And then when I got to talking to T-Pain about Toby just in general, he was telling me the story about how the only time he’s ever done something big in the country space, at the CMT Awards, he was presenting with Toby. And I think Toby was kind of all about that too. I love putting together odd pairings, because I think I’m an odd pairing by myself. I love T-Pain and I love his work and I was thinking about who would be a perfect surprise guest for Stagecoach that nobody would see coming. How did you wind up getting T-Pain on there? I mean, dude, think about it, in the middle of the California desert, 80,000 country music fans, what better place to sing “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.”

And that’s kind of another reason we picked it for Stagecoach. I love nostalgia songs in general, songs that take you to a place in time or have a setting. You are a little too young to have grown up on “Gunsmoke,” like the guy in the song did, but you related to it nonetheless. He also discussed his first-ever nominations for May 16’s ACM Awards (four in all, iincluding entertainer of the year), and whether he’ll be returning to social media any time soon, after his decision to take a time-out belatedly created headlines of its own. It sounds as though fans can expect at least one new song during his performance, as well, which, like many of the festival performances over the weekend, will be livestreamed on Amazon Music. Jelly Roll got on the phone with Variety the day before the release of the cover (hear the stream, above) and his Friday night Stagecoach appearance to talk about the Keith tune, which benefits the late star’s children’s cancer charity. The rapper-turned-country music superstar has covered the late Keith’s signature song for an Amazon Music Originals exclusive, coming out the same day he’ll sing the song at the Stagecoach festival in California - joined for both the studio version and the festival appearance by no less a cowboy than T-Pain. Jelly Roll might not have grown up on “Gunsmoke,” Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, the way the narrator of Toby Keith‘s massive 1993 breakout song “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” did.

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