Thomas Rhett and Hunter Hayes are among the artists featured on The Best of Me soundtrack, along with Lady Antebellum, Eric Paslay, Kacey Musgraves, Kip Moore, David Nail, Thompson Square and Colbie Caillat, among others. The two are thrilled to be featured in the film.

“Having a song in The Best of Me soundtrack is really cool for me,” says Thomas. “Me and my wife have been huge fans of Nicholas Sparks for a long time. I thinkt hat most girls were since they saw The Notebook. For me, I actually got to read the book, The Best of Me, which was awesome. This is the first song I’ve ever had in a movie before. So, it’s a really cool thing,”

Hunter agrees, and says it’s a dream come true for him to have a song in the movie. “One of the coolest things as a songwriter is being anywhere at any point in time and being caught off guard by hearing your song,” says Hunter. “And one of the coolest, I’ve always thought, one of the biggest dreams is sitting in a movie theater watching a movie [and having your song come on].”

The soundtrack to the film was released this week, while the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks‘ film hits theaters nationwide October 17th.

Thomas Rhett (Best of Me soundtrack) OC: …cool feeling. :29
“Having a song in The Best of Me soundtrack is really cool for me. Me and my wife have been huge fans of Nicholas Sparks for a long time. I thinkt hat most girls were since they saw The Notebook. For me, I actually got to read the book, The Best of Me, which was awesome. This is the first song I’ve ever had in a movie before. So, it’s a really cool thing, and I’m super pumped about seeing the screening of the movie, and getting to meet Nicholas Sparks in person and getting to tell him how big a fan I am of his. It’s just a really cool feeling.”

Hunter Hayes (Best of Me) OC: …milestone for me. :56
“So, one of the coolest things as a songwriter is being anywhere at any point in time and being caught off guard by hearing your song. And one of the coolest, I’ve always thought, one of the biggest dreams is sitting in a movie theater watching a movie. When the song was introduced to everyone that was a part of The Best of Me movie and it was considered, that was a pretty big moment. It felt good, and they were passionate about it. The song really hadn’t been cut, so we didn’t have a whole lot of time. so I brought the band in and I literally just said, ‘We’ve got a day. Let’s do this. Let’s figure this out. Let’s just have fun with it. Here’s the kind of setting that I know so far…what I know is it’s like a pool party or maybe it’s just like a hangout, like everybody’s just kind of hanging out. It’s toward the beginning of the movie, so we’re kind of just establishing things, so it’s gotta be fun; it’s gotta be lighthearted, which kind of works. It’s a pretty cool feeling as a songwriter. It’s a massive milestone for me.”