February 9, 2026 • 49 mins
Bobby remembers Brad Arnold, frontman of 3 Doors Down, who died on Saturday February 7th at the age of 47 following a battle with cancer. He was diagnosed with stage 4 clear cell renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer, in 2025. The band shared a statement on social media announcing his death. Brad stopped by back in 2019 to talk about their biggest songs Kryptonite, Here Without You, Be Like That and more. Brad wrote most of their first record when he was in high school and started as the singer and drummer for the band.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Everybody at his Bobby and I said on my Instagram
story that Brad Arnold, who was the lead singer of
Three Doors Down, that he had died, and so many
people said this is one of the best Bobby casts
they had ever heard. So I wanted to put it
back up in case you guys had missed it. Maybe
you hadn't even subscribed at the time, and maybe you
didn't know a story. So I'm going to get to that.
(00:28):
But Brad passed away aged forty seven, following a battle
with cancer that he was very public about. He had
stage four kidney cancer. He announced that in twenty twenty five.
The band shared a statement which announced his death, which
was the first I had heard of it too, they said,
with heavy hearts, we shared the news that Brad Arnold, founder,
(00:49):
lead singer and songwriter of Three Doors Down, passed away
on Saturday, February seventh at the age of forty seven,
with his beloved wife Jennifer and his family by his side.
He passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones in his
sleep after his courageous battle with cancer. So I'm going
to play this for you. And I was fortunate enough
(01:10):
to get to know Brad over the last six or
seven years. And it started with a morning show appearance,
like so many times it does, and then I think
he was on the show a second time, and then
I went and hosted a Three Doors Down anniversary special
for them, so just returning the favor. Also, I just
(01:31):
really like Brad. And then Brad played with us on
one of our Raging Idiots million dollar shows and against
such a sweet guy, and even with all the songs
that they have, he was like, just pick the songs
you want to do, and obviously we did Kryptonite. Brad
wrote most of the first record when he was in
high school, which is crazy, and started as the singer
(01:52):
and drummer for the band. So we're going to talk
about this, and he does talk about getting sober, which
was a big deal to him. He was always sharing
his sobriety journey and sharing his coins and again, extremely sad.
Forty seven years old, Rest in peace to Brad Arnold.
(02:14):
And here's the episode of the Bobby Cast with Three
Doors Down singer Brad Arnold. This is an exciting one
for me because it's Brad Arnold from Three Doors Down.
Glad to have you man, Thank you for having him. Man,
I'm glad to be here. I'm such a fan of
Three Doors down. Because how old of a guy are you?
I am forty, hitch okay, forty. We're about the same age.
I about turned thirty nine. Yeah, god, you were so
you were the same age basically, right, you were so
(02:35):
big and I was like an idiot on the radio
and Hot Springs, Arkansas, and you were like all over
the world. I felt so small now.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Man, we did start young. I started touring when I
was twenty. I just turned twenty one, and it was
you know, they say, like youth is wasted on the young.
So it's touring because I think I would have enjoyed
it so much more now in the mindset that I'm
in in my life and just the place that I
(03:03):
am than I did then, because you know, you get
out there and you're young, and you start touring, and
it's that's a lot to hand to hand a twenty
one year old.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
You know, and it's basically, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Just to here's the back I used to tell people,
it's like having a backstage past to life. And you
get out there and and I was an idiot and
I didn't you know, I didn't do a lot of things,
but I was just, I guess my main thing that
I got out.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I just got out and drank so much and things
like that.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And and I've been without alcohol. I've been alcohol free
for a little over three years. And so I wish
man I could just take that and apply it to
my whole career.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I would have enjoyed it so much more. I think
I saw you guys probably five times, you know, all
through my years. And so for me, I think the
last time I saw you guys was you guys in Fuel.
You guys were playing together. But I bet a lot
of those bands, did you guys kind of cross paths
into a randomly with a lot of those guys kind
of in that same class of when when pop was rock.
(03:59):
So how did those tours often come together? Did you?
Did you switch places sometimes? Like who had the bigger song?
We kind of lead the tour. Well, we, by.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
The grace of God, our first record like done really good,
and we started touring together with Nickelback was used to
be their second record kind of took off for them,
and so that was the first tour that we would
kind of they opened for us for a couple first
couple of years that both of us were out and uh,
and then their second record took off, and we've done
(04:29):
a tour together to where we kind of flip flop
back and forth playing, and then.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
We had we went our separate ways. So like not
good blood, not good blood. So what's the deal with Knickelback?
Why did they already hate on Nickelback?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Why do you think people hate on Nickelback? And I
wouldn't have went there for you, you know, I didn't
know you guys tour with Nickelback a lot. There's been
a lot of times where we both.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Started on two old Ratty Eagles, you know, like the
nineteen eighties Eagle buses, and one of them was always broke.
So there were a lot of times where there was
I mean, you know, in those days it's all band
and crew on one bus. On that tour, there was
both bands and both crews on one bus for a
lot of times because one of the bus was always
tour down, uh, tore up and it would break down
and we.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Just had to get to the next gig. So everybody's
just kid on one which if a bus only holds
twelve now a buslehold twelve legitimately, like my bus will
hold twelve legitimately, so it means there's enough bunks and
legally you can have twelve. This sounds like there's more
of th twelve people on that bus, but a lot
of people.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Somebody would always give me a bunk, and uh so
so the two singers could sleep or whatever. But uh yeah,
we just kind of we Our old drummer is now
their drummer. Daniel used to be our drummer for quite
a while, and uh and he's a great drummer, you know.
And they was just I don't really know, honestly, how
it got to be Bad Blood, but I think kind
(05:51):
of it was a thing into war show and I
don't even remember what a ward show it was. And
it was even between the two bands. It was between
some crew guys or something.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
But I don't know why people I don't know why
people hate on them so much. But well, if you
don't like them, I now hate knickelback to Mike, let
them know, let them know. I'm tired of defending them.
I don't like them anymore. But I don't like them.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I don't dislike you know, honestly, I hadn't talked to
him in a really long time.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Here's a story one of my friends told me because
they went to Canada and they're a country band, and
they said they were playing with Nickelback, and I guess
those guys are really rich, or I guess Chad Kroger
is really rich. And apparently they went on a yacht.
This is all hearsay, right, They went on a yacht.
They were throwing pillows into the air and shooting them
with guns, and that he was just wild and they
just had guns. And they still like partying on boats
(06:35):
and off the coast, and I was like, man, Nickelback
is still going hard right now. I guess so, man.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I've heard some stories about Ched doing some pretty outland
just things, but it was mainly like throwing money around
and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And for me personally, I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Come from a good family of saving kids. But my
mom and dad taught me to the value of money.
And I still remember the value of money and noticing
about it, you.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Know, I guess probably I was probably like nineteen or twenty,
and you guys, in my mind really blew up and
that rock sound became the pop sound because I was
working on pop radio, and every song you guys would
put out would just be massive. And when you're in
the mix, and I can feel this a bit with
me now, meaning I'll work so hard, I really don't
see the cool things that are happening around me at
(07:22):
the level I should really appreciate and see them. I wonder,
because you were so successful, just one after the other,
what felt like did you really feel it and experience it?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Are you just running so hard? I think you're just
running so hard that you did you feel it? And
I think I feel it more now looking back, you know,
and Jen and I and we'll talk about it sometimes,
and and and I mean we really.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Were like truly truly blessed. And we still are. Man,
we still go and we still play a lot.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
We don't tour when we you know, when those first
several years we played three hundred shows a year. Wow.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Sometimes you're on the road that much, you were, Man,
we would we would go.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
We developed kind of the three week rule to where,
you know, if we don't want to be gone more
than three weeks, come home for a week and go again.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Sometimes.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
But I remember like going for three or four months
and not even coming home you know, but we always
we've always been a radio band, and radio has always
been our lifeblood and they've always been.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Very, very good to us. Did you want to be
a radio band at first? Or he just a rock
band that the times happened to fit the sound.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I think that it just kind of happened because you know,
we never toured before we got signed. We were from
South Mississippi and uh and we're from Biloxi, Misissippi, Multipoint, Misissippi,
but basically Biloxi, which is like halfway between New Orleans
and Mobile, and we couldn't get a gig in New Orleans.
We couldn't get gigs in Mobile, nobody. I mean, we
(08:42):
just had to play like right there. It worked at
what worked to our benefit was the fact that there
just wasn't a whole lot to do in the area.
So we always had a ton of friends at the
shows and stuff like that. And so we went and
made a little CD at a local studio and had
Kryptonite on it along with what would become like half
of the first record, and.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
So we begged our local radio station to play it.
And you know, they can't just do that, right.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
But they had a local radio show that they would
do once a month, and so they played us on
there a lot, and and finally we begged the program
director long enough that he was like, okay, I'll add
grip Tonite, and he tried it, and it became the
most requests its only ever had.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And now some of these people might have been interferends
or family.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
For a little while, but after a while it became
like a hit on that station. And they were a
reporting station, and so you know, the report was going
out that this number one song, but there was no
record company beside it. So there came the record companies
and and we weren't even trying to get signed. They
just came and it just happened.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
So where all you guys, where'd you come? How'd you
come together?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
We were all from the same little town Eskataba, Mississippi.
And Matt and I which our original guitar player he
passed away. We had He's my cousin and we just
always played together and started playing his garage before I
even had a drum set, and one of his buddies
left a drum set over there for me to play,
and and Todd, original bass player, he asked me and
(10:12):
Matt to come over this house one day and play,
and we just started the band and I was the drummer.
I didn't I'd never sing in front of anybody ever,
and I just I.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Was like, oh, I'll try it.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
And I was so shy that Todd lived in a
trailer and I would sit.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
In the in the in the front living room of.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
His trailer, and I would a couple of his girlfriend
and one of her friends.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Would always be over there. They were always at Todd's house.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I was so shy sit in my face in the
corner and sing, Yeah, how.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Hard was it? A drum and sing? Not so bad? Really.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I always wonder how people play guitar and sing, because
I mean, I just can't get my fingers.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
To do that.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
But for the drums, I played, and I'm not a
great drumm or anything, but I played all my life,
and so it was never I never really thought about.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
It too much. So you never sang, and you hop
up and you start singing, although you're shy, Like, could
you feel you're pretty good at it? I felt like
I was.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I think probably the breakthrough for me was when when
they told me, like Todd's girlfriend was like you sounded
really good, you know, like okay, you know with it
from there, and that definitely helped me come out of
my shield. But I remember when we recorded that first record,
like I took it home and I played it for
my parents and my dad saidho's that singing?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I was like, that's me. No, it ain't as it is.
That's funny, And it's such a funny story that your
local radio station playing the song is what ended up
getting you as a deal. Because just to kind of
break it down for our listeners, if stations are big enough,
their playlists get reported to basically a database, and they
take the database and they go, okay, this song had
this many plays at reporting stations, and that's what builds
(11:47):
the chart. So any station that's big enough has a
reporting tag, and you're on a reporting station and there's
this song, the number one song that has no record
label beside it. Because every song, every band has the
label written right beside it if they're on Mercury or Hollywood.
But Three Doors I had nothing, nothing, And so the
label did multiple labels approach you guys.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
They did Universal in Atlantic. It was the main two
that we talked to and a couple of a couple
of others, and and Monni Litman came down. He's now
the president of Universal. That was when he and his brother,
Avery Litman at first started are not just started, but
recently started Republic, which was a rock label on inside
(12:28):
of Universal. And he came down and talked to us,
and uh, and we just liked what money had to say.
And he was honest with us, and and.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Uh, what does he say to you?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
You know what stand out about the meeting above what
made us ultimately go with them above anybody else.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
He said, Look, he said, a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Come down here and lie to you and tell you
this and that and tell you what you want to hear.
He said, it's like this. You sell me records. It's
all good. You stop selling records. I stop answering the phone.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
I said, good enough. And when you get signed, is
it like a recoup? Whenever they give you money for
a record, do they give you any sort of money
up front? Like you here have money to go buy
some clothes? They did. They gave us.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
They gave us a signon bonus when we first signed,
and it wound up that we all got fifteen thousand
dollars apiece to sign in all four members before it
was at the time, we all wouldn't spend it all
on jet skis.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That in fifteen thousand dollars. Again, we're the same agent
basically from the same part of the world because I'm
from Arkansas. You give me fifteen thousand dollars as a
nineteen or twenty year old, I mean, one, that's more
money than I've ever seen it at once ever, and
then two, I'm probably gonna make some dumb decisions too.
And so you guys all go buy jet skis. It
was gold And where do you do? You write them
in the golf?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, oh yeah, right, we lived right on the golf
and right kind of we grew up on a river,
but just ride up the river from the golf that's funny.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You know what I didn't know is that you wrote
Kryptonite high school. It didn't, which is nute. This is
to me, the song that you guys would be known
most for, is it? Is it? To you? It's what
got us started.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
I guess maybe Here Without You is kind of the
song that kept it going, but Kryptonite is definitely what
kind of skull I'm play.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
A little krept Nite Man. This was the jam I
remember when it came out. I was like, I don't
even know who these guys are, but I love them,
So tell me about this year. You write it in
high school, like junior senior high school. I was a senior,
and so you sit down and go, are you watching Superman?
Or you know? It was it was I guess it
was just me asking a.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Question of of like unconditional friendship. It's like, if I'm
doing good, will you be there for me?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
And if I'm down? Will you be there for me?
And you know, honest to god.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I didn't think a whole lot about it. You know,
it sounded good in the words rhymed. It meant a
lot more to me later, and it still means things
to me right now because later on in my life
I started realizing that question was kind of a pretty
good question. If I go crazy, will you still call
(14:57):
me Superman? Or if I'm alive and will you will
you be there holding my hand? And the reason that
became more meaningful to me later was the fact that
so many times it's like people are willingly there for
you when you're down, but those same people that's like
Oh yeah, man, you're gonna do great.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
You're gonna do great.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Well, if you start doing great, those same people will
kind of turn on you sometimes, you know. And so
that question kind of became a valuable question to me
and and pretty meaningful for me.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
It's almost like a marriage val you know, for rich ORPORR. So, yeah,
so that comes out and you got to be feeling
pretty good. But do you start to feel like, man,
I wonder for a one and done band.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Oh man, because that can be the kiss of death,
Like one huge song can that can do you in.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Just would you rather have had one huge song let's say,
like a Chumbowamba or a lou Bega and went away
or had no major song at all but a few
that were okay? I think I'd rather have a few
that was okay. Yeah. Why is that?
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Because I think it would create more long angevity in
your career and allow you to go play more shows,
because you know, you know, a lot of kind of
look at it as like we tour to promote a record,
but we put out a record, soo we could go tour,
you know, and we always we just always.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Like to go play live. And you also, I guess
would become kind of a character of yourself if you
have one song, like you're always that image of that
one song, because there's not another one or two to
balance it out so much exactly. And I say that
because I was watching this story about Bobby McFerrin, who
has Don't Worry, Be Happy. He won't play that song
anymore because he's like, that was like a goofy song
(16:33):
that I never expected to be a hit, and that
actually doesn't represent me at all, and so he doesn't
play that at all. Really, yeah, he doesn't play it
at all. Like what do you get tired of playing
the big hits? I don't.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
I don't because and we're we're doing a lot of
acoustic shows right now. And I like doing acoustics because
it gives me a chance to talk to the crowd.
And one of the things I was telling the crowd
the other night because I just talk what's ever.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
On my mind?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
You know, And I was just telling him, I was like,
you know, it never it never gets old, and.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Because I love hearing them sing it back.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And it's weird because for the last fifteen years we
wore in your monitors.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Well, I had a weird situation like two weekends ago.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
My monitor guy we were in and out of town,
you know, and he left our end years at home
and thank god we had some wedges, and so that
was my first time to sing with wedges in like
fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Wow. And so, by the way, wedges, for people that
don't know, the inter ears are little the tiny thing
that you see the artists wearing their ears, and so
basically it's a mix inside the ears and it seals
off all the outside sound and what the monitors are
are or the wedges are, the on stage the little
box speakers. Everybody can kind to hear them, but they're
pointed at you. So it was the first time in
fifteen years you'd use us.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, and for one of our shows, and it allowed
me to hear the crowd and I was like, man,
I been missing this because you know, sometimes for the
inn ears, you only hear what you want to hear. Yeah,
but it can really kind of it can definitely separate
you from everybody out there.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I usually have some be at Mike's in there a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
But and coincidentally the first the first of those two
shows was it's pretty small and I could I could
hear people like talking while I was singing shut up.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I did a whole thing on the air where I
was talking about acoustic shows or even when I do
stand up, Like there's a difference because when someone's talking
and I'm doing stand up, it kills all of like
my rhythm. I'm talking and if you yell hey, you're
even if you go hey, you're awesome, it it stops it.
It kills everything. And I'm like, there's a difference in
screaming that out when I'm doing stand up or someone's
(18:35):
doing an acoustics show versus when there's fire and there's
big electric guitars and nose. You can scream at all
you want, like tell tell the artist you love them,
But if he's depending on the attention of the room,
he's got to have the attention of the room absolutely.
And so you're playing these acoustic shows and you started
to notice that was the thing huh mm you do.
It is irritating because for me, Brad, I don't know
about you, but I feel bad. Not for me, I'll
(18:56):
be fine, Like I go, I do the best I can,
and I feel good about it. It's right, But it's
the people that are sitting out there that paid for
the ticket that have to hear some idiot yelling and
I feel bad for them, and I get mad for them,
and sometimes, like I've popped off a crowd at people
in the crowds, I'm like, dude, they didn't pay to
hear you tell jokes, that's right. They paid to come
and experience whatever I'm bringing, that's right. And I wonder
(19:18):
do you feel that way? I do? I do, and
you know, and and at one of the.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Shows, that that first show, there was somebody over over
out in one side of the crowd that was just
kept on screaming and I remember I could hear it
while I was singing, And I mean they weren't like
screaming obscenities or something hateful or anything. But after a
couple of songs, security came and got them and take them,
took them out.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
And I don't like to see anybody get taken out
of a show. I was kind of glad. Yeah, And
you know what, and they paid for it too, But
they can't run it for everybody else, that's right. That's
what That's all it's about to me, is that you're
running it for everybody else that got a sitter that
took a night and dedicated to come watch freaking three
doors downplay and there's some guy won't stop screaming as
you guys are playing here without you acoustic, which is cool.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
We interrupt this interview to bring you a message from
our sponsor, and we're back on the Bobby Cast.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
So what was the second single? A Loser?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
I wrote Loser right around that same time, but actually
wrote her about one of my friends.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
And it wasn't actually calling him a loser.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
But he and I grew up together and I know
him since were little bitty kids, and uh, he started
getting into like jokes, pretty bad and stuff, and I
wasn't writing it calling him a loser. I watched his
attitude chains to where I could tell that like he
thought he was a loser, and I was. I was
almost writing it from his perspective, looking at himself, you know.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
And and thankfully dude straightened up and he's a good dude.
And I had talked to him a long time, But
that it was written really about one of my friends.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
He wrote those songs in high school, huh, and here
they are lasting fifteen twenty years later. That's crazy, by
the grace of God. So were you in high school?
Were you the cool music kid? Were you the dorky
music kid? I kind of hung out with everybody.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, And it was really like I was saying earlier,
it worked our avenues to be from that little town, and.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
I mean I kind of knew everybody.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I wouldn't like the kid that got picked on, but
I wasn't the kid that got invited every party either,
you know. And because we we practice all the time,
we were just we played all the time, and we
should have been better, but we knew we got to
where we knew everybody because it was one little bar
in our town and we played there every weekend. And
(21:43):
I was on like sixteen, and I had to get
I literally had to get a note from my parents
saying it was okay for me to be in there.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
And a note that's funny, a note to break the law,
that's funny, note to take into a bar. Yeah, playing
at the bars.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
And we just we'd always have like three or four hundred
people in there. It was never like but double all
there was to go do. And we charged like three
or three or four dollars to come in, and we
just got to keep the keep the cover charge.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So they made the alcohol money. Mm hm, and you
guys got the cover we did. Why about you guys
were doing all right then? Because again how we grew up.
You and I both hic. That's that's a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I worked at McDonald's, and I could make more playing
in a bar both nights of the weekend that I
could make a McDonald's all week.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Did you continue to work at McDonald's for a little bit?
When did you go? All right, I'm just gonna dedicate
myself to music.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
I mainly quit there because I wanted to go to
a party and my menage let me help work.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
I was like, see, yeah, I make more money playing
in bars anyway. That's funny. Three doors down the acoustic versions,
uh from their acoustic back porch jam check that out?
All right? So how many how many singles on that
first record? Four? So what's the last one that comes off?
Ud be like that? So that first single, Kryptonite, you
got a couple of rockets. That fourth one goes back
(22:57):
to pop and does really well. I remember that, like
playing that one like crazy. So you start with a
bang and you in with a bang. Going into the
second record, you gotta feel pretty good about yourself. It
was that was It was amazing. It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I remember I literally remember being so mad one night
and like at my n R guy, I was like,
why did will you sell eighty thousand records last week?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
I was like, man, that is bull crowd. I'll last week? Yeah,
random week. Wow, the times have changed.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
My friend was like what or maybe it was like
sixty thousand or something, but it was like ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
It was some ridiculous amount of records and I was like.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
What.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Gets so crazy? Man? I was killing it now an artist,
wo beg. I think like Florida, Georgia Lansaw, like fifty
thousand last week and it was like the biggest I
didn't listen. Times have changed too, like the way that
people get music. Absolutely, but okay, So second record was
that Away from the Sun. It was I didn't even
have notes on that, Like I'm just going straight from
memory here. Away from the sun, like the black cover
the sun kind of a tell me if I'm wrong,
(24:00):
Like maybe like the moon's covering a little bit. There's
like an outside like the edge of the signs that right,
mm hm, I'm so good at this I'm good at
and so first song off the record is.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
What, uh the first single off of U Away from
the Sun was.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
When I'm Gone. Was there ever a resentment that you
guys didn't get the coverage? And did you ever go
Is it because we're from super South? Is it because
I mean I resented it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
And I mean and you know, because even really, you know,
they've wanted us to kind of separate ourselves from being
so Southern. And I mean you can hear the way
I talk. I tried not to for a little while,
and I just couldn't help it, you know, And and uh,
and you know, I guess they associated with being.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Kind of stupid or whatever.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Then especially you know, it's like because there were no
Southern bands out and the head and been for a
long time. You know, I think the last Southern band
was out before US was scandered.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
There was a rock band. You know, how does that
conversation go where they go? Is it a conversation where
they say, hey, like we need you to be a
little more California a little or you know not, because
again it's another something guy right in front of you
asking this question. Because when I started in a radio
and they were like, hey, you're gonna be popping up up.
You have to lose your accent a little bit. So
and that conversation has had to me and I did
(25:12):
a bit, and now I've kind of got back to
you know, I sound a bit like I sounded growing up.
But was that conversation I had with you? Like, guys,
you got to chill out a little bit on that.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
In the Mississippi they did, and they send us to
a voice coach for a couple of sessions and just
to help us, like like me, which you know, a
new proper grammar.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I just don't like to use it, you know what
I'm saying, But I did. I tried to lose it
for a little while.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
And I mean, and it's not as thick as it
was when I started, Man, that was it was.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I probably could have managed to shave a little bit
of that all over. There are people surprised sometimes that
I think your accident is when you do doc. They
are because you don't really hear it in the music.
But again, you don't really hear the spice girls being
British and most of the stuff they sing either I know.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Or it blows me away, Like you you've seen this
actor in four or five movies, and then you see
me accept in.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
An award or something. It's like what they guy and
Walking Dead kills me. He's off the show now. But
the main guy, Rick Grimes, he would say he's on
the show. He's like from Atlanta and he talks and
he's like hey, Rick Grimes, and then he's on the
award shows going my thanks for the award. I'm like,
what is happening right now? Like I don't want to
hear this. You're running everything I know about this guy.
I picture him with Rick Grimes from Atlanta, not this
(26:20):
kangaroo guy. So you keep making hits, but you're probably
not getting the respect that you just you feel like
you deserve in the mainstream Like that would that would
irritate me.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
It was a little irritating, but but then you know,
I guess, but then you go home and forget about it,
you know, because you're amongst your friends and they're glad
that you.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
I always just thought it was more important to stay me.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Than it was to be who they wanted me to be,
because you know, I think God for my mom and daddy,
you know, they were always encouraging to me and and
just let me.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Do my thing. You know.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
They they didn't force me to do it, but they
didn't keep me from doing it. But you know, my
mom just always reminded me of like Brad, that won't
always be there son, you know, And it's always kept
that in my mind that this will you know, who
I am.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Will always be here, but that won't always be there.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
So I just kind of got to where I just
took it with a grain of salt and I just
am who I am, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
And how is the relationship between the band as you
guys started to skyrocket with the songs doing so well,
getting better, getting worse, worse.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Really it did, because honestly, I mean, we all got
out there partying and like one of us was, well,
all of us drank a good bit, but like one
of us was, it wasn't that we didn't get along.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Our drugs didn't get along because.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
One person was on this, and one person was on this,
one person was on this, and and by our third record,
we all had our own buses. It was five guys
in the band and four band busses and then all
the crew buses.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So we were rolling around with seven buses because the
four main band guys hated each other. So how does
that dynamic work when you have to work on things
and when you have to get on stage and be
a collective.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
That got to where it was like the only time
that we see each other with sound check and on stage,
and you know, we were playing amphitheaters and stuff. You
keep a pretty consistent sound, so we'd get a sound
established and we wouldn't even do sound check. I wouldn't
see some of those see the guys until it was
you know, if we played at nine, I'd see m
and eight thirty when we were in the dressing room
putting years on.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
And it was just all right, you guys ready. And
then you go out and play and rocky show and
everybody thinks that you're the best friends ever because you
used to be and you look like you. I mean,
you go out and you're a rock band, you're rocking,
people think you're rocking as brothers. When does it get
better or does it It's sort of didn't, man. I mean,
(28:49):
you know, I'm the there.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Was three of us to start, and I'm one that's here,
you know, and one Frankly is in prison, and one's
dead and both there's a result of drugs man.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And you know, and.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Chris, Chris was not one of the original guys, but
he was in the band when we got signed, and
I think guy for him because he got clean. You know,
he was on toe completely different. My thing was just
always drinking and I drink profusely, and uh, he did
a lot of different other things, but uh, he got clean.
(29:25):
And my drummer, Greg Upchurch, he's been a drummer for
he became. He used to play for Puddle of Mud.
And when Daniel left and went to Nickelback, that was
right after we had done a tour that was Nickelback
three doors down in Puddle of Mud, and Daniel went
to Nickelback, Greg came with us and Greg' from Oklahoma
and uh and Greg drank like a fish too, And
(29:47):
it got to where, you know, Chris By, not so
gentle persuasion went to went to rehab and he got
clean and somehow, and it's a testament to his variety,
stayed sober with us, still partying like mad men.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Really And then a few years later, Greg By not so.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
General persuasion went to rehab and he got clean just
from drinking and Man, I started seeing those guys and
I was still I knew that, I knew that I
needed to change, but you know, I started seeing what
those guys had, and you know, you see them over
there and they're happy, and I'm still here miserable. And
(30:32):
I thank God for man because seeing them like that
and through their encouragement, you know, they never pushed it
on me, but I was like, I have to.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
It got to be where I could trace. I was
ruining my life.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
There was no big tragedy or no catastrophe or anything,
but I was putting my wife through hell. I was
putting everybody I knew through hell and putting myself through hell.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
And I was seeing.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Around me and I was like, I have to change,
and I went to rehabit. It's the best thing I've
ever done because I wanted to get sober, but I
didn't know how. And I went out there and they
talked me how how to deal with my problems. Because
people don't have drug addictions. They have life problems, and
they you know, they don't have drug problems, rather.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
They have life problems, and they sidestepped there.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Instead of facing their problems, they sidestep them and use
drugs and that's what I was doing, and and I
just had to learn how to. And I had a
missing the gross misconception of what rehab was. I thought that,
you know, like you're going to a hospital and they
step you down and like you're going to sit here
and do you sober. But I just went out there
and they it was like going to college to learn
how to be sober. And it was awesome and it
(31:31):
was the best thing I've ever done. And it ain't
like you come out in your life's perfect, but it's
sure started to get a lot better. And bends that
I was sober, and two other guys were sober in
the band. The other two guys who didn't really have
problems anyway, they might casually.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Drink a little bit.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
We all got sober, and it was like being in
a different band.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Really, man.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I always That's why I say, I wish it could
have always been like that, because we go out there
now and we didn't we generally.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
We June our last summer.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Too, where we were out and we were coming somewhere.
We're going from point A to point B, and we
were in like five miles of arches National parks. We
got off the bus and everybody went walked around the
park together. I was like, I cannot believe it. I've
been in this band for twenty years and this is
the first one of the first times I can. I
could look around and I was standing in the National
(32:22):
Park with all five band members standing, and I was like.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Man, when you took that in, I wish you could
have always been like that. You know what's funny is
you talk about these guys and not being put in
with gentle persuasion like my So I give you a
quick backstory before I tell you the question after my
mom died in her forties from drinking and drugs, because
then I put in a rehab a couple of times,
and she never wanted to be in rehab, so rehab
(32:46):
never worked for her. If that makes sense. Like when
you say they didn't want to go, I go, man,
because you have to embrace that, you really do. They
to hear that they didn't want to go and it
still worked for them. It's pretty amazing. It really is.
It's it really is. It was a miracle. It was
a miracle because Cryst will tell you. I mean it's
not it's not a secret.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
And we we're not and you know, we're not ashamed
of of where we've been or and how we got
to where we are. And he'll tell you that he
was bad and I was bad, just on a different
on a different kid, you know.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
And and when he when he had to go, it
was he had to go.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
I mean he had to go and and and I
think when he got there, he like realized it's like okay,
it's I think he realized it.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
It's like, okay, it's this or death that is that close.
So it was that much of a problem. It was
do you do the thing? Because so I've never had
a drink of alcohol because I like, I see my
mom died from it. My I don't know my real
dad because an alcohol like my I have a lot
of family problems with it. So I was early on
I was like, I'm not going to have this happen
to me. But what happens is people will treat me
different even though I let if I drink around me
(33:55):
like I'm good. Yeah, But I have to face I
was out a couple of nights ago and I was
meeting up with a friend, new friend, and I have
to get there early and order something that looks like
a drink or people treat me, they'll go, you know
what if you're not drinking, and I'm like, no, no,
just be yourself. I wonder do you have those problems
for people go, oh, he's sober. Now we have to
act different? Yes? And do you want them to act different?
Speaker 3 (34:13):
No?
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Do you need them to act different?
Speaker 2 (34:15):
No?
Speaker 1 (34:16):
And do you feel like sometimes you have to kind
of go guys, it's good?
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah, because I do all the time. I was read
a thing on it was a post on Instagram not longer.
It's it said as I follow a few recovery pages
and stuff on there, and it was one of them.
It said it said, uh, alcohol is the only drug
you have to justify not doing.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Oh yeah, true, you're right, because it's it's such a
social such a social drug. Yeah you know that. Yeah,
that's wild. You're like, why don't you Why don't you drink?
And it's like, because I do, because I'm allergic to it.
That's what I just tell it. I'm allergic alcohol. You
know that's crazy. And listen, that's a great story. I
didn't even wasn't gonna spear off into that. But I'm
comfortable talking about my story, and it's great to have
(34:59):
somebody else that that is the same.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Hang tight, the Bobby Cast will be right back. Welcome
back to the Bobby Cast.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I don't curse in my personal life, and I definitely
don't curse on stage, like I have my my shows
be completely clean. And I know that's the same thing
with you guys. Now do you do if the bands
are opening for you have songs with curse words, do
you have that talk with them like, hey, we don't
do that or not we shy.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Away from a band and if they get out there,
you know, it's the one thing that is the festival.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
You can't really say.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
And and I don't speak perfectly in my private life,
but I do not cuss on stage. And that also
goes back. My mama told me I better not get
up there. She's sitting the bread and my mama is
the other Baptist to the bone. You sitting the.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Bread, you gotta do it. Cuss on that stage and
be ashamed of you. So I never did. And and
but you know it's.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Worked out, and people vowed you that very very much
because I can't tell you, you know, especially having songs
about Superman and this and that we have a lot
of kids at our shows, and we still have a
lot of kids at our shows. It's like just the
next generation of them, which is freaking cool. It's the
kids of the kids. Yeah, yeah it is. And but
I've over the years had so many parents come up
(36:20):
to me and say thank you for putting on the
show that I can bring my kids too.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
And you know, we really have tried over the years to.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Kind of to I mean, you know, hey, man, come on,
you know you can't. We hate to try to control
an opening band. But they got out there and were
vulgar or something. We definitely say something to them about it.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Yeah, I will have that talk with my openers, like
I'll bring music as because when I tour, I'll go
and I'll do an hour set of stand up. But
I kind of treat it like a variety show. I
have someone coming open musically for me, and I'll have
the talk like, hey, people, it's not a kids show,
but there may be some kids in the crowd. But
people feel like this is safe space, like don't get
out there and be political, don't get out there and
(36:58):
be dropping f bombs and bombs, like just know that
people feel like this safe spot for them to come
and breathe, yes, and smile and taking a show, and
there can be some kids. And if it's PG thirteen,
that's all right, yeah yeah. Or if it's SpongeBob Basket
where you make a joke that's only adults will get
and kids really won't, that's okay too. Yes, But that's
a that you know, I do that, and people appreciate
(37:19):
that because they don't have to come in and worry
and sit and go all right, is this gonna be
a place where one of the ways I'm gonna feel uncomfortable.
I don't want that.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
And that's that's awesome that you do that too, man,
because it's not a whole lot of that in the
world right now.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
It's cool.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
I mean, it's better. It's better like that too. And
and also that's quality.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
You know, you don't need that. You don't.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
I don't feel like I need I like because you
put on a quality show and you're entertaining.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Guy, you don't need that. I appreciate that. I don't
know about that exactly what I appreciate it. Well, you
think about I was listening to some of these bands
talk about, like imagine Dragons. They're really big. But when
you get so big, you start to get a lot
of hates. And the Magic Dragons are get a lot
of hate from a lot of these quote unquote finger
quote legit rock artists like Nickelback gets hate for their music.
(38:10):
Wh how do you feel about, like, imagine dragons getting
all this hate right now? I didn't know that they were. Yeah,
who are the bands, Mike that are like out ripping
imagine Clipno's pretty big on ripping them slip No. They're like,
you're not real rock? What even is real when it
comes to.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
Art of any of those guys real monsters, right, they're
the ones that bit on mask on stage.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
You're right about that. When you did, you guys ever
start feeling that hate because you got so big?
Speaker 2 (38:35):
We did from from it was it was like those
little movement bands. And it was from bands like Some
forty one and then those I hate, Like I don't
mean to.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Pick on as they say, spill the tea, who is it?
Speaker 2 (38:45):
I mean, it's just all those like, you know, those
those movement bands, the punk bands that come through and
then this little movement comes, you know, and we were
we were never like the cool guys. But at the
same time, it's like we've done a lot of the
stuff that we've done sort of under the radar, you know,
because we were never like big enough that that we got.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
A lot of hate. You know, I would say that
you guys are one of the most underrated bands in
my lifetime because of the amount of hits you have,
and people unfairly don't put you in that conversation of
the sounds that changed other and influenced other sounds, because again,
we didn't even play all your hits. I just have
like nine ten humongous songs. Here we're talking about humongous
(39:29):
songs that cross genres, and you know, I feel like
you guys are super underrated. Would you think that three
doors down an unrated band had to be humble and
say yes? But I wonder, I wonder what you say.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
We never got a lot of attention. But but it's okay.
I'm cool with that.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
I wouldn't not me. I'm too competitive because I.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Always felt sorry, you know, like just just say like
it's easy to easy to say, Like Britney Spears always
felt sorry for her man of living under that microscope.
Me crazy too. I know she had like her little
episode and stuff. But I mean when there's constantly I
can't imagine walking out of every restaurant, every establishment, everywhere
(40:09):
that I went, somebody's standing there with the camera or something,
always wanting just living under the microscope. I never always
used to say, Man, I love being a radio band because.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Everybody knows their homes.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
They don't know what I look like, and so I
can sell a bunch of records, but I can see
go to Walmart.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
That's funny you mentioned Walmart because I was talking to
a friend of mine who lives in Boston. I was like,
growing up, we used to hang out of Walmart. Like
you go to Walmart, you know, you're in the parking lot,
or you're in Walmart or Sonic like in the South,
that's where you hang out. And he was like Walmart.
I was like yeah, and like we used to go
and hang out at the Jestsebelle Walmart. Like all right,
Friday night, we'll go on quote cruise, you know, you
(40:46):
drive around this little square and then we'll just end
up with the Walmart. And you know, it's funny that
you would say that, because that's totally a Southern thing too,
as like to hang out of Walmart. That's funny, man. So,
but do they ever do the thing with you guys
where they go, hey, you should like they ate another
celebrity because if you do that, it can raise the
image of the band. They ever did that with you guys?
Do you ever do?
Speaker 2 (41:06):
No?
Speaker 1 (41:07):
I would I'd been like, Brad, there's Christina Aguilera. I'm
gonna set you up right now. Did you ever think
of I'm moving to Los Angeles? Did you move to
Los Angeles? Not only only while we were making a record? Hell?
They there for like a month? They ever say in
the move you need to get where the action is
and live there to be a part of it. Not
so much. I'm I think they kind of wanted us
to move to New York for like a little bit.
(41:28):
And I was like, uh, and what was up with
that move? Why do they think that was a good idea.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Just to being being just like amongst the label and
just being amongst the business and and everything. But I
just I couldn't do it, man, I am I am
a country mouse.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
I can't do it. What's home life for you? Like? Now? Uh?
Speaker 2 (41:45):
We live on a farm out in Murphy's Boro. My
wife Beryl races horses, and we have six horses at
our house. We got a fifty acre farm, which I
never thought i'd have much that much land, and it's
kind of out in the country, but it's at the
same time, I got a grocery store like six miles
from the house, and it's not fancy, but it's it's
my heaven.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
And I will get there and if we have stuff
to eat.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
And I'll go home and the gate closes behind me
and I won't leave for three or four days.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Yeah, fifty acres, we do. I assume you have help. Uh.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
We have my friend comes and feeds horses when we're
out of town or something if I'm gone.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
And I have some guys that cut a part of
the yard.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
But just because I don't have enough time to cut
it all, they probably cut like because I'll have to
mow it all because some of it's back in the
woods and some of it like the horse pastures. We
only cut a couple of times up, maybe once a month,
just to kind of knock them, knock the tops off
because they won't eat it once it gets a certain height.
They have their We have finicky horses.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
They're spoiled. But there are our kids.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
But you know that, right, So they cut probably ten
acres and I cut the pastures and we do it
all ourselves. When I leave here, I'm going home to
clean horse stalls.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
And you're smiling as you say it. It's like you
love it. I like they're my babies, though, yeah, because
we don't have kids. Our horses are our kids. And
now I say, I'll smile about it here, I'll run
about it, but I'm standing here doing it.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
But you know, there are a lot of times when
I'm busy and just kind of going and going and going.
I'll like, man, I would love to be standing in
my barn right now, and it's just I mean, it's peaceful,
you know.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
And you get to do both. You get to be
alone on your property and then you get to go
and play shows and still have that lifestyle too and
sing your songs. It's a blessing. And how often are
you guys on the road right now?
Speaker 2 (43:36):
We go right now like every other weekend, and I
have shows this weekend and next weekend, and we have
a little more coming up later on in the summer,
and then next year will be the twentieth anniversary of
the Better Life, and we're gonna do like a full
world tour on that one.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
Is that right? That'll be fun? And but I look
forward to it. But man, I'm not twenty one years
old anymore. You ever think, because you know, the big
thing with and not for me, but the big thing
with a lot of people that go in country music,
they're like, well, that ain't country like yours country is
a gets Do you ever think about doing a country
song country record?
Speaker 2 (44:11):
I've been writing some lately, and I wrote about half
of a country record one time. But honestly, I took
it and uh, I was talking to some record guys
about it, and it's like sell I said, why, They said,
because it's because it's like.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
It's really country in a new countries to help it.
What did you listen to growing up? I was.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
I'm the youngest of seven kids, so I grew up
listening to whatever my brother's sisters listened to. But when
I was a kid, my favorite band growing up was
Bon Jovi, and I grew up on eighties rock and
I loved it and loved it and and honestly, when
when Nirvana and stuff came out, I kind of fell
off of it. I wasn't ready for it. I was
too young for it, I think or something. And I
(44:52):
listened to probably more country growing up than I like.
My all time favorite song is to dance Garth.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Oh yeah, I love it. You ever meet Garth? I never?
That's the best. You'd love him? His trishy or what
was up here a few days ago? Yeah, And I
got a chance. I got to know Garth a love bit.
Garth played you know the show you played with this
this year. I think you played with us the year before.
I know, it's awesome. I love Garth Brooks. I would
love to meet him. He's and he's a he's a
guy too that you know, I've I've learned a bit
from when like with people like Garth Brooks walks into
(45:19):
a room and every single person, doesn't matter who you are,
gets the same attention. And Garth looks you in the
eye and he spends time. And when Garth leaves, you go.
That was amazing. Yeah, And I think Taylor Swift learned
from Garth. And I'm just trying to like get his
crumbles and like I just want to learn, you know,
did anyone take kind of take you under the wing?
A bit or at least go Brad, this is what's
gonna happen, like other artists who would be like, this
(45:41):
is what you gotta do?
Speaker 2 (45:42):
Or was that kind of not cool? Then I never
knew a whole lot of him. I never knew like
a ton of artists. But I guess the people that
you meet along the way do do kind of let you,
let you uh, let you have some info. And but
we had the unity of there early in our career
(46:02):
to to work with Alex Leison.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
He produced a couple of b size for us and
guitar player for.
Speaker 2 (46:06):
Rush and and he had some pretty interesting conversations with him.
Speaker 1 (46:11):
And he's a great, great guy.
Speaker 2 (46:13):
And you know, I think what meant more to me
than anything was I was very fortunate to me like
you say that that Garthur comes into a room and
he's like everybody gets attention, and he's a he's like
a real person. And I was very fortunate to be
around some just for moments here and there, like really
famous people like that and see that, just get a
(46:35):
chance to see that.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
Wow, it's just he's just a dude. Du Yeah, just
a freaking dude.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Fans make us who we are man, I'm just before
when I got signed, I drove a forklift, and before that,
I drove a bush haul tractor.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
I'd mode tank fields.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
And I am so thankful I get to play in
a rock band for a living.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
Just humans, exactly. Yeah, it's crazy that it other people
that make other people. Like Garth is just a good
dude who has a skill at being somebody else may
have a skill of like a brain surgeon, you know,
at learning how how math works. They don't get that
because people don't make them that. Imagine a math if
(47:16):
in America, if people that did good math were celebrities,
our country be way ahead of China. They're checking our
butts right now. Exactly. So we need we need like
we need to start a movement to make mathematicians cool.
Get us out, get us up and out of there. Wait,
so you did you know folk left where you do that?
Down in pasta goople of Mississippi.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
At Electric Motor Shop, I've cleaned like electric motor we
rebuilt electric motors and things like that, and so I
cleaned parts and and bed blast them and stuff like that,
but mainly probably drove the more than anything.
Speaker 1 (47:44):
Could you hop back on one right? Now and felt
like a bike you could. I have two jackers at home.
I stay on all the time. Let me ask you
a simple one. Where did the name come from? Three
doors down? It came off of an old boarded up building, honest.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
Actually, we we used to go down to Golf Shores
a lot, which is like the Beats down in Alabama,
but pretty close to where we grew up.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
And driving down there, you went through a little town.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
That was just full of fruit stands and there would
be several of those were fruit stands in one building.
And we had a gig, like our first show that
night coming back and we didn't have a name, and
we had like a notebook full of names. And one
of those buildings had closed up and moved just a
couple of parcels down and there was like tack on
wooden letters that said, you know, business move like so
(48:34):
many doors down and someone falling off or whatever. And
there was three of us at the time, and Todd said,
well what about three doors down? And we're like all right,
and it just kind of stuck.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
So like the first real name you came up with,
you kept, well, that's odd. Most bands are like, well,
our first name was the Wiener Jumpers, but we didn't
like that, so then we decided to go with the
Tonail Kids, and we didn't like that. Next thing, you
know here we are you two, like that was weird hot.
But that's the first name you guys had, huh first name.
And it's the only band I've ever been in. I've
never been in another band. And you wrote those songs
(49:04):
in high school. And look at you. You look happy. Man.
I'm telling you, I'm blissed because I am. I have
not that talented. I feel so inferior with the same age,
and he's like I had a rock star live man.
Look at you. Good to see you, my friends, you
can see you two. All right. That's it. Thank you
very much. This has been a Bobby Cast production.
Everybody at his Bobby and I said on my Instagram
story that Brad Arnold, who was the lead singer of
Three Doors Down, that he had died, and so many
people said this is one of the best Bobby casts
they had ever heard. So I wanted to put it
back up in case you guys had missed it. Maybe
you hadn't even subscribed at the time, and maybe you
didn't know a story. So I'm going to get to that.
(00:28):
But Brad passed away aged forty seven, following a battle
with cancer that he was very public about. He had
stage four kidney cancer. He announced that in twenty twenty five.
The band shared a statement which announced his death, which
was the first I had heard of it too, they said,
with heavy hearts, we shared the news that Brad Arnold, founder,
(00:49):
lead singer and songwriter of Three Doors Down, passed away
on Saturday, February seventh at the age of forty seven,
with his beloved wife Jennifer and his family by his side.
He passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones in his
sleep after his courageous battle with cancer. So I'm going
to play this for you. And I was fortunate enough
(01:10):
to get to know Brad over the last six or
seven years. And it started with a morning show appearance,
like so many times it does, and then I think
he was on the show a second time, and then
I went and hosted a Three Doors Down anniversary special
for them, so just returning the favor. Also, I just
(01:31):
really like Brad. And then Brad played with us on
one of our Raging Idiots million dollar shows and against
such a sweet guy, and even with all the songs
that they have, he was like, just pick the songs
you want to do, and obviously we did Kryptonite. Brad
wrote most of the first record when he was in
high school, which is crazy, and started as the singer
(01:52):
and drummer for the band. So we're going to talk
about this, and he does talk about getting sober, which
was a big deal to him. He was always sharing
his sobriety journey and sharing his coins and again, extremely sad.
Forty seven years old, Rest in peace to Brad Arnold.
(02:14):
And here's the episode of the Bobby Cast with Three
Doors Down singer Brad Arnold. This is an exciting one
for me because it's Brad Arnold from Three Doors Down.
Glad to have you man, Thank you for having him. Man,
I'm glad to be here. I'm such a fan of
Three Doors down. Because how old of a guy are you?
I am forty, hitch okay, forty. We're about the same age.
I about turned thirty nine. Yeah, god, you were so
you were the same age basically, right, you were so
(02:35):
big and I was like an idiot on the radio
and Hot Springs, Arkansas, and you were like all over
the world. I felt so small now.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Man, we did start young. I started touring when I
was twenty. I just turned twenty one, and it was
you know, they say, like youth is wasted on the young.
So it's touring because I think I would have enjoyed
it so much more now in the mindset that I'm
in in my life and just the place that I
(03:03):
am than I did then, because you know, you get
out there and you're young, and you start touring, and
it's that's a lot to hand to hand a twenty
one year old.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
You know, and it's basically, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Just to here's the back I used to tell people,
it's like having a backstage past to life. And you
get out there and and I was an idiot and
I didn't you know, I didn't do a lot of things,
but I was just, I guess my main thing that
I got out.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I just got out and drank so much and things
like that.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And and I've been without alcohol. I've been alcohol free
for a little over three years. And so I wish
man I could just take that and apply it to
my whole career.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I would have enjoyed it so much more. I think
I saw you guys probably five times, you know, all
through my years. And so for me, I think the
last time I saw you guys was you guys in Fuel.
You guys were playing together. But I bet a lot
of those bands, did you guys kind of cross paths
into a randomly with a lot of those guys kind
of in that same class of when when pop was rock.
(03:59):
So how did those tours often come together? Did you?
Did you switch places sometimes? Like who had the bigger song?
We kind of lead the tour. Well, we, by.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
The grace of God, our first record like done really good,
and we started touring together with Nickelback was used to
be their second record kind of took off for them,
and so that was the first tour that we would
kind of they opened for us for a couple first
couple of years that both of us were out and uh,
and then their second record took off, and we've done
(04:29):
a tour together to where we kind of flip flop
back and forth playing, and then.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
We had we went our separate ways. So like not
good blood, not good blood. So what's the deal with Knickelback?
Why did they already hate on Nickelback?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Why do you think people hate on Nickelback? And I
wouldn't have went there for you, you know, I didn't
know you guys tour with Nickelback a lot. There's been
a lot of times where we both.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Started on two old Ratty Eagles, you know, like the
nineteen eighties Eagle buses, and one of them was always broke.
So there were a lot of times where there was
I mean, you know, in those days it's all band
and crew on one bus. On that tour, there was
both bands and both crews on one bus for a
lot of times because one of the bus was always
tour down, uh, tore up and it would break down
and we.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Just had to get to the next gig. So everybody's
just kid on one which if a bus only holds
twelve now a buslehold twelve legitimately, like my bus will
hold twelve legitimately, so it means there's enough bunks and
legally you can have twelve. This sounds like there's more
of th twelve people on that bus, but a lot
of people.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Somebody would always give me a bunk, and uh so
so the two singers could sleep or whatever. But uh yeah,
we just kind of we Our old drummer is now
their drummer. Daniel used to be our drummer for quite
a while, and uh and he's a great drummer, you know.
And they was just I don't really know, honestly, how
it got to be Bad Blood, but I think kind
(05:51):
of it was a thing into war show and I
don't even remember what a ward show it was. And
it was even between the two bands. It was between
some crew guys or something.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
But I don't know why people I don't know why
people hate on them so much. But well, if you
don't like them, I now hate knickelback to Mike, let
them know, let them know. I'm tired of defending them.
I don't like them anymore. But I don't like them.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I don't dislike you know, honestly, I hadn't talked to
him in a really long time.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Here's a story one of my friends told me because
they went to Canada and they're a country band, and
they said they were playing with Nickelback, and I guess
those guys are really rich, or I guess Chad Kroger
is really rich. And apparently they went on a yacht.
This is all hearsay, right, They went on a yacht.
They were throwing pillows into the air and shooting them
with guns, and that he was just wild and they
just had guns. And they still like partying on boats
(06:35):
and off the coast, and I was like, man, Nickelback
is still going hard right now. I guess so, man.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I've heard some stories about Ched doing some pretty outland
just things, but it was mainly like throwing money around
and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And for me personally, I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Come from a good family of saving kids. But my
mom and dad taught me to the value of money.
And I still remember the value of money and noticing
about it, you.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Know, I guess probably I was probably like nineteen or twenty,
and you guys, in my mind really blew up and
that rock sound became the pop sound because I was
working on pop radio, and every song you guys would
put out would just be massive. And when you're in
the mix, and I can feel this a bit with
me now, meaning I'll work so hard, I really don't
see the cool things that are happening around me at
(07:22):
the level I should really appreciate and see them. I wonder,
because you were so successful, just one after the other,
what felt like did you really feel it and experience it?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Are you just running so hard? I think you're just
running so hard that you did you feel it? And
I think I feel it more now looking back, you know,
and Jen and I and we'll talk about it sometimes,
and and and I mean we really.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Were like truly truly blessed. And we still are. Man,
we still go and we still play a lot.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
We don't tour when we you know, when those first
several years we played three hundred shows a year. Wow.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Sometimes you're on the road that much, you were, Man,
we would we would go.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
We developed kind of the three week rule to where,
you know, if we don't want to be gone more
than three weeks, come home for a week and go again.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Sometimes.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
But I remember like going for three or four months
and not even coming home you know, but we always
we've always been a radio band, and radio has always
been our lifeblood and they've always been.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Very, very good to us. Did you want to be
a radio band at first? Or he just a rock
band that the times happened to fit the sound.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I think that it just kind of happened because you know,
we never toured before we got signed. We were from
South Mississippi and uh and we're from Biloxi, Misissippi, Multipoint, Misissippi,
but basically Biloxi, which is like halfway between New Orleans
and Mobile, and we couldn't get a gig in New Orleans.
We couldn't get gigs in Mobile, nobody. I mean, we
(08:42):
just had to play like right there. It worked at
what worked to our benefit was the fact that there
just wasn't a whole lot to do in the area.
So we always had a ton of friends at the
shows and stuff like that. And so we went and
made a little CD at a local studio and had
Kryptonite on it along with what would become like half
of the first record, and.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
So we begged our local radio station to play it.
And you know, they can't just do that, right.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
But they had a local radio show that they would
do once a month, and so they played us on
there a lot, and and finally we begged the program
director long enough that he was like, okay, I'll add
grip Tonite, and he tried it, and it became the
most requests its only ever had.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And now some of these people might have been interferends
or family.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
For a little while, but after a while it became
like a hit on that station. And they were a
reporting station, and so you know, the report was going
out that this number one song, but there was no
record company beside it. So there came the record companies
and and we weren't even trying to get signed. They
just came and it just happened.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
So where all you guys, where'd you come? How'd you
come together?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
We were all from the same little town Eskataba, Mississippi.
And Matt and I which our original guitar player he
passed away. We had He's my cousin and we just
always played together and started playing his garage before I
even had a drum set, and one of his buddies
left a drum set over there for me to play,
and and Todd, original bass player, he asked me and
(10:12):
Matt to come over this house one day and play,
and we just started the band and I was the drummer.
I didn't I'd never sing in front of anybody ever,
and I just I.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Was like, oh, I'll try it.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
And I was so shy that Todd lived in a
trailer and I would sit.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
In the in the in the front living room of.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
His trailer, and I would a couple of his girlfriend
and one of her friends.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Would always be over there. They were always at Todd's house.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I was so shy sit in my face in the
corner and sing, Yeah, how.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Hard was it? A drum and sing? Not so bad? Really.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I always wonder how people play guitar and sing, because
I mean, I just can't get my fingers.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
To do that.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
But for the drums, I played, and I'm not a
great drumm or anything, but I played all my life,
and so it was never I never really thought about.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
It too much. So you never sang, and you hop
up and you start singing, although you're shy, Like, could
you feel you're pretty good at it? I felt like
I was.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I think probably the breakthrough for me was when when
they told me, like Todd's girlfriend was like you sounded
really good, you know, like okay, you know with it
from there, and that definitely helped me come out of
my shield. But I remember when we recorded that first record,
like I took it home and I played it for
my parents and my dad saidho's that singing?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I was like, that's me. No, it ain't as it is.
That's funny, And it's such a funny story that your
local radio station playing the song is what ended up
getting you as a deal. Because just to kind of
break it down for our listeners, if stations are big enough,
their playlists get reported to basically a database, and they
take the database and they go, okay, this song had
this many plays at reporting stations, and that's what builds
(11:47):
the chart. So any station that's big enough has a
reporting tag, and you're on a reporting station and there's
this song, the number one song that has no record
label beside it. Because every song, every band has the
label written right beside it if they're on Mercury or Hollywood.
But Three Doors I had nothing, nothing, And so the
label did multiple labels approach you guys.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
They did Universal in Atlantic. It was the main two
that we talked to and a couple of a couple
of others, and and Monni Litman came down. He's now
the president of Universal. That was when he and his brother,
Avery Litman at first started are not just started, but
recently started Republic, which was a rock label on inside
(12:28):
of Universal. And he came down and talked to us,
and uh, and we just liked what money had to say.
And he was honest with us, and and.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Uh, what does he say to you?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
You know what stand out about the meeting above what
made us ultimately go with them above anybody else.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
He said, Look, he said, a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Come down here and lie to you and tell you
this and that and tell you what you want to hear.
He said, it's like this. You sell me records. It's
all good. You stop selling records. I stop answering the phone.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
I said, good enough. And when you get signed, is
it like a recoup? Whenever they give you money for
a record, do they give you any sort of money
up front? Like you here have money to go buy
some clothes? They did. They gave us.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
They gave us a signon bonus when we first signed,
and it wound up that we all got fifteen thousand
dollars apiece to sign in all four members before it
was at the time, we all wouldn't spend it all
on jet skis.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That in fifteen thousand dollars. Again, we're the same agent
basically from the same part of the world because I'm
from Arkansas. You give me fifteen thousand dollars as a
nineteen or twenty year old, I mean, one, that's more
money than I've ever seen it at once ever, and
then two, I'm probably gonna make some dumb decisions too.
And so you guys all go buy jet skis. It
was gold And where do you do? You write them
in the golf?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, oh yeah, right, we lived right on the golf
and right kind of we grew up on a river,
but just ride up the river from the golf that's funny.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
You know what I didn't know is that you wrote
Kryptonite high school. It didn't, which is nute. This is
to me, the song that you guys would be known
most for, is it? Is it? To you? It's what
got us started.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
I guess maybe Here Without You is kind of the
song that kept it going, but Kryptonite is definitely what
kind of skull I'm play.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
A little krept Nite Man. This was the jam I
remember when it came out. I was like, I don't
even know who these guys are, but I love them,
So tell me about this year. You write it in
high school, like junior senior high school. I was a senior,
and so you sit down and go, are you watching Superman?
Or you know? It was it was I guess it
was just me asking a.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Question of of like unconditional friendship. It's like, if I'm
doing good, will you be there for me?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
And if I'm down? Will you be there for me?
And you know, honest to god.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I didn't think a whole lot about it. You know,
it sounded good in the words rhymed. It meant a
lot more to me later, and it still means things
to me right now because later on in my life
I started realizing that question was kind of a pretty
good question. If I go crazy, will you still call
(14:57):
me Superman? Or if I'm alive and will you will
you be there holding my hand? And the reason that
became more meaningful to me later was the fact that
so many times it's like people are willingly there for
you when you're down, but those same people that's like
Oh yeah, man, you're gonna do great.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
You're gonna do great.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Well, if you start doing great, those same people will
kind of turn on you sometimes, you know. And so
that question kind of became a valuable question to me
and and pretty meaningful for me.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
It's almost like a marriage val you know, for rich ORPORR. So, yeah,
so that comes out and you got to be feeling
pretty good. But do you start to feel like, man,
I wonder for a one and done band.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Oh man, because that can be the kiss of death,
Like one huge song can that can do you in.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Just would you rather have had one huge song let's say,
like a Chumbowamba or a lou Bega and went away
or had no major song at all but a few
that were okay? I think I'd rather have a few
that was okay. Yeah. Why is that?
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Because I think it would create more long angevity in
your career and allow you to go play more shows,
because you know, you know, a lot of kind of
look at it as like we tour to promote a record,
but we put out a record, soo we could go tour,
you know, and we always we just always.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Like to go play live. And you also, I guess
would become kind of a character of yourself if you
have one song, like you're always that image of that
one song, because there's not another one or two to
balance it out so much exactly. And I say that
because I was watching this story about Bobby McFerrin, who
has Don't Worry, Be Happy. He won't play that song
anymore because he's like, that was like a goofy song
(16:33):
that I never expected to be a hit, and that
actually doesn't represent me at all, and so he doesn't
play that at all. Really, yeah, he doesn't play it
at all. Like what do you get tired of playing
the big hits? I don't.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
I don't because and we're we're doing a lot of
acoustic shows right now. And I like doing acoustics because
it gives me a chance to talk to the crowd.
And one of the things I was telling the crowd
the other night because I just talk what's ever.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
On my mind?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
You know, And I was just telling him, I was like,
you know, it never it never gets old, and.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Because I love hearing them sing it back.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And it's weird because for the last fifteen years we
wore in your monitors.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Well, I had a weird situation like two weekends ago.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
My monitor guy we were in and out of town,
you know, and he left our end years at home
and thank god we had some wedges, and so that
was my first time to sing with wedges in like
fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Wow. And so, by the way, wedges, for people that
don't know, the inter ears are little the tiny thing
that you see the artists wearing their ears, and so
basically it's a mix inside the ears and it seals
off all the outside sound and what the monitors are
are or the wedges are, the on stage the little
box speakers. Everybody can kind to hear them, but they're
pointed at you. So it was the first time in
fifteen years you'd use us.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, and for one of our shows, and it allowed
me to hear the crowd and I was like, man,
I been missing this because you know, sometimes for the
inn ears, you only hear what you want to hear. Yeah,
but it can really kind of it can definitely separate
you from everybody out there.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I usually have some be at Mike's in there a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
But and coincidentally the first the first of those two
shows was it's pretty small and I could I could
hear people like talking while I was singing shut up.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I did a whole thing on the air where I
was talking about acoustic shows or even when I do
stand up, Like there's a difference because when someone's talking
and I'm doing stand up, it kills all of like
my rhythm. I'm talking and if you yell hey, you're
even if you go hey, you're awesome, it it stops it.
It kills everything. And I'm like, there's a difference in
screaming that out when I'm doing stand up or someone's
(18:35):
doing an acoustics show versus when there's fire and there's
big electric guitars and nose. You can scream at all
you want, like tell tell the artist you love them,
But if he's depending on the attention of the room,
he's got to have the attention of the room absolutely.
And so you're playing these acoustic shows and you started
to notice that was the thing huh mm you do.
It is irritating because for me, Brad, I don't know
about you, but I feel bad. Not for me, I'll
(18:56):
be fine, Like I go, I do the best I can,
and I feel good about it. It's right, But it's
the people that are sitting out there that paid for
the ticket that have to hear some idiot yelling and
I feel bad for them, and I get mad for them,
and sometimes, like I've popped off a crowd at people
in the crowds, I'm like, dude, they didn't pay to
hear you tell jokes, that's right. They paid to come
and experience whatever I'm bringing, that's right. And I wonder
(19:18):
do you feel that way? I do? I do, and
you know, and and at one of the.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Shows, that that first show, there was somebody over over
out in one side of the crowd that was just
kept on screaming and I remember I could hear it
while I was singing, And I mean they weren't like
screaming obscenities or something hateful or anything. But after a
couple of songs, security came and got them and take them,
took them out.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
And I don't like to see anybody get taken out
of a show. I was kind of glad. Yeah, And
you know what, and they paid for it too, But
they can't run it for everybody else, that's right. That's
what That's all it's about to me, is that you're
running it for everybody else that got a sitter that
took a night and dedicated to come watch freaking three
doors downplay and there's some guy won't stop screaming as
you guys are playing here without you acoustic, which is cool.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
We interrupt this interview to bring you a message from
our sponsor, and we're back on the Bobby Cast.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
So what was the second single? A Loser?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
I wrote Loser right around that same time, but actually
wrote her about one of my friends.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
And it wasn't actually calling him a loser.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
But he and I grew up together and I know
him since were little bitty kids, and uh, he started
getting into like jokes, pretty bad and stuff, and I
wasn't writing it calling him a loser. I watched his
attitude chains to where I could tell that like he
thought he was a loser, and I was. I was
almost writing it from his perspective, looking at himself, you know.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
And and thankfully dude straightened up and he's a good dude.
And I had talked to him a long time, But
that it was written really about one of my friends.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
He wrote those songs in high school, huh, and here
they are lasting fifteen twenty years later. That's crazy, by
the grace of God. So were you in high school?
Were you the cool music kid? Were you the dorky
music kid? I kind of hung out with everybody.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, And it was really like I was saying earlier,
it worked our avenues to be from that little town, and.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
I mean I kind of knew everybody.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
I wouldn't like the kid that got picked on, but
I wasn't the kid that got invited every party either,
you know. And because we we practice all the time,
we were just we played all the time, and we
should have been better, but we knew we got to
where we knew everybody because it was one little bar
in our town and we played there every weekend. And
(21:43):
I was on like sixteen, and I had to get
I literally had to get a note from my parents
saying it was okay for me to be in there.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
And a note that's funny, a note to break the law,
that's funny, note to take into a bar. Yeah, playing
at the bars.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
And we just we'd always have like three or four hundred
people in there. It was never like but double all
there was to go do. And we charged like three
or three or four dollars to come in, and we
just got to keep the keep the cover charge.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So they made the alcohol money. Mm hm, and you
guys got the cover we did. Why about you guys
were doing all right then? Because again how we grew up.
You and I both hic. That's that's a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I worked at McDonald's, and I could make more playing
in a bar both nights of the weekend that I
could make a McDonald's all week.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Did you continue to work at McDonald's for a little bit?
When did you go? All right, I'm just gonna dedicate
myself to music.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
I mainly quit there because I wanted to go to
a party and my menage let me help work.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
I was like, see, yeah, I make more money playing
in bars anyway. That's funny. Three doors down the acoustic versions,
uh from their acoustic back porch jam check that out?
All right? So how many how many singles on that
first record? Four? So what's the last one that comes off?
Ud be like that? So that first single, Kryptonite, you
got a couple of rockets. That fourth one goes back
(22:57):
to pop and does really well. I remember that, like
playing that one like crazy. So you start with a
bang and you in with a bang. Going into the
second record, you gotta feel pretty good about yourself. It
was that was It was amazing. It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I remember I literally remember being so mad one night
and like at my n R guy, I was like,
why did will you sell eighty thousand records last week?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
I was like, man, that is bull crowd. I'll last week? Yeah,
random week. Wow, the times have changed.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
My friend was like what or maybe it was like
sixty thousand or something, but it was like ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
It was some ridiculous amount of records and I was like.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
What.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Gets so crazy? Man? I was killing it now an artist,
wo beg. I think like Florida, Georgia Lansaw, like fifty
thousand last week and it was like the biggest I
didn't listen. Times have changed too, like the way that
people get music. Absolutely, but okay, So second record was
that Away from the Sun. It was I didn't even
have notes on that, Like I'm just going straight from
memory here. Away from the sun, like the black cover
the sun kind of a tell me if I'm wrong,
(24:00):
Like maybe like the moon's covering a little bit. There's
like an outside like the edge of the signs that right,
mm hm, I'm so good at this I'm good at
and so first song off the record is.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
What, uh the first single off of U Away from
the Sun was.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
When I'm Gone. Was there ever a resentment that you
guys didn't get the coverage? And did you ever go
Is it because we're from super South? Is it because
I mean I resented it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
And I mean and you know, because even really, you know,
they've wanted us to kind of separate ourselves from being
so Southern. And I mean you can hear the way
I talk. I tried not to for a little while,
and I just couldn't help it, you know, And and uh,
and you know, I guess they associated with being.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Kind of stupid or whatever.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Then especially you know, it's like because there were no
Southern bands out and the head and been for a
long time. You know, I think the last Southern band
was out before US was scandered.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
There was a rock band. You know, how does that
conversation go where they go? Is it a conversation where
they say, hey, like we need you to be a
little more California a little or you know not, because
again it's another something guy right in front of you
asking this question. Because when I started in a radio
and they were like, hey, you're gonna be popping up up.
You have to lose your accent a little bit. So
and that conversation has had to me and I did
(25:12):
a bit, and now I've kind of got back to
you know, I sound a bit like I sounded growing up.
But was that conversation I had with you? Like, guys,
you got to chill out a little bit on that.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
In the Mississippi they did, and they send us to
a voice coach for a couple of sessions and just
to help us, like like me, which you know, a
new proper grammar.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I just don't like to use it, you know what
I'm saying, But I did. I tried to lose it
for a little while.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
And I mean, and it's not as thick as it
was when I started, Man, that was it was.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I probably could have managed to shave a little bit
of that all over. There are people surprised sometimes that
I think your accident is when you do doc. They
are because you don't really hear it in the music.
But again, you don't really hear the spice girls being
British and most of the stuff they sing either I know.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Or it blows me away, Like you you've seen this
actor in four or five movies, and then you see
me accept in.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
An award or something. It's like what they guy and
Walking Dead kills me. He's off the show now. But
the main guy, Rick Grimes, he would say he's on
the show. He's like from Atlanta and he talks and
he's like hey, Rick Grimes, and then he's on the
award shows going my thanks for the award. I'm like,
what is happening right now? Like I don't want to
hear this. You're running everything I know about this guy.
I picture him with Rick Grimes from Atlanta, not this
(26:20):
kangaroo guy. So you keep making hits, but you're probably
not getting the respect that you just you feel like
you deserve in the mainstream Like that would that would
irritate me.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
It was a little irritating, but but then you know,
I guess, but then you go home and forget about it,
you know, because you're amongst your friends and they're glad
that you.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
I always just thought it was more important to stay me.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Than it was to be who they wanted me to be,
because you know, I think God for my mom and daddy,
you know, they were always encouraging to me and and
just let me.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Do my thing. You know.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
They they didn't force me to do it, but they
didn't keep me from doing it. But you know, my
mom just always reminded me of like Brad, that won't
always be there son, you know, And it's always kept
that in my mind that this will you know, who
I am.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Will always be here, but that won't always be there.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
So I just kind of got to where I just
took it with a grain of salt and I just
am who I am, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
And how is the relationship between the band as you
guys started to skyrocket with the songs doing so well,
getting better, getting worse, worse.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Really it did, because honestly, I mean, we all got
out there partying and like one of us was, well,
all of us drank a good bit, but like one
of us was, it wasn't that we didn't get along.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Our drugs didn't get along because.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
One person was on this, and one person was on this,
one person was on this, and and by our third record,
we all had our own buses. It was five guys
in the band and four band busses and then all
the crew buses.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So we were rolling around with seven buses because the
four main band guys hated each other. So how does
that dynamic work when you have to work on things
and when you have to get on stage and be
a collective.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
That got to where it was like the only time
that we see each other with sound check and on stage,
and you know, we were playing amphitheaters and stuff. You
keep a pretty consistent sound, so we'd get a sound
established and we wouldn't even do sound check. I wouldn't
see some of those see the guys until it was
you know, if we played at nine, I'd see m
and eight thirty when we were in the dressing room
putting years on.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
And it was just all right, you guys ready. And
then you go out and play and rocky show and
everybody thinks that you're the best friends ever because you
used to be and you look like you. I mean,
you go out and you're a rock band, you're rocking,
people think you're rocking as brothers. When does it get
better or does it It's sort of didn't, man. I mean,
(28:49):
you know, I'm the there.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Was three of us to start, and I'm one that's here,
you know, and one Frankly is in prison, and one's
dead and both there's a result of drugs man.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And you know, and.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Chris, Chris was not one of the original guys, but
he was in the band when we got signed, and
I think guy for him because he got clean. You know,
he was on toe completely different. My thing was just
always drinking and I drink profusely, and uh, he did
a lot of different other things, but uh, he got clean.
(29:25):
And my drummer, Greg Upchurch, he's been a drummer for
he became. He used to play for Puddle of Mud.
And when Daniel left and went to Nickelback, that was
right after we had done a tour that was Nickelback
three doors down in Puddle of Mud, and Daniel went
to Nickelback, Greg came with us and Greg' from Oklahoma
and uh and Greg drank like a fish too, And
(29:47):
it got to where, you know, Chris By, not so
gentle persuasion went to went to rehab and he got
clean and somehow, and it's a testament to his variety,
stayed sober with us, still partying like mad men.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Really And then a few years later, Greg By not so.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
General persuasion went to rehab and he got clean just
from drinking and Man, I started seeing those guys and
I was still I knew that, I knew that I
needed to change, but you know, I started seeing what
those guys had, and you know, you see them over
there and they're happy, and I'm still here miserable. And
(30:32):
I thank God for man because seeing them like that
and through their encouragement, you know, they never pushed it
on me, but I was like, I have to.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
It got to be where I could trace. I was
ruining my life.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
There was no big tragedy or no catastrophe or anything,
but I was putting my wife through hell. I was
putting everybody I knew through hell and putting myself through hell.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
And I was seeing.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Around me and I was like, I have to change,
and I went to rehabit. It's the best thing I've
ever done because I wanted to get sober, but I
didn't know how. And I went out there and they
talked me how how to deal with my problems. Because
people don't have drug addictions. They have life problems, and
they you know, they don't have drug problems, rather.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
They have life problems, and they sidestepped there.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Instead of facing their problems, they sidestep them and use
drugs and that's what I was doing, and and I
just had to learn how to. And I had a
missing the gross misconception of what rehab was. I thought that,
you know, like you're going to a hospital and they
step you down and like you're going to sit here
and do you sober. But I just went out there
and they it was like going to college to learn
how to be sober. And it was awesome and it
(31:31):
was the best thing I've ever done. And it ain't
like you come out in your life's perfect, but it's
sure started to get a lot better. And bends that
I was sober, and two other guys were sober in
the band. The other two guys who didn't really have
problems anyway, they might casually.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Drink a little bit.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
We all got sober, and it was like being in
a different band.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Really, man.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I always That's why I say, I wish it could
have always been like that, because we go out there
now and we didn't we generally.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
We June our last summer.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Too, where we were out and we were coming somewhere.
We're going from point A to point B, and we
were in like five miles of arches National parks. We
got off the bus and everybody went walked around the
park together. I was like, I cannot believe it. I've
been in this band for twenty years and this is
the first one of the first times I can. I
could look around and I was standing in the National
(32:22):
Park with all five band members standing, and I was like.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Man, when you took that in, I wish you could
have always been like that. You know what's funny is
you talk about these guys and not being put in
with gentle persuasion like my So I give you a
quick backstory before I tell you the question after my
mom died in her forties from drinking and drugs, because
then I put in a rehab a couple of times,
and she never wanted to be in rehab, so rehab
(32:46):
never worked for her. If that makes sense. Like when
you say they didn't want to go, I go, man,
because you have to embrace that, you really do. They
to hear that they didn't want to go and it
still worked for them. It's pretty amazing. It really is.
It's it really is. It was a miracle. It was
a miracle because Cryst will tell you. I mean it's
not it's not a secret.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
And we we're not and you know, we're not ashamed
of of where we've been or and how we got
to where we are. And he'll tell you that he
was bad and I was bad, just on a different
on a different kid, you know.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
And and when he when he had to go, it
was he had to go.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
I mean he had to go and and and I
think when he got there, he like realized it's like okay,
it's I think he realized it.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
It's like, okay, it's this or death that is that close.
So it was that much of a problem. It was
do you do the thing? Because so I've never had
a drink of alcohol because I like, I see my
mom died from it. My I don't know my real
dad because an alcohol like my I have a lot
of family problems with it. So I was early on
I was like, I'm not going to have this happen
to me. But what happens is people will treat me
different even though I let if I drink around me
(33:55):
like I'm good. Yeah, But I have to face I
was out a couple of nights ago and I was
meeting up with a friend, new friend, and I have
to get there early and order something that looks like
a drink or people treat me, they'll go, you know
what if you're not drinking, and I'm like, no, no,
just be yourself. I wonder do you have those problems
for people go, oh, he's sober. Now we have to
act different? Yes? And do you want them to act different?
Speaker 3 (34:13):
No?
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Do you need them to act different?
Speaker 2 (34:15):
No?
Speaker 1 (34:16):
And do you feel like sometimes you have to kind
of go guys, it's good?
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah, because I do all the time. I was read
a thing on it was a post on Instagram not longer.
It's it said as I follow a few recovery pages
and stuff on there, and it was one of them.
It said it said, uh, alcohol is the only drug
you have to justify not doing.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Oh yeah, true, you're right, because it's it's such a
social such a social drug. Yeah you know that. Yeah,
that's wild. You're like, why don't you Why don't you drink?
And it's like, because I do, because I'm allergic to it.
That's what I just tell it. I'm allergic alcohol. You
know that's crazy. And listen, that's a great story. I
didn't even wasn't gonna spear off into that. But I'm
comfortable talking about my story, and it's great to have
(34:59):
somebody else that that is the same.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Hang tight, the Bobby Cast will be right back. Welcome
back to the Bobby Cast.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I don't curse in my personal life, and I definitely
don't curse on stage, like I have my my shows
be completely clean. And I know that's the same thing
with you guys. Now do you do if the bands
are opening for you have songs with curse words, do
you have that talk with them like, hey, we don't
do that or not we shy.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Away from a band and if they get out there,
you know, it's the one thing that is the festival.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
You can't really say.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
And and I don't speak perfectly in my private life,
but I do not cuss on stage. And that also
goes back. My mama told me I better not get
up there. She's sitting the bread and my mama is
the other Baptist to the bone. You sitting the.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Bread, you gotta do it. Cuss on that stage and
be ashamed of you. So I never did. And and
but you know it's.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Worked out, and people vowed you that very very much
because I can't tell you, you know, especially having songs
about Superman and this and that we have a lot
of kids at our shows, and we still have a
lot of kids at our shows. It's like just the
next generation of them, which is freaking cool. It's the
kids of the kids. Yeah, yeah it is. And but
I've over the years had so many parents come up
(36:20):
to me and say thank you for putting on the
show that I can bring my kids too.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
And you know, we really have tried over the years to.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Kind of to I mean, you know, hey, man, come on,
you know you can't. We hate to try to control
an opening band. But they got out there and were
vulgar or something. We definitely say something to them about it.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Yeah, I will have that talk with my openers, like
I'll bring music as because when I tour, I'll go
and I'll do an hour set of stand up. But
I kind of treat it like a variety show. I
have someone coming open musically for me, and I'll have
the talk like, hey, people, it's not a kids show,
but there may be some kids in the crowd. But
people feel like this is safe space, like don't get
out there and be political, don't get out there and
(36:58):
be dropping f bombs and bombs, like just know that
people feel like this safe spot for them to come
and breathe, yes, and smile and taking a show, and
there can be some kids. And if it's PG thirteen,
that's all right, yeah yeah. Or if it's SpongeBob Basket
where you make a joke that's only adults will get
and kids really won't, that's okay too. Yes, But that's
a that you know, I do that, and people appreciate
(37:19):
that because they don't have to come in and worry
and sit and go all right, is this gonna be
a place where one of the ways I'm gonna feel uncomfortable.
I don't want that.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
And that's that's awesome that you do that too, man,
because it's not a whole lot of that in the
world right now.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
It's cool.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
I mean, it's better. It's better like that too. And
and also that's quality.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
You know, you don't need that. You don't.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
I don't feel like I need I like because you
put on a quality show and you're entertaining.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Guy, you don't need that. I appreciate that. I don't
know about that exactly what I appreciate it. Well, you
think about I was listening to some of these bands
talk about, like imagine Dragons. They're really big. But when
you get so big, you start to get a lot
of hates. And the Magic Dragons are get a lot
of hate from a lot of these quote unquote finger
quote legit rock artists like Nickelback gets hate for their music.
(38:10):
Wh how do you feel about, like, imagine dragons getting
all this hate right now? I didn't know that they were. Yeah,
who are the bands, Mike that are like out ripping
imagine Clipno's pretty big on ripping them slip No. They're like,
you're not real rock? What even is real when it
comes to.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
Art of any of those guys real monsters, right, they're
the ones that bit on mask on stage.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
You're right about that. When you did, you guys ever
start feeling that hate because you got so big?
Speaker 2 (38:35):
We did from from it was it was like those
little movement bands. And it was from bands like Some
forty one and then those I hate, Like I don't
mean to.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Pick on as they say, spill the tea, who is it?
Speaker 2 (38:45):
I mean, it's just all those like, you know, those
those movement bands, the punk bands that come through and
then this little movement comes, you know, and we were
we were never like the cool guys. But at the
same time, it's like we've done a lot of the
stuff that we've done sort of under the radar, you know,
because we were never like big enough that that we got.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
A lot of hate. You know, I would say that
you guys are one of the most underrated bands in
my lifetime because of the amount of hits you have,
and people unfairly don't put you in that conversation of
the sounds that changed other and influenced other sounds, because again,
we didn't even play all your hits. I just have
like nine ten humongous songs. Here we're talking about humongous
(39:29):
songs that cross genres, and you know, I feel like
you guys are super underrated. Would you think that three
doors down an unrated band had to be humble and
say yes? But I wonder, I wonder what you say.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
We never got a lot of attention. But but it's okay.
I'm cool with that.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
I wouldn't not me. I'm too competitive because I.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Always felt sorry, you know, like just just say like
it's easy to easy to say, Like Britney Spears always
felt sorry for her man of living under that microscope.
Me crazy too. I know she had like her little
episode and stuff. But I mean when there's constantly I
can't imagine walking out of every restaurant, every establishment, everywhere
(40:09):
that I went, somebody's standing there with the camera or something,
always wanting just living under the microscope. I never always
used to say, Man, I love being a radio band because.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Everybody knows their homes.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
They don't know what I look like, and so I
can sell a bunch of records, but I can see
go to Walmart.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
That's funny you mentioned Walmart because I was talking to
a friend of mine who lives in Boston. I was like,
growing up, we used to hang out of Walmart. Like
you go to Walmart, you know, you're in the parking lot,
or you're in Walmart or Sonic like in the South,
that's where you hang out. And he was like Walmart.
I was like yeah, and like we used to go
and hang out at the Jestsebelle Walmart. Like all right,
Friday night, we'll go on quote cruise, you know, you
(40:46):
drive around this little square and then we'll just end
up with the Walmart. And you know, it's funny that
you would say that, because that's totally a Southern thing too,
as like to hang out of Walmart. That's funny, man. So,
but do they ever do the thing with you guys
where they go, hey, you should like they ate another
celebrity because if you do that, it can raise the
image of the band. They ever did that with you guys?
Do you ever do?
Speaker 2 (41:06):
No?
Speaker 1 (41:07):
I would I'd been like, Brad, there's Christina Aguilera. I'm
gonna set you up right now. Did you ever think
of I'm moving to Los Angeles? Did you move to
Los Angeles? Not only only while we were making a record? Hell?
They there for like a month? They ever say in
the move you need to get where the action is
and live there to be a part of it. Not
so much. I'm I think they kind of wanted us
to move to New York for like a little bit.
(41:28):
And I was like, uh, and what was up with
that move? Why do they think that was a good idea.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Just to being being just like amongst the label and
just being amongst the business and and everything. But I
just I couldn't do it, man, I am I am
a country mouse.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
I can't do it. What's home life for you? Like? Now? Uh?
Speaker 2 (41:45):
We live on a farm out in Murphy's Boro. My
wife Beryl races horses, and we have six horses at
our house. We got a fifty acre farm, which I
never thought i'd have much that much land, and it's
kind of out in the country, but it's at the
same time, I got a grocery store like six miles
from the house, and it's not fancy, but it's it's
my heaven.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
And I will get there and if we have stuff
to eat.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
And I'll go home and the gate closes behind me
and I won't leave for three or four days.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Yeah, fifty acres, we do. I assume you have help. Uh.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
We have my friend comes and feeds horses when we're
out of town or something if I'm gone.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
And I have some guys that cut a part of
the yard.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
But just because I don't have enough time to cut
it all, they probably cut like because I'll have to
mow it all because some of it's back in the
woods and some of it like the horse pastures. We
only cut a couple of times up, maybe once a month,
just to kind of knock them, knock the tops off
because they won't eat it once it gets a certain height.
They have their We have finicky horses.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
They're spoiled. But there are our kids.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
But you know that, right, So they cut probably ten
acres and I cut the pastures and we do it
all ourselves. When I leave here, I'm going home to
clean horse stalls.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
And you're smiling as you say it. It's like you
love it. I like they're my babies, though, yeah, because
we don't have kids. Our horses are our kids. And
now I say, I'll smile about it here, I'll run
about it, but I'm standing here doing it.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
But you know, there are a lot of times when
I'm busy and just kind of going and going and going.
I'll like, man, I would love to be standing in
my barn right now, and it's just I mean, it's peaceful,
you know.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
And you get to do both. You get to be
alone on your property and then you get to go
and play shows and still have that lifestyle too and
sing your songs. It's a blessing. And how often are
you guys on the road right now?
Speaker 2 (43:36):
We go right now like every other weekend, and I
have shows this weekend and next weekend, and we have
a little more coming up later on in the summer,
and then next year will be the twentieth anniversary of
the Better Life, and we're gonna do like a full
world tour on that one.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
Is that right? That'll be fun? And but I look
forward to it. But man, I'm not twenty one years
old anymore. You ever think, because you know, the big
thing with and not for me, but the big thing
with a lot of people that go in country music,
they're like, well, that ain't country like yours country is
a gets Do you ever think about doing a country
song country record?
Speaker 2 (44:11):
I've been writing some lately, and I wrote about half
of a country record one time. But honestly, I took
it and uh, I was talking to some record guys
about it, and it's like sell I said, why, They said,
because it's because it's like.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
It's really country in a new countries to help it.
What did you listen to growing up? I was.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
I'm the youngest of seven kids, so I grew up
listening to whatever my brother's sisters listened to. But when
I was a kid, my favorite band growing up was
Bon Jovi, and I grew up on eighties rock and
I loved it and loved it and and honestly, when
when Nirvana and stuff came out, I kind of fell
off of it. I wasn't ready for it. I was
too young for it, I think or something. And I
(44:52):
listened to probably more country growing up than I like.
My all time favorite song is to dance Garth.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Oh yeah, I love it. You ever meet Garth? I never?
That's the best. You'd love him? His trishy or what
was up here a few days ago? Yeah, And I
got a chance. I got to know Garth a love bit.
Garth played you know the show you played with this
this year. I think you played with us the year before.
I know, it's awesome. I love Garth Brooks. I would
love to meet him. He's and he's a he's a
guy too that you know, I've I've learned a bit
from when like with people like Garth Brooks walks into
(45:19):
a room and every single person, doesn't matter who you are,
gets the same attention. And Garth looks you in the
eye and he spends time. And when Garth leaves, you go.
That was amazing. Yeah, And I think Taylor Swift learned
from Garth. And I'm just trying to like get his
crumbles and like I just want to learn, you know,
did anyone take kind of take you under the wing?
A bit or at least go Brad, this is what's
gonna happen, like other artists who would be like, this
(45:41):
is what you gotta do?
Speaker 2 (45:42):
Or was that kind of not cool? Then I never
knew a whole lot of him. I never knew like
a ton of artists. But I guess the people that
you meet along the way do do kind of let you,
let you uh, let you have some info. And but
we had the unity of there early in our career
(46:02):
to to work with Alex Leison.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
He produced a couple of b size for us and
guitar player for.
Speaker 2 (46:06):
Rush and and he had some pretty interesting conversations with him.
Speaker 1 (46:11):
And he's a great, great guy.
Speaker 2 (46:13):
And you know, I think what meant more to me
than anything was I was very fortunate to me like
you say that that Garthur comes into a room and
he's like everybody gets attention, and he's a he's like
a real person. And I was very fortunate to be
around some just for moments here and there, like really
famous people like that and see that, just get a
(46:35):
chance to see that.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
Wow, it's just he's just a dude. Du Yeah, just
a freaking dude.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Fans make us who we are man, I'm just before
when I got signed, I drove a forklift, and before that,
I drove a bush haul tractor.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
I'd mode tank fields.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
And I am so thankful I get to play in
a rock band for a living.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
Just humans, exactly. Yeah, it's crazy that it other people
that make other people. Like Garth is just a good
dude who has a skill at being somebody else may
have a skill of like a brain surgeon, you know,
at learning how how math works. They don't get that
because people don't make them that. Imagine a math if
(47:16):
in America, if people that did good math were celebrities,
our country be way ahead of China. They're checking our
butts right now. Exactly. So we need we need like
we need to start a movement to make mathematicians cool.
Get us out, get us up and out of there. Wait,
so you did you know folk left where you do that?
Down in pasta goople of Mississippi.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
At Electric Motor Shop, I've cleaned like electric motor we
rebuilt electric motors and things like that, and so I
cleaned parts and and bed blast them and stuff like that,
but mainly probably drove the more than anything.
Speaker 1 (47:44):
Could you hop back on one right? Now and felt
like a bike you could. I have two jackers at home.
I stay on all the time. Let me ask you
a simple one. Where did the name come from? Three
doors down? It came off of an old boarded up building, honest.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
Actually, we we used to go down to Golf Shores
a lot, which is like the Beats down in Alabama,
but pretty close to where we grew up.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
And driving down there, you went through a little town.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
That was just full of fruit stands and there would
be several of those were fruit stands in one building.
And we had a gig, like our first show that
night coming back and we didn't have a name, and
we had like a notebook full of names. And one
of those buildings had closed up and moved just a
couple of parcels down and there was like tack on
wooden letters that said, you know, business move like so
(48:34):
many doors down and someone falling off or whatever. And
there was three of us at the time, and Todd said,
well what about three doors down? And we're like all right,
and it just kind of stuck.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
So like the first real name you came up with,
you kept, well, that's odd. Most bands are like, well,
our first name was the Wiener Jumpers, but we didn't
like that, so then we decided to go with the
Tonail Kids, and we didn't like that. Next thing, you
know here we are you two, like that was weird hot.
But that's the first name you guys had, huh first name.
And it's the only band I've ever been in. I've
never been in another band. And you wrote those songs
(49:04):
in high school. And look at you. You look happy. Man.
I'm telling you, I'm blissed because I am. I have
not that talented. I feel so inferior with the same age,
and he's like I had a rock star live man.
Look at you. Good to see you, my friends, you
can see you two. All right. That's it. Thank you
very much. This has been a Bobby Cast production.
Host
Bobby Bones
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