E534 Brooks & Dunn

27:49You better not be kidding her. I swear to God. She couldn't hold it. No, she finally broke. I go, come on. It's not our first day. leave me alone you're not even in this game you did sing a little higher that night the world was fun then too when things were a little bit more simple you know oh yeah you know in a lot of ways yeah that was a lot of fun man and you couldn't capture the moment as much so you had to enjoy the moment because that was the only you know what i'm saying well you got too much downtime i mean it was not you know if you're not on stage doing something creative you're doing something destructively creative on the backside oh yeah you know you know you've been out there oh it's the dark arts out there brother it is did you guys ever have a comedian that opened up for you guys i know sometimes they used to do that on shows gary mule deer oh really yeah still a good friend love gary yeah we did um did uh what vegas vegas a couple times um yeah with him it's hysterical i don't how many times, but he was out with us quite a bit.

28:53That's a tough gig, I feel like. But he played guitar as well. Well, you know, Gary's like, he does play guitar, and it's, you know, it's incredible because he just did a, we did a show together out in California not too long ago, and he played, because he always, he's got a Johnny Cash voice, and he'll do Ring of Fire or something like that every now and then. He's hysterical, though. Just real, real straight-faced joke teller and can just break you down. I've got to tap in with him. I've heard of him before. I've seen a lot of like, because committees, you go to the next club and the other person has just been there, you know, and I've seen a lot of his, you know, seen his name a ton over the years, but I've never gotten to watch him.

29:34Been around forever. But he actually performed a song and it was, I bet this thing had 20 verses and it was, it was, I'm not kidding. It was like, but it was a real country music analog kind of take you through this whole journey of thing. It was really neat. big time stand to know because I've seen him perform. I don't even know how many times at this point. And, and everybody there was like, wow, you got that off your chest. And he did not tell a single joke. Really? He sang that one song and left the stage. So it was so cool, but it was a humorous song. No, it wasn't funny. It was, it was a real song.

30:13It was, it was, but he was a comedian. He is a comedian. He's a great comedian. Yeah. Maybe that's his ideal comedy. Him and Roger Miller, him and Roger Miller toured together. And you've heard of people doing these Roger-isms, these funny things that he told all, he knows all of them. I mean, if you ever run into him, get him going on Roger. Cause he's, he's one of the great historians, the keepers of the Roger-isms too. Great guy, funny comedian. Yeah. I need to run into him. Yeah. What do you feel like, like, like being a duo was there, were there other duos that like in music that reached out to you guys over the years to help learn how to navigate that, like, that template kind of?

30:55Does that make any sense to you? Yeah, it does make sense, but no, no. As friendly as they say that, you know, the world of country music is, it's so darn competitive. You know, everybody hates one another. They act like they don't on TV. You think people are really competitive, though? Oh, heck, yeah. No, big time competitive. One of my favorite things is Dolly Parton, in an interview years and years ago, they were talking about somebody and being, she just goes, oh, honey, there's room for everybody. No, there's not. You want to get down to it? No, there's not. What's the most competitive part?

31:29Is it people trying to get the best songs? Is it like, where does the competition really come in, do you feel like? Because that's interesting. I think just by nature to be here and be in this game, in your game or anything, there's a competitive, don't you feel? there's a competitive dynamic that runs through it. Especially in the beginning for sure. Yeah, but you want to catch up like how many number ones do you have? Who had our number one this week? Who has it? And we can be cool and like sit back and go, you know, we don't care. It's no big deal. We're not in it for that. We're in it for the love.

32:02And that's not the case. But that's also healthy. That's what keeps you going. We do make some real friends along the way. We have. I mean, you do. There are people that you, your competition. I mean, David Lee Murphy is a great example. He wrote with him yesterday. You know the song Dust on the Bottle? I'd be a little dust David Lee Murphy. Him singing, him writing. Turned into writing a lot of great songs too. Yeah. And we got here, both got here in 79, literally swept floors for Charlie Daniels for 30 bucks a night. I was, you know, getting rent paid and playing writer's nights and stuff. and still he's on tour with us now and going out with us next year.

32:47We toured again last year and we've toured together before. We've got real friends that the competition, I can't say, I don't know, maybe it does go away or something. And at some point in your life, I think you have a certain amount of success. You still want to succeed, but it's like you're not so ferocious Just like when you start and everything matters. And it's not that everything doesn't matter anymore, but it's like everything kind of turned down the heat a little bit. You know, let's simmer here and see if we can't do something real, something good. Now we kind of know you build confidence too.

33:26Again, like I said, Ronnie and I, we didn't figure we'd go a year or two. That's why we were desperate through pretty much through our whole career is just kind of, this isn't going to work. We're always doubting ourselves, always trying to do anything we could to do something really special because it's probably going to be our last song, our last video. I mean, we've always kind of felt a little desperate, I think. Does it feel like it's out of your control sometimes as a musician? Because a lot of it is what songs you get, right? And you can write your own songs. You can write them with other people.

34:02But does it ever feel like it's out of your control, kind of like how well you keep doing? or does it feel like it's in your control? You know what it is. I mean, 60%, 70%. I don't know how much you can add to the dynamic. I can add up to 100%. Of luck, right? No, I'll go there. I mean, I guess. I don't know. We could try to do more. I can't even. I mean, it's luck. A lot of it is luck, you know? But it's that thing, you know, if you're working at it and luck strikes, it's like you're ready for it, you know? You got your ball middle, bang, catch it. And we're from there. But we work hard at it.

34:39I mean, we're songwriters before we're performers. Right, that's a great point. Y 'all weren't up there just, hey, somebody sell me a hit. You're like, I have the ability to make my own hit. It's all about the song. It's all about the song. And then as you move through the business, you meet people. You meet people that are pitching. You give me good songs, too. You can't write them all. Timing has a lot to do with it, too. It really does. What do you mean by that? That's luck, too. Yeah, certainly. That is. Yeah, time is just luck with a clock, huh? There you go. That's great. Write that down.

35:11I mean, we both had some kind of solo record deals before we had to do a deal. Ronnie was singing his ass off before I met him. At 38 years old, why wasn't he a star already? Right. You know, I don't know. Bring it up, age. I'm just saying. It's 38 years older. Are you afraid of that? Don't look 38 years old. I was. Yeah, is it tough to age gracefully? Is it tough to be like, because even I notice it, you know, in my own career, it's like, you know, you start to do good and you're like, oh, well, I'm getting older. And then you're like, you start to see the younger guys that are doing well. And you're like, oh, well, this is all going to, is there a graceful way for this to end?

35:48Or does it just end? Or like. I think you just play that one by ear, you know, I keep telling people I'm going to die in denial related to age. I'm not going to know how old I am. I don't want to know. It pisses me off. You see, every article, you know, there's somebody writing stuff, and you go, well, and so-and-so, you know, 80 years old, whatever. Leave the age out of this. Willie's out there rocking. He's cool. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Go to Willie. You know, he'd be the standard bearer for that. But, no. I mean, McCartney, they're still out doing their thing. Yeah, I was actually, so I'm in a couple of months ago, was that we were in the same bathroom at the same time.

36:32Wow, what'd you do? Huh? What'd you do? Just a number one. Did you try to shake his hand or anything? Oh, no, I didn't do anything like that. Huh? I freeze. Hey, I just let it be, dude. You just let it be. That was a little... Wow, you said something to him. I think I... Honestly, I probably said, like, good day or something like that. Like, I think I was probably trying to welcome him in, like, a British tone or something. Good day, mate. Right? Yeah. I freeze. I freeze. He's not from Australia. Don't call him mate. I'm just really, really famous. I just, I'm back. That's true, dude. Right, good, Doc?

37:06They don't get together. No, you're in Ireland. Good day, mate. No, they're like prisoners from England or something. Good grief. He must have been like this guy. I'm never cool around somebody famous. Wish I could be. Uh-uh. Yeah, were there guys like that coming up that you guys met? Or what question did I just ask? Let me make sure I stay on topic. Sorry. Were you ever in the bathroom with Paul McCartney? tell us about the time you have a carton in the bathroom oh one time I went to a one time I was also in the bathroom with I'll go through them all Montel Williams okay he was a talk show host and Kid Rock one time and I urinated right between them dude oh wow that's a danger zone that's a DMZ man it really is just incoming you know you make the wrong move there anything can go happen right either way yeah either way it was big trouble I can't shake hands just to see what they're going to do, though.

38:02Hey, man, it's just, I've always, you know, just. Especially if you reach over the stall. Yeah. Johnny Cash said the strangest thing like that that ever happened to him, and he said he was in a stall in the airport or something, saying this paper slips under the wall. I was like, we're good. Don't touch it. I don't have a pencil. Like, hey, that paper likes men. That's all I'm saying. So you guys got to meet Johnny Cash? Yeah. No way. What was he like just as a regular guy? Was he like a friendly guy? Was he kind of like a stoic guy? Stoic, quiet by nature when you first meet him. And that in and of itself is intimidating.

38:44Oh, yeah. And then as you get to know him, he's a 17-year-old kid. That was it. I mean, he's crazy. funny as all get out yeah my wife her first husband and rented that car one piece at a time and Johnny sang about it one piece at a time he built that car he built the car oh built that car one piece at a time I'm sorry the song he built the car so he or Johnny really built the car so I'm confused her ex-wife built the car about the song that Johnny sang got it he liked the song And him and his bud said, man, let's build it. Let's actually build it. They were always going around. They owned strip coal mines in Oklahoma.

39:29And he. Johnny did? Or his friends? No, Janine, my wife. Okay, got it. Yeah. So they were well acquainted. They all became fast friends, traveled the world together. I mean, really, really tight. And so when I was brought in, her husband passed away. and when I was brought in it's like she's marrying or dating a musician you know Janine goes I'm going to take you to John and June's house in Nashville the first time she did it from Oklahoma and I went I don't really want to do that I just kind of saw that one coming you know and of course John's real quiet would you wear over there? did you get dressed up or what?

40:13you know black, all black no I mean your jeans what I have on now this kind of stuff and uh were you nervous or not you remember yeah yeah I was always I was super shy and quiet and then I'm kind of coming out of my show a little bit these days but uh he was obviously glad to see her I mean I'm the new kid on the block you know you don't just screw just like taking your girlfriend yeah your girlfriend bringing you to over to meet her parents who's just pervert or whatever yeah I mean, I don't know you, but I mean, I'm a pervert, so I'm sure most of us are. Well, that goes with it. You can't be in a band and not be a pervert.

40:48Anyway, and Johnny knew that. He'd be a pervert himself. Oh, yeah, who isn't, man? Right? Dude, if you show me 70 people, y 'all show you 70 perverts. You in a band, you a comedian, yeah, you're a pervert. Wow, that's pretty fascinating, though. And did people look up to him as kind of like, was he this? Was he as? Because now he's almost, there's an idolatry about him in a way. You know, you see the T-shirts with the Johnny Cash and just this cash. But he's always been that way. He's been that way forever. Listen, here's a funny thing. So the log cabin that they let us live in. June did that for Janine, not for me.

41:30Called her and said, okay, this guy's going to try to make it in the music business. Good luck. It ain't going to happen. We'll give you a place to live. We'll give you a flammable home. Temporary residence, okay? Because it's not going to last long until I find you a guy with money. So, thank God, we have these hits right off the bat, and suddenly June goes, whoo, okay, you're in. She told Janine during that first visit, she said, look, here's how it goes down. She says, the odds are a million to one. No, 10 billion to one. you know they'll make it and and if if he does it's not gonna last long it's just that's not that's the nature of the business and uh number three they're all crazy if they do make it for a long time you know so she she called her babies uh it was waylon jennings willie nelson hank jr uh larry gatlin i mean just the wild boys of that that era oh yeah the feral yeah so she goes you Just look.

42:35The uninsurable. They put us through hell. She said, so get ready. There's no good to it. So anyway, where was I? With Johnny. You said, was he stoic and stuff? First day there, June takes Janine, and they leave the house to go shopping. Oh, so it's just you and him? And me and John in that house alone, okay? Oh, he's going to the bathroom and staying there for at least a minute to get ready. Yes, sir. It's like I'm the unwelcome guest, or at least I'm feeling that way. Oh, for sure. You are. And John's quiet anyway. He hasn't like. And what's he just polishing a gun or something? No, no. Probably.

43:20Yes, pretty close to it. He comes out of the far end of the house. There are two black leather recliners in front of this TV. and he sits down and he's watching like CNN or whatever. I sit in the next one. He's sitting there and no one says anything. I'm like, how long has that been in my life? I didn't know what to say to him because he didn't talk. But now I know what I know. He didn't talk to anybody. And all of a sudden out of the blue he goes, you see these newsreels here, these things. He said, that's a loop. and he said you know I'm an addict and I went okay and he goes I used to sit and watch TV for days until those loops would end and then he said it would start a whole other cycle of the news and he's explaining you know how TV works to me and that stuff through the eyes of being high yeah

44:23you know and shortly after that, it seemed like two days that we were sitting there. It was probably a couple hours. And Janine and June come back. They've been shopping at Steinmart. I like Steinmart, actually. Some of the sleeves are a little different. Well, June took her there in her new blue Rolls Royce that John had just given her for her. So there's a little yin-yang there. Janine was just pale white. She knows no strangers, so you never see Janine down. So she kind of walked in. She was like, she'd just been scared by a ghost and I kind of peeled away and met her in the back of the house I said what happened she goes I'll tell you later I can't talk about it well June had read her the right act on all this stuff I just told you about you know they're not going to last da da da da da da and I said can we go now she goes no we got one more day one more day right but no sooner did we get here and they were the most absolute supportive people in the world.

45:26John came up one day. We were getting ready to shoot the CD cover for Brandy Mann, the first CD. And I said, he was always into everything. He goes, what are you going to wear? How are you going to look? How are you going to do your hair? That kind of stuff, into image. I said, well, I don't know. I said, I've got a few things, ideas. He goes, all right, I'll be back. He said, left. He's getting his Mercedes shot out. It's down the hill. He needed a goat to get up the mountain to it. He goes flying down the hill. I guess he goes home, comes back in an hour or so, opens the trunk of the car, reaches in, and hands me this black suit.

46:02And he goes, I had this back in 1972. It was made by Manuel. And he goes, I was sick back then, which meant he was sick. Yeah. Right? So he was skinny enough for me to wear my skinny ass to get in that suit. And he goes, don't tell June. She doesn't like me giving stuff away. and I have it to the day. I wore it on the back of that CD cover. Oh, wow. Yeah. That's crazy. Oh, it was, hey, man. Check the pockets, dude. Let's party. I bet that thing's got something. It was something. And the parties there, too, was strictly lemonade. Lemonade and iced tea. Really keeping it sober? Keeping it completely sober on the table, for sure.

46:42Oh, yeah. You know, and nothing in the back kitchen. I mean, she was pretty stringent about that. She wore the pants in that deal, huh? Yeah. At that point. Was she pretty much a, because he probably needed somebody to really care for him. And spice to that little story is that particular weekend that we were there, he was on furlough from rehab. How long do you have to be in a real life if you get furloughed? I thought that was a military thing. Johnny Cash, right? Only Johnny Cash would have went to boot camp for rehab. And so all of a sudden at the end. How many tours did he do? Oh, he did a lot.

47:19But the day before he's supposed to go back, this is a Saturday. He's going back on Sunday. He comes down with the flu. June's having no part of that. She's completely just, no, we're done. So she wanted to talk to him, and we're caught in the middle of that. And I'm going, can we go home now? Can we go home now? She goes, no, no, no, not yet. Please go home. Janine can tell this story better than I can. So June goes to Janine. She goes, y 'all have to drive me to the hospital. Take him to the hospital here in Hendersonville. make sure just see what's wrong with him she says i'm not talking to him says he can walk as far as i'm concerned okay we got it so we get in the car start to get in the car john wants to drive okay so john drives he drove yeah man but it was like pedal to the metal boom off all the way and janice you start nodding off and you nod back off right we get to the hospital and they're rolling him in a wheelchair.

48:17And Janine goes up to the desk to give them all the information, and they take John back. And he's there maybe an hour. And then we come back, and he goes up to his room, his hospital room at the house. He's playing it up, man. He's like, I got pneumonia. I can't go back. She goes, you're going back to rehab. So June goes, well, how did it go, Janine? She goes, well, they asked for his doctor. and June goes, oh, hon, he's in rehab. The doctor was in rehab? The doctor was in rehab. Oh, Lord. He goes, oh, sweetie, no, no. He hadn't made furlough yet. Dr. Nick's in rehab. I said, okay, we can go now, right?

48:58She goes, pretty soon. Wow, that's a great story. That's my first Johnny Cash and June Carter experience. We had Ric Flair. We spoke with him one time, the famous wrestler, you know him. He's quite a character. And he was in a rehab center, and the doctor got put in there with him, and he was in there. And one day they're giving pills to both of them, and he's like, why are you giving pills to the doctor? And I'm like, no, the doctor's in here now. I'm like, damn. So apparently that's part of the deal, man. Well, it's just everywhere. It's like that. Oh, yeah. Look, so many of my friends, I mean, I go to recovery meetings, and so many people deal with that sort of stuff.

49:43Was it tough for you guys to keep it clean over the years? Did you guys get tempted with drugs or alcohol, or what was that like? Never. I don't know, really. Tempted with drugs or alcohol? Huh? Yeah. No, not me. Did you, Ronnie? I'll go with you. You don't want to explain this. We might have took a drink or two along the way. I don't know. I think Ronnie took a lot of pills, but I never did. Ooh, whoops. foul foul yeah but I have I have allergies oh now you do a lot of allergies I've never seen somebody that does still give it to you I'm from Louisiana too dude I started drinking at a very early age wow was it hard were there certain points where you guys had to like tell each like at what point Do you guys ever have to be like each other's like a - Caretaker?

50:42Yeah, not caretaker in the sense like actually physically, but just like, you know, and then how hard is it to take that suggestion from the other guy, you know, like from the other lead? We don't do it much. We don't do it much. I mean, that's one of the unique dynamics about how we, you know, the relationship we have. We don't do that. If it is, it'll be some comment in passing and, you know, and you'll know. Honestly, we sit here and laugh about this stuff, but there's not a lot of nonsense that goes on. It's like we're up there to do what we do. We appreciate where we are. And God knows we know the pitfalls.

51:16Yeah. And have we ever been over-served on stage or whatever like that? Yes. Has anyone ever told us? Are you slurring your words? Yeah, you're slurring your words. No. You're slurring your vehicle. I've been told that before. You know, you've already written that song. Don't write it again in the middle of it. You know, that kind of shit. But, yeah, we've had a few faux positives. People don't believe when I tell them this. We have never, I mean, we're both, you know, hard-headed whatever. You know, I came from a pipeline background. Same with him, you know. And we have never raised our voices to each other.

51:56Wow. Have we ever been mad at each other? Yeah. Have we ever been pissed at each other? Yeah, for sure. We'll go off and pout. But that's it. you know we've always been able to go to our separate corners and come back later in some of that you think it was just because you because you like started to achieve your like your most success that people would know you from once you were older like you think if it would have been younger like do you ever think like the blessings it's kind of a blessing and a curse because everyone wants to be everybody wants to be 27 and famous you know yeah but if you're 38 and you get popular you know it's it feels a little different you know has a lot to do with it you appreciate at it.

52:32Yeah, because there was a point for a long time where there was no plan B, you know, and we both felt that, and no, so you learn to appreciate it. It's just, that just, it's just, you know, beating into you through the ranks. Yeah, dude, we used to slow dance to y 'all's music, dude. I would be so nervous, dude. God, dude. dude. I just couldn't even. I was staying so far away from the girl, like as far as I could, but still touching her a little like this kind of, you know? Barely touching her. Two fingers. You were down in the trenches, man. You were on the floor. See, we're up there on the bandstand going, I don't look right.

53:19Just go on, dude, go on. Get up against it. Go on. What are you doing? I couldn't get up. whole front of my body sweating i never knew you could sweat just in one hemisphere and never move you guys uh we were talking about songwriting earlier you guys your new album has a lot of like um some of my favorites on and people that have that we've been able to have on the podcast before i think uh earnest is on hardy morgan yeah laney laney wilson who's How amazing is Lainey Wilson? She's great. She's special, man. She's special. She's a Louisiana girl. She's from right up the road from where my farm is.

54:05Yeah. Yeah. I mean, literally, we're honestly 18 miles apart. Oh, that is close. You're from Covington, I think I saw somewhere. Did you really grow up there? Yeah. You did? Yeah, I grew up there. Our town is, we have this tallest statue of Ronald Reagan there. Somebody stole the arm, but they got it back. They got it back? Yeah. How'd they get it off? I don't know. Is it bronze? I think it's bronze. It's concrete or something? Oh, no. It's special. Oh, there you go. So which arm? Huh? Was his right arm or his left arm? I'm not sure. You can Google that, too, how'd they get the arm off. Yeah. You can Google that.

54:47How'd they get the arm off? How'd they get the arm off of Reagan? I don't know. In Covington, Louisiana. In Covington, a lot of welders down there, right? First of all, I'll find Coventus. They got torches. There are a lot of welders down there. Exactly. They got torches. That's pipeline country, man. Damn right. Oh, we can get an arm off. You want an arm? Yeah. How far? They tried to recycle it. That's how they caught the guy. What? And yeah, they took it to like the local aluminum. Oh, because he's thinking it's maybe copper or something. He can buy some crack. So he's like, I'm going to get me, hell yeah, I'm going to get me a couple hundred bucks for this damn arm.

55:17Yeah, they cut it off. I guarantee he's a welder. Yeah. Look at Ronnie. Ouch. Oh, that was in Poland. Yeah, so they must have done it. But they did it by us, too. Somebody got it off, but they got it back on. It was a copycat thing. What? A copycat arm thief. Wow. That's dark. What? No, they did it in Poland. How far? Okay, how far is Covington from El Dorado, Arkansas? A long way. Very south Louisiana. Okay. Yeah, he's close to Baton Rouge. Because we talk a lot about northern Louisiana, where the farm is, and Monroe, and all that. So all my grandparents are from El Dorado, Arkansas. Okay. It's a beautiful country out there.

55:56Yeah. I mean, it's pretty. Shreveport's kind of gone through it. It's been through some things, you know. Yeah. It's pretty funky, which is where I went to school. Oh, yeah. Whatever. Yeah. They just tore down the tallest building in Shreveport. What? Really? Bring it down. Not the Beck building. This was in him. They did a beautiful implosion. I watched it the other day on TikTok. Wow. I wonder if that's where it was. That's where my father's office was. Was it a drone attack? I don't know. The tallest building in Shreveport. There it is. They just brought it down. Yeah, I think it was the...

56:29That's a bank building Yeah, it was a bank building. You're right. Because I think the bank building's 20 stories. It must have been the richest building in town. That's pretty fancy right there. Beautiful building. Look at all those. What did they tear it up for? Real glass windows on them. Yeah. I don't know. That's it right there. Wow. Probably somebody's wife was trying to get in a settlement. Look at all the buildings around it. It wasn't the tallest. It was the only. Probably for a casino. It could have been, man. Street Ford's kind of wild. I've been like, there's a lot of haunted. Everything there seems kind of haunted.

57:08That's Louisiana in general. It's like New Orleans. Yeah, everything's haunted. Like, you want to buy this haunted biscuit or whatever. It's monkey foot. It's two extra bucks. It's got some damn ghost jam in it or whatever. Everything does. It's got voodoo all over it. Is that hot? I hope so. Ghost jam. Yeah. But yeah, everything in New Orleans haunted. It's like, oh, you haven't been this haunted? This is haunted, you know? It's like a nursery for children, but it's haunted. Okay, so I read this article. Well, I guess it was online. It's like the top 10 most least desirable states to live in.

57:46And Louisiana was number one. Oh, wow. I can't imagine that. That's what I'm saying, bro. Come on. Champs. No, you got out. You got out. Because it's haunted. Hey, everybody's not into haunted. Look at you. You're rich and famous. 49 states worth of people that aren't into haunted. Yeah, people don't like shit haunted, bro. Yeah, y 'all just stay off there. I forget what it was based on. Oh, you want to live in the natural realm? That's fine, bitch. We're doing others. You don't have a monkey foot under your pillow? Hanging from your mirror? Fine then. Yeah, you don't have a baby that's chewing on a lucky rabbit's foot?

58:22You wouldn't know a hoodoo man from Colonel Sanders. What? Oh, everything there is haunted or soaking wet, dude. That's Louisiana. Yeah. Or mild, dude. Yeah. Everything's got a little bit of mold on it. We go down there. You go down there all the time because you've got your farms down there in place and all your buddies from Shreveport. Love it. We go down there and duck hunt on the marshes. Oh, yeah. I've never been duck hunting. Going next week. Are you? Oh, yeah. Is it more enjoyable than turkey hunting, or do you feel, is there some difference to it? I think so. I like stuff flying. You know, I've shot my share of turkeys, but I really don't care about popping them anymore.

59:01It's like, you know, it's like, do something. You know, you're like, gay! I'm over here! It's almost like you're attacking like a bird in a wheelchair or something. Exactly. And they get all puffed up, too. It's like some, you know, he's on his last, he's making his last move on her. He's so puffed up he can't even walk anymore. You know, he's just like. Like me at the dance. Yeah, just like doing that. Got his two fingers up there just trying to get close to her to do the neon moon. And then you go, bam. He's headless. Shit, sorry about that. Yeah. Turkey's been all the work of calling him in.

59:43This place we go down in Louisiana is called Little Pecan Island, and it's like going to the Four Seasons. I shouldn't rat us out. Really? It's beautiful? They've got a lot of good turkeys down there? Unbelievable. Not turkeys, ducks. Oh, ducks. A good friend of ours, Jim Flores from Houston, owns it, and it's unbelievable. And what kind of ducks do you get out there? Everything. I have pictures of the sky full. I mean, it's unbelievable. And do they go in shifts, or how do the ducks go? They migrate at different times. Oh, so they're not, like, releasing them, and then they come back? No, they don't release.

1:00:17No, it's all wild. Okay. They come from the north and they get cut off down in Missouri and whatever. There's a lot of duck habitat on the way for them to stop and eat and whatever, especially with climate change. We won't get into all that. But like Arkansas flooded timber. A lot of those ducks come out of the rice fields and stuff and they're primarily greenheads, mallards. But by the time you get to the marsh, you got every kind, you know, deep teal and mallards and you could go on. You have a fat stork up there even. Oh, everything. Everything. It's like Africa. It's like going out into the marshes.

1:00:49No. You're in that kind of environment. Oh, wow. So it's so natural, you mean. It's so natural. Real cool, yeah. And are you in a boat or are you in? You go out in a boat. Okay. Everybody gets their own guide in their own boat. Can you get to hide underwater or you're on above water? We have scuba tanks and shotguns. Is it really your life? No, but the - A blind about as big as your sofa. And it's sunk in the water. and then it's covered with, and every guide has his own group of blinds he has to take care of. A lot of straw and stuff, natural stuff. Okay, so you're hiding in there? Is there bugs or anything in there?

1:01:26Yeah, bugs everywhere, man. Bugs everywhere. Bugs everywhere. You know, snakes, alligators for real, alligators all over the place. First thing they do when they get to your blind, you know, the guide will get out and make sure there's nutria, no snakes, snakes and gators. You can clean up all the appetizers. Get all that out of there, exactly, then they'll take the boat back. Bad way to start a duck hunt. Come back, pull in the P-Row. Sink the P-Row next to your blind. Get in there and start quacking at them. Wow. Ducks are good to eat, too. Turkeys, you know, people can say what they want. You know, you can fry anything or whatever, but turkeys aren't that great to eat.

1:01:59And some people are just food, just real creeps when it comes to eating. You know, I've had owl. You know, I don't know if we can say it or not. No, you can't. Well, I didn't. You just did. I didn't have it. You ate an owl? You just said you did, though. You just said you had owl. Did he not just say he had owl? I didn't do it. Wait a minute. I think he said eagle. Yeah. No, I didn't say eagle, dude. And if I did, it was a wigged eagle. I don't eat bald eagle. No, but I did have, we had owl. My sister's ex-Harvin. Grilled up two owls. You just said you didn't have owl. I thought we could say it now.

1:02:39Sorry, Ronnie did it. No. I eat anything. You're a freaking owl eater. A balding owl eater. I didn't have a lot. You didn't have a lot. There's not a lot to them. That's the trick. You didn't swallow? I didn't inhale. They're the frogs of the animal kingdom, of the bird kingdom. I want to do the frogs and the bird. Why don't you pull that skirt up? I've done some things in my day, but even just to look. We're letting you run with it. Pull up what I'm talking about. Let's at least see the... Did you Photoshop the eagle out? They were of age, too, the ones I'm talking about. I suppose you all know that, man.

1:03:23These were adult owls. You're not supposed to do that. So much for wisdom. Whoa, whoa, what is that? Brother, something needs to take care of that. That's disgusting. Wow. Oh, my God. They migrated over from Chernobyl. Yep, that's a Russian owl for sure. I wish I hadn't seen that. They just had, what did I just see about Russia, dude? They're giving away. Well, there's a war in Ukraine. There's a war in Ukraine. No, but it was something exciting. Oh, Vladimir Putin urges citizens to have sex during work breaks to address Russia's dire birth rate. Yeah, he's just trying to get, he's just trying to.

1:04:04He's trying to make everybody happy. He's trying to put an army together. He's trying to earn an army. He's like, hurry up. That's not a bad deal, though. That's the kind of stuff we need around here. You know what I'm saying? It's like, you know, when everybody's really down over there and depressed and whatever, it's like, okay, sex on work breaks. Okay. That's a bored dictator is what that is. Literally, brother. Yeah. He didn't have to push that through Congress. What are we going to do? What are we having for lunch? Depends on who texts me back. That's what I'm talking about. Everybody duck.

1:04:41Right? I'm proud of him now. No wonder Trump likes him. What? The only thing about communism is it's starting to sound appealing, right? I'll tell you this. Yeah, communism sucks, but I'll tell you what, the lunches are good. Right? Lunch break is hard to beat. What did I just say? I saw another call. Did you see that Pizza Hut thing? I don't know if you can find that, Nick. It was Pizza Hut now. Listen to this. People are having such a tough time getting jobs. What is that? It was Pizza Hut will put your resume on a pizza box to help you get a job. Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. So you can send. I took a leave of absence in 78.

1:05:21I've got like a 50-year hole in my resume. Okay, so I've had this idea forever. Sorry. Sorry. But it's like we're always talking about random ways to promote records and do things, right? That's a good way. What about Amazon boxes? We go to Amazon and go, hey, what would it cost to put our logo or whatever on an Amazon box? How many people? I'm sure that's non-negotiable. Everybody. I bet that's a – dude, I wouldn't be surprised if that – I'm amazed they haven't done that. Yeah. Really, because they own most of the – that's something most of us see all the time. Yeah. But, yeah, that pizza – now you can put your resume, you can send it to somebody you're trying to get employed by.

1:06:08you send them a little, you know, send them a little pizza. Yeah. Yeah. I'll tell you this. If I'm having a slice, I'll, I'll, cause you're putting, you're feeling good. You're eating pizza. Yeah. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna think that guy's pretty quality. Your endorphins are already stimulated by the pizza. And you look over there and go, you know what? I like that guy. I know. Like a couple of weeks later, you're like, Hey, what happened to that pizza box? Oh, what? Oh, you know, nevermind. We need a new guy in the tech department. We need it. Yeah. What happened? but then you might start just naming your workers you don't know their names you just name them like uh pepper like the italian guys is like extra pepperoni like yeah remember we hired him you know or meat lovers is the guy that's maybe a little zesty you know big sausage spicy sausage what's so with the new album is it gonna be uh tell me about it a little bit what made you guys want to come back and make more because at a certain point do you feel like you've made enough or does that never go away?

1:07:06What is that kind of like? The first one was just to keep everything between the lines, not stray very far from the previous cuts. The first what, you mean? The first record, Reboot 1. Oh, okay. We're on Reboot 2 now. But neither of these were our ideas to do. It was our managers, which is, he's had, it's the first good idea he's had, I think, in years. Yeah, look, I've had managers. I know what you're talking about. That's why I'm having anymore. Clarence is great. He's a great man. He's a big reason we're here. Is he? Why Baltimore is the day after Sacramento, I still haven't quite figured it out.

1:07:46He still gets paid. His big saying is, hey, what are you bitching about, man? He says, I give you 85%. Or his other one is, this is a charity. I don't need to do this. I mean, Clarence, you're in. He goes, I know. Oh, so what is 15 % of nothing? Never mind. Poor little children. And what is his name? Clarence Paul. Clarence Paul. He is great. We're 30-something years without a contract. Wow. He's got Aldine. I mean, he's done great. And he speaks fluent, Brooks and Dunn. We couldn't do it without him. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I can imagine that you've got to have somebody to handle a lot of stuff for you.

1:08:29Today's podcast is sponsored by Boot Barn, America's largest Western retailer supporting the cowboy and country lifestyles. Boot Barn opened their first store in 1978, and today they have over 400 stores nationwide located throughout 48 states, and they open one new store a week across the United States. I wear the Cody James Black 1978 boots, only available at Boot Barn. They're crafted with premium exotic skin, a hand-laid cording detail, and classic western stitching. The outsole is leather and the insole is cushioned for maximum comfort. That's right, the Cody James Black 1978 boots are only available through Boot Barn.

1:09:19Visit bootbarn.com and use code THEO for 15 % off one item through October 30th. That's bootbarn.com, code THEO. Today's episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Have you been off, uncomfortable, can't figure something out? Something changed maybe in your relationship or in your workspace or with a family member and you just, you don't know how to get through it. Well, don't do it alone. BetterHelp can help. That's what I'm telling you. BetterHelp, if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online. It's designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule.

1:10:09Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Therapy can help you learn all about and accept different parts of your world so you can go through life easier. I think everyone should give it a try. Take off the mask with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash T-H-E-O today to get 10 % off your first month. That's betterhelp.com. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. But yeah, so tell me a little bit about it. What was it like getting to work with some of these artists? Had you worked with them before?

1:10:55No, no. Lainey, she comes in and does her thing. They all get to pick their own songs. 18 artists. Okay. They pick whatever song they want, and that goes on without us. that's all up to them. And then maybe they haggle about it with management or whatever. Anyway, everyone showed up with their own version of the song. And it was like, you have your artistic creative license to do whatever you want to do with this one. Oh, dude, I can't put me up there. I can't do karaoke. I mean, if it's Christmas carols, I can do it, but it's like even some of that, I get nervous like in the second stands or whatever, you know?

1:11:33Yeah. Melanie has to feed me words to my songs in my left ear. Oh, I thought she was feeding you. I thought you was going behind a speaker and eating bird seed out of her hand. Yeah, she had to feed me whiskey all through the show. I did a tour over in Afghanistan with Robin Williams and Louis Black and Kathleen Madigan. And Robin just impressed me because he seemed like he's just ad-libbing everything. And the one thing that I learned from him before, and we would spend all day on Blackhawks going to real remote places everywhere, you know, and then at night we'd do in Canned Harkable or whatever, some larger shows.

1:12:14And, but he was, before he would go on, he was, he had a little piece of paper, you know, he'd just written a handful of notes and whatever, and he would paste back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And I was just really impressed at his professionalism and the way he, and knowing you guys do, people just, you make it look so easy, you know, that when you're flowing through your deal and you got your deal clicking right and it's i was just uh learned a lot and lewis was hysterical as you can imagine just yeah just hanging with him he spent any time with him yeah he's a very entertaining he's very smart the way he talks is funny yeah just to listen to him you know yeah he is so aggravated really really is of course we couldn't you can't drink over there at all you know and oh i made it worse probably well yeah and we got there lewis has this giant bag like you carry around this huge kind of smaller duffel bag.

1:13:09You can go around the world. Completely full of those airport scotch bottles.

1:13:18Mine's full of allergy medicine. They're like, damn, I didn't know Jim Beam made allergy medicine. Look at all these different colored allegras.

1:13:31Dude, you guys are funny, man. We didn't mean to be. it's probably helped y 'all over the years being able to laugh, huh? Yeah. You gotta laugh. You gotta have a sense of humor. Yeah. You know, it's like comedians for the most, you see this profile and correct me if I'm wrong, but it's like, you know, it's kind of a lot of comedians are kind of dark, right? Oh yeah. Yeah. And, uh, it's kind of, it's, it's, it's anger coming out in humor sometimes more times than not, not to go Dr. Phil here. Yeah. No. Yeah. I think it probably is a lot of them are dark. Yeah. I mean, definitely a lot of them you lose a lot of them to suicide and yeah um it's a pretty too much downtime too you know yeah that gets kind of scary yeah you know uh everybody out there gets that no matter what business you're in it we're on a bus for you know sitting vineyards or whatever you don't go to being on a bus dude i used to ride greyhound that'll make anybody want to take their lives oh shit i used to work on a farm up in natchez mississippi in the summer and i'd take a Greyhound up from Baton Rouge.

1:14:32Dude. They put all the inmates on there. It's a lot of like missing people on there. Oh. Like I remember a dude came up and he was like, have you seen me? He said to me. I'm like, you sound damn missing, dude. It's just like, that's a crazy thing to ask somebody. The station. Oh, God, here, you know, I don't know if it's even still where it was. My sister had this au pair who came from France, this real sweet girl that I'd met up in Maine. And I told her, you ought to come visit Nashville sometime. Forgot all about it. And I get a call one night at the house, you know, and I say, Mr. Bruce, she's crying.

1:15:04I go, yes, Mr. Bruce, it's Ross. It's horrible. I go, what has happened? What is wrong, Ross? I'm here. I'm here. I go, you're in the village of Nashville. I go, you're here in Nashville? Yes, I'm here. I go, where are you? What is wrong, Ross? I'm at the gray dog. I'm at the gray dog? you're at the Greyhound bus station? I said, my God. I go, look, do not go to the bathroom. Go sit in a chair. Don't talk to anybody. Don't look at anything. I'm on my way. It's like emergency. Oh, my God. It's like being in the opposite of a hospital. I'm faster than my wife when she's having a baby. It's like I've got to save her.

1:15:51Like right now, this is an emergency. Dude, every row of the Greyhound bus, things get easier, easier. year. First it's weed and then four rows later they're doing abortions and early term. But still, it gets real dicey, dude. It gets real dicey on Greyhound. But yeah, to have to rescue a French woman from a Greyhound bus terminal. Was this her first time in? Yeah, she had been on up north, they've got real trains, you know, tram and stuff. But on the schedule, if you look at it, And I'm like, how did you get here? She showed me her schedule. They put Greyhound bus in the middle of Amtrak. So you go from these beautiful, nice things.

1:16:34Welcome to America. Yeah, you can work on your computer to, oh, my God, what happened? A lot of people on there, yeah, just testing pills on each other. A lot of people, yeah. Now? A lot of people drinking their own bathwater. I had a dude selling 40-proof bathwater once. I didn't have a lot, but I had a little. You know what I'm saying? Wasn't that bad? It wasn't that bad, dude. I'll say this. It kind of had a Peppermint Schnapps vibe to it. I'll say this. God dang. There's a routine, man. Jerry Clower was one of my favorite comedians. Did you guys ever get to meet him? No. I ran into him. No, I didn't get to meet him.

1:17:12He was a famous Southern comedian, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was great. What about Brother Dave Gardner? I never watched him. Oh, really? You got to check him out, man. Brother Dave Gardner is his name? Oh, yes. and he was like... Let's bring him up, Nick. He was sort of the country Lenny Bruce without using a lot of foul language, but some real dark humor. Man, very inappropriate humor. Oh, good. That's him, Brother Dave. Brother Dave. Look at him smoking that cigarette. Yeah. Telling you how it is. Got his suit going. Check that hair. It's shining, man. Oh, yeah, no. That cover up on the right, I've got that album.

1:17:52So it's all torn up for a dog who chewed the corner off. My dad loved him though. Wow. I'm going to start listening to him. He was something else. Not like your average yeehaw country comedian. Was there an artist that's passed and you guys, when you guys were admired growing up, you went to their service or anything? Somebody you guys really miss and or cash for sure. Did y 'all go to his service? Were you allowed to go or how? Yeah. Oh, wow. That must've been really interesting. I'll say it. It was my first. Yeah. June, same way we were at the hospital and she was had a heart attack wow didn't didn't get to go to Merle's but was he a funny guy?

1:18:36what was he like? he could be funny yeah but he wasn't being funny on this one no he came out and did the last five or six dates with us on our tour in 2010 we were shutting things down and it's just one of those instances where you meet somebody famous and Hag just shut me down. I could not carry on a conversation with him. You know, it's about as bad as Cash. He just didn't like chatting. Well, no, he didn't, but he liked you and he let you know, you know, where John didn't let you know for a while. He just smoked you out just to see what you got. He could survive it. So Merle agreed to go on tour with us, but we had to perform with him every night, which, of course, was.

1:19:24On stage together. Yeah, throw us in the briar patch. I mean, that was such a huge honor and whatever. But he would come up with some obscure songs and whatever. And I jumped. It wasn't like silver wings or anything. No, he's throwing his curveballs from way in the back, man. Like, okay, tonight. I was out there singing Pitbull or something. Diving in person. And I hopped up on his bus one afternoon to find out what our song was. We were in Woodstock, New York, I remember, and he's up there burning one down. And he goes, you need to sit down. I go, okay. What is it? Merle goes, what the hell's wrong with y 'all?

1:20:05I don't know, Merle, what's wrong with this? He goes, I got that damn window. All them people out there. What the hell's wrong with y 'all? I don't know, Merle. What's wrong with it? She goes, all them damn people out there, y 'all want to quit.

1:20:25Merle. That's a good point. I said, looking back, it was ingenious. It is, isn't it? Our last tour we thought. So Merle, you know, I got to tell you, Poncho and Lefty is probably one of my favorite songs ever. I said, watching you and Willie in that video, I said, it's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. You two, y 'all are like best friends. I mean, Ronnie Dunn and I didn't even know each other when we met. You know, we've bullied our way through this freaking career for 20 years. We have not taken a break, you know, and we've just gotten to a point where we think it'd be the best thing for us.

1:21:03We've made it 20 years. You and Willie Nelson made one album together. and he goes yeah but we only had one hit okay Merle what's my song and he started laughing I'm like you win you're smarter than me always will be it is crazy to think though when you almost say that to some people even me hearing it from you guys like yeah this is gonna be it because it's because it's but that's just it is what it is it's like your life's at where it's at you know yeah When you've taken breaks, what are other things that you've started to fill your lives with that became important to you or that meant something to you?

1:21:46I know you have your vineyards. Uh-huh. Yeah. My friend Chris used to work out at that. Yeah, but that was, I started that 20 years ago. And other things. Really what I really wanted to do, and I'd been offered a couple of bit parts and movies and stuff along the way. You know, making a movie takes a long schedule and all that. And we really, we did tour 20 years without stopping. And I kind of did some theater in college. I went to Louisiana Tech, you know. Oh, hell yeah, dude. Yeah, and enjoyed all that. The Red Fern grows. They used to do that musical up there. Oh, yeah. A lot of good. A lot of beautiful.

1:22:20All right, Covington. Don't get me started now. Talk amongst yourselves. This is a war you don't want to start. Hey, look. Ronald Reagan. Okay, it is right. But Ruston versus Covington. That'd be a great battle. Bring that arm. You can keep Terry Bradshaw. That's so good. Anyway, but I got in, told to call William Marsh, you know, and said, books, I said, hey, I don't want to start a movie. I'm not qualified or, you know, don't have the chops. But I would, if there's a bit part or something, maybe some whatever, if something comes up, you know. Yeah. And so, yeah, they started sending me some things, and I actually started doing some movies, this and that.

1:23:10And my son had studied film at Vanderbilt in English, and I wanted to be a screenwriter. And one thing led to another. He came out and started writing with some guys that had produced. I co-starred with Ernie Hudson eventually in a Western. Oh, sweet. I'm not familiar with Ernie Hudson. Yeah, you are. Is it the Hudson River? No. You are. He was in Ghostbusters. He doesn't know him. He was in the original Ghostbusters. Oh, he was? Oh, the talk out of the glasses? The only black guy in the movie. Are you kidding? Oh, shoot. That Ernie Hudson. Oh, that Ernie. I know who he is. Uh-oh, Ernie Hudson.

1:23:43Ernie Hudson. Oh, I love Ernie Hudson. Yeah, I could tell you did. No, I'm joking, Ernie. No, that's a right. So that's something you've enjoyed getting to do then. Yeah, so I got to do that a little bit, and my son wound up being a screenwriter, went out to L.A. to be Tarantino, and he writes movies for Hallmark now. Does he really? He does. Oh, that's awesome. Well, Hallmark still makes a lot of movies. You know, a lot of places aren't even making movies, so. True. Kudos to him. At least he's got some work. They have like 60 movies a year or something. Hallmark does. Literally, yeah. Some of the studios hardly make any movies anymore, so good for them, man.

1:24:21Wow, that's cool. What about you? You been in movies? No, I just wrote a movie with, me and David Spade wrote a movie together. He did like Tommy Boy, and you know who he is. Oh, yeah. And so we wrote a movie, and I think we're going to start making it on January 6th. He was in Ghostbusters. Yeah, he was, dude. He was the black guy. With the glasses? Huh? With the glasses. With the glasses? With the glasses. With the glasses, right? Yeah. That's who he was, dude.

1:24:49So I'm scared about it, but I think it's going to happen. We worked on it for so long, and now it's supposed to happen. Now I'm like, I'm scared, you know? Cool. That's natural. That's normal. Yeah. I think, yeah. Being scared of something maybe that you don't know how you can do at it or something. But we also have done it all ourselves. So it's like, so that feels good. You should talk to Billy Bob Thornton. Really? Yeah. I mean, I think what he did with Sling Blade. Oh, yeah. I'm about to call you the Sling Blade. But they said and did that. So ZZ Top was out. Billy Top. I mean, Billy Top. ZZ Top was out with us.

1:25:28And Billy Gibbons was telling about the editing process after Billy Bob and all of them, like, finished it up. And Dwight Yoakam. Oh, yeah. He says, I go to this little apartment building in L.A. It says, hot as hell. He says, I go up, second floor. So I knock on the door. And he says, you know, it kind of cracks open. And they go, ah, it's me, Billy. Oh, let me in. Come on. What are you doing? So it's Dwight Yoakam. I mean, they're all in like their white wife beater t-shirts or whatever, sweating all over the place. In there with old school hand editing machines cutting a sling blade. Wow. Doing all that.

1:26:11Wow. I bet he's a fascinating guy, Billy Bob Thornton. Yeah. And Dwight Yoplin. He's fun. I've been working with him on a Taylor Sheridan this next series coming up with Landman doing some music stuff together. But it's just fun. It's fun. he's got a band he does oh yeah Billy Bob Thornton has a band yeah yeah I've known that for a long time I've never gotten to see him play but I would probably enjoy it have you seen it Tim Billy Bob Thornton's band I think they're gonna be here in a while I'd love to go see him and I'm gonna make a point of that they're coming before long he told me that night yep Boxmasters that's it next month they got their gigs starting opening for ZZ Top Bill Hamm their manager and you guys opened for ZZ Top at one point right is that right we did yeah Yeah, we co-headlined with them.

1:26:57That's what I'm saying. That's what I meant. A long time. Had a blast. Yeah. Ronnie, what about you? What's something that you've enjoyed keeping your time with when you have free time? I've got to tinker at the farm a little bit. I'm always writing songs or something, but I grabbed a camera, and a buddy of mine who had been a 25-year photographer for Sports Illustrated moved back to town, and we hit it off. I'd just been to Cuba doing some photography and playing around with. And he said, show me your stuff. And I did. And he says, okay, you're going with me. So we took off for like a year, year and a half, two years, shooting everything, Cheyenne Rodeo, Galapagos, all over the place.

1:27:39Wow. Just, yeah. So you really enjoyed it, huh? Yeah. Do you sell any of the prints? I'd love to buy one at some point. Yeah, I'll give you all you want. That would just be cool. That would be cool. I'd love to give you one. but we shot some great cowboy stuff. Did you? Awesome, yeah. Dude, I just went to the PBR like two weeks ago and it was here. Yeah. Oh, that was bull riding, but I love rodeo. Rodeo is one of the best. Man. I'm with you. If you take your wife or kids out, you don't know what to do with them. If there's a rodeo within 40 miles. My parents used to do that. It's a blast. Have you been to the prison rodeo in Angola?

1:28:12No, I'd love to go. Are you kidding me? Have you been? Dude, yes. Went just recently and actually played down there. You know about the rodeo. Yes, I know about it, dude. Eight seconds for freedom, they call it. Yeah. For freedom. But it's six seconds. You know, the first event is called Busting Out. So, yeah, these, I've got a friend, Brianna Calhoun, who she does prison reentry, and we stayed at the warden's house. No, I want to meet the warden. Oh, dude, he's fantastic. Yeah. I want him on this show. Yeah, we stayed up making gumbo and drinking beer about one o 'clock in the morning. But the rodeo, the first event busting out, they put six prisoners on six bulls, and they're PBR bulls.

1:28:55They're real bulls because they do a PBR exhibit kind of thing there. Put six guys on it, they release all six of them at the same time. Of course, the prisoners stay on for like a tenth of a second, and then it's all hell breaks loose. And every event at the rodeo is like that. There's one called pinball where they set up eight hula hoops in the middle of the deal. Eight prisoners stand in the hula hoops. They released two bulls on them, and the last one in a hula hoop wins the prize. No, it's fantastic. You've got nothing to lose. You've got to go. The prize is just a little bit of sunlight.

1:29:27You get two hours in the cage outside. You get to use a harmonica for 10 minutes. Big time bragging rights. You get a ball to bounce. There were 96 volunteers this year, and it happens twice a year. You should really go. It's unbelievable to watch. I didn't know you could just go. Oh, it's like it's a 20 ,000-seat arena. See, there it is. Wow. It's a real – look at them. That's it. That's pinball right there. Oh, my gosh. I'm not kidding. What bull? We got to go on this, man. That would be fascinating. This is the place where even the bulls are afraid to come out at you. They ain't going out there.

1:30:07There it is. There's 20 lifers out there. That's the winner. Yeah. That's amazing. I'd love to go to that. I'm going to try to get to, I'd love to interview the warden because it's a fascinating thing. There's not another prison, I don't think, that does something as famous as this. Look at this. Here you go. No, no, no, no, no. He's going to stay. Oh, man down. He's still got one in there. Man down. He's walking. Yeah. He's a pinball wizard. He's like, no, never mind. No, he left the station, didn't he? Oh, rodeo is so fun, man. Man, the Cheyenne rodeo, you get a press bunker where you're ground level.

1:30:40Then that's a big one, huh? Yes. King Daddy of them all, they call it. Is it? Mm-hmm. And there's another one that's real organic we went to. What's the name of that in Montana? Mile City. And that's where the breeders bring all the rodeo stock in. They have for years, years. I mean, 50, 60 years, whatever. And people watch them. These kids, local cowboy kids, climb on these horses, and they'll ride. I mean, they used to run 300 horses plus through a day. They ride them to see how they buck. And then every now and then they'll stop and have an auction. And then they go right back to it. About the end of the day, these kids are back there and pick up trucks with, like, liters of whiskey just.

1:31:28Just tuckered out. Yeah, move, man. It beats them to death. Yeah, Buddy Mine's daddy sells, I guess, horse semen or whatever. I don't know what they call it if you're a horse. Is it straws? It's semen, and it is straws is how they sell them. Yeah, I don't know how much you can get. I guess you can get a – I've never seen the containers they put in, but I know that they mate with other horses, and they'll have lines of horses coming up to mate with their horse all spring. Sure. He's like a – I think he's like a madam or whatever. You can't do that with thoroughbreds, but quarter horses you can.

1:31:58For racing horses? Racing horses have to be actually bred. The male's got to get on the fence. Oh, you can't art fish and inseminate them. Yeah, I think, yeah. I'd rather – Yeah, that's a part of the deal. They got to watch it. You can't be selling semen in the thoroughbred business because it's so expensive. You know, I mean, this is a secretariat semen or whatever. Can you prove it? You know, it's like. Oh, hell, the Celsius is$3 a can. I can't even imagine how much. They do it with everything, wildlife, you know, deer, things like whatever you name it. It's all out there. Did you guys ever get to play Asia?

1:32:33That's one last question I was thinking. Did you guys ever. What is Asia anyway? That's random. That's a good question. Asia is, I guess it's China, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Korea, North and South, Malaysia again. Maybe that's why they call it Asia. Asia, yeah. Malaysia. Yeah, it's a big... Sacramento. Sacramento, yeah. There you go, dude. but did you guys how far how far I'm just curious how far because your music was like has been a fixture in my life you know and so many people my age but I just wonder like what other ethnicities and stuff listen to they've never heard of us we did a thing for Rock My World one year it was a record company it was a great idea they came in with all these cue cards and whatever every country all the ones you just named everything you could think of but phonetically how you would pronounce our new song is called Rock My World we would love for you to like it in other parts of the world you know that kind of thing and so Ronnie and I as stupid as we are we're trying we said yes we said yes and we're every language you can think of you know from Japanese oh oh oh oh you know just and they had the cards they had it sounded out oh yeah sounded out for you my sister's got a home in Italy my brother-in-law's like I'm over there watching a soccer game.

1:34:03He goes, and your commercial came on in this bar in the break. He goes, and it shut the whole place down. He goes, everybody's on the edge of their seat. They're looking loud and at the end of it, they go, so I still have no idea what we said in Italian. Oh, look. But it was probably some exorcist thing that makes your head turn around back. As long as there's some young Vietnamese kids sitting somewhere going, I'm going to knee on. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Bullscoop. That's what matters, man. I like it. Okay. We might cut that part out. Cut, cut. The new album and the new tour, will they come out simultaneously or how does that kind of work?

1:34:45Pretty close. I think the new album comes out in November. November the 15th. Yeah, and we start touring in February. Heavy stuff, it starts hitting in February. February, March, April, something like that. We're going to stop for a minute. I think you're going to go do your deal. I'm going to run to Africa and come back, and then we're going to pick it up in June. Run over there to Congo. This guy, yeah. I'll go down to Williamsburg and Covington. Yeah, we'll be over in Murfreesboro if you need us, dude. He's down there. Well, not Murfreesboro. Smyrna. I mean, it's really Murfreesboro. Sorry, we'll go to Smyrna.

1:35:17Gulfstream promised me they'd have it fixed by then, by plane. So we got it. We're good. Anything else you guys wanted to talk about there? Something you else wanted to get out there? No. we're selling that record right now reboot too gotta have it gotta get it it'll change your life thanks for the hang man love watching your really fun your show and nonsense and everything is fun and games yeah I feel lucky to have a job man really lucky to talk to you guys this has honestly been one of my favorite episodes I think it really has you never said that before right I've said it probably three times is that how he closes every freaking show what he promptly got back up it's just been it's been like I got back up over here yeah you guys made it so easy and also you guys have such good sense of humor I think.

1:35:58Songs you get with musicians and they don't talk. They don't. They're musicians. I remember Tom Petty would like to go and talk, show and not talk, right? He's a freaking musician. There's a reason why they handed him an instrument. That's the guy you wanted to do is have Tom Petty come sit by you and do an interview with him, right? I guess. How's your voice? It's all right. Bill Vassar told me I was interviewing him, you know, doing the countdown show. I said, so how'd you get to be such a good piano player? He goes, well, actually, I was a drummer when I was a kid. And I said, oh, really? I said, I've never heard you play drums.

1:36:32He goes, shit. And I was a kid. All I wanted was a drum set. Christmas, I'd get a drum set. He goes, I just beat on those drums relentlessly, day and night, whatever. He goes, I got good at it. I go, what happened? He goes, I came home from school one day when my drums were gone. There was a bicycle sitting there where my drums used to be. Shit, man. I go, what'd you do? He goes, rode my bicycle. I got real good at it. Yeah. Yeah, that guy believes in himself too much. Drums are gone. That's one of those guys. Wrote it to Cincinnati. Kicks Brooks, Ronnie Dunn, thank you guys so much, man. Thank you for all the years of wonderful music and entertainment.

1:37:07And yeah, I'm going to come and check out one of the shows on tour, man. I'm excited about it. Please. Yeah. Come see us. I will. All right. We certainly will. Thank you guys so much. Great time, man. Fun stuff. Really fun. Enjoy the house. Big fans. Now 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...