The Bank That the Big Banks Want to Stop | John Rich

0:00I've spent 30 years in country music, writing and recording very big songs. I mean, I was songwriter of the year three years in a row at ASCAP in Nashville. You know, sold millions of records, produced records on other people that sold millions of records. But at one point I had to kind of look at the back and forth of that whole scenario and say, well, is the music industry's approval of me more important to me than my right to free speech? is it more important to me than setting an example for my two sons? Do I want to be the guy that yells at the TV on the evening news and goes, look at what these people are doing to our country, and then turn right around, put on my boots and my hat and walk the red carpet and play patty cake with the exact same industry and people that are doing the things I've been yelling at?

0:49Well, that's hypocritical. And I decided one day, no, I'm just not going to do it. I don't know what the fallout's going to be, but I'd rather say what I want to say. be an actual American. And if there's a bloody nose to take, then I guess I'll take it.

1:10I'm Dave Rubin, and joining me today is a multiple Grammy Award-winning country music legend and founder of Old Glory Bank, John Rich. John, how have we never done this before, you country music legend, you? I'm not sure, man, but I'm glad we're doing it now. I appreciate you inviting me on. Yeah, well, I'm happy to have you on. It's funny because we've met once or twice in real life. I just said to you before we started, I can't believe we haven't done this before. Our circles have definitely been crossing over the years. Is that strange for you that you end up talking politics and culture and have a whole other audience related to that when obviously your passion is music and all the things that, you know, made you the star that you are?

1:55yeah it is it is a little strange honestly it's not something uh i thought first of all anybody would care what i have to say and honestly i don't think they do care what i have to say but i think i probably do represent um a large swath of the country you know my background is not fancy at all i'm a high school graduate grew up in the panhandle of texas double wide trailer kind of a month-to-month paycheck kind of a house and, you know, blue-collar parents. And I chased the American dream. Music was what I wanted to do, and I was blessed to be able to attain it and do really big things with it.

2:35And I've always looked at that scenario as, how is that possible that I've been able to do that? And when you really answer that question, honestly, the right to pursue happiness is the phrase that I like to lock in on. not the right to be happy the right to pursue happiness that's a big word it means to be in motion going after it that happiness is not just going to sit down in your lap or wait quietly in the corner while you walk up to it you have to chase it down and the reason i've been able to do those things and pursue happiness is because of our country and because of our military and because of everybody that makes this country continue forward so i think that attitude that thought process is a wide thought.

3:19And because of my music career, millions of people know who I am. So when I start talking about culture and politics, they seem to chime in. What finally pushed you there? I think I know the answer, but maybe not. What finally got you to be speaking up a bit more? You know, I think over the past decade, just seeing a ceiling built over the heads of the average American. Not just a ceiling, but also walls. It seemed like the hallway was getting tighter, the ceiling was getting lower, what was possible for an American was being limited. There were specific politicians on the left and the right, both sides, that were passing laws, making things really more and more difficult for your average American citizen like myself to go out and chase the American dream.

4:12And then they started encroaching on our families. So now I'm a dad. I've got two teenage sons. And then I watched him start to step inside of our houses. So not just the taxes, not just the regulations, but now culturally stepping into our homes, stepping into our schools where our children are at and trying to get us from that direction. But, buddy, that's when I really came up out of my chair. And again, I think there's tens of millions of Americans that honestly are left and right. A lot of my friends are on the left because I'm in the entertainment industry that we disagree on just about everything, except that we don't want you to tell us what we can say or sing and do and leave our families alone.

4:54That's really the two big points that I think we all get along. Yeah. And that's why always when I find myself in a lot of circles that I wouldn't have thought I'd be in 15 years ago, it's like live and let live and let's talk out the rest of the stuff and it's OK. And strangely, that only exists on the right these days. The left has become that kind of monolith of shutting everybody down. Were you worried when you started talking about this that it was going to affect your audience? Because obviously your audience, by the nature of country music, tends to lean a little more conservative. I know that that's a broad generalization.

5:31But obviously, anytime an entertainer is going to talk about politics, somebody's going to get pissed one way or another. yeah i mean i could give you the tough guy answer and say i didn't care what they thought that's not true i mean that's not true i mean i've spent 30 years in country music writing and recording very big songs i mean i was songwriter of the year three years in a row at ascap in nashville you know sold millions of records produced records on other people that sold millions of records but at one point i had to kind of look at the the back and forth of that whole scenario and say, well, is the music industry's approval of me more important to me than my right to free speech?

6:15Is it more important to me than setting an example for my two sons? Do I want to be the guy that yells at the TV on the evening news and goes, look at what these people are doing to our country, and then turn right around, put on my boots and my hat and walk the red carpet and play patty cake with the exact same industry and people that are doing the things I've been yelling at. Well, that's hypocritical. And I decided one day, no, I'm just not going to do it. I don't know what the fallout's going to be, but I'd rather say what I want to say, be an actual American. And if there's a bloody nose to take, then I guess I'll take it.

6:48And I did take a lot of bloody noses and still do. But what I've learned is that the reciprocation from the other side, people that are glad you said what you said, they're glad you had enough intestinal fortitude to stick your face out there and take the pop. They all come rushing to your back, Dave. They all show up by tens of millions. Like I would not reverse the decision I made for anything in the world. Yeah. Do you find that the ascendancy of the middle of the country is connected to all of this, that people are moving to Nashville and it's not just because of the music. It's because of the cultural stuff that there's something very deep suddenly happening here.

7:35Yeah. I mean, I think the more totalitarian you get, the more abusive a particular state or city gets towards its citizens and the more limited that those citizens feel living in that state or city, they're only going to put up with that for so long. And so they leave. It's why there's no U-Hauls heading towards California. They're all being trucked in on 18 wheelers and and there's one way out. I mean, that's what you get. It's interesting that, like, Gavin Newsom wants to run for president, make America California again. Okay. I don't see that working. I mean, good luck. I've got a lot of friends that used to live in California, and these are liberal friends, liberal comedians, liberal actors, writers, musicians that have fled the state of California.

8:22They're either down in Nashville or they're in Austin. They're somewhere other than California. What do you make of the ones that are coming in? Because Nashville has, Nashville, you're right. It's Austin mostly for Texas, but Nashville certainly for Tennessee. I'm here in Miami. I mean, we're all getting this influx. From what I can see here in Miami, these guys are red-pilled. Like I meet the new people now, I'm only five years in, but I meet the new people now and they're absolutely red-pilled. But there's always the concern from the natives, the OG Floridians and people from Tennessee, et cetera, that they're going to come in and wreck it.

8:56What are you seeing on the ground over there? It's a blend of the two, actually. Like I've got a friend who moved here from California. Our sons play ball together and he's totally red pill. I mean, he's born and raised in California. And this guy, I mean, he's Rush Limbaugh times 10. I mean, he does not care. He's walking in with a MAGA cap on, you know, everywhere he goes. But then there's another contingency. Illinois is a big one that's people leaving Chicago coming to Nashville and they come in and it's insane. And I know we've all talked about this ad nauseum, but they show up and they elect mayors and city council people, literally exactly like the ones they just ran away from.

9:39And so then you guys got pretty damn close in Nashville just a few weeks ago. That's what I'm saying. There's a lot more of them here than you, than you'd realize like locusts, you know, they move, they, they, they eat one field and then they all pick up and they fly to the next field and they eat that field and then keep moving. So I'd say it's a blend of the two. So let's talk about banking a little bit because I was reviewing some notes here going, all right, I know the general stuff I'm going to talk to John about, but there is a banking portion of this that is very near and dear to you and has now led to what my guys call a side quest.

10:15Well, you look at a guy like me and I know the first word that comes to mind is, I bet that guy's a banker. I mean, all bankers have a mustache like that and a black, that's important, a denim jacket. Old Glory Bank is a bank that Larry Elder, myself, Dr. Ben Carson, several other people, we founded this bank not long after we watched Justin Trudeau stop the trucker protest by freezing everyone's bank accounts. Remember that? Remember the horses that were stomping down on the people? They're riding their horses through them. They couldn't break up that trucker protest. So eventually what they did is Trudeau called all the banks and he said, hey, if they won't leave, freeze their bank account.

11:03And freeze the bank account of the trucking company that they drive for. And freeze the bank account of the tow truck companies that refuse to tow them out of our town. Freeze everybody's bank accounts. And that's what they did. And that's what eventually stopped the trucker protest. So we were all sitting around looking at this thing going, you know, if you don't think there's American politicians and powerful people in our country that don't fantasize about the ability to to stop Dave Rubin from doing business, to freeze John Rich's bank account, then you're kidding yourself. Of course they want to do that.

11:39So we founded Old Glory Bank. And here's the big thing that I find to be, I mean, it's a clear statement, but it's pathetic that it has to be your marketing statement. You know what the marketing statement of Old Glory Bank is? We will never penalize you for exercising your constitutional rights. That is the statement behind the bank. And guess what? People go, well, thank God. You know, a lot of people think banks have to do what the federal government tells them to do. They think that if Joe Biden or Donald Trump or anybody else leans on Bank of America, leans on Pinnacle and says, hey, Chase, hey, turn over all the information.

12:19Hey, freeze their bank account. Stop that business from doing business that they have to say, yes, sir. And they have to do it. That's not the case. We don't have federally owned banks. These are stock. These are stockholder owned banks or their or their private local banks. They don't have to do that. So an old glory bank. We said, you know what? the only reason we're going to free somebody's bank account is if they are committing felonies with their bank account and you can prove to us that's happening. That's a different conversation. But other than that, we'll see in court. And because of that, this bank has absolutely exploded.

12:50I mean, the amount of accounts opening up are just unbelievable. How do you guys operate in a world of big banks, in a world of too big to fail that then just made everything bigger? That was quite literally the resolution was, oh, we have these institutions that are too big, so then they combine them to make them even bigger. I mean, how do you operate in a system that is kind of diametrically opposed to what the mission statement is? Because the system that's in place has betrayed everyone so bad for so long that your average American is looking around going, what am I supposed to do? I can't trust any of these banks.

13:26And then you offer them an alternative that you can trust it. And that the mission statement is you're not going to be penalized for basically being an American. They go, really? And then in eight minutes, they're able to open an account. You know why it only takes eight minutes? Because the person on the other side of the phone is an American that speaks English that you can understand. I mean, what a concept. It's like back to the basics. It's just treating people like American citizens and they appreciate that. How much time are you spending doing the side quest operations versus music these days and probably 10 other businesses that you're involved in.

14:02I mean, you know, you're not quite as old as me, but you're getting there. I'm catching up. I'm catching up. You got a couple of years on me. Remember back in the day when you'd go to the library at school and they had what they'd call the Dewey Decimal System. And so they'd have all these tiny little drawers and you could pull out P and S and R and look for the books you want to find. That's how my mind is. It's like my head is like a Dewey Decimal System. I can pull one out, work on that for a while, shut that drawer and go to the other drawer. These are all things that I think are important to our country.

14:36I think it's important that we have a banking platform that will not cancel patriots. I think that's a big deal. I think it's a big deal to raise my two sons correctly. I think it's a big deal to not be a hypocrite. I think it's a big deal to call out things that need to be called out to my crowd and to promote things that need to be promoted both directions. I'm not a politician. I don't get money from anybody other than what I can do with these two hands in my brain. And that makes me probably one of the most free agents in America. I mean, I literally don't answer to anybody. And I have just as big a problem with most Republicans as I do with Democrats, even though I vote conservative.

15:16But I've learned a lot about that system, too, that there's a lot of people that say the right things, look the right way, hang out with the right people, have the right associations. But when you dig down into them a little bit deeper, they're not who they say they are. And I think a lot of Americans have woken up to that as well. You'll probably appreciate this. I always refer to myself as I'm a Florida Republican, for sure. Like, I know what that means in the state of Florida. But as far as national, it's like, yeah, I vote with Republicans because the Democrats are completely insane. But I but I certainly don't have this like crazy belief that they're going to never fail me because they usually will.

15:52Actually, to that point, what do you make of some of the infighting on the right right now? It seems to me that we should be so united regardless of whether we all agree 100 % on any of these issues. And yet there's an awful lot of unnecessary fighting right now. Are you tracking that? Oh, yeah, I'm tracking it. Of course I am. I mean, every inch of it, every centimeter of it, every day. So what do we do? What do we do? Well, I mean, one thing that's, in my opinion, good about the right is that we're not afraid to argue with each other, debate each other, call each other out. I mean, the country was founded with men who had vigorous debate and even within their own party.

16:35That was when they were building out the Constitution, for instance. I mean, you know the stories. I mean, hardcore, like really aggressive debate that went on back then. And that made the country stronger and made it greater. You know, the left will never debate each other. Very rarely will you see anybody on the left call out somebody else from the left. But on the right. Yeah, it's happening all the time to me that that is the way that the general public, when they see two factions of the same party vigorously going at it. It gets your attention, doesn't it? You're like, why are they arguing?

17:10What are they arguing about? And then you start reading what they're arguing about. And then you get to make up your mind where you land in this argument. And maybe you don't land with either one of them. Maybe both of them are totally missing it. But it does lend itself, I think, to the basic American digging into the subject themselves and learning more about it. Yeah. Are you worried that some of this fighting is going to lead to, you know, the bloodbath that everyone's predicting for the Republicans in the midterms? And then we're kind of, we're just hung up for the next two years? I mean, Trump will just be sort of over.

17:43It could happen. I mean, it could. Listen, here's another thing. If you promise things that vote for me and you're going to get this, and then here's the problem with the general public. If they don't get it right away, that to me is the caveat. If they don't get it right away, like huge, gigantic things that are promised, I think a lot of Americans have made a mistake in thinking you can literally snap your fingers and make this happen. And some of the things that Trump was running on are so big and so deep and so entangled in so many other things that there's really no way to snap your fingers and just fix it overnight.

18:22If there was, he's the kind of president that would do that. So I think the patience level of most of your voters has worn very thin. I'm really curious what's going to happen between now and the elections in 2026. How many things that we were told were going to happen are going to happen? I think if a lot of those things do start to happen and we see results, I think it's a landslide victory in 26. I think if that doesn't happen, it's going to be a tough road. Oh, man, we need that landslide victory. Otherwise, yeah, that tough road. I mean, how long do you think Americans patients can hold out?

18:59Well, I mean, I think there's a couple of things. I think one, just by history, 70 percent of the time, the incumbent president's party loses the midterm. So he's got history working against him for sure. He's got, you know, the media and the machine is always working against him. But I do think you're right that there's a couple wins that could really come. Some of the economic wins that we're starting to see right now. If they can, you know, look, he released the Epstein stuff. Does anyone actually get hung up and caught up? And can they close a case that will make people feel like there was something there that got taken care of?

19:32There's some things that need some loose ends tied. But I think you're totally right about the time thing, that everyone wants everything now. You know, we get everything immediately on this freaking device. So we don't know that it takes time to make some things happen and it all doesn't happen overnight. And that's just a, I guess that's a function of modernity, the way our brains are wired now. Yeah. I mean, I think if we see some perp walks of some obviously guilty people, that will help. That will help. 100 % it will. You know, it drives Americans crazy that if I don't pay my taxes on time, you will come arrest me.

20:10You will put me in handcuffs and you will haul me off until I can figure out how to pay it. But we're seeing people guilty of egregious things that are now provenly egregious. And there they are discussing it and talking about and doing it. And no one has been perp walked yet. I mean, you're talking to a guy who I said at the beginning of this interview, I do represent a vast, vast swath of Americans on the way that we think. And it's hard for most people to understand. If you've got them dead to rights, why in the hell have you not perp walked them yet? Right? Because you would have perp walked me a long time ago.

20:42And this is not just outside of Jeffrey Epstein. It goes into governors taking money from, you know, horrible overseas, you know, enemies of the United States being funded by our enemies. I mean, if that's blatantly obvious, and you've got all the goods, why are they still in office? These are the questions we're all asking. And I'm telling you right now, if we get all the way to the midterms and none of those things have happened and the bad guys are still running loose, we will lose in the midterms. It won't matter. It's not about the arguing. It's about the results that the American voter wants to see.

21:16Let's shift back to music for a second, because it seems to me that country music is having a resurgence that is connected to the cultural and political part of what we've been talking about here. you know I'm not a huge country guy in general but I actually have been listening to more country music lately than listening to Morgan Wallen my guys here got me got me into him there seems to be a feeling around country music that that the rest of the music industry has ignored for a long time must be very satisfying for you to to see it finally coming around in a different way you know I think for a long time especially you know really pretty much starting with Obama and then and then they had such a stranglehold on it through Trump's first term and the hatred for him was so big in the industry and then Biden of course but I think when Trump won that second time and we had been through four years of Biden and what that did to the music industry what that did to people's livelihoods I think coming out the other side of that you finally saw artists going you know what enough is enough.

22:24I'm putting them up. I'm going to say what I think, which is a great thing, Dave, because country music wasn't founded and is not popular because it was founded on the backs of wishy-washy people. I mean, it was Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn and Haggard and Willie and Waylon and, I mean, artists that did not care what you thought about what they had to say. They're like, this is what I think. I'm going to put it into a song. You decide if you like it or not. They became the pillars of country music. So yes, I do see artists starting to turn back in that direction. And I think the music industry doesn't have a choice, but to go along with it, because the audience is so hardcore against a lot of the bad things that have happened to them.

23:07If you go the other direction, the phrase I use is they will Dixie chick you. They will turn you off and never turn you back on. What do you make though of the general state of how the music itself, putting aside that people are speaking up more. The message of the music, country music has a pretty consistent message. And that seems to be now hitting people in a way that, you know, I watched freaking Bad Bunny at the halftime show and putting aside that my Spanish is very broken, I was like, I don't know, is this music? Okay, I guess. Yeah. Country music, like pretty much any genre, but I can speak to country, it's very cyclical.

23:45Very cyclical. And that cycle may be 20 years, maybe 25 years sometimes but we are cycling back to simplistic simple country-rooted themes artists that that speak the truth their their sonics are not like overdriven into something else they actually sound like country music one of my favorite artists out there now is a guy named zach top if you don't know who zach top is go look him up zach top sounds like uh if vince gill and Keith Whitley got together. He's got licks like Keith Whitley, but he sings high like Vince Gill and can play the fire out of a guitar. I mean, can for real deal play a guitar and really write music.

24:28I love that kid. And I see other ones coming on board. I think country music's headed in a really good direction right now. What do you make of the AI situation as it relates to all this? You can basically use AI to tell you, hey, I want a country song. Here's what I want the chorus to be, blah, blah, blah. I mean, you can do this with any genre, obviously. Is this just, we're just going to be up against this in every artistic realm forever now? I think we'll be up against it. Yeah. But the question I've had is this, who gets paid? Who gets paid? Okay. If AI - Open AI? I don't know. Yeah. I mean, so Open AI is going to start a publishing company, but I mean, who, is it the person that prompted the AI?

25:11They're going to start getting a check from BMI and ASCAP. And I mean, who's going to get the money for that? So there's that whole side of it. But the other side is there is no machine or tech that will ever be in love. It will never fall in love. It will never go to a party. It will never have a kid. It will never go to a funeral. It will never understand the dynamics of life like an actual human being. and in that respect, it will never, ever replace the great American songwriter. We say things from such a place of experience and depth. I mean, that's what we do. We experience the same things everybody else experiences, but our skill set allows us to pull that out through a pencil, onto the page, out of guitar, through a microphone, and into your ears.

26:08AI will never be able to compete with that. And the question is, can they fake it well enough to drag the rest of us into the digital realm? I suspect you're probably right. We will always have humans turning out something a little better than the machines. But I guess, well, I guess that's what The Matrix was about. Bring it on. Bring it on. I'll take on Grok any day. I'll take on OpenAI any day. Let's go. John Rich, you're always the real deal. We will link to Old Glory Bank down below. And I hope we can do this in person next time. Appreciate it, Dave. Thank you. Thank you.