Dustin Lynch talks enlisting MacKenzie Porter for his new single, 'Thinking 'Bout You'

Matthew Leimkuehler
Nashville Tennessean

Dustin Lynch went unseeingly into his latest duet. Literally. 

The Grand Ole Opry member and country-pop hitmaker relied on blind auditions to recruit a singing partner for his latest radio single, "Thinking 'Bout You." 

He didn't want name recognition or Instagram following to sway a decision. Lynch and his team received a half-dozen submissions, landing on Canadian country singer MacKenzie Porter. 

Porter, a rising Big Loud artist tapped for this year's CMT Next Women of Country class, joins Lynch for a reflective tune that hears lost love reunite. They sing in the chorus: "Don't be sorry for callin' me up out of the blue/ I was was just thinkin' 'bout you." 

Recap:ASCAP Country Music Awards 2020: Old Dominion, Ashley Gorley receive honors

"I could tell she was going to be a rock star," said Lynch, a native of Tullahoma, Tennessee. "And she already is. I'm honored to have her apart of it." 

Dustin Lynch. File photo.

Originally released with Lauren Alaina on his 2020 album "Tullahoma," Lynch and Porter's new take on "Thinking 'Bout You" impacts country radio on Monday. Read along for excerpts from an interview where Lynch explains how his latest duet came to be. 

Why Lynch released a new version of "Thinking 'Bout You": "Since the day I wrote his song it had that kinda gut feeling special thing to it," Lynch said. "I wish I could figure out what that is, because I would do it more often when I'm writing. It just raised its hand. We released the album and the version with Lauren [Alaina] rocketed. It took off on its own without us shining any sort of light on it." 

Latest in music:What Grace Potter learned from a year of socially distanced shows: 'The joy is still there'

"I knew right away that timing would be a challenge to get it to release with Lauren's release schedule ... That's why we decided, you know what, let's find someone who can help me bring this song to life and allow us to release this song and give it the life it deserves." 

Single artwork for Dustin Lynch and MacKenzie Porter single "Thinking 'Bout You."

How he recruited Porter: "I kept just coming back to this one version and I played it for my friends," Lynch said. "They voted and everybody on my team was pointing to this one version and it ended up being MacKenzie's. Then I got to dive in. ... I knew the name. I'd seen her name splash up on some Big Loud social stuff but I didn't know anything about her. That was great, and a bit nerve-wrecking, too. I loved the version now I'm hoping I love the person."

What stood out from her audition: "It wasn't over-performed, but at the same time she was hitting those big, sailing notes effortlessly," Lynch said. "The 'Thinking 'Bout You' vocal, being that she's having to sing a high octave over my vocal, is a bit challenging but she pulls it off and then has this successful tone tone in the verse. That's really what I jumped on." 

On what's next from Lynch: "We've been working hard in the studio," he said. "I've got a couple others songs I'm finishing up that'll be coming mid-summer. I've got another song I'm working on that'll be coming late summer. We're just gonna keep releasing music when it makes sense, every couple months. I took a hard look with my producer ... and we're really close to having an album done." 

Live music returns:Concerts are coming back, and Nashville is leading the charge