April 28, 2023 • 22 mins
If you're a fan of Hardy, this interview will make you lov ehim even more. He is one of Wayne D's favorite artists to catch up with. In this chat, Hardy shares what job he had before he decided to chase music for a career. He also shares what makes his friendshipw ith Morgan Wallen so special.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen hanging in studio withthe guy who I would love to know
what he was doing like ten yearsago, because now he's like one of
the biggest names in music in general. Hardy, what's up, my man,
dude, what's up? What wereyou doing? Ten years I was
about to say, um thirteen,I was getting ready to graduate college and
(00:24):
I was cutting. I was workingfor a landscaping company here, cutting really
fancy yards in Belle Mead and GreenHills. And I actually have a funny
story about that. I kept myboss's number. His name is Clayton,
and he's awesome. And I whenI sign my poshing deal and kind of
got on my feet a little bit. I quit, you know, but
(00:45):
I was just a tied me overjob and I and then when I quit,
he was like, well, goodluck, man, I'll be looking
out for you. And I gotto text him. I moved into back
into town and I got to texthim the other day. I hadn't talked
to him in like ten years andsay, hey, this is Michael Hardy.
I used to work for you.You was wondering if you could come
cut my grass. It was awesome, dude, And he didn't believe me.
(01:07):
He thought it was one of hisbuddies and he was like, shut
up, like you're drunk, anduh. But it was cool. So
we've like rekindled and stuff. Butthat's what I was doing ten years ago.
Dude. By the way, anytimesomeone refers to as Michael, which
obviously doesn't happen a lot, Iwas hosting. Uh. I host the
baseball games like I do the hockeygames, sounds games. Yeah. Yeah,
so, uh, you're at thetime. Fiance was there and she
(01:30):
comes from like, oh my god, how are you giving me a hug?
And I was kind of like,like at first I didn't recognize the
right way. I'm like, hey, good night, Yeah, what's going
on. I'm like, you know, how like a pretty girl hugsy and
you're looking like my wife? Yeahfor sure. And she's like, oh
yeah, Michael's wrapping up on toher. I'm like, Michael is Michael,
Michael Michael. And then all ofa sudden she had mentioned Morgan.
I'm like, oh, okay,I'm sorry. I Like she must have
(01:53):
looked at me like he doesn't understand. That's awesome, dude, hit me,
how's married life? It's great?Man, it right. Like people
are like, oh, it's he'sgonna be so different. You're like,
no, we we we lived togetherfor three or four months before and um
man, I she asked me theother day or a while back, she's
(02:14):
like, a you feel any different. I was like, really, like
I've but it's in a good way, Like I feel I felt like we've
been married for so long, likeall the loyalty and all that stuff.
It's just it's just always been there, so not much different. But um,
it's awesome, dude. And andlike hanging out. You know,
I worked during the day and andshe does too, but it's just to
(02:36):
come home and like eat and justhang out and just it's just it's the
best. And we don't even havekids yet. So yeah, yeah,
we just broke news here February.There's no surprise, there's no big announcements
yet. Listen, take your time. There's plenty of time for that type
of everybody says that. Man.The more I hear at first, I
(02:57):
was like, dude, I'm ready, let's go now. But every body,
every not one single person is like, just dude, it's awesome,
Like every single person is like andhaving kids is amazing, but enjoy your
your freedom as long as you can. So, uh, you are a
guy who and not many people incountry can say this stays busy in every
aspect. Right. If you're nottouring, you're recording. If you're not
recording, you're writing and not onlywriting for yourself. But there's a lot
(03:22):
of guys with plaques on the wall. Yeah because of you, right um
And obviously they did their thing tomake the song magic as well. Is
there a song that you look atthat you might be more proud of than
any other that's not yours that likethat I wrote but that I didn't you
were you were a part of Yeah? Um um yeah. I mean I
always say up Down because it wasmy first number one and it was Morgan's
(03:45):
first number one and it really likejump started our careers. But uh,
man, I gotta go like God'scountry is is, So if it's not
up Down, it's God's country,just ay it it. That song change
my career even as an artist.I didn't even know how big that would
be for me as an artist becauseit just kind of helped boost my because
(04:05):
there was a couple of years therewhere like I was still and I still
am, but like the new guysin the artist world. But I had
that like he wrote God's Country thingand it really helped me out, like
it really did. And plus itwas like just Blake Shelton hit, which
was super cool and it did reallywell for him, and that one did
(04:26):
just as much for my career asas Updown did. For sure. Since
You've been in so many rooms withso many names like Blake Shelton, right,
is there ever a time you haveto remind yourself like, yeah,
I belong here like this. Ofcourse I'm in the same room as artist,
you know, a because I've workedto be here. That's a good
question, man. I don't know, dude. I every single day of
(04:49):
my life I have a little bitI don't even know if it's like imposter
syndrome, but it's just like I'mlike, what am I doing here?
I still feel very like normal,which I am, but I don't know
how to describe that. But no, dude, I'm I'm always I'm still
just like looking around like what amI doing here? Dude? A lot
(05:11):
of people are like that though.I Mean, that's one cool thing about
Nashville is like ninety nine percent ofthe artist I feel like are they came
from small towns, and they camefrom very very normal just life and lifestyles.
And so I think a lot ofartists in Nashville are all just pinching
themselves no matter how big they get. It's like kind of the charm of
(05:32):
Nashville a little bit. I thinkwhen it comes to writing, what,
without giving away too much, whatare projects that you're very passionate about right
now? Would would you be morepassionate about something you're doing for yourself or
maybe an artist, a newer artiston the come up, or a project
like a Blake. So since myrecord has come out, I kind of
(05:55):
did this with a rock. Itake like six to eight months and just
shutting my artist brain as far asthe songwriting off, and and like I
set an intention to write for otherpeople, you know, because that's like
the I love to do that still, So, um, is that what
fuels everything else for you? Like? How does that refill the tank?
(06:15):
Like you get to you get torun the gas dry, doing everything else,
but to refill the tank you goback to that. Yeah, And
then occasionally, like you know,if I'm not writing with an artist and
I'm just with songwriters, which isa lot of the time, like well
kind of you know, accidentally writeone for me if you will, and
like then I hold on to it, and so it's still I still kind
of get stuff along the way.But um man, that's a good question.
I will say. I've been writingwith this kid, Dylan Marlow,
(06:40):
Who's he's so good he's gonna I'mtelling you, he is of all the
people in his class, which Iwould say is like I always look at
it like the freshman class, youknow what I mean, Like the people
that are just kind of coming ontothe scene, Like he's still getting duct
taped to the locker in the shower. Yeah, y yeah. Kind but
(07:00):
he is the best songwriter out there, and he's a great artist. But
but I just mean from a songwritingperspective, I've been really had my eye
on him, and I've been writingwith him some and he writes a lot
with one of my writers, Zach, and everything they turn in is awesome.
So I'm really excited to continue towrite with him and hopefully try to
write his help him write his firstbig record, because he's a phenomenal songwriter.
(07:24):
You're at a point in your career. Where you are, you are
still working with fresh talent like aDylan Marlowe, but you're probably also learning
stuff from the Blake Sheltons of theindustry. What does it mean for you
that a guy like Dylan is lookingat you the way that you look at
a guy like maybe Blae's dude,It's the coolest thing in the world and
(07:45):
just I's part of me like doesn'teven know how to process it, but
like just to know that you're like, because I like learned how to write
songs by paying attention to the bigright, Like when when I was coming
up, it was like Casey Bethardand Rodney Clawson, Craig Wiseman, Hillary
(08:05):
Lindsay, Like there were so manypeople that had a spare specific thing that
I loved and I gravitated towards andI was like, I want to write
songs like they do. And it'sjust cool to know that that there's some
kids out there, guys and girlsout there that are looking at me the
same way. That's like the biggesthonor ever. I mean, it really
is, because it just if youcan influence what would you call that,
(08:28):
like a soon to be generation ofwriters and artists like with your music,
that's like the highest honor in theworld. And it's cool to be like
the chair that we get to sitat in country radio. It's cool because
at one point I got a phonecall like, hey, we're coming to
town. It's this hearty guy youknow, we want you to meet whatever.
And now you're to the point whereyou're selling out three nights in a
(08:50):
row down the street from where we'resitting out, which, by the way,
I said to Tiago, two nightsis back to back shows. Three
nights is a residency. So youhave a Nashville residency. But like people,
people of all ages of singing yoursongs, like it's it's got to
be a trippy feeling to know thateven looking the crowd, I'm the most
recent show, I was out ofyours. There's kids singing a song which
(09:13):
father and father and mother of theyear right there. But like to know
that you have an impact and notmany artists transcend ages. Even that's got
to be something special, but notintentional either, Right, you're just no,
I'm just no, I just Idon't know how that happened, especially
with the kids. But um,I've told my son not to use that
(09:33):
for it, but it's fun.My mom hates it, so she went
and found because Big Loud didn't.I don't think that they had any clean
CDs printed, just like they keepa stack at the label for whatever people
in this and that charity events.Yeah, all that signed or whatever.
And my mom texted me the otherday and she was like, thank God,
and she sent me a picture andI guess there's a clean version of
my of the Mock and Murden theCrow out there, and she got one
(09:56):
and she was like, I canfinally listen to this and not like crane
e. I hear you cuss.But it's awesome. Man. I know
that my music is super polarizing.But then at the same time, you're
right, I look out and Isee uh, like kids on shoulders and
and people that are old rocker lookingdudes out there getting down to the stuff.
(10:16):
And then you're you know, mylike main crowd is like younger,
like college age or you know,twenties, thirties. Uh, you know,
people singing and it's just early forties, early forties maybe UM to see
it all. It's it's cool,man, It's just cool to to know
that it's it is there's a spectrumof people out there that it's it caters
(10:37):
to. It's awesome. I wantto talk more on the album and the
current single, UM, but takeme through Uh. One of my favorite
songs on the radio newer right isUH is close to when Dell's track you
were a part of Drink a Boy? Yeah, yeah, um knowing that
song, like it's a song thatconnects right away. Some songs you've got
to listen to it two three timesbefore it's like, oh yeah, I
dig this from the first note.Man, you're you're in on that song?
(11:01):
Is it tough too? And Iknow that you weren't the only one
in on the right, but isit tough to be? Like? No,
that's cool, you you take thatone. I feel good about it.
Like is it ever tough to giveaway a song and be like,
damn, this is gonna be agood one? Not really, man,
because I just I feel like,I truly feel like I have two jobs,
you know what I mean? Andand UM when I'm in town.
Which that's a funny story because youknow, John Party's a writer on that
(11:22):
song, and we wrote that forfor John Uh in a sense like we
were he was in the room thatday we were writing for John and he
just ended up not cutting it,which is fine. That happens a lot,
and um, it's just, uh, I don't know. I just
feel like it's easier these days togive them away because when I when I
when we get something in the bythe end of the day, if it's
(11:43):
something that I want, like especiallyif it's on the countryside of things,
like if it's the rock thing,like obviously I'm gonna keep it for myself.
But it's gotten easier just to beto tell the room that day like
this is this is definitely for me, or either or the opposite, and
be like pitch it. But it'shavn't feeling like I have two jobs.
It makes it cool to be ableto give away songs that I know I
(12:05):
probably wouldn't record a song that wewere able to embrace on the Big ninety
eight and with I Heeart country thatyou would put out was and it was
such like a moment song. Somesongs make you feel and some songs make
a statement. And there's something aboutwaiting the truck that just connected. Last
time we talked, didn't you sayit was like supposed to be like some
like just dudes got drunk and nowyou're gonna be the hell out of somebody.
(12:28):
It really wasn't yeh, yeah,yeah, it really wasn't gonna be
this this anthem that it turned outto. Yeah, it was like this
tough guy like affliction kind of idea. It was like what we were going
for initially was like a dude,you know, tough guy in the corner,
saw a guy like get rough witha girl at a bar, and
he's gonna go follow him and kickhis ass. And when we just when
we got in the room that day, we just sat down and said,
(12:52):
man, what if we really tookthe time and like made it a little
deeper, deeper and heavier than that. But I'm glad we did. It's
been I'm telling you so good.And for the time that's already spent on
country radio, I feel like peopleare still like that is a song you
don't you don't turn away from,you don't skip, you don't change the
stations, and them like it justconnects whether whether you have an experience you'll
(13:13):
tie to it or not. Ifthis song can do what you're very familiar
with doing, and that's getting allthe way up. Does it have an
extra meeting for you? Because thisis probably mentally scanning your biggest songs.
This is probably the most emotionally tiedsong that you would be able to say
went that far. So does itanymore because of that? Yeah? Absolutely,
(13:37):
man, Um, I think it'shuge. It's a huge for me,
but just even just for country musicas a whole. It's it's awesome
to know that a song about sucha serious like subject can break through and
still be a hit. You knowwhat I mean? And and um,
you know I mean, we wekill a guy in the song. We
(13:58):
literally blatantly say we murder a guy, but you know, for a specific
reason, and it has a veryserious but specific message, and it's it.
It'd be a huge win for me. It already is. It's a
top five no matter what happens.It's a huge win for me and for
Laney and all the writers. Butfor it to go the whole way would
be a very monumental moment knowing thata song like that can still break through
(14:22):
on the format. For sure,when it comes to performing a song like
that or give Heaven some hell yourshows, are you get country? You
get your face melted off? Butat the same time, a song like
that or wait in a Truck.Do you ever have to catch yourself on
stage because I've seen people get emotionallike standing out watching a thing, especially
(14:46):
on a song like like those.Do you ever have to you know,
scan the crowd. You see somebodycrowd and you're like, whoa, We'll
be on the other side of thestage here. I mean kinda yeah,
I mean I I especially especially giveHeaven some hell waiting the truck. I've
seen a few, but um,every every show there's at least one person
out there that is truly like hurting, you know what I mean, And
(15:11):
um, but in the best way, Like it's it's amazing to see that
and know that those songs are helpingpeople and getting them through what they're going
through. It's like, and itsounds kind of screwed up to say it,
but it is like the best feelingin the world, Um, just
to know that it's reaching those peopleand that that the message that we were
(15:33):
trying to convey that day is gettingthrough to people. But yeah, I
mean, it's it's it's not awkward, but man, there are times where
somebody is just having an absolute notmental breakdown, but just a solid screaming,
crying, like sad thing. Andit's just it's crazy to see that
impact people, especially live when itwhen it comes to making an impact and
(15:54):
telling a story, whether it's yourstory or it's it came together from a
Right, what does it mean foryou to tell a story through a song?
But now because of social media,people can tell their stories back to
you. Right, what does itmean to tell a story? But then
also it connected enough to where someoneopens Instagram and shoots you a direct message
and kind of completes the whole thingeverything truly, Um, I mean it
(16:19):
means everything. And you know,at the end of the day, that's
that's why I do it. Ithink that's why most songwriters do it.
Is is to hear those stories andhave those moments and and um it just
it means the world. It's it'sit that stuff keeps me going more than
you know, playing big arenas andmaking money or whatever. It is that
(16:44):
the fact that people you know canshare their story and firsthand see how much
it's affected people in a positive wayis like I could not I could not
have any success from here on out, and that would that would still make
my day every time. The remainderof this year, which is weird to
say it because we're in April already, it's like the third of the way
(17:07):
through the year. The rest ofthe year, you have obviously a massive
tour you're running around. Uh,what are some things you're looking forward to
as far as like you get tounplug this weekend, You're going to try
and take a trip here, yougot this to look forward to, Like
on a personal level the rest ofthe year, I'm getting a bass boat
in June. Hell yeah, andI'm really excited about that. Uh.
(17:29):
I've got um let's see, mywife and I her grandparents have a house
in the Pacific Northwest that we're gonnago for a week. Um, I
have a really big county fair backin my hometown that I'm gonna go to.
H And the big one is Ican completely unplug and relax when I
(17:51):
go back to my hometown and myour deer camp has like a lake on
it and it's super run down,old and awesome, and I and that's
like something I look forward to.And I have fortunately have like some time
off this year, and I'm gonnaget to go home and fish and kind
of get ready for deer season anddo a few other things and and uh
(18:12):
that's that, and just time withwith Cali is something I'm very much looking
forward to in general. But butthe new boat, the bass fishing is
gonna be awesome the summer because wellso that's my favorite thing. Is you
had like a childlike smiled like gettingthe boat? I am, man,
I feel like a child. Solet me ask you this. Does the
(18:33):
boat have a name yet? Uh? No not? What are we doing
really waiting the boat? If Ikeep gaining weight, it's gonna be w
e I g ht waiting the boat? Like you look fine? Knock it
off. I don't know, Iyou know, I like I really like
um. I look for arrowheads alot around Nashville and like bodies of water
(18:57):
like on the banks that holds alot of them. And I was about
my head hunter, which might bekind of cool. But I don't know.
But I definitely am gonna name itsomething. Waiting the boat. It's
not bad. I like it prettygood. Actually, Plus it's gonna help
pay for the boat, you knowwhat I mean? It's true. So
speak speaking of that single, Igot two more for you. One is
(19:17):
working closely with Laney, which iscool because you guys both are doing your
own thing. But when you cametogether, it's just like and you had
mentioned like a couple of other names, but like something about Laney, like
you stopped thinking after that, Um, you brought her onto this song.
Has there been any talk of herbringing you onto Yellowstone? No? But
that'd be awesome, dude. Sothis is me officially asking, as a
(19:41):
fan of yours and Yellowstone Landy Wilson, can you make the connection? Come
on, Laney, you got it? Text Kevin Costler, that would be
Yeah, her up already. Um, that would be incredibly cool, and
especially like I've done music videos,but like waiting the Truck was the first
time I felt like I was trulylike acting, you know what I mean,
like really trying to dig into that. And it was so fun and
(20:03):
so awkward, dude, like tolike just be really serious and then they're
like cut and you're just and theneverybody's like good job. Now. I
don't know, there's something that's souncomfortable about it because you have to be
so vulnerable. But it was soso fun and I would love, love,
love love to do that. Thatwould be so sick last thing I'm
gonna ask you, and you mightnot even be able to share this far
(20:25):
ahead as we look towards the nextsong that you would give to country radio,
it's obviously going to be on theproject that we're consuming. Now,
do you know which way you wantto go? Or between one of the
two? And if there's an answer, we can hold this. I can
this between two technically, but isthat all right? Yeah? I can
hold this? Is it okay?All right? It's we haven't made an
(20:48):
official decision, but it's between truckbed and red Oh okay, our country
sold out I can say as mynext can I say that sold out to
my next rock single? We're actuallygonna go back and do sold out now.
But um, but for country,it's either truck bed or red What
did you think? Did you think? No, A truck bed does it
for me too? I think that'sthat's that's leaning towards that one for sure.
(21:11):
But also you figure you're putting outred red Field summer. That single
was gonna take you probably over thefourth of July weekend. Dude. That's
all stuff there. It does sowell, But man, dude, have
you seen truck bed live yet.Have you have you been because I haven't
seen you since you and did theThree Nights Here. Dude, it's the
biggest song on our set right now, the one bed. It's bigger than
(21:33):
Rednecker. It's bigger than White inthe Truck. I mean it is like
it's bigger than sold Out, whichI mean it's dude, it's so awesome
and that's a that's a good sign. But when you, dude, I'll
tell you. And I like itwas a fanboy moment and I almost like
had to like text you and anybodyelse that would listen. When you started
with sold Out, it had beenout for like a babe two three days,
(21:56):
and all of a sudden, thelights going down in you here party,
and I'm like, guys, nobody, nobody knows this yet. All
right, I know this. It'sfun. Let's go so good. It's
so it's gonna be um. We'vebeen opening with that song now for a
year, and we're gonna continue todo it, I think until the fall,
and then I think we're gonna switchit up and and uh put it
(22:18):
somewhere in the set. But man, it's been so fun to open.
It's so hype at the beginning ofthe show. Just so fun. The
fact that you left in the trackthe chanting. Yeah, at the same
time, our goal was to makeeverybody think that the rest of the crowd
was chanting, so everybody just starteddoing it. But yeah, we're gonna
keep it in there. It's that'spart of the part of the gag.
Dude, Dude, I know howbusy you are, so thank you for
(22:40):
taking the time to thank you.It's always a pleasure, man,
Ladies and gentlemen hanging in studio withthe guy who I would love to know
what he was doing like ten yearsago, because now he's like one of
the biggest names in music in general. Hardy, what's up, my man,
dude, what's up? What wereyou doing? Ten years I was
about to say, um thirteen,I was getting ready to graduate college and
(00:24):
I was cutting. I was workingfor a landscaping company here, cutting really
fancy yards in Belle Mead and GreenHills. And I actually have a funny
story about that. I kept myboss's number. His name is Clayton,
and he's awesome. And I whenI sign my poshing deal and kind of
got on my feet a little bit. I quit, you know, but
(00:45):
I was just a tied me overjob and I and then when I quit,
he was like, well, goodluck, man, I'll be looking
out for you. And I gotto text him. I moved into back
into town and I got to texthim the other day. I hadn't talked
to him in like ten years andsay, hey, this is Michael Hardy.
I used to work for you.You was wondering if you could come
cut my grass. It was awesome, dude, And he didn't believe me.
(01:07):
He thought it was one of hisbuddies and he was like, shut
up, like you're drunk, anduh. But it was cool. So
we've like rekindled and stuff. Butthat's what I was doing ten years ago.
Dude. By the way, anytimesomeone refers to as Michael, which
obviously doesn't happen a lot, Iwas hosting. Uh. I host the
baseball games like I do the hockeygames, sounds games. Yeah. Yeah,
so, uh, you're at thetime. Fiance was there and she
(01:30):
comes from like, oh my god, how are you giving me a hug?
And I was kind of like,like at first I didn't recognize the
right way. I'm like, hey, good night, Yeah, what's going
on. I'm like, you know, how like a pretty girl hugsy and
you're looking like my wife? Yeahfor sure. And she's like, oh
yeah, Michael's wrapping up on toher. I'm like, Michael is Michael,
Michael Michael. And then all ofa sudden she had mentioned Morgan.
I'm like, oh, okay,I'm sorry. I Like she must have
(01:53):
looked at me like he doesn't understand. That's awesome, dude, hit me,
how's married life? It's great?Man, it right. Like people
are like, oh, it's he'sgonna be so different. You're like,
no, we we we lived togetherfor three or four months before and um
man, I she asked me theother day or a while back, she's
(02:14):
like, a you feel any different. I was like, really, like
I've but it's in a good way, Like I feel I felt like we've
been married for so long, likeall the loyalty and all that stuff.
It's just it's just always been there, so not much different. But um,
it's awesome, dude. And andlike hanging out. You know,
I worked during the day and andshe does too, but it's just to
(02:36):
come home and like eat and justhang out and just it's just it's the
best. And we don't even havekids yet. So yeah, yeah,
we just broke news here February.There's no surprise, there's no big announcements
yet. Listen, take your time. There's plenty of time for that type
of everybody says that. Man.The more I hear at first, I
(02:57):
was like, dude, I'm ready, let's go now. But every body,
every not one single person is like, just dude, it's awesome,
Like every single person is like andhaving kids is amazing, but enjoy your
your freedom as long as you can. So, uh, you are a
guy who and not many people incountry can say this stays busy in every
aspect. Right. If you're nottouring, you're recording. If you're not
recording, you're writing and not onlywriting for yourself. But there's a lot
(03:22):
of guys with plaques on the wall. Yeah because of you, right um
And obviously they did their thing tomake the song magic as well. Is
there a song that you look atthat you might be more proud of than
any other that's not yours that likethat I wrote but that I didn't you
were you were a part of Yeah? Um um yeah. I mean I
always say up Down because it wasmy first number one and it was Morgan's
(03:45):
first number one and it really likejump started our careers. But uh,
man, I gotta go like God'scountry is is, So if it's not
up Down, it's God's country,just ay it it. That song change
my career even as an artist.I didn't even know how big that would
be for me as an artist becauseit just kind of helped boost my because
(04:05):
there was a couple of years therewhere like I was still and I still
am, but like the new guysin the artist world. But I had
that like he wrote God's Country thingand it really helped me out, like
it really did. And plus itwas like just Blake Shelton hit, which
was super cool and it did reallywell for him, and that one did
(04:26):
just as much for my career asas Updown did. For sure. Since
You've been in so many rooms withso many names like Blake Shelton, right,
is there ever a time you haveto remind yourself like, yeah,
I belong here like this. Ofcourse I'm in the same room as artist,
you know, a because I've workedto be here. That's a good
question, man. I don't know, dude. I every single day of
(04:49):
my life I have a little bitI don't even know if it's like imposter
syndrome, but it's just like I'mlike, what am I doing here?
I still feel very like normal,which I am, but I don't know
how to describe that. But no, dude, I'm I'm always I'm still
just like looking around like what amI doing here? Dude? A lot
(05:11):
of people are like that though.I Mean, that's one cool thing about
Nashville is like ninety nine percent ofthe artist I feel like are they came
from small towns, and they camefrom very very normal just life and lifestyles.
And so I think a lot ofartists in Nashville are all just pinching
themselves no matter how big they get. It's like kind of the charm of
(05:32):
Nashville a little bit. I thinkwhen it comes to writing, what,
without giving away too much, whatare projects that you're very passionate about right
now? Would would you be morepassionate about something you're doing for yourself or
maybe an artist, a newer artiston the come up, or a project
like a Blake. So since myrecord has come out, I kind of
(05:55):
did this with a rock. Itake like six to eight months and just
shutting my artist brain as far asthe songwriting off, and and like I
set an intention to write for otherpeople, you know, because that's like
the I love to do that still, So, um, is that what
fuels everything else for you? Like? How does that refill the tank?
(06:15):
Like you get to you get torun the gas dry, doing everything else,
but to refill the tank you goback to that. Yeah, And
then occasionally, like you know,if I'm not writing with an artist and
I'm just with songwriters, which isa lot of the time, like well
kind of you know, accidentally writeone for me if you will, and
like then I hold on to it, and so it's still I still kind
of get stuff along the way.But um man, that's a good question.
I will say. I've been writingwith this kid, Dylan Marlow,
(06:40):
Who's he's so good he's gonna I'mtelling you, he is of all the
people in his class, which Iwould say is like I always look at
it like the freshman class, youknow what I mean, Like the people
that are just kind of coming ontothe scene, Like he's still getting duct
taped to the locker in the shower. Yeah, y yeah. Kind but
(07:00):
he is the best songwriter out there, and he's a great artist. But
but I just mean from a songwritingperspective, I've been really had my eye
on him, and I've been writingwith him some and he writes a lot
with one of my writers, Zach, and everything they turn in is awesome.
So I'm really excited to continue towrite with him and hopefully try to
write his help him write his firstbig record, because he's a phenomenal songwriter.
(07:24):
You're at a point in your career. Where you are, you are
still working with fresh talent like aDylan Marlowe, but you're probably also learning
stuff from the Blake Sheltons of theindustry. What does it mean for you
that a guy like Dylan is lookingat you the way that you look at
a guy like maybe Blae's dude,It's the coolest thing in the world and
(07:45):
just I's part of me like doesn'teven know how to process it, but
like just to know that you're like, because I like learned how to write
songs by paying attention to the bigright, Like when when I was coming
up, it was like Casey Bethardand Rodney Clawson, Craig Wiseman, Hillary
(08:05):
Lindsay, Like there were so manypeople that had a spare specific thing that
I loved and I gravitated towards andI was like, I want to write
songs like they do. And it'sjust cool to know that that there's some
kids out there, guys and girlsout there that are looking at me the
same way. That's like the biggesthonor ever. I mean, it really
is, because it just if youcan influence what would you call that,
(08:28):
like a soon to be generation ofwriters and artists like with your music,
that's like the highest honor in theworld. And it's cool to be like
the chair that we get to sitat in country radio. It's cool because
at one point I got a phonecall like, hey, we're coming to
town. It's this hearty guy youknow, we want you to meet whatever.
And now you're to the point whereyou're selling out three nights in a
(08:50):
row down the street from where we'resitting out, which, by the way,
I said to Tiago, two nightsis back to back shows. Three
nights is a residency. So youhave a Nashville residency. But like people,
people of all ages of singing yoursongs, like it's it's got to
be a trippy feeling to know thateven looking the crowd, I'm the most
recent show, I was out ofyours. There's kids singing a song which
(09:13):
father and father and mother of theyear right there. But like to know
that you have an impact and notmany artists transcend ages. Even that's got
to be something special, but notintentional either, Right, you're just no,
I'm just no, I just Idon't know how that happened, especially
with the kids. But um,I've told my son not to use that
(09:33):
for it, but it's fun.My mom hates it, so she went
and found because Big Loud didn't.I don't think that they had any clean
CDs printed, just like they keepa stack at the label for whatever people
in this and that charity events.Yeah, all that signed or whatever.
And my mom texted me the otherday and she was like, thank God,
and she sent me a picture andI guess there's a clean version of
my of the Mock and Murden theCrow out there, and she got one
(09:56):
and she was like, I canfinally listen to this and not like crane
e. I hear you cuss.But it's awesome. Man. I know
that my music is super polarizing.But then at the same time, you're
right, I look out and Isee uh, like kids on shoulders and
and people that are old rocker lookingdudes out there getting down to the stuff.
(10:16):
And then you're you know, mylike main crowd is like younger,
like college age or you know,twenties, thirties. Uh, you know,
people singing and it's just early forties, early forties maybe UM to see
it all. It's it's cool,man, It's just cool to to know
that it's it is there's a spectrumof people out there that it's it caters
(10:37):
to. It's awesome. I wantto talk more on the album and the
current single, UM, but takeme through Uh. One of my favorite
songs on the radio newer right isUH is close to when Dell's track you
were a part of Drink a Boy? Yeah, yeah, um knowing that
song, like it's a song thatconnects right away. Some songs you've got
to listen to it two three timesbefore it's like, oh yeah, I
dig this from the first note.Man, you're you're in on that song?
(11:01):
Is it tough too? And Iknow that you weren't the only one
in on the right, but isit tough to be? Like? No,
that's cool, you you take thatone. I feel good about it.
Like is it ever tough to giveaway a song and be like,
damn, this is gonna be agood one? Not really, man,
because I just I feel like,I truly feel like I have two jobs,
you know what I mean? Andand UM when I'm in town.
Which that's a funny story because youknow, John Party's a writer on that
(11:22):
song, and we wrote that forfor John Uh in a sense like we
were he was in the room thatday we were writing for John and he
just ended up not cutting it,which is fine. That happens a lot,
and um, it's just, uh, I don't know. I just
feel like it's easier these days togive them away because when I when I
when we get something in the bythe end of the day, if it's
(11:43):
something that I want, like especiallyif it's on the countryside of things,
like if it's the rock thing,like obviously I'm gonna keep it for myself.
But it's gotten easier just to beto tell the room that day like
this is this is definitely for me, or either or the opposite, and
be like pitch it. But it'shavn't feeling like I have two jobs.
It makes it cool to be ableto give away songs that I know I
(12:05):
probably wouldn't record a song that wewere able to embrace on the Big ninety
eight and with I Heeart country thatyou would put out was and it was
such like a moment song. Somesongs make you feel and some songs make
a statement. And there's something aboutwaiting the truck that just connected. Last
time we talked, didn't you sayit was like supposed to be like some
like just dudes got drunk and nowyou're gonna be the hell out of somebody.
(12:28):
It really wasn't yeh, yeah,yeah, it really wasn't gonna be
this this anthem that it turned outto. Yeah, it was like this
tough guy like affliction kind of idea. It was like what we were going
for initially was like a dude,you know, tough guy in the corner,
saw a guy like get rough witha girl at a bar, and
he's gonna go follow him and kickhis ass. And when we just when
we got in the room that day, we just sat down and said,
(12:52):
man, what if we really tookthe time and like made it a little
deeper, deeper and heavier than that. But I'm glad we did. It's
been I'm telling you so good.And for the time that's already spent on
country radio, I feel like peopleare still like that is a song you
don't you don't turn away from,you don't skip, you don't change the
stations, and them like it justconnects whether whether you have an experience you'll
(13:13):
tie to it or not. Ifthis song can do what you're very familiar
with doing, and that's getting allthe way up. Does it have an
extra meeting for you? Because thisis probably mentally scanning your biggest songs.
This is probably the most emotionally tiedsong that you would be able to say
went that far. So does itanymore because of that? Yeah? Absolutely,
(13:37):
man, Um, I think it'shuge. It's a huge for me,
but just even just for country musicas a whole. It's it's awesome
to know that a song about sucha serious like subject can break through and
still be a hit. You knowwhat I mean? And and um,
you know I mean, we wekill a guy in the song. We
(13:58):
literally blatantly say we murder a guy, but you know, for a specific
reason, and it has a veryserious but specific message, and it's it.
It'd be a huge win for me. It already is. It's a
top five no matter what happens.It's a huge win for me and for
Laney and all the writers. Butfor it to go the whole way would
be a very monumental moment knowing thata song like that can still break through
(14:22):
on the format. For sure,when it comes to performing a song like
that or give Heaven some hell yourshows, are you get country? You
get your face melted off? Butat the same time, a song like
that or wait in a Truck.Do you ever have to catch yourself on
stage because I've seen people get emotionallike standing out watching a thing, especially
(14:46):
on a song like like those.Do you ever have to you know,
scan the crowd. You see somebodycrowd and you're like, whoa, We'll
be on the other side of thestage here. I mean kinda yeah,
I mean I I especially especially giveHeaven some hell waiting the truck. I've
seen a few, but um,every every show there's at least one person
out there that is truly like hurting, you know what I mean, And
(15:11):
um, but in the best way, Like it's it's amazing to see that
and know that those songs are helpingpeople and getting them through what they're going
through. It's like, and itsounds kind of screwed up to say it,
but it is like the best feelingin the world, Um, just
to know that it's reaching those peopleand that that the message that we were
(15:33):
trying to convey that day is gettingthrough to people. But yeah, I
mean, it's it's it's not awkward, but man, there are times where
somebody is just having an absolute notmental breakdown, but just a solid screaming,
crying, like sad thing. Andit's just it's crazy to see that
impact people, especially live when itwhen it comes to making an impact and
(15:54):
telling a story, whether it's yourstory or it's it came together from a
Right, what does it mean foryou to tell a story through a song?
But now because of social media,people can tell their stories back to
you. Right, what does itmean to tell a story? But then
also it connected enough to where someoneopens Instagram and shoots you a direct message
and kind of completes the whole thingeverything truly, Um, I mean it
(16:19):
means everything. And you know,at the end of the day, that's
that's why I do it. Ithink that's why most songwriters do it.
Is is to hear those stories andhave those moments and and um it just
it means the world. It's it'sit that stuff keeps me going more than
you know, playing big arenas andmaking money or whatever. It is that
(16:44):
the fact that people you know canshare their story and firsthand see how much
it's affected people in a positive wayis like I could not I could not
have any success from here on out, and that would that would still make
my day every time. The remainderof this year, which is weird to
say it because we're in April already, it's like the third of the way
(17:07):
through the year. The rest ofthe year, you have obviously a massive
tour you're running around. Uh,what are some things you're looking forward to
as far as like you get tounplug this weekend, You're going to try
and take a trip here, yougot this to look forward to, Like
on a personal level the rest ofthe year, I'm getting a bass boat
in June. Hell yeah, andI'm really excited about that. Uh.
(17:29):
I've got um let's see, mywife and I her grandparents have a house
in the Pacific Northwest that we're gonnago for a week. Um, I
have a really big county fair backin my hometown that I'm gonna go to.
H And the big one is Ican completely unplug and relax when I
(17:51):
go back to my hometown and myour deer camp has like a lake on
it and it's super run down,old and awesome, and I and that's
like something I look forward to.And I have fortunately have like some time
off this year, and I'm gonnaget to go home and fish and kind
of get ready for deer season anddo a few other things and and uh
(18:12):
that's that, and just time withwith Cali is something I'm very much looking
forward to in general. But butthe new boat, the bass fishing is
gonna be awesome the summer because wellso that's my favorite thing. Is you
had like a childlike smiled like gettingthe boat? I am, man,
I feel like a child. Solet me ask you this. Does the
(18:33):
boat have a name yet? Uh? No not? What are we doing
really waiting the boat? If Ikeep gaining weight, it's gonna be w
e I g ht waiting the boat? Like you look fine? Knock it
off. I don't know, Iyou know, I like I really like
um. I look for arrowheads alot around Nashville and like bodies of water
(18:57):
like on the banks that holds alot of them. And I was about
my head hunter, which might bekind of cool. But I don't know.
But I definitely am gonna name itsomething. Waiting the boat. It's
not bad. I like it prettygood. Actually, Plus it's gonna help
pay for the boat, you knowwhat I mean? It's true. So
speak speaking of that single, Igot two more for you. One is
(19:17):
working closely with Laney, which iscool because you guys both are doing your
own thing. But when you cametogether, it's just like and you had
mentioned like a couple of other names, but like something about Laney, like
you stopped thinking after that, Um, you brought her onto this song.
Has there been any talk of herbringing you onto Yellowstone? No? But
that'd be awesome, dude. Sothis is me officially asking, as a
(19:41):
fan of yours and Yellowstone Landy Wilson, can you make the connection? Come
on, Laney, you got it? Text Kevin Costler, that would be
Yeah, her up already. Um, that would be incredibly cool, and
especially like I've done music videos,but like waiting the Truck was the first
time I felt like I was trulylike acting, you know what I mean,
like really trying to dig into that. And it was so fun and
(20:03):
so awkward, dude, like tolike just be really serious and then they're
like cut and you're just and theneverybody's like good job. Now. I
don't know, there's something that's souncomfortable about it because you have to be
so vulnerable. But it was soso fun and I would love, love,
love love to do that. Thatwould be so sick last thing I'm
gonna ask you, and you mightnot even be able to share this far
(20:25):
ahead as we look towards the nextsong that you would give to country radio,
it's obviously going to be on theproject that we're consuming. Now,
do you know which way you wantto go? Or between one of the
two? And if there's an answer, we can hold this. I can
this between two technically, but isthat all right? Yeah? I can
hold this? Is it okay?All right? It's we haven't made an
(20:48):
official decision, but it's between truckbed and red Oh okay, our country
sold out I can say as mynext can I say that sold out to
my next rock single? We're actuallygonna go back and do sold out now.
But um, but for country,it's either truck bed or red What
did you think? Did you think? No, A truck bed does it
for me too? I think that'sthat's that's leaning towards that one for sure.
(21:11):
But also you figure you're putting outred red Field summer. That single
was gonna take you probably over thefourth of July weekend. Dude. That's
all stuff there. It does sowell, But man, dude, have
you seen truck bed live yet.Have you have you been because I haven't
seen you since you and did theThree Nights Here. Dude, it's the
biggest song on our set right now, the one bed. It's bigger than
(21:33):
Rednecker. It's bigger than White inthe Truck. I mean it is like
it's bigger than sold Out, whichI mean it's dude, it's so awesome
and that's a that's a good sign. But when you, dude, I'll
tell you. And I like itwas a fanboy moment and I almost like
had to like text you and anybodyelse that would listen. When you started
with sold Out, it had beenout for like a babe two three days,
(21:56):
and all of a sudden, thelights going down in you here party,
and I'm like, guys, nobody, nobody knows this yet. All
right, I know this. It'sfun. Let's go so good. It's
so it's gonna be um. We'vebeen opening with that song now for a
year, and we're gonna continue todo it, I think until the fall,
and then I think we're gonna switchit up and and uh put it
(22:18):
somewhere in the set. But man, it's been so fun to open.
It's so hype at the beginning ofthe show. Just so fun. The
fact that you left in the trackthe chanting. Yeah, at the same
time, our goal was to makeeverybody think that the rest of the crowd
was chanting, so everybody just starteddoing it. But yeah, we're gonna
keep it in there. It's that'spart of the part of the gag.
Dude, Dude, I know howbusy you are, so thank you for
(22:40):
taking the time to thank you.It's always a pleasure, man,
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