Recording "Gentlemen Start Your Weekends"
To get the vibe of this post, light up the track on your favorite streaming service right here.
Some songs feel like they were written on a bar napkin in a neon-lit honky tonk. Others feel like they were carved into the pavement outside a racetrack, dripping in gasoline and the roar of engines. Gentlemen Start Your Weekends is both.
When Gentlemen came to me, it was just a high energy riff rock song, like Motley Crue and the Stones had a baby. An anthem in search of a title. When Alex Dooley and I were done for the day on Music Row, Alex said, Gentlemen Start Your Weekends, and the title was born. Like so many songs, we just reached up and grabbed it out of the ether. As we started writing this song, we knew it had to be an anthem—something that matched the track, grabbed you by the collar and yanked you straight into Friday night. It wasn’t about easing into the weekend; it was about punching the clock, peeling out of the parking lot, and heading straight into the kind of night that makes a workweek worth enduring.
The Studio: Thunder in the Tracks
Recording this track wasn’t about chasing a sound—it was about capturing the feeling. We cut it at East Iris Studios in Nashville, one of those places where the walls feel like they’ve soaked up decades of country, rock, and soul. The energy was high, the takes were tight, and the whole thing came together like a well-tuned engine.
The band we put together was a dream team. Fred Eltringham laid down the drums with that perfect balance of swagger and stomp, driving the track like a V8 on the open road. Kenny Greenberg and Justin Ostrander lit up the electric guitars, giving us a sound that rides the line between classic country grit and rock & roll swagger. Tony Lucido on bass and David Dorn on keys rounded it out, bringing just enough groove to make you feel it in your chest.
The Sound: A Green Light and a Full Tank
There’s a reason this track kicks off with a countdown—3, 2, 1, let’s go!—because that’s exactly what it feels like. We wanted the intro to feel like revving an engine at the starting line. When the chorus hits, it’s full throttle, no brakes.
Lyrically, the song is all about that release—leaving the week behind and diving headfirst into freedom. That finally Friday feeling isn’t just a lyric, it’s a way of life. And if you listen close, you can hear the little details that make it real: the sound of boots hitting the bar floor, the green light from a hometown honey, the undeniable rush of a weekend that’s just getting started.
The Magic: One Take and Gone
Some songs take weeks to perfect in the studio. This one? It barely needed a second take. That’s how you know you’ve got something special. We all felt it—the kind of energy you can’t fake.
Mixing it was all about keeping that edge. Tony Castle handled the mix, making sure every guitar lick and drum hit came through like a shot of adrenaline. The final polish came from Eric Conn at Independent Mastering, giving it just the right amount of punch.
The Legacy: A Weekend Outlaw’s Battle Cry
Every album needs a song that sets the tone. Gentlemen Start Your Weekends isn’t just a track—it’s the ignition switch for the Weekend Outlaw album. It’s the moment where you throw the day job in the backseat, hit the gas, and don’t look back.
So if you’re out there, watching the clock tick down to five o’clock, just remember: your weekend is waiting. And this is your soundtrack.
Gentlemen, start your weekends.
Listen here.
