9-12: Bobby Cast Ep. 7 (Craig Campbell)

listen to it. You can always turn it off. There's no ratings involved with the radio. Was like, you got to get to the point, and if you're not to the point, it's gonna be super compelling with this. We can just talk about whatever we want. And so I went up to New York and then we're like, dude, people are playing the part the Bobby Cast like crazy. And so that's when I text you. I was like, dude, if you're coming bringing the come on listen to so

thanks for being here. Thank you. Craig walks in and he said, hey, I have a gift for you, and I was like, oh, cour it's gonna bring me like a a T shirt because I wanted by Craig Campbell or president t shirt. Sometimes it's like Craig Campbell for President. And so he brings me up McPherson guitar and I was like, dang, dude, but I appreciate that's like one of the nicest get anyone's giving me. Like I said, you know, we we Uh, I'm a part of the

McPherson family. And I talked to those guys up in the Wisconsin and I said, you know Bobby Bones, the raging idiot, we need to get them to be part of the family nation. How do you get to be a part of the family like that? You know, it's funny. I I just straight up cold called. I sent an email to uh. Well, I I say it was a cold call. I got the email from a from a mutual friend and I said, Hey, I'm so and so i've had you know, Family Man was on the radio,

so you kind of given me a resonation. I'm an artist and I said I'd love to be playing the McPherson guitars and and uh. I got a response of what's your address? So that this is family Man was like what year that was? It came out two thousand ten and and peaked April two thole. This is family Man here, this is what got to the mc ferson guitar deal. Then on the drive had my coming Home the Living Mead and reason that I am family Man. What I want to do since Craig Campbell's here is

I want to go. I just want to start with today, kind of make a circle and come all the way back to today and then just kind of talk about life and music and the kind of the revolving door that it is. And so so I want to start down with out Scarts of Heaven. So this is a song now that is your current song, the outscarts where there's dirt roads from the fields and fishing and the

river now to be totally transparent. And I'm not saying this because as you're here, I believe on the air last week someone had asked me, what song do I think doesn't get enough radio play, like of all the songs, and I played that song. I don't know if that's not ever gets back to you immediately, It really I never know, Like I really don't know what I say if it gets back to artists, And I don't say it so it gets back to artists, if that makes sense.

I say it because this is how I feel. And so they were like, what's the one song that you think A listener asked me, isn't getting enough play on the radio that you think really cuts through? And so I said, it's Craig Campbell out Scripts of Heaven. And I didn't tell you I was gonna say that there was no It's just such a good song, yea. And I can tell you. I ever when you sent it to me before it was a single, and you said, hey, I played this. I think you're playing around in May.

I'm just going by memory here and maybe South Carolina and so you're and you played it and you were like, in the crowd got up and cheered, and I was, I listened to it. Can you sent me a live version of it? And I was like, I want to get up in cheer right now. I'm laying in my bed. Um So talking about this Outskirts of Heaven's all because I obviously love it, but I want to know from

you kind of your thoughts you families on the song. Yeah, I mean when I wrote, when I wrote Outskirts of Heaven, I had I had no intentions at all of all right, I never had radio in mind. And it wasn't you know, because as a songwriter, we we that's what we're shooting for. We're thinking is this gonna be is this gonna be good for radio? Is ready gonna like this? Are they gonna like it? Do they want to play it? You know that kind of thing. But when when I had

this idea for this song, it was had. I hadn't readio nowhere in my mind at all. I was writing it for myself. Um, and I have the idea. I told my buddy Dave Turnbull about it and he said, he says, I want to write that song with you. And we we sat down and I had all the pieces in my head. Uh, and he helped me put it all together and and um, I don't know. I started doing it live and just getting a reaction from people that I've never gotten before. Speaking of that Charleston Shows,

the only standing ovation of the night. It was it was a a special moment and which tales. I mean, the fans even though they'd never heard that song, they they they picked it as the single. You know it's weird and I tell and you're not a new artist.

But I tell new artists because I'll ask you what I need to do to get on the radio, and I say, it's not chase radio, because unless you're one of the Big seven and you're automatically going to get on the radio, if you're chasing radio, you're never gonna catch it because you don't know where it's going. It's like technology. You don't know what's gonna be in two years, So what do you invest in it when it comes to uh music play? You just don't know what it's

going to be. And so when I heard it, I was like, I think my response to you was this sounds like a Craig Campbell song. You did that was the and that was the greatest compliment you could have given me. And so you have it. It is there, and it seems like and we knew. I knew it would be and I think you did too. You knew it would be difficult, especially at first, to get this song to cut through because of the pace of the song, which is the thing in radio now, and it's not

that it used to be. When we first started, you couldn't get a ballot on the radio to save your life. And now there are a lot of ballads, but still it's tough to get any sort of song to cut through. So what's the biggest issue right now with the song that you hear? That the reason that's not climbing as fast as you'd want it to because everybody got an excuse. Yeah, hey,

and I'm getting a lot of a lot of excuses. Uh. There's honestly, the radio stations that are playing it at a at a good spot, they are getting extremely great feedback, and that's what we thought was gonna happen. The stations that aren't playing it, they're they're saying, Okay, it's summertime, it's too slow. Um, apparally, that's just an excuse. And this cold this could be my stations too, that's just

an excuse. And there's a couple of stations that say, you know, we're going for that P one demographic, the eighteen to to twenty whatever year old girls. Uh, and we don't think this is gonna gonna resonate with those girls or that demographic, which I have evidence on that that that's false as well. But it's you know, we're getting all these kind of excuses. But I feel like this song is is tough, it's gonna it's gonna poke through. Can I tell you? Just talking about excuses and I'll

just go to another artist. So, and I've told the story before, but it's one of one of my better is that your water is this my water? So it's one of my better stories of hearing excuses about songs and so and it's been written and said buy me a hundred times. But for the sake of this, Cam came into our studio and she had a different song and she they brought a new single to the show, and she came in and she like, I want to bring this new single and she played it. I know

what it was. I don't remember the single that she came in. And Cam started as our jingle singer on our show like she was, and she still sings are dingles now just because we've just been Cam so cool. I don't know, do you know Cam very well? Yeah, we've we've hung out a few times. She's one of them, like she's like she's just such a down chick, like she's just one of the people. And so she still stinks are jingles for us, even though she doesn't have to.

So she um, she comes in and her first song, and I even forget that. What that It was just another hubb and dud, just another my mistake. Okay, so it didn't do well. Right, she comes in with a

second song. I don't remember what it was because I guess I'm a big jerk and I love cam and I was like, hey, play burning House, and so her and her band and fantastic they played Burning House and I was like, okay, I'm moved, like I'm moving, and it's hard for me to be moved because I'm jaded by everything because I get to hear everything, and so for things to affect me, it's tough because when you get to do everything, it's hard to be a But

I was like, god, so good. So she left, and without their knowledge that I was going to do it, I played it like four times that day and it went to number one on iTunes. So that day. An hour later, they switched singles, like they switched. They called and said we're switching singles because of what had happened, and I was like, oh, that's that's great. But then the pressure lies on me. It was like, oh boy,

I just spade him switched a single. Not really on me, but I really love the song, and I just feel like, if I can give the audience my honest truth, even if it's not the truth, that's what I say. Sometimes my truth is not exactly the truth, but it is how I feel. And if I can give them my truth, then I've done all I can do. And I played it, and do you know how many stations said that song We're never gonna play it? A ton they said, we're never going to play this song. It's it's once female too,

it's too slow. Three. I mean, the whole station stopped because it's too slow. But what happened was the message slowly trickled, the sales happened on the verge happened, which, by the way, there's another story about you being on the birch to talk about later, which is one of the craziest stories too. Um. And it happened in burning House happened and girl crushed, the same thing happened. And that's just what I hope happens with this song. Is

because Outskirts of Heaven is so good. And I say this and I fight with people, a lot of people. I was like, well, that ain't country. That is country to me. There isn't really a definition of what is There isn't country because listen, I grew up in Arkansas and when you're our age too, you're influenced by lots of different kinds of music, like no doubt about it around you. Um Like, I would say, there's newer country,

and there's more sounding traditional country. But the thing about that song is there such a place inside of the format for that sounding traditional song. I feel like it. I feel like there is. I mean, I don't when even when we wrote it, when we when we them or went in to track it, make it, you know, make the album the song itself. I said, Hey, this song is about the lyrics, about the melody, but I

do want it to hit pretty hard. And I said, but it's gonna sound traditional no matter what, just because of the song that it is. Um But I feel like where we are and or at least I feel like the Craig truth is that you know there's room for every for for this is what was anything else? And also if you fail with it, that's okay too, because it's you. Like That's how I feel about my stuff. Is I fail a lot. I try a lot of

things that don't work. Out and some people to know about it because it fails and you just don't know. But if you put out something in your heart is really in it and it doesn't work, at least your heart was really in it. Because I know there have been things that I've been okay, you know, I'll do it, and then it didn't work. I was like, man, I just wish I would have done it my way and not kind of fall in a certain way because I

was told that's what I needed to do. You know, it happened recently and I'm saving this something really frustrating happened in my career. Um in the last no woulds a month or so, and I'm holding on to kind of see where it falls. But I kind of went against my values, not in a like dirty way, but I have what I do where I maintained to myself and I keep all, uh everything kind of unlock. I don't share a lot with people of where I'm gonna

go and what I'm gonna play. Who I'm in the back. Um. I don't go to a lot of social events because I don't like to get into the circle of Nashville because it's so buddy buddy and who do you know about scratchy? And so I don't do all that, and I got into it a little bit, but people were like, hey, you need to start doing this a bit because this is the biggest show and you and I don't like that. I got into that, and some thing's happened, and and

then eventually it'll come out. It's just a little sensitive right now because I end up getting a lot of trouble. But I hate that about myself, like I really and so I hope that if this song were to die tomorrow, you would still be like, I'm so proud I put

that song out. Well, there's no doubt about it. You. Uh, okay, let's go back to the initial conversation I had with Benny Brown, the who owned your lab, and I said, I really need I don't I don't know what all this means, like all this like the standing ovations and the messages I was getting. I said, I don't know what this means, but I don't think it means something.

And I said, I truly don't know that. I could sleep not knowing that we had this song right here and we didn't go with it, we didn't run with it. And and ever since then it's proven itself and I'm getting messages listen to this, this is crazy. I had a guy Facebook. Man, I get these at least two or three times a week, pretty much the same same I don't know what you would call it, but the

same subject matter. Had a guy told me. He started out by saying, you don't know me, but I need you to know that a couple of days ago, I was thinking about killing myself. He said, I just lost my dad and I didn't like being in this world without him. And he said, I heard Outskirts of Heaven and it was immediate peace. I knew that my dad was in the place that you were describing and he was good. That's for selfish reasons. I want the song to succeed because I need you know. This is my career.

But at the same time, this song is special. Yeah, I love it too, and it's not just sit in front of me. I said it when you were in front of me. So when we could come back to that Outskirts, haven't hope you guys download it because you know, and here's the thing to radio in general. They look at a lot of research and they research songs, but you know, it's a big researchers people's money, and when people like something, they buy things. People go they're buying it.

Guess they must like it. There's no more better research than buying it. So if you listen to this and you like that song downloaded, if you like any song, as a matter of fact, down don't, don't stream that crap. We artists don't get paid crap or streaming like you don't. I mean, listen, that's not that's the big you know, one of my buddies and I would you know, I have very few people that would call it like real friends that I call like and talk to a couple

of times a weekend. We have four or five in our life that we really I have a friend named Lee Miller, Lee Thomas Miller's writing name. He's a writing we've had a matter of fact, on my second album, we had a song, uh called That's Why God Made a Front Porch. So you've written like he is my due dude, like like one of the best humans I've

ever met. And he is the guy that goes and testify the front of Congress and says, here's why streaming we need to be paid for stream here's I need to paid for it, and you know we like are against each other. I'm not against anybody, but it's like I worked for radio and you know we put and he's like fighting radio. But then we come and it's you know, we have our merry fun ways, but don't stream My point hey just by it just wasna, we

don't make any money. You guys don't make any money. No, I've never made and I says, and you're a real right you make songs because you're right, ato's your career. They I've never made a penny right in a song, and I've written some songs. They've got like our raging it is. Albums have sold like crazy. I am a penny off crap because people don't know what happened to the record. You take out a loan basically whenever you get directed, Yeah, it's an advance. They give you money.

Explain this they give They say, okay, Craig Campbell, we're gonna give you a record. To what happens. That means they're gonna give you the money to make a record. Uh, And it's essentially is your money. They're giving it to you early. You're gonna give you the money to make a record. They're gonna give you the money to pay some people to ride around with you and fly around with you, to go to radio stations and say, hey,

we need you to play Craig's News. Cost money. All the travel costs money, just like the but like it's it's the artist's money in advance. So they're basically loaning you your money against yourself and that you eventually have to pay back. So any money that you make with all of yourselves, it has to all of it goes to them first until you're caught up even and then you start to get just pieces of it. So for you as an artist, I guess you make your money

tory touring is is our main money money. Uh, but if we have songs that do well on the radio that we wrote, we make uh we make a decent portion of that. We don't get at all, just a good piece of it. Are you a guy that do you want all of the songs to be your rights and you always get them the singles? Or are you you know you'll listen for songs you're like like like kind of what's your what's your thing? Yeah, I'm I'm a I love to hear hit songs no matter who

wrote him. And I've always had the belief of the best songs we'll win. Like shoot, my my two biggest two of my biggest songs were songs that I didn't write. I didn't ride out of my Head. That's a Cold Swindal song that, yeah, I can't get you out of mind. So when you get a song like this from Cold Swindel, does he sing it? When I got a dem When I got the demo, it was him singing yeah. And I texted him and said, hey, bro, I said, this song is awesome. He's like, how do you How did

you get it? I said, well, I don't know. It just showed up in my email. Is this the Scotty mcarry song? Yeah, Okay, this is a crazy story. This song was supposed to be sent to Scotty McCarry was already on hold with Scott, so Scotty already said I would like to put the song at home. Maybe. I mean, I'm gonna cut exactly. So you got it in your email you weren't supposed to, and you reply back and go love it and he's like, he's like when it's like we need a text and you don't know the

name on it. The text. You see a number and you're like, who is this? So you reply back and you say what No, Me and Cole, we we're really good buddies. We've been buddies long way back when. So when he knew it was me, so but I told him, I says, hey, I promise you, I'm going to cut it before Scotty does. Can you do? Is that legal? No? But he gave me. He gave me his thumbs up. And so what did McCurry say about that? Because you you cut a song out underneath them with their little

tention there. No, no, he our folks reached out to his folks and told him this is our situation. We're going to cut like next week. We want this song. And they were like, you know, we're never cool with it. Yeah, they said, we're basically said, we're not going in for another while now, so we're not gonna hold this song up. If you know what, that's night. That's that's really cool in this town with fights over songs, for sure. That's really cool that Scott and McCurry camp. So here you go.

It's a it's actually emailed to you. Wow smiling. Yeah. Yeah, when you cut this. Do you know it's good? Well, here's here's a whole another story. When we went into the studio to cut for the new single from the new album, it was the single from the previous album, had Died. We needed it, we needed something new, something fresh. We had a song that we had found that Cole Swindell wrote, uh called My Baby's Daddy, and we were Everybody at my previous record label was extremely pumped about it.

So we went in cut that song first. We cut four more songs. We had time to do one more song and Keith steak All, my producer, he said, what do you want to cut? I said, I want to do out of my head, you know, this is that's what I want. The last minute, very last second. Let's just throw it on here. Let's see, you know. And we were tracking it and it started happening and Keith, you know, he looked at me and he said, this

might be the one. Yeah, just just like that. I want to asked about that because a lot of artists say, you know what, it was the last thing that I heard. And I started to think, Okay, this isn't a coincidence. It must just be. There's a lot of good stuff out there, and it's just the right time when it's about to wrap, and you get something good right at the right time. More so than it's just lucky that

it's just the last thing. What's your thought about? Because I hear a lot of artists go, man, we weren't gonna cut the song, and all of a sudden, it's right before we finished up. We wrapped it up and it was the big hit. What's the what's the what in your mind? Why did that happen? Well, songwriters they there's a strategy too. If they know when you're going in to cut, they'll send you songs the day before.

Is that right? I had no idea. They'll send it right before you going to cut, just because they know. Sometimes you hear a song and you'll get excited about it and you do that to people. Of course that's crazy. That's so smart too. It's like, because I get that way about anything. Like if I'm like, oh, if something comes to my head to have this segment idea and it's hard from me, if it's I know, I need to wait till Friday for it, and and it's like, oh,

I gotta it tomorrow. I just got this great idea, that's such a great freaking player. Out of my head. Out of my head was not that case. I loved it. It was getting my people over a bigger picture to love it. So Keith he he wasn't so hip on it as much as I was. It wasn't like that song was sent to me last second. They just kept pushing it to the side. Oh you know, it's an okay song. It's an okay song. Will well. And then finally there was some time left on the session, I said,

I want to cut this song. Was that your first song that really popped for you to where people were like, okay, I know that song from the radio. Well, family Man went to number twelve. It was, oh, it's okay, that around my favorite piece. Und it gives me strange to stay. Did you write family Man? Okay? So when you write a song and it ends at twelve, like, what kind of money comes from the number twelve song? Enough to buy a car? Yeah? Yeah, from it from a number twelve?

Who'd write with how many people? The three people you have the three with a fourth person, right or three three people? Three? And that's about normal. That's yeah. I mean most of the songs written in Nashville are three ways. So if you do family Man and it hits twelve, then that's your biggest At that point, where where did fish end up? Fish was? It was an anomaly. It was we didn't even go for ads. It just people started. This song. Was never like a song that you went

to radio and said, hey, start playing it. This is fish. It turns out my baby loves to fish. She won't do it all the time, early in the morning and the middle of that Jesus, and now she can't get them. Man that girls show love to the thing. No radio was. Radio was telling us we're playing that song whether you like it or not. That's a good problem. It went this is no joke. I could show you on emails

because I kept all the emails. It went from. It debuted fifty something and then it went to forty one, then went to thirty two. I mean it leaked frog, no support, no one going hey, play play, play play. The fact that it charted and charted is fifty. If he had fifty, that's the fact that it charted accidentally. It's crazy where it ended up peaking. It peaked at

that's crazy. It's my most downloaded song. Fish is your most downloaded song, and he was that end of two thousand eleven and and five years ago and your most downloaded song. Okay, so Fish is there? Yeah, family, man, I feel like I think I want to get to now. So it was it was. It was like I said, it was a strange deal. That song did so well, but what didn't do well on the chart? Like, um, it was. It was. It's fun. It's it's weird to compare Fish to Outskirts of Heaven. It was, but it

was the same excitement we had Fish. I was doing it at the shows, but the album wasn't out yet. People were saying, we gotta get our fingers on this song. We're in Uh so we we says, well, we gotta, we gotta harness this enthusiasm. So we we came with it before the album came out. We decided it should be the second thing. That's a really cool story, like you had no idea. That's like the LFO you say with Summer Girls, the LFO song I like girls that where I have a Crombie and Fitch. The Station of

Memphis played at one time. This is before I mean I was like a kid and one station played it and they were like, well, we gotta play it thing all of a sudden every once a while, and each format you get one of those songs that do that that really like I've done it with songs, but that was because I'm a big jerk and I like to fight my song just play them over and over again. But the fact that just radio, because it's different though,

because I have an audience of five million people. But for this to happen for you with this song, and stations were taking a station by stations even better, it's even a better story. But when we got to the crunch part of the chart, the the I guess you would call them the Bible Belt stations says we can't play that because because of the double on tundre, the what double my missing here? I'm with you, Vagina. Well know the whole had everything we needed in the bed

of my truck. Turns out my baby loves to fish on fish. She wants to do it all the time, early in the morning, and the man, are you kidding me? Dude, I'm telling you, I loved and even then I can hear where maybe they could say it was part of it. There been like to I would never have thought that though. I mean, let me listen more in the morning and the middle of that Jesus and now she can't get them. Man,

that girl shoh loves to the thing. I can't believe that if this, if I would have been a brick wall, if I would have been alive at this point, in this format, I would have been protesting. I've been screaming my brains out. I was selling almost twenty thousand a week on the charge. I can't believe that's what stopped that song. I even got my first piece of hate mail over this song, like a real letter. I'm the seven and what did what happened? I played it at

the Opery when we decided it was a single. Obviously, you know when you played it. When we played the Opery, we played the new the current song and this lady and granted, I see what they were saying. As far as the difference between family Man and Fish She she said, you know, we were a big fan. We we love the song family Man. I brought my kids to see you,

and then you played that filth. She was upset about it. Mike, did you catch that now when you have to explain it like I but even then that to this day, I mean, I was felling my hair out just because I said, Okay, you're telling me radio don't or people listening to the radio doesn't want to hear this song. But a week yeah, wow, okay, So there I want here listen to this story, and then I want to

get into some live stuff. But so you're on a label and you have this song called keep Them Kisses Coming, and your label the time is called Bigger Picture. Bigger Picture doesn't exist anymore, by the way, But what I'm doing just rounded up. We got all sentimental little something happen to you, just keep them Kisses Coming? Like I love it. I love the song. When kind I was like, man, this song is fine, stupbeat, it's cool, this country. It's Craig.

I don't really know you that well. Then, but dude, you gotta come to the studio, you know. And so your label disappears, and so we have a company, go we gotta put Craig. This is an on the Verge song. What it means is my company and I'm biased this crap, and I chose to work for my company. I love I her radio And it was like we had to pick something that we think is gonna blow up, so let's just get on board with the product. We think

it's already fantastic, and so boom, that's it. You're on the very first one, the first one, and his label folds as you're the on the verge artists number thirteen on the chart. I get a phone call saying, hey, um um, you're gonna see the press release tomorrow, but well we're closing our doors. So here you are. And he was smoking up the chart and you don't have a record label, and I remember going, I ever talked to you, like, dude, what are you gonna do? So

I guess you like hired the outside promoter or someone. Honestly, the guys that worked for Bigger Pictures continued to call and make calls, as well as myself. I started calling people that I knew in radios, yourself included, saying, hey, you know, even though the record labels closed, this is a hit. You know, I'm still out here working. Let's

keep it going. And for the most part, radio was very receptive to that, like, dude, we got you, and it was almost like we wanted you to win because we saw something just got swept right after underneath You and um the I remember though, getting getting the phone call from one of our guys that was working the

record he he uh. They were not allowed to log into media base anymore, so they couldn't see who was the media bas What shows the charts by the way, everybody, lets think it shows you where songs are ranked and how many spins this getting all of it. They can look at specific stations and see where if you're losing spins, they can find out where they're going, where they're where they're getting lost. So they couldn't even see. They were

flying blind basically. So I was having other record promo guys send me screenshots of the ups and down spins because I said, you know, if they're down five or more, let me know so I can call them and say, man, we're still here. Keep let's go and U Fortunately, with the help of my the guys that was working the song with Bigger Picture, um we we we kept it going for another six spots, and so in that peaking

where seven with no record label. I can remember sitting in New York at a table and I remember texting you and I'm sitting with Tom Polman, who's the president of all of I heard all of the formats, um and so like Rod Phillips is my boss, He's the head of country and Rod's bosses over all the formats I remember seen with home like what are we gonna do? Like both of them like what are we gonna do?

And we'll stay at this charity event. It's like man pedal to the metal, like this is our dude, let's do it and without a record label for like another month and a half. I hope you're proud of that. And you know what, I think it's the number one song that you just got screwed out of. Oh, I believe it. I believe it. It was the dumb the metrics on the song that downloads, the the way it was moving and people adding it and converting it at radio. It was it was moving too fast for it not

to to peak at number one. Um I. But I even sent a text message to Clay Hunkah who was uh he was? And because I felt bad that that had happened on the very first on the Verge. I felt I felt like I let Clay down and he's like, dude, you you didn't have you didn't have any You know that it wasn't your fault, but I still felt a little responsible on behalf of a bigger picture that they, for lack of a better, couldn't hold it together long enough to see it through on that label at that time.

Who else was on Bigger Picture? We know Lucy hell was there, but that was a Disney partnership because I remember her coming in and her being, um, who else was on Bigger Picture? Jansen? Chris Jansen? Right? I think Chris Cagle had already been had already separated, went his own way. Um, they were developing smith Field. Yeah, um, but now they're they're starting to kind of pop up again. I think that's it. But it was it was you.

You were the leader of that label, and then Jansen had um better I don't and it had done okay, and then he got dropped for a long time, and the whole buy Me a Boat stories a whole different anomaly of of of what happened there. Wow, that that losing your record label at the high end of your career is a crazy story. It was. It was a very deflating. I didn't I didn't see it coming at all. Well, I mean, in retrospect, I saw signs of struggles, you know,

financial struggles. I knew something was something was shaky. I didn't know it was enough to shut down those especially knowing the seeing the finish line, you know what I'm saying, Like you could actually see the big success webbing up front and the and obviously having a hit song and following it up with another song. We felt like the momentum the train was strong. So I was I was

super shocked. So I do know for a while, Like as we get away from music for a second, you used to work in a jail or there's different a jail of prison. Which did you work prison? You worked in the real deal as what I was a correctional officer, So you were correctional officer for a mail president. Which which president? The first prison I worked at was down in Glennville, Georgia. How did you get that job? Um? My, my stepdad. He he was he was very uh connected

with the Georgia Department of Corrections. He was he was the maintenance farm and basically took care of all the trooper vehicles, the farm, the tractors, and he was he was a fairly big deal at the at the prison not far from my house. And then my also my uncle, my daddy's brother. Um, he was head of security, like head of training for the whole entire state to Georgia.

So it was a it was a they were hiring like crazy anyways, but it was it was cool to go in and say, hey, I'm I'm Wayne Campbell's son. Uh so I got I got um stationed at a prison about thirty miles from my house. What's it like your first day going into a prison? Oh, it's it's Is it intimidating anything? Very especially I was eighteen years old, So you're going at eighteen, you're a prison guard, you're automatically hated. No, honestly, I mean there's a there's a

misconception with with prison. There's I mean the inmates have a job and have a role, as well as the correctional officers. For the most part, I would say nine of the people in prison they just want to They just want to have a smooth existence. They don't want to cause any trouble. Where is there any trouble while you're working? I never saw any hardcore trouble. Um. I did see a few fights, um, which is probably natural when together a bunch of dudes that lived together and

to see each other every day. And there's there's not many resources or no you know, no outlets or whatever, but so you would. I mean, it's just things are gonna come to a head where they're like shanks and stuff all around. Oh yeah, yeah, we we found those. But after after working there for a while, I realized that most of the things that we found during searches and whatnot, we're there for us to find, so that we wouldn't find the big stuff exactly. We'd find a

we'd foind a what we call buck. It was basically a milk jug or a bladder full of homemade whiskey. But that was just to throw you off so you wouldn't find the big stash. Was there ever a time where you felt, as you were working inside the prison where you were really vulnerable, maybe put yourself into a position it was too vulnerable for being there at that time? There was one guy that I wouldn't say I was his friend, but he was. He was. He was in the R and B. He loved to sing. He was

singing all the time, and I loved it. So we would we'd sing in the hallways. We go out into the hallway and just shoot, you know. He'd sing some boys the men, and I joined in sing harmony with him, so we hit it off. I think I think there might have the relationship might have been too close for inmate officer, you know, because I I liked him. I mean, he was in there, he was it was a very low security prison, so he couldn't have been in there for nothing too bad. So my guard was down and

and but I enjoyed. I enjoyed hanging out with him. You never were, did anyone like corner you or no? I have one guy one time, and this is I remember this because it was the only time he was he was being disrespectful to me. And that's and that's the whole key. I feel like when you work at a prison, just got a maintained respect for those guys that respect you because of the badge. But there was one guy he was he was giving me all kinds of grief and and just wouldn't do what he was

supposed to be doing. And I and and out. Man. Honestly, back eighteen nineteen years old, I was a DW five pounds, just this five eight, you know, a little bitty dude. I barely could grow a mustache, uh, and I vowed up at him. I says, man, if you for one minute think that I can't handle myself, you're mistaken. And from that point forward we have we had the greatest We had the greatest relationship because because I mean, I was honestly, I was scared to death, right, But I've

separated him from them, from the general population. Obviously, you don't. You don't confront a man in front of his friends, because then you know he's not gonna have that. So I said, let's follow me, and we talked, and I said, and that's when I said, I said, if you if, if you don't, if you think I can handle this, you that's the biggest mistake you're gonna make. So at eighteen years old, and how long did you work at the prison, I would say two and a half years.

Were you playing music to make money as the beginning part of a career then, or was that still just kind of a dream that you wanted to try later. I wasn't playing music yet, so no music, No I was. I was basically just on the weekends, I'd go to a bar and try to find a band I could sit in with. But the thing is for you, because I know you started playing young, like you played playing piano, but nineteen years althing like that. Well, I played piano for my church from the time I was I don't know,

nine years old. And how at nine do you start playing piano for your church? They didn't have anybody else. And so did you start taking lessons when you're away young grandma? You know I took lessons for a minute, and uh, the story my mama tells me is that the the teacher came to them after about three or four lessons and said, listen, this is you're wasting your money. He's not learning anything. He's memorizing it, so I would remember where my hands go as opposed to knowing what

I'm reading. So she said, all he wants to do is learn how to play songs. She said, I'm gonna teach him three or four songs to play at church. And that was it. And then the church the piano player quit and I was the closest thing they had to a piano player. So so you're ten years old and the church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday, vacation, Bible school. I was I mean, now, I was the guy so you are you learning though at ten eleven, twelve years old,

So that was the real learning for you. It went from hunting and picking you to literally, you know, being able to carry on the full services. And I've said this about you before because I've seen you play and a lot, and I think it's it's something. If I'm wrong, I mean it's a couple of things. I think you were grinding a long time and as you grind, you learn and you pick up. And on top of that, there's some sort of musical intuition inside of you too that you can figure things out as you go. And

they really great ones of a combination of both. And I think as far as musician wise, you're one of the really great ones. And I'll talk about why coming up in a bit. But when you sit down and you hear a song, how do you figure it out? Do you see colors? Do you do your hand? Do your hands fall to a certain place? Because every artist is a different way, they go, Okay, I'm hearing this song. Let me let me chase colors. He sees colors. I don't see colors at all. I do here no umbers

or see numbers like I can. I can hear it and say, oh, that's a six minor or two minor, you know, and that's the national You can hear it and go, I know what that is. That's as long as you tell me what kids and I could I could play it by the number system. So you're learning to play piano through these years. At what point you're ten, you're playing through church. You never think this is what I want to do or I'm going to really do it. Is that because of where you live and there's wren

a lot of people that were doing it. Because I know for me, that's why I never thought I could do anything. Nobody else did it. Yeah, when I when I graduated high school, that the prison, that was it. That was it was like a sawmill in my town. Like you worked at the sawmill when you finished high school? And and I was. I had a I had a girlfriend. We we uh we were high school sweethearts. Um. I got the job at the prison. The first thing I did was going by an engagement ring. So we were

engaged because it was the thing to do. And um, but whenever the prison, whenever I quit that that was that was when I said you know what, because there was a club in my hometown that UM that I went to often, South Georgia, little town called Lions, Georgia. Lions, Georgia, there's a little club called Carrigan's Country and it was a six night a week, full live band, six nights a week, so there was music playing. Or for you, there was a six night a week gig. No, no,

there was music. There was a live band Monday through Saturday every week, so you could I could go at any time and see live music. And that's when I say, like when I would leave the prison, I would go to town and and who, I don't care who it was, I was gonna ask can I get up to sing a song? I became buddies with the owner UM, and I told him. I says, hey, if I put a band together, will you will you let me play her? And he said yeah. He said, just you have to come.

You have to come show me what you got first. I'm not just gonna clear my schedule. So we came up. We practiced for about four weeks and UM came in on a Thursday night and he he told the band and let us get up and play all our instruments. Who's with you? By the way, the band, like, what did you grab some friends from home? Yeaheah, I know we were all local. Um, there's a guy playing guitar. His name is James Watkins. He lives here now. I think the last I heard he was playing for Steve Holly.

It was a few years ago. So these are guys so that you kind of just knew around towns and hey, let's get together and go at least make a little bit of money. And then the bass player, he was just a buddy. We knew. Chris O'Neil. He was he lived in Videlia. Um, he he knew a drummer. So he's like, let's do this, and so yeah, we put together a little set list and we came in and played that night and and the owner Gary, he said,

all right, all right, back be back Monday morning. So you go back Monday thinking what we had made it. You had made it as what like you're gonna just play Monday or you were gonna be that band cleared his schedule and why did it? Said the other band? You got fired? He different different bands every week. Okay, so you went in and you had one week then yeah, so he played for a week and then he gave me the next week, and and you gave me what

ended up being thirteen solid straight weeks of playing six nights. Man, I bet that was just heaven, right man, because you were actually making money even the thing you love. And I can relate on to a level. And it's funny because I was talking about some friends. We played a show and we like played spring Filmssouri and then play Tulsa, and we were gonna fly back from Tulison. We're like, scirt, let's just get a car, will just drive back ten hours.

And the great thing about having people in a band that you enjoy is that the enjoyment of just the fellowship and inside of our group. I get to have people that I really enjoy because I get to control it and listen. We're not winning, We're not Craig Campbell. We're not good, but we put on a really entertaining show. It's nuts whatever you you can say that, but I've heard, I'm I can't not wait to see you guys. I've heard it is a blast and I'm looking forward to it.

It's like a dumpster fire with fireworks, Like I can't stop looking at it and listen, We've gotten better. But my point is, even with the morning show, surrounded myself with people that I enjoy being around, the same thing with this band, and I'm talking with I don't know if you know Brandon Ray at all. Okay, so he's a new artist and he's been playing a few songs with this and we were talking and I was like, you know, for me, I grew up super humble, like

like a lot of us did. I grew up you know, and I mean money. It was a welfare kid, of food stamp kid. You know, I didn't have a dad. Why why? I have told the story hundred times. But I was like, in a way, I look at that as a blessing because I knew how to be poor and for me to do what I loved to do, I had to be poor for a long time. So when I got my first radio job and I was a teenager and I was making I don't even think it was minimum wage, frankly, because you know, sometimes you

just didn't pay minimum wage. It was just a radio station that I already knew how to be poor. But I loved what I was doing so much that I was able to be poor and do what I loved and that's all that mattered. And because I loved it so much, I worked so much harder at it, and that allowed me to slowly climb that ladder. And I wonder as you tell the story, it's almost like I'm if it makes this listening to a mirror, because I know you're not making any money really playing these weekly.

You make a little money, you can tell money, but it's not like you're making money that you can do this to your fifty years old at this point. But you have to be loving it, right, you have to, And that's you know, I've even even to the to where I am today. I have people ask me all the times, like, man, Um, they get so frustrated by calls they haven't made it, And I'm like, okay, well are you having fun? You know, playing morder on Lower Broadway?

Are you having fun doing it? Man? It's just you know, I'll get tired of playing every night. Well, well don't do it if you don't, if you're not having a good time. They see other people doing other things and they wish they could do that instead of just and we're all guilty of this at some point, um. But if they see people around them doing bigger things and

think why can't that mean me? But you know what, those people who are making it now at one point where the same person looking at other people going why can't that be me? And it's really rare that that doesn't happen to someone. So back to you. You're playing thirteen weeks in a row, and you gotta be like,

this is it? This is awesome? Like I'm playing music and I'm paying my bills, Like what greater thrill to do something that you love and to support yourself by doing Because most people were lucky, dude, Most people hate their jobs. Most people in life hate I believe that my my stiddad hated job worked and so hated his job every day came home was always like I hate this job, but he did it so we could eat. And he hated a job, but he did it for us.

I never hated my job like I had jobs and I was younger when I golf force maintenance or you know, when I worked at the marina. But I loved my job even when I was like, now you're loving your job and you're playing music every night, and so when do you go, Okay? I think I'm ready to try something a little bigger than this. We had get to our player. He quit once and then he went to another regional band and then he um. He came back to us and we did that um and then he

he quit again. And when the when a band member quits in this situation wherever you're you're doing a regional stuff and you're playing six nights a week, it's very it's very uh rehearsed. Like the sets you play five sets a night, forty minutes sets. You each set has its transitions and this and that. And I said, you know what, I don't want to have to learn. I don't wanna have to teach you to get to our player of the set. I just don't want to do it. So I called my buddy Um and he said he

he was going through a hard time. He was already living in Nashville. I said, hey, uh, do you have any room? He says, man, I'm I'm sorry. I can't nothing right now. He said, but um, if I can get you a job, will you will you move? And I was like, shoot, Chester. He was working Maine. It sat an apartment complex. He says, I think I know somebody across the way that that is looking for maintenance slash groundskeeper. I said, dude, hook me up for ye. So I came to town on a Thursday. My interview

was on Friday three. You come in town to Nashville with music in your head, but you know you have steps to before you can get to the music. Okay, So you so you're gonna work for lack of every time, just maintenance, Like I said, So you gotta work mance in apartment complex. You go, you interview, I interview. She calls me back that that afternoon and says, uh, we want to hire you. She said, I know you don't

know much about maintenance. Because I was honest, I said, I've never done this, she said, but I can tell that you want this job, she says, So I want you to. I want you to have this job like eight. But I did get, you know, thirty percent off my rent, which was a big deal. Um, So I did that probably fifteen months really. And so at that time, are you playing the Broadway gigs? No, I haven't started Broadway. So you were in Nashville for a year and you

hadn't started playing music yet, driving you crazy. It was just because I didn't know anybody. I was I was very secluded, but I would go downtown to Lower Broadway into Printer's Alley and I would watch bands and and just think, man, I want to do this, and there's another level of making it, you know. Um, so's they're intimidating for you because if people come to this town, they always think I'm good. And then you look, you

look around, you go, holy crap. These are people playing bars and they're fantastic because this is the melting this is the concentration of amazing nous. So this as as luck would have it. I was at a showcase one night at Douglas Corner and there was a guy, um he was he had the Saturday night tend to two spot at the stage, which was the big place to go down, and the tender two spot on Saturday night was the spot you wanted. I mean, it's shoulder shoulder.

So I'm at him and he's like, what do you do? I said, I'm a piano player. He said, really, so that's what you were at the time. You were the keys player. Well, it's just easier for me to say that than to say a singer, because I mean, or even a guitar player, because everybody does both. So he says, what are you doing Saturday? I said, man, I nothing

to do. He said, come down Saturday night. Said up, that's interesting because you were a singer and you did play guitar, but you knew that there was to get my foot in the door. That yeah, that your piece was to play the keys because there were no piano players. Downtwn wow. So okay, there are no piano players. You go and he says, come play. So what happened? So halfway through the night he his name is Josh Brister, he said, He said, the gig is yours if you

wanted every Saturday night. So you you played halfway. You played half a set and he comes here and says, hey, you're in And is it a thrilled for you to be playing in Nashville? My goodness, man, to be able to play music and make a hundred dollars or however much you make on a Saturday night. I tend to spot singing harmony with with a with a rock and crowd.

It's it was. It was the best thing ever. Were you still doing the main it's of the daytime I was, and I was on the on call every other weekend. So Sometimes I would be on Broadway with my page or on sweating thinking if I could, yeah, I would have to go make sure and the normally nothing. Most times I could talk people out of it. You could give them instruction on how to save them. So I

could just say, hey, can it wait till tomorrow. The only thing I couldn't say wait is if it was like a one bedroom and there was a clog toilet. I had that was did you ever have to leave a gig? Nope? You never. I did have to make a few phone calls, but never had to leave a gig. So you do that that that you're playing keys on the stage for how at the stage for how long? Um? I did that for three or four years. Three or four years I played. I played piano. That was It

was like a domino effect. I played for him, and then the Friday, the Saturday night six to ten guy said, hey, I need a piano player. So I would come in on Saturday, set up at six o'clock and play both shifts and wouldn't even have to tear my stuff down. I just play both shifts. And then that went that Friday night, and then at one time I was playing six nights, uh and two shifts on Friday Saturday. So I was making I was honestly making about a grand

week cash. Okay, so you're making good money, did you? Were you able to quite your maintenance job at that point? So you and you were just playing piano, keys, key whatever. Um, so that's what you're doing. You're think you're the keys? Now do you feel like okay, now I can really sing? No? No? Yeah. That that was my whole goal, the whole time, or my plan. I became, you know, buddy buddy with the with the owner at the stage. And I kept every time I see you might say when you're gonna give

me a shift? When you're gonna give me a shift? Because during sounds I would sing to check and make sure everything's working. And and they knew, they I mean they they recognized. And so one night I overheard him saying, man, I don't have a I don't have a tended to for Sunday. And I'm like here, I'm here. He's like you sure, I said yes, So he gave me tended to on a Sunday, which is very No, it's it's not the most, it's not the most. It's not the best light at night on a Sunday. But I showed

up with a seven piece band. I was so excited I had even though I was a piano player. I I hired a piano player, bass fiddle, steel drums, guitar. I had the whole thing. And it was just another one of those I've made it situations. Um, but I never got my shift. I never got my own shift, uh till a good bit after that. That was just the one off. But I just kept on and on, and finally he said, he said he had he needed somebody for Tuesday night six to ten at the stage.

It's not a permanent thing, but I want you to you know, whenever they're out, I'm gonna give you the call. First I said, thank you. It eventually turned into those guys and they would kept canceling, so he gave the shift to me and I did that for another three or four years a year. So, as you're working at stage, were there people that came through and you saw come through and then go up, meaning can you think back to anyone and you're like, Okay, this guy's really good.

And they ended up being something that came through. Dirk's was down there. He would Dirk would come and place day he played the stage for a little bit. Was he at that point special or did he become special later? Do you think I never really got to see him play. I do know. I just would hear stories about this Dirk's Bentley guy. And he wasn't there long. He was in and out like he They gave him a shift

and then I think he signed his record deal. So you play of keys, and at one point you started playing keys for Luke now before we had looked did you play? Did you go on the road and travel with anybody before Luke Brian or was look still so young and knew that he was just a guy just before he had his record deal? Yeah, okay, so you were playing with Luke before a record deal. By So, how did you guys even meet? Who set you guys up?

We had a mutual songwriting friends, um and he his name was Galen Griffin and and uh he had told or he had overheard Luke saying they needed a piano player for some weekend stuff and he threw my name in the hat. I met, you know, I met Michael Carter, who was Luke's guitar player, was also now he's col Swindell's producer and songwriter. UM. And we talked on the phone and he says, hey, let's do this and then and they were like, hey, you guys will hit it

off there from Georgia. You're gonna love each other. So UM. So they hired me without even ever hearing me play went down and it was, you know, a couple of college towns. Um, but that was that was one of those When I got to do the shows with Luke, I knew immediately that he was he was, he was on his way. So you could tell with Luke even earlier that he was special. Why because I mean we he first of all, his his stage presence is is the same as it's always been. I mean, he's just

he is that guy. And we would do these shows in these college towns and I was blown away, like I'm I mean, I'm they give me a CD to learn these songs and and I've never heard these songs before. But we'd go down and play Milledgeville, and we'd go down and play Statesboro, Georgia, and we play Athens, Georgia, and it would be completely sold out. Everybody's singing every single word to every song he's singing. I'm talking about all of his all of his original songs. I'm like,

how's he doing this? How did he do this? But it was it was a big deal back then. The thing about Luke Too, and I like Luke, and I just the preface is that he's a good dude. And you expect someone to that big, maybe not to be that, you know, to kind of lose it a bit. Looks a good dude. He's always I mean, he's a good dude and so um, you just wouldn't expect Luke Too.

And I've seen him do it before alone, sit down at a piano and just and and people will give Luke craps of times because he gets up of dances and help dance. They'll do some mack lamore. But set that guy down at a piano and have him play. It's beautiful. Next time you have, you have him on a piano, tell him to render you some gospel songs. And he's played gospel. It's and it's everything that you want him to be, but don't expect him to be. And then he is and you're like, wow, So you

play with Luke now? Were you with him when he got a deal or were you gone by that point? Had he we had already he had already decided, Um, I didn't need to be aside man. So he decided did he fire you in a way and in a good way or a back? It was great, he said, He says, man, I want to help you. Did you believe him? I mean, I had no other reason. I had no reason not to because someone has to me, Hey, I'm gonna fire you, but like I'll come on. It

was it was all I mean immediately. I mean one of them is like, hey, I want to help you. Want to introduce you to my publisher. Okay, so he really like led to you in a direction that he invited me to town. Uh Me and Michael, his guitar player at the time. We started writing together and those were some of my first co writes. Um. He introduced me to a guy named uh John Maybe who was married to Connie Harrington. She wrote a bunch of big

songs Terry Clark, y'all y'all, and then I drive your truck. Um, and before I met Connie. Before I met Connie, he introduced me to John, and John said, well, it's funny, you know, meeting you today. He said, my wife Connie needs a demo singer for a song. This is years ago, and um, he said, are you available? I said yeah, So he hooked me up with Connie. My very first paid demo was your What was the song? Remember Somebody's

Somebody Somebody Somebody? What was that song? It never got okay because I'm thinking and I don't want to be dominant be here. I just don't know. To be honest, I just don't know it. Honestly, there's no songs I've ever done gotten cut except for one that. It was a song called Braid My Hair that Randy o One did for St. Jude Ran. Yeah, I even know the song. He sings it whenever I go to Saint Jude and he's demoed that song. Wow. Okay, so you're a demo singer.

So here you are? You moving up the ladder. When do you start to get sniffed from labels? Oh that wasn't. Um, that wasn't until after the whole Tracy Bird thing. Okay, so you play kids for Tracy Bird? So how did that end up happening? Um? His tour managers house sitter was good friends with my wife and once again It was one of those she overheard Tracy needing the piano player, and they hired me, gave me a CDs, some CDs

to learn, and never never auditioned or anything. Just got on the bus one night, went to the three shows and on the way home, they says, you want the gig, it's yours. What was the highlight of your first Tracy Bird show? Oh, the highlight was when I messed up big time like they they did this Ricky Skaggs song and there's a no that it stops, but I let

us sustain over the entire It was just held it. Yeah, I held out and everybody else stopped and then they all looked at me and that was That's That's my one memory from the very first Tracy Bird show. So from Tracy Bird, when do you go, Okay, I want to grab a guitar and I want to be artist. I'm doing this all on Little Broadway at the same time, and this is when you're grinding because you can play. The thing with Craig too, by the way, is that we did but in the show thing for years is

that we just throw a song at a mc. Craig knows every song because you kind of had to when you would play for hours at a time, right, so, and if you didn't, had to figure it out really quick. Yeah, you do four song, four hours of music, and then you know, the occasional twenty dollar tip comes in for a song you never heard, you go home and learn it just in case it gets caught again, you know, or requested. But I'm I'm playing Lower Broadway all the

while doing the Tracy birth thing too. Um. So there was a bartender at the stage where I played. She was dating a guy that was in the radio promo business. Um. And she invited him down and she said, you need to come see this guy. Um. And he came down and he he would come down every Tuesday night from I mean probably two years, always telling me, Hey, we're gonna do something you great, YadA YadA, all that. And I had gotten to the point where I'm like, okay,

put your money where your mouth is. So one night he was he came down. He's like, look, we're ready to do this. H we want you to be our guy. Um, I'm gonna bring Keith Steagall down to see you that. He's a producer. He produced all the Alan Jackson stuff, all the Zach brown stuff. Um, And honestly, he was number one on my list if I could hand pick producers. When I first moved to town. He was my guy. And so I couldn't believe it. I said, well, give me at least give me twenty four hours notice so

I can prepare. So sure enough, he says, hey, we'll be done this date. Um, We're gonna be there from seven to eight. I said, all right, I'll be ready. So I hit him with forty five minutes of everything I had, and Keith said, come by the office tomorrow. What's everything you have that your originals? He throw a couple of covers. Yeah, I didn't do any coaches. See the originals? Originals? Could you tell by his face? Because you know, you auditions, and I audition for acting jobs

and hosting jobs, and he watched the faces. Were you watching his mannerisms? And and how are you feeling as it was happening? He was. And now that I've known him for a little while, he he was as excited as he would have ever gotten. Um, which at the moment was kind of not the best facial expressions you would expect, you know, for somebody that was excited about seeing some music that they were wanting to do something with.

So I didn't know how to take it. But when he invited me to the office the next day, that was that was a good sign. And and that was in August of oh eight. You sign a record deal. Signed a deal in September two thousand nine, So it took a year to negotiate um and then started the record making the record, and then started my radio tour July two thousand ten. And then Family Men came out, and so your first song was Family Man. They're the world excited to hear on the radio the first time?

My goodness. I mean it's it's not just the first time, it's every time I hear my song, but the first time you hear your song on an unsolicited you know where, it's not like you're about to play I'm into the station. Yeah, it was. It was pretty cool. Revolves around It's my sacred sting grounds you mentioned earlier. The Cole Swindell think is the Cole Swindell link because him and Luke were working against he was like working merch for Luke, working

for Luke or did that did that different? But but when Cole moved to town, he wasn't he wasn't doing merch for Luke or wait he may he. Okay, I don't know the timeline for Cold, but I didn't know that when he When Cole first moved to town, we met immediately. I think it was through Luke and through Michael Carter, and we hit it off and we hung out. I mean all that, I mean it was we we hung out a lot. So you have a deal. You have a song, do you think? And family and peaked

out of the peak, so it picked the twelve. Do you think, Okay, I got this now? Like man, you're like I figured it out, Like it's absolutely And as I ask you right now, do you think Kevin figured out? No, No, that was It's very humbling to see your first song do extremely well and then the second song do what Fish did and have almost a half million downloads you know, uh, and then the third song I do well at all? And third song would be when I get it? And so the song did not do well. It went to

thirty eight. So it goes to thirty eight and you start to think, man, this is an omaly that I'm not hitting it or is it realization of maybe it's not as easy as I thought it was. It was it was one of those man, you know, because people ask me all the time and man, how did you get your record deal? And my my response is it's that's the easy part keeping it. It is a hard part.

You know, Are you making money inside your deal to live a life where you can actually, like afford a truck and a house payment or is it still a struggle. It's even more of a struggle because now you've got money to pay back. We me and my wife we do well. We we um we have we make im a enough money for us. She's she's making money too with her personal training. But we are able to take care of ourselves and our family and the needs we have. UM. But if if we if you were to ask me

or am I already for retirement? I would I would say no, you know what I mean? You still love going on stage? I love it. I mean it's it's because I still love going on the radio, and I do it every day like I live for going on the air, and I live for going on this stage and doing stand up comedy like those I get some. I do it all and it's a thrill to everything. And that's how I know that's what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm the same way, like, I don't. I

never it. I didn't music chose me. I didn't choose it. And that's just how I look at it. It's not anything other than it's I feel like this is what I was put here to do. I have and you have daughters, yes, anymore like you you're gonna try get a boy or no, no, no, we're done. I took care of that. So having girls, I mean, that's got to be. It's you and all women like I grew up with all women. All women. We got two girls. My wife, my dog, and my cat are both girls.

It's and your animals are all girls. So, um, which daughter did you bring up this thing? Let it go? Chris espressly, right, okay, So this is on the show a year and a half persod ago. She comes up, let go back, andymore, let go turn away and saying yes, stay, let the storm never anyway. And I still get I remember her singing at the studio, I haven't heard them so long's it's so good and I'm gonna tell you now.

And we were texting back and forth a couple of weeks ago and you sent me a video of her sing. By the way, she's got some swagger now like she like it looks like that might be what she wants to do. As as as bad as I hate to admit it, I think it's chosen her. She sings and she demands the room. How old is she now? She she just she's eight and a half. Okay, so she's eight and a half years old, And I'm so correct?

Is me a video? And I look at the video and I think this is Craig my body sending me a video And I've watched your kids grow up in the last two years, and so I don't post it anymore anything because I think this is just the thing. And then I see other places if you put it out a couple I was like, dude, I had to put that out. I thought it was so good she did, and it's up on the internet. I ended up not putting it up because other people have put it up.

But if you want to see and you're playing guitar, was okay, that's what it was. She was playing guitar and perstially singing, and what was the song? She was Kelsey's song Peter Ben And I'm just like man like, I've watched this girl girl from in kindergarten. So that was those three years. Uh yeah, three solid years ago.

You're proud. I'm very proud. I mean, is it Yeah, she's she's uh, you know, we get asked all the time, if if, if she's gonna follow in our steps because her mom is a great singer to um and if if, if she wants to, but it's it's up to her. I'm definitely gonna make it available for her. If she I'm gonna help her out. Do you teach her music? Where we just started last week and she's got piano lessons,

I don't want to teach her. She sings on She's on pitch already, her her pitch and listen, I'm I'm bragging. But at the same time, I recognize she's around it too as well talent. I mean, her pitch is incredible. Like sometimes I'm driving down the road in my truck and she's in the back just doing acapella stuff, working on licks, doing these Megan Trainer licks, and I'm like, wow, yeah, she one gets to be around people who can sing

a wall and two when your parents sing. I mean, I believe that there's there's a connection between being in the womb too, like men. Mendy her mom had an acoustic gig every Monday at Legends Corner from two to six, and it got to where Mindy was having to hold her guitar sideways for her belly. So the resonation Lord, the resonance of the guitar on her belly and hearing us sing every you know, every Monday. I feel like that had a lot to do with her having music

when she was born. Why does Mendy not play? She moved to Nashville to pursue music. She um it, you know, her didn't get drawn. That's and that's the does she still hope? No, she's and she's okay with it. You know, she h for the longest time. And we wrote songs together. A matter of fact, we had a song together on my second album called topless Um. And she's she is the superwoman of all superwomen. She takes care of them girls because I mean, honestly, when I'm gone, I'm and

she's a single mom. Uh, it's dance, it's school, it's uh, she trains, you know, it's so she's happy. She's happy with with whe where her life is. The road has has led her now. She she does love music, don't get me wrong. And we we still play as a family, like we'll we'll play music and we'll sit around the campfire and do stuff, and and the occasional songwriters around that she gets invited to, you know, we'll I'll go in and you know, she'll call me and it's it's

a lot of fun. I do miss I do miss playing just me and her on Lord Broadway that I brought you to together. Yeah, she hired me to play piano for she was one of my six Knights of playing piano. Man. That's crazy. And we've been together ever since. Are you grateful just in general at this point in your life right now, as as anybody can ever be. I mean, I get to, I get to I get I get frustrated a lot with my line of work.

But I still get to wake up knowing that I'm going to go be on stage and sing country music and get and get paid to do it. It's a it's a it's a surreal thing right now. His song is Outskirts of Heaven. When I outskirts Heaven where there's roads, fields and fishing, where Trees and Blues, Guys and dreams. Lord when I die, the oscars him. I believe you when you tell me this, I'll say it again, though. I hope that you're so proud of that song, even

if it were to stop tomorrow. I am. And I tell that every time I'm with with anybody, when it comes to me trying to convince them to play the song, I'm like, you know, what if if it all went away tomorrow? The messages that I get on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and all that about how this song has helped them deal with certain situations, That's That's all that matters to me. Mike, anything like that's Craig. After the interview, Mike call, he has a couple of questions, lingering, Yeah,

well is your daughter? Does she gravitate towards country? Men want to know she's she's a huge Megan Trainer fan, which, by the way, Megan Trainer heavy country, like we're talking about I think last week, like Kaylyn Smith was in and Caitlin and Meghan wrote Megan Trainer's song um like I'm Gonna lose you. I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. That's Morton Pressley's most viral video on Facebook together Together. But yeah, she but she loves Kelsey.

You know, I'm not saying she don't like country music at all. She she just her friends. They you know, they lean more towards pop with the stuff they listened to. Cool. Is that your first tattoo right there? I've been kind of staring at it the whole time. You got Colorada? No, this is this is my fifth tattoo. And but what

is that? Because it's the coloring is new one. It's an American flag, Okay, and I've had it about a month, but I went back and had the red put in the ripes so that it would be very I don't know, pop a little better, looks awesome anything else? Mike, what was the first song you learned how to playing guitar? On guitar? Yeah? Um? What was it? Oh? Today started loving you again? Was that? Basically? Ge chords and dye

back where I really always been. I got over you just long enough to let my hearty man, and a day I started loving you. My uncle was a guitar player. He he had a band. They were my mom's brother had a had a Kiss tribute band. He was a league talk. So yeah, he's so he That's the very first song I ever learned how to play. I really enjoyed the chat. No think I'm I have had a

great time. This is that. This is cool And obviously you know I'm a fan and a friend and not maybe that order, I think, but if but friend first, because I think, yeah, I listen, I'd never listen to you. I hate let people bring songs go ahead and play for you in front of your face. And I think You're probably the only person I've ever let that happen

to it in my history. I don't know if you remember coming into the studio and I was like, I was like, I don't wanna do this because I gotta because I have to do the thing where I have to act like I'm loving it, and I don't know if I want to hear it. And it's just like, oh, you might be the only person I've ever let that happen with because I just don't do I hate it and I'm glad you did. I but at the same time, that was not my idea. And you know what's funny.

You came in and with Mary Forest, who's my managers, and like she she's I called her my babysitter because she managed everything that I do from you know, the books and the music and she and she by the way, she's fantastic. Well she's I love her to death. I was even texted her when she came to work for you guys or for you, I said, I hate to see you go, but I know you're gonna love that gig. Yeah. She left a really good job working at your label to come and run me. And she's the best human.

Holy crap. I really have enjoyed this talk. It's fun to sit down and just get to talk for hour and there'll be no rules and just see what comes out. So everybody, if you're listening, you know and you like it, supported spend a dollar twenty nine Outskirts of Heaven. When sir, please send all my warmth to the family. All right, that's Craig Campbell and that's gonna wrap up Elisode seven of the Bobby Cast, brought to you by No One Yet, No sponsor yet, no sponsor. I think they told me

I can't get one notes. I need to find a sponsor. They're like, hey, go get one. They can buy a sponsorship and I was like dang already like yeah, so anyway they're listening. He wants to be sponsored the show. Let me know Mike d Stro producing the show. That's m I K E d E E S t r O on Snapchat. Now, Craig Campbell is Craig Campbell TV. Why Craig Campbell TV. By the way, short story, Uh, Craig Campbell dot com was taken. Craig Campbell dot net

was taken. They my Bigger Picture family was already working with Big Kenny at the time and he had Big Kenny dot tv, so dot tv was available. So my website is Craig Campbell dot tv. So then we just made all the social media Craig Campbell TV. Interesting long story short, I appreciate the time, and uh, they'll look back at the career and you know, I'm always rooting for you, dude. I'm appreciate it. All right, we'll see you and next time it's the Bobby Cast. That's another episode,

another edition. Thank you very much, and until next time, good everybody.