Taylor Swift's "Stephen" inspired by Love and Theft singer

(CBS News) Stephen Barker Liles, one part of the country duo Love and Theft, said he was initially worried when he heard he was the subject of a Taylor Swift song.

"She called me and said, 'Hey,' ... she's like, 'Dude, I wrote a song about you.' I was like, in my mind, oh, my goodness, her track record is not positive. What did I do? I can't remember doing anything negative," he said on "CBS This Morning."

Liles said he ended up very flattered by the "nice" Swift hit song. "Now, that's like the bar," he said. "You know what, 'We can date, but you have to write a nice song about me and tell the whole world about it.'"

Swift has come under fire for songs about her ex-boyfriends, most notably John Mayer, who was reportedly the subject of her accusatory song, "Dear John."

Asked if he and Swift are still friends, Liles said, "Yeah. She's cool."

Liles and his bandmate Eric Gunderson are now hit-makers themselves. Their song "Angel Eyes" is their first No. 1 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Songs chart. The song is the first single from their self-titled album.

The duo was recently nominated for two Country Music Association awards, Duo of the Year and New Artist of the Year.

On-stage Liles and Gunderson are known for their rapport. Gunderson said it extends into friendship off-stage, a fact that his wife understands and "puts up with very well." He said, "We spend every day together and we're always on the road, we have like one day off a week. Yeah, we're very close. We're best friends, and it's a lot of fun."

For more from the interview with Liles and Gunderson on "CBS This Morning," watch the video in the player above.