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

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, about to get into a podcast with Thomas
Rhett a friend someone that and I think we mentioned it.
We've been talking about doing this for a long time,
but it gets awkward for me to go, hey, hey, Bud,
come over to my house and do this work event
And I think it's probably awkward for me, like, hey, Bud,
let me come over to your house and do this
work event. Um, But I was glad that we finally

(00:21):
got it ironed out. Really like the guy. We spent
a lot of time together at the m A Fest
hosting that, and you're about to hear it. It's pretty
enjoyable when you agree, Mike, it's really yeah. And I
think if, um, if you're like, I'm wonder what that Thomas, right,
Guys like I think this is a pretty good indicator
of of really what he's like. We sat for an hour.
He's he've never done an interview this long before. We
kind of talked a bit two downstairs afterwards. Just a

(00:43):
good dude, Like, aside from being an artist and being
the guy that sells out you know, stadiums and puts
out all the hits, like I like him, it's just
a dude, Like he's just a quality person and uh
kind of a place where it's weird for me because
I never know who wants what from me. I don't

(01:03):
never worry about that with what with t R because
it's like he doesn't need anything from me, you know what.
I don't know anything from him, and I think that's
kind of what. Um. We have a pretty solid relationship
because of that. So I think you guys are gonna
like this podcast coming up. I also, I'm about to
go to this well, I thought I was going on
this birthday party. It is six o'clock right now on

(01:23):
Monday night, and Tom Shock came over a little after
four and we did the podcast, and I was gonna
shave and get my clothes on and go to my
friend's birthday party. By the way, Nicole Galleon, who we've
had a podcast with before, or and I an now
are are are super close friends. And I just looked
at the invitation because I was gonna put the address in.

(01:44):
The party was at five, So right now I'm an
hour late, not even dressed or ready to go. I
thought I would, So now I'm not gonna go. That stinks,
So yeah, I missed that. I don't oh man, Um.
We did family few last night. Still herding from that

(02:05):
a little bit. Just got to text. I just gotta
tech from Gator or Boss. Meant to text you last night.
Had a few folks over. Watched the Feud last night.
Well done, Amy was a freaking Ben Stiller movie in
all the best ways. Seriously, great night for your family.
Back pats and butt slaps. It's from Gator. So UM
did that last night. Did a Raging Gata show in
Dinver and some stuff in Seattle. So a little tired,

(02:27):
but I'm glad that it was tr that came in
because I don't have to carry a load. We just
got to talk. That was cool. So you're gonna like this.
Let mention before we get started here that you should
check out caroline hobbies podcast. It's called Get Real. There's
a really interesting episode up right now where she talks
to Caitlin Bristow, who was on the Bachelor didn't win,
but then went on the Bachelorette and then she met

(02:49):
Sean Booth and they got engaged. Now they're not engaged,
but anyway, it's interesting. And I don't even really watch
the Bachelor or Bachelorette, but I do. Um, I do
find this podcast interesting, and I find that whole that
whole world interesting. Um so yeah, that's a good check out.
Get Real with Caroline Hobby, Four Things with Amy Brown.

(03:11):
She had Trisian here one on last week. You know
what she's doing this week? Is it up yet? You know?
But that's that's a really good podcast. The guys have
a sports show called The Sore Losers, um Velvet's Edge,
a lifestyle podcast for all your ladies. But anyway, there's
a lot going on. I just want to come on
and do a little intro before we got into this
Thomas st podcast. Be sure to check out Thomas stress

(03:33):
latest record. It's really fantastic and as he talks about
he's already working on the next one and it drives
him crazy because you can't just sit. The guy's got
thirteen number ones. It's crazy. He's got thirteen freaking number
one all right, Here he is and here I am.
He makes a big announcement, which by now you may
have seen that he's having a baby. He announces it

(03:56):
at the end of this podcast, And we were gonna
put this up at night on Monday night, but we
started to wait until Tuesday so he could actually announce
it because it it had been weird if he didn't
say anything about it. And the next day he breaks
all this personal news and we just did a really
personal podcast. So I gotta say thanks to him because
he was like, hey, I'm happy to talk about it, um,
but if you wouldn't mind, would you? He didn't tell

(04:17):
us we had to hold it, but it's like, would
you wait and let us announce it? So absolutely, of course, awesome.
Here we go Tom Strap and he's on the Bobby Cast.
By the way, if you don't mind two things, if
you'll share this with your friends, put on your incest story.
But like, this is fantas Like that really means a
lot to me and I really appreciate it so much,
and and tag me in it, be like this is
a great podcast. We really depend on that. And also

(04:38):
you can go and I know people don't do this,
but if you wouldn't mind if you go and give
us a review and give us those five stars or
whatever that MAXI amount of stars is, that would be fantastic.
They bump us up, and this podcast is continuing to
get really big, and he gets bigger and we get
better guests and you guys can enjoy it and it
just turns into a cool thing, you know. There you go.
Anything you'd like to say, Mike d I do like
when people tag us in into the store. Yeah, and

(05:00):
you can repost it. Yeah, everybody sees it. We'll we'll
go repost a f as the kids say, all right,
thank you, all away, we go here, we go, all right,
welcome to you want to water? Sure? Would you mind
getting our esteemed guests here Water? Welcome to episode one
eight nine of the Bobby Cast. It took you that

(05:23):
long age eighty nine episode like the Party. Thomas Retz
here at Thomas rhet aikins On on Instagram three point
seven million followers. I see, I do see sometimes though,
by the way, glad to finally have you here. I
think it took a I'm always weirded out about asking
like buddies to do work things, because there gets to

(05:44):
be a point where you go, you know what, I
kind of like the relationship right of being buds instead
of going, hey, what about this work project that I'm worried?
You know, that's kind of that was kind of a
fuzzy line for me. Yeah, but I've told you I
want to do this for a while, I know, but
still I'm like, you know what, I don't never want
to go. So this is what I did. This was

(06:05):
the move was I was like, hey, tr says he
wants to do this. I would like for him to
do it. So I had my management talk to your
management because it just gives everybody a chance to say
no for somebody, because if you really didn't want to
do it, then someone else could say no for you.
You know, Harry or Virginia could have been, oh, he

(06:26):
can't do it. You know, he's he's got a circumcision
something like that. No do you mean You've been talking
about doing this for forever? This is something that like
I'm I'm into. I don't haven't done many podcasts either.
This is also going to be a national special. No pressure.
What does that mean? Yeah, exactly? Okay, cool, but it
is good to have you here. Likewise, man, what's annoying
about you in the best way is we were doing

(06:47):
the cmafes together and you're actually really good on camera.
Really yeah, it means a lot coming and it's so
it's so frustrating because I've liked been doing it forever
and like and I'm like, all right, finally asking you
for advice if only have this one skill set, And
then I walk up and you're just killing it with
the prompt. That was my fourth year to do that,
And I'm like, does this guy do anything bad? Please?
There's a lot, there's a lot to do bad. Well.

(07:10):
I don't peloton as good as you. That's probably true.
I'm a beast on the bike, but you don't even
have one. But you're like me, though, I think you'd
be competitive. Well when I get a peloton, so I
can just add you as a friend. We can be friends.
Because are you still working out with the mirror? The
I do it occasionally. I've I've really gotten into running lately,
and as much as I hated in the beginning, it's

(07:32):
it's something that like I look forward to every day. Now,
where are you running around the neighborhood. We live in
a hilly neighborhood. I mean, I don't. I'm I try.
My goal is to eventually do like a half marathon,
but I think when when you have kids, it's kind
of impossible to train completely for that. The longest I've
ever ran was four miles around Lipscomb. I get so
bored running. You need to do this app. Yeah, I've

(07:55):
been app dude, I'm telling you, I talked to you
the whole way through. I did then maybe nothing, same
one and they get so advanced and so much better
every time. But I did a Nike app for it
was a couple of years ago. And I've done a
couple of traath lines, like Olympic traath lines that swim
that swim a mile by miles and then run six
and you train for it. Obviously, yeah I did. But

(08:16):
I hated it. You hated it. You hate I hated
I hate even while you were doing it. I hate exercising,
but you do it all every day, every ever. I'm
gonna do a name dressing. You know, my people to
listen give me a hard time sometimes if I just
straight name drop without saying name drop. But I was
talking to Keith Urban and we were talking about how
we stay thin. He was like, is that what? What
what do you do? And just to actually stay thin?

(08:38):
You so thin all the time, and he's wanted to talk, right,
he's pretty thin. Yeah, And I was like, the bike man,
get on this bike and I hate every second of it,
but I can compete on the bike. Like I have
friends that I race against, Like you have to compete
to work out, I need to or play ball. I'm
not good at running against myself. I want to like running.
Like I did an app where the zombies chase you.

(08:59):
I need to download that. That's about the only thing
that was. It was like a zombie running app. And
then I just realized, you know what, They're never gonna
catch me. They're not really And then I would be like, yeah,
but like you, you played ball as a kid, right, Yeah,
I played sports all growing up. I played baseball until
I was like thirteen or fourteen, and then football and
soccer were my main sports. Was too I was too

(09:19):
little for football. I sucked at football. You're a good
soccer player. Oddly, I was a good soccer player. What
was the soccer scene like in Georgia. Well, now, I
grew up in Nashville. So but you're okay. You were
born about Austin when I moved to Nashville. Two. Also,
you lived here your whole life basically, Yeah, so you
played Okay, this is there's a decent soccer scene here. Yes,
I went to Good Pasture, which is like twenty minutes
north of here, and we went. I'm trying to think

(09:42):
we went to State my junior year. I just wish
I was in that kind of shape. I could run
for a day, not stop. And you were a pretty
good soccer player where you thought maybe if you'd wanted to,
you could have maybe played up at like a small
college or well, my goal like I tore my knee,
like I tore my c when I was seventeen, So
that kind of ruined all of my hope and dreams
for for you know, playing soccer in college. But I

(10:02):
probably could have maybe walked on a lipscomb. But I
don't think I wanted a job in college. It's so
annoying how good you are and everything music and freaking
TV and sports give me a I come, you're struggling
for any sort of skill set whatsoever, and now you
now you have all of them. Look at you're just
killing it all? Right, Where do we start with you?
Because I feel like I look at I look at you.

(10:24):
I follow E News and E on it. Yeah, they
love you, guys, they do. It's hilarious when they post
about us, though, because I would say eighty percent in
the comments for like, who are these people? Is that right? Yeah,
I don't know. Maybe it's just like a country to
more worldwide following. But a lot of people are just
like I have no idea who these people are. The
same with People Magazine, I went through a bit of that.
Well when American I Will announced me and they covered it,

(10:46):
you know, or they're like who, or you know when
I did Dancing with the Stars and they were like
who the whole time. It's just a bunch of who
I saw you about to be? On Family Feud, we
lost last night. It was already on. It was on
last year. I don't watch TV man, Yeah, that was it.
It was an awesome experience, but I'm so competitive. As
we've talked about. We go on and we go to

(11:07):
the final question and we lose on the final question.
Who were your other Who are the people on your team?
So the cool thing was they said bring whoever you want.
They said bring your friends. They're like, it's celebrity family few.
There are no rules. I appreciate the invite. If I
go next time because I bought it back, you want
to come next time next as okay, if you're free,
they'll type early next year, you can come. Be able
to do that. It was so fun. You would look,
it's just one of those fun things, like aside, So

(11:29):
I called party and Lauren Elena. I'm close to them,
and I knew I wouldn't have to like do anything
except be a friend. And it's not a work thing.
But I like called party in Elena and then Amy
and Lunchbox, and so we go up and it goes
to the final question, and you tell me what you
would answer here? Something worn above the waist that starts
with B above the waist. I'm assuming a bilt doesn't

(11:51):
a belt THET Yeah, okay, take a few answers here
and see if you would Guests, we missed, We missed it.
We didn't get to the waist brawl oka being there's one, Um,
what is a bassonet? So you put the baby in?
Don't you have babies? Yeah? I never wore a bassonet.
You put the baby in it? It's like that's right, yeah, yeah, sorry, Um,

(12:13):
I never wore a basset either. You shouldn't wear a bassonet.
I can't think anything else. The answer that we didn't
get and no one got what's blouse? And we were like,
what is this? Nine two? Right? Who did the other
team get blouse? No, but since we didn't get it,
both teams lost and they went on but we lost,
and I was so irritated that everybody went to dinner
afterwards and you just didn't Nope, I'm not a bad
I'm not a bad sport. Yeah, it's just a tough loser.

(12:35):
Just it hurt. No, I mean I feel you meant
a lot to me. And so I what's your angiogram number?
Have you done? Eight? Then? One? Okay, I'm a four,
which is well, I need to reread it, but it's
basically a mike we look up with four and eight
are just it's a creative but like my like, I'm
like a an average four, which means like I ask

(12:57):
a bunch of opinions on my creativity and if I
don't get the answer back, but I need, it's like destructing.
So makes sense. What do you mean the answer is
that you need? So like I guess, like as a songwriter,
if I wrote a bunch of songs in a weekend
and I sent them to people that I trust on
my team, like what do you think about this? And
I think it's great, but they don't think it's my
best work. That I'm just defeated completely. So that's like
my average four. But on my good days, I trust

(13:20):
I can trust my gut and go with it. Oh
here we are. So a four is a You're a four, right, four.
You're a individualist, a romantic individualist. It's pretty accurate. Yeah,
and you're in a protective challenger challenger. Yeah, I see that.
You know. I will send songs off because I'll rewrite
comedy songs. And we're doing a tour right now, this

(13:41):
partial stand up, partial two, main comedy. And I have
someone that I send music too and like is this funny?
And if he goes, no, okay, Let's say you send
a song off to to Harry, Like what do you
think about when you think about this? And he goes,
that's pretty good? Not your but not your best, but
pretty good. What how does that make you feel? It
makes me feel like should have been in the room
to feel what we felt when we wrote it. You

(14:02):
know what I'm saying. It's like I sent it to you,
but then it's like, well, how can you judge it
when you don't know how the context of how we
wrote it. I get I get defensive. I think about it,
but then you do see after a breath, you go,
you know what, he wasn't supposed to be in the room.
No one else was to be in the room that
is appearing in this song. Do you feel that Do
you ever come back around to it? Definitely? Definitely. And
and they say that fours at their best, can they

(14:23):
don't have to have the opinions that they need they
can in the end, can they can trust their gut,
which I would say my strong for is a lot
less happening than my average for. So if I send
a song off and I'm like, this is funny, and
it comes back because I sent one off recently and
I was like, hey, is this funny? Because, as you know,
when you get into a project, I do it like

(14:44):
when I write books to him, I don't eve think
there's any good anymore. After I spent a lot of
time on it, you lose your sense at least I do, absolutely,
you lose your sense of oh is this even like good?
I've been in it so long I don't even I'm
looking around. I don't even know what's good or what's
not anymore. And so I'll send it off and I go,
is this funny? And he sent one back He goes
not really, Oh gosh, that's the worst. And I went,
but what does that do to you? Oh? I go, okay,

(15:06):
wait for the next one. Then okay, gotcha? So you
like get competitive with it? Oh yeah, I'm just like
scrap that, write something new, or I'll go there's two things.
It's like, wait for the next one, sucker, or let
me let me beat this one up with some more jokes,
so I'll sit back down. It's just funny how like
different I wish I had that. I wish I had
that so bad. I think you're doing all right if
I were just a guess No, it's it's fine. It's

(15:27):
just like it's when you sit there and slave away
over a song for six hours and you send it
somebody and they're like, this is not your best work.
You're like, well, what do you know? Then you know
the defensive part comes out of you. How long does
it take to not get defensive? Um, I'm I'm getting
to where I I don't get as defensive. I just
kind of have to breathe and just kind of let
it go. But I don't know, man, I take I
take my creative work so seriously as you do. And

(15:50):
then when you when you've when you've been doing it now,
I've been doing it for eight years writing songs, you
feel like you get to a point where you know,
Tiger Wood says that quote, like make sure that you're
even on your worst day. It's like for Tiger, Tiger
a bad days shooting a seventy two. His good day
it's like a sixty four. So it's like, I feel
like I'm kind of at the point now where even
my bad songs they still can't I don't think I

(16:11):
can consider them a bad song. I just feel like
as many songs as I've written that I feel like
are great songs, they kind of have to keep getting greater.
And then then comes to pressure of going, well, crap,
I feel like that was great. How do you talk?
How do you talk great and make it awesome? It's
never ending. You bring that up. I think a lot
of people struggle with that. I think you know in
my second book that everybody did a whole thing on

(16:33):
It's not about making your best better, it's about making
your worst better. Because if you can make your bottom
line rise, your highline rises. Automatic. Yeah, you're exactly right,
and anybody can hit an amazing shot occasionally, but it's
can you make your worst shots better all the time?
And it's funny, that's what you're saying. That's that's how
you feel about your songwriting totally. That your worst songs

(16:55):
are better now that means your best songs are far great. Yeah,
you're right. I haven't ever thought about it like that.
That's good. Do you ever just leave a room and go,
that was a freaking song? Like a special song? Holy crap?
For sure? Which one? There? They're They're few and far between, though, man,
Because I think, like I get asked the question a lot,

(17:15):
what does it take to be a good songwriter? And
I think, obviously you need to be able to craft
words and and have great melodies. But I think great
ideas are harder to come across than write great songs,
like concepts, concepts, you know what I mean? Like for me,
like I sit down and I go, Okay, what could
I write today? But that the world hasn't heard from me?
You know what I'm saying. But but that's also believable
for me, Like when I sit down and somebody brings

(17:38):
up a sad song idea, there's an eighty percent of
my brain that goes I don't know that people want
to hear anything that they don't know about me just yet.
Does that make sense? It's like you go to these
play shows and you know, you talk about Lauren in
your in your show, you talk about the kids in
your show, and I think that's what people know of me,
and they want they want to hear that from me.
But how many times can you how many different ways

(17:58):
can you write a love song, and how me different
ways can you write about your kids? When the reason
I fell in love with country music in the first
place was I'm a sucker for for sad songs, and
so Marry Me is definitely the saddest I've ever gone,
but it's still kind of related to my story a
little bit. And so for me to sit down and
write a song that's just like sad just for the
sake of being sad, I'm not sure what that would
do on a record of mine to make any sense. Yeah,

(18:19):
on a record of yours. But if I were to
pivot that a bit and go, do you ever write
for others anymore? Now? Mindset's gotta be a bit different.
If you're writing a sad song for do you ever
write for generic? Or do you going to write for
people specifically, I write generic one song of every ten,
you know what I'm saying, in hopes that like maybe

(18:41):
this is a maybe this is just maybe this is
a hit for somebody, you know what I'm saying, and
not not that generic is bad. Like I do think
that a lot of time. In the songwriting world, we
ever think it a little bit. We think that every
song has to be this amazing, insane concept. But sometimes
people just want to feel good, you know what I'm saying,
And and sometimes those songs don't. They don't have to be,
you know, only life changing. They just need to be

(19:01):
a good melody that you can dance to. So John
Mayer did this with me and we were talking about
that exactly, and that guy is is brilliant, brilliant. I
think he's just he's just a different, all around guy,
Like all of him is different, and it's amazing and
awful and awesome. I love him. And so he was
talking about just that. He goes, you know, as a creator,
we're constantly going, how do I make my next thing

(19:21):
really amazing, like stretch myself and be the most artistic,
and he goes, in reality, you know what, people love
Waiting on the world to change, like one of my
most down the middle songs that was just like, Okay,
here's this he goes and people sing it and love it,
like in the mass amount of people. Love songs meant
for the mass amount of people, And I thought, wow,

(19:42):
that's a really simple but that's really right for sure,
And as I'm going, oh no, what I can really
stretch It be funny when people think, yeah, for sure,
I mean love that those jokes that much, and you
and you think, like a lot of time you're in
the writing room, you're going, oh my gosh, I think
that this is one of the best songs I've ever written.
And you it out on stage and you play it
and nobody cares because it's just not the right setting,

(20:04):
you know what I mean. Like there's there's certain settings
for songs, like if you were like a real intense,
amazing concept of a country song and it's really slow
and it's it's like some songs, some songs are meant
for the bluebird and some songs are meant for twenty people.
That makes sense, Like some songs people want to freaking
party and sing absolutely, and sometimes they want to send
the coffee house, yeah, or the Bluebird Cafe And yeah,

(20:27):
what is your biggest we'll call it a twenty five
person song. Which song do you play that in your
set that people are like, all right, let's go dude. Yeah,
Me and me and my radio team talk about this
quite a bit because in the country world, just like
every other world, everybody focuses so hard on number One's right,

(20:48):
and when you really pick apart what a number one means,
there's a few different kinds of number ones. There's number
ones that just got to number one, there's number ones
that are reactive, and then there's songs that don't go
number one that may be because they were just terrible
or because they might have been too progressive for the times.
People didn't get it. Yeah, So like if you come
to my concert, we put it. We put a single

(21:09):
out on the second record called Vacation, But dad at
thirty three on the chart. That was so how did
he do that? So because I thought this would be
your song. Yeah, And we've actually talked about this a
little bit too, where I thought the song kind of
got jobbed, dude, because I felt like there were just
some people, like in our industry, there were just some
older white men who who are like that in not country,

(21:32):
right yeah, yeah, and and and there you know, there's
there's there's certain people that like certain stuff and that don't.
And that's fine because everybody's entitled their own opinion. But
you come to my concert. This feels like it was
set number one for six weeks. Yeah, I love the song.
You played it on New Year's Eve and texting you
going to that songs a jam like I can't believe.
I think you came in on the show. I knew.
I love the song too, Yeah, for sure. And that's

(21:52):
that's a rocket hunt the shows it is. It feels
like it was a smash for forever. And I think
you have to I think those are things you have
to keep in mind while you writting songs. It's like, yeah,
you want hits, because hits, especially for new artists, in
my opinion, hits, hits are what take you to that
level where you can you can afford a couple of misses,
you know what I'm saying, Um, but you get a
couple of after you get a couple of hits. And Nancy,

(22:13):
you don't have to have hits to make it. I'm
not saying that at all, because there's been artists that
haven't had number one's ever on the radio that are gigantic. Um,
But I think it's it's kind of a disservice as
a songwriter to go, well, I'm not going to put
this out because I don't think this is number one.
Because even if it does at ten and it was reactive,
that to me, that's that's far more of a win
than having a number one that didn't do anything. We

(22:34):
just did a whole show on this about number two's
that never hit number one and songs that have just
never hit number one that were massive for artists save
a Horse Shode of Cowboy Died at Like Yeah, there
are a lot of those songs that are like the
artists quintessential song. These artists have had fifteen number one,
but their quintessential song is not the number one song.
Keith Urban's been that guy. He's had massive songs that

(22:55):
did not hit number one. What is your ultimate coffeehouse
song like that? I've written trying to think. Probably this
song on my last record called kiss Me Like a Stranger.
Never in a million years would it be a hit
on radio, but it was just one that I just
I just felt the vibe. Who'd you write that? With

(23:16):
Jordan Reynolds and Dave Barnes. I'm close with Dave. I
wrote with Dave last week and he's so funny, hilarious.
We're talking to him now about his podcast and he's
Dave and I get along really well, and he's an
awesome artist. I remember David when he was, you know,
doing the Matt Works. Dude. When when I first met
Dave Barnes, the first thing I said, because I've been

(23:37):
a huge fan since like college, I was like, dude,
you don't know me, but the first time I ever
made out with somebody in college was too U on
a night like this, That's what do you say? He
just laughed, He's he's a funny dude. Ah. Something to
do with my hands. Let's go back to that one.
What do you have to play your hand down? Your

(24:00):
head down in your hand. Why do you do that?
Because I think that song is the the uh is
the perfect expression for an artist evolving into a different space.
When I first started singing, when I first became an artist,
I wanted to be Eric Church more than anything in
the world. I mean, j Joyce was my producer who
produces Eric Church, Like all listen to in the high
school was Eric Church. I mean still to this day,

(24:22):
there's a lot of components about my songwriting that really
I think kind of resembled Church's way of writing, just
very a lot of storytelling. Um. But when I like,
when I listened to this song, it doesn't even I
don't even I don't even know that guy. Let's go,
you shouldn't know that guy at this point, right, yeah,
we we haven't played that song in our live show
in like four years. Has anyone ever requested though? Like
you see them, you know, and that's how you know?
And you wrote that with Stapleton and Stapleton do you

(24:47):
remember that specific right? I do? Man, I mean, I
mean Stapleton used to write like two times a week
back when I was maybe like twenty years old, two
thousand ten, two thousand and eleven. We used to right
all the time. Man, I was digging through my drop
box the other day of long has written before two
thousand and fifteen. And there's so many Stapleton work tapes
and and songs that I still think could be could
be uh you know, viable to record on on a

(25:09):
record of mine today, Um means they want have written
once maybe in four years, but that's just because he
that dude is so busy. Now we're both so busy.
But he still love right Stapleton, Was he full beard?
Oh yeah back then? But I mean he obviously is
the coolest dude in town now, but even then, if
you were in the kind of the Nashville circuit, he
was just the coolest dude you've ever you've ever seen,

(25:29):
and like you always just wanted to be there in
the studio when he sang the vocal because it was
it was pretty life changing. You guys also did Crash
and Burn together? Is that the song you're talking about
when you got back in the room with him? Or
was that before that? No, so I didn't write Crashing Burnt.
I didn't know this was. This is also when I
met Jesse Fraser for the first time. Jesse's produced my
last two and a half albums. He did kind of
half Tangled Up and the rest of them, and uh

(25:51):
that this was how I found Jesse Frasier because he
did this track and he had this whole motime motown
vibe going and him and Stapleton at the time we're
writing a ton of songs like this, which is crazy.
I think if you were to, if if you were
to be a gigantic Stables and fan of Day and
you got to dive into my dropbox a little bit,
I'd play you a bunch of old stables and demos,
you would have no idea that was stables him a

(26:11):
lot of songs like this, they wrote, I think Jesse
maybe the guy that has more shoes than you, and
I agreed. I mean we like shoes. That dude is
on a new level. Yeah, he's just like when his
his Nike app blows up like six times a day,
like do you want to enter the raffle for this?
Or yeah he's on it again. I have a whole
closet downstairs full of shoes. Yeah. Same. But sometimes people

(26:31):
come in and you just, you know, you just take
the knee. Yeah, you've just been the knee to the
person who really absolutely Yeah, he's the original sneaker head
in my life for sure. What else do you Unstableton write? Anything?
That made it? Um? We wrote a song on my
second record called shake your south Side you already got it?
You got a teat up dude. We played this we
opened our show with this for like two straight years,

(26:52):
like on Aldine and FDL tour. And this song was
actually SYNCD in uh, one of the Chipmunks movies they did.
They did, Yeah, they did like a Chipmunk version of
this song. Yeah, so you know how they do the
chip Monk voices. If you heard I've never heard it
now I listened to how I built how he made it,
or one of those popish where the guy that invented

(27:12):
the Chipmunks, he did a whole podcast and his thing
was what they do is, let's say you were gonna
do the Pledge of Allegiance as a Chipmunk, because when
you do the Chipmunk, the chipmunks high voices have to
go at normal speed. They have to sound like I sound,
just a higher pitch. So if I were doing the
Pledge of Allegiance, I would do it like this right
all play, so you can speed it up, but it's

(27:35):
still be sped up to normal speed. And so they
did that and they showed how they do the Chipmunks.
It's kind of like in music videos, if you're gonna
shoot our super slow most scene, they'll speed your song
up like double and you've got to do the scene
singing your song at double speeds so that it looks
like it's slower speed. Yeah, I didn't know that. What
do you have over the MicroC Yeah, I claimed to

(27:58):
fame right there. Oh my god, it's so good. That's funny.
That's a cool thing though. Yeah, it was cool. That's
like the Chipmunks or we mentioned Family Food or Sesame Street. Yeah,
Sesame Street was awesome, Like that's like one of the
cool things that like that's a life thing. Absolutely, it

(28:19):
was crazy, man. It was. First of all, it's super
cool because I think my kids are definitely too young
to knowing what Sesame Street was. So when when we
got the offer, I spent like a week showing them
a bunch of old Sesame Street reruns and like Bruno
Mars doing the show or whoever doing the show, and
and they got really excited about big Bird and like
all this stuff. And so when we got up there,

(28:40):
my kids went ballistic, like it was one of those days.
It was like no nap there in rare form and
they were so like when when kids, I think, meet
those muppets in real life, it's like they're staring at
the hand and they're also watching the guy do the voice,
but they don't even care that the guys doing the voice.
They truly think that whatever is on that hand is
a real is a real thing. Um. And I grew

(29:00):
up watching Sesame Street two, and so did my dad
and so did my mom, and so it was like
one of those things that's truly iconic, you know, in
in our generation and our parents generation. And so when
I got to do that, it was that in SNL
are probably the two coolest things I've gotten to do. Boy,
SNL that's cool too. Remember when they announced you and
we have some of the same team. Are our PR
team the same? Yeah? Shout out to Time. Yeah, and

(29:21):
I have Christie and Time you know Christie. But I
remember them going got SNL. I was so pulled for
you because that's such a like it's a life thing.
It is a life thing. I mean, it's like just iconic,
like like things that like performing on the Grammys is
one of those things too. You know, I've never gotten
to do that, but doing SNL and Sesame Street we're
two definitely huge things in my bucket list and but

(29:41):
also the most terrifying. Um, what is the SNL by black.
So you go up when well, so we've been trying
to get SNL for almost two years and then, uh,
it's all about their slot, it's all about their timing
and uh. And we got asked to do it on
a Friday, and we did it on the next Saturday.
So a week in a day, a weekend, a day
to go in the studio or rehearsal space, me and
the whole band. Um, we hired like a four piece

(30:03):
horn section and like a like a two piece choir,
and we we were rehearsing songs that we had never
even touched as a band. So we did look what
God gave her and don't threaten me with a good time,
and those two songs. At that point we're barely mixed,
much less mastered, and so we're basically learning unmixed, unmastered
songs to play live on on national television like tended
you know, nine days from now. So so but when

(30:24):
you go on where the songs available, no, well, look
what God Gabriel was say, sorry, look what God Gaveral
was mixed and master were a threatened was very much
so in the bones of what it was going to be.
And so we kind of had to make it up
there on the flat like it was recorded, but it
was still getting mixed, and it would hadn't been mastered yet,
And so getting choreography down and getting the horn parts
right and all that stuff in three days is a

(30:44):
lot for for a band to learn. What So when
you played Don't Threaten Me? Was that it wasn't available
to stream? No, it came out like at midnight that night. Okay,
so yeah, it at least came out that night and
you just just have to rush to get it up. Was
it one of those where because in a performed we
also got to get ready. Yeah, weren't supposed to putting
anything out until the week passed that. It was just
supposed to be look what God gave her and then
wait three weeks until the next release. And so we're like, well,

(31:06):
we're gonna do them. Why why would we play them
and people not be available to buy them? And so
that was a last minute decision on on the labels part.
So if the show was on a Saturday night, and
what's that week like like in New York, like when
do you go up when? Yea, so people who do
you get to meet? Yeah? So we got there on Wednesday,
or yeah, we got sorry, we got there on Thursday,
rehearsed all day Thursday, Like they literally gave us like
a four hour sound check. So you're playing the songs,

(31:28):
you're going to the mixing booth, making sure that all
the stuff mixed is mixed right for national television, rehearsing listening,
rehearsing listening, and then the downtime, to me, was the
hardest part because you're like, Okay, we just did it
like a hundred times. Now we gotta wait, you know,
forty hours to actually do it. And so you're in
there and you're watching John Mullaney rehearse his stuff. And
I was super terrified until I taught John Mullaney and

(31:50):
uh he was like, how are you feeling? I was
like really nervous, and he was like, dude, me too.
And so like talking to you know, a comedian that
like that, this does that professionally for him to you
could feel his nerves as well, because I mean SNL like,
you're I feel like your judge pretty hard as a
comedian on that show, Like if it's not funny and
your opening monologue isn't great, then that's something that people
talk about um, but just watching him get to do

(32:11):
that and then getting I got to meet like Ben Stiller,
I got to meet Paul Rudd. Uh, you know, the
whole cast, and just walking in there, man, I just
could feel the whole Will Ferrell you know more Cowbell
skit like it. It's crazy how how much history you
could feel just walking in that building. And so, uh,
Friday was the off day. And as much as you
want to do your routine, just get up, workout, going
a nice lunch. Just it's all that's on your head.

(32:32):
Is like tomorrow night. It's the real deal. Because even
doing Fallon and Kimmel and all that, even though it
is live, it's not live. You're filming it like four
o'clock in the afternoon. And even though it is live
in front of an audience, on an audience, like if
you mess up a word or two, most of those
shows will let you go do it again, even though
you don't want to do it again. You can s
n L you mess up, You're done. Your your mess
up is forever on national television and on YouTube and

(32:54):
part of the Yeah for sure, yeah exactly. So what's
the day of the show, Like, do you wake up
like Oh is that almost like graduation or prom or
We're like, oh, this is gonna you wake up. You
don't get enough sleep firstday of school. Oh yeah, dude.
Like I remember going to bed that night. I was like,

(33:15):
all right, I'm gonna get a bit at ten, get
up at seven. You know, dude, I did like to
two vocal warm ups that day. My vocal coach lives
in New York. I've never met. We always skyped our
lessons and finally got to meet her. And I got
in bed at ten and walked back up and couldn't
go to bed to like two o'clock, two o'clock in
the morning, and then still popped up at seven. With
these nerves, you're doing these vocal lessons. You're going to oho, crap,

(33:35):
do you hear that? Scratch them out throat and your
vocal coach like, no, it sounds fine. And so you're
just judging every bit of part of your day. And
then finally you get there and you do a whole
run through, like you run the entire show, like dress
rehearsal at like nine o'clock. Then you have to sit
in your dressing room to a midnight and so you're
just sitting there going, dear Lord, have mercy. You're watching
all these people, You're watching all these you know, these
skits go by, and you're like, what was that one's

(33:55):
gonna make it? Is that one gonna make it? And
then the show comes on. Half the skits you thought
we're gonna make it don't make it. Then you're like,
all right, well, I got twenty minutes before I go singing,
and then they can pop on your end and like, hey,
you have three minutes, and so you don't even have
chance to be nervous. Then you got there and you
do it. You got one song done, they do more,
they do more comedic skits, and then you do your
other song and then when it was over, dude, it
was one of the most biggest. It was like the

(34:16):
biggest weight off your shoulders you could ever imagine, um,
like in a good way, especially because you did well. Yeah,
and you did well, and but you do it a
first time because that they do that show twice. The
SNL they do one where you talking about the skit
cutting and I'm assuming you performed during that show too,
or ya, okay, you do so you performed four times
in one night. Pretty you do you do one to

(34:37):
the show that doesn't get seen except they bring in
a first audience who watches it exactly, and then they go, Okay,
now we're gonna go do the real show, and they've
cut a bunch of skits and you still got to
do your two songs. Yeah, exactly. But does it make
it a a little easier that you did it the first
time and you kind of got out on stage and
experience it, or is it still like, well, this one's live. Correct, Well,
it is easier, But at the same time, you're you're like, Okay,

(34:58):
those two performances that we just did, we're flawless. The
band was flawless, the horn parts for great. Now you're going,
can we do it again with the same intensity and
the same perfection. And I think that's where the nerves
come in. But at the same time, dude, like anytime
I've done live television, I don't remember what I don't
remember what happened, and I barely I rarely ever go
watch back my lap performances because I hate I always
just critique the crap out of myself. Um So I

(35:20):
still haven't even seen what we did on this and
you don't watch it I'm okay with that. But I
don't watch back what I do either, because I just go, oh,
could have done that? Instead of going, oh, that was good,
I go It's like social media comments. Instead of going, hey,
thank you for that nice comment, I just find the
ones that ripped me totally. Yeah, I can't same, dude,
we share that in common. I was blocking people today.

(35:42):
I got. My thing is I'm trying to eliminate negative
influences around me. I can only produce when I'm in
an environment to produce, and if I expect the best
from me, which I do, why would I not put
the best possible situation around me? Totally? And that's removing
negative influences. That's putting people that are great around me
around me. Yeah. And part of that is like a

(36:02):
stupid social media people are screaming at me, calling me names.
You didn't pay to be there. It's true. Block yeah,
you ever block people? Yes? Yeah? Well. The the craziest
part is that when when people continually comment to you
and they follow you, it's like, why do you follow me?
Like I could get it if you kind of came
across it on your search page and then you wanted
to throw some hate my way. But it's just like

(36:23):
you follow me and all you do is ripped me
to shreds, Like what is the point you ever hit
one O with a DM? Like, hey, just you're okay.
I'm getting better at that, I would say. Two years ago,
Thomas responded to eight of things that that I that
I didn't like. Um, but, um, dude, I have you
ever met Bob Golf before? No? You know who Bob
Golf is? Tell me he's he's a book writer. He

(36:44):
writes motivational books, but also U sort of Christian based,
And um, I met him at a show in Hawaii
and he was randomly in Hawaii for a day doing
a conference, and me and Lauren had lunch with him,
and we we just got into this conversation about this
whole social media age and how do you deal with
people that constantly just critique your Instagram page and just
nothing but thumbs down to your music and anything that

(37:05):
you say, like you can set the skies blue when
they'd say it was green, Like how do you how
do you deal with those kind of people? And and uh,
as as strange as this sounds, it really made a
lot of sense. And he said that for the last
ten years of his life. Every pair of pants he gets,
he cuts the left pocket out of his pants, and
I was like, that's the weirdest thing I've ever heard.
And he does that as a metaphor, so like when
he gets a lot of hate throwing his way, he
calls those like left pocket things that when he puts

(37:28):
them in their pocket, they just fall away. And um.
Another thing that he does is he'll get on an
Instagram page with somebody that that has slandered him or whatever,
like on Instagram, and know he'll go find something on
their Instagram page in some way that that person has
been in pain, so whether they've lost relative or whether
they broke their leg or whatever, and instead of like
commenting back, he just prays for him and then calls

(37:49):
it today. And that's something that I've been really trying
hard to do because you never know, you never know
where the pain is coming from, and you never know
why that person is is so miserable in the first place,
And and who am I to judge? It's easier for
me to judge rather than like wonder why why they're
in that situation in the first place, where they're on Instagram,
I'm just like throwing hate people's way. I also find

(38:09):
because of that, like I'm more conscious of trying to
be outwardly kinder yea, and not even towards them, but
just in general, like because at times that environment can
be toxic. So I will try to create in other
people's space, uh, less less toxicity. If it's riding a

(38:31):
nice comment, if it's sending a tech say that that
was great. So what I try to make it do
to me is push me the other way, just like earlier,
when someone's like that's not that funny, I'm like, all right,
I got you. When someone's like, hey, your head looks humongous,
or you don't you don't not talented enough to be
on you're not famous? Why are you on family celebrity
family feud, It's like all right, Like I I see
your your negativity here, but I'm gonna take that like

(38:53):
it stings a little bit, and I'm gonna use that
as PIB. I'm gonna make sure good do something positive,
but not towards them like that's awes. I'll let it
push and I don't do it to be awesome. But
that's that's been my mechanism. Yeah, But if it if
it makes your head more positive and more level, and
that's more an affecting people in positive way around you
than than you know, good for that person that didn't
like your comment or your your joke. It's it's kind

(39:14):
of wild too, Like your kids are going to grow
up in an environment of knowing terrifies me. Like all
the country stars l a New York, like they're gonna
have I can I say different? But I mean you
grew up knowing some of these guys, Like yeah, when
you grew up in Nashville, Like did you know McGraw?
I did from an early age. Yeah, I mean not

(39:35):
so not so much McGraw. I mean I met McGraw
when I was nine. I met met Garth when I
was like eight or nine years old. Um, we spent
like a couple of halloweens over Reba's house. Um, mostly
people that dad toured with. I knew pretty well. Blake
Shelton when he when he is back in his younger
in his younger days, not saying that you're old, Blake,
just you're younger then. Um he's a big fan. Help
for sure here this yeah for sure? Um, but uh yeah, man,

(39:57):
I definitely grew up in that environment, but it was
so different social me. He didn't exist then, you know
what I mean, Like if if there was an artist
that did something that was worth talking about, it was
in the newspaper. Just so different now, like if something
happens this immediately for anyone in the world to see.
Do you and Lauren have the talks about the kids
on Instagram and the kids on Twitter? And like we
talked about it daily man, And we get asked that
question quite a bit, like what is the balance? And

(40:18):
I think we're still trying to figure it out. But
I think through it all, me and Lauren is still
trying to be super real to to how we like
to live life. And ever since we got married, I
was we were both twenty two and we got married,
and my fans have known that I was married. Since
I was married. There was no ever trying to be like, hey,
I'm still the the single dude. You know what I'm saying,
because I think uh in in in a lot of formats,
it's like, well, you want to be accessible and you

(40:39):
want to be the single guy because they think that
it drives more fans your way. But that's never something
that I really believed in, and so Lauren has been
such a huge part of my social media platform that like,
when our kids got here, it was like, yeah, there's
a lot of things that are too personal that we're
definitely gonna say for our own family group text and
our private Instagram pages and stuff. But like, I mean,

(41:00):
you know, we're a family with two kids, and and
we're gonna we're gonna project that, you know what I'm saying,
And and so there's a lot of people that are like, well,
maybe that's not protective of your kids, and it's just like, well,
they're part of our lives. And we've always been super
transparent and we've always kind of told whatever's on our
sleeve is going to be kind of on Instagram, and
we're pretty real about the stuff that we deal with
and the stuff that we struggle with, and and uh,

(41:20):
I just think it's I just think more so than anything,
it's more of a, like you said, a positive influence
to other families that have kids and just realize that
every day is not rainbows and butterflies. And also nobody's wrong, right,
I mean, I think that's a thing to understand. Two
is that because somebody disagrees that you put your kids
on Instagram and because maybe they don't, they're not right

(41:41):
or wrong, exact right or wrong. There are much like music,
there are just different ways to do and it doesn't
make you right or wrong. You can be different and
you don't have to hate somebody that's different exactly. But
we're in that climate where it's like a climate, political climate,
it's all all the time. It's just so frustrating to me.
Probably one of the biggest frustrating factors in my life

(42:01):
of the last five years have been Instagram or Twitter
or whatever. And it's funny because Instagram is a big
part of your successful career too, yet it's still one
of the most frustrating parts of it as well. It's
such a blessing and a curse, you know, um, because
all you want to do is use your Instagram for
a for a platform and and use it to just
promote positivity and love and peace and all these things.

(42:23):
But it's just like, it doesn't matter what you are
I post, there's going to be something ridiculous on there.
I posted a picture yesterday or a video yesterday just
of saying, like what my new single was going to be?
The first comment was shave your beard? You know what
I'm saying. I'm like, first of all, what do you
what are you doing in your life? You have time
to just say that to me, you know what I'm saying,

(42:44):
like or like hey been the bill of your hat?
But okay, let me play Devil's advocate because I agree,
what a dump thing, But you don't remember that like that.
That's what I'm saying. I'm giving that person they got noticed.
I'm gonna write on your next Instagram, I'm gonna write
been the billy had right? And I remember that on
that Um, it was frustrating for me. And I don't

(43:05):
know and I'm not speaking for you, but I know
watching you and I'm a big fan of how you
do your music. Thanks you. You're you're pretty unapologetic about
this is my style, like this is me and okay,
you can you can get on or you can get
off the ride. But I'm just gonna do what I do. UM,
And I know that for me to watch at times

(43:27):
some of all they call it the old guard or
to go that's that guy is not country. That frustrates me.
For you, I don't know how you feel about that,
but that that for me, I'm like, God, if you
guys even just knew like that, dude is a country
as can be, right, Yeah, man, yeah, I mean that that.
That's been my life as a country artist, not necessarily
in the beginning, but I'll say on my second record,

(43:48):
when I started to like lean way more uh just
progressive as far as production goes, and I started to
take my singing a whole lot more seriously and doing
vocal lessons and all this stuff, trying to just make
my records sound like something that wasn't happening in our genre. Dude,
I have gotten more comments of you are not country
or you are ruining the face of our genre. Might

(44:08):
as well quit now, Like I mean, if I could
mean there's I mean, I'm sure that you've had some
of those similar comments, but it's just like it in
the beginning of the of those days, it was just like,
you know what, maybe they're right, you know what I mean, like,
and I think that's the poor four in my angiogram
going there, right, I'm I suck, I'm defeated. I'm it's
better for me to quit for the whole world than

(44:29):
than than you're gonna take one for the world. The team.
I'm gonna take one for the world. Yeah, but really
I'm taking one for like sixty people. You know what
I'm saying. A small vocal, very small vocal minority. And
the more I thought about it, I was like, you're
not country. You're not country? Okay? Why why am I
not country? Well, you don't work cowboy boots on stage. Okay,
let me let me mentally go through that. The reason

(44:51):
I don't work cowboy boots on stage because I jump
up and down like a crazy person. And on the
Aldine tour in two thousand thirteen, his thrust was this
metal grading material and I was wearing sniptoade cowboy boots
and got stuck in them every night. That's the reason
I don't work cowboy boots on stage. Does that make
me not country? I think, no, you're not country because
your music doesn't fiddle in it. I would say ninety

(45:13):
eight percent of songs on country radio don't have a
fiddle in it. There's another one, you know what I'm saying.
And so you just have to like do this self
check and I think through therapy and you know, through
talking with my wife and talking to people I trust
about it's just like dude, at the end of the day,
his country music not about being yourself, and his country
music not about telling the truth in a story. Do
I do both those things? Yes? Do I dress a

(45:34):
little different? Yes? Are some of my songs more progressive
than some things on country radio. Yes, I'm allowed to
explore my outlets, you know what I'm saying. Like you
look back at any and we I think we've had
this conversation before. But when Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson,
all these dudes came out, they were called outlaws for
a reason. An outlaw is not just a term that
you used to describe country music today. It is every

(45:56):
twenty years we look back at the artist twenty years
ago and say that was real country music. You know
what I'm saying. We say Sna Twin is real country music.
But at the time she was a pop singer. They
told her on Instagram. Was like, I was talking to
Garth and he said to say, you know, that's my
favorite one to share with people who go that's guard
real country. Garth was like, Dude, country music did not
embrace me. He was like they were antiing up Brooks.

(46:18):
I came to town and they were like, you're not country.
Get out of here, like what are you? And you
can go through and you can go back. And you
mentioned some of those guys, but everyone that has changed
the music for the better because they're the ones who
we remember as being successful, has been not country exactly.
And in any genre people hated, and people hated because
they weren't the Beatles in any art, and any not

(46:39):
even just music, in any art whatsoever. You can look
at comedy or visual art, just whatever. People that break
the mold and are not get the finger like you're
not this are the ones that create the new this.
And so that's always what's frustrated me for you and
partially too, I think selfishly. When I came to town,
it was hey, you're not country, and I'm going m

(47:03):
I grew up a mountain pine arch like, live in
a trailer, Like what what animal do you want me
to clean? Because I can? Can you give them? And
I started to think, what makes me not have an accent?
What makes me not country? It was it because I
was doing a popping hip hop for a while, because
that was where I got my first job. I said,

(47:24):
because I come on and I just tell my truth.
All the time, very authentic about my message and CBS
at the story like he doesn't work cowboy boots or
cowboy hat. He's the he's the renegade. Like isn't country
just telling the truth. You don't have to be from
the South. I am you are, So we kind of
get that little nickel that we can spend. But there's more,

(47:44):
say more country folks in New York, upstate New York,
and it was country is crap or like right outside
of DC, like northern Virginia. So like, I I feel
your pain. And sometimes when I see people write stuff,
I'm like, you know what, First of all, who care?
But second of all, I go I know, as a creator,
after a while, it starts to go, oh, it just

(48:05):
gets to be a weight that you almost don't like
to acknowledge because you're giving them power. But it's real.
But it also makes me better too. Yeah. Absolutely, it's
honestly that that's the one area in my life that's
that's taking a lot of growing. But like you said,
like when I do get those comments, it fuels my fire.
It used to suck my life away and now now
it fuels my fire. Your dad's country, he was here

(48:27):
my dad is country. Your dad is. No one's gonna
see your dad and go that game country. Yeah. Oh
and that's that's that's my fa. That's my favorite comment
I've ever gotten. Your daddy must be so ashamed. Oh
people say that for about a year there. That was
that was that was the special comment. Your daddy is
ashamed of you? And I was like, I don't think

(48:47):
I don't think he is. Well, what it like? What
a rotten thing, That's what I'm saying, Like that one
that that's a rotten thing to write, even for trolls exactly,
Like I lost a little faith in all trolls that
they actually write that already and have a good opinion
of the what So, what is it? What's the relationship
with you and your dad? Now? It's amazing, dude, Me
and me and dad have gone through a bunch of
seasons in our life, uh, from high school playing football

(49:10):
into you know, signing a record deal and kind of
starting the career to kind of getting into my career
and kind of finding my own voice, my own sound,
and then so now going through a lot of different
phases in life and all all good. Um, you know,
I think every every father and son has their definitely
ups some downs, But I would say that me and
my dad today, at twenty nine and almost fifty, are
in the best place I've ever been in, uh, in

(49:31):
our father son relationship, because like, he's so young and
he had me when he was nineteen. My mom had
me when she was nineteen. UM, and so to have
a young parent that is I think, because I feel
like I'm kind of a young parent, and I feel
like when I'm fifty, I'm gonna be a lot different
to my kids then than I am now, because I
think parents just go through continuous learning phases. Um. But

(49:51):
my dad is obviously my dad, but he's also like
one of my best friends in the world, you know.
So he's on tour with us this year, UM, brings
his wife out on road. UM. And when my kids
come out, they just they flocked my dad, like they're
obsessed my dad. They call him Popeye, and uh, I
think for the longest time, I was like, what does
my dad gonna be like as a grandfather, And he's
like the best grandfather in the world. And we'll get

(50:13):
right during the day, we get to play shows at night,
and uh, I just feel like he's just become kind
of a person that doesn't have so. I mean, he
obviously he is very focused and very driven and wants
to be an amazing songwriter. But I think a lot
of the pressure of going, how do I keep keep
keep doing this is kind of left him as as
he's turned forty eight to fifty. I just felt like
he's got a lot less pressure on his shoulders. And
I think it's kind of made our relationship a lot

(50:34):
better and he's given me a lot more um you know,
older man wisdom. I think, did he encourage you early,
early on to start music? Not really, man, My dad
never pressured me to do a lot, but his his
big things don't quit anything, you know what I mean.
Like we we battled that for a while, like in
high school, like going to football camp. No one likes
football camp. I don't care if you're the best football
player in the world, you hate football camp. And like

(50:55):
I was like, I just I just want to quit
and play baseball. I want to quit and go do
this or that. And to be like, well, you signed up,
you're not quitting, and uh. And so when it came
to music, he was just he was very weird about
it because I think he did it, you know, for
ten or twelve years, and he knows the highs and
he knows the lows, and he knows what failure feels
like him was success feels like I think any dad
would want to kind of give their their kid whatever

(51:18):
they can expect and then be like, hey, now you
can make the decision, but I want you to know
that it's not going an easy road. And so him
and my mom both were like, are you sure that
you want to get into music? And when I turned
about nineteen years old, it was really the only thing
in life that I wanted to do. All I want
to do is write songs. All I want to do
is play shows. Anything about creating anything. That's what I
wanted to do. So do you look back now and
see that you're your father's son. Yes, maybe you didn't

(51:41):
see it then, but now you look back and go,
I'm I didn't. Yeah, I didn't see it a lot
of then, but now I'm looking at the way that
I parent the way that he parented, and and and uh,
we are we are a lot alike in a lot
of ways, and we are still very different a lot
of ways, but more so alike. What would your first
cut ever, um, a song called I Ain't Ready to
Quit by Jayson meldeen two. You were still in school

(52:06):
at the time. I was at Lipscombe University down the street. Yeah,
and you get a cut. What's that like? I thought
that I was a jillionaire and I probably made a
hundred bucks that cut. But I remember when that when
that came out, dude, it was like all my buddies
in college. Remember we went to Walmart that night and
we all bought two copies of the record, and uh
we we parked my truck in the front yard of

(52:27):
this little house next Lipscombe and we just we had
a party to one song. We literally just played this
song on repeat for like six hours. It was just
I mean, it was just the coolest thing that had
ever happened to me in my entire life. He signed
a record deal like a year later. A year later. Yeah,
did you do the let me talk to some record labels?
Did you do the showcases for people? Was it a

(52:48):
they all offering you deals? Like what what was the
Thomas Rhett record label? Uh? Kind of pursuit like they did. Man,
We I think I played for I played for six
or seven record labels, and uh, the only song that
I had that I thought was even remotely good was
a song called if I Could Have a Biggle with
Jesus that was on my first record, and um, every

(53:09):
every label that I played for a day later had
offered me a record deal, and I couldn't believe it
because all all, I all, I thought I wanted to
be as a songwriter. I just wanted to follow on
Dad's footsteps, like I didn't. I don't think I wanted
to go on the road. I wanted to play shows,
but I didn't think I wanted to do the whole
do the thing, going radio tour, sign a record, to
do all that stuff. But as I got it, got
into it, started to get some cuts. It gave me

(53:30):
the bug because I when I wrote the songs instead
of other people singing him, I really want. I really
wondered what it would be like if I recorded him
and put him on the radio. And uh, and so
once I signed a record of a Big Machine. I
think it was two thousand and eleven. Um, it's just
kind of been a roller coaster since then, but it
was it was definitely the right thing for sure, Like
what in your mind, wait, when you wake up in
the morning, you go all right, micro and macro there's

(53:53):
a big difference. And I believe we have to have
micro goals like what am I gonna do today? What
I'm gonna do this hour. I'm a big believer in
and writing things down and declaring even to yourself what
you want, because then if you don't get it or
you do get it, there's a winter loss there. I'm
big on I mean marks um. And then the macro goals,
which are this is what I'd like to be in

(54:14):
five ten years, this is what I like to be
for my career. So micro goals first, like what are
your what are your your goals this week, this month?
Like as a as a today's human being right now,
micro goals are too really be more of a a
content human being that may fit into micro and macro.

(54:35):
But I want to be more content, I want to
be more patient. I believe it has to be micro
before it's macro. So when I say that, it's also
an elevator, like you can't just go big. If you
don't do the small things right, you definitely not do
the big things. Yeah, I think the two biggest I
think my two biggest hindrances in life are are my
Sometimes I love where I am for like two days,

(54:57):
but there always has to be something els so makes sense.
Are you someone who's never satisfied? I'm satisfied for a time,
and and not necessarily in my family, actually not at all.
In my family. I love. I love sitting with my kids,
I love hanging out with my wife. I love doing
vacations with my kids. But especially in my career, Like
me and my manager had a long talk about this

(55:18):
other day because on the road lately, like I just
put a record out a month ago, and I've had
nothing but songwriters out with me every single weekend and
we and we write like ten songs on a weekend.
And so the benefit of that is that you wrote
ten songs. The downside is that when you get to
your Saturday show, you're praying all day that your voice
works because you've done nothing but sing demos um. And

(55:39):
there's a part of me that's like, why am I
writing songs right now? I literally just put a record out.
But it's the fact that the record came out, and
even though it's it's only a month old, in my brain,
it's been out for a year and so I'm like, Okay,
I'm falling behind. And so I don't know if it's
more of a content thing or if it's more of like,
how do I always have to keep growing? And there
always has to be a new song, There always has

(55:59):
to be a new tour, There always has to be
a new this. I think the search for I wish
I was I wish the search for new would not stop.
But we're just kind of taper a little bit. Do
you talk to your therapist about this? Yeah? And I
don't know if that comes from when we talk about
Instagram four times. But I don't know if it comes
from that that mindset. That's just what my brain is wired. Um.

(56:21):
But even as a kid, dude, like it was all
it was always what what else is there? What what's next? Um?
But it's always in more careers driven goals than it
is in family. Don make any sense? Yeah? And it does.
And also that I can feel that you've been working
on this because you have acknowledgement of your being. Yes,
And the first way to fix a problem, and not
even to fix a problem, but to address the problem

(56:42):
is no you have We'll call it a problem to you, right,
now it's a problem. But what I found with my issues,
my problems, is they're also what makes me. The same
way we talked about Instagram, Like your problem is that
you got to keep doing what's been what's been making
you so successful, Like you feel like you gotta keep going.
You've also I've been doing it forever, so it's hard
to change. And so but I can hear that you

(57:07):
are are repaired. I use the words problem to repair
because it's the person one we gravitate to. You're trying
to repair yourself in your mind, and by doing that,
you've got to acknowledge where the part is broken in
the car totally. Yeah, and so your growth is just
kind of acknowledging this and you're never gonna fix it. No,
it's not to be fixed though, right, Like it really
isn't to be fixed. It's just to be acknowledged and

(57:27):
monitored and get out of control. Yeah, for sure. Because
it definitely bleeds into my family life a little bit.
Like there's a lot of times that we're standing in
the kitchen just me and like my entire family came over.
My wife will look at me and should go where
are you right now? And I'm in a song like
I'm literally writing another verse and and those are parts
of me that I wish I could change because one

(57:48):
day my kids aren't gonna be little, and and I
don't want to look back in twenty years ago I
was writing songs when my kids are growing up in
a metaphorical kind of language, you know. Um, And I
just wish, you know, Like, I love the fact that
I always I'm always striving for something new and something
better and something different, because I think if you stop evolving,
then you stop growing. Um. But you know, at least

(58:09):
for the sake of my wife and for my kids,
I do wish that when I came home my brain
could remotely be turned off of work a little bit
more than it is, you know what I'm saying. And
I think you can fix it, but you never want
to fix it. It's just not who you are. And
I think I can tell you know that too. Yeah,
I definitely know it. Yeah, Like right now you're writing

(58:30):
a song instead of doing this podcast, Like I'm like,
where are you? Where are you right now? He's like,
I'm writing, I'm writing a song. Um, what what do
you you talk about? Lauren and the kids? Like, what
do you feel like the biggest because you write all
these songs and it's a lot of stories about your
life and situations. What do you feel like the biggest

(58:51):
misconception is about you? Guys? Well, I feel like I
tried to fix that misconception on this record a little bit.
Um I think me and you mean you talked about it.
Me and Amy for sure have but like like on
a song called Dreaming, never had um or notice, like
those two songs are really way more in depth into
me and Lauren's relationship than I think people are aware of.

(59:13):
Like I think sometimes people look at our marriage and
they go to nothing is wrong with them, just just
based off our Instagram because we're we do this and
we're traveling there and we're taking these we're taking these
pictures on a beach and and it's like, well, their
life is so perfect, and it's just like I think
the misconception is that mine and Lauren's life with our kids,
rainbows and butterflies, it is just as crazy and messed
up and chaotic as everybody else. And I think that

(59:35):
that that would be a misconception for sure. Tell me
about a hundred forty seven billion orphans, so a hundred
forty seven million orphans changed to Love One. Uh. My
wife and the kind of the creators of the company
kind of rebranded it and called it Loved One. And UM,
I think after Lauren had gone to you gone to
several times, she knew she wanted to be a part
of it. So she was added to the board of
one four seven and then as she got involved, they

(59:57):
changed the name to Love One. UM. And love one
means like if if everyone loved one person, which like
if everyone could care for one person, then there might
not be as as big as an orphan issue. UM.
And uh, you know, they provide water, health food, UM.
Mainly their focuses in Massindy Uganda, which is where WILLI
grace from? And they take you know, random teams of

(01:00:19):
you know, twenty and thirty like three or four times
a year over there too to help work and kind
of help fix and and kind of brainstorm about, you know,
kind of the future of what we can do in
in Massindy. I love it that you found something you're
passionate about and you work towards helping it, both of
you and Lauren. UM. A struggle that I had because
I'm so close to Amy, and and I went over
to Haiti and was at the orphanage and people would go,

(01:00:40):
why are you not helping people down the street? And
how would go and and for a while, I like
my heart hurt for Amy having to deal with this.
We got that a lot too, and I can only imagine.
But I would say, and I would get on and
I don't say it anymore because it's like it's a
it's a vote, it's a vocal minority, and there's a
realization and me that goes my people don't feel this way.

(01:01:01):
But I would say, you know, why should we limit
our giving two proximity? Meaning? If I find something I'm
passionate about and I want to give to it, who
are you to judge me on what I'm doing? And
then who am I to care that you're judging me?
And then it goes comes back to me. It's always
a me thing. It's like, should we base giving on

(01:01:22):
how close someone is to us? And if so, why
aren't you helping someone four houses down the nine houses down?
For sure? Are they more important because there are a
block away than someone who's a mile away, Because according
to your logic, we can only help people that we
can touch and then we need to work our way out.
But I just know from being with Amy and she's
got it worse than even I did. When we were
we basically rebuilt that orphanage. I'm sure that was something

(01:01:43):
that you guys struggled with a bit. We definitely do. Man,
we still struggle with it. Um, you know, I mean
you can't. You're never going to escape those comments, especially
when it comes to something like adopts. You're never gonna escape. Um,
some of those comments of going, well, that's not your kid,
you know what I'm saying, And and that is the
most hurt for comment on the planet because you because
you realize, yes, I'm I'm not well a grace biological father, um,

(01:02:05):
but you know, due to certain circumstances, I am you
know what I mean, Like I'm I'm I'm her, I'm
her dad, and Lauren as her mom, and and uh,
you know, I think that the Lord places different things
on different people's harts at different times. And so like
you said, for you to be like, well, while you know,
there's kids that need helping here, and I'm like, I
realize that you know what I'm saying, and I think

(01:02:26):
it's still my part to help in Nashville just as much,
just as much of it is as it in Uganda.
But um, for some reason, the Lord put put Masindy
on our hearts and and and that's where we've been
for the last three or four years. And and I
will be there as long as it stays on our heart.
And also, human beings are human beings. If you can
help a human being, can go help a human being.
Right Why we Why why would let a proximity be

(01:02:46):
a factor in why we do or don't help? For sure,
it drives me crazy. Yeah, it drives me crazy too, man.
And and even outside of like I'll do things for animals.
We why don't you help people? Well, I do help people,
douche bat, don't get me started. But yes, it's it's
almost like, regardless of what you do, according to the
the outside of the bubble, you can't do enough. Yeah,

(01:03:06):
for sure, you really can't. Man, Look at this, Look
at this. I'm getting all fired up up here for you.
I appreciate that. Um, you got you got two kids,
that's a lot you got. Like you're dad, You're on
the road, you're being kid dad, You're being the star.
Hey can you can you pause? Can we pause this
or no? Well, yeah, we can do whatever we want.
I was going to tell you mean Tom talked about this.

(01:03:29):
So we're pregnant again and it's we're releasing it tomorrow.
Is there any way that you would say that very more? Actually,
we don't need to posit. We'll just not put it
up to tomorrow. So let's let it keep running. Okay, yeah,
there you go. So you just heard how he told me.
I don't even want to remove that. Let's leave that in.
So you're having another baby? Yes? Wait, are you having

(01:03:52):
a baby? You adopting? We're having a baby. Wow, look
at that. It's pretty wild man potent you are. And
it's a girl. Three girls, three girls. Yeah, just when
I thought life could not get any crazier, we're having
we're having another girl. And when do you when is
the baby gonna be here? Do you know? February three?

(01:04:12):
And you know it's a girl. Yeah, we did. We
did the blood test thing. You know where you can
do the genetic test. I don't know. Oh yeah, you know,
so you can do a blood I think it's ten weeks.
We can do a blood test and you can find
out the gender and you can find out, you know,
kind of all this stuff about your baby. And so, yeah,
we're having a girl. We found out yesterday. Our whole
our whole family Comember when we shot off these cannons
that blow either blue or blue or pink colors. And
my whole family was convinced it was a boy. Like

(01:04:34):
I already had boy names picked out, and we shot
these cannons off and it was pink. And I was like,
dear lord, three weddings, three weddings, that's true. As a dad,
you're gonna have to marry off three daughters, three daughters,
and we're not and we're not even done. I mean,
I mean, Lauren wants to have five kids. So who knows.
Congratulations man, than you crazy, it's crazy, I know, Thank

(01:04:56):
you very much. Look at you. Yeah, you're like fifteen,
you got three heads. I'm a little were like seventy.
I'm thirty, bro, I'm got to be thirty three girls? Yeah?
Now will you are you shooting toward five? Are you
gonna shoot towards until you get a boy? Like? What's
right now? What's in your mind? Are you just shooting
toward Let's just get this one and make sure everything
comes out all right, Well, yeah, we're we're definitely focused
on this one for sure. Um and uh I do.

(01:05:17):
Me and Lauren both would love we would love to
adopt again, um, whenever the time was right. And uh yeah,
I mean Laurens numbers five. I think when we get
to five, my wife will probably be like, we can
do six. That's just the kind of person my wife
is and my brand. I'm going, we're art. How how
are we gonna do this? Like we're gonna have to
have nine tour buses for our girls on the road. Um,
So my head goes to more of the the math

(01:05:38):
of the whole situation. But I you know, having having girls, man,
I think before we had kids, I always thought that
I was meant to be the kind of the dad
that had boys. Um. But now that I've had girls,
my heart has softened so much and I have never
I've never looked at anybody like I look at my girls.
Like it is and nuts the the emotion that you
feel when you're girl, when you put him down to
bed and you say, all right, love you baby girl

(01:06:00):
and they're like I love you, daddy, like it is
just it is. It breaks your heart every single time.
So in that aspect, I'm I'm beyond excited to have
a girl, but I do look forward to hopefully having
a boy one day. You have three kids, man, even
know what to say? Right now? That's awesome. Well, um,
we got just a couple of minutes left here, let's

(01:06:21):
roll over. I I'd like to talk about a couple
of things. One. Um. These are these will be kind
of quickids. Just give me your thoughts on this. I
feel like, and I've told this to you off of
Mike and off camera to like, and you've one male
Vocalist of the Year at the a c M S. Yeah, Like,
I think you're your next one up for that Entertainer
of the Year. And and the way this goes is

(01:06:41):
you have to get in it before you can win it.
You gotta be invited to the part. You don't win
the party the first time you ever party. And I
feel like you're now at that level. It's just the gatekeepers,
whatever that means, because it changes all the time. They
gotta say, all right, guy, that's kind of pushing the limits.
You're pushing them. They just got it's wild. But it's

(01:07:02):
your turn, Like, it's it's absolutely your turn. I appreciate that. Man.
How do you feel when I say that? It's uh, well,
first of all, I never to mean your thought anyone
would ever say that about me. Um. But if I
think back five years ago, that's everything that I was
ever working towards. Anyways, the Entertainer of the Year is
kind of the cherry on top of the awards at
any awards show. UM. And I'll never forget the first

(01:07:25):
time Luke Brian wanted UM. I'll never watched Jason Aldean
went it for. I'll never forget watching Jason went it
for the first time. And I think when I was
touring of those people, I always knew. I was like, dude,
these dudes, this is insane what they're doing, the people
they're putting in these venues, the production that they have,
the amount of hits that they have, and I feel
like we're definitely not in that lane yet of having
I think Aldana has like, what number one songs? Yeah,

(01:07:48):
but you have thirteen number one songs, so you are.
We're close. We're getting there, man, and we we work.
Have you ever seen the James Brown documentary how hard
he made his band work. I'm not like that hard
on my band, but we work really hard. He would
fire them in the show. Yeah, And I mean we
bring on choreographers, not even to teach us how to dance,
but just how to teach our band where to be,

(01:08:11):
when to be, how to move. Um, I mean our
our our trumpet player named Sharifa is our hype man,
and like literally like he's the person that introduces all
the band members. I've never seen anybody in country music
do that. And so it's like, how how every year
do you how do you spend your month of rehearsal
time making sure that the record that your show sounds
exactly like the record with just a right just the

(01:08:31):
right touch of live element. How do you make it
to where even your ballads feel like up tempos? And
how do you make the person in section three one
go always playing a new song. Now it's time to
go get a beer. And I feel like those are
things when you can think about them, you really can
work up a show, just like in in your in
your stand up and in your bit you're just like,
how do I make this the most intriguing, intriguing thing
someone has ever watched? And we really have worked hard

(01:08:53):
for that. Man, So even to be. Just like you said,
invited to the party at some point in the future
would be a huge win for us. But but we
look forward to that. It should be now based on
numbers that should have already been. But again, because you're
so progressive, you have you know, one and seven, who's like, right,
as long as you make that one and ten on
one and eleven, you're in. Yeah, for sure. So like
to me, you're there And I've told you I'm not

(01:09:14):
even saying that because on this together, I just want
to say that publicly with you in front of me.
Thank you. Let me say before we leave on August four,
we're hosting the c m A Fest together. That's right, um,
as Bobby taught me everything that I know on that
By the way, no I did it. I did anything
you did. Ask you a million questions, but you're already good.
It didn't matter. But you you helped me be great.
So I appreciate it. August four, oh, people check it out.

(01:09:35):
Not only does tr host it, he also like a
boss gets up in plays. It's as you do it all.
Thanks man, you do too. Man. Really, you've really I
just want to say this because I feel like I
don't know you have. You affirm a lot of people,
and you don't get I don't know, you might get
a lot of affirmation, but I just want to give
you an encouraging word. You have inspired me to to
do a lot of things I probably never would have
done in the first place. Your openness. I haven't read

(01:09:57):
the full book, but i've read up like chapter six,
and there's a lot of inspiring stuff in there. And
I just love your story. I love the way you
live life. I love that you're just unashamed, unashamedly, unabashedly
you whatever word that is. And it's really inspiring to
a lot of people. It really is. So don't don't
change you because you're you're You're pretty awesome. Well, thank you,
welcome and I'm not comfortable with that. It's okay, just

(01:10:19):
take it. I don't do well with um. Listen, we've
done an hour and ten minutes. This has been a
Jeff fun I had a blast. I could do this forever, man,
this is so fun. You've went from high held flip
flops to Thomas Rhett. Can I tell you something, the
very first time I said, the very first time I
saw your tattoo, I thought I said, h h ff

(01:10:40):
from your old bands high held flip flops. I'm a
massive fan, you know. I just when I saw it,
I was like, holy crap, what does it say again?
So my grandmother who adopted me for a while when
my mom left, her name was Hazel Hurt and so,
and she passed away at my mom when she died. Um,
her name is Pam Hurt and so it's their initials
on my arm, and have arkans on the back. And

(01:11:03):
I have little letters mirror ball and back. When I
one that because Sharin and I got that. Um, I
gotta get a microphone, I promised the listeners because when
I got put in the Radio Hall of Fame that
I would get a microphone tattooed arm. I haven't done
that yet. And then of course I have a big
penis on my back. No you don't. It goes all
the way from my belt all the way at to
back of my neck. No it doesn't. You haven't seen
the penis on back. This is real. You haven't seen
the big I don't have a penis on my I

(01:11:24):
was about to freak out. All right, listen, we've said
it all. I feel like I appreciate your openness and
your candor and congratulations on another baby. I appreciate that
kind of get me one of those. I gotta get
a girlfriend first, But I guess you don't have to
have a girlfriend have a baby. There are a few
ways you can do that. Um and uh yeah, it's
it's it's been a good talk here. Thomas red At
Thomas red Aikin's on Instagram. Be nice. He's not gonna

(01:11:47):
shave his beard or fix the bill of his hat.
I think we've learned that. Check him out on Cmafest
August fourth, hosting and performing, and he's on the Very
Hot Summer Tour, um, the VHS tour. I got a
couple of buddies out there with on tour too. Russell's
that there, huh Russell, Dustin and dust Yeah, and your dad. Um,
we're good to see you, Bud. Thanks so much and
a pleasure. Episode one nine with Thomas red Mm hmm

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

Episode Transcript

Host

Bobby Bones

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#189 - Thomas Rhett talks about having another baby, Growing up with a Famous Dad and what it was like to play SNL