Luke Bryan & Jason Aldean Team Up With Shenandoah For Nostalgic “Sunday In The South” Remake

Legendary country group Shenandoah recruits Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan to re-record their 1989 hit, “Sunday In The South.”

One year after recruiting Luke Combs to remake the 1989 No. 1 song “Two Dozen Roses,” Shenandoah enlisted two of the biggest names in country music for a “brand new version” of another chart-topping hit from the same year.

Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean joined Shenandoah lead singer, Marty Raybon, to re-record “Sunday In The South.” The song was originally released in 1989 as the third single from Shenandoah’s second studio album, The Road Not Taken. It became their second No. 1 hit and has resonated with fans, old and new, since its release.

The song reminisces about the sights, smells, and sounds of a Sunday as families attend church together, enjoy after-church dinner together, and take in the peaceful sounds of a whippoorwill as the day ends. While the lyrics of “Sunday In The South” resonated with fans when the song was released 35 years ago, the sentiment is almost more impactful today as people need to be reminded about how “sacred” Sundays used to be prior to modern-day distractions.

“Sunday In The South” inspired a country song by Miranda Lambert and, in turn, prompted the band to reunite.

Miranda Lambert once said that Shenandoah was one of the biggest musical inspirations of her career.”Every generation of country artists have people who inspired them to do what they do,” she stated. “At the heart of my country inspiration is Shenandoah. They created a pure sound that takes you back home every time. And most of us are still trying to replicate that sound today!”

“Another Sunday In The South” was co-written by Lambert, her Pistol Annie’s bandmate, Ashley Monroe, and notable songwriter Jessi Alexander, as a nod to ’90s country. After laying down her own vocals for the song, her producer reached out to Marty Raybon about lending his vocals to the track. He initially thought he was being pranked, but agreed anyway and flew to Nashville to sing background vocals on the tune.

Around the same time Marty sang on Miranda’s song in 2014, some of his Shenandoah bandmates reached out about the possibility of a reunion. Marty, who had left the band in 1997, played “Another Sunday In The South” for the guys and they “all agreed that [a reunion] made all the sense in the world, and we were all in one accord.”

Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean’s inclusion on the remake of “Sunday In The South” is further proof of the impact Shenandoah continues to have on country music.

Shenandoah is considered to be one of the greatest bands of the 1980s and ’90s. In 1989 alone the topped the Hot Country Singles chart with three different singles: “Church On Cumberland Road,” “Sunday In The South,” and “Two Dozen Roses.” Two more No. 1’s followed as did numerous Top 10 hits and the title of the ACM’s Top Vocal Group Of The Year.

The group teamed up with bluegrass musician Alison Krauss to record “Somewhere In The Vicinity Of The Heart.” An album of the same name was released in 1994, and the title track was its first single release. The album became the band’s fastest-selling album, and the success of the title track helped launch Alison Krauss, who was well-known in the bluegrass world but unknown to country music, to superstardom.

“Somewhere In The Vicinity Of The Heart” earned Krauss her first country Top 40 hit, and Shenandoah their first and only Grammy Award.

The release of the “Sunday In The South” remake with Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan serves as a reminder of Shenandoah’s impact on country music and will likely introduce a new generation to one of their most timeless hits.

Hear Shenandoah, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean sing “Sunday In The South” in the video below.