Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Come on.
[00:00:15] Speaker A: This is Outside the Round with Matt Burrill for Rage Rowdy podcast.
What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Outside the Round with me, Matt Burrell. Today, a very special guest, A man who I've been wanting to get on camera going back to my college radio days in New Jersey. A dude who I've seen in concert forever. I've been a paid fan club member of forever.
A guy who helped me get sober through his music. The one, the only, B.G. brantley Gilbert. Brother, thank you for doing this.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Absolutely, man. I appreciate you having me, dude.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: I mean, when we think, when I think of my story of getting into country music, you're one of the, the guys at the forefront. When I think of who's on brand for raised Rowdy, it's hard to think of a more raised rowdy artist than BG Brantley Gilbert. So you ready for this record to be out to the world or what, brother?
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Been, been ready. Super excited. And the album release party, man, is, you know, it's kind of in true fashion for us, but we teamed up with Nitro Circus, my buddy Andy Frisella for from first form came in and basically financially allowed us to offer it for free. But we're teamed up with Nitro Circuits. They're gonna be jumping motorcycles over the stage while we play.
And you know, being a dad now, I try to make it fun for the whole family when I can. So there's bouncy houses, there's a car show and a petting zoo. Like it's a little bit of everything.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: That's awesome, man. Well, my, my girlfriend's got a little 8 year old daughter and she's never been to a concert before and we have her that week. So I think I'm gonna be coming through first concert. I don't know how every other show is going to be for her after that, but we're gonna experience for that
[00:01:56] Speaker B: first one, we're gonna set the bar
[00:01:57] Speaker A: out over at the Nashville Fairgrounds, brother, so that's gonna be awesome, man. I'm stoked so on brand for you too in Nitro Circus, but it reminds me of like those old Warp tour days when like the Deftones were playing and you'd see the, you'd see the guys just flying over the stage on stuff that's gonna be sick and we gotta, gotta crack myself a little real American zero, right?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Let's go baby.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Thank you for creating these because this has been my go to drink. Like being California sober. This has been my go to drink at all of the rock the countries. And they've been a great team to work with. Like working with Terry and Keely and the whole team over there. They've been awesome.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Yeah, that was. That was. That was a crazy thing. So DJ Silver was. He and I both are friends. Jake Rask, that worked with Hulk on a daily basis. And Hulk was still alive.
Hulk Hogan, they were. They created that real American Freestyle League, like Chad Bronstein and Izzy Martinez and Eric Bischoff. Old school wrestling. So, bro, it was w. Like, Hulk Hogan was a childhood hero of mine. I hadn't been starstruck. The only starstruck experience I have in music world was Hank Jr.
And he's one of those dudes, man, where if you meet Hank and he's not a rattlesnake, he's not kind of an asshole, you'd be disappointed.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: So he nailed it, you know.
But Hulk Hogan was bigger than life to me as a kid, man. So being able to work with him towards the end of his life and be small part of the legacy that he was kind of redirect into another chapter of life for himself as well. You know, I had a video sent to me of him baptizing a good buddy of mine in the ocean. And just kind of. It was in a cool place of faith and, you know, writing a theme song for real American freestyle turned into working with RAB and RAB 0 and, man, Colby Covington's own partner over there too. And he's a good friend of mine. And, man, it's just a bunch of patriots, People that truly care about their community and their country and the people that serve it. And, man, like, one. $1 from every case of this goes to the USO. And that's what you could see, like, what goes on behind the scenes. It's less common knowledge.
You know, what they're willing to do when the cameras aren't on is the proof and the pudding. And that's my thing that's easy to get on board with.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: Yeah, man. And it's been great for me to drink on stage because, like, we've worked with other cans before, and maybe I'm not like, no check is big enough for me to break my sobriety. So, like, I'll drink this. 0 and even, like, other artists that are. That have played the rock the country tour, like, we've got Treaty Oak revival drinking this on stage every night. So when Sam, the lead singer at Treaty Oak, does his beer showers, he's waving these around on stage.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: No, I Didn't know that.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, we, we. Let's go. Yeah, we got him set up, I think at the one in Bloomingdale, Georgia. And we, when we did the Rock the Country down there and I was like, hey man, so you don't drink? You want some NA beer? And he was like, dude, I love some. And I don't know, he didn't drink, I think. Yeah, yeah, he's. He's four years, four years off the booze, but still waves around na beers. So I'm like, let's let real American be the stage beer for the Treaty of Boys. I'm like, that's great. So they're flying around when they're doing Boom Town and they're shaking the beers, they're shaking these.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: News to me. That's it, man.
[00:05:09] Speaker A: That's what we're out here doing, man. Spreading the gospel of real American. 0 and R lights.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: So. Absolutely.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: But like I was saying as we were sitting down, Sins of the father, bro. It's been one that I've. Because I've been riding with you since modern day Prodigal Son, like going way back. And to me, this record is something that I've been excited about. I've been listening to that embargo that when the label sneaks over the little link ahead of time and you can get a little tease like, don't show nobody this, don't send it to nobody. I've been just cranking it from, from top to bottom. And for me it's like it's the balance of those outlaw love songs. You've got some hell raising songs on there. You're talking about your sobriety, your faith, your patriotism. Like it's a mix of all of it. And you, it blended so well in the 15 songs, man.
[00:05:53] Speaker B: It's interesting, you say, you know, you bring up the Prodigal Son album because one of the goals of this album was to kind of go back in that direction. Reason being like how many times you fell in love with the artist or a band because their first two records. Yeah. And historically we've said, well, that's because, you know, you have your whole life experience to write your first two albums, which is true. But you also don't know the rules. You know what I mean? You don't know how to write for radio or how to write commercially or marketable. You just write what sounds good and feels good. So we took all the rules out of the writing room, took all the rules out of the studio. We wanted to create an album that you know, reminiscent and kind of stylistically more in that direction.
You know, it was. I've been with the same label for 15 years and was a free agent for 12 hours. Signed over at B and G. And then they've given me full creative control and encouraged me to, like, kind of take control of the creative process.
[00:06:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: Which was cool, man. I went back to a real co producer seat, you know, with Brock Barry Hill on this album.
[00:06:53] Speaker A: I love Brock, by the way. Dude, he's one of the best. I wanted to get into the co writers a little bit later on. We can jump into it now. Taylor Phillips was. Was one of the first guys that I met when I first started coming here to Nashville, like one of my first friends. And it was back before he quit drinking. It was when I was bouncing on Broadway and he'd do something across the street and we'd hide him at Dirk Spentley's Whiskey Row on a Monday or Tuesday night. I'd be like, taylor, come on, man.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: Skip to the sober version. Just one songwriter of the year.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: What. What a cool story, man. And what a cool dude. He and his brother Josh both like. Yeah, Josh is a really good friend of mine as well. But, you know, Taylor getting married, man. I sang at his wedding. I don't do weddings. But, you know, the last song on this album is called Live Forever, and that was he and Nina's wedding song.
So, you know, he had a deep connection to that song, as I did. And, man, it's the journey on this album, too, with all those writers. Here's the thing, man. The truth of the matter is we had a couple drops at radio, like, so we had a pause. We have some adversity to work through.
And I said that to say this. These writers that showed up to write on this album didn't have to. Yeah, they'd have made more money, you know, and probably seen better opportunities spending their time on other things. But those relationships that you create over the years, the guys that you see as writers on this album are guys that loyalty means something to. I feel like loyalty and honor are two, you know, freaking massive things in life that we've kind of bailed on as a society in ways. And so, man, it was. It was a little more than flattering, dude. It was. It was almost an emotional, like.
Just can't tell you how much it meant for me for these dudes to take time to get in the room with me and write this freaking tank of a record. Yeah. You know what I mean? So it's It's a lot of things are coming full circle on this album.
You know, you talked about Taylor and Josh Brock's a writer on a bunch of them. Ashley Gourley's on this thing, you know, and some, some other guys that have seen some success stories. Will. Will Weatherly.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:09:01] Speaker B: We wrote so many songs on a Texas retreat. That was one of his last hoorahs before he started living in a different direction. And now dude's got great things going on in his life. He's clear eyed, he's awesome. So you know, Andrew Bayless is on this thing.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: I love Bayless. He's one of my favorite, one of my favorite when he pops out because we do a bunch of events in here in Nashville. When Bayless walks in the room, I'm like, oh, it's going to be a long night. Cause I'm be hanging with this guy.
I love Bayless.
That's our dude.
[00:09:28] Speaker B: And we got a song on there with two guys, Tyler Chambers and Jasper Charles, that don't even have publishing deals. And dude, that song, this will tell you something about who Josh Phillips is. Josh Phillips hit me with that song and said, man, I want to send something to you.
And then I find out he's not even a writer on it. He just heard that song and knew it was me in my story was like, bro, these guys, they don't have publishing deals, but it's an insane song. And I heard it and it was freaking killer. There were some things I wanted to do to make it mine and kind of tell my story in it. And they were cool with kind of re approaching the right and changing some things. And man, it was just.
There's so many things coming full circle and so many new beginnings and so many statements made on this album.
You know, the, the general listener is gonna miss most of it. But people like you that have been engaged for years, like you, you truly will see what you have on this album. Like we took a shot, bro.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: You know what I mean?
There's some Babe Ruth stuff going on in a way saying I'm back.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:34] Speaker B: Like I've gone anywhere. We've toured healthily for 20 years at a steady incline.
It's like, you know, the being back in the radio game, back in the mainstream game with bmg. You know, there's people. I was at the same label for 15 years and there's people there that love and care about Will to the day I die. Because every now and then you need a new dance partner.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: You know, every now and Then you need to be the shiny new toy somewhere. And I hadn't been that in 15 years.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: And they're making noise, man. They're screaming our name from the rooftop. And.
And not to throw you off, but when I say.
When I say we or us and our.
I don't say I and me much. Because if you've been following for a long time, you know, like, we're a family, dude. We're a team, and we're a family. And I've got people that have real sweat equity and blood. Sweat and tears and building this thing that's so special to us over the last 20 years, you know, guys and girls in the office, too. Not. Not just the road team. That, man, it really did do things different. Yeah. And it's. It's not. It's definitely the path less traveled and. Yeah, but it. But it's special, man. And it's not going anywhere. I don't know how to do anything else. And it's. It's been a hell of a journey just in this album alone.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: And you talk about you did it in a very different way. I think that's why it stood the testament of these two decades like you're talking about. And it's funny because I. It just popped in my head. I don't even have it in my notes here. I remember a big thing for you early on was social media, because it was my space and it was growing your circle of Athens. Shout out to the great state of Georgia. I love Athens. I love Milledville. I love Statesboro, Tifton, Valdosta. I've been lucky enough to work with some folks as a road crew member and go through all those college markets and it's. You learn how to play a show because the kids there just appreciate music, you know, 10%.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: And that was a circuit that existed. And Corey Smith was one of the guys that.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: The Godfather, bro.
[00:12:26] Speaker B: The Godfather, like, to this day and forever, will be one of my greatest inspirations as a writer.
Between him and Leonard Skynyrd, I found out it was cool to write about home.
And, man, that dude just incredibly talented and incredibly smart. He's just a good human to boot. But he kind of took a chance on me early at 16 years old, riding around with the dude that's owning college markets.
Think about it legitimately. We wouldn't be having this conversation without that guy.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: You know what I mean? There's people like that along the way that you talk about the college market. So that was a route that we had that there's not much of that left. That circuit's way different. Yeah. And, you know, the. The new path to, you know, to another level of music now is through social media, but in a different way. Yeah, we came up the old school way. Social media was involved with MySpace when it kind of came along, but in the beginning and during that, we were still playing these hole in the wall bars. You know, you play show.
You know, I was one of the guys that when these kids started popping off of Tick Tock with one song and getting record deals, it was like, what?
You know, not. Not really butthurt. Just. Just like, man, that's wild that they didn't have to go broke twice.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: But truth of the matter is, in hindsight, you know, the way I look at it now. Yeah. You never know what somebody struggled through to get that song noticed on TikTok. Right. There's still a challenge. Their challenge is just different than ours. And I do feel like, in a way, they're at a disadvantage.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Because learning how to play to that. That crowd of 10 people somewhere, you've never been that don't know who you are. And learning how to communicate with them and win them over in 90 minutes is invaluable if you can do that. If you can play to a crowd of 10 and win them over, don't know who you are. You've never been there.
You know, going in and learning how to communicate with them and win them over in 90 minutes will give you the ability to walk into a crowd of 10,000. And it's easy.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: Oh, it's easy, bro. It's easy. I think that when I'm on stage doing the MC stuff that I do, it's easier to be at on a festival stage in front of 20, 30, 000 than it is a bar here in Nashville in front of 50. Because I can see all their faces. Yeah.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: And Nashville's a different card all together. Yeah, dude play shows here now. It's like, you know, there's a large number of people in the crowd that are watching you with their arms crossed.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: They're sitting in the back. They're not even getting into it, man.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: I could do that better.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: Dude sings like horseshit.
Whatever, bro. I never said I was Carrie Underwood or Vince Gill. Like, my strength in this business has always been, you know, my ability to share my testimony, my story through music and deliver it differently. You know what I mean? And willingness to be the what you see is what you get guy and to do shit we're not supposed to do.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: And that album does this all. Does that all over again.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: It does, man. And I want to go back to you talking about the people that come up getting reps. You have this next leg of the Real American tour coming up, and you got three of my good friends that I've gotten to know for a while. John Morgan, day one, homie. Been playing a ton of shows. Jay Webb, he's about to embark on 50 shows before the end of the year. He was just that rock the country, headlining our stage. And then my boy Atlas, who's a great personal friend. And those are three guys that have been going out there and going for broke, playing shows, traveling around, whether it's a van or it's an RV or whatever they can get their hands on, and playing shows for small crowds and
[00:15:51] Speaker B: perfecting their craft 100%. I got the utmost respect for that. And all three of those guys are, you know, they got. They got something different. They got the it thing.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: And, man, meeting them. Personally, I don't know much about John. I hadn't had a bunch of interactions with him, but. But Jay, you know, early on, he works with a guy named Andrew De Roberts, who's a friend of mine, has been co writer and I think co producer in the past, and he was working with him. He got me stoked on him. And then I kind of did a little bit of a deep dive on him, and I was like, all right, this is cool.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: He's a kid covered in tattoos from Coleman, Alabama, that's had to fight for everything he has.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And, dude, I mean, how do you not respect that as an old head in this business, which I do consider myself to be, I don't get nominated for Best New Artist, you know?
[00:16:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: So, like, seeing that, I. I have a deep, deep respect for that. And then Atlas, man, I mean, what a story.
A success story from. From an unlikely place and just an insanely good human being.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: Oh, the nicest.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: Like, he just always has a smile on his face and gives you the biggest bear hugs. Yeah. Like an Atlas bear hug.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: He hugs you and means it.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Yeah, he does.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Those hugs are the ones that, like, even as a big, burly dude's covered in tattoos and shit, and he gives you one of those, it's like, oh, yeah, Yeah. I love that guy, man. We hit it off almost immediately. He was playing a show with us, and they were playing a saunder and sound check.
I was walking around on the phone, told my wife I'd call her Back and songs grabbed my attention, man. And it was Hold My Liquor.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: And I was like, I couldn't hear it real good from where I was at on the phone. So he hadn't. He didn't know me from Adam and never met me before. And I just walked right up to the stage. I was like, hey, dude, what does that say? And he kind of walked me through it and then introduced himself. I was like, nice to meet you, man. That song's badass. Like. Yeah. And, dude, it is. I think it's his current Seagull.
[00:17:45] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:17:45] Speaker B: Right now. What a freaking song is written incredibly well. But I think you'll see for sure. I know of two collabs that you'll see with me and those guys for sure. I'd love to tie up with John on something too, man. Yeah.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: Yeah. John's another guy that came up under your story where writing songs that other people put out and coming up with Jason cuts like you did, that's how John kind of cut his teeth and got going. We were talking about Atlas, and he's a good brother of jelly rolls as well. And this will be coming out when the record's out, so we can talk about the songs on the project and everything.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: Begging for Change has to be one of my favorite songs that I've heard this year. And I mean that, like, the story of that song and for it to be. For the. The collab that you and Jelly had done with Son of the Dirty south, like, and this being in a completely different vein, but something that those people are going to relate to. Like, if you relate to Dirty south, you're going to relate to Begging for Change.
Take me through that one a little bit.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Have I told you the story?
[00:18:43] Speaker A: I don't think so.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: No. This story's wild. So we were.
We had a whole week in the studio writing what was going to be a joint project between he and I. And, you know, both of us, it's like we're busy or something. Hadn't got around to finishing that yet, but.
And you know, I was sick as a dog, man. You don't.
Tying Jelly Roll down for an hour is like trying to catch a greased up cheetah dude. Like that dude.
It's difficult, right? So we had him for a week. I had a guy coming in twice a day, giving me IVs and just trying to get. Get through the week. And so I felt awful. It was. But it was still an awesome week of writing. But he showed up one morning.
You could tell something was Heavy. We went outside to smoke and you know, we're burning. I was like, hey, dude, like, you good? He's like, yeah, man. He said the label had an event this morning, and as I was getting in the car, there was a homeless dude kind of near the vehicle. And he turned around and I recognized him. And he's like, that wasn't the part that bothered me. The part that bothered me was like, that was the kid. If we could have voted, that would have been the least likely dude we went to school with to be homeless. You know, I mean, he was the cool kid, live at a party, had all the new stuff, like.
And we kind of paired that with something that I've said since I've been in recovery. He's like, dude, nobody wakes up one morning and goes, I think I want to be a drug addict or an alcoholic or ridden with mental illness or, you know, I want to be homeless. No, nobody does that. Those are for the things that in life truly to me are some of the only things that are legitimately non biased in any form or fashion. They don't care what color you are, what your background is, who your mom and daddy are, what your sexual orientation is, or what your tax bracket is. They just want you dead. You know what I mean? They want all of us dead. And, you know, with the checkered past that Jelly and I have, like, it does give us a unique ability to be able to meet people where they're at, at their worst, you know what I mean? And it's. It's like, I'll never tell somebody I know what they're going through. As we're always different. There's our fingerprints. I may have been through my own version of that. So I can relate to being in a bad place, but I don't know who you are.
And that's this. This song has a way of saying that and meeting. Beating you where you at? And I said that to say this, like, when I was at my worst, like, my mom or family members have pastors come talk to me and like, family friends that I'd known for years and, you know, they didn't speak my language, dude. Like, not where I was at in life. I wasn't speaking that language. They couldn't relate in any way, form or fashion, and I wasn't ready.
But coming from guys like me and Jelly that, you know, have been in shitty places in rough chapters of life, like, we know that conversation, we speak that language, and you know, that, that resonates a little different. You know what I Mean. And Joe Jamie from our label said it best. She was like, this song matters.
And, you know, we try all the time, but few and far between are the. The opportunities you have where you write one good enough that has the kind of potential to really change.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: Makes me think of one hell of an Amen. That's another song that matters.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like the greatest reward of being a songwriter and artist is having somebody come to you and say, hey, man, what you said earlier, I appreciate that. Because that's. Man, that's so you don't know what kind of fuel that is in the tank when people come up to you and tell you that you wrote something that changed their life or helped them.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: The whole Just As I Am record was like my soundtrack when I was going through it. I would listen to that on my way to meetings, bro.
[00:22:30] Speaker B: Like, and I wrote that in an ugly, ugly chapter. Life. Yeah, a lot of those songs, you know, those are. Those are the ones that, you know, there's another thing. It's like with the old label and we kind of got pigeonholed into the. The bad boy thing and the tough guy thing.
It's like, live that on a daily basis. I am who I am. I'm what you see is what you get, guys. I'm unapologetic about it. Like, not to say I wouldn't do things different if, you know, with some of the same situations in this chapter of life. But the songs that brought me to the table, man, yeah, we had Kicking in the Sticks and Rowdy, stuff like that. But the songs that really got me to the dance were songs about my heart and things that were more than
[00:23:16] Speaker A: Skin Deep, Picture on the Dashboard, bro.
[00:23:18] Speaker B: Love and Faith, man.
[00:23:20] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: And we got so far away from that. That was one of the things the, you know, after 15 years of being at the same label, coming over to BMG and Wheelhouse, you know, and them encouraging me to take creative control really gave me an opportunity to go back to what I fell in love with. You know what I mean? Because I can honestly say I don't think I've ever taken for granted the people around me that helped me build this. Right.
I can honestly say I've never taken for granted the people that have bought tickets and bought albums and have really provided the resources for us to build this and have the lifestyle I got and the ability to help my community and my country, like, never took that for granted.
But your reasons for doing it change, like, at a certain point when things turn mainstream, you know, I hated losing that Grassroots, organic thing. And I don't think it was something that we moved away from intentionally. It wasn't like, oh, things are different now, I'm on the radio, none of that shit.
It just your motivations become different. Like when it starts to become more of a job, you really, really gotta love what you do because, you know. And it turned into a thing, man, where it became completely a job. And my motivation was solely the guys that were around me that relied on me to put food on their table and solely the people that were coming to shows and paying for tickets and things that I did. I'm guilty as hell of getting in some writing room and going, man, I need to write something commercial. I need to write something marketable that can help these people and keep us on this track, bro.
That was.
A mistake in a big way. This gave me an opportunity to go back and like I said, we took Rules out of the writing room and going in and just writing what sounded good and felt good, if we had a line. It was like the F me up song never in a million years.
But why not?
Because, you know, did lead no Rules kind of did leave us with the opportunity to also release to two versions of this album completely. I've never had to do a completely separate album that's a full same songs but a completely different edit. Yeah, but I'm married with three kids and that's for mom's like my wife.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: You know, but we didn't want to lose authenticity. We didn't want to lose the honesty, man. Like I said earlier, like, I'm not the best vocalist on the planet and I know that it's kind of funny. I have people send me like the comment sections and shit. And honestly, I don't frequent social media much.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:12] Speaker B: But I do have people send me stuff and a lot of my buddies send me like the demean.
It was just so one of them the other day was like, dude sounds like. Or his. It was a video. He's saying one of. One of our new ones. And guy was like, this dude is a living breathing affliction shirt.
It's like, holy.
That's amazing. Yeah, like, you know, did it make me mad? Absolutely not. No. I was around when that was cool, bro.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: You used to wear those on stage.
Yeah.
[00:26:44] Speaker B: You know, like. But somebody got on the other day was like I was singing something and I was flat. But our show's not pre recorded. It's not 80 to 90% track.
[00:26:54] Speaker A: And you might not be the best vocalist, but you and your boys and I've gotten to see the show a bunch over the years, but four times this year, you and your guys are fucking entertainers, bro.
[00:27:05] Speaker B: I put that show against any show in the business, bro.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: You throwing in the Limp Bizkit cover.
You got your boy on guitar singing Linkin Park.
[00:27:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:27:15] Speaker A: Like you're up there with a bunch of metal heads and you're rocking out, man. It's an experience, whether a 45 or a 90, y' all are putting on an experience for the people that are present for it, bro.
[00:27:25] Speaker B: That's the goal. It's like, you know, after co, we teamed up with Five Figure Death Punch for that tour. Yeah.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: And it was because, like, you know, Ivan and I had a conversation. It was like, man, nothing against the. The folks we've toured with in the past, but people were still unsure about leaving the house. And to this day, to me, that, like, touring took a major past, you know, changing direction.
You know, if we showed up with. With the same old format of bringing upand comers in the same genre out and those are shows. Right.
The thing with Five Finger was an experience.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:03] Speaker B: And we wanted to build an experience and it worked. So much so that Nickelback the next year was like, let's go.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: I was at some. I went to. I went to some of those shows and I'm good buddies with Josh Ross. He's an up and comer that. He's an up and comer that I've known since he was playing writers rounds. When he first moved here, we were hosting.
[00:28:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: Old Junior and. And, yeah, man. I mean, and there's so much of that crossover where it's like, you've always been more that country rock guy. And Jason's always had that country rock in him too. And now it's like the worlds can live together 100%.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: And they should, in my opinion. You know, these people that say that's not country, that's just that who has a PhD on what is an in country. Yeah, that's an opinion. I have a. You know, as I spout an opinion, it's. It's an opinion. And regardless how popular opinion is, the truth of the matter is, bro, I grew up working on and playing on farms. Like, I'm a small town kid. I don't write about things that I don't understand or that I hadn't experienced or been through or been right beside somebody as they go through it.
[00:29:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:05] Speaker B: So, like, you can't take country away from me. No, you ain't saying it. You can't say a country dude. You know, that's the only life I've ever known.
And so when I write something. Yeah. Do we get outside of the box? Absolutely. On purpose. As long as there's a box, it is country music. I know where we belong.
[00:29:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:25] Speaker B: You know what I mean? That's it. You don't have to worry about forgetting who we are or not. We know we belong on this side of the box, Close enough to touch it for radio, hopefully. But, you know, if you look traditionally with us and historically, like, radio has not been our strongest. No.
[00:29:40] Speaker A: You all sell tickets. You have. And I want to ask about is, like, I said, I'm paid. I've been a paid fan club member. Like, I have multiple of those big barn flags from back in the day, man. The BG Nation, bro. Where did that idea come from? And just talk about how big it's been to have a fan base. Like, I equate it to the church choir. And I remember when you were on the. The whole. The tour with Eric back in the day, and, like, building that base of the BG Nation, where it is countrywide.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: No, bro, it's nuts. It's international.
[00:30:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: It's just crazy. My goal in the music business was to sell out that shirt you got on. Yep. And that came from Corey Smith, because Corey was like, I remember being on the road with him, and I think we were going to be Jacksonville or Valdosta or Statesburg or Tipton or something.
And I remember him saying, man, if I show up to Georgia Theater, like, I'm gonna quit my teaching job and do this full time. And I was like, huh?
Like, in my head, you had to move to Nashville and sell your soul and do all this stuff and have somebody tell you how to dress to succeed in the music business. I didn't know that was a thing.
You know what I mean? And him saying he was going to do it different, I respected it, but I was not. I doubted him. Just in the back of my mind, what's that look like?
[00:30:56] Speaker A: No one had done that.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: Yeah. What does that look like?
And when he did, he. He quit his teaching job, went full time. And the dude's done really well for himself. I'm talking about, bro, for decades, this dude's still able to play shows and fill rooms.
[00:31:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:11] Speaker B: He built something undeniable, you know, from the ground up, you know? And so I took a page from his book, was like, all right, now I got a goal. We'll sell out the Georgia Georgia theater, you know, and that Was kind of a pipe dream then at that age.
And when we did it, it was super young because he took a shot, took a chance on me at an early age. Gave me an opportunity to do that young. And it was like, all right, what do we do next? So I've never been much of a smell the Roses type dude, because it's. Just keep it moving.
My whole organization's that way. It's somewhere between a motorcycle club and a ball team.
But, yeah, it's like somebody asked me the other day I had on my bucket list, and I was like, hold on, man. I'm not old. I've been doing this for a minute.
What the is the bucket list stuff about?
But I told him if I had a bucket list, I would have checked everything.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, you got to. You got to release live songs from Red Rocks, bro. Like, you've gotten to do that coming up on the road with Corey. You would have never even thought was an option.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: No. Hell no, dude. I'm tour. Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Eric Church, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney.
Done. Songs of Vince Gill, Blake Shelton, Justin Moore, Colt Ford, Aldean.
[00:32:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:31] Speaker B: Like Hardy, the list goes on and on. Allison Krause, Jamie Johnson. I mean, bro.
[00:32:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Get the fuck out of here. No. If you'd have told me, if you'd have told that drunk little kid back then that that was gonna happen, he'd have fought you for it.
[00:32:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:46] Speaker B: Don't feel my head full of crap that ain't gonna happen.
Said, man, we've been blessed way beyond deserving. And it never made sense to me. And what does make sense is it, man, God was blessing the people around me. Yeah. And the people at home and the people that, you know, in this chapter of life that I'm in now can benefit from this thing that we spent all these years building.
[00:33:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:11] Speaker B: You know what I'm saying?
It wasn't blessing the ignorant little drunk kid.
He was blessing everybody around him. And, you know, it's, you know, never be able to express gratitude or thanks to, you know, those guys that have been around me from the jump. The day ones. Right. Like, that's crazy. We talked earlier about how loyalty doesn't exist in. In that capacity anymore. These dudes got it.
[00:33:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:37] Speaker B: You know what I mean? That's like. That's club shit. Like. Yeah. Real loyalty in.
You know, but if you walk that back, it's like you talk about at BG Nation. These are people.
And there's research that we can do now that gives you, like, really Intimate information on people that are attending shows. Right.
So much so that you can eventually figure out what average take home is in some of the people that are coming to your shows. Yeah.
And a lot of these families are 50 to 60 combined.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:10] Speaker B: Not per person.
And it's like those people have been spending money on tickets and albums and fan club stuff, and it's like.
And how do you thank those people?
You know what I mean? At the end of the day, if that's not there, none of this ever happens.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: So it's like, it's a perfect storm of things. It's, you know, you can be talented and have the it thing and the stars not align. It's like, I don't know that I had the it thing. I just had incredible people around me that were freaking unstoppable. Dude, we sunk the boats.
[00:34:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:44] Speaker B: It's like there's a thing he talks about when you're most likely to set the foundation for generational success. You know what the age gap is? What is it you would think, you know, 35 to 40, like when you're established and responsible. Not it at all. It's 20. 20. 20 to 25.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: They say it's because you're. You're more likely to take chances.
And, dude, I don't even know that we took a chance. We just went.
It was like. You hear guys talk about, like, sink the boats. We did that without knowing.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: You know what I mean? It was like my parents wanted me to go to college, and I was like, I'll go, but I'm not really going to go. You know what I mean? Like, I went to Milledville because I hadn't broke into that market yet.
It was one that. So a buddy of mine from high school went, and I was like, tag along with him and see if I can kind of grow that market a little bit. And came back, went to college at Gainesville for maybe a couple classes and was like, I can't do it. Like, yeah, this is where my heart's at. I feel like I'm caught. And I did feel like I was called to do it. Right. And very few and far between are the things in life that I've felt called, like, truly called to do. Like, grander purpose type stuff. Almost like where if I would have fought against it, he'd have drugged me there anyway.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:00] Speaker B: And. And BG Nation's part of that, dude. Like, there's. There's moments you look back on. It's like when awesome things happen and we Play shows. And, man, we all celebrated together every number one we've ever had, every big show we've ever had, every award. Awards, man.
Really my thing.
[00:36:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:21] Speaker B: But when we have received those, man, it's been like.
It's not really. It's not much of more. More than a personal pride.
It's not a bad thing. You don't hate people for giving you something like that, kind of giving you your roses or whatever. But I was so stoked for the people around me, and it was like, man, I hope they feel this too.
[00:36:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:43] Speaker B: Because they really are, like, the fuel behind it. And the fact that it went overseas and there's people in other countries. Yeah. That are. That are on board with it, man, is. Is.
It's a little more flattering. It's humbling.
[00:36:57] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. And someone else that I've had sitting in this chair, and I gotta ask you about him and your friendship is Colt Ford.
When Colt was on this episode, he talked about the night that he had his. His heart attack and that you were there for him and what a. What a brother you are to him. So just talk about how important a guy like Colt Ford has been and having that brotherhood of. From the beginning, you two sinking these ships together.
[00:37:22] Speaker B: 100%, bro. We pounded that. Dude's a road warrior. And, you know, the thing with Cole, I get defensive quick because I don't feel like he gets his roses for what he did.
[00:37:36] Speaker A: None of this genre blunt, none of this stuff would be here if it weren't for Colton.
It wouldn't be.
[00:37:42] Speaker B: You know, we talk about who was the first to do it, and, I mean, there can be an argument that the devil went down to Georgia. My Charlie Daniels was like, rap type stuff. Yeah. She was talking fast, and it was rhyming.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: You know, a little different, but an argument can be made there. You know, the cowboy choice stuff. I ain't gonna take roses from that guy. Yeah, but Bubba Sparks and Colt, that was different. That was. That was not tiptoeing into the door. That was kicking the joker open, being like, hey, I'm gonna do this. And Bubba, it was with a couple songs with Cole, it was like, hey, this is who I am, and here I come. I remember one of the first times I was around him before we knew each other well, he was sitting at a table with a bunch of execs from Nashville.
And this is when I realized how.
How passionate he was about what he was doing. He was telling that table full of people that are, you know, had a lot of Leverage in this business.
I'm just telling y' all it's happening. You can get on board now. I'd love to have you, but you either gonna be a part of it, or you gonna miss out and truly believe that with his whole heart. And, man, the sad part of that story is, you know, I don't know that anybody's ever called Colt and asked for a favor that he didn't make happen.
[00:39:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:03] Speaker B: You know, everybody and their brother will call Colt. Hey, I'm at this golf course, man, and you think you can get me into it? Colt's one of the greatest networking artists of our time.
[00:39:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: Not just in golf, in things across the board. That dude knows how to work with brands. He knows how to make connections, and that's because he is a good soul. Yeah, but he's had to sell himself, too. You know what I'm saying? Not to the devil, sell his soul, but he's had to sell himself as an artist.
You know, he didn't have resources that some of us had when things went up a step. And when it came to radio, when it came to a lot of bigger tours, dude, I've seen that dude be told no a million times.
And it's hard as somebody that deeply cares about somebody else to never hear him say no and be told no so many times. It was ridiculous. And there's some.
I got some resent towards some people over that.
I watched him work circles around people that things happened for.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:12] Speaker B: That didn't return the favor.
[00:40:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And he brought so many people up with him, bro.
[00:40:17] Speaker B: He. This dude. I'm not gonna say who this was, but at one point, there was.
There was a.
An artist or artist that he gave a shot when they were coming up. Used to buy them hotel rooms, like, literally, because they didn't have resources for it. Kept them sleeping. From sleeping in the van. He'd get them hotel rooms, or he'd, you know, bring them in the catering, or he, you know, pay for their dinner, pay for this, that, and the other. Made sure they. They were taken care of.
And we were on a festival show, you know, that this particular artist or artists were doing really well, blowing up. And we were all on the same show. I was sitting on the bus with him, and he sent a message, and it said, hey, man, Colt here. What you up to? And the message back was, you need C H U N E E D. Yeah. It took everything I had, dude, not to walk off my bus and go drag that bitch off of his. By his collar.
[00:41:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: And Be like, dude, you. You have a debt of service to him.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:29] Speaker B: You know what I mean?
Colt would never hold anybody or say that anybody owes him anything.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: But you do. You are going to show him respect. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, if so, if I've ever been around and things like that have happened, like, that's my brother. Like, I'm protective over him.
[00:41:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: I do have to say, my blood brother gets a little butt hurt when I call people my brother. I only got one blood brother. Yeah, but Cole's family, dude, like, 110% said, yeah. The night that all that happened, man, is a sore spot. I don't really like thinking about it because that was, man. I mean, this dude that I've watched struggle and go through all this and battle his ass off just can't seem. And right now it's touch and go. Him, I just do. Still working his ass.
[00:42:15] Speaker A: We were just that rock the country with him in South Dakota, man.
[00:42:18] Speaker B: And it's to a point where, I mean, damn, he's getting.
He's always used to being told no, but, man, damn, can I find a yes. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, and had some frustration with radio through the years. I will say. There's a station in Atlanta.
His dad, and this was right before his dad died, had never heard him on the radio.
And he was in town and I called the station, and, bro, they didn't think twice.
I just told him kind of what the situation was. And I was like, man, pull 10 spins of mine. Freaking don't play me for a year. Tell me what I owe you. Yeah, please. You spin one of his own. So and I got to call him and tell him and his dad and mom to make sure they were around the radio. And they got to hear him on the radio.
[00:43:11] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:43:12] Speaker B: But it was like, that's what it took to get a spin.
[00:43:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:14] Speaker B: On radio, it's been. So that's. That's. That's been in my career. I can say that's been one of the hardest things to watch in this business, because I.
He gave everything he had.
[00:43:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:26] Speaker B: When there's dudes around, we came from, like, Aldine gives him his roses. You know, I mean, look, Brian super cool with him, like, you know, and that warms my heart because those are those that we looked up to. Yeah. You know what I mean? So for them to be cool, that's wild. And then for Aldean to cut songs like that, like Aldine, to this day, no Way. No chance in hell he knows what kind of difference that made in, like, in life for you know what I'm saying? Like, that was. That was a big song for this genre that kicked open doors.
[00:44:00] Speaker A: It did.
[00:44:01] Speaker B: Just made things different, I think, for the better. There's a lot of people that would probably argue that point, but, bro, just that. That nod to Colt, man, and to me, of course. Obviously, I'm deeply, personally appreciative, but him doing that for Colt, dude, and changing both our lives like that. And that was a yes for Colt, and those were few and far between for him. Freaking huge. And I don't think Aldean will ever know how much that meant to us, and you know, how much it meant to Colt.
But, yeah, dude, I'm in the process right now trying to talk him into moving on, trying to move close to us just because, man, he's good. My kids see him and they're stoked to see him.
[00:44:47] Speaker A: Yeah, he's uncle. His uncle Colt.
[00:44:48] Speaker B: Yeah, man. So, yeah, that happened.
You know, whether he was in a hospital, where he's in an alley, in a bar, if that dude's facing adversity of any way, shape, or form, I'm gonna be there. Yeah.
[00:45:03] Speaker A: That's that loyalty you talk about. That's the loyalty he's shown to you over the years.
[00:45:07] Speaker B: And the loyalty, that's. That's why.
[00:45:10] Speaker A: That's brotherhood.
[00:45:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:11] Speaker A: That's what it's all about, man. And being a part of that Georgia brotherhood, too, man. I mean, you talked about Corey Smith. You were talking about Jason and Luke and Colton yourself. And it's like that era was so big for the guys that are coming up right now. Like, I think of, like, Gavin Adcock coming up right now. He's a local just outside of Athens. Kid like yourself, man, and just the being from that area, and he was a kid, he played it. Played football at Georgia Southern, you know, he's a Statesboro. Statesboro kid. Like, what's it like? You talk about how you're like, one of the. The OGs or one of the old heads now, seeing these kids coming up, like, does it excite you?
[00:45:48] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. And, you know, it's. It's awesome to see who gives them that shot, right? Because I have a deep appreciation for, like, Corey and how Dean, those guys, that kind of paid road to me, you know, every now and then, one of them guys will come up and be like, dude, like, if it wouldn't been for this song, like, I grew up banging your stuff.
[00:46:08] Speaker A: Austin snell. Has to be one of those kids, too. I know. You and Austin have become boys, man. I love that kid, dude.
[00:46:14] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm so stoked for him and his. His.
Well, I don't.
I don't know if. I don't know if it's common knowledge or not, but the.
The. The lady in his life.
[00:46:26] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:46:26] Speaker B: They're amazing.
[00:46:28] Speaker A: It's common. It's common knowledge. Okay.
[00:46:31] Speaker B: All right. So, yeah.
[00:46:32] Speaker A: Ali's a sweetheart.
[00:46:34] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Dude. I love them both dearly. And. And, man, seeing that dude make a pretty wild transit, you know, transformation from first time we saw him, he showed up and cowboy hats and a boot, boots, looking like everybody else in Nashville to going, you know, another direction, scooping back here and. And watching him kind of find his place. Yeah. And it was like, man, dude just went directly to who he was, and he's rocking that, and you. You cannot not respect that.
[00:47:04] Speaker A: Yeah. So I want to get back to this record. I know we've gone all over the map. This has been freaking awesome.
No, I love it. Hey, you wouldn't believe. Sometimes I get guests on here, and it's like pulling teeth. It's like I'm a damn dentist trying to get him to talk, man. What do you hope people get from Sins of the Father? Like, what do you hope the. That folks feel when they're listening to this collection of songs?
[00:47:27] Speaker B: Like what you said when I walked in. Like, you come up on Prodigal Son and talk about being invested for years. Like, I hope it's a soundtrack for people like you, you know? Do I hope it reaches a new demographic? Absolutely. I'm a businessman.
Yeah. And I want to keep doing this until I die. I don't know how to do anything else. Last year is supposed to be my year to slow down.
It came around the time that we needed to make that decision, you know, with our booking agency.
I was like, all right, so what's slowing down look like? And I was like, yeah, just throw it out. Fuck that. We're not doing it. I can't do it. I'll lose my mind. Like, Covid almost killed me. For real. Not the disease. The staying at home.
[00:48:09] Speaker A: Yeah, the staying at home part of my part. When you were running and gunning as much as. Because you guys are road warriors and you've built that culture within your business
[00:48:16] Speaker B: and your brand and in my life.
[00:48:19] Speaker A: I feel like we finally got the follow up to read me my rights.
[00:48:21] Speaker B: Let's go.
Yeah.
[00:48:24] Speaker A: Copperheads. Take me through that song because that is one where I'm like, man, I can't wait to see this at a live show.
[00:48:29] Speaker B: Oh, it's nasty. So what's crazy was pretty funny about it, too. It's all about different chapters of life. So Josh Phillips. No. Got sober.
[00:48:37] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:48:38] Speaker B: You know, calls me and I think me and Amber were watching an episode of Landman. He was laying in bed with his wife. They were watching the show, and he hit me. And he was like, hey, man, I had an idea. Just want to see what you think about it. Like, Copperheads. And I was like, dude, I love the title. You know, what are you thinking? He started walking me through the premise of it, and I was like, all right. Next thing I know, bro, we're full blown. Both shows are on pause to the point where wife's kicked us out. And then we just ended up writing it that night. Back and forth on the cell phone and that. I don't do that often.
[00:49:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:11] Speaker B: You know, I like being in the room from ground up and going, but, bro, that. That song. And right in the middle of the process of making an album, too, it booted another one off. It was like, when we finished, sent the demo to me and I was like, yeah, that's going on now.
[00:49:28] Speaker A: Yeah. 110.
[00:49:29] Speaker B: So, yeah, it's.
There's one of those. That's one of the only times we peek into one of the things that I'm passionate about. It's. It's, you know, pretty divisive, I guess, in ways. And you know what's sad as people turn it into a political thing.
[00:49:46] Speaker A: Yeah. It's not.
[00:49:47] Speaker B: Not. No, bro.
There was a guy was doing a. An article one time called Country Music and Guns, and before we start, basically said they were. Anyway, long story short, like, I tried to get him on the level before the show started. Like, dude, what's your favorite country song? I don't listen to country music.
All right. Have you ever shot a gun? I've never seen one in real life.
Then why are you writing an article called.
[00:50:14] Speaker A: Why are you talking about stuff you know nothing about?
[00:50:16] Speaker B: I would never do that. I would never go into a song that I know all about. I wouldn't do it.
But you know what I tried to push through to him is like, dude, this is. This is a.
This is more cultural than you understand.
[00:50:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:50:30] Speaker B: Like you. You are raised around them. I was raised at early age, bro. That shit was normalized to me. Yeah. But coming up, I was. You know, you're as much as you're taught how to work a gun, you're taught to never point it at something you don't want to destroy.
[00:50:47] Speaker A: Learn to respect it as much as you respect is probably the most important thing.
[00:50:52] Speaker B: And before anybody around me, you know, put a pistol in my hand, he's like, we know what those things are built for. Like, you need situational awareness. You need to understand the law. Like, one thing in gun culture that bothers me is when, you know, you see somebody walking around with it on their hip and they just want to be seen with a gun.
You know, bro, if you're one of those people that walks around, you know, and you're open, open carries a wild conversation. There's multiple sides of it. You know, there's people that are on the side of it. Normalizes concealed or because it normalizes carry. Right. Which I get.
I don't do that. I don't want you to know. Mine's on me. No, you know what I mean? I don't intend to pull it out.
[00:51:38] Speaker A: That's how my girlfriend is too. She's a big concealed carry.
[00:51:40] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Like, you don't need to know. I got it. I'm not trying to show off. I literally have this. So I'll go home.
You know what I mean? Like, that's the only reason any of this.
You're hunting with a pistol. You're making it a sport and you're putting effort into it.
[00:51:54] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:51:55] Speaker B: We're not hunting with this. No, those are. We know what they're for. So. Like one of my parents or my granddad or the, you know, the people around me that I look up to, like my biker dads, my pop and coot like, to all of us.
Unless you've put a bunch of rounds through that thing and you train situationally, you don't need it. You're more of a liability with that thing than you are to. To any asset or Than an asset to any situation that could occur. Right. Like, so do I care? Yes. But do I train? Absolutely.
[00:52:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:52:31] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Thousands of rounds a month through. Through guns and man, one of my favorite things is we had some.
It was kind of wild, but Ned. Some. A few different people giving us a little bit shit almost about, you know, that they felt like they'd seen a drop in our support from the military.
And I hadn't thought about it, but, you know, it never occurred to me that anybody could view it that way. But one of the things that I noticed and I developed relationships with some of the guys we've worked with through the years. One of them is Justin Patterson.
[00:53:06] Speaker A: Yep.
He was on the. He was on the red rocks. The red rocks? Yeah. You brought him out at red rocks? Yep.
[00:53:11] Speaker B: Purple heart, purple art. Justin Patterson. Dude, you know, he's got his stutter, got severe tbi.
[00:53:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:18] Speaker B: But an incredible dude. This dude has a servant's heart, and he's turned in to, like, a nonprofit guru. This dude is making major waves in areas that matter for veterans, and he's been a huge part of my passion for. For veterans and active duty guys and girls, as he's helped me understand more. I didn't serve. Knowing what I know now about the military, it'll always feel like a debt of service. Right. And you'll have these guys tell you, yeah, man, but you're doing things for us that we can't. Fair enough. Doesn't make any lesser.
[00:53:53] Speaker A: No.
[00:53:53] Speaker B: Feels like in here, it's. It's a debt of service. So, you know, anytime I started getting into relationships with these guys where I was close enough to them to ask them, like, hey, what really helps?
You know? And so when we're trying to raise awareness for something's one thing, but I was guilty of it without knowing it. I didn't do things for vets because it looked good. You know, there are a couple events that we were a part of trying to raise awareness, and you hear the term it's a good look. You know, I heard that, but I truthfully never viewed it like that. It was like, bro, these dudes are some of the baddest dudes on the planet. Like, you talk about childhood heroes.
[00:54:30] Speaker A: These guys and girls put their life on the line, and then their families are having to go through.
[00:54:34] Speaker B: Through that.
[00:54:34] Speaker A: Like, they deserve all the. They deserve a lot of praise, man.
[00:54:37] Speaker B: And the more you learn, the more you can't help. To me, but try to be involved. And what I've found through him is a lot of times we're more effective, and it's more beneficial for them, more therapeutic for them to go into their space and just shoot guns with them. Let them teach me how to do stuff. I get a lot out of that. Like, you teach me how to be better with a gun, smarter with a gun, more situationally aware with a gun, and teach me cool tricks that most people don't know, which is awesome. Tier 1 guys do some wild weapons, man. But it also, you know, you don't think about it this way, but there was one night we were playing a show for. For this guy that had a nonprofit, and I overheard. I was standing outside Smoking a cigarette. And I overheard a couple of guys talking, like, is this bracelet crap about. I was like, I don't mean to interrupt, but what is it? And he's like, bro, dude gave us, most of us to wear these, like light up bracelets to show people. That way when they identify vets and go, raise your hand, people know, like, buy us a drink or thank us for our service. And these two dudes did not go in the room the whole night. They're like, dude, I'll be honest with you. Like, loud noises and crowds, not really our thing. And then to have to wear that is.
[00:55:59] Speaker A: That's weird.
[00:56:00] Speaker B: It's not what we want. So, dude, you know, some of that was common sense, but that was another angle that hadn't really thought about. So to raise awareness and make noise with it's one thing, but to have a camera with you every time you show up is another, because, you know, that looks to them.
Like, Justin said the biggest difference between a lot of people he worked with and me is the heart of the Harley ride I met him on. So we're out on the road and at this chapter of my life, like, I ran with bikers on a daily basis. That's what I did. And I kept my bike behind my bus always. It wasn't just for that event.
There was a ride benefit ride Harley was doing for veterans and it was close to where we were playing a show. So I was like, hey, yeah, let's go check that shit out, you know.
So jumped on my bike and took off. Me and my road dog rode out. We just jumped in formation with these dudes and lunchtime came and we pulled by this little thing and they had lunch for everybody. We went up under this tree, like in the shade.
And while we were laying there, I kind of hit it off with this dude. We're just talking back and forth. I was asking what branch he in and, you know, this common conversation. Yeah. And he goes, man, you heard anything about this country singer dude that's supposed to be here? I was like, yeah, I think that's me, man. He was like, no way.
It's like. And he said that's what made it. He said that's what inspired him to give me the purple Heart, which I. Dude, I've got it in our doghouse, you know, all these things, metals and patches and memory bracelets and dog tags and had a closet full of. I didn't earn them. I didn't know what to do with them.
[00:57:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:45] Speaker B: So we shadow boxed them kind of in the bar, that's where everybody congregates and talks and I tell them the stories and you see guys come in there that served and they'll look and they'll find somebody. Damn, man. That was my unit. You know, it's been really cool, but that, that Purple Heart is still the center main attraction, that whole box.
Because that really, it wasn't the start of my passion for working with veterans, but that dude has been an incredible conduit to, you know, for us to be as effective as I feel like we've tried to be in that space. And for those guys and girls, that dude, he's an amazing human being. Like, if you get a chance, look that dude up on his socials. He is always into something. It's always with active duty guys and girls are veterans. Yeah. And he's like non stop. He's addicted to it. He's addicted to helping and it's just a. Just a good soul.
[00:58:40] Speaker A: Yeah. And then one last thing. I know you got a busy day, you're running around and stuff, talking about the. Taking care of the servicemen and women and building relationships with them. How important was Toby Keith to you? Because he to me was the guy I know. Colt calls him Big Dog Daddy. And like, Toby was one of the big guys with patriotism in country music and someone that you toured with and got to open shows with and have that brotherhood with. So talk about Big Dog Daddy one time, bro.
[00:59:10] Speaker B: In so many ways, not just there like Toby.
You know, one of the terms that I've learned over the years from working with X is spotlighter. Right. There are people that want to show up to support the military when the. When the lights are on and the cameras are running.
Toby was the opposite. Toby absolutely loved it. Like, and to me was the epitome of true support. Right. Like, this dude did things behind the scenes too, that were just next level and otherworldly, man. Not just on that level, but who that dude was, that what you see is what you get.
You know what he meant to the genre. Dude, I truly mean this. I say it on stage every night. And I mean it was my whole heart. That's a pair of boots and a hat to country music will never feel.
[00:59:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:59:57] Speaker B: There will never be another one of those that did it like that.
If somebody gets to where they aren't going to award shows and they're being almost abrasively, what you see is what you get.
They're mirroring Toby.
[01:00:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:00:14] Speaker B: He was the OG to me.
And I say that because having conversations with that dude on the phone for like an hour or two at a time. Sometimes he start telling stories.
Incredible storyteller. It made all the sense in the world why he was a good writer.
That's something a lot of people don't know either. Is he pinned a lot of those. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And he had this. That voice is. It made him bigger than life. But dude just walked in the room and he was the boss. Like, just had this thing.
[01:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:00:48] Speaker B: And I feel like part of that thing was his success in music, him being a successful man.
The other part of that thing was every now and then in life you come in contact with people that are so intentional and so secure and stubborn to an extent of who they are.
They just turn the room around. They own it when they walk in it without saying a word.
[01:01:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:01:17] Speaker B: And who's that guy?
And I do want to say this was Toby, my friend. Yes. There were a lot of people that were a lot closer to him than I was. I don't want to act like I was on the phone with him every day or something.
There's guys that he wrote with that spent a lot more time with him than I did. But I was blessed to have a friendship with him. And, man, I'm going to tell you, he inspired a lot of what we kind of modeled our business after on the road. There was a family out there. He had dudes out there that been with him for 20 years.
[01:01:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:01:50] Speaker B: You know, and they were good to my crew of my band. And that's a soft spot in my heart. But it, you know, man, at the end of the day, I think his manager not long ago said something that was pretty. Pretty wild to me. And I do talk to his wife on a regular basis and kind of check in with her and Trisha's awesome dude. Yeah.
And hearing her talk, you knew he was good to her. And that's a big deal for me. He was just an inspiration in a million ways.
I miss that dude.
But something his manager said we were talking about courtesy of the Red, White and Blue and having a conversation about it. It was like one of the things that made Toby special was we live in a days where everything's so politically charged that if you release something patriotic, you're damn near a right wing extremist. Yeah. You know what I mean?
[01:02:47] Speaker A: Messed up. It should not be that viewed that way at all.
[01:02:49] Speaker B: That wasn't Toby.
Toby released those songs.
Those weren't songs for the right.
I mean, those are American songs. That's the way he viewed it, that's the way he wrote them. Yeah. You know, and that was. That was. That was huge to me to hear him say that. It's like, you know it without knowing it. You know what I mean? But it was like that. That was a hell of a way to kind of define Toby was that dude was proud of his country.
You know what I mean? He's proud to. Proud to be an American and so proud of the people that served and kept it free. You know what I mean?
Pure intentions and showing support like that, not because it's financially or image beneficial.
That dude did it because he wanted to, because he needed to. You know what I'm saying? Like, that was a part of him, one of the things that made him tick. So, yeah, man, that. That dude still in my mind and in my heart, he would forever be bigger than life. Yeah.
[01:03:54] Speaker A: Amen to that, brother. Well, hey, I appreciate you so much, coming on here and hanging and appreciate your kindness on the road. Appreciate you.
[01:04:03] Speaker B: Yeah, bro.
[01:04:03] Speaker A: Shout out to Steve and Jorge.
[01:04:07] Speaker B: Jorge, Luis, Jorge, Louise.
[01:04:09] Speaker A: But, dudes, I don't know if I'm
[01:04:11] Speaker B: saying his last name right now, and I'm probably not, but when we put that post up the other day, we forgot to tag him in it, and he was like, man, thanks for the shout out, but next time you mind
[01:04:21] Speaker A: tagging me, we'll go back and tag him.
[01:04:24] Speaker B: Aaron's got his tag information.
[01:04:26] Speaker A: I'll get that taken care of there. But, brother, thank you for coming on here. Thank you for being an inspiration to me and so many. And congrats on this record being out, man.
[01:04:36] Speaker B: Thank you, bro.
[01:04:36] Speaker A: Since of the Father, I'm so excited for what this chapter is gonna bring and look forward to seeing you at Rock the South and seeing you up at Rock the Country in Michigan. And let's go now to hang out with you and Chuck Hollywood and the rest of the boys.
[01:04:50] Speaker B: Cheers, though.
[01:04:50] Speaker A: Cheers, man. Y' all be sure to go check out Sins of the Father. Go stream that it is out right now and get out to the Real American tour more.
We'll be out there at some of those shows. You should be out there as well. Check out Real American Zero as well. And for more on us, visit Raise Rowdy.com My man, BG. I'm Matt Brill. This has been outside the rally
[01:05:10] Speaker B: I ain't never been the kind for stay one place for too long I ain't never been the best at sin I love you to a girl I love Only got a couple tricks on my sleeve they usually just make them le so if you know me, if you really know me you know I'm just a two trick pony maybe the drink and the lack of money for show I'm just a two trick on it,
[01:05:45] Speaker A: yeah.
