The song delivers a new chapter of the rising country star’s career
Jackson Dean delivers his next single, the studio version of his live show staple and fan-favorite, “Heavens To Betsy,” as he announces his sophomore album, On The Back of My Dreams. Set to be released September 6th via Big Machine Records, the 13-track project is a layered body of work that leaves listeners with things to ponder. Already one of Nashville’s most intriguing artists, with the new project, Dean embarks on an impressive and bold new chapter. Taking his gritty, rambling highwayman spirit that fans have come to expect to new heights, Dean plays with the turn of phrases, biblical references, soaring guitars and blink-and-you-might-miss subliminal messages to construct big, wide-open songs that demand equally bone-shaking vocals.
Each song is a vision and together completes the picture: Jackson Dean is a man dreaming of truly living—and truly living that dream. Across the 46-minute set, you find a man in relentless pursuit of witnessing every single thing that life has to offer during his time here on earth—taking in every experience, feeling, and sight and looking it in the eye. Dean worked with his bandmates, some of Nashville’s finest musicians and producer Luke Dick to tackle concepts of freedom, solace, pain, youth, mortality, and the things that haunt and creep into our subconscious.
“The title can be interpreted from a few different angles but the face value of that phrase is that in-between state when you’re in the process of waking up, but reality hasn’t quite set in and each song on this project has a little bit of that magical surreal feeling…its drawn from a lyric in the song ‘Jane,’ this kind of otherworldly, misty tune that immediately embedded into my brain,” Dean shares. “I’ve lived a lot of life and have watched a lot of life be lived and each of these songs were written from a single frame of life, almost as vignettes, drawn from daydreams, nightmares and everything in between.”
“Heavens To Betsy” is a stand-out that places Dean in the shoes of a regret-filled man attempting to send a transmission from the beyond to right the wrongs of his past and seek redemption with his daughter. The song has struck a deep chord with listeners of all ages who have found a cathartic connection to its characters and its soul-stirring plea for atonement.
“’Heavens to Betsy’ is like the little song that could. We wrote it and never thought it’d see the light of day but I started playing it on a radio tour to get it out of my head… and kill time and I saw a grown man break down and cry to it. That’s an image that will hit you like a ton of bricks. So we started incorporating a bigger version of it into our live shows and I thought the Live At The Ryman version would be the only place it lived. But once again this song exceeded my expectations… night after night people tell me how it’s helping them through their grief – which is such a beautiful thing,” explained Jackson Dean. “Just the other day someone told me that their father died 11 years ago and hearing ‘Betsy’ gave them the closure they’ve been seeking. That’s the reason we do this.”
Going from a 19-year-old Jackson hearing the expression “heavens to Betsy!” for the first time and being struck with a flash image of a man sitting on the outskirts of heaven, trying to communicate with his daughter via a CB radio, to becoming his third radio single because of fierce fan-reaction, the unexpected journey of “Heavens To Betsy” encapsulates that surreal aura of On The Back Of My Dreams and takes a gruff from the opposite side of living that carpe diem spirit and its consequences.
Co-written with Benjy Davis, and Driver Williams, “Heavens To Betsy” finds a man finally addressing the things he once couldn’t bear to face and takes listeners on an emotional journey starting out sincere but reserved, backed by light acoustic guitar. By the chorus, words begin to flow out of him as his comfort grows and the song swells until the despair bursts out alongside a piercing electric guitar that continues to build and build until its final breath.
“Heavens To Betsy” follows Dean’s Top 10 sophomore single “Fearless” and his No. 1 debut single “Don’t Come Lookin’,” from his debut album Greenbroke. The visualizer for “Heavens To Betsy” will be released on Monday, August 5th.
This summer, Dean will take his talents across the country as direct support for the Grammy Award-winning ACM and CMA Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson on her Country Is Cool Again Tour.
1. Big Blue Sky – Jackson Dean, Brandon Aksteter, Rich Kolm, Sean Mercer
2. Duct Tape Heart – Jackson Dean, Casey Beathard, Luke Dick
3. Talkin’ To Backroads – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell
4. Daddy Raised – Jackson Dean, Tucker Beathard, Bryan Simpson, Ryan Tyndell
5. Long Goodbye – Jackson Dean, RL Burnside, Trent Dabbs, Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde
6. Real Real – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Josh Osborne
7. Heavens To Betsy – Jackson Dean, Benjy Davis, Driver Williams
8. Train – Jackson Dean, Brandon Aksteter, Luke Dick, Rich Kolm, Sean Mercer
9. Free – Jackson Dean, Blake Chaffin, Luke Dick
10. Sweet Appalachia – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell
11. Jane – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Ryan Tyndell
12. Heaven – Jackson Dean, Luke Dick, Laura Veltz
13. Another Century – Jackson Dean, Brian Koppelman, Jon Sherwood
