Go in the studio with the bands as they record a song that nods to their shared beliefs
Needtobreathe and Red Clay Strays have come together for a new collaboration. In a mini-doc premiering on Rolling Stone, the two bands take fans inside the studio as they record the comforting ballad “Momma Loves Me.”
Produced by Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb at his Savannah, Georgia, studio, the song taps into the shared beliefs and upbringings at the heart of both Needtobreathe and Red Clay Strays, two groups that have never shied away from their faith. “Take my scars, and take my troubles/spread my ashes in the wind/Momma loves me, I’m still born again,” Needtobreathe’s Bear Rinehart and the Strays’ Brandon Coleman sing in the chorus.
“We feel like we’re making the best music of our lives or we wouldn’t still be doing it,” Rinehart says in the doc. After writing “Momma Loves Me,” he says he took it directly to Coleman, playing the song for him backstage at a show.
Coleman was immediately drawn to the chorus’s message of redemption. “Maybe that’s the Southern redneck in me,” he says, telling Rinehart, “We got to do that.”
Coleman also talks about the influence of Needtobreathe on Red Clay Strays, saying that they had a “song for just about every major event. It’s just wild being able to work with them now.”
For Rinehart, reaching out to Coleman was a no-brainer. “I just knew Brandon and the band would relate to this song, because they’ve stayed completely true to what they believe, and that is so refreshing to me,” Rinehart said in a statement. “I don’t think I have ever seen somebody have the kind of success they’re having and also be exactly who they are all the time.”
“Momma Loves Me,” by Needtobreathe featuring the Red Clay Strays, officially drops Sept. 5.
