Talking to Morgan Wallen about country music, "Cover Me Up," The Voice, and mullet independence

right so how close can I get so you can kind of I don't know if you can see your like friendship even with you or whatever you do can do that Network that's good what's up guys I am really excited about today's video it's an interview with Morgan Wallen who's someone I've been intrigued by for a while and kind of taken a second look at and I know is one of the favorite artists of so many of you guys down in the comments as well Morgan and I got to sit down before a show he

recently played opening for Jason Aldean here in Charlottesville Virginia and we had a great chat I would say it's a pretty basic interview because I felt like I still didn't know just the basics of Morgan's life so I asked him some pretty basic questions but we get into some conversation we get him talking about kind of his upbringing we talk a lot about the Jason Isbell cover of cover me up near the end there it's things I thought were especially interesting about the interview where his comments on appearing on the show the voice I also

enjoyed when he talked about his friendship with Hardy and we also talked a little bit about my evolving perspective as a country fan that has always been sort of a genre purist and how that sort of been morphing as I'm kind of delved deep in this youtube world and as he's got a big collaboration with this pop producer Diplo he had some thoughts in the matter actually there's a lot of interesting stuff here overall I really appreciated how self-aware Morgan was of kind of his place in the industry of the idea of genre and of

what kind of his long-term plans are for building a career I enjoyed getting to know him I think you will too especially if he's someone that you already enjoy and want to know a little bit more about now I will say the production quality of this video is not perfect much like when I interviewed Zach Bryan and it looked like I filmed it on a potato or when I interviewed Kip Moore and had a light strobing problem this time for a series of circumstances we ended up backstage and it sounds like we're backstage it sounds

like there is some guitar tuning happening some drums getting hit but just think of it as beautiful ambiance of the backstage experience before a big arena show with Jason Aldean about to play overall I think I've saved the audio and it's not a big deal but I did just want to say that I'm not sit here and beat myself up about it I worked my ass off to get this interview and even though I have a studio I have nice mics I have all that ready to go if ever one day someone wants to get

interviewed in there for now I'm just making it work where I can with the equipment I can and I'm not gonna feel bad about it I'm just gonna say this is a reason to do a better version down the road in the future so we'll get into the interview now I know it's a longer video for me but I think that's pretty cool you can click around in the description to different sort of timestamps of where we're talking about different stuff if you like this video if you share it with a Morgan wollen fan in

your life I'd really appreciate that helps grow the channel and with that said go into this with an open mind and enjoy the interview I had here backstage with Morgan Wilin is there gonna be bad sound yes um and it's gonna be okay this is just we're learned and we tried to do it on my bus and apparently my bus is not capable of being interviewed on because my generator didn't want to leave the lights on you know it look like a ghost in there so it's true but we're making work okay so like I

feel like I could ask you a million like really obvious questions and maybe some of them for someone that gets interviewed all the time will feel really obvious hopefully they don't but I feel like I know just the bare-bones most basic stuff of like your upbringing you know the Wikipedia version of it but you you were born as I understand it in sneedville Tennessee but really like consider Knoxville home yeah okay kind of both but like Knoxville is what I consider my home challenges because I kind of got my bread and butter there you know

I'm over there when I was going into high school I think right before high school I kind of spent you know 10 10 years something like that before I moved to Nashville spent 10 years there so family's there now and a lot of people I love [ __ ] is here though alright um do you have siblings yeah I got two little sisters yeah how do they feel about like you know they enjoy the limelight of your they do man they bub my whole family as a whole and peploe really just been so so supportive

of me from from the early days man like never they never made me feel stupid or crazy for doing this and that's something I really really appreciate sisters including why why didn't they I don't know no man it's a good question cuz I can you know I kind of thought I was crazy myself so I don't know man I think that they believed in me and you know from from me sitting in the garage writing terrible songs on I'm gonna work out [ __ ] that was in my garage I think I don't know they

saw some in me and I'm glad did you have that angst of a pastor's kid yeah PK no I definitely did I definitely did um especially during like high school um I really really wanted to rebell real bad you know like you stuff go against everything that I'm that I ever knew so I kind of did man I kind of did that for you know four or five years and got that out of my system I guess and got into this yeah I got this a couple cigarettes houseboat I think yeah but you live in

a houseboat no no one of my buddies had one and there was some some times on there lucky we're not somebody didn't die but uh yeah man I think I went through that for sure I know I went through that for sure and then kind of went you know kind of return to told the things that was brought up on and and believed and became you know good friends with my parents and stuff again so I think they might hated me for a couple years what was the role of baseball in your life it was

big man I think you know I I started playing when I was four I think started playing t-ball my mom always told me that I was like when I was a kid it was I never played with toy so it was either some sort of instrument or or some sort of sport never really any toys and that's just about that would those are my two things that I love I love music and I love sports and thanks ball just I guess happened to be the one that was the I guess I showed the most interest

for and I thought my parents put me in you know I played it all the way all the way up til the end of high school and played travel ball on stuff you know all the time was supposed to go play in college and ended up getting hurt and that's kind of when I wouldn't say turn to music but I kind of you know I that was my outlet during that time music that's when I really started to play play again and I got that's when I learned guitar I'm still not the greatest guitar player

but that's when I you know my dad gave me guitar and I went to Walmart and bought a chord chart and I just started hacking and you know they've all kind of just I don't know it was it was a huge huge part in my life you know especially for me I was actually home schooled as a kid up into high school really yeah where are you offered as a freshman no I was not because I think baseball helped with that okay there's always around somebody I was with a child yes you would think I

would have man um I didn't you know I didn't mind being homeschooled but I always kind of was like I don't really want to be homeschooled but my mom believe it or not I was really smart as a kid but my mom took me out of took me out of kindergarten because I already I already knew everything that was going on so I didn't pay attention and I was just raising hell the whole time so she took me out on him yourself and she was already a certified teachers that's art degree so okay were you

were you like seeing how homeschool kids do like debate League and stuff did you do any of that stuff no debate League good for HR of speeches really yeah I did good at speeches interesting I almost forgot about that do you ask that question but yeah I did that what was do you remember the topic of your like defining your crown jewel sighs I dunno I barely remembered I did it I wish I did there's any way we can access that but no I don't remember but it was fascinating yeah it was cool man so

I don't think I really like know the genesis moment I guess you just said like you know you were musical a little bit growing up and then when you got hurt that you kind of found music again but do you remember like though was there a moment where you said I want to be a musician I want to be a performer I'm in an exact moment no I I think it was definitely during that time though when whenever I was you know I was hurting and I was writing songs to not think about that I

think I realized how much music meant to me and I was like I would love to be able to do this for a living I think it was just somewhere and those in those moments a couple months so then what were the stepping stones to go from I'm enjoying writing songs to I'm gonna do this in front of other people yeah well mostly I'd done in a church or went up so I'd already had a little bit of it you know if you could cancel one Church song what would you cancel when is there one

that you just I hate how great is our God it is like my least favorite song I know it's very popular but I'm just I've had enough of it yeah man I love it's a very Christian music but I like I really love like old hymns okay okay that's not my favorite kind Kirstin music or gospel I guess you would say I love that song I don't know a bunch of like contemporary Christian music songs okay but you've done it a little grown-up you said performing and then you know freshman college hurt writing songs what

like kinda is the is the the next step from yeah man I'm actually I was just kind of you know singing I actually went to a community college for a semester and didn't know what I was doing so dropped out and went back home and that's when I you know kept on writing songs and stuff and my mom signed me up for the voice and your mom sang - I didn't know I never even heard of it before how does someone do that with without you know I don't know she just put my name I

don't know she knows everything about me I mean you see it's probably pretty easy for her to put all the information in yeah I guess so but um she uh she said you know I think this would be good it was like I mean I don't know what it is I like watch the couple episodes of like I guess you know and ended up you know get making it there she drove me to st. Louis - that's where we tried out and made it through a couple different rounds what's the try out process like because

I feel like people know the idol process well yeah well see it on TV may not really know how people end up in LA I'm having the boys well--there's it's different for different people like some people that were on the voice they they can't attend they contacted them it was like you can just skip all that other stuff and just come on here you know but for me I know I didn't have any I didn't have anything going on you know like I don't even think I had a youtube video to make it sound like

good look but I went oh she drove me to st. Louis and we tried out um I was in a room like it was a it was an arena and there's all kinds of people I don't know exactly how many um but I went into a room with probably like 20 or 30 people I mean very different like judges or whatever and I think you got like a verse and a chorus I did mine and they asked I think I was the only one that's what did you say I've never seen at the show I'm

saying that the dude was like Morgan long can you stay for a second yeah so I was like everybody else left the room and I stayed on like will we can we lock you man you think you know you're clearly Brawl not only know what you're doing but we like you you know and I think hey yeah I went back to st. Louis and did an audition like in an actual studio made it through that then they sent you to LA to do an executive audition I think is what they called it and I think

sang sang a couple songs and then after that they called me and said all right you made it to the world auditions and then once you make it to the final audition you don't know if you're actually gonna get to try it or not because the teams might fill up before you get a chance interesting and is there a certain ranking were you like low and though I was like laughs I'm talking about that's two there was two spots left not when I went and secured an usher with only woman spots and they both turn

around so at least I got that say but everybody's I didn't like picking stuff like it good you know because they don't always show it that way yeah yeah on the TV either so like the people don't know when you try it out you know what I mean they think it's like an all all in order but it's not so ended up on Oscars team hated it hated pretty much a lot of them a lot of yeah I was gonna ask like being part of the Machine of life the voice and going out to LA

like go ahead go ahead I'm just gonna ask like was that a real fish shado I mean clearly they're gonna cast you as like look at this fish out of water guy being part of this like big shared recipe like it in everything like I didn't know what I was doing man like I've always loved country music but I've also I've always loved all kinds of music and I haven't like to where it's not like I can sing other stuff it's not country so they wanted me to sing pop music so they got me just

like I don't even know what I'm I don't even know singing a pop song so I'm like yes I'm very fish out of water I don't know what's going on you hear all these people you know these bigwigs and I've never even been on a plane before the show mm-hmm so I'm like I don't really I don't know anything I'm so naive to all this stuff you know and I go in there and they're like you know we we want you to do this and do that and when all these people are telling you like

well maybe we should do I don't want to do that but maybe the pressure do you know as a kid I mean I'm basically a kid and and I did I listened to him and it clearly was the wrong thing but now looking back I'm really really thankful that that it didn't work out because I you know what I've made it to like the top 20 and I finally singing country song that's when I got kicked off saying the country song and you know that but I got I'm not mad at them for that they

were probably doing what they thought that I that they were gonna make the most money off of writer Rob were they not right they weren't trying to ruin my life or anything I know that but did you go into the experience with like I did not expect to win but did you go in and just go in and being part of this show like just how long were you out in LA bro it was wow like and we sometimes we go for like a week two weeks probably like two weeks would be the least amount

of time we'd ever go out there and then we go home was there some couple months I was out there at one for like straight come on straight was there something you learned being out there that you wouldn't have expected you'd like take away from being out on the west coast I think just mostly just how TV works I think I learned really yeah is it like this like I say Quran setup here bucks and we put into this but man it's it's it's interesting how they it truly is a TV show you know what

I mean like that's what it's about like you if you look and let if you go look at like the top 12 I'm not sure if it's the same way I've not watched the show before or after yeah and you look at the top 12 there's like this this guy fits in this you know he's like the big black guy then they got like that white guy and they got like yes you know the guy with the beard and they're not a girl you know look I love Scotty and Lauren from their season of Idol

but like it's very clear when the producers have their narrative and for them that year it was like the two teen countries dollars and like no matter how good anyone else saying they're like mmm you weren't you weren't Scotty but I mean you got to know that when you're getting into a TV show and I kind of did but it was just really interesting to me to to kind of see the extent of it all man but it was you know overall I met some great people and I got to got to connect with people

through the show and that's that's what was the most important part for me you know a couple people us I noticed me because of because of being on there so that's like actually segways perfectly into what I wanted to ask which is like at some point you in Florida Georgia line like linked up seems like they kind of took you under their wing and you kind of ended up in their crew for lack of a better term yeah for a little while yeah um was that from them seeing you on the voice was that from

no it was it it was ended up meeting a couple guys and I met this guy in Knoxville actually I mean him I went back from the voice that we had we've got to go home for like a month and they said why your home Texan voice lessons you know that they told everybody just till I keep their voice up and all that you know whatever and so I wouldn't find the dude and he was like this rock guy used to be in a rock like active rock band I was like everybody else was like

all these classical hands I don't want to go I don't want to go in there and do that so I met this guy named Sergio Sanchez and we started writing songs together and he knew people from being signed and that band I see and I've met a couple people through that and those are former managers I'm not no longer with them but I through them I met a guy named Seth England he was my manager now and who is also the late my label president and a partner in it and uh he is the guy

he said he also was he's no longer but he he was for the Georgia lines manager - right and hey man he literally sent him a demo and a guy named Kevin Neal - I can't forget Kevin Kevin Neil is was a booking agent at WME and he is actually the first person that I met in Nashville I went to his office and played a couple songs on the guitar and he was like man I think I want to help you out but you got to move down here so I was like alright I'll move

down here now moved down there and like had a few demos of stuff and he sent them I wasn't looking for a record deal at all I was just looking to write with other people I was trying to get better songwriting because I had not been writing that long so I wanted to you know learn from people that I appreciate it and looked up to and stuff and I sent it - he sent some demos to big Loudon seth was like who is this kid is he like he's just trying to be a songwriter and

Kevin was like let me know he wants to record it you know eventually you just doesn't get better songs yeah that's like bring him in so I went in and played for him Joey and Craig Joey boy and Craig Wiseman and man I don't know just from the very minute we met they kind of just felt like they got me and they understood what I was trying to do and I went back the next week and played for the whole staff and like a conference or anything and miserable stop setting you know yeah like you

got to do and I mean it was great they they just kind of just yeah I've never I didn't never take another meeting with another label I just had a good really good feeling about it and they did I don't know why because they didn't have nothing going on Wow so that's so interesting you know I'm in the midst of like a musical not Renaissance but just I'm rethinking a lot of things I've like deeply held for a long time about genre about sound I listen to a bunch of things that you did and prep

for this interview a bunch of other interviews you've done talking and you've talked a number of times back Joey Joey more if you are unfamiliar like back and FGL to bands that have astounding levels of success and at the same time like take more [ __ ] than anyone and just kind of like trying to instead of join the pack pile on I think I'm taking more of attack lately in life of being like why why is this connecting with everyone and and you've talked about how he has like a real just intuitive sense of

what sounds good what doesn't sound good did you just trust that right off the bat do you have that same intuitive sense just the ability to lean in and be like I like this that's all that matters I guess so and and well I can't take all the credit man this is weird my mom again coming back to the mom and dude after I got off the voice or whatever I think I'd maybe just movie night or I was about to move to Nashville I couldn't name you one producer in Nashville at this point my

mom calls me was like hey I think I found who you need to work with I was like alright you know send me what was in me whatever you don't send me who it is and sue me about it or whatever and she sends me Joey Moy and she doesn't ever send me any other guy this is the only guy she ever mentions and so happens my first like label trial or whatever is with Joey boy in the room and I'm just kind of like this is weird this is very very weird and also you

know I knew what he know what he had done but I also I don't know something about that that whole vibe in that room that day I just I felt like they there was a real realness to the situation and I feel like they really believed to me immediately and knew what had a vision mm-hmm and we talked about that you know and I really as of now I think I made a good decision yes I'm thankful for those guys and anytime I can give them and but yes III there was some of that but

my mom also played a role that's so interesting your mom she's a smart one she is so like I I'm intrigued I'm sure you've answered a million questions about your mullet I listened to an interview of yours in 2017 and it was right before Uptown came out and you said in it I'm thinking about getting a multi era yeah and I was like oh wow what a goldmine of like a quote I'm thinking about it was right before I used to have a huge beard like down in here big like Fisherman's Wharf mustache and I

would always tell people it was more about like the independence of it than like even it looking good doesn't look good some people it's a point of intrigue do you like your mullet make you feel a certain kind of way yes I wake up every day oh my god really yeah no I'm you know think about that like it's not I think it's a kind of like a subconscious thing but yes it's some sort of independence that's a good way to put it it makes you it makes me feel that way you know and plus

you know I feel like it made a difference in your career yeah I would say you know I had no idea that it would it was definitely not some ploy because I I just thought it looked cool I mean I was there pushback from anyone oh yeah everybody label management like planned out thing you know they were like what you're gonna get a mullet I was like man I saw my dad when he got married my dad had a mullet when they when my parents got me really yeah and I saw I was looking through

their photo albums it saw him I was like man he looks good did you see yesterday at CRS air church I was doing an interview up on stage and he was saying that the label under no circumstance that they want the cover of chief to have him in a hat and glasses really yeah they were like you have nice looking eyes so you have to show your eyes and you have hair so you have to show your hair and he had to like fight them on that which has now become kind of his iconic weight

and yeah no doubt I mean it's funny how this stuff like that works man um I think I didn't get like my label they know I'm gonna do it okay and so does my management at the end of the day at the end of the day I'm really appreciative that they give me that freedom obviously I trust their advice sometimes and you know that kind of thing well all the time but they know that at the end of the day if I don't if I want to do something probably I'll do it mm-hmm and so

they didn't give me that good it wasn't like absolutely not okay it was just like come on man think about this and stuff like that yeah yeah you sure and yeah I guess so so like it's the independence peeking the freedom to do what you want obviously you got like this song with Diplo out this whole project is kind of intriguing what he's doing well yeah coming Tom as Thomas Wesley who who approached you in this situation and I don't think Diplo knew who I was when he approached my manager for this thing this was

originally the idea was not it was not me it was not this song I don't think he I don't think he was really aware you know I still was still pretty fresh I guess I mean I still AM to extent and he he had reached out and had a couple ideas I think one for Mason and he for FGL I believe obviously I mean that that make sense mm-hmm and uh I'm Seth my manager it was like these are good ideas but I think I got one better and sinem heart listen you know and said

what y'all thinking they're like yeah we like this one better too so we know that's just how it kind of how it happened and you know for me it was I don't necessarily even look at the song as like a country song I really don't never I never thought that it would get played on country radio never thought anything does it I think so some yeah some stations it's not like we don't push for it to be play that's not what we're writing right but yeah I've talked to a couple radio guys are like man

we love this one we're just gonna play it on my plumbing by all means go ahead you know so do you like at the end of the day my channel bunch of music nerds bunch of people like thinking about it a bunch of people that self included that care about I'm a genre and think about it are you the same way or you mean yeah watch your stuff man nothing I you know I'm aware of what people what people think you know I think I'm pretty a realist when it comes down to it and may

not I don't know for me I'm always gonna make country music albums when you if I put out now and it's gonna be country music but if you know if somebody like that approaches me and I get a chance to to go to a different audience and I didn't change one thing about my voice right right I didn't do anything I'm not accusing you know it's just like I think that's a good thing for me because it gives me a broader you know reach and it also I think it helps country music - I hope

you know it brings people and I've had I've had people all kinds of people message me and say I've never heard of you until you heard heartless and now listen to your album yeah now listen to other things now listen TJ's in this ball yeah yeah yeah exactly have some one thing over and listen to Diplo one day and the next week they listen to me and Jason is more mm-hmm and that's pretty cool yeah I love that well I think that's where I I think that's where I am finally kind of like drinking that

same kool-aid I'm sipping it I'm opening my minds the idea that yeah maybe it is like more of a gateway that said this is how I'm always gonna be I think I'm like this I know that like the the distinctions matter I think people just get pissed when things sound I think like what you said at the very beginning ultimately I know it's not really a country song people just get pissed me try to pull the wool over their eyes and say I don't want to do that right I agree I agree that there are

Turner's I think that that you know there's traditions and there's things that that should be honored and respected and and I don't I don't wanna ever you know muddy those waters and yeah that's not what I'm here to do I just I would like to bring the more people I can bring in to my favorite genre of music the better okay so when like you're in this like phase now where I feel like everything is really real you're like you have this big album you have this you're you're opening for Jason Aldean you're I'm guessing

gearing up for the next record like hardcore are you like doing okay has it been an adjustment do you have friends like I feel like you your upbringing total light like if you're gonna be in like a church community there certain rhythms of life there's certain routine there's people you're seeing every day you're really like connected to others and the mundane things of like oh this you know this person's grandma died like that's real life when you live out on the road kind of apart from that is it hard can be yeah especially as much

as we've been home for you know I guess four years now basically just non-stop I mean you know we've had a couple weeks here and there but mostly every week being gone you know sometimes being gone for a month or two at a time whatever yeah there's a there's an aspect of that that I miss for sure you know I miss birthday parties and all that kind of stuff you know now I hate that but I also know that I'm doing something that not many people get to do so I I'm super super grateful for

it and I you know I stay in contact with my mom and my dad and my sisters and I have a couple you know a couple buddies back home I've actually got one a month my buddies from high school out on the road with me this weekend so I you know I just bring I try to bring people along and um you know FaceTime my buddies and I and you know that that's something that I've thought about too like manna fire if I ever lose that how much was around a song all right supposed to

connect with these people because if I ever become someone whose it was not that anymore then it's gonna probably gonna be really hard for people to relate to anything that I have to say or do and I don't want to do that that's that's a scary thought so I try to I do try to keep a strong base of people in my life that that help that it's so fascinating me how many country artists there are that like get off the road and go ranch they think they literally I'm like okay on your break your

vacation is that you're going to farm yeah but I imagine there's an element of that of just like wanting to feel the normalcy like the steadiness you know for some of them they may have been doing it before they you know - but yeah there is something to that like I like to fish I like to do that a lot so me and my cousin my cousin ax are fishing in college so he teaches me stuff all the time and anytime I get a chance to meet him go fish and that's something for me that

that helps also but there is something that that you there's a I mean for me at least I'm sure that others feel the same way that you just you don't want to lose who your some video of mine I didn't know what said go man I got everyone which I never claimed to be a country it was a I was good to learn it was good to learn what Zebco man yeah thank you so tell me about oh this is just a weird question - weird questions one when you and party were on WWE this

was the thing right it's not making this up but here were you just there did they coordinate it with you and be like we want to like show a little shot of you guys or yes they did um I mean we were gonna go anyway I think but somebody is it like a thing you keep up with no not really who was your who was your guy anyway I never got like super different you I didn't have like my brothers were stone cold yes I like stone cold Ric Flair mm-hmm course but it was never

something that I was like Halloween you know I didn't have no bigger ease or anything like that I was just kind of like this is weird but it's kind of interesting people really really truly follow this like hardcore it's basically it's like a soap opera yes yes kinda it's like a profession soap opera it's like an unbelievable thing that they're able to do that like a week after week after we did the process that did they do is it Wow they like write it the day of they there they I want to like the camera

room this dudes like like rattling stuff off dude it's it's crazy like I'm like it's a whole huge production and which is awesome yeah I appreciate that so that was cool for me to get to see him but yeah me and Harney we were we didn't originally went and obviously they're gonna sit us beside each other right before before they were like I was like man I was like man we gotta we got to do something it's kind of like wrestling it's like yeah let's do so we did he slapped me so hard slap him

nearly as hard as he slapped me that's that's great that's our our brand for sure okay what's the genesis y'all's friendship about three years ago really yeah it's not a little super long thing um but man it was one of those things where we actually the first time we met was in the writers room meet him and Jamison Rogers actually was a first okay that's the first time I'm Matt Jamison - and they sent me that song that we wrote the first time the other day it's not bad but it's not great but you know

sometimes you just meet someone you're like I'm gonna be this guy's friend for a long time or this girl you know I just I don't know man we just had a connection and this is before hard to even out I think even thought about being an artist or anything when he was Michael yes I always caught him already but I ended up being his name booked for his when I did a video on him I remember like that was my aha moment I was like oh I bet there's random videos of him as Michael Hardy

yeah much easier too much easier to find than just like the word hard yeah I'm sure yeah I was a treasure trove man I don't know something about my god man if I had to guess put us together that day and man we've just been we've been boys ever since yeah listen uh and I love my love of my family now I love his family we've kind of just we can add of in there to the friendship well yeah I mean like I was just saying I'm guessing you need that like yes I hold his

friendship very dear because he sees things kind of a little bit on the same page as me if that makes sense like we both go through a lot of the same things and everybody back home can't always relate to everything that I have to say either yeah yeah so I don't bother them with things that they're not gonna understand yeah somewhere like Hardy acumen you know he gets it so I revalue that well and I feel like y'all get on like something I kind of enjoy about both of y'all and maybe you just have good

social media managers maybe whatever but I feel like you just kind of get it like you get the shifts that are happening in media I'm not trying to get you to say anything bad about country radio just good like I always feel like that's a you know the the umbrella that everyone in the country like but I just feel like there's a different sense of kind of leaning into you know I think like respecting the past evolving it forward and doing that in kind of the internet culture yeah and we do have great people behind

the scenes that help a lot you know but yeah I think that they everything that I never I know everything that I do I approve and or I come I come up with all mine its content mm-hm somebody just basically all my content from out like Instagram stuff and I know I have a chick talk now I I do the concentrate you have a tick-tock I knew the con I do the content but I don't actually have tick-tock so I like my photographer guy okay we'll do the stuff and then send it to them and

they'll post it but I don't actually like have tick-tock because I'm like I already spend too much time with this other [ __ ] I don't need another I don't need another Instagram I would so every country artist right now is getting a tick-tock and they're horrible they're like amazing and horrible like Luke Bryan just started his basically what everyone does is they make three because I think you have to like make three of them to get verified to make three videos yeah and so they'll be like hi I'm on tick-tock and then they'll be

like what's up guys and then they'll just do one more that's that much effort and then they get their little checkmark and then after that it's just like concert clips or like professionally put up because they got the blue checkmark oh that's it well that's I mean that's cool I'm trying to observe I'm trying to like figure out what is that what are all the big country artists gonna do with tick-tock and I'm just enjoying watching it right now George Strait you've got on there the other day Bryan's on there now but yeah well we'll

see it's involving okay I don't know what to do with tick-tock you're going on well I'm on tour with Jason now I'm going on tour with Luke brother so maybe me and him can help yeah help each other get your tick-tock and then here's the last question that is completely random in the Chasen new video there's one clip you know I'm gonna ask about but probably is there was that a mannequin in the back of the car no I don't know what happened this is pretty girl no no I can't imagine they got such a

close matching mannequin dude everybody not everybody but people that pay attention like you they is there a dead girl in the back no she was a live breathing she left the video fired I don't know what that was I don't know what that was someone DM me at some time ago I didn't out if I would have caught that in the in the you know like the editing for it I didn't like maybe let's keep the dead looking grow out of them out of this job but someone diem means was like I think it's saying

like this girl's like a memory and he's like chasing her I wish that our thought I was like I don't really put that clip in it's like a hundred different things um I love that shot exists there's a little little tease moving forward like this bar had a lyric video come out today yeah is that a single man are every bit of data that we get back from it suggests that it is okay that being said I don't know I'm still just chilling with chasing you right now it's doing well I'm still climbing so whenever

there's a good chance at this bar probably saying well there's a good chance of it but I'm working on I'm working on an album right now I'm basically when I'm not on the road I'm in the studio working on that every day up until May 8 this one I have to be doing so that's how that works they tell you you have like a deadline well the last time was not like this but this this time I'm getting some much bigger looks media wise and DSP wise and all that kind of thing so I'm I'm

gonna watch the DSP digital streaming platform sorry oh so they're basically trying to block out their marketing calendar for the year for me yes so that's great they put me on a time crunch that's okay because I'm we have plenty of songs and we just went through the other day and picked the album that right before we came out on the road Wednesday I was in the studio cutting you know cutting the new songs with band I'm really excited about it man you got something that like like you're ready to say with this record or

your you feel like early my career I'm trying to build I'm trying to build like a cannon of songs that people enjoy at a baseline you know I'm not sure cuz there's we're I'm not sure exactly what this album gonna look like because we're throwing around a bunch of ideas because I've got a bunch of songs that I want to get out yes there may be there may be something that I said like something like that if if the idea that I personally want to happen you know happens and we're gonna and it's just it's

just something that people don't really do any more so that's all that's all I'm gonna say but yeah it's I'm excited either way ma'am well that's cool well I uh I have to let you go at some point that's not a bunch of questions about Jason is bull and are you talk a little bit longer if you want let's do a little let's do a tiny big just because I'm like I want to I want to talk to you at Eric Church and gazing this because that's you know what we're talking when you were talking

just now like when you're talking just now you I would say like Dirk's and Eric Church are in my minds the two guys that have best managed to throw a like enough bones to like this is an obvious mainstream play with like this is what I want to do this is my little like nerdy passion whether it's a bluegrass project whether it's something like The Outsiders that that Eric Church did and like that's a hard line to walk smartly and you were kind of it like would you say that Eric's model because I know you're

a fan is is something that you'd want to emulate yes um I mean be right now I don't have like a like you said a bluegrass thing or like a rock thing you know like Eric does but I I always want to do stuff that I enjoy and and you know for them I mean man yeah I would like to think that I can put my things out there for the mainstream then do what I want on the album's that's what I that's that's kind of what I've always wanted to do from the beginning and

I would agree with you Dirk's and Erica are the ones that yeah I mean I'm kind of think of anyone else even actually does that does anybody else even do it really some people do they just like don't they're not as successful I think a ton of people find a degree of success find some money some comfort and then go and do what they want and okay yes but no just trying to think if there's anybody else who's done it like successfully it's hard to do it is man and and I you know that's a

I guess that's a scary thought I think there's some water water pipes you know an oven here but um it's you know you obviously you want to have success this is right I need to I mean this is my way of living I don't have another plan for my life so this is what I'm you know so what I want to do and that's what I'm gonna do but best quote I ever got in my time as a writer was I was premiering Dirk's his video for Reiser he was real passionate about that song and

he said something to the effect of he was like look did I think that this song I think it's that you know what it sounds like as it sounds like the automatic paper towel dispenser but Dirk said that uh like I didn't think Rhys would be in the 40s a few months into its release but look if this song doesn't end up being a hit I'll just release drunk on a boat which he basically did he put out somewhere on a beach right after that song didn't hit and I've always appreciated just like this straightforwardness

of like look you got to keep having hits you got a matter till you don't yeah and yeah and I get that like I said earlier I think I'm pretty realistic about with how life works and give me your most underrated air church song most underrated dark side dark side I would say knives of New Orleans very literally every you ever put mustard on your fries yeah you too yeah well I find it his most offensive lyric does you like ketchup other than mustard no blaspheming the fries for button I just feel like it's not

this like all-american thing to put mustard [ __ ] you I'm a huge fan of him I have a commission to hold painting of our church it's in my office but um I just yeah that's all I mean and if I had to pick one a pic and catch it okay thank you that's very fair and I appreciate your candor all right your cover of cover me up probably like for a lot of people on on my channel definitely like a place where they discovered you or a place where they rediscovered you after like maybe

not caring about like your your first releases I think it's made a lot of people like take a second look what we're just gonna ignore like what what it kind of sounds that good there's a remix of I knew you were trouble with screaming goats that kind of sounds like you like the song just tell me how it came to be and what it's kind of done for you yeah man I've always loved the song since I heard it that's the first station is something I heard and I mean I just I don't know I

fell in love with it something about it just kind of struck a chord with me and I think some of it is partially because my parents story my dad used to be real real wild and when they were my parents have known each other for their kids you know and he was real while just not making good decisions you know and mm-hmm my mom was like you know get yourself together leave it and he did in that song yeah I just I don't know kind of was like I don't know like I thought of that

what's the song about like a woman being able to see the diamond in the rough to see the potential like you're not being your best self yeah and there's like a certain there's a certain type of person that finds that like the most romantic thing um I love that song that's thing it's like no no it makes sense me too so I think that I thought of that you know I've heard the song originally and I just start learning learn the song and then me and my guitar player Dominic we would always be like like

in a room like this or whatever a lot of times backstage the doors are hoping and you know everybody can kind of just hear what you're doing yeah and would warm up and sing that song and people would peek their head in what is that mm-hmm and I noticed more people more more people what is that what is that what is that and I was like man people really like to hear us sing this you know and and they don't know the song so that sucks that's sad that they don't know it and I don't

know man we just decided to do a version of it ourselves and I mean it wasn't like immediate like I went and did on I went on tasted country and did a thing they had their risers and I picked that for my cover song and then I saw how well that did and all right well you know maybe we can do a version you know at first I was kind of skeptical about it but man we ended up doing it and obviously the the response has been overwhelmingly positive to me and obviously there's gonna be

some of the purest or whatever yeah I call and I get that I respect that and I know that I don't try to to make my version I tried not to stray far from the original and and you know I get it that they're gonna go Jason Isbell wrote the song he did he's a great someone got her one of my favorites and I've tried to give him the respect he deserves every single step of the way did you have to ask him like up front to do it well no cuz it's just public domain

and I didn't really know how that sounds domain I think all songs every song that comes out you can cover it everything have you all like talked yes we have no okay he actually I've seen what he's tweeted just being like guys I'm happy about this yeah and I mean what do you I mean obviously if I just destroyed the song right then you know but I've tried I tried my hardest to respect the song not straight you know too far from the original um oh I saw it was after it was at the CMT

Awards and he was there him and over there and we we it was right after the CMT Best New Artist got announced I didn't win and I'm pissed obviously you want to win yeah anything you're up for you like I don't the next day I'm over it yeah that's not what makes people come buy tickets right win those awards um but I'm pissed and I walk out my managers like we can't leave you don't like I'm leaving so I walk out and leave and and I look at their sitting like right next to Jay Cohen

I'm thinking I'm like I said like f this or something like that to him and I think I didn't realize jay-z Dementors I know date yeah I'm not even realized days whenever sitting there I think she saw me say that and she followed me out to the hallway it was like hey like she was you know just like real calm she knew that I'm mad I think I got I want I want you to meet somebody I'm like is your husband you know he's like yeah I'm Adam and he was just like it was so

gracious every bus are exes and approve approving you know of what I'm doing that that really meant a lot to me sweet that's a nice like you know bridge-building thing to end on I'd say I really appreciate you taking the time to do this I've been Jordan man well good bye yeah thank you [Music] you [Music]