BONUS: BobbyCast -#189 - Thomas Rhett talks about having another baby, Growing up with a Famous Dad and what it was like to play SNL

Thomas Rhett announces on this episode that him and his wife are expecting another baby in February and he knows the gender! Thomas Rhett also talks to Bobby about what it was like growing up with a famous dad (Rhett Akins), what it’s like to prepare and play live on SNL, writing sad country songs with Chris Stapleton and what’s next in his career. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Hey, thanks for checking out the
Bobby Bones Show podcast. I want to share an episode
of the Bobby Cast. It's a show that I do
mostly from my house, where I talk to songwriters, artists,
managers and more. You know. Earlier this year, one of
my buds, Thomas Rhet, stopped by the house and so
we talked about a lot of stuff. I talked to
t r about growing up with the famous dad who's
Red Akins, what it's like to prepare and even play

(00:21):
live on SNL, and how back in the day he
used to write a lot with Chris Stapleton. It's good
and by the way, this was the first time he
ever shared that him and his wife were expecting another baby.
I mean by now, you know, but it's kind of
a big deal at the time. If you liked this episode,
you can subscribe to The Bobby Cast and hear more.
It's just kind of more in depth about what's happening
in music and art. Subscribe on Apple Podcast or listen

(00:44):
on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's episode
one eighty nine of the Bobby Cast. All right, welcome
to you want to water? Sure, would you mind getting
our esteemed guest here water Welcome to episode one eighty
nine of The Bobby Cast one nine. Yea, it took
you that long to get one hundred and eighty nine

(01:05):
episode Thomas Rhetz here at Thomas rhet Akins on Instagram
three point seven million followers. I see, I do see
sometimes though, by the way, glad to finally have you here.
I think it took a I'm always weirded out about
asking like buddies to do work things, dude, because there
gets to be a point where you go, you know,

(01:25):
I kind of like the relationship right of being buds
instead of going, hey, what about this work project that
I'm worried? You know? That's kind of that was kind
of a fuzzy line for me. Yeah, but I've told
you I wanted to do this for a while, I know,
but still I'm like, you know what, I don't never
want to go. So this is what I did. This
was the move was. I was like, hey, tr says

(01:49):
he wants to do this, I would like for him
to do it. So I had my management talk to
your management because it just gives everybody a chance to
say no for somebody, right, Yeah, Because if you really
didn't want to do it, then someone else could say
no for you, you know, Harry or Virginia could have been, Oh,
he can't do it. You know, he's he's got a
circumcision something something like that. No, do you mean You've

(02:10):
been talking about doing this forever? This is something that like,
I'm I'm into. I don't haven't done many podcasts either.
This is also going to be a national special. No pressure.
Oh what does that mean? Yeah? Exactly? Okay, cool, but
it is good to have you here. Likewise, man, what's
annoying about you? In the best way? As we were
doing the CMA Fest together and you're actually really good
on camera? Really, yeah, it means a lot coming And

(02:32):
it's so it's so frustrating because I've liked been doing
it forever and like and I'm like, all right, I
finally asking for advice. I finally have this one skill set.
And then I walk up and you're just killing it
with the prompt. That was my fourth year to do that,
And I'm like, does this guy do anything bad? Oh? Please,
there's a lot. There's a lot to do bad. Well,
I don't peloton as good as you. That's probably true.

(02:53):
I'm a beast on the bike, but you don't even
have one. But you're like me, though, I think you'd
be competitive. Well, when I get a peloton, it's I
can just add you as a friend. We can be
friends because are you still working out with the mirror?
The I do it occasionally. I've I've really gotten into
running lately, and as much as I hated in the beginning,
it's it's something that like, I look forward to every day. Now,

(03:14):
where are you running? Just around the neighborhood? How long
we live in a hilly neighborhood? I mean, I don't.
I try. My goal is to eventually do like a
half marathon, but I think when when you have kids,
it's kind of impossible to train completely for that. The
longest I've ever ran was four miles around Lipscomb. I
get so bored running. You need to do this app. Yeah,

(03:34):
I've been run club app. Dude. I'm telling you, I
talked to you the whole way through. I did didn't
maybe not the same one, and they get so advanced
and so much better every time. But I did a
Nike app for it was a couple of years ago,
and I've done a couple of traath lines like Olympic
triath line. Have you really I have? That's swim that's
swim a mile like twenty six miles, holy and then
run six and you train for it obviously. Yeah, I did, dude,

(03:56):
but I hated it. You hated it. I hate it
even while you were doing it. I hate exercising, but
you do it all every day, every ever. I'm gonna
do a name dressing. You know, my people that listen
give me a hard time sometimes if I just straight
name drop without saying name drop. Yeah. But I was
talking to Keith Urban and we were talking about how
we stay thin, right, He was like, is it? What? What?

(04:16):
What do you do? And just to actually stay thin?
You so thin all the time? Yeah, And he wanted
to talk right he's pretty thin. Yeah, And I was
like the bike. Many I get on this bike and
I hate every second of it. But I can compete
on the bike, like I have friends that I race against,
Like you have to compete to work out. I need
to or play ball. Yeah, I'm not good at running
against myself. I want to like running like I did
an app where the zombies chase you. I need to

(04:39):
download that. That's about The only thing that got me.
What is that was? It was like a zombie running
app and then I just realized, you know what, They're
never gonna catch me. They're not real. And then I
would be like, all right, who carest me? Yeah? But
like you, you play ball as a kid, right, Yeah?
I played sports all growing up. I played baseball until
I was like thirteen or fourteen, and then football and
soccer were my main sports. I was too I was

(04:59):
too little for football. I sucked at football. You were
a good soccer player. Oddly, I was a good soccer player.
What was the soccer scene like in Georgia? Well, now,
I grew up in Nashville, So but you were okay,
you were born about as When did you move to
na I moved to Nashville. Two. Also you lived here
your whole life basically. Yeah. Also you played Okay, this
is there's a decent soccer scene here. Yes. So I
went to Good Pasture, which is like twenty minutes north

(05:19):
of here, and we went I'm trying to think, we
went to State my junior year. I just wish I
was in that kind of shape. I could run for
a day. Yeah, that's soccer and not stop and you
were a pretty good soccer player where you thought maybe
if you'd wanted to, you could have maybe played up
at like a small college or well, my goal like
I tore my knee, like I tore my a c
I when I was seventeen, So that kind of ruined
all of my hopes and dreams for you know, playing

(05:41):
soccer in college. But I probably could have maybe walked
on a lipscomb. But I don't think I wanted a
job in college. It's so annoying how good you are
and everything music and freaking TV and sports give me
a I come over here struggling for any sort of
skill set whatsoever, and now you, now you have all
of them. Look at you, just killing it all? Right,
Where do we start with you? Because I feel like

(06:02):
I look at I look at follow E News and
E on it. Oh yeah, yeah, they love you, guys,
they do. It's hilarious when they post about us, though,
because I would say eighty percent of the comments for like,
who are these people? Oh? Is that right? Yeah? I
don't know. Maybe it's just like a country to more
worldwide following, but a lot of people are just like
I have no idea who these people are the same
with People magazine. I went through a bit of that.

(06:23):
Well when American, I'll announced me yeah and they covered it,
you know, or they're like right who? Or you know
when I did Dancing with the Stars and yeah, they
were like who the whole time. It's just a bunch
of who I saw You're about to be on Family Feud.
We lost last night. It was already on. It was
on last year. I don't watch TV man. Yeah that
was it. It was an awesome experience, but I'm so competitive.

(06:43):
As we've talked about, right, we go on and we
go to the final question and we lose on the
final question. Who were your other Who are the people
on your team? So the cool thing was they said
bring whoever you want. Oh cool, they said bring your friends.
They're like it's celebrity family feud. There are no rules.
I appreciate the invite. If I go next time, I
find it back. You want to come next time? Next absolutely? Okay,
if you're free, they'll tape early next year. You can

(07:04):
come be able to to do that. It was so fun,
you would love. It's just one of those fun things
like a side so I called party and Lauren Elena
I'm close to them. Yeah, and I know I wouldn't
have to like do anything except be a friend. And
it's not a work thing. But I like called party
in Elena and then Amy and lunchbox cool. And so
we go up and it go to the final question,
and you tell me what you would answer here. Something
worn above the waist that starts with a B above

(07:27):
the waist. I'm assuming a belt, doesn't a belt the waist. Yeah, okay,
take a few answers here and see if you would
guess we missed We missed it. We didn't get the
above the waist brawl, okay, being there's one, Um, what
is a bassonet? So you put the baby in don't you?
You have babies? Yeah? I never wore a bassonet. You

(07:50):
put the baby in it? It's like, oh that's right, yeah, yeah, sorry,
Um I did. I never wore a basset. It either,
you shouldn't wear a bassinet. I can't think of anything else.
The answer that we didn't get and no one got
what's blouse? And we were like this nineteen seventy two, Yeah, right,
who says did the other team get blouse? No? But
since we didn't get it, both teams lost and they
went on but we lost, and I was so irritated
that everybody went to dinner afterward and you just didn't Nope,

(08:11):
I'm not a bad I'm not a bad sport. Yeah,
it's just tough loser. Just it hurt. Yeah, No, I
mean I feel you dude meant a lot to me. Yeah.
And so what's your Anyagram number? Have you done? Okay? Eight?
Then one? Okay, I'm a four, which is well, I
need to reread it. But it's basically a like we
look up what four and eight are. Just it's a

(08:32):
creative but like my like, I'm like an average four,
which means like I ask a bunch of opinions on
my creativity. In fact, if I don't get the answer
back that I need, it's like destructing. That makes sense,
What do you mean the answer that you need? So
like I guess, like as a songwriter, if I wrote
a bunch of songs in a weekend and I sent
them to people that I trust on my team, like
what do you think about this? And I think it's great,

(08:53):
but they don't think it's my best work. That I'm
just defeated completely. So that's like my average four. But
on my good days. I trust I can trust my
gut and go with it. Oh, here we are. So
a four is a you're a four, right four? You're
a individualist, a romantic individualist. Yeah, it's pretty accurate. Yeah,
and you're an a protective challenger, A challenger. Yeah, I

(09:15):
see that. You know. I will send songs off because
I'll rewrite comedy songs. And we're doing a tour right now,
this partial stand up, partial two in comedy. And I
have someone that I send music too, and like, is
this funny? And if he goes, no, okay, let's say
you send a song off to to Harry. Yeah, like
what you think about when you think about this? And
he goes, that's pretty good, not yours, not your best,

(09:36):
but pretty good. Well, how does that make you feel?
Makes me feel like you should have been in the
room to feel what we felt when we wrote it.
You know what I'm saying. It's like I sent it
to you, but then it's like, well, how can you
judge it when you don't know how the context of
how we wrote it? I get I get defensive. I
think about it, but then you do see after a breath,
you go, you know what he wasn't supposed to be
in the room. No one else was to be in

(09:56):
the room that is appearing this song. Yeah, do you
feel that? Do you ever come back around to it? Definitely? Definitely.
And they say that fours at their best, can they
don't have to have the opinions that they need they
can in the end, can they can trust their gut,
which I would say my strong four is a lot
less happening than my average. For So, if I send
a song off and I'm like, this is funny, and
it comes back because I sent one off recently and

(10:19):
I was like, hey, is this funny? Because, as you know,
when you get into a project, I do it like
when I write books to I'm like, I don't even
think this is any good anymore. After I spent a
lot of time on it, you lose your sense at
least I do. Yeah, absolutely, you lose your sense of
oh is this even like good? I've been in it
so long I don't even I'm looking around. I don't
even know what's good and what's not anymore. And so
I'll send it off and I go, is this funny?

(10:40):
And he sent one back he goes not really, Oh gosh,
that's the worst. And I went, but what does that
do to you? Oh? I go, okay, wait for the
next one. Then okay, gotcha? So you like get competitive
with it? Oh yeah, I'm just like scrap that, I
write something new, or I'll go it's two things. It's like,
wait for the next one, sucker, or right, let me
let me beat this one up with some more jokes,
so I'll sit back down. It's just funny how like different. Man.

(11:01):
I wish I had that. I wish I had that
so bad. I think you're doing all right if I
were just a guess no, it's it's fine. It's just
like it's when you sit there and slave away over
a song for six hours and you send it somebody
and they're like, this is not your best work. You're like, well,
what do you know? Then you know the defensive part
comes out in you. How long does it take to
not get defensive? Umm? I'm getting to where I don't

(11:21):
get as defensive. I just kind of have to breathe
and just kind of let it go. But I don't know, man,
I take I take my creative work so seriously as
you do. And then when when you've when you've been
doing it now. I've been doing it for eight years
writing songs. You feel like you get to a point
where you know, Tiger Wood says that quote, like make
sure that you're even on your worst day. It's like,

(11:42):
for Tiger, a bad day is shooting at seventy two.
His good day it's like a sixty four. So it's like,
I feel like I'm kind of at the point now
where even my bad songs they still can't I don't
think I can consider them a bad song. I just
feel like as many songs as I've written that I
feel like are great songs, they kind of have to
keep getting greater, and then then comes to pressure of going, well, crap,

(12:02):
I feel like that was great. How do you talk?
How do you talk great and make it awesome? It's funny,
never ending you bring that up. I think a lot
of people struggle with that. I think you know in
my second book that everybody did a whole thing on
It's not about making your best better, it's about making
your worst better. Yeah, that's true, because if you can
make your bottom line rise, yeah, your high line rises automatic. Yeah,
you're exactly right, And anybody can hit an amazing shot

(12:25):
occasionally yeah, but it's can you make your worst shots
better all the time? Yeah, And it's funny, that's what
you're saying. That's that's how you feel about your songwriting totally,
that your worst songs are better now Yeah, that means
your best songs are far great. Yeah. Yeah, you're right.
I haven't ever thought about it like that. That's good.
You ever just leave a room and go that was

(12:45):
a freaking song? Yes, like a special song. Holy crap, Yeah,
for sure? Which one of the there They're few and
far between, though, man, because I think, like I get
asked the question a lot, what does it take to
be a good songwriter? And I think, obviously you need
to be able to cray afterwords and have great melodies.
But I think great ideas are harder to come across
than write great songs, like concepts, concepts, you know what

(13:07):
I mean? Like for me, like I sit down and
I go, Okay, what could I write today that the
world hasn't heard from me? You know what I'm saying.
But but that's also believable for me, Like when I
sit down and somebody brings up a sad song idea,
there's an eighty percent of my brain that goes. I
don't know that people want to hear anything that they
don't know about me just yet. Does that make sense?
It's like you go to these I play shows and

(13:29):
you know, you talk about Lauren in your show, you
talk about the kids in your show, and I think
that's what people know of me, and they want they
want to hear that from me. But how many times
can you how many different ways can you write a
love song and how many different ways can you write
about your kids? When the reason I fell in love
with country music in the first place was I'm a
sucker for for sad songs, and so Marry Me is
definitely the saddest I've ever gone, but it's still kind

(13:49):
of related to my story a little bit. And so
for me to sit down and write a song that's
just like sad just for the sake of being sad,
I'm not sure what that would do on a record
of mine. Does it make any sense? Yeah, on a
record of yours. But if I were to pivot that
a bit and go, do you ever write for others anymore? Yeah?
I do? Now mindset's got to be a bit different. Yeah,
if you're writing a sad song for do you ever

(14:11):
write for generic or are you going to write for
people specifically? I write generic one song of every ten,
you know what I'm saying, in hopes that like maybe
this is a maybe this is just maybe this is
a hit for somebody, you know what I'm saying, and
not that generic is bad. Like I do think that
a lot of the time. In the songwriting world, we
ever think it a little bit. We think that every
song has to be this amazing, insane concept. But sometimes

(14:34):
people just want to feel good, you know what I'm saying,
And sometimes those songs don't. They don't have to be
you know, worldly, life changing. They just need to be
a good melody that you can dance to. So John
Mayer did this with me and we were talking about
that exactly, and that guy is brilliant, brilliant. Yeah, I
think he's just he's just a different, all around guy,
Like all of him is different, and it's amazing and
awful and awesome. I love him. Yeah, me too. And

(14:55):
so he was talking about just that he goes you know,
as a creator, we're constantly going, how do I make
my next thing really amazing, like stretch myself and be
the most artistic and it goes in reality, you know what,
people love waiting on the world to change. Like one
of my most down the middle songs totally that was
just like, okay, here's this he goes, and people sing
it and love it like in the mass amount of people. Yea,

(15:18):
love songs meant for the mass amount of people. It's true.
And I thought, wow, that's a really simple but that's
really right, Yeah for sure, And as I'm going, oh no,
what I can really stretch It be funny when people think, yeah,
for sure, I love that those jokes that much. I know,
and you and you think, like a lot of the
time you're in the writing room, you're going, oh my gosh,
I think this is one of the best songs I've

(15:38):
ever written. And you get out on stage and you
play it and nobody cares because it's just not the
right setting, you know what I mean. Like, there's there's
certain settings for songs, like if you wrote like a
real intense, amazing concept of a country song and it's
really slow and it's it's like some songs, some songs
are meant for the bluebird, and some songs are meant
for twenty five thousand people. That makes sense. Yeah, like

(15:58):
some songs people a freaking party and scene. Absolutely, and
sometimes they want to send the coffee house, yeah, or
the Bluebird Cafe and Filimo. Yeah, what is your biggest
we'll call it a twenty five thousand person song. Which
song do you play that in your set that people
are like, all right, let's go dude. Yeah. Me and
me and my radio team talk about this quite a

(16:20):
bit because in the country world, just like every other world,
everybody focuses so hard on number ones, right, and when
you really pick apart what a number one means, there's
a few different kinds of number ones. There's number ones
that just got to number one, there's number ones that
were reactive, and then there's songs that don't go number
one that maybe because they were just terrible or because

(16:42):
they might have been too progressive for the time, people
didn't get it. Yeah. So like if you come to
my concert, we put it. We put a single out
on the second record called Vacation but died at thirty
three on the chart that was so how did he
do that? So because I thought this would be your song?
Oh did Yeah? And we've actually talked about this a
litt bit too, where I yeah, I thought the song
kind of got jobbed, dude, because I felt like there

(17:03):
were just some people like in our industry, there are
just some older white men who who are like that
a knock country, right, Yeah? Yeah, and and and there
you know, there's there's there's certain people that like certain
stuff and that don't. And that's fine because everybody's entitled
their own opinion. But become to my concert. This feels
like it was set at number one for six weeks. Yeah.
I love the song. You played it on New Year's

(17:24):
Eve and I remember I remember text you going due.
That song's a jam. I know. I can't believe I
think you came in on the show. I knew. I
love the song too, Yeah, for sure. And that's that's
a rocker hunt the shows it is. It feels like
it was a smash for forever, and I think you
have to. I think those are things you have to
keep in mind while you're writing songs. It's like, yeah,
you want hits, because hits, especially for new artists. In

(17:44):
my opinion, hits, hits are what take you to that
level where you can you can afford a couple of missus.
You know what I'm saying, Um, but you get a
couple of hits. After you get a couple of hits,
and Nancy, you don't have to have hits to make it.
I'm not saying that at all, because there's been artists
that haven't had number one's ever on the radio that
are gigantic. Um, but I think it's it's kind of
a disservice as a songwriter to go, well, I'm not
going to put this out because I don't think this

(18:04):
is number one. Because even if it dies at ten
and it was reactive, that to me, that's that's far
more of a win than having a number one that
that didn't do anything. We just did a whole show
on this about number two is that never hit number one? Yeah,
and songs that are just never hit number one that
were massive for artists save a horse Shride of Cowboy
he died at like twenty five. Yeah, there are a
lot of those songs that are like the artists quintessential song. Yeah,

(18:28):
these artists have had fifteen number ones, but their quintessential
song is not a number one song. Keith Urban's been
that guy totally. He's had massive songs that did not
hit number one. Yeah, what is your ultimate coffeehouse song
like that I've written. Yeah, trying to think. Probably this
song on my last record called kiss Me Like a Stranger.

(18:49):
Never in a million years would it be a hit
on radio, but it was just one that I just
I just felt the vibe. Who'd you write that with
Jordan Reynolds and Dave Barnes. Oh, I'm close with Dave. Yeah,
I wrote with Dave last week. An he's so funny, hilarious.
We're talking to him now about his podcast and he's
Dave and I get along really well. But yeah, and

(19:09):
he's an awesome artist. Like I remember Dave, that's an
amazing artist. Yeah, when he was, you know, doing the
Matt Works. Dude. When when I first met Dave Barnes,
the first thing I said, because I've been a huge
fan since like college, I was like, dude, you don't
know me, but the first time I ever made out
with somebody in college was too on a night like this.
That's what do you say? He just laughed. Yeah, he's
he's a funny dude. Yeah. Ah, something to do with

(19:32):
my hands. Let's go back to that one. What you
have put your hand down, your head down in your hand,
Why do you do that because I think that song
is the the uh is the perfect expression for an
artist evolving into a different space. When I first started singing,
when I first became an artist, I wanted to be

(19:53):
Eric Church more than anything in the world. I mean,
I Jay Joyce was my producer, who produces Eric Church.
Like all doing a high school was Eric Church. I
mean still to this day. There's a lot of components
about my songwriting that really I think kind of resembled
Church's way of writing. Just very a lot of storytelling. Um.
But when I like, when I listened to this song,
it doesn't even I don't even I don't even know
that guy. Let's good. You shouldn't know that guy at
this point, right, Yeah, we haven't played that song on

(20:16):
our live show in like four years. Is anyone ever requested, though?
Like you see them, you know, and that's how you know,
and you wrote that's how you know? Oddly with Lee
Stapleton and Stapleton, Ye do you remember that specific right?
I do? Man? I mean mean Stapleton used to write
like two times a week back when I was maybe
like twenty years old, two thousand and ten, two thy eleven.

(20:36):
We used to write all the time. Man, I was
digging through my drop box the other day of songs
written before twenty and fifteen, And there's so many Stapleton
work tapes and songs that I still think could be,
could be, uh you know, viable to record on on
a record of mine today. Um means stay when I
have written once maybe in four years, but that's just
because he that dude is so busy now we're both
so busy. But I still love Righte Stapleton. Was he

(20:58):
full beard? Oh yeah back then? Yep. But I mean
he obviously is the coolest dude in town now, But
even then, if you were in the kind of the
Nashville circuit, he was just the coolest dude you ever
you've ever seen, and like you always just wanted to
be there in the studio when he sang the vocal
because it was it was pretty life changing. You guys
also did Crash and Burn together? We did? Yeah, Is
that the song you're talking about when you got back
in the room with him? Or was that before that? No,

(21:19):
So I didn't write Crash and Burn? Oh you didn't
write I didn't know this was This is also when
I met Jesse Frasier. For the first time. Jesse's produced
my last two and a half albums. He did kind
of half Tangled Up and the rest of them, and uh,
this was how I found Jesse Frasier because he did
this track and he had this whole Motown motown vibe
going and him and Stableton at the time, we're writing
a ton of songs like this, which is crazy. I

(21:40):
think if you were to if you were to be
a gigantic Stables and fan to day and you got
to dive into my dropbox a little bit, I'd play
a bunch of old stables and demos, you would have
no idea that was Stapleton. Oh yeah, yeah, a lot
of songs like this they wrote. I think Jesse maybe
the guy that has more shoes than you, and I agreed.
I mean we like shoes. That dude is on a
new level. Yeah, he sign a lot, just like when

(22:01):
his his Nike app blows up like six times a day,
like do you want to enter the raffle for this?
Or yeah he's on it again. I have a whole
closet downstairs full shoes. Yeah. Same, But sometimes people come
in and you just you know, you just take the knee. Yeah,
you've just been the knee to the person who really
absolutely Yeah, he's the original sneakerhead in my life for sure.
What else you enstabled and write anything that made it? Um?

(22:21):
We wrote a song on my second record called shake
your south Side you go Alredy got it? You got
a teat up dude. We played this. We opened our
show with this for like two straight years, like on
Aldine and FHL tour. And the song was actually SYNCD
in uh, one of the Chipmunks movies they did. They did, Yeah,
they did like a chipmunk version of this song. Yeah,

(22:44):
so you know how they do those chipmunk voices? Have
you heard? I've never heard it, though I listened to
how I built or how he made it or one
of those pipes, oh yeah. Or the guy that invented
the Chipmunks, he did a whole podcast and his thing
was what they do is, let's say you were gonna
do the Pledge of Allegiance as a chipmunk. Yeah, because
when you do the Chipmunk, the chipmunks high voices have
to go at normal speed, right, they have to sound

(23:05):
like I sound, just a higher pitch. So if I
were doing the pledge, of allegiance. I would do it
like this, right, Oh, play so you can speed it up,
but it's still be sped up to normal speed, right Yeah.
And so they did that and they showed how they
do the Chipmunks insane. It's kind of like in music
videos if you're going to shoot or super slow most scene,
they'll speed your song up like double and you got

(23:27):
to do the scene singing your song at double speeds
so that it looks like it's slower speed. Yeah. I
didn't know that. Yeah, what do you have over the microph? Yeah,
I claim to fame right there. Oh my gosh, it's
so good. That's funny. That's a cool thing though. Yeah,
it's cool. That's like the Chipmunks or we mentioned family

(23:51):
Feud or Sesame Street. Yeah, Sesame Street was awesome, Like
that's like one of the cool things that like, that's
a life thing. Absolutely, well, that light it was crazy man. It.
First of all, it's super cool because I think my
kids are definitely too young to have known what Sesame
Street was. So when we got the offer, I spent
like a week showing them a bunch of old Sesame
Street reruns and like Bruno Mars doing the show or

(24:14):
whoever doing the show, and they got really excited about
Big Bird and like all this stuff. And so when
we got up there, my kids went ballistic, like it
was one of those days. It was like, no nap,
they're in rare form and they were so like when
when kids, I think, meet those muppets in real life,
it's like they're staring at the hand and they're also
watching the guy do the voice, but they don't even

(24:35):
care that the guy's doing the voice. They truly think
that whatever is on that hand is a real as
a real thing. And I grew up watching Sesame Street too,
and so did my dad and so did my mom,
and so it was like one of those things that's
truly iconic, you know, in our generation and our parents' generation.
And so when I got to do that, it was
that in SNL are probably the two coolest things I've
gotten to do. Boy, SNL that's cool too. Remember when
they announced you and we have some of the same team,

(24:57):
our PR teams the same Yeah, shout out to Time. Yeah,
and I have Christie in Time, you know Christie. But yeah,
but I remember them going, ah got SL Yeah, I
was so pumped for you. Because that's such a like
it's a life thing. It is a life thing. I mean,
it's like just iconic, like like things that like performing
on the Grammys is one of those things too. You know,
I've never gotten to do that, but doing SNL and

(25:18):
Sesame Street we're two definitely huge things in my bucket list.
And but also the most terrifying, Um, what does the
SNL vibe black? So you go up when well, So
we've been trying to get SNEL for almost two years
and then, uh, it's all about their slot, it's all
about their timing and uh, and we got asked to
do it on a Friday, and we did it on
the next Saturday. So a week in a day, a
week in a day to go in the studio or

(25:40):
rehearsal space, me and the whole band. We hired like
a four piece horn section and like a like a
two piece choir, and we were rehearsing songs that we
had never even touched as a band. So we did
look what God gave her and don't threaten me with
a good time, And those two songs at that point
were barely mixed, much less mastered, and so we're basically
learning unmixed, unmastered songs to play live on national television

(26:00):
like ten, you know, nine days from now. So so
but when you go on, were the songs available? No, well,
look what God Gabriel was a sorry, look what God
Gabriel was mixed and master It threatened was very much
so in the bones of what it was going to be,
and so we kind of had to make it up
there on the fly like it was recorded, but it
was still getting mixed and it hadn't been mastered yet,
and so getting choreography down and getting the horn parts

(26:22):
right and all that stuff in three days is a
lot for a band to learn on. So when you
played Don't Threaten Me, was that it wasn't available to stream. No,
it came out like at midnight that night. Okay, so yeah,
it at least came out that night. You just have
to rush to get it up. Was it one of
those where yeah, because in a performer, we also got
to get ready. Yeah, we weren't supposed to put anything
out until the week passed that. It was just supposed
to be look what God gave her and then wait

(26:43):
three weeks until the next release. And so we're like, well,
we're gonna do them. Why why would we play them
and people not be available to buy them? And so
that was a last minute decision on the labels part.
So if the show was on a Saturday night, and
what's that week like like in New York, like when
do you go up? When do you people? Who do
you get to meet? Yeah? So we got there on
Wednesday or yeah we got sorry, we got there on Thursday.
Rehearsed all day Thursday, like they literally gave us like

(27:05):
a four hour sound check. So you're playing the songs,
You're going to the mixing booth, making sure that all
the stuff is mixed right for national television, rehearsing listening,
rehearsing listening, and then the downtime, to me was the
hardest part because you're like, Okay, we just did it
like one hundred times. Now we got to wait, you know,
forty eight hours to actually do it. And so you're
in there and you're watching John Mullaney rehearse his stuff.

(27:25):
And I was super terrified until I taught John Mullaney
and he was like, hey, you feeling I was like
really nervous, and he was like, dude, me too. And
so like talking to it. You know a comedian that
like that, this does that professionally for him to you
could feel his nerves as well, because I mean s
and L like you're I feel like your judge pretty
hard as a comedian on that show. Like if it's
not funny and you're opening monologue isn't great, then that's

(27:47):
something that people talk about. But just watching him get
to do that, and then getting I got to meet
like Ben Stiller, I got to meet Paul Rudd, you know,
the whole cast, and just walking in there, man, I
just could feel the whole Will Ferrell, you know more
Bill Skit like it. It's crazy how much history you
could feel just walking in that building. And so Friday
was the off day. And as much as you want

(28:07):
to do your routine, just get up, workout, going a
nice lunch, it's all that's on your head. Is like
tomorrow night. It's the real deal. Because even doing Fallon
and Kimmel and all that, even though it is live,
it's not live. You're filming at like four o'clock in
the afternoon. And even though it is live in front
of an audience, on an audience, like if you mess
up a word or two, most of those shows will
let you go do it again even though you don't
want to do it again. You can snl you mess up,

(28:29):
You're done. Your your mess up is forever on national
television and on YouTube and part of the show. Yeah
for sure, Yeah exactly. So what's the day of the show, Like,
do you wake up? Like, oh, is that almost like
graduation or prom or we're like, oh, this is gona

(28:50):
wake up. You don't get enough sleep Fursday at school?
Oh yeah, dude. Like I remember going to bed that night.
I was like, all right, I'm gonna get a bit
at ten, get up at seven, you know do I
did like two two vocal warm ups that day. My
vocal coach lives in New York I've never met. We
always skyped our lessons and finally got to meet her
and got in bed at ten and just walked back
up and couldn't go to bed to like two o'clock,
two o'clock in the morning, and then still popped up

(29:11):
at seven with these nerves. You're doing these vocal lessons,
You're going to whole crap. You hear that scratch them
out throat, and your vocal coach You're like, no, it
sounds fine, and so you're just judging every bit of
part of your day. And then finally you get there
and you do a whole run through, like you run
the entire show, like dress rehearsal at like nine o'clock.
Then you have to sit in your dressing room till midnight.
And so you're just sitting there going, dear Lord, have mercy.

(29:32):
You're watching all these people. You're watching all these you know,
these skits go by, and you're like, was that one's
gonna make it? Is that one's gonna make it? And
then the show comes on. Half the skits you thought
we're gonna make it don't make it. Then you're like,
all right, well, I got twenty minutes before I go singing,
and then they can pop in your room and like, hey,
you have three minutes, and so you don't even have
a chance to be nervous. Then you just get out
there and you do it. You got one song done,
they do more, they do more comedic skits, and then

(29:52):
you do your other song and then when it was over, dude,
it was one of the most biggest. It was like
the biggest weight off your shoulders you could ever imagine,
Like in a good way actually, because you did well. Yeah,
and you did well, and but you do it a
first time. I mean because that they do that show twice.
The SNL they do one where you talk about the
skit cutting. Yeah, and I'm assuming you perform during that
show too, or yeah, okay, you do. So you performed

(30:13):
four times in one night. Pretty you do you do
one two during the show that doesn't get seen except
they bring in a first audience who watches it. Yeah, exactly,
and then then they go, Okay, now we're gonna go
do the real show. Yeah, and they've cut a bunch
of skits and you still got to do your two songs.
Yeah exactly. But does it make it a little easier
that you did it the first time and you kind
of got out on stage and experience it, or is
it still like, well, this one's live correct. Yeah, well

(30:34):
it is easier. But at the same time, you're you're like, Okay,
those two performances that we just did were flawless. The
band was flawless. The horn parts for great. Now you're going,
can we do it again with the same intensity, in
the same perfection, And I think that's where the nerves
come in. But at the same time, dude, Like anytime
I've done live television, I don't even remember what I
don't even remember what happened, and I barely I rarely

(30:54):
ever go watch back my lab performances because I hate
I always just critique the crap out of myself. Yeah,
so I still haven't even seen what we did on this.
Oh you didn't watch it. I'm okay with that. I
don't watch back what I do either, because I just go, oh,
could have done that? Instead of going, Oh, that was good,
I go It's like social media comments. Instead of going, hey,
thank you for that nice comment, I just find the
ones that ripped me totally, Like, yeah, I can't same, dude,

(31:18):
we share that in common. I was blocking people today.
My thing is I'm trying to eliminate negative influences around me. Say,
I can only produce when I'm in an environment to produce. Yeah,
And if I expect the best from me, which I do,
why would I not put the best possible situation around me? Totally?
And that's removing negative influences, yep. That's putting people that

(31:40):
are great around me around me. Yeah. And part of
that is like a super social media people are screaming
at me, calling me names. You didn't pay to be there,
that's true. Block Yeah, you ever block people? Yes? Yeah?
Well the craziest part is that when when people continually
comment to you and they follow you, it's like why
do you follow me? Like I could get it if
you kind of came across it on your search page

(32:00):
and then you wanted to throw some hate my way.
But it's just like you follow me and all you
do is written me to shreds, Like what is the
point you ever hit one? U with a DM? Like, hey,
just you're okay. I'm getting better at that, I would say.
Two years ago, Thomas Shrett responded to eighty percent of
things that I that I didn't like. Um, but, um, dude,
I have you ever met Bob Golf before? No? You
know who Bob Golf is? Tell me he's a bookwriter.

(32:23):
He writes motivational books but also sort of Christian based,
And um, I met him at a show in Hawaiian
He was randomly in Hawaii for a day doing a
conference and me and Lauren had lunch with him and
we just got into this conversation about this whole social
media age and how do you deal with people that
constantly just critique your Instagram page and just nothing but

(32:43):
thumbs downs to your music and anything that you say,
Like you say the skies blue and they'd say it
was green. Like how do you how do you deal
with those kind of people? And and us As strange
as this sounds, it really made a lot of sense.
And he said that for the last ten years of
his life, every pair of pants he gets, he cuts
the left pocket out of his pants, and I was like,
that's the weirdest thing I've ever heard. And he does
that as a metaphor, so like when he gets a

(33:04):
lot of hate throwing his way, he calls those like
left pocket things that when he puts them in their pocket,
they just fall away. And another thing that he does
is he'll get on an Instagram page, is somebody that
has slandered him or whatever like on Instagram, and he'll
go find something on their Instagram page in some way
that that person has been in pain, so whether they've
lost it relative or whether they broke their leg or whatever,

(33:25):
and instead of like commenting back, he just prays for
him and then calls it a day. And that's something
that I've been really trying hard to do because you
never know, you never know where the pain's coming from,
and you never know why that person is so miserable
in the first place. And who am I to judge?
It's easier for me to judge rather than like wonder
why why they're in that situation in the first place,

(33:46):
where they're on Instagram just like throwing hate people's way.
I also find because of that, like I'm more conscious
of trying to be outwardly kinder, yeah, kill him with kindness, yeah,
and not even toward them, but just in general, right, Like,
because at times that environment can be toxic. Yeah, So
I will try to create in other people's space, uh,

(34:08):
less less toxicity. Sure, if it's riding a nice comment,
if it's sending a tech say that that was great.
So what I try to make it do to me
is push me the other way. Right, Just like earlier,
when someone's like that's not that funny, I'm like, all right,
I got you. When someone's like, hey, your head looks humongous,
or you don't you're not talented enough to be on
You're not famous, why are you on family celebrity family feud? Right,

(34:29):
It's like all right, Like I see your your negativity here,
but I'm gonna take that like it stings a little bit, Yeah,
and I'm gonna use that as possible. I'm gonna make
sure God do some positive but not towards them. Yeah,
like I let it, I let it push. I don't
do it to be awesome. But that's that's been my mechanism. Yeah.
But if it, if it makes your head more positive
and more level, and that's what an affecting people in
positive way around you, then then you know, good for

(34:50):
that person that that didn't like your comment or your
your joke. It's it's kind of wild too. Like your
kids are going to grow up in an environment of
knowing terrifies me. Like all the country stars La New York. Yeah,
like they're gonna have I can I say different? But
I mean you grew up knowing some of these guys,
Like yeah, when you grew up in Nashville. Ye, Like
did you know McGraw? I did from an early age. Yeah,

(35:14):
I mean not so much McGraw. I mean I met
McGraw when I was nine. I met met Garth when
I was like eight or nine years old. Um, we
spent like a couple of Halloweens over at RIBA's house. Um,
mostly people that dad toured with. I knew pretty well.
Blake Shelton when he is back in his younger in
his younger days, not saying that you're old Blake. Did
you were younger then? Um, he's a big fan. Heill
for sure hear this, Yeah for sure. Um, but uh yeah, man,

(35:37):
I definitely grew up in that environment. But it was
so different. Social media didn't exist then, you know what
I mean, Like if if there was an artist that
did something that was worth talking about, it was in
the newspaper. Just so different now, like if something happens
this immediately for anyone in the world to see. Do
you and Lauren have the talks about the kids on
Instagram and the kids on Twitter and like give rules?
We talked about it daily, man, and we get asked
that question quite a bit, like what is the balance?

(35:58):
And I think we're still trying to figure it out.
But I think through it all, me and Laurena is
still trying to be super real to how we like
to live life. And ever since we got married we
were both twenty two and we got married, and my
fans have known that I was married. Since I was married,
there was no ever trying to be like, hey, I'm
still the single dude, you know what I'm saying, Because
I think in a lot of formats it's like, well,

(36:18):
you want to be accessible and you want to be
the single guy because they think that it drives more
fans your way. But that's never something that I really
believed in. And so Lauren has been such a huge
part of my social media platform that like, when our
kids got here, it was like, yeah, there's a lot
of things that are too personal that we're definitely gonna
say for our own family group text and our private
Instagram pages and stuff. But like, I mean, you know,

(36:40):
we're a family with two kids, and we're gonna we're
gonna project that, you know what I'm saying. And and
so there's a lot of people that are like, well,
maybe that's not protective of your kids, and it's just like, well,
they're part of our lives. And we've always been super transparent,
and we've always kind of told whatever's on our sleeve
is going to be kind of on Instagram, and we're
pretty real about the stuff that we deal with and
the stuff that we struggle with, and and I just

(37:00):
think it's I just think, more so than anything, it's
more of a, like you said, a positive influence to
other families that have kids and just realize that every
day is not rainbows and butterflies. And also nobody's wrong, right,
I mean, I think that's a thing to understand too.
Is that because somebody disagrees that you put your kids
on Instagram? Yeah, and because maybe they don't, They're not
right or wrong exactly right or wrong. There are much

(37:22):
like music, there are just different ways to do yeah.
And it doesn't make you right or wrong. You can
be different, yes, and you don't have to hate somebody
that's different exactly. But we're in that climate where it's
like er so it is a climate, political climate. It's
all all the time. It's just so frustrating to me.
Probably one of the biggest frustrating factors in my life
of the last five years have been Instagram or Twitter

(37:43):
or whatever. And it's funny because Instagram is a big
part of your successful career too, yet it's still one
of the most frustrating parts of it as well. Yeah.
It's such a blessing and a curse, you know, um,
because all you want to do is use your Instagram
for a for a platform and use it to just
promote positivity and love and peace and all these things.
But it's just like, it doesn't matter what you are

(38:06):
I post, there's going to be something ridiculous on there.
I posted a picture yesterday or a video yesterday just
of saying like what my new single was going to be.
The first comment was shave your beard. You know what
I'm saying. I'm like, first of all, what do you
what are you doing in your life? You have time
to just say that to me. You know what I'm saying,
like or like, hey Ben, the bill of your hat?

(38:27):
Like but okay, let me play Devil's advocate because I agree,
what a dumb thing. But you remember that, Like, right,
That's what I'm saying. I'm giving that person they got noticed.
I'm gonna write on your next Instagram, I'm gonna write,
hey Ben, the bill of your hat? Right? And I
remember that. I know on that. Um it's frostrating for me,
and I don't know, and I'm not speaking for you,
but I know watching you and I'm a big fan

(38:49):
of how you do your music. Thanks you. You're you're
pretty unapologetic. About this is my style. Sure, like this
is me and okay, you can get a feeling as mutual. Man,
you can get on or you can get off the ride.
But I'm just gonna do what I do. Yeah, And
I know that for me to watch at times some
of what they call it the old Guard or to
go that's that guy's not country. Yeah, that frustrates me.

(39:13):
For you, I don't know how you feel about that,
but that for me, I'm like, God, if you guys
even just knew like that, dude as a country as
can be, right, Yeah, man, Yeah, I mean that That's
been my life as a country artist, not necessarily in
the beginning, but I'll say on my second record, when
I started to like lean way more just progressive as
far as production goes, and started to take my singing

(39:35):
a whole lot more seriously and doing vocal lessons and
all this stuff, trying to just make my records sound
like something that wasn't happening in our genre. Dude, I
have gotten more comments of you are not country or
you are ruining the face of our genre. Might as
well quit now, Like I mean, if I could mean
there's I mean, I'm sure that you've had some of
those similar comments, but it's just like it in the

(39:56):
beginning of the of those days, it was just like,
you know what, maybe they're right, you know what I mean,
And I think that's the poor four in my inneagram
going They're right, I'm I suck, I'm defeated. I'm it's
better for me to quit for the whole world than
you're gonna take one for the world the team. I'm
gonna take one for the world. Yeah, but really I'm
taking one for like sixty people. Yeah, you know what
I'm saying. I'm a small vocal my very small vocal minority.

(40:19):
And the more I thought about it, I was like,
you're not country. You're not country. Okay. Why why am
I not country? Well, you don't wear cowboy boots on stage? Okay.
Let me let me mentally go through that. The reason
I don't wear cowboy boots on stage because I jump
up and down like a crazy person. And on the
Aldine tour in twenty thirteen, his thrust was this metal
grating material and I was wearing Sniptode cowboy boots and

(40:41):
got stuck in them every night. That's the reason I
don't wear cowboy boots on stage. Does that make me
not country? I think, no, you're not country because your
music doesn't fiddle in it. I would say ninety eight
percent of songs on country radio don't have a fiddle
in it. There's another one, you know what I'm saying.
And so you just have to like do this self
chest and I think through therapy and you know, through

(41:03):
talking with my wife and talking to people I trust
about It's just like dude, at the end of the day,
his country music not about being yourself, and his country
music not about telling the truth in a story. Do
I do both those things? Yes? Do I dress a
little different? Yes? Are some of my songs more progressive
than some things on country radio. Yes, I'm allowed to
explore my outlets. You know what I'm saying. I like
you look back at any and we I think we've

(41:25):
had this conversation before. But when Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson,
all these dudes came out, they were called outlaws for
a reason. An outlaw is not just a term that
you used to describe country music today. It is every
twenty years we look back at the artist twenty years
ago and say that was real country music. You know
what I'm saying. We say Shanai Twin is real country music,
but at the time she was a pop singer. They
told her on Instagram wash Like. I was talking to

(41:48):
Garth and he said to say, you know, that's my
favorite one to share with people who go, oh, that's
a guarth real country. Garth was like, dude, country music
did not embrace me. No, he was like, they were
anti Brooks. I came town and they were like, you're
not country. Get out of here, like what are you?
And you can go through and you can go back,
and you mentioned some of those guys, but everyone that
has changed the music, yeah, for the better, because they're

(42:09):
the ones who we remember as being successful has been
not country exactly, and in any genre. People hated the
people because they weren't the Beatles in any art, in
any not even just music, in any art whatsoever. You
can look at comedy or visual art, just whatever. People
that break the mold and are not get the finger
like you're not this are the ones that create the

(42:30):
new this exactly. And so that's always what's frustrated me
for you, and partially too, I think selfishly. When I
came to town, it was Hey, you're not country, And
I'm going m I grew up a mountain pine arc
and yeah, like I live in a trailer, Like what
animal do you want me to clean? Because I can

(42:51):
an you have them? Ye? Like? And I started to think,
what makes me not have an accent? Yeah? What makes
me not country? Right? It was it because I was
doing a popping hip hop for a while, because that
was where I got my first job. I said, because
I come on and I just tell my truth all
the time, very authentic about my message. Absolutely, And CBS
at a story like he doesn't work cowboy boots or
a cowboy hat. He's the he's the the renegade, Like

(43:15):
isn't country? Just tell him the truth? Yeah, you don't
have to be from the South. I am you are. Yeah,
so we kind of get that little nickel that we
can spend. Yeah, but there's more, say more country folks
in New York, upstate New York, just up there and
it was country as crap or like right outside of DC,
like northern Virginia. So like, I I feel your pain.

(43:35):
And sometimes when I see people write stuff, I'm like,
you know what, First of all, who cares? But second
of all, I go. I know, as a creator, after
a while, it starts to go, oh, it just gets
to be a weight that you almost don't like to
acknowledge because you're giving them power for sure, but it's real.
But it also makes me better too. Yeah. Absolutely, it's
honestly that that's the one area in my life that's
that's taken a lot of growing. But like you said,

(43:57):
like when I do get those comments, it fuels my fire.
It used to suck my life away and now now
it fuels my fire. Your dad's country, he was here,
My dad is country. Your dad is. No one's gonna
see your dad and go that game country. Yeah. Oh
and that that's a that's my fai. That's my favorite
comment I've ever gotten. Your daddy must be so ashamed.

(44:18):
Oh people say that. Oh yeah, for about a year
there that that was. That was the special comment. Your
daddy is ashamed of you? And I was like, I
don't think I don't think he is. Well, what like,
what a rotten thing, that's what I'm saying. That one
that that's a rotten thing to write, right, even for trolls. Exactly,
Like I lost a little faith in all trolls that
they actually write that, and I know it already didn't

(44:39):
have a good opinion of them. What so, what is it?
What's the relationship with you and your dad? Now? It's amazing, dude. Yeah,
me and dad have gone through a bunch of seasons
in our life. Uh, from high school playing football into
you know, signing a record deal and kind of starting
the career, to kind of getting into my career and
kind of finding my own voice, my own sound, and
then to now going through a lot of different phases
in life and all all good. Um. You know, I

(45:02):
think every every father and son has their definitely ups
and downs. But I would say that me and my
dad today at twenty nine and almost fifty, are in
the best place I've ever been in in our father
son relationship because like, he's so young and he had
me when he was nineteen. My mom had me when
she was nineteen, and so to have a young parent
that is I think, because I feel like I'm kind
of a young parent, and I feel like when I'm fifty,

(45:23):
I'm gonna be a lot different to my kids then
than I am now, because I think parents just go
through continuous learning phases. But my dad is obviously my
dad but he's also like one of my best friends
in the world, you know. So he's on tour with
us this year, brings his wife out on the road,
and when my kids come out, they just they flocked

(45:44):
my dad, like they're obsessed with my dad. They call
him Popeye. And I think for the longest time, I
was like, what does my dad gonna be like as
a grandfather? And he's like the best grandfather in the world.
And we'll get right here in the day, we get
to play shows at night, and I just feel like
he's just become kind of a person that doesn't have
so I mean, he obviously he's very focused and very
driven and wants to be an amazing songwriter, but I
think a lot of the pressure of going, how do

(46:05):
I keep keep doing this is kind of left him
as as he's turned forty eight to fifty, I just
felt like he's got a lot less pressure on his shoulders,
and I think it's kind of made our relationship a
lot better, and he's given me a lot more you know,
older man wisdom. I think, did he encourage you early
early on to start music? Not really, man, My dad
never pressured me to do a lot, but his his
big things. Don't quit anything, you know what I mean.

(46:26):
Like we we battled that for a while, Like in
high school, like going to football camp. No one likes
football camp. I don't care if you're the best football
player in the world, you hate football camp. And like
I was like, I just I just want to quit
and play baseball, or I want to quit and go
do this or that, and he'd be like, well, you
signed up, You're not quitting, and and so when it
came to music, he was just he was very weird

(46:46):
about it because I think he did it, you know,
for ten to twelve years, and he knows the highs
and he knows the lows, and he knows what failure
feels like, and was success feels like. I think any
dad would want to kind of give their kid whatever
they can expect and then be like, hey, now you
can make the decision, but I want you to know
that it's not going an easy road. And so him
and my mom both were like, are you sure that
you want to get into music? And when I turned

(47:07):
about nineteen years old, it was really the only thing
in life that I wanted to do. All I want
to do is write songs. All I want to do
is play shows, anything about creating anything. That's what I
wanted to do. So do you look back now and
see that you're your father's son. Yes, maybe you didn't
see it then, but now you look back and go,
I'm yeah, I didn't see it a lot then, but
now I'm looking at the way that I parent the
way that he parented, and we are we are a

(47:30):
lot alike in a lot of ways, and we are
still very different in a lot of ways, but more
so alike. What's your first cut ever? A song called
it I Ain't Ready to Quit by Jason Aldean two ten.
You were still in school at the time. Yep. I
was at Lipscombe University down the street. Yeah, and you
get a cut? Yeah, what's that like? I thought that

(47:52):
I was a go jillionaire and I probably made a
hundred bucks off that cut. But I remember when that
when that came out, dude, it was like all my
buddies in college. I remember we went to Walmart that
night and we all bought two coffees of the record,
and uh we we parked my truck in the front
yard of this little house next Lipscomb and we just
we had a party to one song. We literally just
played this song on repeat for like six hours. It

(48:13):
was just I mean, it was just the coolest thing
that had ever happened to me in my entire life.
He signed a record deal like a year later. A
year later, Yeah, did you do the let me talk
to some record labels? Did you do the showcases for people?
Was it a they all offering you deals? Like what
was the Thomas Rhett record label kind of pursuit like

(48:34):
they did? Man? We I think I played for I
played for six or seven record labels, and uh, the
only song that I had that I thought was even
remotely good was a song called if I Could Have
a Beard with Jesus that was on my first record,
and every every label that I played for a day
later had offered me a record deal. And I couldn't
believe it because all all all I thought I wanted

(48:56):
to be as a songwriter. I just wanted to follow
on Dad's footsteps, like I didn't. I don't think I'm
wanted to go on the road. I wanted to play shows,
but I didn't think I wanted to do the whole
do the thing, go on radio tour, sign a record,
to do all that stuff. But as I got it,
got into it, started to get some cuts. It gave
me the bug because I when I wrote the songs
instead of other people singing I really want, I really
wondered what it would be like if I recorded him
and put them on the radio. And uh, and so

(49:18):
once I signed a record to a big machine. I
think it was two thousand and eleven. It's just kind
of been a roller coaster since then, but it was
it was definitely the right thing for sure, Like what
in your mind? Wait, when you wake up in the morning,
you go all right, micro and macro there's a big difference,
And I believe we have to have micro goals like
what am I gonna do today? What I'm gonna do
this hour. I'm a big believer in writing things down

(49:41):
and declaring even to yourself what you want, because then
if you don't get it, or you do get it,
there's a winter loss there. I'm big on I need
marx am I sure, yeah. And then the macro goals,
which are this is what I'd like to be in
five ten years, this is what I'd like to be
for my career. So micro goals first, like what are
your what are your your goals this week, this month,

(50:02):
like as a as a today human being right now,
micro goals are to really be more of a content
human being that may fit into micro and macro. But
I want to be more content, I want to be
more patient. I believe it has to be micro before
it's macro. Yeah. So when I say that, okay, it's
also an elevator. Yeah, Like you can't just go big.

(50:23):
If you don't do the small things right, you definitely
not do the big thing. Yeah, that's true. I think
the two biggest I think my two biggest hindrances in
life are are my Sometimes I love where I am
for like two days, but there always has to be
something else that makes sense. Are you someone who's never satisfied.
I'm satisfied for a time, and not necessarily in my family,

(50:46):
actually not at all. In my family. I love. I
love sitting with my kids, I love hanging out with
my wife. I love doing vacations with my kids. But
especially in my career, Like me and my manager had
a long talk about this other day because on the
road lately, I just put a record out a month ago,
and I've had nothing but songwriters out with me every
single weekend, and we write like ten songs on a weekend,

(51:08):
and so the benefit of that is that you wrote
ten songs. The downside is that when you get to
your Saturday show, you're praying all day that your voice
works because you've done nothing but sing demos. And there's
a part of me that's like, why am I writing
songs right now? I literally just put a record out.
But it's the fact that the record came out, and
even though it's only a month old, in my brain

(51:28):
it's been out for a year, and so I'm like, Okay,
I'm falling behind. And so I don't know if it's
more of a content thing or if it's more of like,
how do I always have to keep growing? And there
always has to be a new song, There always has
to be a new tour, there always has to be
a new this. I think the search for I wish.
I wish the search for new would not stop, but
would just kind of taper a little bit. Do you

(51:50):
talk to your therapists about this? Yeah, And I don't
know if that comes from Maybe we talk about Intagram
four times, but I don't know if it comes from
that that mindset that's just my brain is wired. Um.
But even as a kid, dude, like it was all
it was always what else is there? What's next? Um?
But it's always in more career driven goals and it
is in family. Doesn't make any sense? Yeah, And it does.

(52:11):
And also that I can feel that you've been working
on this because you have acknowledgement of your being. Yes.
And the first way to fix a problem, and not
even to fix a problem, but to address a problem
is no you have we'll call it a problem. Yeah
to you right now, it's a problem. But what I
found with my issues and my problems is they're also
what make me. The same way we talked about Instagram. Yeah,

(52:32):
Like your problem is that you got to keep doing
what's been what's been making you so successful, right, Like
you feel like you got to keep going. You've also
been doing it forever, so it's hard to change, yeah,
for sure. And so but I can hear that you
are repaired. I use the words problem to repair because
it's the first one we gravitate to. You're trying to
repair yourself in your mind. Yes, And by doing that,

(52:53):
you've got to acknowledge where the part is broken in
the car totally. Yeah, And so your growth is just
kind of acknowledging, yes, and you're never gonna fix it. No, No,
it's not to be fixed though, right Like it really
isn't to be fixed. It's just to be acknowledged and
monitored and to get out of control. Yeah, for sure,
because it definitely bleeds into my family life a little bit.
Like there's a lot of the times that we're standing

(53:14):
in the kitchen just me, and like my entire family
came over, and my wife will look at me and
should go where are you right now? And I'm in
a song like I'm literally writing another verse, and and
those are parts of me that I wish I could
change because one day my kids aren't gonna be little,
and I don't want to look back. And twenty years
ago I was writing songs when my kids are growing
up in a metaphorical kind of language, you know, And

(53:37):
I just wish, you know, like I love the fact
that I always I'm always striving for something new and
something better and something different, because I think if you
stop evolving, then you stop growing. But you know, at
least for the sake of my wife and for my kids,
I do wish that when I came home my brain
could remotely be turned off of work a little bit
more than it is. You know what I'm saying. And
I think nine percent you can fix it, Yeah, but

(53:59):
you never want to fix a sixty percent, which is
not who you are, right And I think I can
tell you know that too. Yeah, I definitely know it. Yeah.
Like right now you're writing a song instead of doing
this podcast. Like I'm like, where are you? Where are
you right now? I know He's like, I'm writing a song.
What what do you you talk about Lauren and the kids? Like,

(54:20):
what do you feel like the biggest because you write
all these songs and it's a lot of stories about
your life and situations. Yeah, what do you feel like
the biggest misconception is about you? Guys? Well, I feel
like I tried to fix that misconception on this record
a little bit. Um. I think me and you mean
you talked about it. Me and Amy for sure have
but like like on a song called dream, you never

(54:43):
had um or notice, Like those two songs are really
way more in depth into me and Lauren's relationship than
I think people are aware of. Like I think sometimes
people look at our marriage and they go to nothing
is wrong. With him, just just based off our Instagram
because we're we do this and we're traveling there and
we're taking these we're taking these pictures on a beach
and it's like, well, their life is so perfect, and

(55:06):
it's just like I think the misconception is that mine
and Lauren's life with our kids rainbows and butterflies, it
is just as crazy and messed up and chaotic as
everybody else. And I think that that would be a
misconception for sure. Tell me about one hundred forty seven
million orphans. So one hundred and forty seven million orphans
changed to Love One, uh, my wife and the kind

(55:26):
of the creators of the company kind of rebranded it
and caught it Loved One. And I think after Lauren
had gone to you Gonda several times, she knew she
wanted to be a part of it, so she was
added to the board of one four seven and then
as she got involved, they changed the name to Love One,
and loved One means like if if everyone loved one person,
which like if everyone could care for one person, then
there might not be as big of an orphan issue.

(55:48):
And uh, you know, they they provide water, health food
mainly their focuses in Massina, Uganda, which is where WILLI
grace from And they take you know, random teams of
you know, twenty thirty light three or four times a
year over there to help work and kind of help
fix and kind of brainstorm about, you know, kind of
the future of what we can do in MASINDI. I

(56:08):
love it that you found something you're passionate about and
you work toward helping it, both of you and Lauren. Yeah,
a struggle that I had because I'm so close to
Amy and I went over to Haiti and was at
the orphanage and yeah, people would go, why are you
not helping people down the street? And I would go
and and for a while, I like my heart hurt
for Amy having to deal with this. We got that

(56:29):
a lot too, and I can only imagine. But I
would say, and I would get on and I don't
say it anymore because it's like it's a it's a vote,
it's a vocal minority, and there's a realization and me
that goes most people don't feel this way, right, But
I would say, you know, why should we limit our
giving to proximity? Yeah, meaning if I find something I'm
passionate about and I want to give to it. Who

(56:51):
are you to judge me on what I'm doing? Yeah?
And then who am I to care that you're judging me?
And then it goes comes back to me. It's always
a me thing. Yeah, for sure. It's like, should we
base giving on how close someone is to us? And
if so, why aren't you helping someone four houses down
the nine houses down? For sure? Are they more important
because they're a block away than someone who's a mile away,
Because according to your logic, we can only help people

(57:12):
that we can touch, and then we need to work
our way out, for sure. But I just know from
being with Amy and she's you got it worse than
even I did. When we were we basically rebuilt that orphanage. Yeah,
I'm sure that was something that you guys struggled with
a bit. We definitely do. Man, we still struggle with it. Um,
you know, I mean you can't. You're never going to
escape those comments, especially when it comes to something like adops,
You're never gonna escape. Um, some of those comments of going,

(57:35):
well that's not your kid, you know what I'm saying,
And that is the most hurtful comment on the planet.
Because you because you realize, yes, I'm not well a
grace biological father, but you know, due to certain circumstances,
I am you know, I mean like I'm I'm I'm
her I'm her dad, and Lauren is her mom, and
and uh, you know, I think that the Lord places
different things when different people's hards at different times. And

(57:58):
so like you said, for you to be like, well,
while you know, there's kids that need helping here, and
I'm like, I realize that, you know what I'm saying.
And I think it's still my part to help in
Nashville just as much, just as much of it is
as it in Uganda. But um, for some reason, the
Lord put put Mascindi on our hearts and that's where
we've been for the last three or four years. And
we'll be there as long as it stays on our heart.

(58:18):
And also, human beings are human beings. If you can
help a human being, can go help a human being. Right,
Why we why we let a proximity, I agree, be
a factor in why we do or don't help. For sure,
it drives me crazy. Yeah, it drives me crazy too, man.
And even outside of like I'll do things for animals. Well,
why don't you help people? Well, I do help people,
douche bat, don't get me started. But yes, it's it's

(58:40):
almost like regardless of what you do. Yeah, according to
the the outside of the bubble, you can't do enough. Yeah,
for sure, you really can't. Man, look at this, Look
at this. I'm getting all fired up up here for you.
I appreciate that. Um you got you got two kids.
That's a lot you got. Like, you're dad, You're on
the road, you're being kids a dad, you're being the star.

(59:01):
Hey can you can you pause? Can we pause this?
Or no? Well, yeah, we can do whatever we want.
I was gonna tell you mean Tom talked about this.
So we're pregnant again and it's we're releasing it tomorrow.
Is there any way that you would save that very
more tomorrow? Okay? Cool, Actually we don't need a pause it.
We'll just not put it up to tomorrow. So let's
let it keep running, okay for you? Yeah, here you go.

(59:22):
So we're having another baby. So you just heard how
he told me. I don't even want to remove that.
Let's leave that in. So you're having another baby? Yes, wait,
are you having a baby? You adopting. We're having a baby. Wow, yeah,
look at that. It's pretty wild man potent, you are,
I know. And it's a girl. Three girls, three girls. Yeah,

(59:44):
just when I thought life could not get any crazier,
we're having we're having another girl. And when do you
when is the baby gonna be here? Do you know?
February third? And you know it's a girl. Yeah, we did.
We did the blood test thing. You know where you
can do the genetic test. I don't know, but oh yeah,
you know, so you can do a blood I think
it's ten weeks. We can do a blood test and
you can find out the gender and you can find out,
you know, kind of all this stuff about your baby.

(01:00:05):
And so, yeah, we're having a girl. We found out yesterday.
Our whole our whole family come Ember when we shut
off these cannons that blow either blue, blue or pink colors.
And my whole family was convinced it was a boy.
Like I already had boy names picked out, and we
shot these cannons off and it was pink. And I
was like, dear Lord, three weddings, three weddings, that's true.
As a dad, Yeah, you're gonna have to marry off

(01:00:26):
three daughters, three daughters, and we're not We're not even done.
I mean, I mean, Lauren wants to have five kids,
so who knows. Congratulations Van, thank you freaking crazy. It's crazy,
I know, thank you very much. Look at you. Yeah,
you're like fifteen, you got three kids. I'm a little
were like seventy I got I'm thirty, bro, I'm about
to be thirty three girls. Yeah, now will you are
you shooting toward five? Are you gonna shoot toward until

(01:00:48):
you get a boy? Like? What's right now? What's in
your mind? Are you just shoting toward Let's just get
this one and make sure everything comes out all right. Well, yeah,
we're definitely focused on this one for sure. Um and
uh I do. Me and Lauren both would love we
would love to adopt again whenever the time was right.
And uh yeah, I mean Lawren's number is five. I
think when we get to five, my wife will probably
be like, we can do six. That's just the kind
of person my wife is, and my brain, I'm going,

(01:01:09):
we're art. How how are we gonna do this? Like
we're gonna have to have nine tour buses for our
girls on the road. Um, So my head ghost to
more of the math of the whole situation. But I,
you know, having having girls, Man, I think before we
had kids, I always thought that I was meant to
be the kind of the dad that had boys. But
now that I've had girls, my heart has softened so much.
And I have never I've never looked at anybody like

(01:01:32):
I look at my girls like it is and nuts.
The the emotion that you feel when your girl, when
you put them down to bed and you say all right,
I love you, baby girl, and they're like, I love you, daddy,
like it is just it is. It breaks your heart
every single time. So and in that aspect, I'm I'm
beyond excited to have a girl. But I do look
forward to hopefully having a boy one day. Yeah, I
have three kids. I know. Man't even know what to

(01:01:55):
say right now. That is awesome. Well, um, we got
just a couple of minutes left here, let's roll over.
I want I'd like to talk about well, a couple
of things. One these are these will be kind of quick. Kids,
just give me your thoughts on this. I feel like
and I've told this to you off a mic and
off camera too, like and you've won Male Vocalist of
the Year at the ACMs. Yeah, Like I think you're

(01:02:17):
your next one up for that Entertainer of the Year.
And the way this goes is you have to get
in it before you can win it, right, you gotta
be invited to the part. You don't win the party
the first time you've ever vited a party, and I
feel like you're now at that level. Yeah, it's just
the gatekeepers whatever that means, because it changes all the time.
They got to say, all right, guy, that's kind of

(01:02:38):
pushing the limits. You're pushing them. They just got it's wild.
But it's your turn. Like, it's it's absolutely your turn.
I appreciate that. Man. How do you feel when I
say that? It's uh, well, first of all, never to
mean your thought anyone would ever say that about me. Um,
But if I think back five years ago, that's everything
that I was ever working towards. Anyways, I mean, Entertainer

(01:02:59):
of the Year is kind of the cherry on top
of the awards at any awards show. And I'll never
forget the first time Luke Brian want it. I'll never
watched Jason Aldean went. I'll never forget watching Jason went
it for the first time. And I think when I
was touring of those people, I always knew. I was like, dude,
these dudes, this is insane what they're doing, the people
they're putting in these venues, the production that they have,

(01:03:20):
the amount of hits that they have, and I feel
like we're definitely not in that lane yet of having
I think Audean has like what twenty five twenty six
number one songs, Yeah, but you have thirteen number one songs,
so you are We're close. We're getting there, man, And
we we work. Have you ever seen the James Brown
documentary how hard he made his band work. I'm not
like that hard on my band, but we work really hard.

(01:03:42):
He would fire them in the show. Yeah, And I
mean we bring on choreographers, not even to teach us
how to dance, but just how to teach our band
where to be, when to be, how to move. I mean,
our our trumpet player named Sharifa is our hype man,
and like literally like he's the person that introduces all
the band members. I've never seen any in country music
do that. And so it's like, how how every year

(01:04:03):
do you how do you spend your month of rehearsal time,
making sure that the record that your show sounds exactly
like the record with just a right, just the right
touch of live element. How do you make it to
where even your ballads feel like up tempos? And how
do you make the person in section three one go
always playing a new song. Now it's time to go
get a beer. And I feel like those are things
when you can think about them, you really can work

(01:04:24):
up a show, just like in your in your stand
up and in your bit You're just like, how do
I make this the most intriguing, intriguing thing someone has
ever watched? And we really have worked hard for that. Man,
So even to be, just like you said, invited to
the party at some point in the future would be
a huge win for us. But we look forward to that.
It should be now based on numbers, it should have
already been. But again, because you're so progressive, you have

(01:04:45):
you know, one and seven, who's like, right, as long
as you make that one and ten or one to eleven,
you're in, yeah, for sure. So like to me, you're there,
and I've told you that I'm not even saying that
because apreciate on this together. I just want to say
that publicly with you in front of me. Thank you.
Let me say before you leave. On August four, we
are hosting the CMA Fest together. That's right, um as
Bobby taught me everything that I know on that By

(01:05:06):
the way, No, I did it. I did do anything
you did. Ask you a million questions, but you're already good.
It didn't matter yet, but you helped me be great.
So I appreciate it. August fourth, ohe people check it out.
Not only does tr host it, he also like a boss,
gets up and plays it's as you do it all.
Thanks man, you do too. Man, I don't really you've
really I just want to say this because I feel
like I don't know you. You affirm a lot of people,

(01:05:27):
and you don't get I don't know you might get
a lot of affirmation, but I just want to give
you an encouraging word. You have inspired me to do
a lot of things I probably never would have done
in the first place. Your openness. I haven't read the
full book, but i've read up to like chapter six,
and there's a lot of inspiring stuff in there. And
I just love your story. I love the way you
live life. I love that you're just unashamed, unashamedly, unabashedly

(01:05:48):
you whatever word that is. And it's really inspiring to
a lot of people, it really is. So don't don't
change you because you're you're pretty awesome. Well, thank you, welcome,
and I'm not comfortable with that. It's okay, just take
it kind of lower sad. I don't do well with
top um. Listen, we've done an hour and ten minutes. Cool.
This has been a Jeff fun I had a blast.

(01:06:08):
I could do this forever. Man, this is so fun.
You've went from High Healed Flip Flops to Thomas Rhett.
Can I tell you something. Yeah, the very first time
I saw the very first time I saw your tattoo,
I thought, I said, h h ff from your old bands,
High Healed flip Flops. I'm a massive fan, you know.
I just when I saw it, I was like, holy crap,
what does it say again? So, my grandmother who adopted
me for a while, okay, when my mom left, her

(01:06:31):
name was Hazel Hurt. Okay, and so, and she passed
away at my mom when she died, her name is
Pam Hurt and so it's their initials both on my
arm and have Arkansas on the back, and I have
little letters mirrorball and back. When I one that, because
hawn and I got that sick m. I gotta get
a microphone, I promised the listeners because when I got
put in the Radio Hall of Fame that I would
get a microphone. Tatto, arm, I haven't done that yet.

(01:06:52):
And then of course I have a big penis on
my back. No you don't. It goes all the way
from my belt all the way at to back on
my nead. No it doesn't. You haven't seen the penis
on back. It's just real. You haven't seen the big
I don't have a penis on I was about to
freak out. All right, listen, we've said it all. I
feel like I appreciate your openness and your candor and
congratulations on another baby. I appreciate that. I gotta get

(01:07:14):
me one of those, right, I gotta get a girlfriend first.
But I guess you don't have to have a girlfriend
have a baby. There are a few ways you can
do that. Um and uh yeah, it's it's it's been
a good talk here. Thomas rhet at Thomas redd Akins
on Instagram. Be nice, He's not gonna shave his beard
or fix the bill of his hat, right, I think
we've learned that. Check him out on cmafest August fourth,
hosting and performing, and he's on the very Hot Summer tour,

(01:07:36):
um the VHS tour. And I got a couple of
buddies out there with you on tour too. Russell's that there,
huh yeah, Russell yeah, and your dad Um. We're good
to see you, Bud. Really, thanks so much, been a pleasure.
EREBO Episode one eighty nine with Thomas Rhet