#672 - Trace Adkins

28:44You get a bunch of geese together. They're hawking in the air. Thanks, Gary. That's awesome, dude. But I'll tell you this. He needs to be on National Geographic Channel with that kind of insight to the wildlife. That's shit we didn't know That's more than I've learned Thanks Gary That's more than I've learned in a while I think though But uh At least he still has a great sense of humor man I'll say that I don't think he was trying to be funny You don't think so? I don't know I hope he was Yeah He might have been I've been around Gary a good bit Oh you have? He's legit crazy Yeah Oh he is? I didn't even know that Yeah Yeah Yeah.

29:34I just see stuff and you always think it's just him being him, you know? Oh, he had a traumatic brain injury. I didn't even. Yeah, he had a motorcycle wreck. Oh, I didn't know this or I didn't remember it. He had a malignant tumor from a sinus cavity as well. It said in 97. In 88, he had a motorcycle crash. So there was kind of a before him and after him type of energy? Oh, wow. He's always been a little crazy, though. Yeah. But then after the motorcycle wreck, he went full blown. Oh, yeah, that'll bake it in. That'll bake it is. It's in the ingredients then. I love him, though. He's funny. Yeah, entertaining guy.

30:13Did you have any other jobs, man, before you really got kind of like before you took on music full time? Well, when I moved here, I went out to DuPont and worked out there on O 'Hickory Lake at that plant out there. I worked for B.E.N.K. Construction. I worked out there for a couple years before I got a record deal. Yeah. And was that just like day-to-day? Like what kind of stuff they have you doing? Pipe Fitter's Helper. Fitter's Helper. Oh, you worked with Pipe Fittin'? Were you in the union? No. Oh, dude, my buddy freaking Corey was in the freaking union, dude. Fitter, Pipe Fitter's Union? Yeah, he said he was.

30:51He was always over there just drinking. He'd drink a big thermos of milk and drink it all the time on the sidelines of work. and then he gets sick if they were out in the sun and shit. He was a damn liability. But my brother ended up hiring him because they were friends. He's a gypsy. Some of those guys can do whatever. They'll spray your house and they'll spray your driveway and tell you it's asphalt. You know what I'm talking about? If somebody show up with a truck full of nothing and be like, yeah, we got a truck full of it. And you don't even go look in the truck to see if anything's in it.

31:21Nothing's in it. It's just a spray rig with a little bit of paint and they'll paint it on there. But anyway, yeah. I'm trying to think. What were we talking about? Just jobs we had. Oh, dude, I'll tell you one. I remember I sold, they had door-to-door Italian going on in our area for a while. They had this guy, Donnie Ferrari or whatever, and he was selling door-to-door Italian food. And I got linked up with him somehow. Some guy my mom was kind of dating or whatever. Some guy she met at a damn, probably by a Xerox machine or something because it was in the 80s or whatever. And I ended up working for him for a while.

31:55And it was just door-to-door. we would take Italian food and try to get people to buy it, dude. And that was probably. No, they weren't even calling you to bring it. You were trying, you were going to their house trying to sell them. Yeah. And I was apprentice assistant or whatever. Sorry, dude, but I'm not buying any food. You come up, knock on my door, you know, I'm going to look at you. No, man, I ain't buying no food from you. Bro, when I show up in my little ravioli dance, bro, it would be popping out there. Come on, man. But I will tell you this. It did help me because I was kind of an apprentice at first.

32:25And so it did help me, I think, get a little bit of that. I'm going to do something I don't want to do. You were an apprentice for what? Selling to him. No, man. Everybody that sells door-to-door is a fucking apprentice. There's no professional door-to-door selling food. Oh, this guy was good, brother. Donnie was pretty good. I mean, he was the best in our area. and uh yeah i worked at him for almost probably almost 11 months four months probably about almost seven months um but yeah i was out there dude i think it did help me a little bit because we get a new you know the big thing that all the ladies wanted at the time was uh garlic bread and it's still what they want it's it's still what they want but uh but i remember that was kind of probably one of the wildest jobs that I had.

33:21But when I first started listening to country music was when I was working on that farm and I would put on top 40, they'd have like Casey Kasem or something at the time. But I think that was a little more like pop, but on one day they would do, I guess it was country top, I think it was probably top 40. It might even be a day where they would do a hundred songs or something, you know? And I'd cut the tractor off and I'd stand out there and just sing the songs that I loved, man. I remember every Sunday morning, it was always a countdown. That's what it was, then. But it wasn't Casey Kasem. Oh, my God.

33:54Who was it? You're right. I can't believe that I don't remember his name. I did a bunch of interviews with him, and now I can't think of his name. I'm getting to be that way, though, man. Forgetting names and stuff. Yeah. Mixing them up. I do it. It's hard. I know, Leo. It's terrible. I can't remember. Well, dude, I can barely remember Donnie Ferrari who I freaking apprenticed with. No, why can you remember something, some insignificant Italian dude from back then and you can't remember stuff from just a few days ago? I think it's just because you go through so many neighbors with the man. You're pulling the wagon.

34:30He's pulling the wagon. You're pissed. He's pissed. Y 'all are right there. But when you get to the door, you got to work together. So I think... But you know what I'm going to remember, though, next time I'm trying to woo a lady, it's garlic bread. Oh, yeah. I got to remember that. Oh, fucking, I'd warm peace up in the microwave and just freaking dab it on the sides of my neck, brother. They know what's up. They know what's up. But that's when I fell in love with country music, man. That's when I fell, because I would just be out there all day. And I think that's what a lot of the radio stations would play.

35:00I used to put a cassette in and record the top 40 countdown. That's the way we always got our tunes, like, because, you know, back in the mid-'80s, I was playing in a cover band. And, you know, you needed to know a certain number of songs from, you know, the current top 40. You know, it was a big deal. You needed to know a bunch of those songs because that's what everybody wanted to hear was what they were hearing on the radio. So we'd cover all those tunes and that's how we learned them. We'd just record them on cassette off the countdown and that's how we learned them. When did you put together, I mean, your first album, Dreaming Out Loud, was your first album?

35:39Mm-hmm. How did it get to the place where you're working on an oil rig, you're playing some, and then you're playing covers, and then how do you get to that next step? Is that of your own volition fully, or did somebody come along and kind of give you an inspiration or let you, like, take me through a little bit of that if you don't mind. Oh, God, it's just such a long story. Oh, is it? Yeah, but it did start when I was working on a drilling rig. I'd take my guitar out there, and I'd try to write, and then I met this guy out there that knew these other guys in a band in Lafayette, Louisiana. And he said, man, this time when we're off for two weeks, come down.

36:12I'll introduce you to these guys. So I went down there and, you know, sang with them a little bit. And then they wanted me to go to Dallas. They had already won a local competition in the Battle of the Country Bands. And they wanted me to go to Dallas with them for the regionals. And it was going to fall on a time when I was off for two weeks. So I went. And we won the thing in Dallas. And then we came here for the finals and, you know, we lost here, but that was my first taste, you know. I came off a drill and rig and then I'm on stage at, you know, TPAC, you know, in front of all these industry people and it freaked us all out.

36:56You must have been nervous, huh? That's nerves. Oh, we choked. Yeah. So we didn't win. But anyway, that kind of gave me the, you know, the fever, you know. And then a few years later, I moved up here. And that's kind of how it started and met the right people and songwriters and some other music executives. And that's been it? That was it. Man, I saw you at the Ryman a few weeks ago, dude. And I hate to say this, but I just was reminded of so many songs. You just kind of like when you go watch, it kind of takes you through little parts of your life. you'll hear a song you'll be like oh I used to kind of that song it almost becomes a champagne and then bubbles of like memories during that time start to come up through it you know that was my first single June 26, 96 30 years ago and you wrote it?

37:55I wrote it with Vip Vipperman Carl Vipperman everybody calls him Vip and was there any story behind some of that? no he was just we were just sitting down getting to know each other because I'd never met Vip before but But, you know, a guy I was working with, producer at the time, just hooked us up and said, I think you ought to write with Vip. He's a good dude. You know, I think you all get along. And we sat down together and we were just kind of getting to know each other. And he was asking me questions and asked me where I'd come to Nashville from. I told him I'd been living in Texas and playing honky tonks out there for a while.

38:30And he asked me, he said, well, is there a girl in Texas? And I was like, yeah, a bunch of them. And he said, well, let's write that. I was like, what? That's how y 'all do this? So that's what happened. And we just wrote it. One of my favorites is Every Light in the House, man. That song, dude, I freaking. Well, that was my first hit. I mean, Girl in Texas, I think, got to 17 or 18 or something like that. On the charts? But then Every Light in the House is on, got to number five. Wow, man. Dude, that song, bro. And then the next single went to number one, and the next single went to number one, and I was like, here we go.

39:13That song. Because I was all brokenhearted because I'd separated my girlfriend and I and went separate ways because we were boyfriend and girlfriend, and then I was going to school in Arizona. She was staying in Louisiana. Not to make your song about me, but that's what was going on, and I think I ate a bunch of mushrooms or something. and I was saying goodbye to her at this gas station, and I didn't know these mushrooms were really going to start hitting. And they had a lot of oil spots on the ground. And just from cars. Of course, it's a gas station. What's that? It's a gas station. Yeah, so it's a gas station.

39:48In Louisiana. Yeah, yeah. So a lot of oil spots. But the mushrooms was kind of getting my brain. It started massaging my brain a little bit and really touching my brain stem. And then I saw all those oil spots started moving. I thought they were roaches because Louisiana, we also have a lot of roaches. and you'll see somebody, you know, that's high, just stamp the hell out of a damn oil spot. But, yeah, I started freaking out, and she got kind of scared, and it was like this weird moment. Like, anyway, that relationship ended, but I remember just being heartbroken. I'd be out there in Arizona just listening to that song, dude, and it was just, anyway, I'm sure a lot of people.

40:26You want to see oil spots, pull up in front of an O 'Reilly's or an AutoZone. Oh, God. Oh, my God. It's like just oil slicks out in front of the store. Pull up in front of my sister's house when she was married to her ex-husband, too. Pull up in front of my house until I started making some money and got a car, got a truck that didn't just pour oil out the bottom of it. I used to put as much oil in my trucks as I put gas in them. Well, hell yeah, you did. You did it with your first toy as a kid. No wonder that shit made sense, bro. That was just a predecessor of what was going to go on. Dude, you remind me I had this 86 Jimmy or something it was called, right?

41:06I think they're called. It was a Chevrolet. It was 86, maybe Chevy. Something like that. GMC Jimmy. Yes, GMC Jimmy, man. I would always fuck up. I would tell people it was a Chevy, and I'd get Chevy parts for it, and it wouldn't fit or whatever. But something was broken on it, and about every 80 miles, I had to pull over, and I headed out to Arizona, driving out west for my first semester of college. Dude, I must have stopped. I can't even tell you. 90 times I had to stop, let it cool down, and then keep it cruising. It was kind of like that brown one. No, it wasn't that nice. It was something different.

41:39Oh, it was a Blazer. It was a Chevy Blazer. Chevy Blazer, yeah. Not the GMC, Jimmy. No. And the seats were flammable. But you could use Chevy parts on a GMC. That was it right there, dude. And you had to hold the - Nice chick magnet. Oh, dude. It was some checks. And your girlfriend left you and you were driving that sweet ride? What's wrong with that bitch? I know you're right, dude. You know what? She's probably with some low-rent dude now, man, driving around in a Corolla or something. She could have had that. I know. Well, look, every now and then I'll send her an email and say she missed out.

42:26Toyota ain't one of y 'all's sponsors, are they? No. That's good. No big company like that would sponsor us. But yeah, dude, that vehicle right there, I'd have to pull over. And dude, the whole back of the vehicle, even for a while, was antifreeze. Because that's what I needed the whole time. So I couldn't even have guests come in the car because it was full. I'd probably have, I'd be sitting there, sometimes I'd have 20 bottles of antifreeze in there. And I'd have to use them all, pull over and use antifreeze and water. But if you just use water, it would burn off too quick. but man sometimes the car got so hot i'd have to step away from it for a while you know and i go walk or don't go sit sit in the distance and write a poem or something but uh that bitch was that bitch was hot dude i don't know if they allow cars to get that hot anymore but um but yeah dude that was unrequited love i found out it's where'd you go to college i went to university arizona at first oh yeah and how'd you do that i mean why i just want to do I went all the way off in the desert.

43:22I'm going to do something different. Well, you went, desert's different from Louisiana. Yeah, just like, I'm going to do something different. But I came back after one semester, I went to LSU. And then. I don't like the desert. Yeah? Do you? I don't like the desert. You know what? There's a moment in the day I really like it. You know, right around that. You know what I like? Daylight. Yeah. Daylight, yeah. Or even just right at dusk. Yeah. I like that. There's something nice about it. There's something about it that it doesn't really have much of a memory, but it has like a wisdom or something.

43:55I don't know. There's something about it that I think is pretty interesting. But I didn't like it then, man. That was a tough time. But it was a good time, man. But that was when love was just – your whole body was just damn made out of damn hormones or whatever. And you'd pet a dog and it'd give birth. It was just like you were just that agile, just that viral or whatever. You'd spit on a tree and it'd fucking grow fruit or whatever out of it. How many puppies you had?

44:29That's true. I don't know what I'm talking about. That's nasty, bro. And Gary Busey just left the room, I will say that. What about, is there a story behind that song? Which one? Every Light in the House. No, dude, that's just when I heard it, I was like, that sounds like a hit to me, you know? And Scott Hendricks, who was producing that first record, I mean, we just, there's some songs you hear and you just go, that's a hit. Yeah. Just, there's no doubt, you know? So that was one of those no doubters. Was there a song you wrote that you felt like had a story to it more like that?

45:07More like what? That's a great question, actually. I don't know what the end of my question was. Oh, all of them have a story. Was there one, somebody said Arlington has a cinema. Well, yeah, of course, man. That was very personal. I didn't write that, but it was just such a personal thing that I knew who wrote it, and I knew the story behind it, and I knew who it was written about. And so before we released that song, I asked the family to come in, and we played the song for them. And I said, look, this song's written about your son, so we want your blessing before we put this out. And, yeah, it was a very personal thing.

45:51Everybody listened to it and cried, and we got their blessing, and so that was cool. Wow. And has that family come to some of your shows and stuff? I haven't seen the Nixons in a while. Was it about their son? Yeah. Yeah, it was about Patrick Nixon. Lance Corporal Patrick Nixon, he was a Marine, and his dad was a Marine, and his grandfather was a Marine, and so that's where that song came from. Amen. Yeah. But I've written some personal ones. They all come from that kind of place, you know? Yeah, I was just wondering. I just didn't know because I think, you know, as a person who just like, Like, you know, I've written a lot of, you know, love letters and all of that.

46:42Really? Oh, yeah. Love letters. Apologies. Well, I can imagine that, but I don't know about the love poems. Yeah, I've written a lot of apologies, I think. More apologies than love letters, probably. Oh, yeah. If you'd have written more love letters, you wouldn't have to write so many apologies. That's probably the truth, right? You're better at the other one. Yeah. I think there might be a song in that little idea right there. That's something coming in. I think probably one of the most personal songs I ever wrote to me was a song called Welcome to Hell. And I was really, really pissed off when I wrote that.

47:24You know, so, I mean, of course I wrote it in 2001, you know, sometime after the World Trade Center thing, after 9-11. So, no, it was personal. It was very personal to me, you know. Where did that angst come from? Was it just from that sort of thing, just from, like, America, like, just the devastation in our country and what it felt like it did to us? Yeah, I wrote it because I thought, you know, these guys, they think that they're going to do this kind of stuff and then they're going to end up in heaven with 72 virgins and all this. And I said, how surprised are they going to be, you know, When they end up, and the guy says, welcome to hell.

48:06Oh, you thought you were going there. Well, no, dude. This is where you're going to be. So that's how I wrote that. As your career's going on, has it been tougher to have inspiration for songs, or do you feel like certain songs kind of check a certain box as an artist moves through time, and then that has kind of been filled? man I don't write as much anymore but it's because I don't that inspiration that you're talking about every now and then you'll hear something I'll hear a phrase or just a line that somebody said and then it rings the bell and I'm like oh god that's a song I'm gonna have to write that and it's almost like it's a gift that's just given to you and you have to deal with it you know like having some kind of disease or something you know I'm like to deal with this now you know so that's a good point actually yeah like having a disease because creativity is kind of a disease I feel like if you want to tend to it yeah you got to you know you have to deal with it it comes knocking and you just got to deal with it you know dude it's so funny I forgot about that I forgot that that's like how creativity happens a lot of times like It's like herpes.

49:24It's just, you know. Yeah. I don't, I mean, you know. Yeah, neither one of us have it. No. But I've heard that it's like, you know, it just comes. You got to deal with it. Yeah, yeah. I've heard it shows up like a damn. Cousins. Oh, it shows up like. Like family. It shows up like door-to-door Italian food. Yeah. That's how it shows up. I got to deal with this guy now. Oh, Don. Trying to sell me food that his grandma cooked, you know, in her roachy kitchen. Hey, I'll say this. I will say this. I remember we had a manicotti in May special, and that shit was popping, dude. What was it? Manicotti in May.

50:03Because a lot of women, they get so hot in the summer, they're like, I ain't cooking. In our town, you give your damn kid a piece of ice or something, put a little sugar on the back of it. Give that to him or whatever. Sometimes a woman just spit cold water in your mouth or something, and that count as a side item. But yeah It was just a different time We had a beautiful manicotti Bring manicotti up Yeah it was a different time

50:35Now look at that Trey You telling me Well yeah You telling me Like Italian burritos You telling me A man named Donnie Ferrari With an 11 or 12 year old kid He doesn't know Shows up at your door Trying to sell you that You ain't gonna get you A couple for your lady I don't think so man Not today hey, not today, man, not now, not in this time, maybe in that time, but not now. Yeah, you're right. You know, not now. That's some desperate shit. No, I'm not buying food from you, kid. Go away before I call social services to come get your ass. Some of them we kept in the warmer, and some of you had to warm yourself.

51:14But that was a good job. It was how I learned to just go on ahead and approach people. what's the love life been like over the years trace i know you got some stories from it and i hate to lead you in like that but sometimes you know a creative person they feel love kind of deep i feel like you know if if your brain is kind of deep i feel like your heart can be kind of deep as well um i reckon i gave as good as i got that's fair you know what i mean yeah I love you as good as you love me, I guess. Yeah. It's got to be that kind of deal, though. Oh, yeah. I ain't going to just love you if I ain't getting any back.

51:55I'll quit. Yeah. I'll quit loving you if you quit loving me. Dude, that sounds like a deal. I mean, you know, but I'll love you as hard as you want to love me. I'll get down. Come on. I'll match you heartbeat for heartbeat. Yeah. Dude. Whatever. I'm not joking, though. I swear to God, one of my past relationships, if we'd have just met one day in the kitchen and said, look, I'll quit loving you if you quit loving me, we would have both. And if we would have, because we both, that's what we both wanted to do. We just didn't do it, you know? Yeah. It's happened, of course. I mean, I'm on my fourth marriage now, so.

52:37Are you really? Yeah, really. Dang. What'd you learn about him? I think really because Blake married us, so we're not 100 % sure if we're actually really married, but I think we are. Who Shelton did? Hmm. Wow. Dude, somebody said he has like a sandal collection. I heard a room he has like a male footwear collection or something. Sandals? Yeah, men's sandals. Is that true? Have you heard anything like that? I hope not. I'm going to stop being friends with him if it's true. because Blake's always said you can't trust a guy wearing flip-flops or sandals. Oh, maybe he's doing it on the side. Or, you know, I don't mean, I just mean maybe he, you know, maybe he keeps a pair under his bed.

53:22I don't have any idea. That's just something that I heard. Bring that up. Wow, that's... Bring that up. Bring a Blake Shelton sandal rumor that we just started. Oh, my God. See, he's anti. Oh, is he really? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I was like, no, man. He said you can't ever trust a guy wearing flip-flops or sandals because if you get stuck, he ain't going to help push you out. It's true. He won't help push you out. He won't help do anything. A guy wearing sandals is not hardly going to help you do anything. You know what I'm saying? Because he's going to get his toes banged up, and so he's not going to help you do anything.

54:00He's not even wearing shoes, so he can't help anybody. He's not going to run in a house and save children when the house is on fire. He ain't got no shoes on. Yeah. He's worthless. He's a worthless male. You know? He ain't got no shoes on. He's absolutely worthless. There go half of the Sigma Tau's out there. I think probably out of those guys. Give a shit. Oh, I don't care either. I'm just saying. Give a shit. Yeah, if somebody has sandals on. I mean, it's like soccer. You know, come on. Stop with that crap. Well, if somebody has sandals on, it's just like, well, the worst is you will see someone, and I'll say this out loud right now, Trace, you'll see somebody with sandals on who have sunburn on the top of their feet.

54:45They wear sandals a lot. Yeah. And they can't do nothing now. Like my buddy Bryce. Can't put shoes on because you got sunburn on your feet. Yeah. If you can't put shoes on and go to work. Because your feet are sunburned. Because the tops of your feet are sunburned, then you are not, then you definitely. You're not helping society at all. Yeah. Yeah, then you're definitely, you should be selling damn door-to-door Italian. That's from Johnny Farago or whatever, what his name was. Donnie Ferrari. Donnie Ferrari, okay.

55:19That's some made-up shit anyway. His name, his name wasn't really Ferrari. You know, I never saw any of his paperwork. I know he lived in city limits okay well then he's legit

55:38bro thank you so much for hanging out with me today man I know we've been trying to catch up for a while and I've been a fan for a long time I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it I've got the explosive diarrhea you hear about that going around bring that up that's some funny shit isn't it You ever had explosive diarrhea? I have not. I've had like semi-explosive or something that the DOT would pull you over if you didn't have the right tags on your truck. You know what I'm saying? If you didn't have the right placard showing. I've had that. Cyclospora. Yeah, that's the new one, yeah.

56:13Explosive diarrhea. I've had it. Have you really? Yeah. Have you had a colonoscopy? I haven't had one. I mean, I've felt around the outside. You're going to have explosive diarrhea when you get that. Really? Yeah. It's fun. I don't want that. I shit my pants twice that day. Nuh-uh. Same day? Same day. Oh. Twice. And it wasn't like, you know, it was totally involuntary. Of course, it was involuntary. I just don't voluntarily shit myself. Yeah, yeah. You know, very rarely do I do that. Oh, that's when the Italian comes. I probably have, but I can't remember last time. Oh, yeah. Oh, voluntarily shitting yourself.

56:54That's just a way to get out of a fight, usually. Or church. Yeah. Even the Lord don't want you around at that point. Offering plates coming. I got to shit myself. So you got this disease that happened there? Or what is this? Cyclosmora? No, I didn't have that. I just took all that stuff the doctor gave me the day before I had a colonoscopy. And so you're saying you didn't have a choice if you wanted to go to the bathroom or not. It just went for you? Well, it was kind of a weird thing. I thought I felt fine. I was taking all the stuff, drinking the stuff, taking the pills, the whole thing. And I was at the farm, and I was just like, I think I can go do some stuff.

57:34I don't feel bad at all. So I went, and I had a little 10-foot john boat in the pond, and I was going to pull it up on the bank. And I just reached down and grabbed it. It didn't weigh very much, just a little old aluminum boat. I reached out and grabbed it and pulled it and just You know It was like I mean really In my boots bad You know what I'm saying To the top of your hat And so of course I You know just went on in the pond Oh you just got in the water Cleaned that up That's the way to do it and I'll leave your clothes in there And I thought well okay that's not going to happen again You know So that's got to be it You know What do you mean?

58:18You don't think I went and changed clothes and then I went to try to do something else. Yeah. And I had a flat tire on one of my side by sides and I had it on jack and I was going to take the jack out from under it because I'd already changed the wheel. So got up in there, took the jack out and then I was going to get up off the ground and I grabbed the tailgate on that thing and pulled myself up. And when I strain just that little bit, I call that explosive diarrhea. I mean, if you make the least little exertion, it just comes, you know? Oh, yeah. That's explosive. Oh, I've had some shit where you try to blow your nose.

58:58And my wife thought it was the funniest. That woman laughed at me all day long. She's laughing right now. She's laughing right now because she loved it. She thought it was the funniest thing in life, man, seeing me soiled like that. God. And just, you know. That bums me out. She's professed a deeper love for me than ever before because I guess I was at my most vulnerable. Yeah. You know? That's what they say. She thought. They say a vulnerable man attracts a woman. I was attractive that day. Super attractive, man. I was drawing them like flies. And flies.

59:43Dude, I remember. Green flies. I remember one time I was on something. I think I was on antibiotics, and I'd also been using a lot of Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot. Had to clap. No, I don't know. No, no, nothing. I was using it on food. And I took a – Dude, I've tried to blow my nose. It just blew my ass. I just shit my ass. I didn't even want to. I know. Well, of course you did. Well, maybe you did. I didn't. I didn't want to either. Yeah. And then that was it. I didn't go back outside for the rest of the day. Yeah, you didn't go back outside. I didn't go back outside. I didn't put clothes on again.

1:00:24Oh, that's when you're really bad off. My wife put like four towels down on the couch, and I just laid there for the rest of the day naked. Oh, God, that's when the devil's got your ass. Yeah. God. So I'm sympathizing with the explosive diarrhea people that have had the misfortune of being. Yes. I think it's the lettuce. And so last night, my wife made me this big old salad, and I was like, uh-huh. I know what you're doing. She's trying to make some vulnerability. I know what, yeah. And some more, she wants to love me hard again. So she wants me vulnerable, man. You know. God, I think we put women through so much pain, sometimes they just have to poison us.

1:01:08That's what I think. Well. So, but I don't know. I'm alone. Anyway. This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So you were scrolling on Marketplace and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew. Well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for. From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook. Is pornography causing a problem in your life? Do you find yourself watching porno for longer periods of time and having trouble stopping?

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1:02:42Steve is an amazing person and he is a close friend of mine. I mean that. Valor Recovery helps men to develop the tools necessary to have a healthier sex life. Their coaches are in long-term recovery and will be your partner, mentor, and spiritual guide to transcend these problematic behaviors. To learn more about Valor Recovery, please visit them at www.valorrecoverycoaching.com or email them at admin at valorrecoverycoaching.com. Thank you. Dude, I'll tell you this story. So I got invited to a Randy Moss fishing tournament once. And it was up in Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. And the night before they took you out, everybody went out.

1:03:36And I was out, and this was when Jägermeister was popping. Remember that? It was basically German motor oil or something that they'd fermented and they were selling here. Allegedly, that's what it was. Tastes like robot tussing. Yeah. Tastes like robot tussing too, dude. Tasted f***ing horrible. tasted like you, you know, it just made you so angry at everything. When you ate it, you just didn't even want to have any more. And some people would put it on their skirt steak. They put it as a damn demi-glaze. And that would blow my mind. But anyway, so I go out to this fishing tournament. I'd stayed up all night, dude.

1:04:08I'd slept maybe 40 minutes. And I was like, I'm not missing this fishing tournament. Roy Jones Jr. was there. It was like, this is the first time I've been around any celebrities in my life. So I got out there. Why did they invite you? I don't know. Were you a celebrity then? When was that? No, I don't remember. That was a long time ago. It was a long time ago. Oh, you probably went to their house selling that Ferrari stuff. Oh, yeah. You mean the manicotti? Yeah. Yeah. Won them over with that, and they invited you to the fishing tournament. Yeah, so they invited me. Now, this is a true story now, Trace.

1:04:42And so I get over there, and, dude, I definitely had adult diarrhea, right, or you or young adult diarrhea is what i had and so i get there and we got to start catching fish it's a fishing tournament i've never been in a fishing tournament i don't know what it was i thought you go around you see the fish or whatever you go back and you wrote down how many you spotted or whatever it was almost like a scavenger hunt so anyway the second i get a bite man the second i get a bite i just uh i get a tug on the front brother i got a tug on the back uh there it went you know what I'm saying it had I don't care what I was getting on my line I had a bunch in the live well you feel me and it was yeah they ended up having to just troll me hanging off the ladder on the back and with no shorts on and stuff just to wash my body I just couldn't fish anymore but like you gotta fish man and I didn't want to tell them like I'm gonna you know so you didn't tell them I didn't tell them you just bailed off into the water yeah I said I gotta hang off the back for a little bit I gotta go to the toilet I used to yeah but it was just I don't think young adult explosive diarrhea is as bad as old man explosive.

1:05:51Oh. That's worse probably. Yeah. You know, because just the fermentation. Oh, yeah. The recipe. Yeah. Oh, that recipe, yeah. Probably much worse. Because, yeah, as an older. Young adult is still kind of fresh. Yeah, shit still, yeah. You know, your guts aren't rotten yet. Yeah. But adult, you got that damn crock pot on you. Yeah. Yeah. Stuff is aged in there. Oh, yeah. That's a bouillabaisse, baby. That's a French on your own right there. I know I heard a story that I think, well, you told me this. I'm saying I heard a story, but you told me this. How did things fare like with some of your first marriages?

1:06:31How did things, like when you look back on your love life, what do you think maybe could have been a little bit different? I know you said that you kind of gave more maybe than you got, it felt like at times, or like you got to have both people loving just as much to make it work. But do you have any thoughts on it looking back on love? Because having four marriages, that's a lot of experience, you know? Well, but it certainly doesn't make me very good at it. I've got a pretty bad track record. So don't take any advice from me, man. I'm no authority on what makes everything great. Did you learn anything along the way, though?

1:07:16Like, really? Well, sure. I mean, you learn what not to do, you know. Yeah. Well, that didn't work. That was bad. Did you take any of it to heart, you think? Because, I mean, I, you know. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of the bad stuff that I used to do, I don't do anymore. Amen. Yeah, yeah. But. And I heard that one of your wives, I don't even know how to say this, shot that they shot you. Is that true? Yeah, that took it a little far, I thought. That was uncalled for. That was totally uncalled for. Just leave. That's a true story? Let's just call it quits. We don't have to go that far. Do you think she shot you with the intent to take it?

1:08:04I don't think so, man. And I don't think she even had any idea what that gun was going to do. I'd never seen her hold a gun. I'd never seen her shoot a gun. I knew she had one, but I'd never seen her use it. I mean, I had a bunch of guns, still have a bunch of guns, and I shoot them pretty often, but I'd never seen her do that. I don't think she knew what was about to happen when she pulled that trigger. She thought it was a toy. Was she saying anything as she was pulling it? Was she pulling it in a fit of anger? She was mad, yeah. Okay. Wanted me to leave, and I wasn't going to leave. That's how it went down.

1:08:52How did it hit you? She put it under my left arm, and the bullet came out under my right arm, so it went straight through. Did you have your hands up or something like that? I had this hand out like that, reaching for it. I told her to give me the gun. She just shot me. But... What did it feel like? Like a bee biting you? Man, I think when one is that serious, your body protects you. You're just going to shock. You don't really feel anything. I just remember getting up off the floor and then taking a few steps and then going back down. That's all I remember. You blacked out? Yeah. No way. Yeah.

1:09:33I mean, yeah. So, yeah, I didn't really feel like it really hurt me. And where did it go through your body? It went under this arm and came out this arm, so it went straight through. It went straight through my heart and both my lungs. Nuh-uh. Yeah. Oh, my God. It was a kill shot. And the only reason that I survived was because the doctor said the only reason I survived was because the bullet went through at point-blank velocity, It had muzzle velocity, so it didn't have time to mushroom. It was just muzzle velocity, so it just went straight through. Oh, I see. And after that, it would have mushroomed.

1:10:14Yes. Damn, bro. Thank God she shot you so close then. Yeah. In a way, I mean, that's crazy to say. Sorry. God, I'm just not good at supporting people. Like verbally, you know? No, I don't need any support anymore. That was a long time ago. Was the healing? What's that like when you get shot right through the heart? Oh, my God. Well, that was the hard part. That's the part that hurt, you know, the healing up and stuff. I mean, because when I went to Vanderbilt, they life-flighted me to Vanderbilt. So when they do the trauma surgery, they just cut you and just crack you open, you know. Could you feel any of it?

1:10:51No, of course not. I was out. But so the recovery from something like that, though, man, that hurts, you know, because they don't care. They just stretch everything and break stuff. and they're just trying to get you open to get to your heart to save your life. Oh, I see. So, and thank God, you know. Damn. If I hadn't been for that life flight in Vanderbilt Medical Center, I wouldn't be here. So it took a long time to recover from that. And then six months later, I had to have another open-heart surgery because they had to put a Dacron patch over that hole in my septum because it didn't heal up.

1:11:28Because when they went in in the beginning, they sealed the hole on this side of my heart and sealed the hole on the other side of my heart where the bullet went through, but they didn't seal the hole in my septum. Damn. So six months later, I had to go back. And that one was a lot easier, though, because they took their time and very careful. Right. They're not – yeah, it's not – time isn't of the essence as much. Yeah. I actually walked out of the hospital the next day. Did you? That one. That one wasn't so bad. And did she ever apologize to you? Oh, yeah. Did you forgive her, you think? I think so.

1:12:07You know, I've just always felt like I don't think she meant to do it, man. I don't think. I just don't think that she thought it was going to hurt me. She thought I was indestructible, you know. Yeah. Dang. Yeah. That's wild, man. Anyway. did anything like that ever happen again or not no no never got shot again that's a blessing then you gotta see the blessings yeah nobody shot at me in a while that's good yeah that's what I'm saying man that's the kind of stuff we need man I guess you can always say that how you doing well ain't nobody shot at me today that's good And your third wife's Canadian, right?

1:12:57Fourth wife, yeah, Canadian. And your fourth wife's Canadian, yeah. Which is, maybe you got her because— So my first wife was from Louisiana. My second wife was from Arkansas. My third wife's from Illinois. My fourth wife's from Canada. So I'm just like, my fifth wife's going to be an Eskimo. You know, I just keep working on up. You know, I'm going to be a hot Eskimo chick. Yeah. You know. Bro, you're moving up to the—yeah, you're moving up to the Arctic, man. Well, I guess, and at least you got a Canadian because they can't even own guns, you know, because they don't have any guns. That's probably a good...

1:13:30I didn't even think about that. That's a plus. Yeah. Canadians are good, and they have great posture. Have you ever noticed that about Canadians? Most of them are pretty polite. Not so much with my wife, but a lot of them are, you know. Yeah, I've heard that all. Very, very polite, and they're always saying, I'm sorry. Yeah, sorry. Oh, I've had a Canadian come across the street. They didn't do anything. They just said, hey, sorry. and then went back across the street. Came over just to apologize in case they ever did anything, I guess. That's pretty cool of them. Which apologized. I think they were coming over just when they looked at you and went, sorry.

1:14:08Yeah, that's probably right. I think that's what you must have took that for. Maybe you had wronged them in some way. I think they just felt sorry for you. They probably could have, man. And that's what I get for buying some of those sandals from the damn, from the damn Blake Shelton sandal collection. Yeah. That's what did me in. Yeah. Were you wearing them at the time? Yes, I was. That's why they came over. That's why I was. Oh, man. I knew you weren't ever going to get laid. Yeah. So, sorry. Oh, there's nothing sadder than some woman invites you over, and it's got to be sad she opens in order to see those sandals on.

1:14:45Just bam. Yeah. Unless he's carrying the cannolis from Ferrari, and then she let him on in. Yeah. Now, every now and then, we did have a dessert. A little cannoli action. Oh, it'll show up, dude. If the women weren't interested, but they were semi-interested, we'd leave half a cannoli in a little box there on the welcome mat. You know? A little 11-year-old gigolo going around with a bunch of Italian food. If they didn't have a pet, because otherwise, pets would get into them. You'd see Gary Busey with his damn cannoli all over his chin.

1:15:23country music it's big right now have you felt through your career that it's went through a lull that it's been like different like how have you seen it kind of man I don't think there's ever been really a lull I mean it started blowing up you know right before I got signed I think it really started blowing up in the 90s and it's just continued to dominate as far as genres go, I think, ever since. And still going stronger than ever, you know. But, I mean, of course, you know, my career's stagnant, but the rest of it's doing great. You've had a great career. I've had a great career. Don't get me wrong.

1:16:08I'm totally content. I mean, I'm very happy, and I've had a great run. It was a great ride, but things pass you by. you know people move on to different things you know and i'm cool with that um when when you say that like like do you mean like that like certain opportunities kind of come and go because um like yeah what does that mean kind of a little bit what like when you say that like you know that people come and they kind of go and oh yeah well i'm not competing really competitively anymore in the game you know i'm saying i'm not releasing singles to radio and trying to get them to play my stuff, you know, whatever, that game that we used to play.

1:16:49I don't play that anymore. I'm, you know, I'm not playing it. I'm not playing the game competitively anymore. I'm just doing it for just the joy of doing it. And because I still like to do it, but I'm not in there crossing swords with the young guys anymore. I don't need to do that. Let, you know. Yeah, for sure. I mean, yeah, I don't think that you need to. Do you feel like, was there a part in your career where you felt like established enough? Cause I think this is just interesting to talk about. It's like, you know in my own career even with comedy it's like you know i've had some success and it's been like for for like the gods of this career have been good to me right they've been good to me um and i've been treated better really than i probably ever should have been maybe you know and uh and then i guess i wonder like yeah i guess it's like i don't know it's interesting because you can you can try to still like be on the gas you can look at like well where am i and what's going on what do i need um you're like i guess are you happy with your career because you've had a great career very yes i'm like i said man super happy with it i mean i've been able to do what i wanted to do i recorded what i wanted to record sang what i wanted to sing said what i wanted to say i've had an opportunity to do some acting stuff and had a lot of fun doing that But so, yeah, man, it's great.

1:18:13And to answer your question about when did I feel like I was established enough, I think about probably a year or so after Badonkadonk came out, I realized I really probably don't have to put my saddle on another horse. I can just ride that one on off into the sunset, you know what I mean? I just kind of knew that that one was going to be around for a while. Did you know it from the beginning after you wrote it, or was it just people's reaction? I didn't write that, man. Okay, got it. But Jamie Johnson and Dallas Davidson and Randy Houser wrote that. Jamie Johnson's birthday's coming up. And Jamie was singing the demo.

1:18:58And when I heard it, I was in Scott Henry's office, I'll never forget, and he played that song for me. And as soon as I heard Jamie's old cornbread mouth at the beginning of that, hustler shooting, I eat ball. I just started laughing, you know. And it got worse from there, you know, with him singing. And it was so funny, I about pissed myself. And just to hear him do that, you know. And I just, and I told Scott, I said, oh, my God, I got to cut that. I was like, you know, probably, I don't care. It probably won't ever get played on the radio, but I'm going to cut it because that's hilarious. It's cleverly written.

1:19:38It's funny as hell. And so we cut it and didn't think any more about it. That's crazy. And it's crazy how much that made it into EDM places and everything. There was a lot of remixes that I've heard over the years. There's been a lot of stuff. I was at Jack behind this summer camp. he uh yeah he played it that he played it last year we were at this uh summer camp together uh jimmy john has his summer camp we go up there and he played that and i had no idea that he had anything to do with writing that oh yeah man but it was awesome dude yeah that's funny god he's a great artist man he's fun to be around him and his wife he's funny he uh he's a good dude he is a good dude i lost a good old marine bet to him on the super bowl i think or ufc fight something and we had to donate to a charity.

1:20:26I don't remember what his charity was or something. I think it might have been helping Blake Shelton recover from that sandal thing he went through. But that's rumors. I don't know about all that. Oh, Jamie Johnson and his wife Brittany run the Give It Away Foundation, named after his hit George Strait song. Yeah. The foundation supports veteran family and crisis charities and is funded by merch sales and a$1 donation from every concert ticket sold. Yeah, he just... Did you play at Gary Sinise's fundraiser? No. I know he just had a fundraiser. Yeah, I wished I could have been there, but I was out.

1:21:05Me too. I was on the road. I'd just gone through some plant medicine, and I couldn't make it out of an air. Has there been a song that... Was Badonkadonk probably the most... Was that the biggest surprise for one that you cut, and you were like, wow? Yeah, I mean, I was surprised that it succeeded the way that it did, you know. But then I was equally shocked whenever I thought, okay, if that one worked, then this one will work. And that's when I put out, that was the horrible brown chicken, brown cow incident. Oh, yeah. When I put that out. And I thought it was going to blow up like we're donk donk did.

1:21:49And the radio was like, no, you've gone too far here. It just ended up like a porn meme, didn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Brown chicka brown girl, you know. Dude, I don't even know you started that. Well, I sang the song, you know, and then, you know. I didn't know that, bro. And so the radio people were like, no, he playing that shit. That's porn, you know, whatever. Yeah. And it was a nasty song, but I thought it was in the right spirit. It was meant with love. I mean, they were married, these two people I was singing about. They were married. Oh, yeah. Doing it in the barn, that's not illegal or anything.

1:22:33No, I don't think it is. That's just good, clean fun there. I mean, it's fine with me. I don't know them. But now I will say this. If I'm a neighborhood watch guy and I pull up and you're doing something. Yeah. Well, that's why we need you to wear the vest so we can see you coming. I mean, if you come up, you ain't got on your official neighborhood watch uniform. You can't come walking up on me and Betty Lou in the barn doing our thing, man. I agree. I'm just saying if I pull up in your yard and you were doing something that goes against our charter. We're doing something that goes with brown chicken brown cow.

1:23:11Then that's probably against your charter. Yeah. I mean, it's just, I don't know. It's so hard to keep a neighborhood. Can't be doing that out in the yard. Well, it's so hard to keep a neighborhood safe. That's what I'm trying to say out loud. Was there a tour that you almost went on over the years and that you didn't? What is that like? How is it over the years how you choose to tour and when not to tour? Because I'm at a point where it's like, you know, touring's great and stuff, but it takes up a lot of your time. And I feel like you'll get off of a tour and you realize, wow, you know, my life has been sort of just like little pictures, little moments here and there, and it hasn't been a real, like a streamlined thing.

1:23:49Did that happen to you at times, and you had to kind of slow it down to make things happen in your life that you wanted outside of work? No, I mean, I've had to take some time off, you know, to maybe do a movie project or something like that. But as far as tours go, I never, I went on the tours that people wanted me to go on. And if somebody offered me a tour and I didn't like them, I didn't go. So, yeah, I did the tours I wanted to do. And was there any that I regretted? I probably should have done that Madonna tour when she asked way back when because she heard me do my go-to karaoke song, It's Like a Virgin, and she heard me do it once and wanted me to tour with her.

1:24:38Did she really? That's all a lie. I just made that. Oh, damn. I will sing that song, though, at karaoke. I'll tell you a story. You don't expect to hear that coming from me. When I get up and bus out like a virgin, it takes the audience. Touch for the very first time? Yeah. They like that. I bet that's probably the best part of it. Well, I'll tell you this, man. I'll tell you this. So my grandparents would let us come up there sometime in the summer, but I was probably, after about five, they wouldn't let me come up there. But one time I went across the street to the park. They live in a small town, probably maybe 800 people in this town.

1:25:16I went across the street. They had a nice park there. And I went across the street, and some girl was over there, and she had a radio. She plugged it into the little outlet under the – they had a couple picnic tables under a little, like, just a steel shed kind of top. And she plugged in that radio, and she played Like a Virgin. and danced on this picnic table, some little kind of native-looking girl. I'd never seen her before, and I didn't even know. I didn't say anything. Native to the town or native? I don't know. I don't know. Native-looking. What does that even mean? I don't know. I could draw a picture of her, but I don't know that much about her.

1:25:55But she plugged in the radio, and she played. Like a virgin. Like a virgin and just danced to it. And it was just bizarre. I just remember being like, I don't know. I think it was the first time I felt anything towards a woman or whatever. I just didn't know what was going on, you know. A little cocktail wiener stood up on you? Yeah. Yeah. Were you five? You were five? I mean, I had, you know. Wow, I can't remember that. I had that wiener in me. I can remember. You know. I was a lot older than five, though. I think I did. I don't know. Some of that could be in my imagination, Trace. Yeah. But now I did plug it in, and she sang that song.

1:26:31That was the first time I'd ever seen a woman kind of perform something like that. How many times? Now you pay for it. Now you pay to see it. That was the first freebie you got. Yeah, they were baiting me. Now you got to put money in their drawers. That whole thing was a big bait and switch, man. That's what it was, man. You've gotten to play with a lot of legends over the years. as a legend like yourself does, man. And are there some, did you ever get to, did you ever get to play with like, or see Jerry Lee Lewis play? No. Before your time? Well. He still plays some. Does he still play when he passed away?

1:27:15He finally passed away. Yeah, but man, he lived a lot longer. He lived longer than Keith Richards. Yeah. He kept on living, dude. Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, I didn't see him. I never got to see Johnny Cash. I did a show with Waylon, and I actually got to sing with Haggard and Ronnie Millsap and Buck Owens and some of those guys that I just revered and, you know, just put on that pedestal, you know, and I actually got to sing with them. And so, man, that was unbelievable. Just the surreal moments that I'll never forget performing with those guys. So, yeah, I've got to be a fan. And that's what I am. I've always been.

1:28:06I've been a country music fan. I still am, you know. And those opportunities that came along were just priceless. Who's that photo right there? George Jones. Gosh, I love George. Was he a pretty neat guy to be around? George usually didn't have a whole lot to say, man. I'd go over to his house and watch TV, and we'd sit and watch TV. We weren't talking. We'd just watch TV. George would want to watch a ball game or a movie or something. That's what we'd do. We didn't talk. You remember doing some of those early mornings? I remember I used to work as a tour manager for an artist for this guy, Josh Kelly, and his brother, Charles, is a musician as well, Charles Kelly.

1:28:51And I worked with Josh for a while. He would go play at all the radio stations in the morning to push his single. So I was just working as just a tour support for him. So it was just me and him traveling around the country. He was pushing this single that he had that did well. And I just remember those mornings at those radio stations. you'd be like, we're bringing in lobster. And they'd have like lobster at like 5.55 in the morning, dude, which is like not a good time to put lobster into your system. And also they'd have donuts. It's like donuts and lobster on the Waz or something that has like some crazy radio shit, you know, like we're giving away a free bass boat or whatever, you know.

1:29:28And it's like who can eat the most lobster, you know. Remember that kind of shit. Those morning shows, oh, my God, when you're trying to. And it never ceased to amaze me. And I would bring it up every now and then, and they would just blow it off because I'd be like, let me tell you something, okay? Let me say this on behalf of everybody that sings. We can't do it well at 6 o 'clock in the morning. It's just an impossible thing to do. And you expect us to come in here and do it and be good, and it's not going to be good. I'm just telling you. It's not going to be good. And nobody's going to do it well at 6 o 'clock in the morning.

1:30:09I mean, you know, that's why we do shows at 9 o 'clock, 10 o 'clock at night. Because that's, you know, man got to wake up, you know, have a few cups of coffee. Tres Atkins goes good with lobster. I never went and had lobster at a morning show. He must have been in Maine or somewhere. No, dude, this was some place where we got 40 pounds of lobster coming in. and they would have like car washes and lobster, but it was always some, you know what I'm saying? It was always some rigmarole, like we got hot air balloons and lobster or whatever. And it would always be some kind of shit. And you're like, what in the fuck am I getting involved in?

1:30:48Like, cause comedians, we had to go there too. Like, so it'd be crazy that I went on this tour with Josh. We probably went to a hundred radio stations around the country. Like it was a couple months of him going, he'd play this single. I'd bring in some coffee. We'd sit there, you know, and then we'd drive to the next place. And it was great, man. And I felt lucky to have the job. I was getting to travel around the country. But then 10 years later, I'd be there doing it with comedy, you know. Yeah, doing it as a comedian going in to the radio station. You'd have to go in early, you know. You'd have to be in there and, like, you know, you have to be funny on the radio at 640 a.m.

1:31:21I know. Yeah. And, you know, it's like. And we'd see y 'all in the lobby. I've always thought, too, like actors, like big movie stars, you know. I always thought, okay, I want to go in, I want to talk to these people and tell them about my new project and how good it is and what the inspiration was and blah, blah, blah and all that kind of stuff. But then just play the song. Play the song on the radio the way that I recorded it in the studio. That's what we want to hear. You don't want to hear me try to sing it at 6 o 'clock in the morning. It's like actors that go do talk shows promoting a new movie or something.

1:32:00And, you know, the guy sitting there interviewing them, you know, at some point he doesn't go, okay, well, how about doing a scene for us from the movie? And you know what I mean? Can you imagine that? Leo DiCaprio will be going, excuse me? They should have to. Do a scene from the movie. Then they should have to. No, show the clip. No, we want you to do a scene. You do it here right now. Do it. And action. You know, and I mean, it's like, come on, man. But we have to go in at six o 'clock in the morning and sing. And we have to go in and be funny. And tell Joe. Yeah. It is kind of unfair, isn't it?

1:32:33I think so. That's why they bring in the lobster. That's why they add in the bullshit every time. It was always something. Every time, whatever, with comedians, I'd be up there like, we're giving away a free Christmas treat, you know, 830, be on the jingle dial or whatever, and we'd be shitting in there, and there'd be somebody calling in asking if it's a damn Douglas fir or whatever. It's like, bitch, I don't give a shit what it is. Like, I'm trying to get in here, you know, be funny if I can, and help sell some tickets, you know, and get people to know I'm in town. But I just always remember those morning radios, man.

1:33:02That stuff was a haul. And it was also great. I did it a bunch of times. Same, man. Yeah. I did it so much. I did it so much, dude. But sometimes you did get to know a place a little bit better. Sometimes it would get me out of bed in the morning. I think there was blessings to it. Do you think you've achieved all your goals with entertainment? Way, man. I did way more than I ever thought I would do. I mean, this whole thing was like I would never have allowed myself to dream that big. I think I'm a realist in that respect. I wouldn't have allowed myself to dream that I would have this kind of career and get to do this for as long as I've done it.

1:33:51No way. So everything's gravy now. Did that change any of your perspective about certain things or give you like, did it adjust like kind of how you think about life or even how you like, like things you talk with your kids about? Because that's pretty interesting to think that shit, life gave me more even than my dreams, you know? Yeah. Or that God gave it, you know, what, you know, what, I'm not sure what your beliefs are, but, or that's, you know, the entities of the universe gave me more than even my dreams. That's pretty wild. More than a, you know, I think I took just a very little bit of talent and just went way farther than I should have, you know.

1:34:32So, I mean, Buck Owens told me one time I went to Buck's place and went to his radio station there in Bakersfield, and it was raining that day. And so Buck wasn't playing golf, and he was actually in the radio station. So he wanted me to go in his office, so he and I went in his big office there, and he locked the door and wouldn't let nobody else come in. I was sitting there with the guitar, and he'd tell me to sing this, sing that. And he said, sing that new single you got. And so I did it, and he was like, son, let me tell you something. He said, that low note that you can sing, you need to do that on every song because that's all you got going for you.

1:35:14That's what he told me. it was just something just something that's all you got going for it that's what Bucko said to you yeah and he was serious yeah and I appreciated him for it you know it's like he was you know go with that do that all the time do that because that's kind of the one thing you got that nobody else has so do that you know was it good advice I've done it in just about every song yeah you know hit that low note and rattle the subs and, you know, chicks kind of get a little wiggly. But don't get done. Yeah. Can't sit still. Yeah, look, I mean, you got a deep voice, you know. Look, I'm not even a woman, and it makes me, you know, want to at least make sure I have deodorant on.

1:36:01Chicks dig the bass singers, man. They do? Yeah. God, I should have done it. Been a bass singer? Yeah, I couldn't have done it. I'd have had to get more balls added in my bag, I think. I'd need six balls, I think, to hit the notes you hit, man. I'd need probably eight balls or something. Dude, you must have some. Yeah, I can't even imagine hitting those. You must have some damn balls on you. It would take probably two hours to neuter you. You shave your balls or you get somebody else to do it?

1:36:34You don't know? Not sure. Oh, you're not sure. They just end up shaved. You don't know how the hell it happened. I mean remember Nair when people would rub that stuff on there God yeah I freaking put it in my that stuff was painful oh that shit when especially you put it all your I remember doing my legs one year I was trying to get ready for Christmas or whatever and I was like I thought I was good getting ready for Christmas you didn't want to have hair on your legs for Christmas well I knew that I knew that I'd gotten these cool velcro pants my grandfather had died and sandals yeah you want to get that hair off your feet before you put the sandals on I got these tail you know I mean, toenail fungus is okay, but hair, you can't have that.

1:37:16No, dude, I remember what happened was I got this pair, velour, not Velcro, pants. My grandfather had died in them, and I inherited them. And so I was so excited about it. And I said, but the hair on my legs. He died in them? He died in them. He died in them. He had smoker's foot or whatever, and they cut both of his toes off, two of his ten toes. Smoker's foot is not a thing. Yes, it is smoker's foot. No, it's not. Yes, it is. Smoker's foot. Bring up smoker's foot. Oh, my God. That's just straight up diabetes, man. It ain't smoker's foot. Well, I know. He got it from smoking cigarettes and watching the damn St.

1:37:56Louis Cardinals play. Smoker's feet refers to various foot conditions. Oh, well.

1:38:06That dude shouldn't wear sandals, that guy. Yeah. and don't even come close to a pair of sandals. Yeah, I agree. But yeah, Granddad lost those toes. And he was wearing a pair of velour pants. He wore a pair of velour pants when he passed, and so I got them. Classy. But my leg hair would gather in them, and it would come out the pants kind of. You know when your leg hair will come out like you threw it? No, I don't know how that is at all. It would shift through the fabric. It would kind of come out through the textile or the tapestry of it. No, no, I've had that happen, you know, putting on a pair of them tight insulated underwear, but not just regular pants.

1:38:48Well, I think at the time. Oh, they were skin tight pants? No, they were. They were pretty. No, they were. They were a little bit tight at the time. I'll be honest with you. I think I was using steroids or something. So my hair was growing fast. So I had my body was damn. I mean, I'd give dang little Gary Busey a run for his money over there. You know, I was full. I had a lot of hair. and uh and that's a true story and i it's but anyway i use narrow my legs but also uh yeah that shit was painful though my legs got all kinds of like uh pimples and stuff on them and just it was horrible for them that stuff was toxic so we got there talking about an air or something that was toxic man um what's one of the most humbling moments because you know in your career was it or in your life kind of has it been a moment that's kind of like i i guess maybe more in your career?

1:39:36Like what's been a part of your life or your career, I guess, that you've kind of felt humbled by? Oh, wow. That's an interesting question. The first time I really remember being humbled was when I, my first year of college, when, you know, I'd had a good dominant senior year playing football. And then I went to college and I got out on the field with those guys. and I was like, whoa, this is a different game right here, you know. Yeah, that step up in talent right there, that was humbling. And you've got to pretend that it's not, I guess, out there. Well, yeah, but I mean, you know, going from a year in high school when you kind of felt like the stud pretty much every Friday night, you know, and then didn't really run into anybody that I couldn't handle, you know, my senior year.

1:40:33And then the toughest guy, I always tell people, like that toughest guy that I faced across the line of scrimmage my entire senior year, you get to college, and the whole field's full of those guys. You know what I mean? Especially down there, you played at Louisiana Tech? Yeah. That's where Terry Bradshaw played, yeah? Yeah. And Antonio Brown's dad played there. Yeah, well, and then you go into the field house at Louisiana Tech, and it was just a big mural of Terry Bradshaw at the end of the building. He's a god there. That was really humbling. Did he ever come to one of your games? I don't remember him coming.

1:41:12He showed you. Y 'all look alike a little. I can see that. Of course, I've been humbled since. You get into this business, you've got to eat a little humble pie every now and then, or you're not going to stick around. Yeah, I think it's the same probably in most things. I think it's like, I don't know. I think in most parts of like entertainment probably. Comedy, there's always like somebody who's better or younger and different that comes along, you know. And I think, yeah, just making sure I stay on the side of like, oh, I think that's cool or that's awesome instead of getting on any begrudging side of it.

1:41:50Yeah, you get humbled. I mean, you know, I had my – you have to wake up and realize, you know, like I said earlier, you know, I had my turn, somebody else's turn, you know. and you just got to accept that, and it can be a little humbling, but you just deal with it and move on. You said that Buck Owens probably gave you a decent piece of advice there. Was that probably the best advice you ever got, you think, or what's a decent piece of advice that you've gotten in your life that's kind of stuck with you, even if you didn't follow it at the time, in hindsight, you'd look back and be like, hmm. Yeah, my old man.

1:42:30Yeah. keep your knife sharp your gun is loaded yeah ain't the two things two useless things in this world a dull knife and an empty gun I said yeah my old man told me that and he also said this Christmas I'm gonna get you an anvil and a rubber hammer and see how long it takes you to tear it up cause I tore up everything poor man had trucks tractors did you do it for fun you did it on purpose you think No, I didn't do it on purpose. No, but I tore them all up. Yeah. Yeah, I'm trying to think if I tore a lot of shit up. My buddy, Jeffrey, he had some sort of issue, but he would. And we survived the gas leak at his house also.

1:43:16But I've talked about that. He would get upset and beat all the drywall out of the wall in his room at his house. And for Christmas, his parents would get the room redone every year and get a fresh drywall in there. Probably if he's just sitting around smelling gas all the time. I never thought about that. They thought he had a damn. It'll make you go crazy eventually if you just sit there and just keep smelling it and don't fix the leak. Yeah, they thought he had— You all survived the gas leak. Why don't you just sit there in it and, you know, okay, well, you get a new merit patch on your neighborhood watch vest for surviving the gas leak.

1:43:57for reporting him on. Doing an experiment to see how long a man could survive in a gas leak. You sat there, you and your buddy, what was his name? Jeffrey. Jeffrey. Guy's name Jeffrey sounded just a little, that's just, you know. He was doing some things. I apologize to all the cool Jeffreys. You know what? There ain't no cool Jeffreys out there. I mean, first of all, yeah, Jeffrey, I think Jeffrey. Your name is Jeffrey. You don't ever go by Jeffrey. You shouldn't. Yes. No. I mean, once you get hair on your nuts, you go Jeff, right? Yeah, you go Jeff. Dr. J. I'd go Dr. J. Yeah, I'd go Dr. J, boy.

1:44:42I'd go Big Jeff with them nuts. That's what I'd call myself.

1:44:49What else, Trace? What's new in your world right now? What's something that you're looking forward to? you know oh I'm gonna do another record another country record cause you're on your 30th this is your 30th anniversary tour right now right I came and saw it man it was a great show man thanks it was really great we sat there and I just didn't you know you just like yeah you just kinda lose track of all the songs that are attached to certain people and then you lose track of ones that just that you just that you don't remember you know and it's nice to sit there and just go through the anthology man it was awesome dude well thank you so yeah I'm gonna do another record I didn't know if I was going to or not after I did that last one we did that The Way I Want to Go album and had 25 songs on it because that was we did that during COVID when we didn't have anything else to do so we stayed in the studio all the time you know and ended up with 25 songs and I thought okay that's it you know I don't have to do another record and then when 30 years came along and And my voice is still the way it is.

1:45:56I thought, you know, I guess I will do another record. And I've always been like that, you know. I'm going to let this determine how long I keep doing this. As long as I can still sing those songs in the same key that I recorded them in, and I can still hit the licks and hit the notes and do all the things that I need to do. And I guess I'll just keep doing it, you know. But it's kind of like it's just the old jock in me, I guess. I had to walk away from football when I just couldn't do it anymore. I was too tore up and couldn't perform at the level that I was satisfied with. But as long as I'm satisfied with my performance and I think that I'm doing it okay, then I guess I'll just keep doing it.

1:46:49So I might as well make another record. do you feel like a calling almost a responsibility to do that or is it just sort of a personal thing like hey if i can do this and i'll and i do love doing it i'm gonna keep at it that's kind of it you know i'm just gonna keep i'm just gonna do it because i feel like i'm still i'm still good at this yeah you know i feel like i've hell yeah i've gotten better at my craft i think i'm better at it now than I ever have been. I don't know. My voice is still, you know, I quit smoking and range got better. The bottom's gotten better over the years. I mean, I can go deeper than I ever could, and that's just going to get better with age.

1:47:30Your voice just gets lower and lower. But I haven't lost anything on the top, either. I can still hit everything, you know, on the top end that I always could, so hell, why not? Just keep doing it. yeah shit was popping when we came man we didn't feel like you know sometimes you're there and you feel like the artist is kind of it's not like what you've heard you know i know and i don't want to be one of those guys i've seen those guys i've been to those shows where they're still out doing it and it's like dude just quit yeah and just please stop we don't want to remember you like this you know i don't want anybody to say that about me ever you know what was one of the what was one of the toughest points in your career, do you feel like?

1:48:12I mean, obviously you got shot. Well, that was way before I got a record due on it. Toughest points of my career. I don't know. There was a period there after that sophomore album came out, that sophomore jinx kind of thing, and it reared its ugly head and started biting me pretty hard. and things got, you know, they just slowed way down. And I thought, I mean, when I first came out, you know, that first album, you know, two number ones and platinum and, you know. Yeah. This is going to be easy. You're the hot cake in town, yeah. Yeah, and then reality sets in. Dang. When you put that sophomore record out.

1:48:58But I wouldn't say that it was hard times, just, you know, disappointing. I just thought that graph was going to keep going that way, you know. When you look back on that, do you think like it's like that you stuck to all your laurels, even though you were like a young artist at that time? Or do you feel like, because a lot of times with artists you get it, like after that first album, sometimes they'll try to attach a lot of other producers and things like that can happen. And no blame or anything. I'm just thinking like, what would you, would there be any suggestions you would offer from your experience to an artist that has had some early success as to what, like, you know, if there's any, like, thing you could share about that next experience that maybe you would have done different?

1:49:41I don't think you should ever try to change your game to fit in to what's going on now, you know? Yeah. Just don't do that, you know? Just be who you are and dance with the one that brung you, you know, and just keep doing that. And, you know, it's been my experience anyway that those fans that you had, those people that became fans of yours for what you did, if you keep doing that, they'll stay. You know, don't run them off. Yeah. You have a farm. What y 'all growing over there? Weeds and trees. Weeds? Weeds and trees. Oh, yeah. That's it, huh? yeah not weed okay just regular old weeds I didn't know I don't care if you smoke it you smoke pot or no nah I haven't in a long time it's making me kind of nervous turned me into a damn horn made me so paranoid the older I got the older I got the worse the paranoia was that came with it and it just finally got to a point where I can't do this anymore yeah you know that's how I am dude and I mean now that stuff they're growing now I mean that's just like acid or something you know people having hallucinations that shit's like having a fucking gas leak in your head.

1:50:58Yeah, man. I'm sitting in a gas leak all day long. Oh, that new shit will just turn me into a damn haunted house. Dude, I'll be doing neighborhood watch inside of my own head, brother. It gets bad, you know? Yeah. This shit gets a little bit dark. No, I haven't done it in a while. What's in the news? Anything we want to look at, fellas? Semi-truck spills nearly 40 ,000 pounds of Frank's Red Hot. Boy, I'd pull my pickup truck there. Start loading that. Oh, God. I'd fill my pockets with that. Dude, I'd put two handfuls in my little sister's mouth, make her bring it home, dude. We would be storing that in our cheeks like damn, just like damn recipe squirrels.

1:51:39Amid a brutal near nationwide heat wave, it seems strangely appropriate the spill scene on an Ohio highway. Now, I will say this. They could use a little bit of seasoning up there. Has been labeled red hot. A semi-truck leaked a strange reddish liquid on a highway near Columbus. Frank's Red Hot near a 40 ,000 pound shipment. And what I'm looking at here, though, is the Jeremy Roth. They're the guy that wrote the story for CNN, news source. You know, I mean, what do you think Jeremy's gig is there at the news station, right? It's like, okay, we got this shit spilled out here on the road. We need somebody to go write about it.

1:52:24Jeremy, you ain't doing nothing. Go write about this shit spilt out on the road out here. The poor old Jeremy. Jeremy is this far from getting fired. You know what I mean? So we got to find something for him to do until it comes into the month and we can get rid of him. So we're going to send Jeremy out there, and he's going to write a thousand words about this red shit spilled on the highway. He's probably drinking a morning coffee out of a damn baby bottle or something over there because he's been through some stuff. if he has PSTD from like, he got a computer with bad spell check on it or something in college and he never really processed it.

1:53:03But dude, I can't even... Bought a bad Italian burrito from an 11 year old. Hey man, we worked hard, okay? I'll say this, some of those driveways were uphill, Trace. Okay, Louisiana, they weren't that far uphill. Okay, you're right, okay? That part I am, that part I've slightly made up. but there was some mild elevation in some of the sidewalks, and you know that. I know that you have a new single, America Made, that I haven't gotten to here yet. I'm going to check it out. Good. I appreciate you preparing for this interview. I know. You unprofessional son of a bitch. Dude, please put that. You ain't worth a shit, you know.

1:53:46I've had better interviews on a small market radio station in the middle of Nebraska. Hey, we got some lobster coming in right after this, guys. You have shows coming up. Oh, a lot of these festivals. I love that, man. Do you like being at the festivals? It seems like it's a good time because you get to be around other artists. Yeah, every now and then, you know. And you got a show with Raleigh Green coming up. I know that's happening. Really? Yeah. Yeah, I heard he's doing pretty good. He's doing all right. We just had him in here, man. It was fun chatting with him. This was actually really great, too, though, man.

1:54:21I had a nice time. Well, thanks. I did, too. Hey, look at that, huh? Dude, that's awesome, man. That makes you feel good. This is me excited. This is what I look like. Hey, look, man. This is orgasmic face. Hey, look. You know. Now I know why some of them ladies said, I can't, I ain't sticking around through any more of this. I'm obviously not doing them any good. Man, Hastings, New England, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Dude, I'm so excited to go up to Wisconsin. I'm going to go take a – we're going to rent some campers. Cheese curds. Oh, God, yeah. I love cheese curds. Is there a part of the country that surprised you?

1:55:06There's a few for me that have surprised me over the years of just places I've gone, like La Crosse, Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I want to go to Charlevoix, Michigan now, Grand Rapids, Michigan, I thought. Just little places that I've gone to and I've been like, oh, wow, this place is really unique and I never would have got to go. Is there a surprise or two? Clear Lake, Iowa, that's another place. Why are you just coming up with these random places, man? That's like, wow. I've been to all those places, by the way. Played all those festivals in Wisconsin. So cool. In Michigan, yeah. I mean, they throw down in the summer because, you know, it only lasts for like a week.

1:55:44So they get it all in when they can, you know? Yeah, your husband's thawed out. You got to get him out in the yard and do shit. Yeah. Well, he's thawed out or whatever. Yeah, I've done all those festivals up there. I think the craziest and most surprising place, I would have to say it's a place that I just played a couple of weeks ago, but it's like the third or fourth time I played there because I love to play there because it's the most unique county fair in America, and that's Neshoba County, Mississippi. Dang. Yeah. Hardy talks about that. People talk about that place. Bring it up because they got the beautiful homes that are all painted up over there and people rent them out.

1:56:29Well, they're not homes. They're shacks, but yeah, they're - Oh, they are? They're nice. I mean, yeah, but they're very small because they're built on these little lease pieces of land that basically were meant to be where you would set up your vending tent, you know, to sell stuff at the fair like they usually do. You rent this little place and you come there and you set up your tent and sell, you know, turquoise or, you know, funnel cakes or whatever the hell it is you're selling. Oh, yeah. But then these people started doing these long-term leases on these places and just keeping them in the family for years and years.

1:57:06And so they built these narrow little houses that just go straight up for three stories. Ah. So it's supposed to be wide enough just to sell a funnel cake out of, but then they end up making it so stacking it up and making it loose. Yeah, I mean, they started doing that years ago, 100 years ago, you know, and so that's what they do. And, I mean, this picture right here just doesn't do it justice. I mean, because this fairground is, you know, hundreds of acres, and these things are all over the place, man. It's huge. I didn't know it. Well, this thing must be calling me because we were just talking about this last week, you know.

1:57:41With Hardy? Yeah. He's from there. No, with Riley Green. We're just talking about it. Oh, yeah? Yeah, he was bringing it up. Really? I was just at that UFC event a few weeks ago. Did you watch any of that? You watch any of that? Mm-hmm. UFC fighting? The one where Conor McGregor just whatever he did. I don't know what that was. I felt like he really did get hurt. No, he was hurt before he got in a ring. Well, I don't know if he was or not. his energy going to the ring did feel suspect. It felt different. And it may be just because he's been five years removed. Sometimes it's hard to show up and fit into a different you or you from a different time.

1:58:22I think he was hurt. You do? He might have been, dude. But God, it just would have been all the people in Ireland were fucking cheering for him. And you're like, God. But you have to show up in the ring because you have to get paid. He had to do it. But I don't know, man. I think he should have backed out. I think he was hurt. Damn. I wonder if they'll do a lie detector test on him. You think they will? Yeah, I don't know. I just think that's funny. A lie detector test on Conor McGregor. That'd be crazy, huh? Yeah. If they did it. Yeah. Because you can't press charge. Like, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

1:59:00I don't know. I've never known. I know, man. That's the thing everybody loves about you. You hardly ever know what the fuck you're talking about. It's charming. Thanks, man. Thanks. All right, man. Well, I appreciate your time, man. I appreciate it. Oh, Bob Kingsley, is that him? That's him, Bob Kingsley. Thanks for bringing that up. Oh, man, and I knew him good, too. Bob was a great guy, man. He did that American Country Countdown show for decades, man, and he was the one I'd listen to. If you hurried out of church, if the preacher quit right before noon, you could get out there and hear the number one song.

1:59:46I always tried to get to the truck before Bob got to number one. Can you play him? Just play his intro. I want to hear it for a minute, just the beginning of his show. If you're on YouTube. Classic. You know what I just bought? Jerry Clower's suit from when he performed. Oh, no way. You just got it. They knew I was a fan of his, and so they said he said it. I love Jerry Clower, man. Did you? Oh, my God, man. We had his albums, and Justin Wilson. You remember Justin Wilson? Yes, dude. I just got on to Justin Wilson not even too long ago, man. He was funny, too. He was like the Louisiana Jerry Clower.

2:00:24He was Louisiana's Jerry Clower, you know? Yeah, I got that red suit right there. Oh, wow. I can't even believe it, man. I love Jerry Clower, man. I got inside. Oh, dude, he was the best, still one of the best storytellers ever, I believe. Oh, yeah. I don't think they make them like him anymore. He talks about playing college football. Oh, yeah, he does. Yazoo City, Mississippi. Marcel Ledbetter. Oh, dude, I love listening to Jerry. And there's a lot of great artists like that that kind of disappeared just because they didn't have as much of. I wear my overalls the way Marcel wore his. Do you?

2:00:59Yeah, with nothing under them. And the buttons not done together. My wife gets a kick out of it when I wear my overalls with no drawers and nothing under it. Well, look, I'm just glad you got a wife that gets a kick out of you, man. You know? Yeah, well. I'm glad you do. Yes, right here it says, yes, under Napoleonic law, you can be compensated if you lose a limb. However, there is no fixed price. Instead of a flat fee, courts and insurance adjusters calculate damages using individualized categories. He's known as Heads of Loss. I thought it was different. I thought a thumb was 14K. I thought each body part had a little price attached to it.

2:01:47Mayhem back in the day. Yeah. Things change, huh? You just got to roll with it. Yeah, buddy. That's the only thing you can do. Trace Adkins, man, thanks so much for your time, dude. Thanks for your music. It was nice to get to meet your daughters in the past year or two. I've gotten to see them at a couple of shows. uh thanks for always letting me feel welcome at your shows man um and yeah thanks for your music dude your stuff got me through some tough times in my life and it's just been a it's been a blessing to witness the new tour is great if you guys get to go see them uh the 30th anniversary tour uh go check it out and i'll be back out at one i'm a fan man thanks still thank you brother okay and your mom too what's up peggy vote for vote for peggy nobody runs against her anymore well She's run unopposed, I think, in the last two or three elections.

2:02:37Now I'm just floating on the breeze And I feel I'm falling like these leaves I must be cornerstone Oh, but when I reach that ground I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones But it's gonna take