Ken Block: Lead singer from Sister Hazel talks rock star life and finding balance.

They say “don’t meet your hero’s” bc it could be a major letdown. Well, thank God that wasn’t true w Ken Block, the lead singer for Sister Hazel. Sister Hazel is the SOUNDTRACK to my high school and college days. I must have played “Your Winter” on repeat several thousand times. It’s my favorite song in the universe. So when I got the chance to interview Ken, I geeked out. It was such an awesome interview and cool moment for me personally. Ken is so down to earth and very open and honest about all things, including family life, the realness of being in a band, addiction and relapse and the fear of losing his voice, how he found balance, what brings him most joy, and music of course. Ken is such a badass human. This episode was everything my super fan 20ish year old self dreamed it would be.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Carol. She's a queen and she's getting not afraid of fings,
so just let it flu. No one can do with Caralon.
This sounds Carol. So I'm so excited I'm here. I'm

(00:29):
here with Ken Blok and he's a singer for sister
Hazel And I was fan growing out on you before Ken,
and I hate to be that way because I'm trying
to be cool and professional. I was telling you, I've
interviewed people like Carrie Underwood, Rie Osmond, some really huge
names in music who I love and adore, But you
are the music that shaped my life, like when I

(00:50):
was in high school, in college, you were the soundtrack
to my existence. That's really nice to hear, yes, and
to be in that company Marie Osmond, Harry Underwood. I'm
jealous of their hair, but other than that, we're in
a good company. And that was actually I broke my glasses,
my wife's glasses on so, so don't make fun of me,

(01:12):
don't tease me. You're styling, You're styling, and I'm rocking them.
So how is life for you these days? In the
middle of COVID. Y'all just started doing drive in shows,
so that's new I'm in Austin right now, and you'll
just played a couple of shows in Austin. How's it going.
It's come really well. Um, we did it. We did
two shows in Austin with ever Clear, which that's kind

(01:34):
of cool. You know where that band that can play
with ever Clear or we play the Grand Old Opry,
or we play with food Fighters at a festival, or
the Indigo Girls, and let you know, it's just been
a real joy to be in a band. They can
kind of fall in those different directions. But I thought
it went great. Look for us, I grew up in Gamesville, Florida,

(01:55):
the University of Florida Southern, big Southern football school, and
it's basically like tail Gaton with a concert. You know.
We were have full production, light show, the whole deal.
That show. We had screens and video and think about
how cool of this hit your car. You got your
space for your cooler and your chairs, your grill if
you want it. Then you've got another space for social distancing.

(02:18):
That's like that's like grown up rock and roll show
right there. Yeah, right, And so we had a great time.
That went well, and then this week coming up, we're
gonna do Orlando. Um, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Temple, then Gainsville, Newberry, Florida,
which is our hometown, and then Orlando, and then in
a couple of weeks, uh, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Charleston. Okay, awesome, Hi,

(02:41):
y'all just sorted COVID put a damper on your touring.
Has it felt good to get back out there? Oh? Yeah,
we you know, we were we were out. You know,
we do a lot of events, and we had this
fan centered events, the rock boat and all those things
that we started, but this started a new one last
year where we rented a house out in Toyo. We
had six fans hazel nuts as they say, come stay

(03:04):
in this big mountain chalet thing with us. We were skiing,
and that's right when they shut everything down, and so
we weren't sure if we were gonna be able to
get home. The airports were shutting down, shutting down the
you know, the ski lodge and all that. So by
the time we got home on I think it was March.
From flying all our gigs have been canceled through June

(03:27):
already then and then through the summer, and the hits
keep coming, the hits keep coming. So looky, I'm sure
you do, and it's it's uh, you know, we can
cry about it, but what we're just we're like a
lot of artists. What can we do? What can we
do about it? So I just did a big live
stream that, Uh yes, I saw that celebrating Fortress. Is

(03:49):
that the album that just started everything? Champagne High offer
you your Winter like all of is that what launched
it off? All for you? As the record before it
you had all for you and happy and all that,
but Fortress said change your mind, your winning beautiful thing.
Uh it was. It's a big fan favorite for sure,

(04:13):
fan favorite for sure. Pretty good. How did you all
decide to the live stream for Fortress instead of a
So what was the first one? What was the one
that just launched you guys into this stratosphere of sister
Hazel is the greatest man of all times? Um, it
just gets reaffirmed with every record, but we are some

(04:33):
are more familiar. And so we did a white, a
little white self titled record that we made in three days,
which is basically a demo, and we had sold bunch
of thousands out of the back of our car towards
the southeast. We made some are more familiar. We got
it on radio and about ten cities we were selling
out rooms of about five um you know, dred rooms.

(04:57):
We do these little concentric circles away from games, Villain
college Town or they Endo, Tampa, talahas and Jacksonville, hit
Land Up, Charleston, Auburn, Tusca, Lisie, you know what I mean,
and just kept hitting them, um, and the stations took
a chance on all for you, and and it started sealing.
We'd already sold thirty thousand in the back of our

(05:17):
vand no way back of our van, and and then
the label started calling, and so CAUs we signed to
Universal and that's how the rest of America medicine. Dang,
what is that like? What is that like? To have
the dream, to be self motivated, to be pursuing this

(05:38):
dream on your own. You and the guys, you'all like,
obviously you're doing it your grassroots, grassroots in it. You're
selling your CDs by yourself. But then like to realize
that it's working, You're getting traction, people are coming, and
then to have the record labels come, like, what does
that feel like to have your dreams start to work?
And was it a long process for you to get there.

(06:00):
That kind of as soon as I'll started making the
music and putting out there, did it sort of start
snowballing from the beginning, Well, I would say that, Um,
who happened was I had been in bands growing up
here in Gainesville, UM, a little bit heavier bands. But
I wanted to get out of that because I grew
up listening to artists like like Simon and Garth f Uncle,

(06:21):
you know, John Denver, Crosby Stills, Nash all those harmonies. Um.
And then I got into heavier bands, and I always
liked all of that, you know that stuff, the old
you know, seeing Hank Williams and then play a Van
Halan song. And so I was doing that, but I
wanted to go do an acoustic. I was in my band.
I want to go start playing acoustic. And and and then
I saw, you know Jack size More plays guitar um

(06:44):
uh for um uh. You know Brittain Cameron, he's a
songwriter up there in Nashville. And Jack size More places
for Jason al Dean there there there are buddies here
in in Gainesville, and Britain and Jack were playing and
they were just doing just harmonies and and two of
them no band, and I thought, and we were all friends,

(07:04):
and it was like, I can't believe they're pulling it off.
I mean, we're coming off with the guns and Roses nineties,
and I go, I want to do more of that.
So I started doing that, got a buddy, buddy ran
into Andrew met up with him. We started playing together
and sometimes we all four get together, and we started
getting a little momentum with that. That's when I wanted

(07:25):
to start this rais. I'm like, look, I have all
these songs I've written that I want to make. I
want to see how good they can be. And I
don't want to play you know, just you know, seventy
covers and percent originals. I want to play all all
music that I wrote and and uh. And Andrew was
at first like, what are you talking about? Man who

(07:45):
are making good money or drinks are free? And I said,
I want to make a whole band. He's like, and
split the money by five people. But I like, then
I gotta make it happen and um. And so that's
what I tried to piece together was, you know, the lyricism,
the harmonies of the singer songwriters, uh with the energy

(08:07):
of sort of the the southern rock bands. We grew
up with Tom Penny from Gainesville, um Ard Skinner. Our
first tour, uh ever was with the Allman Brothers um
and so that's part of our d n A. And
so we just have this ability to kind of take
these little pieces and when five of us get together,
it sounds like sister Hazel, you know what I mean,

(08:28):
We make a noise, that noise for better or worse,
the sister Hazel. So did you know when you landed
on it? I've been watching a lot of documentaries lately,
Like I just watched the Garth Brooks ones and I
just watched the zz Top one and it's like to
come up with that signature sound, it's like when you
like get it, because you'll have such a sound and
your voice, you have such a unique voice. I've never

(08:48):
heard another voice like yours. When you have unique, good, unique, amazing,
it's incredible. But when you how did you know when
you got it? Like when it's like, oh that's it again,
what was the song? Well, all for you was the
song for me. But this is a really interesting and
funny story. Funny might not be the right word. But

(09:10):
I wrote that song in I was hitting these heavy
bands that I've been playing in and UH an Environmental
Trust Fund was having like a competition compilation CD you
know you got free studio time had about dred entries
and the guy called me and it's like, hey man,
you I know you turn this stuff with the band,
but I see you're playing out solo. Do you want

(09:31):
to turn something in? UH? And I go, well, I'm
working on something right now, and he goes, well, can
you come in tomorrow. It's the last day. So I
said yes. I sat in my little apartment and I
had a jam box, right, it's might mighty one yea
to jam boxes, and I finished all for you, right.
I finished in about an hour and a half, and

(09:52):
I would sing, like there has been times, kind of
play oh my roads, you know all those holes, and
then I play that could set a hit record every year,
and that would bounce over to that one, and then
it would be there, and then i'd i'd add all
the third part harmonies and fourth part harmonies, and I thought, okay,
there's the map, and I went in there and I
made that that demo and I left there and I

(10:15):
did there are a lot of people that just go,
you don't know what a hit song. You know what,
no one knows what a hit song is. That's true
that you don't know what a hit song is by
how the label's gonna push it or timing or whatever.
You do. Know, I feel like I know it's different. Yes,
it resonates differently, yes, And it doesn't feel differently. It

(10:36):
feels differently in you. Yeah, And it's just not It
doesn't mean sometimes it's not even better it's a better song.
It's just there's that thing. And I drove right in
my parents house and took him out into my nineteen
Camaro with Jensen triackle speakers in the back, and pulled
him out there and said get my car. Said if

(10:57):
I not, don't write another song. Uh, I think I
got one. And that was a ninety one. And so
every time uh drew when I would play it out,
or there was a couple of other songs that got
a little buzz too, but but every time we play
that out, people just lit up, and they had asked
for it. We then we started touring with the band,

(11:18):
and that was kind of tape trading time. You're a
little younger than me, he's to Jake Trade, UM, and
we come into towns and they'd be singing every word
to it. We'd be like, we haven't even been here before. Um.
So we knew that we had something that if it
got or I knew, I don't know if everyone in
the band believed that. I said, if we can get
us in front of people, get it played, we'll do

(11:41):
our part by putting on a fun live show that
everybody's gonna leave there staying that was time, time and
money will spent and uh and it and it hit
and um, you know between that that record we had
All for You Happy and a song called Concede that
all charted for us ums our first platinum record. Uman,

(12:02):
we were we were those kids, those college kids that
went from a van and trailer for years. You know,
if we sell a couple of T shirts, we get
a room that we've all been you know, y'all sleep
on the floor, um for years and years. And but
we made it real. I mean we all committed. Um,
we got paychecks. They were about a hundred hundred bucks

(12:22):
a week, hundred seventeen dollars a week. Oh yeah. After
we turn in our all our gas receipts and we
split up driving Uh in our van. It used to
be like, um, okay, how long is this trip? Well
it's four hours and eleven minutes. Okay, that's you get
an hour and six minutes and you get and it
was like the We're like we started going like you

(12:44):
a whole tank of gas. We a little bit smarter
by that, but you know, all that stuff. And then
all of a sudden, Um, the labels came down and
they said, look, they're selling tickets, selling records. Obviously they
work hard. Um, it's resonating and it's resonating at these
radio stations. So they've grabbed us, and uh, we didn't

(13:06):
get a chance to remake that first record. Um, we
kind of remixed All for You a little bit um,
which kept our momentum going. But I think we always
felt like we made that record with our own money
in two weeks and we're going up against Matchbox twenty
and heard I Blind and Tonic and all these bands

(13:27):
if they have spent you know, all this time and
money on these things. So so we went in to
do Fortress. You know, we were dog gone it. We
were gonna make sure that it was all good but
that ride once we got on it was just incredible. Well,
and I kind of like maybe the fact that y'all
didn't make remake the record and you didn't get just
like thrown into the machine and have a producer come

(13:49):
in and be like, Okay, this sounds great, but let
me change it and do this. Like it's sort of
kept intact who you guys and nately were, it seems,
and that just launched and off you. I mean, I
don't that has to be one of your biggest songs
you've ever had, right, yeah, it was. It was like
the most played radio song period in And that just

(14:11):
goes to show to me that when you have something
and you feel it and it's magic and like you said,
like the song came to you, I feel that it's
bigger than this world. Like to me, that's when something
is bigger at play, like a spiritual element gets involved
with it. Do you feel that way? Absolutely? We all
hear it, hear something, um you know, like I mean,

(14:33):
who didn't hear like Adel for the first time ago
that's got something going on. I mean like like there's
things like that that just certain songs they just they
have a thing. And I don't think you can name it.
I don't think you can. You know, Well, it's the
way that they blend the boy, it's those are just
kind of you know, that's a piece of corn in

(14:56):
the stew. It's just it's just magic when it all
gets together there. Well, and I think you have to
have that. Like when you think of legendary bands, they
have every one of them has those songs that mark
time that are bigger than the song. And like you said,
they don't even do like necessarily technically like the best
song ever written, whatever that even may mean. They just
have that other worldly experience that's involved in that song.

(15:20):
And I feel like you have to capture that as
an artist in a band to catapult to the to
a level of like fame and like being known, And
not that you're doing it for that, but like it
has you have to have that connection with the song
that's bigger than just this human experience. I feel like,
and I feel like if your second guessing a song, um,

(15:43):
you know, from a manifesting point of view, that's that
you're you're shooting yourself in the foot. You really got
to be part of it. Yes, it's got to be
an extension of you, and you can't have doubt about it, right,
You've got to be like, I can't wait to play
you this song. Not hey, listen to song. I know
that that thing in the second course is a little weird,

(16:04):
but to check it out you can't do that. There's
no excuses. It's just like this is it, and it's
like if you don't get this, then you don't get me.
That's right, and it's just let's part friends. Okay, So
you just talked about manifesting. I'm not trying to be nosy,
but I'm sitting behind you. You have this thing called
your timeline, and it sounds like looks like you have
tons of stuff going on here? Is this big? Are

(16:25):
you a big manifesto? Well, my wife is a big
manifesto for sure, and I love I tried. So my
wife is she's I hate being married someone smarter than me,
but she is um. So our kids are all in
online school right now, and so she does what she
calls mom school like, so she is that timeline is

(16:49):
she'll go up there and she'll go I see that.
That's that's That's about how long everyone, you guys are
gonna live. You're right here. You're all worried about what's
going on here, but what you do between here here
sets up how you're gonna be three all through. And
she just she just puts everything in perspective and like
over here, I can't see from here, but yeah, she's good.

(17:12):
You should talk to her one day. She actually look
look at her death. Sitting at her death. Let's see.
Um uh, safety waits to exercise my exercise plan. You see, like, um,
let's see what's right. Here's top test taking skills. And

(17:34):
she's working on that with our kids, and so she
calls it mom school and and um and all my
kids are doing great. And so we got like my
my nieces and nephews and they'll they'll tune in on
like this, like top ten homework habits. What are they,
um studying at the same time every day, studying the

(17:55):
same productive spot. Do the hardest thing first study each
day and study a little each day instead of cramming,
review your notes to all your homework, get rid of distractions,
use your weekends for review, uh, your study time to
actually study. I'm not getting any of that. And the
most important one to me is that's for help when

(18:18):
you need it and then top ten study fails, cramming, multitasking,
staying up late, skipping breakfast, missing class, own productive environment,
not taking notes, socializing during study group. That's hard, right, um,
not using available help, and listening She's we have an
argument in the house about listening to music with lyrics

(18:39):
while you're staying She says, no, if you listen to
classical or or or just music music without alignment, your
head brains trying to follow fun. But if their lyrics
going on, the science says, that's what's okay. So who
is your wife? How does she know all this stuff?
Because I was terrible at school. I just had a

(19:01):
daughter who's one year old, and like, now that everything
has gone virtual, I'm like, all these people are at homeschooling.
I'm like, I don't know. I don't know if I
could do it. I mean, I was so bad at school.
How does she know how to do all this? And
that your timeline for your life to put in perspective, like,
don't get so caught up in this tiny fiction, because
here's your full life, and like what's happening right now

(19:22):
is nothing compared to the rest of your life. That's
exactly right, And and if it's a huge problem now,
it's not gonna be then, But you have a chance
to set up the whole rest of your life by
you know, look, if you're gonna smoke weed, don't do
it here. Wait till your little all your brain. You know,
we're not gonna tell you never do that. But get

(19:42):
to a place when your brains finished. Yea, your wait,
so your brain is done. Yeah, don't go black don't
go blackout drink you know what I mean. Your brain
is trying to trying to make a human. Yeah, she's
real good about all that. And and my kids, you know,
look at my kids, like everybody as they roll their eyes. Um.
And but we try to have fun. And she's dedicated.

(20:05):
She's dedicated her life to helping kids and running running
little workshops for especially tweens and teens. Um just have
it's hard to navigate stuff, you know. And so she's
this is a book she's putting together right here. Well,
I'm gonna, I'm gonna you should have her on one day.
You'd love her. I would love to. I would absolutely
love to have her on. This would be so fascinating
to talk about. And she also has a perspective of

(20:26):
being married to musicians. So how is how do you
work marriage and parenting while being on the road, Like,
how do you navigate all that, because that's a lot
of factors at play. Well, how to sight out of mind?
I'm just kidding. Everybody in our band, UM has known

(20:48):
uh from day one that family comes first. So if
any of us come in and go, I gotta block
that off. You know, if we have a little time,
if I gotta block that off. It used to be
a little bit bit, but now it's like you bock up,
go do it. Um. Even if we have to set
someone out sometimes to do something. Um, you know, we

(21:08):
as long as you've been, if you've been as long
band as we have been, you're going to have you know,
somebody gets sick, You're gonna have big life events. Um,
you're gonna have all kinds of curveballs that come in.
And so uh, family comes first, and so we all
step in like that. I think all of us are
very uh invested dads. So for me, when I get home,

(21:31):
I mean, I'm I'm taking trash picking the kids in school,
you know, making dinner, going to the grocery store. Uh,
and I'm in the same town I grew up in.
It says like, hey, you know, but um, we all
all of our kids are doing really well and all
of them like each other, which is kind of cool. Um,
and all of the wives. Um. It's a little bit

(21:53):
easier now because when they were little, that's you know,
that's really tough. I have three kids, um, and at
one point they were all under five, you know, and
it's like once barely moving and once mobile and mindless,
like you know, licking a light socket or or whatever.
And the older ones, you know, come back. So, Um,
I would get home and I'll try to do as

(22:13):
much as I can. Tracy might tell you I still
didn't do enough, but I know that I tried. I
straightened my halo and dust off my cape and come
charging in. But but it was harder, I think, on
us than the other guys, because at first I was
the first one to get married, I was the first
one to have a kid, and I'd be like, hey,

(22:34):
I can't stay out, you know, thirty one days in
a row without getting you know what I mean, Like
we gotta and they're like, why I go? You will
understand why. But so Tracy finally made a couple of rules, uh,
talking to our managers and we're all family really like, look,
he let's try to manage seventeen or eighteen days a month, okay,

(22:56):
And then we ended up whittling that back down. I
think at some point it got I think you got
the four team at some point. But then we started
figuring out how to split it out and we started
making more money doing less shows. It's really weird because
because we were so used to always saying, um, you
can book sister Has anytime. I mean they'll play, they'll play. Yeah.

(23:17):
And when you grow, when you come out of a
seam like we did, and you have to take every
opportunity your program that way, right, And so when we
all of a sudden said we're not available here there,
all of a sudden, are are rate went up a
little bit? And interesting? Interesting, Yes, we were all kind
of thinking, so we're fine. We found the sweet spot. Uh.

(23:39):
We we do between on a big year under twenty dates,
slow year maybe ninety, but we spread them out, um,
and you know, we're we're we figured out how to
do it. Man. That is awesome. And that's why I
feel like sustainability and balance and you really you really
can have it all you have to. I'm sure you

(24:00):
it's a long winding road to figure out that, like
as you're calling these like the special sauce of the
sweet Spot or whatever it is, like, you know, it
probably takes a while to figure it out. But once
you do, then it's like, Okay, you can truly wait
you say, finally have figured out you know I mean

(24:21):
about that, but truly and once you find it, you
can really live a life and kind of do it
all and have it all not have to necessarily sacrifice.
I'm sure there was a period where you did feel
like you're sacrificing though. Yeah, and it's hard. It's really
hard on the wives. Um and you had to learn
we had to learn how to say no. Yeah, that's tough.

(24:43):
That's hard for It is really really hard, um Um.
I mean unless you came off of you just win
on one of those shows and you win and you
have done all kinds of great stuff. But it's it
is different when you worked for every single show, bar club,
thet gig, you've ever had, uh to say no or
TV My TV wants you. You're like, I can't pass

(25:06):
this up, no, you know, So it's different then, so
you have the two worlds that you've got. You got
your family, which all of us are very much on
the same page with. Then you have your family, the
guys on the bus. You know, you got the band
and you got your crew and um, we've been touring
with a lot of the same guys for fifteen years. Um,

(25:27):
and as a band. As we're making records and stuff,
people are like, how did you guys? Have you not
killed each other? And really, well, I think at first
at first we almost did. Um. At first it was like, Okay,
who's gonna stand where in the picture? And right right
and and that's recoupable, don't eat that California role whoor

(25:50):
you know what I mean? Like um? And uh. Then
you get the studio and it's like are we gonna
play the tambering in the pre course and the course
or just the chorus? You get a big fight about
something ridiculous like that, or were setless and we just
learned one day it was just like boom, if it's
not gonna if it's not gonna matter in six months,

(26:10):
never mind six days or six hours, let it go.
Did you'll all get to that point though, because to
get all of you guys to get to that awakening.
How did y'all, especially when before you were kind of
duking it out, How did y'all get to that point
where you're like, we're gonna change our mental mentality about this, Like,
how did you all agree to do that? When you

(26:32):
said that? What came to mind immediately was when I
got sober. Because when I got sober, everybody dialed things back.
It wasn't like I was. You know, there were a
bunch of sober kids sitting around watching Dad come on
the bus all. Uh. But that really gave all of
us an opportunity to take a hard look at what
we were doing. And if you've ever been around groups

(26:53):
of people, uh, drinking a lot and play music, you
can have you have some misunderstandings and you know, emotions
aren't always in check. And Um, at that point, I
think we started talking to each other a little differently. Um.
We we we didn't get into some of the arguments that
never would have even happened if people weren't drinking or

(27:15):
doing whatever. Um. And then I think, um, I think
the notion that we believed we were all in it
for the long haul. Mr Hazel was the mother ship,
and and everything else besides our families, every other project
or friend or whatever, jam session or students, whatever it is,

(27:39):
everything feeds back to that. And once we believe that
we were all really uh committed to that, uh it,
let everybody kind of be And the other thing. I
know I'm talking a lot, but I want to hear
everything and say, Okay, so I think and this can't
happen right away. I think it's something happens with time.
But like on first two records, UM, I wrote every

(28:03):
song right her record, I wrote almost every song except
for one or two UM. And and you know, we
we've gotten some frustrating conversations about about you know, uh
royalties and how we're gonna do that, and eventually we
just said we're just gonna split all this Now. I

(28:26):
wasn't thrilled with that in the moment, you know what
I mean, Like I knew had to hit right there, UM,
and I kind of expected somebody to maybe go, you know,
I think they've learned since then that Wow, that was
a pretty nice thing to have done back then. That's
a big thing to do, a big deal. Right. Yeah.
So so in that in that uh arena, everybody felt ownership.

(28:52):
I felt, um, some equality right um. And then when
we started to go in and record songs, um, I
started to get more trust in what they were bringing
to the table. So instead of me coming in and going,
you know, here's happy and you know we're gonna hit
it like that and then you're gonna play I need

(29:12):
you to play this group, and I'm just kind of going,
I didn't get in the band, and you know what
I mean, we kind of sit around and let everybody
do their thing. And then which let everybody do their thing,
they feel such ownership in the song and everybody's more excited.
They're all like, that's what I thought of that part,
and I right there where we did that, you know

(29:34):
that that crash crab or a little stuff like that.
And then there's this real investment and it helps you
to grow because for me, if I'm writing everything, you know,
forcing the producer to do things a certain way, UM,
it's gonna be me all the time. But they all
became really good writers, and really you gave them the

(29:57):
opportunity to instead of you. Instead of you holding it
so tightly, how did you know that you could trust
them with it? Obviously you're in a band of him.
You've committed to him, but how did What was the
moment where you're like, I have to trust them and
just let them fly with this too, even though it's
you come in with your vision, your baby, You're like,
I'm gonna share this. We're gonna do this as a group.
Like how do you get there? That's hard to do?

(30:20):
There were a couple of things. Um our lead guitar
player Ryan Nowell is a remarkable museum museum musicians, and
he was really trying to do this thing that I
did not have in my head. It was so different.
And finally I just said, all right me and just
do it like that, Just do it. And I was

(30:41):
kind of mad about it that I get yeah, yeah,
And then they went to mixed record and the record
came back and I went, oh my god, he was right,
he was right. And then then you start going where
else might he have been right? And it's it's better
than what I wanted it to be. So Fini's people's
aren't doing that, and they feel confident that they can

(31:02):
bring things they want to bring in the best things.
Um it really started working, and then what we'd start
doing is ask more people wrote as we go. Look,
if you bring in a song, it's our job to
serve that song. You tell us what what you are hearing,
what you want, and we will either serve your vision

(31:25):
and try to get you where you want to go,
or we will serve what we all collectively here in
this this song day. Y'all drop the egos, check check
the egos at the door. And but you did, But
you did it. You did it God to check your
egos at the door. And that that can't happen in

(31:46):
the first year being a band. Or you've got to
learn to trust each other. And the other thing is
that when you're in a band for this many years,
like I said, somebody's gonna be on their back, right,
Someone's gonna have a health iss you, someone's gonna have
a substance issue, somebody's going to be going through a
relationship issue. Uh, you know, on and on and with

(32:08):
the same stuff. We're no different than the other family.
But what we've been able to do is every time
that's happened to somebody, it's given the rest of us
an opportunity to really be there for them and be
a brother. So it's leveled the playing field in the
sense that we've all needed we've all need a little
else sometimes from each other, and we've been there for
each other. Dang, wow, that's pretty powerful. We'll also we'll

(32:35):
also ragged each other endlessly, you know what I mean?
Like that dudes do like it's re laugh and laugh
and laugh a lot in our camp. But we just
we're dudes. We just rag each other hard. You gotta
take it. Yeah, how did you know it was time

(32:56):
to get sober? That's a very humbling realization, and it's
a huge life change, especially when you are in a
big ginger musician, you're in a band. There's alcohol everywhere.
It's part of the lifestyle. I mean, there's always entertainment
going on, there's always it's always a party, Like, how
did you know that? Like, this is not just a

(33:18):
good time anymore. This is I have a problem and
I need to change. I love that you are vocal
about speaking about this. I think it's amazing that you
share your story in this way. Well, I haven't really
thank you, and I I haven't really thought about how
to share this, so I'm just gonna vomit out my story.
You're perfect. I love it. I think that we all

(33:42):
have maybe some traumas in our life and different things. Um.
The one in my younger life that was really difficult
for me to come to terms with was when I
was sixteen. My younger brother was fourteen. He was diagnosed
with cancer. He and I were, I mean, we were

(34:03):
as close as you get, and uh he fought that
together as a family for four and a half years
and you know, big up serious downs. And when he died, um,
you know, I was nineteen, just thirty twenty or something,

(34:24):
I was crushed. I mean I was devastating and I
didn't know what to do with that um that energy.
I was still going back and working with some of
the kids that I met there, and I just didn't know.
It's like when you play on a wedding and then
we do all some do us. You have a wedding,
and then the next day done right, he passed away,
and it's like, what do I do with my self now?

(34:44):
I don't even know? And how can this world even
be here with him not being here? And and you
know there's we all looked to God perhaps and um
or a higher power of your choice, whatever, just that
you're praying to and please being with and bargaining with
and when that doesn't work out, And I'll be honest,

(35:07):
I had I was really mad at God. How did you?
How could you even believe in God? Probably for a
while to you know, how I knew I believed in
him was piste off at him, you know what I mean,
Like my belief in him was that, Yeah, I'm talking
to you, you know what I mean, And all honestly,
it's like, how could you do this? Yes? How could you?

(35:28):
And then and then um, you know, trust me, trust you?
You know. So I had a lot of baggage with that,
um dealing with some of that as the bands were
getting bigger and that trauma you know, keeps coming up. Originally,

(35:48):
did you try to just sort of push it down?
The pain? Yeah, I mean at first it got really bad,
and then I tried to push it down, and I
just knew it was always right here, It was right
in my throat, my threat, and and it was this day.
I mean, it's still it's still a brutal lost every

(36:08):
day at some point I get hit with with a waver.
But um, there's that, then there's the stress, and I
don't want to be the the whiney uh rock star
guy who goes, yeah, my life is so hard, my
life was, My life is great. I I was in
the band, guys I liked. We got a big record deal.
We hit with that record. We had a great follow

(36:29):
up to that record. We're building a base of people
that resonated with what we were doing and we're uh
there for the long haul. Um. But with some of
that comes pressure. You know, you have money for the
first time, pressure within the band for Elba, pressure to
follow up a song like all for You, oh Man,
because it's almost like it's almost it's amazing to have

(36:52):
that song, but to have it right out of the gate,
then to feel like, how am I ever gonna get
another All for You? Because here you all with it
and now everyone's expecting every song to be like that.
That has But I mean, look for you. You You were
able to follow up your Champagne Hi, you have your
what are you have? So many things? You did it,
You actually did it. But is the stress of that

(37:13):
so unreal? Well it wasn't because I'd say a lot
of people and this wasn't really the case for me,
but um, a lot of people their first record, they've
been writing their whole life. Yes, yes, yes, yes, all
they're good songs are right there and then then what
you got to your next record and you're starting from scratch,

(37:33):
and so we definitely, you know, we always write it.
So every record after Fortress we had about sixties songs
that we write that we go through and kind of take.
But I want to circle back to the sobriety thing. Um,
it just got out of hand, like on the road. Um,
I wasn't. I grew up with a bunch of friends
that we we didn't we didn't miss a party. Um,

(37:56):
we got involved in other kinds of party favors as well.
It was probably a good thing to other guys in
my band didn't do that stuff, um, because that slowed
it down for me. But um, in that gap between
uh in us some are more familiar and Fortress, um,

(38:18):
things kind of started to come off. The off started
to come off the rails there. And then at the
end of Fortress, it was just I was a hot
mess and was of the same rising as well, because
all of a sudden, now you're like at the top
of your game and have all these access to stuff.
Well it's definitely access, but but I have access to

(38:38):
it now and I don't need it, you know what
I mean. It's like when you're that, when you're like that,
you walk in the room and you know exactly where
to go. Look around the room once. I like, I'll
go over there. You know how that works. And but
you know, you do have you know, you got your
vodka cross and we drink a lot of yeager, which
is a whole other thing. But you know, the guys
I started getting you need to pull it together like um,

(39:02):
that kind of thing. And you know, I missed my
wife a lot at that time, and UM, and I
had a new son, UM, and I hated leaving him. UM.
So it was just a lot of mixed, mixed up emotions.
You know, I'm not whining about it, and I'm just
laying it out there. I went to they took us

(39:22):
up to sing it was It was a band called
um Well Tonic was there and UM a little black
backpack who sing that song? Um. Anyway, another band us
and one of the record company guys took us to
play for this elementary school. And I had somehow gotten
a bottle back page and I'm like slamming this Battle

(39:44):
of Crown and making everybody drink and I'm like, I'm like,
what The last thing I remember was getting shoved in
a limousine with limousine But it's so cliche, right, the
bottle of of of Crown Royal trying to go find painkillers.
It's like, well, you know, it's rock and roll movie, right.
I got out and apparently that weekend, as I was

(40:07):
still off and running, my manager, my wife, the band
guys all said we gotta, we gotta do something. So
by the time I got um, I heard my wife
on the phone something like something something by the sea,
and I was like, that sounds weird, that sounds like
a place. Maybe what are you doing? Um? And she goes, hey,
let's go to Lind's house. And I got interviewed by

(40:30):
him quent. I had. I had my you know, long
time high school friends, I had my wife, I had
my whole band crew management, and they just said, hey, man,
we don't want you to die and and we don't
you're not the best guy you can be. And I

(40:51):
knew they were right, which really it's hard it's hard
to know their right. Um. There was a show called
Happy Days and if you ever know it, and the
funds he couldn't see it was wrong. He'd always be
like I was or I was, you could do that's
kind of out. You know. I was wrong. But I

(41:15):
went away and I went down to South Florida for
a little over a month. UM hated it. Bombs kept
going off while this is the this is the worst part.
This is where everyone watching this is gonna hate me.
But please know that we made it through this and
we're married twenty four years now. UM My wife was
pregnant with our second, our daughter, and she drove me

(41:37):
down too uh West Palm Beach for this rehab center,
and she was driving home and the car broke down
on the middle of interstate. She can't reach me there
she's pregnant and I can't reach her. It was like
nothing was going well, you know what I mean. So

(41:58):
I knew I couldn't run, which some people had done,
and I would do that because we're the only place
I would want I want to go. I was home. Um,
she goes, look, you're not coming home until Um, you
do the hard work, do the hard work. And so
I did that. Looking back, it was incredibly important that

(42:20):
I did that and went through that, and I managed
to say sober for almost seventeen years almost and then
I did have a relapse in the last it was
a little over e here now, um, which we'll talk
about again. I'll circle back around to that. But I'm
back in, back in the game, and we nipped it

(42:42):
in the bud pretty quick. But you know, it allowed
me to create. Um, I wasn't creating any new problems
when I got into sobriety. I had to kind of
learn about myself. I had to. I had to take
care of the issues that I had created between me
and other people. Um, I had to you know, did

(43:06):
you have to dive into your pain? Oh? Man, there's
no way around it. You gotta go through it. So
you finally like you had to like dive head first
into your your trauma too. Absolutely, absolutely, And that was
not fun. But um, but here is chronic pain, Like

(43:27):
it's like, were you having was because you said it
was in your throat and you keep grabbing your throat
and when you're talking about this, was it affecting your voice?
Your singing voice? Was it affecting you? Funny? It's funny
you say that because, um, a little bit, I would
get sort of tension stuff in there. But what happened
a few years ago. Um. We went down to Honduras

(43:50):
and we adopted this village and we got all these
kids sponsored. They lived on the bottom of a of
a garbage dump. I mean it was incredible. UM. And
we built a feeding center for them, and we built
the water treatment thing for them. And on the way home,
I got really sick, like really really ill chest respiratory stuff.

(44:14):
I couldn't figure out what it was. Turned out it
took me to Mayo Clinic. I had three superbugs, Merca clips, llow,
Pseudomonis following my lungs and from coughing. I am reached
my larynx. Now for me, that's like, you know, that's
my that's my hammer, that's my that's my saul. And

(44:35):
so I tried to push through and then pushed you through.
I developed some neurological stuff. You can hear it a
little bit, and I'm just getting through it now. It's
taken years to kind of work back through that, UM
where you know, it's it's been hard. It's been hard. UM.
It's I've taken away someone's superpower and your confidence and

(44:58):
your I haven't of my wife. Brother, I go man,
I can't wait to talk to her, But I hope
my voice works. Sometimes it just doesn't want to work.
So that's how how that's been traumatic. I feel that
is traumatic. And I feel though, like what you've definitely
like going into sobriety, dealing with your pain, having this

(45:18):
happen to your voice, Like you've had some major Like
you said, you don't want to be a wanting musician
planning because obviously we're all super fans of you, and
you have a great career and a great life, but
you have some real stuff that you had to deal with.
How do you deal with having your instrument, your UM,
your money maker, your identity, your livelihood now being threatened

(45:42):
and all that, Like what does that do to you?
On top of like you know, so dealing with the
sobriety and all that, Like how do you manage that?
That's that's really hard and scary. You nailed it. I
mean I tried to manage it, uh for the first
couple of years, UM, and then I got to a
point where I knew if I could just get out

(46:04):
of the way, like if I could get my tension
and my whatever the glitches it's going on out of
the way and that's when I thought, well, I'll drink
will help that. Uh huh. So that's kind of what
led back to, if you could just relax a little
bit and not overthake it and um so yeah, and

(46:25):
it would it would help. Um So I was telling me, um,
it was fixed, but it was also it also told
me that it's it's not as bad as I think
it is. If I can do it when I'm out
of the way better, I should be able to do
it without, you know what I mean. So it did
kind of take me down a little bit, because once

(46:46):
you you don't want to wake that beast up again,
he does not forget he's over there, as they say,
he's over there in the corner doing push ups, waiting
for you to call him and call him into the game. Um,
how did oh that? How did you know? You couldn't
even like just lightly play around with it? Like, how
did you know because you said you nipped in the bud, Well,

(47:07):
I'd be lying if I said I nipped it in
the bud. I was drinking. We did the rock boat,
you know, started this thing called the rock boat, which
let's talk about that later. Yeah, But but I was
I was doing the thing with Andrew and uh. He said, man,
were you drinking last night? I was like no, He's
like sure. I'm like no, man, I wasn't drinking. And

(47:30):
I typically just drinking red bull or whatever, not healthy
for you, but I'm not drinking booze. Anyway. I got
done with that night this next night and he he
was mad, like why are you mad? Man had a
great show, He goes, because you're drinking. Man, I go,
what are you talking about? He goes, I grabbed your
red Bull can and its full straight Jack Daniels. And

(47:51):
I'm like, okay, So there's no there's no hiding it anymore,
you know what I mean. And Andrew will go right.
Andrew has known my wife longer than I've known my way,
so they're tight. And he's he's not gonna let me
try to do anybody. It's like like, you gotta talk
to her, and you gotta talk to Tim, our manager,
and I'm just not letting you out of this. We
gotta make a plan. Did that? I did it one

(48:12):
other time, um for a couple other time weekend three weekends, now,
just kidding. Was it probably like here's the here's the
here's where it wound up the last time, so we're
in Um. Yes, I went from that to me hiding
drinks in my backpack, UM getting some pills, um anti

(48:36):
anxiety pills or bankillers. And you know, being a sober
guy on the best for a lot of years. They
know what you're like. Well, we've played to show with Seattle.
I guess last summer, not just last summer, one before
and uh there was a hot dog guy out front
after the show and I had ordered too hot dogs
and I never did that. Opened the door and walk

(48:57):
in and they're all looking at me like, what's like?
Go sit the animal and too hot dogs? And I
think I ate them both. And and the TV was
on up in the front lounge and and I hear
Andrew Cooke go, hey, man, wake up. I'm not sleeping, sleeping,
I'm watching TV. He goes, Man, you're not watching TV,
you're sleeping. Go to your bunk. So I went to

(49:18):
my bunk. And the next morning, about eight o'clock, we
were in Portland's and he opened the blindness said get
your ask from meeting. And I did, got my last
fro meeting and got back to Gainesville. Got back when
my sponsor game, you got hooking up with a did
News sponsor, and um, pull Look to all the folks
out there that are are I want to go out

(49:41):
on on a couple of missions, It's it's not worth it.
It's just not worth it. It's really hard to come back.
For For me, it was hard, uh, first of all,
because it just woke that beast up a little bit.
I'm talking after seventeen years. It's not like you go
back and you can work your way back up. You're
a pro man, you're pro and and but I felt

(50:07):
really embarrassed that I had been looked up to you
by a lot of people. Um, that I had put
my sobriety out there and I was gonna have to
come back in And you know, the the nineteen year
old college cheerleader that came into the meeting is three
days Ober and she's got more sobriety than I do.

(50:28):
That was humbling, you know what I mean. Um, So
I got right back in it, and with you know, nobody,
nobody judged me. All that judgment was me. Um. Everybody
was was just glad you make it back, because a
lot of people don't make it back. And and I've
been able to make progress with my voice. Now that
I now that that's not an option, yeah, you know

(50:51):
what I mean? Well, and that makes sense because finally something,
your sobriety, was so important to you that you were
going to stick with it no matter what, till now
all of a sudden, what's even maybe feels more important.
Your voice is now feeling threatened, and so it's like
what you gotta do in your mind, it's like, you
gotta do whatever you can to get your voice back.
I can see why your brain works this way and

(51:13):
how it can happen, you know. But now that you know,
like it's like you said, the beast is waiting, it's not.
It's not a gradual thing. But you know what, Ken,
here's what I think. I think for you to to
relapse and then to come back and say here I am,
I'm back at the starting point. I'm putting this out there.

(51:34):
Yes it is humbling. Yes I am a little embarrassed
about it. But you know what, who hasn't had moments
in their life where they're like, I hate that I'm
right here, I hate that this is happening. I wish
this wasn't this way. But to be able to say
it and man up and own it. That to me
is the most um impressive trait a human can have,

(51:56):
because so many people do not want to own stuff.
They want to like avoid it, they want to sweep
it under the rug, they want to act like nothing's wrong.
But we all, we all have moments like that, and
I think that that is the most beautiful thing about
human beings when they can actually be like you and
be like, Okay, it happened here, I am, I'm still
an awesome person, and I'm I'm getting back on track

(52:19):
the way I want to. And that's I think that
that is more inspiring to people than anything, because we're
all needed. Or even if you're you're coming and you're
saying I'm broken person. Right now you're going, that's where
the people can connect to you because they can feel it.
So uh you know, I tell um some people who

(52:41):
are very close to me, I'm like you, when you're
being vulnerable, we can access you. Yes, when you have
your walls up. Yes, you're not only unaccessible, you're making
us mad. Yeah, and that's not what you want. So um, yeah,
I'm not afraid to get in there and roll with

(53:01):
my sleeves and talk about um the stuff. But but
I mean that's a big deal and that that is
so impactful to so many people because it's a lot
this is a life threatening thing. I mean a lot
of people, like you said, don't get on the other
side of it and don't get to the place where
they have people looking out for him who can help
them like you did, or no one themselves and like

(53:22):
have a moment when they gotta get help. I think
that you speaking up and being someone who is such
an influential person and saying, like, listen it having anybody
happen to me, but like get help, help yourself, and
don't be ashamed of it and be vulnerable, because vulnerable,
being vulnerable that you that just that's the key to
life for us. You slowly die to be so strong.

(53:43):
It really is hard, um, especially for guys. I think
a lot of to ask for help, need help. Um.
But I mean I have a daughter. It's not for drinking,
but she doesn't might ask for help for one of
them she did, might ask for help for anything. She
thinks it said something earth, You're not better than me.
You know. She's got the thing. But I'm like, look

(54:04):
what is it? Ah? Um, The guy that wrote Hallelujah
and you that thing he says, is it Jeff Buckley not,
but it's the guy actually wrote it, Leonard Leonard Cohen
and he and it says, uh, you know something about
the crack, Well, that's where the that's the way the
life gets in right. So um. And there's this Japanese

(54:26):
art where they take these ceramic bowls and they break
them and they fix them with class and the broken
parts are what makes it so beautiful. It's awesome. I'm
I am. I feel that, Yes, you know, I feel that.
And I think that just being that way that you

(54:46):
are and letting yourself be vulnerable and allowing other people
to connect to you on that very deep personal level,
that that's what life's about. I mean, that's agree I
that is where life is, that's where the that's where
the energy is, that's where the good stuff happens. And um,

(55:10):
the braver people are to allow themselves to get to
that point, either either in vulnerability or in being there
for somebody. That's just that's just it's mad. That's the magic.
That's the Magic's magic, that's the magic. And I just
keep thinking, has been just a freaking what a year

(55:31):
for everyone, you know, if anything has taught me, it's like,
what are we all trying to be so put together for? Like,
what are we all trying to hold it all together
and act like everything is not it's flawless, it's flogged,
everything's flogged. We're humans. This world is broken. We're it's
a fallen world, Like there's all sorts of stuff that's
just never going to be perfect. So why would we

(55:53):
even try? Why are we even trying? Let's just put
it out there how it is. Let's be real, let's connect,
Let's let everyone feel like in this together and we're
helping each other out. Like your fault, you're down, let
me help you up. I'm done, You help me up?
Like why are we trying to act like somebody we
have it together? I can't anymore. I can't do that. Well,
I'm if it makes you feel better. I'm just wearing shorts,

(56:15):
you know what I mean? Like I don't really have
it all together. I didn't want to put that bybe
out there, but yeah, I think you know um, I
will say for me um. And I don't know about
your your boy or or couples that have musicians in
their family. I my entire adult life has been traveling

(56:40):
and touring and and uh, most people in their lives
really crave adventure. And I think some of us who
have been doing it as long as we have, you
crave for a little bit of uh structure, a little consistency,
a little consistency like I can plan what I'm gonna

(57:01):
eat this week, or I'm gonna get I know what
I'm going to bed, or I can actually work out
like this. Um Now, I'm not saying I do all
those things, because I'm still a procrastinator stuck in the
body of a perfectionist. But I I have never had
this ever. Where I'm home. I can write a little bit.

(57:23):
I don't have any you don't have any excuses. You know.
It's like I can do all those things I can
busting about. I can write today, or I can go
out to that state park over there today, or I
can take the kids out and you know, beat him
in the head with his football or whatever. But you know, like,
but it's it's I've never had to likeness and I'm
trying to um appreciate that part of it. But it's

(57:47):
some weird stuff, man, It's some weird stuff. It is man,
can I would talk to you forever, but I'm not
going to steal all your time because I know, I
know you have so much, you have so many other
things to do with your day. So I talked to me,
but I do had just like a couple more questions,
and one of them being your Your Winter That is
like truly one of the my favorite songs in the
entire world. What inspired that song? And how do you

(58:09):
get that emotion in your voice when you sing it?
Because like it's gonna weird you out how many times
I've listened to that song. I just love that song
so much. Well, I'll make it funny for you then
if that's what you listen to that track. Um, first,
I'll talk about writing it. Okay, I did not write
it about me. I wrote it about UM. I won't

(58:30):
I won't throw under the bus. But they're both uh
people that are known by a lot of people. Now
we were they weren't at that time. We were just closed. Um.
But but they were in a relationship and and they
really love each other. But man, for some reason, they
just couldn't get it together. They were misreading each other. Um,

(58:51):
it just wasn't it wasn't as it should be. And
so anyway, I sat next to a pool in a
daze in in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We're still an Avantage trailer,
and I started writing that song and Um, by the
time it got done, I thought, man, I got one.

(59:12):
I liked this. Um. Uh, I kind of felt like
it felt like um with that matchbox twenty push and
have a little bit of that feel, you know. Um.
But so we had made this little tape, I mean
a cassette tape on at Andrew's house and somehow I
have no idea how that's happened. He got in the

(59:33):
hands of the music director for that movie Ten Things
I Hate About You, Right, so they flew us out
to l A and weird ocean way out there, and
and I've had a producer and had Beck's dad came
in with string section, and UM, I love the way
it came out. Anyway, I might have a little bit

(59:55):
of a list, right, and sometimes it will come out
first time it came out. Uh. I was on a
song called Concede and the bridge is I'll be your
jest or be your fool, And I'm like, be your
Jeff to be your fool, so and so they made
fun of me forever that Well, the live person line
of your Winner is the gray ceiling on the earth. Well,

(01:00:21):
it's lasted for a while and I sat in there
for three hours. I'm not kidding, in that gray feeling
on the earth. Well if that before, Wow, I couldn't
get it. He goes, because you're doing it again. I'm like, no,
I'm not. I'd be so mad at what do you
get around again? Great? You know I was terrible. Man.

(01:00:45):
It was so frustrating. But I love the way that
that song came out. It's perfect. It's a perfect song,
Thank you very much. And one of the first people
I played it for was Lynn Oliver. Do you know Lynn? Um?
Lynn and Chris, Cathy, Dave and Luke comes now Cappy
And Cappy was a Cappy I've known since he was

(01:01:05):
in college. We were we were We've been really good
friends ever since Hazel got started. He he booked us
to play it. I want to say it was Emery
or somewhere in Atlanta, and we became fast friends. And
uh he worked for the band. He worked for the
rock Boat six Man and anyway, Lynn who works there
with him? Um, we had sent uh, our first record

(01:01:28):
up there to try to get on the first on
a little run with Hootie and he was just kind
of taken off and we didn't hear about your back.
And Lynn called down and she said, hey, I just
wanted to tell you we can't give you those dates,
but I love your CD and everyone in the office
we can't take it out. We'renna listen to it. This

(01:01:49):
is our first little white record. And she goes, so
I want to help you or have you been able
to get to Carolina's yet? And I was like no,
and she goes, I'm gonna book your shows up here.
So she booked us at Rockefellas the Elbow Room him
and then got us over the probably Ross said a
wind jammer and pile of palm. Yeah, And we would
go up and spend the night at her house. And
for years we just go up in the night our

(01:02:10):
house and all those connected. These people have done all
that long and they're still impact in the music world.
It's a lot of fun to see. Well. I think
that like there's a it's an energy like even everyone
and Marie Osman actually told me this and I've never
forgotten it. She's like you. Everyone's on a different ride
on the elevator or the escalator, and like some are
going up, so we're going down and it shifts, but

(01:02:32):
you always kind of meet in the middle. So it's
just like that energy that draws people together in the
music industry, Like everyone's kind of moving at different paces,
but you're all drawn to this force field and it's
all to be. You know, it's really cool. It's a
really magical thing. It is. It's there's a there is
a some kind of consciousness, some kind of thing we're

(01:02:54):
all a part of, whether we know it or not.
And and it it. If you're, as they say, in
your world, in manifesting world, you're vibrating at the right speed,
you're gonna find other stuff like that. And I mean,
who hadn't had that happen. Whether they're calling it, whether
they're calling it manifesting for manifestation, it doesn't matter. That's

(01:03:16):
what it is, yes, exactly, whether you know it or not,
whether you know it or not at those coincidences, and yeah,
it's kind of cool. I'm not that fruit to you guys,
but I get it. I know, I I love it. Okay,
So two more questions. I'm gonna wrap up and I'll
let you go. This has been such an amazing interview
for me, like truly a bucket list moment. I'm so
thankful we got to talk. I love getting to hear

(01:03:36):
your heart story. Um, what has being a husband and
parent changed about you and taught you? Hm? Well, I
had a lot, a lot of time to think about
that recently. I will say that, always, always, they have
been more important to me than anything else. And uh, um,

(01:04:01):
I think because I lost a brother as a teenager,
I really feel that things can be finite and there
and you know just the fact that uh minor minor
now fifteen seventeen and there they're all healthy. That was

(01:04:21):
right at the time period where our house got turned
upside down. But they're all healthy, they're happy, they're athletic,
they're funny. Um, I've got to spend this time at
home with my wife and we people keep talking about
the big fights are having. We haven't really had that
I saw. I feel really lucky about that. Um. It's

(01:04:42):
it's that and that big thing that I need isn't
out there, It's already here. So I know that, um,
and I feel that, and there's you know, today if
you told me we were going to go play on
you know, Jimmy Kimmel next week, I'd be like, cool,
and they go, But you would you rather hang out
with your family at the beach that weekend? I'd be like,

(01:05:05):
I might rather might rather do that and that would
sound crazy, right, But no, it doesn't, you it doesn't.
It doesn't at all. And that's a beautiful place to be.
What a what a great place to be. It's a
beautiful place to be. So you know, I'm I really
do feel lucky. I'll feel luckier when I get all
this back, um, which I'm gonna do. It's just taking

(01:05:25):
time and all that voice stuff. But um my, my
kids and my wife have always been I made the
right choices and I got lucky in the right ways.
That's awesome. And we didn't talk about rock the boat
because you're one of the first ones. Yeah, we started it.
We we carved out that dude. So are they cool? Yeah?

(01:05:46):
Oh my gosh. So all right, So here's the cliff notes. Um,
we caught our big platinum record, uh for somewhere more familiar,
and our fans were We had one of the first
message boards you can kind of get on and that
that was really a big deal and they wanted to
do something with the band, and so we all were

(01:06:06):
trying to figure out what to do, what to do,
And if you ask different members of the band, everyone
takes credit for different pieces of it. Um. I'll take
credit for saying we got to do something. Um Mark,
our drummer, had worked on cruise ships and had brought
it up. And Andy Levine, who run six ran six Men.

(01:06:28):
He was our manager. Sorry I'm talking too fast. He
was our manager and he was this his company's called
six Man because he was the sixth man of the band.
So right, so um. And he happened to be on
an airplane next to a travel agent and said, hey,
we're thinking about doing something. What are you think? And

(01:06:49):
she said, well, why don't you, Why don't you take
a half of ship and sell the cabins. So we said,
let's do it. So we did it. We took half
about um one other band dextra freebish and it was awesome,
played like two shows. People loved it. I count the
boat I looked at and I went, we're onto something.

(01:07:10):
The second year started a whole boat had like bands
had turned it into a festival, we have not sailed. Uh,
it's sold out every year. This is the twenty one year.
I don't know of any festival or an even event
that has gone on um outside of award shows that

(01:07:31):
have gone on that long. So y'all started the cruise ship,
rocked the boats. We started it. We had, we owned it.
We owned we owned a half of us and half
six Man, So every band that does a cruise ship
experienced everyone everyone that does. So we only owned the
rock Boat, which is the first one. Uh. And then
Ay expanded six Man and does the other ones, so

(01:07:53):
he owns those. But that was all we started it. Yeah,
that is ethic because every band does those. Now, I mean,
that's so cool. Will be like the legend the legends
that started it. That's amazing. Yeah, it's one of those
legacy things that you know, we'll be able to look
back on and go, Uh, that's a niche that we started.
And and we didn't call it that sister Hazel boat,

(01:08:15):
which we could have done. We wanted it to be
about some of the parts, you know what I mean. Yeah,
you wanted it so every year people came on and
you bring onto few the headlines. We want you to
come on because you know a headliner, but we want
you to leave because you found your next favorite band.
We have this mix, this mix of younger bands and

(01:08:35):
female artists and genre all over the map, because that's
kind of how I like those in the music. So
you gotta come. Oh yeah, I love it. That's so
we had to move it this year because of the
because of all the code. It was supposed to go
in January, UM, except for next November. But we'll see
how it goes. Yea, they're eventually heck, yeah, oh that's awesome.

(01:08:59):
I freaking love that. That's cool. Okay, I wrap every
interview would leave your light. What do you want people
to know? I want people to know UM with regards
to our band, that UM, that we take very seriously
UM the role we play in people's lives, and that

(01:09:21):
we want to use our platform for good. And it
has been an honor to be plugged into all these
different UM causes that are worthy or to show up
at places and just lighten people up. But the one
that has meant the most all of us is Lyrics
for Life, which I started for my brother. We've all
lost people to cancer. UM. We've raised over three million

(01:09:44):
dollars for children's cancer research and programs that help those families.
And we opened a kid's camp called Camp hazel Nut.
We scholarship in about a hundred and twenty of these
kids and families to go out for three day weekend
in the cabins just like summer camp. They do archery, canoeing,

(01:10:06):
rope climbing. We've got parties and lou als and they
write songs with us. And you know, if you're if
you're if you're in a band and you have opportunities
to take your platform and thinking about more than you,
that's where the rubber meets the road. And uh, We've
been really lucky to be able to impact people in

(01:10:27):
a lot of different ways. Wow, can thank you so
much for sharing your heart, hearing your journey at your story.
You are truly you know, like they always tell you,
don't meet people that you really like love look up too,
because it could be like a massive letdown. You exceeded
all expectations now like, but my lover, your sister Hazel

(01:10:47):
has is amplified. This is such a treasure and treat
to me. I had a great time talking to you
as well. It was a great interview and be fun.
But yeah, oh yeah it was. It was so great.
Then you and I'll catch up soon, all right, Okay,
I appreciate it, Thank you so much, Ken, Bye MHM