How Breland & Charles Kelley Started Lady A Collab 'Told You I Could Drink’

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Breland and Lady A are reflecting on a broken relationship in their new heartache song, which sees the narrator turn to a drink (or two) to get through a breakup. The collaboration, “Told You I Could Drink,” released Friday (August 5):

“I told you I could drink/ Told you I’d be fine/ Told you I would move on if you left me behind/ Cause you pushed me to the brink/ And I don’t got no time to sit around and wait for you to make up your mind/ I drink you under table, out of my head/ Over the memories of you in my bed/ And honestly just what else did you think/ When I told you I could drink”

Breland shared a photo with the band on Instagram on Friday, marking the release of “Told You I Could Drink.” He said that he’s “so grateful for these friendships that lead to great music.” He also shared, on a second slide, a recording from a November day that he worked on the song with Charles Kelley and Zachary Manno. Breland recalled that “Charles said go classic and doo-wap and I feel like we got it!”

“Lady A is one of the groups that introduced me to Country music, so when I finally got in studio with Charles Kelley, I already had a Lady A collab in mind,” Breland said in a statement on Friday. “The two of us performed ‘Told You I Could Drink’ at BRELAND & Friends at the Ryman in March, and the response we got from the audience was what convinced us to cut the song and put it on my album. I’m so excited for the world to hear what we made.”

Breland and Lady A announced the song’s release date earlier this week. The “My Truck” singer shared on his social media channels that he was eager to team up “with one of the greatest groups in country music.” Kelley recently reflected on the moment he met Breland, calling him “one of the most talented artists, up-and-coming, that we have” in the genre. He couldn’t resist teaming up with the up-and-comer on a new song (or putting a new spin on Lady A’s 2009 hit, “Need You Now”).

Kelley — who is part of Lady A with bandmates Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood — shared on his own Instagram earlier this week that he was “fired up” about releasing the collaboration, adding a laugh that it’s “ironic since I stopped drinking haha.” Breland commented with a laughing emoji, “‘Could’ in the title is past tense anyway.”

“Told You I Could Drink” comes one day after Lady A announced that they would postpone their “Request Line Tour” until next year because Kelley “has embarked on a journey to sobriety.” The trio said in a statement that “we’re family,” and “we’re proud” of Kelley as they opted to take time to offer their support (as other artists and fans have in comments on social media).

Breland is getting ready to release his debut album next month, a project that includes “Told You I Could Drink.” Listeners will also recognize previously-released tracks like “Praise the Lord” feat. Thomas Rhett, “Natural,” “Throw it Back” feat. Keith Urban, and “Cross Country” feat. Mickey Guyton. Breland shared snippets of each unreleased song on the album on his social media channels on Thursday evening (August 4). Cross Country is set to release on September 9. Get sneak peeks here.

“Anytime we have a chance to collaborate with Breland, you can be sure that we’ll be there,” Scott said in a statement on Friday. “When I first heard this song it immediately took me back to high school after a bad breakup, getting lost in an R&B groove.”

Listen to “Told You I Could Drink” here:


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