Happy Birthday Keith Urban! + #327 - Keith On His Childhood, Relationship with Father, Marriage, Rehab and Overcoming Addiction

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Speaker 1: Today's Keith Urban's birthday. We love Keith, and we're gonna play an episode I mean into last year. I guess. He came over to the house, drove up in a really cool car, sat for an hour and had a really personal talk. You know, played some of this on the radio show and some of the clips, and even the show members were like, day, I never knew all that. So this is Keith Urban and myself talking about life for an hour. We talked about him growing up, his dad, getting in and out of rehab, how he writes songs in a really peculiar way. I hope you enjoy it. Happy birthday to Keith Urban. And here is Keith Urban on the Bobby Cast alright, and with Keith Urban, which is Caitlin sends her best my wife. She just said, Keith's coming over. I said, yeah. She said, tell him, first of all, thank you for the wedding gift. You sends the nicest sheets we've ever owned in our entire life. You should, you know. I she got onto me a little bit because you probably don't do this, but I still have two. At times I have to spray tan. Yeah, okay. And I got into the sheets and sprayed hand once and she reminded me how nice of sheets they were, and then I should never do that again. And then you reminded her how much expensive tanning was, and it didn't work. The tanning does not really hold a candle to the but they weren't destroyed and they all came out wonderfully. But she said, tell him thank you, And she had even asked, and you tell me because we had written you and your lovely wife and thank you card, but we thought we would just mail it instead of handing it to you, which would have been more awkward to hand it to you in person or just to get it in like a normal in the mail, both of mine. Yeah, and you could have even not send it, but tell me that you did in the thought that they counts. I said that to to people, and I said, hey, what if I just send people a message for a wedding gift like a video? Mesthode felt human and said that, and I said, but everybody just roasted me like it was the dumbest thing they had ever heard, because they just loved the tradition of the hand. If someone sent to me a thank you card for something, I expected thank you card four. Yeah, I don't feel like it means as much if I get a thank you card for something I don't expect to thank you. Absolutely that's awesome, I hear you. Yeah, it's it's a complicated etiquette, isn't it? Is this back home? Is it so? Etiquette back in like Australia, New Zealand is a dumb American thing where we have this, you know? Is this? Is this the thing there with after if someone gets married. Back in New Zealand, I had to learn the whole thing about thank you gods. And because I didn't grow out with any of that, I think my family was not that etiquette at all. Etiquette that were not at all. I I had to learn the hard way here that you're right thank you notes to people. That was that was completely far into me. I remember once you were kind enough to invite me over to your place. It was a Christmas and we were in Australia and he said, hey, you should come over, and I was talking to you about music in Australia New Zealand and country music in particular. I was like, what is country music like here? And you you had kind of expressed to me that country music there is kind of am like, it's a different kind of homebred, folksy country in Australia. That's some of the the American version is getting over there, but it's hard to find country music on the radio in Australia. Well, the struggle for Australian country artists is there isn't the big mainstream infrastructure that there is here in America. You know, here we have FM country stations everywhere, get satellite radio, you've got multiple video platforms. This is even preceding YouTube with CMT and and g a C. None of that existed in Australia. So there was a lot of country out us wanting to make more mainstream sounding country music, but there wasn't the platforms for it. And to some degree that's still a struggle there. So how growing up there did you attach yourself to the thought of country music and that that's the kind of music you wanted to make, or were you naturally just making it and it was the most organic place for you to fit musically here? It well, I mean Nashville was just the destination because why why why was it the destination? It was written on the back of all the records that my dad had um Don Williams mostly and Glenn Campbell, Charlie Pride, Merle Hagged. All of those records all sit on the back of them. Recorded Nashville, Tennessee. So as a kid, I'm like, oh, that's where you go to make records period. I just thought that's where you go if you want to make a record. But how did your dad get so involved in music from Nashville? Because not not at all was from Nashville. You're talking about country music, like other than Bob Dylan, Nashville Skyline, you know, there's there weren't a lot of I don't know if pop would be the word or Nashville wasn't big unless it was country American. How did your dad get involved in that scene? Musically? So, in the fifties he was playing in a band. In the fifties he was a drummer and he played the band called Ricochets in New Zealand and in the fifties. Rock and roll happened in the mid fifties right, so made its way down in his the island. My dad got obsessed with rock and roll and consequently American movies, American cars. We always had American cars growing up. Which is crazy in Australia, and he was just in love with America and he loved rock and roll in the fifties, all through the sixties, and then in the late sixties when rock and roll kind of went in a in a bigger, kind of different direction than I mean, the origins of rock and roll is really rockabilly, you know. There was there was a country element in early rock and roll. So when rock then became more rock as we knew it through the sixties seventies, my dad went, that's kind of a little too hard for me. And here's the connection. There was a group called Oposo Sako Singers, which was a folk group in the sixties, and one of the members of that group was a guy called Donald Williams. And then he broke away from that group, dropped that Donald became Don Williams and went country, and my dad just followed him. That was really it. And so you growing up listening to that music, that was your music in the house. Yeah, yeah, Well, and my mom loved Neil Diamond Everly brothers. Um My brother was into e l O and Super Tramp and Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. So that was all the fusion. How proficient. Was your dad with a guitar, terrible with guitar, great with drums, but terrible anguitar. So for you, was it drums at first or were other people playing a guitar around you and you're like, think that that's it for me? No, they said that Mom and dad brought me a ukulele when I was five, and I guess it's a toy, I mean, and and my dad said I could strum it in time with songs on the radio. Wasn't playing any chords, but the rhythm was there, so um rhythm, which I mean possibly from him, definitely. Yeah. And my grandfather played piano, so all of my dad's brother's role musical, trumpet, piano, guitar, drums, four brothers, so it was all musical. And and I just took the guitar, I guess because of the ukulele. Was he the dad that wanted you to follow in his footsteps of Hey, if I'm musical, I think it's called that your musical or like so you people in the creative world, that's I've seen what a beast this can be. Like I would like to push you away from it unless you push so hard back that you want to get in it. Yeah, that that was it definitely, because I I heided, I wasn't very disciplined as a kid. I don't know if you can relate to that, Bobby, But were you disciplined as a kid, because now, yes, because of the addiction that my mom had and my dad left, you know, because I was by myself with my dad bailing out when I was six, my mom being a drug addict her entire life. I was so disciplined that I couldn't go down that path or I was going to just go down the path and live in that path. Um. So you know, even today, I've never had a drink of alcohol because I feel the addict in me with other things I do. So I am extremely disciplined until i'm not, and then I'm off the end and I have to find and I don't know if you have to do this at times, Well, I have to find my healthy addict. And I don't know if that's a if that's a safe thing to say, but I need to be addicted to something, So I have to find the healthiest thing for me to be addicted to, because my natural gravity is to go to something and and and invest myself all the way in it, so much so that it is unhealthy. So I got upind the healthiest version of that because it's just in me intrinsically, like I I yes, I am so disciplined to a fault, so because I know I had one instance where I really felt it and I do want to get back to, you know, talking about your parents. But at one instance, whe now I was um, I got jumped and got a gun to my head, and I had a bunch of like trauma in that way where I got held at gunpoint. I had UM, I have a house broken into. It was like a lot of things happening when my career was just starting to take off and I didn't take it seriously yet, and I was having some some threats from the outside and I couldn't sleep, and so my doctor was like, hey, you should if you can't sleep and you're sick, you should take sleeping pills. Took them, how trouble with them, couldn't get off of them, and I was like, oh my god, are staying up doing that side of them? Well, yeah, I don't remember. I don't right, I don't remember. And so I would take these sleeping pills and I remember the day where I went, oh, I'm stuck. I'm stuck. And it was the only time because I remember my mom being because you couldn't sleep without them, couldn't sleep, but couldn't sleep without him. I felt like they were tethered to me. Anywhere I went at any point, I had to have them with me because if I needed to sleep, that was the only way I could go. And I remember thinking, oh, I'm I can't. I can't beat this right now, like this has got a hold of me. And it was the only time that I ever related to my mom because she had been in rehabit and out and I always thought, why can't you just beat it? But I just had smidgen of it, and I was like, oh God, this is it. And so because of that and how I grew up, I am extremely disciplined. So did you answer your easy question about life and music? You know, I do have that discipline in me from I gotta be or I'm gonna go off. Yeah that makes sense and not be completely Yeah. So I was disciplined as a child. You were not disciplined. No, I wasn't. Um. I think just being an artist comes with a sense of being able to create, and there's so there's a sense of just freedom and liberation. Also as the youngest, you know, I had an older brother, and I think it's not uncommon for the younger sibling two potentially be a little more like, well, everyone else takes care of everything. I'm fine, I'm just floating along. So if your older brother played music, how come eating get stuck with the bass? Yeah, he didn't play. We started playing guitar at the exact same time. I was six, he was eight, and he started on a steel string acoustic and I started on one with nylon strings, and he he just couldn't hack it and gave up pretty quick. And to your point about my dad, I went into my dad one time and said these strengths, these hate playing guitar, and my dad has all right, but then don't do it. And I was like, that's not what I wanted. I wanted him to tell me I have to do it and get into a fight. So it's kind of reverse psychology that worked really well. What was the relationship like with your dad and you as you became twelve, fourteen, sixteen years old? My dad's alcoholic was, um, he's not here anymore. Um, But he was alcoholic his whole life and never just never dealt with it. You know. So my brother and I classic adult children of alcoholic raised and uh, I got the same genetic disposition as my dad, and my brother didn't have that. Really, it doesn't have it. It's wild because I feel it. I have it, and luckily I saw it early. But it's crazy that you would have it and your brother doesn't. Yeah, but then he has no hair and I have hair, so it's a fair trade. Did you feel like as you tried to achieve musically you were doing it for you or you were doing it somewhat to create a bond to your dad? Maybe wasn't there because of other circumstances. Probably both, you know both, And you know I think, Um, in the song we Have Wild Hearts, you know, there's a song about it opens with Johnny Cash, you know, sort of man in Black. Because when I was five, dad, mom and Dad took us to see Johnny Cash, and I remember so much about that concert. But the thing I think that is subconsciously in me. I was really taken by how my dad was staring at this guy on stage and probably thinking how do I get my dad to look at me like that, Right, isn't that wild? Yeah? So I don't I don't know if I saw it. It's hard to know, right was that that? Did I recognize in that person on stage with the guitar? Did I recognize something that I was going to do or something that I wanted to do, or something that I should do? I don't know. It doesn't really matter in the end. When did it start to be And I'm not going to say the word easy, I don't think that's fair to you. But when did it start to be that you had an understanding that you could actually create and manipulate with that instrument? Tuesday? This week? This week you've been missing, You've been missing a lot. You've been doing pretty good up until Tuesday. You've had us all fold. Was it was it fourteen fifteen? Was it earlier than that where you're like, Okay, I can actually do this at a higher level than like my peers who are doing this. Uh. I don't know if I've ever felt that way. No, because you know, in Australia, Yeah, because I've always been around people way better than me, always, and in Australia there's like the local guy playing in the cover band, because people go who your influences? I'm like the guy in the local cover band Barried Clough and then Dallas Seldom and then Ridge Grant and all these guys playing in cover bands. I'm twelve years old, thirteen years old watching them gone. I wish you could play that good. And then at some point you play that good, and so you're already looking to the next guy. I wish you could play as good as him, and you just your your influences, keep moving. Who was it for you that was your favorite your first favorite artist? We're you really clicked and you're like, that's my favorite, your own. It's a good question, Gosh, I don't know for me. I'll vamp a bit as you think about that, so you can have a good answer for me. You know, it was it was John Mayer whenever he was starting, because I felt someone writing the things that I was thinking, and I never had had experienced that before. He's a couple of years older than I am, but I was like, wow, this guy one. I liked his tone, I liked the style, but he was saying things. It was like a really good comedian. You know how you go, oh, I always thought that I just didn't know how to say it like that. It was the first time I've ever heard that in song, and I thought, wow, he's he's kind of speaking for me musically. Is the first time that had ever happened. So he became my first ever like, that's my favorite artist. There have been others that that since I've done that, I'm a big Counting Crows guy too, you know, Um, but John Mayor was it for me? Now that I've given you a little time, who do you think it is? Well, what I actually think about is John Mellencamp is the is the guy that's coming mind. Um. The reason is I grew up playing list country music, right, going to all these talent quests and different competitions playing country music. But then I got to be twelve fourteen. I left school at fifteen. I was playing in a cover band at fifteen. So we're just doing top forty and I'm playing in all the pubs in Australia. And the pubs are rough places, you know, just concrete floor, hose it out the end of the night, rough crowd, no holes barred. If you suck, that will let you know you suck. And I grew up playing in that very rock environment, and so I loved country, I loved rock. I love Top forty. I'm like, what the hell do I do? Who am I? Musically? And then John put out Loans from Jubilee, which was an album that had songs like paper and fire check it out, Cherry Bomb, YadA, YadA, and it was rock, but it had like fiddle and at accordion and everything. So we went to see him in concert on that tour. I was playing in a cover band. The band got tickets. We went to see him, and we were way up in the nosebleeds in this arena. Him and the band comes out and they play, and it was It was so insanely great and it was rock, country something whatever the hell was going on. It was literally an epiphany. And I saw what John was doing and I went, oh, that's the answer. You don't think about labels. Just take all the things you love, figure out how to put them together and make it be like this. And I was very lucky to meet John many many years later and tell him that story, and he said, it's so great that that's what you took away from that concert, because most people leave the concert and go I'm going to do that. I'm going to have fiddle in my bed and you know, and just rip off John Mellencamp. But what I took from it was just do your own thing. Take all the things you love and the original and John Mellencamp, obviously a Middle America guy who had country and rock roots at the same time, incorporated the mall. How do you see that affecting your show that you do now, Like, what are the surroundings that you've taken from your life because you have a different kind of show? Yeah, of really anyone? I mean, and I say that in the most complimentary way. And I've told you this off a microphone too, Like you do the best live show I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of live shows. I'm jaded at this point too. I'm extremely jaded. That compliment it is, Yeah, it is. I've seen it all and I don't care to see anymore because it's just part of the life we live right until. But when you're moved, you're moved so hard when you're jaded, and to watch you perform, I leave and I'm like, god, dang, I just I thought i'd seen it all. So because of that your it is so so what do you take what are your influences that have created what is your project? In the same way that he had taken fiddle and he had taken you know, a different kind of percussion yeah, um, and the different service off me as I play guitar, So that becomes a strong point of of the of what I do. I love guitar riffs. I love catchy songs, you know, unapologetically energy too, and energy yeah, and fiercely in the moment presence, absolutely and really giving a ship, like really really like this is the last gig I'll ever play. Every gig is the last gig you'll ever play. That's what I think I want to talk about your shows is not only is it musically wonderful and sonically just the greatest, but there's so much energy there that doesn't feel forced energy. It feels like pure energy. And there's a difference. Sometimes you go out and you really don't, like, I want to really work for this show, but it doesn't feel like work. It feels like that's who you are as an artist, Like that's the most genuine version of you. And again, if you if you haven't seen Keith show and Honestly, this wasn't leading up to the promo of your tour yet your tickets are until today, which works in great into this um and it's the it's the greatest live show I think I've seen because and I don't know why you keep going into the audience. You may not not do that with COVID. Now what I've just seen you do it so many times. Like stop, like I'm worried for your own hell. Like people we were talking to Jerry uh Flower, Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jerry Clower. Jerry Clowers one of my favorites too. By the way, Jerry Jerry Clowers only one time and he is just a pistol. Yeah. So but the other Jerry, who you were in the ranch with and who is your musical leader band director, I don't know. He said that you guys were doing a private function and you ran into the crowd and they were so high they started biting you. Yeah. It's like, wait, what, Like I knew that was going to happen, but it's already happened. Like they pulled your shirt off and they were biting you, and you kind of give off the door, like you accept that. So we try and feed people before this day now and very passionate, very passionate. Let me say this. The new American tour, The Speed of Now World to fifty three shows between June sevente and November five of two. There was a full list of dates and tickets right now at keith Urban dot com. Let's go back whenever you're playing in these cover bands, what was the ceiling for you as far as for your career when you're sixteen years old? What's the ceiling in your mind? How far you can get in your career. I never thought of I don't know, it's so weird. I was never one of these kids with a plan at all, none, just let's try and get better. I was playing in this cover band that I talked about so well Mally can't yeah yah yeah, And I wasn't the lead singer was guitar playing and uh we well, well it was for a cover band. We were doing a couple of thousand people on a on a Sunday afternoon, which was a lot of people to come and see this cover band. But it was a really good band. What was your role in the cover band guitar and lead singer? Uh? Well, we had a lead singer that wasn't you, wasn't me um. And the only reason I joined this band was I had a manager who was also managing this band. It's a long story, but I been in I've done jos, I've done bands. I've always had my own thing, right. It was always me was whatever. I was always doing my thing. My manager thought, I really need some frontman experience, how to handle a crowd, how to put a set list together, how to put on a show, how to just lead. And so he said, I've got this band. I think you should join the band and watch this front man because he's amazing and you'll learn so much. So I was with that band for about a year and he was right. I learned so much from that lead singer. But but one of the things was I wanted to do some original songs. We're doing all these covers, and so I started writing a song and he loved it, and the band learned it, and he was going to even sing it and it would be on the set list and I'll be looking at the guys in the band, I'm like, here comes a song, gets a song, We're gonna get to do a song. And he would bail on it. Every time he'd be like, no, skip that one, Let's do money money, and I'm like yeah. And after a while of that, I just went and I'm not this is going nowhere. What are you gonna do with covers? I want to want to play Ridge all music. So I left the band and the drummer and bass player quit at the same time and came and joined me. And so then what do you do? Is it a new name band? Is it? Are you? It was just me? It was just solo. Um. But then of course I couldn't get any work playing original songs, and so we resorted to being another cover band, but slipping in my own songs in between the covers at least. And so as you're doing your own music, are you in Australia at this point? Yeah? Yeah, that's all in Australia. Was the plan to get to the States at some point? Yeah, but I didn't know how when nothing knew nothing about that? Then how did you? So nine my manager got some tickets for us to come over to America, and we came to Nashville and spent played down at the Shownees which was on to Mombrian and pitched my crappy demo to all the labels met with complete silence? Is it now? It was met with complete silence because that's your big, famous and successful or was it really met with complete silence? Oh? No, it was terrible. But first of all, it was a terrible demo, which, of course, when you come from if you're not from here, you think it's pretty pretty good, because it's pretty good from where you come from, but it's pretty crap when you get here compared to everything else. And I was just out of out of step, out of place, out of step. My music didn't fit at all. So what made you think that you could stay and thrive? Because Nashville was like sixteenth and sevent to have. And I got here and I went, this is it? Is this it this is the legendary iconic music row, Like that's it, My god, this is this is fantastic. It's not New York City. It's not like this is I'm at home. I love it here, it's great, and I didn't want to leave. And I also foolishly thought, we'll get I'll get here and I'll start writing songs and I'll record and boom, we'll be often running in no time. And man, the years just went by, and by what are you doing? And could you make money? Though? At the time, Like if you're coming from Australia and you're just visiting, were you able to make money? So I signed a publishing deal with a company in Australia that had an office in Nashville. It's very small, little wage to where it's not even a wage. What is it like money that you're gonna have to pay them back? Right? So I'd come over for a couple of weeks on my own, stay with crash of somebody at their house, gonna write songs every day with whoever they've put me with. You know that thing that we do here in Nashville professional songwriters. Whenever the new kid in town is, they throw them in with the pro songwriters and see if something happens. Was that weird for you, by the way, because that was the culture and you've been writing probably by yourself. Yeah, but yeah, it was really difficult. I also was no when you're good enough yet? And so I'm getting with really great pro writerers and I just I sucked. I just had so much to learn that was excruciating. And are you learning or are you overwhelmed? I think I had also frustrated the way in which I would write with my drum machine, of my bass or a banjo or something, and always with a groove. Always. I would never sit with a guitar on a legal pad in a windowless room. So were you an early track guy? Because if yeah, definitely, because I like I like them well, because I write from the music out. The music is trying to tell a story and then I extrapolate the story from the music. Will you write songs with melody first? Uh? Just straight melody? Will you write a melody and that's what you have? Then you create around the melody. Are you more prone to do that when writing if you're starting from scratch or an idea a lyric like where do you like to start? If you get to choose, If I get to choose, I like a groove. A beat doesn't have to be fast, just any kind of beat that I can then play along with, whether it's bass, guitar, guitar, piano, something, banjo, whatever the matter, Just something that you pick up and just respond to and then a melody comes, A melody comes of some sort, and then you the music has an emotion about it's trying to say something I make somebody like you. You know. That song started from flying out to l A meeting this guy John Shanks. So I didn't know. Um, I was so nervous to meet with some l A guy, you know, and I'm like, what do I know. I've showed up with my banjo and everything. And before I went to the session, I went to this Irish pub and I had a pint of guinness and it was like ten in the morning and it was really good. Sad another one and it was a really good So I had like a third one. I get in my car, drive over to the studio where he is and by and by then I walked in and I felt pretty pretty just not bulletproof, but I felt very relaxed, very confident, you know. And he had this little drum machine and it was going that's all I was doing. And I pulled my banjo out of the case and dang, the dang the dawn and then dan, dang and dang, and no idea why, I just it just came out and we're like, oh, it feels good. What do we do with that? You know? It's in the new sound nothing sundown down and so does something gotta find some words and that's that's it, and then you just the rest comes. You're creating that vocal melody to without putting the words on it. Yeah yeah, so blah blah blah. So that that that, and then you'll go would you record that? And you go back over and go, okay, you know what's down here? Yeah? Well A lot of times it Gibberish is actually trying to say something like you listen to the type which way had a type then and it would be new and then you're like, oh, there's a never there was that a new win something right there down never never known sounds like it's like screw, it's all in there. I think Mick Jagger calls it making foul movements. Great. So as you're here and you're learning to write, when does the ranch start to be a thing? Uh? Well? Um, this three piece band that I mentioned, I had drummer bass playoff that I took from this cover band. I thought, well, let's let's head over to Nashville and do some shows. You know, all I can bring is bass playing and drums. I got no money, I can't afford anything. Um. By right around that time, I actually had built out a five piece band. I signed a record deal in Australia, did it, did an album, put two more guys in my band, keyboard and guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, guitar, and me, and we're touring around playing these songs off my album. So it was starting to happen in Stay. It was popping, had a song on the radio and I was like, here we go. It's great, you know, but all I wanted to do is come to Nashville. I couldn't bring the whole band, so I could bring bass and drums at least I could bring and make a sound out of it. My basse play Drama were the two guys that didn't sing, so I had no harmony, no nothing. So my bass player went back to Australia and I found a singing bass player from Florida and we played for a year or so, and then he went back to Florida and we found Jerry who came in and took over. So we were three piece because of no money. It was not my preference. It just couldn't afford anymore players, and that eventually became the ranch. What's interesting about that, if we were playing back some of the Ranch stuff with Jerry, and it feels like it was just ahead of its time, like that, that music, and we were listening to some demos and some old some old you know Ranch cuts. It feels like seven years later that probably hits. Do you feel like it was a bit advanced musically and that's why it didn't work at the time. Yeah, it certainly didn't sound like anything on radio, and that that's always the thing, you know with the record we made in just didn't sound like anything on the radio. It was hell making that record because we were signed to Warner Brothers and we went in with every quarter pointed producer in town. Ah, every one of those situations didn't work because what happens is we would either sound like us, which didn't sound the radio, or we would sound like something that could go on the radio. It didn't sound like us. And we were just in hell and just no matter what we did, we just couldn't make it, couldn't make it work. Was there someone that was betting on you? Though? As Keith Urban like, Okay, the Ranch didn't work, but we still have faith in you. And so many times in this town, once you don't make it, people are like, well, You're just not gonna make it. I see it all the time, like, well, you didn't make it, probably not for you. Was there anyone that was like, hey, I know that didn't work, and maybe it was just you. Was there anyone that was like, hey, you have that star, like, let's keep going and try to figure out who Keith Urban is instead of this three piece? I think that was me. I mean I just had that burning belief. I know wise because I was I'd grown up on oldest music. I knew how to make the music, but I didn't know how to make it with this band. This band had a unique sound about it, and the band wasn't I wasn't trying to get the band signed, you know. The van wasn't in the plan. Originally it morphed into that. So it was originally you. It was me. It was me and my bass player and drummer. We didn't have a name. It was just my name, um. But we got messed around with so much by the record company, and the tipping point was over at that label at Warner Brothers at the time. They just signed me, not the other two guys, and we made the record and they said, oh, we're gonna send you guys out, maybe to play some of these songs. But actually we're not sending you guys out. We're just going to put a house band together, and I'm going to send out you Keith and about four other artists on our label, and you guys will all share the same band. And I went, no, I won't you like, what do you mean? I go, I'm not, I'm not. I'm not playing with just I got a band, take my band with me. And they're like, yeah, but we didn't sign your band. I go, no, I know, but I mean they're my band. It doesn't make sense when I play with someone else. And uh, when we got dropped from that label and went over to Capital, I said, you have to sign everybody, and I'm I'm going to get rid of my name. To the hell with it, getting rid of my name we're doing, you know. And I had so many people around me saying, don't do that, don't don't drop your and just lose yourself in the band. But that's what I did. When you became keithone, rolled through some number one here two thousand and one, your first number one. But for the grace of God, it's here a little bit it is again after the years of struggle on a label to have a hit, did it feel like a relief or did it feel like this is amazing, because there's a difference. Was that like, oh my god, thank you? Was like, whoa, That's what I'm talking about? It only above. It was surreal to have a number one song in America was just crazy. Remember that like it was yesterday. Really, oh my god, twenty years ago, you still remember it like that your first Yeah, I remember exactly the house I was at, what I was doing, who told me everything, like detail because it was too surreal. I was like number one, like the number one most played song and country radio in America. Truly really did your life change after that? After you had a number one, since you could say it, um, I felt like, okay, now we got a chance to get some more music going. And the next single off to that, I think was Where the Black Top Bands, which is weird because it peaked. I was looking at numbers. It wasn't a number one, but that, to me is one of the songs I think of when I think of you and your catalog is Where the Black Cop Ends. It wasn't even number one, which shows you not all number one or career songs, and not all career songs or number one song even in two thousand two two did that song feel big like a number one song? Where the black Top ends. I can't remember that that when you can't remember now, I can't remember that. I mean I remember making that a whole album with Matt Rawlings. And it was the first time where I was in a studio and having gone through all of the famous producers and realizing none of it works for me. It just I don't know what I'm gonna do. Um. There was a guy running Capital Records at the time called Pat Quigley, and he was the president, and I used every proper famous producer and none of it was working. And I went into Pat and I said, can I just I had just done a session with Matt Rowlings for somebody else. The two of us were playing on it, and I clicked with him and I really liked him a light, and I said, could I just go and record some songs with this guy? Because I think he can put a good band together and we can just make a record that sounds good anyway. Whatever. It was very much that case of like go do whatever you want to do. We're not that interest. You could tell whatever it's going to. So we went and cut up the Grace God and like four or five songs, and I took him in and played for him and he goes, that sounds good. Just finished the record out, was no big deal. And we handed in the record and it had It's a love Thing and I want to Be Everything. All the singles that came out, Grace God, Blacktop, all that stuff. Um, and I put out Love It's a love Thing, and I think I went to the number eighteen or something like, It's okay, pretty good. They put out another song, I Want to Be Everything, and I got to top five or close to it, and it wasn't It was okay. Everything was okay. And then the label really focused on me and they put out Grace of God and it did that and I could feel everything changed after that. Whenever Somebody like You comes out two thousand two, there's a little clip, do you remember this one is vivid at your second number one, you do everything about it recording it first time, I'd work with Dan huff Um working out at Sound Kitchen and Franklin and the putting them putting a band together and the set the whole session. I remember it so vividly because it got magical. Does a guy like Dan Half challenge you? So? Uh? I was going to do the next record on my own UM Golden Road, and I had already done six six sides of that record, including who who were wanted me. I put the band together, I chose the studio, I chose the engineer. I put it all together. And then someone said, you know, you should try and work with Dan Half, and I went, no, I don't want to work with him because and they went, well, he's a guitar player, and I'm so not going to work with a guitar player who's gonna tell me what to play, you know. I don't want that. I've been down this road before. And they're like, we'll just give it a shot, you know. And I met with Dan and this is a true story, and I was really a compliment to Dan. I met with Dan. I said, Okay, I've got this one song it's called Somebody Like You, that that'd be a good one for us to start on. And I've already been in the studio for two weeks with this band. We'd cut half the record. It's already done, and Dan says, Okay, this song feels great. Um, I think we should use this drummer, and I got already got the drummer. Well, I think we should use this space. But I got I got the whole band, Dan, I got the whole band, all right. Well, I liked work at this studio, I said, I'm already at the studio. We're gonna be at sand kitchen. Okay, Well, the engineer I like to use is already got. The engineer's name is Justin Ebank. And he goes, what do I do? When I go, you just show up. That's all you're gonna do. Show up, because I want to see what you do. I'm sick of these producers that say they're a producer, but really they have great engineer, great players, they don't do anything. I saw it again and again and again. I'm like, just show up. What the hell can you possibly bring to this session? I want to see? And he walked into that session. I've been with this band for two weeks. He walks in, and I literally could feel all the musicianship go up a whole of the level just with him being in the room. He sat in the room, the band's playing a bit of Somebody Like You, and he goes, hey, Chris, just change that snare a little bit there. Okay, YEA leave that base part out right there, and you play that bit over there. And he I watched him arrange this thing and the whole track is to elevate, and I like, well, damn, this guy is the real deal. He's so good. When did the town start to treat you differently? Tuesday? Um? I was already getting support from the town very early on. I think because of all those writing sessions, you know, and when you write with people, where it gets out whether you can really sing, really play, whether you know about country music, if you're legit or just some poser. Really so, I think those sort of guitar pool sessions of people's houses going to the Bluebird, people knew I was for real. I was watching some of your performance with her. I guess all of it for Tina Turner, for the Rock and Roll of Fame. Um, how did how do you do? How did you get called in to do that? I haven't seen any of that yet? You haven't, Um, what do you mean you haven't seen it? You don't watch? Do you watch your stuff? Well? I haven't seen that. Generally, will you go and watch your stuff? It depends. Are you one of the guys that after a live show you want to go on criticket? I probably should do it more than I do. Yeah, it's always better when I get in there and care. How How does a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame invite come with Tina for Tina Turner? Uh? Because Brian Adams couldn't make it, and they just called me out and they go, would you come and fill in for Brian? It's like day before the Yeah, it was. It was Thursday and Nick and I will go into the Bahamas and my manager calls me and he goes, hey, can you come fill in for Brian? And blah blah blahla, And I'm like, you were going into the Bahamas on Friday. He's like, you didn't hear what I said? And I was like, no, I heard you. We're heading off to the Bahamas and Nix in the car and Nicks like, oh, I think we should do that. That sounds fun. But in my think in my head, I'm like this sounds overwhelming. I've got to learn a song in record time, a song I've never played. It's not really my kind of song. It's not my vocal range, it's not in my key. I'm so in over my head, you know, I was terrified. You still get terrified, yeah, wil Dear, Yeah, we did anything musically would intimidate you. Yeah, to be thrown into something that's not really my zone, especially in that place. I'm like, maybe standing up on stage in front of my cartney and the food fighters and they're all you know, I pictured them are like arms crossed, like okay, what do you do? What's your thing? And I'm like, well, it's not this, It's not this is not it. That's so I could picture in my head when it comes to collaborations as far as your career is concerned, what do you look back at and go, Man, that one right there, we nailed it. You and who collaboration and so many I mean John doing Crossroads with John Maya To this day, I just loved that whole experience with him playing. I learned a lot from him, really learn from him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, what do you learn from John Mayre um to make the song your own? You know, you gotta remember I still came from cover band land, which John did not. And so John approaches it as a pure artist and makes this song on his own because I remember saying to him the first didn't go like that, and he's like, yeah, but that's how I'm gonna sing it right on? Of course. Yeah. Is there a gamesmanship when you have two people that are so again, I'll just talk about the instrument for a second, so to be old. They're so proficient at their instrument. Are you guys? Do you feel each other out at first? Are you like, is he really as good as I've heard? Or is it you know, because you've you've heard for yourself, like on a record or on YouTube, and not John specifically, but anyone you know when you kind of cross paddle because I had room for squares and we played that record to death on that too, ab us um so as I was a fan right from the beginning. Um. I love the conversation, the musical conversation that happens, and the most important thing for me is spontaneity. It's just you know, you can rehearse, yeah yeah, yeah, but being in the moment and having that musical conversation with each other is everything. You ever meet someone, You're like, man, it's gonna be awesome, and you're like, man, that's not really right really as good as that's a hot or as as you know, I don't want you to say. Some people don't have a collaborative heart. That's what it is. They don't have a collaborative heart for whatever reason. They just don't um collaborate that kind of They have that thing of well, this is what I do, so you do your thing. I'll do my thing, and I'm like, well, let's do our thing. That's what I'm here for. On the opposite side of that, whoever you collaborated with it, you're like, oh, I didn't expect it to be as warm and as a just a friendly collaboration, but holy crap, we're in We're in it and it's rocking Pink. I think was that when we did one too many? Why? Why do you think you guys hit it off? Um? I think our voices go together really well, and I hope they would, but you never know until you hear it. But she was just unbelievably um giving with that whole project, you know, for a song that she didn't write, to be giving so much of her time and her effort to the two. You know, we shot a video as well, and then we shot footage which we can use in concerts, so we have projected on the screening concert. That's old, time consuming and she was just amazing. Is it an issue whenever you're with an artist like that, because they also have their own music and their own singles and calendars, and when they want to put out their own to get pink on a song, do you go, okay, Well, maybe we can relate to the single, maybe not, depending on what your schedule is, right, I mean, is that something? Is that an issue that you deal with other artists? Is something you have to consider? Yeah, for sure, because sometimes it's at the time he's not gonna work, you know. Yeah, it's great. The single sounds really great, but we're not going to release it at the right time. I was reading on the internet that you bowl? Are you? Some of the stuff I didn't know and could be crap. Are you a bowler? Yeah? Are you a good bowler? I'm okay? How do I not know that? We've never talked about it or been bowling? True? But where do where do you? Where do you bowl? I haven't bowled in a long time. It's just one of those things that I happened to be not bad at sort of out of the gate. Is that I hand coordination that guitar players have. You know your highest game? Is that what you call it a game? Yeah? No, I don't know. Um uh, you know to have an average, it's not grabbed me at three hundreds of perfect game right, definitely could crack no, but definitely could crack two. You play pool, yeah, you go to that. I think this mandatory when you're from Australia, you've got to play pool? Is that a thing? Very much like all the pubs all had pool tables, a sign of a misspent youth. We'll think about that. Though you're you're good at bowling, you're good at pool. I mean, is that you're obviously good at guitar? Which one made you good at which? Because you do have the hand eye coordination there, It's right, it's like coincidence. All those are very hand eye coordinated. Do you think being a good guitar player helps you be a good bowler? I suck at base at basketball, I cannot get that thing in the hoop. So there goes that theory. You true or false? You were once a would guitarist for a bit for Brooks and Dune. No, never one of the many things on Wikipedia. It's not true. I didn't think the bowling was true. I'll be honest with you. I expected to be false. So where did that story come from? Do you know? Yeah, we toured with Brooks and Done in two thousand and one and I came out and played one song with them as a guitarist, and I think that then from then on, yeah, I was like the guy in the band. Well, what happened was we were going to pull a prank on them, and they had a guitar player in the band, Charlie if forgotten his last name, Charlie, and he had his hat down, really had wore hat worked down super low, had this like leopard print shirt and everything. And during the tourist thinking I could probably masqueraders. I could probably pretend to be him and the boys wouldn't even know. And so during one of the shows, Charlie slipped out the back while he was playing. I already had the same clothes on, slipped right out and reclaimed his spot on the stage and played an entire song, and then in the middle of the when the solo happened, kicks goes Charlie and I ran down the front was shredding right in between kicks and running, and it took a bait for them to realize I wasn't, but they realize. So I think that was where this room and got started. It's like a Tuesday at your house, like and I asked that because you and your wife exclusively are superstars. When you're together, I feel like you're kind of normal. It's it's it's a weird situation. Like when I see you two, if we're an event or something. I felt like as a couple, you're quite approachable. Individually, it's different because I feel like I know you and I could just come up to you, But individually I would say you're superstar Keith Urban and she is superstar Nicole Kidman. But together it's almost like a normal husband and wife. And I have not seen that vibe with any other couple. Usually it's different. It's like they're much more uh there, much less approachable together because there's so much more power there. But it feels like you're a normal, normal married couple at home. Is that true? You'd be doing a house it's like super normal. I saw her tell you once that she was gonna stop and get some milk. And I was like, you do that? What do you mean you're gonna get milk? Should it? Someone? You flying that in and like flying the cow in the rock and roll? And how how how do you guys maintain what do you focus on to try to have normalcy in a life that is abnormal? I mean, look love, genuine love and genuine gratitude for what we get to do. Nick has it. I have it, and I think it's we were both raised in a similar thing to Australia's. Really, Australia has a thing called a tall poppy syndrome. Every as he knows about this, and it's if you get too big in the in the South, I'd say, when you get above your raisin, right, they cut you down. You get cut down. The poppy seed plan is another one the tall poppy gets. So that's it. So it's the it's the tall poppy syndrome where you you don't last very long. If you're strutting around with this crazy ego in Australia, you could cut down so fast, so you just are always down to earth. You read the down to Earth, you're out of work. It's one of the two and it's it's put us in a really good place to have a good life because of it. What are you grateful for with her as a person? How does she make you better? I'm sure? And I asked this from a personal, just personal place, because I've never been married. I've never I've never even told anyone I hadn't either, right like, I never there was no I didn't know how to love until now because I think you know when you're talking about the trauma from your I struggle with a lot of that trauma until now and still am. But have found someone. But what is it about her as a human that you appreciate so much that brings a different side of you out that hadn't been exposed yet? Um? She really loves, genuinely loves and as real empathy, compassion, caring and love like I've never never experienced before. Do you ever watch her act and go, holy crap, that's so good or do you see it all the time where you just expected to be great? She's so good And I don't know anything about acting. Sometimes people say a bad actor, I'm like, I'll all look the same to me. However, I was watching on Hulu nine strangers, what the whole thing she's She's so good in that that you then go, okay, that's good acting, like and she is nailing these series. Is if she's in a series, I'll watch it. It's just to that point now where if your wife is in a series, even if I don't know what it's about, the history of poop, I'm going to I'm going to watch it because she has showed that she's awesome in these things. Do you do you talk about projects with her? Did she talk about projects with you and them together and like should we do this? Yeah? Yeah, because we have to talk about scheduling and where it is and as this going to work? And then of course a lot of the times reading scripts with her, you know, this is the being the Riccardo's which is the Lucille Ball film that's coming out. Aaron Sulkin wrote most amazing scripts, and just getting to read these scripts is something that is it's surreal you read with her sometimes, Yeah, do you ever want to do that? Especially? No, I have zero interest in acting, like none zero. Does she ever hear a song of yours and go, yeah, she doesn't have to, I can tell you can. Here's the thing that's more important, and you may be able to relate to this. I realized that whoever I play a song for, and I've had you at the house and i've played you things before, what how you react that song? Tells me a lot about the song, But what tells me more is how I feel planet for you. I've learned so much about how I feel about playing somebody a song, whether it's you, whether it's Nick. Because you know, she may go I love that, and inside I'm thinking I did until I hate it, and I'm not feeling so good about it now. So I want to figure out what's going on? What is your relationship with singles, EPs, albums, Because it's a new land out there, it's at tension, spans are different. Sorry what exactly, but it is getting that way right? Yeah? So how are you feeling these days about twelve fourteen track albums? Why are do you see you changing? How you're just you know, doing Keith Urban distribution of music. I I still like to think it comes down to quality, the quality of something because people go, oh, people want shorter, the shorter that, And I'm like, only because a lot of what's out there it's just not great, It's okay, it's not great, and it's not great because it's having to be churned out at such a fast right now, because it's content content content content quick. You have it with your show, and you you're trying to maintain a level of excellence with this often unrealistic demand for the amount of it. You're trying to walk a line. How can I give you the best most exactly? That's exactly it. And I'm I miss a lot because sometimes I do most and sometimes I do best, but I often don't get it right at the same time. And I think we're in this a lot in our society right now. The speed of everything and the and the demand for more and more and more and more quality takes time. Not always, but most of the time it takes it takes a beat. Do you feel pressure from at this stage of your career, labels managers like hey, let's go, we need another something from you, or are you now like guys, you'll get it when you get it. Yeah, I've never felt that. I've never felt I will say my record company Capital Record, so I've been with a long time. I've never ever felt anything but support for for what I do. They've never given me like dragging the record out of my hand, demanding this song with that song. Ever, that've been amazingly supportive. Do you need a teleprompter ever? For lyrics? You've had so many number one songs? Do you ever need a reminder of words? Do you have to refresh or are you just there? Yeah, refresh it if it's gonna be an old song. But it's I have a sick memory for lyrics of songs. It's crazy you bring up I I brought it up. But we talked about it with Ronnie Donn, who I've oddly become friends with and we're opposite in many ways, but we were texting last night like that's he's there's a big picture when you walked into this guest house. He sent over to the house of like a bowl or something that was laying on the counter. But Ronnie has and I don't think he would care if I shared this. He has someone in his ear the whole time on a microphone side stage telling him every lyric to every song. He's had it for a long time. He's just like, I don't want to forget and I don't have I don't have a good memory so they're like out in the country, out in the country. I mean they're right in there. That's excellent. I mean voice of an angel, but holy crap, we can't remember word for the guy in the ear and it's and it's a yeah, very much though. But you have it all there for the most part. Boy, he'd want to be on good terms of that guy, wouldn't he. It's like, Ronnie, don't you run roun Burgundy? It could get Burgundy, san Diego real quick prompted there, let's talk about the new single that I do want to get back to the tour. But the current single is Wild Hearts. Let me play a little bit of this for you. I kind of have a relationship with every songwriter on this song, which is pretty cool. Eric Passley is a dear friend of mine. Um Jen Wayne Same, she's in now, she's in a group herself away June there it is brad Tercy from Old Dominion. How does this room come together? Or was it a room that came together? It didn't come together. I got sent this song as a finished song, two verses, chorus done, and uh, I got pitched the song from Roxy King and I heard it and I was like, mmmmm, I don't know, it's just I like the chorus. I don't really the rest of us not pulling me in. And so I passed on the song. And then about two weeks later, I woke up one morning singing this chorus in my head and I'm like, what is that? What's that wild Heart song? It's really special chorus. I listened to the song again and I went, man, that chorus is so freaking good. But the verses don't say anything to me. And so I called the writers and I said would I said it, would you mind if I rewrote the verses just to make them more personal, because it's such a personal song. It's, you know, following your dreams, and like, well what about what? You know? What was my dream journey from Australia to hear And they sent me the track without anything in the verses, and I just rewrote the verses. That's pretty cool one that they will go yes, And I said to them, I said, I'm a writer, so I get this first of all, and I'm not one of these guys. It's going to be like I added the word the give me right. I've never been that guy. Um, And I said, you guys have written a top song. It's top to bottom. It's finished, right. If you can pitch it and someone wants to cut it as is, please do that. I'm not asking to dismantle your song if someone else wants to record it. But if you are okay and I can rewrite these verses and they come up the way I think they will, I'm definitely recording this song, and God bless him, they let me do that. The North American Tour The Speed of Now World War Two. Uh, the tickets are on still now Keith Urban dot com. How long do you think you have another ten years of doing these really high energy shows in you? I don't even think about that. I mean just the next year, the next show. I mean, I'm injured, my my whole body is still injured from my nat g O show. Yeah. Bet so. Now I think about things in terms like could I do another three seasons of that show? And I can't. I now understand, I can't mash her rist her shoulder heard Everything. Tour is not that show, but your tour. I'm telling you things that you're mad man. Your tour is again is the most energetic show I've ever seen from a superstar who doesn't have to be that energetic because he's already a superstar. And I mean that the most complimentary way. You could go out and just put on a solid show and Keith Urban and people will be blown away, but you don't. Your hair is on fire for no other reason than you live that your art is your hair being on fire during a show. Yeah, yeah, well I only know one volume to get out there and play at there is I mean, if it's real passion and the audience knows it, They're like, that's legit. That's a guy surfing on the wave, not thinking about it, but it's really happening and I can feel it. It's it's true, it's in the moment. Do you lose yourself in shows? Definitely? Yeah, It's it's a perfect balance of being completely present and completely lost in the moment all simultaneously. Do you ever, Sometimes I'll drive and I'll get somewhere and I'd be like, holy crap, I don't know how I got here, Like subconscious has completely taken over. And then I feel unsafe and I'm like, you're telling me people are driving, And then I start thinking about other idiots who are doing what I did not thinking and driving places. But does that ever happen in the show where you're three songs later and you're like, dear god, how does that even get here? No? No, I mean maybe no, not really, not even a moment. I was thinking about a moment and a song. Um no, because I don't know. I'm just super present, but I'm also thinking. I'm taking a multi multiprocessing, right, which I think you do it extremely well on your show. You're listening to me, you're checking that out, you're thinking about other things. You're probably thinking about some other things you gotta do, and it's all multi processing all at once, and you totally here as well. I feel like I'm completely present, But I think I'm good at being present while also delegating my mind to do other things the same, good way to put it, Yeah, what do you say on that microphone when you walk over that nobody hears you know the microphone? We're talking to it all right, do you have one of those? What do you? What do you when you walk back, it's four songs in and only your guys on stage you can hear, are you? Because for those that don't know, some of my friends that have them call them, Uh, we'll call it a b mike with the word rich, like we're talking to the rich mike. If you're going to that microphone, what are you saying in the middle of a show? Why would it might be called that? But I don't have no idea, but that's what That's the only thing I know it has. Right, Oh, that's weird. I've never heard that expression. Oh you haven't. No, I never heard that. Well I don't say it, but that's crazy. So we stole it from Kenny Chesney when I was on two with him and I saw he had one, and I'm like, well, that's perfect because everyone's got in ears and you can actually talk to everyone to get out over the top. You're not at all not that mike. What do you say? Is it like, hey guys, we're gonna switch songs or we're gonna play in a different or on my throat her? Like what? It could be something to my guitar, tech, could be something to the monitor guy, could be something to the band. It could be something to security. It could just be really like you see something out there. For sure, security has ears in and they can hear that. I know that it's gonna get to where it's going to get to. If maybe not directly, someone will relay the message. But yeah, if I feel like there's just heavy handed security at a place, not letting people have fun or anything like that, make sure it gets taken care of. Definitely. Of all the things that you do. As we wrap this up, one of my favorites is when you and I haven't seen it in a while because you haven't been on the road as normal no one has. Right when you do those videos with the police escort behind you and you're like, thank you guys, great, Like I love the blue light video at the end of the show, right, that's funny. So much so that there have been a couple of times where you know, we did a we've done a couple of shows. We did a festival and I throw a festival in Texas and we had like four or five thousand people and we had to get out, and I was like, Hey, I'm wanna get that blue light like either, I gotta get that shot. So you're inspiring me in ways you had no idea. Just right, it's much better having in front of you than behind you. Let me tell you, I would agree with I've spent white more years with the opposite, So this is nice, Mike. Anything that I have missed that we need to address with Keith before he leaves, I think that's everything. It's a day savings time just about. So it's getting darker now and so it feels like it's midnight. I'm a little tired, kind of run through it here. Anything you'd like to say, Read, you're a massive Keith fan. Read is my video guy. He's been looking for people looking forward to this whole life, so read. This is your one shot with Keith. Is there anything take a deep breath, all right that you'd like to ask Keith? Alright, Keith, I don't know. All I'm thinking about is uh. When I first started learning guitar, my dad got me your Golden Road DVD that had all the music videos on it, and I would stand in front of the TV and I would trying to mimic and try to learn learn the songs. And it was god awful. But I remember that moment. And then I got the pleasure of going to your show. I think it was in Dallas like three no, maybe like two years ago, and my girlfriend got me the tickets and and of course you're out in the crowd running around and you came up to us and I can just remember my my girlfriend just going kid Keith, but that was probably me actually, but yeah, so those are just the moments that came up to me. But I was a huge fan. Man, Thank you so much. How's the plane coming along? Oh it's it's good. Yeah you still playing? Yeah, yes, sir, M Yeah, I love songwriting. Uh. I don't do a lot of playing shows or anything, but um I love to produce my own music as well and and and write songs. So right, yes, sir, Yeah, there we haven't any emotional an emotional moment here. I'll mention this before you go to I as we were walking out of our wedding, we played God Whispered Your Name. Wow. The writers or one of the writers saw me out. I was getting some ice cream with Caitlin and he was like, you guys played when God Whispered you Name at your wedding and I was like, first time I keeps singing that song. I was like, that's it, Like I felt that's that's one of those rare songs in my life where I was like because when I heard it the first time, I thought, if I can ever have this in my life, that's it. And then when I met my wife, now, I went, this is that song like it was the songwriting, it was the delivery, it was the texture, all of those things together in that song. I remember thinking, man, if I ever find this because I heard a song before I knew her, But when I met her and I was like, oh, this is when God whispered your name. Wow, And it's one of those few moments where a song that you're super romantic punches you in the gut. Yeah, okay, maybe you got you got married and you love that kind of song and yeah yeah. Dan and Shid played winning Yes and they The funny part about that was my wife and Abby Smires are really close friends. Dan and I have been buddies for a long time, and I was like, hey, look you get because they're like, whatever you want, we'll play. Like Dan was like, well you didn't even ask us, Like we'll play whatever you want. And I think they expected us to pick one of their songs because they have a hundred love songs the best, but I didn't. I picked the Beach Boys song. What song did you pick? Forever? I don't know this and everyone. I said, make you laugh, I talk forever um. Dennis Wilson wrote it. I didn't know that song. Jesse and the Rippers later did it on Full House. Dennis Wilson wrote it and the drummer well, and they crushed it and for and they did, so they put it on. They give us the file. They recorded it as well as a wedding gift to us and gave it to us. It was awesome, amazing, And what was cool was even Ronnie was like, hey, you don't want anything for your wedding, Like I can't get you anything. What do you mean to sing? And I was like, that's the greatest gift ever. So he's saying, Neon Moon. It was awesome. Goodness is awesome. How did he remember the words? I worried too. I said, do we need to get that mike for you over on the side. We didn't He knew the words though, had the still phone up here the whole time. All right, get tickets throw on sale today. Keith Urban the Speed of Now World toward two. They're up. Go see him. This podcast. This show has heard in all kinds of countries, so obviously North America, but all over the world. Um, I don't know how you do it. I don't know how you do it is you. I love what I do. I love what I get to do. And truly it's a game. You know. People go, oh, it's a gift every day. It really is. And I'll finish with this because I think it's what is what it's all about. Is I went like born with the addictive gene. I went to three rehabs in the span of three years, in the span of eight years, the first three, second one was two thousand and three, and my third one was two thousand and six, and it took what it took for me to finally get sober um and that journey brought the deepest, deepest level of gratitude for what I get to do that I don't know if I ever would have gotten that gratitude level without that journey. I think when you come close to losing all of that and then it gets given back to you through grace in my case getting back to me, I was like, I'm never going to take this for granted ever again. Does it make you a more a giving person going through because for me, I have found that growing up a poverty kid and someone who's been through those struggles with addiction. Secondary that affects me and how I treat other people. Do you think you were two different people before and after your final run, your your final time and rehab. Very much? Yeah, and yes, I separate the person from the addiction. You are known as one of the nicer guys in town, just generally by people like Keith urban Is the nicest guy. Were you known early in your career? Is that guy? Were you always just completely dialed into the human aspect of people, because now you are and you're known for that. I like people, and then I like collaborating. I love Yeah, I love people. I've always loved people. You've always been a nice guy. I've always I think I've always been um bridge builder. I'm a bridge builder. I'm in entertaina. You know. I think I was the that was the it was the the peace person. You know, if you have an identity in your home. I was the bridge building between my brother and my father, always trying to kill each other. I was like, interesting, I'm gonna I'm gonna be the one that keeps the peace here. And I think I've carried that into my life. All right, go to a show, Listen to the music. Keith Urban. Thank you. It's always good to talk. Good to talk to you too. There he is, Keith Urban