See Drake White and Jaren Johnston’s Swampy ‘Livin’ the Dream’

In a CMA Awards week that’s all about glitz, glamour and the occasional pyrotechnic, stripped-down performances can be downright refreshing. So the release of this acoustic version of Drake White’s “Livin’ the Dream,” featuring the song’s co-writer and the Cadillac Three frontman Jaren Johnston, is perfect timing. The soulful singers, wielding only their acoustic guitars and alternating verses, take the track off of White’s debut LP Spark and unveil a looser, swampier version that suits its praise-the-simple-life message. Watch the video above.

White, who recently covered Waylon Jennings’ “Good Hearted Woman” for CMA’s Forever Country series, is often at his best when he peels back the production and lets his baritone pipes howl untethered and free, and this version of “Livin’ the Dream” (which was written by Johnston with Tom Douglas and Luke Laird) is no exception. “That’s good as it’s gonna get,” White says to the camera after they finish.

Fresh off a series of dates supporting Dierks Bentley’s Somewhere on a Beach tour, White heads into the fall and winter season with some solo and festival appearances. Meanwhile, the Cadillac Three head abroad this month with Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, behind their August release Bury Me In My Boots.