I didn’t end up a one-hit wonder,” Baldridge acknowledges. “I love ‘She’s Somebody’s Daughter,’ but I didn’t want to be the ‘She’s Somebody’s Daughter’ guy forever. I wanted to be more than that.”
Fortunately, Baldridge’s days of releasing music on his own are now in the past. The 33-year-old now is also a signed artist. “Tough People” is being released by BBR Music Group/Stoney Creek Records in partnership with Baldridge’s own Lyric Ridge Records. Find “Tough People” and all of Baldridge’s music and upcoming shows at DrewBaldridgeMusic.com.