Yes, it was the seed. Jon said he and Keith met in a hotel gym and they hit it off so Jon invited Keith to the studio to hear what they were doing and visit John Shanks (who has worked with Keith on his last two CDs). They started jamming and were impressed enough with Keith that they asked if wanted to sing on Who Says... He agreed. Then John Shanks suggested that they get Keith to add a banjo track (which Jon was initially hesitant about according to Keith). Keith said on an Aussie interview that he started jokingly calling Jon "Jon Banjovi." So that's what led to Bon Jovi doing the country version of the song (a simple banjo track in the original wouldn't make it much different). What I've heard from a great source is that Capitol Records wouldn't release Keith to Universal for the Bon Jovi song. But the country duet idea was already floating about, so they got Jennifer who happens to be on the same parent label. Isn't that convenient.