#237 - Brett Young On Being Quarantined Away from His Family + Matt Ramsey, Lead Singer of Old Dominion on His Many No. 1’s

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Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to episode two thirty seven. Hey, by the way, if you missed the talk with Lionel Richie, go back in episode Pretty cool. Let's just talk to Lionel Richie. Pretty cool, and I can talk to Line American idolds his friend, but pretty cool to get the nerd out and ask him about stuff that you know, you just don't ask friends real career interview type questions when you're hanging out. Mostly it's like, hey, how is that lunch. It's never like, yo, dude, tell me about nineteen seven to nine. He's like, the one impression. I can do that because I do spend enough time with Line Richie where I can. Here you go, my friend, let me tell you it was nineteen eighty one. The commodores were blowing up the charts. So it's like the one impression that I do a better hand than Luke. But go back an episode if you want. You know, I don't know what you're doing, probably quarantined in. Maybe listen to the podcast if you want to check out Amy's it's called Four Things with Amy Brown. Kelly Henderson has the Velvet's Edge podcast kind of style and uh, you know what a life podcast. It's called The Velvet's Edge. And check out Caroline Hobbies. You know, she has one called What's Up? Get Real? Get Real? There there it is. I was watching her Instagram today and her husband was playing a song. I think he was gonna play do one of these acoustic songs everybody's doing and uh, he starts to play and there's a snake under him on the picnic table. She just freaks out and takes off running. Pretty funny, but I'll jokes aside. Check out Get Real with Caroline Hobby, pretty cool where she talks to a lot of the wives of country stars, interesting, interesting ideas, talks a lot of really strong women, but wives of country stars too. This as you know his music podcast. What's great about this one this episode is that since everybody's quarantined in, I can basically just go like, yo, you want to talk and they're like why not. So we got Matt Ramsey from Old Dominion coming up, who was going to be in for the first time, but Corona Scare got us. And then Brett Young who first time to catch up with him. I did had seen he was living on his tour bus because his wife and daughter are in his house. And he didn't want to get him sick. But he can tell you that story coming up. So I'm I liked this episode. It's two artists, Brett Young first, Matt Ramsey from Old Dominion second. And if you like this and you don't mind, share this and tell your friends and give us a five star rating before we go, and let me encourage you to check out Mike's podcast. If you like movies, movie Mike's Movie Podcast, see it some growth and numbers over there may. I love doing it, so people have been checking it out. I tell you I have a friend that works for nat GEO. He is one of the big dogs. There's names Terry. I don't know is he gonna hear this or not, but he sent me a note talking about listen to your podcast. Yeah that's crazy, Yeah, big wig. He's like really I like him because he's a fine guy to talk to and our sensibilities are pretty similar. Um. And he's worked with like how I'm indels right, He's worked with a lot of really cool people. Um. But now he works on the talent side and nat GEO and he's basically the guy that was like, hey, you know, whenever I did Barrick girls. You know it's him and in Courtney Monroe, the president there that really vouched for me. But anyway, hit me up people like I like that movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I didn't even ask him, what's that's crazy? H Yeah? Yeah, so check it out movie Mike's Movie Podcast. What's the last episode he did? So? I have a Quarantine movie playlist, so a bunch of like franchises you can binge right now. I recommend them. Okay, movies are tough to binge, but you have time right now. Morgan Star Wars movies. Watch all nine Star Wars movies in a weekend. Crazy. Okay, check it out. Here is today's podcast. Here's the latest episode. I hope you like it. And if you do, go check out some old ones. We got a lot of good ones up here for some of your favorite stars. All right, bye, yo, dude, what's going on? How you doing just the same thing to ground day over here? Like everybody? You know, I saw some of the stuff we're on your tour bus. Are you out there for a reason so you don't get your wife in kids sick? Or what's the story behind that? Yeah? Because we we we were out and we were at that festival in Europe, and one of the shows was in Berlin, like right when the big outbreak hit over there, and so like when I got home, you know, we came home early because the travel band hit halfway into our trip. But I just had been to like Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm, and Oslo, and I've been on like six planes, and I was just like, you know, if this can take fourteen minutes or fourteen days for symptence the show, I feel fine now, but what if I start having symptoms and I'm already holding my baby and sleeping in bed with my wife, and I just didn't want to take the root. How mature of you? Yeah, well I can fake it sometimes. Hey, what was that like? When you're in Europe and you know, in the early part of Corona and we're kind of figuring out that it's a pretty real thing, and you know some of our institutions are going to be moved because of it, and you're out of the country. What happens to you while you're over there? Yeah, I was pretty scary. The second show was was Berlin, and the afternoon of the show, like three o'clock, their government came out and said like no gatherings. I think it was five hundred at the time or bigger, and I don't know how because that was at three o'clock. We still played the show I headlined, I think was like four thousand people. So I don't really that was kind of scary because they're saying it's not safe to have that big of a group and we're just playing our show anyways. Um, but I think, you know, as it went on, that was the beginning of of other governments starting to do you put that restriction on on public gatherings and stuff. And by the time we were in Offlow, we had one club show left before we were going to go to the UK and play the other big three arena shows, and like an hour before the show, their government came out and said, uh, like fifty people are less and we're going, okay, this is this is like we're being irresponsible by staying over here, and so we actually booked our flights home like two hours before Trump came out with the travel band. So it was it was I mean, I don't think it's I think people over here think that it's a little bit crazier over in Europe. It felt kind of the same everybody's anxiety. Um, it's kind of palpable, just like it is here right now. Um. But it was just weird to not be home and know that you were running the risk of maybe getting stuck over there. Did you ask how much those flights cost to get back or did you just go get me? Dude, I know how much they cost. It was. It was definitely a low blow. Yeah, you don't want to share. I mean, I know, honestly, I don't wanna. It's it's well, it's hey. I will say this because we booked ours two hours before the travel band. We got them before they went up to like an unreasonable number. I know some people that waited. Um, I know ours. Ours doubled from when we bought them to two hours later. And who makes that call in your group? Was it you going, hey, we got to go? Uh? It was we had our finger on that button the whole time. And it was the club shows I was playing in Stockholm and Aslo were just me and my music records are just two guitars, little acoustic clubs and uh so my manager was actually on that run. There were just four of us and it was kind of me and my manager, like watching the news on the regular. But we both looked at each other when the when the bosload we're at the venue in the show got canceled and we went we gotta go. It was like we like, you know, you make eye contact, attack with somebody and you know you're on the same page. It was one of those deals. So yeah, I mean he wouldn't he wouldn't have pulled that trigger without me. Um, But it was something that we knew was a possibility the whole time. So you get off the plane, and since you knew all this was happening, you didn't hug your wife or kiss your baby or anything like that. No, So all I did was I went home. I left all my luggage, my backpack, my suitcase, uh, everything in the garage because it can live on surfaces for three days. I undressed in the garage, UM, showered, through my towels, straight into the laundry, through stuff in a bag, and drove to the bus. What are you doing for food? Is it not the stock? You don't have, like I mean, maybe cheerios from bus stock, But I like, well, how you eating? Um? We had some stuff. I had probably two days worth of food. Um, but then I've been doing instat cart like grocery orders and just having them leave it outside the bus and then wiping down every item with wipes, one at a time before I put it bring it into the bus. I'm assuming you feel all right healthy, right? Just yeah, you're almost done. You're almost done with that? Yeah, I feel I don't have any symptoms. And uh, you know, when I've decided to do this, they were still saying it takes five days to show them them, and then on day two they changed it to fourteen, and I was like, oh no, so I thought I was five days. Joke was on me, Are you doing any solo riding while you're on the bus. I've kind of messed with it a little bit, but I'm you know, with everything that's going on, and like there's a ton of business decisions to be made right now as shows are getting postponed and moved and all of that. That, Like, I've kind of it's been hard to put on the creative hat. I definitely have a guitar in here that I've been like fooling around with, and it usually ends up just not going anywhere because I got too many other things on my mind. So, um, once I get home and I've got a WiFi situation, I'm gonna start doing like virtual rights and stuff. But I just I haven't really been I haven't really had the book to be creative. If you don't have WiFi or a strong signal, are you able to watch Netflix? Yeah? So luckily, Um, the streaming things not happening. But our direct TV package has like all the movie channels. So I've I've seen every movie in the world. Now, well, what's good? What do you watch? It was good because I'm struggling now a little bit. Except for Tiger King on Netflix. I'm just searching around. Yeah, I've so once I get home, Tiger King's My wife's already started and she's digging it. Um. You know, I don't know if you follow my socials, but one day I literally watched all of the Rockies in one day. That was great. What's the best one? Because I have my feelings best Rocky best one. Yeah, we'll both pick one. Which which is the best Rocky? It's hard to say, but I think Rocky four with the Russian of the favorite me too. I'm I'm okay, let's go to the second best one and you can put the Creeds in there if you want, what's the second best Rocky. So, honestly, if if we can do Creeds, so like all of them, including Rocky Balboa and Creeds, right yeah, I would go Rocky four, then the first Creed, then Rocky two. Interesting, I think I put the first Creed second as well. Rocky two is good because he wins right like, no, it's not spoiler alert, folks, if you're on there, this first Rocky was made in so if you don't watched it by now, I just suck it up because he loses the first one to Apollo, right yeah, they they're in the hospital, yeah, on a on a decision, right yes, and then he wins again because Apolo isn't satisfied with that, And so then three is the awful one with whole Kogan and Mr T. I didn't really like that one that much, does you? No? No, no, not at all. And I didn't really care for the one and you may like this one, but the one where Tommy Morrison comes, I don't know that I love that one. I liked it, I don't know that I loved it though. Yeah, Rocky Balboa, that was fun. What do you think about the one where he comes back and he's old. What was that one called? That was? What was that one called? I think Rocky five was with Tommy Morrison. I think Rocky Balboa is where he comes back and fights you're you are correct? You are correct? Yeah, Rocky Balbo is the one when he comes back and he and they did the virtual fight and then and then they went to Vegas and fought him. Uh yeah, it's pushing it at that point. It was already pushing it with Rocky five, He's already too old for that to be believable. But with Rocky Blabbo, I was like, guys, come on, I was thinking about what was that whole Like, if you fight again, you could die. But then he passes all his text tests and gets cleared by the boxing concision. If you go through the physical, you're not gonna die. That's the whole point of the physical Like yeah, So, and I also struggled a bit with this second creed and that I started rooting a bit for the Russian Sun because he was not treated well all and he was only like he was because he was treated like garbage. Yeah, and you felt bad for him that his mom abandoned him to Yeah, and so I didn't really know. And then Creed is all like rich I like Creed One. By the way, I loved Creed one. I liked Creed too. How do you fall on those two? Yes? Same one was better? Yeah. Have you seen the Godfather movies? Because those are movies I have not got into. I've never seen them. But just like you watched Rockies, I've been thinking about hopping into the Godfather. Yeah. Yeah, it's been years and years. I haven't revisited him. But like like back in college, Um, yeah, I like them. I I would put I'd rather watch gar Face than Godfather. I've never seen that one either. But scar Face is that a series or just one movie? Um? If they did more than one, I don't know about it. How it is. I mean well, I mean I'm not to not to ruin it for you, but the way the first one ends, I don't know how they could well, and it's not ruining if any movies over fifteen years old, you know, it's his on me to have not seen it. Well, that's interesting. What else they just they just they fill them with bullets over a giant pile of cocaine on his desk in his house. That's how like that's the end? So well, Mike, should I still watch it? Then? It's the know the ending? Yeah, Okay, great movie. Okay, okay, but you definitely should watch it. I think you should watch it. He's he's it's it's like a it's a full blown, like gory gangster movie that is hilarious. Al Pacino is hilarious. So what else are you doing in the bust chalk about business? Are you trying to figure out how to reschedule these shows and what you're gonna do whenever we do come back. Yeah, that's a big part of it. You know. Our big thing is that we don't want to cancel anything, so it's all about trying to move them and and and we also don't want to make announcements that they're moved or postponed until we know where we put them. So we're trying to actually get them on the books for a different date before we even let anybody know for sure that it's not happening. So it's tricky because you know, really everybody that's having to cancel anything or move anything March April is all trying to squeeze them into November Tocember, so you have every act in the business trying to find venues for those last six to eight weeks and so it's, uh, it's been it's been pretty interesting, but um but yeah, there's a lot of that, and there's you know, you know, there's all of us carry like a pretty big load of rentals, whether it's like buses or semi trucks or musical equipment and stuff, and trying to figure come to, you know, some sort of agreement with these companies that you know, hey, you can add X amount of months on the end of our contract if you give us a break right now while nobody's making money and just try to just try. We're trying to stretch, stretch what we have out as long as we can so in case this thing goes longer than we think it will. Um, because nobody knows that will still be around and be able to afford to get back on the road. And no tickets the chapters tour available now, I guess a good thing is it wasn't supposed to kick off to April sixt right, and we're not there yet. So if you don't have to make a decision, why would you I'm talking about in your place right now. You can kind of sit for a little bit, right, Yeah, I mean we so we that's the second half of it. So unfortunately, uh, you know, there was a there was a date at the end of March that in Arkansas that we had to move already. Um, and there were uh and then and then the second half started on the sixteenth, and so yeah, like like you said, hopefully, you know, in a perfect world, May one is what we're looking at to get back on track. And they're saying that's the earliest, and that August is the latest. I'm hoping for the earliest. But you know, even if they even if Trump kind of changes what we're allowed to do publicly, I bet you public gathering, it's going to be the last thing to get cleared. Yeah, it'd be tough to go. All right, we've just been given a controversial clearance. Let's everybody get together. That would be tough. Mm hmm. Yeah. And nobody's got Anybody that doesn't already have a ticket that's paid for are probably not spending money after they've been out of work for two months on concert tickets. That's a good point too. Uh. It's interesting it's scary. I was looking at this place lest you put up that's Brett Young Quarantine with a hundred and twelve song sixty five hours, and it's a lot of your songs, a lot of your favorite songs that people submit their songs. I was kind of looking through the listen of that. But I'm trying to get a film for you as like what you listen to when you're alone, Like, who is your favorite artist of all time? Of all times? Is that right? How cool do you get to be friends with your favorite favorite? I just I knew he was a big, a big part of you know, your music, and you really liked him. I don't know who's your favorite though. That's cool, Yeah, his his his songwriting is very unique and interesting to me, and his voice is my I could listen to Gavitt thing forever. Um, So that's I mean, it was very cool that that we crossed paths and got to become friends and we've worked together a little because that's Ah, that's definitely like working with one of my idols. So that's that's definitely top of the list. There's a guy, though, um that I met a couple of years ago playing the as Cap stage at Sundance UM in Park City. UM, and he has a song out right now that that everybody's loving called if the was Ending with Julia Michaels. But um, his name is JP Sachs and he has a new EP out and all the songs on his EP or on repeat for me right now. So you know that dude. I mean, yeah, we met, Like I said, we met doing an ASCAP event a couple of years ago. But we've been in touch recently about getting together and writing. He's in town. But there's just something really like honest and straightforward about his songwriting and he's got a really cool voice. So I've been kind of mainlining JP s act lately. Well, let me go back to Gavin for a second, because I think of the people that I love and I've been able to work alongside or do some stuff with them, and you know, it's always an interesting thing to to to be ap peer to someone that you admire. When when you meet Gavin for the first time, do you remember that, Yeah, the first time I met get well, it's kind of a yes. So I was at his show. He was on a co headlining tour with Avril Levine and I was living in l a and they played the Greek Theater and Uh, Gavin, I don't know if he still does this, but he always used to go out and listen to the opener, just stand in the crowd, and if people approached him, they approached him. And uh. And that night, Um, she was on stage and I was with a couple of my cousins, girls both younger than me, and we saw him and we went over and introduced ourselves and took pictures with him and stuff, and Uh, my cousins rove back to Orange County. I went out to a nightclub after the show, and me and my buddy, at like three o'clock in the morning, we're eating at Mels Diner on Sunset and we were out on the patio, um, right along the sidewalk on Sunset, and Gavin came walking down the street and I yelled at him and stopped him and we had a conversation. I was just about to go into the studio to record my first EP ever. This was like two thousand and four, two thousands five maybe, and Uh he stopped for twenty minutes at three o'clock in the morning and asked me questions and gave me advice about, you know, recording the EP and and about songwriting and the whole thing. And um. Fast forward a year later and I'm in Hawaii for a YouTube through I find out Gavin's playing for the Honolulu Marathon at the Wiki Ki show and uh, same thing. He's standing out listening to this ukulele player before I walk up to him and he's like, dude, I remember you, Mels on Sunset. I couldn't believe that you remember, but he was like, dude, I was a crack up. He's like, I hate Hawaii. It's terrible. It's all tourists. What are you doing later, Let's get a beer. I'm staying. I forget what he was staying at that the Long Border or whatever, but we ended up hanging out the rest of that trip, going to the U two show together and within Buddies ever steps. I have a good Gavin to Gross story where we were at the airport and we were on the same flight flying back from Los Angeles, and just to show how nice of a guy is, we're flying back and he's in the seat behind me and we're talking a little bit, but it's an awkward thing where you don't really want to turn around and have the conversation through the hole in the middle of the seats. But you're like, hey, man, you're good. Yeah, you're good. And he had just um does some charity work. We did some charity work together, and we come off the plane about the same time. So we're talking on the way out, and Gavin is a super nice guy. It's funny that you mentioned that you just went up to him becau in the airport. He'll he stops and talks to anybody who wants to come up, and it's just saying hello to anybody and everybody and just a smile on his face. And we're waiting for our bags baggage, and I'm taking picture with a few people. He's taking pictures with a few people, and I'm you know, and people are like struggling to take pictures, and you know, if someone's like, hey, can get a picture, and they give their phone to somebody and they're like, oh crap, I gotta flip the all the stuff's happening. And he pulls me aside and he goes, hey, I'm gona give a little advice on these pictures, because I was just taking pictures of people, but it was taking me a lot longer than it was him. And he said, hey, what you do? Said, just grab their phone and go, hey, let's get that selfie and just go boom boom and hand them their phone. That way you can get more people in the line faster. And also they're not like I can't flip my phone. You avoid all of that trouble of them not knowing how to handle their phone. And so that was my gavin to go advice. So we both have been served a little bit of of Gavin's sage wisdom. Yeah, he's a he is the king of the meet and greed. I gotta give him that. He's he if there is, he won't leave until everybody that got their picture is happy. Do you feel like speaking to meet and greets that you're gonna do yours different for now on as far as just touching as much and hugs and pictures and stuff. Yeah, I don't know. That's that's a great question. We definitely while we were over in Europe we canceled all the meet and greets. Um, I don't know, I don't know how that's gonna look. I mean the tour that I'm on has A has a V I V meet and Greek package. So I don't know that canceling it is an option, but um, it's got it's got to change somehow. It's got to be like, you know, no shaking hands or or it's got to be something. It's got to change a little bit social social distance, meeting greet until we've flattened the curve, so to speak. Yeah, do you watch the news a lot or now? Um? Yeah, but lately it's been like a lot of the same information and it's become it started to become kind of a downer. So I do like a I do like a before bed check in rather than watching it all day long. At this point, do you ever listen to your own music and you're the bus, just turn it up and have a have a breath. And I just wrote it otherwise. I take a break from my voice as often as possible. Last time you're in just to kind of catch up. You hadn't had the baby. You had the baby right afterwards, Like how what's the difference in life right now? Everything? Nothing is the same, um, even even being here right now, Like I bet I would have let my wife decide, but I bet I like I would have gone home and if she got it, we like we would have it together, you know the virus I'm talking about, so like even down to that. But I think, um, it changes, you know. I used to I used to be a really like late night like night owl guy. Um. And then I would because I could sleep in because shows, you know, I don't have to be in the sound check to like two and uh, and it's it's now it's like, because you have to be up in the morning with the baby, you're getting tired earlier. And it's like even on the road. Now I get off stage and I used to need a little time to like, you know, let the kind of adrenaline come down, and it's like half the time. Now I walk off stage, walk back, changing the like clean clothes, and fall into bed. So it's I mean, it's definitely I'm definitely adulting nowadays, which is not something I was used to. I'm looking at picture your baby here on your Instagram. By the way, it's Brett Young music. Who do you see in your baby's face? More you or your wife? I still think it's more me. Um. But when she was born the first month, it was my twin. I mean she was exactly mem I'm starting to see even though she's my coloring, she's got lighter skin and light eyes and light hair. I'm starting to see more of like my wife's the shape of my wife's wife's face. I think she has like a lot of Taylor's features, but she has all my coloring, so it's starting to become more of a blend. But I think if you ask people at this point, they'd still say more me. How's Taylor doing having to be the sort of single mom right now? She's she's doing great. Luckily, her mom was in town visiting when this whole thing went down, and because her mom's in that like mid sixties age range, which is like like high risk, we decided that it wasn't safe for her to fly, and especially they of like in the Seattle area, which is like Washington is the worst right now. So, um, she's it worked out great that she's been able to have her mom. They're helping while I've been on the bus, So she's doing good. I'm sure she's excited for me to come be able to help and and take on part of the load, but it's been nice to have grandma there. I give you one more question before we jump, But it's it's about songwriting. Yeah, that's something new that happened in your life, which is your baby. Are you writing songs now with new intentions because there's something new in your life? Absolutely? You and I've talked about this before. UM, I never want to. I never want to write, um in a in a way that would come across pandering, you know, like I don't want to. I'm not gonna put out a lullaby's record because I just had a baby, you know, like that's this is not how it's gonna work. But at the same time, authenticity UM in songwriting has always been really important to me. Like, if I'm not writing about something I've been through or at least associate with and relate to, then I don't think I can expect people to like connect with the song. You know, I'm not connected with it. And so the best way to do that is to write about your life. And obviously the biggest thing that's happened in my life lately is that we had our first child, So it's it's definitely influencing the rights. There is a song that I've written for her that we're closing the tour with now that will be that will come out when my next project comes out, whenever that is. Um So it's it's a tricky balance because yeah, it's it's going to affect and influence my songwriting. But I also want to make sure that you know, I don't write twelve songs about my daughter. You know, there's there's people out there still having their heartbroken that want to hear the quintessential heartbreak song or the people that are that neat that wedding song, and so I want to make sure there's a little bit of something for everyone. But um, she's She's definitely life has changed forever and it will affect songwriting moving forward for sure. Well, dude, I'm glad to hear you're doing well. I'm glad to hear you have no symptoms and very mature of you to chill on the bus, and I don't know if I would have been so mature. It's good to hear from you. Thanks, But it's always good talking with you, all right. I talked to you soon, budd Hey, we're rolling already, So anything you say cannon will be used against you just right out of the gate. I like it, you know, No need. Hey, you know what I was talking to Trevor. I saw him a couple of weeks ago, really before all the Corona stuff, like a really hit, and I went up to him. We were at a charity event together, and I was like, hey, dude, you guess put pulled out of the Country to Country festival. And I was like, man, kind of you guys are the first ones to do that, kind of the cutting edge of pulling out of festivals, Like you guys knew what was coming. Yeah. Man, we had a little I don't know, man, and we just you know, we talked about that for a long time and it was not an easy thing to do, and we knew we were gonna catch some flak for it, but just man, I felt like the right thing, especially you know, when we started talking about like our crew and stuff, because I mean partially that was a big part of the decision, because as those guys don't have any like game for going over there. You know, it's not like they're not getting paid more for going over there. They're not, you know, we're just kind of putting them over there. And at the time, it seemed like we were putting them in a little bit of risk of maybe getting stuck or maybe not getting home as easily as possible. And it's just there was just so much uncertainty around it that we just made that decision. I'm glad we made it. It sucks that we took some people off, but you know, we just did it, and now we look like we knew something was coming. But yeah, you'd like to the nostrodamis a freaking touring bands. Yeah, you know, you bring up the crew, guys. I was writing an article on Billboard today and it was talking about coronavirus and the vulnerability of the gig economy and it's you know, who's suffering and everybody's suffering, but all those guys, and I can tell you, Mike's my deal is. I felt like I needed to pay because I just have a tour manage, right, I do stand up have a very little crew. You guys have a ton. But I had probably eight or nine dates and I was able to pay her because she was one person. But what a lot of people don't know is you have a whole team that is traveling with you. Who is some of them are are gig paid? Right? Uh? Well most of our yes, some of them are most of them our on salary at this point. So right now everybody's good. Oh really, you know, yeah, hopefully, you know, we're trying to ride this out to the very last minute. Um Like, right now it looks like everybody's good, everybody's taking care of nobody's working. But but right now we don't really have anyone that is scrounging for a paycheck. So um so that we're fortunate in that, you know, in that way that we have gotten to a point where we could you know, pay our employee and the way we do and keep them keep them in their homes. Right now, Well, let's rewind a little bit though, because let's say it's a year and a half ago, or it's some of these artists that have like a hit, like they don't really have the resources to pay someone a salary yet. And you know, it's a lot of those guys who are the players or guys that are you know, running monitors who are now going, what the crap am I supposed to do? Yeah? Man, that's you know, we weren't. We aren't that far removed from that. And there are a lot of those guys out there, and some of them are you know, on bigger tours to bigger tours, bigger than us, Like, you know, that's just the it's just the philosophy of how you want to pay your people. And neither one is wrong. We just kind of lucked out and this way right now, that that's how we chose. But yeah, for those guys and girls that are out there like humping it and they're getting per show pay, it's got to be really really scary right now. I saw a video you posted trying on curling. Yeah, what that was. That wasn't old, that wasn't a their video. But that was fun. But what's difficult about that? I'm not saying it's easy because I have no idea. I've just never done curling. I see it in the Winter Olympics. Well, so what's tough about curling? Man? Man? Those guys like if you like, talk to the guys who are like super into it. That's the only time we ever did it. Um, there's there's different releases that you can release that stone and make it curve and all this stuff. I mean, the most difficult part is obviously standing on the ice and not just you. But it was fun. I mean, you know, it's it's like it's like, you know, the sport you can drink a lot of beer while you're playing. It's like, you know, it's like bowling almost, So it's like bowling and shelf and board. I'm sure like there's people that are super into it that you know. I don't know. We all sucked at it, but it was fun to try. What are you doing at the house all day? Now? Uh? Man, I've been doing a lot of artwork. Actually, I went to arts cool, so I haven't had a whole lot of time in the past decade to do any kind of like painting or digital art. And that's that I grew up doing a lot of them, so kind of kind of dove into doing a lot of that lately. Would you go with the intentions of doing when you went to art school? Uh, you know, my degree is in the illustrations, so but but honestly, man, I just I couldn't really do anything else. I wanted to go to either music school or um art school because as we're two things that I was super passionate about. But I don't know, I still don't know how to read music. I don't know how to read music. So I couldn't really go to music school. I would have been way behind the curve there. So, um, so art school was really kind of my only other options. So I was either going to have to like stay at home with my parents or and get a job or go to art school. So art school is it? You're telling me you have eight number ones and you don't know how to read music. I don't know how to read. I mean, I can you know. I mean I could not fight read a thing. I could not sit down and play look at it some sheet music and play it. No, I couldn't do it. If you showed me a note and said what note is that, it would take me embarrassingly long to figure it out. I can figure it out, but uh no, I don't read music. It's all here, Of all of we'll do the number ones. Of all the number ones, which one kind of fell out? The quickest that you wrote, um, save it for any Day was the quickest one. And it's a funny story about that one, because so that one was written by me and UM Brad Percy and UM our friend Andrew Dorff, who had passed away a couple of years ago. UM And back then we used to write we had like a sort of standing thing where we would write at nine am before our regular rights, so we would right, our normal right would be scheduled for eleven with whoever, but we would meet at nine and kind of work on something that we had already started or you know, start something knowing that we weren't going to finish it. But that day we didn't really have anything. So the nine am right, and I was trying to think of ideas before I you know, went into the right, and and I had that idea and save it for any day. And I sort of was driving into the right and thinking about it and kind of singing through it. And so when I got there, I kind of sang through the idea and they were like, yeah, let's do that. And we wrote that in like minutes. Um. So when you say you were singing it on the way in, are you just singing the melody? Do you have a lot of the lyrics for the hook? How do What does that mean when you say that? Well, I had, like, you know, I definitely had the idea of like the chorus of like songs to Bright Sky's two Blue, you know, Beers Too Cold. I had that I had basically the chorus kind of idea mapped out and the melody, but I didn't have you know, it wasn't like I was playing a guitar, but I just heard it in my head. So when I got there, I just picked up a guitar and said something like this and and there was a song that that um was inspiring me a lot at that point in time that I've actually written a few songs after that. There's a song called Supplying Demand amous Lee that I just couldn't stop listening to it. I just wanted to keep writing songs like that, and that was sort of my inspiration for that song. So so yeah, I was just kind of like hearing the melody and the lyrics in my head, and when I got there, I spit it out to them and they were like, yeah, let's do it, and like I said, four or five minutes, that thing was done. Yeah. I'm a huge amos amos Lee fan. I saw him at the Right I know Supply and the Man too. I'm just a big amos Lee nerd. But I saw Amoss Lee play at the Rhyman probably six or seven months ago, and he had lost his voice completely and so he's up there he's grinding it out, he's sick. He can only sing the real low parts because the whole high part of his voice was was was gone that his cold or his his whatever had eliminated that. And he had the crowd sing a lot of his songs. And I just felt bad for him, and I was happy that he stayed and tried to sing it. But I wonder, if you're the lead singer, if you if you have that issue, what is it that you do? Now? Man? You just do think you do what he did? You power through? Um, I've done it, you know before. It sucks. Um. I sang with the flu and stripped through before and it was not fun. And it was actually it was a heartbreaking gig because we were playing at the Stone Pony in New Jersey and it's a you know, that's a big, like Springsteen like hot spot, and I'm a huge Springsteen nerd, and you know, that was the first time we ever got to play there, and I was so excited, and I ended up having the flu, but I couldn't sing. But usually I just kind of address it, you know, I say something to the crowd and say, look, you know, at this point, thankfully we have fans that know the words to the songs, and I can say, look, I'm I'm gonna push through this, but I need you tonight, and and they all just kind of carry you through. But it does suck. It gets in your head and you know, get you down because you want to do the best you can do. You ever do a steroid shot right before and get that pop? Oh yeah, I've I've gotten the steroid shots before. They they they are magical, but they've got to be terrible for you. Yeah. I usually crash really hard about a day and a half later, like hardware. I feel worse than I did to begin with. But as long as you can get through the show, like that's what if that's all it feels like it matters because people paid money for tickets, right right, Yeah, Like I'm okay being sick by myself because people didn't lose money if I'm sick by myself, right And if if I'm playing, you know, they do they come and you're harder on yourself, then then they are you know that. I mean, you could probably get through that show and no one would even notice if you if you said it, if you didn't say anything. But it's still in your head and you in your heart, and you want to do the best that you can, and you know it's such an important and kind of sacred thing when you go out there to do that, especially the bigger and the crowd get and you're like, Okay, this is a people have been looking forward to this moment, you know, all year long, So I gotta give it to him. And it sucks to have to like do it sick, but they wouldn't notice. Half time. I brought up eight number ones and that was just Old Dominion, you know, and you brought up Saving for a Rainy Day, which ended up being you know, a Chesney song. How many number ones do you have total? That aren't that are all in the world? Do you know, uh that that aren't Old Dominions? Yeah, like Old Dominion plus other artists I have, Because you got eight with O D right, So then I've got the one that got away with Mike Lay, I got Saving for any Day with Um Kenny. I got to say you do with um dirks Um make you miss Me with Sam like, crap, that might be it. I think that that might be it. When did it? When? When did it start to pop for you? As a songwriter in town, like where people started to actually search you out for rights more so than the other way around. Oh man, Um, like after what was it? Maybe not a year, but what did you do? Peo? We'll go, Oh that's good. I'd like to write with that guy. Yeah, I mean I think it was a song that that we wrote. Um, Trevor and and I and Josh Osborne wrote a song called wake Up Loving You that Craig Morgan ended up recording and that song changed the game for me in a lot of different ways. Um, but it opened up so many doors for me like that that was and for old Dominion. Honestly, that was like the song. That song got me a publishing deal when I needed it, you know terribly. Uh that that song probably opened up more doors than any other song. You know. That song I remember from that me like the alarm at the beginning of it with my alarm. Oh that was from you? Was that from the demo? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, it's funny that song, man, it's crazy like that. The moment that really, the moment that got me in the mix was this decision to go to Key West for the Songwriter Festival. Have you ever been here? No? No, I usually I have to freaking work at my real job. I'd like to go. It's fun. But like back in the day, this is sort of a long story, but back in the day, I was a stay at home dad. I was trying to like work and you know, try to write songs at night and and raise my daughter and try to like somehow make this happen. And I was feeling very frustrated because I'm not a very good like networker and there are people that are really good at that and that gets them pretty far. And I wasn't really good at that, but I knew and I was, you know, writing stuff that was good and if I could just get out there, but I couldn't because I had this daughter and you know. So I was like, look, the whole town goes to key West for for this songwriter festival. If I could just go down there, then I could spend like three or four days networking for this thing. So I had no money. I had a friend that um whose brother is a pilot, and he got me a free ticket, and so I was like, Okay, I don't have a place to stay, but I'm gonna go. I don't care. I'll find a place to stay. I got a free ticket down there, so I got my bag. I landed in Key West. I'm literally walking down the street with my suitcase and I see a songwriter everybody in my name is Bruce Wallace, and he was like, dude, where are you staying. I was like, God, I don't know, and he was like, ah, you should stay with me. I have an extra bed. I got two beds, so I stayed with him. As Cap covered my meals like I would. I got out of like box of granola bars that I would eat for breakfast and for lunch, and then as Cap got my dinner every night. And then I waited until like three am at this little bar called the Bottle Cap that was kind of an open mic thing to get up and play my song. And I got up and played Wake Up Loving You. In the whole place went nuts. And actually Brothers Osborne weren't Brothers Osborne at the time. They were a bank called Team Billy, and they were the house band. So I got up there with them and played Wake Up Loving You and that ended up getting me a publishing deal and set me up amazing. Let's go back two years. Tell me about Old Dominion. Two years ago, Where were you guys two thousand eighteen, Like what what? What? What was the band thinking? Because that's about the time right before you guys really hit hard. Yeah, two thousand and eight, two years ago was when it sounds crazy, but uh, that's when Naked Sweet happened. Um, that was when we it was time to make the next album, and uh, we thought, you know, what are we gonna do. Let's just usually we we have like a list of songs that we kind of have to to go in and record and and I had kind of thrown this little tantrum one night at the end of the year about how we didn't have enough time to make an album and so we needed more more time in our team, who is wonderful made the time for us. So our first recording session snuck up on us and we didn't have any songs. Um in mind, we had songs, but we didn't have a plan. So since we didn't have a plan, we had studio time. We decided to go in and write a song and record it in the same day and see what happened. So that was when you make it Sweet happen. And that that sort of set the tone for the whole thing. I can't believe it was that long ago. He was what song that you put out? Did you feel at the quickest? Uh? What did you feel it the quickest? Meaning like, oh we got ourselves a hit here. Oh it was one man band for sure? Really yeah? Because yeah, yeah, that was like, um immediate, like we went in, we went on tour. The first show was in Chicago in January, and that wasn't necessarily going to be the next single yet, and we played it and people were already singing it like like louder than some of the hits that we had already had, and it was just kind of like a you know, grat track at that point. So it was such an immediate response to that song. Yeah, that's my that's my jam. That's my jam too. As soon as it came out, I remember hitting you up being like, this is my favorite song of my whole life this week? Yeah, crazy, Yeah, that was definitely the biggest one. Well listen, man, go to talk to you. I know we were gonna do this in studio, but the virus got us and hopefully it doesn't have either one of us, but we had to throw it down on the phone. So we'll be sure to connect up one day in person. But what's a big fan of what you do? You know, I'm a massive Old Dominion fanca is. When it comes to albums, I don't think manchoul put them out anymore unless your name is Old Dominion. That's the only album that I care to invest all my time into because you guys just do hit after freaking hit, and the songs you don't put on your record, other artists take them and then they have number one. It's like you're just passing out chair. He hits. I appreciate him. Well, good to talk to you, Matt, and we'll talk to you soon. Yeah, man, stay healthy, I see that. H