Live from Planet Hollywood with Brett Young

You everywhere we walk, everybody's like Covin Kevin. No, they're saying, Gavin, get out of the way. Hey Brooks, what are you doing? But you have a place here. Yeah, I've actually my my thoughts on this town have changed just listening to you talk about it, because you come here and you think it's got such a connotation of entertainment and industry, that kind of stuff, um, wildlife. But you actually find

a different meaning in this town. Um, you have a place here and come here, and then so I change your mind a little bit. You know what they call that what manipulation? I call that friendship? You call it that. Some would say you are the modern day Elvis is that? What is that what they call you? Gav? I gonna start calling you that from now and for sure you can sing? No, no, you can. You've practiced in an Elvis voice. These hips fly? What about Sinatra? Can you

sing Sinatra? Can you sing it tonight? Yes? Are we gonna do karaoke tonight? No? Yes, let's do it. No. I told you I'm not doing karaoke with a rock star. It doesn't make sense. You are a rock star. So we got Rick and Dmitri here with us. Dmitri, you are a rock star yourself, not to the legitimate sense that Gavin is. I'm not gonna like follow him on stage. Do you want to do Islands in the Stream. I'll

do Islands in the Stream? I guess we're doing karaoke? Yeah, alright, in case you guys can making me a butter cup. You guys can't hear Gavin right now. He's eating peanut butter cups, not talking into his mic peanut butter cups. Those are the bad reviews we get on Apple on iTunes, as were like, we can't hear the one guy, Gavin. Haven't heard all these marble mouth recordings right now? Hitting the top oh man, we are in Vegas, just modernizing our podcast. Yeah. I love it that we're in Vegas.

And it's kind of funny because, like Rick, I think didn't get the memo that we were coming to Vegas. Because he's got pants on, he's got a T shirt, he's got like a Chanel's sweater. I'm a little chilly. I mean I planned ahead. I knew everything was going to be in air condishing where we were going. Are you going to like after this? Is that why you have a nice sweater? A couple of yes, you do look you do look trendy though, Rick, thank you. I want to say all you guys looked tan too to

meet the other. To me, I think I'm just I'm just Greek. I'm just naturally this color. You're from Canada. You I don't know what you're hurt. You're like my pastiness. You're from You're from New York. I look like a bottle of Elmer's glue. You put on an orange hat. You look exactly like. Let's get an orange hat. He's got a blue one on right now. If he eats any more of those beauty is. If I go to the pool, everyone around me gets more tanned. There you go.

You're you're so kind. You're the type of person by the pool that like moms would come over and apply sunscreen to you because they would feel badly because like he is going to burn that man soul has left his body. Oh buddy, you're too hard on yourself. I heard a rumor though, gav uh Well, Rick and Dmitri and I and Ryan, we all heard a rumor. Did you're not staying at the hotel with us? I'm not because I have a house here. Oh I heard that rumor, but I was I thought it was false because I

haven't been invited. You're you're didn't know. I mean, it's not like a house house. It's like you know, it's like a hotel room that I keep here at another hotel, a different one from where you guys are. Intentionally, it's weird. The address is called MGM grand Is it there is in one of the casinos? No? No, yeah, yeah, you know it damn well should be? Do you have a driveway I live in Ah? You know, it's like a hotel. And because I I don't. You don't like too good,

you don't like clean, worse landscaping. I don't like to. I don't like doing that kind of work. You like turn key, I like turn key, gotcha? I like room service. You know, listen, I could cook for me and nearly kill myself and everyone who lives in my building because I'll burn the place down. Or I could, you know, take out or go to a restaurant or whatever like that. You know, I like to like I like hotel living.

Hotel living is nice, but is there is there like a little you know, cocktail get together at your place before we go out or something. If you bring over some cocktails that idea. Well we might as well just stay in the casino, but we have to bring our own cocktails. I don't think you're gonna be overwhelmed with my place. It's a very simple. It's just a gesture. It's the gesture. You guys are welcome to come over and clean my house. See it's the gesture. Alright. He's

downplaying it. He's like, I have a small room and I bet you he lives next to copperfield and a spread spread with lions and fire, and you name it. You're driving the gate and fire goes off, Big model, man, you should have done something else for a living. His doorbell is like Donka Chane or whatever. That song is Gavin's home and greets you at Gavin's house. He's right back here. Yeah, it's not even a door. You press

the button and Wayne Newton starts singing live. You guys are looking fresh today after I have a little little, you know, a little slow today. But hey, that's all right. I had a great time last night and I'm excited. How much coffee did you have? I had like fourteen cups. I think didn't help. Right now, we're at the I Heart Radio Festival. So we watched some mats last night. We watched some music. We had a great time. Watch Whodi and the Blowfish. That was fun. Here's the problem

with that. I was like, I'm kind of excited to see who do you in the Blowfish? And Brooks was like me too, and I was like, yeah, there's something nostalgic about it. He's like absolutely. I was like, man, it reminds me of that a summer during college. He goes, oh, I was in the sixth grade, and I was like, you know what, it might even it might it might have even been grade four, but man, there, Darius crushed it last night. He was awesome. Yeah. So we also

have another very esteemed guest on this show. Yes we do, Yes, we do. Real well before we let you introduce him. This is a friend of the show and and he is an athlete turned music superstar. That's right. Gives me hope. I'm really excited to ask this. Okay, that's you know you're going to be a supert. I'm in a pivotal I heard you singing hold my hand last night. You're not not that's not happening. Well maybe, Um, he has five number one hits and he's only put out five songs.

And he's only put out five songs. But I'll let you introduce this big hands. Yes I will, Yes, I will. Alright, guys, So I've been known this guy for a number of years. Number of years you met, you know, kind of by happenstance, became buddies, and uh, since then, he's become a big superstar in the country world. But I think not just a country world. Soon, I think it'll be bigger than only the country world. Very very talented and awesome guy, My good friend Mr Brett Young. Ye give it up, Thandy.

We didn't meet by happenstance. I stalked you. It's safe, my fan girl, do you real hard for a real long time. So let's get into this. I haven't heard I've heard that you were you were a big fan of his music, but I heard you guys had a

really interesting meeting, like just a happened chance. Yeah we did what He played the Greek theater, yeah, in Los Angeles, and uh, I had brought like my cousins and stuff, and and Gavin does something like I don't want to call you out for this, but you do something that I think is pretty cool, Like when you can slip out and listen to your openers, you do like you'll go, you'll go find a pocket where you feel like it's

a good idea to go out there. And you and you were doing that, uh that night, And who's the ukulearly guy from Hawaii Jake something? Oh, I think I know who you're talking about. Think my wife Liv's fantastic. But Gavin's nuck out to like listen to this dude play. And I'm walking in with my two younger female cousins and I was like, oh, I gotta you gotta meet Gavin. Meanwhile, I haven't met you. And I walked them over and I give them the moment and I'm walking away going

like I've worn out three of his records. How did I just give away this moment? I'm the bigger fan. So fast forward end of the night. It was a great show. And uh, I was living in l A. We were at Mels Diner on sunset three am, like

you do, and this guy comes walking down Sunset. I think he would just left, but out the front door and you're walking down Sunset and I just flagged you down and I was like, but I probably it was probably like pretty obnoxious because I think I yelled at you and said I quit my job to pursue music because of you. Did you? Did you really say? It was something along the yah. He was like on a phone call too, and he was like, I'm gonna have

to call you back. Knowing Gavin, now, I'm surprised he didn't like come at me feeling threatened, like ready to throw blows because I'm screaming at at three o'clock in the morning in l A. He probably thought the money, let me let me get it, let me hold a dollar. But uh, but yeah, he got off the phone, and he actually I said, I'm about to make my first EP, and he just lit right into twenty minutes of advice and and twenty minutes he didn't have to give me

at three o'clock in the morning. And if you couldn't be more of a fan than you already were, uh, and I think it just turned into you know, next thing I know, I'm out in Hawaii to see you two and Green Day and Pearl Jam at the Aloha Bowl. And it turns out he's playing. Gavin's playing uh the Waikiki show the same weekend, So I actually snuck into his sound check, and next thing you know, we're running

into each other at his show. He's not good at sneaking in because because he's in board shorts with my shirt off at noon, sitting in the front row sound check. We made it, by the way to get kicked out of that. But sitting next to this guy, I feel like it's like a father's sun shot. He's so much bigger than me. I'm just sitting on this guy like feet are dangling off the couch except your bald But he's sorry, come on, don't put yourself in the dangling

feet category. They're touching the ground a whole different ground. So hold on, you said, you said you quit your job. This is good. It was a really good job. I was. I was. I was waiting tables at the restaurant in the Hyatt in Century City, so I was really on my way. But before that, you were. The height served you very well in baseball. Yeah, Baseball was um, it was something I thought. I'm not even thought. We were sure that was going to be my life from the

time you're a kid. Yeah, I think. You know, baseball, basketball, and football were part of the story all the way up until high school. But when you started getting to that level where you you were competitive at all of them, you have to pick which one that might be a future in a financial future, and it was definitely baseball. And I don't I love baseball, but of the three,

it was probably my my second favorite. I like basketball more, but I was throwing ninety miles an hour in high school, so on a team that was ranked seventeen in the country, so that would just it just seemed like that was the obvious thing. And then we got called by the Twin and the Devil Rays. They're now the Rays and

they're allowed to call high school students. It's a little different, the rules different than it's also different than college baseball that you can't there's a lot of rules that protect how much conversation you're allowed to have pre draft and

if you're coming out of college. But in high school, it's like you're kind of protecting the franchise from wasting a high round pick on a guy that wants to go to college, because then you you'll waste your pick and he'll choose college and you just lost that pick. So I had had multiple conversations with the Twins and the Devil Rays, and it just never felt like enough money to forego an education. Joke was on me though,

because that I didn't finish my education. I hurt my elbow and never went pro after that hat that surgery, But how old is that? That was my So I hurt my I had transferred, I started oldness and I had transferred at the time to Fresno State in Central California. Just want to get back to Cali And it was opening night my junior year. But because I had used a transfer red shirt, I couldn't medical red shirt because

we didn't like put in for it. Soon enough because we thought i'd be back, so I missed my junior and senior year. So at that point it was like, dang, so your your whole life. You're thinking because like as a professional athlete, I know what you grow up with and you want to be it. It's the only thing on your mind. You're thinking, I'm going to be a picture in the majors and your family is probably thinking

the same thing too, And then you have it. Was it, Tommy John, Tommy John, and it completely alters the course of your life. And then listeners don't all know what Tommy Tommy John surgery is replacing the owner collateral ligament in the elbow with the Palmyra's longest tendant in the forearm that connects to skin instead of muscle, which means it doesn't really do anything, and people don't have it.

That's some member women. Can you please give us some details instead of just answering an answer, Come on, just say Tommy John, honestly, it honestly is the ligament that connects your forearm to your upper arm. It's a big, big issue for pictures especially, It's a massive issue for pictures.

So then after that, did you kind of give up hope of baseball or do you still try because I'm trying to figure out how you got from that to now being a massive country music star because I'm looking for a second career here by the way, quite a fallback, you know, no more baseball, all right, I'll just be a music superstar. Did you have? Was music in you as a kid? Like all through this year? So my dad's a pastor. I grew up in the church. You know.

I think there's like every school is different because every community is different, and the whole thing, like there's always like a thing that all the guys do. And at my school there were two, but none of them were like sports was like like third. It was like a tertiary thing. It was like, uh, the surf team. It was really good. And everybody learned guitar so they could

play worship songs. Wow, and uh. I got thrown into leading worship in high school way before I ever thought I would pursue it as anything else than leading worship. So um, I played guitar and sang just thinking I was like kind of serving the church in the high school and the whole thing. And then I went to college to play baseball and I didn't even my freshman year when I went to Old Miss, I did not bring my guitar with me to college. I said, if I'm if I'm doing this, I'll turn down the twins

and the Devil raising the whole thing. I'm gonna commit to do one baseball. I'm gonna I got three years to get more money and make this a thing. And so and then and then I left Old Miss after my freshman year because I was like, I want to be back at the beach. And when I came back to the beach, I brought my guitar with me and I started playing again. And then I hurt myself. And uh, the kind of the kind of the Gavin story where you where you came in for me was when I

hurt myself. I started just playing guitar, no singing, and I was learning a butt like all the Dave Matthews records, Dave Dave, like Dave has his own way of playing like chords and like he self taught himself. Like if you watch him play Satellite, his hand is spread out all the way across the fret board and he's playing an e that takes up two friends, like he has the voicings he has on the guitar, and it's like, so I was like, well, for dexterity and stuff, I'll

just learn the way he plays everything. I don't care that it's wrong or right. I'm gonna like learn to do difficult things. And in the middle of that, I heard Chariot the whole record for the first time. I was watching One Tree Hill and I heard I Don't Want to Be and and I went, I went, well, that's cool. And then I went and bought the record and then I wore it out three times, and then Chariot strip came out and I just, uh, what what? What was that? Like? What? What was cool? What intrigue?

Because you probably heard a lot of songs at that time, but why did that one stick and resonate with you? Gavin? Gavin's riding is is different than anybody's I've ever heard. He has a way of saying something that um very like a very common concept in a way that nobody's ever said it before. So you can relate because you've been through it, but you've never heard it said that way. Um. It's something that I fight to do as a songwriter

all the time. Is like like it's it's in the same way that we're not going to like recreate a chord progression or write a new chord. We're not going to do that. We're not going to come up with a concept that's touching the people that hasn't been talked about before. But can we say it different? Can we

come at it from a different angle? And so I remember listening to that going like like this is making me feel something, and I'm not even quite sure why, Like I want to meet this guy and talk to him about like what his experience was within this that made him say it this way, because it's still making

me feel something. But like I remember, like years later, You've got to tell me the story about Chariot and going back home to visit and you're sitting in that church when you had that idea for that song, Like I would have never known that was it, But without

knowing that was it, I was still feeling something. I was still connecting to it, and I just thought that was like that that was what made me want to write my own songs, because I think like the beauty of music is making other people feel connected to your story. And if you just keep telling the same story, everybody's been telling like it just becomes white noise, you know, And so it was it was fresh and different. Mhm. Thanks for the compliment, man, How does that feel to

hear him? Is that for me? Is that like an ultimate compliment as an artist when somebody describes your music like that, it's the ultimate compliment. Um. You know, when you're right when you When you're an artist, it's one thing. When you're a writer, it's a it's another thing. So UM, artists are more their their performers, their interpreters, you know, like like actors. UM. Writers are creators UM more so

than than necessarily performers or interpreters. And so that when you're a creator and and someone who is also a creator is listening to your stuff and and and um thinking about it and honoring the way that you are creating and and impressed with the way you're creating or saying hey, I like what they're doing, then it's a different thing than UM. And artists simply covering a song, but they're if they're covering it as a writer, going I do this song because as a writer, I connect

with this thing. You know, It's different, it's a different type of thing. Um, it would be it would be like if Tarantino recreated someone else's film. You know, it's it's almost seems like the ultimate compliment. It's the ultimate compliment as a songwriters, the ultimate compliment really and uh, because when you you know, when you commit to any craft, um, it's not it's not a hobby, you know, it's it's really your life. You know, you go to bed thinking

about what you're and you dream about music. I do, and then, um, I dream songs. And when I remember my dreams, it's music. I hear music and um, and I'll wake up and I'll hear music. Um. And so it's really just forget to turn off the radio person. Actually, yeah, music music always. I'll wake up with the fears, like I'll have music dreams where I feel like I blew a show but I'm singing a song that I've never

heard before in my life. And yeah, and then maybe it's a song idea or maybe it's like maybe you don't ever do this, but I dream dream of music too, Yeah, which is an amazing thing. And so that that's more proof that that's your, in my opinion, your true destiny. You know, if you're dreaming song. You're dreaming music, that's

your that's your destiny, you know. Um. I mean, if that's what's the majority of those those fantasies, those dreams, I feel like that's your heart speaking to your to you, you know, and that's your that's your that's your fate, you know constantly, you know, knocking on your door saying this is you know, this is the path. Um. That's a beautiful thing that was in your family too, that

like that, that didn't start with you. I remember sitting in the in the in the that coffee shop in Honolulu with your mom and dad, and you and your dad were going back and forth about like old soul R and B songs, and they started singing their favorite songs capella and the coffee shop, back and forth at each other. We got kicked out. We did. We were too out. We did just playing. We didn't show. We got kicked out of a coffe shop the next morning

because they were singing a cappella. Because you guys, when your dad talking music got so passionate about music, you went back. You were going back forty fifty years of music, singing verse chorus at a time, and I was like, oh, man, I mean, I didn't even I didn't. I'm jealous of that upbringing because my parents loved music and they brought me up on R and B. But like it was in your blood, man, you didn't You didn't even have choice. Yeah, I didn't really have a choice. There was so much

music in the house growing up, you know. And uh it's interesting when my dad sings. It's funny. I don't know if you noticed it or not, but when my dad sings, he cries. His eyes war and uh so, and he had always been that way. And one day, a handful of years ago, I said, Dad, why do you Why do you cry when he's saying is it um? Is it because of however the however you're getting the notes out. It's making your eyes water less, having this a physical effect that you can't help. Or is it emotional?

He said, it's emotional for me, probably everything. Every time I saying I weep, I just get so emotional. You know. I love you. I love listening to you guys talk about music. I want to get more into this, more into your story. Brett. We gotta take a quick break and then we'll dive more into that backro break we have Mr Brett Young in the house. This guy, this guy is inspiring, really inspiring for me because I'm in a big transition point of my life, and so I

want to get your story. I want to learn from you how you switch. You're gonna be a pro athlete. Then you switched to like playing guitar again just because you wanted to. You said, work on dexterity and just a little different change in your life. At what point did it come to like, Okay, now I want to write music to make this a career or did you just want to write music to express yourself. Like I mentioned, you talked about I need to make more money in baseball.

I want to get in a better position to make more money in baseball. Did you approach music like that or is it just like I want to do this to express myself. Yeah, I think I think with baseball, it wasn't that I want to make more money. It was just that I saw the value in a college education, and it was like, there is a there is a a number that you would have to offer me to make me see the value in skipping college education, um and so and so That's what it was. And then

once I made that decision. It was like, Okay, you have three years because in base in college baseball, if you played D one, you're not draft eligible again until your junior year. So you have three years now to become the best that you can be before your draft years stocks high draft. So and so that was it. And with music, I mean I wanted to write songs. When I heard Chariot, I mean, that was it, right, But I still didn't know that I wanted to pursue

it as a career. I just knew that, you know, it's a strange thing, like I don't know if all baseball players think of baseball like this, but as a pitcher, it was a creative outlet for me because you like study hitters and you like learn what pictures to throw and what counts, and and that the part of my mind that we were talking about that like wakes me up thinking about music at the time, would wake me up thinking about three two counts against a left handed hitter.

I mean like that. And I didn't know that was a creative outlet for me until I lost it and didn't have it anymore, and I didn't have a creative outlet and so powerful it sounds weird. I mean, it sounds like baseball doesn't sound like it would be a creative thing. It's definitely a physical outlet um. But when I heard Chariot and started writing, I was not writing

thinking I'm gonna be a songwriter artist. It just made me want to write things down, and I immediately realized whether I liked the song or not, it was a creative outlet for me, and it was like filling that void that baseball took away. And so how cool is amazing? When I met Gavin, I had written six songs. He gave me advice and we cut all of the six songs I had written was my first DP. We actually dropped one off because we used it for it. The one that we dropped ended up being used on Kim

and Courtney take New York. When you said so I got a placement on a TV show with the one of the six that we didn't put on the EP. And when you say we cut you and Gavin, no, no, no. Gavin gave me all the advice, but the best advice you gave me. You gave me a ton of great advice. But you said, do you have a good microphone? I was like, I don't know what it is. And you said, even if you have to rent it, make sure it is the right microphone for your voice and people can

hear your voice. You had never heard my voice before. But um you said that. We ended up going out and like renting the annoyman Ate seven and then and then I'm gonna closet in a second bedroom closet, door shut, holding the U eight seven with a down comforter over my head as a as a dampening shield, Like that's how we cut it. And I still listen back and I'm like, the best sounding thing on this record is

the vocal quality. That is. But a guy on like a massive stage where you are today to know that you started in a closet with a down comfort over your head with rental so that in the summer, that nobody will ever hear that music. By the way, I love that man, But but that I think that's a that's another representation of what it takes to make dreams come true. It takes it takes lack of of comfort, you know what I mean. You're not going to always

walk into the studio of your dreams. You get to cut your record, you know you're gonna be in a closet. We're in a blanket over your head to dampen the sound singing into a microphone that smells like somebody else's breath. Who would rent it before you? You know what I mean? You know what I mean? And and it's you know, and you're told, look, we got we got four hours. We only have a budget for four hours with this engineer,

So like, make it happen. Or you said something to me and you just kind of touched on it, and I don't want to get it wrong, but it was something along the lines of and this was part of that first conversation we talked. It was like if you've never been hungry, you've never wanted it enough, or something

along those lines, and it always stuck with me. And what's funny is it applies all the time in different ways, like if you if you've never been hungry, like if you've never been the starving artist, then you've never fought hard enough for it. But also like if you've never wanted it that bad being hungry, how healthy it is to be hungry for it? You know, it's okay to suffer. If you, if you, if you, if you're suffering, you

have something to draw from, you know. And you get a lot of these people coming up, and they all want to be superstars, and you know a lot of their family members might have the money to help them out and stuff like that, you know, and the you know, the winlow spend all the money on their kids to get him in, to get him in the studio. But the kids don't want it bad enough because they don't need it. They never struggled. There's a sense of entitlement

that comes with that. And this requires hard work. Yeah, and I think I think all those things that you want to help people with, things like you know, when you who we spoke you and I one time we were talking about just being hard to make a truck payment, you know what I mean, to pay for your pickup, and you know, yeah, it would be nice if someone just said, hey, man, here's the extra few hundred bucks this month, and here's an extra few hundred for the

next next month and next month. Yeah, thanks for the help. But at the same time, that help is going to take away a bit of a little bit of that desperation that drive required to get to the next level. You know. Sometimes the broken ladder is a good one because it will teach you how to get that much stronger to skip arong, you know. So, so that's that

is also necessary in my opinion. Well yeah, and that that truck payment is the thing that puts you in the position to have to take that cover gig that you probably don't want, like I did. I mean you did. You did it in New York. I did in l A. I played other people's songs for people that didn't care

for a really long time. Um, but that's because I had a truck payment, not because that's where my my heart and soul was, but because I was getting to do something I loved for people that didn't care, and that still felt better than taking a job that was gonna suck my soul. Yeah, I agree. Now I got a question, So I got a question gave what was it about? Because I'm sure other people have approached you, right and being like, oh, can I ask you? I want to be a songwriter? It what was it that that?

Because you obviously give a lot of advice and took some time, and you're obviously you're a nice guy, but it sounds like you went above and beyond with Brett. Now, what was it about did you recognize something? I thought he was sincere. You know, Brett was sincere. He you know when you when you meet Brett, when you hang with Brett, I think you can tell when Brett approaches you that it's it's from It's always a respectable place, sorry, a respectful place. And he has a humble uh demeanor

about him. You know, he is confidence, but he has a nice humble demeanor and respectful demeanor. He's a likable guy, you know. And so when he when he engaged me, I believed him and I saw myself in him. Of I know the position he's in. He wants, he has a dream, he has a goal. He's asking questions in a respectful way. That that I felt like if I had an opportunity to meet somebody, um, I would have done a similar type of thing or said similar types

of things, you know. And it sounded when he when he asked me these questions, they sounded like they're coming from a real place. They weren't just It wasn't just a little quiz and an interview. It was someone who was who had a goal and had a dream and wanted real insight into how how how do I get there, you know. Um. And so that's where I liked about it. It wasn't just somebody being cozy. Hey, bro, so what's it like on the first you know, with the U

and the uh you know what I'm saying. Bro, You know, it wasn't like that. You know, It's a different thing. And I really I believed him when he So if he had come up and said, hey, I bet you get a lot of girls playing music, then you would have been like, yeah, thanks buddy, Yeah exactly exactly. But maybe if I hadn't yelled at him obnoxiously, it wouldn't worked either. That was the gold moment. Brett. Maybe you

knew him better. Maybe you're like, hey, yeah, if you want to get a steak, and he's like yes, Like okay, just answer anything you want if you're kicking up a steak. Well, you know, it's funny. It's funny because when he first called called to me on the street, I was like, oh no, I'm about to get like harassed, heckled whatever, you know, And because I was out for a walk. I was just going for a walking. It was the

middle of the night, I was alone. And then you look at he's enormous, and you're like, exactly your spread, exactly exactly. He was sitting down and still the the giant table looked like an airplane tray in front of vent, you know what I mean. I was like, oh man, what's this guy? What's this guy? One? I was like, it's kind of big, damn. So I was like, you're looking for improvised weapon. I swear, knowing what I know about you, now, I can picture the way you got

off your phone call. You were like ready just in case I was going to get aggressive. Never know where you put your phone away, like preparing yourself for something terrible. He just cracks a chair over your head. You're like, I just want to ask a tell me about Hey, Bret, Bret Brett. I had a quick question. Is there was there a period after when you realized baseball was sort of coming to an end that you went down kind of a a dark place or dark path, absolutely not

knowing that your singing career would take off. Yeah. Absolutely no, before I even found Chariot, before I even saw that as some sort of path or outlet for me. Um, this is totally full circle because tomorrow I'm actually playing a show at a casino in Fresno, and at the time I was at Fresno State and the last turn off before you get this casino was a lookout over It's called Militant Lake and Fresno. And when the injury happened, it was it was full blown depression. Yeah, I hadn't

had no drive at all. I didn't want to do anything, but I still wanted to listen to music. And UM, that first weekend after I found out I had to

have surgery, which was the weekend before I had surgery. UM, Dave matthews Man was playing three nights in a row at it was called Concorde Pavilion in Northern and we went to all three and then I came back and that whole week, every night we would drive up parking that lookout and we're bringing like, you know, a case of beer, and they'll be like four of us with guitars, all terrible guitar players were just designated driver. Of course, yeah, of course, what what what case of beer lasts for

four guys? Of course, it's only for three guys exactly, so two guys to designated and we would literally just try to dissect what is Dave doing here? This doesn't make sense. And we were trying to learn how to play guitar, and it was the only when I was sitting there by the leg playing guitar, trying to learn Dave Matthew songs, the only time I wasn't feeling depressed about baseball. So that was already happening. And then I went back to l A to have my surgery, thinking

I'd come back and play my senior m HM. And through the rehab processes, like the beginning was going really well, and so the depression was leaving a little bit, and I'm like, I'm gonna press my senior year. This is great, and then uh, I got basically tendonitis and attendant that wasn't designed to be in an elbow was designed to be in a forearm, and that's a weird thing. And so I had broke through all the scar too a shoe and I could straighten my arm out and I

could throw. But once I got up on a mound throwing downhill, I was feeling like this pain that felt like the injury. But there then the m riot again and they're like, no, it's actually totally healthy. You just have a little bit of information or tendonitis in the tendon um, in this whole thing, and I just sunk

right back into it. And it got the worst when season came around and I was still at like sevent and they're like, if this doesn't clear up, you won't pitch your senior either, and I just went, you know, I think God gives you open and closed doors, you know. And at baseball, I had been beating my head against that door for a long time. List didn't work out.

It was all these didn't work out stories, and again here's another one, and I finally went, you know what, I don't want to fight the fight of my life to maybe get healthy in time for playoffs that we might not make senior year. Like I think this is it's a very clear picture for me. And so I was when I had to make that decision, I was

down and out. And that's when I heard Chariot. So you know what, nine months before, it was let's learn a Dave matthews Man's song, and I'm depressed because I hurt my arm, and then nine months later it's I think I'm gonna walk away from the sport. And then I heard that and it was Chariot, and I was like, I want to write my own music. I don't want to just play on people's music. It was part of you relieved to obviously you didn't want it and you

were fighting for baseboll continue. It was part of you relieved when you finally made that decision. You said, and you and you heard Jerry and he said, I found a new path. You know, I could move on and I'm not struggling with the baseball thing because yeah, but also way more scared, because like baseball was something that I mean, I I turned down money out of high school.

I could have bought a house, an eighteen year old owning a home, and now I'm a twenty to almost one year old a month before twenty second birthday, going I'm gonna chase down something even less predictable at two years old and start over. Um it was it was, yeah, I didn't. It didn't make any sense to me at all. But all I knew was like I I don't have the capacity to sit behind a desk Monday through Friday nine to five. And no I don't have it. No I can't be good at it. I could be good

at it for like two hours a day. I want to do it, and I want to do it, but I can't. Like I can't what they call it working for the man. I can't work for the man. I can't. I just can't. It's my attention span. I can't do it. I have to do something. If I don't care, I can't. That's why I can't read. There's not There's never been a book in the history of the world. That's why you guys are buddies that you finished. Even if the book is amazing, every single one has a dead spot.

And that's when I put it down and never pick it up. You know, it's funny about reading. When I read every word, says Ambien, I'm gonna say something that's gonna make me sounds right sleep, I go, I'm gonna agree. I'm gonna agree with you right now. If the book was good enough, they'll make it a movie. There go, there, you go. Okay, in the world the time to kill unforgiven.

I am a wait for the movie guy myself. And that's why when I was in elementary school and we had to do book reports, I would pick a choose your own adventure that the teacher. I knew the teacher had read, so I didn't have to read the book. I just make it up. You know what I want to touch on on your story there that I that I absolutely loved and I resonate when I heard you

say it. I resonate personally with it is that sometimes the gifts in our life are completely disguised as trauma or what we think is the worst possible thing that could happen to us. Like that injury that you experienced,

you might not be. You wouldn't be Let's be honest, you probably wouldn't be a country music store where you are today, even have met your wife, Like all of this stuff might not have happened if that injury didn't occur, which you thought was drove you into depression, you know, like I wouldn't have I wouldn't have met all of you guys in this room had I not been released

from the l A Kings. You're very lucky and that you have met us what those days, buddy, I will say it's a gift, but it is it is for me, Like I think of how my life has been blest from what I deemed to be possibly the worst news that I'd ever received, and how yours is the same To hear that from you is amazing. I think about our listeners. Oh there anybody else that's received news that they think is just terrible. That's it could be the

biggest gift that you received. Could be absolutely correct. It was for me, absolutely and you you know. The other thing I really like about about what you guys are saying and something that Brett said about being sort of you know, forced out of the sport or how God you know, opens and closes doors. Um, the beauty is, yes, you left a sport that is really designed for youth, but now you're now you're playing the ultimate lifetime sport, which is music. Which is I mean Willie Nelson is

still on tour, you know what I mean? You your longevity is a completely different word in music than it isn't sports. You can you control your legacy. You decide how long you're relevant. In baseball, when your body shuts down, you're just not even before that, somebody else makes a decision, right, my body didn't. God made a decision for me. Two years old. God, God finally took my elbow away. And I'm a picture. I mean, it's it's there, you know. I guess there's a few things that you could lose

your voice. But even then you don't have to stop being a songwriter. I mean, there are so many like you. You can live out your legacy as long as as a musician. Beethoven lost his hearing incredibly. So you've made this transition from sport, you've started write songs. You know you want to continue to write songs. Now what comes where? What's the next break where you now become what is it? What's your first single? You've had five number one singles?

Take us through the now the professional journey. So Gavin said this earlier today, but like it's it's ten years plus that we've known each other, which means like that EP, that's why that doesn't live anywhere anymore. Like that that was like that was that was me testing the waters um. I then went into the bar and restaurant gig scene for ten years in Orange County in l a um and I never got I mean, I love to tell

this story. I never got a meeting. I was playing four to five nights a week for ten years, making a living and never got a meeting. And finally, you know, I was thirty one, almost thirty two, I had met an investor that wanted to work with me, but he was out of Atlanta and he had connections in Nashville, and I finally just went, all right, I'm out. And at the time, my wife and I had been together for six years and had broken up, and so I was like, I'm going, I'm just gonna go, and I

was chasing down the songwriting side of things. Wait a second, So that's even an other interesting thing of being a bad thing turning into a good thing. You and your wife had broken up at the time. Now, if you were still together, you might not have packed up your things and headed to Nashville. Yeah, you know what I mean. Like I was lastie. I mean, she knew, she knew she wasn't ready for what I wanted, and that it

would be good for me to go there. Like she even even in us breaking up, she was trying to take care of me. Now, were you married or dating at the time? Dating? We had dated for six years and and Nashville broke us up. Um, and it was I mean, we we got I mean, I know that wasn't the question. We got back together two years later by accident. We're married with the baby on the way. Our Stories eleven years, our stories as long as me

and Gavin's eleven years. Imagine what our baby would look like you and me, bro Dude, I hope it looked like brat, what a baby are you? Are you offended if I don't want to imagine that? So then what was the first hit single that really put you on the map? So that I didn't have an opinion about the first single, I just knew that as a new artist, I was watching what everybody was doing, and I knew that I was being given an opportunity later in life.

I just wanted to make sure, like I'm I would if left to my own devices, give me a bottle of whiskey, guitar and I right ballads and love songs and breakup songs all day every day. That's who I am as an artist. But I knew that wasn't the right way to introduce myself to the world. And I only had three up tempo tempo songs in the first record, and one of them I had written about my mom and dad and their relationship, and so I went, well, I still want I still want to mean it and

have it be important to me. So we went with Sleep Without You, because um My senior year in high school. Um, my curfew was always ten except four on game days basketball season game days because the game would end around ten, I was allowed to go eat with the with the team before, so I had twelve on Friday game days. We played every Tuesday and Friday. And uh, this one weekend, my dad's like, a he's a pastor, he's early to bed guy. Um, and this one week and my mom

was away on a women's retreat with the church. And I came in Friday at curfew at twelve, and my dad's like, and he's sitting up at midnight when I walk in watching Sports Center. If you know sports that's an hour program, so if you're watching at midnight. And I walked in, I said, Dad, what are you doing? And he's like, it's just still hard to sleep in our bed when mom's not here. And that stuck with me. I wasn't writing songs yet. I was eighteen. I mean, it was a long time ago. And uh, it was

a title that I wrote down. You know, it was this title that woke me up. You know we're talking about me. I woke up, wrote it down, and went back to sleep, and then I got home with a couple of guys and we wrote this song about like years later, like how this is our bed together, so when you're not here, it's hard for me to go to sleep. I'm living it now. When I wrote it, I wasn't living it. I live it now. It's it's

really bus art and I have my wife next to me. Um. But when I was picking a single, I knew I wanted up tempo and that was the only one that was that personal to me, and so that's why we picked it. I love that authenticity. Man, Yeah, kudos to you. Thanks good guess that's awesome. I love hearing like musical journeys like this was not a part of my life as an athlete. Now hearing this, it's a beautiful art. It's I learned through you, I learned through your friends,

people that come on the show. It's an absolutely beautiful craft. I know that it's coming across in this conversation like I'm anywhere near like I live music anywhere near as much as Gavin. I've never met anybody that lives music more than Gavin. To grow literally, I'm not just saying that to like like fluff you up. I will if you need me to do. We'll talk about no. But but but I'm I'm being serious. It takes me back

to Hawaii, not just like a coffee shop thing. But I remember we were walking through that international marketplace in Honolulu on that trip and you were like you walk through and you like touched and awning as we were walking through, but you like, we're walking ahead by yourself, and I was like, and then you did it again, but you put both hands up. And I didn't know you well at all at the time, and I was like, like this guy us and I walked up and I

asked you. I remember asking you. We were about to walk into a little bar with your band, me, you and Liver, and I walked up to you and I was like, were you measuring something? And you were like what? And I explained this whole what I was talking about, Like you you had your hands and you were like, oh no, I don't know what I was doing. But I had a song idea, you said to me just coming out through you were you were having like song ideas as we were all walking together to go to

a bar and hang out. And I remember thinking like, I'm bad at this. Well, no ideas like that that often this is crazy, but that song Awning never came out, so it was Cannopy's Oh man, I love this gets you in your head. You know the music you can't shut it off. I'm there comes out of your body and you know, people be talking to you and you just you go somewhere else, you know. Yeah, well that's

that's right. Can you imagine how people you have to give a songwriting credit to if you let them know that something they said out loud you wrote down and wrote the song. That's amazing. Hold on your right. I'm gonna get I'm gonna get a transcript of all our podcasts and see if like one line ends up in one of your songs, and then I'm getting royalty. I just put sorry. Brooks is like, does this song on the ice have anything to do with my hot? So you had one hit single? Then when did the second

one come out? When did the next number one come? Uh? Next? This gig is easy, Hey, that baseball gig is easy. Let me ask you a question, just because from from the artists perspective of something, when you had your first hit, were you feeling cool now I'll have another hit? Great? Let me ride the wave or were you thinking, no, terrified more responsibility? Yes wa wa yeah because one hit

wonder is nobody wants that. Uh you know, like I'm not going to name a name, but you and I went and had like a late night breakfast with somebody in l A that I'm a big fan of. But they were one and done. You know who I'm talking about. Like, it doesn't lessen your talent or but like if you get put in that category, you are done. Damn Like you're it's almost as bad as sophomore slump on the second record. It's like everybody said, you, so you got

one under your belt. You feel uncomfortable now. I was like, absolutely not. I wrote three d songs from my second record. I brought writers on every single run we did. They were I had riders on the bus for all fifty three Lady Annabellum date. When while my first record was out there, it was not it was pedal to the metal, let's go, I love this. This is this is the kind of hustle honestly that people don't get to see.

They see your success, but they don't see this. But but also it's I think the nineteen year old kid that's entitled that's given a record deal too young, or took the wrong record deal and spent the money. They're sleeping on somebody's couch with no bills, no over Like I mean, I had a I had a life to afford when I like almost and you have this story you turned down record deals like it has to be right for you in your life at the time. And these kids that have no skin in the game, had

no bills and nothing to take care of. It's easy to piss it away. So for me, it's like, I know that I started this late. I know I'm very blessed to have it. I know it could go away at any time. It's my job to keep it here longevity as long as I can. So it's it's you know, as an athlete, you understand this. You get out what you put in. Yeah, and I think athletes are successful in music because of that that work ethic. You have it,

you never turn it off. It's but that's that's that just doesn't telling me I have a chance a million. That's what I took from that. Yeah, man, we've ever done right there. It's a good title to Yeah, I gotta Eastern. If one of these microphones go missing, don't worry about it and the comforter practice. Right before we say goodbye to you, we got to send a massive shout out to Planet Hollywood absolutely for this great, great great We've had a ball and the food has been delicious,

amazing food. They hooked us up. Got a great place, nice couch, even enough room for all this fantastic circular couch works well for the podcast. I think we'll have to come back to podcasts here again. Also shake Shack. We had shake Shack last night. That was fun. Yeah, we went there after the concert. So shout out to Shape And if you are looking for a shake Shack location, go to shake shack dot com or the shack app. Did you know that you find yourself a shake Shack

wherever you go. So thank you Plan in Hollywood, Thank you shake Shack. Uh Brett, I love your story, dude, Thank you so much for coming to share with. Where can people find you? Where can you have a new album coming out? Where? Obviously on iTunes everything We actually we actually did just put out a new acoustic project, uh that Gavin sang on with our song Chapters played and sang and it's such a special song. Um and uh there's some new stuff that you'll be hearing about

kind of soon. We might kind of break the album cycle for a minute to put out I've written a song about my daughter that I'm really proud of, and we might we might put that out early just to to give people more content. But great, I will always be putting things out. And then online do you engage with people online? Bretton music dot com and all the socials are outbrighting music and yes, absolutely, I'm very active

on socials. My wife, Taylor Mills Young is also she's better than me, so if you want to go check her out too. She's always uh, she's better at talking about what I'm doing than I am, so you can get even more content from her socials. But yeah, we're we're active and we want to be connected to the community. Awesome. And then baby on the way for you guys. We're about three weeks away first beautiful little girl. So we're

so excited. Well, we should get you out of here so you can catch that plane and head back home. Thank you, look after that, lady, Thank you guys for having me. This is a this is a blast. I hope I hope like that. People don't listen to us and then think that like this is actually how men think. I'm just I'm just kidding. We're the best. Thank you having an egg sandwich and let's take a break. Thank you Buddy so much for sharing your story, for coming

in a friend of the show. Thanks Gavin for hooking this up, and thank you everybody for listening Brett stories. Incredible people out there listening. Um I say this all the time. Everything is an opportunity and that's how you worked at that injury and you've taken it and created an amazing life. So uh, that's it for today until next week. Take care of one another, love one another, and we'll see you back here on How Men Thinks. Great job man, Thanks