Old Friends (Ben Rector song)

Rector was one part of the band Euromart in high school, one of his earliest musical experiences; the band consisted of Rector, Chris Wylie, Blake Studdard, Matt Wantland, and Austin Helm.

The band, Euromart,[a] consisted of Rector on guitar and vocals, drummer Chris Wylie, bassist Matt Wantland, and guitarist Austin Helm.

[3] They had two practice sessions hosted in Wylie's game room where they recorded two songs: "Rome" and "Answers".

[4] Wantland, who was not at the lunch session where the name Euromart was coined, was unaware the band was his own when asked if it was.

[3] Tulsa World specified Euromart had "a strong fan presence" at the event and noted that "Rector even managed to mix things up by dropping the guitar and jumping on the piano, an obvious crowd pleaser.

[4] The appearance at the event resulted in the band's recognition throughout the town, and they would record an extended play (EP) and continue to perform shows in Tulsa until the end of the school year.

[8] It inspired Rector to immediately sit down and begin writing the song, and was "flooded" with feelings of nostalgia and recalled memories from growing up.

Although Rector noted that his feelings toward old friends might have been different had he not moved from Tulsa to Nashville, Tennessee, he explained that "it’s hard to replicate the relationships with people that have known you your whole life".

It was a song he felt he could not write until recently, a point where he was truly an adult and reminiscing on the past.

[4] "Old Friends" is in the key of A-flat major, and uses a syncopation method that is driven by a full-time pattern but invokes the feeling of a half-time rhythm.

The music video is one moving shot of Rector performing alongside the band members of Euromart, in the garage of his childhood home in Tulsa.

He originally had the list be three names long, but he felt people would misinterpret this as him only having three friends.