I couldn’t love this more.
Hailey Whitters and Ernest teamed up to recreate the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton classic “Islands In the Stream”.
It’s actually the first part of an upcoming, collaborative seven song EP, Countrypolitan, that’s set to be released on September 17th. The EP will include six original songs aside from this duet.
The best part is that their version is very similar to the original, 1983 monster #1 hit we all know and love. They really didn’t change much at all in terms of the original sound or arrangement.
And, their voices really do pair well together.
Hailey told Rolling Stone the idea was spawned from a long search down a YouTube rabbit hole:
“The idea for this project came about one day as I was going down the rabbit hole listening to old country duets.
It seemed like back in the day everyone used to release collaboration records: Dolly and Kenny, Loretta and Conway, Tammy and George…. you don’t really see full length records like that anymore and I was thinking it would be fun to do a project like that in today’s modern era.
I sat on the idea waiting for the right partner and the first day Ern and I wrote it just felt like a natural fit.”
As someone who loves the old classics and duets of all those aforementioned country stars, I’m super excited to hear the full project and everything they’ve come up with, especially in terms of their writing.
Ernest is a frequent co-writer of Morgan Wallen and Hardy, and Hailey’s an incredible songwriter and artist in her own right.
They wanted to cover this song in particular because they both get comparisons to Dolly and Kenny, so it seemed like a natural fit:
“I had mentioned an ‘Islands in the Stream’ cover because of the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton comparisons we both get.
I wish Kenny Rogers were still alive so I could shake his hand, and I hope he would approve.”
Take a few minutes to check out their awesome, retro cover here:
Countrypolitan Tracklist:
1. “Islands in the Stream”
2. “Say Anything”
3. “String Me Along”
4. “One Less Whiskey”
5. “White Limousine”
6. “Every Piece of Me”
7. “Neon Silver & Jukebox Gold”
