Benjy Davis and His Third Number One: The Story of "Heavens to Betsy"
- Louisiana Country Music
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Benjy Davis has spent his career proving that a Baton Rouge songwriter can write hits for country radio's biggest stars, and "Heavens to Betsy," his co-write with Jackson Dean and Driver Williams, marks his third trip to number one on the Mediabase and Country Aircheck country radio charts.
A Baton Rouge Songwriter With a Nashville Track Record
Benjy Davis got his start fronting the Benjy Davis Project, the Baton Rouge folk-rock band he formed in 2001 that built a devoted regional following opening for acts like John Mayer and Better Than Ezra. That project gave Louisiana some of its most beloved homegrown songs, and it gave Davis the storytelling instincts that would eventually carry him to Music City.
Davis signed a songwriting deal with Big Machine Records in 2018, and the hits followed, including "Made for You" for Jake Owen and "The Painter" for Cody Johnson, both of which topped the Billboard and country radio charts. "Heavens to Betsy" became his third number one, topping the Mediabase and Country Aircheck country radio charts.
The Story Behind "Heavens to Betsy"
According to a Billboard interview with the song's writers, the song began during a 2021 writing session at Little Louder Music in Nashville, where Davis worked alongside Driver Williams and Jackson Dean. Williams brought in the old expression "heavens to Betsy" as a possible title, and Dean, hearing the phrase for the first time in his life, took it in a strikingly literal direction. He pictured a father reaching out to his daughter from the afterlife through a CB radio style transmission, a device built to carry regret, apology, and love across a distance that can never really be closed.
Davis helped shape that idea into the song's verses, drawing on his own memories growing up in Louisiana. He told Billboard about a family that once lived nearby whose father simply stopped coming around, and how a small detail, a pair of pink rain boots, became one of the song's most vivid images. That instinct for turning a specific, lived-in memory into something universal has been a hallmark of Davis's writing since his days fronting the Benjy Davis Project.
"Heavens to Betsy" first found an audience as a live staple, appearing on Dean's Live at the Ryman project before it ever had a studio recording. It was released to U.S. country radio on August 19, 2024, as the lead single from Dean's second studio album, On the Back of My Dreams, and was produced by Luke Dick. The response was immediate and deeply personal, with fans telling Dean the song helped them process their own grief.
A Louisiana Signature
The song comes from a voice that got its start writing in Baton Rouge, not Nashville. The same emotional honesty that carried his earliest songwriting is still present in "Heavens to Betsy." Louisiana has always exported more than musicians, it exports storytellers, and Benjy Davis's songwriting continues to carry that tradition into the heart of country radio. We look forward to hearing what he writes next.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote "Heavens to Betsy" by Jackson Dean?
"Heavens to Betsy" was co-written by Jackson Dean, Benjy Davis, and Driver Williams, and produced by Luke Dick.
When did "Heavens to Betsy" go to country radio?
The song was released to U.S. country radio on August 19, 2024, as the lead single from Jackson Dean's album On the Back of My Dreams.
Is this Benjy Davis's first number one song?
No. "Heavens to Betsy" is Benjy Davis's third number one as a songwriter, following Jake Owen's "Made for You" and Cody Johnson's "The Painter."
Where is Benjy Davis from?
Benjy Davis is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he founded the Benjy Davis Project before moving into a Nashville songwriting career.
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