Recently, Jo Dee Messina followed the leads of Reba McEntire, Randy Travis and other country music veterans by signing up for TikTok. A jovial intro video from Messina's tour bus arrived in early October, followed by a behind-the-scenes look at a day on the road.
Yet, it's the third post solidifying Messina as an artist worth watching on the app. The video shows the latest must-see TikTok dance by Walker Hayes and his 16-year-old daughter, Lela. The pairs rug-cutting skills made "Fancy Like" the social media standard for trending country audio. Messina joins the Hayes family on its familiar front porch for an interpretive dance to her '90s country standard "Heads Carolina, Tails California."
@jodeemessina Shut the front porch! It?s @Walker Hayes! #headscarolina #headscarolinatailscalifornia #jodeemessina #countrymusic #walkerhayes
The 27-second clip was posted Oct. 10, gaining nearly 100K views in less than 20 hours, proving TikTok's role in breaking new country songs and pushing the music of Messina, Keith Whitley and other legends back to the forefront.
Not that Messina's breakthrough hit from 1996 was missing from TikTokers' personal playlists. Cole Swindell had already shifted it to the forefront with his recent smash single "She Had Me at Heads Carolina."
One common thread runs through all three of Messina's TikTok posts: She comes across in each as if she's having the time of her life, whether she's introducing herself to the digital world or trying to keep pace with Lela Hayes' dance moves. Even if Messina signed up for the app at her management's behest, she's clearly enjoying herself while connecting with 25K+ followers (and growing).
As for Walker Hayes, he's currently wrapping up his "Glad You're Here" tour dates while riding the momentum of current single "Y'all Life." His freshly-released feel-good duet "High Heels" teams the Nashville star with pop-accessible rapper Flo Rida.
