New Year, Same Ole Me… But Different: How We’re Growing in 2025

Country Music Dads is BACK for Season 2! And we are kicking things off by talking about the change (or lack thereof) that often accompanies the start of a new year. “New Year, new me” we say in January before seeing the “same ol’ me” staring back at us in the mirror in March. But is that such a bad thing? George Jones and Dierks Bentley provide support via two songs separated by 40 years but with the same name (different spelling), “Same Ole Me.” The Dads wrestle with self-improvement vs. self-acceptance, change vs. growth, and bro country vs. traditional country.  

We also discuss changes to the podcast itself. What is different for Season 2, what is staying the same, and what, Dear Listener, do you have to look forward to when you follow the Country Music Dads? True to form, it’ll be the same ole show, but a little bit different.

Show Notes:

• 02:12: Dave shares a preview of Season 2 of the podcast: what has changed, what is staying the same, and how feedback from our early-adopting listeners has influenced our plans.
• 06:26: Meet Country Music Dads’ new co-host: Donnie C. Cutler!
• 08:22: Dave and Donnie discuss George Jones’ “Same Ole Me,” Dierks Bentley’s “Same ‘Ol Me,” how they think about goal-setting, personal change, and growth, and how their pursuit of improvement could influence their kids.
• 35:02: The Dad Life Sound Check: Donnie shares how the competing pressures of life on the road and family life in Jeremy Pinnell’s “Night Time Eagle” resonate with his own attempts to balance self-care pursuits and being there for the bedtime routine. Dave admits that “Halo” is his favorite Beyonce song and that Joshua Ray Walker’s highly countrified rendition of it takes him back to a simpler time before kids when weddings were ragers.
• 45:41: In our new, recurring segment called “Change My Mind,” Donnie posits that Bro Country is BAD for the country music genre. Self-proclaimed “recovering bro country aficionado” Dave attempts to convince him otherwise.

Mentioned in the Show:

• Country Music Dads podcast Season 1, Episode 9: “Country Cutler Talks Parenting, Country Music in LA and Strawberry Pie For Breakfast”
• The Country Cutler Substack newsletter
• "Atomic Habits" by James Clear
• The Marfa Tapes
• Dierks’ bluegrass album, “Up On The Ridge” from 2010
• HomeDadCon: the annual convention for at-home dads
• The backlash surrounding the “Bluey” Season 3 "Exercise" episode
• Eddie Izzard on British vs. American films

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