February 3, 2026 • 37 mins
Ben Higgins sits down with country music star Chris Lane for a deep dive beyond the headlines. They open up about the challenges and blessings of family life, marriage, faith, and finding balance in the midst of demanding careers.
You’ll hear personal stories about awkward first encounters, transitioning to fatherhood, navigating fame and reality TV, and why Chris Lane decided to release a powerful new version of "Oh Come to the Altar." The guys reflect on the impact of growing up in church, what it means to raise kids with faith, and how their lives have been shaped by unexpected moments—some awkward, some truly beautiful.
Whether you’re a fan of country music, The Bachelor, or just want to hear real talk about being a husband, dad, and man of faith in today’s world, this is the episode for you.
Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more inspiring conversations!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And I was not excited about meeting you. I was nervous, honestly.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
And I'm just a good old boy from Colonelsville, North Carolina,
like a really small town.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I became known for really no good reason other the
fact that I signed up for a reality television show.
Does it ever feel like a fever dream to you
that you're doing this thing?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I had the idea of, why don't we write a
proposal in the third verse of this song, I'll consider
using it to propose to her. The original recorder of
that song, so he's got plaques up on his wall
of Oh come to the officer, and I'm like, wow,
this is crazy, Like I can't escape this song. I
wanted to record my version, sat down, finished it up,
(00:40):
and just decided to put it out there. Just an
easy way to share my faith and let people in
on who I am.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Just a little bit more.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Welcome to if you can hear me, a space where
culture meets the soul.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I'm Ben Higgins.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
You may know me from The Bachelor, and you may
know some of my guests from culture and Headlines. But
this this podcast is about going beyond the surface into
something deeper. Today's guest is Chris Lane, a country music
artist known for hits like Fix and Big Big Plans,
a husband, a father, and a man of faith, married
to Lauren Bushnell Lane, I invite you to lean in
(01:16):
and enjoy this conversation. Goodness, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Heck yeah, man, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
This is a show I'm very excited about because faith
is such an important part of my life.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Heck yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
And I know it's such a driving force to your life.
I can't think of a better guest to have on
this show than you, though, because we have so many
things in common, so much history.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
We love golf, love golf.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
And then I just want to start this out before
I start throwing questions at you, by saying giving you
a little story. Obviously, you're married to Lauren, you have
three wonderful kids. It's when my time came from the
Bachelor and Laura and I were together, and then you
guys ended up dating. I found out that you're going
to be at the same golf tournament as me, and
(02:09):
I was not excited about meeting you.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I was nervous.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Honestly, I thought, goodness, this thing that's so fun and
so pure. Now I have this awkward interaction that I'm
going to have to have right and it was like
haunting me. It's just kind of who I am. Those
things haunt me, and it haunted me for weeks. And
I remember the very first moment I saw you. You
came right up to me, like right away, you gave
(02:33):
me a handshake, you gave me a hug, you said
it's nice to meet you. And I remember this feeling
of just like calmness, peace coming into this and then
excited to get to know you, Like I was excited
to get.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
To know you better.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
And I want to give you that credit because I
know you like went out of your way to say hello,
which was a big deal to.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Me, So thank you. Hey. Yeah, man, no, it was
That's easy.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Like you're literally one of the nicest guys I've ever met.
In fat Lauren's dad, you know, who comes down there
and caddies for me, says the same exact thing. So
I love getting to meeting you, and the fact that
we've been able to hang out together, especially during that
tournament given outside of golf, has been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
You know, for me, I became known without a skill set.
I became known for really no good reason other than
the fact that I signed up for a reality television show.
I've always wondered this, Can you give listeners? Can you
give fans like me a glimpse into the moments? Are
you ever in awe? Are you ever shocked? Does it
(03:37):
ever feel like a fever dream to you that you're
doing this thing? That you have a wife, three kids,
You're standing on a stage playing songs that you love
and wrote, but also, you know, rubbing shoulders with Rascal Flats.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, like, is it ever weird to you? It's it's
not weird.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
But I just feel so thankful and so blessed because
because there are so many talented people in this world,
so many incredibly gifted singers and songwriters who haven't had
their chance yet. And I'm just a good old boy
from Colonelsville, North Carolina, like really small town. It was
(04:18):
never a thought in my entire life that I could
be an artist, Like you just think that that's out
of reach, like it's unattainable. So for something like this
to happen has been absolutely incredible, and I'm just so
thankful and blessed.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I mean, standing there, getting to hang out and become
great friends with Rascal Flats, guys that I've looked up to.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I remember one of the early highlights in my career.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I was backstage at one of the award shows and
my favorite artist, Kenny Chesney, came up to me and
told me that he loved my song Fixed, which was
my very first single out into the world here, and
I just I couldn't believe it. I'm like pinching myself
on a daily basis saying, how the heck did this
happen to me?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
This is incredible. And as the guy who always said.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
I'm never getting married, I'm never having kids, you know,
I love my Freid, I love playing golf whenever I
want to, all of those things. I am so thankful
that the good Lord above did not listen to me
when I was saying all that stuff. I remember holding
Dutton for the first time in the hospital there. I
(05:32):
just bawled my eyes out and as just to thank
you to God for not listening to my selfish desires
of not wanting this, Like.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I just, I feel so lucky.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Let's dive in a little bit to your family, because
it is a special family. Before we get into the
newest edition Logan and I cannot wait to talk to
you about being a girl dad now because.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Pop up man.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, and probably a lot of tears. You got married
to Laurene in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yes, it was October twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
For anybody that's watching or listening. What have you learned
about marriage now? I mean you guys got married in
twenty nineteen and about two years later had your first kid,
so you spent about two years just as a married couple.
What things have you learned about yourself as a husband.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I've learned first and foremost that I was a very
selfish person, especially with my time. It was a very
hard transition for me as an artist who's always just
been able to go do what I want to do
when I need to do it, and give everything to
my career. And then when you have a family, you
(06:52):
kind of have to put them first, which is easy
to do, but it's also hard to do it at
the same time because you've got something that you sacrificed
so much time for. Like all those I think about
it all the time, like how did I do what
I did back then? Where you're driving through the middle
of the night to really play to nobody. You're not
making any money. In fact, you're losing money. So I
(07:14):
sacrificed so much for that. And now that I have
a family, I've had to take a lot of time
off because if you have young kids, you know it's hard.
It's a full time job, especially on a mother. So
I think for me, just not being able to be
selfish anymore was a tough transition for me. But now
(07:36):
I feel like I'm in a good spot with it.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
I at least hope I am.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
We're three kids in now, so I feel like that
was a tough transition in the very beginning.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
It's and I think this is something I don't know
if you feel this way. I don't put my own
emotions on you. But once I got married, there was
like a setback to my ability to just be free,
right to travel where I needed to go where I wanted.
There was that Hey, you know, can I leave my
wife for three weeks straight?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Is that healthy? Is that go for us or not?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Then you add a kid into the mix and that
adds a different layer, not only because you don't want
to you don't want to leave them as a dad,
you like being around them, but also you want them
to know you you have a unique career, though you
do make a majority of your income by being on
the road.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, you're known.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
The more you can get out there, you know, the
more people listen, the more people understand the music you're
coming out with. So let's try to translate that to
like the corporate world where most you know people work in.
How have you made that transition? And for me, the
reason I said I want to put my emotions on you,
There's been moments where I feel like I'm not doing
anything because I'm trying to be home and I feel
(08:49):
like everything that i've you know, my career has taken
this huge back seat and it gets really hard on
me mentally to navigate how to balance it.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, it's definitely work life balance is very difficult to
balance at the end of the day. I mean, I'm
kind of the same exact way we do as artists.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
You do make most of.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Your income out on the road touring, and I went
from playing hundreds of shows a year to you know,
maybe accepting fifty to sixty, And that's a lot of
FaceTime that I'm missing kind of out there in front
of people.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And I think that's the easiest way to get or to.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Make fans at the end of the day is them
seeing you in concerts saying Wow, I want to go
back and see that guy again.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
So yeah, it's hard to take time off.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
But the more I've done it, the more I've I've
leaned on and realized that families everything, and at the
end of the day, I hope fans have a little
bit of patience and understanding when it comes to artists
who have multiple kids. For me, now three kids until
I can get back out there really full time like
I was before.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
How did you not get resentful towards Lauren at the beginning.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Or did you?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I mean, and yeah, I think there's there's definitely moments
maybe of resent on both sides on the days that
I am gone, because it's it's really hard. I remember
when we had Dutton, our first I was at the
height of my career at that time. I was coming
off of three massive songs and I had to be
out in front of people like I'm selling a lot
(10:32):
of tickets. I need to keep touring. And there were
a lot of tough conversations that her and I had
to have in those moments because I was out on
tour and and you know, when you go from zero
to one and you don't really know what to expect,
it's heart and exceptionally hard on her. So yeah, those
(10:53):
were some tough times. And and for me having to
take so much time off there there can be a
little resentment in that because you know, you get these
peaks and valleys as an artist, and when.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
You're at a peak, you got to get out there
and you got to do it because it's not always
going to be there. You know. I feel like most
artists have short lived careers.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You want to be like Kenny Chesney and Tim McCraw
and all these guys who have twenty thirty forty year careers,
but I think for ninety nine percent of artists that's
just not the reality. So you got to get out
there and get it while you can. So taking time
off can be exceptionally mentally hard, especially on a man,
because it's not our nature to want to provide for
(11:36):
our family as much as we can. But you know,
as an artist, it's you don't have job security like
you would if you were working for a large corporation
or company, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
You just got to get it while you can. Yeah,
you got to get out there this this whole show.
One of the reasons I'm mixed about it is because
it's trying to like dive in a little bit old
up the layers as as a man, as a husband.
If you can flash back to those initial years of
marriage having these conversations, how did you navigate them good
(12:17):
and bad? What did you learn along the way, because
these are conversations that can break relationships. Yeah, and resentment
can start to seep in from the beginning and just
kind of last if it's never confronted. So what advice
or what insights did you learn on how to talk
through these things with Lauren and how to be a
(12:37):
dad in the midst of this peak of your career.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, I think it just takes a lot of communication,
which I've honestly never been good at my entire life.
I feel like Laurence still says that all the time,
that my communication is terrible. But yeah, it takes a
lot of conversations. You have to be understanding you cannot
make it all about yourself, no matter how bad you
(13:02):
want to make it about yourself. You know, she works
as well, So yeah, it's one of those things you
just I think it goes back to me. I just like,
all right, family, Now, you made these decisions, and you
have to be or you can't be selfish, no matter
how bad you want to know, how bad you want
(13:23):
to make it about yourself and your career, and you
sacrifice so much to go do this, and this person
knew what they were getting into and they married me
kind of thought. You can't have that. You have to say,
all right, family first, no matter what. And honestly, as
hard as it was to do that and to take
(13:44):
a step back, I'm so thankful that I did that
because my kids are the best thing.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
That has ever happened to me.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And you don't always think that in the moment when
they're screaming and throwing tantrums and you're not getting any sleep,
But it's true.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Families everything.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
When did you I mean, let's first talk a little
bit about your kids. Dunton was your first. He's four
years old, now, Baker three years old. You start out
with two sons, boys, back to back. Let's kind of
sit in that season of life, the wildness that probably
is boys.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
They're wild, yeah, wild, wild, lots of energy, which I'm
used to have an identical twin brother. You know, I'm
literally watching myself and my brother on a daily basis,
Like all they do is tackle each other.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
In the ground. They're playing football.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
It's so much fun. But there is not a mental
break with them. Like they are just wall to wall
as quick as you can be, and they want you
to get in the floor and play with them and tackle.
And I'm like, bro, I'm forty one. We are done.
This last pregnancy was really hard on her. I guess
(14:56):
girls just throw off different hormones, so there was a
lot of a lot of sickness going on this time around.
So just in case we would ever go back through that,
not well, I think as men, there's a reason women
have the babies because I think to myself, if I
went through that one time, even one day, I would say, nope,
never again.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
I will never put myself through that. But yeah, we
made the decision. Three is plenty. I was good with two.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
But you know, here's logan and two boys and a girl.
That's exactly how I honestly would have drawn it up.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
So we're blessed.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
The Logan was just born in November, Yeah, November eleven,
you know, I don't know what it's like to have
three kids. I don't know what it's like to have
two boys. So I'm not even gonna try to relate
with you. But I do know what it's like to
have a little girl.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah, I know I need some advice, man, I will say.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
I mean I could even just like think about her
right now and start crying like, yeah, I don't And
how old is she now?
Speaker 3 (15:56):
She's ten months old? Yeah, because you had to ride
after that Hilton tournament, right, yeah, I was playing golf.
See that's how good of a husband I am. Two
weeks before my wife's due date.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I'm playing golf halfway across the country, waiting for the
phone call to say, hey, you need to get back
to Denver. Yeah, to have your first kid. It also
shows our love for the sport. But has there been
a different emotion come out of you with being a
girl dad?
Speaker 2 (16:25):
I don't think not yet. Nothing I've necessarily noticed yet.
I mean, she's so small, she doesn't need me for anything,
you know. In fact, every time I hold her, she
seems to scream.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
So yeah, not yet.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
But you know, I think the moments where I start
seeing those little smiles, and you know, probably around that
two to three year age, I probably will have a
lot more emotion, much like I do with my boys.
I'm not a super emotional guy like I just never
have been, but kids, or both my boys so far
(16:59):
have made me a lot softer than I ever was.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
For sure, there's a moment. I don't know if you'll
have this, but I try to get as much advice
from girl dads as I could before my daughter was born.
And there's a moment i'd say it happened about five
months where she'll look at you and reach for you,
and it breaks you because this is your precious little girl.
Like it's I think it's different talking to my buddies
(17:22):
that have boys and girls. Your boys are out there
playing football. Your girl can do that too, but you
protect her in a different way. You care for her
in a different way, and you know what it's like
to be a guy, and so you can't help but
be very like protective and set up those boundaries in
front of her for her way in advance. My buddies
(17:44):
make jokes with me, they say, hey, I can't wait
till my son can date your daughter, and I.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Don't it fires me up. It does, Like I get angry.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
There's no way that little you know, rugrat is touching
my daughter.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Yep, I won't be the same exact way. Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Well, I do want to I'm I want to get
into a lot of this stuff that you're coming out
with professionally, because it's awesome and you can really go
on tour.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
But I do want to talk.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
A little bit about to kind of flash back to
your relationship with Lauren and talk a little bit about
one of the things we do have in common, which
is the Bachelor. Yeah, you met Lauren, you knew about
her from reality television. I mean, I'm assuming you've experienced this.
My wife has experienced this today. Is you know the
hey I remember her with Ben or Jessica hears, Hey
(18:33):
I remember him with Lauren? Or you google you know
the name, Yes, pictures pop up. What was that like
for you? Was that ever difficult or what kind of
what did you experience during that time, especially early on
in your dating relationship.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I think one of the things I learned is that,
especially through all of this, is the Bachelor Nation is
like a real thing. I mean, we can go I
swear we can go anywhere in the country, whether it's breakfast, launch,
dinner like, or just being out somewhere shopping grocery store.
Someone always comes up and to her and it's like,
(19:10):
oh my god, Oh I shown a Bachelor, Like I'm
a huge fan all that kind of stuff, And I'm like,
you ever heard of it?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
I don't know about you.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Yeah, I'm chopped liver when I so, I learned the
Bachelor of Nations crazy, It's like a real thing.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
I mean, how long ago was that? Like eleven eleven years.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
It's been eleven years and it still just happened to
my wife. She was at Target just about two weeks ago.
She's walking down the aisle and somebody comes up to
here and they go, is it ever weird being Ben
Higgins's wife. I'm not there with her. She's like, well,
I know, why wouldn't know? Yeah, I guess sometimes I
don't know. And she goes, oh, I remember him from
the show when he was with Lauren. And you you
(19:51):
put that into like real life perspective. Yeah, You're like,
you're telling my wife about somebody I dated eleven years ago,
and in your mind as a viewer, as a fan,
and it makes sense as a viewer and a fan.
That's still the season I'm living in, even though I
moved on married with a kid and you're, you know,
moved on married with three kids.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Yeah, and I think it does.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I don't know as much anymore, but at least initially,
that was something that my wife had to work through
because you're always thinking back to, well, this is what
people remember him from.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Yeah, it's tough. What was I mean? I feel like
I didn't want to ask you, like you can ask me,
what was that experience? Like like that had to be nuts.
It's nuts. It's nuts for a few reasons.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
One, I was writing user manuals for a living in
the basement of a software company when I became the bachelor,
making minimum wage.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
No way.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah, So I was down there and then all of
a sudden in Los Angeles with lights and all these
people showing up, and all of a sudden, you're on
the cover of a magazine and it spits you out
into this world that they say, hey, go have fun,
go figure this thing out now, you know, as fleeting
fame is like you know, overnight celebrity for a few
months of your life, few years of your life and
(21:06):
it's really hard to navigate.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Especially I was twenty six years old.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
You know, you're like, yeah, you went, you were super famous,
like your face is in front of millions and millions
and millions of people every single week.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And then you want to Then you add in the
factor of Okay, let's figure out how to make this
thing work. And then when it doesn't, here's where it
gets hard. And I'm assuming if you ask Laurence, she'd
say the same thing you. The relationship ends. You're right,
every moves on their step aways. You know it's going
to be for the better for everybody. But then you
have the public coming in to say, hey, I no,
(21:42):
I hate Ben, or hey I hate her, and they
make assumptions about why things ended. Sure, and you're twenty
seven years old with all this like criticism and hate
coming at you when you're like, this isn't all.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
They've never experienced that before.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, you never experienced it, and so it gets really
difficult to navigate.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Sure, And then to.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Transition into your career, you had to do something amazing
and come out with a song called Big Big Plans,
which my buddies have played a bajillion times on the
golf course for me, especially early on it was a
number one hit on country radio. You wrote that song
when tell us a little bit about big, big plans.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, so I wrote it around the time that I
was at least thinking about proposing. But the song started
like any other song in a writing room, where you
go in you're just writing a song.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
In particularly this one was just a love song.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
And we didn't finish the song first day, came back
in for a second time, still didn't finish it, and
then I thought we got back together for a third
time one day to write and just to finish the
song started doing and I had the idea of, why
don't we write a proposal in the third verse of
(23:09):
this song, and I'll consider using it to propose to her.
I felt like that was a different way to propose,
you know, as a country artist, I'm like trying to
get creative. I don't want to just I don't even
know what to do at this point. But I felt
like I'm at least good at songwriting, and maybe that
(23:31):
will be like a nice thing that I could do
and a fun way to propose, and.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I just roll with it.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I talked to Dave and Chris Lawrence's parents and told
him my idea and that I was trying to finish
up this song and and they.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Were like, yeah, go for it.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So the way I planned this out, I was on
tour Brad Paisley at the time, and we were playing
a show up in Washington, so like an hour outside
of Portland. It was Father's Day weekend. I said, I'm
gonna do it on this date. And the way I'm
gonna get cameras there is I'm trying to remember.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
We were thinking about doing.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Like some YouTube video clips, and I felt like we're
already gonna be with her family. I said, I'm gonna
go ahead and have my videographer stick around for the
day and I'll fly them home that night. Let's go
ahead and just get some clips of your fam in
case we ever wanted to use them for something. That's
how I got the camera there without her being like,
(24:34):
you know this is weird, Yeah, like why are we
filming this? Like obviously I know something's about to happen.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So fast forward.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
It was a beautiful day there in Portland Father's Day.
We were just having a little cooko out in the
backyard and I said, oh, I just got this song back, Like,
you know, one of our things was I would go
write songs during the day. I'd come home and i'd
play the song that I wrote for that day, and
she'd tell me whether she liked it or not. So
I set it up just like that, said, oh, I
just got the song back, but I wrote this one
specifically for you. Can I play it for you? And
(25:06):
she was like sure, So I had a speaker set
up out there. I just start playing it and yeah,
long story short, that third verse comes around, make sure
she hadn't mentally checked out. I was like, it was like,
this is my favorite part, and yeah, she realized what
(25:27):
was happening then, and.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
We were able to capture all of that.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
But I had no real intention of ever releasing that song.
I thought it was just a you know, I never
thought anyone would relate to a song that I used
to propose.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
It just wasn't a thought that I had.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
But the response was so great in that moment, I
kind of was forced to release that song and then
it did.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
It became a huge hit for me, which was very surprise.
I had no idea expect that. I didn't expect that.
I had no idea that that was going to happen.
But what a blessing it was. I need another one.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Well, I still hear on radio and in Denver quite often. Yeah, awesome,
And it is funny because it was a chirping method
for all my buddies in the golf course for years,
which is fantastic. I mean, you get in front of
thousands of people to perform. Have you ever been as
nervous as you were in that moment?
Speaker 3 (26:28):
No, that was I blacked out.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, and it should be easy, like I know this person,
like I'm comfortable, comfortable with them, but for whatever reason,
I don't know, if you just put extra pressure on yourself.
You want to make sure that it all goes well. Yeah,
in that moment, I remember I had this whole speech
planned out, and I didn't remember one word.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I just.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Blanked, blacked out. And I think I just said, will
you be married? I mean one of those things you know.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I'm with you. The same thing happened to me. I
cannot tell you one thing I said. I think I
did it right. I actually don't even know if I
asked my wife to marry me. I forget if I
even did that. I just remember being on one knee,
being like, I think this is what we're.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah, it was a huge hit, and you have had
hits over the years recently and one of the reasons
I was so excited to talk to you today, As
we mentioned the beginning, your faith is so prevalent in
your life and it is the driving force behind your family.
You did just recently release your own version of Oh
Come to the Altar. I would say, for me as
(27:37):
a fan, it came out of nowhere right like I'm
listening to your country music. I know you for that.
So what made you release your own version of this?
And why now?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
You know? It's one of those things that.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
For my fans that have followed me from the very beginning,
I feel like I've shared a lot about my faith
and they know that part about me. Even with a
song on my second album called Hero It wasn't a
Christian song, but it does talk about God in the end,
(28:17):
a very storyteller, songwriter kind of song.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
So that was my.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
First real glimpse into actually introducing that into my music,
just because I felt like people knew that about me.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
And then I did a collaboration with Chris.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Tomlin, who was one of my all time favorite Christian artists,
Like I loved all the songs growing up. In fact,
when I first started playing guitar, I would play his
songs in church, so I did that collaboration. It was
probably twenty and seventeen or eighteen, and back in twenty sixteen,
(28:59):
I used to cover Oh Come to the Altar in
my shows, Like, I just always loved that song.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
It's just always spoke to me.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
And yeah, it's one of those things that I always
wanted to do a cover of it. But you know,
I'm early in my career. I'm just trying to get
as much music out as I possibly can, and I
don't feel like I don't feel like I was ready
to have that moment like I need to get out
my music that I'm writing.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
And then.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
The day Dutton was born, this song was randomly playing
in the background and it became an even more special
song to me because of that, And it just kept
finding its way into my life through random instances where
it just really stood out.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
And then.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
The last time it really stood out to me, and
I think it was kind of like this weird nudge.
Whether it was or not, it as that the guy
that produces my music seth Moseley was the original recorder
of that song, so he's got plaques up on his
wall of oh come to the offer, and I'm like, wow,
this is crazy, Like I can't escape this song, like
(30:17):
it's it's it's always finding me. So I asked my team.
I said, hey, I wanted to put this. I wanted
to record my version and put it on my last record,
Shade Tree, and I felt like that would help round
it out in a way for me to share my
faith even more since I kind of did that on
my other two records, I wanted to keep that theme going.
(30:41):
But it ended up not making the record, and Lauren
kep encouraging me. She's like, I really think that you
should put this song out, Like I think your version
is great. So yeah, recently we sat down, finished it
up and just decided to put it out there.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
You know, why not?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Why not just an easy way to share my faith
and let people in on who I am just a
little bit more.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
You know, well you.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Did, as you just mentioned. Shade Tree is an album
that recently came out. It's the first album I believe
since what twenty.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Seventeen, eighteen eighteen.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
And you kind of mentioned this, and I want to
drill in a little bit to it. You said, you
know you had a hero and then you have your
version of oh, come to the altar.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
Why is it important for you to give.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Your fans and listeners a glimpse into this piece of
your life, your your faith.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
I think, I mean, I feel like as fans, I mean,
I'm a huge Kenny Chesney fan, Like I love learning
everything there is to know about him.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I want to.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I think it helps you to become even more of
a fan. The more they share with you, the more
you let him in to your life. So I feel
like it just kind of starts there. And yeah, just
being authentic to who you are, I feel like is
most important because I feel like country fans can kind
of see right through that.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
Most of the time.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
You've mentioned that in your upbringing, church was a consistent
part of your life.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Oh yeah, that your.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Your family were the Wednesday and Sunday every Sunday, every
Wednesday church goers.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Whether I liked it or not, we were there exactly.
That was what I was gonna say. As a kid.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
That feels almost like dogmatic, and it feels forced.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yeah, I can't say I always loved it. There's no
doubt I would rather be playing sports. You know, you
don't when you're that young, you don't really understand what's
going on. Like you can hear about Jesus and all this,
but do you fully like grasp it? And for me specifically,
(32:51):
I did, but I didn't. And it wasn't until I
got into college and out by myself and into my
own world, uh that I feel like I had a
real relationship with God and it was life changing in
what way?
Speaker 3 (33:10):
What do you mean? I think?
Speaker 2 (33:11):
And just how I handle everyday life, like attitude, mindset, happiness,
how you treat people, all of those things. Yeah, I
think just how you look at life in a way
and just experiencing, uh, the mercy and grace and and
(33:34):
knowing what He did on the cross.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
And I'm seeing more glimpses now that I have kids
of my own. Uh, I feel like I understand his
love even even more so than I ever have in
my entire life.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
We've talked, we talked about your upbringing and the Wednesday
and Sunday, and you've actually been quoted saying you're now
grateful for it, which it makes sense on why you are,
But you do you have kids of your own, Now,
what do you want them to experience and their upbringing
when it comes to the love of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yeah, I mean, I think first and foremost is the
most important that they know who he is and what
He's done for them, and uh, that they experience his
love much like they get to experience their father's love
for them, you know. So I feel like, yeah, we're we're, we're.
(34:32):
They go to a school where they get to learn
about Him on a daily basis, so to hear the
stuff they're like the songs that they sing at home,
it's the sweetest thing in the entire world. Obviously, I
don't feel like they grasp it and even really understand,
but I love the fact that we're getting to uh
start that with them now. I feel like that my
parents having us in church every week and uh, you know,
(34:58):
just always hearing about it led me to my own relationship.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
So I feel like I'll be that way with my kids.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
And you know, they have to want it, they have
to experience it for themselves, which is kind of what
happened to me when I got to college.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
In closing, Chris, I want to say something that I
need you to listen to the whole time. I'm very
thankful Lauren was on The Bachelor for multiple reasons, but
mostly because she got to meet you. And I mean
it when I say for as weird as that season was,
for as messed up as it is, and trying to
navigate something that you have no familiarity with, They're one
(35:35):
of the coolest parts about being on the show back
in my twenties was now being, at thirty six years old,
able to look at all these people that showed up
to that mansion that night, from all different walks of life,
and to see where their lives are today, with their kids,
with their families, and then look at my family and
go goodness, like, I don't think Jessica meets me without
(35:55):
that show, which means my daughter doesn't exist without that show.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
And so I'm thankful that she was there because now
I get to see something beautiful and I get to
meet you and get to talk to you. Thanks for
sharing today, Thanks for coming on here again. On some
big things are happening. You're going on tour with Rascal Flats.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Yeah, so excited about that.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
I toured with them this past year on your their
reunion tour.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Uh. It was incredible, had so much.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Fun just as a fan center over there on the
side of the stage, singing along to every song every night.
It was so much fun. So they decided to go
out again this year, and I got that call to
go do it again. So I'm very excited for that.
It's a nice way to kick the year off.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
The timing of it is tough, Newborns. Sure, yeah, we'll
get through.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
It, and people can listen to songs. You know, some
of your greatest hits, some of the songs people know
and love that you've come out with, but also the
new album Shade Tree. I'm sure you'll be playing a
lot of that.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Oh yeah, definitely play the hits. It's a forty minute set,
so I blink and it's over with.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Yeah. Sure, but yeah, I try. I'm action packed.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
I fit as many of them as I possibly can
in there during that time. Man, you are blessed and
I'm blessed to have you here. Thanks for joining, Chris,
appreciate it, but.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Thanks for having me brother. Hey friends, thanks for listening
or watching.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
Would you take a second, follow, subscribe, and drop a comment.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
It really helps
And I was not excited about meeting you. I was nervous, honestly.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
And I'm just a good old boy from Colonelsville, North Carolina,
like a really small town.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I became known for really no good reason other the
fact that I signed up for a reality television show.
Does it ever feel like a fever dream to you
that you're doing this thing?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I had the idea of, why don't we write a
proposal in the third verse of this song, I'll consider
using it to propose to her. The original recorder of
that song, so he's got plaques up on his wall
of Oh come to the officer, and I'm like, wow,
this is crazy, Like I can't escape this song. I
wanted to record my version, sat down, finished it up,
(00:40):
and just decided to put it out there. Just an
easy way to share my faith and let people in
on who I am.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Just a little bit more.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Welcome to if you can hear me, a space where
culture meets the soul.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I'm Ben Higgins.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
You may know me from The Bachelor, and you may
know some of my guests from culture and Headlines. But
this this podcast is about going beyond the surface into
something deeper. Today's guest is Chris Lane, a country music
artist known for hits like Fix and Big Big Plans,
a husband, a father, and a man of faith, married
to Lauren Bushnell Lane, I invite you to lean in
(01:16):
and enjoy this conversation. Goodness, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Heck yeah, man, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
This is a show I'm very excited about because faith
is such an important part of my life.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Heck yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
And I know it's such a driving force to your life.
I can't think of a better guest to have on
this show than you, though, because we have so many
things in common, so much history.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
We love golf, love golf.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
And then I just want to start this out before
I start throwing questions at you, by saying giving you
a little story. Obviously, you're married to Lauren, you have
three wonderful kids. It's when my time came from the
Bachelor and Laura and I were together, and then you
guys ended up dating. I found out that you're going
to be at the same golf tournament as me, and
(02:09):
I was not excited about meeting you.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I was nervous.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Honestly, I thought, goodness, this thing that's so fun and
so pure. Now I have this awkward interaction that I'm
going to have to have right and it was like
haunting me. It's just kind of who I am. Those
things haunt me, and it haunted me for weeks. And
I remember the very first moment I saw you. You
came right up to me, like right away, you gave
(02:33):
me a handshake, you gave me a hug, you said
it's nice to meet you. And I remember this feeling
of just like calmness, peace coming into this and then
excited to get to know you, Like I was excited
to get.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
To know you better.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
And I want to give you that credit because I
know you like went out of your way to say hello,
which was a big deal to.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Me, So thank you. Hey. Yeah, man, no, it was
That's easy.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Like you're literally one of the nicest guys I've ever met.
In fat Lauren's dad, you know, who comes down there
and caddies for me, says the same exact thing. So
I love getting to meeting you, and the fact that
we've been able to hang out together, especially during that
tournament given outside of golf, has been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
You know, for me, I became known without a skill set.
I became known for really no good reason other than
the fact that I signed up for a reality television show.
I've always wondered this, Can you give listeners? Can you
give fans like me a glimpse into the moments? Are
you ever in awe? Are you ever shocked? Does it
(03:37):
ever feel like a fever dream to you that you're
doing this thing? That you have a wife, three kids,
You're standing on a stage playing songs that you love
and wrote, but also, you know, rubbing shoulders with Rascal Flats.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, like, is it ever weird to you? It's it's
not weird.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
But I just feel so thankful and so blessed because
because there are so many talented people in this world,
so many incredibly gifted singers and songwriters who haven't had
their chance yet. And I'm just a good old boy
from Colonelsville, North Carolina, like really small town. It was
(04:18):
never a thought in my entire life that I could
be an artist, Like you just think that that's out
of reach, like it's unattainable. So for something like this
to happen has been absolutely incredible, and I'm just so
thankful and blessed.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I mean, standing there, getting to hang out and become
great friends with Rascal Flats, guys that I've looked up to.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I remember one of the early highlights in my career.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I was backstage at one of the award shows and
my favorite artist, Kenny Chesney, came up to me and
told me that he loved my song Fixed, which was
my very first single out into the world here, and
I just I couldn't believe it. I'm like pinching myself
on a daily basis saying, how the heck did this
happen to me?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
This is incredible. And as the guy who always said.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
I'm never getting married, I'm never having kids, you know,
I love my Freid, I love playing golf whenever I
want to, all of those things. I am so thankful
that the good Lord above did not listen to me
when I was saying all that stuff. I remember holding
Dutton for the first time in the hospital there. I
(05:32):
just bawled my eyes out and as just to thank
you to God for not listening to my selfish desires
of not wanting this, Like.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I just, I feel so lucky.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Let's dive in a little bit to your family, because
it is a special family. Before we get into the
newest edition Logan and I cannot wait to talk to
you about being a girl dad now because.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Pop up man.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, and probably a lot of tears. You got married
to Laurene in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yes, it was October twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
For anybody that's watching or listening. What have you learned
about marriage now? I mean you guys got married in
twenty nineteen and about two years later had your first kid,
so you spent about two years just as a married couple.
What things have you learned about yourself as a husband.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I've learned first and foremost that I was a very
selfish person, especially with my time. It was a very
hard transition for me as an artist who's always just
been able to go do what I want to do
when I need to do it, and give everything to
my career. And then when you have a family, you
(06:52):
kind of have to put them first, which is easy
to do, but it's also hard to do it at
the same time because you've got something that you sacrificed
so much time for. Like all those I think about
it all the time, like how did I do what
I did back then? Where you're driving through the middle
of the night to really play to nobody. You're not
making any money. In fact, you're losing money. So I
(07:14):
sacrificed so much for that. And now that I have
a family, I've had to take a lot of time
off because if you have young kids, you know it's hard.
It's a full time job, especially on a mother. So
I think for me, just not being able to be
selfish anymore was a tough transition for me. But now
(07:36):
I feel like I'm in a good spot with it.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
I at least hope I am.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
We're three kids in now, so I feel like that
was a tough transition in the very beginning.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
It's and I think this is something I don't know
if you feel this way. I don't put my own
emotions on you. But once I got married, there was
like a setback to my ability to just be free,
right to travel where I needed to go where I wanted.
There was that Hey, you know, can I leave my
wife for three weeks straight?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Is that healthy? Is that go for us or not?
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Then you add a kid into the mix and that
adds a different layer, not only because you don't want
to you don't want to leave them as a dad,
you like being around them, but also you want them
to know you you have a unique career, though you
do make a majority of your income by being on
the road.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, you're known.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
The more you can get out there, you know, the
more people listen, the more people understand the music you're
coming out with. So let's try to translate that to
like the corporate world where most you know people work in.
How have you made that transition? And for me, the
reason I said I want to put my emotions on you,
There's been moments where I feel like I'm not doing
anything because I'm trying to be home and I feel
(08:49):
like everything that i've you know, my career has taken
this huge back seat and it gets really hard on
me mentally to navigate how to balance it.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, it's definitely work life balance is very difficult to
balance at the end of the day. I mean, I'm
kind of the same exact way we do as artists.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
You do make most of.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Your income out on the road touring, and I went
from playing hundreds of shows a year to you know,
maybe accepting fifty to sixty, And that's a lot of
FaceTime that I'm missing kind of out there in front
of people.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And I think that's the easiest way to get or to.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Make fans at the end of the day is them
seeing you in concerts saying Wow, I want to go
back and see that guy again.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
So yeah, it's hard to take time off.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
But the more I've done it, the more I've I've
leaned on and realized that families everything, and at the
end of the day, I hope fans have a little
bit of patience and understanding when it comes to artists
who have multiple kids. For me, now three kids until
I can get back out there really full time like
I was before.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
How did you not get resentful towards Lauren at the beginning.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Or did you?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I mean, and yeah, I think there's there's definitely moments
maybe of resent on both sides on the days that
I am gone, because it's it's really hard. I remember
when we had Dutton, our first I was at the
height of my career at that time. I was coming
off of three massive songs and I had to be
out in front of people like I'm selling a lot
(10:32):
of tickets. I need to keep touring. And there were
a lot of tough conversations that her and I had
to have in those moments because I was out on
tour and and you know, when you go from zero
to one and you don't really know what to expect,
it's heart and exceptionally hard on her. So yeah, those
(10:53):
were some tough times. And and for me having to
take so much time off there there can be a
little resentment in that because you know, you get these
peaks and valleys as an artist, and when.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
You're at a peak, you got to get out there
and you got to do it because it's not always
going to be there. You know. I feel like most
artists have short lived careers.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You want to be like Kenny Chesney and Tim McCraw
and all these guys who have twenty thirty forty year careers,
but I think for ninety nine percent of artists that's
just not the reality. So you got to get out
there and get it while you can. So taking time
off can be exceptionally mentally hard, especially on a man,
because it's not our nature to want to provide for
(11:36):
our family as much as we can. But you know,
as an artist, it's you don't have job security like
you would if you were working for a large corporation
or company, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
You just got to get it while you can. Yeah,
you got to get out there this this whole show.
One of the reasons I'm mixed about it is because
it's trying to like dive in a little bit old
up the layers as as a man, as a husband.
If you can flash back to those initial years of
marriage having these conversations, how did you navigate them good
(12:17):
and bad? What did you learn along the way, because
these are conversations that can break relationships. Yeah, and resentment
can start to seep in from the beginning and just
kind of last if it's never confronted. So what advice
or what insights did you learn on how to talk
through these things with Lauren and how to be a
(12:37):
dad in the midst of this peak of your career.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, I think it just takes a lot of communication,
which I've honestly never been good at my entire life.
I feel like Laurence still says that all the time,
that my communication is terrible. But yeah, it takes a
lot of conversations. You have to be understanding you cannot
make it all about yourself, no matter how bad you
(13:02):
want to make it about yourself. You know, she works
as well, So yeah, it's one of those things you
just I think it goes back to me. I just like,
all right, family, Now, you made these decisions, and you
have to be or you can't be selfish, no matter
how bad you want to know, how bad you want
(13:23):
to make it about yourself and your career, and you
sacrifice so much to go do this, and this person
knew what they were getting into and they married me
kind of thought. You can't have that. You have to say,
all right, family first, no matter what. And honestly, as
hard as it was to do that and to take
(13:44):
a step back, I'm so thankful that I did that
because my kids are the best thing.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
That has ever happened to me.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And you don't always think that in the moment when
they're screaming and throwing tantrums and you're not getting any sleep,
But it's true.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Families everything.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
When did you I mean, let's first talk a little
bit about your kids. Dunton was your first. He's four
years old, now, Baker three years old. You start out
with two sons, boys, back to back. Let's kind of
sit in that season of life, the wildness that probably
is boys.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
They're wild, yeah, wild, wild, lots of energy, which I'm
used to have an identical twin brother. You know, I'm
literally watching myself and my brother on a daily basis,
Like all they do is tackle each other.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
In the ground. They're playing football.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
It's so much fun. But there is not a mental
break with them. Like they are just wall to wall
as quick as you can be, and they want you
to get in the floor and play with them and tackle.
And I'm like, bro, I'm forty one. We are done.
This last pregnancy was really hard on her. I guess
(14:56):
girls just throw off different hormones, so there was a
lot of a lot of sickness going on this time around.
So just in case we would ever go back through that,
not well, I think as men, there's a reason women
have the babies because I think to myself, if I
went through that one time, even one day, I would say, nope,
never again.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
I will never put myself through that. But yeah, we
made the decision. Three is plenty. I was good with two.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
But you know, here's logan and two boys and a girl.
That's exactly how I honestly would have drawn it up.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
So we're blessed.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
The Logan was just born in November, Yeah, November eleven,
you know, I don't know what it's like to have
three kids. I don't know what it's like to have
two boys. So I'm not even gonna try to relate
with you. But I do know what it's like to
have a little girl.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah, I know I need some advice, man, I will say.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
I mean I could even just like think about her
right now and start crying like, yeah, I don't And
how old is she now?
Speaker 3 (15:56):
She's ten months old? Yeah, because you had to ride
after that Hilton tournament, right, yeah, I was playing golf.
See that's how good of a husband I am. Two
weeks before my wife's due date.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I'm playing golf halfway across the country, waiting for the
phone call to say, hey, you need to get back
to Denver. Yeah, to have your first kid. It also
shows our love for the sport. But has there been
a different emotion come out of you with being a
girl dad?
Speaker 2 (16:25):
I don't think not yet. Nothing I've necessarily noticed yet.
I mean, she's so small, she doesn't need me for anything,
you know. In fact, every time I hold her, she
seems to scream.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
So yeah, not yet.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
But you know, I think the moments where I start
seeing those little smiles, and you know, probably around that
two to three year age, I probably will have a
lot more emotion, much like I do with my boys.
I'm not a super emotional guy like I just never
have been, but kids, or both my boys so far
(16:59):
have made me a lot softer than I ever was.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
For sure, there's a moment. I don't know if you'll
have this, but I try to get as much advice
from girl dads as I could before my daughter was born.
And there's a moment i'd say it happened about five
months where she'll look at you and reach for you,
and it breaks you because this is your precious little girl.
Like it's I think it's different talking to my buddies
(17:22):
that have boys and girls. Your boys are out there
playing football. Your girl can do that too, but you
protect her in a different way. You care for her
in a different way, and you know what it's like
to be a guy, and so you can't help but
be very like protective and set up those boundaries in
front of her for her way in advance. My buddies
(17:44):
make jokes with me, they say, hey, I can't wait
till my son can date your daughter, and I.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Don't it fires me up. It does, Like I get angry.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
There's no way that little you know, rugrat is touching
my daughter.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Yep, I won't be the same exact way. Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Well, I do want to I'm I want to get
into a lot of this stuff that you're coming out
with professionally, because it's awesome and you can really go
on tour.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
But I do want to talk.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
A little bit about to kind of flash back to
your relationship with Lauren and talk a little bit about
one of the things we do have in common, which
is the Bachelor. Yeah, you met Lauren, you knew about
her from reality television. I mean, I'm assuming you've experienced this.
My wife has experienced this today. Is you know the
hey I remember her with Ben or Jessica hears, Hey
(18:33):
I remember him with Lauren? Or you google you know
the name, Yes, pictures pop up. What was that like
for you? Was that ever difficult or what kind of
what did you experience during that time, especially early on
in your dating relationship.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I think one of the things I learned is that,
especially through all of this, is the Bachelor Nation is
like a real thing. I mean, we can go I
swear we can go anywhere in the country, whether it's breakfast, launch,
dinner like, or just being out somewhere shopping grocery store.
Someone always comes up and to her and it's like,
(19:10):
oh my god, Oh I shown a Bachelor, Like I'm
a huge fan all that kind of stuff, And I'm like,
you ever heard of it?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
I don't know about you.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Yeah, I'm chopped liver when I so, I learned the
Bachelor of Nations crazy, It's like a real thing.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
I mean, how long ago was that? Like eleven eleven years.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
It's been eleven years and it still just happened to
my wife. She was at Target just about two weeks ago.
She's walking down the aisle and somebody comes up to
here and they go, is it ever weird being Ben
Higgins's wife. I'm not there with her. She's like, well,
I know, why wouldn't know? Yeah, I guess sometimes I
don't know. And she goes, oh, I remember him from
the show when he was with Lauren. And you you
(19:51):
put that into like real life perspective. Yeah, You're like,
you're telling my wife about somebody I dated eleven years ago,
and in your mind as a viewer, as a fan,
and it makes sense as a viewer and a fan.
That's still the season I'm living in, even though I
moved on married with a kid and you're, you know,
moved on married with three kids.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Yeah, and I think it does.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I don't know as much anymore, but at least initially,
that was something that my wife had to work through
because you're always thinking back to, well, this is what
people remember him from.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Yeah, it's tough. What was I mean? I feel like
I didn't want to ask you, like you can ask me,
what was that experience? Like like that had to be nuts.
It's nuts. It's nuts for a few reasons.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
One, I was writing user manuals for a living in
the basement of a software company when I became the bachelor,
making minimum wage.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
No way.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeah, So I was down there and then all of
a sudden in Los Angeles with lights and all these
people showing up, and all of a sudden, you're on
the cover of a magazine and it spits you out
into this world that they say, hey, go have fun,
go figure this thing out now, you know, as fleeting
fame is like you know, overnight celebrity for a few
months of your life, few years of your life and
(21:06):
it's really hard to navigate.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Especially I was twenty six years old.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
You know, you're like, yeah, you went, you were super famous,
like your face is in front of millions and millions
and millions of people every single week.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And then you want to Then you add in the
factor of Okay, let's figure out how to make this
thing work. And then when it doesn't, here's where it
gets hard. And I'm assuming if you ask Laurence, she'd
say the same thing you. The relationship ends. You're right,
every moves on their step aways. You know it's going
to be for the better for everybody. But then you
have the public coming in to say, hey, I no,
(21:42):
I hate Ben, or hey I hate her, and they
make assumptions about why things ended. Sure, and you're twenty
seven years old with all this like criticism and hate
coming at you when you're like, this isn't all.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
They've never experienced that before.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, you never experienced it, and so it gets really
difficult to navigate.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Sure, And then to.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Transition into your career, you had to do something amazing
and come out with a song called Big Big Plans,
which my buddies have played a bajillion times on the
golf course for me, especially early on it was a
number one hit on country radio. You wrote that song
when tell us a little bit about big, big plans.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, so I wrote it around the time that I
was at least thinking about proposing. But the song started
like any other song in a writing room, where you
go in you're just writing a song.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
In particularly this one was just a love song.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
And we didn't finish the song first day, came back
in for a second time, still didn't finish it, and
then I thought we got back together for a third
time one day to write and just to finish the
song started doing and I had the idea of, why
don't we write a proposal in the third verse of
(23:09):
this song, and I'll consider using it to propose to her.
I felt like that was a different way to propose,
you know, as a country artist, I'm like trying to
get creative. I don't want to just I don't even
know what to do at this point. But I felt
like I'm at least good at songwriting, and maybe that
(23:31):
will be like a nice thing that I could do
and a fun way to propose, and.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I just roll with it.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I talked to Dave and Chris Lawrence's parents and told
him my idea and that I was trying to finish
up this song and and they.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Were like, yeah, go for it.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So the way I planned this out, I was on
tour Brad Paisley at the time, and we were playing
a show up in Washington, so like an hour outside
of Portland. It was Father's Day weekend. I said, I'm
gonna do it on this date. And the way I'm
gonna get cameras there is I'm trying to remember.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
We were thinking about doing.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Like some YouTube video clips, and I felt like we're
already gonna be with her family. I said, I'm gonna
go ahead and have my videographer stick around for the
day and I'll fly them home that night. Let's go
ahead and just get some clips of your fam in
case we ever wanted to use them for something. That's
how I got the camera there without her being like,
(24:34):
you know this is weird, Yeah, like why are we
filming this? Like obviously I know something's about to happen.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
So fast forward.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
It was a beautiful day there in Portland Father's Day.
We were just having a little cooko out in the
backyard and I said, oh, I just got this song back, Like,
you know, one of our things was I would go
write songs during the day. I'd come home and i'd
play the song that I wrote for that day, and
she'd tell me whether she liked it or not. So
I set it up just like that, said, oh, I
just got the song back, but I wrote this one
specifically for you. Can I play it for you? And
(25:06):
she was like sure, So I had a speaker set
up out there. I just start playing it and yeah,
long story short, that third verse comes around, make sure
she hadn't mentally checked out. I was like, it was like,
this is my favorite part, and yeah, she realized what
(25:27):
was happening then, and.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
We were able to capture all of that.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
But I had no real intention of ever releasing that song.
I thought it was just a you know, I never
thought anyone would relate to a song that I used
to propose.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
It just wasn't a thought that I had.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
But the response was so great in that moment, I
kind of was forced to release that song and then
it did.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
It became a huge hit for me, which was very surprise.
I had no idea expect that. I didn't expect that.
I had no idea that that was going to happen.
But what a blessing it was. I need another one.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Well, I still hear on radio and in Denver quite often. Yeah, awesome,
And it is funny because it was a chirping method
for all my buddies in the golf course for years,
which is fantastic. I mean, you get in front of
thousands of people to perform. Have you ever been as
nervous as you were in that moment?
Speaker 3 (26:28):
No, that was I blacked out.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, and it should be easy, like I know this person,
like I'm comfortable, comfortable with them, but for whatever reason,
I don't know, if you just put extra pressure on yourself.
You want to make sure that it all goes well. Yeah,
in that moment, I remember I had this whole speech
planned out, and I didn't remember one word.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I just.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Blanked, blacked out. And I think I just said, will
you be married? I mean one of those things you know.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I'm with you. The same thing happened to me. I
cannot tell you one thing I said. I think I
did it right. I actually don't even know if I
asked my wife to marry me. I forget if I
even did that. I just remember being on one knee,
being like, I think this is what we're.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Supposed to do.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah, it was a huge hit, and you have had
hits over the years recently and one of the reasons
I was so excited to talk to you today, As
we mentioned the beginning, your faith is so prevalent in
your life and it is the driving force behind your family.
You did just recently release your own version of Oh
Come to the Altar. I would say, for me as
(27:37):
a fan, it came out of nowhere right like I'm
listening to your country music. I know you for that.
So what made you release your own version of this?
And why now?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
You know? It's one of those things that.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
For my fans that have followed me from the very beginning,
I feel like I've shared a lot about my faith
and they know that part about me. Even with a
song on my second album called Hero It wasn't a
Christian song, but it does talk about God in the end,
(28:17):
a very storyteller, songwriter kind of song.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
So that was my.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
First real glimpse into actually introducing that into my music,
just because I felt like people knew that about me.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
And then I did a collaboration with Chris.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Tomlin, who was one of my all time favorite Christian artists,
Like I loved all the songs growing up. In fact,
when I first started playing guitar, I would play his
songs in church, so I did that collaboration. It was
probably twenty and seventeen or eighteen, and back in twenty sixteen,
(28:59):
I used to cover Oh Come to the Altar in
my shows, Like, I just always loved that song.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
It's just always spoke to me.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
And yeah, it's one of those things that I always
wanted to do a cover of it. But you know,
I'm early in my career. I'm just trying to get
as much music out as I possibly can, and I
don't feel like I don't feel like I was ready
to have that moment like I need to get out
my music that I'm writing.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
And then.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
The day Dutton was born, this song was randomly playing
in the background and it became an even more special
song to me because of that, And it just kept
finding its way into my life through random instances where
it just really stood out.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
And then.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
The last time it really stood out to me, and
I think it was kind of like this weird nudge.
Whether it was or not, it as that the guy
that produces my music seth Moseley was the original recorder
of that song, so he's got plaques up on his
wall of oh come to the offer, and I'm like, wow,
this is crazy, Like I can't escape this song, like
(30:17):
it's it's it's always finding me. So I asked my team.
I said, hey, I wanted to put this. I wanted
to record my version and put it on my last record,
Shade Tree, and I felt like that would help round
it out in a way for me to share my
faith even more since I kind of did that on
my other two records, I wanted to keep that theme going.
(30:41):
But it ended up not making the record, and Lauren
kep encouraging me. She's like, I really think that you
should put this song out, Like I think your version
is great. So yeah, recently we sat down, finished it
up and just decided to put it out there.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
You know, why not?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Why not just an easy way to share my faith
and let people in on who I am just a
little bit more.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
You know, well you.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Did, as you just mentioned. Shade Tree is an album
that recently came out. It's the first album I believe
since what twenty.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Seventeen, eighteen eighteen.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
And you kind of mentioned this, and I want to
drill in a little bit to it. You said, you
know you had a hero and then you have your
version of oh, come to the altar.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
Why is it important for you to give.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Your fans and listeners a glimpse into this piece of
your life, your your faith.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
I think, I mean, I feel like as fans, I mean,
I'm a huge Kenny Chesney fan, Like I love learning
everything there is to know about him.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I want to.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I think it helps you to become even more of
a fan. The more they share with you, the more
you let him in to your life. So I feel
like it just kind of starts there. And yeah, just
being authentic to who you are, I feel like is
most important because I feel like country fans can kind
of see right through that.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
Most of the time.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
You've mentioned that in your upbringing, church was a consistent
part of your life.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Oh yeah, that your.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Your family were the Wednesday and Sunday every Sunday, every
Wednesday church goers.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Whether I liked it or not, we were there exactly.
That was what I was gonna say. As a kid.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
That feels almost like dogmatic, and it feels forced.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yeah, I can't say I always loved it. There's no
doubt I would rather be playing sports. You know, you
don't when you're that young, you don't really understand what's
going on. Like you can hear about Jesus and all this,
but do you fully like grasp it? And for me specifically,
(32:51):
I did, but I didn't. And it wasn't until I
got into college and out by myself and into my
own world, uh that I feel like I had a
real relationship with God and it was life changing in
what way?
Speaker 3 (33:10):
What do you mean? I think?
Speaker 2 (33:11):
And just how I handle everyday life, like attitude, mindset, happiness,
how you treat people, all of those things. Yeah, I
think just how you look at life in a way
and just experiencing, uh, the mercy and grace and and
(33:34):
knowing what He did on the cross.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
And I'm seeing more glimpses now that I have kids
of my own. Uh, I feel like I understand his
love even even more so than I ever have in
my entire life.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
We've talked, we talked about your upbringing and the Wednesday
and Sunday, and you've actually been quoted saying you're now
grateful for it, which it makes sense on why you are,
But you do you have kids of your own, Now,
what do you want them to experience and their upbringing
when it comes to the love of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yeah, I mean, I think first and foremost is the
most important that they know who he is and what
He's done for them, and uh, that they experience his
love much like they get to experience their father's love
for them, you know. So I feel like, yeah, we're we're, we're.
(34:32):
They go to a school where they get to learn
about Him on a daily basis, so to hear the
stuff they're like the songs that they sing at home,
it's the sweetest thing in the entire world. Obviously, I
don't feel like they grasp it and even really understand,
but I love the fact that we're getting to uh
start that with them now. I feel like that my
parents having us in church every week and uh, you know,
(34:58):
just always hearing about it led me to my own relationship.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
So I feel like I'll be that way with my kids.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
And you know, they have to want it, they have
to experience it for themselves, which is kind of what
happened to me when I got to college.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
In closing, Chris, I want to say something that I
need you to listen to the whole time. I'm very
thankful Lauren was on The Bachelor for multiple reasons, but
mostly because she got to meet you. And I mean
it when I say for as weird as that season was,
for as messed up as it is, and trying to
navigate something that you have no familiarity with, They're one
(35:35):
of the coolest parts about being on the show back
in my twenties was now being, at thirty six years old,
able to look at all these people that showed up
to that mansion that night, from all different walks of life,
and to see where their lives are today, with their kids,
with their families, and then look at my family and
go goodness, like, I don't think Jessica meets me without
(35:55):
that show, which means my daughter doesn't exist without that show.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
And so I'm thankful that she was there because now
I get to see something beautiful and I get to
meet you and get to talk to you. Thanks for
sharing today, Thanks for coming on here again. On some
big things are happening. You're going on tour with Rascal Flats.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Yeah, so excited about that.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
I toured with them this past year on your their
reunion tour.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Uh. It was incredible, had so much.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Fun just as a fan center over there on the
side of the stage, singing along to every song every night.
It was so much fun. So they decided to go
out again this year, and I got that call to
go do it again. So I'm very excited for that.
It's a nice way to kick the year off.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
The timing of it is tough, Newborns. Sure, yeah, we'll
get through.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
It, and people can listen to songs. You know, some
of your greatest hits, some of the songs people know
and love that you've come out with, but also the
new album Shade Tree. I'm sure you'll be playing a
lot of that.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Oh yeah, definitely play the hits. It's a forty minute set,
so I blink and it's over with.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Yeah. Sure, but yeah, I try. I'm action packed.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
I fit as many of them as I possibly can
in there during that time. Man, you are blessed and
I'm blessed to have you here. Thanks for joining, Chris,
appreciate it, but.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Thanks for having me brother. Hey friends, thanks for listening
or watching.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
Would you take a second, follow, subscribe, and drop a comment.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
It really helps
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