Timothy Wayne Discusses His New Single “That’d Be You”, Working with His Uncle Tim McGraw, and More

Timothy Wayne, country superstar Tim McGraw’s nephew, piqued the interest of many country fans when he signed with Universal Music Group Nashville last year. Since then, he’s been proving that he’s more than just a star’s relative. He’s the real deal. The three singles–“Guy with a Guitar,” “God Made a Country Boy,” and “Louisiana Saturday Night”–he released last year proved that. Today, Wayne shared his latest song, “That’d Be You.” Check it out below.

“That’d Be You” is more than just his first release of the new year. It is also his first release on which he has a writing credit. Wayne co-penned the song with Jamie Moore and family friend, country singer, and Landman star Mark Collie. Ahead of the song’s release, the young singer/songwriter sat down with American Songwriter to discuss the new track, working with his uncle, and his plans for the future.

Timothy Wayne on “That’d Be You”

A new relationship, a melody stuck in his head, and a partnership with a pair of songwriting pros helped Timothy Wayne bring his new song to life. “What’s funny about that song is I had the melody stuck in my head for a while and a concept of a story,” he recalled. “I called Mark Collie about it and he got me in a room with Jamie Moore. While me, Mark, and Jamie were there, we kind of fleshed the story out,” Wayne added.

“I had just met my girlfriend Katie,” he said of his mindset at the time. That fresh relationship worked its way into the writers room. “We were writing this love song that basically became this singer singing to his girlfriend. It’s like there’s always going to be one that walks in the room and everybody’s head snaps to attention, that’s you. And there’s always going to be one in the crowd who gets me through whatever I’m doing and that you, too. That’s how the story came about,” he explained.

Working with Tim McGraw

Working with family members can be an iffy thing, to say the least. However, when Timothy Wayne and Tim McGraw work together, magic happens.

“I don’t know how to explain it. We just collaborate a bunch while we’re in the studio and throw ideas back and forth,” Wayne said of working with McGraw. “It’s a really cool process because his mind works so differently than anyone else’s in the studio. He’ll hear things that we don’t hear and see things that we don’t see. It’s really cool. There’s just like a family dynamic,” he added. “Especially with Byron Gallimore, too. He’s been with my uncle forever and now he’s with me. To have both of them on my team is like a little family.”

Timothy Wayne Stays Busy

Timothy Wayne is a busy young man. He’s working on writing, recording, and releasing music and gearing up to go on tour later this year. However, he has to work all of that around his current college schedule. During our conversation, Wayne revealed that he would be heading to class shortly after the interview ended. He’s currently working toward a degree in history and has big plans for the future.

If the music industry doesn’t pan out for him, he has his eyes on the United States Marine Corps’ Officer Candidate School. That, he said, was his original plan. “ I wanted to go to the Marine Corps and wound up not joining, but it’s still very close to my heart,” Wayne explained. “I wound up picking up a guitar and playing and touring. But if music doesn’t work out, I would try to use my history degree to get into the United States Marine Corps.”

Featured Image by Jerod Harris/Getty Images