"Me and My Gang" is the title of a country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 song written by Jeffrey Steele

Jeffrey Steele

Jeffrey LeVasseur is an American country music singer and songwriter, more commonly known by the name Jeffrey Steele...

, Jon Stone and Tony Mullins. It was recorded by country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 group Rascal Flatts

Rascal Flatts

Rascal Flatts is an American country music band that originated in Columbus, Ohio, United States of America. Since its inception, Rascal Flatts has been composed of three members: Gary LeVox , Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney...

 on their 2006 album of the same name

Me and My Gang

Me and My Gang is the fourth studio album from the American country music group Rascal Flatts. It was released on April 4, 2006. The album sold more than 721,747 units and went double platinum in the first month of release...

, and released on April 17, 2006 as the second single from the album. The song peaked at #6 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

country singles charts that year.

Content

"Me and My Gang" is an up-tempo with electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 accompaniment, including a talk box

Talk box

A talk box is an effects unit that allows a musician to modify the sound of a musical instrument. The musician controls the modification by lip syncing, or by changing the shape of the mouth...

 in the intro. In it, the male narrator tells of traveling across the country with his gang

Gang

A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...

.

Tony Mullins, one of the song's writers, said that he came up with the song's main riff while working on another song. Jeffrey Steele

Jeffrey Steele

Jeffrey LeVasseur is an American country music singer and songwriter, more commonly known by the name Jeffrey Steele...

 then heard the riff and decided that it seemed to fit a title, "Me and My Gang", that he had in his mind at the time. While working on recording the song, Rascal Flatts' lead singer Gary LeVox

Gary LeVox

Gary LeVox is the lead vocalist of American country trio Rascal Flatts. His stage name literally means "The Voice", a name he lifted from the studio-console label for his lead-vocal track....

 called Mullins and asked if one line in the song could be changed. This line then became "Dude named Elrod, jammin' on an iPod

IPod

iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...

", which Mullins says was the first line that came to him.

Critical reception

Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

, in reviewing the album, said that the song seemed like a simplification of Big & Rich

Big & Rich

Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich. Both members alternate as lead vocalists and play rhythm guitar...

's "swagger" and featured similar talk-box riffs to Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...

's "Livin' on a Prayer

Livin' on a Prayer

"Livin' on a Prayer" is Bon Jovi's second single from their Slippery When Wet album. Written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora with Desmond Child, the single, released in late 1986, was well-received at both rock and pop radio and its music video was given heavy rotation at MTV, giving the band...

".

Charts

> >

Chart (2006)	Peak position
US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...	71