In the early 2000s, Nashville songwriter Lee Thomas Miller attended a Broadcast Music International awards ceremony. During the event, a series of black-and-white photos was featured on a screen for guests to view. Miller didn’t recognize many of the industry professionals in the photos from the 1960s, but he did pick out some of the artists, like pioneering country musician Kitty Wells.
As Miller thought about how much he would have loved to get to know all the people in the photos, the seeds of a country song were planted. Weeks later, when he chatted with fellow country music songwriter Jamey Johnson about the old photos and how there could be a song inspired by the images’ nostalgia, the two quickly came up with the future hit single’s concept. They planned to meet up later and write the track. As their conversation came to a close, Johnson said, “There’s your idea. … You should’ve seen it in color.”
