Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood took a different route when it came to recording their new duet “I’m Gonna Love You.”

They recorded it together in studio … live.

It might not sound like much, but these days, with very busy schedules, it’s nearly impossible to get together in a studio. And with the power of technology, the burden of having to do it that way is non-existent — artists can record on opposite sides of the planet and still put their voices together on a track.

Johnson, however, is very hands-on with his work, and he made it a priority to be in studio when Underwood laid down her vocals.

“I don’t miss a beat in the studio,” he tells Kelleigh Bannen on Today’s Country Radio. “I’m very, very, very hands-in-the-mud on this stuff. Like, I have my fingers in all that stuff.”

The Making of Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood’s “I’m Gonna Love You”

Johnson had already recorded his vocals, and after Underwood did her recording session, the two reflected on the song for a bit.

“I don’t know what it … it wasn’t a look of disappointment on her face, but it was just like this,” he says, putting his hand to his mouth a looking down pensively.

“I’m like, ‘What are you not liking? What’s wrong?’ Cuz it didn’t have the boom,” he explains. “We’re both professionals, and for me it didn’t have that thing, either.”

Underwood suggested they sing it live, together, as a true duet. Johnson agreed.

“So we went in, opposite sides of the glass — just like you and I are sitting — and we sang it live and that’s what’s on the record,” he reveals.

“That’s what you’re hearing is one take, live,” he adds. “I swear to God.”

The decision ended up being the right one, and it opened the door for some organic, natural moments. For instance, the humming in the bridge is completely ad-libbed.

“It was so organic. It was like singing in church,” Johnson admits.