“Nice guys finish last.”
Baseball manager Leo Durocher first said a version of that now-legendary phrase in 1946, and nearly 80 years later, bending, breaking and ignoring the rules is commonplace in public life.
Deceit is so mainstream that a number of merchandisers have developed “Make Lying Wrong Again” ballcaps and T-shirts.
But Drew Baldridge counters the idea that nice guys are losers. He went all the way to No. 3 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in 2024 with “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined),” a song with a protective veneer that he released on his own Patoka Sounds label. Follow-up “Tough People,” an affirmation of regular Joe resilience, peaked at No. 13 in June 2025.
His latest single — “Rebel,” which Stoney Creek released to country radio via PlayMPE on Oct. 30 — takes on the good-guy stereotype, imbuing it with notable power.
“Sometimes in our society, the wrong things get glorified,” Baldridge notes. “It’s hard sometimes when you’re trying to stand up for good things and you see [the] wrong things get glorified.”
Around March 2024, he reached out to one of his “Tough People” co-writers — fellow artist Adam Sanders, currently a competitor on the CBS series The Road — with a request to help him write a song that would flip the narrative on decency, casting someone who does the right thing as an against-the-grain character.
Sanders was in. They met at Sony Music Publishing on Music Row and worked first at developing a setup line, which proved challenging. They finally found an appropriate rhyme for the title: “If the whole wide world wants to dance with the devil/I guess you could call me a rebel.”
Knowing where they were headed, they dug in on the opening verse, both of them writing on acoustic guitars and logging the lyrics on their phones. Sanders tuned his guitar a full step down to meet the mood.
“It gives it more of a bottom end, a droning kind of feel,” Sanders suggests.
The first verse seems to almost mimic the TV show Cops to build its bad-guy images: a mug shot, a DUI and “cussin’ out a cop.” Baldridge and Sanders were conscientious about avoiding politics, though 20 months after they wrote “Rebel,” that last item may sound like a loaded phrase to listeners who hear the “cop” reference without paying close attention to the rest of the verse. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has angered many Americans by wearing masks while on duty, attacking peaceful protesters and arresting mostly people with no criminal record. Many would consider cussing those law enforcement officers an act of rebellious patriotism.
“I could be wrong, but I feel like ICE is very different than a cop protecting his city,” Baldridge says. “In my head, I don’t view them as the same people.”
They made the chorus anthemic, pledging to “stand my ground” and protect the family name. They also inserted the word “integrity” — uncommon for a country song — at the end of a line, giving it a figurative spotlight.
“It is not an easy word to put in a song,” Baldridge notes. “It’s hard to sing and hard to rhyme with. I remember being in there with Adam, and I was like, ‘Look, we have to say this word like it is.’ Standing up for integrity right now is such a big thing.”
Once they had a verse and chorus, they decided to stop.
“We could have easily, probably, in that first writing session, finished the song, but would it have been the best the song it could be?” Sanders asks rhetorically. “We both agreed that we wanted to live with where we got the song to and come back with fresh brains.”
When they reconvened, verse two emphasized family loyalty and setting an example for the next generation. They also fashioned a bridge by repeating a key line from the opening stanza: “When did wrong become right/And right become wrong become so cool?”
“I felt like those two lines were the most important,” Baldridge says. “When I wrote in my notes, I had ‘Rebel’ at the top, and I had ‘right is wrong and wrong is right’ underneath it. And so I wanted to iterate that again.”
Sanders enlisted steel guitarist Andy Ellison to produce a demo, and Baldridge’s team got excited about “Rebel” once they heard it. His usual producer, Nick Schwarz, took the first crack at it and cut a version that hit hard. Stoney Creek thought it could use a lighter touch and brought in Zach Crowell (Sam Hunt, Dustin Lynch), who rerecorded it at Nashville’s Saxman Studios with programmed claps and Nathan Keeterle’s subtle banjo.
“Lyrically, it’s an intense song,” Crowell says. “It can be heavy. It can really make you think about your life, so any little commercial, acoustic, clappy thing we can put in there, it’s like, ‘Let’s do that.’ ”
“Rebel” was so intense that Baldridge needed rest after about five takes while cutting his part.
“We definitely made a conscious choice of how intense his vocal is, like ‘How gravelly is his vocal? How much is he screaming? How pulled-back is he?’ ” Crowell recalls. “I remember when he was singing a time or two, he’s like, ‘Hey, should I be singing harder? Or not as hard?’ We were like, ‘Hey, calm down just a little bit.’ ”
The label wanted some changes, but Crowell moved to a new home shortly after turning in “Rebel,” and his studio would not be ready for a month. He suggested they have Schwarz finish the production. Crowell’s version peaked in intensity at the bridge and then dropped in volume by the end; Schwarz beefed up the back end, keeping the energy at peak volume to the very finish. He played several parts himself and hired guitarists Justin Ostrader and Mike Payne for overdubs. Schwarz also resurrected the drums and a slide solo from the middle of the original production and repurposed them in the final minute of the new version.
“It’s the same tempo, same key,” Schwarz says. “May as well use it.” In the end, the story and the conviction in the performance suited Baldridge well. “It’s perfect for Drew because Drew is a tough guy, but he’s also a very reliable and loyal, dependable guy,” Schwarz says. “The rebel that he’s talking about is Drew.”
“Rebel” seemed destined to become a single, almost from the minute they turned it in. “I’ve had people from both sides of the aisle tell me we need this,” Baldridge says. “I don’t have anybody coming up and saying, ‘This is political.’ They’re all coming up and saying, ‘I’m glad somebody is standing up for honesty and truth and love. We all need this message.’ And that is what excites me.”
