#138 - Chris Daughtry

at the tattoos, totally cool. You have the rock you have the rock and roll guy, and you have a lot of bracelets and you have the necklaces and it works. It maybe overkill. I feel like such a goober though in a single chain it looks cool, you know. To be honest, I usually rock a single chain, and today I was like, do I wear my stones or do I wear this? And I just said, let's just do it all on. But you can but that that it fits like I'm like white Urkle, I'm like Country Urkle

with the chain on. Mike, what do you think of my chain? Is it still turn your microphone. What's on it is nothing. I'm just an emulett. Let's see, that's even cooler. It's not trying to be anything. It's just there. That's what I feel like I am. I'm not trying to be anything. I'm just here. But that's okay, Right, we're we're all like trying to figure out who we are and what we're doing, and we're all copying something or another. So you have a lot of tattoos. I

do a lot. Yeah, this is still a work in progress. Um on your this is your left arm. You just touched and I don't I can't really see what it is, but it's it's heavy, it's it's a lot of cover. Yeah, I wonder what that cost and how many hours going to almost so from your shoulder looks like from your shoulders you elbow is pretty much all black with a design. Yeah, we're talking about two grand and twelve hours plus the outline.

It's about fourteen hours worth of work I did. We did twelve in one day and that was just laid in a chair every time. Man, it was dude, I was after six hours or ithing like, what the hell was I thinking? And if have you ever had like the worst sunburnover and then take that and like have cat scratch fever or something. You know, like it's just like sandpaper on sunburn. But you know it was. It was. You know, I'm one of those people that like to get it done and be done with it. You have

on your back. Unfortunately you do, you have you I've got the speaking about being douchey. My first tattoo was my own last name on my back. I made a lot of mistakes when I was twenty six, by the way, So you got that at twenty six, Yeah, right after I was on idol. What font though, that's a big part of it. See, that's the douchey part. It's an old English It looks kind of like um, almost like the font you would picture godsmack being written in. Yeah,

so it's like it's funny, it's god. There's a god smack font in my mind. Oh yeah, you nailed it. Yeah. So um. It was one of those things where I get off the show and they have this whole home coming and and people are coming out of the woodwork and You've got Hardy going, hey, we want to give you a bike, which I never ride. So I was like oh, that sounds cool. Then I found out they weren't really giving it to me. They were just wanting me to ride it and sport their their brand or

whatever at the local station. And then they then this tattoo shop was like, well, tattoo you for free. And I was like, I've always wanted a tattoo, but at the time, I hadn't had none, had had no tattoos, and and I think the coolest thing I had done at that point, right before I went on the show, I was had my labre prest and then I took that out pretty soon after because I kept grabbing it with my teeth when I was trying to eat. Said I wouldn't know by just us saying lebre but it's

the like the chin. Yeah, it's like it's like where they call the soul patch where uh you know, it had a spike and it was Yeah, it was painful. Yeah, I'll be honest, that was It was actually more painful when your tooth would catch it when you're eating. I eat really fast and it would end up and inevitably grab it every time. And I got to the point I was like, fun this, I'm ripping this thing out and and I never went back. But then I wanted a tattoo. Doing all the things I'm like trying to

trying to fit into this rock. I don't know, I think, um, you know, as a kid, I always I wanted a tattoo, remember being there's a reason why they don't give nine year old tattoos. I wanted the bat symbol tattooed on my chest as as a nine year old. And I was like, man, if they could, if I could get a tattoo, I would totally do this. In hindsight, like I know me then I would have absolutely done it given the opportunity. Well, let me ask you this question.

If you had to go back and either get the bat symbol now on your chest or your name read down on your back, I would do the bat symbol in a heartbeat way less if you had to pick one of the Yeah, it was one of those things. My wife was like, well, you know you you said you're gonna call the band daughter. You know. I worked at a car dealership and everybody always called me by my last name. They always called everybody of the last name.

It was kind of I don't know, it sounded like a military thing, like hey, daughter to do this, do this, you know. And and so when I was coming off the show, was like, I wanted to be a band. I didn't want to be like a solo pop artist. I wanted to be a band. That's what I grew

up listening to. That is what inspired me. And so I was like, well, we could always call it Daughtry for you know, name recognition, say, kind of like the Bojovithing and and so she was like, when your last name is not gonna change, so let's just just do that. You know. How do you feel about that name of the band dodtry, coming right off the worst band name ever? Think?

So is that something that you woult because of the name? Right? Yeah, it is a big thing, and I wanted I didn't like that was my least like that was my best worst option, you know. I was like, well, we gotta go with something recognizable. Um, I can't just come out with some random band name coming off the show like that, because then you know, nobody's gonna know what it is. I mean, I guess I could have, and it worked.

It's tough though, to explain for Jared Letto after though, they had a I mean really after It's like it was hard. It's hard to puncture mainstream until something does it. I mean, in thirty seconds to Mars had a song before I think most of America realized oh, that's the actor too. Yeah, people didn't even remember my so called life. They were just like, oh, he looks kind of familiar. Now you're right, I guess the band broke before he actually broke As a it was almost a cool thing

on the side. It was kind of like, oh, I love this song, and did you know it's also Jared Letto. And then it became Jared Letto's band and it kind of manifested back into But they're also just really good. Like it always comes back to doubt that there are a million actors trying to have bands, but unless you're really freaking good, it doesn't matter. Yeah, and he's really good.

He's great. Talk to him. Probably six months or so ago I saw him and I think Los Angeles, and I went up to him and he's warning this whole Jesus outfit with the beer and it all looks like Jesus, right, yeah, yeah, but he smells so good. Yeah, and he does like a guy like that was picturing like more Petuli kind of me too. He smells like kind of like Valentine's did. If I had to pick up a smell could roses like. Yeah, he just wanted to love him, you know, that's awesome.

I've met him briefly and that was in his more of his uh eyeliner days, the red hair and the eyeliner. So it was briefly at like a Grammy's party or something, but never really had a full conversation with him. Let me, seems like a cool guy though. Yeah, it's real nice to me. He didn't have to be nice to me. It was super nice to me. So let me play some of the number ones here, it's not over. Here's this one. I was doing a pop and rock and hip hop when this song was out. Yeah, I think

I think we spoke, didn't We probably listen. We had a not so good experience, and we can we can talk about that. But I would love to the play by play. We'll get to it. We'll get to it. Let's run to the songs and then we can actually talk. Okay. Cool. So that was two thousand six or seven. Two th six or seven. Yeah, Yeah, that was the first one, right, that was the first song. You co wrote that, so you actually made some money off that? Yeah? Yeah, I UM.

I actually kept telling my producer at the time. I was like, this is gonna be the single, this has to be a single, and he's like, label's not gonna go for that, and um and they did and it worked out. I always just felt like there was it was like the perfect hybrid between, you know, the grunge that I grew up listening to and the the accessible rock that was on the radio at the time. Did you feel like you had to meet a certain radio standard when you were making music early on? Did you

feel like you had to sort of chase something? And I think I did it inherently, um, just because not necessarily chasing. Let me rephrase, I think I did it based on what I loved at the time. So I kind of modeled what I was writing around the bands that I was into at the time, and I wasn't really paying attention to lyrics. I was into bands like Live and Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, Tool Like. I wasn't paying attention to lyrics as much as I was the

melodies and the way it grabbed me, you know. So, um, So I remember writing a lot heavier and a lot more just I wasn't really paying attention to the story so much. It was more just thoughtless lyrics. And then I think I started paying more attention to the songwriting aspects and the and the storytelling and things. Uh. In my later twenties, I started going back and listening to you know, Elton John and a lot of the singer songwriters that inspired the people that I listened to and

kind of did my homework that way. This one was a monster home Come on, I wrote that one all. I wrote that, like right before going on idol Man. I mean, that's is that the monster jam that you play during a show when everyone's like everyone knows it is that the one? And you know it's crazy, Like sorry to interrupt, but it's also the one song that I'm like, if I had to pick a song that I'm tired of playing, like, that's the one. But at

the same time, it's the most impactful. It's I was looking at your interview with Mayor and you guys started talking. I'm like, oh my god, I've had this same conversation. It's it's the ones that that feel like I didn't really work hard to write this. This kind of like fell in my lap. I wrote it, kind of wrote itself.

It's like the first five chords I ever learned how to play on guitar, you know, and uh it's the one that has had the most impact around the world as far as like like the troops, military families and um, you know, so many like people of like that come to me and said, we used this to send our uh A family member off at their funeral. Like all kinds of different usages for the song that I never

thought of when I was writing it. I was like, I'm about to leave my house, you know, and go on American Idol for uh, you know, I've never like left my wife and kids on and I have no idea what I'm about to do or get into and what's going to happen. And I'm in l a. We all lived in North Carolina at the time, and I just kind of got in that mindset like what it's like to be away. I didn't even know what it

was like a foreshadowing, if you will. So yeah, that the John Mairic conversation was for me for someone to understand what I was talking about. Because if you go back and there's an older episode if you're listening now, or I was talking to John May and I said, hey, some of these jokes that are just so easy and down the middle for me, I don't even like telling, but they get the they're the ones, and I'm like, there's no effort in them. And I feel like a

fraud that I'm using that easiest thing. And if people are loving it, so it makes me not want to do it anymore because I feel like I can work harder and it doesn't feel challenging to you. And he said, dude, I do the same thing, And I thought, wow, and and the and what we've done lately is I've just I go out there with an acoustic guitar and I play it without the band, and the whole first chorus is all crowd and it's and I'm like, wow that I guess that was something that I guess every songwriter

hopes to accomplish. You know that that even if you have one song, that they're able to sing all the words too, and you can just stop and they're all on the same page. And that's that's what makes it special now because it's it I feel that it's actually doing something for them. I like a candid you are about it, because all the artists that have major hits feel that way, and even if they won't say it, they have songs that they've had for so long there

were monsters for them. In a bit, they would like to move on, but they also know that the people love it and if they didn't play a song or do whatever they do, that the people would leave disappointed. Yeah, and so a bit you have to put the people before you. Yeah. We went to see Billy Joel the other night and uh at Madison Square Garden and granted, he has so many hits, like it's impossible to play

them all. I mean, we'd be there all night. But as I'm leaving, I'm thinking, oh, ship, he didn't play just the way you are and that that was act. Wasn't thinking of that during the show, because you're like, oh, I forgot about that's all. I forgot about that song. But for us, we only have like you know, like a handful of of hits, so we've got to be more selective of what we choose not to play. The Billy Joel thing is good though, if you then Brian

Adams came out, did yeah, Oh that's cool. Yeah, Encore. Ryan Adams came out with Billy Joel Atian and the Encore. They came out and did uh or Billy came out and they did I think we didn't start the fire, and then uh, out of nowhere, Brian Adams comes out and they do Summer six nine. It was crazy. Yeah, that's cool. In the whole crowd, not just the second he hit the Danger Danger. Everybody just lost their minds,

including me. I was like a little girl. Billy Joel's funny because he can still sing him but he has to he has to change a key in on the song at least a whole stuff. Yeah, because he's getting older. An Elton did the same thing when I saw him. Those Billy Joel songs are so high though when he was much younger that he's saying in a really high spot just naturally. Yeah, him and Elton, they were both

in these upper registers. That's the show. I've seen both of them together too, and they do the dueling pianos. It was cool. I kind of knew a little bit of the story because I'd get to spend it was just such a name drop thing, but I can spend a little time with Eulton John and they really just they hate each other. I don't know that they hate each other heard but they Okay, well, I don't know what you heard. I've only heard that they don't talk and they go out on stage and do the show

in their way. Again, like there's nothing there's not from what I've heard, there's not a real friendship there. But they play it up so wonderfully. And if you didn't know, you wouldn't know, because the first time I saw was like,

that's amazing. They're best friends. I wonder if they have like some eye signals that they're doing up there, just like and they switch over to each other songs and you're like, Oprah, sure they haven't dinner after yea that they're they're talking about each other each other's dinner, probably into the into the side microphone. They probably whispering things to each other about each other. Let me talk about sleep number for one second. Sleep is important. Talk about this.

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in the set list. It's a big one. Man. It would just be tough. I know that because yeah, I'm gonna play some of the new record in a second to because you have the new stuff, but you can't get away from the big ones because the fans deserve to hear them. And and I'm in the weird place of being a fan of music and going I went and saw arin this is the thing that shaped me with music can having to play the head. I want to see r M once And they didn't play a

single song that it was all new records. Oh man, I was so even if they had given me one or two like no drive, no religion, no orange, not even the frequency, none of that. It was all new stuff. Huge at the point where I just needed a couple and I thought, man, I'm never going to be the guy regardless of what I do that just goes out and just goes all new, like Brooks who was a

little self indulgent. Right, But isn't what we do? I mean no, I mean like to do nothing but new stuff and and think that that the fans don't want to hear the other it is. But to be fair, what we do is self indulgent. So it's a low hypocritical to go. It's so self indulgent to them. And here I am, you know, hoping that another million people listened to this podcast of you and I. So yeah,

what we do self indulgence. But I was disappointed. But I thought, I'm always going to be a opponent of playing making sure the fans here that it's you know, but artists talk all the time off the microphone, like, man, I don't want to play the song. I'm struggling with it. Yeah, you gotta play the big ones. There's some nights where we're just like this one again. Is there any way to swap it out? That we have some that we just don't play, um, because it's actually some just don't

go over as well. A little piece of trivia about that song though, feel like Tonight. Yeah, that was written by Max Martin and Dr Luke and it was that was one of the last songs added to the record when we were making the first record, and it was what they had written for me. Had I won the show, Oh that was gonna be the song that was gonna be my winning song if I want? Yeah? Was it because I was it's funny how my American idol life,

And you know, I really wasn't. I don't much with you, but I feel while I was on the show last year, I did a bunch of episodes as a mentor this last year, and so it's I've kind of got into it and saw what happens mentoring the contestants from week to week, and so it's it's a very different format than when I was on there. Well, to me, I was just struck at how locked away everyone is. Yeah, like you just are in your own insulated bubble. You

have no idea what's going. You don't see the judges, like a lot of fans just don't realize, like we see the judges when they do on television, like right there at their desk and that's it. Like I've see them, and they say, I haven't seen Luke or Katie at all. I see. They would tell me they see me far more than they see the judges, And I thought that was crazy. And you guys didn't have social media, so I don't know, did you guys know how famous you

were getting as the show was going, No, no clue. Um. I remember going to the grove and it was like we always had They always made sure we had security. I'm like, dude, we don't need And then I realized, no, you do. Like it was crazy how isolated we were and how much we didn't know because even Twitter wasn't a thing then, like nothing had come out. I don't even know if Facebook was a thing, probably not two thousand six, think my Space was still a thing that

was that was about it. You could you I didn't even have a phone that could take a picture. Yeah, I think too. It's not like you could be on the phone and be on my Space. Mighty was my Space ever mobile? Not really? No, at least usable. It was never mobile, right, I mean you had it like on really early smartphones, but no, nobody really got on another phone. Used to take and make your wallpaper and your music and yeah, used to yeah profiles, have to

pick your eight friends. Kids don't even know. You know, it's crazy and it's still around. But no, no, Russians were hacking MySpace, you know what I mean? Let me do one more from two thousand nine. There's no surprise jams. Yeah, and you wrote that with Chadrov Bruger and uh, there's a couple other Eric Dill and rest womb West ruinberg Um. They already kind of started the song before I came into the BUTU Yeah, me and Chad did all the

verses and the chorus was already written. What's that guy like? He's a cool dude. I mean, I've known him for a long time because we've toured together for so much for so many times. But yeah, he's he's like family to me. Are they so rich? Is he so rich? I will? I don't know his bank account, but I will say that I did get a chance to stay one night on his boat on the last tour last year. Been on the boat and apparently he would throw pillows into the year and ski shoot him. Oh wow, I

think we didn't. We didn't get that crazy. No, No, we were shooting other things. But yeah, they said we went out on Jad Croker's boat and he started grabbing pillows and they grabbed guns and we'd throw them up in the air. You were like we were ski shooting with nickelback. It was just out on the open water. Yeah, on the open water. That I mean, that does sound like something he would do. Like, I'm not even surprised. Where were you when you were on the boat when

you were in Florida. We were. Yeah, we took a jet just because we didn't he didn't want to take the lock and bus ride, which, hey, if you can do it, do it. So I jumped on the jet with him and stay on his boat. That was pretty hung over the next day. Here, let's see you gotta the list records, cage to rattle, and so how about we play a little bit of deep end here into all right? How about this one? What's up? Tell me about this one? All right? So this one was one

of the last songs we recorded. Um Uh. It came in from the label. I was absolutely, if I'm being completely honest, I was opposed to putting it on the record. UM at the time. It was very different song as

far as production. UM. I hated the bridge, and I was like, well, at least if I'm gonna do this song, I'm gonna write the bridge, you know, get I gotta have some sort of stamp and and and then of course me and Jakir Jakiir King, who UM produced the record as our first time working together, we went kind of a bunch of different UM approaches to the to the production. I think at one point it even had like a reggae feel to it, and we ended up here.

But I had to I looked at it like this was a very difficult record for me to make, in the sense that I was in a very self doubting um phase, like I was questioning everything. I didn't know what was good anymore. You know. We had we had taken a bit of time off the road, and I was wanting to pursue acting and lived in l A for a little bit, and it was just like I didn't know where we were going to go musically for the next record. I didn't know who was going to

produce it. I didn't even know if what I liked was good enough or even accessible on radio anymore, you know, that whole like feeling out of the loop. And so when it got to that song, I was just like I felt like I had to give myself up to the process and just be like, you tell me what's good, dude, because I'm in a place where I don't know if I'm holding myself back because I've got such bad demo itis on everything that I'm just gonna have to let

you take the wheel. And then I would still go yeah, but this ain't right. They gotta do this. So um. It was my way of like kind of giving into the process and diving into the deep end of my emotions and just letting it all. It was a very therapeutic record. I'll give you. I'll say that I want to talk about life flock for one second. Then we'll talk about because I'm also curious how you ended up being here, because it's a I think we can figure

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Promo code Bones. Terms apply. Let's talk about this. So we do the show from my house and I get a message from one of my close friends who's also my boss because he runs the whole country of I Heart Radio. He says, hey, what's up, Adeo Christo Tree. I said nothing. I said a long time ago, we weren't that cool. But don't even know if he knew we weren't cool. I said, but why what's up? He goes, well, I then you guys should should like be friends again. And I was like, well, I never knew I might

even know you lived in Nashville. Frankay, I didn't know. You looked at and he was like he he wants to come over and say what up? And I was like okay, cool, Like he said, what happened? I said, well, here's what happened. We're on Whitchtock, Kansas twelve years ago, maybe eleven, I'm not sure. I was young and idiot. Now I'm just older than an idiot. And there was a it was a show that one of my affiliates when I was doing pop you know, because we were

playing your song. So I went up to that affiliate and then we were doing an outdoor show and there was a bus and some of the fans that had won these package is, these charity packages came back and you were signing stuff with them, and even me, I thought it was called like freaking Chris Dodd was awesome. And so they said, hey, can we take a picture with you? And you said you can take a picture of me, not with me, And I was like, oh,

I said that you did what a dick? Well listen, I would I you And usually it's the other way around, because I do have people that go, can I take a picture of you? I'm like, no, take one with me. Why would I say that? But again, first of all, I was an idiot back then, So then I just went, okay, I'm done. Like so I can't be friends with somebody like that, or I can't even know anybody like that. So that was it. That was the thing that was okay. So I had it mixed up with another time. I

was probably a dick to somebody else. I remember, I was confusing. Okay, So here's my here's what happened. Yes, I was unaware until my guitar player said, dude, I heard Bobby Bone saying like something on the air. Uh, And this was probably a couple of years ago that you were like a douchebag or something like that. And I was like, at the time, still in my egotistical way, would be like, man, it was probably because he was a dick or something like that. I didn't I didn't

even stop and analyze it. So I was thinking, well, maybe it's this interview that I that I didn't like what they were asking me, So I just wan list that could have been it too. And that that happened. But I never think about interviews because I so I was like, I'm so not that dude anymore. And I would love the opportunity to meet him face to face and hash this out, because like, that's the last thing I want people to take away. I do know that I had a tendency like I was stupid. I was young.

I didn't know what I was doing. I was thrown into this industry without any experience with Notre Idea or anything, and I was twenty six. I was like, look at the time, I thought I knew what I was doing. I look back now and I was like, my twenties were just complete. That was an idiot. Yeah so yeah, me too. I feel like I've I've shut that that that part of me. Thank God. Don't you feel like that when you hit your forties in mid forty be like my thirties, I was such an idiot probably like dude,

I'm getting close, we're getting old. Think we're the same age. I'll be thirty nine in December. Yeah, okay, so yeah, well good, I'm glad we had this conversation. And I always like uncomfortable conversations because resolution always comes from uncomfortable conversations and so but that was it. I don't even know if a couple of years ago I was talking about it, because I don't even remember, it could have been even longer ago, and and I just held onto it.

So anytime your name came up, I associated with the guy that said I was a douchebag. And then I started analyzing it from maybe your perspective and going maybe, I was maybe I need to like find out what this is actually about, because either way, I'm sure I've piste off quite a few people along the way. How did you end up here though? Like Nashville, Tennessee? How do you want to live here? Well, we were in l A for a little bit. I think we've made it a year out there, and I was just like,

it's not for me. You know, we have a lot of kids, so we're just starting to look for a place too permanently hang our hats and school districts and everything. Was just like, what are we doing? This is too much? Had some actor of friends that that are you know, actually successful at it and have nothing to do with l A. You know, they live out in upstate New York, and I was just like Okay, I guess you don't

have to. Um, I remember watch your feet. I drop a lot of names to this guy named Jeffrey Dean Morgan is on Walking Dead plays Negan buddy of mine. He was like, why are you in l A. Why what are you doing? That's the dumbest thing you could be doing. You can act anywhere. And I always wanted to be an actor when I was a kid. But I was like, I gotta get back into the music.

I gotta I gotta like realized that this is like I have a pretty incredible opportunity here, and I'm not gonna spend more time chasing something else when this is slowly and slowly fading, you know. And and at that point, it was like two or three years after our last record, and I was like, this is this is by the time we get this record down, it's gonna be like five years. Oh my god. I started having a panic attack.

So a couple of my guys had already moved to Nashville from various places, one from California, went from Virginia, and I had some other buddies that were in the music industry that we're completely unaffiliated with country. There were more urban hip hop and and UH and R and B, and they moved their whole team out here, and I was like, man, everybody's moving out here must be like the thing to do. And so we started looking at houses and we're like, oh, it's way more affordable than

what are we thinking. So we went back to l A that we and started packing our bags. Yeah, and so we've been here a couple of years now and and uh, it's it's definitely closer to where we were from in North Carolina as far as the landscape of things, but it's also close to a major airport. It's close to you know, the industry. It's a lateral move for me because everybody I wrote with in l A happens to either live out here now or right out here half the time. So it was it was just it

just made sense. That's cool. Well, by the way, I'm totally good with us. Oh yeah, Like I'm like, we're good. Oh I was too, Yeah, making sure that I was like stem that and we're like, like, I'm over. I'm also an adult now, yeah, and I have less petty things totally. You know, listen to say I'm not petty would be absolutely inaccurate, but I'm less petty. Yeah, and

I was. You know, A many times people are coming to me and said, oh, you were such a dick or a dude, and I'm like, I used the same way, like, no, you probably were, but now I go, you're probably right. Yeah, it's weird. Man. The ego is a funny thing. It can make you just if you take yourself too seriously. It's funny if you can take your own head out of your own body and and look at it from a distance, like you're watching a movie. That's the way I've kind of had to like really work on myself.

It's like like if I was watching me on TV right now, because you can always tell what everybody's doing. When you're watching a reality show or something, you can call it, oh, they're being a dick, or oh they're terrible human being or this, And when you can take yourself out outside yourself and see it in that perspective, it's easy to go, oh, maybe maybe they're right, Maybe my wife is right, maybe I am a dick. Yeah, so we're gonna yeah, that's fantastic. We're both adults, both

just trying to survive in the creative world. Which is almost an impossible place to survive. Yeah, so you mentioned Walking Dead. You watch Walking Death in Your President? Yeah, yeah, I was into it before he got on the show, actually, but but yeah, I'm a huge fan me too. I'm not sure how they're gonna wrap up Rick season. Last season, whenever Nigan came onto the show I wrote about in my last book because I was actually writing my last book.

Whenever that first episode happened where he's where he pops the skull. Good god, that was that was hard. That was probably one of the hardest things for me to watch, the hardcore episode. Right. That show has been so consistently good, and it has its up and downs, and it has to being that many seasons, but it's a really it's a really strong good show. Yeah, I'm curious to where they're going to go with it. That outperforms network shows. I mean, it was really one of the first shows

aside from the Sopranos. Do you watch Breaking Bad? Oh? Yeah, yeah, yeah that was. And but the thing about Breaking Bad is it really caught on almost like with mainstream. Three fourths of the way through its whole run, everybody started going back to watch it. That was me I've found out about it, like when it was in its fourth season. Yeah, I wasn't cool either, and I caught onto it late to But yeah, I'm a huge walking Dead fay to see your boy. He talked to him, tell him big fans,

I will. I was actually just talking to him two days ago. Yeah. Game of Thrones is another one that I'm I'm obsessed with me and they just delayed that again. They yeah, maybe two thou or they saying, did you read that later in the year, I'm supposed to be like Spring of two thousand nineteen. Now it's going to be even later. Two things got delayed Game of Thrones, and they moved back the Top Gun movie a whole year. Today he's the were doing Top Gun two or going

to be in it. He's an instructor this time. And did Valve sign you know? I don't think so, yeah, come on, wow, yeah, I don't know. So. Yeah, it's cool that you guys have a nice man with the acting thing. Tell me about that for a second. I just um, As a kid, like I always always wanted to dress up and be something else, you know. I was always like into like the superhero shows, and I would cut my jeans up look like Luke Rignose Halt. How'd you like doing stage? I as far as um

like theater. I did it in high school, and I liked it. I'm not as much into the musical thing, but I do have a lot of respect for it because I was reading, I was looking over some stuff before you came in and said, high school you you did a couple of big productions. Yeah we did. Uh? I was I was the I was Scarecrow and the Whiz. Oh yeah that was fun. Were you are really good? No, obviously were good. But were you known in high school as the really good singer guy? Not until eleventh grade.

I I kept that from people, Like it was one of those things that I didn't identify myself with, so I assumed that it would be weird for other people if if they knew that about me. Like I was the dude that was always drawing, and I played some sports here and there. I like I was the kid that was friends with everyone, Like I had no enemies and I could fit in with any crowd, the guys, the nerds, the the you know, the the jocks. Like I always had friends in each circle. I don't even

know why. Maybe it was survival, but UM always like I just never had a problem with anyone, So I always just thought that people associated me with I'm the art. I was the artist to do that, drew comic books and the guy that you know did did uh, you know, some acting here and there, and was always in the gym lifting weights. So I I was always like even my best friend didn't know I was like a singer, and I was like, yeah, dude, really kind of sing

and he's like, what app dude? And then I remember I think I broke out some boys two men, and he was like, oh ship and uh. But I kind of like I was always like the guy that would sing along to the radio and just I assumed that

everybody could do that. So I didn't think I had anything really special until I got maybe in my later teens, and I was kind of felt like I could mimic a lot of of bands that I liked and the singers, and I started like kind of fantasizing about that idea of like maybe I could do that, and I would see concerts and it would kind of get me more hype. I remember you ever heard alive, dude, I'm I'm the biggest life. Okay, so Throwing Copper was that was the moment,

like I changed my life. I my brother had he's five years older than me. He had this cassette tape and he was like, dude, you gotta hear this song and he played Lightning Crashes and I was like, this sucks. It was terrible, and I was like, oh, I've seen this video on MTV and it's depressing and all that. And then I heard it more and more and I just started falling in love with his voice. At Qualtic, who became like a really um became kind of a

mentor slash really good friend of mine. And I remember seeing them on the Secret Sobodi Tour nineties seven and I was like, jaw wide open, obviously not on a camera phone watching the show. I was like engaged, and I have memories of just going like that. That's that's it. Like I don't want to go to school for acting, I don't want to draw comic books. I want to do that. So I had a buddy of mine start showing me how to play guitar and learn some chords

and started trying to emulate all my heroes. That Throwing Copper album is one of my favorite albums that still holds up. Yeah, it's still holds Hey, pull up Lives like they're they're they're most played songs. I'm a big Life fan and so your friends. Yeah yeah, yeah, he was, Um, we've done many shows together. Um, he's come out and joined me on stage. I've come out and joined them and they're back together live original line up there on tour right now. So um, I was just talking to

him like two or three days ago. I'm assuming Lightning Crashes their number one song. Yeah, number one. He played that a little bit for Fraudy. That's one they'll never not play. They can't. You want to see piste off. People don't play Liightney crashes. God, this song was so good, Like I would listen to the Edge out of Dallas

that have someone recorded on cassette. It's in in it to me because I have a market so off and this was always on the edge crash normal love that you hear a song I just kind of remind you of where you were whenever. That song was the thing place into floor And for the radio edit, they had changed it to her intentions because they couldn't say placenta they changed it on the radio. Was her intentions fall

to the floor? Yeah, well he did that on the second verse, so they must have just swapped it out. It's crazy. What's the second song from same record? Was that it was top to bottoms so good. Yeah, this is one of my most played records of high school. It was like sank and they loved the Flanger. It was Nirvana and Garth and Tim mcgrawl and Live and Pearl Jam and a little Naughty by Nature. Dude, all of that was where this same age, So I remember

all of those things popping at the same time. Naughty by Nature, Pearl Jam, Garth Brooks was huge there. Yeah, it's that's funny. If I haven't thought about live It so long, and tonight I'll go listen all the live again because it's there are two times that you go back and listen to awesome music that you used to have.

One whenever someone reminds you of how good it wasn't two when they die, and really you really don't want to go back when they die and have to because I was listening to a lot of the Aretha stuff again and I get again. I was born in nineteen eighty, so I didn't get to experience prime Aretha, but to go back and to listen to it and watch some of the YouTube videos and see her sing like in some of the raw footage, like maybe one of the

best singers I've ever seen sing period. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous, and I'm in the land of great singers. Yeah, I see him all the time, and even watching her, I saw clipping her and Smokey Robinson and they were sitting beside each other. And I'm a music nerd, right, so I ate it up. And they were with Don Cornelius and they were sitting at the piano and they were doing a Smokey Robins song and he starts to sing back, uh, and then she starts to sing its. Smokey Robinson is fantastic,

one of the greats. And it was like, uh, the real professionals here now, and she was singing one of his songs. That's how I felt when I felt when I did a song with Vince Gilla, like this is how you sing, boy. So what we did a song on our second record, Leave This Town, a song called Tennessee Line. Uh Me and my guitar player wrote it. When we were in Germany. We were UM. It was kind of like we were tapping into a little little country vibe. And I originally had wanted UM to do

this song with a with a female vocalists. Um Alison Krauss was top of my list and she wasn't available or I didn't care, I don't know. We got like word back that she wasn't available. She probably said I hate that band. I don't know. I've never met her, but I absolutely love her and her voice is like an angel. So UM, I was like, man, I don't know who else we could get. And I was working with Richard Marks in the studio on another song on that record, and he was I was playing him some

of the songs that were recording. He was like, dude, you know you need to get you need to get Vince Gil. I was like, oh cool, Well, why don't you just call him up for me? And he goes, oh, I will He's one of my best friends. I was like, okay, I thought you were just joking around. But then I get this call from Vince and he's like, hey, man, Howard, you want to do country, and uh, I'll do it, man, I do it. Just I was like well, you never.

You haven't even heard the song yet. For all you know, it's like about hookers and blow or something, you know. And he goes, man, I love that stuff. It's like, yeah, I like this guy's guy's funny. He goes, oh, you always beer and pizza. I still haven't paid him back. Um, but no, sure enough. We we sent him the session. He was about to go on vacation. And uh, actually, now that I think about that, the hookers and blow thing might not be a good thing to put in here.

But it was a funny joke. Um, it was obviously a joke that was obviously obviously people. Um. But he sent it back. He had his dude lay down some fiddle on it, and uh, he sent it back and and it was just a rough mix. But his voice was about five to ten d be louder than mine. And when he came in on that second verse, I was just like what it was like God saying this is how you sing. That's always how I looked at it.

But his voice is so incredible. That was, to me was like the male version of what I heard Alison Cross do in my head. What a vocalist have you been able to be? Around, performed with or two Beyond tour with and actually see what you do on eyeballs. There you go. Oh, that's the next level. Kelly Clarkson in the studio in the vocal booth, re ridiculous, effortless, like honestly made me mad. I'm singing right now. We did a song together. It never got out. Is that

now that we're talking about Richard Marks? I was. I wrote it with him and I named Jason Wade from Lifehouse, and we were writing it for UM. We're just doing a bunch of writing. We happened to all be in l at the same time and and UM and Kelly was working on her record with Howard Benson. And I knew Howard because we had already done two records together.

And I was like, see if she see if she liked this, And I did a demo of it and kind of rocked it up a little bit, and she loved it, and we went and cut the cut the song, and I was just like flow. I knew she was good. I've seen her perform many times, and we had performed together at bridge Stone years ago when we came through

with Three Doors Down. She did Fast Car with me that's so cool and uh, but I had never worked with her in the booth and I was just floored in her technique and like she's flawless, her pitch and everything is just next level. It's funny you mentioned Richard Marx because to some people, Richard Marx is wherever you go, I will be right here waiting you. But he's a big producer now working He's written like so many writer

yeah right, yeah. He was talking one of my friends last week and she was like, with Richard Mark's writing and she really doesn't know him as anything other than the guy that writes, right, And like me, I was just at the age where I remember him on the radio when I was a kid. Dude, it was all endless summer nights, like all that stuff was like staple and like you turned the radio and there's Richard Martin and I'm a huge Cubs fan and he would wear

the Cubs hat. Yeah and from Chicago. Yeah, so rich And you mentioned Jason from Lifehouse. I was a big Lifehouse guy, Like is he I didn't know that? Do you know him? Yeah? Yeah, great dude, salted the Earth. Yeah, I was a big Life House, great writer. So what that's interesting. Something to going to is that where's rock music now? And what is rock music? Like? I had no idea. I don't either. I don't know the definition

of it anymore. Um, you know, I I think we're still in a time where the radio scared of guitars. But I don't know. I don't feel like I have my finger on the or my thumb on the pulse enough to know when that's changing. So what do you do though? I mean, we we brought guitars back in our record and just said, you know, this is what we do. So I don't know if that's gonna hurt us or help us, but um, I know that that's

what I love. That's what really drew me into music, just hearing the you know, like we went to see the same bands. You know, you see that and that that is your idea of rock and roll, And um, I think Imagine Dragons does a pretty decent job of navigating between both worlds. Um, it's always can it be translated heavier live? You know, which we tend to do a lot too. Um, But yeah, I don't know. I think there's a lot of great rock acts out there that that aren't seeing the line of day. You think,

imagine dragon to a rock. I think they started that way or did they were the Killers? I think that's rock. I think it's it's I think it's more about the attitude behind it too. And that was the point of my question because people struggle with this in country too. They go as, in country, is it not? There's not a right answer. Yeah, I think it's I think it's

the intention behind it. Um. I think everything is kind of all kind of like when you go over to Europe and two over there, like all genres are kind of played everywhere. It's not like you got this format,

this format, this format. Um. It feels like it's all like we did a show with Backstreet Boys over in Germany and we were like, this is interesting, but equal fan base, like the fan base that's human though, to be fair, Like on my radio show now and it's on a hundred and thirty cities in Canada twenty or so, so you know, we have a broad audience that comes to listen to a country. But I play hip hop on my morning show. I would play imagine dragons. I

love all of it, People love all of it. It's nobody, nobody turns away when they see any of that live. You know, and if you look at something you talk about looking at your life as a movie, if you just look at someone's phone, no one's phone is a format of music. No one's phone is a format. No one's car is a format. The only thing this format and categories are fine to be able to separate things. But if you're talking about what consumers like, and that's what I try to do. Try to be the pulse

of what people like. Um there, the formats aren't a thing. You may lean a bit, you may like a certain sound a bit more, but everybody loves some Frank Sinatra and everybody loves Snoop Dogg. You know, everybody loves people usually like both a little bit. You know, we prints one of my favorites. Um yeah, it's it's it's I

wish that it didn't feel so separated sometimes. You know, I do understand that people go to the format or actually you probably know more than I do on how it's tested and how they judge what, what's able to be played on what. But I just think I look at it from a like maybe maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but like put it out there and let's see what it does like let it, let it have a life of its own. Let let the people judge, you know, whether that's going to be played

or not. I mean, and that's what people do to us. They judge. Come, they listen, they don't, they decide. Um. Yeah, it's an interesting thing to go away. What is rock music? Because what is country music? What is even? What is hip hop? You know? Yeah, Mikeda is mumble rap hip hop hip hop right now? Yeah? You know? Now I love I love Postmalon and something. I listened to it like every night before I go off. He's die hard Postmon and we'll play it on the show some and

he seemed postmone live. But it's is he good? He's really good and he can do anything. And he plays guitar. My comparison to my d who's how old was and they're not the same, but they feel the same. Kid rock when he came. Okay, he's kind of a hip hop guy, but he does some rocks stuff and now he's kind of country. I don't only know what he but it's all kind of good. Did you see him live?

And he does all of it kind of that he plays guitar and sings, and he does hip hop and he's I could totally see him pulling out a country song and it and it being completely believable. Yeah, I can see it, Yeah in some Texas and we would go believe he has country roots too. Yeah. Yeah, you know what, Um, I didn't know there's you gets this old eight million records. Huh, that's what it is. That's a that's a lot of records. Man, I appreciate that. Yeah, listen,

a lot of this isn't from mine. The whole first part of this interview was but I made a few notes that I wanted to, uh, to bring up things I didn't know behind I guess Kelly and Carrie, you're the third biggest alum from Idol as far as like selling, and it's crazy, that's cool when they when I hear that, it always kind of it's sometimes I forget, you know, I don't never really try not to pay attention to all the accolades and the numbers, and it's it's fun

to hear It's like, oh, yeah, we've done all right. The rumor that I always heard was that you had either audition, they wanted you to sing for fuel when you come off idle. Was that true? Oh? Yeah, it was crazy. It was after my first week of the

actual competition. I think we did um. It was the week after I did hemorrhage in my hand, and there Joe Randy Jackson came up to me after that show that night, we were all headed to the dressing room and it was one of the very few times that I actually saw him outside of the judging table, and he was like, dude, my boy Carl Bell from Fuel, hit me up. They might be looking for you, man, and they might be looking at it. I was like, why, he goes, I think they're looking for a singer. I'm like,

what what happened to Brett? He goes, I don't. I don't think it's working out. I don't. Well, that's flattering, but obviously I can't do anything because he goes, yeah, but you know, don't be surprised if you hear anything, you know, And they kind of like waited, and then they hit me up when they knew that I wasn't on the show anymore, hit you up, and uh, actually they went on Entertainment tonight and actually did a blurb on that saying, hey, Chris Daltrey, you know, we're we're

looking for a singer hit us up. And it was weird, like I didn't know what to do. Like I was like, wow, you know, if I was maybe maybe if I was, you know, still a nobody, and I was, and and I don't mean that in any sort of, ah, disrespectful way, but like I pictured me like if I was in the clubs before I ever went on Idol, spinning wheels, not you know, maybe playing for gas money, if that offer came along, it would be like no brainer, Like this is much better than where I'm at right now.

And obviously nobody's beating down the doors at these clubs to assign me. But I had had this opportunity to be on American Idol, and I was like, this is like my audition for every record label out there, really and to do what I do and not be limited to someone else's success or someone else's songwriting. And I was like, man, that that's really flattering, but yeah, I just I can't in my right mind can't say yes to this, and the guy is still alive. So that

always felt weird too. It's not like you look out in the audience and he's like flipping you off. Well, listen the new album's cage to rattle, check it out. Um, let's play Michae. Let's play one more track from the new record before we jump out of here. Why don't we play backbone? How do you? How do you sing like this? If you have a cold or if you're sick? Man? Colds are my worst enemy. Um, you know I rarely

get them, Thank god. Um, I rarely get them. But that cold isn't nearly as bad as like a sinus infection or something like that. That's when I'm like or bronchitis. That's I've had it like maybe twice UM on tour and laryngitis a couple of times. I think we've can't intend twelve years of touring, we've canceled like three shows

because of being sick. I hate canceling. I hate and I'll go to stand up and I care so much about the people that come, and I know they've made plans for we and your voices, your work, tickets, and they also don't want to give them a bad show if I'm not feeling well. So you're just so torn. They got probably something got babysitters and they actually came and took part of their life and came to see me like that's a big deal to yea. And so it's a tough thing to be in compassionate and empathetic.

Really changes things when you when it comes time to, you know, make that decision, do I cancel? And then you think about the hundreds or thousands of people that just maybe drove an hour, hour and a half had planned it for weeks, months, sometimes here in advance. It's crazy. Well makes you disappoint Chris, it's good. It's good to spiss. We've done an hour and that's a good that's a strong hour. Yeah, it was strong. It was strong. Good. I didn't hang up on you, and I didn't. It's

all good. I think for old time's sake, instead of taking a picture of you, will take one together. We'll post it. Have great. Well, you'll be like, look at that. No, really, I'm I'm really excited you came over. I am to thank you very much for taking the time to have me and shout out to our buddy Kevin Legrett who yes,

thank you Kevin, who is here. Yeah. And and it's a big part of my life personally and in my career, So shout out Kevin loved man all right well christ Audrey episode one thirty eight thanks to sleep Number and LifeLock. Be sure to check out Cage to rattle, stream, download by it anyway to consume it that you'll consume it. Go see him though, That's the important thing. It comes around. Go see him because that's how that's how artists. It's a fun time. Oh we're gonna Oh we're playing the

Ryman septem You gotta come. Boy? Is it a weeknight because I wake up through in the morning. Man, is it a week night? It's probably Thursday or something. I won't even go to radio the radio hours or rough. I'll tell you what. If it's on a weekend and I'm not on the road, I would love it. We got you taken care of if that's the case, and and any other time obviously So at the Rhyman in Nashville in September September twenty, what's the sorry, people to

go check out the Daughtry official dot com. Oh you don't have Daughtry dot com? Yeah, what's up with that? We don't happen, Yeah I must be Yeah, check out Cage Radical Chris I do have Chris at Chris Daughtry on Instagram. I did manage to get that one. You have to buy it. No, we actually uh we actually were. Um we had we knew someone who made a phone call. I don't know what that phone call entailed, but we

got we got the domain. I can't get at Bobby Bones and they're not even using it, you know, they just sit on it for what for us to pay for it? Evisual? Well, I do have an underscore on on my Twitter account. That is true. That guy Underscore doctors. That guy won't move. We'll see you guys next time. Chris. Thanks for the time, all right,