JT Harding has written 7 No. 1 songs for artists like Kenny Chesney, Uncle Kracker, Keith Urban, Darius Rucker and more. He started out wanting to make it in rock which led him to working as the assistant to superstar rock band Linkin Park. He shares with Bobby what it was like to grow up adopted and finding out his dad was a famous actor and radio host. He also shares the most personal story he struggled with including in his new book, Party Like a Rockstar. He is also having a contest for adopted folks who want to be a songwriter in honor of National Adoption Month.
You can enter JT's songwriting contest at Writelikearockstar.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey welcomed Episode three JT. Harding, which he was adopted
and they found it his dad's famous when he found
out who his dad was crazy crazy, like, he's written
so many big songs and had so many turns in
his career where he's even and she just has ah
and so much energy. This guy came in here. I
walked in the room and my own study was clapping
(00:22):
for me. I was like, Wow, this is about to
be very exciting. Uh. He's written songs like Somewhere with
You by Kenny Chesney, Alone with You by Jake O,
and Somewhere on My car Key Thurb and Different for Girls.
Dirk Spentley like, he's got so many He's got a
book out called Party Like a rock Star. They're crazy, coincidental,
hard luck and harmonious life of a Songwriter. It came
out this year and again he talks about he is
(00:44):
the biological son of um I'm not gonna tell you
who put him up for adoption an early age and
later on they reconciled and it's just a really great podcast.
I hope you like it. J T. Harding, I hope
you check out his book. And you know he talked
about at the end of this to something he's doing
for someone else who was adopted, you know, and you
can be a part of that. So all that, I
(01:06):
hope you enjoy Episode three. JT. Hardy all right, here
you go. You guys do not waste time and rule.
It's not that we don't waste time, it's that we
don't want anything to go to waste. So and you see,
we're on now. And what JT is talking about is
I walk. And by the way, I applaud you for
being early. That's awesome. Most creatives aren't. Yeah, well I
(01:29):
had to stay up all night to get here on time,
you know, so I don't go to bed as early
as you. So what do you do yesterday? What do
you do? Yes? Just are we on right now? Good
evening everybody. For those of you that don't know me,
this is hit songwriter J T. Harding. Hello, country fans worldwide,
wide wide. If you're in your car, hank your horn.
If you're at work, drum on your desk, and if
(01:49):
you're still in bed, dance on your back sending the
party drones. Turn up your phones. This is the Bobcast
with Bobby Bones. All right, you were made for like
more n Zoo Radio. That's that's when I was born.
I was kidding, do not adjust your computers at home.
I'm actually dressed like this. Hey, thanks for asking. I
just played two Bluebird Cafe shows. It's sundance. It's not
(02:11):
so much the alcohol, it's the altitude that has me.
I played but Tom Douglas and it was magical a
sundance meeting and and uh, yeah, so you did that
last night and flew over um while we were there
all weekend, and then I stayed an extra day and
then yeah, I flew in last night. I wasn't gonna
miss this. It's awesome. I appreciate that. And congrats on
the are you married yet? And yeah, yes, congrats, thank
(02:33):
you very much. I walked in the room or when
he clapform me too. It's like the usually with these knuckleheads,
I walk in and I got crap, we gotta work again.
But yeah, yeah, so I bet that's pretty cool. I
love Tom like Tom Yes to me, one of my
favorite people to kind of, you know, take and extrapolate
information from and separating compared to other people's stories and
(02:54):
even his his movie which I watched a year or
so ago. He sent me a a version and it
still maybe the same version, but it's very it's great.
And some girl in the audience was like, oh, j
T think you're so funny. And I caught you crying
during tom song the House that Built Me, and I
said to her, yeah, I was so sad I didn't
write it. Okay, by my book, move on, okay, anyway,
we'll talk about your book in a second party like
(03:15):
a rock star. But I think I should tell everybody
who's just listening and not watching, is that you're in
a full leopard suit, right, yes? Yes, and so you
are always dressed as and in something when I see
you in pictures. I was telling him like this earlier.
I was like, I've never met JT, but every time
I see him he has some funky type of suit.
And the question I always ask people that have a
(03:36):
thing is like where do you find them? And how
many do you have? Oh? Well, yeah, I like my
money where I can see it hanging in my closet. Yeah.
By the way, I'm not going to tell anyone where
we are right now. This is an incredible display of
hard work your home and it's fantastic. Well, I just
I travel a lot, and if I see a cool suit,
I just wear it. You know, I'm not a artist.
(03:57):
I'm a songwriter, but I do a lot of songwriter
shows and I just love to give people their money worth.
I want people to leave and say, that's like one
of the best shows I've ever seen. And you know,
a lot of times I'll do shows with guys and
they look like they just rolled off the couch and
they're in their muddy crocks. And I know that's a thing,
but it's just it's not for me. I grew up
loving Kiss and Van Halen, and you know, that's probably
(04:17):
why I loved Garth Brooks when I first heard of him.
He's smashing guitars and swinging around and wearing those shirts
that looked like someone threw a bucket of paint on him.
You know, at your earlier Austin show, I want to
list and play some of the number ones you have,
just so people will listen to you when you talk
about how you know your book and what you have,
what you have to Yeah, yeah, Uncle Cracker, smile, here
(04:38):
you go. That song, especially with Uncle Cracker, an interesting
number one and an interesting career in country music for
Uncle Cracker. So when he cuts that, do you feel
like you got a real shot at something? Because Uncle
Cracker really didn't have real history in the format yet.
(05:00):
This is such a great question. So I had not
had a hit song yet. I you know, grew up
loving MTV. Did anything I could. My story is similar
to yours, Bobby, although you, of course did everything to
be in radio. I did everything I could, and you know,
fibbing and all these you know, little tricks and anything
I could do to get the attention of the music business.
And I met Uncle Cracker. He hadn't had a record
out in five years. But I've never been around a
(05:22):
rock star before like that writing with them. I worked
for a couple of crazy rock stars and we just started.
We spent a weekend. You know, he chain smokes. My
eyes were as red as the Netflix logo writing with
this guy, and we wrote some not so great songs.
In the last day. I was like, man, did we
just waste the whole weekend? I was, I put the
pressure on myself and he'll never forget it. We're packing
(05:43):
up our little four track recorder and he said, what
about a song called Smile? And I would just like
stood in my tracks, and he said, I need a
song that my three daughters and my girlfriend and my
mom can dance too. And I was like, oh, five
generations of people. Great, we'll go to NASA while we're
at it. Yeah, sign up. But we did, and then
it was his title. He had the best line in
the song, cooler than the flip side of My pillow,
(06:04):
and I knew it in my blood and bones. Pun
intended that it was a hit, but it sat around
for a couple of years. I mean that song was
passed around like a vape pen and a Morgan wall
and after party. I'll tell you no one wanted to
record it. Cracker loved it, but eventually his label decided
to put it out. That's at least what I remember.
And I knew it was a hit, and then luckily
a country station in Detroit I believe, played it and
(06:27):
it went from pop to country. I've been trying to
do that ever since, Bobby. It's not easy. So you're right.
What's his real name, by the way, Matt Shaper, But
I've never called him that, just like, yeah, I just
called Cracker. I was looking at the writers and Matthew
Shaper's listed and I've had he's come out and opened
a couple of shows for me. It's been a couple
of years, and yeah, it was nice, a nice guy.
But you know, it was cool to hear some of
the songs that he has that kind of border country
(06:50):
or pop or you know, because he got he was
Kidd Rocks DJ, as how was first introduced to him,
and then he had followed me Everything is Alright, which
is a country song too, but it was a massive
pop song. And you write this with him. But what
I'm hearing is when you wrote it and you finished it,
he didn't cut it right away. You tried, You wrote
it to give to other people. Well, it was I
wanted it to be for him. I think he did,
(07:11):
but and I don't know the ins and outs of it.
He could, he could tell you, I guess, but it
just nothing was really happening with him at the record
company at that time. But he did co write all
summer long that Kid Rock put out, and I think
that kind of got a little momentum. And Kenny Chesney
was always taking Cracker out on tour, so everyone knew
who he was. And I just knew it was a hit.
And I write a lot of songs, and I don't
always jump up and down and feel like their hits,
(07:33):
but I just felt Smile could really be a hit.
But I'm glad that he that he recorded it. What
I like about your songwriting, your songs that have really achieved,
uh not only number one status, but songs that last
for a long time. Uh. This next one, Kenny Chesney
Somewhere with You. A lot of them are slow, and
I love a good slow, like make me feel and
(07:54):
remember the place I was when that song came out,
And this one does here Kenny Chesney Somewhere with You
one of my favorite songs. Three to Come Down made
me down listing in my era. Hold on the Cada's
in this song though, because it's a slow to mid,
but he's also by he. There's a lot of words there,
(08:17):
you know. That's me walking down the street bye bye
Buda by kind of a weird juxtaposition of a mid
to slow with a pretty fast word cadence. So you're
writing this song did anyone go? Well? This feels kind
of funky because it's a lot of words real quick,
but the song is really not that fast. Did anyone go? Once? Again?
Hopefully there's some future hit makers listening. Nobody wanted that song.
(08:37):
I wrote it with Shane mcinally, who's now as you know,
you all know, one of the biggest songwriters around. He
was sleeping on his sister's couch at the time. My
apartment over off Music Row had been uh had been condemned,
and we weill someone actually kind of pawned us off
on each other. Well, j T is this rock guy
from you know, Michigan, l A. And you know, Shane
hasn't been doing anything for he was in town for
fourteen years, and so we weren't trying to had a
(09:00):
country song. We were just writing, you know, from from
our our hearts. We had both been gone through breakups
and I just met him. Was the first day I
met him, actually, and he didn't want to write a
song that day, and we went over to Fido, this
little restaurant. We started talking and he was telling me
his story and I thought, my goodness, we have the
same philosophy about relationships. Um, you cannot make somebody love you.
(09:21):
You can only stalk them and hope for the best.
So it didn't work for either of us. But we
wrote Somewhere with You without thinking if it was right.
It was wrong. And then luckily when Kenny ches and
he heard it, you know, everyone just kind of got
out of his way and he put it out and
guys like you played it. Was it wordy when it
was sent over in the demo meaning did he change
up any of the tempo or did he did he
(09:42):
speed up the words but keep the what happened there anything?
I think they sped it up a bit. The one
thing that he and his producer added, which is great,
they added that thinking thinking YouTube guitar. The demo was
just kind of uh Shane singing, and I think it
was like maybe an acoustic guitar, maybe a piano, but
it was very basic. It was very basic. One of
my favorite Jaco Owen songs alone with You Here you Go,
(10:05):
You Got Me out on Jacob play that song until
he dies, Like, that's that's a jac Owen song right there.
As much as Jake didn't write it, there are some
songs that are kind of meant for artists, and that
is a Jaco and freaking Jam and Jake and are
close friends. Were dinner week or so ago and we
(10:27):
were just talking about songs, and we're talking about his
new song and he's like, there are certain songs and
he didn't write his new one, I don't think, but
he was like, there are certain songs that you just
like grab and even though you didn't write, they feel
like they're yours. And that to me is such a
Jaco Oen song. So you wrote that with Shane as well? Yeah,
Shane as well. Um, the the original title was called
running with Scissors. Did you know that? I did not.
(10:47):
Shane had this book called Running with Scissors, and we thought,
you know, it's like I read that book. It's analogy
for It's not about the book, but it's like analogy
for bad you know, relationships or whatever that closterm and
write that, I don't know, Mike, you like, I'm so
I've read that book. Yeah, tell you that. So the
song was called running with Scissors. We made a demo
of it, we heard Jake Ohen was recording it, and
then I've never met Jaco On before. Barefoot Blue g
(11:10):
Night was a huge hit and apparently standing in you
can ask him this standing in the vocal booth, apparently
he said to his producer, I don't really love this
running with Scissors line, and they called us and since
you know he had just had you know, Barefoot Blue
g Night. They said, hey, could you change this lyric
for us? And because we're shallow when we want hits,
we're like, let's change it. So it was a great
call and I was actually very flattered that he that
(11:31):
he said, hey, I want to record this song. So
we took that out. So what's funny is every the title,
what the song is about, the lyric that was in there,
none of that is in it anymore. And it became
alone with you and it became a big hit. I'm
really grateful for where you got. People always laugh when
I do this live and I'm like, this is actually
not one of my jokes. People. You got me running
(11:53):
with scissors every time you call, and I know it
would kill me if I fall, So we changed it
to you got me out on the edge time you call. Yeah.
I think it was a good call. Actually, well yeah,
because if he wanted it, and then it worked and
it's awesome and it's number one. I think it's Keith
Urban somewhere in my car from he wrote that with Keith, Yes,
(12:18):
with Keith. And do you know how I met Keith Urban?
M hmm. You probably have no idea. I was just
early for Bumble. Uh. When Somewhere with You came out,
my friends started texting me saying, Keith Urban is talking
about your Kenny Chesney song. He's telling his fans to
buy it. I think he made a little link for
it in the pre itune days or whatever. And Keith
(12:40):
Urban did not know who wrote the song. He didn't
know who I was. He just liked that. You can
imagine what a wild feeling that was. And I was
at a songwriter reward show downtown. Everyone's dressed up. I
was in the men's room washing my hands, and I
just kind of looked over and standing there at the
wall stall was Keith Urban again. And so I waited
for him. I invented the long hand wash. I just
stood there and he came up, and I, uh, you know,
(13:01):
introduced myself to him. And he's so cool and so humble.
He said, mate, what a song. If I had just
heard that before anyone else, I would have done it.
And I said, God, that's just crazy, because you know,
I sent it to your record company and your manager.
So he said, um, what, you take my phone number.
He put his number into my phone. If you can
believe that I texted him at like seven in the
morning the next day, which was not good. He didn't
(13:23):
answer me back, but we became friends. He eventually called
once again Keith Urban. He said, these are the guitar chords,
this is the drumbeat I want, and I wanted to
be a song about looking back at a relationship. He
was like an architect with a blueprint of the song,
and he couldn't have been nicer or more talented. So
I was so glad to write with him. Agree about
(13:44):
Blake Shelton, which Mike we back in our parody days,
we did a parody of that. Yeah, oh that's flatter,
that's great. Oh that's what it was. That's right, Yeah,
go ahead when we roll up to a couple more
days real quick. Here is Different for Girls by Dirk's
(14:07):
and l right o ye, who's just And here is
Beers and Sunshine by Darius. So now that we've heard
your expert work and it's not enough for you, flip
over the Craig Wiseman, Bobcast people. Come on, I'm doing
(14:29):
my best here, and you know you come in and
you have a book. I always like to lay out
what would make you an expert and why people would
want to read what you have to say. And so
we'll get onto some more of your life stuff in
a minute. But party like a rock star of the book.
What's why did you decide you wanted to write a book?
And what do you think people are gonna get from it?
Great question. So I played a show here at the
(14:49):
listening room, and writing a book wasn't on my mind
at all. There was a lady in the audience so
I'd never met, didn't know anything about her, but I
would like to give her a shout out, and I've
never heard her before. Her name is Dana Purnos. People
may know her, I didn't. She's on TV. She started saying,
I saw this guy j T at the listening room.
I think he should write a book. So she actually
called around. So I got this book deal. It's not
(15:10):
only the stories behind all these hits, which are all
co written, by the way, I had a lot of help,
and basically it's a story of my life. I didn't
know anybody in the music business. I just loved listening
to the radio. When MTV came booming into my living room,
it felt I felt like Dorothy going from Black and
White OZ. You know, sorry, black and white Kansas into
(15:30):
technicolor OZ. I just couldn't believe it. Michael Jackson with
the sidewalk lighting up, you know, Madonna singing like a
virgin a wedding dress, David Lee roth like Bruce Lee
with a jet pack on. I looked on the back
of my CDs and they all said Sunset Boulevards. So
before my friends graduation caps were even thrown in the air,
I was already living on the most unglamorous corner of Hollywood.
(15:52):
And I had a job, and I made my first
uh and I used clothing story. I made my first
demo with money. I won on VH one Rock and
Roll Jeopardy. I'm glad you were not it. You probably
would have beat me. You went on Rock and Roll, Jeffardy, Yes, oh, Bobby,
I annihilated the competition. You know, when my friends, when
my friends were studying the S A T. I was
studying MTV And no, that's not in my book. It
should be. It was the guy from that eventually went
(16:12):
on does Survivor? Yeah, Jeff, did you know that? I
don't know. I retained I'm pretty good trivia, but and
I wanted to say that as I just said, Jeff
and then if you were gonna say yeah yeah. So
he stood real close to me when he talked, and
I would like I would jerk my head back like
some spit hit my face and I wiped my eye off. Oh.
The audience was going crazy and they were like, we
need to edit out all these jokes. But you know,
I was trying to get noticed. How much did you
(16:34):
win on Rock and Roll Jeopardy? Was it one episode?
Did you stay up? And it was just one episode?
I won dollars. I didn't get the final Jeopardy, but
I remember it like it was last night. Can I
give you the question? Okay? Final Jeopardy? Ding Ding ding Ding.
The category is female singers. She is a member of
the Royal British Army. She had ten top ten hits
(16:57):
in the eighties, which is a lot, and she started
in the biggest movie Vie of nineteen seventy eight. I
got it wrong, but I bet one dollar because I
knew they couldn't beat me because I was up so much.
So British. She's probably born in the sixties. Then there
we go, Mike with the sound and you didn't say
(17:17):
number one, but again on the pop chart, the top
ten song pretty Ubiquito us whenever She's everywhere? Yeah yeah, yeah,
but I mean like the biggest movie of the movie,
the biggest movie in night. I saw him reading his
answer down. I stopped and solo artists out because Debbi
Harry is in a band. I know, man, I got
it wrong after just crushing it all right, let me
(17:38):
give me ten more seconds. Let's see it's a British
solo female. Do I know her? What I know her? Oh? Yes, yes,
you're listening to hit writer J T. Harding on the
Bobcast with Bobby. But does still hold music? Doesn't it
every thing? Press one to speak. I'm gonna not know
Olivia Newton John and the movie is graz I feel
like she's Australian. She is. That's the trick quite Oh
(18:00):
my goodness, rule, I know that's what, idiot. I'm not
trying to trick you. They tricked me to. I thought
Olivia and John, but she's Australian. That's why I came back.
She said, yeah, it was, it was. It was awful,
but I won and I I used um that money
to make my demo. Now this was pre Internet, so
I couldn't just call a record company. I didn't know anybody,
(18:21):
but I knew a girl whose roommate worked the FedEx,
so I borrowed the FedEx jacket. I mean, this is
like some of the stunts you pulled right and like
Obi wan Kenobi, just sauntering into the death Star. I
walked into every record company with the FedEx jacket, passed
the security guards, passed the promotion guys chewing on their
golf teas. Oh, and I put my CD in every
mailbox in l A h. And then did anything come
(18:42):
of all of the CD placement? Uh No? But then
I got a job at Tower Records on Sunset, and
I was so naive that's something could happen. I'll work
at Tower, and everyone that makes records were coming here.
I passed my CD out to everyone. Every celebrity came
in there too, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, Slow stallone. I
tried to give him all my demo. I got a
record deal. The guy that signed Tracy Chapman and we
(19:04):
all remember her a fast car. He came in. I
recognized his name from the record and I made a
record with him with John Mellencamp's band in New York,
got a big check, release date, all that stuff flew
back to l A, put a band together two or dates,
and they never called me again. My heart's been broken
by the music business more than the ice cream machine
at McDonald's on Broadway has been broken. People, What do
(19:26):
you mean they never called you again? They invented ghosting.
I never heard from him that the record was shelved. Yes,
and and you know, you would think that that eight
grand would make me feel better, but it wouldn't. But
do you mind if I continue? I was worn out.
I'd been in l A for five years chasing my dream.
I decided to take a break and recharge. I get
a job working for the Superstar band Lincoln Park. This
(19:47):
is all true. About six months. Six guys in the
band really great, very low maintenance. I would not talk
about my music, but they would see me working on
my song sometimes and then I would put the guitar
down one night, I'll never for get it. In Kansas City,
sold out, they asked me to open up for them.
What were you doing for them? Um? Getting? Uh? Their
stage closed washed which were pretty much their street clothes.
(20:10):
That's a great question. They would have food after the show.
I would make sure to order it. Always check the
food as it's delivered, because you don't want them food
to be wrong, and putting out magic markers for their
for their autograph sessions. They were very low maintenance and
they couldn't have been nicer. So one night in Kansas City,
they said, you want to open up for us? I said,
you bet you I do. I mean it was like
it was like a like a like a bachelor walking
(20:32):
to his wedding, So check it out. I think the
opening band was Slipknot and then Lincoln Park. I went
on in between them with my acoustic guitar. Now listen
to anyone out there, if you ever get the chance
to stand on stage and like Bobby has, in front
of thirty thousand people holding a guitar, the spotlight on
you and hearing every one of them go you suck,
(20:52):
you suck. It gives you a chill, doesn't it. They
were booing so loud you couldn't even hear anything but
Lincoln Park it asked me to stay out there, so
I was or asked me to be out there, so
I said, I'm gonna stay out here. So I finally said,
all right, Kansas City. I hang out a second Kansas
City they're doing, does anyone out here like Ozzy Osbourne?
And there was like a little bit of a rumble,
and I said, well, here's some Joan Osborne. What if
(21:13):
God was anything not tied down was thrown at me, bottles, lighters, coins.
I got struck in the head with a coin and
I was bleeding from the head and the audience starts
roaring like a jet engine starting, and I'm thinking I'm
winning him over because I'm about to die out here.
Little did I know Chester Bennington, the superstar lead singer,
(21:34):
had come out on stage to rescue me, and bless
his heart, he's he's passed away now. He takes me
off stage. The next day in the newspaper, there's a
picture of Chester and I his arms around me. I'm
bleeding from the head or on stage. It's above the review.
That picture is actually in my book, and the little
paragraph says the opening act was a one man band.
Despite bleeding from the head, his name is J. T. Harding.
(21:55):
Despite bleeding from the head, he finished a two song
promising set, and believe it or not, there was some
kid in the audience got one of my long lost demos.
By the tour of US. I don't even really remember
handing him out his His His dad called someone and they
called someone in Nashville and they said, we saw this
guy JT. You gotta you gotta call him up. And
that's how I got my deal in Nashville. Can you
imagine that? So failed record deals getting kicked out of
(22:17):
record companies. Booed off stage in front of Lincoln Park,
and little did I know, the universe was like leading
me here, and I'm very grateful to be here. I
guess my question, if we take a half step back
about your experience with Lincoln Park is why do they
put you in the direct support spot and not the
opening spot if you're only a guitar. I don't know.
(22:39):
And it wasn't a joke. They forgot someone forgot to
introduce me. So the crowd things Lincoln Park's gonna come on,
and then I'm standing there. It was like thirty thousand
Charlie Brown faces just morphing. I don't think anyone thought
it was gonna go so bad. And the roadies came
out and they had those big brooms like janitors have
at high school and there were so many coins, hundreds
of coins, and they said j T made a fortune tonight.
(23:00):
I mean, I'm really thankful I didn't get, you know,
my eye knocked out or something. But they couldn't have
been nicer. You know, if you're born in South Detroit,
South Detroit, which is actually Canada, I've heard, but yeah, no,
I'm American yet. So and we're on in the Canadian
version of Detroit, which that town is, That's right. So
we're on a windsor so we cross over into camp
(23:22):
into Detroit. But I would imagine being from South Detroit.
Do you hate that? Don't stop believing the Journey song
because that's Detroit. I almost just sang it, you know.
I don't because as a kid, I loved music so
much and I still put it on such a pedestal.
I couldn't believe that Journey knew what Detroit was. So
I just I've always loved it, you know. And even
(23:43):
there's a bon Jovie song that wasn't a hit, and
at the very end of it, he goes Detroit and
I was like, oh my gosh, he knows that we're here,
you know, So I actually, um sorry to watch your
feet started a name drop. I actually wrote with John
bon Jovin and he said, you're from Detroit, he said,
before I had a record deal. I got in my
car and I drove all night to Detroit to the
Motown Museum. It was closed, so I stood up. It's
(24:05):
like a little house, he said. I put my hands
around my eyes and looked in the glass, just to
feel all the vibes of the place. Got back in
my car and drove back to New Jersey. I was
just like, Wow, I didn't expect to tell that story,
but you reminded me of it. Also, please name drop.
That makes the podcast that much better place. Name drop
all you possibly can. Chris Jansen, are you gonna take
a drunk girl home or fix a drink? You're confusing
(24:26):
us and Winnebago World. Thank you? Are you going to?
And I know in your book you talked about your father.
You know in my book I spent talking about my
dad bailing on me. Didn't know him until and then
my second book actually went back and met him like
there was a big goal of mine. It was. I
haven't read that yet, but that's incredible. No need, I'll
tell you the story now. I didn't. I didn't know him.
(24:46):
I couldn't write a book about having to face a
fear or face failure without having to do what scared
me the most, which is going to be my biological father.
I did, and you know we aren't close now by
any means it. He wasn't a villain to me anymore.
But I had to write that. So I'd like a
lot of this bubbling up again that I had been
through and had repressed for years and years, and then
(25:09):
when I went mad him too, was it crazy? So
the story about your dad is interesting. Tell these guys here,
what what's up with your dad? All right? It's funny
to say bubbling up because I'm not joking. This doesn't
usually happen. So I was adopted as a child, and
it's starting to bubble up. So I wouldn't trade that
for anything in the world. I was. I was saved,
and uh, you're gonna love this. So my my my
birth certificate is an apology from a condom company. It's
(25:31):
framed next to my Sangrea album. You love that. Bobby's
laughing people, This is all true. My biological father was
trying to break into radio right out of college and
he had a late night radio shift. Don't worry, Bobby,
it's not you. He had a late night radio shift,
and these sorority girls were calling up requesting songs late
at night, and they sounded one of them sounded fun
and flirtatious. So they kept calling each other and he
(25:51):
would play your songs over the radio. And they met,
and speaking of Olivia, let's get physical. They ended up
having me, and but they couldn't take care of me,
so they gave me up for adoption. And I found
out all this all these years later. Um, that was
the story. And I met my biological fathers. Is what
you want me to go? Yeah? And so basically my
biological mother was looking for me forever and I have
(26:14):
parents the Herdings. I wouldn't trade him for the world.
And she said, hey, after a few months, we're talking
on the phone. She said, I want to tell you
who your biological father is. And I said, oh, and
I knew she was serious. She said he's not like
other people and that I didn't know what that meant.
You're all probably thinking what does that mean? You know,
just being sincere, that could mean anything, And she said, um,
he's an actor. I said, he's an actor. I was
living in l A already, and she said, yeah, he
(26:36):
started on the show Cheers, and my brain like the
terminator looking for a human. I was scanning the cast
of Cheers. I had three roommates at the time living
in that dump and I yelled at them, my biological
father is Ted Danson. I'm rich. It's done, it's done,
And she said no, No, his name is Jay Thomas.
Now I know a lot of you out there. They're younger,
probably scratching your heads. But he was on Cheers, Uh
(26:56):
Mork and Mindy Murphy Brown. But at the time he
was a giant DJ in l A, one block from
my apartment, on the side of a building, and he
gotten a lot of trouble as a DJ. Yeah, he
would have loved you. There was his head on the
body of a woman and it said we apologize for
Jay Thomas, one block from my apartment. It's such a
bad movie. I'm surprised Jay didn't starting it. So I
(27:18):
had heckled him at a movie premiere. I tried to
sneak into I listened to him on the radio. He
had come into Tower Records. My biological father. Can you imagine?
But we met and it was great. He was married
to an incredible lady named Sally. He has two incredible
boys that are my best friends now, and it was fantastic.
We were like wild long lost fraternity brothers. I mean,
he was, he was wild. So before he passed, you
(27:39):
guys were good. Yeah, really really good, really good. I'm
a massive Jay Thomas fan. That's incredible, And you want
to you know why I was bubbling up unexpectedly. I
just I didn't expect it. It's his birthday today and
none of this was planned out. And here I am
with you. Yeah, so you know you're justin timber Lake
video shoot that that really wasn't happening that you advertised.
So he did that as well. Forgive me, ladies. He's
(28:00):
set on the air, We're gonna give away We're gonna
pay for somebody's breast implants, and so many women showed
up when they found out it was a joke. He
almost got killed and then the station got sued and
there's like video of him on YouTube on the news
apologizing to all. I mean, it was awful. Wow, you
find out that your dad is somebody that you already know,
you don't know, but you know, and somebody that's famous
(28:21):
and in the same town. I mean, is that a
lot of therapy? Uh? Not so much over that. I
mean I've been to to a therapist, but more, but
not over that. No, because I love my parents so much.
I wasn't looking for anything. And I mean my mom
wrote him a letter and said, boy, this explains a
lot because my fami, my family are real sports you know,
a big sports family, and they're like, man, this kid's
(28:42):
like hair spraying his hair up and jumping. Aren't doing
cart wheels in front of MTV and trying to be
real silly. That's interesting too. It goes to nature and nurture. Yes,
meaning as much as a sports family as you have,
you still had some of your biological father you without
even yes, massive massive fan and not and more so
(29:08):
the stage work and the radio stuff because even when
he went on serious after I had listen to him
all the time, every day. It's incredible. I didn't know
that it's incredible, and I wasn't dodging the question. If
you want to know, this is very healthy. I had
a brother that passed away, so not too long ago
I went, I'd never talked about it, and it was
so your book was so honest. I mean I read
your book like a year ago, and um, when I
(29:29):
was finishing my book, I was like, this is such
a big chapter in my life that I'm omitting, so
I put it in there. So I went and talked
to somebody I didn't know. I was so uncomfortable about that.
So you went back and put it in your book
after you were done with the book and was like,
what is this in a good way a bad way?
I think in a good way, Yeah, listen, if it's
raw and real, even if it's uncomfortable, it's awesome because
(29:51):
other people are going through very similar things and they
may not have the words, or the platform or the
capacity to share it. They may be too embarrassed to
share it. And I found when I wrote my first book,
and there was a lot of stuff in there about
my mom and you know, her being an addict and
dying and um, some really embarrassing things that I thought,
I don't want to share this with people because I
(30:11):
don't want to feel sorry for me. And that's really
what it was for me. But what I found was
because I would tour and I would talk to folks,
the things that I was most worried about being embarrassed
of and worried about people feeling like I was lesser
than they related to. And that's what actually made me
and the person that read the book closer. It was
(30:33):
the exact opposite of what I was scared of. It
actually made them feel like they knew me and me
feel like I was actually talking to someone that understood.
And so that's really it's great. But it's also like,
it's very strong of you to go back and put
that in because you knew it was incomplete and you
(30:53):
said the best word. I don't know why. I think
I was embarrassed, like bringing up I had a brother
that passed aways. I think it was weird. I thought
maybe people would judge me from it. And I had
actually apologized to a few of my really good friends
in town. They were like, you never told me about this.
I'm like, oh, you're asking me if you know I
saw the friends reunion. Oh and by the way, my
brother passed away in sixth grade, so you know what,
let's go down and get some hot chicken. It just
(31:15):
never came up right. Well, but that that's really big
of you in many ways to go back because You
didn't write it with that in mind. No, not. You
went back and thought, all right, that's me. But it's
not complete exactly, and it's easy to just go, you
know what, completed another story about how great I am. Yes,
not at all. Listen that was and and and anyone
out there, you know if you can tell I hate attention. Yeah.
(31:37):
And I have another brother named Lance, who was incredible,
who was not adopted, and he's like, he's as you know,
big as this table in the book. He goes by
his native American name, dances with Budweiser's but uh, you know,
he's my little brother and he's gigantic, you know, so
it's great. I'm very, very lucky. And then I got
to meet Jane everyone else. When you moved to town.
You come to Nashville, you don't know Nashville yet people
looked at you as what early on, Oh, this kind
(32:01):
of cool rocker guy that came from l A. Let's,
you know, let's write some rock songs with them. And
then you know, I actually did put out a song
which actually was big in little rock, but not on
your station. I wish I knew you then I would
have called you called party like a rock star and
it bubbled up a little bit in a good way.
Let me hold on a second. We have a clip
of this j bunch of strip in the windows. Endow
(32:30):
you and party like a rock stars. I was a star,
remember I remember this song, but it was like a
like an alternative pop Where did it? Where did it go?
It was on Alice like one in Arkansas seven seven? Yeah,
I really played. We broke into that station and took
(32:51):
it over. I know, I wish I had known you.
We played one. This only really happened in Arkansas. In Connecticut,
that song really we played it? Is it? One? Is
what it's called? That? And there was a huge line
out the door. My buddies and I are rolling my
equipment in. I put a little band together and like, oh,
who are reopening for the in the club owners said
there's no one, there's just you. I was like, oh
my gosh, you know so it was my little fun
rock star moment. I can't believe you have that clip.
(33:14):
I mean, I remember that song. I'm on it up
about it. That's awesome. Look at all this stuff. It's cool.
It's America. I played a little love in America. What
(33:34):
was What's the difference in the stuff you put out
two thousand nine, two thousand ten is j t X
and your first record deal when you were in l
A and you never got the call back, like sonically,
what was the difference. So it was more kind of
Hoodie and the Blowfish. Um. I mean, I probably wasn't
that good, but Hoodie and the Blowfish trying to be
you know, Counting Crows Ryl Crows singer songwriter. I was
(33:55):
out in l A. You know, I was trapped between
and I was at the intersection of Brett Michael's hairpiece
and Eddie Vetters flannel. You know, I love eighties rock,
but I can't play guitar like that, and I wasn't
angry like the grunge guys, even though that music is
great and catchy. Um. But then, as I said, Counting
Crows Hooting the Blowfish, Cheryl Crow came out. Then I
discovered Vince Gill and Garth Brooks all working at Tower.
I would I would discover all these CDs. So it
(34:17):
was kind of like that, but it wasn't. It definitely evolved.
It was very singer songwritery, but it just wasn't. It
just wasn't meant to be at the time, which is fine.
You know, if we're rewinding a second and you say
you know you're not after I cried for nine months,
it's fine. You said you're not an artist. You're a songwriter.
First of all, songwriters are artists, and I think we
both know that, and I think you meant in the
terms where there you're described now where people will go,
(34:37):
he's a songwriter more so than what I guess an
artist would be someone who gets on stage in fronts
and sales tickets. Uh. That being said, even if that
were the case, I think your resume here you are
an artist in many ways. You may not be even
the version of the artist now, but you've had two
record deals or you've had a record deal And did
you get a deal with a t X was out
(34:57):
a brief? Yes? Yes, I guess it's three. Yes, that's
what I'm saying, like, you should never not call yourself
an artis You're right, You're right, J Harding, I'm artists. Yes,
I'm insulted for you. I'm you insulted you, and I'm
insulted that you insulted you. Right now, I gotta tell you,
this is like the biggest ego boost, I've had good here.
(35:22):
Letna play a couple of songs here. This is field thing.
I didn't walk into his bedroom from the Jonas brothers.
If I know anything about Jonas and their cycles. This
is from the Disney Channel days, right back in the day.
How do you get a song to the Disney folks,
more so than the Jonas brothers, because I'm sure Disney
(35:43):
was picking a lot of their stuff at the time. Yes,
the great question. This is the only time this has
ever happened. I met a great songwriter named Buzzby who
you probably know it. Unfortunately, man, he's he's passed away.
I met him. It was like late at night. It
was like eight o'clock at night. I was like, we're
writing a song at night. I never met this guy.
And he said, Hey, the Jonas brothers have a TV
show and they're looking for a song for it, so
(36:04):
we kind of of course, I knew that the Jonas
Brothers were, but I kind of googled. Sitting there, I
googled where they were from. From New Jersey, I do
not know. I thought they were from the land of Jonas,
an island where kids arena. That's exactly that should be
a movie. So I think they're from Jersey So I
just said from Jersey Town to the Hollywood sign data DA.
I think the song was called this is the Night,
(36:24):
and they may have changed the title to Feeling Alive.
I can't remember. So it's the only time I've done that.
A lot of people in town say, hey, who's looking
for songs, let's write something just for Carrie Underwood, just
for Dirk Spentley, And that doesn't work for me personally,
it just never has. But that's the one time. And
then we sent it to them and they loved it
and became to the theme of their TV show and
they put it out. It's it's great. I saw him
do it in concert. I don't know them at all,
(36:46):
but they gave me passes and said, you know, stay
away from all the girls, don't be creepy. Do you
make sink money from back then? Like, did you make
pretty good money for being on a TV show? Yes?
Then better than now where it's more of a you
can make more for rights reasons. Uh yeah. I don't
know exactly how it all works, but in my like
smile has been used on so many TV shows and
(37:07):
in movies. It all pays very what the Jonas song
like as just a theme song? Did that pay well?
Because now I would pay really well. Oh, it probably
doesn't pay as much, now what you mean in reverse? See,
I didn't know what you meant. I I honestly, I'm
not trying to evade the question. I don't. I don't
if you don't know that it didn't make you rich?
Uh yeah, I guess, Yeah I didn't. Yes, Okay, So
(37:28):
can you Chestny bar at the end of the world.
Let's play clip of this one next time we come back,
and then I want to play one more that I
have up here because I'm a massive Googo Dolls fan.
Here is when the world breaks your heart now stops.
So how did you write with any of those guys,
(37:50):
Johnny or Yes? So I was in a studio in
New York City, like in New York like here we
just ride in houses and whatever. I was in a
really great studio overlooking Times Square after all those years
back at the same building pretty much across the street
where I recorded my E M I record. If you
can imagine em, I was the deal I lost and
um going back to alone with you. I believe his
(38:10):
wife a girlfriend at the time he's married. Now. Uh,
Johnny Resident's wife liked Alone with You and he was
recording the studio and he came out and just asked
me about it, and he had just gotten this kind
of like he's really good looking you and he had
this kind of like new wave haircutt and I was like, oh,
it's Justin Bieber's dad. And luckily he laughed because I
don't think he liked that. But uh, we talked about
alone with you and he's like, oh, we should write sometimes.
So I kind of, you know, lingered about a couple
(38:32):
of extra days and he just said, hey, let's write
this song when the World Breaks your Heart and it
was on I think one of their last albums. So
I would make, you know, nixed CDs with um, you know,
iris on it and send back to the girls in Michigan.
When I was living in Yeah, of course, I was
such a Google Dolls fans, and I would get irritated
when the basis would sing one or two because every
every album and they let the bass like he had
(38:55):
this and I was like, no, no, no no, no, I
get it, but no, don't we don't need that. Johnny
Resnick told me why do you know why I don't.
Johnny Resnick would get really down on himself, like most
artists like me, I'm an artist, and I think things
weren't gonna work out. And apparently the bass player just
for years and years was like, Johnny, you're great, keep writing,
we gotta keep doing this, we gotta keep doing this,
(39:16):
and he just feels really grateful for their friendship. And
so he has a I think a couple of songs
each record, and then he definitely I saw him too, Yeah,
and he goes hard. He's like a he sings hard.
He does, and I'm like, alright, alright, alright, He's like
the mini Gene Simmons or something. Is where there with
all the songs and all the hits and all the
(39:36):
close to being number one but are still hits Like
Barton of the World. We played that a whole bunch,
Wasn't people know that song? Do you ever have a
song or a session that you canceled on and that
day they wrote a massive song that you'd have been
a part of. No, But what a great question. I
did write with um Sam Hunt before he had a
record deal, and now I realized why his songs are
(39:57):
so great. He takes a long, long time time to
write songs like they took them about your Probably I'm
sure you know this a year to right body, like
a back road, but it sounds nursery, rhyme simple. The
hardest thing to do is write a simple song. So
when I was writing, when I first met Sam and
wrote with him, like months and months would go by
and we'd be working on one song, and looking back,
I wish I got a sleeping bag and just slept
on his front door, so that I kind of wish
(40:19):
I had been a little more patient. But at the
time people were, you know, still now people are writing
songs so fast. And also I am very very these
are great questions. I'm very, very flattered when I play
the Blue Bird and people come up to me and
they come right up to me, and they said, I
just moved to town. We should write. But I've learned
that you have to find your own tribe and you
kind of rise together, So I can't just write with
every person that comes up to me. Well, she didn't
(40:41):
just get to town. But I was walking through a
hallway one day and this girl came up and she said, oh,
are you the guy that sings love in America and
not really many people knew that song on This Girl
and Bobby Bones apparently, and I said, she said, oh,
I love that song. We should write some time. And
I said, oh, thanks so much. But I was like,
not in a conceited way. I was just kind of like,
I can't write with every single person, and it was
case you must grape so that ha ha, yeah, dropped
(41:03):
the anvil on me right now, Mike, please, Um, so,
I've definitely made some mistakes, and I you know, I mean,
you know who knows, you know. Think about the guys
that met Luke Combs the first day he came to town.
They have all these big hits. So you just people
don't have signs above their head flashing I'm going to
be a star. I used to hold one above mine,
but that didn't work. Yes, exactly, let's talk about right
(41:23):
like a rock stars. Something you're doing? Yes, so what
is that contest? Oh? Thank you so much? So? Uh.
National Adoption Month is in November, so if you were listening,
if you know anyone that's adopted or you are adopted,
this is totally for free. I'd love to write a
song with someone out there over zoom and all you
have to do. I have a website. I have not
told anyone about this. This is first time announcement. On
(41:45):
the phones podcasts, you're talking about writing and I was like, oh,
this is a good place to talk about this. Okay,
go ahead and ready, So go to the website, right
like a rock star dot com. Send me your adoption
story in about eight hundred words, and include a little
video tip of you singing or playing any song on
the radio, just a little clip, and we're gonna choose
a winner, and I'll write with someone over zoom once again.
(42:06):
It's totally free, and we'll own the song together. I'll
record it. You never know, we might write a hit,
who knows. And it's just a way to bring awareness
and it's something fun to do and I'm really excited
about it. And by the way, don't don't lie to
me about being adopted. The FedEx jacket does not work
on this website, right, like a rock star dot com.
So if they win, and you right, they're gonna do
some sort of press with you in November, which is
(42:28):
National Adoption Month. Is that right? Yeah, well just see
what happens. But there, I can't say it enough. There
are no strings attached. It's it's gonna be great. We'll
own the song together. Who knows, we might worst case
scenario we played at the Bluebird and or something, and
you can, you know, you can send in from anywhere.
It's exciting. If that's worst case scenario, that's pretty awesome.
That's what I'm saying. That's that's pretty awesome. So you
it seems to me and I can be wrong with this,
(42:50):
but you can actually have Bobby Bones sign my book
for you. You're playing a lot of shows. It seems
like you play a lot of shows. I love playing
songwriter shows and hearing people sing the songs. And you know,
I don't need someone to run up to me and say,
you know, oh I wish you You know your picture
was on the cover of that album you wrote the songs.
I don't need all that. I love that. I'm so
grateful that these big stars sing my songs. But I
(43:11):
love doing the songwriter shows. Yes, and what about that?
Do you like? Are you still itching that performer like that?
Get scratching that absolutely? And it kind of you know,
gets you know, my ya ya's out. I I don't
know what it would be like to try to get
a record deal, try to be you know online and
on TikTok, constantly trying to get it all going. So
I feel like I have the best of both worlds.
I live in this incredible city, Nashville. I get to
(43:33):
go and play these great shows like Sundance. The Bluebird
has sent me all over the world, you know, London,
New York, everywhere, and and then I get to write
songs by the day. It's it's fantastic. I'm doing a
songwriter night at the Bluebird on like the thirty one
or something. There's a big Sunday night songwriter thing, and
I haven't done it because it's usually it's too late
for me to be even awake. But I'm doing have
(43:54):
a couple of shows that I'm doing in Nashville. I've
done two already and it's like a Ted talk me
to comedy show. And so what I've gotta work material
and so some of my materials music, and I reached
out and you know, called the people as the Bluebird,
and I said, hey, because at times I was just
going I play around and work material or I just
show up and hop on stage. And what what's tough
(44:15):
for me was they would go all right, because you know,
sometimes guests will come in and I'll make a big
deal about the surprise. And so there I called, and
I said, hey, I guess some songs. And with comedy songs,
you don't know if they're funny until you play them
in front of people and see if they laugh. You know,
you can ride a real catchy hook for people comes
to that, that's a really good hook, and you know it.
You know it. With comedy, you may feel like the
jokes great, but until you do it in front of
(44:36):
people and they actually laugh, you don't really know. So
I write all these jokes, write all these songs, and
I said, hey, do you mind if I come up
and I and they said sure, we'll bring you on
as a guest, secret guest, a big surprise guests. I'm like, okay, sure.
So I go up and it's a Sunday night and
they say, all right, everybody, and it's the stage, not
the round. It's the stage not the round. You guys
are never gonna believe who's here. And I can feel
people sit up a little taller, and I can see
(44:58):
a little bit out there because I'm in the bag,
and they're like this guy has been responsible for so
many hits, and and now I'm like, oh no, I'm like,
oh god, oh no, these people are gonna think like
Garth's coming out with something like I can't win. I
already know I can't win. By what's about to happen.
You've heard him on and they introduced me, and people
are like, oh, and they weren't wrong about what they said.
(45:20):
It's just what. So I said, hey, guys, I'm gonna
come work out some material on this night if it's
okay with you, and they said great, I said, but
don't make it a surprise. Put it up on the site.
I'm gonna sh I'm there, I'm gonna play that win't.
Nobody's disappointed. And so I certainly people are excited to
meet you. I don't know if they have. You ever
met a man that went five years without having sex?
(45:41):
This is him. Yeah, that's true. I wish I wish
I was a listener that I would have called up
as your left hand. I would have said, Bobby never
takes me to dinner. He only wants to fool around.
Brought to you by Jurgen's Lotion The Bobby Bones Shows.
Oh man, I'm I'm playing that Bluebird show on the
(46:03):
thirty one to do the same thing, but I'm playing
in the middle of like two songwriter things. But he'll
be great my point, Yeah, yeah, and I feel fine.
They know I'm coming. I'm gonna play four or five
comedy songs. I'm gonna sae who laughs, who doesn't. We're
gonna move from that. But I guess my point is there,
do you like to play in the very intimate round
where you go around the circle or do you like
to be on the stage where it feels like a
(46:23):
conventional show. And that's a great question, I guess in town,
I love the magic of the blue Bird and people
listening right now, like it's so hard to get in
there because if you don't know, it's so small. I
do love that, but it's a whole different experience being
out at Sundance for two nights. People both night, everyone
had their phones up with their little lights on. Unfortunately
(46:45):
it wasn't my song, it was Tom Douglas song. But
I was still sitting there watch I was on stage. Yeah,
someone snap a picture, so I guess yeah. But if
someone said, hey, do you want to go play, you know,
a shed with like, you know, Bobby Bones band. I'd
rather do that than I guess I meant at the
Bluebirds scifically. Would you rather play on the stage, Oh,
I'm sorry, No, I'd rather play in the round. Yes,
because it's like you're with friends. It's just such an
(47:08):
unusual and magical experience. And I do other songwriter shows
around the country where they try to do like a
bluebird thing that isn't part of the bluebird and people
don't know, so they kind of talk all through it
or say, hey, play Sweet Caroline, or you know, play
Luke Combs. I was like, I wish I could. I
didn't write it, you know. So it's just so interesting
to play songs that you've written in such an intimate
(47:29):
place and everyone is just hanging on the edge of
their seat, can't wait to hear a hit, can't wait
to hear something new. So yeah, I'd rather play in
the round. Yeah. Well, you guys, get the book, party
like a rock star, get into the contest right like
a rock star. Dot com for the website, and then
you can possibly right with a rock star, a real
life artist. I'm gonna walk around now calling myself an artist. Hey,
(47:50):
before we go I would not have hit songs if
it wasn't for country music fans country DJs like you
that played the song. So thank you very much. I
really silly a lot, but I'm very very grateful. I
have a great life, So thanks so much for having
me on. How many suits do you have? Like with
thinking about like seven or eight, I'm looking for some
(48:10):
new ones that a lot of people see that I have.
You would love, Mike. I have a Star Wars one.
It's white with like little um Star Wars uh stormtrooper
helmets on it. Yeah, I got a pac Man one
that I got last year. So and every time I'm
I'm gonna wear this watch like, I don't think this
is the occasion for that. I don't like why not
she goes because this is a formal you know there,
So I haven't really found a time yet for that,
(48:31):
but I like it. It's how I knew you visually, right. Yes,
I don't know if you remember. I was I don't
want to stay where, but I was somewhere having lunch
in town and you came out and all of my
friends stood up there like that's Bobby Bones, and they
all came around you to like that's never no, no,
to play a song, no for real, to play a
song or something, or to play at your wedding, one
of them said. And you looked over all of them
(48:52):
and you said, this really happened. You said, it's the
guy in the crazy suits. And they all turned around
and looked at me, and I was like, holy cow,
wonder how he recognized me? Oh, and now are all like, hey,
where do you buy your suits? Man? Yeah, they're gonna
go crazy. And never have people don't come up to
me like that and surround me and lift me above
their head to go. I wouldn't make that up. Yeah,
And you just went, it's the guy in the crazy suits.
You probably saw it on like phil was Sarton's Instagram
(49:14):
or something. Was I coming out of like a yo
or like a cycle studio and who and I ran
into and I saw I do remember this. I saw you,
but I the writers of And then God whispered her
name yes, and and he was like, hey, I wrote it.
I was like, oh, yeah, we're using that in our wedding.
And then I saw you and I was like, it's
the guy that wears the suits. That's right, I do.
(49:37):
But nobody surrounded that whole story about that they lifted
me up twice, okay, and they tossed me in the
air and saying for he's a jolly good fellow. Once
that was it, but after that it was over. Listen.
I've really enjoyed this. This has been a real great
conversation for me. Thank you. I appreciate it. Your story
is interesting, UM. I love the fact that you know
you pushed yourself with authenticity when writing your book, like
(49:59):
you knew it wasn't all the way out there and
you knew what else you had to put into your
book wasn't extremely comfortable, but you did it anyway because
that was the last piece of that puzzle. I think
that's great. There's a lot about you. Thanks so much.
So that's fantastic. And I'm a massive fan of your father,
of your your biological dad, because I don't call my boy,
I don't call my biological dad my father, so I'm
stepping back your biological father. I'm massive fan of him.
(50:21):
And you know what, your mom and dad too, because
they did a heck of a job raising you. And
that that is that's really, really, really a great story. Awesome. Well,
thanks so much, Thanks for um. Discovering all the new music,
and I don't really do anymore like Instagram and TikTok
at j t X rock Star. I got a new
song for bopopopp Cast Cast Cast Cast Cast Pop Podcast.
(50:43):
If you've done that one already, I never know. We
probably won't do that one never again. Alright, thanks everybody.
J Hardy follow him jt X rock Star And that's it.
Hey welcomed Episode three JT. Harding, which he was adopted
and they found it his dad's famous when he found
out who his dad was crazy crazy, like, he's written
so many big songs and had so many turns in
his career where he's even and she just has ah
and so much energy. This guy came in here. I
walked in the room and my own study was clapping
(00:22):
for me. I was like, Wow, this is about to
be very exciting. Uh. He's written songs like Somewhere with
You by Kenny Chesney, Alone with You by Jake O,
and Somewhere on My car Key Thurb and Different for Girls.
Dirk Spentley like, he's got so many He's got a
book out called Party Like a rock Star. They're crazy, coincidental,
hard luck and harmonious life of a Songwriter. It came
out this year and again he talks about he is
(00:44):
the biological son of um I'm not gonna tell you
who put him up for adoption an early age and
later on they reconciled and it's just a really great podcast.
I hope you like it. J T. Harding, I hope
you check out his book. And you know he talked
about at the end of this to something he's doing
for someone else who was adopted, you know, and you
can be a part of that. So all that, I
(01:06):
hope you enjoy Episode three. JT. Hardy all right, here
you go. You guys do not waste time and rule.
It's not that we don't waste time, it's that we
don't want anything to go to waste. So and you see,
we're on now. And what JT is talking about is
I walk. And by the way, I applaud you for
being early. That's awesome. Most creatives aren't. Yeah, well I
(01:29):
had to stay up all night to get here on time,
you know, so I don't go to bed as early
as you. So what do you do yesterday? What do
you do? Yes? Just are we on right now? Good
evening everybody. For those of you that don't know me,
this is hit songwriter J T. Harding. Hello, country fans worldwide,
wide wide. If you're in your car, hank your horn.
If you're at work, drum on your desk, and if
(01:49):
you're still in bed, dance on your back sending the
party drones. Turn up your phones. This is the Bobcast
with Bobby Bones. All right, you were made for like
more n Zoo Radio. That's that's when I was born.
I was kidding, do not adjust your computers at home.
I'm actually dressed like this. Hey, thanks for asking. I
just played two Bluebird Cafe shows. It's sundance. It's not
(02:11):
so much the alcohol, it's the altitude that has me.
I played but Tom Douglas and it was magical a
sundance meeting and and uh, yeah, so you did that
last night and flew over um while we were there
all weekend, and then I stayed an extra day and
then yeah, I flew in last night. I wasn't gonna
miss this. It's awesome. I appreciate that. And congrats on
the are you married yet? And yeah, yes, congrats, thank
(02:33):
you very much. I walked in the room or when
he clapform me too. It's like the usually with these knuckleheads,
I walk in and I got crap, we gotta work again.
But yeah, yeah, so I bet that's pretty cool. I
love Tom like Tom Yes to me, one of my
favorite people to kind of, you know, take and extrapolate
information from and separating compared to other people's stories and
(02:54):
even his his movie which I watched a year or
so ago. He sent me a a version and it
still maybe the same version, but it's very it's great.
And some girl in the audience was like, oh, j
T think you're so funny. And I caught you crying
during tom song the House that Built Me, and I
said to her, yeah, I was so sad I didn't
write it. Okay, by my book, move on, okay, anyway,
we'll talk about your book in a second party like
(03:15):
a rock star. But I think I should tell everybody
who's just listening and not watching, is that you're in
a full leopard suit, right, yes? Yes, and so you
are always dressed as and in something when I see
you in pictures. I was telling him like this earlier.
I was like, I've never met JT, but every time
I see him he has some funky type of suit.
And the question I always ask people that have a
(03:36):
thing is like where do you find them? And how
many do you have? Oh? Well, yeah, I like my
money where I can see it hanging in my closet. Yeah.
By the way, I'm not going to tell anyone where
we are right now. This is an incredible display of
hard work your home and it's fantastic. Well, I just
I travel a lot, and if I see a cool suit,
I just wear it. You know, I'm not a artist.
(03:57):
I'm a songwriter, but I do a lot of songwriter
shows and I just love to give people their money worth.
I want people to leave and say, that's like one
of the best shows I've ever seen. And you know,
a lot of times I'll do shows with guys and
they look like they just rolled off the couch and
they're in their muddy crocks. And I know that's a thing,
but it's just it's not for me. I grew up
loving Kiss and Van Halen, and you know, that's probably
(04:17):
why I loved Garth Brooks when I first heard of him.
He's smashing guitars and swinging around and wearing those shirts
that looked like someone threw a bucket of paint on him.
You know, at your earlier Austin show, I want to
list and play some of the number ones you have,
just so people will listen to you when you talk
about how you know your book and what you have,
what you have to Yeah, yeah, Uncle Cracker, smile, here
(04:38):
you go. That song, especially with Uncle Cracker, an interesting
number one and an interesting career in country music for
Uncle Cracker. So when he cuts that, do you feel
like you got a real shot at something? Because Uncle
Cracker really didn't have real history in the format yet.
(05:00):
This is such a great question. So I had not
had a hit song yet. I you know, grew up
loving MTV. Did anything I could. My story is similar
to yours, Bobby, although you, of course did everything to
be in radio. I did everything I could, and you know,
fibbing and all these you know, little tricks and anything
I could do to get the attention of the music business.
And I met Uncle Cracker. He hadn't had a record
out in five years. But I've never been around a
(05:22):
rock star before like that writing with them. I worked
for a couple of crazy rock stars and we just started.
We spent a weekend. You know, he chain smokes. My
eyes were as red as the Netflix logo writing with
this guy, and we wrote some not so great songs.
In the last day. I was like, man, did we
just waste the whole weekend? I was, I put the
pressure on myself and he'll never forget it. We're packing
(05:43):
up our little four track recorder and he said, what
about a song called Smile? And I would just like
stood in my tracks, and he said, I need a
song that my three daughters and my girlfriend and my
mom can dance too. And I was like, oh, five
generations of people. Great, we'll go to NASA while we're
at it. Yeah, sign up. But we did, and then
it was his title. He had the best line in
the song, cooler than the flip side of My pillow,
(06:04):
and I knew it in my blood and bones. Pun
intended that it was a hit, but it sat around
for a couple of years. I mean that song was
passed around like a vape pen and a Morgan wall
and after party. I'll tell you no one wanted to
record it. Cracker loved it, but eventually his label decided
to put it out. That's at least what I remember.
And I knew it was a hit, and then luckily
a country station in Detroit I believe, played it and
(06:27):
it went from pop to country. I've been trying to
do that ever since, Bobby. It's not easy. So you're right.
What's his real name, by the way, Matt Shaper, But
I've never called him that, just like, yeah, I just
called Cracker. I was looking at the writers and Matthew
Shaper's listed and I've had he's come out and opened
a couple of shows for me. It's been a couple
of years, and yeah, it was nice, a nice guy.
But you know, it was cool to hear some of
the songs that he has that kind of border country
(06:50):
or pop or you know, because he got he was
Kidd Rocks DJ, as how was first introduced to him,
and then he had followed me Everything is Alright, which
is a country song too, but it was a massive
pop song. And you write this with him. But what
I'm hearing is when you wrote it and you finished it,
he didn't cut it right away. You tried, You wrote
it to give to other people. Well, it was I
wanted it to be for him. I think he did,
(07:11):
but and I don't know the ins and outs of it.
He could, he could tell you, I guess, but it
just nothing was really happening with him at the record
company at that time. But he did co write all
summer long that Kid Rock put out, and I think
that kind of got a little momentum. And Kenny Chesney
was always taking Cracker out on tour, so everyone knew
who he was. And I just knew it was a hit.
And I write a lot of songs, and I don't
always jump up and down and feel like their hits,
(07:33):
but I just felt Smile could really be a hit.
But I'm glad that he that he recorded it. What
I like about your songwriting, your songs that have really achieved,
uh not only number one status, but songs that last
for a long time. Uh. This next one, Kenny Chesney
Somewhere with You. A lot of them are slow, and
I love a good slow, like make me feel and
(07:54):
remember the place I was when that song came out,
And this one does here Kenny Chesney Somewhere with You
one of my favorite songs. Three to Come Down made
me down listing in my era. Hold on the Cada's
in this song though, because it's a slow to mid,
but he's also by he. There's a lot of words there,
(08:17):
you know. That's me walking down the street bye bye
Buda by kind of a weird juxtaposition of a mid
to slow with a pretty fast word cadence. So you're
writing this song did anyone go? Well? This feels kind
of funky because it's a lot of words real quick,
but the song is really not that fast. Did anyone go? Once? Again?
Hopefully there's some future hit makers listening. Nobody wanted that song.
(08:37):
I wrote it with Shane mcinally, who's now as you know,
you all know, one of the biggest songwriters around. He
was sleeping on his sister's couch at the time. My
apartment over off Music Row had been uh had been condemned,
and we weill someone actually kind of pawned us off
on each other. Well, j T is this rock guy
from you know, Michigan, l A. And you know, Shane
hasn't been doing anything for he was in town for
fourteen years, and so we weren't trying to had a
(09:00):
country song. We were just writing, you know, from from
our our hearts. We had both been gone through breakups
and I just met him. Was the first day I
met him, actually, and he didn't want to write a
song that day, and we went over to Fido, this
little restaurant. We started talking and he was telling me
his story and I thought, my goodness, we have the
same philosophy about relationships. Um, you cannot make somebody love you.
(09:21):
You can only stalk them and hope for the best.
So it didn't work for either of us. But we
wrote Somewhere with You without thinking if it was right.
It was wrong. And then luckily when Kenny ches and
he heard it, you know, everyone just kind of got
out of his way and he put it out and
guys like you played it. Was it wordy when it
was sent over in the demo meaning did he change
up any of the tempo or did he did he
(09:42):
speed up the words but keep the what happened there anything?
I think they sped it up a bit. The one
thing that he and his producer added, which is great,
they added that thinking thinking YouTube guitar. The demo was
just kind of uh Shane singing, and I think it
was like maybe an acoustic guitar, maybe a piano, but
it was very basic. It was very basic. One of
my favorite Jaco Owen songs alone with You Here you Go,
(10:05):
You Got Me out on Jacob play that song until
he dies, Like, that's that's a jac Owen song right there.
As much as Jake didn't write it, there are some
songs that are kind of meant for artists, and that
is a Jaco and freaking Jam and Jake and are
close friends. Were dinner week or so ago and we
(10:27):
were just talking about songs, and we're talking about his
new song and he's like, there are certain songs and
he didn't write his new one, I don't think, but
he was like, there are certain songs that you just
like grab and even though you didn't write, they feel
like they're yours. And that to me is such a
Jaco Oen song. So you wrote that with Shane as well? Yeah,
Shane as well. Um, the the original title was called
running with Scissors. Did you know that? I did not.
(10:47):
Shane had this book called Running with Scissors, and we thought,
you know, it's like I read that book. It's analogy
for It's not about the book, but it's like analogy
for bad you know, relationships or whatever that closterm and
write that, I don't know, Mike, you like, I'm so
I've read that book. Yeah, tell you that. So the
song was called running with Scissors. We made a demo
of it, we heard Jake Ohen was recording it, and
then I've never met Jaco On before. Barefoot Blue g
(11:10):
Night was a huge hit and apparently standing in you
can ask him this standing in the vocal booth, apparently
he said to his producer, I don't really love this
running with Scissors line, and they called us and since
you know he had just had you know, Barefoot Blue
g Night. They said, hey, could you change this lyric
for us? And because we're shallow when we want hits,
we're like, let's change it. So it was a great
call and I was actually very flattered that he that
(11:31):
he said, hey, I want to record this song. So
we took that out. So what's funny is every the title,
what the song is about, the lyric that was in there,
none of that is in it anymore. And it became
alone with you and it became a big hit. I'm
really grateful for where you got. People always laugh when
I do this live and I'm like, this is actually
not one of my jokes. People. You got me running
(11:53):
with scissors every time you call, and I know it
would kill me if I fall, So we changed it
to you got me out on the edge time you call. Yeah.
I think it was a good call. Actually, well yeah,
because if he wanted it, and then it worked and
it's awesome and it's number one. I think it's Keith
Urban somewhere in my car from he wrote that with Keith, Yes,
(12:18):
with Keith. And do you know how I met Keith Urban?
M hmm. You probably have no idea. I was just
early for Bumble. Uh. When Somewhere with You came out,
my friends started texting me saying, Keith Urban is talking
about your Kenny Chesney song. He's telling his fans to
buy it. I think he made a little link for
it in the pre itune days or whatever. And Keith
(12:40):
Urban did not know who wrote the song. He didn't
know who I was. He just liked that. You can
imagine what a wild feeling that was. And I was
at a songwriter reward show downtown. Everyone's dressed up. I
was in the men's room washing my hands, and I
just kind of looked over and standing there at the
wall stall was Keith Urban again. And so I waited
for him. I invented the long hand wash. I just
stood there and he came up, and I, uh, you know,
(13:01):
introduced myself to him. And he's so cool and so humble.
He said, mate, what a song. If I had just
heard that before anyone else, I would have done it.
And I said, God, that's just crazy, because you know,
I sent it to your record company and your manager.
So he said, um, what, you take my phone number.
He put his number into my phone. If you can
believe that I texted him at like seven in the
morning the next day, which was not good. He didn't
(13:23):
answer me back, but we became friends. He eventually called
once again Keith Urban. He said, these are the guitar chords,
this is the drumbeat I want, and I wanted to
be a song about looking back at a relationship. He
was like an architect with a blueprint of the song,
and he couldn't have been nicer or more talented. So
I was so glad to write with him. Agree about
(13:44):
Blake Shelton, which Mike we back in our parody days,
we did a parody of that. Yeah, oh that's flatter,
that's great. Oh that's what it was. That's right, Yeah,
go ahead when we roll up to a couple more
days real quick. Here is Different for Girls by Dirk's
(14:07):
and l right o ye, who's just And here is
Beers and Sunshine by Darius. So now that we've heard
your expert work and it's not enough for you, flip
over the Craig Wiseman, Bobcast people. Come on, I'm doing
(14:29):
my best here, and you know you come in and
you have a book. I always like to lay out
what would make you an expert and why people would
want to read what you have to say. And so
we'll get onto some more of your life stuff in
a minute. But party like a rock star of the book.
What's why did you decide you wanted to write a book?
And what do you think people are gonna get from it?
Great question. So I played a show here at the
(14:49):
listening room, and writing a book wasn't on my mind
at all. There was a lady in the audience so
I'd never met, didn't know anything about her, but I
would like to give her a shout out, and I've
never heard her before. Her name is Dana Purnos. People
may know her, I didn't. She's on TV. She started saying,
I saw this guy j T at the listening room.
I think he should write a book. So she actually
called around. So I got this book deal. It's not
(15:10):
only the stories behind all these hits, which are all
co written, by the way, I had a lot of help,
and basically it's a story of my life. I didn't
know anybody in the music business. I just loved listening
to the radio. When MTV came booming into my living room,
it felt I felt like Dorothy going from Black and
White OZ. You know, sorry, black and white Kansas into
(15:30):
technicolor OZ. I just couldn't believe it. Michael Jackson with
the sidewalk lighting up, you know, Madonna singing like a
virgin a wedding dress, David Lee roth like Bruce Lee
with a jet pack on. I looked on the back
of my CDs and they all said Sunset Boulevards. So
before my friends graduation caps were even thrown in the air,
I was already living on the most unglamorous corner of Hollywood.
(15:52):
And I had a job, and I made my first
uh and I used clothing story. I made my first
demo with money. I won on VH one Rock and
Roll Jeopardy. I'm glad you were not it. You probably
would have beat me. You went on Rock and Roll, Jeffardy, Yes, oh, Bobby,
I annihilated the competition. You know, when my friends, when
my friends were studying the S A T. I was
studying MTV And no, that's not in my book. It
should be. It was the guy from that eventually went
(16:12):
on does Survivor? Yeah, Jeff, did you know that? I
don't know. I retained I'm pretty good trivia, but and
I wanted to say that as I just said, Jeff
and then if you were gonna say yeah yeah. So
he stood real close to me when he talked, and
I would like I would jerk my head back like
some spit hit my face and I wiped my eye off. Oh.
The audience was going crazy and they were like, we
need to edit out all these jokes. But you know,
I was trying to get noticed. How much did you
(16:34):
win on Rock and Roll Jeopardy? Was it one episode?
Did you stay up? And it was just one episode?
I won dollars. I didn't get the final Jeopardy, but
I remember it like it was last night. Can I
give you the question? Okay? Final Jeopardy? Ding Ding ding Ding.
The category is female singers. She is a member of
the Royal British Army. She had ten top ten hits
(16:57):
in the eighties, which is a lot, and she started
in the biggest movie Vie of nineteen seventy eight. I
got it wrong, but I bet one dollar because I
knew they couldn't beat me because I was up so much.
So British. She's probably born in the sixties. Then there
we go, Mike with the sound and you didn't say
(17:17):
number one, but again on the pop chart, the top
ten song pretty Ubiquito us whenever She's everywhere? Yeah yeah, yeah,
but I mean like the biggest movie of the movie,
the biggest movie in night. I saw him reading his
answer down. I stopped and solo artists out because Debbi
Harry is in a band. I know, man, I got
it wrong after just crushing it all right, let me
(17:38):
give me ten more seconds. Let's see it's a British
solo female. Do I know her? What I know her? Oh? Yes, yes,
you're listening to hit writer J T. Harding on the
Bobcast with Bobby. But does still hold music? Doesn't it
every thing? Press one to speak. I'm gonna not know
Olivia Newton John and the movie is graz I feel
like she's Australian. She is. That's the trick quite Oh
(18:00):
my goodness, rule, I know that's what, idiot. I'm not
trying to trick you. They tricked me to. I thought
Olivia and John, but she's Australian. That's why I came back.
She said, yeah, it was, it was. It was awful,
but I won and I I used um that money
to make my demo. Now this was pre Internet, so
I couldn't just call a record company. I didn't know anybody,
(18:21):
but I knew a girl whose roommate worked the FedEx,
so I borrowed the FedEx jacket. I mean, this is
like some of the stunts you pulled right and like
Obi wan Kenobi, just sauntering into the death Star. I
walked into every record company with the FedEx jacket, passed
the security guards, passed the promotion guys chewing on their
golf teas. Oh, and I put my CD in every
mailbox in l A h. And then did anything come
(18:42):
of all of the CD placement? Uh No? But then
I got a job at Tower Records on Sunset, and
I was so naive that's something could happen. I'll work
at Tower, and everyone that makes records were coming here.
I passed my CD out to everyone. Every celebrity came
in there too, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, Slow stallone. I
tried to give him all my demo. I got a
record deal. The guy that signed Tracy Chapman and we
(19:04):
all remember her a fast car. He came in. I
recognized his name from the record and I made a
record with him with John Mellencamp's band in New York,
got a big check, release date, all that stuff flew
back to l A, put a band together two or dates,
and they never called me again. My heart's been broken
by the music business more than the ice cream machine
at McDonald's on Broadway has been broken. People, What do
(19:26):
you mean they never called you again? They invented ghosting.
I never heard from him that the record was shelved. Yes,
and and you know, you would think that that eight
grand would make me feel better, but it wouldn't. But
do you mind if I continue? I was worn out.
I'd been in l A for five years chasing my dream.
I decided to take a break and recharge. I get
a job working for the Superstar band Lincoln Park. This
(19:47):
is all true. About six months. Six guys in the
band really great, very low maintenance. I would not talk
about my music, but they would see me working on
my song sometimes and then I would put the guitar
down one night, I'll never for get it. In Kansas City,
sold out, they asked me to open up for them.
What were you doing for them? Um? Getting? Uh? Their
stage closed washed which were pretty much their street clothes.
(20:10):
That's a great question. They would have food after the show.
I would make sure to order it. Always check the
food as it's delivered, because you don't want them food
to be wrong, and putting out magic markers for their
for their autograph sessions. They were very low maintenance and
they couldn't have been nicer. So one night in Kansas City,
they said, you want to open up for us? I said,
you bet you I do. I mean it was like
it was like a like a like a bachelor walking
(20:32):
to his wedding, So check it out. I think the
opening band was Slipknot and then Lincoln Park. I went
on in between them with my acoustic guitar. Now listen
to anyone out there, if you ever get the chance
to stand on stage and like Bobby has, in front
of thirty thousand people holding a guitar, the spotlight on
you and hearing every one of them go you suck,
(20:52):
you suck. It gives you a chill, doesn't it. They
were booing so loud you couldn't even hear anything but
Lincoln Park it asked me to stay out there, so
I was or asked me to be out there, so
I said, I'm gonna stay out here. So I finally said,
all right, Kansas City. I hang out a second Kansas
City they're doing, does anyone out here like Ozzy Osbourne?
And there was like a little bit of a rumble,
and I said, well, here's some Joan Osborne. What if
(21:13):
God was anything not tied down was thrown at me, bottles, lighters, coins.
I got struck in the head with a coin and
I was bleeding from the head and the audience starts
roaring like a jet engine starting, and I'm thinking I'm
winning him over because I'm about to die out here.
Little did I know Chester Bennington, the superstar lead singer,
(21:34):
had come out on stage to rescue me, and bless
his heart, he's he's passed away now. He takes me
off stage. The next day in the newspaper, there's a
picture of Chester and I his arms around me. I'm
bleeding from the head or on stage. It's above the review.
That picture is actually in my book, and the little
paragraph says the opening act was a one man band.
Despite bleeding from the head, his name is J. T. Harding.
(21:55):
Despite bleeding from the head, he finished a two song
promising set, and believe it or not, there was some
kid in the audience got one of my long lost demos.
By the tour of US. I don't even really remember
handing him out his His His dad called someone and they
called someone in Nashville and they said, we saw this
guy JT. You gotta you gotta call him up. And
that's how I got my deal in Nashville. Can you
imagine that? So failed record deals getting kicked out of
(22:17):
record companies. Booed off stage in front of Lincoln Park,
and little did I know, the universe was like leading
me here, and I'm very grateful to be here. I
guess my question, if we take a half step back
about your experience with Lincoln Park is why do they
put you in the direct support spot and not the
opening spot if you're only a guitar. I don't know.
(22:39):
And it wasn't a joke. They forgot someone forgot to
introduce me. So the crowd things Lincoln Park's gonna come on,
and then I'm standing there. It was like thirty thousand
Charlie Brown faces just morphing. I don't think anyone thought
it was gonna go so bad. And the roadies came
out and they had those big brooms like janitors have
at high school and there were so many coins, hundreds
of coins, and they said j T made a fortune tonight.
(23:00):
I mean, I'm really thankful I didn't get, you know,
my eye knocked out or something. But they couldn't have
been nicer. You know, if you're born in South Detroit,
South Detroit, which is actually Canada, I've heard, but yeah, no,
I'm American yet. So and we're on in the Canadian
version of Detroit, which that town is, That's right. So
we're on a windsor so we cross over into camp
(23:22):
into Detroit. But I would imagine being from South Detroit.
Do you hate that? Don't stop believing the Journey song
because that's Detroit. I almost just sang it, you know.
I don't because as a kid, I loved music so
much and I still put it on such a pedestal.
I couldn't believe that Journey knew what Detroit was. So
I just I've always loved it, you know. And even
(23:43):
there's a bon Jovie song that wasn't a hit, and
at the very end of it, he goes Detroit and
I was like, oh my gosh, he knows that we're here,
you know, So I actually, um sorry to watch your
feet started a name drop. I actually wrote with John
bon Jovin and he said, you're from Detroit, he said,
before I had a record deal. I got in my
car and I drove all night to Detroit to the
Motown Museum. It was closed, so I stood up. It's
(24:05):
like a little house, he said. I put my hands
around my eyes and looked in the glass, just to
feel all the vibes of the place. Got back in
my car and drove back to New Jersey. I was
just like, Wow, I didn't expect to tell that story,
but you reminded me of it. Also, please name drop.
That makes the podcast that much better place. Name drop
all you possibly can. Chris Jansen, are you gonna take
a drunk girl home or fix a drink? You're confusing
(24:26):
us and Winnebago World. Thank you? Are you going to?
And I know in your book you talked about your father.
You know in my book I spent talking about my
dad bailing on me. Didn't know him until and then
my second book actually went back and met him like
there was a big goal of mine. It was. I
haven't read that yet, but that's incredible. No need, I'll
tell you the story now. I didn't. I didn't know him.
(24:46):
I couldn't write a book about having to face a
fear or face failure without having to do what scared
me the most, which is going to be my biological father.
I did, and you know we aren't close now by
any means it. He wasn't a villain to me anymore.
But I had to write that. So I'd like a
lot of this bubbling up again that I had been
through and had repressed for years and years, and then
(25:09):
when I went mad him too, was it crazy? So
the story about your dad is interesting. Tell these guys here,
what what's up with your dad? All right? It's funny
to say bubbling up because I'm not joking. This doesn't
usually happen. So I was adopted as a child, and
it's starting to bubble up. So I wouldn't trade that
for anything in the world. I was. I was saved,
and uh, you're gonna love this. So my my my
birth certificate is an apology from a condom company. It's
(25:31):
framed next to my Sangrea album. You love that. Bobby's
laughing people, This is all true. My biological father was
trying to break into radio right out of college and
he had a late night radio shift. Don't worry, Bobby,
it's not you. He had a late night radio shift,
and these sorority girls were calling up requesting songs late
at night, and they sounded one of them sounded fun
and flirtatious. So they kept calling each other and he
(25:51):
would play your songs over the radio. And they met,
and speaking of Olivia, let's get physical. They ended up
having me, and but they couldn't take care of me,
so they gave me up for adoption. And I found
out all this all these years later. Um, that was
the story. And I met my biological fathers. Is what
you want me to go? Yeah? And so basically my
biological mother was looking for me forever and I have
(26:14):
parents the Herdings. I wouldn't trade him for the world.
And she said, hey, after a few months, we're talking
on the phone. She said, I want to tell you
who your biological father is. And I said, oh, and
I knew she was serious. She said he's not like
other people and that I didn't know what that meant.
You're all probably thinking what does that mean? You know,
just being sincere, that could mean anything, And she said, um,
he's an actor. I said, he's an actor. I was
living in l A already, and she said, yeah, he
(26:36):
started on the show Cheers, and my brain like the
terminator looking for a human. I was scanning the cast
of Cheers. I had three roommates at the time living
in that dump and I yelled at them, my biological
father is Ted Danson. I'm rich. It's done, it's done,
And she said no, No, his name is Jay Thomas.
Now I know a lot of you out there. They're younger,
probably scratching your heads. But he was on Cheers, Uh
(26:56):
Mork and Mindy Murphy Brown. But at the time he
was a giant DJ in l A, one block from
my apartment, on the side of a building, and he
gotten a lot of trouble as a DJ. Yeah, he
would have loved you. There was his head on the
body of a woman and it said we apologize for
Jay Thomas, one block from my apartment. It's such a
bad movie. I'm surprised Jay didn't starting it. So I
(27:18):
had heckled him at a movie premiere. I tried to
sneak into I listened to him on the radio. He
had come into Tower Records. My biological father. Can you imagine?
But we met and it was great. He was married
to an incredible lady named Sally. He has two incredible
boys that are my best friends now, and it was fantastic.
We were like wild long lost fraternity brothers. I mean,
he was, he was wild. So before he passed, you
(27:39):
guys were good. Yeah, really really good, really good. I'm
a massive Jay Thomas fan. That's incredible, And you want
to you know why I was bubbling up unexpectedly. I
just I didn't expect it. It's his birthday today and
none of this was planned out. And here I am
with you. Yeah, so you know you're justin timber Lake
video shoot that that really wasn't happening that you advertised.
So he did that as well. Forgive me, ladies. He's
(28:00):
set on the air, We're gonna give away We're gonna
pay for somebody's breast implants, and so many women showed
up when they found out it was a joke. He
almost got killed and then the station got sued and
there's like video of him on YouTube on the news
apologizing to all. I mean, it was awful. Wow, you
find out that your dad is somebody that you already know,
you don't know, but you know, and somebody that's famous
(28:21):
and in the same town. I mean, is that a
lot of therapy? Uh? Not so much over that. I
mean I've been to to a therapist, but more, but
not over that. No, because I love my parents so much.
I wasn't looking for anything. And I mean my mom
wrote him a letter and said, boy, this explains a
lot because my fami, my family are real sports you know,
a big sports family, and they're like, man, this kid's
(28:42):
like hair spraying his hair up and jumping. Aren't doing
cart wheels in front of MTV and trying to be
real silly. That's interesting too. It goes to nature and nurture. Yes,
meaning as much as a sports family as you have,
you still had some of your biological father you without
even yes, massive massive fan and not and more so
(29:08):
the stage work and the radio stuff because even when
he went on serious after I had listen to him
all the time, every day. It's incredible. I didn't know
that it's incredible, and I wasn't dodging the question. If
you want to know, this is very healthy. I had
a brother that passed away, so not too long ago
I went, I'd never talked about it, and it was
so your book was so honest. I mean I read
your book like a year ago, and um, when I
(29:29):
was finishing my book, I was like, this is such
a big chapter in my life that I'm omitting, so
I put it in there. So I went and talked
to somebody I didn't know. I was so uncomfortable about that.
So you went back and put it in your book
after you were done with the book and was like,
what is this in a good way a bad way?
I think in a good way, Yeah, listen, if it's
raw and real, even if it's uncomfortable, it's awesome because
(29:51):
other people are going through very similar things and they
may not have the words, or the platform or the
capacity to share it. They may be too embarrassed to
share it. And I found when I wrote my first book,
and there was a lot of stuff in there about
my mom and you know, her being an addict and
dying and um, some really embarrassing things that I thought,
I don't want to share this with people because I
(30:11):
don't want to feel sorry for me. And that's really
what it was for me. But what I found was
because I would tour and I would talk to folks,
the things that I was most worried about being embarrassed
of and worried about people feeling like I was lesser
than they related to. And that's what actually made me
and the person that read the book closer. It was
(30:33):
the exact opposite of what I was scared of. It
actually made them feel like they knew me and me
feel like I was actually talking to someone that understood.
And so that's really it's great. But it's also like,
it's very strong of you to go back and put
that in because you knew it was incomplete and you
(30:53):
said the best word. I don't know why. I think
I was embarrassed, like bringing up I had a brother
that passed aways. I think it was weird. I thought
maybe people would judge me from it. And I had
actually apologized to a few of my really good friends
in town. They were like, you never told me about this.
I'm like, oh, you're asking me if you know I
saw the friends reunion. Oh and by the way, my
brother passed away in sixth grade, so you know what,
let's go down and get some hot chicken. It just
(31:15):
never came up right. Well, but that that's really big
of you in many ways to go back because You
didn't write it with that in mind. No, not. You
went back and thought, all right, that's me. But it's
not complete exactly, and it's easy to just go, you
know what, completed another story about how great I am. Yes,
not at all. Listen that was and and and anyone
out there, you know if you can tell I hate attention. Yeah.
(31:37):
And I have another brother named Lance, who was incredible,
who was not adopted, and he's like, he's as you know,
big as this table in the book. He goes by
his native American name, dances with Budweiser's but uh, you know,
he's my little brother and he's gigantic, you know, so
it's great. I'm very, very lucky. And then I got
to meet Jane everyone else. When you moved to town.
You come to Nashville, you don't know Nashville yet people
looked at you as what early on, Oh, this kind
(32:01):
of cool rocker guy that came from l A. Let's,
you know, let's write some rock songs with them. And
then you know, I actually did put out a song
which actually was big in little rock, but not on
your station. I wish I knew you then I would
have called you called party like a rock star and
it bubbled up a little bit in a good way.
Let me hold on a second. We have a clip
of this j bunch of strip in the windows. Endow
(32:30):
you and party like a rock stars. I was a star,
remember I remember this song, but it was like a
like an alternative pop Where did it? Where did it go?
It was on Alice like one in Arkansas seven seven? Yeah,
I really played. We broke into that station and took
(32:51):
it over. I know, I wish I had known you.
We played one. This only really happened in Arkansas. In Connecticut,
that song really we played it? Is it? One? Is
what it's called? That? And there was a huge line
out the door. My buddies and I are rolling my
equipment in. I put a little band together and like, oh,
who are reopening for the in the club owners said
there's no one, there's just you. I was like, oh
my gosh, you know so it was my little fun
rock star moment. I can't believe you have that clip.
(33:14):
I mean, I remember that song. I'm on it up
about it. That's awesome. Look at all this stuff. It's cool.
It's America. I played a little love in America. What
(33:34):
was What's the difference in the stuff you put out
two thousand nine, two thousand ten is j t X
and your first record deal when you were in l
A and you never got the call back, like sonically,
what was the difference. So it was more kind of
Hoodie and the Blowfish. Um. I mean, I probably wasn't
that good, but Hoodie and the Blowfish trying to be
you know, Counting Crows Ryl Crows singer songwriter. I was
(33:55):
out in l A. You know, I was trapped between
and I was at the intersection of Brett Michael's hairpiece
and Eddie Vetters flannel. You know, I love eighties rock,
but I can't play guitar like that, and I wasn't
angry like the grunge guys, even though that music is
great and catchy. Um. But then, as I said, Counting
Crows Hooting the Blowfish, Cheryl Crow came out. Then I
discovered Vince Gill and Garth Brooks all working at Tower.
I would I would discover all these CDs. So it
(34:17):
was kind of like that, but it wasn't. It definitely evolved.
It was very singer songwritery, but it just wasn't. It
just wasn't meant to be at the time, which is fine.
You know, if we're rewinding a second and you say
you know you're not after I cried for nine months,
it's fine. You said you're not an artist. You're a songwriter.
First of all, songwriters are artists, and I think we
both know that, and I think you meant in the
terms where there you're described now where people will go,
(34:37):
he's a songwriter more so than what I guess an
artist would be someone who gets on stage in fronts
and sales tickets. Uh. That being said, even if that
were the case, I think your resume here you are
an artist in many ways. You may not be even
the version of the artist now, but you've had two
record deals or you've had a record deal And did
you get a deal with a t X was out
(34:57):
a brief? Yes? Yes, I guess it's three. Yes, that's
what I'm saying, like, you should never not call yourself
an artis You're right, You're right, J Harding, I'm artists. Yes,
I'm insulted for you. I'm you insulted you, and I'm
insulted that you insulted you. Right now, I gotta tell you,
this is like the biggest ego boost, I've had good here.
(35:22):
Letna play a couple of songs here. This is field thing.
I didn't walk into his bedroom from the Jonas brothers.
If I know anything about Jonas and their cycles. This
is from the Disney Channel days, right back in the day.
How do you get a song to the Disney folks,
more so than the Jonas brothers, because I'm sure Disney
(35:43):
was picking a lot of their stuff at the time. Yes,
the great question. This is the only time this has
ever happened. I met a great songwriter named Buzzby who
you probably know it. Unfortunately, man, he's he's passed away.
I met him. It was like late at night. It
was like eight o'clock at night. I was like, we're
writing a song at night. I never met this guy.
And he said, Hey, the Jonas brothers have a TV
show and they're looking for a song for it, so
(36:04):
we kind of of course, I knew that the Jonas
Brothers were, but I kind of googled. Sitting there, I
googled where they were from. From New Jersey, I do
not know. I thought they were from the land of Jonas,
an island where kids arena. That's exactly that should be
a movie. So I think they're from Jersey So I
just said from Jersey Town to the Hollywood sign data DA.
I think the song was called this is the Night,
(36:24):
and they may have changed the title to Feeling Alive.
I can't remember. So it's the only time I've done that.
A lot of people in town say, hey, who's looking
for songs, let's write something just for Carrie Underwood, just
for Dirk Spentley, And that doesn't work for me personally,
it just never has. But that's the one time. And
then we sent it to them and they loved it
and became to the theme of their TV show and
they put it out. It's it's great. I saw him
do it in concert. I don't know them at all,
(36:46):
but they gave me passes and said, you know, stay
away from all the girls, don't be creepy. Do you
make sink money from back then? Like, did you make
pretty good money for being on a TV show? Yes?
Then better than now where it's more of a you
can make more for rights reasons. Uh yeah. I don't
know exactly how it all works, but in my like
smile has been used on so many TV shows and
(37:07):
in movies. It all pays very what the Jonas song
like as just a theme song? Did that pay well?
Because now I would pay really well. Oh, it probably
doesn't pay as much, now what you mean in reverse? See,
I didn't know what you meant. I I honestly, I'm
not trying to evade the question. I don't. I don't
if you don't know that it didn't make you rich?
Uh yeah, I guess, Yeah I didn't. Yes, Okay, So
(37:28):
can you Chestny bar at the end of the world.
Let's play clip of this one next time we come back,
and then I want to play one more that I
have up here because I'm a massive Googo Dolls fan.
Here is when the world breaks your heart now stops.
So how did you write with any of those guys,
(37:50):
Johnny or Yes? So I was in a studio in
New York City, like in New York like here we
just ride in houses and whatever. I was in a
really great studio overlooking Times Square after all those years
back at the same building pretty much across the street
where I recorded my E M I record. If you
can imagine em, I was the deal I lost and
um going back to alone with you. I believe his
(38:10):
wife a girlfriend at the time he's married. Now. Uh,
Johnny Resident's wife liked Alone with You and he was
recording the studio and he came out and just asked
me about it, and he had just gotten this kind
of like he's really good looking you and he had
this kind of like new wave haircutt and I was like, oh,
it's Justin Bieber's dad. And luckily he laughed because I
don't think he liked that. But uh, we talked about
alone with you and he's like, oh, we should write sometimes.
So I kind of, you know, lingered about a couple
(38:32):
of extra days and he just said, hey, let's write
this song when the World Breaks your Heart and it
was on I think one of their last albums. So
I would make, you know, nixed CDs with um, you know,
iris on it and send back to the girls in Michigan.
When I was living in Yeah, of course, I was
such a Google Dolls fans, and I would get irritated
when the basis would sing one or two because every
every album and they let the bass like he had
(38:55):
this and I was like, no, no, no no, no, I
get it, but no, don't we don't need that. Johnny
Resnick told me why do you know why I don't.
Johnny Resnick would get really down on himself, like most
artists like me, I'm an artist, and I think things
weren't gonna work out. And apparently the bass player just
for years and years was like, Johnny, you're great, keep writing,
we gotta keep doing this, we gotta keep doing this,
(39:16):
and he just feels really grateful for their friendship. And
so he has a I think a couple of songs
each record, and then he definitely I saw him too, Yeah,
and he goes hard. He's like a he sings hard.
He does, and I'm like, alright, alright, alright, He's like
the mini Gene Simmons or something. Is where there with
all the songs and all the hits and all the
(39:36):
close to being number one but are still hits Like
Barton of the World. We played that a whole bunch,
Wasn't people know that song? Do you ever have a
song or a session that you canceled on and that
day they wrote a massive song that you'd have been
a part of. No, But what a great question. I
did write with um Sam Hunt before he had a
record deal, and now I realized why his songs are
(39:57):
so great. He takes a long, long time time to
write songs like they took them about your Probably I'm
sure you know this a year to right body, like
a back road, but it sounds nursery, rhyme simple. The
hardest thing to do is write a simple song. So
when I was writing, when I first met Sam and
wrote with him, like months and months would go by
and we'd be working on one song, and looking back,
I wish I got a sleeping bag and just slept
on his front door, so that I kind of wish
(40:19):
I had been a little more patient. But at the
time people were, you know, still now people are writing
songs so fast. And also I am very very these
are great questions. I'm very, very flattered when I play
the Blue Bird and people come up to me and
they come right up to me, and they said, I
just moved to town. We should write. But I've learned
that you have to find your own tribe and you
kind of rise together, So I can't just write with
every person that comes up to me. Well, she didn't
(40:41):
just get to town. But I was walking through a
hallway one day and this girl came up and she said, oh,
are you the guy that sings love in America and
not really many people knew that song on This Girl
and Bobby Bones apparently, and I said, she said, oh,
I love that song. We should write some time. And
I said, oh, thanks so much. But I was like,
not in a conceited way. I was just kind of like,
I can't write with every single person, and it was
case you must grape so that ha ha, yeah, dropped
(41:03):
the anvil on me right now, Mike, please, Um, so,
I've definitely made some mistakes, and I you know, I mean,
you know who knows, you know. Think about the guys
that met Luke Combs the first day he came to town.
They have all these big hits. So you just people
don't have signs above their head flashing I'm going to
be a star. I used to hold one above mine,
but that didn't work. Yes, exactly, let's talk about right
(41:23):
like a rock stars. Something you're doing? Yes, so what
is that contest? Oh? Thank you so much? So? Uh.
National Adoption Month is in November, so if you were listening,
if you know anyone that's adopted or you are adopted,
this is totally for free. I'd love to write a
song with someone out there over zoom and all you
have to do. I have a website. I have not
told anyone about this. This is first time announcement. On
(41:45):
the phones podcasts, you're talking about writing and I was like, oh,
this is a good place to talk about this. Okay,
go ahead and ready, So go to the website, right
like a rock star dot com. Send me your adoption
story in about eight hundred words, and include a little
video tip of you singing or playing any song on
the radio, just a little clip, and we're gonna choose
a winner, and I'll write with someone over zoom once again.
(42:06):
It's totally free, and we'll own the song together. I'll
record it. You never know, we might write a hit,
who knows. And it's just a way to bring awareness
and it's something fun to do and I'm really excited
about it. And by the way, don't don't lie to
me about being adopted. The FedEx jacket does not work
on this website, right, like a rock star dot com.
So if they win, and you right, they're gonna do
some sort of press with you in November, which is
(42:28):
National Adoption Month. Is that right? Yeah, well just see
what happens. But there, I can't say it enough. There
are no strings attached. It's it's gonna be great. We'll
own the song together. Who knows, we might worst case
scenario we played at the Bluebird and or something, and
you can, you know, you can send in from anywhere.
It's exciting. If that's worst case scenario, that's pretty awesome.
That's what I'm saying. That's that's pretty awesome. So you
it seems to me and I can be wrong with this,
(42:50):
but you can actually have Bobby Bones sign my book
for you. You're playing a lot of shows. It seems
like you play a lot of shows. I love playing
songwriter shows and hearing people sing the songs. And you know,
I don't need someone to run up to me and say,
you know, oh I wish you You know your picture
was on the cover of that album you wrote the songs.
I don't need all that. I love that. I'm so
grateful that these big stars sing my songs. But I
(43:11):
love doing the songwriter shows. Yes, and what about that?
Do you like? Are you still itching that performer like that?
Get scratching that absolutely? And it kind of you know,
gets you know, my ya ya's out. I I don't
know what it would be like to try to get
a record deal, try to be you know online and
on TikTok, constantly trying to get it all going. So
I feel like I have the best of both worlds.
I live in this incredible city, Nashville. I get to
(43:33):
go and play these great shows like Sundance. The Bluebird
has sent me all over the world, you know, London,
New York, everywhere, and and then I get to write
songs by the day. It's it's fantastic. I'm doing a
songwriter night at the Bluebird on like the thirty one
or something. There's a big Sunday night songwriter thing, and
I haven't done it because it's usually it's too late
for me to be even awake. But I'm doing have
(43:54):
a couple of shows that I'm doing in Nashville. I've
done two already and it's like a Ted talk me
to comedy show. And so what I've gotta work material
and so some of my materials music, and I reached
out and you know, called the people as the Bluebird,
and I said, hey, because at times I was just
going I play around and work material or I just
show up and hop on stage. And what what's tough
(44:15):
for me was they would go all right, because you know,
sometimes guests will come in and I'll make a big
deal about the surprise. And so there I called, and
I said, hey, I guess some songs. And with comedy songs,
you don't know if they're funny until you play them
in front of people and see if they laugh. You know,
you can ride a real catchy hook for people comes
to that, that's a really good hook, and you know it.
You know it. With comedy, you may feel like the
jokes great, but until you do it in front of
(44:36):
people and they actually laugh, you don't really know. So
I write all these jokes, write all these songs, and
I said, hey, do you mind if I come up
and I and they said sure, we'll bring you on
as a guest, secret guest, a big surprise guests. I'm like, okay, sure.
So I go up and it's a Sunday night and
they say, all right, everybody, and it's the stage, not
the round. It's the stage not the round. You guys
are never gonna believe who's here. And I can feel
people sit up a little taller, and I can see
(44:58):
a little bit out there because I'm in the bag,
and they're like this guy has been responsible for so
many hits, and and now I'm like, oh no, I'm like,
oh god, oh no, these people are gonna think like
Garth's coming out with something like I can't win. I
already know I can't win. By what's about to happen.
You've heard him on and they introduced me, and people
are like, oh, and they weren't wrong about what they said.
(45:20):
It's just what. So I said, hey, guys, I'm gonna
come work out some material on this night if it's
okay with you, and they said great, I said, but
don't make it a surprise. Put it up on the site.
I'm gonna sh I'm there, I'm gonna play that win't.
Nobody's disappointed. And so I certainly people are excited to
meet you. I don't know if they have. You ever
met a man that went five years without having sex?
(45:41):
This is him. Yeah, that's true. I wish I wish
I was a listener that I would have called up
as your left hand. I would have said, Bobby never
takes me to dinner. He only wants to fool around.
Brought to you by Jurgen's Lotion The Bobby Bones Shows.
Oh man, I'm I'm playing that Bluebird show on the
(46:03):
thirty one to do the same thing, but I'm playing
in the middle of like two songwriter things. But he'll
be great my point, Yeah, yeah, and I feel fine.
They know I'm coming. I'm gonna play four or five
comedy songs. I'm gonna sae who laughs, who doesn't. We're
gonna move from that. But I guess my point is there,
do you like to play in the very intimate round
where you go around the circle or do you like
to be on the stage where it feels like a
(46:23):
conventional show. And that's a great question, I guess in town,
I love the magic of the blue Bird and people
listening right now, like it's so hard to get in
there because if you don't know, it's so small. I
do love that, but it's a whole different experience being
out at Sundance for two nights. People both night, everyone
had their phones up with their little lights on. Unfortunately
(46:45):
it wasn't my song, it was Tom Douglas song. But
I was still sitting there watch I was on stage. Yeah,
someone snap a picture, so I guess yeah. But if
someone said, hey, do you want to go play, you know,
a shed with like, you know, Bobby Bones band. I'd
rather do that than I guess I meant at the
Bluebirds scifically. Would you rather play on the stage, Oh,
I'm sorry, No, I'd rather play in the round. Yes,
because it's like you're with friends. It's just such an
(47:08):
unusual and magical experience. And I do other songwriter shows
around the country where they try to do like a
bluebird thing that isn't part of the bluebird and people
don't know, so they kind of talk all through it
or say, hey, play Sweet Caroline, or you know, play
Luke Combs. I was like, I wish I could. I
didn't write it, you know. So it's just so interesting
to play songs that you've written in such an intimate
(47:29):
place and everyone is just hanging on the edge of
their seat, can't wait to hear a hit, can't wait
to hear something new. So yeah, I'd rather play in
the round. Yeah. Well, you guys, get the book, party
like a rock star, get into the contest right like
a rock star. Dot com for the website, and then
you can possibly right with a rock star, a real
life artist. I'm gonna walk around now calling myself an artist. Hey,
(47:50):
before we go I would not have hit songs if
it wasn't for country music fans country DJs like you
that played the song. So thank you very much. I
really silly a lot, but I'm very very grateful. I
have a great life, So thanks so much for having
me on. How many suits do you have? Like with
thinking about like seven or eight, I'm looking for some
(48:10):
new ones that a lot of people see that I have.
You would love, Mike. I have a Star Wars one.
It's white with like little um Star Wars uh stormtrooper
helmets on it. Yeah, I got a pac Man one
that I got last year. So and every time I'm
I'm gonna wear this watch like, I don't think this
is the occasion for that. I don't like why not
she goes because this is a formal you know there,
So I haven't really found a time yet for that,
(48:31):
but I like it. It's how I knew you visually, right. Yes,
I don't know if you remember. I was I don't
want to stay where, but I was somewhere having lunch
in town and you came out and all of my
friends stood up there like that's Bobby Bones, and they
all came around you to like that's never no, no,
to play a song, no for real, to play a
song or something, or to play at your wedding, one
of them said. And you looked over all of them
(48:52):
and you said, this really happened. You said, it's the
guy in the crazy suits. And they all turned around
and looked at me, and I was like, holy cow,
wonder how he recognized me? Oh, and now are all like, hey,
where do you buy your suits? Man? Yeah, they're gonna
go crazy. And never have people don't come up to
me like that and surround me and lift me above
their head to go. I wouldn't make that up. Yeah,
And you just went, it's the guy in the crazy suits.
You probably saw it on like phil was Sarton's Instagram
(49:14):
or something. Was I coming out of like a yo
or like a cycle studio and who and I ran
into and I saw I do remember this. I saw you,
but I the writers of And then God whispered her
name yes, and and he was like, hey, I wrote it.
I was like, oh, yeah, we're using that in our wedding.
And then I saw you and I was like, it's
the guy that wears the suits. That's right, I do.
(49:37):
But nobody surrounded that whole story about that they lifted
me up twice, okay, and they tossed me in the
air and saying for he's a jolly good fellow. Once
that was it, but after that it was over. Listen.
I've really enjoyed this. This has been a real great
conversation for me. Thank you. I appreciate it. Your story
is interesting, UM. I love the fact that you know
you pushed yourself with authenticity when writing your book, like
(49:59):
you knew it wasn't all the way out there and
you knew what else you had to put into your
book wasn't extremely comfortable, but you did it anyway because
that was the last piece of that puzzle. I think
that's great. There's a lot about you. Thanks so much.
So that's fantastic. And I'm a massive fan of your father,
of your your biological dad, because I don't call my boy,
I don't call my biological dad my father, so I'm
stepping back your biological father. I'm massive fan of him.
(50:21):
And you know what, your mom and dad too, because
they did a heck of a job raising you. And
that that is that's really, really, really a great story. Awesome. Well,
thanks so much, Thanks for um. Discovering all the new music,
and I don't really do anymore like Instagram and TikTok
at j t X rock Star. I got a new
song for bopopopp Cast Cast Cast Cast Cast Pop Podcast.
(50:43):
If you've done that one already, I never know. We
probably won't do that one never again. Alright, thanks everybody.
J Hardy follow him jt X rock Star And that's it.
Host
Bobby Bones
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