September 19, 2024 • 33 mins
John Rich joins us to chat about all things music and lots more! Tune in!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, y'all, this is your buddy John Rich Nash for
a recording Artists and you're listening to Brandon and Allen
on the backstage Pass powered by the Sports Guys podcast
dot com on the home of the Opry Am six
fifty WSM.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And welcome excite The backstage Pass is always a busy
day here, powered by the Sports Guys podcast dot com
and always on WSM every Sunday morning from five point
thirty to six am. Right there too. Of course, tune
in iHeartRadio, Wsmradio dot com and of course the WSM
Mobile app. The full squad is here. Brandon Morel, Alan
Price here too, and of course a great guest this
Sunday morning. Wake up, drink some coffee, have some fun.
(00:34):
And you know him as one of the best in
country music out there too, from the group Big and Rich.
John Rich joins us here on the backstage past. John.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
How you doing man, I'm doing great, Thanks for having
me on. Excited to excited to have this conversation.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well a lot there too, Well, you guys have had
a lot going on. Let me catch up. I mean,
obviously you know Reddeck Rivier doing well right there on
Broadway and of course, you got some new projects. You
guys are working on a song we're gonna talk about
called Revelation here a little bit, but fill sin.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
It's been a really fun summer. Gretchen Wilson has come
out of hibernation finally and we are doing a show
on the road. We've been doing them since I think
April of this year. We actually have two more coming
up this weekend. But it's big and rich with Gretchen
with Cowboy Troy, So it's almost like the early music Mafia,
(01:23):
days before any of us had record deals and we
were kind of all just spinning our wheels and we
get together and jam on Tuesday nights. And now we're
out on stage and you know, me and Big Kenny
will knock out thirty forty minutes and then we'll go
ladies and gentlemen, the redneck woman Gretchen Wilson, And then
she comes out on stage, and I mean, people lose
their ever eleven minds when she walks out, because it's
(01:45):
been several years since she went out and toured. So
she comes out and she smacks them with three or
four big songs, and then here comes Cowboy Troy and
then me and Kenny cap that show off and it
has been an absolute blast to make music with them again.
And the crowds are It's unreal, man, how big these
crowds are. I guess everything old is new again. That
old phrase has some truth to.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It, yeah, no doubt looking back at it too. And
you know, I've seen a lot of artists come back,
like he said, and your guys in your time in
an Air back there in the late nineties, early two thousands,
that music, to me, John is starting to make a
little bit of an appearance again. At least I'm hearing
that on you know, Series six in the Highway and
most of the major stations, the streaming stations we're listening
to right now. That old ninetiesh country sound are just
like you said, the music mafia. That's a good thing
for for country music. Also, vitals make it a little
(02:27):
bit of a comeback.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, yeah, I think country music has always been that way.
I mean when me and Big Kenny showed up, country
music had been really pop pop pop pop for quite
a while. And you know, as my granny Rich used
to say, it sound like they went to the school
of redundancy school. That was her famous quote. And I said, yeah,
it's kind of we need somebody to shake it up.
(02:51):
And so when Kenny and I came out, it absolutely
did that. And so but now I think you're right.
There's a guy named Zach Top that's out there who
I like a whole lot. Yeah, he sounds like he
could have come out in nineteen ninety two, nineteen ninety four.
My own's son Cash, he's coming up on fifteen and
he's listening to the ninety stuff, the eighties and ninety stuff,
(03:12):
And he asked me, why is this Why is this
kind of country music so much better than the new stuff?
Now that's him saying it, not me. I said, well,
I don't know what's better to it about you? He said, well,
for starters, I can tell the difference between all the singers,
meaning I can tell the difference between Alabama and Restless
(03:33):
Heart and Diamond Rio, and I can tell the difference
between Brooks and Dunn and you know, the Juds and whoever.
Like He's like, I really love how everybody had their
own sound. I said, yeah, well, you know it's starting
to come back to that. We got some showing up
now that have their own sound. But I think in general,
country fans have always appreciated, you know, the unique qualities
of the country singers that they bring to the stage.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
You know, You've got a song out now called The Revelation.
We're gonna play here now, but I want to talk
about it before we play here too on the backstage
passing again, presented by our friends over his any June
music dot com check got a new single rolling strong
across all those digital streaming platforms too. Talk about this
one too, because you did this with Sonya Isaac's at
the same time. I love this rendition of Revelations. Let's
talk about it.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Well, this is unlike any song I've ever written, and
so you know, I started out at eighteen nineteen years
old making country music fifty, turned fifty this last year
or the actually this year, and written over two thousand songs.
Nothing's ever hit me quite like this one Revelation. Though,
I was not thinking about writing this song the subject matter.
(04:38):
If you're wonder what's it about, what's about the Book
of Revelation in the Bible, I wasn't thinking about writing
a song about that, because, let's be honest, how do
you write a song about the Book of Revelation? I mean,
that's one of the most intense things that humans have
ever written. Apostle John wrote at two thousand years ago.
But it hit me like a ton of bricks, this
chorus rolling through my head, calling out revelation, to the
(05:00):
point where I said, I've got to write this down.
So I grabbed a pencil and a notebook, pulled an
old guitar off the wall, and about an hour this
song had been written. And then the question was, well,
what am I supposed to do with this? You know,
I look up to God and I'm like, what do
you want me to do with the song like this?
I mean, I don't know what to do with it.
And basically I felt like he was telling me, man,
(05:20):
just make it as great as you can and push
it out there as hard as you possibly can. I
keep in mind I no longer have a record deal
or a publishing deal. I don't work for any company
in Nashville. I have no affiliation with anybody. My record
label is called Rich Records, and it consists of a
po box. That's the whole thing. I'm the employee, the boss,
and the CEO all at the same time, so I'm
(05:41):
as independent as you can get which in a way
is a great thing because it allows me to put
out songs like Revelation, And so this song came out.
I did a big interview with Tucker Carlson that's now
been viewed four or five million times, and we talked
about what's going on in our country and in the world,
and what the Bible says about things that are going
on in our country and in the world, and how
(06:03):
that kind of crosses into a lot of the prophecies
that have been written down for thousands of years. The
video actually shows it shows the Devil and Michael, the Archangel,
coming across a field in Tennessee in front of a
little white church to battle each other, and I'm standing
in between the two of them. It's spiritual warfare and
a music video, which I also don't think anybody's ever
(06:25):
tried to do that. I didn't really know what would
happen or how it would be received, who would love it,
who would hate it. All I knew was I was
supposed to put it out, and it's been one of
the most impactful songs, maybe ever, that I've ever put out.
It's only been out a month and it is just
running millions and millions of views every week.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Well, here it is Revelation on WSM, the home of
the Opera. Here working with us every Sunday morning and
gat from five thirty to six am. Right there, two
on tune in iHeartRadio, and of course our friends out
there too, the Sports Guys podcast dot com and out
there the WSM mobile appwsnradio dot com. It's John Rich
and Revelation. Here it is taking up.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Dancing in the flames.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
The people cursed his name about at the altar, the
father of lies. There's a number two dead days and
all their evil ways. The Lord's gonna turn away from
all their cries.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I can feel it. Come, lad, don't chain again. There's
a kee coming.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
The keys is coming back again. Bringstone upon their heads,
millstone's around their necks.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
They'll feel the shaken when the trumpet sounds.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
No matter where they hide, there'll be nowhere to run.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
When Jesus puts.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
His mighty put on the ground cold.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
I can feel it come like a darn chain one.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Again because the King is coming. The Kings is coming
back again.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
When can't make come like a light and flash their
force the whale in their teeth and lash and he'll
sit fire to the evil watch and all the wickedness
they've done.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
There will be no time to turn around.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
As the stars began to hit the ground and the
mountains fall, and the fairest torn with.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
The sound in the bath seventh.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Torn Pevah really coming like a down.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Tame running.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Bready because jeans come, the Geesus coming coming, locking, don
tame running because Kess coming, the Geesus coming back.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
Good Keess come.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
The prop John before his days were done.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
The king is common and it won't be long.
Speaker 7 (10:31):
Hey y'all, this is Phil Vasser and you're listening to
the Backstage Pass on the Home of the Opera wsm
AM six fifty.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Hey guys, Brandon Mareal here, host of the Backstage Pass
alongside my coast Alan Price, and I want to tell
you about one of the best kept secrets in Smyrna, Tennessee.
Located in the heart of the Depot district, he'll find
the front Street. Puff owners Thomas Williams and his wife
and Rachel, have made it a personal mission to provide
each customer with the best food, coldest drinks, and the
friendliest staff around. Check them out on Facebook and of
course their website, the Front Street Pub dot com for
(11:01):
all the latest details and upcoming events, concerts and shows,
and of course we thank them for bringing us John
Rich this week on WSM. It's brought to you by
the Front Street Pub.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Hey, y'all, this is Terry McBride and you're listening to
the Backstage Pass on WSM Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And back here with John Rich on the Backstage Pass again,
Alan Price here with yours truly and for our show.
Today's presented to our friends with Sandy June Music, Sandy
junemusic dot com and of course out there Rolling Strong
the latest single. Make sure you guys go check it out.
A great, great song and a great tribute to our
law enforcement, our military and of course our police officers
out there too. At the same time. Love this song
and you guys need to go check it out our
first responders Rolling Strong out there at Sandy Junemusic dot com.
(11:40):
Back here with John Rich and love that song so much.
You're right too, It's unlike anything you've ever done too.
Revelation and a great story told by Hey take us
back as a John to son of a preacher man.
I thought this was one of the best country albums
to come out a long time too. You you had
Shutting Detroit Down, which was fantastic too.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Well, before I go into that, I just want to
say thank you because you are the first and only
country station I'm aware of it's ever played Revelation. I
just want to say thank you for doing that, because
it's been seen online millions of times, but no real
terrestrial country station, to my knowledge, has ever played it.
So I really appreciate you doing that. That's quite an honor,
especially this country station of all. So I really appreciate
(12:21):
that that Son of a Preacher Man record. That was
during about a two year hiatus a big and rich,
so big Kenny wanted to go do things around the world.
He did all kinds of stuff, and I wanted to too.
That's when I did Celebrity Apprentice was right in that
window with Donald Trump, and there was a whole batch
of songs that I had written that I knew did
(12:41):
not fit big and Rich, but they sure fit me
personally pretty well. And so I was talking to Kenny.
I said, you care if I put out a solo thing.
He goes, no, Man, I'll be the first one to
buy it, you know. So I put it out, and
that song, Shutting Detroit Down, I wrote with John Anderson,
who's my all time favorite country singer. I always tell
him that he's the George Jones of my generation, because
(13:02):
you cannot mistake who that is when you hear that
voice coming through. So he's an absolute hero of mine.
And we were watching all that nonsense back in nine
and ten where the government was bailing out all the
car companies and then the car companies were laying off
thousands of people while they're getting bailed out with our money.
And remember how mad we all got about that. And
(13:24):
I was talking to John a about it, and he said, well,
probably I'll write a song about that. I mean, he said,
that's what Haggard would have done. I said, good point.
And so we write Shutting Detroit Down. And it got
spun one time by a friend of mine in Detroit
at WYCD played it on his morning show, and I
didn't intend on releasing it or anything, and it went
absolutely crazy. Wound up with me on stage at the
(13:47):
ACMs by myself acoustic singing that song. And I still
get asked to play that all the time. Man, It's
always cool when a song hits home like that.
Speaker 7 (13:56):
Yeah, it's an incredible song. When you think about songs
that have an impact on someone you know, such as
Revelation I know is going to but it's one of
those songs almost like God Bless the USA. When you
hear it for the first time, you know exactly where
you were and what you were doing. And I remember
exactly where I was and exactly what I was doing
the first time I heard Shutting Detroit Down and how
(14:16):
it felt. And to see the video with some of
my heroes, you know, Christofferson, who's just a legend in
everyone's mind. And when you talk about pulling some heartstrings
and you get to that point of the video where
he hits his knees, Buddy Ibut buckled right along with him.
So that's that's how you touch America right there. So
well done, my friend. I still I was thinking about
(14:38):
that all day to day when I was like, man,
we're going to have John on you know, I'm hoping
we're talking about this because it still has an impact
on people.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I appreciate you bringing it up. I don't get to
talk about that song much anymore. And then that was
Mickey Rourke, you know who was down there working the
line and Chris, Oh yeah, man. I mean those two
guys two of the best actors there ever were. I
couldn't afford them, but the only reason I was able
to get them was just friendship over a long period
of time. And I sent them the song and I said,
(15:06):
this song is so monumental in our country right now
with what's going on. Would you guys come in and
act in the video. I mean, they don't do music videos,
come on me, Rourck and Christofferson, but they did. It's
one of the biggest honors I ever had that those
two men traveled in Nashville to do that.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I'm gonna go back even more so. We do a
homework here on the show, but I'm going back to
some old school John Ritch here, I Pray for You
and of course when You Love Someone off the record
that came out in two thousand Underneath the Same Moon,
which is a fantastic record I love listening to because
that's the thing about music. You listen to one song,
it's storytelling for country music, and those two, specifically John,
I Pray for You and When You Love Someone, those
two hit right at home, and I think resonating with fans.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Well, I appreciate that. You know. The thing about the
thing about the country artists, I think the fans probably
always think, well, they write a song, they record the song,
it's a hit. They write a song, they record a song,
it's a hit. That's not how it works. They already
all right the records you're mentioning, like underneath the Same
Moon record that was after Lone Star had fired me
(16:08):
from the band and before I had met Big Kenny,
before Big and Rich was a thing. So I had
about four years of no record deal, no publishing deal,
knowing nothing. Because that record underneath the Same Moon, I
was hoping I would have a hit as a solo
artist after being ejected from Lone Star. But it died. Man,
the first single died, the second single died. I get
(16:30):
a call from the record label as I'm on my
way to another radio station and do a radio visit
that we're dropping you from the label. So you just
turn around in the highway and head back home. And
nothing happened from that point forward until Big and Rich
got a record deal in two thousand and three. So
you know, making country music for real is not a hobby.
(16:52):
It is treacherous. It is disappointing. It's the level of
competition and the politics of the record labels and the
publishing companies. When you know, the guy that signs you
gets fired and now a new guy comes in and
he didn't like you very much, so you're out too.
I mean, your whole world can go one hundred miles
(17:12):
an hour to slam it into a brick wall over
and over and over. And so I say it's not
a hobby because you have to come back out of
those situations if you're serious about it, and that's what
you love to do. You got to go record a
new record, you got to write new songs, you've got
to promote them again, take another run at it. And
thankfully the fans behind me all the way back to
the lone Star days and to this very day, have
(17:35):
stuck with me and they they if I give them
good music, they respond in a big way.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You know you touched on that too, about just how
hard this business is and how hard it is to
just take a note and until you get to a yes,
and maybe sometimes that's nine out of ten of those
before you get to that one yes, you know ninety
percent of that. But what advice I guess fervently would
you kind of give John those younger artists now, because
there's so many of them, and I frequently visit there
for CRS week and CEM a week, you know, throughout
the year and see so many people, you know, playing
music up and down Broadway, which is a great thing
(18:02):
to see, and so many of the great songwriters, you know,
trying to make it in that town. What advice would
you give to those new artists to kind of keep persevering.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Well, the first thing is is to overproduce, overproduce. I
need ten songs for a record, I'm gonna go write
thirty songs. No, go write two hundred and fifty songs.
You know. Go sit in the room with people who
are way better than you are always, you know, sit
with the masters of the pen and pencil, Sit with
(18:30):
the ones who are the Albert Einsteins of country music,
because that's the only way you ever get really better.
And then the other thing is is you've got to
know your direction. You know, just because you can hit
the high notes, just because you're good looking, just because
whatever whatever machine you may have behind you, that does
not dictate who wins and loses. It's all about can
(18:50):
you connect with the audience, And the only thing that
connects with the audience is authenticity. That's it. It's always
been the game authenticity. They can market some with ten
million dollars, and if they're not really authentic and not
not engaging their crowd from who they actually are in
a very authentic way, they never make it. It's always
the ones, you know. Look at Oliver Anthony, a guy
(19:11):
with no record deal, no nothing, and he comes out
with Richmond North of Richmond, and he's just singing his
guts out on a flatbed trailer in the woods with
no budget. Sticks the song out. That's the That's the
biggest song in probably twenty years, maybe longer than that.
I mean, it was unbelievable what happens. So authenticity is
number one. And putting yourself around people who are better
(19:34):
than you. You have to do that. You can't just
always be in a room with somebody you can out sing.
That will not make you better. It's iron sharpens iron,
as the book says.
Speaker 7 (19:44):
Which brings me to my next point. John, when are
we getting in a room?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah, hey, man, I'm sure I can learn a lot
from you.
Speaker 7 (19:52):
When we talk about things. You know, not just you
as an artist, but you know, anyone who knows you,
anyone who's follows your career, the impact that you've had
on this industry as a songwriter, as a businessman. You know,
we talked off camera, you know before we did this.
You know about gretchenm Wilson and how you know you
guys got that started, you know, Bradley gask And what
about Al Dean Man. I mean that first record, Hicktown,
(20:15):
you practically wrote half of it, you know, to do
that and to be part of someone who was just
like you at one time starting out, and you know,
to hit superstardom. I mean that people still jam that
Hicktown record, Man, and because it's great music.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, well that goes back to my point of overproduce, overwork,
over create. Like you know, there's a reason Al Dean
had four number one songs that I did not have.
I mean, I wrote them, but they weren't big and rich.
It's it's because Kenny and I were writing literally every
single day of the week. Maybe we take a day
off here and there, but it was almost every day
because that's all we cared about doing. And so you
(20:54):
write hundreds of songs and you only put ten or
eleven on your record, So what about all these other
really good ones? And here comes Gretchen, here comes Alden.
Keith Anderson was another one, picking Wild Flowers Man. That
was a big faith and Tim started coming at us
and a bunch of other people. But the only reason
I was able to land those cuts is because they
had to be created. You had to go sit down
(21:15):
and think and work and trudge through it and do
the best you can and have all that sitting kind
of in your catalog for when the opportunity arrives.
Speaker 7 (21:25):
We talked that We actually had Terry McBride on the
show here a couple of weeks back, and we talked
about Amorillos Guy and what an impact had had on
their career. And then, you know, fast forward to the
Alden days. I mean, what when you talk about something
and keeping it authentic. Amerylyst Guys is as authentic as
it gets. I mean, that's real life, real people doing
what they do every day, with no glory, just you know,
(21:48):
doing what they do.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
You know, And there's a reason that song is so
authentic because that's where I grew up. Was Amerla Texas.
So I watched my uncles and the old ones from
World War two, Uh, that were still farming. Old man
out there, you know, Uh got wrinkles half inch deep
all over him. Looked like John Wayne or something out
there on the leather. Oh absolutely, man, you could have
(22:12):
made a saddle out of that face. I mean a
good pair of boots. And so I watched how they
worked and how they struggled many years. Out there there's
a drought or a tornado or hail or whatever. So
we thought, and Kenny, Big Kenny comes from a cattle
farm up in Virginia, so we both grew up around.
That thought, Man, it's time to write one about the farmers.
(22:32):
Let's write one about the men we grew up around.
And that's where it came from. Thank goodness. Uh, Terry
and Jason, they both have great versions of that song.
It was a real honor to have them sing it.
Speaker 7 (22:42):
And you know, you don't know how many combines had
been riding around cornfields and everywhere else and listening to
that jam at four o'clock in the morning before the
sun ever comes up. So just incredible stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, yeah, we got to play another rider Toobes it's
off the record here too as well, one for John
Rich that came out of years by, But I tell
you what one of the ones that hits to the
heart right there too. Continues the storytelling here on the
backstage pass and presentedbody Sandy Junemusic dot Com. The lated
single rolling strong across all those digital streaming platforms. It's
called The Man Here it is from John Rich on
WSMAM six fifty, the home of the grand O Lockery.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Well, he was one of.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
The millions signed up to Defenders Long.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Go nineteen forty one.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
And when they sucker pasta centberl arbor, he folled under
Mike Arthur seven hunteenth with an armed Thompson gun. Well,
he stormed a lot of beaches, slipt in jungles with
the leeches. He saw things a young man shit never see.
(23:58):
And when they shot him in the shoulder, he got
back up and he marched forward, left a lot of
brothers dead and quaduly.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
And if it wasn't for the Good Lord and the Man,
there wouldn't be bread to breed on in this land.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
And now I see people on that TV TI shots
at Uncle Sam.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
I hope they all always a man.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
But while they can, because we don't be speaking German
living on the flag of Japan if it wasn't for
the Good Lord and the Man.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
If it wasn't for the Good Lord and the Man.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
Now I'm the grandson of a soldier, and I find
the whole world or if duty.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Cold and freedoms on the line. But thanks to the.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
Greatest generation and the ones to fighting for our nation,
I've never had to kill for my weird life. And
if it wasn't for the Good Lord and the Man,
there wouldn't be bread the freedom in this land. When
(25:27):
I see people on that TV taking shots, it harfle Sam.
Speaker 8 (25:34):
I hope they always a matter while they can, because
we don't be speaking German living under the flag of
Japan if it wasn't for the Good.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Lord and the Man, if it wasn't for the Good
Lord and the Man.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Because he was one of the millions signed up to
Defenders long ago nineteen forty one, and when the sucker
pasta sand pearl arbor, he fought under MacArthur's sevanty with
an army.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Thompson gun, Hi, what's up, you guys, It's Mary Sarah.
I am a Nashville recording artist, and you're listening to
Brandon on the Backstage Pass on the home of the
Grandelpry WSM.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Hey guys, Brandon Marial here, host of the Backstage Pass
alongside my coast Alan Price, and I want to tell
you about one of the best kept secrets in Smyrna, Tennessee.
Located in the heart of the Depot district, you'll find
the Front Street Pub. Owners Thomas Williams and his wife
and Rachel and made it a personal mission to provide
each customer with the best food, coldest drinks, and the
friendliest staff around. Check them out of Facebook and of
course their website, the Front Street Pub dot com for
(27:02):
all the latest details and upcoming events, concerts and shows.
And of course we thank them for bringing us John
Rich this week on WSM. It's brought to you by
the Front Street Pub. Hey back you with John Rich
on WSM Radio, the home of the Opry Every Sunday
morning the Backstage Pass again five point thirty to six am.
Here powered by the Sports Guys podcast dot com and
of course many ways to listen to WSM mobile appwsmradio
(27:24):
dot com and of course out there Tune in and
iHeartRadio out there too, talking about the man with John
Rich and I remember this when US was off the
Country Truth Record back in two thousand and nine. I
love this one and another one of those great storytelling songs. John.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
This is a song about my granddaddy. So imagine if
you if you were lucky enough to be around your
grandpa for a fair amount of time. You know, if
he's anything like mine, they will tell you one of
three or four stories every single time you see them.
They'll say, sit out and let me tell you the
story about the time the mule got out of the barn.
And you know, you go, and you know I've heard
(27:59):
it one hundred times, but yeah, I want to hear
it again. So he was a World War Two vet.
And I know we've all got pictures hanging in our
houses or you've seen him at your grandparents house at
one point or another. Of service members and especially the
greatest generation of World War Two generation. If I asked
you to imagine one of those pictures right now, I
bet you can. Well. Greatest generation guy at seventeen, he
(28:24):
lied about his age to the US Army told him
he was eighteen because he was so mad at the
train that was coming back through Glasgow, Kentucky, where he's from,
loaded down with caskets. He saw that train coming through
with just caskets piled all over it, and it was
his uncles, his cousins, his neighbors, and he was so
angry that he wanted to go fight, and he wasn't
(28:44):
old enough to, so he just said, I'll just tell
him I'm eighteen. So they let him in and he's
about five foot four five foot five by one hundred
and fifteen pounds, a little bitty guy, but just an
absolute savage with a rifle. I mean, just hill billy
sniper is what he was. And so he got in
there and they put him in a unit of men
(29:07):
that they refer to now as the tunnel rats. So
in the Pacific, the Japanese were on, you know, Couagulini
would gma all those islands, and those islands are like
volcanic islands. They're full of caves. So as our ships
would sit out in the ocean lobbing in bombs, the
Japanese would go down into those caves and hide. So
they had these little guys like my grandpa that would
(29:28):
go in with a short range flamethrower and a grenade
belt and a forty five in one side of the cave,
and his job was to flush the Japanese out the
other side of the cave so we could take them prisoner. Well,
he did that for a couple of years, sustained multiple
purple hearts. He got back home from the war, was
hooked on morphine for two years. I had to wean
himself off of that PTSD, like you can't believe, till
(29:51):
the day he died. But then he became a farmer,
lived to be eighty years old. So about a month
after he died, this song struck me. I said, I
got to write a song about him because I considered
him the man. You know, he was in my family.
That's the man right there, That's that's him. And so
the song is simply called The Man, but it's it's
really to honor the Greatest generation, all the men and
(30:12):
women that got us to this point in twenty twenty four,
there would be no America to argue about short of
the Greatest Generation showing up.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Hey, sports wise, NFL College a few weeks out from
opening up, John, who does it for you? When it
comes to college football? And of course the National Football League.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Well, i am a I'm a University of Texas fan,
so I'm a hooking Horns guy. But I'm married in
Aggie Texas A and M, which that is the ultimate
rivalry is at the universus the right there or what
I mean. Well, so I make a joke about her
that she doesn't appreciate very much. But it's also it's
also a slap at myself. So like when I'll introduce
(30:51):
my wife to somebody, I'll go, this is my wife.
She has a master's degree from Texas A and M.
And I have a high school diploma, so we have
the same level of education. Oh wow, Hey, I'm like, well, hey,
I'm also said I'm a dummy. You know, it's like
I barely got out of high school. No, but that
(31:11):
that's always fun when college football rolls around, and that
now that Texas is in the SEC, we're going to
see Texas play Texas A and M again. We've been
missing that, so it's gonna be a good year. I'm
happy to see that they're going to have a real
playoff twelve teams. Nobody can cry or holler about the
outcome because everybody's got a chance. You know, if you're
number thirteen at we don't care you should have done better.
(31:33):
But one through twelve, don't you guys like that? I
love it.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I think it's great for the top twelve to get
out there and not to be unbiased now too, and
to have it out there left on the field, John
to left their records and strengthen schedule and all that
stuff speak for itself. Now have the top twelve, we
can see some upsts as we go from round to round.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
This is great.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
I call it the March Badness college football.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
I would say, whoever wins this year, that'll probably be
the most legitimate champion we've had in a long time
because us they had to go back and play, because
those teams get so close to each other that any
given day one team can beat the other. So I
think it's fair and we're really looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
It's gonna be a lot of fun too as well.
And of course the single revelation is across all those
digital streaming platforms out there. You check out all the
music and bigingrich dot com and of course John Rich
out there on all the social media too, and of
course to check out riythink for viere when you're always
in Nashville, Tennessee. One of the best in country music
to do it out there, one of the best songwriters
and singers, John Rich here on the backstage Pass, presented
by our friends over at Sandygunmusic dot com. Check out
(32:33):
our newest single, Rollie Strong across all those DSPs out
there too. We're back next week for another great show. John.
We appreciate the time, my friend, thanks for joining us
and looking forward to catching up down the road.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Thanks brother you.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Coverrich there on the backstage passws and Radio dot com
and of course we'll see you guys next Sunday from
five thirty to six am. Take care, God bless hey all.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
This is T.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Graham Brown and you're listening to Backstage Past right here
on wsmvidio.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Baby
Hey, y'all, this is your buddy John Rich Nash for
a recording Artists and you're listening to Brandon and Allen
on the backstage Pass powered by the Sports Guys podcast
dot com on the home of the Opry Am six
fifty WSM.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And welcome excite The backstage Pass is always a busy
day here, powered by the Sports Guys podcast dot com
and always on WSM every Sunday morning from five point
thirty to six am. Right there too. Of course, tune
in iHeartRadio, Wsmradio dot com and of course the WSM
Mobile app. The full squad is here. Brandon Morel, Alan
Price here too, and of course a great guest this
Sunday morning. Wake up, drink some coffee, have some fun.
(00:34):
And you know him as one of the best in
country music out there too, from the group Big and Rich.
John Rich joins us here on the backstage past. John.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
How you doing man, I'm doing great, Thanks for having
me on. Excited to excited to have this conversation.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well a lot there too, Well, you guys have had
a lot going on. Let me catch up. I mean,
obviously you know Reddeck Rivier doing well right there on
Broadway and of course, you got some new projects. You
guys are working on a song we're gonna talk about
called Revelation here a little bit, but fill sin.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
It's been a really fun summer. Gretchen Wilson has come
out of hibernation finally and we are doing a show
on the road. We've been doing them since I think
April of this year. We actually have two more coming
up this weekend. But it's big and rich with Gretchen
with Cowboy Troy, So it's almost like the early music Mafia,
(01:23):
days before any of us had record deals and we
were kind of all just spinning our wheels and we
get together and jam on Tuesday nights. And now we're
out on stage and you know, me and Big Kenny
will knock out thirty forty minutes and then we'll go
ladies and gentlemen, the redneck woman Gretchen Wilson, And then
she comes out on stage, and I mean, people lose
their ever eleven minds when she walks out, because it's
(01:45):
been several years since she went out and toured. So
she comes out and she smacks them with three or
four big songs, and then here comes Cowboy Troy and
then me and Kenny cap that show off and it
has been an absolute blast to make music with them again.
And the crowds are It's unreal, man, how big these
crowds are. I guess everything old is new again. That
old phrase has some truth to.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It, yeah, no doubt looking back at it too. And
you know, I've seen a lot of artists come back,
like he said, and your guys in your time in
an Air back there in the late nineties, early two thousands,
that music, to me, John is starting to make a
little bit of an appearance again. At least I'm hearing
that on you know, Series six in the Highway and
most of the major stations, the streaming stations we're listening
to right now. That old ninetiesh country sound are just
like you said, the music mafia. That's a good thing
for for country music. Also, vitals make it a little
(02:27):
bit of a comeback.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, yeah, I think country music has always been that way.
I mean when me and Big Kenny showed up, country
music had been really pop pop pop pop for quite
a while. And you know, as my granny Rich used
to say, it sound like they went to the school
of redundancy school. That was her famous quote. And I said, yeah,
it's kind of we need somebody to shake it up.
(02:51):
And so when Kenny and I came out, it absolutely
did that. And so but now I think you're right.
There's a guy named Zach Top that's out there who
I like a whole lot. Yeah, he sounds like he
could have come out in nineteen ninety two, nineteen ninety four.
My own's son Cash, he's coming up on fifteen and
he's listening to the ninety stuff, the eighties and ninety stuff,
(03:12):
And he asked me, why is this Why is this
kind of country music so much better than the new stuff?
Now that's him saying it, not me. I said, well,
I don't know what's better to it about you? He said, well,
for starters, I can tell the difference between all the singers,
meaning I can tell the difference between Alabama and Restless
(03:33):
Heart and Diamond Rio, and I can tell the difference
between Brooks and Dunn and you know, the Juds and whoever.
Like He's like, I really love how everybody had their
own sound. I said, yeah, well, you know it's starting
to come back to that. We got some showing up
now that have their own sound. But I think in general,
country fans have always appreciated, you know, the unique qualities
of the country singers that they bring to the stage.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
You know, You've got a song out now called The Revelation.
We're gonna play here now, but I want to talk
about it before we play here too on the backstage
passing again, presented by our friends over his any June
music dot com check got a new single rolling strong
across all those digital streaming platforms too. Talk about this
one too, because you did this with Sonya Isaac's at
the same time. I love this rendition of Revelations. Let's
talk about it.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Well, this is unlike any song I've ever written, and
so you know, I started out at eighteen nineteen years
old making country music fifty, turned fifty this last year
or the actually this year, and written over two thousand songs.
Nothing's ever hit me quite like this one Revelation. Though,
I was not thinking about writing this song the subject matter.
(04:38):
If you're wonder what's it about, what's about the Book
of Revelation in the Bible, I wasn't thinking about writing
a song about that, because, let's be honest, how do
you write a song about the Book of Revelation? I mean,
that's one of the most intense things that humans have
ever written. Apostle John wrote at two thousand years ago.
But it hit me like a ton of bricks, this
chorus rolling through my head, calling out revelation, to the
(05:00):
point where I said, I've got to write this down.
So I grabbed a pencil and a notebook, pulled an
old guitar off the wall, and about an hour this
song had been written. And then the question was, well,
what am I supposed to do with this? You know,
I look up to God and I'm like, what do
you want me to do with the song like this?
I mean, I don't know what to do with it.
And basically I felt like he was telling me, man,
(05:20):
just make it as great as you can and push
it out there as hard as you possibly can. I
keep in mind I no longer have a record deal
or a publishing deal. I don't work for any company
in Nashville. I have no affiliation with anybody. My record
label is called Rich Records, and it consists of a
po box. That's the whole thing. I'm the employee, the boss,
and the CEO all at the same time, so I'm
(05:41):
as independent as you can get which in a way
is a great thing because it allows me to put
out songs like Revelation, And so this song came out.
I did a big interview with Tucker Carlson that's now
been viewed four or five million times, and we talked
about what's going on in our country and in the world,
and what the Bible says about things that are going
on in our country and in the world, and how
(06:03):
that kind of crosses into a lot of the prophecies
that have been written down for thousands of years. The
video actually shows it shows the Devil and Michael, the Archangel,
coming across a field in Tennessee in front of a
little white church to battle each other, and I'm standing
in between the two of them. It's spiritual warfare and
a music video, which I also don't think anybody's ever
(06:25):
tried to do that. I didn't really know what would
happen or how it would be received, who would love it,
who would hate it. All I knew was I was
supposed to put it out, and it's been one of
the most impactful songs, maybe ever, that I've ever put out.
It's only been out a month and it is just
running millions and millions of views every week.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Well, here it is Revelation on WSM, the home of
the Opera. Here working with us every Sunday morning and
gat from five thirty to six am. Right there, two
on tune in iHeartRadio, and of course our friends out
there too, the Sports Guys podcast dot com and out
there the WSM mobile appwsnradio dot com. It's John Rich
and Revelation. Here it is taking up.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Dancing in the flames.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
The people cursed his name about at the altar, the
father of lies. There's a number two dead days and
all their evil ways. The Lord's gonna turn away from
all their cries.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
I can feel it. Come, lad, don't chain again. There's
a kee coming.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
The keys is coming back again. Bringstone upon their heads,
millstone's around their necks.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
They'll feel the shaken when the trumpet sounds.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
No matter where they hide, there'll be nowhere to run.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
When Jesus puts.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
His mighty put on the ground cold.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
I can feel it come like a darn chain one.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Again because the King is coming. The Kings is coming
back again.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
When can't make come like a light and flash their
force the whale in their teeth and lash and he'll
sit fire to the evil watch and all the wickedness
they've done.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
There will be no time to turn around.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
As the stars began to hit the ground and the
mountains fall, and the fairest torn with.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
The sound in the bath seventh.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Torn Pevah really coming like a down.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Tame running.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Bready because jeans come, the Geesus coming coming, locking, don
tame running because Kess coming, the Geesus coming back.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
Good Keess come.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
The prop John before his days were done.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
The king is common and it won't be long.
Speaker 7 (10:31):
Hey y'all, this is Phil Vasser and you're listening to
the Backstage Pass on the Home of the Opera wsm
AM six fifty.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Hey guys, Brandon Mareal here, host of the Backstage Pass
alongside my coast Alan Price, and I want to tell
you about one of the best kept secrets in Smyrna, Tennessee.
Located in the heart of the Depot district, he'll find
the front Street. Puff owners Thomas Williams and his wife
and Rachel, have made it a personal mission to provide
each customer with the best food, coldest drinks, and the
friendliest staff around. Check them out on Facebook and of
course their website, the Front Street Pub dot com for
(11:01):
all the latest details and upcoming events, concerts and shows,
and of course we thank them for bringing us John
Rich this week on WSM. It's brought to you by
the Front Street Pub.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Hey, y'all, this is Terry McBride and you're listening to
the Backstage Pass on WSM Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And back here with John Rich on the Backstage Pass again,
Alan Price here with yours truly and for our show.
Today's presented to our friends with Sandy June Music, Sandy
junemusic dot com and of course out there Rolling Strong
the latest single. Make sure you guys go check it out.
A great, great song and a great tribute to our
law enforcement, our military and of course our police officers
out there too. At the same time. Love this song
and you guys need to go check it out our
first responders Rolling Strong out there at Sandy Junemusic dot com.
(11:40):
Back here with John Rich and love that song so much.
You're right too, It's unlike anything you've ever done too.
Revelation and a great story told by Hey take us
back as a John to son of a preacher man.
I thought this was one of the best country albums
to come out a long time too. You you had
Shutting Detroit Down, which was fantastic too.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Well, before I go into that, I just want to
say thank you because you are the first and only
country station I'm aware of it's ever played Revelation. I
just want to say thank you for doing that, because
it's been seen online millions of times, but no real
terrestrial country station, to my knowledge, has ever played it.
So I really appreciate you doing that. That's quite an honor,
especially this country station of all. So I really appreciate
(12:21):
that that Son of a Preacher Man record. That was
during about a two year hiatus a big and rich,
so big Kenny wanted to go do things around the world.
He did all kinds of stuff, and I wanted to too.
That's when I did Celebrity Apprentice was right in that
window with Donald Trump, and there was a whole batch
of songs that I had written that I knew did
(12:41):
not fit big and Rich, but they sure fit me
personally pretty well. And so I was talking to Kenny.
I said, you care if I put out a solo thing.
He goes, no, Man, I'll be the first one to
buy it, you know. So I put it out, and
that song, Shutting Detroit Down, I wrote with John Anderson,
who's my all time favorite country singer. I always tell
him that he's the George Jones of my generation, because
(13:02):
you cannot mistake who that is when you hear that
voice coming through. So he's an absolute hero of mine.
And we were watching all that nonsense back in nine
and ten where the government was bailing out all the
car companies and then the car companies were laying off
thousands of people while they're getting bailed out with our money.
And remember how mad we all got about that. And
(13:24):
I was talking to John a about it, and he said, well,
probably I'll write a song about that. I mean, he said,
that's what Haggard would have done. I said, good point.
And so we write Shutting Detroit Down. And it got
spun one time by a friend of mine in Detroit
at WYCD played it on his morning show, and I
didn't intend on releasing it or anything, and it went
absolutely crazy. Wound up with me on stage at the
(13:47):
ACMs by myself acoustic singing that song. And I still
get asked to play that all the time. Man, It's
always cool when a song hits home like that.
Speaker 7 (13:56):
Yeah, it's an incredible song. When you think about songs
that have an impact on someone you know, such as
Revelation I know is going to but it's one of
those songs almost like God Bless the USA. When you
hear it for the first time, you know exactly where
you were and what you were doing. And I remember
exactly where I was and exactly what I was doing
the first time I heard Shutting Detroit Down and how
(14:16):
it felt. And to see the video with some of
my heroes, you know, Christofferson, who's just a legend in
everyone's mind. And when you talk about pulling some heartstrings
and you get to that point of the video where
he hits his knees, Buddy Ibut buckled right along with him.
So that's that's how you touch America right there. So
well done, my friend. I still I was thinking about
(14:38):
that all day to day when I was like, man,
we're going to have John on you know, I'm hoping
we're talking about this because it still has an impact
on people.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I appreciate you bringing it up. I don't get to
talk about that song much anymore. And then that was
Mickey Rourke, you know who was down there working the
line and Chris, Oh yeah, man. I mean those two
guys two of the best actors there ever were. I
couldn't afford them, but the only reason I was able
to get them was just friendship over a long period
of time. And I sent them the song and I said,
(15:06):
this song is so monumental in our country right now
with what's going on. Would you guys come in and
act in the video. I mean, they don't do music videos,
come on me, Rourck and Christofferson, but they did. It's
one of the biggest honors I ever had that those
two men traveled in Nashville to do that.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I'm gonna go back even more so. We do a
homework here on the show, but I'm going back to
some old school John Ritch here, I Pray for You
and of course when You Love Someone off the record
that came out in two thousand Underneath the Same Moon,
which is a fantastic record I love listening to because
that's the thing about music. You listen to one song,
it's storytelling for country music, and those two, specifically John,
I Pray for You and When You Love Someone, those
two hit right at home, and I think resonating with fans.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Well, I appreciate that. You know. The thing about the
thing about the country artists, I think the fans probably
always think, well, they write a song, they record the song,
it's a hit. They write a song, they record a song,
it's a hit. That's not how it works. They already
all right the records you're mentioning, like underneath the Same
Moon record that was after Lone Star had fired me
(16:08):
from the band and before I had met Big Kenny,
before Big and Rich was a thing. So I had
about four years of no record deal, no publishing deal,
knowing nothing. Because that record underneath the Same Moon, I
was hoping I would have a hit as a solo
artist after being ejected from Lone Star. But it died. Man,
the first single died, the second single died. I get
(16:30):
a call from the record label as I'm on my
way to another radio station and do a radio visit
that we're dropping you from the label. So you just
turn around in the highway and head back home. And
nothing happened from that point forward until Big and Rich
got a record deal in two thousand and three. So
you know, making country music for real is not a hobby.
(16:52):
It is treacherous. It is disappointing. It's the level of
competition and the politics of the record labels and the
publishing companies. When you know, the guy that signs you
gets fired and now a new guy comes in and
he didn't like you very much, so you're out too.
I mean, your whole world can go one hundred miles
(17:12):
an hour to slam it into a brick wall over
and over and over. And so I say it's not
a hobby because you have to come back out of
those situations if you're serious about it, and that's what
you love to do. You got to go record a
new record, you got to write new songs, you've got
to promote them again, take another run at it. And
thankfully the fans behind me all the way back to
the lone Star days and to this very day, have
(17:35):
stuck with me and they they if I give them
good music, they respond in a big way.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You know you touched on that too, about just how
hard this business is and how hard it is to
just take a note and until you get to a yes,
and maybe sometimes that's nine out of ten of those
before you get to that one yes, you know ninety
percent of that. But what advice I guess fervently would
you kind of give John those younger artists now, because
there's so many of them, and I frequently visit there
for CRS week and CEM a week, you know, throughout
the year and see so many people, you know, playing
music up and down Broadway, which is a great thing
(18:02):
to see, and so many of the great songwriters, you know,
trying to make it in that town. What advice would
you give to those new artists to kind of keep persevering.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Well, the first thing is is to overproduce, overproduce. I
need ten songs for a record, I'm gonna go write
thirty songs. No, go write two hundred and fifty songs.
You know. Go sit in the room with people who
are way better than you are always, you know, sit
with the masters of the pen and pencil, Sit with
(18:30):
the ones who are the Albert Einsteins of country music,
because that's the only way you ever get really better.
And then the other thing is is you've got to
know your direction. You know, just because you can hit
the high notes, just because you're good looking, just because
whatever whatever machine you may have behind you, that does
not dictate who wins and loses. It's all about can
(18:50):
you connect with the audience, And the only thing that
connects with the audience is authenticity. That's it. It's always
been the game authenticity. They can market some with ten
million dollars, and if they're not really authentic and not
not engaging their crowd from who they actually are in
a very authentic way, they never make it. It's always
the ones, you know. Look at Oliver Anthony, a guy
(19:11):
with no record deal, no nothing, and he comes out
with Richmond North of Richmond, and he's just singing his
guts out on a flatbed trailer in the woods with
no budget. Sticks the song out. That's the That's the
biggest song in probably twenty years, maybe longer than that.
I mean, it was unbelievable what happens. So authenticity is
number one. And putting yourself around people who are better
(19:34):
than you. You have to do that. You can't just
always be in a room with somebody you can out sing.
That will not make you better. It's iron sharpens iron,
as the book says.
Speaker 7 (19:44):
Which brings me to my next point. John, when are
we getting in a room?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah, hey, man, I'm sure I can learn a lot
from you.
Speaker 7 (19:52):
When we talk about things. You know, not just you
as an artist, but you know, anyone who knows you,
anyone who's follows your career, the impact that you've had
on this industry as a songwriter, as a businessman. You know,
we talked off camera, you know before we did this.
You know about gretchenm Wilson and how you know you
guys got that started, you know, Bradley gask And what
about Al Dean Man. I mean that first record, Hicktown,
(20:15):
you practically wrote half of it, you know, to do
that and to be part of someone who was just
like you at one time starting out, and you know,
to hit superstardom. I mean that people still jam that
Hicktown record, Man, and because it's great music.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, well that goes back to my point of overproduce, overwork,
over create. Like you know, there's a reason Al Dean
had four number one songs that I did not have.
I mean, I wrote them, but they weren't big and rich.
It's it's because Kenny and I were writing literally every
single day of the week. Maybe we take a day
off here and there, but it was almost every day
because that's all we cared about doing. And so you
(20:54):
write hundreds of songs and you only put ten or
eleven on your record, So what about all these other
really good ones? And here comes Gretchen, here comes Alden.
Keith Anderson was another one, picking Wild Flowers Man. That
was a big faith and Tim started coming at us
and a bunch of other people. But the only reason
I was able to land those cuts is because they
had to be created. You had to go sit down
(21:15):
and think and work and trudge through it and do
the best you can and have all that sitting kind
of in your catalog for when the opportunity arrives.
Speaker 7 (21:25):
We talked that We actually had Terry McBride on the
show here a couple of weeks back, and we talked
about Amorillos Guy and what an impact had had on
their career. And then, you know, fast forward to the
Alden days. I mean, what when you talk about something
and keeping it authentic. Amerylyst Guys is as authentic as
it gets. I mean, that's real life, real people doing
what they do every day, with no glory, just you know,
(21:48):
doing what they do.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
You know, And there's a reason that song is so
authentic because that's where I grew up. Was Amerla Texas.
So I watched my uncles and the old ones from
World War two, Uh, that were still farming. Old man
out there, you know, Uh got wrinkles half inch deep
all over him. Looked like John Wayne or something out
there on the leather. Oh absolutely, man, you could have
(22:12):
made a saddle out of that face. I mean a
good pair of boots. And so I watched how they
worked and how they struggled many years. Out there there's
a drought or a tornado or hail or whatever. So
we thought, and Kenny, Big Kenny comes from a cattle
farm up in Virginia, so we both grew up around.
That thought, Man, it's time to write one about the farmers.
(22:32):
Let's write one about the men we grew up around.
And that's where it came from. Thank goodness. Uh, Terry
and Jason, they both have great versions of that song.
It was a real honor to have them sing it.
Speaker 7 (22:42):
And you know, you don't know how many combines had
been riding around cornfields and everywhere else and listening to
that jam at four o'clock in the morning before the
sun ever comes up. So just incredible stuff.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, yeah, we got to play another rider Toobes it's
off the record here too as well, one for John
Rich that came out of years by, But I tell
you what one of the ones that hits to the
heart right there too. Continues the storytelling here on the
backstage pass and presentedbody Sandy Junemusic dot Com. The lated
single rolling strong across all those digital streaming platforms. It's
called The Man Here it is from John Rich on
WSMAM six fifty, the home of the grand O Lockery.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Well, he was one of.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
The millions signed up to Defenders Long.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Go nineteen forty one.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
And when they sucker pasta centberl arbor, he folled under
Mike Arthur seven hunteenth with an armed Thompson gun. Well,
he stormed a lot of beaches, slipt in jungles with
the leeches. He saw things a young man shit never see.
(23:58):
And when they shot him in the shoulder, he got
back up and he marched forward, left a lot of
brothers dead and quaduly.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
And if it wasn't for the Good Lord and the Man,
there wouldn't be bread to breed on in this land.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
And now I see people on that TV TI shots
at Uncle Sam.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
I hope they all always a man.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
But while they can, because we don't be speaking German
living on the flag of Japan if it wasn't for
the Good Lord and the Man.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
If it wasn't for the Good Lord and the Man.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
Now I'm the grandson of a soldier, and I find
the whole world or if duty.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Cold and freedoms on the line. But thanks to the.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
Greatest generation and the ones to fighting for our nation,
I've never had to kill for my weird life. And
if it wasn't for the Good Lord and the Man,
there wouldn't be bread the freedom in this land. When
(25:27):
I see people on that TV taking shots, it harfle Sam.
Speaker 8 (25:34):
I hope they always a matter while they can, because
we don't be speaking German living under the flag of
Japan if it wasn't for the Good.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Lord and the Man, if it wasn't for the Good
Lord and the Man.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Because he was one of the millions signed up to
Defenders long ago nineteen forty one, and when the sucker
pasta sand pearl arbor, he fought under MacArthur's sevanty with
an army.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Thompson gun, Hi, what's up, you guys, It's Mary Sarah.
I am a Nashville recording artist, and you're listening to
Brandon on the Backstage Pass on the home of the
Grandelpry WSM.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Hey guys, Brandon Marial here, host of the Backstage Pass
alongside my coast Alan Price, and I want to tell
you about one of the best kept secrets in Smyrna, Tennessee.
Located in the heart of the Depot district, you'll find
the Front Street Pub. Owners Thomas Williams and his wife
and Rachel and made it a personal mission to provide
each customer with the best food, coldest drinks, and the
friendliest staff around. Check them out of Facebook and of
course their website, the Front Street Pub dot com for
(27:02):
all the latest details and upcoming events, concerts and shows.
And of course we thank them for bringing us John
Rich this week on WSM. It's brought to you by
the Front Street Pub. Hey back you with John Rich
on WSM Radio, the home of the Opry Every Sunday
morning the Backstage Pass again five point thirty to six am.
Here powered by the Sports Guys podcast dot com and
of course many ways to listen to WSM mobile appwsmradio
(27:24):
dot com and of course out there Tune in and
iHeartRadio out there too, talking about the man with John
Rich and I remember this when US was off the
Country Truth Record back in two thousand and nine. I
love this one and another one of those great storytelling songs. John.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
This is a song about my granddaddy. So imagine if
you if you were lucky enough to be around your
grandpa for a fair amount of time. You know, if
he's anything like mine, they will tell you one of
three or four stories every single time you see them.
They'll say, sit out and let me tell you the
story about the time the mule got out of the barn.
And you know, you go, and you know I've heard
(27:59):
it one hundred times, but yeah, I want to hear
it again. So he was a World War Two vet.
And I know we've all got pictures hanging in our
houses or you've seen him at your grandparents house at
one point or another. Of service members and especially the
greatest generation of World War Two generation. If I asked
you to imagine one of those pictures right now, I
bet you can. Well. Greatest generation guy at seventeen, he
(28:24):
lied about his age to the US Army told him
he was eighteen because he was so mad at the
train that was coming back through Glasgow, Kentucky, where he's from,
loaded down with caskets. He saw that train coming through
with just caskets piled all over it, and it was
his uncles, his cousins, his neighbors, and he was so
angry that he wanted to go fight, and he wasn't
(28:44):
old enough to, so he just said, I'll just tell
him I'm eighteen. So they let him in and he's
about five foot four five foot five by one hundred
and fifteen pounds, a little bitty guy, but just an
absolute savage with a rifle. I mean, just hill billy
sniper is what he was. And so he got in
there and they put him in a unit of men
(29:07):
that they refer to now as the tunnel rats. So
in the Pacific, the Japanese were on, you know, Couagulini
would gma all those islands, and those islands are like
volcanic islands. They're full of caves. So as our ships
would sit out in the ocean lobbing in bombs, the
Japanese would go down into those caves and hide. So
they had these little guys like my grandpa that would
(29:28):
go in with a short range flamethrower and a grenade
belt and a forty five in one side of the cave,
and his job was to flush the Japanese out the
other side of the cave so we could take them prisoner. Well,
he did that for a couple of years, sustained multiple
purple hearts. He got back home from the war, was
hooked on morphine for two years. I had to wean
himself off of that PTSD, like you can't believe, till
(29:51):
the day he died. But then he became a farmer,
lived to be eighty years old. So about a month
after he died, this song struck me. I said, I
got to write a song about him because I considered
him the man. You know, he was in my family.
That's the man right there, That's that's him. And so
the song is simply called The Man, but it's it's
really to honor the Greatest generation, all the men and
(30:12):
women that got us to this point in twenty twenty four,
there would be no America to argue about short of
the Greatest Generation showing up.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Hey, sports wise, NFL College a few weeks out from
opening up, John, who does it for you? When it
comes to college football? And of course the National Football League.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Well, i am a I'm a University of Texas fan,
so I'm a hooking Horns guy. But I'm married in
Aggie Texas A and M, which that is the ultimate
rivalry is at the universus the right there or what
I mean. Well, so I make a joke about her
that she doesn't appreciate very much. But it's also it's
also a slap at myself. So like when I'll introduce
(30:51):
my wife to somebody, I'll go, this is my wife.
She has a master's degree from Texas A and M.
And I have a high school diploma, so we have
the same level of education. Oh wow, Hey, I'm like, well, hey,
I'm also said I'm a dummy. You know, it's like
I barely got out of high school. No, but that
(31:11):
that's always fun when college football rolls around, and that
now that Texas is in the SEC, we're going to
see Texas play Texas A and M again. We've been
missing that, so it's gonna be a good year. I'm
happy to see that they're going to have a real
playoff twelve teams. Nobody can cry or holler about the
outcome because everybody's got a chance. You know, if you're
number thirteen at we don't care you should have done better.
(31:33):
But one through twelve, don't you guys like that? I
love it.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I think it's great for the top twelve to get
out there and not to be unbiased now too, and
to have it out there left on the field, John
to left their records and strengthen schedule and all that
stuff speak for itself. Now have the top twelve, we
can see some upsts as we go from round to round.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
This is great.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
I call it the March Badness college football.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
I would say, whoever wins this year, that'll probably be
the most legitimate champion we've had in a long time
because us they had to go back and play, because
those teams get so close to each other that any
given day one team can beat the other. So I
think it's fair and we're really looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
It's gonna be a lot of fun too as well.
And of course the single revelation is across all those
digital streaming platforms out there. You check out all the
music and bigingrich dot com and of course John Rich
out there on all the social media too, and of
course to check out riythink for viere when you're always
in Nashville, Tennessee. One of the best in country music
to do it out there, one of the best songwriters
and singers, John Rich here on the backstage Pass, presented
by our friends over at Sandygunmusic dot com. Check out
(32:33):
our newest single, Rollie Strong across all those DSPs out
there too. We're back next week for another great show. John.
We appreciate the time, my friend, thanks for joining us
and looking forward to catching up down the road.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Thanks brother you.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Coverrich there on the backstage passws and Radio dot com
and of course we'll see you guys next Sunday from
five thirty to six am. Take care, God bless hey all.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
This is T.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Graham Brown and you're listening to Backstage Past right here
on wsmvidio.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Baby
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