E509 Luke Combs

A
Today's guest is an award winning country musician and songwriter. He's out of North Carolina and has gone on to become one of the biggest names in entertainment. He has a new album, fathers and sons, which is coming out just before Father's day, and I'm thankful to sit with him today. My new friend, mister Luke cone. Shine that light on me.

I'll sit and tell you my story.

That's galvanized, isn't it? Mm hmm. It is. Yeah. You can just.

B
You can really hear the nails go across it. That's how, you know, it's. It's got rivets inside of it, you know, make it sound so good. That's like redneck ASMr. You know, there's just some dude who woke up in his trailer, and he just.

A
He's trying to quietly eat the leftovers without his wife hearing him. Hold on. There is a guy, dude. And don't ask me how this comes across my feed, but it's like day 600 of me spraying dog medicine on my hands till I can strike a match off my knuckles. And I'm like, why do I care so much about this guy striking a match off his knuckles?

B
And at the end of every video, dude, it's him. And at the beginning, he'll go, now, there's a sensory nightmare at the end of this video, and it's him going, and it's like his sandpaper ass hands, like, going in the mic, dude. Dude, it's. It's worth it. Here it is, dude.

We've got it up. Here it is, dude. Oh, he got one on dog medicine on my hands. In order to make the scare, don't forget to, like, share. Wow.

A
He's good at it. The dog medicine, blowing lake champagne. I went to the doctor today and asked him about tough foot, dude. He's sand in the wood with his hands. Oh, wow.

B
My guy is for real. He's real. He's an instrument of the Lord, brother. Here's my question is, what's the end thing? Like, what happens at the end?

Like, halfway? Is there a two? Here it is, dude. Dog medicine. Oh, wow.

Now, what is the dog medicine? What do you think the real function of that medicine is? Here it is. Get some. Can we get some audio on this guy's hands?

A
Jack us in, brother. Jack us into some of this guy's hands. Oh, wow. So this is a gentleman. You can't see him at home, guys.

This is sort of a Ruben esque gentleman who is making his hands rougher. And then the sound is heinous. It really is. And he just rubs them together, dude. Yeah.

Dude. He will probably be the president in two terms. Here is. He's trying to strike a match, dude. And here he is striking a match on his knuckle.

B
Now he can strike a match on his feet, which is. Which is feet in and of itself.

It's wild. God. Yeah. We had a guy one night that came to a show, and he's like, hey, man, me and my cousin are. We love you.

A
And look at him. And he goes, he's missing 70% of his skull. Right? And the dude had a cool thing, though, where if he, like, put his finger in his mouth and went, then the other part of his head would kind of show up. Dude.

B
That happened. Yeah, dude. Oh, my. Pikeville, Kentucky. That is wild.

A
You don't need all your skull to party over there. That is wild. Dude. Dude. People are fascinating.

B
Dude. Oh, we had a guy. We used to have a really great, I don't wanna say homeless guy, but a guy who had. Who was just kind of. Hadn't been home probably in a decent amount of time.

Unhoused. Yeah. I would say unheard of. I think that's the right. Yeah, yeah.

A
And he could. Yeah. And he. But when he smiled, he had a couple of his teeth in his hand. I guess they'd fallen out or something.

And when he'd smile, he would still make the shape and he would show you the teeth. You know what I'm saying? Like, it was like. So he just had him. He just keeps.

B
That was kind of his party trick. Yeah. His help me out. Like, does he think he's, like, need money for veneers? Ooh.

A
I don't know. Now, that's the thing. Here's the teeth that I need just for proof I'm actually missing these teeth. Just check my work here.

Yeah. People are just interested. I mean, dude, even, like, the places you'll stay. Like, I stayed at a place the other night. Like, sometimes we'll stay at some pretty nice spots, and sometimes, you know, it's just a.

B
Like an outdoor. When the doors are on the outside. Yeah. You know that you've arrived at a certain level of establishment. Yeah, that's.

And there's nowhere to go but down from that. That's the top level of that. Yes. When there's doors inside, and then as. The doors get more and more open.

A
Yeah. I went to. We checked in one. It's. God, this had to be six years ago.

B
And we. Chuck, you know, we played a show somewhere. Columbia, South Carolina. And then we had a show in the outer Banks the next day. This is like van and trailer, no manager.

It's just me and the band. Like, I'm trying to check into the rooms and stuff. So we drove from Columbia. We're supposed to play a tailgate at Clemson the next morning. So we're trying to like, get that in, make an extra like $800, me and my guitar player, and then get in the vanity Player show.

So we drive from Columbia to Clemson a couple hours, you know, shows over at like eleven or twelve. Yeah. So then we get to the damn hotel. It's, you know, two in the morning, checking all the rooms. I get all the bang guys in the rooms and I.

It's one of these doors on the outside, and I go to my door. Doors open, dude. It's already open. It's already cracked a little bit. This door is already talking and the.

Lights are on in the room. And I'm like, man, this, this is probably good. So pop in that room, dude. And there must have, it looked like the cicadas came out of the room. Really?

It wasn't cicadas. It was every bug known to man. Yeah, because the doors are on the outside. It's been open for at, since checkout, which is at least 12 hours, dude, with all the lights in the room on. Go to the desk and I'm like, hey, I'm an easy guy.

A
I hate to complain, but I can't. Sleep in a room full of bugs. And they were like, ooh, we don't have any other rooms. That was the last. That's always true.

But there's nobody in the parking lot. No, there's nobody there. Well, it's more of a extended type. Oh, I see what you're saying. Stay, I would imagine.

Yeah. If they have a blender in there, that's extended stay. When there's anything to cook with, you've reached another level. Yeah, another level of hotel. Yes, some hotels.

There's one time I remember, I called down to the front desk, I was like, hey, do you guys have Internet? And the guy's like, let me check. And I'm like, let me see. Hold on, I haven't heard of that. I'll get back to you.

But then I hear him. He's actually clicking it up on the computer. He goes to Google. Do we have Internet? Google.

B
Search it just. Dude, one time we stopped in Lexington and I went in to check in and it was kind of during the pandemic, so people were kind of on their wits. End here and there. Sure, sure. And you'd see people wearing neck braces for no reason.

A
All type of stuff. Didn't know what was going on. Yeah. Assorted medical device. Yeah.

Yeah. It was very assorted medical. And this dude, I go in there, and it took him forever, bro, to just find out there's a room. And I was like, is there anything I can do to expedite this? And he's like, I'm sorry, sir.

And then he goes, you know, I used to be in a wheelchair. And I was like.

B
He used to be. Well, that's the thing. So he's not currently in it? No. And it wasn't like I was just out of a wheelchair.

A
Like, work with me here. You know, it was just like throwing something from the past. Yeah, I had a broken arm at one time. Yeah. It's not currently broken, but it was.

Yeah. Excuse me. Did he give you any kind of. So he's making an excuse for just you trying to hurry him up? There's no reason to hurry things here.

B
He's like, hey, man, give me a fucking break. Yeah, I used to be. I used to be in a wheelchair. I used to be in a wheelchair. I was like, I used to be in the fifth grade.

A
Like, we can't just really. Yeah, it doesn't really matter that you used to be. Yeah, and keep the chair. If you. If you still are in a wheel.

Like, if I notice, see, somebody will try my name. I'd be like, what? Can I. You know, I'm gonna work with you here. I'll even.

You know, I'll even take a ride with you or whatever. But, like, if there's somebody who's like, yeah, I used to be. Or, yeah. You know, but anyway, nice to see you, man. Yeah, we fired right into the dog medicine hands guy.

B
Fast dude. Dude. Yeah, that. Some of that, though, stay in different places. I mean, it's.

It's. It gets. It gets easier to. It's easier to rough it when you're younger, dude, for sure. Well, once you haven't not roughed it.

A
Right. Like, when. That's. When roughing it is the only experience, which was. That's what it was forever, dude.

B
I mean, in the van, you know, the 15 passenger van, it's like, oh. You had that long ball. Yeah. Because that's. But when we had back rows out and it's all the gear.

A
Oh, yeah. So it's less than 15 seats. Yeah, but there's, like, six guys in there. All these amps, guitars. Like, it was a mess, dude.

B
It was truly a mess. Yeah. I feel bad for some people now, though. Like, I think of, like, let's say you're a new artist and you. Let's say you have a song that blows up on the Internet or whatever, and then you're just thrust into, like, this really, like, official version of yourself, even if you're maybe not, like, ready for that.

A
Oh, I see what you're saying. Even if you just have one or two songs, like, you can have something blow up so hard online and that. You have to get a label and all this stuff and you. It's not that. That's sick, dude.

B
I'm glad that people have the capability to, like, to achieve that for themselves now. Cause that was something that wasn't really achievable up until, like, maybe seven or eight years ago. I think you miss so much of, like, all those good memories from, like, the road and, like, when I sucked and, like, playing bars and nobody's there. And all my, like, favorite stories, man, from, like, my music career. A lot of them are from that time.

A
Yeah. Like, from the, like, unofficial days. You know what I mean? Like, there's no, like, the. Like, an unofficial biography, dude.

B
You know what I mean? Like, it's. Those are the days, but I feel like people are missing that a little bit. Yeah. Like, if you just go right on the tour bus, dude, like, there's no.

There's no strife. Like, that's all, you know, it's a good point. It's kind of, like, catch one hit or one, like, melody that really, like, catches fire on social media, and then you can be opening up for someone. For sure, and then you go, that's your first experience being on the road is I'm in a bus and I play in arenas, which, dude, that would. Be super amazing, but still, it could set you up for some.

A
It's reality. What happens when. When you start way up here and not that that's all the way at the top, but if you kick past people that have been doing it for ten years, and then all of a sudden you're. Cause, like, in country, there's a lot of these, like, guitar pulls and stuff where you like. Like, let's say there's three or four of us up here.

B
We're all new artists. We're all playing for this radio station thing, whatever. It's like, let's say one of those guys makes it to the thing, right? Well, let me. So let me just paint an example of what could happen.

You're a new guy. Or gal. And you have a song that blows up, and that's sick, dude. I'm pumped for anybody that happens to, but all of a sudden, you're at the same level of, let's say, in. In the vacuum of this story.

The new artist that you're up there with is Chris Stapleton, right? And then you're sitting up there, you maybe have never met anybody you're playing with, and they're like, all right, man. This Chris guy's gonna go first, and then you'll play a song after him, dude. And he fires into just the most singing ass, guitar playing ass thing you've ever heard. That guy's played a thousand shows, dude.

And you're up there going, I gotta play after this. And I have to do it five more times in front of all these people, and he's gonna just blow the doors off. It's like you've entered your Honda civic that won a race in your neighborhood against the guy driving a NASCAR. It's like, it's so hard to compete against that. Yeah, dude.

A
Oh, no doubt. And your song has a dance that. Goes with it, and it's acoustic, so the version where the dance is cool is not even the one you get to play. Cause it's just you and, like, some guy that plays guitar you met at a coffee shop, you know? But do you think, though, it could be a sign of, like, the way that things will.

Will be? I remember when, like. Cause there started. I remember when vloggers came out, right? Yep.

And there were people vlogging. I don't even know what was going on. And people. And there was, like, people were trashing it. Yeah, people.

People would trash it, for sure. But you would. But those guys would sell out. The vloggers would sell out. Comedy clubs, like, around the country.

Like, people would come and they would do kind of Q and a with their fans, and. And so that kind of came out of nowhere. And then I just wonder, like, if the future is more, you know. Right. Like, instant success.

Right. And no judgment of it. No, it's the sign of the times, I think, just from, you know, maybe in 30 years or whatever, that's just, like you're saying that's the only way it happens. Right. That's what I'm wondering.

I wonder if things just evolve where that's the only way. But eventually, like, that thing will be monopolized by somebody. Like, somebody will figure that out. That's. It's probably already happening in some ways, either.

B
I don't know who the powers that be, whatever you want to call it. We'll figure out some way to make this thing. Okay. Here's the formula for how you do this, right? And how you break this.

They're probably already happening a lot, to be honest. And here's how we do. We got a new guy. He looks fucking really cool. So here's this cool song.

Then. Go sing this cool song. And that's cool. Yeah. And then they're like, great.

And that guy's already signed his deal. Yeah. Everybody thinks, you know, what's the thing that people with the conspiracy theories. Oh, that guy's an industry plant. Oh, yeah.

A
That's like. That's not. I don't think, dude. Like, I don't think that's a thing. Especially in, like, if you're, like, gonna look at, like, real country culture, like, industry, people would notice anybody that can button their shirt up correctly first time.

B
Yeah. They'd be like, this guy's gonna be something. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, dude, in our neighborhood. Yeah.

A
If somebody had gasoline, people like, look at this narc. They're like, look at this guy with his car. It's like, oh, you're working for the cops. That was the biggest thing when I was growing up, was always accusing people of being narcs, dude. Somebody would get a new pair of shoes and be like, yeah, Ronnie's a fucking narc.

B
Look at him. He's working with the man, dude. He's obviously an informant, dude. This guy.

But, though, man, it's definitely gonna be. But then it's like, where does it. I always wonder, where does it progress from there? Like, where do you, like, when that's the new thing. What's the next new thing?

They'll always be another, like, version of, like, what's the way to your path to, like, right. Achieving your music dreams or. Or your comedy dreams or whatever it may be. Like, the path is ever evolving. Yeah.

Like, I think really, the first. The first guy that in country music that used social media to his advantage was, like, Kane Brown and, like, probably me. Yeah. Like, the first guys that, like, came to Nashville, we had kind of our own fans going on. Like, the Internet helped us get fans, and then we came to town, it was like, well, these guys already got stuff going on, so I'm in no way, like, shaming anybody that does that, because I was the first.

A
Yeah. One of the first guys that, like. And I didn't even know I was doing it, dude. Like, I wasn't. Now people are probably smart enough to, like, they're doing that because they're smart.

B
I was just doing it because I was like, oh, well, this will kind of like. I was like, you know what I'm gonna do is get all these followers and sell them my songs. Like, there was never that. Well, you started on vine, right? You was at the social media platform.

A
Yeah, and that's the thing, too. It's like, you don't know where the next social media platform is gonna come, right? This is a crazy thing. And there's a lot of artists out there, like, man, maybe I don't find my way with this social media platform, but there could be one about to be invented that's going to be the. One that there's always something, because what does it start with?

B
It starts with MySpace, right? MySpace, Facebook, Instagram. Dude, remember they also had, like, friends to that. Some other weird things that. No, tick tock.

Wasn't it musical, kali? Musically, it was only where people would, like, lip sync to songs. That was the only thing I remember seeing it. I was like, man, this is a weird platform. And they rebranded, and it was the hugest thing ever.

A
Oh, wait, was that where people would do duets together? Yeah. No way. That was TikTok. That was the original version of Tick Tock was that thing.

I had, like, a secret account there, like a fence account or whatever, and I would go and do these duets with these japanese people. It's a lot of asian singers on there, and they would do. There was always duets. You could do it anytime of the day. Yeah.

With people from around the world. Yep, yep. I mean, that's invaluable. Yeah. Music.

B
Musical dot l y. Musical ly. Oh, that's a horrible name. So they mer. So they merge.

So Tick tock was another, I guess, its own company. Yeah. When you have a b flat or whatever that is in your word of your name day, that's. I'm out. Yeah.

Yeah. Not great marketing there, dude. You know? Oh, I didn't know. Yeah, that was.

Yep. Cuz I remember when it came, I was like, man, this is, like, brutal, dude. This is not gonna. Yeah, they figured something out, dude. For anybody who had the app already, musically, it just became tick tock.

A
Like, I remember it was an old app on my phone. He had it. He was ripping. Yes, you were ripping duets to pull up some of your duets.

Let's get those goals, let's be honest. Popcorn lung in there, dude. He's.

Well now. Is it hard to make more? Is it hard, like, once you've had. You've had. You've been real fortunate and had a great career.

B
Right. Gosh, the luckiest dude ever. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, like that.

No, I feel. I do. I feel that way, dude. Anybody who gets. Yeah, it's like, you get.

A
Obviously there's a lot of good fortune is going your way, but I've. Dude, I've thought this a million times. I thought before my last record come out, before the one before that came out, I'm like, dude, this is as, like, the best I'll ever be, dude. And, like, everything I do from here out, it's just gonna be bad. Yeah.

B
And it's like. I don't know why. Like, it's human nature to some extent, maybe. Yeah, that seems normal. Like.

Cause then, like, when I put my last record out and then the fast car thing happened, like, that was so unexpected. Like, it was not never in a million years that I think what will be the biggest song of your whole career definitely wouldn't have cover. A fast car would not been on the list. Yeah. Not because I didn't love that song, but, like, I really recorded it on kind of a whim because we had some extra time in the studio.

A
Yeah. And so sometimes those decisions can be the best decisions, you know? And. But I do think I'm like, man, well, you know, I mean, I'm sitting here right now, and I could tell you that today I've at some point, mulled over mine. What's.

B
What happens next for what's my next thing? And, gosh, like, nobody cares, dude. And if I don't do this thing, then nobody's gonna listen. And I was like, bro, I'm gonna be playing for 120,000 people this weekend, and I'm still going, well, nobody cares, dude. Nobody wants to do any see me or anything.

And it's just like, I have to remind myself all the time of, like, if I try to have this conversation with myself is if I had the thought processes that I go over with myself in my head now. If I had them. So if I had them with myself ten years ago, what would myself ten years ago say? Because this will be my 10th year in Nashville in September. I see.

And so I go, man, well, I. You know, nobody. Nobody cares. If I post this Instagram story and it only gets only 150,000 people liked it, which is insane. And it's insane thought process.

A
Oh, yeah. It's a lot of folks, but it's like. But you. That's what I think to myself today. And I base, like, well, did this post, did it do good?

And I'm like, and if you feel like it wasn't, then suddenly you're years. Ago, 150,000 people had never even heard of me before, ever, dude. And, like, never ever. So. And then again, I'm like, also, I got two little kids at home, and, like, my oldest son isn't even two yet.

Oh. So he definitely is probably still eating for free over there. Yeah. He's not pulling his weight off. It's brutal.

B
You know, guys gotta get to work. You know, they should. I love, I know there's a lot of play pins for children, but how about a work pen? We don't need a lot of work in there. Be, like, things that could be considered play.

A
Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, hit this nail into this thing, right? Some. Yes.

B
But how do we get, like, chainmail gloves on so that they don't hurt themselves? You know, like a chain mail mittens. For your child so you can have a game of thrones Halloween costume? Absolutely. Chain mail.

Chain mail children. Dude, dibs on that band. That's a chain mail children is sick, dude. Chain mail children. Good night.

Like, like, like, like post punk. Like, chainmail children. That's what I'm going to see tonight. Basement east. Chainmail children.

A
Dude, are they playing tonight? They're playing tonight. Chainmail children. Yeah. Damn, dude.

I heard about them. Where'd I hear about them? Come to the show. You heard about it on this past week. Oh, really?

B
And. Yeah. And myself. Is that it? Yeah.

A
I don't know if that was it. That was the first reference to their career. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. Yeah. I remember I went to, oh, Marilyn Manson was the first show that I ever went to.

What was that like? It was scary, dude. How old were you? I was 16. They played in a bar.

Oh, maybe I was 1515 or 16 around there. You say they like the band or. Yeah. Like, is there a band? Is it like.

Oh, is Marilyn Manson, is it just him? Like. No, it's. He has. So there's a band and stuff.

B
Like, I've never, like, I've never seen the show. Yeah, that's a good point. Is there a band? Yeah, like, you can't really think of, like, somebody being behind that guy with a trumpet. Like.

Like a march, like a drum line. Yeah. Who'd they have, that twiggy Ramirez. They don't know who's still in it. Oh, so this is like, there's a whole.

There's kind of a Persona to the band as well, then. Oh, yeah. The whole band was, I think, semi deceased or whatever is what they were going for. Semi deceased. Another great band, by the way.

We got a trademark, all these. Dude, semi deceased. Opening for chainmail kit. Chainmail children. Oh, that dude.

A
And there's mosh pit training. If you show up a half hour earlier, bro, that was the best safety. Training, how to stay safe at the mosh pit. Dude, my buddy used to referee mosh pits, and he would give him, like, $50 a night or something. Wait, so is there penalties?

B
Like, is there laundry on the field, dude? Like, is he, like, bb? But hold on, dude, you hit that guy. Improper, dude, improper. Is it like a bouncer situation?

A
Yeah, he's just like. He was the guy. That's like. But it wasn't like, don't hurt this guy. He was like, just don't call on the stage.

No, he was. Stay away from the stage. No, he was like, once the mosh pig got going, he would kind of cruise in and out of it. Kind of like keeping things cool, whistle, sometimes a little flashlight. It'd be sick to have a guy in there that's just like.

B
You get a couple, like, lesser known UFC guys, and you just kind of put him in the crowd, and you're like, dude, just wreck people in there. You know what I'm like? If some guy's out of hand, just. Just flatline this dude right in front of everybody. Everyone's like, man, we should chill a little bit, you know?

A
Yes. Just make you just become your own policeman. Yeah, this is it. Okay. That guy didn't like some of the other guys behavior.

B
So that guy was, in theory, what your friend was what I just said. Yep. You go in and just jaw a guy and make an example out of somebody. I love that dude. What a gig, dude, $50.

That seems underpaid, I think. Yeah, we probably. They might have been some fiscal discrepancies. You know, I've had some bad habits, and I've tried to kick them, and some. Sometimes I'll go a few weeks and I'm doing well, and sometimes I have a setback, you know?

A
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if you've never tried it, you will like it. What was I even gonna ask? I don't even know if I've even asked you anything. Fathers and sons, your new album is coming up. Yeah, right?

B
That's. It's wild. Yeah. It's like, you know, it's crazy to like. It's like, for the sake of what it is like, not having really talked about it at all, really.

A
Is it, when you put out a new album, does it. How tough is it to, like, because, like, you know what? Your fans, like, kind of are people that come to see you have a general idea for sure, and then, yeah, is it spooky to, like, try and change that but also evolve for yourself and then, like, who am I even becoming? Like, that sort of thing? Yeah, man, I think about that a lot.

B
You know, going back to when we were talking a little bit ago, like, what do you think about yourself or your career? What's next? And it's. I've always. I've always said this to myself was, like, I want to, like, grow up with my fan base.

Like, you know, somebody that listened to me, that's been a fan of me. Well, maybe it's been ten years, dude. I mean, I'm 34, so when I was 24, I just moved to Nashville. I did have some fans. Not a lot, but some.

And I meet people, like, dude, I was a fan. Been a fan since the vine days, dude. You know? Like, I still meet people that say that. And so if you were a fan of mine, then let's say you were.

Even if you were 18, so you were six years younger than me. Well, now you're. You're not 18 anymore. You're 28. You know, you could be 28.

You could be married with kids, whatever it is, like, you know, and there's a huge part of me that. That I worry, like, will I age myself out? Like, am I. Does anybody even want to hear songs about being a dad or whatever? And it's like, I hope so.

But, like, I also. I don't want to. You know, I felt like I could go get with, you know, I'm not the world's best writer, but I'm lucky to be friends with a lot of guys that are. I feel like. And so I could go get in a room with them and write, you know, something like, beard broke my heart, or, you know, when it rains, it pours.

Like, I could try to recreate that time and time again. And I sometimes I, like, I want to do that because I selfishly, I'm like, well, that would make me this or that would give me another big song or whatever, but it's like, I've just been, you know, like I said, I've got. I've got two boys that are under two years old, man. So, like, my life is dominated by the thoughts of, like, being there for them, and, like, you know, I want to be their dad. First.

A
Yeah. And so I had to, like, write this. I had to do this project because it's the only thing that's been on my mind. Like, when I go get in the writing room and someone's like, man, let's write something fun, dude. And this up tempo thing.

B
And it's like. It's hard to, like, get in that mindset because all the things I'm doing is, like, do, like, grilling dogs and, like. Yeah. Like playing in the kiddie pool, but it's hard to, like, get in that, like, the mindset of, like, you know. Yeah, you can't have tickle that, kiddo and have it be chainmail children.

That's one of their songs. And this is going to turn into fundraiser for kids who have been abused, maybe, but it's funny that you say some of that. Cause I sat one, one day, I was sitting with this guy that owns a management company for comedians. They probably the biggest management company, and he was saying, well, you want to grow up with your fan base because they're going to evolve. And if you just stay like this.

A
Not stay. But if you're kind of.

B
If you fail to evolve, then. Right. You're not going to. It can become stale. Yeah.

It's like. It just becomes. Okay, man. Well, I've, you know, I mean, if. Except for the one guy that's eating 10,000 big Macs or whatever it is, you can't eat at every meal, dude.

I mean, not that they're not good. Yeah, but you want a little something. Like, the menu's got to expand a little bit. Yeah. And not that you can't come back to the classics at some point.

A
Oh, yeah. My mother would always get a McFish. I remember McFish. And it always. Is that the pre filet of fish?

The second she ordered it, I was like, I don't even know her anymore. Mick Fish, dude. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, I didn't know they had it. She did it to kind of be.

B
Like, she was evolving with her fan base, dog. You know what I'm saying? Like, she's like. She was. We were learning.

Yeah, you're learning it. Flavor of the week, dude. He's a mcFish guy. You know what I mean? But she would, like, get us to be quiet and then she would order the McFish, and I would be like, nobody cares if we're loud while you order it.

A
It's not gonna make us any not poor. It's. The people at the window will think we have class. If you guys aren't screaming while we're at this big fish. You know what I mean?

That right there, Luke, that is exactly who my mother is. Exactly who she is. I've never been able to put it in you damn kid. Shut the hell up. Let me horse make this right now.

B
And it's like, yes, little Theodore will have a. He'll have a junior children's meal and I'll have. He's definitely not a shit ass who stole a bike last week for sure. And I'll have a mcFish. Like, that was the classy.

They're like, now is that wild caught or is it farm raised? I'll take blackened. The blackened mcFish. I'll have. Yeah, blackened.

Oh, it's wild caught, dude. It says, is it really no chance? Dude, that it's wild. Hold on. There is no chance.

A
Well, Luke, now give them their chance. Look, Luke, this is probably legitimate information. They have a jpeg with it. Our fish sandwich recipe features a crispy fish filet patty. That's the interest.

Filet patty is. Filet patty. Complete contradiction. Dude, right there. That's like saying, dude, this ribeye steak, that's now a hamburger, though.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was a ribeye steak at one point. Yeah. This filet McNugget is really up to no good. Yeah.

It says wild caught alaskan Pollock on melty american cheese and is topped with creamy McDonald's tartar sauce. Wow. Next guest for the show needs to be a guy that works on the McDonald's fishing vessel. Yes. How do like.

Because we need a little bit of the McCaptain. The MC skipper, dude.

Dude, we should get to the bottom of. Is it really fish? Like, can we find the guy that caught my filet fish? Is. He's out there, dude, he's out there.

B
He's in Alaska right now, dude. I don't know if he. Salty dog. Dude, that caught that mcFish. Dude is out there.

A
I believe that the guy's ever been to Alaska. Wild caught, dude. Wild caught, though. That's the part I'm not sure. I don't even know what we've talked about so far.

But it's about father and son. I know you have some new children, right? Yep. And I know your family moved here.

I remember hearing you talk before on Joe Rogan that your family had moved. My parents moved Nashville to town. Yeah. How's that been? It's been awesome.

B
I mean, it's been. It's been an adjustment for them, you know? I mean, we. You know, I. We.

Most of my life lived in Asheville? Yeah, Carolina. So it's fun. Orange peel. We played.

A
It's a great place. That whole town is just. And also the hillside. You could, like, just roll off of a building and end up in a damn different county, almost. And it's.

B
It's. But it was an adjustment period for. Especially my dad. You know what I mean? Like.

I mean, all his buddies live there. Yeah. You know, but it's. I remember a buddy of mine telling me, you know, I think it's just, you know, it's the. It's the, like, this whole dad's project is just all these different thought processes that happen with, you know, excuse me.

The way my dad sees things and the way that I see things now and the way I see things, maybe what was his perspective when he was doing this with me? Or, you know, what are my kids gonna think about me? Or how am I gonna be remembered by them? And I remember a friend of mine who wrote on this project with me. He was telling me it was his dad's 70th birthday recently, and he called his dad, and he was like, well, you know, old man, how's it feel?

You know? And he said, well, ain't no way around it, pal. This is the 9th inning. And I just remember being like, God, like, what a thought. Like, what I like.

And it was just like, I remember, like, ever. I've never forgot that quote. And because, you know, I think that a lot of the, you know, the struggles that, you know, my dad had come in here, or it was a combination of, like, okay, well, he's moving on from, you know, they lived in Asheville for 25 some years, dude. In the same house, like, raised me there, and. And all these memories that are left behind and friends that are left behind and everything that, you know, has changed.

And then also coming to terms with the fact that you yourself are aging and kind of like, maybe that fear of what's next or, you know, how long do you have? Like, I can't imagine what that process is like, but that quote stuck with me. Did your relationship with your dad change after you had boys? You have two boys. I have two boys, yeah.

And, yeah, man, it became, you know, I had a lot more. I had a lot more understanding and grace for, you know, decisions that. That he made or, you know, things that maybe I did that I didn't understand. Well, why is he upset about this thing? Or why would this make him upset?

Like, you know, and I've had friends in the last couple years that have lost their dads and watching them go through that, and it's just all. It's just this constant theme of, like, that's where we are in life. Like, we're at this weird, like, kind of turnover point where, like, people begin to lose their parents, and then you are you, like, soon you will be the oldest man in your family. Yeah. Which is a scary thought, even though I'm only 34, but, like, you're like, okay, well, if I'm 40, am I, like, I'm the oldest generation of maybe, man, that my children will know.

A
Yeah, it's a weird. It's a weird thought. You know, it's just like, it's a strange. Oh, yeah. Strange time, for sure, in a good way, but.

Right. Just. Yeah, there's so many little phases you go through. Like a. Like you.

You know, you could be a son, a brother, an uncle, a dad, grandpa. You know, there's all, like, these little roles and stuff that you have and. Yeah, getting older, like, almost all my friends have children except me. I was like, I gotta get some damn children. But you can't just be yelling that off your back porch, you know?

B
Yeah. So you gotta actually have a game plan, too, and get a spouse. That would be a good strategy. For sure. That'd be a good start.

For sure. You know, it'd be a good start. Good jumping off point, I think. You know? What were some of the songs I listened to?

A
Front door famous. That's awesome. Yeah, I love that one. Maybe that one made me really, like, feel something, you know? Yeah, I love the whole thing, man.

B
It turned out we could. You know, I cut the record live. So it was just like, we just cut it on the floor. Like me. Two different sessions.

One. One evening we cut five songs. The other evening we cut seven. And so when you say cut it live, like, what does that term? So, like, we would just like, well, let's say we're in a room like this, and it's almost set up like a show in the studio, and then they just hit record and play the whole thing down.

And, like, that's what you're hearing, you know, we did that twice for each song, and then they went, okay, well, this one's better than the other one. So that's the one we're using. It's just. There's no, like, when we normally make a record, you know, it's not. It's more of a timed.

So, like, I think you'd have to fact check me on this, but, like, I don't think, in some ways, that Stapleton gets the credit he deserves because he records all of his records like that. Wow. And it's so hard to do that, dude. Like, you have to be. The artist has to be so dialed in.

Obviously. The musicians are unbelievable anyways. Like those. Just one take. That's it.

Yeah. Or, and if you mess up, it's like, well, we got to do another take now. It's not like, right. There's no stopping and starting. There's no mixing and matching.

There's no mixing. And, man, it's all just top to bottom, like, you know? And I would do every record if I could. Like that. I enjoyed that process so much because, like, the stakes feel high, you know?

A
Right. Feels like it just means something. Like, hey, man, like, I gotta, like, bring something to this take, dude. Like, it's not another. Sing this line six times.

And then if you package it together, right. So it separates and a lot, dude. And I'm not. I mean, with the stapletons of the world, like, it separates the, you know, the. The strong from the weak.

B
Like, if every record had to be recorded like that, a lot of your favorite artists would not be recorded. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, it just. It takes such a level of talent, and I'm not saying that I have that.

I don't want to sound like that, but when you look at the world and other people that do that, and, I mean, the studio musicians deserve so much credit, dude. I mean, those guys are wicked, dude. I mean, it is unreal how good those guys are, man. Yeah. Such underappreciated part.

A
I never been a studio musician, but it looks insanely hard. And it's a lot of the best people in the world. Really? I would say, yeah, a lot of the best musicians in the world live in Nashville. I mean, without a doubt.

B
And not just country singers. We're talking bass players, guitar players, drummers. And it's like a lot of them are guys that, unless you live in that super niche community like, you've never heard of. Yeah, some of the best drummers in the world. You've never heard of them, but they play on every record that you've ever listened to.

A
I know. It's kind of wild, huh? It's really kind of wild. The limitedness that we usually know about, like, the people on stage a lot of times. Yeah, like, the behind the scenes guys, dude.

B
And even, like, my guys in my band, like, they're not even the guys playing on the record suit. What? Oh, cuz you use a different group. To session players are a whole different thing than the studio guys. Not that those guys couldn't be both if I chose to, but the most of the best session players are just session players.

I mean, they go, I'm into there, I'm talking. You would just blow your mind. Like your favorite drummers favorite drummer is. A session player, right? Your favorite bass player's favorite bass player is a session player.

Like, and those guys are just under thought of, like, if you go looked at the credits of any country album for the last ten years, like, who's playing fiddle or who's playing dobro, it's the same three, four cats. Any instrument. I mean, there's three, four guys of any instrument. That's like, that's the guy you call or that's the girl you call. There was probably year round doing it, huh?

Every day. They're doing it every day. God, I mean, God, we should have gotten into a different trade. Those guys are. They're.

They're wild, man. That's what I'm thinking about. So good, dude. Yes. Yeah, I guess being like a parent, it's like you get to see like where all your parents, like, just things that they didn't do or that they couldn't do.

A
It makes a lot more sense. Parents. Yeah. I mean, there's so many things where you go, you know, you think when you're a kid, right, or my mom or my dad did this thing and I would never do that, you know, I wouldn't ever do that to my kids or whatever. And you know, sometimes those things end up being like, yeah, man, I still would never do that.

B
And sometimes you go, oh, now I. Get why we had to do, why. They did that thing. It makes a lot of sense now. Like it to me, it unlocks this some.

At least for me it did, you know, it unlocks some part of your brain that's inaccessible in some ways. Like once the kid, that's happened, dude, it's this whole new level of like caring about something or loving something that's like, you know, it's not the same way you love your wife or your husband or whoever you love. It's a different kind of thing. And you were shocked. It was that new, huh?

Yes, dude, it was just like, you know, cuz you hear like a whole. New cord or something. Yeah, like all those cliches, dude. Yeah, about, well, you wait how fast it goes and you know. Yes.

You gonna find out like all that cheesy shit when it rains, right? It's all true, dude. Like all that stuff makes so much sense. Like, when and all they're cliches because they people. Same all the time.

Because they're true. Yeah. And it really is. It's really been a wild experience. The juxtaposition, too, is weird.

Like, because I'm on this tour right now, and, you know, people are like. And I. It's no fault to anybody, but they. A lot of people don't really know what touring is like, so they kind of assume, like, what it was. Yeah.

You never see your kids. You must be gone all the time. And I'm like, I'm home more days a week than I'm gone. Or the same amount. Right.

Like, I'm home like three and a half days a week. I'm gone like three and a half days a week. So that's more than most people that work 40 hours a day get to spend. It's a good point. At home with their kids, you know, so, like, I get to.

But it's such a weird juxtaposition to go from. You go out, let's say, fly to, you know, Phoenix or wherever, and you play two nights in the same stadium, dude, and the next day you're home, dude. And you're just dad, and there's nobody there. I mean, we live in a two bedroom, two bathroom house that's 2100 square foot. Yeah.

A
And the kids are, what, general admission? Yeah, they're ga. They don't. Yeah, well, there's no. They just get in free.

B
Kids eat free, dude. Oh, yeah. So they just come in and just take the place over. Dude, that would be the best tour you could have if you had a kid. But, dude, sponsored by Ryan's buffet.

A
Yeah. Or golden crowd. Either one. Oh, yeah. That would be the best.

And they should have a contest, too. What's the farthest somebody can hum a McNugget and another kid catch, like, a beer olympics? But it's buffet olympics, just a magnuget. There's something so american about seeing a McNugget go through the McNugget cannon. You could jam, like a hundred in a t shirt cannon and just blast McNuggets out into the crowd.

Dude, everybody's just catching them on. There'd be some good slow mo shots. It's like that kiss cam with a Macnugn. But, dude, that's how it's gonna get. I think if people.

If it gets so bad where people can't afford to eat or whatever, then they're gonna be like, the concerts will be events. Yes. Food will be how to get people to event. Got it. 100%, man.

That's the thing you're gonna need. Yep. Pay for the show, stay for the food. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Could you even imagine what a huge buffet would be like at a frickin in a stadium? Like, if it was every, like, the world's longest buffet, you know? Is it like, it just snakes through the whole floor? Where. Yeah, let's bring that up.

Where is the world's longest buffet? Okay, let's take bets. What do we think? I'm gonna guess probably in, like, a midwest. Somewhere in the midwest, I'm gonna guess.

B
I don't. I don't know, by the way. I really don't know. I'm gonna go with a little bit more of the orange midwest. I'm gonna say china, I think.

World's longest, so. World's longest. World's longest. Because they are. Buffet is longest or largest?

Is that different? Oh, it's a good question. Biggest Pennsylvania, dude. Wow. Not.

It's. Is it Midwest? I think it's upper Midwest. Feels very eastern Midwest. Really?

A
It's lower Dutch. I know. It's. In 1962, under maple trees, Mister and Miss Henry Martin sold produce along the road. That was the beginning of the shady maple farm market, according to Shady Maple, the largest buffet in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Shady maple. Smorgasbord. Smorgasbord. There used to be a smorgasbord in Hermitage when I lived out there. Do you remember that place it was called?

And what is it? It's just a place to eat as much as you can. It's. Yes. Well, I think.

B
I believe now this is big, big english language guy, big vocab guy here. But I believe a smorgasbord means there's a lot of different kinds of food in one place. Whoa. God, that sounds insane. You know what I mean?

A
It sounds like you're making stuff. Elite literary knowledge. Let's see. What is smorgasbord? Self service luncheon or supper.

B
Offering a large variety of foods and dishes. Oh, wow. From swedish smorgasbord. A buffet meal. Oh, it sounds great.

A
Yeah, that smorgasbord. So it's just swedish for buffet? Yes. The swedish version of buffet. Yeah.

Why do they make it sound so crazy? Yeah. Yeah. I feel like everything you want to eat is just. Even that word has all.

It seems like it has a lot of calories and just smorgasbord.

What was your first car, luke? Speaking of your car song, doing so great. My first car I got was he did a purple Subaru outback used. Why? A lady my mom worked at got a new car, and she gave my mom a deal on it.

B
And it. Dude, it was actually purple. They had purple. It was like a. It was a deep indigo.

It was a deep indigo. It was much older than these versions you're looking at. These are way newer. This is probably a 2000, maybe a 99. 2001, 2000 type model.

There we go. That's the one, dude. There she is. Ooh, that. I mean, that's about the exact car.

A
That's beautiful. Now, about three months after I got it totaled, it ended up. Dude. And it had. I'm talking about.

B
I didn't realize how nice it was because it had leather seats, heated seats, and I was like. But I was like, dude, I'm driving around this, like, mom wagon, dude. Wrecked it. And then my parents had got me a $500 Dodge neon that had been previously totaled. Dude, look up at 2000 Dodge neon.

Base level, no automatic windows, no automatic doors, carpet seats. Oh, my God. It's beautiful. Well. Oh, there she is, dude.

Probably that fourth picture on the top. It was probably about exactly what I was cruising. My mother got a Dodge neon, and we used to. Me and my brother used to go sleep in it at night. We'd go sit out there and sleep in it, and it was beautiful.

A
I would like to say that, but also. Yeah, it is crazy how they will sell you in this country. They will sell you a previously totaled has been destroyed. Somebody out there has my total purple outback right now. It's like selling somebody a dead friend or whatever, and they're like, yeah, but.

B
He'S like, he's all good now. You know what I mean? Like, now it's cool. But, dude, that's in the past, bro. Yeah.

A
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t h e o. Now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com theo. Dude, I don't know. I was talking, just maybe think of this.

B
But two of my best friends, dude, my, we play this game all the time, called are you garbage? Yeah. Have you heard of this? I think there's an actual game. You might need an Internet check.

Or it's like, are you trash? Or something like that. But there is no game. It's essentially just, hey, man. Like, if you're in a group of people, you go, hey, if you do, are you garbage?

There it is. Card game. So we've. We've played this, but now we have a list going on our phone that's like hundreds of items long, because we played the game so much that we ran out of stuff, right? And that said that tell people they are garbage.

A
Huh? So it's. Oh, Shane Gillis has played are you garbage? It looks like. So we have.

B
I was going to pop in this. All it is is really conversation starter. Yeah. Fodder. But all the ones we've come up with.

A
Yeah. Rattle off the years. Let's rat. So it's really just, it provokes a conversation amongst friends. Mm hmm.

B
Let's see, like, okay. Like, you take a tour of a factory. Mm hmm. Are you garbage? Oh.

Like, it's up. It's all just little things like that. Great question. Where you're like, if you let me. See a short set because.

Attempting to light a fart on fire. Oh, garbage. Yeah, if you're a woman. Yeah, yeah, I think. I think, yeah.

A
If you're a guy, you're in grain. Okay, let's see what else we got. You might be one of the Wright brothers. I have no idea. I don't want to stop your fire, but.

B
Oh, like. But, yeah, if you're a woman in your indoors, that's a, like having crackers. As, like, a topping. Like a, like a casserole trash. That's employee trash.

A
Yeah, dude, if you've ever crumbled up. A couple and that's, like, your topping on top of your. Your dish. Yeah, dude, if you have to. Also, if you use a lot of toppings, toppings are totally fixin's.

B
Fixins are a whole thing. Why is this stuff making me dial? But, yeah, if you have that much fixings, dude, just, we built. It's always, like, trash to, like, buying merch from a gas station. Like, if you buy, like, a clothing item from a gas station.

Oh, not ironically. Right? If you're like, yeah, what are they? Wonder what they got. You were like, man, I bet they got some nice, like, you ever hit a loves and I've never had.

A
For a spring collection, there's guy that's. Unironically thumbing through the shirts, and he's like, oh, yeah, these are kind of fire. You know? Like, he's thinking like, these are pretty fire shirts. God, some of these.

B
Oh, the trucking community, this. Yeah, a lot of the trucking community, they're like, oh, this shirt goes with that statue. And they'll always say that too. They always have, like, a lot of, like, it'll be like a dolphin, unicorn. Like, but single animal.

A
Merged animal. Like, merged animals. That'll be the section. It's like liger. Yeah, like that.

It's like, like the, like a centaur. Yep. Centaur. Tits and a horse body. Yep.

B
Another regard is using the. Like, using the. Like the bathtub or a sink at a hotel, like, as a cooler. So, like, putting ice in it. And then, like, fill instead, like, putting your drinks in the.

That receptacle. Because if you don't use a shower at all. That's the thing. That's even worse. Yeah, that's.

What are you. You're not showering in lieu of having. Yeah. Yeah. Just some cozy, cold drinks.

A
Cold. It's a very spring break feel. Yeah. To that. What did we do, dude?

We got. Well, my first car was 84 Ford Escort. And somebody had. I was beautiful. Well, pretty much semi beautiful, probably.

And. Yeah, some. And somebody had stole the passenger seat out of it. Right. Like, this happened while you owned it or when you got it.

B
It had already been thieved. When I got the vehicle, I had it for, like, three days. And somebody stole it. I think it was the guy. I think he didn't want to sell the whole car, so he.

He fenced it. He fenced the seat. Yeah. He came in and was like, you know what? I'm taking this back.

I didn't mean to sell you the whole car. I wanted that seat out of there, dude. Yeah. Forgot. Hey, I forgot.

A
My wife told me not to sell. Yes. Hey, we had our first kid on that seat. And she told me not. But that was a memento.

It was. It was an 84 Ford Escort, baby. And I got. God, I paid 600 large for that. What color was it?

B
Which one? Like what. What's the most accurate representation? Gray. They only had, I think, of the 84 hardtop.

Hardtop, dude. Dude, I love how this too clean 1984 Ford Escort, dude, I'm saying hard top. Like there was any other, like a drop top. Dude, you got some coin. Now go buy an 84 Escort and chop the top off of it.

Get a convertible top one, dude. No, I think it's supposed to have the top on it so you can get safely to school. That's what I did in it. But somebody stole my passenger seat. I had for three days.

A
So then the crazy part was you go pick a girl up and they get in the car in the back. But they had to get in the back through the front. Like it only had the front door. Yeah. Yeah.

B
So then again, just. Well, at least you'd have to flip the seat up. Yeah. So that part was actually nice. But then if somebody wanted to be right by you, that if this gets right on their knees.

Yeah. So they could just put that. It's, like, built in, like, lounger, though, kind of. That's true. They just want to sit in the back and chill for girls.

A
Like, a king vibe for girls that girls didn't like it. Yeah, probably could see that. Yeah, girls. Like, I don't know what's happening. Like, man, this car is, like, really trashy.

B
And you were like, no, it's cool. I love it. I love this. God, dude. And I.

A
And then one time, it got t boned outside of a. Outside of this, I think. I think place called isadores or something. Some little sandwich shop. Iggy's or something.

B
Smorgasbord, yes. Smorgasbord, fucking. Yes. Morgue sports. Fucking bird snacks, baby.

A
But, yeah, so. And I got t boned. And then after that, I was dating this cute girl, but every time I'd go to her house, I would try to hide the car to angle it with. Was so banged up now where, like, almost the angle she walked and get in, she wouldn't really be able to see all the damage. The damage.

B
My neon used to, when I would stop, the radiator would leak a little bit. So, like, if I wasn't driving, like, the radiator, like, there was a lit. It was like that, like, kind of that rubberized, like, top on the radiator tube there, and it had just the littlest crack in there. And me and my dad, we tried to fix it a million times, but it would get so hot that, like, no matter what you put over, it wouldn't stick. Like, all the best, like, loctite bond and all that stuff.

Like, the heat would get it, so it would, like, spit stuff out of it, and then that would get on, like, the engine block. And so anytime I would stop, it would just smoke just a little bit, dude. So I'm already, like, spending my last native. Really? I was spending my last $2 buying fish tacos at, you know, long John Silvers.

Anyways, I'm already embarrassed with myself. And then, like, they're like, if there was anybody that you would see and you're in the drive through waiting to get your $2 tacos, and your car is, like, smoking, and they're like, dude, maybe. And they look at you and you're 300 pounds, dude. And they're like, you probably shouldn't be getting these tacos, you know? Yeah, I guess.

Like, they're like, just fix the car, man. Like, just miss a couple tacos. Like, you're gonna be fine. Yeah, yeah. At a certain point, dude, you gotta look at the scale of justice.

Just. Do you need baja fish tacos. You don't. Dude, it's like the McFish do. You don't need it.

A
You know how when she ordered it, though, and you would see other people in the distance look over at us when she ordered, and I'd be so ashamed. I'd be like. But it was wild caught, though, so it's fine. Yeah. I don't know where they seem like they.

I would say, yeah, it seemed like outdoor caught some of it. It was kind of darker, some of. The fish, but out and caught in nature would be, like, a better caught in the wild. Caught out. Coerced.

It said on the side, like, wildly coerced. Yeah. I don't know if this is good fish or not. And did you take any good trips recently, man? You've been anywhere fun?

For vacation? For vacation? Gosh, dude, I hadn't been. We hadn't been on, like, a real vacation. And, like, me and the wife, I mean, we haven't gone on vacation.

B
I mean, we got two. We have had two kids back to back, dude. So we're like, do they sleep in y'all's room? Y'all's children? No, we have.

We just. The youngest one, he just left our room a month or two ago, so our boys share a room right now. Oh, that's fun, huh? So that it's. I mean, you know, if they were older, I think it'd be fun, but I think now they're just kind of like, how can I keep the other one awake?

Like, they don't really know what they're doing or why they're doing it. Yeah. One of them is always making noise, and the other one's, like, looking and, like, our ones, like, he can't even. Like, he's just now able to kind of, like, pull himself up. So he's, like, a fall risk just all the time.

A
Yeah. He's, like, in the crib, and he's, like, trying to look at the other one because he's rattling the blinds. Right. It's like, just. They're always doing something.

Seems like a band that's on drugs or. It's kind of. It kind of is some of the. Some of the stories. To think back on it, you know, some of our guys have probably done some similar things at times, dude.

B
You know? Oh, my God. But it's. We haven't gone. I mean, we.

Gosh, man. I mean, I've been. It feels like I've been all over the world in the last couple years, but, like, it's just going on a vacation. I know it's hard to find a spot and really get in and be like, all right, let's go do it. Yeah.

And it's like. It's weird, too. Cause, like, you know, vacation for me is, like, getting to be home. Like, that feels like vacation to me. Yeah.

But then, like, my wife is home a lot with the kids and stuff, so she does want to, like, make, like, get away and go somewhere and do something. And it's like, you know, finding that time where, you know, I don't feel like I'm traveling somewhere every week and going back and forth. Yeah. Stuff can burn you up, man. You know, it's just.

It's a wild. It's a wild thing, man. Right now, we're just in this weird balance because of the kids right now, because they're so small and there's nothing you can do. You have to take care of them every day, 100%. Like, I mean, that's.

A
Wow. That's the number one thing, dude. I mean, there is no, you know, the kids don't care about the state. They don't know anything. And do they rate you guys or anything?

Like, how do you know there's. There is a complaint box or. Yeah. Do you guys, like, get an email every week from there? Like, how do you know how you're doing?

B
You don't. They're alive. If they're still. If they're still alive and kicking, dude, at this point, you're doing pretty good job. But there's not.

There's not. There's not somebody that comes when they're, like, three years old and gives you, like, a performance review, just like, somebody should. It should. Well, you know, we were saying this. We had our first kid.

We walked out of the hospital, and I'm like, dude, we had this kid two days ago, and, bro, I gotta take a test to drive a car, dude. And they're. They'll just give you a human life. Like, all right. No, don't matter who you are.

A
Yeah. What your background is. There's no questions asked. Really, dude? Yeah, they're just like, hey, man, like, you'll be good, man.

B
Like, you people, your parents figured it out. Oh, yeah. You know, if you want a mixed kid, they'll just hand you one down there a lot of these places. All right. It's a wild west, dude.

A
The kids thing is, like, it's a wild west, man. It's that. It's like, there is no, I. You know, I read all the, like, wow. How to be a.

How to be a rodeo daddy or whatever. How to be 8 seconds with my son, right? Yeah. The wildest 818 years of your eight second life. You know, it's like.

But, yeah, parenting and fishing.

B
How. How parenting is like noodling, you know, it's like. Yeah, it's just stick and pray, baby. You know what I mean? It's a wild ride, man.

But the. The dad thing was. Was really fun to do, and that's just where my head's been recently. And. And do you start to think, like, hey, we got to get this third or fourth or fifth child out of the way now.

A
Or do you start to strategize it? Like, I mean, the deadlines for do feel looming, right? Like, if you want to have. You know, I mean, because every time you have a kids, like, it starts over. Like, the whole, like, okay, well, now it's like, when we don't have kids is 18 years from now.

B
Now, again, right? Again. We just restarted the clock restart. Like, going back to kids, like a loving jail with other night. You care about, like, the best jail ever.

Yeah, it's like. But it does. It's such jail ever. That's one of the songs on the. Chain mail children, dude.

Yeah. Best jail ever. Yeah. Work pen did. Yeah, they should have the best jail ever.

But I don't. And we think about, like, well, how, you know, then you think about, how close do I want the kids to be to each other, right? Like, how, you know, how does it work? What's tour look like next year? Is it gonna be extra busy or we have a light year?

Like, it's weird to think about that stuff because at the end of the day, you're talking about, like, potentially, like, a person, right. That will be like, a live doing. Like, I have an entire life, you know? And so, like, I don't know. I often wonder, you know, often I often not fantasize is the wrong word.

But, like, think about, you know, it just being a, like, being, like, my kids parents is like, I almost worry about them, like, finding out what I do in some ways. You mean dance at night? Yeah, like, we have, like, put on a nice vinyl, you know, dance and living. Wouldn't that be great, if that's what you meant? I just don't want him to know.

Then I dance. That's. Sometimes I'll occasionally dance classically train. Yeah. I'll dance for their mother in the evening sometimes.

Big boy ballerina in the evening. You know what I mean? Yeah, I guess I wonder how kids, you know. Cause it is so tough. You see so many kids that are somehow traumatized or face some sort of, like, their parents.

A
Just a byproduct of their parents being in the limelight, especially. Maybe. I don't know if. Especially in music, maybe not especially, but just in the limelight. Yeah, I think about it a lot, you know.

B
Cause I go, you know, I don't like. And it's. It's gonna sound weird. It's like you almost wish they could just not know in some ways and not because I don't want them to know. That's not what I'm getting at.

It's like I almost just want them to be like, naive to the whole thing for as long as it's humanly possible. Yeah, like, I want them to. Only thing they're worried about is like, riding bikes and playing trucks and, you know, riding around on the Polaris with mom and dad. Don't. But there gets to a point like, you know, as soon as, like, school is looming, like, you know, I've got some other artist buddies that have kids and they're like, well, you got to tell them or somebody else is going to tell them.

A
It's almost like telling your kids there's no Santa or something. Like, it's like the opposite of that. It's like the opposite of that. Like telling your kids there is a Luke combs, right? Yeah.

B
And it's like you. I don't want them to, like ever. I don't want my kids to ever think of me that way. Like, sure. I want them to be really.

A
Dad was good. Some of his early stuff I like better. I still love him. The last couple albums were just garbage. Yeah.

B
Once he had us, they just, you know, they just really stunk. Dude, imagine if that happened to a kid where their dads, their sales weren't as good after they had children and. They were like, we have the. Me and my buddies have the. The golf theory, dude.

A
Once you start playing golf sick, it's bad. No. Well, for sure, I think for me at least. But it's once like the great golfers, once they have kids, it gets harder to maintain, like, cuz the amount of like practice and stuff that they have to do. I mean, I don't.

B
I know next to nothing about being a professional golfer, by the way. This is just a guy who watches golf and like wishes that he could do. Yeah, golf. Yeah. I always pretend like something came up and my friends ask me to go play golf or something.

You're like, sorry, man, I got a. I gotta go do something. I gotta go vote. I'll even say that. Yeah.

And they're like, what? And you're like. You're like, yeah, they're voting for the comptroller. Yeah. City comptroller.

A
Wanna just practice him for the big, big game in November? I was having a practice Super bowl party tonight, so. Actually, can't. I wanted to make sure the Super bowl party would be good, but it's not. I have a run through.

Did you. Did you. Have you played the Super bowl yet? Mm mm. No.

B
There's a minute. Country artists in the Super bowl. Long time. Who was the last one? It was a.

It was a big medley of people. I believe it's Clint Black, Travis Tritz, Shania, Tanya Tucker. Wow. It was like a bunch of country artists that did, like, a big medley thing. I believe.

Now, there's been a bunch of artists that have done the anthem, right? But as for the halftime show, there hasn't been one since. You have to look it up. The mid nineties reba. Reba McIntyre is coming up.

The anthem, though. Oh, the anthem. The anthem. You mean, like the actual halftime show? Yeah.

It's been. It only happened one time. Only one time ever. Yep. Wow.

A
That seems unreal, huh? Starts Shania twain, Gwen Stefani and sting. Okay, so Shania was different than the. The other medley thing, right? So they had Shania twice.

B
Yeah. So twice ever. I would imagine that at some point, Taylor Swift has to do it. Oh, it's a good point, but I. Don'T know if that would still be considered.

Considered a country artist now. Yeah. It's kind of universal, like, to think. Like, a guy like, Garth's never done it. Like, George Straits never done it, you know, like so many of these guys.

A
Oh, yeah. I've watched Garth, you know. Have you gotten to spend much time at Garth ever? I have. Not a ton of time, but we've.

B
We've spoken many times. Like, I took my band out to see his. His show out in Vegas. I was out there, I was playing, like, a private event, and it didn't start to, like, 1130 or something, like, super late night. It was like a birthday party thing.

And so, you know, we got to Vegas, like, yeah, morning. So I'm like, what? What the hell do we do all day? So start looking stuff up. I'm like, oh, my gosh.

Gars playing and tonight is doing his show. Gotta see it. So I'm like. And the band, like, I told the band, I was like. I hit my manager up.

I was like, hit up Gars. Folks and see if we can maybe get some tickets and you know. So, man, yeah, he came in, dude, we got over there and dude, he came in and said hey to the band and like the man had no idea we were gonna meet him at all, cuz like some dude, my band guys are like in a couple of them from Oklahoma and stuff. Yeah, so I love him. They probably love him, do drawings of him and so.

Hundred percent they do. And. But he came in and talked. Everybody got us great seats. They let us come in like, because, you know, those shows, they're like no phones or whatever.

I think like a lot of the Vegas stuff, you can have your phone or something. Yeah, so. Cuz they don't want it. Yeah, I think they don't want anybody having their phone to like, see so they can't like record people sell it like streams, right? Vietnam.

A
Yeah, all kind of stuff. Yep. So they let us come in like right when the lights went down, they brought us in because like, I was like, hey, man, I want to come, but there's no, like, at those theaters, there's not really like suites or like backstage. Right. You don't want to take away from his attention.

B
I'm like, hey, man, I just want to like, come in, like, just sit this thing and like not, you know? Yeah, I know. It's weird. Like, I tell people, like, man, I don't really like being the center of attention as weird as that is, considering what I do. Yeah.

Makes me like really uncomfortable, like when people make like a big deal about me, like being at stuff. Oh, baby. Yeah. And I'm just like, oh, gosh, man. Like, I don't.

I don't really try not to think about myself that way. Yeah, well, it's interesting. Yeah. Cuz if you start thinking about yourself that way, I think it's almost better to try and purposely not think of yourself as. Sure, almost like, let me add in some things that'll be.

A
Seem a little bit more normal. You know, I got this cyber truck and that was been kind of a nightmare because it's fun to drive, but it's just too much attention, you know, I saw it and then I'll be hiding in it and I'm just. Do you like it though? Mmm. It's fun.

Yeah, but it's. It's quiet too. It's like pixelated, looks pixelated, you know? Yeah. It feels like you just travel, like you're literally.

It feels like you'll put, like you'll press a gas and you'll wake up in damn. August, dude, you just. Yeah, you're gone. And it's like, instant torque in those things. You were into the future.

B
You could go zero to 60 in, like, 2 seconds, and that thing just. In half a yawn, brother, you'd be over there. Get you there quick. I got electric polaris, dude, and it's the same thing. It cooks, huh?

Absolutely. Crushes. But it doesn't smell like gas, dude. My car used to have loose gas in it. I remember when I was in high school.

Yeah. My second vehicle was at first. Ford Jimmy or GMC Jimmy? Yeah, GMC Jimmy. Actually, I think it was a GMC Ford Jimmy.

A
It was. It was two cars mixed together. It was a merger. Yeah. Welded together vehicle.

It was previously. Yeah. Yeah. Previously totaled. You know.

Do you. Are there parts you that, like. Because once you get to a certain level of just being known, you can't. There's. You can never kind of go back to some of those.

Just like, it's weird. In life, sometimes it feels like you'll be able to go back and you can't. Right. You can't get back, like, just how. You felt at the time.

Sure. Sure. You know? Yeah, I guess that's just life. Do you ever feel like.

B
Like, I don't know much about the world of comedy other than just being a fan of it, but, like, is you ever get sometimes where you're like, man, you kind of, like, saw how the sausage was made a little bit, and you're just like, man, like, you saw behind the curtain. You know, I'm saying, like, you haven't heard. You've heard that. Seeing behind the curtain, seeing out of sausages, mate. You know what I mean?

You know, I'm saying, dude.

A
Do you. Mean, like, you've heard that. See, like, seeing how, like, movies and tv and music are made? Yes. Oh, 100.

B
Yes. Yes. You know, like, no one. If you saw them in hot dog, you probably.

A
If I saw the make hot dog, I would a call child protective services. But it's. I feel like sometimes the entertainment business can be that way. Oh, I agree. Where you're like, man, I.

B
You know, it just. It loses that. Like, it loses that thing, the magic. Right? Like the shine or the.

Yeah, whatever. Is like, you know, oh, there's something. Wonderful about sitting at home just thinking, like, man, what it would be like to be on this thing. Like, the voice or like a show, you know, like. But then you don't realize if you are on that, like, all this.

A
Just, like, you see all the. Behind the workings. Yeah. So it's still part of a dream, but it doesn't have the same look as if you're just like, just viewing it, you know? Yeah, you lose.

B
You just lose a little. Well, I just, like, I can't even like. And you're. You may be this way with, like, comedy and stuff, but I can't even, like, consume music the way I used to. Like, I'm constantly, like, looking, not critiquing it, but I'm looking through.

At it through a different lens, through. Business, more lens, different things. Yeah. I'm like, man, what? This is so good.

Because this thing and that before, it was just good. Yeah. Like the song was just good or the artist was just good. It wasn't like, well, this guy is really. He's playing this character or this girl is really great at this one vocal technique thing.

It's like you did any. Almost like when you don't know why it's good, it's better, you know. Yeah. And now sometimes I'm like, now I. Can you read the ingredients now, right?

And I'm like, oh, it's good. Cuz this thing happened or that thing happened or, you know. Yeah, things were says. Yeah, everything had a little bit more magic in it for you now what was going on. Yeah.

And it's. You'd love to be able to kind of get that, to be able to recapture that. Yeah. You know, and there's moments, I mean, you know, I mean, dude, it's still the best. I mean, we're still living our dream.

A
Yeah. You know, in almost every way possible. I am, you know, so I have zero complaints, really, about. About my life, dude. But it's just you.

B
You want. You kind of like, you can't help it evolve. You can't recapture that, right? Yeah, you just can't. You can never kind of go back to where you were that time that.

Like, the chase, like the. The being excited about being where you are now. Yeah. That's half the fun is like, trying to get there and trying to figure out how to get there and doing everything it takes to get there is like a lot of the enjoyment of the process. Yeah.

A
And. Yeah, they always say that, but you don't really realize it while it's going on. Yeah, for sure. And then all of a sudden you realize there's. You can't.

B
Which can't recapture it. You're like, dang. And I wish I would have bottled. That up somehow or done that more. Do you think though, like, do you look at.

A
Because you've gotten to have a great trajectory, just a great career. You just, you know, you've worked hard and you've also been fortunate, right? Yes, very much so. So how do. Does it get to be, like, well, what else is there to shoot for?

Kind of, like, does that kind of become a. And not, like, in a net, like a. Just curious, like, how do you find a motivation if you're. Do you feel like it could be a trap? Like, oh, I don't want to lose motivation here because things have gone so well.

B
Yeah, for sure, man. Because you, you know, you kind of get to this place where you're like, man, I feel like I've done, you know, a lot of the stuff that I feel like I can do almost like, as far as achievements go or whatever it may be. And, yeah, you think, you know, you have to do as much work or more work than you've ever done to stay in that place as to where before. If you're doing that amount of work, you're constantly moving towards a goal. Right, right.

It's like, if you work all this time to climb Mount Everest and then say, it's so hard, you know, to. You gotta cross the crevasses and do all these different things to make it to the top. Well, it's like once you get there, you need oxygen just to even breathe while you're up there. And so it may take a higher toll on your body to stay at the top than it does to come back down or than it did to even get up there. And so it feels like it can have, there's somewhat of, like, a hamster wheel feel to it, like, when you get to the certain level because you're like, man, I'm working so hard just to, like, compete against the a, the other guys that are up here, too, and all the other people that are coming up to the top as well.

Like, yeah, you're like, you're doing all this work to stay. Well, do I want to? Do I have to continually try to, you know, compete with this guy and this guy? And there's other people going, we're coming, dude, and we're ready to just. This is sparta your ass off the top of this thing if we get the chance.

A
God. So they're scared. It's like, there's, there's always that next. But that's. Again, dude, it comes back to growing up with your fan base and just growing yourself is learning that nobody stays at the top forever.

B
And it's okay to not be at the top. It's okay to you know, you shouldn't be scared of the fall because you. You can build these things in your life, these, you know, these kind of soft places of land, being your family, your friends, right? Things that really matter. The things that.

When you're 80 years old, would you rather have spent more time with your kids or made another album that was successful? I felt like a lot of people would. Would choose be with your kids or, you know, have gone on another trip with your wife or, you know, went, you know, fishing with your dad again or went golfing with your buddies one more time or what? Go hunting with your friends or whatever. Like, those are the experiences that ultimately will come to be the defining moment of your life.

You know what I mean? Like, your career achievements. Yeah, they're really great, and you should be really proud of them. And I'm insanely proud of everything I've done, and I will continue to work hard to be the best I can be. But I'm also not afraid of knowing that one day people are gonna be like, damn, dude, that some bitch is old, dude.

You talk about washed up, dude. Like, that's gonna happen to me, right? Like, oh, look at him. Yeah, he's over there, right? Look at this.

Look at this old cat. Look at this. I can't. Yeah, yeah. Drinking gasoline or whatever.

Yeah. Guys, that's not even him. That's just some guy that looks like Luke Holmes. You know? There's a lot of those.

A
Nobody's ever had too many people look like him at one time on one planet. I don't think 100%. I mean, there is. I've got a. There's, like, a stat sheet thing, and so not really a stat sheet, but there's like a.

B
If you're five eight to six eight and you're 200 pounds to, like, 600 pounds and you have, like, the amish style beard, people are like, dude, you look just like me. And they're like, male or female. Hundred percent. And they'll be in the meet and grit. Like, dude, everybody says I look like you.

I'm like, bro, you are six eight. Yeah. And you're like, 180 pounds. You don't look anything like. We don't look anything like each other.

But there are some good ones, though. There are some. But there's a lot of people that are desperate to look like you as well, I think. There's a lot of people. Oh, my God.

A
That's not you. Yeah, there's a lot of them, dude, that are good. There's some really good ones out there, man. You've got to adopt one. Or.

How old did they have to be to get adopted? Dude, is this guy's doing like a kind of a promo shot here. I haven't seen him. Lot of these. Yeah, some of the.

B
That's like a remake of that promo photo. That's like you and me merged in one. Look at the 1 second one to the right. No, left. Left.

A
Right. Yeah. That'S my nose. Your face or somebody. I don't know who that is.

Yeah, it's a lot of closeted Amish or Luke Brown.

B
Amish, dude. A lot of closeted Amish. Yeah. You think that closeted Amish is such an interesting. Well, the craziest part is the one guy who they.

A
He was like a. There used to be a show, it was like, Amish. Something Amish. Like, yeah, something Amish. And they.

B
Good. Just want to. Yeah, something off. Dude kept, like, mowing his grass. He had to use that old school cutter.

A
This, like this. And he's like, this sucks. I was adopted. I'm not even supposed to be Amish. He said, supposed to be.

B
Was it escaping Amish or breaking Amish? Escaping or breaking. Breaking Amish. Yeah. And he's like, I'm not even supposed to be Amish.

A
I was adopted. Like, damn, dude. Sucks to be you, dude. I feel like being Amish. That's a tough pull, dude.

B
That'd be hard. Yeah, I think they'll be. But they don't get autism in their communities. There's a lot of health benefits of being Amish. Yeah.

A
Look up the health benefits of being Amish. Health benefits of being Amish. And you get. Think of the things that would be fun. I bet sneaking off and talking to a girl would be unreal.

B
It'd be sick, dude. You'd be like. Like, meet me over there in that area. Less tobacco, less alcohol, less salt, more vitamin and mineral supplement. And by less, they mean no tobacco, no alcohol.

Right? I mean, I'm sure they're not allowed to have that. Yeah. I think prayer, like, praying fast, is, like, kind of their booze.

A
I have no idea what that is. I'm looking. I love this. I don't know. Maybe just close the window, dude.

B
A phantom ad that just. Phantom ad that's playing right now, dude. What did, um. What will you guys do for Father's day, man? So talk about how kids change your life.

My first son was born on father's day. So it's his birthday. Well, no, won't be every year his birthday, but same, like, weekend or within a day or two, for sure, every year. Wow. So I'm sure it will just be like, oh, yesterday was Texas birthday, and then the next day's father's day.

And they'll be like, oh, cool, man. Like, thanks. Thanks for your sperm. Yeah, yeah. Cool, dog.

Appreciate it. Like, yeah, we don't. We're gonna get you something, but we're all tired from, like, Texas birthday and stuff, so. We didn't get, like. You're tired from a two year old?

Yeah. Sorry. Oh, yeah. I remember one time buying drugs at a one year old's birthday. It's like one of the low points of my.

Did you buy it from the. Was the one year old? No, just an associate that was a friend of his. Yeah. Friend.

One year old, dude. Yeah. Yeah. He got. He'd fallen in with a couple, two and a half year old.

Yeah. Had a couple side men, dude. You know what I mean? One of them had taken things to another level.

A
Yeah. What else was I thinking about? Dude, I took a fucking. I took, like, a.

One of those, like, CBD gummies on side of my brain has been rocked. Has it? Dude, I took a straight up cte fall yesterday. Really? Yeah.

B
Yeah. Awful. What? Well, scrambled, dude, today. Really?

A
We all wheels swimming or something? Yeah, we were pulling it, but we were in the yard, like, in the grass. Like, we had one of those, like, splash pads out. Oh, yeah. Those are nice.

B
The kids were out, like, splashing around it and stuff. And I was wearing these, like, super dad, like, moccasin shoes. Like, they're just, like, leather bottom. Yeah. And they.

So they literally don't have treads. Like, it's like. It's like walking on a, like, marble on the bottom of your feet. Yeah, I've seen those. Those always seem like you're not sure what this guy's gonna be like when.

You see in there. Dude, they're insanely comfortable, but it rained so much last couple days, so my yard is like, this is. I mean, our house is from the. Probably the sixties or something, so. Oh, wow.

When they built the house, like. Yeah. There wasn't, like, the same kind of, like, grading her meeting that goes on now. So, like, the house kind of sits on this hill, but the back, it's just a small hill, but the. The backyard is all kind of sloped down towards the house.

And then right before they built the house, there's just a little bit more of a slope. Mm hmm. As to where now they would kind. Of have to graze, move it out. And smooth it out.

A
So back then those bitches were a little choppy. Yeah, they were just like, whatever. Just pop the house anywhere, you know? And so I'm walking down in the moccasins, dude, I was. My kid was in this flash pad, dude, and he was like, we got him this little slide, and we put him down there, and he, like, it, like, scared him, and he's, like, crying.

B
I'm like, oh, you're good, dude. It's cool. I was like, do you want to see dada jump in the big pool? Like, because we have a little pool? Oh, yeah, you gotta.

Yeah, man. He's like, dude, like, cheer him up, you know? So I go to go down the hill, dude, I'm in the moccasins, and just. Dude, both of my feet just go. And I'm talking about, dude, I hit the ground, like, on my back.

So, like, the way the hill is, like, the flushes. You could ever hit something. Oh, wow. It was like my entire back hit the ground at the same time. Perfectly lined it up.

Boom. And I was just like. I mean, I just remember sitting up and I just sat there. And my. My wife, my two kids are behind me.

I can't see him. I'm just like. And my. I knew I was like, this could be serious because my wife isn't even laughing. Like, she wasn't like, hi, you idiot.

Like, you felt like it was just. We. I just kind of sat there for a second. It was like. And just kind of process.

Like, am I. Is everything fine? Like, am I cool? Like, can I get up from this? And then my wife was just like, you okay?

And I was like, yeah, I'm good. Just kind of. Yeah. But it's kind of felt like getting, like, you know, I played football in high school or whatever, so it kind of felt like getting, like, just absolutely blindside blocked. Like, I mean, just rattling.

A
Yeah. I mean, luckily the ground was soft because it was so wet and stuff, but. But, yeah, just hit flush. There's moments as an adult when you hit, when you get hurt and you're like, dang. You're like, dude, I'm not doing good.

B
Yeah, you're like, man, this is. Yeah, 1520 years from now, this would be a huge issue. We would have a big problem, dude. Well, a lot of grandparents go missing, even if there's, like, just a slippery floor or whatever. Yeah.

To get a skid steer out on me in a couple years from now. Dude, imagine somebody's opening a can of peaches to make a pie or something. They spill some peach syrup onto the ground. Pop pop comes motoring through later. Oh, okay.

A
To get him a couple saltine crackers. He's got the moccasins on. He's got the mockies on, dude. Yeah, he's mocked up. He just slips out and he just slips.

B
Acl goes on the way both of his knees.

Yeah. That's brutal, dude. I had never, like, yesterday was that. It was the first moment where I was like, I'm good, but, like, man, this could have been like, I'm not good situation, dude. You know what I mean?

Like, it could have not good. It's risky now, dude, you don't know who's what. You just don't know what's going on. Slippery out there in those mock. Well, it's just.

Yeah. What, um. What did I see you had done? A gender reveal was something I saw. A few, yeah.

A few, yeah. Do you guys get some big requests for stuff like that all the time? We get it. Well, like, a lot of them are just like, people in the crowd will have, like, signs, like, do this general bill, and I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, where they, like, you're there.

Yeah, they're here. Like, with the envelope. Like, they've waited this whole time, dude. Like, I always try to ask, like, what is it? What?

You know, was it your first kid or. I think we're gonna go, boy. Justin, what do you think is gonna. Girl. Oh, that girl.

A
That guy's a pervert. On, come on, guy.

B
Massey, is this you on the sticks here filming this?

A
Yeah, dude, it's kind of nerve. It's like a big moment, you know? Oh, for sure. If you find out if your kid is gonna be cool or not.

Yeah, that's crazy. I always think, what if the kid. Like, hated country music, like, later on. In life, for sure, and uses that. As a thing, and that was their gender reveal.

B
And you're like, dude, I hate that guy's music. Stinks. Dude, that guy did my gender reveal. That was the plan. Dude, that would be brutal.

A
But, dude, look, bro, at that time, we could be online doing gender reveals on cameo for people. You know what I'm saying? Like, who knows? Is that there's no way that's a real thing. People do gender reveals on cameo all the time now.

B
I saw one where they got the guy. I feel like it was the lead singer of Sugar Ray to break up with their girlfriend. Yeah, it was wild, dude. There's some wild cameos. Dude, that's when fly.

A
Remember that song?

That song is around forever, bro. Here it is, dude. Woman.

Let's see it. Dude. A lot of people that is coming out of the closet now. It's adults just doing gender reveals. People are like, what?

B
The message was called Cameo, which lets you pay celebrities to send you a message to your phone. So, Brayden. It is Mark McGrath from the band Sugar Ray. Off the charts, but always in your hearts. And he.

This came. This is crazy. Okay, so he looks like the guy. Named home alone's brother, Buzz. Buzz, your girlfriend, Wolf.

A
He looks like Buzz. If Buzz got some diff, like some facial reconstructive surgery. I feel like dude. But what did he do? Nothing.

It looked like they were overdubbing it. We can watch all the way through. But the news guys. Oh, you break up with the boyfriend. Yeah, he broke up with a boyfriend.

B
Yeah, to break up with her. So a girl hires a cars him to break up with her boyfriend. That's. That's demon level. Yeah, it's pretty demon stuff there.

A
I'm trying to think of the first. I wonder if it was, like, his favorite band, too. Like, was it an uber personal Sugar Ray? You mean, was it, like, dude, thanks. My boyfriend always loves Sugar a, so I'm hiring the lead singer to break up with them.

B
Like, almost just to make him, like, hate the band. Yeah. Like, was it really dark in that sense? Like, if you love Doritos or whatever. And you get hired Doritos and you.

A
Can fire, like, Jerry cool ranch or whatever, break up with your girlfriend, or. You wrote it out in, like, bags of Doritos. It's like, we're breaking up with you. But, like, how did they decide on the lead singer Sugar Ray was the question. Was it a question of affordability?

I don't know. It's a good question. Are you like, hey, I was gonna do Hulk Hogan, right? I was gonna do Hulk Hogan, but there's a sale over here. There's a sale at Sugar Ray.

Yeah, there's a sale at Sugar Ray for the next 30 minutes. 30 minutes. Breakups are half off with on Mark McGrath's. God, that's crazy that that's even a thing now. And you should just be Valentine's.

Like, you sended somebody something positive, and now it's like watching ruin this lady's heart. Valentine's change, bro. I love how he said off the charts, but forever in your hearts. That's such a great. That's such a great line.

That is a good sign. That guy's looking beautiful. A lot of men, sometimes they get. They'll look so beautiful. They look like women sometimes, too, you know, he definitely.

B
He's definitely aged gracefully. Oh, he will be a hot chicken two or three years. There's no doubt. There's a lot of people. They just run that game.

It's not. It's not a. It's not over here. It's this big circle. Oh, it is.

A
Yeah. They're just spinning around. Oh, definitely. There's a lot happening. It's beautiful.

What are. The hair is coiffed. It's good. The hair is good, man. So is it whenever you start a new album, do you then have to go tour it after?

Is that kind of how it goes, or is it. I think traditionally, that's how a lot of folks do it. This album, it feels like a lot of ways non traditional in the sense of, like, it started out as just kind of this, like, you know, wild idea of, like, I had written a couple of these dad songs that I really liked, and. And I was like, man, I feel like, you know, these three of these songs are really great. I love them.

B
But I was like, but I have to, like, choose one if I'm gonna do a record, because, like, you can't put a record out. And then it's like, oh, there's like, three or four dads. I was like, we get it, dude. We've heard of that, right? My God.

And I was like, well, would it make sense to, like, to do something that's. I don't want to say side project. That's not the right term, because it is me. It is my stuff. But, like, I hate the word concept album because, like, it feels like that's too smart for something that I'm capable of doing, right.

Like, someone that makes a concept album. To me, is, like, martians or whatever. Super, like, genius level musician, and I'm not that at all. But it's like. It's like a cornbread concept album.

A
Okay. I like. I mean, like. But it's just. I was like, well, if I made a whole record of just these songs, you know, and then I got, like.

B
Like, a lot of my buddies, we're all the same age, so they're having kids, so, you know, they're. You know, they've got aging parents, too. And so all these themes are running through all of our lives. So they would start sending me little clips because, you know, they knew I had kids or whatever, and so they'd send me a star to something, and I go, God, man, I really love that. I'd love to, like, get together, work on that or whatever, and next thing you know, I end up with, you know, a whole record full of these songs, and I was like, we should just record these and, like, just do a project that's just, you know, so it's like, it's my next record, I guess, but it also doesn't feel like my next record, if that makes sense.

Like, it's not like if you went and listened to all my other records. It's not, logically, the next step from, like, where you would think that it would go. It's just kind of, like, where my life has taken me, like, sonically, it's very. Like I said, we recorded it live, so it's very, like. It's very traditional country sounding stuff, because all just live instrumentation.

A
Yeah. A lot of fiddle. There's a lot of sounds really dobro. Like, it's. It's very natural sounding.

And so, yeah, sounds groovy. I mean, I'm only listening about maybe six or seven songs or something, but. It'S definitely got its own vibe to it. Always leaving. What's that one?

B
Oh, yeah. All I ever do is leave. Yeah, that's a hammer song. God. Dang.

God, that songs. That's as long as brutal, dude. Own eyes in my ass, dude. I've definitely. I've got some problems, but, yes, there's some good.

There's some good ones on there, man. There's. Sometimes I think it's easier for people to leave than stay, man. Like, some people, they just. They know they can't change themselves, right?

A
And so they'd rather leave somebody. Yeah. And eliminate themselves from the situation. That's crazy, man. Yeah, that's for sure, man.

B
Happens all the time, dude. It happens all the time. God. Dude. But, yeah, when I was a kid, country music, they had this thing called crying, loving, or leaving.

A
You'd call the radio station. Okay. And you'd tell them if you were crying, they'd be like, are you crying, loving, or leaving? And you had to tell what was happening in your life. And then they would play a song.

Based on Dorothy stole my car tires or whatever. Right? And then you'd be like, all right, well, you know. And you'd be like, I'm loving, dude. Still there.

Tell her this song. That was it. 107.7. Crying, loving, or leaving. And that was it.

You call in there, and then they play some of them. You have to wait and see. Dude, that's wild. That's a pretty cool title, though. It was pretty good, man.

And you sometimes. Yeah, you like. This is for Tiffany, she's passed on. And they'd be like, oh, I'm so sad. And you and Tiffany would be sitting there howling, laughing.

B
Oh, my favorites is the. Some of my favorite radio skits, the John Cena one, dude. Oh, yeah, yeah. Where he's just. They're spamming that lady with the, like, wwe.

It's like a phone call. Yeah. And it's this. It's some telemarketer. Play it up.

It's a long play, dude. Hello, I have just one question for you. Are you ready?

A
Am I ready for what? Who's this? Are you ready for this? Sunday night.

B
And this goes on. They continue to call this woman back. He's on there. No, they. She hangs up a bunch of times and they call her back, dude, and she gets.

She's like, we're not. No, there is not any chance in. Hell that we're ever going to have. Wrestling in this house again. But thank you.

But the husband called and said, hey, my wife, we bought this pay per view. And she, like, our son destroyed something. She got really pissed off. And goodbye to anyone standing in John Cena's way.

Dude, there's one. They say, spit swapping makeup make out match, dude. It's on there. It gets to the point where at the end they skip to like, dude, she gets pissed, dude. Like, it probably towards attitude.

Yeah, keep y'all. She gets mad, dude. Yeah. I'd say probably this mark somewhere to. Get some vitamin D.

A
Probably. It can mess with your cortisol. There's one where.

You know, she hangs. Up a bunch of times and they continue to call her back, dude. And then this lady has CTE, I think. Are you talking about the one where they fake being someone else or something? There's a point where they get.

B
And this lady, when she picks up, she's like, stop calling. And this is like, ma'am, ma'am, ma'am. She's like, I have a quick question. Do you support our troops? She's like, oh, my God, I'm so.

I'm so embarrassed. She thought it was somebody else had. Been calling me or whatever, and they were like. And she was like, yes, I support the troops. And she was like, because american hero needs your help.

It's a former marine. And she's like, really? His name's John Cena, dude. She loses her mind, dude. It's a.

It's quite the troll, dude. It's quite shorter version, but it's got this weird. Oh, the shorter version with one of those weird TikTok videos. Why do kids do that now? Like, it's just like a video of them playing grand theft auto, but, yeah.

A
It took a video going along with the. With videos. It just keeps people engaged without them having to do anything. Dude, that's crazy. It's like, psychology levels.

Yeah, it is. It's like, oh, watch this. Yeah, maybe you're like, watch this car. Bounce down the road, dude. Oh, this is it.

B
This is the one. Or let's see it. Well, this at least has the audience. The start of this one is the audio. Like, the fourth time they call it when she's like, hey, do you support our troops?

Or whatever?

But the videos, they're mind numbing. Yeah. I swear to Jesus, if this is those wrestling again. Okay. Good morning.

Hi. I'm just calling this morning to ask if you're a supporter of the United States military. Oh, my God. I apologize. We've been getting calls all morning.

A
I apologize. Yes, I am. Great. Are you a supporter of the Marine Corps? Yes, absolutely.

B
Because a former decorated member of the United States Marine Corps needs your support, and his name is John Cena.

Are you kidding me right now, dude? Whoever did that prank was, that's an. Elite level, I guess, at least, no matter what, we could always just make tiktoks, you know? Yeah. Cause all we need is, like, stock video game.

Like, mod a video game and just do stock videos of a car falling out of the sky. Well, I've had a vision for years that it's gonna come down to. Everybody's gonna be in, like, gig economy, and people are gonna be, like, holding each other at gunpoint to be each other's uber fares. So to be, like, two uber drivers, both of them need to make money, though. Yeah.

A
She's like, you'd be my fair. You know, that's what it's gonna come down to, dude. I always think of irobot when they're just in the, like, the floating. I never saw it or what? No.

B
WALL E. Have you seen Wally? Oh, yeah. Love wall e. You can watch it in Spanish, too.

The Titanic. That, like, space Titanic. And they're on the chairs with, like, the VR headsets on, and they just. They're all, like, 800 pounds. I haven't seen it.

Like, man, it's. It's a terrifying potential reality for you guys. Do you guys use a lot of VR over at the house? No.

Use a lot of VR, dude. What would I be using? What do you think would be happening, dude? Buck hunt. Here's the wall.

This is the Wally visual muffin making. I have no idea what it would be for. Integrated reality muffin making is what it is. Yeah. You just point at the muffins, they go into the oven.

Yeah. Crazy. Oh, my goodness. Dude, that would be so nuts if we had a VR. Like, if your whole life was VR.

Like neuralink, dude. Yeah. They just got the guy. See the kid? Yes.

All the guy with the neuralink. You can play chess or whatever, but it seems like you just play shitty games that they had on your cell phone like 15 years ago. That's the thing about Neuralink. That seems so trash, too. It's just like.

It's like, just minesweeper. Yeah, it's like. Hey. Yeah, it's. It's just getting there.

It's just getting, you know. Yeah, it's just missing a lot of stuff. A guy paralyzed from, like, he's playing Mario Kart. Play Mario Kart using a neuralink brain implant. Yeah, I would pretty gas though it.

A
Yeah, I mean, you know, you can just look at it and tell it what to do. Better than, like, not playing Mario Kart. That's true. Cuz that's like the other option, I think. Right.

B
It's like to not be playing Mario Kart. Yeah, I think you. So that could be cool. Yeah, that's a good point. You know, if you couldn't do anything, playing chess would be cooler than like.

Yeah, not doing anything, I think, is the alternate. Yeah, but it seems like they just have a limited amount of games and stuff. I don't know if I'd rather neuralink or just get a PS five or. Whatever, or just get a VR headset. Yeah, but you.

A
Well, VR is crazy though, man. You can, like, there's people, like, having their own, like, guys will get a VR and then they'll have their own family inside of the VR world, even though they already have a family in their house. I feel like people have already been doing that, but just real life people have been doing that for some time. People have been cheating. But this guy.

B
This guy is doing an even less admirable version of cheating in some way. Dude, if you could make cheating even less admirable, it would be. Would be that version of it. Yeah. This dude's not even brave enough to go out there and fucking cheat and use a little gas money.

He's just. Yeah, he's just like, cheating. He's just like, shut up, honey. I'm with the other family right now in the living room. He's like.

He's just dialed in to the house. Oh, my God. He's like, my other family's naked. It'd be like, what are you talking about, dude? Somebody brought one out on the road recently, and that's maybe been last year or something, but it was like this.

We had a bunch of our crew guys popped it on or whatever, and it was like you would get. So essentially, you'd stand in this, you know, just any room or whatever. I guess anywhere is anywhere, right? Oh, you could stand anywhere. Yeah.

So we. You have to, like, you have the, like, thing, and you hit this button on, like, the elevator. And you get in the elevator, and then when the door opens, you're, like, at the top of the skyscraper. Oh. Like.

Like, when you open it, it's just the skyscraper. And there's a wooden plank that comes out and. Is it windy or what? What? I don't think so.

There's no way of knowing unless we had a turn on. Yeah, you can turn a fan on and get maybe the wind effect, you know? But do you, like you so physically in the VR, like, you have to, like, step out onto the plank. Like. And you obviously, you know, you're just.

A
Like, in a room, but it looks so real. Half the guys, like, wouldn't get out of the elevator. Wow. And then we had one guy. My buddy harp just went out to the end, and he was looking down, and he was just like.

B
He just jumped. No way. I was like, bro, are you good, bro? I used to be in a wheelchair.

He straight up jumped off the end. Oh, that's crazy. Full lunatic. If people. Yeah, some people in VR.

A
Totally. People that they can't be in real life. Like, they should have said VR Amish or VR Amish? Amish simulator. Yeah, simulator.

Be so great. There you go. Dude, you have to actually learn Pennsylvania Dutch to play the game. Already a thing, dude. Am a simulator.

Yeah, get in there. See if there's any. A lot of times that. Fresh eggs. Hour and 40 minutes.

Yeah, bro. You think you can be Amish in, what, 15 minutes? Here it is, dude. God, you are lying to me, dude. This is fully integrated Amish, dude.

Yeah. If I meet one more guy who wants to be Amish quickly, I'm going to. You got to work for it, dog. You know what I mean? Oh, that's awesome, man.

And this is Amish simulator. Yep. Activated winter. But the thing about being Amish, dude, imagine, bro, you get to sneak off all the time and try to, like, meet a check or something. Cause you can't date, I don't think, until you're 30 or what what's the age?

B
30. No way. They have severe dating issues. Yeah, you can't date until you're 30. How do they have.

No, dude, that can't be right. Cause they have a bunch of kids. 16. Yeah, never mind. I was like, 30, dude.

Wow. That is like. How did they survive this long? Dude, I don't know, man. That's crazy.

A
Then what is this? Is this me in the VR thing? Oh, no, this is the elevator thing.

VR people always look. They always stand like they're completely naked.

B
It just. I do look very tensed. Yeah, you look like you're gonna get. I feel like they always think you're about to get busted for a crime or something, too. Oh, my God.

That just scrolled. 8 million. Like, I just turned it and it just scrolled, like, 8 billion pictures of your phone, dude. Yeah. There's a lot of alarming stuff on people's phones.

A
This says, dating among the Amish typically begins around age 16, with most amish couples marrying between the ages of 20 and 22. To find a prospective date, the young adults socialize at functions such as frolics. Dude, I'm in. That's going with smorgasbord, dude. Frolics.

Church or home visits, bro. That would be me, dude. Door to door. Where's the chicks? One of the most popular activities is the Sunday night singing.

That would be you. I'd be killing it at Sunday night singing. They would be. Oh, my God. Sunday night singing.

They would get out the churn and get you out there. Milkmaids. The final churn. That would be your band name. The final churn.

B
Heaven's turn. Yeah, yeah. Heaven's wonderful. What is it say right here? Amish 365 Sunday evening singing with Amish.

A
The buggies were lined up for an amish singing in Bell Center, Ohio. We happened to be camping, and we're out enjoying an evening drive. All of a sudden, we started seeing buggies coming from all directions, and we saw them all pulling into a lane there. They sure looked handsome. A lot of men in their Sunday best.

They sure look to handsome. What an interesting blog here, dude. They are a state of amish youth culture. Sunday evening singings. This is often where teenagers meet their future mates, make friends, and just have some good, clean fun.

Food is served, pizza. Future mates is a gross. Yeah. Sounds very, like, primal, you know? Yeah, future mates.

B
When you say, like, spouse or like. But I remember doing when I was growing up, we grew up in a pretty small town, so it was like, you knew you were probably gonna have to marry somebody in town, somebody in the. And they would even tell us that in school. I remember we were like, second grade. You're probably gonna marry somebody.

A
Yeah. They'd, like, look around the classroom. There's one other classroom as kids in it. You can look at some of them. But you guys, this is kind of the talent.

This is it, guys. Yeah, it's kind of everything we got going. You like, this is bad.

B
I gotta get out of here. Dude, this is pretty limited.

A
Do you manage your tours differently as time goes on where you're like, okay, I want to do just certain cities and just. Or do you choose that, or how do you guys put that together? Yeah, I think, you know, we've had. We've always had a long strategy on how do we. You know, how do we maximize this or that?

B
You know, we have certain goals. You know, playing overseas was always big goal for us. Like, consist playing overseas consistently to the point where we feel like we had really fostered a fan base that could almost be self sustaining in the sense of, like, you know, you could go tour one year. You could just go tour in Europe and then never play any shows in the states, you know, like, so as to not burn every market. Right, right.

If you go see me, you know, if I play every summer in, you know, Tallahassee, well, it's like, if that happens five or six years in a row, like, eventually, people. Everybody in that markets can be, well, I've seen that, dude. Yeah. So the idea is, if I play. I don't know why I picked Tallahassee.

Such a. Yeah. I don't even know if we've ever. Even played there before. I haven't been there.

If, like, if you pick that city and we played there, let's say I played there in 2018, right? And then let's say, obviously, that's a weird year because Covid happens or whatever. But still a year. Yeah. Let's say I play there in 2021, and then the next time I'm gonna play, there is not till 2024.

So in those three years, so much will have happened in my career. I maybe. I could have maybe two new albums, a bunch more hit songs, and those people in that market, they'll have only had the opportunity to see me the time before. Right. They'll go, well, now I want to hear this song and this song in this song, and, like, he never comes down here, so I want to go, like, yeah.

Like, I just want to be able to tour at a high level for a long time. And I think to do that you have to have a really long play strategy. It can't be about, well, how can I make the most money this show this weekend and charge my fans the most for tickets and do the most and sell vip things? Like, I've never sold a meet and greet in my life. Yeah, like, that's a big point of revenue for a lot of artists is.

And nothing against anybody that does that, by the way. I just always felt weird about it. The first meet greets I ever did were $50, and we donated all the money to a camp in Georgia for children that have cancer. Oh, yeah. Ever since then, we've never even charged for a meet and greet.

All you have to do is join the fan club and have tickets to the show, and you're entered into a lottery to win. Oh, damn. That's a good way to do it. Yeah. Like, so you join the fan club, and then you just put in for whatever show you're going to, and it's completely free.

A
Oh, that's cool. I come in the room, like, do a q and a thing, take pictures with everybody. Like, and I just feel like there's so much to already, like, pay for. Yeah. There's so, like, there's t shirts, there's beer, there's food, there's parking, there's hotels, there's babysitters.

B
There's tickets. There's everything, dude, you're charged at every turn. Yeah. And the whole experience. And, like, I just want to meet people who came to the show, man.

Like, whether it's their first show or their 15th show or whatever it is, man. Like, it's just a way for me to, like, I just want to say thank you to just regular folks who come to my show, man, like, because they are the only reason that we have shows. Yeah. Like, oh, it's crazy to think that you can't figure out a way to thank them all the time. It feels like you can never thank them enough, dude.

And, like, it really is. Like, I think about it all the time is, like, you know, sometimes I feel like the fan is the last person thought about in the music business. Wow. Like, and that, to me, is really sad. Well, they just started.

A
They're finally bringing sanctions against Live nation, I think. Can you look that up? I saw something about this recently. They're finally bringing sanctions against them or ticket Matt, one of them for. Yeah, I saw something on the news, like, two, three years ago, but I don't know enough about it.

B
But there's definitely. You're definitely right here. I definitely just saw something about that. Yeah. The justice department is suing Ticketmaster on Live Nation.

A
What does that mean for concert goers? Is it for, like, the fees or something? I think. The Justice Department on Thursday accused live Nation of engaging in a slew of practices that have allowed it to maintain a stronghold over the live music scene. They accused it of using long term contracts to keep venues from choosing rival ticketers, blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers, and threatening venues that they could lose money and fans if they didn't choose Ticketmaster, which.

And then they can jack up the. Prices of tickets in, so they own 70% of ticketing. That's wild. That's unbelievable. That's a lot, dude.

How do you ever let that happen? It just seems like they wouldn't let that happen.

Did you ever go see widespread panic? Mm. Never did, man. Might. So, my best friend Harp, the guy that jumped off, then, that's his, like, favorite band ever.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. He loves them, dude. But I've never been. I've never seen him.

I like them, dude. They're. They jam, though. They jam, for sure. Did you follow a jam band ever?

B
No, I never followed a jam band around the country. Never followed around the country? God damn. You haven't lived, man. I haven't lived?

A
Yeah. It just seemed like you were being so lazy back then. It was. Didn't you want to make grilled cheese? Own a german shepherd?

B
I wanted to sell seashell earrings out of my van, dude. You know what I mean? Like, dude, one time, this dude was selling grilled cheeses, and the dog looked like it wanted out of there. Yeah, it lives in a. It probably doesn't.

Never gets any grilled cheese, by the way. Oh, it was. Yeah, the dog, I think, was running on a little treadmill, even just powering the grilled cheese maker. Like, sometimes those van guys in those outside of concerts are pretty wild. Is there, like, a big tailgate?

A
Do some artists have, like, a big tailgate thing that. That's part of their culture? Yeah, for sure. You know, we do. Gosh, we do a big.

B
A big tailgate on. Like, when? This weekend, we have. Or this year, we have Friday and Saturday shows that. So all the same cities.

So on Saturday, we have. You've heard of whiskey jam, I'm sure. Oh, yeah. It's fun. So, Ward and the whiskey jam folks come out, and they bring up and coming artists out.

We have a stage outside the stadium, and all that's free. Oh, wow. So, I mean, you don't really don't even have to have a ticket to the show to come to that if you don't want to. So on Saturdays, man, like, we really try to. We've worked hard to, like, build to, like, foster the culture of.

Of our shows and how we want that experience to be for our fans. Like, I mean, the whole weekend, like, they get discounts at certain hotels if they're in my fan club. And, like, we work with all these different people to. Wow. To make them do that.

Yeah. Like, to make them have the best experience that we can have, you know? And so. Yeah, the tailgating thing, dude. I mean, obviously, the Chesney tailgate culture is unbelievable.

Yeah. As was, like, the buffet stuff, you know, we went out, you know, but I think country has such a great. It's just in general kind of tailgating because I think a lot of those fans, like, I think of, like, the college football fan base to me, like, there's so much. There's so much correlation in the. In the country music fan base to that, and that culture is so similar.

It's just fun, right? Like, that's what it should be. I think people want to have fun. Yeah. Yeah.

A
I was with Caleb, actually. Yep. Your buddies with him? Yep. And, um.

And we were going to some club, but then we had more fun in the car on the way. They are just listening to country music. Yeah. And then we got to the club. We're like, this sucks.

B
Yeah. You're like, dude, I can't imagine so. That's just trash, dude. I love Caleb, dude. He's.

A
Oh, he's something else. He said he used to manage you, too. Did he? I don't think. I don't.

B
I wouldn't say that, probably. No, no, definitely not. He seems like someone who would be lying about that probably could be known. Yeah. Yeah.

A
He's a. He's a special guy, man. He's one. He's a one of a kind dude. We were.

B
We were buddies back in the day, man. Like, he was. I think I was a senior and he was a freshman, I think. But he was like. And what was he, like, the Rapunzel of the team cousin.

A
It wasn't even. He was like, the guy, like, if eight quarterbacks got hurt, right? Like, as a freshman, he would, like. Come in, then he would get a notification on his phone, and then he. Could show up to the game.

He got a free ticket to the game, but we. Dude, but I rode the pine hard, and obviously he wasn't playing because, you know, he was a freshman or whatever, so. And because, yeah, he wasn't ever gonna. But did you. Did.

Were you any good at football? No, I was trash. Really? Yeah, it was terrible. God.

B
Didn't apply myself, man. I feel like I could have been good, but, dude, I was too busy singing all the time, dude. I mean, I was in choir every day of high school for. I mean, every day of public school from 6th grade to when I graduated. I was in chorus class every day.

A
And did you ever integrate or try and date women that were on the flag team? We didn't have that. Yeah. How do you not even have a flag team? Y'all have like, a local military or anything?

B
You mean like ROTC? Oh, you mean like. Yeah. I thought you meant like. Oh, yeah, we had flag team.

A
Usually there was a lot of crossover in there. You think? Oh, a lot of our lot of ROTC men are the children of flag team women. That can't be real, dude. That can't be a real stat.

B
I hope that's a real stuff. You're telling me, you're honestly gonna tell me, luke, that a lot of ROTC men aren't the children of. It's possible, I think, of flag. Flag women, flag team relationships. Yeah.

A
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I think there's a possibility that there could be some correlation there, you know? I think there is.

B
Yeah. High probability. The new album, it comes out Friday before Father's day. Friday before Father's Day. Yep.

A
Yep. Fathers and sons. Yeah. Fathers and sons. Yep.

B
Should be good. Man, I'm excited. Hope people enjoy it, you know? Yeah. For what it is, you know?

A
Well, it's important, too, for people to take time, if you can, to reflect on those relationships. It's hard sometimes. Some of these get so busy, you don't even think about what somebody means to you. Sure. Sure, man.

B
It's. It's important stuff, man. And I think, you know, there's so many different paths that people have had growing up with their. With their dads or their moms, even. You know what I mean?

Like, yeah, I think there's something in these songs that, you know, can translate to anybody. You know? It's. It just happens to be fathers and sons for me because, you know, I got two boys and, you know, maybe that changes one day and there'll be a mothers and. Yeah, you never know.

You know, I. You know, I don't know where it could lead, but you could be a woman. The songs mean a lot to me, and I think, you know, I hope that. I hope that people can relate to them and listen to them and love them. As much as I do, for sure.

A
Yeah. It's important to have anthems that go along with how we feel sometimes. No doubt. That's about it. Luke.

B
Yeah. Thanks for having me. Absolutely, yeah, thanks for coming in. Absolutely, man. Before you go, do artists start thinking more about collaborations now these days, does that seem like something that seems.

A
Goes through phase where it seems more fun or more accepted or more. I think there's definitely phases to it, you know, I think there's a lot of. I think I've noticed that a lot of brands are doing collaborations now too. Like, I don't know, like the McDonald's and long John Silver's the Mick. Oh, yeah, I mean the McFish silver, dude, you know.

Oh, yeah, there's always something. There's always. But it's like crocs and, you know, Jakar Noir clone, you know, it's like a scratch and sniff Jacar noir croc or something. It's like something like that, you know? Yes.

B
Available only at Walgreens or so. You know what I mean? It's like sniff this croc or whatever. Like they. I have for sure a pair of KFC branded crocs that smell like KFC chicken.

Oh, that's a real thing. I have that in my God. You don't get a lot of shots to have those, but I have the. Rare, dude, hit stock, you know, it's you. The limited release dude.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Funny. All my crocs are just clouds that smell like sweat once you see if you had mine. There it is, dude.

Kentucky fried, sold out dog. And they got a chicken jibben on top, dude. Oh, wow. Like a drumstick. It's like, comes with it, dude.

A
I hope doesn't cost extra. Yeah, on your bucket list. God, that's beautiful. And you open them, you can tie them tighter by nugget. Those little nuggets, they smell like chicken.

God damn, bro, I'll pay more for ones that don't smell like chicken. What about fried jibbets, dude? There they are. Fried gibbets right there. Damn, brother, I might have to get me a set of gibbets and smell.

B
Like fried chicken, dude, it says it on there. It does? Really? Yep. Oh, God, they're not gonna be offering that for long.

A
I will say this, though. Did you see the square wallet? It's like a wallet squirrel wallet. Go to squall it, website. Squall it.

They're sold out for years to come. Oh, no, just till September of 24. Yeah, get that squall and get on there.

Look at this bit, Tommy. And this is supporting our believable. This does support our veterans. I do want that. I love that.

B
Does that mean I can't laugh at it, though? That is. You can laugh for sure. It's awesome, dude. Yeah.

A
I hope we have one to sell some right here. The squallet. These squirrel wallets are made with real squirrel pelts. I love this so much. The fur is super soft and pliable.

B
Why is this something I need? I need one of these, dude. I'll get you a dang squall. Get me a squall. Give me a squall.

A
Well, where are you going to keep all your love for your lady at? You don't have it. Damn squall. Squall it. And look, can you look at some of the other products, please?

So we're not just on this website ogling the squall. Yeah, just go to shop, maybe see what they got.

You got a skunk koozie right there. The Scoozy. They got a scoozy. A raccoozie as well.

B
Golf club head cover. Now we're talking, dude. Let's see it. Zoom. Yeah, let's get this going.

A
Oh, that's fresh. Oh, that's a possum, dude. Zoom in on it. Not the backside of it. This guy's a damn pervert.

Zoom in on the front. Yeah. It's a golf head club. Wow, it's fresh possum. It's only 54.

B
Be the head of the links. Yeah, dude. Gosh. Oh, man, the eyes are scary. Play dead.

A
Play dad. It says as well, that's a father's day gift right there.

And one of. They gotta have one other good item on here. We had a guy that sold a german shepherd fur coat by us. Coyuzzi. That coyuzzi.

And that's coyote, maybe. Yep. Coyuzzi was a coyote. Koozie. That squeezy.

Let me see that squeezy breath. The scoonsie. Oh, yeah. That's beautiful, skunk. The eyes, though, dude.

B
The eyes are freaking me out, dude. Yeah. You might be able to buy little shades for them, but these are six. These are almost $65. They get a variety of sizes, such as tall boy, slim and standard.

Yeah, they could say Patrick's day, the themed out. What are we doing? Why is there a happy St. Patrick's day? Fucking God.

A
That just shows what they think of the Irish right there.

That's the worst part. Are the tall boy ones more expensive than the other ones? No, actually, the scoonsie is that one's almost $65. The squalid was only $54. $54.99 squall it.

But yeah, we had a dude selling a german shepherd fur coat by us when I was young. I remember it seemed this whole deal only had one. He might add two. Seems like there's probably a lot of regulations to this business here. Like, this be selling like, just kind of random animal pelts to people.

B
Like, are these with these farm raised? Are we wild caught here? This is farm to table. This is street to table, dude. You know what I mean?

A
Hey, go to my TikToks real quick. I want to see one that I looked at. You see this? My dream for like nine years. Had a big band, a couple of white kids made a.

Bought it for a $100, took it to Minnesota and bad didn't make a sound. I just scrapped it instead. So limousine sauna. So I had two.

B
Sauna use all my scraps from. And the chimney came up the top of the stove, bro. This.

A
Fire believable.

B
Why do they have Verner's ginger ales on top, dude? And how are these men just meeting. Each other and then they're just getting in the snow? See, this is why I don't meet men online. That's America, dude, right there, man.

That is. Okay. What state are we going with here, dude? What? What's our state?

A
Oh, this? Well, you have to have snow. I'm gonna say. Sauna. Oh, there's a license plate.

B
What was that license? I'm gonna say Canada. Probably southern Canada. Northern America. Sauna.

Zine, dude, t trademark. I love you. Put the trademark on there. Yeah. Someone's gonna be like, man, I gotta get that sound and zine.

I gotta steal that idea. That said New Hampshire. New Hampshire. There we go. Yeah, sound is in, dude.

A
But that wood looks extreme. The fumes from that wood could easily kill all four or five of those men. For you guys that can't see at home, there's a lot of men getting into a sauna has been created inside of a limousine. And that's definitely just smoke in there, dude. It is full of hot smoke.

B
And why is there ginger ales on top, dude? That's the real question. That's a beverage bar, dude. You have to have a ginger. That's open.

A
That's open bar. Open bar on the. On the sound of zine. That's open bar. Luke.

Luke Combs. Congrats on the new album, man. Yeah, make sure. Making sure to check it out. Congrats on being a father and a son.

B
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, buddy. And thanks for hanging out with us today. Yes, sir.

Cornerstone.

A
But when I reach that ground I'll share this piece of mind I found I can feel it in my bones. But it's gonna take a little.

B
But it's gonna take a little.

E509 Luke Combs

Primary Topic

Episode Summary

Main Takeaways

Episode Chapters

1: Introduction

2: Music and Fame

3: Creative Process

4: Connecting with Fans

5: Personal Reflections

Actionable Advice

About This Episode

People

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Transcript