She's just unparalleled, her level of songwriting, singing, record making, relevance, business savvy, creativity, acting. It's unbelievable what Dolly's done with her career and still is doing.

So it was hard for me to pick one song, but I picked “Jolene” because it's such a haunting track. I think the thing I've always loved about it is the dominating nylon string guitar part, and then the way the congas, bongos, percussion, the rhythmic stuff that’s happening underneath it.

It's always been such a stunning sounding record, and I think that’s because of its minimalism. It's obviously recorded on tape, so it has a particular sound, and it's such a unique sounding arrangement of instruments. It's a remarkable song and it stands the test of time as by being so extraordinarily unique.

I was also heavily influenced by a lot of Don Williams’ records, and they're not too dissimilar. I think if anybody listened to “Jolene” and then listened to almost anything from Don Williams in that same ‘70s period – and my Dad was a massive Don fan - there'd be a lot of similarities in the very dry, organic analogue-y sound of the band.

I think if I've gleaned anything from those records, it's certain levels of minimalism on certain songs that I've recorded over the years.

KEITH URBAN: I chose that song because again, Waylon is one of my other northern stars. It's interesting that Waylon is often forgotten for one of the biggest contributions he made in Nashville, which was using his road players on records, which really hadn't been done in this town. Everybody had to use court appointed producers and musicians and make your typical commercial Nashville records.

Waylon was really one of the first artists to come along and say, ‘I want to use my road bands. I'm going to make my records my way’. He fought really, really hard to do that, and now we don't even think twice about an artist that uses their road band in the studio, but Waylon was the first guy to do it, so those records have that live, raucous Roadhouse vibe about them, because that's his band.

That song is great because I've also been a big lover of the evolution of country music and that it should never just stay the same, I have an issue with traditionalists that want to become the arbiters of ‘What is country?’. I mean, first of all, no one has a right to say, ‘What is country?’ It's just absurd.

Waylon says in that song, “Lord, it's the same old tune, fiddle and guitar. Where do we take it from here? Rhinestone suits and new shiny cars. It's been the same way for years. We need to change.”

That's the opening statement of that song. It's pretty profound. I've never heard another country artist come along and say ‘Why do we keep doing and saying the same things over and over again? We need a change.’ It's a remarkable song just for that opening lyric.

BEST FIT: In country music, there's been pushback to change. As someone who's in the environment, do you feel like the change is happening regardless of what some critics may have to say?

Change has always been a part of country music. It's why it's been such an extraordinary, popular and resilient genre for decades and decades and decades. It's because we found this amazing balance of pioneering artists that are adamant to do it their own way, and getting just enough support to break through, like a Kacey Musgraves or a Zach Bryan or Waylon Jennings. God, even Willie Nelson was not accepted in this town because he was trying to make different kinds of music.

You know, it's like we've long forgotten that it's the same as it ever was. There's always been artists coming in wanting to do it on their own terms, fighting the system, breaking through, and then changing what the norm is. And this decade's no different.

BEST FIT: Where did you first hear this song and how were you introduced to it?

KEITH URBAN: I’m going to be brutally honest here with how this happened.

I was roommates with a recording engineer. It was among my early trips to Nashville, and he was working at a studio. He invited me to come down late one night, because he said he’d just bought this CD he wanted me to hear it, and we went into the studio. It was just him, he chopped up a bunch of lines of coke and he goes, ‘Hit that, and then listen to this.’

And then he put on “Last Plane Out” and it blew my mind, it was this sonic assault like I'd never heard before. And to this day, it still leaps out of the speakers with such an in-your-face power.

Honestly, it would have been a toss-up between that song or “Owner of a Lonely Heart” by Yes, because they both do the same thing, a kind of a sonic assault and stark angular arrangement moments that are just extraordinary. Both those recordings are really extraordinary.

KEITH URBAN: I just want to say, I've loved that song most of my life. When it came out, I was in high school or something and I've sung it a million times. It's one of my favorite, favorite songs, melodically and lyrically, it’s such a great song. And he's a legend.

BEST FIT: How did your collaboration with Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel come about in 2014? How did you meet?

I met Jimmy Barnes, I think in the early ‘90s. I went to his house, we spent a couple of days writing together and hanging out, and he's been a friend of mine ever since. So he sat in with me for some shows, and I've sat in with him and collaborated with him. An Aussie legend, for good reason.

When you collaborate with people how do you approach that?

I’m definitely a credit junkie and I've always been a credit junkie. If I find a name popping up repeatedly in different songs by different artists, I start to realise that person has got something.

Even to look at the credits of “Yukon Interlude” and look at Joji and Isaac Sleator (the co-writer), you could instantly go, ‘Oh, I'm going to work with Isaac. He must be amazing.’

But Joji factors into that. So if I see Isaac’s name pop up on multiple other songs by multiple artists then he'd be a guy to reach out to. I try and look for that reoccurring more than anything.

This song by Rufus was definitely one I played over and over and over and over and actually I'm not sure why. It just spoke to me. It's so exquisite melodically and it's epic in its construct. It's an extraordinary record. I could have chosen “Bohemian Rhapsody” for a similar reason, in that it's so full of drama it's like a mini movie.

And I love the line “I don't know what it is, but you got to do it / I don't know where to go, but you got to be there.” Rufus has a great way of capturing that strange thing about being human, when you feel like you're just a little bit out on the fringes and you want to be in the center, but you don't quite know how to get there,

I thought it was such a fresh take to say, “I don't know what it is, but you got to do it.” I was in from the very opening line. And then, of course, the melody is just beautiful. I played Oliver in the school production of Oliver! and it reminded me of some of those songs from that era.

They're show tunes, you know, the melody is grand and exquisite. It's exquisite melody, lyric and record making, all coming together in a really fine, fine package.

I remember flying to New Zealand. My grandmother lived in New Zealand, she was the last grandparent, and for some reason I stumbled upon that record somewhere in that time. It was about maybe an hour and a half drive from Auckland up to Tonga Ray, where my grandmother lived, and I would arrive in Auckland.