When A Thousand Horses hit the radio waves with "Smoke" in 2014, their success was unexpected, if not downright surprising. Now, the band hopes to replicate some of that success with new single "Preachin' To The Choir."
The tune captures everything that made fans love their first big hit. For starters, the melody feels different enough from what you normally hear, but not far from "Smoke." And for a rock band playing country tunes, A Thousand Horses lays off the heavy just enough to seem sentimental.
Lines like "Momma says she's praying hard to keep me out of hell" actually carry a bit of heart. Though, don't mistake "Preachin' To The Choir" for an emotional missive. This tune is 100% party song.
Not that their fans mind. In fact, A Thousand Horses does well to keep their crowd front and center in the tune. Because most of the chorus is directed right at them.
The song honors the 9 to 5'ers who party a little too hard (but not hard enough to not make it to church on Sunday mornings). If it sounds like a familiar tale, that's because it is. Lee Brice's "Drinking Class" rode the concept all the way to No. 1 on the year-end chart (though it only hit No. 2 during its rise).
Singer Michael Hobby told Rolling Stone Country this song is "the working people's anthem." Of their fans, he says, "They work hard, they love hard and they play hard, and that's what the song really speaks to."
Interestingly enough, none of the fellas in A Thousand Horses wrote the tune. "Preachin' To The Choir" came from the pens of Heather Morgan, Brad Warren, Brett Warren and Morgan Wallen. This marks the first time the band cut a song none of them had a hand in writing.
This is the first taste of music from the band's second major label album, though we don't know a title or release date for it yet.
