#165 - Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down

like all over the world. I felt so so small now, man. We did start young. I started touring when I was twenty. I just turned twenty one, and it was you know,

they say like youth is wasted on the young. So it's touring because I think I would have enjoyed it so much more now in the mindset that I'm in in my life and just the place that I am, than I did then, because you know, you get out there and you're young and you start touring, and it's that's a lot to handle hand a twenty one year old, you know, and it's basically you know, just to here's the I used to tell people, it's like having a backstage, passed to life and eat out there and and I

was an idiot, and I didn't you know, I didn't do a lot of things, but I was just I guess my main thing that I got out, I just got out and drank so much and things like that. And and um, I've been without alcohol, been alcohol free for a little over three years. As I wish, man I could just take that and apply to my whole career, I would have enjoyed it so much more. I think I saw you guys probably five times, you know, all

through my years. Um, And so for me, I think the last time I saw you guys was you guys in Fuel. You guys were playing together. But I've bet a lot of those bands, did you guys kind of cross paths and tool randomly with a lot of those guys kind of in that same class and when when pop was rock, So how did those tours often come together? Did you did you switch places sometimes? Like who had

the bigger song would kind of lead the tour? Well, we um, by the grace of God, our first record like done really good and we started touring together with Nickelback was used to be uh their second record kind of took off for them, and so that was the first tour that we would kind of they opened for us for and a couple first couple of years that both of us were out and uh, and then their second record took off, and we've done a tour together to where we kind of flip flop back and forth

playing and then we had we went our separate ways. So like not good blood, not good blood. So what's the deal with Nickelback? Why does anybody hate on Nickelback? I don't know, why do you think people hate on Nickelback? And I wouldn't have went there for you, you know, I didn't know you guys tore with Nickelback a lot. There's been a lot of times were we both started on two already Eagles, you know, like the nineteen eighties

Eagle buses, and one of them was always broke. So there was a lot of times where there was I mean, you know, in those days, all band and crew on one bus. On that tour, there was both bands and broth crews on one bus for a lot of times because one of the bus was always tore, tore up, and and it would break down and we just had to get to the next gig, so everybody's just kid

on one. Which if a bus only holds twelve, now a bustle whole twelve legitimately like my bustle whole twelve legitimately, So that means there's enough bunks and legally you can have twelve. This sounds like there's more than twelve people on that bus, but there a lot of people some Mondey would always give me a bunk and uh so so the two singers could sleep or whatever. Um, but uh yeah, we just kind of we Our old drummer

is now their drummer. Daniel used to be our drummer for quite a while, and uh and and he's a great drummer, you know. And um, it was just I don't really know honestly how it got to be Bad Blood, but I think kind of it was a thing in the ward show. And I don't even remember what a ward show it was. And it was even between the two bands. It was between some crew guys or something. But I don't know why people I don't know why

people hate on him so much. But well, if you don't like him, I now hate Nickelback to Mike, let him know, let him know I'm tired of defending them. I don't like him anymore. But I don't like them. I don't I don't dislike you know, honestly, I hadn't talked to him in a really long time. Here's the story one of my friends told me, because they went to Canada and they're a country band, and they said they were playing with Nickelback, and I guess those guys

are really rich. I guess Chad Corger is really rich. And apparently went on a yacht. This is all hearsay, right, They went out a yacht and they were throwing pillows into the air and shooting them with guns, and that he was just wild and they just had guns and still like partying on boats and off the coast. And I was like, man, Nickelback is still going hard right now. I guess so, man. I've heard some stories about Ted doing some pretty outland just things, but it was mainly

like throwing money around and and stuff like that. And for me personally, I mean, I come from a good family of saving kids. But my mom there taught me to the value of money, and I still remember the value of money, and I just think about it, you know, I guess probably I was probably like nineteen or twenty, and you guys, in my mind really blew up and that rock sound became the pop sound because I was working on pop radio and every song you guys are

put out would just be massive. And when you're in the mid and I can feel this a bit with me now, meaning I'll work so hard, I really don't see the cool things that are happening around me at the level I should really appreciate and see them. I wonder, because you were so successful, just one after the other, what felt like, like, did you really feel it an experience it? Are we just running so hard? I think you're just running so hard that you did you feel it?

And I think I feel it more now looking back, you know, in Gina and I and we'll talk about it sometimes and and and I mean we really were like truly truly blessed. And we still are. Man, we still go and we still play a lot. We don't tour when we you know, when those first several years we played three hundred shows a year. Sometimes you're on the road that much, you were, man, we would we

would go. We we developed kind of the three week rule to where you know, if we don't want to be gone more than three weeks, and we'll come home for a week and go again sometimes. But I remember like going for three full months and not even coming home, you know. Um, but we always we've always been a radio band, and radio has always been our lifeblood, and they've always been very very get to us. Did you

want to be a radio band at first? Or just a rock band that the times happened to fit the sound? I think that it just kind of happened because you know, we never toured before we got signed. We were from South Mississippi and uh and we're from Biloxi, Missisipiorst Point, Mississippi. But basically Biloxi were just like halfway in between New Orleans and Mobile, and um, we couldn't get a gig in New Orleans. We couldn't get gigs in Mobile, nobody. I mean, we just had to play like right there.

It worked at what worked to our benefit was the fact that there just wasn't a whole lot to do in the area. So we always had a ton of friends at the shows and stuff like that. And um, so we went made a local a little CD at a local studio and had Kryptonite on it. Along with what would become like half of the first record. And um so we begged our local radio station to play it.

And you know they can't just do that, right, but they had a local radio show that they would do once a month, and um so they played us on there a lot. And and finally we begged the program director long enough uh that he was like, okay, I'll add Grip tonight, and he tried it and it became the most requests it's only ever had. And now some of those people might have been interference our family for a little while, but after a while it became like

a hit on that station. And they were a reporting station, and so you know, the report was going out that this number one song, and but there was no record company beside it. So there came the record companies and uh and we weren't even trying to get signed. We they just came and it just happened. So where all you guys, where'd you come? How did you come together? We were all from the same little town, Escuatapa, Mississippi, and um mad and now which our our original guitar player,

he's he's passed away. We had he's my cousin and we just always played together and started playing his garage before I even had a drum set. And one of his buddies left a jump set over there from new Play and and uh Todd our original bass player. Um. He asked me in Matt to come over to this house one day and play, and we just started the end and I was the drummer. I didn't. I had never sang in front of anybody ever, and I just

I was like, oh, I try it. And I was so shy that Todd lived in a trailer and I would sit in the in the in the front living room, move his trailer and I would A couple of his girlfriend and one of her friends would always be over there. They were always at Todd's house. I was so shy sit in my face in the corner and singing. Really, how hard was it to drum and sing? Not? Not so bad. I always wonder how people play guitar and seeing, because I mean, I just can't get my fingers to

do that. But for the drums I played, and I'm not a great drum or anything, but I played all my life, and so it was never I never really thought about it too much. So you never sang and you hop up and you start singing, although you're shy, like, could you feel you're pretty good at it? I felt

like I was. Um. I think probably the breakthrough for me was when when they told me, like Todd's girlfriend was like, you sound really good, you know, like okay, you know it from there, and that that definitely helped me come out of my shield. But I remember when we recorded that first record. I got to get home and I played it from my parents and my dad said, who's that singing? I was like, you know it ain't.

That's funny, And it's such a funny story that your local radio station playing the song is what ended up getting you guys a deal, because there's kind of breaking down for our listeners. If stations are big enough, their playlists get reported to basically a database, and they take the database and they go, Okay, this meant this song had this many plays at reporting stations, and that's what

builds the chart. So any station that's big enough has a reporting tag, and you're on reporting station and there's this song, the number one song that has no record label beside it, because every song, every band has a label written right beside it. Like if they're on Mercury or Hollywood, but three doors that had nothing nothing, And so the label did multiple labels approach you guys, They did Universal in Atlantic. It was the main two that we talked to in a couple of a couple of

others and Um and UM. Money Littman came down, who is now the president of Universal. That was when he and his brother Avery Littman at first started are not just started, but recently started Republic, which was a rock very label on inside of Universal. And he came down and talked to us, and uh, and we just liked what Money had to say and he was honest with us, and and uh, what does he say to you? You know what stand out about the meeting above what made

us ultimately go with them above anybody else. He said, Look, he said, a lot of people come down here and lie to you and tell you this and that and tell you what you want to hear. He said, it's like this. You sell me records where it's all good. You stop selling records. I stopped answering the phone. I think good enough. And when you get signed, is it

like a recoup? Whenever they give you money for a record, do they give you any sort of money up front, like you here have money to go buy some clothes. They did. They gave us. They gave us um assignment bonus when we first signed, and it wound up that we all got fifteen thousand dollars apiece to sign on in all four members before was at the time we all wouldn't spin it all on jet skis that in fifteen dollars. Again, we're the same agent basically from the

same part of the world. Because I'm from Arkansas. You give me fifteen thousand dollars as a nineteen or twenty year old, I mean one, that's more money that I've ever seen it at once ever. And then too, I'm probably gonna make some dumb decisions too. And so you guys all go buy jess Kis. It was gold And where do you do? You ride them in the Gulf? Yeah? Yeah, right, we lived right on the Gulf and right kind of we grew up on the river, but just ride up

the river from the golf That's funny. You know what I didn't know is that you wrote Kryptonite in high school, which is which is not? This is to me the song that you guys would be known most for is it? Is it to you? Um, it's what kind of started. Definitely, I guess maybe Here without You is kind of the song that kept it going. But Kryptonite is definitely what kind of school I'm play a little Kryptonite? This was

the jam I remember when he came out. I was like, I don't even know who these guys are, but I love him. So tell me about this. You right? It in high school hall the year like junior senior high school. I was a senior, and so you sit down and go, are you watching Superman? Or? You know? It was? It was I guess it was just me asking a question of of like unconditional friendship. It's like, if I'm doing good, will you'd be there for me? And if I'm down,

will you'd be there for me? And you know, honest to god, I didn't think a whole lot about it. You know, it sounded good and the words rhymed. It meant a lot more to me later and it still means things to me right now because later on in my life I started realizing that question was kind of a pretty good question. If I go crazy, will you still call me Superman? Or if I'm alive? And will

you will you be there holding my hand? And the reason it became more meaningful to me later was the fact that so many times it's like people are willingly there for you when you're down, but those same people that's like, oh, yeah, man, you're gonna do great, You're gonna do well. If you start doing great, those same people will kind of turn on you sometimes, you know. And so that question kind of became a valuable question

to me and and and pretty meaningful for me. It's almost like a marriage vale you know, for richer or poor, you know, to death do us part. It's almost what that is, like if I'm good, are we good? If I'm bad? Are we good? Are you gonna You're gonna be there the whole time? And that was the one that the local stession played. Now was that you guys first single, like right out of the box. It was so it was the one that that worked for you guys, and then you ran with it nationally and did you

feel good about it early? Like we're stations receptive to it? They were, and they were, and it started doing good and then it kind of it kind of leveled all for a second, and they're like and then it. Really it's kind of like hit another year and it took off. Could you feel that when it was early? Yeah? And so you start to get calls from like TV shows, are you doing like the the the late night shows or MTV stuff like that. We did. We never did a whole lot on MTV, but we've done all the

late night shows. So back did you ever do Letterman? Oh? We did? How was that? It was cool? Yeah? It was literally cool because the theater was so cold. Yeah, but we played I think I think we held the record on Jay Leno Show for the most times on I think we played Jay Leno Show seven times. Is he super nice? Yas I was gonna say, like the the whole thing with Jay was he would come by and be super nice. Hey, hey he's dripping. He was really really cool. So yeah, so that comes out and

you gotta be feeling pretty good. But do you start to feel like, man, I wonder for a one and done band, oh man, because that can be the kiss of death, Like one huge song? Can that can do you in? Just would you rather have had one huge song let's say like a chumba wamba or lou bega and went away or had no major song at all, but a few that were okay. I think I'd rather have a few that was okay. Yeah. Why is that?

Because I think it would create more longevity in your career and allow you to go play more shows, because you know, you know, a lot of bands kind of look at it as like we toured to promote a record, but we put out a record so we could go tour. You know, we always we just always like to go play live. And you also, I guess, would become kind of a character of yourself if you have one song, like you're always did that image of that one song because there's not another one or two to balance it

out so much. And I say that because I was watching this story about Bobby McFerrin, who has Don't Worry, Be Happy. He won't play that song anymore because he's like, that was like a goofy song that I never expected to be a hit, and that actually doesn't represent me at all, and so he doesn't play that at all. Really, yeah, he doesn't play it at all. Like what do you

get tired of playing the big hits? I don't. I don't because uh, and we're doing a lot of acoustic shows, right now and I like doing acoustics because it gives me a chance to talk to the crowd. And one of the things I was telling the crowd the other night because I just talk whatever on my mind, you know, and and I was just telling him. I was like, you know, it never it never gets old. And and because I love hearing him sing it back. And it's weird because for the last fifteen years we wore in

ear monitors. Well, had a weird situation like two weekends ago, my monitor guy, we were in and out of town, you know, and he left our inn years at home and thank god we had some wedges. And so that was my first time to sing with wedges in like fifteen years. Wow. And So by the way, wedges, for people that don't know, the inner ears are uh a little the tiny things that you see the artists wearing

their ears. And so basically it's a mix inside the years and it seals off all the outside sound and what the monitors are are, or the wedges are, the the on stage, the little box speakers. Everybody can kind to hear them, but they're pointed at you. And so it was the first time in fifteen years you'd use us. Yeah, and uh for one of our shows, and it allowed me to hear the crowd, and I was like, man, missing this because you know, sometimes for the inn ears,

you only hear what you want to hear. But it can really kind of it can definitely separate you from everybody out there. I have, I usually have some ambient mics in there a little bit, but um and coincidentally, the first the first of those two shows was it's pretty small and uh, I could I could hear people like talking while I was singing shut up, Okay. So I just saw by the way, you mentioned the acoustic before you get to the next point, back porch jams out.

Here's Kryptonite, the acoustic version that three doors down just put out. Man, do you guys rerecord these? Did you go energy pill stuff back? Or howd you do that? We just we have a studio that we own just up in Hendersonville and it's just a small, little nothing studio and we just went in there and and ran through them and just played them I think just maybe once or twice, is that right? Because we tried to

keep it kind of live. We didn't want it to be like to like right, you know, it's my whole life. I don't want to be too right. I just won't feel normal if it's too right. You know, you mentioned people talking. I did a whole thing on the air a couple of days ago where I was talking about acoustic shows or even when I do stand up, Like there's a difference because when someone's talking and I'm doing stand up, it kills all of like my rhythm. I'm talking and if you yell hey, you're all even if

you hey, you're awesome, it it stops it. It kills everything. And I'm like, there's a difference in screaming that out when I'm doing stand up or someone is doing an acoustic show versus when there's fire and there's big electric guitars and know, you can scream it all you want, like tell tell the artist you love him, but if he's depending on the attention of the room, he's got

to have the attention of the room. And so you're playing these acoustic shows and you started to notice that was a thing, huh you do It is irritating because for me, but I don't know about you, but I feel bad. Not for me. I'll be fine, Like I go, I do the best I can, and I feel good

about it. But it's the people that are sitting out there that paid for the ticket that have to hear some idiot yelling and I feel bad for them, and I get mad for them, and sometimes like I popped off the crowd at people in the crowd, and I'm like, dude, they didn't pay to hear you tell jokes. They paid to come and experience whatever I'm bringing. And I wonder,

do you feel that way? I do? I do? And you know, and and at one of the shows, that that first show, so there was somebody over over out on one side of the crowd that was just kept on screen, and I remember I could hear them while I was singing, and I mean they weren't like screaming obscenities or something hateful or anything. But after a couple of songs, security kim and got him and take them took him out. And I don't like to see anybody

get taking out of the show. I was kind of glahead, Yeah, and you know what, and they paid for it too,

but they can't run it everybody else. That's right. That's what That's all it's about to me, is that you're running it for everybody else that got asiter that took a night and dedicated to come watch freaking three doors downplay and there's some guy won't stop screaming as you guys are playing here without you acoustic which is cool, which is also on the record or so that I don't know, sounds pretty perfect to me, I'll be honest with you. This is out now the back course shams

the acoustic versions. So this song? What single was this? Um? This was all? This was the second single off the second record, So okay, so it was a bit but Wain Kryptonite and here with us? So what was the second single? A loser? That was the way loser starts with that guitar at the beginning of it. Oh man, that was a jam that that song. I didn't realize it until speaking of like you don't realize what's going

on around you. And now I might be kind of wrong, but in some way that song was number one at rock radio for six months? Is that right? So in one form or the other for six months it was number one because I'm a loser? How is it? Jam man? I said, love that song? I mean that's right here in the baseline Boo boo that I loved it. Man, I geek out over this music. When you played with us, I was like, this is the coolest thing I've ever done. And I get to play with some alls and people,

and I was like, I appreciate it. It was so much fun because together you came and you sang Kryptonite and here without you. I think it's a two songs that we did and I just sang background vocals. That was the coolest thing ever. It was so it was so much fun. I really enjoyed, sincerely, I really enjoyed that. I couldn't believe you said yes, because I I told him that's that is there anywhere we can get, you know,

three doors down. I get bragged. I know he lives here and I didn't know we had the same management. And they were like, you know you have the same and I was like, sure it, say where reach out? We know him and so they said, yeah, he's gonna do it. I was like, are you kidding me? This is the craziest thing any time. Man. That was awesome. Here's out here without your Now, let's do let's do a loser a little bit. Here's a loser you guys,

pretty party and pretty hard at this point. Were yeah, we were, But I actually you know how I wrote that song, uh, when I was a teenager. Also, um, I wrote it maybe before crypt well, no, it's a little bit after. The Cryptic Knight was also like the fifth song I ever wrote when I started, when we wrote that first record, I've never even written songs. I didn't.

I didn't really. I started out writing poems. And I guess the reason I wrote too many of them high school because I think I had like algebra, which is the class that I used to setting rhodium. I had it right after lunch, and I think that was fourth period. Third period was creative writing, and I used to love

creative writing. I was terrible in math, so I'd take creative writing and then I go to lunch and I go sitting math class and just like right, I fed my brain, you know, and I'd go in there and I wrote half that record in there. But I wrote Loser right around that same time. But actually wrote her about one of my friends and um and what actually calling him a loser. But he and I grew up together and I know him since we're little bitty kids, and uh, he started getting into like jokes pretty bad

and stuff. And I wasn't writing a calling him a loser. I watched his attitude chains to where I could tell that like he thought he was a loser, and I was. I was almost writing it from his perspective, looking at himself, you know, you know what I mean. And um, and thankfully dude straightened up. And he's a good dude. And I had talked to him a long time. But um, that it was written really about one of my friends. You wrote those songs in high school, huh and here

they are lasting twenty years later. That's crazy. So were you in high school? Were you the cool music kid? Were the dorky music kid? I kinda hung out with everybody. Um, And and it was really like I was saying earlier, it worked hard at venues to be from that little town. And I mean I kind of knew everybody. I wouldn't like the kid that got picked on, but I wasn't the kid that got invited every party either, you know. And um, because we we we practice all the time.

We were just we played all the time and we should have been better, but but we knew. We got to where we knew everybody because there was one little bar in our town and we played there every weekend. And I was only sixteen and I had to get I literally had to get a note from a parents saying it was okay for me to be in there and know a note that's funny, A no to break the law? That's fnny. Isn't that funny? Into a bar? Yeah? Playing the bars, and we just we'd always have like

three or four people in there. It was never are like but double all there was to go do. And we charged like three or three or four dollars to come in, and we just got to keep the keep the cover charge. So they made the alcohol money and you guys got the cover we did. Why about you guys were doing all right then? Because again how we grew up, you and I both, that's that's a lot of money. I worked at McDonald's, and I could make more playing in a bar both nights at the weekend.

I can make a McDonald's all week Did you continue to work at McDonald's for a little bit? When did you go? All right, I'm just gonna dedicate myself to music. Um, I'm mainly quit there because I want to go to a party and my manage let me help work. I was like, see you make more money playing in bars anyway, that's funny. Three doors down the acoustic versions, uh from their acoustic back porch jam. Check that out. I'm gonna do a break here real quick. Alright, so loser comes out?

What's next? What comes out to loser? Duck and Ruin was the third single off that record, And um, that was a fun zone And you wrote this one by yourself? Right? We did? Um? Um, Well, this one, I wrote all the lyrics. Um. The only thing I hadn't I didn't write all the lyrics songs, Like two songs on some of our later records, I co wrote those with a

couple of guys. Um. But this one, we had the music for a little while for it, and I just never could Sometimes we could have music and a couple of the songs, I would write lyrics like completely independent of the music, and I just had like this notebook of lyrics, and we'd come up with songs and songs and songs, and every now and then i'd be listening to one and I'll be reading through there and It's like, heym, those lyrics work with that music, and I think I

can run. Was at least part of it kind of wound up like that. Man, this was a rock song. Right here, I'll sing them all back. I'm here a little bit of this. I mean it's heavy. Yeah, it was it heavy and now here and now it's it's heavy? Was it again to the time? Was it considered heavy? M hm? So of that was the first song we used kind of like that song was the first song I ever heard auto tune on, and we used this

sort of as an effect. There's a couple of spots you can hear my voice kind of like and uh. I remember one of the guys from some forty one like messing with me one day at the show. He was like, so, tune all your vocals, I like, dududes. In fact, he's like, it sounds like tuning in to me. I was like, whatever it is. Which of those guys that you become friends with during that time, like all those bands that are, you know, basically touring together, seeing

each other on the road, who'd you guys become close with? Um? I guess some of the guys that I became close with that I'm still friends with this Uh, some of the closer ones, would you know? I don't talk to him all the time. But the theory of it dead Man guys, is that right cool one to guys, that's a that's a rock band. Yeah, and they're a good bunch of dudes. Where they love now. I think they're all in Canada, so the Canadians they are like. I would listen to the Edge in Dallas. That's where I

would hear three of the Dead Man. I would this is how dorky I was, right because I was really into the rocks. You know. It went from like, uh, I found nine Country in the nineties, and then the whole grunge movement for me was big because I grew up grungy anyway. And finally I just looked like those people because I was dirty kid anyway. But that was cool to be a dirty kid. And I was like, finally,

somebody that's that looks like me. And so I listened to all that and that transitioned into kind of you guys this time, you know, the two thousand's, the early two thousands, and so I would have my friend get on the Edge in Dallas and take a cassette and just pit record play and tape an hour flip it tape an hour then mail it to me and I would listen to it back and I would hear you guys, and some of the rock songs that wouldn't go to pop but would just go to the edge, Theory of

a Dead Man, and you go through all those all those bands like that, And that's what that reminds me of, is that time period cassettes, man, and sometimes even I would record songs. I don't know if you did this back in your hold doubt, I would. I would go record, play pause and then when the song that you like start, you take that pause off quick, and you hope to god the stupid DJ would talk over the intro. Yeah, even like okay, so top five and nine don't talk

over the intro on posit? How many? How many singles on that first record? Four? So what's the last one that comes off? Be like that? Oh? If I can be like, was this on a movie too? It's on the soundtrack? It was. It was on the American Pie that's right. We didn't write it for it, but it wound up being on it. And actually we had to change the first lyrics of it because the first lyrics

spans nice California. Well, that song takes place in Middle America, so I didn't like to mention of California, so we we changed it to spend his whole life being too young, live life, to send his dreams. And it's still around with the nickline. Instead of California being too young, is California being too young? That's syllable that that's the So did you change it for just the soundtrack like on the on the record it was it was California on

the soundtrack. You have to go back in the studio and re record that and hopefully it sounds the same, like don't have a cold or something. It's hard to do that, man, it's hard to go and I mean you can use the same microphone, you could be in the same studio, same everything. It's hard to go back because I've tried. I have had to do it a little touch ups here and there, and it's hard to do it a couple of weeks later because my voice changes every day, you know, and especially when you're younger

like that, and not from just your voice changing. But I didn't have as much control over it then, and it's hard to go back in there and and make it sound the same to where it just lines up with the rest of a of a take. You Now, when you say that's the first thing I thought is, wow, you had to change it. And from that's quite the time difference from when you record it for the first record and when this movie comes out. Four singles, that's what a year, year and a half. Yere about a

year and a half a thing. So that first single, Kryptonite, you've got a couple of rockets. That fourth one goes back to pop and does it really well. I remember that playing that one like crazy. So you start with a bang and you end with a bang. Going into the second record, you gotta feel pretty good about yourself. It was that was It was amazing. It was amazing.

I remember I literally remember being so mad one night and like at at my and R guy was like, why a will to sell eighty thousand records last week? That was like, man, this is bull crow last week? Yeah a random week. Wow, times have changed. My friend was like what or maybe it was like sixty thousand or something, but it was like ridiculous. It was some ridiculous amount of records and I was like what it

gets so crazy? I was killing it now. Artists auld beg I think like Florida George lines like fifty last week, it was like the biggest I don't listen, times have changed to like the way that people get music. Absolutely, but okay. So the second record was that Away from the Sun. It was I don't even have notes on that, like I'm just going straight from from memory here Away from the Sun, like the black cover the sun kind of tell me if I'm wrong, like, um, like maybe

like the moon's covering a little bit. There's like an outside like edge of the sun. Is that right? I'm so good at this. I'm good at And so first song off the record is Wife. The first single off of Away from the Sun was when I'm gone jam come on. I had to think about that, now, what this is the jam? Thats the jam too? Listen to this. Would you get nervous that a song was coming out of would you? At this time You're like, we're kind of feeling that, we feel like it's gonna do good,

just put it out. I was nervous. I was why is that? Because it was the first one was so big. We had every chance in the world to fail, you know, because because at the same time, you know, we were never we were never like the cool band. You know, It's like we never got like coverage of this band or this band, because it was always you know, things that tend to follow the trendy bands, you know what, so many, so many of those musement movements of music

just like that just spike up. And you know, it was like, is it gonna work amongst all that? And and and it would, but I think I got nervous every time. Was there ever resentment that you guys didn't get the coverage? And did you ever go is it because we're from super South? Is it because I mean I resented it? And I mean and you know, because even really, you know, they wanted us to kind of separate ourselves from being so Southern. And I mean you

can hear the way I talk. I've tried not to for a little while, and I just couldn't help it, you know, and and uh, and you know, I guess they associated with being kind of stupid or whatever. Then especially you know, it's like because there were no Southern bands out and Hatton been for a long time. You know, I think the last Southern bands out before us, there

was a rock band. And you know, how does that conversation go where they go, And is it a conversation where they say, hey, like we need you to be a little more California, a little more you know not, because again it's another Southern guy right in front of you asking this question. Because when I started in radio and they were like, he if you're gonna do pop an epop, you have to lose rags in a little bit.

So that conversation has had to me. And I did a bit, and now I've kind of got back to you know, I sound a bit like I sounded growing up. But was that conversation had with you, Like, guys, you gotta chill out a little bit on the in the Mississippi? They did, and they sent this to a voice coach for a couple of sessions and just to help us like like me, which you know, a new proper grammar. I just don't like to use it, you know what I'm saying. And but I did. I tried to lose

it for a little while. And I mean, and it's not as thick as it was when I started, man, that was it was. I probably could have managed to shave a little bit of at all of these are people surprised sometimes I think your accident is when you do talk, they are because you don't really hear it in the music. But again, you don't really hear the Spice girls being British and most of the stuff they

sing either I know or it bows me away. Like you you've seen this actor in four or five movies and then you see him excepting an award or something. It's like, what the guy walking Dead kills me. He's off the show now. But the main guy, Rick Grimes, he would say he's on the show. He's like from Atlanta and he talks and he's like Rick Grimes and then he's on the awards show is going it my thanks for the award. I'm like, what is happening right now?

Like I don't want to hear this. You're running everything I know about this guy. I pictured him in the Grinds in Atlanta, not this kangaroo guy. So you keep making heads, but you're probably not getting the respect that you just you feel like you deserve in the mainstream. Like that would that would irritate me. It was a little irritating, but um, but then you know, I guess, But then you go home and forget about it. You know, because you're amongst your friends and and they're glad that you.

I always just thought it was more important to stay me than it was to be who they wanted me to be, because you know, I think for my mom daddy, you know, they were always encouraging to me and and just let me do my thing. You know, they didn't force me to do it, but they didn't keep me from doing it. But you know, my mom just always your mind's like, Brad, that won't always be there son, you know, And it's always kept that in my mind that this will you know, who I am will always

be here, but that won't always be there. So I just kind of got to where I just took it with a grain of salt and I just am who I am, you know. And how is the relationship between the band as you guys started to skyrocket with the

songs doing so well, getting better, getting worse worse? Really it did, because honestly, I mean we all got out there, party in and like one of us was, all of us drink a good bit, but like one of us was, it wasn't that we didn't get along, our drugs didn't get along because one person was on this and one person was on this, one person was on this, and and and by our third record, we all had our own buses. It was four five guys in the band um and four four band busses and then all the

crew busses. So we were rolling around with seven busses because the four main band guys just hated each other. So how does that dynamic work when you have to work on things and when you have to get on stage and be a collective. It that got to where it was like the only time that we've seen each other with sound check and on stage, and you know, we were playing amphitheaters and stuff. You keep a pretty consistent sound, so we'd get a sound established and we

wouldn't even do sound check. I wouldn't see some of those see the guys until it was you know, if we played at nine, I'd see M and eight thirty we were in the addressing room and putting years on and it was just all right, you guys ready, And then you go out and play and rocket show and everybody thinks that you're the best friends ever because you used to be and you look like you I mean, you go out and you you're you're a rock band.

You're rocking, people think you're rocking as brothers. When does it get better? Um? Or does it? It's it's sort of didn't man. I mean, you know, I'm the There was three of us to start, and I'm one that's here, you know, and and one Frankly is in prison and one's dead and both there's a result of drugs, man. And you know, and Chris, Chris was not one of the original guys, but he was in the band when we got signed. And I think I for him because

he got clean. You know, he was on toe completely different. My thing was just always drinking and I drink profusely, and uh, he he did a lot of different other other things, but uh, he got clean. And my drummer, Greg up Church, he's been a drummer for he became. He used to play for Puddle of Mud. And when Daniel left and went to Nickelback. Um, that was right after we had done a tour that was nickel Back three doors down in Puddle of Mud, and Daniel went

to Nickelback. Greg came with us and in Greg' from Oklahoma and uh and Greg drink like a fish too. Um. And it got to where, you know, Chris Bye, not so General Persuasion, went to went to rehab and he got clean and somehow, and it's a testament to his sobriety, stayed sober with us still partying like mad men. And then a few years later, Greg about not so General Persuasion, went to rehab and he got clean from just from drinking.

And man, I started seeing those guys and I was still I knew that, I knew that I needed to to change, and but you know, I started seeing what those guys had, and you know, you see them over there and they're happy, and I'm still here miserable. And I think I for a man because seeing them like that and through their encouragement, you know, they were They never pushed it on me, but I was like, I have to and they got to be where I could trace.

I was ruining my life. There was no big tragedy or no catastrophe or anything, but I was putting my wife through hell. I was putting everybody I knew through hell and putting myself through hell. And I was seen around me and I was like, I have to change. And I went to rehab, and it's the best thing I ever done, because I wanted to get sober, but I didn't know how. And I went out there and they taught me how how to deal with my problems.

Because people don't have drug addictions, they have life problems. And they you know, they don't have drug problems, whether they have life problems. And they sidestepped there the facing their problems. They sided step them and use drugs. And that's what I was doing. And and and I just had to learn how to and I had to miss in the gross misconception of what rehab was. I thought that, you know, like you're going to a hospital and they stepped you down, and like you're gonna sit here and

do you sober. But I just went out there and they it was like going to college to learn how to be sober. And it was awesome and it was the best thing I've ever done. And it ain't like you come out in your life's perfect, but it's sure started to get a lot better. And and beans that I was sober, and two other guys we were sober in the band. The other two guys who didn't really have a problems anyway, they might casually drink a little bit. We all got sober and it was like being in

a different band. Man, I was. That's why I said, we should could have always been like that, because we go out there now and we didn't. We generally we h h during our last summer to where we were out and we uh, we were coming somewhere. We're going from point A to point B and we were in there, like five miles of arches National Parks. We got off the bus and everybody went walked around the park together.

I was like, I cannot believe it. I've been in this band for twenty years and this is the first one of the first times I can. I could look around and I was standing in the National Park with all five band members in it, and I was like, man, when you took that in, I wish you could have always been like that. You know what's funny is you talk about these guys are not being put in um with gentle persuasion like my So I'll give you a a

quick backstory before I tell you the question. I appened my mom died in authorities from drinking and drugs because then I put into rehab a couple of times, and she never wanted to be in rehab, so rehab never worked for her. If that makes sense. Like when you say they didn't want to go, I go, man, because you have to embrace that. Really do they to hear that they didn't want to go and it still worked for them? It's pretty amazing, it really is. It's it

really is. It was a miracle. It was a miracle because Crystal tell you, I mean, it's not it's not a secret. And and we we're not and you know, we're not ashamed of where we've been or and how we got to where we are. And he'll tell you that he was bad and I was bad, just on a different on a different kid, you know. And and when he when he had to go, it was he

had to go. I mean he had to go and and and I think when he got there, he like realized it's like okay, it's I think he realized it's like, okay, it's this or death. It was that that close. Was it was that much of a problem. Was do you do the thing? Because so I've never had drink of alcohol because I like, I see my mom died from it. I don't know my real dad because an alcohol Like I have a lot of family problems with this. I was early on I was like, I'm not gonna have

this happen to me. But what happens is people will treat me different, even though I'm let everybody drink around me like I'm good. But I have to face. I was out a couple of nights ago and I was meeting up with a friend, new friend, and I have to get there early and order something that looks like a drink, or people treat me completely. They'll go, you know what if you're not drinking, and I'm like, no, no, just beat yourself. I want to do you have those

alun whe people who go, oh, he's sober. Now we have to act different? And do you want them to act different? Do you need them to act different? Do you? And do you feel like sometimes you have to kind of go guys, it's good, yeah, because I do all the time. I was read a thing on it was a postal Instagram not longer. It's it said is that follow a few recovery pages and stuff on there, and one of them it said it said, uh, alcohol is

the only drug you have two justified not doing? Oh? Yeah, true, you're right, because it's it's such a social such a social drug, you know that. Yeah, that's wild. You're like, why don't you Why don't you drink? And it's like, because I do, because I'm allergic to it. That's what I just tell I'm allergic to alcohol. You know that's crazy. And listen, that's a great story. I didn't even I

wasn't gonna spear off into that. But I'm comfortable talking about my story and it's great to hear somebody else that that is the same. Um, well, let's talk about here without you, because this is the second of where. This is where we are in the live I'm for freaking three doors down and this one this is it. This is the train. This is the train that really like cements you guys as we are for real here it is. Did you know this was the song? Did you feel it? Um? You know it's it's kind of weird.

I had to fight for the song to be on the record, and not against the record company or anybody, but against my guitar but not Chris Matt, my first guitar player, the woman that passed away. He fought me tooth and nail about putting this song on the record. He did not want He's like man, because he thought it was he thought it was cc like a ballad because it's like a it's a love song. No love songs for three Doors Down, no ballads. He did not

want it. They're kind of stup. Come on, listen to this. Did you know immediately when it was released that it was well received, that the record company had a lot of I think had more faith in that than we did, because I was a little leary of it too, because of people saying your close stock going I don't know, I don't know, and you know, and I think, what's a what's a good gauge for me? This wound up being our biggest song. And and I say that in the modern sense, I guess because I use YouTube as

a gauge. Um, because you know, being were universal artists, they have what is it, uh uh vimo, Vivo Vivo. I'm sorry, um, they have Vivo. So they took all the universal catalog awfu of YouTube and they put it all back on it once. So even though Kryptonite came out a few years before Here Without You, or a couple of years before Hit About You, they both got a reboot and start over on the same day. And I think Kryptonite has like two hundred something million views

on there. Here Without You has four hundred eighty nine million views. I was like, well was that I have a billion views? So I was like, what did That's crazy and it's still going. I mean, you can look on there now and I'll bet there's a comment from like three hours ago. That's crazy. And that digital you know, and that's how you get paid now, those digital plays. There's that's money. That's crazy. It really is, um And I mean, I'm just incredibly thankful for it. Man I

I can't. I'm I think I'm just thankful for it. I'm gonna tell you whenever um like Away from the Sun, I love that one. You like this again, slow ish Away from the Sun. I was like, man, I can't say any of the songs on the shower. I'm pretty good, Brad. I can see something's really good in the shower, but you have to hear me there. It's probably not a place for us to go. But like this was a

jam too, Like that is my song. Yeah, if there's never been a song, and I still feel it sometimes, I mean, but I tell you know, when I'm telling the story of the acoustic shows, you know, if there's one song that I had to choose to represent me. This is this is why is that? I don't know, I just feel it, you know, And I think we can all. I think we all just feel like we're we're climbing a heel. You know. It's only video that I ever really had anything to do with, like conceptually

and um. And it's just a kid who's actually my nephew plays the character in this video. And he'd never been in a in a video or anything. And we were talking about it and they were like, all right, we'll find a kid. And I was like, got it. Got him and he lives in the Mississippi lived in Mississippi at the time, so you got to him. My sister got to fly out to l a and and he had to be in a video and stuff. But he's done a great job. You watch the video was

like dang and good. But and that's a kid. He's just bound with all these leather straps and he's found to these big stones. He's dragging up this hill and he'll get to go in and it shows different like images of mirages or things that he sees, like you know, people talking about him and being bullied, and those are the things that knocks him back down. And it shows his his father slapping back down and and uh and and it shows like an angel at one point kind

of guiding him come on this way. And and I think we can all relate to that that we're all in some way climbing that hill that jam. I love that song, Thank you man. That's why I still listen to Thank You. You know, I don't I don't curse my personal life, and I definitely don't curse on stage, like I have my my shows to be completely clean. Um. And I know that's the same thing with you guys.

Now do you do if the bands are opening for you have songs with curse words, you have that talk with them like, hey, we don't do that, or not we shy away from a band and if they get out there, you know it's one thing. It was the festival. You can't really say and and I don't speak perfectly in my private life, but do not cuss on stage. And and that also goes back to my mama told me I better not get out this. She's said to Brad. My mom has other baptist of the bones. She said

to Brad, you gotta do comes on that stage. Don't be shamed of you. So I never did, and and and but you know it's worked out and people value that very very much because I can't tell you, you know, especially we're having songs about Superman and this and that. We have a lot of kids at our shows, and we still have a lot of kids at our shows. It's like just the next generation of them, which is freaking cool. It's the kids of the kids, yeah it is.

And um and but I I've over the years had so many parents come up to me and said thank you for putting on the show that I can bring my kids too. And and you know, we really have tried over the years to kind of two I mean, you know, hey, man, come on, you know you can't. How do we hate to try to control an opening band. But they got out the humor volga or something. We

definitely say something to them about it. Yeah, I will have that talk with my openers, like I'll bring music as because I'll when when I tour, I'll go and I'll do an hour set of stand up. But I kind of treat like a variety show. I have someone coming to open musically for me, and I have to talk like, hey, people, it's not a kid's show, but there may be some kids in the crowd, but people feel like this is safe space. Like don't get out there and be political, don't get out there and be

dropping F bombs and S bombs. Like, just know that people feel like this is a spot for them to come and breathe and smile and taking a show. And there can be some kids. And if it's PT thirteen, that's all right, or if it's SpongeBob Escort you make a joke that's the only adults will get and kids really won't. That's okay too. But that's a you know, I do that, and people appreciate that because they don't have to come in and worry and sit and go all right, is this gonna be a place where one

of the ways I'm gonna feel uncomfortable? I don't want that, And that's that's awesome that you do that too, man, because it's not a whole lot of that in the world right now. It's cool. I mean, it's better. It's better like that too. And and also that's quality. You know, you don't need that, you don't when you I don't feel like I need Like, yeah, I feel like, because you put on a quality show and you're entertaining, guy, you don't need that. I appreciate that. I don't know

about that, exactly appreciated. I appreciate what you think about. I was listening to some of these bands talk about, like, imagine dragons, they're really big, but when you get so big, you start to get a lot of hate, and they imagine dragons A get a lot of hate from a lot of these quote unquote finger quote legit rock artists like Nickelback gets hate for their music. Wh how do you feel like, imagine dragons getting all this hate right now?

I didn't know that they were. Who are the bands, Mike that are like out ripping imagineaty slip not it's pretty big on ripping them slip now. They're like, you're not real rock? What even is real when it comes to art? I mean, those guys real monsters, right the mask on stage? You're right about that? When you did you guys ever start feeling that hate because you've got

so big? Did um from from? It was? It was like those little movement bands, and it was from bands like some forty one and then those I like, I mean, I don't mean to stick as they say, spelled the tea, who is it? I mean, it's just all those like, you know, those those movement bands, the punk bands that come through and then this little movement comes, you know,

and we were we were never like the cool guys. Um. But at the same time, it's like we've done a lot of the stuff that we've done sort of under the radar, you know, because we were never like big

enough that that We've got a lot of hate. You know, I would say that you guys are one of the most underrated bands in my lifetime because of the amount of hits you have, and people unfair they don't put you in that conversation of the sounds that changed other and influenced other sounds, because again we we don't even play all your hits. I just would have like nine ten humongous songs. Here we're talking about humongous songs that crossed the genres. And you know, I feel like you

guys are super underrated. Would you think that three Doors Down an unrety band. It's hard, it's hard to be humble and say yes, But I wonder, I wonder what you say, Um, we never got a lot of attention. But but it's okay, I'm cool with it. Wouldn't not me. I'm too competitive because I always felt sorry, you know, like just's just say like it's easy to easy to say, Like Britney Spears always felt sorry for her man living

under that microscope. It would drive me crazy too. I know she had like her little episode and stuff, but I mean, when there's constantly I can't imagine walking out of every restaurant, heavy establishment, everywhere that I went, somebody standing there with the camera or something. Are always wanting to just living under the microscopes. I never always used to say, men, I love being a radio band because

everybody knows their songs. They don't know what I look like, and so I can sell a bunch of racers, but I can see go to Walmart. That's funny you mentioned Walmart because I was talking to a friend of mine who lives in Boston. I was like, growing up, we used to hang out of Walmart. Like you go to Walmart, you know, you're in the parking lot, or you're in Walmart or Sonic like in the South, that's where you

hang out. And he was like Walmart. I was like yeah, and like we used to go and hang out the jets of Belle Walmart, Like, all right, Friday night, we'll go and quote cruise, you know, you drive around this little square and then we'll just end up at the Walmart. And you know, it's funny that you would say that, because that's that's totally a Southern thing to like to

hang out of Walmart. That's funny, man. So but did they ever do the thing with you guys where they go, hey, you should like they had another celebrity, because if you do that, they can raise the image of the band. They ever did that with you guys? You know I would have been like, Brad, there's Christina Aguilera. I'm gonna set you up right now. Do you ever think about moving to Los Angeles? Did you move to Los Angeles? Not only only while we were making a record? How

they there for like a month? They ever say in the movie need to get where the action is and live there to be a part of it. Not so much. I think they kind of wanted us to move to New York for like a little bit, and I was like, uh, what was up with that? But why do they think that was a good idea? Just to be in being just like amongst the label and just being amongst the business and everything. Um, but I just I couldn't do it, man, I am I am a country mouse. I can't do it.

What's home life for you? Like now, we live on a farm out in Murphysborough. My wife, Barrol, racist horses, and we have six horses at our house. We got a fifty acre farm, which I never thought i'd have much that much land. And it's kind of out in the country, but it's at the same time, I got a grocery store like six miles from the house, and and it's not fancy, but it's it's my heaven. And I will get there and if we have stuff to eat, and I'll go home and the gate closes behind me

and I won't leave for three or four days. As we do. I assume you have help. We have. My my friend comes and feeds horses when we're out of

town or something if I'm gone. And I have some guys that cut part of the yard, but just because I don't have enough time to cut it all, they probably cut like because I have to mow it all because some of us back in the woods and some of it like the horse pastures may only cut a couple of times, maybe once a month, just to kind of knock them, knock the tops off, um, because they won't eat it once it gets a certain height. They have their we have phenicky horses. They're spoiled. But there

are kids. Um, but you know that, right. Um. So they cut probably ten acres and I cut the pastures and we do it all ourselves. When when I leave here, I'm going home to clean horse steals. And you're smiling as you say it, like it's like you love it. I like they're my babies though, because we don't have kids. Our horses are kids. And and and now I say, I'll smile about it here, I'll run about it, but I'm standing here doing it. But you know, there are a lot of times when I'm busy and just kind

of going and going and going back. Man, I would love to be standing on in my barn right now. And it's just I mean it's peaceful, you know. And you get to do both. You get to be alone on your property and then you get to go and play shows and still have that lifestyle too and sing your songs. It's a blessing. And how often are you

guys on the road right now? Oh? We go right now like every other weekend, and I have shows this weekend and next weekend, and we have a a little more coming up later on in the summer, and then next year will be the twentieth anniversary of The Better Life, and we're gonna do like a full world world tour on that one. Is that right? Is? That'll be fun and but I look forward to it. But I'm not

twenty one years already anymore. Do you ever think about, because you know, the big thing with and not for me, but the big thing with a lot of people that go in country music, they're like, what that any country like yours country? As it gets? Do you ever think about doing a country song and country record? I've been writing some lately, and I wrote about half of a country record one time. But honestly, I took it in in.

I was talking to some record guys about it, and it's like sale, I said, why, They said, because it's because it's like it's really country in the two countries. Like help, what'd you listen to growing up? Um? I was. I'm the youngest seven kids, so I grew up listening to whatever My brother's sisters listened to when I was

a kid. My favorite band growing up was bon Jovi, and I grew up on the eighties rock and I loved it and loved it and and honestly, when when Nirvana and Stuff came out, I kind of fell off of it. I wasn't ready for it. I was too young for it, I think or something. And I listened to probably more country growing up than like my all time favorite songs the dance from Garthen Oh Yeah, I love it? You ever meet Garth? I never had the best You'd love him? Hiss a trust heater? What was

up here? A few days ago? And I got a chance. I got to know Garth. A love that Garth played. You know the show you played with this this year. I think you played with us the year before. I know it's awesome. I love Garth Brooks. I would love to meet him. He's and he's a He's a guy too that you know. I've I've learned a bit from when like with people like Garth, Brust walks into a room and every single person doesn't matter who you are,

it gets the same attention. And Garth looks you in the eye and he spends time and when Garth leaves, you go. That was amazing. Yeah, And I think Taylor Swift learned from Garth and I'm just trying to get his crumbles and like I just want to learn, you know, did anyone to take kind of take you under the wing a bit or at least go, Brad, this is what's gonna have Like other artists who would be like, this is what you gotta do or was that kind of not cool? Then I never knew a whole lot

of them. I never knew like a ton of artists. Um, but I guess the people that you meet along the way do do kind of let you, let you uh, let you have some info. And but you know, we had the opportunity of there earlier in our career to to work with Alex Lisson. He produced a couple of be size fortune and guitar player for Ruish and and he had some pretty interesting conversations with him, and he's

a great, great guy. And um, you know, I think what meant more to me than anything was I was very fortunate to meet like you say that that Garth comes into the room and he's like everybody gets attention, and he's a he's like a real person. And I was very fortunate to be around some just for moments here and they're like really famous people like that, and see that, just get a chance to see that. Wow, it's just he's just a dude. Dude, Yeah, just a

freaking dude. Fans make us who we are. Man, I'm just the before my my when I got signed, I drove a forklift, and before that, I drove a bush halt tractor, I mowed tank fields. And I'm I'm so thankful I get to play in a rock band for a living. Just humans. Yeah, it's crazy that it's other people that make other people like Garth. It is just a good dude who has a skill at being Somebody else may have a skill like a brain surgeon, you know, at learning how how math works. They don't get that

because people don't make a that. Imagine a math if in America, if people that did good math were celebrities or count wuld be way ahead of China. They're taking our butts right now exactly because we need we need, like we need to start a movement to make mathematicians cool. Get us out and get us up and out of there. Way so you do you drove folk? Left? Word? You

do that? At down in Passacola, Mississippi Electric Motor Shop, I've cleaned like electric motor we rebuilt electric motors and things like that, and and us I clean parts and and be blast them and stuff like that. But mainly probably drove more than anything. Could you hop back on one right now and feel like a bike? You could? I have two jackets at home and that stay on all the time. Let me ask you a simple one. Where did the name come from? Three doors down? Um?

It came off of an old boarded up building on us actually um we um. We used to get down to Gulf Shores a lot and which is like the beachs down in Alabama, but pretty close to where we grew up. And driving down there you went through, uh a little town that was just full of fruit stands. And there would be several of those fruit stands in one building. And we had a gig, like our first show that night coming back and we didn't have a name,

and we had like a notebook full of names. And one of those buildings had closed up and moved just a couple of parcels down and there was like tech on wooden letters. It said, you know, business move like so many doors down and somebody falling off or whatever. And there was three of us at the time, and and Todd said, well what about three doors down? And we're like all right, and it just kind of stuck. So like the first real name you came up with,

you kept, well, that's odd. Most bands are like, well, our first name was the Wiener Jumpers, but we didn't like that, so then we just had to go with the Tonell Kids, and we didn't like that. Next thing, you know, here we are you too, were like that was weird, But that's the first name. You guys had first name, and it's the only band I've ever been in. I've never been in another band. And you wrote too songs in high school and look at you. You're like happy, man,

I'm telling you bless because I am. I have not that talented, still so inferior at the same age, and you're like, how to rock star live? Man? I got you. Well, I'm a fan. I'm a genuine fan. I appreciate it. Man, that's you don't be that al right, Episode one sixty five. This has been fun for me. Help. This is what we did an hour we're an hour into this thing. Dang, look at us. So we're just talking away. We weren't even recording now we'll start now just me talking like

asking questions. Um, this is an episode one sixty five. If people want to see because you're not now doing shows. Um, you have all the dates on on your website. We do. Okay, so three Doors down dot com. Okay, so head over to three Doors down dot com. You're not doing Are you doing acoustic shows? Now? We are. We might have a couple of acoustic shows left. We're about to get in back into the electric shows. How do you feel

about that? I'm ready? Yeah, I like. I like playing acoustic shows a lot because it gives you an opportunity to stand up there and like perform the songs and um, and like tell the stories about it and stuff, you know. But at the same time, it's like standing there and you're into weird because there's nothing to hide behind. There's no like, you know, you kind of flood it a little bit if you if your throat's hurting or something, and you know it's real loud in the rock show,

it's like, ah, they'd be fine acuty shows. Man, you're if you're there. Um, so I'm ready to get back out there and placing rocks shows. I'm ready to run around a little bit. We got the whole uh the tour years twenty five years, said twenty years. So does that mean you're gonna put any into new music? Are

you guys thinking about? We're gonna where we're gonna rerelease The Better Life and I think maybe remaster it, and we're gonna package it along with that first CD because of our first CD that got us signed had about half the songs that was wound up on A Better Life but a different recording of them, and then some

other songs that that had just never been released. Um. So we're gonna package it with that our first local CD because we only ever made two thousand of them, um, and just put that out, just kind of put it out there. And we do need to we do need to write some more songs and and put out another record. But at the same time, somebody asked me the other day, I was at a at an event here and and guys like you guys, you guys reach out and I

was like, no, man, we still play a lot. He said. Uh. He said, well, y'all gonna put out some new records. And I said it jokingly, and it is a good problem to head. I was like, we're not really worried about He's like, well, why not, I said, because we already can't play all our right now, what a problem, right, it's a good problem to have. Look at this. There he is Brad Arnold with three doors down. Go watch him live Episode one. Good to see you, my friends.

All right, that's it, Thank you very much.