June 18, 2026 • 30 mins
Rodney Atkins' first album in 7 years is a romping, stomping, romantic reflection of his life in the True South. Once lured into tight leather pants to project a "sexy new artist" image, Rodney quickly put his East Tennessee foot down as a hardcore singer/songwriter/all-in entertainer. Listen as he digs deep with longtime friends Lorianne and Charlie into the real-life experiences of his new album True South: his uncomfortable brush with Hollywood, his scary encounter with mountain moonshiners, and his hilarious "fail" as a husband that ultimately turned into an unforgettable romantic moment.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, welcome in to Crik and Chase Nashville Chat's. I'm
Lori an Krusk here Charlie Chase, and we have a
very special friend with us today, the great Rodney Adkins,
who we came to know was it about I guess
the early two thousands, Charlie.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah, he's been a long time friend of ours, this guy.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
That's when he started having number one hits. If you're
going through hell watching you, it's America take a back road.
Well now, okay, well now, And of course so many
artists are telling us that the whole COVID situation really
messed up their career.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, no, So it's been.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Seven years since he put out new music. But we
have great news today.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, we have some new music. And I think what's
happened here, Lorienne. He had all these wonderful thoughts, these
wonderful songs in hand, and just let him cure for
the last seven years, and they are ripe.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
For the picking.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
The thing about Rodney act is I love the man.
He's just a He's very down to earth. He grew
up in my neck of the woods, up and that's
where his life began. He had quite a childhood but
his life up there was very simple, and he reflects
all that in his music. And these are songs that
make you think, and they actually draw you into the
(01:14):
entire subject.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Exactly what I've been thinking. You hear people talk about
true North, and figuratively that describes like a personal or
a guiding sense of purpose and core values, authenticity that
you know, really keeps you on track when life gets chaotic. Well,
that is kind of why Rodney Atkins title his new
album True South. It's just what you said. These songs
(01:38):
really define his sense of purpose and you know, based
on small town country living, focusing on God, country, family, friends,
and neighbors.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, the impact is major, especially on you when you
first heard it.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Listen to this, Yeah, did they tell you what happened
when they sent me the album?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
No?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I mean I'm like three or four songs in and
I get on my email and I am dancing around
my house right now.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
That's awesome, amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
This might be the favorite album of mine that you've
ever done.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well love that well?
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So, I mean, what's your overall feeling now that you
have the whole thing together?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Man, this record started I started working on it well
seven years ago and I was just recording a couple
songs here, a couple there, a couple here, And as
it started kind of taking shape, my wife Rose Falcon,
that I wrote with a lot, we kind of started
really trying to aim it toward, Okay, what are we doing?
(02:42):
What does this album say? What's the message, and really
tried to aim it at just getting back to what
I say, friend's family and the good Lord every single
song as we're all kind of chasing something that feels
like we're who knows what we're chasing though, But this
album is just about getting back to that well.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And you know what, Oh my gosh, Rodney, listening to
you say that, you know, we've got the America's two
fifty two hundred and fiftieth anniversary coming up. It's a
declaration of independence. And this album fits that, that whole
idea of America, friends, family, god, country, I mean, the
whole deal. And you started it so long ago you
probably didn't even have that in mind.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yeah, somewhere in there it started making sense. And I
think that's why I love albums. It's we're living in
this singles world. It seems like Lord help us, and yeah,
and I just love albums. I love something that the
body of work is trying to say something to you
and you don't. I don't know if people get to
do that these days as often. I love the song.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The years are short, and I watched the video. You
have more home videos than most major networks.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
That's all my wife right there.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
You have so many wonderful I didn't see a repeat.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
You know, you put that together. Man, She's sitting there
on her phone putting all that stuff together.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
But you know what, it triggers the idea that you
should pressure. Time is precious and it goes by way
too fast. And I wanted to know at what point
in your life you realize that.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Man, I think I do it over and over. You
get in a hurry, you want this moment over, and
then you realize, man, I wish I had that moment
back with me having a six and eight year old
and then a twenty four year old. It's very apparent
all the time, you know, seeing how fast it's just
(04:39):
it's instill. I mean, we literally are marking, putting marks
on the pantry door, and then I've got one look
at me in the eyes. It's just I'm stealing my
shoes already.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And you're singing from the heart. I can really tell
you were singing from your.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Heart and soul on this one. And the years are short.
So that's one of the first songs that I record
order for the record. Casey bethar incredible songwriter, wrote this
with Money Criswell, and he wrote it after one of
his sons was killed downtown. And when he trusted me
(05:15):
to record this song, it just it took me a
long time to even sing the song, just to get
through it. And then when we started mixing it on
boohooing in the truck listening to it. But it's a
real thing, man, It's it's completely different. I always try
to have a song about kids or family or something
on a record, at least one, and I've never heard parenting.
(05:38):
It's not even you don't have to be a parent
to relate to this song, true, but I've never heard
a song that really just made me relate to life
like that in the way that it does. Like because
we're all get fed up through the day at some
point and then you realize that day is gone. How
(05:59):
you could have help with that?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Differently, So of the songs that you were involved in
writing and co writing on this album. Are there one
or two in particular that really stand out to you
that make you really proud that they're part of your
music career.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I love True South, I love what that is that's mine.
I love it. Yeah, just every detail of that record.
You know, when I raised the hood at home and
I'm coming up with the different sounds and it started
out a completely different song and I'm like, man, it's
just not right. Was this not working? And so I
took a kick drum and just for the I say,
(06:41):
front porch stomp. Is it is?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
It's kind of swampyside me.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
That from going through hell. And there's been so many
times I've just start with the kick drum, get that right,
And just every line of that song I've lived at.
I had that first line on for a while and
just wanted to use it and I didn't know where
to put it. And Rose said that this has got
to go right there. We don't smoke meths smoke brisket.
(07:08):
Here we go. Let's do that. That's one of my
favorite first lines ever.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Shut That's what got me up dancing, Like the first
five seconds in this album, I'm all over there.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Does stand up all right. I like hell of it?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Oh cool?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And I love the story behind it, the fact that
you had a dream and you immediately get up start
writing a song. The first of all, I have to
go to the bathroom before I start writing a song
after having it go.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Up the middle of the night. Yeah, but that's funny.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
How do you take I don't know. How do you
take a dream and sell it?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I don't know. So Rose Rose when I needed three
or four more songs for the record, she said, Okay,
I'm going to book us some of these. Because she's
writing every day. She's writing right now. People that she
will come in contact with, she'll say, okay, we need
to write with these guys. And as we were coming
in to write that, she said, you have any ideas,
(08:02):
because I'm just I'm just writing ideas. Because she's writing
songs constantly, I'm building up ideas. And so I said,
I got this crazy idea last night and it's just
hell of it. And I think it's just we're doing
this for the hell of it. And she said, okay,
I think I like that. I think it's got to
(08:24):
be a story. You need a story song. People don't
do story songs. Anymore. It's got to be our story.
And so that's just kind of she Once she gets
an idea, man, she drives.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
She's fascinated with this writing technique the two of you have.
It's crazy, it really is. You started out hard, but
I said, well, I'm sure it does.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
It's period about that in a minute. Yeah, just be
pure for anybody.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
But gosh, I mean it's almost like you're it's twenty
four to seven for you guys.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
It kind of is. But we love playing music because
I'm recording right off the kitchen, you know, it's right
there is what I'm doing everything, and she's doing her
on her solo project now, and so we're kind of
tagged teaming in and out working on stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
So if you're recording at the house and the UPS
guy shows up or amazons, it'll be on.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
It's probably in there somewhere, kids screaming. You never know. Yeah,
I have to listen carefully here you okay, at the
little sound effects you think they're not sounded, Okay, it's
real life.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Very I'm very curious about this why the writing process
with your wife Rose might have been difficult. The reason
I'm interested is because my husband and I always work together,
like for forty years, and I kind of get what
you're talking about, but I'm going to hear your your story,
your side of it.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Truthfully, it started out me thinking every song we wrote
had to be the greatest and I'll be all love
song of all time. And she said, and so we've
started like four or five songs and we get three
lines and then we never got anywhere. And she said,
two things, we have to finish a song. I don't
care what it's about anything, we got to finish it.
(10:06):
And two, you don't really sing love songs. That's the
way you do. Let's make it roun a little bit
now you sing live songs.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Did that hurt your feelings a tiny bit? That she
said that because you I mean, you're you're emoting and
trying to write your love for her, and she says,
now that ain't that ain't anything.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Really, it made me realize that she really got me,
She understood finally yet and uh, we're able, We were
able to at that moment move past. I'm sure it's
a not mare if when these co writers there were
going to write with this married couple, Oh god, what's
that going to be like? Being there fighting the whole time,
(10:46):
but we're able to tell each other the truth and
not take it personal when we're writing. I definitely don't
cross that line every day. But since we're able to
just be honest and we both we're all in agreement,
we're trying to just write a great song. So you
got to be able to because some people get their
(11:07):
feelings hurt when you're writing with them and it's like,
oh god, we can't we can't really get the ball
down the field doing that. So once we got passed
that we just need to finish a friggin song, then
everything started clicking a whole lot better, and we wrote
some really bad songs like come on to Share.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Oh that's his next album, Rodney Atkins, really bad song.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Really bad love songs. I think we did try to
write some love songs in there.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, look, if you ain't, if you ain't mister romance,
then then how how do you describe who you are
with your music? And you kind of already have, you know,
with a family, friends country.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I'm kind of romantic at home with her, but she's
not cheesy romantic.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
To me.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Watching You is a love song. I think these are
love songs it's it's just a difference just life and
years ago. I think we've talked about the guy that
was at Curb after I'd been there for eight years
or whatever, trying to figure out how we're going to
do this. I'm talking to mock Curb all the time
about how are you going to figure out who you are?
(12:18):
You got to figure out you got to separate yourself
fro everybody. And Phil Gernhardt was the A and R
person there. He's the guy that well Tim mcgralfirst started
working with. I think Tim did a first album as
well that didn't really do much, and then Phil started
working with him and he told me, I said, I
want you to find your voice. I want you to
(12:38):
figure out how to make your own records. What's going
to separate you from everybody else? We got to figure
that out, though, so we want to take our time.
And once I was drawn to if you're going through
hell and watching you and he said, oh, you're not
a love song guy. I would normally tell artists you
need to sing love songs because that's the fastest path
(12:59):
to be her. He said, but if you can have
a career on these live songs that you're drawn to
you can have a long career, but they're harder to find.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
And then we went to cleaning this gun and these
are my people and it started making sense.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Say, are you the one?
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Did you?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Are you the one that told me years ago that
very early in your career, when you started having hits,
somebody wanted to put you in leather pants.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
That was the first album? Yeah, that's there's there's my
first album, Honesty. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, I'm in leather bridges.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Yeah, and you did you have some like fluffy jacket,
so I don't know. You were just telling me it's
this outfit that you felt totally uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
They flew me to Hollywood, put me in the bottom
of an old swimming pool with no water in it
and leather bridges. Good my hair up? This crazy? I'm like,
what am I doing here?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
What are we doing? This has to be in the
Smithsian It's insane.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
There's an album out there, Honesty that. Yeah, I'm wearing
all that.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Well, you were smart because I just I just remember
all these years ago you telling me that you just
went to whoever exapt can't can't because I was complimenting you.
I thought you looked great in the leather pants, and
you're like, LERI not gonna.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Man, you can't get nothing done, and then wrenches like that.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Now you mentioned earlier listening to songs in your truck.
Is that your mobile studio?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Hell yeah, absolutely. I don't trust speakers. You can get
in a studio, they make anything sound good in the studio,
But you get in my old truck, man, that's when
I know it's worked.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Okay, So you're riding around singing along. Uh, I guess editing,
doing all sorts of musical stuff and making notes.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Yep, yep, go out there. We're in the studio where
we'll be mixing. Then also I got to run outside
and listen to it, so you gotta have the motor run,
and so it kind of drowns it out a little bit.
And you know, I heard Byron Gallimore did the same thing.
He hit an old Nissan Altimore or something that he
just kept that car for years because he trusted the speakers,
(15:09):
factory speakers. Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Another thing, and I wasn't aware of this, but I
think it's self proclaimed that you are the first to
ever wear a baseball cap on a red carpet at
an Awards show.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
That's what I was told. Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Now, Blake Shelton is a big fan of your hats.
He says, the proper way to get into a Rodney
act's hat is to put it on the ground, run
over it three or four times the river and pick
it up and it's good to go.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
That's probably good. Do you agree with that? Yeah, something
got to break it in. New hats, New hats, brutal.
That's funny. We got to send him that audio, run
over some hats and send it Ronnie.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Can I tell you something? And I hate to do this,
but I think you're wrong.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
You do?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
You do sing romantic songs Marry Me Again on this
True South album Believe Me with Rose Falcon on this
album Come on now.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Marry Me Again? Man, that was a funny experience. That
was so I got this idea marry me again, look
to see and I didn't at the time. I didn't
find another song called Marry Me Again. I said, I
can't believe it's not a song. And so our ten
year anniversary was coming up, said I'm want to write
a song for and so I started working on it.
(16:33):
But I called it MMA for Marry Me again. She
thought it was a song, but the ufcial arts she
had nothing that. She didn't want to hear it. She
was not interested in it and asked me any questions.
And I secretly wrote and recorded that song and then
to play it for the label heard the song and
they wanted and it was a big secret, and they
(16:55):
wanted to do a reveal. And so some of the
folks from there went and we turned my barn the
what do you call the drapes, and they put a
chandelier hanging up and and it didn't have a remote control.
We put a remote control on the door, took her
over there, raised it up and then boom, and went
(17:16):
in to play it for the Funny thing was about
a month before I played it for out of nowhere.
She said, this renewing valves thing, that is the dumbest
thing two people can do. That's a waste of times.
Who would want to renew that? Would you want to
do that? She asked me? And I went, oh, no,
(17:38):
that's crazy. Of course, not not at all, write another song.
You already had the song? Well, forget this. So the
song was already written, right, Oh yeah, I recorded all
of it, but uh, but I kind of loved her
more for that, because I didn't really want to.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Redo my valel And how did you have the guts
to play that song for after she kind of dissed
the idea anyway, just the sin.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Of yeah, Marry because it was it's our story, it's
just us, it's what we've lived.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But you realize so many people are going to connect
with that, Yeah, in this summer, that's going to be
played a lot once it's coming on.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
And the others don't believe me. So my story with Rose,
we've talked about this. I was bad to just beat
myself up and just you know, really not take it
easy on myself for a lot of years. And when
the thing that happened with Rose is I finally just
(18:34):
let put all that away and I said, I'm just
gonna believe her. That's what I'm doing. I'm just gonna
believe what she seiz in me. And things got a
lot simpler once I did that. Just turn my brain off.
If she thinks I'm going to be great, then that's
what I'm going to be.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
So you had to get other voices and other experiences
out of your head.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Exactly. You grow up, adopt a kid, all those kind
of things and you second guess yourself not worthy. And
so the crazy thing with this song, I got pitched
this song from somebody at my label found believe Me
and gave it to me, and uh, I said, I
(19:15):
love this. And then the A and R person at
the label said, I don't really hear you singing that song.
I said, but I love it. It's I've lived this song.
And then a couple of weeks later, I'm home and
I said, I found another song I want to record.
She said, what is it? And I told her she said,
I wrote that and I had no idea. That is bizarre. Yeah,
(19:41):
it was crazy. It's a it's a powerful song.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
So you know, that's interesting that that you two have
a career together, but then you have very separate careers
where maybe you don't even know what the other one
is doing. That's kind of interesting.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
It was just because she's writing songs every day, and
she mostly writes with it's kind of funny she writes
more with young dudes than she does she writes with
female some. But because she grew up single dad, she
relates to guys more. And now she's in a house
full of guys so so she's written songs all the time,
(20:14):
so I don't hear everything she writes, and so that
one just snuck up on me.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You know, there are so many great songs on here
that touched me, and one of them was and this
is this is one probably not going to here on radio,
but when you listen to this album, you should listened
to it. Toys in the Dirt because it reminds me
of growing up. We didn't come in until it was dark,
and we stayed outside all the time.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
We played. We we had h how do you how
do you put it? We had we had a life
exactly instead of being controlling us. There was no I
gotta watch TV. There was only two channels on or something.
You have to come in and watch Flipper Flipper, Andy and Morney. Simple. Yeah,
that's and that's kind of the life that you know,
(21:04):
I want for my kids. I want them to not
be afraid to be outside and really want to go.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
We've been there, We've done that. Yeah, you know, we're
trying to share that and explain the importance of it.
That's what this song does for.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Them to live their life, not watch somebody on YouTube
live their life. That's kind of the goal all along.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Okay, song A couple of questions though, So back then,
when you guys and me too, when we were growing up,
we didn't have influencers like they have today. So, Ritie,
who was your influencer back then? If you could call
this person that.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Just friends, you know, some old men that live nearest
that I could go ask advice, you know, if I
was working on some of my dad, I can remember
saying I wanted a basketball goal, and my dad told
me I'd have to earn the individual parts and uhigured
(22:00):
out how to do chores and save money to buy
a kreos pole of an old telephone pole to make
a basketball, to build the thing. And that's you know,
I cherished that. I'm so glad that that's how I
grew up. It's a shame that kids can't do that.
I know they do in some places.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Well, let me fast forward to today, because today you
are all over social media. You are You've got hundreds
of thousands and not millions of people following you. So
does that feel odd to you that you are out
there in that way on socials?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
It's kind of crazy because when the social media things
started happening out going back to you know, my last album,
I didn't have the followers and.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
We're trying for it.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Well, I hadn't embraced it or figured it out. And
people are saying, you got to do trends, You got
to do a TikTok dance or something to make that work.
Can you? I think I did try that. I tried
a couple of things.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I don't know, it's weather pass ye.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Seen the swimming pool there. And so they had the label,
even hired a couple of different companies, social media companies
that most artists are using to drive their social media,
and it just wasn't working. Man, it seems so foreign,
and a guy just doesn't think I want to get
a phone out and video myself. Ever, I never think that,
(23:31):
and I think I'm so interesting. Everybody wants to see this.
We decided to do some acoustic front porch kind of
versions of some of my hits, and I think Farmer's
daughter might have been the first one. And Rose said, this,
this social media thing is ridiculous. Just we can do this.
(23:53):
You don't need a company to do this. You just
need to be you. You need to just do that.
And so we did something for farmer's daughter, and I
said something like, this song wasn't a number one, but
you guys made it feel like a number one. And
in about two hours she said, you need to look
at the comments. And once I finally got that, the
(24:17):
engagement of people saying that was the number one in
the back of my grandpa's pickup trucker, and that started
getting it made me finally realize it's about connecting with people.
And once that happened, then we just started having fun
with social media and it started making sense to me.
But there's a whole nother angle of social media that
(24:37):
I don't understand. I don't look at social.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Media influencers are you know My influencer back in the
sixties was Mary Anne on Gilligan's Island.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Nice there you go, Yeah, exactly, a girl, the girl
farmer's daughter. Yep, Mine was Bobby Sherman. Nice ye, you know.
Growing up to where I go, that's how I started
playing music. As you would hear music playing off in
the distance on somebody's front porch and you jump in
(25:08):
and learn to play guitar.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
You're so laid back. What excites you? I can get
back to you on that if you want kids, really, man,
I love kids. Our neighborhood is full of kids. I
love that.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Then they're you know, they're in the middle of playing
Little league and coaching and that. That's that's what makes
me tick. It's active. Yeah, it's fun. It's a blast.
They're nuts, but it's fun.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Well, as we sit here, you are sunburned? What have
you been doing?
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Uh? What have I been doing?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
You've been out in the boat. You've been hunting?
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Yeah, a little bit of everything. Not hunting any I've
got some property that we're trying to build a house on,
so I'm kind of over there from time to time.
Nice bush hogging and all that good, good therapeutic stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Okay, Now you don't turn these big pieces of equipment
over on top of you like Trace Adkins.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
No, that's crazy. I don't know how he's done. How
do you do that?
Speaker 1 (26:04):
He survived two of those, That's what I've heard.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
He broke his fingers. I've never done that. Can't drive,
I think, so he's doing something else while he's driving.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Be careful out there of equipment. Do you operate out there?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
I just got a bushog tractor in a bush hoog. Sure,
that's my therapy.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Well, thanks for sharing so much of your family in
the videos. I think that means a lot to it.
You touch a lot of people's hearts, and I think
you you wake up a lot of people too, to
realize that things go too fast these days. I tell
everybody at my age, life is like a roll of
toilet paper. You get down here the end, it's going
real fast.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Trust me, you don't realize. He man, you miss it
when it's gone. That's the crazy thing, like with watching
you all those years ago, people relating that song and
having Eli in that video, and then that was the
big social media. Do you think last year when he
finally got him to sing the duet version, that was
(27:06):
pretty wild. Did you ever run out of toilet paper
during the COVID? I think we did. I think we
did coffee filters in or what what did we do?
I think we just went to watch cloths.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Remember, Charlie, why is the conversation with.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
We used to have a phone book in case you
got a phone book. I can't remember the phone book
being in the outhouse grandparents.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
It's usually catalogs that would work too, Yeah, because well
phone the phone book.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
There's better papers. The phone a little bit softer. Yeah,
and you had to touch.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yeah, you don't have shiny toilet paper, you know, you
don't really want I'm just going to.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Sit back and watch where this goes.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
This is a guy thing.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Oh look, Rodney and I come from the same neck
of the woods up in East Tennessee the gap by
the way.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Yep. Okay.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Recently he founded found his life in Greenville. I'm from Rogersville,
which is about twenty miles from there.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
So did you.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Run moonshine Rodney, like Charlie did.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I ran up on some moonshiners one time. Scared me
to dead in my car. I was in the woods
and came up on some fellers out there. Boy, that
scared me to death. You got that right, man, I
didn't think. They said you didn't see nothing, boy, I said, no, sir,
I did not the threat really? Oh yeah, big time?
Did you high tail it? They? What did they say
(28:31):
to me? He said they'd string me up and put
honey on me and let the bees take me or something.
It was crazy. Well, there's a song there somewhere in there, somewhere. Yeah,
I didn't see nothing there. I didn't that would be
a good song. I didn't see nothing.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Hey, Rodney, be proud of this. This is great work, man,
That's all I need to ship. Laurie and I both called.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
We're calling each other. This is good stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
She called me first. She says she was dancing around everything,
and I said, okay, I've just gotten the album. I
started listening to it, and I call let or No.
I like hell of It, and I like all the
other songs that he was going by so fast and everything.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
So it was that's awesome. That's all I need to hear. Man.
I'm good to go. Yeah, I've done no more interviews.
Appreciate you, man.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
We will play the hell of it out of it
with that.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Okay? Did that make sense? What?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I was just making a little pun about the song
on the album, hell of It, and we were going
to play the hell of it out of it, But
you and Rodney did not get my clever pun.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
That's okay, No, no, no, no, it works.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
It works. Took a while.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Well, bottom line, we love this album, True South. I
could just play it all day.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
I'm not kidding.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Love Rodney. He's he's a down to earth guy. And
you know he was talking about the Moonshiners I mean,
that's that's that's real stuff.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
You know, if you run across them in the in
the hills of East Tennessee, you didn't see nothing.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Boy. Just remember that and that's what I say.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
That should be the title of his next steme.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
No, I know, Well, we'll look for that meantime. I
think you really enjoy this album, True South. He's been
working on this one for a number of years. He's
got some great songs that I think anybody can relate to.
He's just a wonderful guy. I hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Well, Hey, you can tell we have so much fun,
and in doing so, we have your country covered. Always
listen to the Crook and Chase Countdown every weekend on
hundreds of radio stations across America, also streaming on iHeartRadio
Speaker 2 (30:29):
And follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram at Crook
and Chase
Hello, welcome in to Crik and Chase Nashville Chat's. I'm
Lori an Krusk here Charlie Chase, and we have a
very special friend with us today, the great Rodney Adkins,
who we came to know was it about I guess
the early two thousands, Charlie.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah, he's been a long time friend of ours, this guy.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
That's when he started having number one hits. If you're
going through hell watching you, it's America take a back road.
Well now, okay, well now, And of course so many
artists are telling us that the whole COVID situation really
messed up their career.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, no, So it's been.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Seven years since he put out new music. But we
have great news today.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, we have some new music. And I think what's
happened here, Lorienne. He had all these wonderful thoughts, these
wonderful songs in hand, and just let him cure for
the last seven years, and they are ripe.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
For the picking.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
The thing about Rodney act is I love the man.
He's just a He's very down to earth. He grew
up in my neck of the woods, up and that's
where his life began. He had quite a childhood but
his life up there was very simple, and he reflects
all that in his music. And these are songs that
make you think, and they actually draw you into the
(01:14):
entire subject.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Exactly what I've been thinking. You hear people talk about
true North, and figuratively that describes like a personal or
a guiding sense of purpose and core values, authenticity that
you know, really keeps you on track when life gets chaotic. Well,
that is kind of why Rodney Atkins title his new
album True South. It's just what you said. These songs
(01:38):
really define his sense of purpose and you know, based
on small town country living, focusing on God, country, family, friends,
and neighbors.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, the impact is major, especially on you when you
first heard it.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Listen to this, Yeah, did they tell you what happened
when they sent me the album?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
No?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I mean I'm like three or four songs in and
I get on my email and I am dancing around
my house right now.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
That's awesome, amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
This might be the favorite album of mine that you've
ever done.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well love that well?
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So, I mean, what's your overall feeling now that you
have the whole thing together?
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Man, this record started I started working on it well
seven years ago and I was just recording a couple
songs here, a couple there, a couple here, And as
it started kind of taking shape, my wife Rose Falcon,
that I wrote with a lot, we kind of started
really trying to aim it toward, Okay, what are we doing?
(02:42):
What does this album say? What's the message, and really
tried to aim it at just getting back to what
I say, friend's family and the good Lord every single
song as we're all kind of chasing something that feels
like we're who knows what we're chasing though, But this
album is just about getting back to that well.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And you know what, Oh my gosh, Rodney, listening to
you say that, you know, we've got the America's two
fifty two hundred and fiftieth anniversary coming up. It's a
declaration of independence. And this album fits that, that whole
idea of America, friends, family, god, country, I mean, the
whole deal. And you started it so long ago you
probably didn't even have that in mind.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yeah, somewhere in there it started making sense. And I
think that's why I love albums. It's we're living in
this singles world. It seems like Lord help us, and yeah,
and I just love albums. I love something that the
body of work is trying to say something to you
and you don't. I don't know if people get to
do that these days as often. I love the song.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
The years are short, and I watched the video. You
have more home videos than most major networks.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
That's all my wife right there.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
You have so many wonderful I didn't see a repeat.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
You know, you put that together. Man, She's sitting there
on her phone putting all that stuff together.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
But you know what, it triggers the idea that you
should pressure. Time is precious and it goes by way
too fast. And I wanted to know at what point
in your life you realize that.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Man, I think I do it over and over. You
get in a hurry, you want this moment over, and
then you realize, man, I wish I had that moment
back with me having a six and eight year old
and then a twenty four year old. It's very apparent
all the time, you know, seeing how fast it's just
(04:39):
it's instill. I mean, we literally are marking, putting marks
on the pantry door, and then I've got one look
at me in the eyes. It's just I'm stealing my
shoes already.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And you're singing from the heart. I can really tell
you were singing from your.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Heart and soul on this one. And the years are short.
So that's one of the first songs that I record
order for the record. Casey bethar incredible songwriter, wrote this
with Money Criswell, and he wrote it after one of
his sons was killed downtown. And when he trusted me
(05:15):
to record this song, it just it took me a
long time to even sing the song, just to get
through it. And then when we started mixing it on
boohooing in the truck listening to it. But it's a
real thing, man, It's it's completely different. I always try
to have a song about kids or family or something
on a record, at least one, and I've never heard parenting.
(05:38):
It's not even you don't have to be a parent
to relate to this song, true, but I've never heard
a song that really just made me relate to life
like that in the way that it does. Like because
we're all get fed up through the day at some
point and then you realize that day is gone. How
(05:59):
you could have help with that?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Differently, So of the songs that you were involved in
writing and co writing on this album. Are there one
or two in particular that really stand out to you
that make you really proud that they're part of your
music career.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I love True South, I love what that is that's mine.
I love it. Yeah, just every detail of that record.
You know, when I raised the hood at home and
I'm coming up with the different sounds and it started
out a completely different song and I'm like, man, it's
just not right. Was this not working? And so I
took a kick drum and just for the I say,
(06:41):
front porch stomp. Is it is?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
It's kind of swampyside me.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
That from going through hell. And there's been so many
times I've just start with the kick drum, get that right,
And just every line of that song I've lived at.
I had that first line on for a while and
just wanted to use it and I didn't know where
to put it. And Rose said that this has got
to go right there. We don't smoke meths smoke brisket.
(07:08):
Here we go. Let's do that. That's one of my
favorite first lines ever.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Shut That's what got me up dancing, Like the first
five seconds in this album, I'm all over there.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Does stand up all right. I like hell of it?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Oh cool?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And I love the story behind it, the fact that
you had a dream and you immediately get up start
writing a song. The first of all, I have to
go to the bathroom before I start writing a song
after having it go.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Up the middle of the night. Yeah, but that's funny.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
How do you take I don't know. How do you
take a dream and sell it?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I don't know. So Rose Rose when I needed three
or four more songs for the record, she said, Okay,
I'm going to book us some of these. Because she's
writing every day. She's writing right now. People that she
will come in contact with, she'll say, okay, we need
to write with these guys. And as we were coming
in to write that, she said, you have any ideas,
(08:02):
because I'm just I'm just writing ideas. Because she's writing
songs constantly, I'm building up ideas. And so I said,
I got this crazy idea last night and it's just
hell of it. And I think it's just we're doing
this for the hell of it. And she said, okay,
I think I like that. I think it's got to
(08:24):
be a story. You need a story song. People don't
do story songs. Anymore. It's got to be our story.
And so that's just kind of she Once she gets
an idea, man, she drives.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
She's fascinated with this writing technique the two of you have.
It's crazy, it really is. You started out hard, but
I said, well, I'm sure it does.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
It's period about that in a minute. Yeah, just be
pure for anybody.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
But gosh, I mean it's almost like you're it's twenty
four to seven for you guys.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
It kind of is. But we love playing music because
I'm recording right off the kitchen, you know, it's right
there is what I'm doing everything, and she's doing her
on her solo project now, and so we're kind of
tagged teaming in and out working on stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
So if you're recording at the house and the UPS
guy shows up or amazons, it'll be on.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
It's probably in there somewhere, kids screaming. You never know. Yeah,
I have to listen carefully here you okay, at the
little sound effects you think they're not sounded, Okay, it's
real life.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Very I'm very curious about this why the writing process
with your wife Rose might have been difficult. The reason
I'm interested is because my husband and I always work together,
like for forty years, and I kind of get what
you're talking about, but I'm going to hear your your story,
your side of it.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Truthfully, it started out me thinking every song we wrote
had to be the greatest and I'll be all love
song of all time. And she said, and so we've
started like four or five songs and we get three
lines and then we never got anywhere. And she said,
two things, we have to finish a song. I don't
care what it's about anything, we got to finish it.
(10:06):
And two, you don't really sing love songs. That's the
way you do. Let's make it roun a little bit
now you sing live songs.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Did that hurt your feelings a tiny bit? That she
said that because you I mean, you're you're emoting and
trying to write your love for her, and she says,
now that ain't that ain't anything.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Really, it made me realize that she really got me,
She understood finally yet and uh, we're able, We were
able to at that moment move past. I'm sure it's
a not mare if when these co writers there were
going to write with this married couple, Oh god, what's
that going to be like? Being there fighting the whole time,
(10:46):
but we're able to tell each other the truth and
not take it personal when we're writing. I definitely don't
cross that line every day. But since we're able to
just be honest and we both we're all in agreement,
we're trying to just write a great song. So you
got to be able to because some people get their
(11:07):
feelings hurt when you're writing with them and it's like,
oh god, we can't we can't really get the ball
down the field doing that. So once we got passed
that we just need to finish a friggin song, then
everything started clicking a whole lot better, and we wrote
some really bad songs like come on to Share.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Oh that's his next album, Rodney Atkins, really bad song.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Really bad love songs. I think we did try to
write some love songs in there.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, look, if you ain't, if you ain't mister romance,
then then how how do you describe who you are
with your music? And you kind of already have, you know,
with a family, friends country.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I'm kind of romantic at home with her, but she's
not cheesy romantic.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
To me.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Watching You is a love song. I think these are
love songs it's it's just a difference just life and
years ago. I think we've talked about the guy that
was at Curb after I'd been there for eight years
or whatever, trying to figure out how we're going to
do this. I'm talking to mock Curb all the time
about how are you going to figure out who you are?
(12:18):
You got to figure out you got to separate yourself
fro everybody. And Phil Gernhardt was the A and R
person there. He's the guy that well Tim mcgralfirst started
working with. I think Tim did a first album as
well that didn't really do much, and then Phil started
working with him and he told me, I said, I
want you to find your voice. I want you to
(12:38):
figure out how to make your own records. What's going
to separate you from everybody else? We got to figure
that out, though, so we want to take our time.
And once I was drawn to if you're going through
hell and watching you and he said, oh, you're not
a love song guy. I would normally tell artists you
need to sing love songs because that's the fastest path
(12:59):
to be her. He said, but if you can have
a career on these live songs that you're drawn to
you can have a long career, but they're harder to find.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
And then we went to cleaning this gun and these
are my people and it started making sense.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Say, are you the one?
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Did you?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Are you the one that told me years ago that
very early in your career, when you started having hits,
somebody wanted to put you in leather pants.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
That was the first album? Yeah, that's there's there's my
first album, Honesty. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, I'm in leather bridges.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Yeah, and you did you have some like fluffy jacket,
so I don't know. You were just telling me it's
this outfit that you felt totally uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
They flew me to Hollywood, put me in the bottom
of an old swimming pool with no water in it
and leather bridges. Good my hair up? This crazy? I'm like,
what am I doing here?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
What are we doing? This has to be in the
Smithsian It's insane.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
There's an album out there, Honesty that. Yeah, I'm wearing
all that.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Well, you were smart because I just I just remember
all these years ago you telling me that you just
went to whoever exapt can't can't because I was complimenting you.
I thought you looked great in the leather pants, and
you're like, LERI not gonna.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Man, you can't get nothing done, and then wrenches like that.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Now you mentioned earlier listening to songs in your truck.
Is that your mobile studio?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Hell yeah, absolutely. I don't trust speakers. You can get
in a studio, they make anything sound good in the studio,
But you get in my old truck, man, that's when
I know it's worked.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Okay, So you're riding around singing along. Uh, I guess editing,
doing all sorts of musical stuff and making notes.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Yep, yep, go out there. We're in the studio where
we'll be mixing. Then also I got to run outside
and listen to it, so you gotta have the motor run,
and so it kind of drowns it out a little bit.
And you know, I heard Byron Gallimore did the same thing.
He hit an old Nissan Altimore or something that he
just kept that car for years because he trusted the speakers,
(15:09):
factory speakers. Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Another thing, and I wasn't aware of this, but I
think it's self proclaimed that you are the first to
ever wear a baseball cap on a red carpet at
an Awards show.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
That's what I was told. Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Now, Blake Shelton is a big fan of your hats.
He says, the proper way to get into a Rodney
act's hat is to put it on the ground, run
over it three or four times the river and pick
it up and it's good to go.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
That's probably good. Do you agree with that? Yeah, something
got to break it in. New hats, New hats, brutal.
That's funny. We got to send him that audio, run
over some hats and send it Ronnie.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Can I tell you something? And I hate to do this,
but I think you're wrong.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
You do?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
You do sing romantic songs Marry Me Again on this
True South album Believe Me with Rose Falcon on this
album Come on now.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Marry Me Again? Man, that was a funny experience. That
was so I got this idea marry me again, look
to see and I didn't at the time. I didn't
find another song called Marry Me Again. I said, I
can't believe it's not a song. And so our ten
year anniversary was coming up, said I'm want to write
a song for and so I started working on it.
(16:33):
But I called it MMA for Marry Me again. She
thought it was a song, but the ufcial arts she
had nothing that. She didn't want to hear it. She
was not interested in it and asked me any questions.
And I secretly wrote and recorded that song and then
to play it for the label heard the song and
they wanted and it was a big secret, and they
(16:55):
wanted to do a reveal. And so some of the
folks from there went and we turned my barn the
what do you call the drapes, and they put a
chandelier hanging up and and it didn't have a remote control.
We put a remote control on the door, took her
over there, raised it up and then boom, and went
(17:16):
in to play it for the Funny thing was about
a month before I played it for out of nowhere.
She said, this renewing valves thing, that is the dumbest
thing two people can do. That's a waste of times.
Who would want to renew that? Would you want to
do that? She asked me? And I went, oh, no,
(17:38):
that's crazy. Of course, not not at all, write another song.
You already had the song? Well, forget this. So the
song was already written, right, Oh yeah, I recorded all
of it, but uh, but I kind of loved her
more for that, because I didn't really want to.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Redo my valel And how did you have the guts
to play that song for after she kind of dissed
the idea anyway, just the sin.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Of yeah, Marry because it was it's our story, it's
just us, it's what we've lived.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But you realize so many people are going to connect
with that, Yeah, in this summer, that's going to be
played a lot once it's coming on.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
And the others don't believe me. So my story with Rose,
we've talked about this. I was bad to just beat
myself up and just you know, really not take it
easy on myself for a lot of years. And when
the thing that happened with Rose is I finally just
(18:34):
let put all that away and I said, I'm just
gonna believe her. That's what I'm doing. I'm just gonna
believe what she seiz in me. And things got a
lot simpler once I did that. Just turn my brain off.
If she thinks I'm going to be great, then that's
what I'm going to be.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
So you had to get other voices and other experiences
out of your head.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Exactly. You grow up, adopt a kid, all those kind
of things and you second guess yourself not worthy. And
so the crazy thing with this song, I got pitched
this song from somebody at my label found believe Me
and gave it to me, and uh, I said, I
(19:15):
love this. And then the A and R person at
the label said, I don't really hear you singing that song.
I said, but I love it. It's I've lived this song.
And then a couple of weeks later, I'm home and
I said, I found another song I want to record.
She said, what is it? And I told her she said,
I wrote that and I had no idea. That is bizarre. Yeah,
(19:41):
it was crazy. It's a it's a powerful song.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
So you know, that's interesting that that you two have
a career together, but then you have very separate careers
where maybe you don't even know what the other one
is doing. That's kind of interesting.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
It was just because she's writing songs every day, and
she mostly writes with it's kind of funny she writes
more with young dudes than she does she writes with
female some. But because she grew up single dad, she
relates to guys more. And now she's in a house
full of guys so so she's written songs all the time,
(20:14):
so I don't hear everything she writes, and so that
one just snuck up on me.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You know, there are so many great songs on here
that touched me, and one of them was and this
is this is one probably not going to here on radio,
but when you listen to this album, you should listened
to it. Toys in the Dirt because it reminds me
of growing up. We didn't come in until it was dark,
and we stayed outside all the time.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
We played. We we had h how do you how
do you put it? We had we had a life
exactly instead of being controlling us. There was no I
gotta watch TV. There was only two channels on or something.
You have to come in and watch Flipper Flipper, Andy and Morney. Simple. Yeah,
that's and that's kind of the life that you know,
(21:04):
I want for my kids. I want them to not
be afraid to be outside and really want to go.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
We've been there, We've done that. Yeah, you know, we're
trying to share that and explain the importance of it.
That's what this song does for.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Them to live their life, not watch somebody on YouTube
live their life. That's kind of the goal all along.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Okay, song A couple of questions though, So back then,
when you guys and me too, when we were growing up,
we didn't have influencers like they have today. So, Ritie,
who was your influencer back then? If you could call
this person that.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Just friends, you know, some old men that live nearest
that I could go ask advice, you know, if I
was working on some of my dad, I can remember
saying I wanted a basketball goal, and my dad told
me I'd have to earn the individual parts and uhigured
(22:00):
out how to do chores and save money to buy
a kreos pole of an old telephone pole to make
a basketball, to build the thing. And that's you know,
I cherished that. I'm so glad that that's how I
grew up. It's a shame that kids can't do that.
I know they do in some places.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Well, let me fast forward to today, because today you
are all over social media. You are You've got hundreds
of thousands and not millions of people following you. So
does that feel odd to you that you are out
there in that way on socials?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
It's kind of crazy because when the social media things
started happening out going back to you know, my last album,
I didn't have the followers and.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
We're trying for it.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Well, I hadn't embraced it or figured it out. And
people are saying, you got to do trends, You got
to do a TikTok dance or something to make that work.
Can you? I think I did try that. I tried
a couple of things.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I don't know, it's weather pass ye.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Seen the swimming pool there. And so they had the label,
even hired a couple of different companies, social media companies
that most artists are using to drive their social media,
and it just wasn't working. Man, it seems so foreign,
and a guy just doesn't think I want to get
a phone out and video myself. Ever, I never think that,
(23:31):
and I think I'm so interesting. Everybody wants to see this.
We decided to do some acoustic front porch kind of
versions of some of my hits, and I think Farmer's
daughter might have been the first one. And Rose said, this,
this social media thing is ridiculous. Just we can do this.
(23:53):
You don't need a company to do this. You just
need to be you. You need to just do that.
And so we did something for farmer's daughter, and I
said something like, this song wasn't a number one, but
you guys made it feel like a number one. And
in about two hours she said, you need to look
at the comments. And once I finally got that, the
(24:17):
engagement of people saying that was the number one in
the back of my grandpa's pickup trucker, and that started
getting it made me finally realize it's about connecting with people.
And once that happened, then we just started having fun
with social media and it started making sense to me.
But there's a whole nother angle of social media that
(24:37):
I don't understand. I don't look at social.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Media influencers are you know My influencer back in the
sixties was Mary Anne on Gilligan's Island.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Nice there you go, Yeah, exactly, a girl, the girl
farmer's daughter. Yep, Mine was Bobby Sherman. Nice ye, you know.
Growing up to where I go, that's how I started
playing music. As you would hear music playing off in
the distance on somebody's front porch and you jump in
(25:08):
and learn to play guitar.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
You're so laid back. What excites you? I can get
back to you on that if you want kids, really, man,
I love kids. Our neighborhood is full of kids. I
love that.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Then they're you know, they're in the middle of playing
Little league and coaching and that. That's that's what makes
me tick. It's active. Yeah, it's fun. It's a blast.
They're nuts, but it's fun.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Well, as we sit here, you are sunburned? What have
you been doing?
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Uh? What have I been doing?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
You've been out in the boat. You've been hunting?
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Yeah, a little bit of everything. Not hunting any I've
got some property that we're trying to build a house on,
so I'm kind of over there from time to time.
Nice bush hogging and all that good, good therapeutic stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Okay, Now you don't turn these big pieces of equipment
over on top of you like Trace Adkins.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
No, that's crazy. I don't know how he's done. How
do you do that?
Speaker 1 (26:04):
He survived two of those, That's what I've heard.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
He broke his fingers. I've never done that. Can't drive,
I think, so he's doing something else while he's driving.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Be careful out there of equipment. Do you operate out there?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
I just got a bushog tractor in a bush hoog. Sure,
that's my therapy.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Well, thanks for sharing so much of your family in
the videos. I think that means a lot to it.
You touch a lot of people's hearts, and I think
you you wake up a lot of people too, to
realize that things go too fast these days. I tell
everybody at my age, life is like a roll of
toilet paper. You get down here the end, it's going
real fast.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Trust me, you don't realize. He man, you miss it
when it's gone. That's the crazy thing, like with watching
you all those years ago, people relating that song and
having Eli in that video, and then that was the
big social media. Do you think last year when he
finally got him to sing the duet version, that was
(27:06):
pretty wild. Did you ever run out of toilet paper
during the COVID? I think we did. I think we
did coffee filters in or what what did we do?
I think we just went to watch cloths.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Remember, Charlie, why is the conversation with.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
We used to have a phone book in case you
got a phone book. I can't remember the phone book
being in the outhouse grandparents.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
It's usually catalogs that would work too, Yeah, because well
phone the phone book.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
There's better papers. The phone a little bit softer. Yeah,
and you had to touch.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yeah, you don't have shiny toilet paper, you know, you
don't really want I'm just going to.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Sit back and watch where this goes.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
This is a guy thing.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Oh look, Rodney and I come from the same neck
of the woods up in East Tennessee the gap by
the way.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Yep. Okay.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Recently he founded found his life in Greenville. I'm from Rogersville,
which is about twenty miles from there.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
So did you.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Run moonshine Rodney, like Charlie did.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I ran up on some moonshiners one time. Scared me
to dead in my car. I was in the woods
and came up on some fellers out there. Boy, that
scared me to death. You got that right, man, I
didn't think. They said you didn't see nothing, boy, I said, no, sir,
I did not the threat really? Oh yeah, big time?
Did you high tail it? They? What did they say
(28:31):
to me? He said they'd string me up and put
honey on me and let the bees take me or something.
It was crazy. Well, there's a song there somewhere in there, somewhere. Yeah,
I didn't see nothing there. I didn't that would be
a good song. I didn't see nothing.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Hey, Rodney, be proud of this. This is great work, man,
That's all I need to ship. Laurie and I both called.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
We're calling each other. This is good stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
She called me first. She says she was dancing around everything,
and I said, okay, I've just gotten the album. I
started listening to it, and I call let or No.
I like hell of It, and I like all the
other songs that he was going by so fast and everything.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
So it was that's awesome. That's all I need to hear. Man.
I'm good to go. Yeah, I've done no more interviews.
Appreciate you, man.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
We will play the hell of it out of it
with that.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Okay? Did that make sense? What?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I was just making a little pun about the song
on the album, hell of It, and we were going
to play the hell of it out of it, But
you and Rodney did not get my clever pun.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
That's okay, No, no, no, no, it works.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
It works. Took a while.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Well, bottom line, we love this album, True South. I
could just play it all day.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
I'm not kidding.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Love Rodney. He's he's a down to earth guy. And
you know he was talking about the Moonshiners I mean,
that's that's that's real stuff.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
You know, if you run across them in the in
the hills of East Tennessee, you didn't see nothing.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Boy. Just remember that and that's what I say.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
That should be the title of his next steme.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
No, I know, Well, we'll look for that meantime. I
think you really enjoy this album, True South. He's been
working on this one for a number of years. He's
got some great songs that I think anybody can relate to.
He's just a wonderful guy. I hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Well, Hey, you can tell we have so much fun,
and in doing so, we have your country covered. Always
listen to the Crook and Chase Countdown every weekend on
hundreds of radio stations across America, also streaming on iHeartRadio
Speaker 2 (30:29):
And follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram at Crook
and Chase
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