NASHVILLE, TN. (SONY BMG) - 'It's a rare singer who can hold her own opposite as great a vocal as Elton turns in here, and Britt is up to the task,' writes
Music Row's Bob Oermann of RCA Records newcomer Catherine Britt and her duet with Elton John. 'Where We Both Say Goodbye,' Catherine's stunning new single and duet with the music icon, is at number 42 in R&R and 43 on Billboard's Country Singles Chart.
Of the pairing, Catherine explains how the duet came about. 'Ever since we met, Elton and I have stayed in touch and one night I just wrote an email and asked him if he would sing on my record. He wrote back and said he would love to. He called me one day to ask what kind of song I wanted to do together, and when I told him I thought it would be cool to do a real country duet, he said, ‘I was hoping you'd say that.' Elton just loves country music.'
'So I sent him George and Tammy, Conway and Loretta, things like that, and he said, ‘Put some originals in there that could be duets.' So I did, and he told me, ‘They're all great but I love your song.' This was, of course, a huge honor. We did the tracking, so all we had to do was get his vocal, and then we went in the studio and sang it live, to each other. I think that had a lot to do with the way he really got into my vibe and my style, because how often does Elton John do that? But he came into my world for a minute, and then you start to hear some of the phrasing and you think ah, there it is, there's Elton John. It's so different, I love it.'
It was near the end of an eight-week road trip to introduce her duet to radio when she discovered that Mike Wilson, Vice President of Promotion for RCA Nashville, has his commercial driver's license. 'Not only does he know the best place to eat a steak in every city in the United States, but he can drive a bus, too,' the Australian singer/songwriter commented.
'Bill (the bus driver) was in such pain he couldn't drive,' explained Catherine, in reference to the driver's lower back pain. 'I thought we would have to cancel the trip until Mike said he had a license to drive a tour bus. I wasn't worried until he said the only reason he'd applied for the license was so he could pull a joke on someone.'
But with some coaching from Bill, the troop was back on the road. 'We thought we'd keep Mike entertained and keep an eye on him while he drove, so we played a few road games. We started with Eye Spy but when Mike said ‘I spy something grey' and I said ‘your hair' he made us change games,' Catherine laughed.
