#189 - Thomas Rhett talks about having another baby, Growing up with a Famous Dad and what it was like to play SNL

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Speaker 1: All right, about to get into a podcast with Thomas Rhett a friend someone that and I think we mentioned it. We've been talking about doing this for a long time, but it gets awkward for me to go, hey, hey, Bud, come over to my house and do this work event And I think it's probably awkward for me, like, hey, Bud, let me come over to your house and do this work event. Um, But I was glad that we finally got it ironed out. Really like the guy. We spent a lot of time together at the m A Fest hosting that, and you're about to hear it. It's pretty enjoyable when you agree, Mike, it's really yeah. And I think if, um, if you're like, I'm wonder what that Thomas, right, Guys like I think this is a pretty good indicator of of really what he's like. We sat for an hour. He's he've never done an interview this long before. We kind of talked a bit two downstairs afterwards. Just a good dude, Like, aside from being an artist and being the guy that sells out you know, stadiums and puts out all the hits, like I like him, it's just a dude, Like he's just a quality person and uh kind of a place where it's weird for me because I never know who wants what from me. I don't never worry about that with what with t R because it's like he doesn't need anything from me, you know what. I don't know anything from him, and I think that's kind of what. Um. We have a pretty solid relationship because of that. So I think you guys are gonna like this podcast coming up. I also, I'm about to go to this well, I thought I was going on this birthday party. It is six o'clock right now on Monday night, and Tom Shock came over a little after four and we did the podcast, and I was gonna shave and get my clothes on and go to my friend's birthday party. By the way, Nicole Galleon, who we've had a podcast with before, or and I an now are are are super close friends. And I just looked at the invitation because I was gonna put the address in. The party was at five, So right now I'm an hour late, not even dressed or ready to go. I thought I would, So now I'm not gonna go. That stinks, So yeah, I missed that. I don't oh man, Um. We did family few last night. Still herding from that a little bit. Just got to text. I just gotta tech from Gator or Boss. Meant to text you last night. Had a few folks over. Watched the Feud last night. Well done, Amy was a freaking Ben Stiller movie in all the best ways. Seriously, great night for your family. Back pats and butt slaps. It's from Gator. So UM did that last night. Did a Raging Gata show in Dinver and some stuff in Seattle. So a little tired, but I'm glad that it was tr that came in because I don't have to carry a load. We just got to talk. That was cool. So you're gonna like this. Let mention before we get started here that you should check out caroline hobbies podcast. It's called Get Real. There's a really interesting episode up right now where she talks to Caitlin Bristow, who was on the Bachelor didn't win, but then went on the Bachelorette and then she met Sean Booth and they got engaged. Now they're not engaged, but anyway, it's interesting. And I don't even really watch the Bachelor or Bachelorette, but I do. Um, I do find this podcast interesting, and I find that whole that whole world interesting. Um so yeah, that's a good check out. Get Real with Caroline Hobby, Four Things with Amy Brown. She had Trisian here one on last week. You know what she's doing this week? Is it up yet? You know? But that's that's a really good podcast. The guys have a sports show called The Sore Losers, um Velvet's Edge, a lifestyle podcast for all your ladies. But anyway, there's a lot going on. I just want to come on and do a little intro before we got into this Thomas st podcast. Be sure to check out Thomas stress latest record. It's really fantastic and as he talks about he's already working on the next one and it drives him crazy because you can't just sit. The guy's got thirteen number ones. It's crazy. He's got thirteen freaking number one all right, Here he is and here I am. He makes a big announcement, which by now you may have seen that he's having a baby. He announces it at the end of this podcast, And we were gonna put this up at night on Monday night, but we started to wait until Tuesday so he could actually announce it because it it had been weird if he didn't say anything about it. And the next day he breaks all this personal news and we just did a really personal podcast. So I gotta say thanks to him because he was like, hey, I'm happy to talk about it, um, but if you wouldn't mind, would you? He didn't tell us we had to hold it, but it's like, would you wait and let us announce it? So absolutely, of course, awesome. Here we go Tom Strap and he's on the Bobby Cast. By the way, if you don't mind two things, if you'll share this with your friends, put on your incest story. But like, this is fantas Like that really means a lot to me and I really appreciate it so much, and and tag me in it, be like this is a great podcast. We really depend on that. And also you can go and I know people don't do this, but if you wouldn't mind if you go and give us a review and give us those five stars or whatever that MAXI amount of stars is, that would be fantastic. They bump us up, and this podcast is continuing to get really big, and he gets bigger and we get better guests and you guys can enjoy it and it just turns into a cool thing, you know. There you go. Anything you'd like to say, Mike d I do like when people tag us in into the store. Yeah, and you can repost it. Yeah, everybody sees it. We'll we'll go repost a f as the kids say, all right, thank you, all away, we go here, we go, all right, welcome to you want to water? Sure? Would you mind getting our esteemed guests here Water? Welcome to episode one eight nine of the Bobby Cast. It took you that long age eighty nine episode like the Party. Thomas Retz here at Thomas rhet aikins On on Instagram three point seven million followers. I see, I do see sometimes though, by the way, glad to finally have you here. I think it took a I'm always weirded out about asking like buddies to do work things, because there gets to be a point where you go, you know what, I kind of like the relationship right of being buds instead of going, hey, what about this work project that I'm worried? You know, that's kind of that was kind of a fuzzy line for me. Yeah, but I've told you I want to do this for a while, I know, but still I'm like, you know what, I don't never want to go. So this is what I did. This was the move was I was like, hey, tr says he wants to do this. I would like for him to do it. So I had my management talk to your management because it just gives everybody a chance to say no for somebody, because if you really didn't want to do it, then someone else could say no for you. You know, Harry or Virginia could have been, oh, he can't do it. You know, he's he's got a circumcision something like that. No do you mean You've been talking about doing this for forever? This is something that like I'm I'm into. I don't haven't done many podcasts either. This is also going to be a national special. No pressure. What does that mean? Yeah, exactly? Okay, cool, but it is good to have you here. Likewise, man, what's annoying about you in the best way is we were doing the cmafes together and you're actually really good on camera. Really yeah, it means a lot coming and it's so it's so frustrating because I've liked been doing it forever and like and I'm like, all right, finally asking you for advice if only have this one skill set, And then I walk up and you're just killing it with the prompt. That was my fourth year to do that, And I'm like, does this guy do anything bad? Please? There's a lot, there's a lot to do bad. Well. I don't peloton as good as you. That's probably true. I'm a beast on the bike, but you don't even have one. But you're like me, though, I think you'd be competitive. Well when I get a peloton, so I can just add you as a friend. We can be friends. Because are you still working out with the mirror? The I do it occasionally. I've I've really gotten into running lately, and as much as I hated in the beginning, it's it's something that like I look forward to every day. Now, where are you running around the neighborhood. We live in a hilly neighborhood. I mean, I don't. I'm I try. My goal is to eventually do like a half marathon, but I think when when you have kids, it's kind of impossible to train completely for that. The longest I've ever ran was four miles around Lipscomb. I get so bored running. You need to do this app. Yeah, I've been app dude, I'm telling you, I talked to you the whole way through. I did then maybe nothing, same one and they get so advanced and so much better every time. But I did a Nike app for it was a couple of years ago. And I've done a couple of traath lines, like Olympic traath lines that swim that swim a mile by miles and then run six and you train for it. Obviously, yeah I did. But I hated it. You hated it. You hate I hated I hate even while you were doing it. I hate exercising, but you do it all every day, every ever. I'm gonna do a name dressing. You know, my people to listen give me a hard time sometimes if I just straight name drop without saying name drop. But I was talking to Keith Urban and we were talking about how we stay thin. He was like, is that what? What what do you do? And just to actually stay thin? You so thin all the time, and he's wanted to talk, right, he's pretty thin. Yeah, And I was like, the bike man, get on this bike and I hate every second of it, but I can compete on the bike. Like I have friends that I race against, Like you have to compete to work out, I need to or play ball. I'm not good at running against myself. I want to like running. Like I did an app where the zombies chase you. I need to download that. That's about the only thing that was. It was like a zombie running app. And then I just realized, you know what, They're never gonna catch me. They're not really And then I would be like, yeah, but like you, you played ball as a kid, right, Yeah, I played sports all growing up. I played baseball until I was like thirteen or fourteen, and then football and soccer were my main sports. Was too I was too little for football. I sucked at football. You're a good soccer player. Oddly, I was a good soccer player. What was the soccer scene like in Georgia. Well, now, I grew up in Nashville. So but you're okay. You were born about Austin when I moved to Nashville. Two. Also, you lived here your whole life basically, Yeah, so you played Okay, this is there's a decent soccer scene here. Yes, I went to Good Pasture, which is like twenty minutes north of here, and we went. I'm trying to think we went to State my junior year. I just wish I was in that kind of shape. I could run for a day, not stop. And you were a pretty good soccer player where you thought maybe if you'd wanted to, you could have maybe played up at like a small college or well, my goal like I tore my knee, like I tore my c when I was seventeen, So that kind of ruined all of my hope and dreams for for you know, playing soccer in college. But I probably could have maybe walked on a lipscomb. But I don't think I wanted a job in college. It's so annoying how good you are and everything music and freaking TV and sports give me a I come, you're struggling for any sort of skill set whatsoever, and now you now you have all of them. Look at you're just killing it all? Right, Where do we start with you? Because I feel like I look at I look at you. I follow E News and E on it. Yeah, they love you, guys, they do. It's hilarious when they post about us, though, because I would say eighty percent in the comments for like, who are these people? Is that right? Yeah, I don't know. Maybe it's just like a country to more worldwide following. But a lot of people are just like I have no idea who these people are. The same with People Magazine, I went through a bit of that. Well when American I Will announced me and they covered it, you know, or they're like who, or you know when I did Dancing with the Stars and they were like who the whole time. It's just a bunch of who I saw you about to be? On Family Feud, we lost last night. It was already on. It was on last year. I don't watch TV man, Yeah, that was it. It was an awesome experience, but I'm so competitive. As we've talked about. We go on and we go to the final question and we lose on the final question. Who were your other Who are the people on your team? So the cool thing was they said bring whoever you want. They said bring your friends. They're like, it's celebrity family few. There are no rules. I appreciate the invite. If I go next time because I bought it back, you want to come next time next as okay, if you're free, they'll type early next year, you can come. Be able to do that. It was so fun. You would look, it's just one of those fun things, like aside, So I called party and Lauren Elena. I'm close to them, and I knew I wouldn't have to like do anything except be a friend. And it's not a work thing. But I like called party in Elena and then Amy and Lunchbox, and so we go up and it goes to the final question, and you tell me what you would answer here? Something worn above the waist that starts with B above the waist. I'm assuming a bilt doesn't a belt THET Yeah, okay, take a few answers here and see if you would Guests, we missed, We missed it. We didn't get to the waist brawl oka being there's one, Um, what is a bassonet? So you put the baby in? Don't you have babies? Yeah? I never wore a bassonet. You put the baby in it? It's like that's right, yeah, yeah, sorry, Um, I never wore a basset either. You shouldn't wear a bassonet. I can't think anything else. The answer that we didn't get and no one got what's blouse? And we were like, what is this? Nine two? Right? Who did the other team get blouse? No, but since we didn't get it, both teams lost and they went on but we lost, and I was so irritated that everybody went to dinner afterwards and you just didn't Nope, I'm not a bad I'm not a bad sport. Yeah, it's just a tough loser. Just it hurt. No, I mean I feel you meant a lot to me. And so I what's your angiogram number? Have you done? Eight? Then? One? Okay, I'm a four, which is well, I need to reread it, but it's basically a mike we look up with four and eight are just it's a creative but like my like, I'm like a an average four, which means like I ask a bunch of opinions on my creativity and if I don't get the answer back, but I need, it's like destructing. So makes sense. What do you mean the answer is that you need? So like I guess, like as a songwriter, if I wrote a bunch of songs in a weekend and I sent them to people that I trust on my team, like what do you think about this? And I think it's great, but they don't think it's my best work. That I'm just defeated completely. So that's like my average four. But on my good days, I trust I can trust my gut and go with it. Oh here we are. So a four is a You're a four, right, four. You're a individualist, a romantic individualist. It's pretty accurate. Yeah, and you're in a protective challenger challenger. Yeah, I see that. You know. I will send songs off because I'll rewrite comedy songs. And we're doing a tour right now, this partial stand up, partial two, main comedy. And I have someone that I send music too and like is this funny? And if he goes, no, okay, Let's say you send a song off to to Harry, Like what do you think about when you think about this? And he goes, that's pretty good? Not your but not your best, but pretty good. What how does that make you feel? It makes me feel like should have been in the room to feel what we felt when we wrote it. You know what I'm saying. It's like I sent it to you, but then it's like, well, how can you judge it when you don't know how the context of how we wrote it. I get I get defensive. I think about it, but then you do see after a breath, you go, you know what, he wasn't supposed to be in the room. No one else was to be in the room that is appearing in this song. Do you feel that Do you ever come back around to it? Definitely? Definitely. And and they say that fours at their best, can they don't have to have the opinions that they need they can in the end, can they can trust their gut, which I would say my strong for is a lot less happening than my average for. So if I send a song off and I'm like, this is funny, and it comes back because I sent one off recently and I was like, hey, is this funny? Because, as you know, when you get into a project, I do it like when I write books to him, I don't eve think there's any good anymore. After I spent a lot of time on it, you lose your sense at least I do, absolutely, you lose your sense of oh is this even like good? I've been in it so long I don't even I'm looking around. I don't even know what's good or what's not anymore. And so I'll send it off and I go, is this funny? And he sent one back He goes not really, Oh gosh, that's the worst. And I went, but what does that do to you? Oh? I go, okay, wait for the next one. Then okay, gotcha? So you like get competitive with it? Oh yeah, I'm just like scrap that, write something new, or I'll go there's two things. It's like, wait for the next one, sucker, or let me let me beat this one up with some more jokes, so I'll sit back down. It's just funny how like different I wish I had that. I wish I had that so bad. I think you're doing all right if I were just a guess No, it's it's fine. It's just like it's when you sit there and slave away over a song for six hours and you send it somebody and they're like, this is not your best work. You're like, well, what do you know? Then you know the defensive part comes out of you. How long does it take to not get defensive? Um, I'm I'm getting to where I I don't get as defensive. I just kind of have to breathe and just kind of let it go. But I don't know, man, I take I take my creative work so seriously as you do. And then when you when you've when you've been doing it now, I've been doing it for eight years writing songs, you feel like you get to a point where you know, Tiger Wood says that quote, like make sure that you're even on your worst day. It's like for Tiger, Tiger a bad days shooting a seventy two. His good day it's like a sixty four. So it's like, I feel like I'm kind of at the point now where even my bad songs they still can't I don't think I can consider them a bad song. I just feel like as many songs as I've written that I feel like are great songs, they kind of have to keep getting greater. And then then comes to pressure of going, well, crap, I feel like that was great. How do you talk? How do you talk great and make it awesome? It's never ending. You bring that up. I think a lot of people struggle with that. I think you know in my second book that everybody did a whole thing on It's not about making your best better, it's about making your worst better. Because if you can make your bottom line rise, your highline rises. Automatic. Yeah, you're exactly right, and anybody can hit an amazing shot occasionally, but it's can you make your worst shots better all the time? And it's funny, that's what you're saying. That's that's how you feel about your songwriting totally. That your worst songs are better now that means your best songs are far great. Yeah, you're right. I haven't ever thought about it like that. That's good. Do you ever just leave a room and go, that was a freaking song? Like a special song? Holy crap? For sure? Which one? There? They're They're few and far between, though, man, Because I think, like I get asked the question a lot, what does it take to be a good songwriter? And I think, obviously you need to be able to craft words and and have great melodies. But I think great ideas are harder to come across than write great songs, like concepts, concepts, you know what I mean? Like for me, like I sit down and I go, Okay, what could I write today? But that the world hasn't heard from me? You know what I'm saying. But but that's also believable for me, Like when I sit down and somebody brings up a sad song idea, there's an eighty percent of my brain that goes I don't know that people want to hear anything that they don't know about me just yet. Does that make sense? It's like you go to these play shows and you know, you talk about Lauren in your in your show, you talk about the kids in your show, and I think that's what people know of me, and they want they want to hear that from me. But how many times can you how many different ways can you write a love song, and how me different ways can you write about your kids? When the reason I fell in love with country music in the first place was I'm a sucker for for sad songs, and so Marry Me is definitely the saddest I've ever gone, but it's still kind of related to my story a little bit. And so for me to sit down and write a song that's just like sad just for the sake of being sad, I'm not sure what that would do on a record of mine to make any sense. Yeah, on a record of yours. But if I were to pivot that a bit and go, do you ever write for others anymore? Now? Mindset's gotta be a bit different. If you're writing a sad song for do you ever write for generic? Or do you going to write for people specifically, I write generic one song of every ten, you know what I'm saying, in hopes that like maybe this is a maybe this is just maybe this is a hit for somebody, you know what I'm saying, and not not that generic is bad. Like I do think that a lot of time. In the songwriting world, we ever think it a little bit. We think that every song has to be this amazing, insane concept. But sometimes people just want to feel good, you know what I'm saying, And and sometimes those songs don't. They don't have to be, you know, only life changing. They just need to be a good melody that you can dance to. So John Mayer did this with me and we were talking about that exactly, and that guy is is brilliant, brilliant. I think he's just he's just a different, all around guy, Like all of him is different, and it's amazing and awful and awesome. I love him. And so he was talking about just that. He goes, you know, as a creator, we're constantly going, how do I make my next thing really amazing, like stretch myself and be the most artistic, and he goes, in reality, you know what, people love Waiting on the world to change, like one of my most down the middle songs that was just like, Okay, here's this he goes and people sing it and love it, like in the mass amount of people. Love songs meant for the mass amount of people, And I thought, wow, that's a really simple but that's really right for sure, And as I'm going, oh no, what I can really stretch It be funny when people think, yeah, for sure, I mean love that those jokes that much, and you and you think, like a lot of time you're in the writing room, you're going, oh my gosh, I think that this is one of the best songs I've ever written. And you it out on stage and you play it and nobody cares because it's just not the right setting, you know what I mean. Like there's there's certain settings for songs, like if you were like a real intense, amazing concept of a country song and it's really slow and it's it's like some songs, some songs are meant for the bluebird and some songs are meant for twenty people. That makes sense, Like some songs people want to freaking party and sing absolutely, and sometimes they want to send the coffee house, yeah, or the Bluebird Cafe And yeah, what is your biggest we'll call it a twenty five person song. Which song do you play that in your set that people are like, all right, let's go dude. Yeah, Me and me and my radio team talk about this quite a bit because in the country world, just like every other world, everybody focuses so hard on number One's right, and when you really pick apart what a number one means, there's a few different kinds of number ones. There's number ones that just got to number one, there's number ones that are reactive, and then there's songs that don't go number one that may be because they were just terrible or because they might have been too progressive for the times. People didn't get it. Yeah, So like if you come to my concert, we put it. We put a single out on the second record called Vacation, But dad at thirty three on the chart. That was so how did he do that? So because I thought this would be your song. Yeah, And we've actually talked about this a little bit too, where I thought the song kind of got jobbed, dude, because I felt like there were just some people, like in our industry, there were just some older white men who who are like that in not country, right yeah, yeah, and and and there you know, there's there's there's certain people that like certain stuff and that don't. And that's fine because everybody's entitled their own opinion. But you come to my concert. This feels like it was set number one for six weeks. Yeah, I love the song. You played it on New Year's Eve and texting you going to that songs a jam like I can't believe. I think you came in on the show. I knew. I love the song too, Yeah, for sure. And that's that's a rocket hunt the shows it is. It feels like it was a smash for forever. And I think you have to I think those are things you have to keep in mind while you writting songs. It's like, yeah, you want hits, because hits, especially for new artists, in my opinion, hits, hits are what take you to that level where you can you can afford a couple of misses, you know what I'm saying, Um, but you get a couple of after you get a couple of hits. And Nancy, you don't have to have hits to make it. I'm not saying that at all, because there's been artists that haven't had number one's ever on the radio that are gigantic. Um, But I think it's it's kind of a disservice as a songwriter to go, well, I'm not going to put this out because I don't think this is number one. Because even if it does at ten and it was reactive, that to me, that's that's far more of a win than having a number one that didn't do anything. We just did a whole show on this about number two's that never hit number one and songs that have just never hit number one that were massive for artists save a Horse Shode of Cowboy Died at Like Yeah, there are a lot of those songs that are like the artists quintessential song. These artists have had fifteen number one, but their quintessential song is not the number one song. Keith Urban's been that guy. He's had massive songs that did not hit number one. What is your ultimate coffeehouse song like that? I've written trying to think. Probably this song on my last record called kiss Me Like a Stranger. Never in a million years would it be a hit on radio, but it was just one that I just I just felt the vibe. Who'd you write that? With Jordan Reynolds and Dave Barnes. I'm close with Dave. I wrote with Dave last week and he's so funny, hilarious. We're talking to him now about his podcast and he's Dave and I get along really well, and he's an awesome artist. I remember David when he was, you know, doing the Matt Works. Dude. When when I first met Dave Barnes, the first thing I said, because I've been a huge fan since like college, I was like, dude, you don't know me, but the first time I ever made out with somebody in college was too U on a night like this, That's what do you say? He just laughed, He's he's a funny dude. Ah. Something to do with my hands. Let's go back to that one. What do you have to play your hand down? Your head down in your hand. Why do you do that? Because I think that song is the the uh is the perfect expression for an artist evolving into a different space. When I first started singing, when I first became an artist, I wanted to be Eric Church more than anything in the world. I mean, j Joyce was my producer who produces Eric Church, Like all listen to in the high school was Eric Church. I mean still to this day, there's a lot of components about my songwriting that really I think kind of resembled Church's way of writing, just very a lot of storytelling. Um. But when I like, when I listened to this song, it doesn't even I don't even I don't even know that guy. Let's go, you shouldn't know that guy at this point, right, yeah, we we haven't played that song in our live show in like four years. Has anyone ever requested though? Like you see them, you know, and that's how you know? And you wrote that with Stapleton and Stapleton do you remember that specific right? I do? Man, I mean, I mean Stapleton used to write like two times a week back when I was maybe like twenty years old, two thousand ten, two thousand and eleven. We used to right all the time. Man, I was digging through my drop box the other day of long has written before two thousand and fifteen. And there's so many Stapleton work tapes and and songs that I still think could be could be uh you know, viable to record on on a record of mine today, Um means they want have written once maybe in four years, but that's just because he that dude is so busy. Now we're both so busy. But he still love right Stapleton, Was he full beard? Oh yeah back then? But I mean he obviously is the coolest dude in town now, but even then, if you were in the kind of the Nashville circuit, he was just the coolest dude you've ever you've ever seen, and like you always just wanted to be there in the studio when he sang the vocal because it was it was pretty life changing. You guys also did Crash and Burn together? Is that the song you're talking about when you got back in the room with him? Or was that before that? No, so I didn't write Crashing Burnt. I didn't know this was. This is also when I met Jesse Fraser for the first time. Jesse's produced my last two and a half albums. He did kind of half Tangled Up and the rest of them, and uh that this was how I found Jesse Frasier because he did this track and he had this whole motime motown vibe going and him and Stapleton at the time we're writing a ton of songs like this, which is crazy. I think if you were to, if if you were to be a gigantic Stables and fan of Day and you got to dive into my dropbox a little bit, I'd play you a bunch of old stables and demos, you would have no idea that was stables him a lot of songs like this, they wrote, I think Jesse maybe the guy that has more shoes than you, and I agreed. I mean we like shoes. That dude is on a new level. Yeah, he's just like when his his Nike app blows up like six times a day, like do you want to enter the raffle for this? Or yeah he's on it again. I have a whole closet downstairs full of shoes. Yeah. Same. But sometimes people come in and you just, you know, you just take the knee. Yeah, you've just been the knee to the person who really absolutely Yeah, he's the original sneaker head in my life for sure. What else do you Unstableton write? Anything? That made it? Um? We wrote a song on my second record called shake your south Side you already got it? You got a teat up dude. We played this we opened our show with this for like two straight years, like on Aldine and FDL tour. And this song was actually SYNCD in uh, one of the Chipmunks movies they did. They did, Yeah, they did like a Chipmunk version of this song. Yeah, so you know how they do the chip Monk voices. If you heard I've never heard it now I listened to how I built how he made it, or one of those popish where the guy that invented the Chipmunks, he did a whole podcast and his thing was what they do is, let's say you were gonna do the Pledge of Allegiance as a Chipmunk, because when you do the Chipmunk, the chipmunks high voices have to go at normal speed. They have to sound like I sound, just a higher pitch. So if I were doing the Pledge of Allegiance, I would do it like this right all play, so you can speed it up, but it's still be sped up to normal speed. And so they did that and they showed how they do the Chipmunks. It's kind of like in music videos, if you're gonna shoot our super slow most scene, they'll speed your song up like double and you've got to do the scene singing your song at double speeds so that it looks like it's slower speed. Yeah, I didn't know that. What do you have over the MicroC Yeah, I claimed to fame right there. Oh my god, it's so good. That's funny. That's a cool thing though. Yeah, it was cool. That's like the Chipmunks or we mentioned Family Food or Sesame Street. Yeah, Sesame Street was awesome, Like that's like one of the cool things that like that's a life thing. Absolutely, it was crazy, man. It was. First of all, it's super cool because I think my kids are definitely too young to knowing what Sesame Street was. So when when we got the offer, I spent like a week showing them a bunch of old Sesame Street reruns and like Bruno Mars doing the show or whoever doing the show, and and they got really excited about big Bird and like all this stuff. And so when we got up there, my kids went ballistic, like it was one of those days. It was like no nap there in rare form and they were so like when when kids, I think, meet those muppets in real life, it's like they're staring at the hand and they're also watching the guy do the voice, but they don't even care that the guys doing the voice. They truly think that whatever is on that hand is a real is a real thing. Um. And I grew up watching Sesame Street two, and so did my dad and so did my mom, and so it was like one of those things that's truly iconic, you know, in in our generation and our parents generation. And so when I got to do that, it was that in SNL are probably the two coolest things I've gotten to do. Boy, SNL that's cool too. Remember when they announced you and we have some of the same team. Are our PR team the same? Yeah? Shout out to Time. Yeah, and I have Christie and Time you know Christie. But I remember them going got SNL. I was so pulled for you because that's such a like it's a life thing. It is a life thing. I mean, it's like just iconic, like like things that like performing on the Grammys is one of those things too. You know, I've never gotten to do that, but doing SNL and Sesame Street we're two definitely huge things in my bucket list and but also the most terrifying. Um, what is the SNL by black. So you go up when well, so we've been trying to get SNL for almost two years and then, uh, it's all about their slot, it's all about their timing and uh. And we got asked to do it on a Friday, and we did it on the next Saturday. So a week in a day, a weekend, a day to go in the studio or rehearsal space, me and the whole band. Um, we hired like a four piece horn section and like a like a two piece choir, and we we were rehearsing songs that we had never even touched as a band. So we did look what God gave her and don't threaten me with a good time, and those two songs. At that point we're barely mixed, much less mastered, and so we're basically learning unmixed, unmastered songs to play live on on national television like tended you know, nine days from now. So so but when you go on where the songs available, no, well, look what God Gabriel was say, sorry, look what God Gaveral was mixed and master were a threatened was very much so in the bones of what it was going to be. And so we kind of had to make it up there on the flat like it was recorded, but it was still getting mixed, and it would hadn't been mastered yet, And so getting choreography down and getting the horn parts right and all that stuff in three days is a lot for for a band to learn. What So when you played Don't Threaten Me? Was that it wasn't available to stream? No, it came out like at midnight that night. Okay, so yeah, it at least came out that night and you just just have to rush to get it up. Was it one of those where because in a performed we also got to get ready. Yeah, weren't supposed to putting anything out until the week passed that. It was just supposed to be look what God gave her and then wait three weeks until the next release. And so we're like, well, we're gonna do them. Why why would we play them and people not be available to buy them? And so that was a last minute decision on on the labels part. So if the show was on a Saturday night, and what's that week like like in New York, like when do you go up when? Yea, so people who do you get to meet? Yeah? So we got there on Wednesday, or yeah, we got sorry, we got there on Thursday, rehearsed all day Thursday, Like they literally gave us like a four hour sound check. So you're playing the songs, you're going to the mixing booth, making sure that all the stuff mixed is mixed right for national television, rehearsing listening, rehearsing listening, and then the downtime, to me, was the hardest part because you're like, Okay, we just did it like a hundred times. Now we gotta wait, you know, forty hours to actually do it. And so you're in there and you're watching John Mullaney rehearse his stuff. And I was super terrified until I taught John Mullaney and uh he was like, how are you feeling? I was like really nervous, and he was like, dude, me too. And so like talking to you know, a comedian that like that, this does that professionally for him to you could feel his nerves as well, because I mean SNL like, you're I feel like your judge pretty hard as a comedian on that show, Like if it's not funny and your opening monologue isn't great, then that's something that people talk about um, but just watching him get to do that and then getting I got to meet like Ben Stiller, I got to meet Paul Rudd. Uh, you know, the whole cast, and just walking in there, man, I just could feel the whole Will Ferrell you know more Cowbell skit like it. It's crazy how how much history you could feel just walking in that building. And so, uh, Friday was the off day. And as much as you want to do your routine, just get up, workout, going a nice lunch. Just it's all that's on your head. Is like tomorrow night. It's the real deal. Because even doing Fallon and Kimmel and all that, even though it is live, it's not live. You're filming it like four o'clock in the afternoon. And even though it is live in front of an audience, on an audience, like if you mess up a word or two, most of those shows will let you go do it again, even though you don't want to do it again. You can s n L you mess up, You're done. Your your mess up is forever on national television and on YouTube and part of the Yeah for sure, yeah exactly. So what's the day of the show, Like, do you wake up like Oh is that almost like graduation or prom or We're like, oh, this is gonna you wake up. You don't get enough sleep firstday of school. Oh yeah, dude. Like I remember going to bed that night. I was like, all right, I'm gonna get a bit at ten, get up at seven. You know, dude, I did like to two vocal warm ups that day. My vocal coach lives in New York. I've never met. We always skyped our lessons and finally got to meet her. And I got in bed at ten and walked back up and couldn't go to bed to like two o'clock, two o'clock in the morning, and then still popped up at seven. With these nerves, you're doing these vocal lessons. You're going to oho, crap, do you hear that? Scratch them out throat and your vocal coach like, no, it sounds fine. And so you're just judging every bit of part of your day. And then finally you get there and you do a whole run through, like you run the entire show, like dress rehearsal at like nine o'clock. Then you have to sit in your dressing room to a midnight and so you're just sitting there going, dear Lord, have mercy. You're watching all these people, You're watching all these you know, these skits go by, and you're like, what was that one's gonna make it? Is that one gonna make it? And then the show comes on. Half the skits you thought we're gonna make it don't make it. Then you're like, all right, well, I got twenty minutes before I go singing, and then they can pop on your end and like, hey, you have three minutes, and so you don't even have chance to be nervous. Then you got there and you do it. You got one song done, they do more, they do more comedic skits, and then you do your other song and then when it was over, dude, it was one of the most biggest. It was like the biggest weight off your shoulders you could ever imagine, um, like in a good way, especially because you did well. Yeah, and you did well, and but you do it a first time because that they do that show twice. The SNL they do one where you talking about the skit cutting and I'm assuming you performed during that show too, or ya, okay, you do so you performed four times in one night. Pretty you do you do one to the show that doesn't get seen except they bring in a first audience who watches it exactly, and then they go, Okay, now we're gonna go do the real show, and they've cut a bunch of skits and you still got to do your two songs. Yeah, exactly. But does it make it a a little easier that you did it the first time and you kind of got out on stage and experience it, or is it still like, well, this one's live. Correct, Well, it is easier, But at the same time, you're you're like, Okay, those two performances that we just did, we're flawless. The band was flawless, the horn parts for great. Now you're going, can we do it again with the same intensity and the same perfection. And I think that's where the nerves come in. But at the same time, dude, like anytime I've done live television, I don't remember what I don't remember what happened, and I barely I rarely ever go watch back my lap performances because I hate I always just critique the crap out of myself. Um So I still haven't even seen what we did on this and you don't watch it I'm okay with that. But I don't watch back what I do either, because I just go, oh, could have done that? Instead of going, oh, that was good, I go It's like social media comments. Instead of going, hey, thank you for that nice comment, I just find the ones that ripped me totally. Yeah, I can't same, dude, we share that in common. I was blocking people today. I got. My thing is I'm trying to eliminate negative influences around me. I can only produce when I'm in an environment to produce, and if I expect the best from me, which I do, why would I not put the best possible situation around me? Totally? And that's removing negative influences. That's putting people that are great around me around me. Yeah. And part of that is like a stupid social media people are screaming at me, calling me names. You didn't pay to be there. It's true. Block yeah, you ever block people? Yes? Yeah? Well. The the craziest part is that when when people continually comment to you and they follow you, it's like, why do you follow me? Like I could get it if you kind of came across it on your search page and then you wanted to throw some hate my way. But it's just like you follow me and all you do is ripped me to shreds, Like what is the point you ever hit one O with a DM? Like, hey, just you're okay. I'm getting better at that, I would say. Two years ago, Thomas responded to eight of things that that I that I didn't like. Um, but, um, dude, I have you ever met Bob Golf before? No? You know who Bob Golf is? Tell me he's he's a book writer. He writes motivational books, but also U sort of Christian based, And um, I met him at a show in Hawaii and he was randomly in Hawaii for a day doing a conference, and me and Lauren had lunch with him, and we we just got into this conversation about this whole social media age and how do you deal with people that constantly just critique your Instagram page and just nothing but thumbs down to your music and anything that you say, like you can set the skies blue when they'd say it was green, Like how do you how do you deal with those kind of people? And and uh, as as strange as this sounds, it really made a lot of sense. And he said that for the last ten years of his life. Every pair of pants he gets, he cuts the left pocket out of his pants, and I was like, that's the weirdest thing I've ever heard. And he does that as a metaphor, so like when he gets a lot of hate throwing his way, he calls those like left pocket things that when he puts them in their pocket, they just fall away. And um. Another thing that he does is he'll get on an Instagram page with somebody that that has slandered him or whatever, like on Instagram, and know he'll go find something on their Instagram page in some way that that person has been in pain, so whether they've lost relative or whether they broke their leg or whatever, and instead of like commenting back, he just prays for him and then calls it today. And that's something that I've been really trying hard to do because you never know, you never know where the pain is coming from, and you never know why that person is is so miserable in the first place, And and who am I to judge? It's easier for me to judge rather than like wonder why why they're in that situation in the first place, where they're on Instagram, I'm just like throwing hate people's way. I also find because of that, like I'm more conscious of trying to be outwardly kinder yea, and not even towards them, but just in general, like because at times that environment can be toxic. So I will try to create in other people's space, uh, less less toxicity. If it's riding a nice comment, if it's sending a tech say that that was great. So what I try to make it do to me is push me the other way, just like earlier, when someone's like that's not that funny, I'm like, all right, I got you. When someone's like, hey, your head looks humongous, or you don't you don't not talented enough to be on you're not famous? Why are you on family celebrity family feud, It's like all right, Like I I see your your negativity here, but I'm gonna take that like it stings a little bit, and I'm gonna use that as PIB. I'm gonna make sure good do something positive, but not towards them like that's awes. I'll let it push and I don't do it to be awesome. But that's that's been my mechanism. Yeah, But if it if it makes your head more positive and more level, and that's more an affecting people in positive way around you than than you know, good for that person that didn't like your comment or your your joke. It's it's kind of wild too, Like your kids are going to grow up in an environment of knowing terrifies me. Like all the country stars l a New York, like they're gonna have I can I say different? But I mean you grew up knowing some of these guys, Like yeah, when you grew up in Nashville, Like did you know McGraw? I did from an early age. Yeah, I mean not so not so much McGraw. I mean I met McGraw when I was nine. I met met Garth when I was like eight or nine years old. Um, we spent like a couple of halloweens over Reba's house. Um, mostly people that dad toured with. I knew pretty well. Blake Shelton when he when he is back in his younger in his younger days, not saying that you're old, Blake, just you're younger then. Um he's a big fan. Help for sure here this yeah for sure? Um, but uh yeah, man, I definitely grew up in that environment, but it was so different social me. He didn't exist then, you know what I mean, Like if if there was an artist that did something that was worth talking about, it was in the newspaper. Just so different now, like if something happens this immediately for anyone in the world to see. Do you and Lauren have the talks about the kids on Instagram and the kids on Twitter? And like we talked about it daily man, And we get asked that question quite a bit, like what is the balance? And I think we're still trying to figure it out. But I think through it all, me and Lauren is still trying to be super real to to how we like to live life. And ever since we got married, I was we were both twenty two and we got married, and my fans have known that I was married. Since I was married. There was no ever trying to be like, hey, I'm still the the single dude. You know what I'm saying, because I think uh in in in a lot of formats, it's like, well, you want to be accessible and you want to be the single guy because they think that it drives more fans your way. But that's never something that I really believed in, and so Lauren has been such a huge part of my social media platform that like, when our kids got here, it was like, yeah, there's a lot of things that are too personal that we're definitely gonna say for our own family group text and our private Instagram pages and stuff. But like, I mean, you know, we're a family with two kids, and and we're gonna we're gonna project that, you know what I'm saying, And and so there's a lot of people that are like, well, maybe that's not protective of your kids, and it's just like, well, they're part of our lives. And we've always been super transparent and we've always kind of told whatever's on our sleeve is going to be kind of on Instagram, and we're pretty real about the stuff that we deal with and the stuff that we struggle with, and and uh, I just think it's I just think more so than anything, it's more of a, like you said, a positive influence to other families that have kids and just realize that every day is not rainbows and butterflies. And also nobody's wrong, right, I mean, I think that's a thing to understand. Two is that because somebody disagrees that you put your kids on Instagram and because maybe they don't, they're not right or wrong, exact right or wrong. There are much like music, there are just different ways to do and it doesn't make you right or wrong. You can be different and you don't have to hate somebody that's different exactly. But we're in that climate where it's like a climate, political climate, it's all all the time. It's just so frustrating to me. Probably one of the biggest frustrating factors in my life of the last five years have been Instagram or Twitter or whatever. And it's funny because Instagram is a big part of your successful career too, yet it's still one of the most frustrating parts of it as well. It's such a blessing and a curse, you know, um, because all you want to do is use your Instagram for a for a platform and and use it to just promote positivity and love and peace and all these things. But it's just like, it doesn't matter what you are I post, there's going to be something ridiculous on there. I posted a picture yesterday or a video yesterday just of saying, like what my new single was going to be? The first comment was shave your beard? You know what I'm saying. I'm like, first of all, what do you what are you doing in your life? You have time to just say that to me, you know what I'm saying, like or like hey been the bill of your hat? But okay, let me play Devil's advocate because I agree, what a dump thing, But you don't remember that like that. That's what I'm saying. I'm giving that person they got noticed. I'm gonna write on your next Instagram, I'm gonna write been the billy had right? And I remember that on that Um, it was frustrating for me. And I don't know and I'm not speaking for you, but I know watching you and I'm a big fan of how you do your music. Thanks you. You're you're pretty unapologetic about this is my style, like this is me and okay, you can you can get on or you can get off the ride. But I'm just gonna do what I do. UM, And I know that for me to watch at times some of all they call it the old guard or to go that's that guy is not country. That frustrates me. For you, I don't know how you feel about that, but that that for me, I'm like, God, if you guys even just knew like that, dude is a country as can be, right, Yeah, man, yeah, I mean that that. That's been my life as a country artist, not necessarily in the beginning, but I'll say on my second record, when I started to like lean way more uh just progressive as far as production goes, and I started to take my singing a whole lot more seriously and doing vocal lessons and all this stuff, trying to just make my records sound like something that wasn't happening in our genre. Dude, I have gotten more comments of you are not country or you are ruining the face of our genre. Might as well quit now, Like I mean, if I could mean there's I mean, I'm sure that you've had some of those similar comments, but it's just like it in the beginning of the of those days, it was just like, you know what, maybe they're right, you know what I mean, like, and I think that's the poor four in my angiogram going there, right, I'm I suck, I'm defeated. I'm it's better for me to quit for the whole world than than than you're gonna take one for the world. The team. I'm gonna take one for the world. Yeah, but really I'm taking one for like sixty people. You know what I'm saying. A small vocal, very small vocal minority. And the more I thought about it, I was like, you're not country. You're not country? Okay? Why why am I not country? Well, you don't work cowboy boots on stage. Okay, let me let me mentally go through that. The reason I don't work cowboy boots on stage because I jump up and down like a crazy person. And on the Aldine tour in two thousand thirteen, his thrust was this metal grading material and I was wearing sniptoade cowboy boots and got stuck in them every night. That's the reason I don't work cowboy boots on stage. Does that make me not country? I think, no, you're not country because your music doesn't fiddle in it. I would say ninety eight percent of songs on country radio don't have a fiddle in it. There's another one, you know what I'm saying. And so you just have to like do this self check and I think through therapy and you know, through talking with my wife and talking to people I trust about it's just like dude, at the end of the day, his country music not about being yourself, and his country music not about telling the truth in a story. Do I do both those things? Yes? Do I dress a little different? Yes? Are some of my songs more progressive than some things on country radio. Yes, I'm allowed to explore my outlets, you know what I'm saying. Like you look back at any and we I think we've had this conversation before. But when Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, all these dudes came out, they were called outlaws for a reason. An outlaw is not just a term that you used to describe country music today. It is every twenty years we look back at the artist twenty years ago and say that was real country music. You know what I'm saying. We say Sna Twin is real country music. But at the time she was a pop singer. They told her on Instagram. Was like, I was talking to Garth and he said to say, you know, that's my favorite one to share with people who go that's guard real country. Garth was like, Dude, country music did not embrace me. He was like they were antiing up Brooks. I came to town and they were like, you're not country. Get out of here, like what are you? And you can go through and you can go back. And you mentioned some of those guys, but everyone that has changed the music for the better because they're the ones who we remember as being successful, has been not country exactly. And in any genre people hated, and people hated because they weren't the Beatles in any art, and any not even just music, in any art whatsoever. You can look at comedy or visual art, just whatever. People that break the mold and are not get the finger like you're not this are the ones that create the new this. And so that's always what's frustrated me for you and partially too, I think selfishly. When I came to town, it was hey, you're not country, and I'm going m I grew up a mountain pine arch like, live in a trailer, Like what what animal do you want me to clean? Because I can? Can you give them? And I started to think, what makes me not have an accent? What makes me not country? It was it because I was doing a popping hip hop for a while, because that was where I got my first job. I said, because I come on and I just tell my truth. All the time, very authentic about my message and CBS at the story like he doesn't work cowboy boots or cowboy hat. He's the he's the renegade. Like isn't country just telling the truth. You don't have to be from the South. I am you are, So we kind of get that little nickel that we can spend. But there's more, say more country folks in New York, upstate New York, and it was country is crap or like right outside of DC, like northern Virginia. So like, I I feel your pain. And sometimes when I see people write stuff, I'm like, you know what, First of all, who care? But second of all, I go I know, as a creator, after a while, it starts to go, oh, it just gets to be a weight that you almost don't like to acknowledge because you're giving them power. But it's real. But it also makes me better too. Yeah. Absolutely, it's honestly that that's the one area in my life that's that's taking a lot of growing. But like you said, like when I do get those comments, it fuels my fire. It used to suck my life away and now now it fuels my fire. Your dad's country, he was here my dad is country. Your dad is. No one's gonna see your dad and go that game country. Yeah. Oh and that's that's that's my fa. That's my favorite comment I've ever gotten. Your daddy must be so ashamed. Oh people say that for about a year there. That was that was that was the special comment. Your daddy is ashamed of you? And I was like, I don't think I don't think he is. Well, what it like? What a rotten thing, That's what I'm saying, Like that one that that's a rotten thing to write, even for trolls exactly, Like I lost a little faith in all trolls that they actually write that already and have a good opinion of the what So, what is it? What's the relationship with you and your dad? Now? It's amazing, dude, Me and me and dad have gone through a bunch of seasons in our life, uh, from high school playing football into you know, signing a record deal and kind of starting the career to kind of getting into my career and kind of finding my own voice, my own sound, and then so now going through a lot of different phases in life and all all good. Um, you know, I think every every father and son has their definitely ups some downs, But I would say that me and my dad today, at twenty nine and almost fifty, are in the best place I've ever been in, uh, in our father son relationship, because like, he's so young and he had me when he was nineteen. My mom had me when she was nineteen. UM, and so to have a young parent that is I think, because I feel like I'm kind of a young parent, and I feel like when I'm fifty, I'm gonna be a lot different to my kids then than I am now, because I think parents just go through continuous learning phases. Um. But my dad is obviously my dad, but he's also like one of my best friends in the world, you know. So he's on tour with us this year, UM, brings his wife out on road. UM. And when my kids come out, they just they flocked my dad, like they're obsessed my dad. They call him Popeye, and uh, I think for the longest time, I was like, what does my dad gonna be like as a grandfather, And he's like the best grandfather in the world. And we'll get right during the day, we get to play shows at night, and uh, I just feel like he's just become kind of a person that doesn't have so. I mean, he obviously he is very focused and very driven and wants to be an amazing songwriter. But I think a lot of the pressure of going, how do I keep keep keep doing this is kind of left him as as he's turned forty eight to fifty. I just felt like he's got a lot less pressure on his shoulders. And I think it's kind of made our relationship a lot better and he's given me a lot more um you know, older man wisdom. I think, did he encourage you early, early on to start music? Not really, man, My dad never pressured me to do a lot, but his his big things don't quit anything, you know what I mean. Like we we battled that for a while, like in high school, like going to football camp. No one likes football camp. I don't care if you're the best football player in the world, you hate football camp. And like I was like, I just I just want to quit and play baseball. I want to quit and go do this or that. And to be like, well, you signed up, you're not quitting, and uh. And so when it came to music, he was just he was very weird about it because I think he did it, you know, for ten or twelve years, and he knows the highs and he knows the lows, and he knows what failure feels like him was success feels like I think any dad would want to kind of give their their kid whatever they can expect and then be like, hey, now you can make the decision, but I want you to know that it's not going an easy road. And so him and my mom both were like, are you sure that you want to get into music? And when I turned about nineteen years old, it was really the only thing in life that I wanted to do. All I want to do is write songs. All I want to do is play shows. Anything about creating anything. That's what I wanted to do. So do you look back now and see that you're your father's son. Yes, maybe you didn't see it then, but now you look back and go, I'm I didn't. Yeah, I didn't see it a lot of then, but now I'm looking at the way that I parent the way that he parented, and and and uh, we are we are a lot alike in a lot of ways, and we are still very different a lot of ways, but more so alike. What would your first cut ever, um, a song called I Ain't Ready to Quit by Jayson meldeen two. You were still in school at the time. I was at Lipscombe University down the street. Yeah, and you get a cut. What's that like? I thought that I was a jillionaire and I probably made a hundred bucks that cut. But I remember when that when that came out, dude, it was like all my buddies in college. Remember we went to Walmart that night and we all bought two copies of the record, and uh we we parked my truck in the front yard of this little house next Lipscombe and we just we had a party to one song. We literally just played this song on repeat for like six hours. It was just I mean, it was just the coolest thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life. He signed a record deal like a year later. A year later. Yeah, did you do the let me talk to some record labels? Did you do the showcases for people? Was it a they all offering you deals? Like what what was the Thomas Rhett record label? Uh? Kind of pursuit like they did. Man, We I think I played for I played for six or seven record labels, and uh, the only song that I had that I thought was even remotely good was a song called if I Could Have a Biggle with Jesus that was on my first record, and um, every every label that I played for a day later had offered me a record deal, and I couldn't believe it because all all, I all, I thought I wanted to be as a songwriter. I just wanted to follow on Dad's footsteps, like I didn't. I don't think I wanted to go on the road. I wanted to play shows, but I didn't think I wanted to do the whole do the thing, going radio tour, sign a record, to do all that stuff. But as I got it, got into it, started to get some cuts. It gave me the bug because I when I wrote the songs instead of other people singing him, I really want. I really wondered what it would be like if I recorded him and put him on the radio. And uh, and so once I signed a record of a Big Machine. I think it was two thousand and eleven. Um, it's just kind of been a roller coaster since then, but it was it was definitely the right thing for sure, Like what in your mind, wait, when you wake up in the morning, you go all right, micro and macro there's a big difference. And I believe we have to have micro goals like what am I gonna do today? What I'm gonna do this hour. I'm a big believer in and writing things down and declaring even to yourself what you want, because then if you don't get it or you do get it, there's a winter loss there. I'm big on I mean marks um. And then the macro goals, which are this is what I'd like to be in five ten years, this is what I like to be for my career. So micro goals first, like what are your what are your your goals this week, this month? Like as a as a today's human being right now, micro goals are too really be more of a a content human being that may fit into micro and macro. But I want to be more content, I want to be more patient. I believe it has to be micro before it's macro. So when I say that, it's also an elevator, like you can't just go big. If you don't do the small things right, you definitely not do the big things. Yeah, I think the two biggest I think my two biggest hindrances in life are are my Sometimes I love where I am for like two days, but there always has to be something els so makes sense. Are you someone who's never satisfied? I'm satisfied for a time, and and not necessarily in my family, actually not at all. In my family. I love. I love sitting with my kids, I love hanging out with my wife. I love doing vacations with my kids. But especially in my career, Like me and my manager had a long talk about this other day because on the road lately, like I just put a record out a month ago, and I've had nothing but songwriters out with me every single weekend and we and we write like ten songs on a weekend. And so the benefit of that is that you wrote ten songs. The downside is that when you get to your Saturday show, you're praying all day that your voice works because you've done nothing but sing demos um. And there's a part of me that's like, why am I writing songs right now? I literally just put a record out. But it's the fact that the record came out, and even though it's it's only a month old, in my brain, it's been out for a year and so I'm like, Okay, I'm falling behind. And so I don't know if it's more of a content thing or if it's more of like, how do I always have to keep growing? And there always has to be a new song, There always has to be a new tour, There always has to be a new this. I think the search for I wish I was I wish the search for new would not stop. But we're just kind of taper a little bit. Do you talk to your therapist about this? Yeah? And I don't know if that comes from when we talk about Instagram four times. But I don't know if it comes from that that mindset. That's just what my brain is wired. Um. But even as a kid, dude, like it was all it was always what what else is there? What what's next? Um? But it's always in more careers driven goals than it is in family. Don make any sense? Yeah? And it does. And also that I can feel that you've been working on this because you have acknowledgement of your being. Yes, And the first way to fix a problem, and not even to fix a problem, but to address the problem is no you have We'll call it a problem to you, right, now it's a problem. But what I found with my issues, my problems, is they're also what makes me. The same way we talked about Instagram, Like your problem is that you got to keep doing what's been what's been making you so successful, Like you feel like you gotta keep going. You've also I've been doing it forever, so it's hard to change. And so but I can hear that you are are repaired. I use the words problem to repair because it's the person one we gravitate to. You're trying to repair yourself in your mind, and by doing that, you've got to acknowledge where the part is broken in the car totally. Yeah, and so your growth is just kind of acknowledging this and you're never gonna fix it. No, it's not to be fixed though, right, Like it really isn't to be fixed. It's just to be acknowledged and monitored and get out of control. Yeah, for sure. Because it definitely bleeds into my family life a little bit. Like there's a lot of times that we're standing in the kitchen just me and like my entire family came over. My wife will look at me and should go where are you right now? And I'm in a song like I'm literally writing another verse and and those are parts of me that I wish I could change because one day my kids aren't gonna be little, and and I don't want to look back in twenty years ago I was writing songs when my kids are growing up in a metaphorical kind of language, you know. Um, And I just wish, you know, Like, I love the fact that I always I'm always striving for something new and something better and something different, because I think if you stop evolving, then you stop growing. Um. But you know, at least for the sake of my wife and for my kids, I do wish that when I came home my brain could remotely be turned off of work a little bit more than it is, you know what I'm saying. And I think you can fix it, but you never want to fix it. It's just not who you are. And I think I can tell you know that too. Yeah, I definitely know it. Yeah, Like right now you're writing a song instead of doing this podcast, Like I'm like, where are you? Where are you right now? He's like, I'm writing, I'm writing a song. Um, what what do you you talk about? Lauren and the kids? Like, what do you feel like the biggest because you write all these songs and it's a lot of stories about your life and situations. What do you feel like the biggest misconception is about you? Guys? Well, I feel like I tried to fix that misconception on this record a little bit. Um I think me and you mean you talked about it. Me and Amy for sure have but like like on a song called Dreaming, never had um or notice, like those two songs are really way more in depth into me and Lauren's relationship than I think people are aware of. Like I think sometimes people look at our marriage and they go to nothing is wrong with them, just just based off our Instagram because we're we do this and we're traveling there and we're taking these we're taking these pictures on a beach and and it's like, well, their life is so perfect, and it's just like I think the misconception is that mine and Lauren's life with our kids, rainbows and butterflies, it is just as crazy and messed up and chaotic as everybody else. And I think that that that would be a misconception for sure. Tell me about a hundred forty seven billion orphans, so a hundred forty seven million orphans changed to Love One. Uh. My wife and the kind of the creators of the company kind of rebranded it and called it Loved One. And UM, I think after Lauren had gone to you gone to several times, she knew she wanted to be a part of it. So she was added to the board of one four seven and then as she got involved, they changed the name to Love One. UM. And love one means like if if everyone loved one person, which like if everyone could care for one person, then there might not be as as big as an orphan issue. UM. And uh, you know, they provide water, health food, UM. Mainly their focuses in Massindy Uganda, which is where WILLI grace from? And they take you know, random teams of you know, twenty and thirty like three or four times a year over there too to help work and kind of help fix and and kind of brainstorm about, you know, kind of the future of what we can do in in Massindy. I love it that you found something you're passionate about and you work towards helping it, both of you and Lauren. UM. A struggle that I had because I'm so close to Amy, and and I went over to Haiti and was at the orphanage and people would go, why are you not helping people down the street? And how would go and and for a while, I like my heart hurt for Amy having to deal with this. We got that a lot too, and I can only imagine. But I would say, and I would get on and I don't say it anymore because it's like it's a it's a vote, it's a vocal minority, and there's a realization and me that goes my people don't feel this way. But I would say, you know, why should we limit our giving two proximity? Meaning? If I find something I'm passionate about and I want to give to it, who are you to judge me on what I'm doing? And then who am I to care that you're judging me? And then it goes comes back to me. It's always a me thing. It's like, should we base giving on how close someone is to us? And if so, why aren't you helping someone four houses down the nine houses down? For sure? Are they more important because there are a block away than someone who's a mile away, Because according to your logic, we can only help people that we can touch and then we need to work our way out. But I just know from being with Amy and she's got it worse than even I did. When we were we basically rebuilt that orphanage. I'm sure that was something that you guys struggled with a bit. We definitely do. Man, we still struggle with it. Um, you know, I mean you can't. You're never going to escape those comments, especially when it comes to something like adopts. You're never gonna escape. Um, some of those comments of going, well, that's not your kid, you know what I'm saying, And and that is the most hurt for comment on the planet because you because you realize, yes, I'm I'm not well a grace biological father, um, but you know, due to certain circumstances, I am you know what I mean, Like I'm I'm I'm her, I'm her dad, and Lauren as her mom, and and uh, you know, I think that the Lord places different things on different people's harts at different times. And so like you said, for you to be like, well, while you know, there's kids that need helping here, and I'm like, I realize that you know what I'm saying, and I think it's still my part to help in Nashville just as much, just as much of it is as it in Uganda. But um, for some reason, the Lord put put Masindy on our hearts and and and that's where we've been for the last three or four years. And and I will be there as long as it stays on our heart. And also, human beings are human beings. If you can help a human being, can go help a human being. Right Why we Why why would let a proximity be a factor in why we do or don't help? For sure, it drives me crazy. Yeah, it drives me crazy too, man. And and even outside of like I'll do things for animals. We why don't you help people? Well, I do help people, douche bat, don't get me started. But yes, it's it's almost like, regardless of what you do, according to the the outside of the bubble, you can't do enough. Yeah, for sure, you really can't. Man, Look at this, Look at this. I'm getting all fired up up here for you. I appreciate that. Um, you got you got two kids, that's a lot you got. Like you're dad, You're on the road, you're being kid dad, You're being the star. Hey can you can you pause? Can we pause this or no? Well, yeah, we can do whatever we want. I was going to tell you mean Tom talked about this. So we're pregnant again and it's we're releasing it tomorrow. Is there any way that you would say that very more? Actually, we don't need to posit. We'll just not put it up to tomorrow. So let's let it keep running. Okay, yeah, there you go. So you just heard how he told me. I don't even want to remove that. Let's leave that in. So you're having another baby? Yes? Wait, are you having a baby? You adopting? We're having a baby. Wow, look at that. It's pretty wild man potent you are. And it's a girl. Three girls, three girls. Yeah, just when I thought life could not get any crazier, we're having we're having another girl. And when do you when is the baby gonna be here? Do you know? February three? And you know it's a girl. Yeah, we did. We did the blood test thing. You know where you can do the genetic test. I don't know. Oh yeah, you know, so you can do a blood I think it's ten weeks. We can do a blood test and you can find out the gender and you can find out, you know, kind of all this stuff about your baby. And so, yeah, we're having a girl. We found out yesterday. Our whole our whole family Comember when we shot off these cannons that blow either blue or blue or pink colors. And my whole family was convinced it was a boy. Like I already had boy names picked out, and we shot these cannons off and it was pink. And I was like, dear lord, three weddings, three weddings, that's true. As a dad, you're gonna have to marry off three daughters, three daughters, and we're not and we're not even done. I mean, I mean, Lauren wants to have five kids. So who knows. Congratulations man, than you crazy, it's crazy, I know, Thank you very much. Look at you. Yeah, you're like fifteen, you got three heads. I'm a little were like seventy. I'm thirty, bro, I'm got to be thirty three girls? Yeah? Now will you are you shooting toward five? Are you gonna shoot towards until you get a boy? Like? What's right now? What's in your mind? Are you just shooting toward Let's just get this one and make sure everything comes out all right, Well, yeah, we're we're definitely focused on this one for sure. Um and uh I do. Me and Lauren both would love we would love to adopt again, um, whenever the time was right. And uh yeah, I mean Laurens numbers five. I think when we get to five, my wife will probably be like, we can do six. That's just the kind of person my wife is and my brand. I'm going, we're art. How how are we gonna do this? Like we're gonna have to have nine tour buses for our girls on the road. Um, So my head goes to more of the the math of the whole situation. But I you know, having having girls, man, I think before we had kids, I always thought that I was meant to be the kind of the dad that had boys. Um. But now that I've had girls, my heart has softened so much and I have never I've never looked at anybody like I look at my girls. Like it is and nuts the the emotion that you feel when you're girl, when you put him down to bed and you say, all right, love you baby girl and they're like I love you, daddy, like it is just it is. It breaks your heart every single time. So in that aspect, I'm I'm beyond excited to have a girl, but I do look forward to hopefully having a boy one day. You have three kids, man, even know what to say? Right now? That's awesome. Well, um, we got just a couple of minutes left here, let's roll over. I I'd like to talk about a couple of things. One. Um. These are these will be kind of quickids. Just give me your thoughts on this. I feel like, and I've told this to you off of Mike and off camera to like, and you've one male Vocalist of the Year at the a c M S. Yeah, Like, I think you're your next one up for that Entertainer of the Year. And and the way this goes is you have to get in it before you can win it. You gotta be invited to the part. You don't win the party the first time you ever party. And I feel like you're now at that level. It's just the gatekeepers, whatever that means, because it changes all the time. They gotta say, all right, guy, that's kind of pushing the limits. You're pushing them. They just got it's wild. But it's your turn, Like, it's it's absolutely your turn. I appreciate that. Man. How do you feel when I say that? It's uh, well, first of all, I never to mean your thought anyone would ever say that about me. Um. But if I think back five years ago, that's everything that I was ever working towards. Anyways, the Entertainer of the Year is kind of the cherry on top of the awards at any awards show. UM. And I'll never forget the first time Luke Brian wanted UM. I'll never watched Jason Aldean went it for. I'll never forget watching Jason went it for the first time. And I think when I was touring of those people, I always knew. I was like, dude, these dudes, this is insane what they're doing, the people they're putting in these venues, the production that they have, the amount of hits that they have, and I feel like we're definitely not in that lane yet of having I think Aldana has like, what number one songs? Yeah, but you have thirteen number one songs, so you are. We're close. We're getting there, man, and we we work. Have you ever seen the James Brown documentary how hard he made his band work. I'm not like that hard on my band, but we work really hard. He would fire them in the show. Yeah, And I mean we bring on choreographers, not even to teach us how to dance, but just how to teach our band where to be, when to be, how to move. Um, I mean our our our trumpet player named Sharifa is our hype man, and like literally like he's the person that introduces all the band members. I've never seen anybody in country music do that. And so it's like, how how every year do you how do you spend your month of rehearsal time making sure that the record that your show sounds exactly like the record with just a right just the right touch of live element. How do you make it to where even your ballads feel like up tempos? And how do you make the person in section three one go always playing a new song. Now it's time to go get a beer. And I feel like those are things when you can think about them, you really can work up a show, just like in in your in your stand up and in your bit you're just like, how do I make this the most intriguing, intriguing thing someone has ever watched? And we really have worked hard for that. Man, So even to be. Just like you said, invited to the party at some point in the future would be a huge win for us. But but we look forward to that. It should be now based on numbers that should have already been. But again, because you're so progressive, you have you know, one and seven, who's like, right, as long as you make that one and ten on one and eleven, you're in. Yeah, for sure. So like to me, you're there And I've told you I'm not even saying that because on this together, I just want to say that publicly with you in front of me. Thank you. Let me say before we leave on August four, we're hosting the c m A Fest together. That's right, um, as Bobby taught me everything that I know on that By the way, no I did it. I did anything you did. Ask you a million questions, but you're already good. It didn't matter. But you you helped me be great. So I appreciate it. August four, oh, people check it out. Not only does tr host it, he also like a boss gets up in plays. It's as you do it all. Thanks man, you do too. Man. Really, you've really I just want to say this because I feel like I don't know you have. You affirm a lot of people, and you don't get I don't know, you might get a lot of affirmation, but I just want to give you an encouraging word. You have inspired me to to do a lot of things I probably never would have done in the first place. Your openness. I haven't read the full book, but i've read up like chapter six, and there's a lot of inspiring stuff in there. And I just love your story. I love the way you live life. I love that you're just unashamed, unashamedly, unabashedly you whatever word that is. And it's really inspiring to a lot of people. It really is. So don't don't change you because you're you're You're pretty awesome. Well, thank you, welcome and I'm not comfortable with that. It's okay, just take it. I don't do well with um. Listen, we've done an hour and ten minutes. This has been a Jeff fun I had a blast. I could do this forever, man, this is so fun. You've went from high held flip flops to Thomas Rhett. Can I tell you something, the very first time I said, the very first time I saw your tattoo, I thought I said, h h ff from your old bands high held flip flops. I'm a massive fan, you know. I just when I saw it, I was like, holy crap, what does it say again? So my grandmother who adopted me for a while when my mom left, her name was Hazel Hurt and so, and she passed away at my mom when she died. Um, her name is Pam Hurt and so it's their initials on my arm, and have arkans on the back. And I have little letters mirror ball and back. When I one that because Sharin and I got that. Um, I gotta get a microphone, I promised the listeners because when I got put in the Radio Hall of Fame that I would get a microphone tattooed arm. I haven't done that yet. And then of course I have a big penis on my back. No you don't. It goes all the way from my belt all the way at to back of my neck. No it doesn't. You haven't seen the penis on back. This is real. You haven't seen the big I don't have a penis on my I was about to freak out. All right, listen, we've said it all. I feel like I appreciate your openness and your candor and congratulations on another baby. I appreciate that kind of get me one of those. I gotta get a girlfriend first, But I guess you don't have to have a girlfriend have a baby. There are a few ways you can do that. Um and uh yeah, it's it's it's been a good talk here. Thomas red At Thomas red Aikin's on Instagram. Be nice. He's not gonna shave his beard or fix the bill of his hat. I think we've learned that. Check him out on Cmafest August fourth, hosting and performing, and he's on the Very Hot Summer Tour, um, the VHS tour. I got a couple of buddies out there with on tour too. Russell's that there, huh Russell, Dustin and dust Yeah, and your dad. Um, we're good to see you, Bud. Thanks so much and a pleasure. Episode one nine with Thomas red Mm hmm