July 15, 2024 • 51 mins
Oliver is joined by founding member of the platinum selling trio 'Lady A' singer and sibling Charles Kelley.
Find out why the country-music superstar credits his pop star brother Josh Kelley for his own musical success.
He tells us how his brother's fame shaped his own trajectory, and how close he was to losing it all due to alcohol.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I am Kate Hudson and my name is Oliver Hudson.
We wanted to do something that highlighted our relationship and
what it's like to be siblings. We are a sibling Railvalry.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
No, no, sibling, you don't do that with your mouth, revelry.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
That's good. This Zalira Hudson reporting live from Aspen, Colorado. Yes,
we are back. I am back, sibling revelry. Uh, I
was just I was in Europe. I was in Europe.
(00:56):
You know what can I say? I apologize And I
had the best time with my family, had the best
time with my children. It was a memorable, memorable trip.
And now I'm here and I'm back, and I was sick.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
So my voice, I know, it sounds better now I
can talk like this and be a real podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I kind of wish my voice would stay this way. Anyway,
Enough about me, My guest, our guest, America's guest, Charles
Kelly is coming on right now. I actually know his brother.
I'm excited to talk to him about a few things,
(01:45):
especially his newfound sobriety, which I'm very interested in. Maybe
I needed to take a page out of his book.
If you know what I mean founding member of Lady
A formerly Lady Antebellum and bring him home. What is hey? Brother?
What's up dude? It's funny, Like it's not lost on
(02:08):
me right now that I look like a Warren traveler
who's found in the wood in the woods somewhere.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
It looks like he been on a bicycle for a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Maybe. Yeah, well, I I shot seventy three yesterday. I'm
a big golfer Myselfamn. Yeah. Well, your brother Josh, I've
known and I met him through golf. Yeah, he was
always a stick. I mean he was always a great golfer.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, I think, I mean Josh is always he was
the out of all of us brothers, like he if
he played more like he could be really really unbelievable.
He he just he's one of those guys. He's got
so many different hobbies, like you know, like that's the
only way I can kind of even hang with him
now is just because I probably played twice as much
golf as he does. But he beats the mess out
(02:58):
the ball. But it's fun, man. We have growing up.
We played a time of golf together and music.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
But how's your game?
Speaker 4 (03:06):
It's actually not bad.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Right now.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I think I'm a My handicaps like a four. I
mean I kind of you know, I fluctuate. I can
I can get down to a three, and I can
get as high as a seven. You know, it depends
on how much I play. But but I've been playing a.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Little bit better. I figure a little something out. You know.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
My wife is like, oh yeah, I bet you did it,
figured it out.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
It's so true. Man, Like you you figure one little
thing out and like, oh shit, okay, I'm in. I
got it, Like, sign me up. Where do I need
to go to like win a tournament? And then a
week later. It's just it's the most frustrating game. But
that's the beauty of it too.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
It's my favorite thing in the world. I don't know,
like you know, growing up and I gotta Georgia. He
had to play golf. But it's funny, I played so
much as a kid. I got to where, like in
high school and college, I didn't like it, and I
kind of lost my game and I kind of lost
the love of it. And finally, you know, I started
kind of getting out on the road a little bit
and playing. Honestly, you know, he really got me back
(04:07):
into the game in a big.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Way was Darius Rucker.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
We've done two tours together and he wakes up every
morning on the.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Road and plays. Yeah, he's obsessed, obsessive.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
I wouldn't play every day with him, but I would play, like,
you know, once a weekend with him, and you know,
he just gets up early and we get out there,
and I just slowly started kind of going all right,
you know, I don't have to be great at this,
I justly need to enjoy it. And slowly, but surely
I started kind of falling back in love with the game.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, I had. I had a similar situation because I
played my ass off. I became completely obsessed with the
game and I got down to a plus two, damn,
really out of my mind, and I eventually burn out
on it, you know what I mean. And I don't
like to practice anymore. I don't, I know. I just
(04:56):
go out and I'll play now and again. I'll get
hot on it for like weeks at a time, and
then just put it away. All the work that I
put into the game early on has allowed me to
play golf without having to practice much. And you know
what I mean, for sure, Yeah, I just love it.
Correct me if I'm wrong. But was Joshon to fly tying? Yeah,
(05:19):
jumping in everything? Yeah, because last time I saw him
and he's like, I'm like into tying flies and obsessed
because I'm a fly fisherman too.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Yeah, he's onto the new hobby now. He's he's a
leather He's a leatherman. He's making leather. He like literally
made me like a belt, He made me a guitar strap,
he made I think he made his wife Katie like
a saddle. I mean, the dude is he's so funny man,
but he's that way. Like growing up, we would you know,
we had this garage full of just all these tools
(05:50):
and just just junk around and you'd go out there
and he's like making either he's like disassembling like an
amplifier or like or like making like you know, some
little sculptures out of like wires, and he just was
was soldering iron.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
You know, just he always was that kind of guy.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Man. He like, you know, I consider myself I'm like
a one dimensional artist. Like I can say any write songs,
that's it. Paint I can't do any of that stuff.
But my brother is like a true artist. And since
where like he I think views the world, you know,
in a very artist Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I know I get that. What
was it like growing up? Did you guys have? How
many siblings did you have? So?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Yeah, I grew up so my dad my parents been
a horse. This house five But so my dad they
and mom, they they had I've got two oldest siblings,
a sister who's the oldest, Christy. Then John, and then
ten years later, same marriage, they had Josh. And then
my mom was like, well he needs a friend, and
(06:56):
so that me.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait, but your parents
not borced.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
No, they didn't divorce.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
They didn't divorce yet they had their first family essentially.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Yeah, so we had, say, they had John and Christy.
Ten years later, same marriage, had Josh and I and
then and then my dad got remarried and then I've
got well three half sisters. One of them passed, but
so my dad has had seven kids.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Yeah, so there's there's a lot, there's a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
What was that house like growing up? I mean, was
it wild? Was it fun? It was wild?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I mean it was fun. I mean Josh and I
were like twins. I mean we were eighteen months apart,
so you know, but it was interesting because, like you know,
ever since we were seven or eight, you know, both
of our oldest siblings were in college.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
You know, essentially it was just.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Josh and I and our mom, you know, living at
that house for the longest time. And I mean we
had a lot of freedom. It was kind of amazing,
you know. I feel like that happens a lot with
like that the youngest kids. It's kind of like, all right,
we've been there and done that, and so we have freedom.
And I mean it was wild. I mean there was
a lot of music, There was a lot of golf friends.
I mean, we our house was like the party house. Yeah,
(08:13):
especially in high school.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, that's like my house now because I have a
sixteen year old sixteen, fourteen, and eleven, and our house
is the party house. And interestingly enough, when I was
growing up, my house was the party house. Now that
I'm the parent, I think I create a safe space
for the kids, and essentially I'm not judging them, I'm understanding.
(08:36):
You know, I remember what it was like to be
sixteen years old, and I would rather our house be
sort of a safe harbor, yeah, you know, than having
them sort of be out on the street trying to
you know, manage. You know, I like that our house
is the place that everyone feels comfortable coming to, you know, as.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Long as as long as nobody's driving. It's like, hey,
we know you're going to sneak in this and that
and that.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
But it's yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
I mean that's my biggest fear because I gotta admit
I was bad about that.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
In high school.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
I was like, I'll take us somewhere, let's go.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, so that's.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Gonna be the thing I'll watch more than anything with
my little boy. But but yeah, it was. It was
just a fun environment, man. I mean we started out
really loving golf because our oldest brother, John, the one
that was ten years older than us, he played college
golf at wake for us. Wow, it was amazing. He
actually went and played on the Mini Tours for a
couple of years. But you know, as you know, there's
(09:32):
just it's so competitive, it's so hard. But he did
that for a while, so we always kind of worshiped him.
Wanted to be a golfer. And then I think, you know,
around when Josh and I were both about twelve thirteen,
we started picking up instruments.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
He picked up guitar, picked up drums.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
And started playing music, and you know kind of that
became more of our focus. But it was just really
fun place to grow up.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Was music in your family?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Do you know what they like to say that now,
Like my dad loves to be, like, oh us sing
in the church choir, and uh yeah. There was a
lot of music though in our family. My mom loved
like R and B and like I mean just just
worshiped like the Commodorees all that stuff. My dad was
(10:16):
a big country music fan. And then I had, you know,
my two siblings that were off in college bringing home
like R. E. M. Then it was like hooting a
blowfish and you know Dave Matthews and my old obsess
with like led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. So it was
this like crazy I think, you know, combination of influences
(10:38):
that you know, I even think kind of slipped into
a little bit of the sound of kind of where
I ended up, you know, especially with our band Lady
as very like southern rock meets country meets a little
you know, and I think, well, I think you can
say that about you know, a lot of this generation
of artists is. You know, we grew up and we
grew up in the mixtape generation, so like we look up.
(10:59):
We love country, we love pop music, we love it all,
you know, and so but but yeah, it was it
was really fun. I do think I do remember vividly though,
like my older brother bringing home Nirvana.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
I think I was ten years old and he had
he had one of those little discman you know, yeah,
literally listening to that incessantly and like feeling this like
visceral you know, from like smells like teen spirit and going.
I could only imagine that's in a little bit of
way of what it must have felt like to like
hear the Beatles for the first time, where it's just
(11:33):
like I could feel it like my whole It's like, yeah,
this is it. So yeah, it's cool. I do have
some of those kind of vivid memories.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
And then you you had a band before, lady A,
was that with your brothers?
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Well, back in middle school we had a band called
Inside Blue. We were doing like some blue.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Stuff in middle school.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Yeah, and inside Blue. Before that, we had a band
called Spork and like you know, like KFC the Spoon
and sports. You know, we're like twelve years old wearing uh.
One day at school, I wore a sport necklace and
got made fun of. So I took it off.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yours sport necklace, thinking it was like hot shit, I'm
always cool as shit.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I was like, man, I'm in a band called Sport.
Check out this sport. So, you know, played in a
lot of bands, you know, growing up, and and and
so I was the drummer and then I started kind
of singing and drumming at the same time. And you know,
it's funny. It was Josh like would switch off between
bass and a guitar, and I didn't know he could
(12:34):
sing like he never he was always a little I know,
it's hard to believe now. He was always a little
bit shy, which is crazy because Josh is like the
most gregarious. Yeah yeah, I know, but like in high school,
I don't know, he always kind of struck me as
a little bit shyer than me. And and so it's
funny when he went off to college, he went to
(12:56):
Old miss and you know, I was at Georgia, and
he started writing these songs and sent them to me.
I was like, damn, dude, I didn't know you could
sing like I think he you know, I don't know
if it was just because I was singing and he
just kind of had never really uh you know, felt
felt confidentenough to do it, and then you realize his
voice is like unbelievable. So so yeah, we kind of
(13:17):
played in a lot of cover bands, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Growing up.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
We would play like, you know, different weddings, sort of
like our parents' friends, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'd
play like, you know, forty five minutes and then and
then I'd like DJ for forty five minutes. Yeah, you know,
we get back up there and play some more.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
But when did it get serious? You know, I know,
was it always something that you wanted to do? Meaning no, no, yeah,
because I was reading about I was reading about you.
You you had did you get a degree in finance? Thing?
And like you were on a different path.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Yeah for sure. I mean, so it's funny, you know,
growing up, I had these I love how I grew
up because my parents were divorced. My dad was a
cardiologist and then my mom, you know, stayed at home
and took care of us, and and I had these
like two different lives where I could like go to
the country club on the weekends at my dad's, but
(14:06):
then like be home and then kind of live more
of a normal, suburban kind of interesting life. And so
it was it was really interesting kind of some of
the different worlds I would pop into, you know, and
I my dad was a really hard worker, and I think,
you know, there was definitely a part of me that
was like, Okay, I want to be successful, you know.
I was. I always have felt like I was a
(14:28):
you know, a realist at heart. I was like, this
is a pipe, golf's piper, music's pipe. But it'll be
a fun party trick, you know, the wedding to hop
up and sing Mustang Salary or something. And so honestly,
if I mean honest, It wasn't until Josh uh, you know,
he had started posting some music in college it ole
(14:51):
miss and ended up randomly like catching the attention of
this guy from Hollywood Records, got a record deal, and
I started seeing Josh has success, and that was when
I was like, oh my gosh, like maybe I could
try to do that. But even then, it wasn't really
you know, it wasn't really a realistic goal of mine.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I just didn't think it was you know, possible, and So.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
I had graduated Georgia in two thousand and four, and
I went and worked with my oldest brother in Winston
Salem and we were like flipping houses. And I would
like even he owned like like co and this like
you know dump truck hal you know, like a waste
hauling company too, and so like I would be like
in a waste truck half of time.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
And I was like, I got this.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Finance degree, this this great degree over here.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Like a landfill.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Half the time I'm knocking out asbestos walls.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
And I was like, I thought I was gonna be
like a finance guy.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
And so long story short, about a year outside of school,
I call up. I went out on the road with
Josh for like two weeks and he opened up for
Dave Matthews in the summer, and I got done with that,
and I was like.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
That's exciting for you, right, I mean huge, there's exciting me.
Is there is there envy or jealous super sure?
Speaker 4 (16:12):
For sure?
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know, because you know we've had siblings on for
forty years now, and obviously Josh isn't here. But I
always ask that question when you have one who's you know,
maybe more famous than the other because I deal with
that with Kate. You know, I'm happy with my career.
I want it to be better, like we all kind
of do, and just move forward and be more creative.
But Kate has achieved this great success, and of course
(16:34):
I have envy, and I admitted it. You know, it's
like I wish I could have that. I want that.
You know, most siblings don't. They don't they say no, no, no,
I'm just I'm nothing. I'm just so happy, and of
course you're happy, but there has to be something where
it's like, god, damn it, I want that.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, it's I was about to say, it's kind of
it's an interesting thing because it's envy. But it's not
like you don't want them to have it, you know.
It's just more like like to share in that with you.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, it's not poison, you know, I think.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
That's what it is. More it was like, oh, man, gosh,
you know, I wish I wish I could do that,
or maybe Josh and I could start a band one day,
or some one of those types of thoughts, you know.
And so but I say it all the time. If
he was the one that encouraged me, He's like Charles
what do you got to lose. He's like, you can
always like move to Atlanta and get a finance job.
He goes, just come to Nashville because he had just
(17:26):
moved to Nashville. He'd been in LA for a while
and he just bought this place in Nashville. He fell
in love with it, and so I moved to Nashville
and I'm living in this house for free at his house. Well,
around the same time he meets Catherine, and so if
he's done on the road, he's in La. So I
find myself like in this house alone. I don't know anybody,
(17:48):
but at least I'm not paying rent. Yeah, and it's
pretty much just got like hammered all day and did
what to do. And that was kind of you know
eventually why I called up my Dave Haywood, who's in
the group with us, and said, hey, man, I like,
I don't know anybody. I know you're in Atlanta working, Like,
do you mind if I ride up to Atlanta some
(18:09):
write some and then he would come to Nashville. And
you know, that's a whole other story. But basically though,
Josh is the reason I'm in the music hands.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Down, and then the breaks. You know, when did it
become real for you to We're like, holy shit, because
look where you are now, dude, I mean, you know,
a successful band.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Yeah, I mean it's it's up to ups and downs
like everything.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
But yeah, we've been in a.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Band now for eighteen years, which is kind of crazy
to think. But so this is two thousand and five.
I'm in Nashville, and again I'm kind of there. I'm
kind of floundering a little bit. But I say this,
it was still a short.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Period of time.
Speaker 4 (18:56):
I'm now floundering for a few months and didn't really
know what to do, and you know, Josh will kind
of come in and try to introduce me some people.
But it wasn't until Dave decided to quit his job
in Atlanta. He had this like great job too. Dave's
super smart guy. He had just like you know, computer
(19:18):
accounting job at some place, and so he kind of
had the same thing. I think he was just never
felt like it was a realistic goal. And but he
was always talented. I knew, you know, I grew up
with Dave and he would always play in the youth
group and stuff. He was a really just a great kid.
And and you know, I just always remember him being
(19:39):
super talented. So anyways, you know, I kind of talk
him into coming out and write, and well, he kind
of gets the bug too. We start doing some shows
under my name, and you know, he's kind of producing
this stuff with for me and like writing these songs
with me, and and around about three or four months
of us doing this, I ran into Hillary at a
(20:01):
bar in Nashville and she was kind of singing with
a little cover band. She would like, go up and
sing a song, come off, go up, sing a song,
come off, and and it was the craziest thing. She
actually I had started putting up some music on MySpace
really dating. She loved my brother, so she loves Usha's music,
(20:24):
and she's like, hey, I know who you are. It's
like you're Charles. You're Josh Kelly's brother. I saw you
and like his top friends, I checked out your music.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
You're pretty good.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
I mean, the first time anybody ever recognized me. I
didn't have you know, nobody was listening unless they were
fans of Josh, and then they would kind of click over.
And so anyways, that kind of opened the door and
I was like, Hey, we should get together and write
some songs, you know, really, I mean honestly, thinking maybe
I'll get like a date out.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Of this or something.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
And so anyway, she comes over and we write, you know,
Dave sitting at the piano in there, and like we
play her this little idea we had and she just
starts finishing the line, and you know it was It
was the first song we ever wrote, was this song
called All We'd Ever Need, which ended up being on
our first record, and it was just this weird thing. Man,
(21:16):
I like, we started writing some songs. Honestly, I think
Dave and I thought maybe we would just write songs
for her, Like she had this voice. We were like,
this girl is a star. She's already she was already
kind of tied in with some people in Nashville. And
so after about like the fourth or fifth song and
we had them kind of recorded, I was like, man,
(21:39):
there's something here. And I was like, I caught up Hillary,
and I was like, I got this crazy idea of
starting a vand I was like, no pressure, we'll just
do it on the side. If it doesn't take off
or nobody cares, no big deal. Well, you know, I'll
chase my thing. You chase your thing. And immediately it
was just like we put it up in it was
just amazing to just you could just tell it had something,
(22:02):
you know, and my friends and my dad like called
me up and was like.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Whatever this is this is and Josh said the same thing.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
He was like, we had Love Don't Live Here, which
was our first single, and just a little, you know,
crummy little demo of it up there, and Josh was like,
this is this is really cool. And so we started
just doing some little shows in Nashville. Our first show
we opened up for Josh place called Third and Lensley,
And so again comes back to my brother. I mean,
he was a huge He was a huge launching pad
(22:32):
for us, and just every month or so we started
doing another show and it grew, and I think by
our fourth or fifth show, maybe a little bit more
than that, we started having some label people come by,
and you know, within I think six months of starting
this group, we had like three record deal offers. It
was like, I really just think it was just because
(22:53):
there wasn't many groups. It's like I feel like everything
is right time, right place. Yeah, I mean, it was
just there wasn't many groups that were doing much at
the time, and especially with I think two lead singers,
you know, kind of going back. It was just it
had the harmony part, but it was like, you know,
we definitely were We're kind of coming in I think
(23:15):
with a little bit of a different fresh sound that
was happening at the time, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Man, So when that happens from sort of trying to
find trying to get a date potentially, you know, of
course extremely talented and wanting to write music, but it's like,
oh it, she's cute from there, and then six months
later you're kind of on your way. I mean, that's
that's I mean, do you would you have moments where
(23:42):
you're standing there and out of the shower or whatever
and be like, holy shit, are you kidding?
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Like what I have moments now? At the time, At
that time, I didn't. I mean, it wasn't happening. It
wasn't happening fast enough for me at the.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Time, which is I got it interesting.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Like I mean, I literally, if I'm being honest, I
had kind of told myself, if something doesn't happen when
I moved to Nashville within like two years, I'm moving
to I'm going and just doing the normal, normal thing.
I'm getting a dusk job, which is hilarious now because
I can't imagine doing anything.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I know.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
I feel like, you know what I mean, I feel
like I had just like for the longest time it
blocked off this like certain side of the brain.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Whichever is the artistic side, is it left? Right? I
think it's the right. I don't know. Whatever it is.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
It was, and you know, a little bit of that
I think comes from like growing up in like Augusta, Georgia.
You know, you just like, well, this is what you do,
you go do this. There's not I wouldn't call growing
up in Augusta, Georgia's the most artistic environment. It's not
like growing up in Austin or even in Nashville, you know,
or and so.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
You know, it was.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
It was just crazy though, Like I remember just having
this weird confidence and I don't know if I've ever
gotten that confidence to that level back since then. Those
first two or three years, I just felt like I
knew and we knew where we were going, we knew.
(25:11):
It felt fresh. I don't know, it just it wasn't
until maybe the industry can kind of kick you in
the ass a few times that you start then second
guessing and the pressure starts building. I don't think I
really started feeling, you know, a little bit of the pressure.
And the second guessing to the third record, it was
like we follow up needs you now, and I remember
(25:33):
we cut like half the record and the labels like,
I don't think we have the first single. And it
was the first time like they weren't just losing their
shit over everything we gave them, you know, for the records.
It was just like this is amazing, this is amazing,
it's amazing. And then it was like, I don't think
we have it. And that was like the first time
I remember kind of being like, oh man, is it
(25:53):
is this a good song? Is it not? And so
you know I've battled that probably ever since.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Well it's funny. It's it's where it's where our stream
meets business, you know, it's it's I mean every time, yeah,
because it's like you said, those first couple of records,
you're just like a free wheeling everyone loves everything you do,
and then all of a sudden, now we don't have it.
So now you are having to write to to something
(26:20):
rather than straight from your heart. Now it's like, okay,
we have to write a fucking single. What does that mean?
You're like, what do you mean write a single? How
did Well?
Speaker 4 (26:28):
That's you know, well that's and that's what's so funny.
I mean our first single, which you know, you know,
most most songs two versus three choruses, the bridge. Our
first single was literally two verses before you even got
to the chorus, and then it had a half verse
and then a chorus out, so like it didn't have
a bridge, had two choruses, not three. It didn't even
(26:50):
get to the first chorus till like a minute and
a half. I was like, because we didn't know how
to write a hit song, but that's what fresh. It
just felt good. It wasn't formulaic. After needs you now
it was like, all right, we need another one of those,
and it was like, well that just happened. I don't
know how it happened.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
You I'm right, And so you know, it's just funny.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
Well, and also to feel like, you know, the more
records you go, it's like, you know, no one's ever
going to hear you like they heard you in the
beginning because it was new, it was fresh, and so
it's like you get half the people are like, oh,
it sounds like a last record, and the other half
are like, oh, I just wish they'd do what they
did before, you know, so you're always battling these demons,
and I feel like probably over the past three or
(27:33):
four years is when I finally have kind of come
to this, like, you know, just enjoy the process and
not the outcome so much, because I think people are
always going to come out to our shows to hear
those first three or.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Four records and those hits.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
But it doesn't mean like our die, our fans and
people won't discover the new stuff, and that every now
and then we can't have another you know, number one
song here and there. But at the end of the day,
people are coming out to our show to hear needs
You Now American Run to You, you know, because that's
was the first time they heard it also brings back memories.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
So as a as a band, now, do you guys
ever think let's do something wild? You know, we've been
doing this for eighteen years. Let's do something so off
the off the book, something that you know, not not
not on purpose, not for shock value, not to try
to you know, gain followers, as the kids sort of
say these days, but more of let's just experiment.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
I think I think we're definitely in that phase and
we and we have to a point. You know, there's
definitely been been some songs you know, if anybody's watching
or listening, that you know kind of has followed our career.
You know, we've had songs like this song called bartend
or Downtown or you Look Good that had horns in it,
which was definitely a different sound than you know, kind
(28:48):
of our earlier stuff. But there has always been a
thread of that, you know, I will speak personally, I
have you know, I did a solo record about eight
years ago, that's right, yeah, and just for fun, you know,
and that I've actually been kind of you know, I'm like, okay,
we've been banned out seventy and eighteen years. We're you know,
we got families, We're not doing as many albums. I
(29:08):
have been kind of chasing something down that feels very
different and authentic to me that I you know, it's
hard though with a band. It's like I can't be like, hey,
this is where I want to go, y'all. I want
y'all to go with me. You know, I can present
it to them and see and vice versa. You know,
they could throw something at me and I'll be like,
(29:29):
I don't really want to go down that road, you know.
So you know, I think it's always a compromise with
a group.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Have you had moments, you know, where to fall out
is it's going to work, We're done, I hate you,
I'm out of here, I love you. You know. Yeah,
has it been pretty consistently.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
I mean we've had some moments where, like, you know,
it's gotten a little heated. Stopped drinking two years ago,
and that was a big point of contention for a
long time. You know. I always kind of felt like
I kept it under pretty goo control, especially on stage.
But you know, there were definitely some moments here and there.
But you know, we've def some moments where it was
(30:07):
just like, I'm in a group of like two of
the nicest people in the entire universe, right Hillary, They're
super religious, they're super friendly, they're super kind, And I
definitely had moments where I could be a little aggressive
and it wasn't even I think my intention to be
like a dick. I just was like I think this
is what we should do or this, you know, And
sometimes I think I could be dismissive without really realizing it,
(30:31):
you know, And that's something I've had to work on
a lot.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
And how much how much did the booze contribute to Oh? Totally.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
I mean you get done with the show and then
you start drinking more, and then you start rattling off
what we did wrong or what could have been better
or this or that, and everything I feel like has
changed for the better since I stopped.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
I want to talk about that. It's just like, I mean,
what a big moment in your life, you know. I
mean I'm not about how was it really bad? When
did you start drinking? When did you maybe realize that, like, shit, man,
this could be an issue.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
I mean, it never got like again, everybody, you know,
my wife would probably say the opposite, but I felt
like it never got to where I was like, you know,
lying at a gutter or doing this, or like waking
up every morning and like pouring a giant you know thing,
a OJ or whatever. But I definitely golf was a
big part of it. Like it was my excuse, Like
I get off the road, I go out the golf
(31:36):
course eight thirty. Well I always play a little better
after a few cocktails, so.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
I did interrupt, but I did you know I played yesterday.
It's it's like Pavlovian get to the golf course at ten. Yeah,
I got two double vodka grapefruit juice to start the
fucking day, you know, and you just drinking and have
been fun and I put a little dip in. I'm
just like, yeah, now we're off to the races. It's
(32:02):
so crazy. Golf is like it's hard. It's the most
socially acceptable.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Well, I was in you know, my two loves, you know,
outside my family or golf of music, and there's the
two most socially acceptable arenas to drinking that you have.
And so again I think it was like I was
going out all the time drinking.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
I wasn't it.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
It was just like casual drinking or like you know,
even like getting off stage and like you know, staying
up till two three in the morning watching Netflix, and
like next thing I know, I've had you know, five
Woodford on the rocks for no reason after I already
been drinking before and during the show, and it was
(32:44):
just like, okay, this is this has gotten bad. So
I didn't like the way I felt, didn't like the
way I was looking yeah, and you know, when things
were hard, I mean, I think my wife was. It
definitely was creating a little odd attension with.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Her because she was she was just like, you're you're
drinking too much.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Yeah, have like a you know, a kid, well boy,
and I just you know, I think, honestly, what it
was a lot of it was coming home from the
golf course drunk. And you know, I have to admit
I was driving home drunk, you know, and I get
back and it was like, okay, we got a kid,
like he could kill yourself, kill someone else.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
And ruin our entire life.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
And so yeah, but you know, it was tough at first,
and then it's weird. It kind of I have been
drinking since I was fifteen, and I'm I feel like
I've accomplished every everything that a man could.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Do in his drinking career.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Yea eyes lows the in betweens. And honestly, it had
stopped being fun about four or five years ago. Anyways,
Like once it started, like once I could tell like
I needed it, Like it wasn't even like I was
doing it to you know, I don't know, like in
a casual or even like in a social setting. I
was just doing it to do it like it was
(33:59):
just habit. And that was when I was kind of like,
this isn't even fun anymore. So it's funny. I've kind
of like, I don't know, it's really reframed how I
look at life, like I've just kind of looked at
it like, hey, that was that was a chapter. Now
what can I accomplish without this thing? And so it
kind of frees up a little more of your mind,
you know, like when you're bored. Because I really think
(34:19):
that's half the reason I was drinking.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
It was just like boring.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Okay, I'm sitting here, what can I what can make me,
you know, sitting out here looking like right now, looking
at you know, out here at.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
The pool a little bit more fun? Well, cocktail is
going to do that. You're like, you're literally like speaking
what goes on in my mind? Yeah, because I again,
I function. I'm an amazing dad. But sometimes I feel
like I drink too much. You know. I got the
same thing like if I have to because we're in
(34:51):
the mountains with the most beautiful view of the mountains,
and you know, if I sit out there without any
kind of advice, I feel like I'm missing something.
Speaker 4 (34:58):
Exactly and that thinks a while, Yeah, it will, and
you'll have to like I mean that'll like slowly. You know.
It took me a little while too, because I mean,
you know, I mean I never used to read. Like
the last few years, I've probably gone through eighty books,
and I'm like come from like I'm starting to pick
up other little things. There's definite moments though, don't get
(35:18):
me wrong. I'm like when I'm sitting on the beach
sometimes like ah, cocktail will be real nice right now,
or like you know, cocktail parties are really or you know,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I can enjoy them.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
I can hang for a little while, but like you know,
long dinners when they start getting past two hours, and
I'm like basically that, I mean, I could sit there
and go through wine all night with someone, but I
feel like it's like one of those little you know,
weights where you kind of like it's like all right,
that's that's gone. But now, like I craved the mornings
(35:49):
and like I'm waking up at six thirty seven and
I'm like getting my day started. So it's like I
feel like I gain you know, hopefully, like you know,
my my reward is bigger than than that loss.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
You know. Yeah, this is like a good moment for
me even talking because I know for real, because I
just feel exactly what you're saying. You know, it's just
about getting through the transition of that. And I've had moments,
you know, like even my voice is a little fucked
up because I was sick, you know, and just like
(36:21):
a chesty thing. So I didn't drink and I didn't
do it, and I woke up every morning and I
was like, man, this is it just feels so good,
so fresh, you know, we don't feel like crap. And
actually yesterday was the first day drink in like a
week because and now I wake up this morning, I'm like, oh, man,
like I had fun yesterday, but is it like worth
(36:43):
it right now? You know? So how did that? How
did that transition work? Though? Like, how did you did
you just stop or how did you get through it?
Speaker 4 (36:52):
Well? I actually went to I went to a like
a little place. It was definitely a pretty boogie, little,
you know, little kind of rehab place in which I
I swore up and down I'd never do anything like it,
and you know, and I'm in there with you know,
people that I would consider are little or definitely more,
you know, really like like I said, waking up polishing
(37:16):
off of dog, I'm handlovaka, you know. I mean I
wasn't there, but it was weird. I could started hearing
their stories. It's like, oh man, I could have gotten
there like maybe ten years, like just slowly, because if
I really look at it, I mean I went from
weekend Warrior to then this or that, you know a
couple of beers and I you know, maybe you have
(37:36):
you know, raging night here and there to literally every
day golf course. If I was golfing, definitely drinking early,
but even take that away, I'd go if I was writing,
I would or a few cocktails while I was writing
a song on that day. Definitely when I came home
at five, it was on and I would drink till midnight.
Like I pretty much could have a drink in my
(37:58):
hand all the time. If it was if honestly, if
my wife wasn't looking like she's the reason I didn't
get further faster. But it was it was really cool. Man.
I look back at it, and I'm like, if like
alcohol is one thing, but really I feel like I
was spiritually kind of void. I definitely did not have
(38:22):
any connection with any higher power of any kind. Like
I just was like, I don't know if I believe.
Maybe I do, maybe I don't. And it was weird.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Man.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
I was there for about a month, and it just
reframed how I kind of looked at life. And I
was kind of I even kind of knew over the
past five or six years that like I was waiting
for something to happen to kind of push me. I
was like, something's going to happen in my life that
makes me start looking, you know, for what is the
(38:53):
meaning of life?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
What is this?
Speaker 4 (38:55):
You know, who's up there? Is anything up there? You
know those kind of those kind of questions. And so
I feel like, in a weird way, it was kind
of a blessing, you know, some things that kind of
come together at the same time, where like my wife
was like, you got to do something about this or else,
and it was around the same time my band was
kind of feeling that way too. And so I look
(39:17):
back and I mean I'm like, damn, thank god, you know,
And now it's been I just celebrated two years about
a week ago, and it's just I don't know, it's
wild I never thought I could do it, that's for
damn sure.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Were you there for a month straight?
Speaker 4 (39:31):
Well you get a phone at night and in the morning,
but like no cell phone, just kind of completely just
immerse yourself with other people. And it was wild how
the stories, how connected the stories were, you know, and
different but still like the same, you know, usually a
very similar, little little little thread of like how you
(39:54):
got there.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
And you know, and what'd you tell your kid? You know,
I mean told them I is it feelings Feelings Camp?
Speaker 4 (40:03):
He loves we're all about like I think since then
he's kind of realized it was about, you know, drinking,
because they're like, you know, he's eight years old, so
at the time he was six and yeah, and we're
always telling him to be in touch with his feelings.
And when we're like Daddy's at feelings came, he's like,
I want to go to Feelings Camp. Like I don't
want you to have to go to But it was
(40:24):
it was honestly amazing. I mean, I like I'd always
like looked at it as like, Okay, this is a
place for people that you know, wake up in the
freaking bushes. Yes, it's like it's not I mean it
really is and and you know, almost felt like you're
you're talking about just how to be and how to live,
how to deal with anxiety, how to deal with you know,
all kinds of different you know, just pressures that kind
(40:48):
of come in, uh, in your way.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
And but yeah, it was it was like I love that.
I love that.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
Man.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
I want to go to Feelings camp too, go to Feelings. No,
that's great, And how how how has it impacted your
new life so to speak as you sort of talked
talked about this next sort of chapter. Yeah, and it's
exciting because you're like, oh what what what now? You
know it's almost a new guy.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
I think it makes so much things more possible for
me now. I mean my relationship with my wife is
a whole different thing now. I mean it went from
where literally there was a lot of little resentments. You know,
I felt like she was trying to parent me, which
is really she was just worried about me, looking out
for me. I mean, our connection is so much stronger.
I feel like I'm way more present, you know, with
(41:34):
my kid. And the dynamic with a band has changed
a ton. I think they know they don't have to
worry about about me or what I might you know,
how I might react to certain situations and and you know,
again I always thought like I showed up on the
stage and saying well and did this. But then I
kind of was reminded about certain little moments where I
(41:55):
was like, oh, yeah, I remember that night. I definitely
had about, you know, for solo, cups of whiskey before
that show, you know. I mean, it wasn't like I
was like I'd be like, oh, I just had one
whiskey or two whiskeys.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
It was like, no, those were like yeah, you know.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
Exactly, And so like there was some of those little
moments too, So I don't know, it just it takes
away this It's taken away this crutch I think, and
I have to just kind of be myself. And I've
just enjoyed it. Man, It's weird, I think it though.
It definitely has got me dreaming again about where I
want to go and maybe even some things outside of
(42:32):
music that I might want to try, you know, but definitely,
like even like the solo project, eventually, I like, I
don't know if it'll be something I put out next year,
the next year, the next year, but I'm starting to
work on it, and like we were talking about, I'm
not afraid if it doesn't do anything or people don't
get it, or I'm like, well, what have I got
(42:54):
to prove anymore? Like I don't want to I mean,
I want it to be successful. I think that's the
hardest thing. When you've had a little us you set
this bar so high. But I think over the years,
I finally realized that, you know, I really just need
to make music that I love and that the fans
kind of can tell when you're when you're bullshit and
when you and when you're really into it. And so
(43:15):
I don't know, I don't know if I would have
had the balls to chase this sound that I'm kind
of potentially going after.
Speaker 2 (43:22):
So I don't know.
Speaker 4 (43:22):
I think it's just going to open up a different
way of looking at my career as well. And I
think I just appreciate a little bit more, you know.
I think I was kind of getting to this place
where I was like, all right, we've accomplished all we're
probably going to accomplish in our career, you know, probably
you know, and I'll go I'll have kind of like,
you know, I'll be Peter paying for the weekend, get hammered,
(43:45):
do these songs I've sang a million times, come back
home and get back to real life. And now I
look at it in a little bit of a different way,
you know.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
So that's cool. I love that. It's so great, man,
that's so great. How is that first time on the
golf course?
Speaker 4 (44:00):
On the golf course, I didn't know. Honestly.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
It took au.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
It took a few rounds, you know, because I was like,
you can't lie and say that a good little buzz
doesn't help. Yeah, probably me was a good little buzz
was great for a while, and then it turned into
where you couldn't see the fucking l.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Oh dude by the fourteentheenth You're like, ship, I overshot this, Yeah, you.
Speaker 4 (44:25):
Got it was it was always a perfect balance you
had to maintain. But it hadn't heard my golf game. Honestly,
I mean, I'm it took me a couple of rounds
to feel comfortable with it.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Well, what about just the Pavlovian aspect, like you you're
the golf that that wasn't there. You're like, oh, I'm good.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
That took a few times. But like I, you know,
I always I have little treats like I started doing
like those little zen things I used to ever Doeen.
Of course I do those, and that's helped the little bit.
But like you know, I'll have like a whether it's
coke or a red Bull or something to make me
feel like I'm doing something bad for myself.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, yeah, and so that's kind of helped.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
But I the crazy thing is nobody, you know, I
was wondering if like my buddies will give a shit.
Nobody cares. Everybody's focused on their own drinking and their
own game and their own you know what I mean.
So like, yeah, no one's like, oh dude, you're not
drinking today, Like no one. I mean, all my buddies
know anyways, but no one shit, Like no one cares.
And you know, so there's no like of that like
(45:32):
fitting in type of thing. But you know, there's definitely
not like that hanging out the golf course for three
hours after all. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
I see. It's funny because that's when I think about
I'm talking. I'm talking as if I'm I've got a problem,
but I I don't. I don't think I do, honestly,
to be straight up, But there's a part of me
that's like, you're drinking not just too much, but I
feel like if I don't have a drink, I'm not
going to enjoy the moment. And when you get to
(46:01):
that point, then that's why I've been questioning myself, meaning
like same as you, I'm not. I mean, when I
get going, I can get going, you know what I mean.
And I hold my liquor very well. And it's not
like you would know I'm not an outrageous drunk any way,
you wouldn't probably even know. But I can put them back.
This idea of never drinking again is almost scary. It's like, well, well,
(46:22):
I have fun in my life, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (46:25):
Like, I think self awareness is the biggest thing. I mean,
and you seemed like self aware of it. And so
I mean, even if whether it's this or another moment
can be something, just be like, Okay, I recognized that
this can get somewhere. Let's maybe hold it back here
and there in those moments. You know a lot of
a lot of my buddies, of course, when I went
through this or like, yeah, I need to start looking
at my drinking too. And I'm like, at the end
(46:47):
of the day. You know, I go back, I'm like, God,
I wish I could have just done this or this
or that. But the truth is, for me, it was
I tried that many times, like to just have two
or three drinks or just beer and wine no liquor.
To me, it was almost easier. And it's not like
just for everybody, but it was so much easier for
me is to just say all or nothing, Like I
(47:09):
to choose fuck my family, fuck everybody. I'm just it's
going to be all or you know, and like to
me it because it would just piss me off. Like
on certain night, like some days, I was fine to
just have two or three beers, but then like you know,
when we were out a nice dinner or somele thing
for you know, four or five hours, and it was
like I'd already had my my two or three drinks
(47:31):
and I'm like looking at my wife like kind I
just want to have a little bit more, And it
was like that almost pissed me off. War So it
was easy for me to just make that decision. But
I do think if if some people that kind of
you know, bust, that that have that that that little inkling,
that hey, maybe I need to control it, like if
I could have gone back and tried to rein it
in a little bit. But everything happens for reason, and
(47:54):
for me, it's it's been a great journey. But I
think you you know, I would just always just kind
of a sess it and kind of see see where
you're at with it, and seems like pretty self aware.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, no, I am, I am. Well we'll see. But
this has been an inspiring conversation for me too, man,
Like it's inspiring because, like you said, it doesn't you
don't have to be passed out in the fucking gutter. Yeah. Yeah.
An issue is just about assessing what you want in
(48:24):
your life, how you want to move forward, how you
want to feel. When you said, now you're a morning guy, like,
I love that, you know, it just feels so good
to wake up early and start your day and feel
great throughout the day. You know. I want to see
it up sometime too, man, I want let's let's do it.
Speaker 4 (48:43):
I'll need a couple of side though, for sure.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
Yeah, No, I'm I'm. I would love to. Are you
you live in Nashville still?
Speaker 4 (48:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (48:51):
Yeah, I worked out, I did. I was on the
show in Nashville for two years.
Speaker 4 (48:54):
I know it.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, so I was. I lived there
for a little bit. It was I love Nashville, dude.
Speaker 4 (49:00):
I think that show. People always ask me all the
time because I've been in Nationville since two thousand and
five and the amount of growth that happened, and I
literally have said it in so many different interviews into
people like that. I feel like it was this combination
of the all Show Nashville and then like artists like
you know, Luke Bryan, and like it was just something
(49:23):
was happening. But I feel like that show Nashville created
such an intrigue to the town, like this weird combination
that the town just blew up, right that that kind of.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
A I mean, I bought a couple of homes in
Cleveland Park, you know, back when I was doing the show,
and it was kind of a distressed neighborhood kind of
on the comp I did so well with those houses.
The place blew up. I wanted to keep buying more houses.
You can't. You can't go wrong in Nashville right now.
I appreciate you taking the time from this is fun. Yeah,
(49:58):
this is great, man. Don't don't spare any baby.
Speaker 4 (50:01):
Lobsters, no more, no more.
Speaker 2 (50:06):
All right, brother, Well let's connect man when you if
you come to La, let's figure it out' tee it up,
all right, buddy, all right, brother, have fun. I think
I made a new friend. Podcasting is so interesting, you know,
because you know, you wake up, you got a podcast
to do. To be honest, You're like, ah, fuck, man,
(50:28):
I don't I don't want to do this. It's summer.
I'm like, ah, I just want to go outside.
Speaker 3 (50:32):
You know.
Speaker 2 (50:33):
It's it's it's it's kind of a pain in the ass,
you know. And then you you know, you get yourself
to the computer and you set all your ship up
and and boom on comes Charles, and uh, you've just
spent a great hour talking to a great person who
has inspired you and who could become a good friend.
(50:56):
Like you know, it's it's amazing that way, it really is.
So that was that was great. I had a lot
of fun. And uh, yeah, maybe I need to go
to the Feelings camp. I laughed because I cry, and
(51:17):
I cry because I laugh. Anyway, all right, that's it.
I love you, Yes,
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I am Kate Hudson and my name is Oliver Hudson.
We wanted to do something that highlighted our relationship and
what it's like to be siblings. We are a sibling Railvalry.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
No, no, sibling, you don't do that with your mouth, revelry.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
That's good. This Zalira Hudson reporting live from Aspen, Colorado. Yes,
we are back. I am back, sibling revelry. Uh, I
was just I was in Europe. I was in Europe.
(00:56):
You know what can I say? I apologize And I
had the best time with my family, had the best
time with my children. It was a memorable, memorable trip.
And now I'm here and I'm back, and I was sick.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
So my voice, I know, it sounds better now I
can talk like this and be a real podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I kind of wish my voice would stay this way. Anyway,
Enough about me, My guest, our guest, America's guest, Charles
Kelly is coming on right now. I actually know his brother.
I'm excited to talk to him about a few things,
(01:45):
especially his newfound sobriety, which I'm very interested in. Maybe
I needed to take a page out of his book.
If you know what I mean founding member of Lady
A formerly Lady Antebellum and bring him home. What is hey? Brother?
What's up dude? It's funny, Like it's not lost on
(02:08):
me right now that I look like a Warren traveler
who's found in the wood in the woods somewhere.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
It looks like he been on a bicycle for a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Maybe. Yeah, well, I I shot seventy three yesterday. I'm
a big golfer Myselfamn. Yeah. Well, your brother Josh, I've
known and I met him through golf. Yeah, he was
always a stick. I mean he was always a great golfer.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, I think, I mean Josh is always he was
the out of all of us brothers, like he if
he played more like he could be really really unbelievable.
He he just he's one of those guys. He's got
so many different hobbies, like you know, like that's the
only way I can kind of even hang with him
now is just because I probably played twice as much
golf as he does. But he beats the mess out
(02:58):
the ball. But it's fun, man. We have growing up.
We played a time of golf together and music.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
But how's your game?
Speaker 4 (03:06):
It's actually not bad.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Right now.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I think I'm a My handicaps like a four. I
mean I kind of you know, I fluctuate. I can
I can get down to a three, and I can
get as high as a seven. You know, it depends
on how much I play. But but I've been playing a.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Little bit better. I figure a little something out. You know.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
My wife is like, oh yeah, I bet you did it,
figured it out.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
It's so true. Man, Like you you figure one little
thing out and like, oh shit, okay, I'm in. I
got it, Like, sign me up. Where do I need
to go to like win a tournament? And then a
week later. It's just it's the most frustrating game. But
that's the beauty of it too.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
It's my favorite thing in the world. I don't know,
like you know, growing up and I gotta Georgia. He
had to play golf. But it's funny, I played so
much as a kid. I got to where, like in
high school and college, I didn't like it, and I
kind of lost my game and I kind of lost
the love of it. And finally, you know, I started
kind of getting out on the road a little bit
and playing. Honestly, you know, he really got me back
(04:07):
into the game in a big.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Way was Darius Rucker.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
We've done two tours together and he wakes up every
morning on the.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Road and plays. Yeah, he's obsessed, obsessive.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
I wouldn't play every day with him, but I would play, like,
you know, once a weekend with him, and you know,
he just gets up early and we get out there,
and I just slowly started kind of going all right,
you know, I don't have to be great at this,
I justly need to enjoy it. And slowly, but surely
I started kind of falling back in love with the game.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, I had. I had a similar situation because I
played my ass off. I became completely obsessed with the
game and I got down to a plus two, damn,
really out of my mind, and I eventually burn out
on it, you know what I mean. And I don't
like to practice anymore. I don't, I know. I just
(04:56):
go out and I'll play now and again. I'll get
hot on it for like weeks at a time, and
then just put it away. All the work that I
put into the game early on has allowed me to
play golf without having to practice much. And you know
what I mean, for sure, Yeah, I just love it.
Correct me if I'm wrong. But was Joshon to fly tying? Yeah,
(05:19):
jumping in everything? Yeah, because last time I saw him
and he's like, I'm like into tying flies and obsessed
because I'm a fly fisherman too.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Yeah, he's onto the new hobby now. He's he's a
leather He's a leatherman. He's making leather. He like literally
made me like a belt, He made me a guitar strap,
he made I think he made his wife Katie like
a saddle. I mean, the dude is he's so funny man,
but he's that way. Like growing up, we would you know,
we had this garage full of just all these tools
(05:50):
and just just junk around and you'd go out there
and he's like making either he's like disassembling like an
amplifier or like or like making like you know, some
little sculptures out of like wires, and he just was
was soldering iron.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
You know, just he always was that kind of guy.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Man. He like, you know, I consider myself I'm like
a one dimensional artist. Like I can say any write songs,
that's it. Paint I can't do any of that stuff.
But my brother is like a true artist. And since
where like he I think views the world, you know,
in a very artist Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I know I get that. What
was it like growing up? Did you guys have? How
many siblings did you have? So?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Yeah, I grew up so my dad my parents been
a horse. This house five But so my dad they
and mom, they they had I've got two oldest siblings,
a sister who's the oldest, Christy. Then John, and then
ten years later, same marriage, they had Josh. And then
my mom was like, well he needs a friend, and
(06:56):
so that me.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait, but your parents
not borced.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
No, they didn't divorce.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
They didn't divorce yet they had their first family essentially.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Yeah, so we had, say, they had John and Christy.
Ten years later, same marriage, had Josh and I and
then and then my dad got remarried and then I've
got well three half sisters. One of them passed, but
so my dad has had seven kids.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
Yeah, so there's there's a lot, there's a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
What was that house like growing up? I mean, was
it wild? Was it fun? It was wild?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I mean it was fun. I mean Josh and I
were like twins. I mean we were eighteen months apart,
so you know, but it was interesting because, like you know,
ever since we were seven or eight, you know, both
of our oldest siblings were in college.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
You know, essentially it was just.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Josh and I and our mom, you know, living at
that house for the longest time. And I mean we
had a lot of freedom. It was kind of amazing,
you know. I feel like that happens a lot with
like that the youngest kids. It's kind of like, all right,
we've been there and done that, and so we have freedom.
And I mean it was wild. I mean there was
a lot of music, There was a lot of golf friends.
I mean, we our house was like the party house. Yeah,
(08:13):
especially in high school.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, that's like my house now because I have a
sixteen year old sixteen, fourteen, and eleven, and our house
is the party house. And interestingly enough, when I was
growing up, my house was the party house. Now that
I'm the parent, I think I create a safe space
for the kids, and essentially I'm not judging them, I'm understanding.
(08:36):
You know, I remember what it was like to be
sixteen years old, and I would rather our house be
sort of a safe harbor, yeah, you know, than having
them sort of be out on the street trying to
you know, manage. You know, I like that our house
is the place that everyone feels comfortable coming to, you know, as.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Long as as long as nobody's driving. It's like, hey,
we know you're going to sneak in this and that
and that.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
But it's yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
I mean that's my biggest fear because I gotta admit
I was bad about that.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
In high school.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
I was like, I'll take us somewhere, let's go.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, so that's.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Gonna be the thing I'll watch more than anything with
my little boy. But but yeah, it was. It was
just a fun environment, man. I mean we started out
really loving golf because our oldest brother, John, the one
that was ten years older than us, he played college
golf at wake for us. Wow, it was amazing. He
actually went and played on the Mini Tours for a
couple of years. But you know, as you know, there's
(09:32):
just it's so competitive, it's so hard. But he did
that for a while, so we always kind of worshiped him.
Wanted to be a golfer. And then I think, you know,
around when Josh and I were both about twelve thirteen,
we started picking up instruments.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
He picked up guitar, picked up drums.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
And started playing music, and you know kind of that
became more of our focus. But it was just really
fun place to grow up.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Was music in your family?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Do you know what they like to say that now,
Like my dad loves to be, like, oh us sing
in the church choir, and uh yeah. There was a
lot of music though in our family. My mom loved
like R and B and like I mean just just
worshiped like the Commodorees all that stuff. My dad was
(10:16):
a big country music fan. And then I had, you know,
my two siblings that were off in college bringing home
like R. E. M. Then it was like hooting a
blowfish and you know Dave Matthews and my old obsess
with like led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. So it was
this like crazy I think, you know, combination of influences
(10:38):
that you know, I even think kind of slipped into
a little bit of the sound of kind of where
I ended up, you know, especially with our band Lady
as very like southern rock meets country meets a little
you know, and I think, well, I think you can
say that about you know, a lot of this generation
of artists is. You know, we grew up and we
grew up in the mixtape generation, so like we look up.
(10:59):
We love country, we love pop music, we love it all,
you know, and so but but yeah, it was it
was really fun. I do think I do remember vividly though,
like my older brother bringing home Nirvana.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
I think I was ten years old and he had
he had one of those little discman you know, yeah,
literally listening to that incessantly and like feeling this like
visceral you know, from like smells like teen spirit and going.
I could only imagine that's in a little bit of
way of what it must have felt like to like
hear the Beatles for the first time, where it's just
(11:33):
like I could feel it like my whole It's like, yeah,
this is it. So yeah, it's cool. I do have
some of those kind of vivid memories.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
And then you you had a band before, lady A,
was that with your brothers?
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Well, back in middle school we had a band called
Inside Blue. We were doing like some blue.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Stuff in middle school.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Yeah, and inside Blue. Before that, we had a band
called Spork and like you know, like KFC the Spoon
and sports. You know, we're like twelve years old wearing uh.
One day at school, I wore a sport necklace and
got made fun of. So I took it off.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yours sport necklace, thinking it was like hot shit, I'm
always cool as shit.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I was like, man, I'm in a band called Sport.
Check out this sport. So, you know, played in a
lot of bands, you know, growing up, and and and
so I was the drummer and then I started kind
of singing and drumming at the same time. And you know,
it's funny. It was Josh like would switch off between
bass and a guitar, and I didn't know he could
(12:34):
sing like he never he was always a little I know,
it's hard to believe now. He was always a little
bit shy, which is crazy because Josh is like the
most gregarious. Yeah yeah, I know, but like in high school,
I don't know, he always kind of struck me as
a little bit shyer than me. And and so it's
funny when he went off to college, he went to
(12:56):
Old miss and you know, I was at Georgia, and
he started writing these songs and sent them to me.
I was like, damn, dude, I didn't know you could
sing like I think he you know, I don't know
if it was just because I was singing and he
just kind of had never really uh you know, felt
felt confidentenough to do it, and then you realize his
voice is like unbelievable. So so yeah, we kind of
(13:17):
played in a lot of cover bands, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Growing up.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
We would play like, you know, different weddings, sort of
like our parents' friends, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'd
play like, you know, forty five minutes and then and
then I'd like DJ for forty five minutes. Yeah, you know,
we get back up there and play some more.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
But when did it get serious? You know, I know,
was it always something that you wanted to do? Meaning no, no, yeah,
because I was reading about I was reading about you.
You you had did you get a degree in finance? Thing?
And like you were on a different path.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Yeah for sure. I mean, so it's funny, you know,
growing up, I had these I love how I grew
up because my parents were divorced. My dad was a
cardiologist and then my mom, you know, stayed at home
and took care of us, and and I had these
like two different lives where I could like go to
the country club on the weekends at my dad's, but
(14:06):
then like be home and then kind of live more
of a normal, suburban kind of interesting life. And so
it was it was really interesting kind of some of
the different worlds I would pop into, you know, and
I my dad was a really hard worker, and I think,
you know, there was definitely a part of me that
was like, Okay, I want to be successful, you know.
I was. I always have felt like I was a
(14:28):
you know, a realist at heart. I was like, this
is a pipe, golf's piper, music's pipe. But it'll be
a fun party trick, you know, the wedding to hop
up and sing Mustang Salary or something. And so honestly,
if I mean honest, It wasn't until Josh uh, you know,
he had started posting some music in college it ole
(14:51):
miss and ended up randomly like catching the attention of
this guy from Hollywood Records, got a record deal, and
I started seeing Josh has success, and that was when
I was like, oh my gosh, like maybe I could
try to do that. But even then, it wasn't really
you know, it wasn't really a realistic goal of mine.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I just didn't think it was you know, possible, and So.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
I had graduated Georgia in two thousand and four, and
I went and worked with my oldest brother in Winston
Salem and we were like flipping houses. And I would
like even he owned like like co and this like
you know dump truck hal you know, like a waste
hauling company too, and so like I would be like
in a waste truck half of time.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
And I was like, I got this.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Finance degree, this this great degree over here.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Like a landfill.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Half the time I'm knocking out asbestos walls.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
And I was like, I thought I was gonna be
like a finance guy.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
And so long story short, about a year outside of school,
I call up. I went out on the road with
Josh for like two weeks and he opened up for
Dave Matthews in the summer, and I got done with that,
and I was like.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
That's exciting for you, right, I mean huge, there's exciting me.
Is there is there envy or jealous super sure?
Speaker 4 (16:12):
For sure?
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know, because you know we've had siblings on for
forty years now, and obviously Josh isn't here. But I
always ask that question when you have one who's you know,
maybe more famous than the other because I deal with
that with Kate. You know, I'm happy with my career.
I want it to be better, like we all kind
of do, and just move forward and be more creative.
But Kate has achieved this great success, and of course
(16:34):
I have envy, and I admitted it. You know, it's
like I wish I could have that. I want that.
You know, most siblings don't. They don't they say no, no, no,
I'm just I'm nothing. I'm just so happy, and of
course you're happy, but there has to be something where
it's like, god, damn it, I want that.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, it's I was about to say, it's kind of
it's an interesting thing because it's envy. But it's not
like you don't want them to have it, you know.
It's just more like like to share in that with you.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, it's not poison, you know, I think.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
That's what it is. More it was like, oh, man, gosh,
you know, I wish I wish I could do that,
or maybe Josh and I could start a band one day,
or some one of those types of thoughts, you know.
And so but I say it all the time. If
he was the one that encouraged me, He's like Charles
what do you got to lose. He's like, you can
always like move to Atlanta and get a finance job.
He goes, just come to Nashville because he had just
(17:26):
moved to Nashville. He'd been in LA for a while
and he just bought this place in Nashville. He fell
in love with it, and so I moved to Nashville
and I'm living in this house for free at his house. Well,
around the same time he meets Catherine, and so if
he's done on the road, he's in La. So I
find myself like in this house alone. I don't know anybody,
(17:48):
but at least I'm not paying rent. Yeah, and it's
pretty much just got like hammered all day and did
what to do. And that was kind of you know
eventually why I called up my Dave Haywood, who's in
the group with us, and said, hey, man, I like,
I don't know anybody. I know you're in Atlanta working, Like,
do you mind if I ride up to Atlanta some
(18:09):
write some and then he would come to Nashville. And
you know, that's a whole other story. But basically though,
Josh is the reason I'm in the music hands.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Down, and then the breaks. You know, when did it
become real for you to We're like, holy shit, because
look where you are now, dude, I mean, you know,
a successful band.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Yeah, I mean it's it's up to ups and downs
like everything.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
But yeah, we've been in a.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Band now for eighteen years, which is kind of crazy
to think. But so this is two thousand and five.
I'm in Nashville, and again I'm kind of there. I'm
kind of floundering a little bit. But I say this,
it was still a short.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Period of time.
Speaker 4 (18:56):
I'm now floundering for a few months and didn't really
know what to do, and you know, Josh will kind
of come in and try to introduce me some people.
But it wasn't until Dave decided to quit his job
in Atlanta. He had this like great job too. Dave's
super smart guy. He had just like you know, computer
(19:18):
accounting job at some place, and so he kind of
had the same thing. I think he was just never
felt like it was a realistic goal. And but he
was always talented. I knew, you know, I grew up
with Dave and he would always play in the youth
group and stuff. He was a really just a great kid.
And and you know, I just always remember him being
(19:39):
super talented. So anyways, you know, I kind of talk
him into coming out and write, and well, he kind
of gets the bug too. We start doing some shows
under my name, and you know, he's kind of producing
this stuff with for me and like writing these songs
with me, and and around about three or four months
of us doing this, I ran into Hillary at a
(20:01):
bar in Nashville and she was kind of singing with
a little cover band. She would like, go up and
sing a song, come off, go up, sing a song,
come off, and and it was the craziest thing. She
actually I had started putting up some music on MySpace
really dating. She loved my brother, so she loves Usha's music,
(20:24):
and she's like, hey, I know who you are. It's
like you're Charles. You're Josh Kelly's brother. I saw you
and like his top friends, I checked out your music.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
You're pretty good.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
I mean, the first time anybody ever recognized me. I
didn't have you know, nobody was listening unless they were
fans of Josh, and then they would kind of click over.
And so anyways, that kind of opened the door and
I was like, Hey, we should get together and write
some songs, you know, really, I mean honestly, thinking maybe
I'll get like a date out.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Of this or something.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
And so anyway, she comes over and we write, you know,
Dave sitting at the piano in there, and like we
play her this little idea we had and she just
starts finishing the line, and you know it was It
was the first song we ever wrote, was this song
called All We'd Ever Need, which ended up being on
our first record, and it was just this weird thing. Man,
(21:16):
I like, we started writing some songs. Honestly, I think
Dave and I thought maybe we would just write songs
for her, Like she had this voice. We were like,
this girl is a star. She's already she was already
kind of tied in with some people in Nashville. And
so after about like the fourth or fifth song and
we had them kind of recorded, I was like, man,
(21:39):
there's something here. And I was like, I caught up Hillary,
and I was like, I got this crazy idea of
starting a vand I was like, no pressure, we'll just
do it on the side. If it doesn't take off
or nobody cares, no big deal. Well, you know, I'll
chase my thing. You chase your thing. And immediately it
was just like we put it up in it was
just amazing to just you could just tell it had something,
(22:02):
you know, and my friends and my dad like called
me up and was like.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Whatever this is this is and Josh said the same thing.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
He was like, we had Love Don't Live Here, which
was our first single, and just a little, you know,
crummy little demo of it up there, and Josh was like,
this is this is really cool. And so we started
just doing some little shows in Nashville. Our first show
we opened up for Josh place called Third and Lensley,
And so again comes back to my brother. I mean,
he was a huge He was a huge launching pad
(22:32):
for us, and just every month or so we started
doing another show and it grew, and I think by
our fourth or fifth show, maybe a little bit more
than that, we started having some label people come by,
and you know, within I think six months of starting
this group, we had like three record deal offers. It
was like, I really just think it was just because
(22:53):
there wasn't many groups. It's like I feel like everything
is right time, right place. Yeah, I mean, it was
just there wasn't many groups that were doing much at
the time, and especially with I think two lead singers,
you know, kind of going back. It was just it
had the harmony part, but it was like, you know,
we definitely were We're kind of coming in I think
(23:15):
with a little bit of a different fresh sound that
was happening at the time, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Man, So when that happens from sort of trying to
find trying to get a date potentially, you know, of
course extremely talented and wanting to write music, but it's like,
oh it, she's cute from there, and then six months
later you're kind of on your way. I mean, that's
that's I mean, do you would you have moments where
(23:42):
you're standing there and out of the shower or whatever
and be like, holy shit, are you kidding?
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Like what I have moments now? At the time, At
that time, I didn't. I mean, it wasn't happening. It
wasn't happening fast enough for me at the.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Time, which is I got it interesting.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Like I mean, I literally, if I'm being honest, I
had kind of told myself, if something doesn't happen when
I moved to Nashville within like two years, I'm moving
to I'm going and just doing the normal, normal thing.
I'm getting a dusk job, which is hilarious now because
I can't imagine doing anything.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I know.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
I feel like, you know what I mean, I feel
like I had just like for the longest time it
blocked off this like certain side of the brain.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Whichever is the artistic side, is it left? Right? I
think it's the right. I don't know. Whatever it is.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
It was, and you know, a little bit of that
I think comes from like growing up in like Augusta, Georgia.
You know, you just like, well, this is what you do,
you go do this. There's not I wouldn't call growing
up in Augusta, Georgia's the most artistic environment. It's not
like growing up in Austin or even in Nashville, you know,
or and so.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
You know, it was.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
It was just crazy though, Like I remember just having
this weird confidence and I don't know if I've ever
gotten that confidence to that level back since then. Those
first two or three years, I just felt like I
knew and we knew where we were going, we knew.
(25:11):
It felt fresh. I don't know, it just it wasn't
until maybe the industry can kind of kick you in
the ass a few times that you start then second
guessing and the pressure starts building. I don't think I
really started feeling, you know, a little bit of the pressure.
And the second guessing to the third record, it was
like we follow up needs you now, and I remember
(25:33):
we cut like half the record and the labels like,
I don't think we have the first single. And it
was the first time like they weren't just losing their
shit over everything we gave them, you know, for the records.
It was just like this is amazing, this is amazing,
it's amazing. And then it was like, I don't think
we have it. And that was like the first time
I remember kind of being like, oh man, is it
(25:53):
is this a good song? Is it not? And so
you know I've battled that probably ever since.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Well it's funny. It's it's where it's where our stream
meets business, you know, it's it's I mean every time, yeah,
because it's like you said, those first couple of records,
you're just like a free wheeling everyone loves everything you do,
and then all of a sudden, now we don't have it.
So now you are having to write to to something
(26:20):
rather than straight from your heart. Now it's like, okay,
we have to write a fucking single. What does that mean?
You're like, what do you mean write a single? How
did Well?
Speaker 4 (26:28):
That's you know, well that's and that's what's so funny.
I mean our first single, which you know, you know,
most most songs two versus three choruses, the bridge. Our
first single was literally two verses before you even got
to the chorus, and then it had a half verse
and then a chorus out, so like it didn't have
a bridge, had two choruses, not three. It didn't even
(26:50):
get to the first chorus till like a minute and
a half. I was like, because we didn't know how
to write a hit song, but that's what fresh. It
just felt good. It wasn't formulaic. After needs you now
it was like, all right, we need another one of those,
and it was like, well that just happened. I don't
know how it happened.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
You I'm right, And so you know, it's just funny.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
Well, and also to feel like, you know, the more
records you go, it's like, you know, no one's ever
going to hear you like they heard you in the
beginning because it was new, it was fresh, and so
it's like you get half the people are like, oh,
it sounds like a last record, and the other half
are like, oh, I just wish they'd do what they
did before, you know, so you're always battling these demons,
and I feel like probably over the past three or
(27:33):
four years is when I finally have kind of come
to this, like, you know, just enjoy the process and
not the outcome so much, because I think people are
always going to come out to our shows to hear
those first three or.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Four records and those hits.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
But it doesn't mean like our die, our fans and
people won't discover the new stuff, and that every now
and then we can't have another you know, number one
song here and there. But at the end of the day,
people are coming out to our show to hear needs
You Now American Run to You, you know, because that's
was the first time they heard it also brings back memories.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
So as a as a band, now, do you guys
ever think let's do something wild? You know, we've been
doing this for eighteen years. Let's do something so off
the off the book, something that you know, not not
not on purpose, not for shock value, not to try
to you know, gain followers, as the kids sort of
say these days, but more of let's just experiment.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
I think I think we're definitely in that phase and
we and we have to a point. You know, there's
definitely been been some songs you know, if anybody's watching
or listening, that you know kind of has followed our career.
You know, we've had songs like this song called bartend
or Downtown or you Look Good that had horns in it,
which was definitely a different sound than you know, kind
(28:48):
of our earlier stuff. But there has always been a
thread of that, you know, I will speak personally, I
have you know, I did a solo record about eight
years ago, that's right, yeah, and just for fun, you know,
and that I've actually been kind of you know, I'm like, okay,
we've been banned out seventy and eighteen years. We're you know,
we got families, We're not doing as many albums. I
(29:08):
have been kind of chasing something down that feels very
different and authentic to me that I you know, it's
hard though with a band. It's like I can't be like, hey,
this is where I want to go, y'all. I want
y'all to go with me. You know, I can present
it to them and see and vice versa. You know,
they could throw something at me and I'll be like,
(29:29):
I don't really want to go down that road, you know.
So you know, I think it's always a compromise with
a group.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Have you had moments, you know, where to fall out
is it's going to work, We're done, I hate you,
I'm out of here, I love you. You know. Yeah,
has it been pretty consistently.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
I mean we've had some moments where, like, you know,
it's gotten a little heated. Stopped drinking two years ago,
and that was a big point of contention for a
long time. You know. I always kind of felt like
I kept it under pretty goo control, especially on stage.
But you know, there were definitely some moments here and there.
But you know, we've def some moments where it was
(30:07):
just like, I'm in a group of like two of
the nicest people in the entire universe, right Hillary, They're
super religious, they're super friendly, they're super kind, And I
definitely had moments where I could be a little aggressive
and it wasn't even I think my intention to be
like a dick. I just was like I think this
is what we should do or this, you know, And
sometimes I think I could be dismissive without really realizing it,
(30:31):
you know, And that's something I've had to work on
a lot.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
And how much how much did the booze contribute to Oh? Totally.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
I mean you get done with the show and then
you start drinking more, and then you start rattling off
what we did wrong or what could have been better
or this or that, and everything I feel like has
changed for the better since I stopped.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
I want to talk about that. It's just like, I mean,
what a big moment in your life, you know. I
mean I'm not about how was it really bad? When
did you start drinking? When did you maybe realize that, like, shit, man,
this could be an issue.
Speaker 4 (31:14):
I mean, it never got like again, everybody, you know,
my wife would probably say the opposite, but I felt
like it never got to where I was like, you know,
lying at a gutter or doing this, or like waking
up every morning and like pouring a giant you know thing,
a OJ or whatever. But I definitely golf was a
big part of it. Like it was my excuse, Like
I get off the road, I go out the golf
(31:36):
course eight thirty. Well I always play a little better
after a few cocktails, so.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
I did interrupt, but I did you know I played yesterday.
It's it's like Pavlovian get to the golf course at ten. Yeah,
I got two double vodka grapefruit juice to start the
fucking day, you know, and you just drinking and have
been fun and I put a little dip in. I'm
just like, yeah, now we're off to the races. It's
(32:02):
so crazy. Golf is like it's hard. It's the most
socially acceptable.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Well, I was in you know, my two loves, you know,
outside my family or golf of music, and there's the
two most socially acceptable arenas to drinking that you have.
And so again I think it was like I was
going out all the time drinking.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
I wasn't it.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
It was just like casual drinking or like you know,
even like getting off stage and like you know, staying
up till two three in the morning watching Netflix, and
like next thing I know, I've had you know, five
Woodford on the rocks for no reason after I already
been drinking before and during the show, and it was
(32:44):
just like, okay, this is this has gotten bad. So
I didn't like the way I felt, didn't like the
way I was looking yeah, and you know, when things
were hard, I mean, I think my wife was. It
definitely was creating a little odd attension with.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Her because she was she was just like, you're you're
drinking too much.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Yeah, have like a you know, a kid, well boy,
and I just you know, I think, honestly, what it
was a lot of it was coming home from the
golf course drunk. And you know, I have to admit
I was driving home drunk, you know, and I get
back and it was like, okay, we got a kid,
like he could kill yourself, kill someone else.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
And ruin our entire life.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
And so yeah, but you know, it was tough at first,
and then it's weird. It kind of I have been
drinking since I was fifteen, and I'm I feel like
I've accomplished every everything that a man could.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Do in his drinking career.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Yea eyes lows the in betweens. And honestly, it had
stopped being fun about four or five years ago. Anyways,
Like once it started, like once I could tell like
I needed it, Like it wasn't even like I was
doing it to you know, I don't know, like in
a casual or even like in a social setting. I
was just doing it to do it like it was
(33:59):
just habit. And that was when I was kind of like,
this isn't even fun anymore. So it's funny. I've kind
of like, I don't know, it's really reframed how I
look at life, like I've just kind of looked at
it like, hey, that was that was a chapter. Now
what can I accomplish without this thing? And so it
kind of frees up a little more of your mind,
you know, like when you're bored. Because I really think
(34:19):
that's half the reason I was drinking.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
It was just like boring.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Okay, I'm sitting here, what can I what can make me,
you know, sitting out here looking like right now, looking
at you know, out here at.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
The pool a little bit more fun? Well, cocktail is
going to do that. You're like, you're literally like speaking
what goes on in my mind? Yeah, because I again,
I function. I'm an amazing dad. But sometimes I feel
like I drink too much. You know. I got the
same thing like if I have to because we're in
(34:51):
the mountains with the most beautiful view of the mountains,
and you know, if I sit out there without any
kind of advice, I feel like I'm missing something.
Speaker 4 (34:58):
Exactly and that thinks a while, Yeah, it will, and
you'll have to like I mean that'll like slowly. You know.
It took me a little while too, because I mean,
you know, I mean I never used to read. Like
the last few years, I've probably gone through eighty books,
and I'm like come from like I'm starting to pick
up other little things. There's definite moments though, don't get
(35:18):
me wrong. I'm like when I'm sitting on the beach
sometimes like ah, cocktail will be real nice right now,
or like you know, cocktail parties are really or you know,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I can enjoy them.
Speaker 4 (35:28):
I can hang for a little while, but like you know,
long dinners when they start getting past two hours, and
I'm like basically that, I mean, I could sit there
and go through wine all night with someone, but I
feel like it's like one of those little you know,
weights where you kind of like it's like all right,
that's that's gone. But now, like I craved the mornings
(35:49):
and like I'm waking up at six thirty seven and
I'm like getting my day started. So it's like I
feel like I gain you know, hopefully, like you know,
my my reward is bigger than than that loss.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
You know. Yeah, this is like a good moment for
me even talking because I know for real, because I
just feel exactly what you're saying. You know, it's just
about getting through the transition of that. And I've had moments,
you know, like even my voice is a little fucked
up because I was sick, you know, and just like
(36:21):
a chesty thing. So I didn't drink and I didn't
do it, and I woke up every morning and I
was like, man, this is it just feels so good,
so fresh, you know, we don't feel like crap. And
actually yesterday was the first day drink in like a
week because and now I wake up this morning, I'm like, oh, man,
like I had fun yesterday, but is it like worth
(36:43):
it right now? You know? So how did that? How
did that transition work? Though? Like, how did you did
you just stop or how did you get through it?
Speaker 4 (36:52):
Well? I actually went to I went to a like
a little place. It was definitely a pretty boogie, little,
you know, little kind of rehab place in which I
I swore up and down I'd never do anything like it,
and you know, and I'm in there with you know,
people that I would consider are little or definitely more,
you know, really like like I said, waking up polishing
(37:16):
off of dog, I'm handlovaka, you know. I mean I
wasn't there, but it was weird. I could started hearing
their stories. It's like, oh man, I could have gotten
there like maybe ten years, like just slowly, because if
I really look at it, I mean I went from
weekend Warrior to then this or that, you know a
couple of beers and I you know, maybe you have
(37:36):
you know, raging night here and there to literally every
day golf course. If I was golfing, definitely drinking early,
but even take that away, I'd go if I was writing,
I would or a few cocktails while I was writing
a song on that day. Definitely when I came home
at five, it was on and I would drink till midnight.
Like I pretty much could have a drink in my
(37:58):
hand all the time. If it was if honestly, if
my wife wasn't looking like she's the reason I didn't
get further faster. But it was it was really cool. Man.
I look back at it, and I'm like, if like
alcohol is one thing, but really I feel like I
was spiritually kind of void. I definitely did not have
(38:22):
any connection with any higher power of any kind. Like
I just was like, I don't know if I believe.
Maybe I do, maybe I don't. And it was weird.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Man.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
I was there for about a month, and it just
reframed how I kind of looked at life. And I
was kind of I even kind of knew over the
past five or six years that like I was waiting
for something to happen to kind of push me. I
was like, something's going to happen in my life that
makes me start looking, you know, for what is the
(38:53):
meaning of life?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
What is this?
Speaker 4 (38:55):
You know, who's up there? Is anything up there? You
know those kind of those kind of questions. And so
I feel like, in a weird way, it was kind
of a blessing, you know, some things that kind of
come together at the same time, where like my wife
was like, you got to do something about this or else,
and it was around the same time my band was
kind of feeling that way too. And so I look
(39:17):
back and I mean I'm like, damn, thank god, you know,
And now it's been I just celebrated two years about
a week ago, and it's just I don't know, it's
wild I never thought I could do it, that's for
damn sure.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Were you there for a month straight?
Speaker 4 (39:31):
Well you get a phone at night and in the morning,
but like no cell phone, just kind of completely just
immerse yourself with other people. And it was wild how
the stories, how connected the stories were, you know, and
different but still like the same, you know, usually a
very similar, little little little thread of like how you
(39:54):
got there.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
And you know, and what'd you tell your kid? You know,
I mean told them I is it feelings Feelings Camp?
Speaker 4 (40:03):
He loves we're all about like I think since then
he's kind of realized it was about, you know, drinking,
because they're like, you know, he's eight years old, so
at the time he was six and yeah, and we're
always telling him to be in touch with his feelings.
And when we're like Daddy's at feelings came, he's like,
I want to go to Feelings Camp. Like I don't
want you to have to go to But it was
(40:24):
it was honestly amazing. I mean, I like I'd always
like looked at it as like, Okay, this is a
place for people that you know, wake up in the
freaking bushes. Yes, it's like it's not I mean it
really is and and you know, almost felt like you're
you're talking about just how to be and how to live,
how to deal with anxiety, how to deal with you know,
all kinds of different you know, just pressures that kind
(40:48):
of come in, uh, in your way.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
And but yeah, it was it was like I love that.
I love that.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
Man.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
I want to go to Feelings camp too, go to Feelings. No,
that's great, And how how how has it impacted your
new life so to speak as you sort of talked
talked about this next sort of chapter. Yeah, and it's
exciting because you're like, oh what what what now? You
know it's almost a new guy.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
I think it makes so much things more possible for
me now. I mean my relationship with my wife is
a whole different thing now. I mean it went from
where literally there was a lot of little resentments. You know,
I felt like she was trying to parent me, which
is really she was just worried about me, looking out
for me. I mean, our connection is so much stronger.
I feel like I'm way more present, you know, with
(41:34):
my kid. And the dynamic with a band has changed
a ton. I think they know they don't have to
worry about about me or what I might you know,
how I might react to certain situations and and you know,
again I always thought like I showed up on the
stage and saying well and did this. But then I
kind of was reminded about certain little moments where I
(41:55):
was like, oh, yeah, I remember that night. I definitely
had about, you know, for solo, cups of whiskey before
that show, you know. I mean, it wasn't like I
was like I'd be like, oh, I just had one
whiskey or two whiskeys.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
It was like, no, those were like yeah, you know.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
Exactly, And so like there was some of those little
moments too, So I don't know, it just it takes
away this It's taken away this crutch I think, and
I have to just kind of be myself. And I've
just enjoyed it. Man, It's weird, I think it though.
It definitely has got me dreaming again about where I
want to go and maybe even some things outside of
(42:32):
music that I might want to try, you know, but definitely,
like even like the solo project, eventually, I like, I
don't know if it'll be something I put out next year,
the next year, the next year, but I'm starting to
work on it, and like we were talking about, I'm
not afraid if it doesn't do anything or people don't
get it, or I'm like, well, what have I got
(42:54):
to prove anymore? Like I don't want to I mean,
I want it to be successful. I think that's the
hardest thing. When you've had a little us you set
this bar so high. But I think over the years,
I finally realized that, you know, I really just need
to make music that I love and that the fans
kind of can tell when you're when you're bullshit and
when you and when you're really into it. And so
(43:15):
I don't know, I don't know if I would have
had the balls to chase this sound that I'm kind
of potentially going after.
Speaker 2 (43:22):
So I don't know.
Speaker 4 (43:22):
I think it's just going to open up a different
way of looking at my career as well. And I
think I just appreciate a little bit more, you know.
I think I was kind of getting to this place
where I was like, all right, we've accomplished all we're
probably going to accomplish in our career, you know, probably
you know, and I'll go I'll have kind of like,
you know, I'll be Peter paying for the weekend, get hammered,
(43:45):
do these songs I've sang a million times, come back
home and get back to real life. And now I
look at it in a little bit of a different way,
you know.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
So that's cool. I love that. It's so great, man,
that's so great. How is that first time on the
golf course?
Speaker 4 (44:00):
On the golf course, I didn't know. Honestly.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
It took au.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
It took a few rounds, you know, because I was like,
you can't lie and say that a good little buzz
doesn't help. Yeah, probably me was a good little buzz
was great for a while, and then it turned into
where you couldn't see the fucking l.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Oh dude by the fourteentheenth You're like, ship, I overshot this, Yeah, you.
Speaker 4 (44:25):
Got it was it was always a perfect balance you
had to maintain. But it hadn't heard my golf game. Honestly,
I mean, I'm it took me a couple of rounds
to feel comfortable with it.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Well, what about just the Pavlovian aspect, like you you're
the golf that that wasn't there. You're like, oh, I'm good.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
That took a few times. But like I, you know,
I always I have little treats like I started doing
like those little zen things I used to ever Doeen.
Of course I do those, and that's helped the little bit.
But like you know, I'll have like a whether it's
coke or a red Bull or something to make me
feel like I'm doing something bad for myself.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, yeah, and so that's kind of helped.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
But I the crazy thing is nobody, you know, I
was wondering if like my buddies will give a shit.
Nobody cares. Everybody's focused on their own drinking and their
own game and their own you know what I mean.
So like, yeah, no one's like, oh dude, you're not
drinking today, Like no one. I mean, all my buddies
know anyways, but no one shit, Like no one cares.
And you know, so there's no like of that like
(45:32):
fitting in type of thing. But you know, there's definitely
not like that hanging out the golf course for three
hours after all. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
I see. It's funny because that's when I think about
I'm talking. I'm talking as if I'm I've got a problem,
but I I don't. I don't think I do, honestly,
to be straight up, But there's a part of me
that's like, you're drinking not just too much, but I
feel like if I don't have a drink, I'm not
going to enjoy the moment. And when you get to
(46:01):
that point, then that's why I've been questioning myself, meaning
like same as you, I'm not. I mean, when I
get going, I can get going, you know what I mean.
And I hold my liquor very well. And it's not
like you would know I'm not an outrageous drunk any way,
you wouldn't probably even know. But I can put them back.
This idea of never drinking again is almost scary. It's like, well, well,
(46:22):
I have fun in my life, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (46:25):
Like, I think self awareness is the biggest thing. I mean,
and you seemed like self aware of it. And so
I mean, even if whether it's this or another moment
can be something, just be like, Okay, I recognized that
this can get somewhere. Let's maybe hold it back here
and there in those moments. You know a lot of
a lot of my buddies, of course, when I went
through this or like, yeah, I need to start looking
at my drinking too. And I'm like, at the end
(46:47):
of the day. You know, I go back, I'm like, God,
I wish I could have just done this or this
or that. But the truth is, for me, it was
I tried that many times, like to just have two
or three drinks or just beer and wine no liquor.
To me, it was almost easier. And it's not like
just for everybody, but it was so much easier for
me is to just say all or nothing, Like I
(47:09):
to choose fuck my family, fuck everybody. I'm just it's
going to be all or you know, and like to
me it because it would just piss me off. Like
on certain night, like some days, I was fine to
just have two or three beers, but then like you know,
when we were out a nice dinner or somele thing
for you know, four or five hours, and it was
like I'd already had my my two or three drinks
(47:31):
and I'm like looking at my wife like kind I
just want to have a little bit more, And it
was like that almost pissed me off. War So it
was easy for me to just make that decision. But
I do think if if some people that kind of
you know, bust, that that have that that that little inkling,
that hey, maybe I need to control it, like if
I could have gone back and tried to rein it
in a little bit. But everything happens for reason, and
(47:54):
for me, it's it's been a great journey. But I
think you you know, I would just always just kind
of a sess it and kind of see see where
you're at with it, and seems like pretty self aware.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, no, I am, I am. Well we'll see. But
this has been an inspiring conversation for me too, man,
Like it's inspiring because, like you said, it doesn't you
don't have to be passed out in the fucking gutter. Yeah. Yeah.
An issue is just about assessing what you want in
(48:24):
your life, how you want to move forward, how you
want to feel. When you said, now you're a morning guy, like,
I love that, you know, it just feels so good
to wake up early and start your day and feel
great throughout the day. You know. I want to see
it up sometime too, man, I want let's let's do it.
Speaker 4 (48:43):
I'll need a couple of side though, for sure.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
Yeah, No, I'm I'm. I would love to. Are you
you live in Nashville still?
Speaker 4 (48:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (48:51):
Yeah, I worked out, I did. I was on the
show in Nashville for two years.
Speaker 4 (48:54):
I know it.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, so I was. I lived there
for a little bit. It was I love Nashville, dude.
Speaker 4 (49:00):
I think that show. People always ask me all the
time because I've been in Nationville since two thousand and
five and the amount of growth that happened, and I
literally have said it in so many different interviews into
people like that. I feel like it was this combination
of the all Show Nashville and then like artists like
you know, Luke Bryan, and like it was just something
(49:23):
was happening. But I feel like that show Nashville created
such an intrigue to the town, like this weird combination
that the town just blew up, right that that kind of.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
A I mean, I bought a couple of homes in
Cleveland Park, you know, back when I was doing the show,
and it was kind of a distressed neighborhood kind of
on the comp I did so well with those houses.
The place blew up. I wanted to keep buying more houses.
You can't. You can't go wrong in Nashville right now.
I appreciate you taking the time from this is fun. Yeah,
(49:58):
this is great, man. Don't don't spare any baby.
Speaker 4 (50:01):
Lobsters, no more, no more.
Speaker 2 (50:06):
All right, brother, Well let's connect man when you if
you come to La, let's figure it out' tee it up,
all right, buddy, all right, brother, have fun. I think
I made a new friend. Podcasting is so interesting, you know,
because you know, you wake up, you got a podcast
to do. To be honest, You're like, ah, fuck, man,
(50:28):
I don't I don't want to do this. It's summer.
I'm like, ah, I just want to go outside.
Speaker 3 (50:32):
You know.
Speaker 2 (50:33):
It's it's it's it's kind of a pain in the ass,
you know. And then you you know, you get yourself
to the computer and you set all your ship up
and and boom on comes Charles, and uh, you've just
spent a great hour talking to a great person who
has inspired you and who could become a good friend.
(50:56):
Like you know, it's it's amazing that way, it really is.
So that was that was great. I had a lot
of fun. And uh, yeah, maybe I need to go
to the Feelings camp. I laughed because I cry, and
(51:17):
I cry because I laugh. Anyway, all right, that's it.
I love you, Yes,
Hosts And Creators
Oliver Hudson
Kate Hudson
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!