Mike Dungan, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Luke Bryan celebrate their No. 1 hit "Do I" at a BMI party held in Nashville, TN on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Photo credit: Jason Mease, GACTV.com

Nashville’s music industry frequently throws a party for the artist and songwriters when a single hits the top of the country charts, and fortunately, Luke Bryan’s “Do I” — co-written with Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood — made it to No. 1. Because if the song hadn’t reached that spot, there still would have been a party, but it probably would have been a stinker.

“I had to become creative,” Luke said before the soiree at Nashville’s trendy condominium tower Icon. “I knew we were throwing a party, because I was just gonna throw a party. I was gonna call it a No. 2 party and I was gonna require everybody to bring bathroom attire — bathrobes, bring some newspaper, candles, matches and some toilet paper — it was gonna be a ‘No. 2’ party.”

“Luckily,” Dave chimed in, “we have the No. 1 party.”

Had Luke not made it to the top, he would have had Lady A to blame. “Need You Now” entrenched itself at the top for four weeks on the Country Aircheck chart in November and December, and for three of those weeks, “Do I” was locked out at No. 2. Since Charles and Dave were co-writers, they were just as interested in having “Do I” get that pole position — and it did, on the final chart of 2009.

“I called up Luke a couple times when it didn’t feel like it was gonna happen and I said, ‘Man, I’m so sorry,’” Charles recalled. “I said, ‘As a songwriter, trust me, I want this thing to go No. 1. You know, we were lucky enough to have our No. 1. To us, whether it was two weeks, three weeks, it doesn’t really change the fact. No. 1, that was the goal, and so we would’ve rather fallen, and for some reason [‘Need You Now’] was sittin’ up there a while, and we called up the label and said, ‘You have our permission as artists to kill this thing.’ They said, ‘No, we can’t do that.’”

Luke, Charles and Dave kicked off their No. 1 Party with
an acoustic performance of ” Do I”… Watch it here:

Lady A’s Hillary Scott, who sang background vocals on Luke’s recording, had to skip Tuesday’s party with an illness, leaving the three guys to perform an acoustic version of “Do I” — supported only by Dave’s acoustic guitar — for a crowd that included Luke’s parents; his wife, Caroline; and his 22-month-old son, Bo, who trotted up on the stage briefly with one of the silver cups awarded by performing rights organization BMI.

Capitol Records, Country Weekly, Country Radio Broadcasters and the Country Music Association handed out honors, too, as did music publishers Tracy Gershon and Roger Murrah. Roger, in particular, knows a thing or two about songs. As a songwriter, he’s authored Alan Jackson’s “Don’t Rock The Jukebox,” Alabama’s “High Cotton” and the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Ozark Mountain Jubilee.” Also honored was Jeff Stevens, who earned his first No. 1 as a producer with “Do I,” having written such previous hits as George Strait’s “Carried Away” and Tim McGraw’s “Back Then.”

The celebration over, both Luke and Lady A have follow-up singles to work. The band’s “American Honey” is already in the Top 20, and Luke’s “Rain Is A Good Thing” is among the 40 top country releases.

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