Yo, what's up?
You're off in God's Country with your boy Read and your other boy Dan.
Also known as the brothers Hunt.
Will we take a weekly drive to the intersection of country music and the great You look like an airplane. I was doing an intersection intersection of country music in the great outdoors. Two things that go together, like leaving your favorite pillow at a hotel.
And never sleeping good. Ever again, That's what I'm doing these days, is what I'm doing these man or Dolly Parton in Blonde Weeks brought to you by Meat Eater and still going, dude, not sure what still going?
We're doing here? What? Two? Three? Spons show?
Baby, get a sponsor the show? None they look good with anything, even when you don't have pants, make you want to get up two step do a little dance? Cost to cover sponsorman the show? I baby, Yeah, that's the shortest we can make it. Okay, goofing over.
There, new boot not new two time first repeat guests on the show. We just kind of riff.
Ain't scared.
Ain't scared of riffing on here.
Ain't scared. No haired layered.
Lad, ain't scared, No haired Luke Laird h one of our favorite guys in this town. We love him. Great stories, great dude. We just kind of yeah, we just kind of talk the first part of the podcast about everything and then we get into some music stuff and.
It was nice to have a repeat on too. Man just kind of you know, we're familiar with him. He's such a good guy and his great a great perspective on songwriting and breaking into the business and life to be efficient in the business, and also just wraps it up with a nice little life life bo. That's right, you're really going to enjoy it.
Do a different thing for the favorite actually a song that we three wrote together, So you're gonna want to stick our ram for that.
If you're a perspective artist, you definitely want to skip straight to that, listen to it, and cut it on your record.
If you're looking for a single, it's the perfect opportunity for a single.
Song.
What else is that to we do anything else on here? No good ROAs we looked at them. You guys are trash. You guys are not trash. There are listeners. You guys are awesome.
Trash.
I've been watching four Ky. You're a toy. You're a toy trash for yeah, I don't know which one is. On four I had made.
This far yet.
Uh yeah, so leave us better Rose. I actually came up with this idea today because every good idea comes from me on the show. That's so true that maybe you guys could leave us reviews and lyrics, whether they be funny or just kind of nice. I think that's what's happening is everybody there's just not that they're tired of the negativity towards So let's revamp it. Let's revamp it. Bro gotta be a five star.
Leave us lyrics and.
We'll sing them on the show to our own music, to our own interpolation. Oh and who knows, maybe an artist will cut that and we'll give them ninety five percent of it and you get nothing but a year's free subscription. Leave us reviews, follow us song on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok x we're on that.
We're not on that.
Twitter is x though, truth dot com what that's truth? That's Trump's website for real. I think so we love y'all, appreciate you.
Peace out, fade out, ray fad out ray us one sound ray I knew it, knew it.
Three.
It's getting weird just introduced.
We Got You'll probably need to use that for the beginning of every episode.
Now, oh man, we said this about him last time, but he's written a million number ones he's got, he's earned two grant two two.
Time joke Wimmer, Grammy Swimmer, Grammy Swimming? Is this the same jumps? Did you write the exact same intros?
Like?
Did you copy and paste the intro?
We could skip that. He changed the.
Strip of play Awards, Got two Kids, producer of the Cool Chips Big Town Deer Killing told a really long story about the sidewalk there last time I said to leave, I really told the story then left. We've got Luke layered.
Back on the God's Country podcast. Baby, that's the first time we've ever said back, dude, how's it feel?
Man?
As it feel to be back? I should have done I should have done the beat boxing while you were in showing in Man too late, don't pick.
I'm probably one of the few guests you can afford to pay to come back twice. You know what?
It were definitely one of the only ones that answered to come Wait. First off, did we get in my pair? I was gonna say he probably came back on to get the free to coz. But then I was like, wait a second for coming on today. Heck, yeah, congratulation.
These are my only pair right here, and they're like my favorite boots. What are those? I have no idea.
Those like the ropers.
In my age, I usually specifically just dress for comfort. So it's if I could, you know, wear skit, If my wife would let me wear a skit, I probably would.
Wait is there a stigma against ketchers?
No? I don't.
I mean I just because I've been thinking about them. They look comfortable, the whole slipping guys you wearing you've been wearing some haye dudes, Oh they're free. What you're a country songwriter? Wait a second, hey, dudes, and Zen's yeahs impacts? Does nicotine cure? Can I mean cure cancer?
I would? I don't have the credentials to answer that.
You wear glasses, you don't have hair, that should be enough covers everybody.
Yeah, you're a doctor, No doctor?
Is that like a new Is that like a new trend that's going around or just if it has that always been a thing.
I'm I'm asking the doctor.
I saw I saw a guy Congress want being a doctor.
Oh it's I have no idea where we're going here. But I barely got out of MTSU.
I did see a guy where he's like, he's like yeah, He's like, it's not the nicotine, that cigarette, it's the fifteen other.
That's the guy kid talking about. Why is he on my feet?
Dude?
Why is that one of the girl because the governments? Why does it go the government pushing that on your boy?
I have no idea, man. I remember when I started writing, A good percentage of writers smoked cigarettes. You know they'd walk out. Now, I hardly know anybody I know.
I know I started smoking cigarettes too, because told you smoked cigarettes.
Mom.
It was It wasn't because I liked him, Mom. It was to get me in more rooms and to get me out there talking.
Yeah.
When when writers would go take a little smoke break, I'd go light one up. Yeah, and not in hell.
I just not in hell.
Just fake smoke, you know what I'm saying. Fake smoke.
Hey, last time we had you on, you left us because you had more important things to do early and you actually went and met Dolly parton that day. I did you met up with Alana del Rey and we'll get into later because you just worked with her and some stuff. It's cool and y'all went and met Doll.
How was Dolly wild? Was she nice?
Was she she was nice?
No? Yeah, I was surprised at how mean she was just kidding. She was super nice. It was one of those Lonna called me and she's like, do you want to meet Dolly Parton? I mean, what do you get? Yes? Why would you even ask? You know?
So?
Yeah, I apologize. I had to leave early, but we went out and this is this is crazy. I think I work hard, well, not compared to a lot of people, but Dolly Parton and I don't know how old she is, but she's been doing it for a long time. I get out there and she was shooting a commercial for one of her zillion products. Her manager had said she'd been there since four am.
I was like, what shooting that commercial?
Well, just you know whatever? Get ready? Yeah, doing stuff? And so in.
Between telling how long it takes her to get ready to man, there ain't no telling. I don't know it takes Jordan and you look great? Yeah, Dolly is what did you do to get ready for this?
Well? Nothing? Drank left our podcast came to your podcast and did you brush your teeth?
I did, I didn't brush my But you know, Foss, you don't brush your teeth every morning? H I mean, I just you brush your teeth every morning?
I do. I don't every night, though, Cross, I know my wife.
How do y'all go to sleep?
No?
I know, Jordan don't. How about you new guy in the back? Do you brush your teeth every morning?
Every night? Give us a smile? He's clean?
Let me say he's clean?
Right?
Twice a day, twice a day, three.
Times a day sometimes, man, if I get if, I feel a little if my teeth and feeling.
The cavities you had in your whole life one or two cool? I never had anything? Yeah, right, promise.
I've never had a cavity.
You're forty two dogs, Mama, don't know your DEMI records from the past in you have you been to the was the last thing being the Donnist?
I don't know about three years ago. Nothing's hurting though, right, nothing? Yeah? Never? Yeah? So I think I'm assuming. I bet Dolly brushes her teeth.
Somebody that brushes them.
For she was you know, she was super nice. I mean, it was a quick. You know, she doesn't know who I am, but she was kind got to get my picture with her. I literally was one of those like what do I say? You know, I'm not gonna be like, hey, I'm a songwriter like you. She'd be like, no, you're not. You didn't right, I will always love you.
Yeah, you think you are?
No. Literally the only thing I could think of the one mutual person. I mean, I'm sure there's others, but I know the guy who built our house has done some work for her. I was like, yeah, Rob built my house, and she's like, oh, maybe that that must be why he's taken so long to finish myself. So then I was like, dang it did I say that? But she said in a really nice web it. Of course, the rest of the time there, I'm just in my head. I shouldn't have said. Yeah, you know, screwed it up.
It was wild. I mean, yeah, I got to meet Dolly Parton, you know, crazy.
We Uh, my little girl's obsessed with Dolly, so she just turned three. We took her to Dolly would and uh like I didn't. I mean, we went into Dollywood. You can go like all and see all her outfits and all her shoes and the tour busts she used to tour on, and it, dude, it I mean, like I obviously it's Dolly Parton, but.
She's a really really big deal, dude.
A lot of outfits, sparkly outfits.
You guys, you know, being songwriters. I think, like we were talking earlier, she's like such a huge entity, like outside of the music stuff everything, But sometimes just for fun, I'll go back up look up old YouTube videos and seeing her sit there with a guitar and play and sing, it's unreal. And I'm part of me is like, how does she do that with those?
Did you see on the Johnny Carson Show? Have you seen that one where she plays the she wrote a song for Johnny Carson. It's like I never hit the big time until I played Johnny Carson Show. I'm telling you her nails art and she's playing and she played it on the Johnny Carson Yeah picking Neil, yeah no, But I mean it's just David Nell. Yeah yeah.
But just the songwriting, you know, and when she sits there and perform like spot on pitch, I mean just a naturally gifted like you're like, yo, yeah, she's the real deal, you know she was.
She recently she just had her Hall of Fame thing inducted, not inducted the Hall of Fame obviously, but her exhibit was over and Jordan got to go and she took Griffin my little girl, and she videoed her when Dolly walked out for the first time and Jordan or you can see Griffin.
Like doing like this, and she goes, it's Dolly and it's like the first time she's ever seen her in person. She said, can I stay hot to her?
And she was waving and she got home. I was like, you gotta tell me about it. She goes, so Dolly waved at me. I was like, that's what I'm talking.
About, dude. That's like. The first concert I ever went to was Randy Travis at our County Fair, and I was that's it was during his one Forever and Ever Amen was a single, so he's blowing up. I went with my aunt and uncle and I remember now thinking back, like, man, what an annoying kid. The whole time I was just finally caught his eye and he waved and I was just like I forgot it. Yeah. I was like, do you ever get a chance to tel him that you have you know, I've never that's pretty good. I never
met him. And uh, but we do share a birthday, just different years or so, I have a birthday whenever that is.
Yeah, me and Brad Pitt share a birthday in Christine Aguilar. You know how I share a birthday with? Pretty happy about it. Teddy Roosevelt.
Wow, yep.
We should fact check that one, because that's a cool one. You know what else we should fact check this fact that I know about Teddy Roosevelt is uh.
Oh, I thought you wrote a song about it.
I did, I just did. Right then Teddy rose Bill went on a bear hunh I don't know. Yeah, okay, well then there's no I always keep going. Uh where they had a bear tied to a tree, and he said, no thanks, this old bear hunt and that bear tied to tree came for me for me, so that's it. They so he was he Actually I didn't want to
shoot the bear. It wasn't necessarily tied to a tree, but I think it was kind of a canned yea pinned up and he sniffed it out and a man so and in honor of that, they made a little bear and that's where teddy Bear came from. Teddy Bear, are you serious?
Serious? Check it?
Check it? It was a yeah, okay, that's real. That's a great segment. While you got the guitar to go into.
What what you're mad?
Just tell us what it is what you're mad? Is it your grandpa's kids, mine being parents, your neighbor's cat.
Just tell us, swash.
Man and we need you like that.
I didn't heard that.
I'm sorry he hasn't heard anything. Doesn't listen to our podcast now.
I totally knew that one.
You can always tell when somebody's like, that's awesome, you've never heard of?
Like, when did you write that? Oh?
Are you mad at eight?
Wait? Is it real? We're getting fact check? Jordan's doing some fact Yes.
The teddy Bear was named after US President Theodore Teddy roseident. That's that's enough.
First and just leave now.
So for all you haters out there, I thought that story wasn't true. Hater, My mom can't cheat up more. Yes she does. All right?
Uh, who's mad?
Who's mad at something?
You know what? I'm mad at?
What you mad at? People that open their banana upside down?
Oh dude, people do that?
Yeah, man, that's some serious that is that's the reason to be mad.
Don't do it. Guys, who did you see somebody Something's a writer? Maybe yeah something.
They probably listen this podcast might be on it quit opening bananas upside down Singleton he.
Had a piece of fruit in years. Yeah, he's not it. I mean, this is I guess it's kind of personal. I'm just mad, a little bit mad at my dad bod.
Wow looks you know, sweatshirt on today in the summer.
Yeah, I'm a little I feel like I work out. I just uh, you know, struggle with the sweets. I just really love something man me too recently man dairy Queen like blizz. Yeah. I can't really be mad at dairy Queen. I mean it's not their fault. It's my self control. Yeah.
Well it's kind of a little bit of both.
Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I'm forty seven now, though, so pardon me is like does it matter? You know?
It gets me is late night, late night, Yeah, because your life's almost over.
You're like, I'm halfway in my lower back pain.
Late night snacky snack and gets me like if we'll watch a TV show and get done at ten thirty or something like we're watching Homeland get done at ten thirty and it's been four hours five because we eat dinner now yees five thirty ye, I mean sometimes four like it. We'll just run, I mean. And so I'm starving at ten thirty and I'm not tired because I just watched the Cia Show and I'm like, man, what's what's in there?
Oh?
Griffin's birthday cake and glass the milk.
Yes, I get down.
Yeah, Pretzels and some new tails, some pretzel, little peanut butter with the peanut butter in the middle.
We buy the huge of course, if you just.
Drop about twelve in nutel and trying to you gotta find them. Go in there and find them.
That's what Easter egg. It's mean, dude. My move lately has just been like, whenever I get to that point, I just eat a bunch of fruit, like I just And I don't know if that's any better or worse, but I'm like, I'll just have blueberries.
Good.
I eat a bunch of blueberries, and I'll eat an apple. It's probably better go to bed, right, half a go to bed or half a birthday. And that's in my head That's the reasoning is just like it's better than.
I I don't have a problem late night snacking, but basically because I don't stay it because I can't stay awake late nice. That's if you ask my wife what she's mad at. Probably when we get in bed to watch a show at night, and the second my head hits the pillow, she's like, are you sleeping? I'm like, no, no, I literally cannot stay awake Shyanne when she falls asleep in our shows, and I say, are you awake, sugar? Now? So I got that girl in the cage. I'm like, what two hours?
Jordan have a thing where I have to I'll like fast, I'll hit it on like two times, fast forward to the last episode, and I'll narrate the whole episode like it's right here. He's talking about going to Berlin and then when he got by Cinide and and she's like, Okay, that's you did a pretty good job.
There you go.
It might fell over lately, it might fail in a while. Wait, I'm not. I'm not gonna do my mad at yet. I got two things. One is I left my pillow in New Orleans. I think I've talked about this, and I'm still dealing with the hotel people to try to figure it out when I should just go buy another one. Yeah, they don't want to send it. I ordered a new pillow that they were like, it's awesome. It's cooling, dude, it's cool. I cannot sleep and I gotta have a
cold pillow. Like that is the I don't care you know about.
This cold pillow movement.
I gotta either I gotta have a cold pillow, and and the ones we used to have or Jordan still has, I'll still try to like put my head against it sometimes it's so cold.
All not okay, what is it?
I don't know what kind is it? She's looking at it either, But the one I ordered is not it.
Do you order a purple?
No, purples are still kind of a little warm. This pillow right here is a game changer anyway. It's just goodber slumbers, Okay, slumber shield.
So how's the firmness. It's firm and it doesn't it stays like it's like that thick and it stays that way, so you know, it's not huge, and it doesn't sink in like this, and when you flip it over, you gotta put your head way high because it's it's man, I haven't been sleeping good for like two weeks, dude. Literally last night I woke up at at one o'clock in the morning and couldn't fall back asleep till four thirty. Oh my gosh, and it's I'm telling you, it's because
my pillow. It's trash. I should just go buy one.
You got to figure that.
But they're like two hundred dollars. One more mad thing I'm mad at is spam emails in different languages that you don't know how to unsubscribe from.
Oh that's trash, dude. They don't have like what a great you can subscribe it.
It says it's where it on putter Sea Bay, and then you click, oh, that must be and then it's like.
You accidentally click subscribe to anything like this. They're all rotten.
Next, there's one, man, I don't know if you'll get this one, but it's like Bergarae de France and I've been I've literally been getting these emails for years and I've clicked everything at the bottom of them that looks like I've even gone in together and never got a spam email in a different language.
It's trash, man, you sign up somewhere.
Yeah, when you tell my mother in law you're getting them because you're clicking on them, I.
Think click on by day for thee look at this, look at this guy. Part of the true because here's how I know this because one time my wife is going through my Apple iPhone watch.
And she was like, who is this email from?
And that said some dirty stuff? And I was like, dude, everybody gets those.
She was like what.
I was like, Ask any of your brothers right now if they've ever gotten emails and they'll say yes, and they were all and luckily they have my back. They're like, yeah, dude, if you have ever signed up for anything as a male, and I'm just shouting out, if you've ever a four wheeler into your phone or they're gonna target or said you're thirty five male, whatever, like, you've ever signed up for.
Anything, You're gonna get them. Dude, you're gonna get them.
Yeah. Well, that's a good call to do it in a different language and not yeah, really, I hadn't thought of that's didn't.
They're getting smart, smart, getting smart.
Have you heard about this trend going around where people are discussing the one hundred men versus gorilla No.
Five.
Yeah, yeah, so the one hundred men one hundred men verstu one gorilla. But it's not all at one time. It's like one at a time, right, No, I think it's all at one time. I think it's one at a time. Can we sat sweet check that. I think it's like you fight a guy, he dies, you find another one, you find another. That's one, i'd say, because because there's like numbers. Oh, we can do both of them, that gorilla all day long. Yeah, yeah, explain to explain what we're talking. I don't know.
There's just a trend going around of like everybody there discussing, would do you think one hundred men verse one gorilla? Who would win in the scenario where you they all get to go at one time? I would say, men, if all get to go at one time, yeah, there's gonna be a few casualties, sure, the first the first ten that get on there.
You started answering before I I was going to say, how big is the gorilla? But I'm silver silver back.
Yeah, one hundred minute one time is still in that gorilla.
Man. I just want to know who would sign up for that. Well, I guess if your life's not going well or something like this could.
Be if there's a prize, big prize money you can get to split a hundred million dollars maybe or something. Well, the way I read it was it was a draft, like they were drafting the top one hundreds of America.
Like, who would your one hundred be? Somebody's somebody's Joe Rogan. For sure, you put him in there. I would put him. I feel like he's like a fighter guy, Joe. Yeah, he would be in the top one hundred probably of fighters in America.
And then you go, he wouldn't like the big UFC.
Those guys could rock Joe Rogan's world, any of them. Yeah, I know that, But why would talk in the top one hundred. He's probably in the top one hundred of the world of fighters. He's a bad dude. No way, bro, he's a bad dude in the world. No, wait, the world is in America. I can't remember. You're out of your mind, period.
How much I would I would be curious first, I'd want to know how much can this gorilla bench press? No, is there a way to figure that out?
How gorilla bench press Jordan, random guy in the back shaking his head.
Yes for some reason, a bench press contest. Just gorill, here's one of our buddies. Here's one we could like to do. If you were to fight either a gorilla, they can be around one thousand pounds. Okay, given a suggests a gorilla could lift up to eleven hundred.
Pounds, I think the gorilla would win. Verse one hundred men, one hundred hundred men at one time. Yeah, do you know what I mean? One hundred men? How are you gonna kill him? You're gonna want you put him in a headlock. I mean you got one guy if he just you know how big their heads are, you couldn't get his head in a headlock.
Want to bite somebody's head off?
That scared tacked it to the far. Take that I didn't take fear into effect. The first guy, this guy coming this way at this gorilla is Maull done. Yeah, in the heartbeats, I don't think there's any surprise. Yeah, there's there's no secret in that. There's gonna be ten.
When you say it. When you said a trend, I thought like this is trying people are trying to actually Yeah, you're going to TikTok and then there's a video gorilla.
Yeah, you can pay a hundred bucks. Olla.
Here's one our buddies do that's always mixed is if you were to fight, if you had to fight one of these things, which one would it be a grizzly bear or a silver back?
My gosh, that's death either way. Okay, I don't think it really matters which one kills you faster. Yeah, exactly, A bear will kill you faster. Grizzly bear will kill you faster. Real, they just do one, just one just takes one. You remember the story we heard about the Montana guy, So this is a cool story. I hope it's true. I think it's true. When we were hunting Montana, we ran into a lot of some hot stuff. Yeah, we ran into This is the way this episode's going.
Today, Babe.
We're just free styling. Free styling. That was pretty good. My So out there we were hunting and we meet this guy. I guess I should probablyleave names out of it, but basically the bear and Legends of the Fall the Bear, and like any commercials you've ever seen, there's only like three bears and there they are actually trained where they can.
Do it, right. So the bear trainer guy.
Was was eating with us that night or either his I can't remember.
I think he's a buddy. He wasn't actually the trainer guy, but he lives in the area where we're hunting. So you pass his house if you find a he did.
Okay, I know, we don't even tell him where he lives.
There'll be a link to the pen. You can actually go visit this noxploin. So he uh So.
Anyway, so the bear is shooting a commercial for like don't leave food in National Parks. Yeah, and he's sitting on a table eating the cake right right. So they're filming it whatever they get done filming, and I think they have him in like the way they described it like for commercials. They basically have he lives in this one area and then they have an acre pin where
you can set up your commercial or whatever. They bring the bear in, the bear eats the cake, and then they give him back to his regular place of residence.
So he's eating the cake.
Or still probably like an acre Sadly that dude don't put the gun on blast.
I don't know it. Maybe no, I've seen this five hundred I've seen this. So so he's eating the cake.
They get done. He's he's like, all right, I think the.
Bear's name is Brutus. I think so it makes sense.
It is Brutus. Come on back, we're gonna you know. He was like great, and then they're like buddies. Right, So he goes, great job today and puts his hand up to give him five. Right, Well, the bear just gives him, goes to give him five, and this peak appropriate appropriate pinaky just slasarrates because when he goes to give him five, it just kind of because you know, no, yeah, and it just naked him right there on the jug done,
he said. He grabs his neck, immediately turns to the vehicles and runs as hard as he possibly can to the vehicles, gets like ten yards from the truck, falls over. They throw him in the truck. He survives.
So it's all wow, but one one high one high five one pinky, Yeah, not even the whole one y one little rogue?
You think this will cut you? Run there, rogue, pinky? What about the uh paul been getting you? Oh yeah, stomping me this year?
Dude, I do the my wife take us our attack. Yeah, so I do that every morning. They keep it, but I feel like it started starts, I swear, like in February for me, like, like, what's going on? It's still freezing it, Like, yeah, pollen is in Nashville, you know, it's just like the worst. I'd never actually where I grew up in Pennsylvania, I never remember seeing walking out and seeing like actual pollen on your truck. Yeah, and here it's just wild. Yeah, it's it's it's all.
I don't remember that in Weston. Say, honestly, why are we talking about Poulend You just brought it up, so there's nothing else talk about spring with.
But let's talk about deer hunt because because we had you on last year, I think it was post deer season before.
What was did you kill a deer with your recaver last year? No, it's that's another embarrassing I didn't. I didn't have as much time to get out. I missed one, So this one. That's that. On those days, that's when you're like, should have taken the compound. But yeah, man, it just it was kind of a rough season. But you know the thing I love about bow hunting. I got buddies who do a lot of duck hunting and different things. I'm such I love the time by myself.
So that's my favorite thing is just being out in the woods sitting in a tree stand. My wife's like, how do you sit there for like three hours? And kind of like my dad said back in the day. Of course this is pre cell phone, but they're like, what do you do? My Dad's like, oh, I got plenty up in my head to keep me entertained for hours. Yeah,
no doubt. And I think even like you guys would probably agree, Like as songwriters just for ideas and stuff, you just need that time to without input, to actually without distraction. Yeah, without distraction. And so that is my favorite thing about deer hunting.
Hunting, that's my favorite favorite thing. It used to not to be for me.
It used to be about that you gotta, right, you gotta, I gotta shoot something. I gotta, I gotta If I don't see deer, I'm mad. Yeah, if I don't see deer, I shouldn't have gone.
You know.
It was that for a long time, But but I do I do agree, like getting especially as a creative in your mind, going crazy like it does feel really, I mean that fishing turkey hunting, playing golf. If you're playing golf alone. Honestly, if I'm playing golf with other people, that's still it's still a distraction to me. But if I'm playing golf alone or just anywhere being alone out in the outdoors, man, I feel like is a is that for me?
Now?
Yeah?
And the fall too is my favorite time of year really. I mean I like spring too, like the change of seasons with the fall, when the weather first gets crisp and the smell of it. I just love it. And it makes me think of growing up, like hunting with my dad and stuff. So I think I'm pretty nostalgic, but I do love that time of year. I think that's what.
Look, I'll duck hunt, I'll hunt, yeah, I'll I'll go with people, but like, yeah, with rest, Yeah, it's not even really fair. We'll go to one of the best duck hunting places in the world for two days for free and shoot five thousand eleven man limits every day.
It's great.
But I think, like the solidarity to me is it. I mean, it's nice to just kind of be out there just kind of it is with nothing, yeah, you know, and you know, or with plenty, but with yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I agree, I will tell you a quick duck hunting.
So that's something else I didn't grow up doing. But I have a buddy who has a camp in Arkansas and he's always been on me we got to go. But this year he's like, let's go down, take our boys down for the youth hunt. And my son it was his first time, but he really wanted to go, so I was like, let's go. So we went down there and I will tell you, like seeing your let's
see how old was he? It's eleven. So we went I guess whenever that youth hunt is sometime in February early whatever, went down and seeing him like bring his first duck down. I mean, we were kind of off the side. He was in one of those like lay down blinds and these, which I'm like, I don't know how smart it was for us to put two eleven year olds in there with loaded shotguns, but it was awesome. All of a sudden, they fly over and they just
start blatt and he brings one down. And before I could even get over to him, because we were kind of off to the side, he's up. He's running towards me grabbed the duck by the neck. He's like, can I put it in my room? I was. It was just it's hard to describe it. It was just like wow, and this is I've never even shot a duck like it was. And I could just see that joy and it was and I was like, yeah, of course you can put in your room, which I still got to get.
It's still our freezer, would like Alex Wilson at the No, Yeah, that's who I'm I took my deer a couple of years ago there, Yeah, I'm taking it. I called him right after we did that and he's like, hey, we're a little low on freezer space. But I was like, I'll just call you back, but I stop, I need to get it down there. But but yeah, I think that experience with your son like that again, that going
down there killing anything. It was that time with him, the memories, and I think all kinds of hunting, you know, whether you do it for like getting to be alone and then also with with friends and family, like it's just so awesome.
Yeah, it becomes about that, right, like yeah I can.
I mean my kids are young, but I can. I'm excited about my my my little ones growing up and being able to I'm not wishing time away, but sure I can feel my time not necessarily coming to an end, but starting to to switch to being able to take them and and like me, caring less about going out there and hunted deer, but like what, like you're saying, just making memories in the woods with them and seeing their you know, seeing them light up when they see their first deer, shoot their first deer.
You guys haven't experienced this yet, but you know what, really what really catapults that is killing them, really the biggest deer you have ever killed in your life, which I just so happy.
To do this past years.
Let's never no, don't everybody knows. That's why you don't have That's why there's no That's why you don't listen to this podcast where I thought I showed you this, We've written since I was That's why I was freezer space at Alex's because getting four mounts of what was the acreage of like what was the It's like Brutus's pen, you know, you know at the at the b M I s or somewhere. I saw a guy and he was like, hey man, there's a rumor that deer was high going around town, and I was like.
Yeah, but he wasn't next to it when I showed it.
No, it wasn't that. It's not in the picture. I showed you this. Have you got to experience that deer hunt with your boys yet?
Have they? No? I haven't. It's it's my fault. But I just need to make the time to do one of the things. I mean, you can't guarantee it perfect hunt first time, but I also don't. I don't want to go out multiple times at first and sit for three hours and see nothing. So I'm trying to, yeah, figure out you know what I'm saying. I know exactly what you're saying, and it'll be it'll be with a gun first time.
But just because my dad almost roomed me on turkey hunting, because I.
Can tell the story. So we were hunting. I was hunting with my brother in law and he was hunting with Dad, and he had never been turkey hunting.
Before, and we got into turkey. We got into turkey hunting later in life. Like we didn't turkey hunt when I was growing up.
My dad didn't.
My dad fished offspring, That's what he did and then when I was in high school is when he started turkey hunting.
Maybe late middle school, Yeah, because I was in high school when I started tking, so late fifteen. I couldn't drive, I know that, So late middle school he started turkey hunting and he killed one. He he felt it, he saw it, like, experienced the fly down, experienced the gobble in his face, shot the turkey, and he was hooked. Bro.
He was going every day, and so we didn't get it. I didn't come my first turkey till I was and I think I was in high school, like late little middle school.
But yeah, go ahead. But Dad has a tendency to like really hook it. And where we're hunting, well, he was so obsessed. He was so obsessed with it. It's super suit. And I don't mean like West, I mean like Hilly.
Yeah.
And so me and Jason, my brother in law, had hunted slow that morning and got on a turkey and gotten real close to killing it.
Just had a great morning.
Watch the sun come up, just easy, and we finally meet up with reading Dad. Reid has all his camera off, fogus bro and is walking in a cutoff T shirt with his arms over. He had has gone across his back and his arms.
He was walking under.
He's like, I'm never doing this again. I was like, Dad, what did you do? Man?
He's like, well, I just figured over the next ridge we'd hear.
One, know, one of those non goblins. That's where walked him silly. It was like ninny, I got down. I got down to the bottom. Dan and my brother in lawers and I was like, well, y'all been doing you'll been y'all been hiking these hills and they're like, no, we've been napping naps. Yeah, heck of a day. Here's that little tiny deer that changed my life. Oh my gosh, I showed you that, dude. I know I did two eleven, but who's counting? You know where?
What where? Iowa? That was Iowa?
Yeah yeah? Or Oklahoma?
Yeah, it could have been or you know West Tennessee, yeah, northern western Illinois. You know what did do in my head? Uh?
Yeah? Hey, tell us about the the Lna del Rey record ding.
Oh man, I have to tell you, like it's kind of one of the you know, doing this job we have.
Why'd you bunny use it?
Huh?
Why'd you quotation it?
Because? Man, it's like, how do we get to do this for a living. It's I still have to pinch myself, Like I get to go write songs like do what I was doing in my bedroom growing up and actually have a career with it. Yeah, you have all kinds of different experiences, and I tell people some of my best experiences. The song never made a dime, you know.
But but as far as just wild things that happened, my wife and I were down at Laurie McKenna was playing a show down at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and as one does, I was on my phone scrolling before Laurie came out, and I went into the like it's like hidden messages or request in Instagram to where it's not like your followers and most of it's spam or whatever. But there was this guy and he was like, hey, Luke, I'm Lona del Rey's manager and she was trying to
get in contact with you. And I was just like, yeah, right, it's just so outside of our world. So I was like I didn't respond right away because you know, like, is this guy real? So Beth and I do a little research and like I think it actually is. So I was just like, yeah, I'd love that, and I
just gave him my number. Didn't hear anything for a few days, and then one night I get a text and supposedly it's Lana and she's just like, hey, I was just wondering if you would want to get together and just talk about music or write a song or something. And I was like, I guess it's probably really her. So I was like, sure, literally.
Or I might ended up getting killed by Yeah, yeah, exactly worth a trial.
Two days later, my little cabin where I write, she rolls up in a rental truck and gets out and I'm like, yeah, that's Lona del Rey. She comes in. It's just the two of us, and she was super nice, just talking about music, and she she was like, well, first of all, I was like, if you don't mind me asking why why did you reach out to me? Like I'm just curious. It's not that I don't think I can write, Like, just how would you even come across I like, was it in my work with Rodney
Atkins or Klay Walker? I can't She was like the cool chip, Yeah exactly, and she you know I was. It was pretty wild because she was so familiar with like songwriters, and country music, and what she told me was like, I just had researched some different Nashville songwriters and I thought that we would connect. And I was like, that is crazy. It's just on her own and so
that's crazy. I was like, So after we talked for a while and I was like, she goes, well, I do have a little couple of little things on my phone, just like her singing into her phone, and this one thing sounded like the start of a chorus. I was like, that's cool. I just picked up the guitar and we literally wrote that song. It was the first one that she released, called Henry Come On, and it was just so natural and smooth, and recorded it right there, literally
just gave her one of these sm seven's. She's sitting on my couch, no headphones, no click track anything like that. We write it, record it, and I was like, Wow, this girl is one of the best singers I've sat in a room with, like spot on singer. There's no vocal tuning, it just is what it is. And then and that turned into this record. I sent the files to a guy she's worked with a lot in La Drew Ericson, who did the strings and stuff, and it was just like one of the most wildly, like coolest
creative experiences I've had. So it went so well that first day, she I think that following week she's like, I'm going to stay in Nashville a little longer, and we got together like four or five more days, wrote a few more songs, and then from there she came back to Nashville several times, and so we've done quite a few songs, but like the first two have been released, and I honestly don't know what's going to happen from here.
I just kind of wait to hear. But one of the coolest things was getting to go out the stage Coach because she was playing there this year, and to see to really see, you know, these songs that we did in my cabin come to life and play with a full band, and yeah, man, it's as a writer, you just never know where you're going to get to. But I just love working with the artists who are such like know who they are as an artist. They're
not chasing any trend and that's totally her. Like the second she's like, I was telling Beth, I feel like she's kind of like her own genre. It's like people are like, are the songs you're doing country? And I was like, I don't know. I mean, I guess they could pass for that, depending on who's singing it. But it's just they're just songs. There's songs I'm really proud of, and there's not one talk in the room of like
could this be on the radio? Or you just trying to write what feels whatever she writes, Yeah, and that's just so freeing.
You know.
It's just different than what I do a lot of days. So really cool, I mean, just wild experience that I got that Instagram message and I'm like, this is crazy. And she's just so kind and like, you know, one thing I told her early on was like, I'm not someone who like stays up super late. Like I really value like my family time, so I like to put my kids to bed. And she was so cool with that.
So a lot of times we'd be working and we never worked super late, but then I would go up to the house and tuck the kids in and all that and uh yeah, man, just she was so respectful and just crazy talented. That's awesome.
Yeah, And that's what I was going to ask you out of that same thing is like. So she didn't come in saying, hey I want to do country music. I want to do a country record.
She just like, hey, I've got these No, I've got these songs, these ideas in my head.
She's got these little nuggets and I just want to I just want to go at from with you. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty wild, like let's just do what feels good and see where it leads.
You know who is also like that that I've written with, which is which is wild because I think he actually has a song going to country radio now. But have you written with Gavin Hadcock? Yes, dude, it is. He's one of my favorites. It's really guys just like this is what I was thinking today. This has no like radio direction. I just want to do this and this is the melody I had. And I mean I've written with him a couple times now, and and that guy's just doing what he wants to do.
See this is He's another one of my favorite new because you get the sense he's not like listen to something that's like blowing up and like I gotta do something like that. It's literally his own thing and I that is compelling to me. And first time I heard his stuff, It's like, if you sit there and start judging it from like as a music row songwriter who's been doing this for years, you must say I would
have done. But there's something compelling. And I think the older I get, the more I'm kind of in tune with that. Like I can't put a finger on why I like this because I probably wouldn't even have written that idea like that, But why do I want to go back and listen again? Or why when when he sings the first line of a song, I'm curious to see what happens. It's not like in my head I go through all the scenarios and I know what's gonna happen. And that dude, I will tell you something. I just
went to his show in Nashville. Yeah unreal. Oh yeah, they dude. It's it's like a movement my experience.
Why is unreal?
Like the crowd, I mean just so passionate, just screaming every word. And this is a who hasn't had a radio hit, which for a while, we know things have, you know, It's that that's totally changed, and it's exciting because all of a sudden, when I go in with a new artist, and that it's not the thinking of, hey, I got to write them a radio single. It's like, let's write something awesome that you love and you know
it could turn into a radio single. But I just want to work with artists like that who aren't chasing anything. They're doing their own thing. He works as producer, is a guy in Athens who they've just been making this music and it's very exciting.
I would venture to say that's one of the only pros to social media and TikTok and these artists that are coming out sure is that it has come to a point where you they don't have to say what you have to say to get on country radio anymore. You know, like they don't have to conform to this
town or the radio or that type of music. They can literally, like Gavin, you know, like these other cats, they can literally just go in there and write songs that they love, stories of their lives and sell out shows. I mean, and they're making so much money on the road that it doesn't you don't need radio.
Any songs don't need it, right, I.
Mean, he did just send a song to radio, but and I hope it does great. But literally, if it died tomorrow. It's not going to affect his following one bit. He doesn't care either. Yeah, I'm telling you right now.
I mean when we wrote that day, he was like, man, I'm sending this thing to radio, and just when they think they got me cornered, I want to hit him with something else like this. And he started playing this thing and that's what we wrote. And I don't even I mean, I'm he's been playing it. It's called on one and.
Oh yeah, and did you guys write that with Rhett?
Yeah, and put the F word in the corner.
I'm going to send you. I took a video of him doing that the other night. Yeah, but I didn't realize that you were on I Love It's so good man.
It's wild. Yeah, it's wild. He's just you know that. So the way that the song came about is he had this melody. It was kind of like a he kind of felt nirvanash honestly when he played it, and me and Rep both like, man, that feels like Nirvana.
You know.
So we already knew we were out of the box before we ever even started. And I said, well, man, my wife last night, I said, and he usually he has, and he did have some ideas. I said, do just I'm just throwing this out there. You don't have to take it whatever, but it kind of makes sense for what you're doing. My two ways now three Happy birthday, Boon. It's like he's wild man right now.
He's wild.
He wants to be outside. He don't want any clothes on. He wants to start fire and throw rocks at donkeys like he and run his forward into bar wires.
He's just wild at donkey donkey.
So, uh, yes, one donkey. It's not mine child, So is it worse rocks another person's don't? So yeah, it's fine. It's a donkey. So he's just wild, yes, a wild guy, you know. And so it had been on the day before, had been long and I got back and she was like, yeah, we'll glad you're home.
I was like, what's up? What do I need to do? Who do I need to what I need to fix? You know?
And she's like, Boon has been on one And I was like okay, and I just put it in my phone. I just put on one on my phone and uh I was telling him that story and he was like, yeah, that's what we're doing.
Today baby, and you know one and it's great. You know, he's the one of the best.
And so we just we just decided we were gonna not even you know, it's like we gave each other.
They're like, okay, we know what we're that. We're not doing this. We are doing this.
You gotta and when you're doing this, you got to go all the way. Yeah, you can't try to have one foot in the radio world, this world.
You gotta go.
You also too, got like with these new guys, because there a lot of them are so young, you got to let them drive, man, and that that's hard.
It's hard to let them drive sometimes. Well to your point, and you said it way better then I'll say it. But like, as an experienced writer, we see these things that are catching fire fast and we go, well, this is wrong with that, This is wrong with that, this is wrong with that, and this is wrong with that from our framework of art that we've constructed over however long you've been constructing your art world. Mine would be fifteen to twenty years, And you go, what doesn't align
with that? So because of that, something about it's wrong when in reality they're doing they're creating this movement without the help of us, for real, without the help of Nashville in their own unique way and only the way
that they can do it. And dude, if you and maybe I'm giving up some secrets here, but it's like it to me as an experienced writer, like you said, it's like you start going, Okay, I don't need to fix this, Yeah, I just if I can be at a place where I can help him convey what he's already doing.
Yeah, that's where I need to be. That's it. There doesn't need to be any of my influence on this because I'm gonna mess that up. Yeah. I mean, I tell people all the time, a huge majority of any success I've had in writing songs is just being a good listener, totally, like and when you're you know, in my case, when I'm in there with artists, I'm I'm
writing for their record, not mine. So you have to pay attention to what an artist responds to, what they get excited about, and roll with that, just like you're saying, Because that's the whole deal. Because I've told people before, you could go in a room and write, you know, he stopped loving her today or whatever. Songs of the year. I hope you dance with someone and if they don't feel connected to it a part of it, they're gonna they're not gonna do it.
And then yeah, it's like.
It's it's not about me, like as a co writer, as a collaborator, Like if I want to make my own record, then yeah, I can do it exactly how But I've learned so much from that because I've been a part of songs that no way what I've come up with on my own. I mean literally just the last two artists we talked about, Lona del Rey and Gavin Adcock. I mean there's those songs are so different that I was a part of. But it's because I'm following their artistry and then like, oh this is fun.
And that's that's what keeps me excited to do this every day. I don't want to do the same thing every day, like and I want to learn from and and like you said, you learn from the new new people just as much as you learn from the Hall of Fame thousand percent every day.
I'm especially ones that are that are in their own like in their own box for shure and their thing. They're not they're not trying to do what the town's already done. That's so true when there's a lot of
them that are you know exactly. I think that's an important thing to realize and to understand moving moving forward as a writer, And if if I could give some advice to any pursuing young cats out there, it's like, I feel like I probably no, I don't feel like I know for a fact, I probably missed out on some relationships that that would have been fruitful monetarily as well as, like you know, to yourself, because I was so determined to voice or to influence the song with
what I had to say, when in reality I probably should have just like laid back and like, I mean.
That's part of the learning curve, I it is part of.
It's being confident enough to not have to say anything.
Do you have any relationships you think you messed up over the years?
I have one prime.
Oh I know somebody that hates you.
Yeah, I'm Taylor Swift. What do you miss that?
Well?
I wrote with her once and then didn't pursue it.
Bether says the same thing.
I mean, a lot of people did. It's not that I didn't think she was gooder, I just you know who knows. There's so many artists and.
Fg O, mine's f Gail. I'll just so you're not by yourself. I messed that up completely. They knew who they were, and I was trying to do a thing and it was I should have just show Mine's Boys to Men. I wrote with one of them one time. He never called me back.
He was good, Yeah, we wrote a boys man Sean stock Stockman actually texting another day. I was like, hey, dude, my my daughter loves watching your baby back Ribs commercial.
He was like, oh, we had so much fun right now. Out of all the ones, I would love to write with Boys to Men, Yeah, well we did a country thing.
Was cool. There probably are like, like you said, they may not have told me, hey, I hate that guy. I don't want to write with them again. Nobody has you know what I mean? Like you know part of my what I always tell like some of our new writers or whatever. If you get an opportunity with like a big writer or an artist, so much of that first time with someone is you want them to leave the room having had a good experience, even if that song or not, because it can it's a long game
for it. So don't be bummed if you leave, you're like, dang it, we didn't write the first single. It's like, if that artist is excited leaving there and they think that guy was pretty cool, I could hang with him again. It's will get you so much further than being like coming and I have this hit. Course, I know if they do it like no doubt, be a good hang it. So much of it we do think about it because we all know crazy talented people that artists don't want
to work with because it's just not fun. And there's too many talented people in Nashville and they don't have to.
They don't have they're not going to surround themselves with people that they don't like being around.
Literally, if I check out tomorrow, this town will not miss a beat.
I say the same thing. If I took off, nobody would even know I was going. Well maybe Tom Luteran, but other than that way, he don't care anymoe. It would just roll, roll, roll, more songs, more artists. Is a turnover thing, like and I think that's nice. That's a nice humbling thing to know. Is it's like, ultimately nobody holds the no the key to this town it's a million little keys that you.
Are the key to this town. The key to this town is Luke lin getting a day with Luke Liab.
He's got the key.
He got a million number ones.
He's so rich as ridiculously you only start at his own publishing coming there. He's going to Turkey for hair transplants.
That would be that's where they do the hair. That's like the hair thing. We could talk about male pattern baldness.
I'm sorry I'm ripping on that today.
No, I I mean, I'll be honest. I do wish I still had hair, but not enough to fly to Turkey.
And hey, I'll say this, out of all the ball guys, I know you look the most natural. It looks the best on you.
Thank you.
I'm serious about that.
Plus, I think that's.
Why Linadell Ray got in touch with you. Honest well, yeah, she looks good.
It's you know, it is pretty low maintenance. I will say, I don't understand why I'm bald.
I've done this before. People get mad at me for doing this. I think Luke we did with Luke. But like I think it's more of a thing that you guys think, like nobody else thinks about it, Yeah, like it's a self and I think what's unfair about it is I think that the I think that the world, the media, people who want to make money off of it make it like a thing.
Oh for sure.
How many times have you thought about him being bald?
Not once? I get targeted as like attacking my confidence, stuff like I'm totally fine with my dad was bald and he It's not like you have to pick your parents either. It's not like I like, it's it's fun. Who cares? I Do people care? Girls, Jordan? People do you care? I mean, if you're eighteen, maybe ye? Would you agree enough?
If I went bald tomorrow? If my hairline too, I don't know, if disappeared my hairline.
Creek was starting right. Who's saying that? Would you know?
He mean, it's not even the right words. I'm sorry, Jordan knows, who is it? Random guy who's singing that, what's your name? New guy Rady who sang that Cole, good to see Cole, thanks for coming hand with He doesn't have the answer, Josh, that's where we're at, that old skinnered?
Yeah, hell we're skinnered. Yeah. All of a sudden, I was second guess in this free bird geez.
I'm just saying it's not it's it's not you guys fault. You guys are bald. But I'm just saying I wish, I wish the world would layoff ball guys.
Dude.
It really isn't a I wish bald guys wouldn't care live without the anxiety that they're.
I It starts with ball guys. Ball guys have got to be okay it absolutely I think you should start a club, dude, Dude on that baldness, yeah, dude, own yeah, no hair layer, dude.
H are you still in seminary?
Man? I graduate next week. Come on, man, yeah, give me a preacher now.
No.
Man, it's a wild thing.
You know.
People are like you're doing seminary. I you know, I was not a great student in school. And if you would have told me twenty years ago, you know what you're gonna You're going to have a job that's great and you're gonna choose to go back to school and get a degree, I would have been like what and then especially a seminary degree or like no way. But man, it's wild how God works because like five years ago,
like kind of in my morning quiet time. I was just praying, like a short prayer is just like God, I want to know you. And I was always not always, but in adulthood kind of interested in theology and always kind of been a deep thinker. And this is where it led me to.
I was I was.
One of the guys that in my kids school, we'd have these kind of deep discussions. And he's like, man, have you ever considered seminary? And I was like, who's he. Who's Oh, his name's David Philson.
May see work at your school.
Yeah, he works in kids at school. Yeah, brilliant guy. He's he's also a pastor. But he was like, I go, man, I do I do not feel any calling to be a pastor at a church. I was like, I love my job. He's like, no, Like with this online degree and the school is out of Philadelphia called Westminster Theological Seminary. He's like, it's for people like yourself and all different occupations who just want to, you know, go deeper. And and it's it's been amazing.
Wow.
You know the coolest thing about it is not that I love writing papers. That part's but my time in my studies. It's like just constantly thinking about God and like sending you deeper into scripture and just really, I guess one way to put it is like through this whole process, it's like made God just so much bigger. Wow, not he's already bigger, but like my awareness of and you know, with what I do, there's a lot of faith that comes into play of just like us going
into a room creating something out of nothing. That takes a lot of faith because just like I mean, I pray all the time, all the time, just God, give me creativity, help me to represent you.
Well do you think that's different than God, get me through this?
Because I pray that all it's all man, we all have need whether we know it or not, min is God.
It just ended, all right, can you just come on?
God give me that single? I pray that it's wild. So yeah, I just finished. I'm not going to be walking the graduation because we're going on a family trip.
But thing out of came.
It's just it's one of those people like what are you gonna do with that? Like I don't have like this planet? What am I? You know, hopefully it's it's got me closer to you know, grown me closer to God and my awareness of how small I am.
So that was the sole reason of doing Yeah, man, it's it's really interesting to me too, because like childlike faith is easy, right, Like it's it's easy to just to the Sunday School stories and the color and books and as a child, that's that's all you think about.
That's how you think of gods as in like animation almost, but like it's just like with anything else, I think I'm at a point in my life right now where I'm trying to learn about the history of the world literally like wars and World War two and and and and these things, and it's I'm finding myself as as like my relationship with with God matures that I don't know enough about the Bible and I don't know just like I don't know enough about the history of our country or the world.
And I find myself like, how how do you do that? You know?
And and that makes a lot of sense, Like in those terms, is like you're just deepening the well of understanding the Bible and the whole the Gospel and the whole the whole thing.
Yeah, it's every morning I have to I heard a preacher say this once, but It's like you got to preach the Gospel to yourself every morning, because if I start the day, you know, diving into what do I gotta do today, and you know, thinking about work stuff or whatever, I have to start today with what is true? I literally write it in my journal, what is true? Like in the deepest sense, you know. Man, some days
the answers are different, but it's always true. Like God is, God is sovereign, He's in control of all of this. I'm flawed, I'm a sinner and I need God, you know. And when I start with that grounding, everything else kind
of falls into place. You don't put such a The way I've said it said it before is my faith really helps me to not ride the highs too high and the lows too low, and so much like just in what we do, you know, it's there's some real highs and yeah, and so you know, knowing who I am and like this this thing that we do songwriter or whatever, like it's just what I do. It's not who I am like in the in the big scheme, you know. And so if I never get another cut tomorrow,
it's not going to crush me. I mean, I don't want that to happen. But also if I have ten Austin hear that doesn't want any more cuts. So if I have like, you know, ten hits this next year, it's not going to like we're like, man, I really think I'm the man, or that whole fear of like what if it goes away? Because I've done this long enough and I'm so grateful you know, back whatever, ten plus probably longer now when I had probably my most
hits at one time. It's at that time and I remember another writer asked me what I mean, what are you going to do when it goes away? And I just remember in that moment, like what's going away? I mean, we know Hall of Fame writers nothing to do with their talent. It's just it doesn't it doesn't happen, it
doesn't last forever. And so if with my faith it helps me really enjoy those moments but also not get so wrapped up in it to where it like becomes my identity or I think, gosh, if it goes away, then what you know, how are people going to look at me? It's like no, it's like this is all it's all a gift, like the fact that we I've said it before, like without a creativity, Without a creator, there's no creativity. I mean, the only reason we can put pen to paper and come up with these things
is because we have a creator. It's not us doing it. So if I keep that in perspective, it takes the pressure off. It's not like I got to come up with it. It's like, well, some days it's gonna flow, some days it's not. But it just helps you enjoy it more.
What a sword to have in the sheath in this music industry too, man, because like it is a it can it can be. It can be the devil's playground, man for sure, especially with like guys like us and and other songwriters who are so mental in the first place, like are so you know, we're already adhd most of us. We already deal with anxiety and like it's always not enough, it's it's always if I can have another one. And and I hate feeling like that. And I'd be lying
if I said I didn't feel like that sometimes. But like to start your day and to start every day going this is what I do this and not who I am, none of this really matters.
But I actually have a question about that. So I mean, I'm with you, and I know we're running over, But who cares?
Right?
Who cares?
Y'all got stuff to do? Okay? Uh? How do you? I have a two part question. One is.
I hear people talk about that. I hear people talk about starting their day in in the in the word, or either starting their day and like some having some quiet time. I start my day usually by getting kicked in the nuts by my kids. Yeah, literally, like they're jumping on me. So so where and I'm not I don't mean this to like make this by myself, but where?
How do you find the time to be Nothing in my life is consistent other than the fact that I try to kiss my wife before I leave, and I write songs pretty much, and I try to eat a lot of protein and nine sweets. Other than that important, I don't brush my teeth as much. I might not take a shower that day. It could go It could go either way. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. How do you find the time to be consistent? Not then consistent? If I had the time, I don't think I could do it.
And I go to the gym.
You can make time there, I will say, you're dedicated.
I'm fortunate because I am a morning person, so like it's super easy for me to get up early. No, I will say, Mike, like five five thirty, I just wake up. I don't say an alarm or anything. That's why I fall asleep when and and and I am definitely a creature of habit. The more routine I can have, the better, And like you say, with with our writing thing, that's just you know, it's just not a nine to five thing. You never know. So when when my kids
were small, it was a lot harder. And there's days where you just wake up and you're just in the day. And but's what I feel. But I noticed throughout the day that anxiousness is like I haven't like grounded myself and what's true. And so sometimes I literally just have to go in to the bathroom or somewhere and just shut the door and I just pray and don't have to be this long, drawn drawing out thing. But it's just or in the car when I can, when it can be quiet, and and it's just like God, I
need you. I don't even know sometimes have the words for what the prayer is. And by the way, when I say this, it's not like all of a sudden every time. And there's days and look, I think like probably most people with what we do, going back to like songs, like there's days where I'll be on social media and I'll see whatever so and so got the single,
and there's that little thing in there. It's like not that I'm e mad at that person, it's like, you know, you start, you start going down the dark path of like I mean the sorrow song, that song we were, Yeah, it was, I mean, listen, I have all those thoughts, but that's it's not good to live in that cycle on a consistent basis. And that's where the faith comes in because it puts everything in perspective. That stuff is.
You know, it's such a small little thing compared to what I think a lot about sitting on my porch one day when I'm eighty, if I make it that long, and what am I going to be sitting there thinking about? Is it going to be I didn't get the third single on whoever? It's like no, It's like how are my kids seeing me? Yeah? Do my job handle success? Handle failure? Am I loving my wife? Well? Are they
do they think I put work before that? Like I'm grateful that you know that I've taken time that God's given me the time to really to really contemplate, and I think like it most feels like now you're more than ever with with the phones and everything. People just in our culture in general don't don't ever even contemplate, sit there and really think about the deep things in
life or where is this all headed? You know? Again, my disposition is probably someone who's more prone to do that than some people, but I've seen just amazing benefits from it.
Okay, the other part of my question, how do you feel like? Okay, so obviously within the last however many years you've been in this theology class or school trying to get your getting your degree, do you feel can you give me an example of I guess that's kind of what I'm looking for. How you're how you feel like your awareness has spread from what you knew to what you know now as far as like actually putting that into action and feeling Is that clear question?
I don't. I don't know.
Is it? What I'm saying is, do you feel like you are recognizing things now like opportunities given from God that you were missing before you knew?
All this that you know. Now, yeah, you know, boys, it's hard.
Does more education equal more awareness, like being more in tune? Is that what you're saying?
More education not not necessarily? I mean, look, I think that especially in the Christian faith, you don't have to be a theologian, you don't, you know, like you were talking about childlike faith. So sometimes having more knowledge and knowing all the right answers, there's a lot of really smart people and who actually have all the right answers but don't know God. Because the whole deal is recognizing our need and a lot of times knowledge, you know,
they say, like knowledge puffs up. And I've actually prayed for that going through this course because I mean, even leary to tell someone like I'm in seminary, because sometimes immediately people look at you like, wow, he really knows a lot, Like I don't. Like the great thing about this, Yes, probably in a lot of ways, I know some things more, but it's really shown me how little I don't know. And like the mind of man is not the mind
of God. So there's certain things, you know, we want to people that know the Bible inside and out, know Greek and Hebrew. You'll never discover the depths of what God thinks. But what is really clear is that we need him. And one of the hardest things for man, for us is to recognize our need. You know, we want to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. And it's just the thing that these courts have done from where
is just continually reminded me. And this can sound bad, but like reminded me how bad I am and what I mean in that sense of like what we would say is sinful, like whether it's someone out killing someone or just thoughts we have. You know, you think of different thoughts you have on a daily babyis or I may see someone and just have a thought that's not that is not compatible with their flourishing, like or just
even making a snarky remark. I'm more aware of those things now and recognize, gosh dang, how much I do stuff like that. But it doesn't crush me because it's just it just keeps pointing me back how much I need Jesus. Wow. And so it's a it's a continual it's it's been so freeing in the sense it's like, man, yeah, I'm pretty messed up, dude. But I also when when I tell people I have a seminary degree. I want them to think like, oh, he's he knows God better
than I do or something. It's like, no, man, I need I need God. And we may have talked about last time, but when I got sober, that was one of the first moments It's like, holy crap, I've got serious need and there's nothing I can do, no program or anything that's going to get me out of this. It's only by the grace of God.
And so.
As I've grown, I do feel like I'm more in touch with that. But I'm also more in touch with man, just how messed up I am. It's all good stuff, man, Yeah, you needed that stuff.
Talk about that forever preach.
Yeah amen.
Uh.
I think I think that's a great segue into wach mad no uh gravorite song. And I want to do it a little different today. Man, that we had this same conversation kind of the first time we wrote and ended up writing a song that kind of played into this, right, like like figuring out what.
I have no idea, what do we write? What it ain't about? Oh yeah, can you play it?
Oh my gosh, dude, don't don't ask me give me.
A somethund.
Please. You guys bound them. Oh yeah, I mean that's probably what that sounds great. Yeah, if you can, is that it. I'm gonna just listen and and join.
Oh man, come on, tell me I got the lyrics. I bet I need lyrics. I think I could probably get through it.
Yeah.
This is a song that me and Dan and Luke wrote.
Uh.
And it was the first time we had we had written. And we went over to Luke's cabin and and I think this idea just kind of came out of conversation and we started just talking about what life is about.
Oh yeah, started out well.
The next started Just so you listeners know, I mean you probably know this. These guys are two incredible songwriters. I love writing with people like this too, because you do. When we get in the room, we talk about real stuff and I just love it.
Man.
You guys are so good.
Well, these are And this is the type of day that we talk about. The thank you for saying that, Yes, thank you. It doesn't it doesn't feel like work. It doesn't feel like those days you want to end like you you You'll have plenty of them, man, And it's part of the gig right, it's part of what you're signing up for, and if you expect not to have them,
then you're in for a rude awakening. But there are there are days that come along like this where it's it's just good to get in a room and just hash it out, man, talk about life and talk about struggles and highs and lows and God and Jesus and the music industry, and maybe something like this comes out and we noticed it and thank God for giving us.
His tune hadn't been hadn't been cut yet, but I think it happens here in idea.
Thanks the money, same thing.
Yeah, I just write that thing out that middle.
But I got my own ready, started out with the next grind, a name to me, a mountain to climb, a hell, ben point to prove, burning it down in.
A cowboy boots.
The nights were long, and the drinks for cheap, and now I was getting good and living from me. It turns out wild and free, loss it shine when there's babies to feed.
You think it's the money. You think it's the fing.
You think it's the house on the hell that'll fill that empty space to one day you're smiling at the pictures on your fridge in the kitchen, telling God, I get it now. Yeah, the thing about it, I fish. You don't start living til you finally figure out what it ain't a bad.
Let's go second verse, let's do it, okay, Come on, it's the.
Tears in the rise when you gave her that rank. It's Grandpaul talks on the front porch swing. It's a drive back home when it's been too long, kitchen up with a long lost friend.
Yeah, hey, buddy, how you been.
Come on? You think it's some morning. You think it's the fing You think it's the house on the hill. That'll feel that inmpty space till one day you're smiling at the pictures on the fridge in the kitchen, telling God, I get in there calls a thing about Lifeish. You don't start living till you finally figure around what it ain't a bad.
Good one, dude, good one.
Man, that's a good one. And now I just feel like that fits into into that that conversation about.
Dude, come on, why does no one cut that?
Probably because we messed the bridge up. Remember, we gotta fix that, we did, Yeah, we gotta fix it, fix it tomorrow. Oh perfect, Okay, then we're righting other one. Yeah, thanks for telling us that. Now, remember you said that you said that in the text. We're texting about the bridge, and you said, I feel like we've already said this.
Oh yeah, yeah that's all right.
Oh you guys didn't reply and it didn't get cut. For sure, Yeah, it for sure wasn't the bridge. No one listens past the first chorus. We need I'll be right and we'll get an awesome versus course. I'm always like this, I mean, does it even need a sexpert?
Yeah?
I don't think.
I think we're good. Hey man, we love you man. Thanks for coming back, even if it was just for you know, like, yeah, I had no idea they're coming. I don't I think.
Hey, what uh what do you think about the new digs? Man?
This is you guys. You must be making a lot of money. Must be nice, No, this is this is awesome. Man. You gonna come back for a third time. Hey, I gotta make some something happen, Yeah, something starting, something to talk about. I start drinking again.
Yeah, boys, this is drop out a seminar a week before you graduated. Yeah, and then start drinking your little wife.
I love that Luke layered everybody check out.
You want to start reh my gosh, when does the line of record come out?
I have no idea, but the first two songs are out.
Keep spinning the singles, baby, that's right.
Uh hey, we love you, thanks for coming on, thank you, thanks for thanks for sharing your heart. And then I hope, I hope people listen to that real, real talk. Uh hey, we'll catch on next time. We'll see you tomorrow unless you cancel you No, I got you.
That's right.
Peace,