Cooper was in line to release his sophomore single – a follow-up to “Weak,” which peaked at No. 26 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated Jan. 24 – but this disruption could have thwarted his plans. At age 22, Cooper was calmer than he should have been. Fortunately, his patience was rewarded.

“The transition was really smooth,” Cooper remembers. “In a big meeting, they’re like, ‘No, we can assure you that we’re gonna keep going with “One for the Road.” We have it all scheduled.’ I mean, dude, they had it all worked out before the change happened.” Sure enough, “One for the Road” was released to country radio via PlayMPE on March 9 with a pedal-to-the-metal musical bed and a wild vocal. It sounds like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Black Crowes, Joe Walsh and AC/DC all scrambled together.

“It’s just a fun rock ‘n’ roll song,” Cooper says matter-of-factly. He wrote it, almost accidentally, with The Warren Brothers – Brett Warren (“Red Solo Cup,” “If You’re Reading This”) and Brad Warren (“Highway Don’t Care,” “Lights Come On”) – in Nashville after they’d already penned “Dark Places,” which joined “Weak” and “One for the Road” on Cooper’s 2025 debut album, Toledo Talkin’. As they started closing shop, Cooper launched into an energetic acoustic guitar pattern, singing a nonsense line – “I got two into something” – that caught the Warren Brothers by surprise.

They were writing a second song. Brad had previously saved the “One for the Road” title, and it fit the “two something” phrase, so they kicked into a numerical chorus: “I got two in the chamber,” plus “three on the tree and four on the floor.” They added phrases for nine and five, leading ultimately to the “One” hook. Humorously, the “four on the floor” phrase represented a drum pattern, though non-musicians may think it’s as a manual auto transmission.

That’s also what “three on the tree” represents, creating a bit of a dilemma, since a car can’t have two competing transmissions. “As long as you know what you’re talking about, I don’t think it really matters,” Brett says. “Fans can tell it means something to you.” Once that stanza was developed, they turned their attention to the opening verse, using the same “I got…” device that launched the chorus.

“We didn’t have to talk it through,” Brad says, “but I am a big fan of that.” The first “I got” is a mama with a “direct line to Jesus,” a trait that applies to both Cooper and the Warrens. “Brett and I get to write a lot about our lives in Preston’s music, because when it lines up, he’s into it,” Brad notes. “We get to write a little bit more of our story than we did when we were making records, and it’s not quite as mercenarial as some of the other things we’ve done.” The image of the religious mom established a dichotomy: Despite growing up in the church, the “One for the Road” character is living hard as a musician.

Many an artist – including Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Charlie Rich – has been tripped up by guilt over life on the road. Cooper, with just one album under his belt, understands why. “The term ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll,’ you know, it’s all of that,” he says.

“But I’m very religious, and I follow the Lord, so I’m just trying to stay straight on Him. And I’m also engaged — but it gets harder, you know? Definitely a lot of temptation out there on the road.

But I’ve got to stay focused.” They wrote a bridge that insinuated the song’s character had cleaned up his act, true to both Cooper’s intent and the Warrens’ real-life history. They captured the whole thing on a quick work tape with acoustic guitars, presenting that to a roomful of musicians when they cut a demo at Nashville’s Sound Emporium with Brett producing. After just one listen, the players had a good idea of where to take it, with Brad handling the energetic acoustic guitar foundation.

Electric guitarist Rob McNelley, meanwhile, replaced the original opening riff. He designed a growling passage inspired, Cooper says, by Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good.” They ran the song down once or twice, then did the final version with Cooper practically spitting out the lead part. “If Hank Williams Sr. and Paul Rodgers from Bad Company had a baby, it would be Preston,” Brett says.

“He’s just got this really weird, whining rock-‘n’-roll, old-school country thing.” The demo was so strong that they didn’t re-record another final version. Instead, they reclassified it as a master recording and adjusted the pay for the session musicians, including drummer Evan Hutchings, bassist Steve Mackey and Hammond B3 player Billy Justineau. Cooper’s vocal performance