Bussin' With The Boys - Brian Kelley On Why Florida Georgia Broke Up

Episode Date: May 9, 2024

Recorded: May 8th 2024 | In this bonus pod episode, the guys sit down the other half of Florida Georgia Line, Brian Kelley. Brian had listened to and seen some clips of our episode with his ex-bandmate Tyler Hubbard and wanted to come on the pod to clear some things up. He felt that some of the information that was said wasn't completely true. Kelley wanted to tell his truth and give more context to the story. After listening to this episode, it paints the full picture of the entire Florida Georgia Line story. 0:00 Why Brian Came On 5:53 Brian's Side Of The Story 14:57 What Success Would Have Looked Like? 18:09 Performing For Biden 25:34 Cancelling Concerts During COVID 28:10 What He Could Have Done Differently 32:57 Tyler Going Solo 35:15 Who Broke Up With Who? 39:48 FGL Reunion? 48:20 Talking About New Album 1:00:19 Lake Or Beach Guy 1:05:36 Life After Music Chevy: Head to https://chevy.com to check out all the Chevy truck grit and build your own Silverado.For more, visit barstool.link/bussinwtbSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thank you, Mitch. All right, we have an emergency podcast. So, BK., if you don't mind, I'm going to lay the groundwork for what happened yesterday. That's okay. Yeah, absolutely. So yesterday our Tyler Hubbard podcast came out and your wife reached out to my wife

and asked for my phone number. Yeah. Within, I don't know, 90 seconds of that phone number being received by your wife, I would have my phone was ringing. BK gets in the phone. He's like, heart pounding. Well,

my heart's pounding right now, kind of like re-saying it all. Because when you, we as far as saying, hey, man, how's it going? A lot of compliments. Like, hey,

love your show, love you guys. And I know something's coming. Like the way you're kind of building me up. I knew something was, was headed my way. The shit sandwich. This shit sandwich.

Right. Something positive. Positive. Negative. Positive. And you kind of get lost in the meat. Yeah. So you called,

obviously, there were things about that podcast that you didn't believe to be the truth. And that you, You said you've been quiet for a long time, and you love the opportunity to say your side of the story, which that's what Bustin with the boys is all about. Yeah. You also said on that podcast that I said some things about you that were disrespectful.

To me, I immediately, once we hung up the phone, first and I did it was called Will. Second thing I did was get on the YouTube and start watching that clip. And the clip that you referred to, and Mitch, I hope you play that back. What happened beyond the way with you and BK that's like to where Florida Georgia Line can't be forever? Yeah, good question. I mean, for me, it was really unexpected. didn't. But BK came to me and said, man, I'm really feeling like I want to do a solo thing. And I'm like, really? I'm like, we were just getting out of our first deal. We were kind of

in a sweet spot that we had worked for 10 years to get to. And I'm like, bro, like, why don't we just ride this thing out for like five more years, 10 more years? And then we can do the solo thing or whatever. But again, like, I wanted to support him. He was adamant. Like, now's my time. I really need to do this for myself. And I'm like, well, hey, whatever you need to do, bro, like, what do you want for me? He's like, I just want support. So I'm like, all right, you got it, bro. Like, we've had an incredible ride. this is where it's going to go. Like, let's do it and crush it and you never know.

Maybe it'll bring us back together and we can have a reunion tour or whatever. But it was, he definitely initiated the whole thing from the beginning. And it kind of, when I say it caught me off guard, it wasn't that we had never mentioned it before. It's just one of those things right. I didn't think then. I didn't think it was going to happen then, you know what I mean? Is we're talking about the breakup.

And I, if I see what you see when you're looking at through the lens of what your main storyline here is with you and Tyler. But when I'm talking to Will about, if Will did this, if I did this to Will, Will would probably be like, you piece of shit. I was, I'm the burger guy. You're just a toppings guy. From that story.

From the storyline. Because I'm putting myself in a headspace of Will and I's relationship, not yours and Tyler's. I put myself in a headspace of how much Will does for the bus in the back end, as opposed to how much I do. And all of kind of the ins and outs of how Will and I's relationship works. And I'm kind of just trying to make a humor out of a situation that's uncomfortable for everybody to see on the bus.

So with that, I want you to know that busing with the bull. is not here to ever attack you or attack anybody. My opinions, Will's opinion is never going to be made by what other people say about people. It's going to be able to the interactions that we have with people that's going to dictate how we feel about them. So as long as you feel good about that, brother, we can get right into it. No, I appreciate it. And thanks for answering the call and getting me on here, man.

I've been wanting to get on here for years. And, you know, great to be able to clarify some things. And also, you know, I got an album coming out in two days. Perfect time. Great timing. Forget the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef. We've got some FGL. We got to get these numbers up.

We got some southern beef going on. It's hilarious. Some country beef, man. Where do you want to start? I mean, how do y'all want to start it? I like that. I'm open-minded to be honest with you. I didn't 100% really come with an agenda.

You know? I wanted to be able to have an open conversation. And, you know, I guess I could start it off. but, you know, I had multiple, you know, friends and family and fans kind of reach out and pass, you know, some clips over and then the episode. And, you know, really at the end of the day, you know, for the fans' sake, the ones that have paid money to, you know, see Tyler and I support us over the years, hard-earned money for concert tickets, CDs, vinyl records, merch, you know, my family, my mom and dad, our family friends, you know, I think it's important to, you know, know, shed some light on, you know, my experience and what it was like going through that for me and not just one side of the story. And so I appreciate the outlet to be able to come here in a place where I'm fans of y'all. Like, again, I watch y'all. Some of the jelly roll earnest things

or some of that I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, man. Like, I really enjoy the show. So I was a little taken back yesterday just on some of the things. And I hear after talking to you what you're saying. But, you know, I would love to give some light on just kind of the scenario on kind of how some of that went down. Right. And I wouldn't even call it a beef thing. I don't think this is really a beef situation.

But I do think it's important to speak my truth and to, you know, at the same time, stand up for myself, you know, because it's not just him that was FGL. You know, there's two of us. And that's what made it so special. So to kind of. You guys were on the top, too. And so when this is all unfolding, you're kind of just hearing through the grapevine that, oh, there's something going on. Like, there's not, I don't think FGL, they're going to, they're going to be a band or a crew anymore.

And then you guys go to the solo route. I do feel like everybody's curious on what happens. So when we have Tyler on, like me, I only know, I know Tyler through Taylor. So then when we're sitting here listening to Tyler and referring to that clip and everything else, like, I'm just taking whatever's being said. It's like, he's the only one that I'm hearing from. No, I totally get it. I totally get that. I'm understanding of that.

You know, to kind of start, you know, when we kind of referencing, you know, how we got to, you know, I heard BK and my name kind of thrown out quite a bit. And just to give some clarity, you know, back to, you know, BK wanted a solo career. To clarify that, you know, I'm a songwriter. You know, I moved in Nashville to write songs. We ended up in a duo, and I'm forever grateful for what we were able to do, man. We had magic, amazing fans. We went on a hell of a ride. I'm forever grateful for that.

And just what a time, you know? So we've had the conversation of having extra outlets since 2016. And then every two years after that. Extra outlets, meaning like. Meaning, you know, I had voiced that, you know, I want to obviously keep doing FGL. But for me, you know, in my off time, when songwriters, creatives, alone, you find even more of yourself. And there's going to be songs over the years that just being a songwriter, you know, I'm going to write that aren't going to fit the brand of FGL, right?

And so it was important for me to, you know, continue to honor my craft, my, my artistry, my songwriting. And so, you know, I had voiced that for a long time. And, you know, we kind of made a deal, you know, where once our fifth record is done, our terms up, you know, we're going to create more freedom for ourselves. We're going to keep FGL going. We're going to. We're going to, you know, put out some solo stuff. So it wasn't a surprise because the marker was was in place of once our deal came up. And I want you guys to know, and I want the fans to know, you know, we were trailblazers. And I was a part of that, you know.

I had an idea that when our deal came up, you know, we could, Tyler would get a solo deal under the same label. I would get a record deal. And then we would renegotiate a new record deal. And something, you know, I've talked to many industry, you know, record label heads, and they talk about this 10-year transformation. And we had, you know, a solid 10 years of commercial success. And, you know, how do you go from where we were the next 10 years? What does that look like? And honoring not only myself, you know, my songwriting, but his songwriting.

He's a great songwriter. He's had songs cut by other artists that I have nothing to do with and vice versa. and that fueled the group and that fueled both of us was waking up every day hunting down songs and ideas and you know for to have another trailblazing idea my idea was hey let's keep everything going and let's do a three-hour set no openers let's do solo songs let's do FGL songs and be under the same umbrella and nothing changes and so watching the episode yeah yesterday, you know, just so casual that, you know, he just, he wanted to do FGL too. I wanted to do it all, you know. I didn't think that was out of bounds. You look at Lady A,

you know, Hillary does some solo records in the Christian space. Charles Kelly has done some solo stuff. He does some shows. And I love how that operates. I think that's pretty special that you can, you can honor yourself and you can honor what you've built and you can continue forward. So that's the mindset that I had. It wasn't just I have to have a solo career. I would word it as I wanted a solo outlet as a creative as a songwriter. So that's just I wanted to reshape, you know, that part of the story for you guys because, you know, I put a lot of thought into what that could look like.

You know, I had a lot of conversations, wrote out a pretty detailed plan. And I don't think it's emotional. You know, it doesn't have to be emotional. I was listening to things that, you know, it gets sticky about what songs go where. I think it's easy to figure out. It's not emotional thing for me when we're talking about business and creativity and going forward. And also, man, what we had and what we built in a short amount of time, people would give their entire lives for. And some people never get to that place.

So I don't ever want to downplay the success and everything that we built. means a lot to me it still does it's very important and you know like uh made a lot of history made a lot of memories there's a great brotherhood there and um you know so i it's not some casual you know i wanted just to go off on my own it was very intentional about a new plan how do we genre bend how do we trailblaze for another 10 years right right right because you're probably thinking you were getting to the end of this was it the fifth record or the fifth fifth record you're coming up on a And you're thinking the way we've exploded, something that you've been intentional about since, what was it, 2016? 2016.

And kind of put pen the paper and everything else. In your mind, you're thinking, do we just do the same thing? And we think it's going to carry? Or in your brain, how do we kind of branch off or utilize the platform and leverage that we've created to also benefit ourselves and put it all together, not benefit ourselves separately? But benefit ourselves and put everything together to make it seem like, what can we do different to add to our shows or our concerts? For sure. How do we show our talents and our brand and ourselves in a different way that nobody's seen before? So I thought that was a really good idea. And obviously we couldn't, you know, really at the end of the day, agree on what that look like. But I just think it's important for people to know that I didn't leave FGL. I didn't want to just do solo and half-ass FGL. And y'all talked about, well, you know, what would happen if a solo show came up for me and an FGL show? It's the same thing with y'all's podcast when y'all were still playing. It's like my main job is my main job.

What I do with my off time is my time, right? Just like y'all. And so, you know, I was also curious about what the conversation looked like with Braves, you know, when you guys wanted to do a podcast. And I know you guys can relate to what, you know, probably I was, I was feeling and I felt of wanting to do more and wanting to create more, man. You know, I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a songwriter. I'm an artist. Me and my wife have multiple businesses together.

Tyler and I had multiple things running, you know, a great publishing company, giving songwriters a voice and helping shape their creative talents. And so we had a lot of irons in the fire and having a lot of fun at it. So it was really nothing new in a sense. But that's kind of where I wanted to start. Yeah. You know. Well, let's, let's, so just for clarity, when was that fifth album done? When was like the end?

What year was that? we turned it in May of we turned that album in May of 2020 so May of 20th so we're talking about it didn't come out till February so and I also I also would love to hit on this too I think it's important because I've read a lot of articles that have some facts in there and some truth and then some are just not not on the timeline um you know for what it's worth I just want to be factual here you know Tyler had solo music out before I even did you know before we even got our fifth album out. You know, he had released a couple songs. He had played Biden's inauguration, which was a huge look to be a solo act with Tim McGraw. He released another song. And, you know, I didn't start releasing music until April. So I just think that's, that's, I'd love for fans and anybody listening to know that's the truth. Right. He was rocking at radio immediately, you know, top of January of 2021. And I didn't get music out until April and then the album in June.

And, you know, I created Sunshine State of Mind with a sonic respect of what we had built. And also, I created Sunshine State of Mind in a time, it's all good, in a time where the world was shut down. You know, like I've always dove into songwriting and the highs and lows of life. When life is good, I want to write. When life is bad or in between, I'm going to write. And so it helped me get through a hard time, you know, of being able to dive into songs that aren't going to fit on the FGL record, but songs that I can, you know, that are authentic to me and just get my voice out there. And it was, you know, a passion project. Right. Now, now it's a career. You know what I'm saying? It wasn't supposed to be a career, but I, through a chain of events of some of what you heard, you know, I wasn't able to do both. Right. And your goal was you wanted to do both.

Yeah, absolutely. You want to have your outlet. And it wasn't casual. Yeah, it wasn't casual. It was very thought out. It was very intentional, very methodical, just like every move that I make. And so. In that realm, when you talk about Lady A and the people you're referring to who's kind of done the thing that you were trying to be intentional and creating, how do you give us some game on how something like that works and stays together?

Like, did you have conversations with any of these groups? because and there are also groups with ultimately where stuff gets sticky and gets in the way you break up depending on how the friction goes. But when you're creating this and being intentional, pen to paper and everything else, what what the success look like with all that that you were trying to present to both of you guys? Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, I remember talking to Big Kenny back a couple years ago. And he was like, you know, all that matters is if you guys are on the same page, that's all that matters. and, you know, clearly we 100% weren't. But, man, I mean, we were at a point where we were only playing 25 to at the high end, maybe 40 shows a year.

We had just signed the biggest live nation deal, probably a duo had ever signed. And I was really looking forward to touring those dates. They ended up getting canceled. But was really looking forward to connecting with fans, getting out there, and doing what we do. and to me you know nothing would have changed it's like

it's just like what when I have free time because we're not burning up the road like we used to you know it was a very select amount of shows with a little bit a couple award shows a year you know a couple things

and it's a lot of free time like they can go on vacation they have kids you know they have different priorities and things that they love to do just like you know me and my family and you know a lot of my off time I like to work on songs I like to get creative and work on other things. And so to me, I've worded it that nothing would change.

It's like we can figure out what that looks like specifically on, you know, figuring out a week to block out, writing some songs or recording. Like, I'll never not be there. I just thought it was a great look for both of us. Like I encouraged, like I said, you know, him to do some solo. I want to do some solo and then we'll continue to do what we've always done and trailblaze, right? Yeah, yeah. To me, nothing has changed.

Like, you didn't miss football practice to come do a pod. No. No. You know what I'm saying? And here's the deal. When you said that a little, you're actually scared me. And I just want you to know, it's like, am I missing practice? Starting over as a solo artist for both of us, it's like, well, do I go do a BK show and make and lose money?

Right. Or do I go make what we make for FGL? It's a no-brainer. Yeah. Right. And so I just, I think it's important to hear my experience and my heart. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. From kind of how we conceptualize this idea and how I thought of it. But really, yeah, I didn't, I didn't want anything to change. It's like you do what you want to do on your free time. That's great.

I want to do what I want to do in my free time. And, you know, we'll schedule dates out to record, crush some shows. continue to make money for our families on something that we've given 13, 14 years of our life to that not many people have the opportunity to even do. You know, so, when did it start,

when did it start to go sideways? Because you had mentioned earlier about, what was it, February of 2020? 21. 21 is when he released his first album, or first songs. Yeah, his song came out in April of 21, yeah. So when did Tyler?

Solos come out? Solos came out in February of 21. Tyler, when he sat on the bus, said that BK came to him and wanted to go solo. That's what we were saying is incorrect. That's partially the truth, not fully the truth is what you're saying, right? Yeah.

Was he already starting to do solo stuff? I got a call in December. While you were trying to figure out. Yeah, I wasn't ready to make an announcement on having solo outlets and do that. He really thought it was necessary to do that. in January, January 3rd or 4th, you can go back and look on FGL Instagram of 21. It was his idea to go on and say,

hey, we're going to be doing some different things. We're going to still tour. And that was only because he had a song with McGraw coming out, undivided. And he was going to be playing, like I said, the Biden inauguration and starting to get out there and get visible as a solo artist. So I wasn't even ready to make that announcement

because I'm like, yo, our album, so his song came out in January. our record was coming out in February. Yeah. Yeah. And I was ready to like ride that out, go do press, you know, and focus on that and not in a place where I wanted to rush out this announcement and not even ready for that. So on that announcement happened, you weren't wanting that to go live. When you were, you brought the Biden inauguration a couple of times.

That obviously is a big deal because of how polarizing the political stuff has been for the last 10 years. Was that a conversation that both of you had, whether that was appropriate or not, for FGL, a representative of FGL to go do that? Or did that kind of... Because a lot of people do think a lot of the breakup was political. That's what I was getting at is because,

you know, he does a Biden inauguration. Shortly after that, you guys are now solo careers and there's not a whole lot of communication. Did you guys speak about that before Tyler did it? Or it's kind of... No, I was down in South Florida looking at boats. And he called me and said, hey, I've already recorded it.

You know, I'm putting a song with Tim out. So I was told what was happening. Right. And he said, we're going to play the inauguration. How are you reacting? To be honest with you, I've just a little caught off guard. Yeah. Because, you know, I was told that, and I was on board with this, that, you know, no solo

music comes out before the FGL record. Right. Right. So I was all on board. And then to get a call saying, you know, he's going to make a very visible statement and performance before the record and then go right to radio you know definitely a little caught off guard

yeah um but you know at the end of the day where were you January 6th we just get that sorry we just watched the roast of Tom Brady I'll tell you what that question that Will and I just asked you traded those waters beautifully you did because that's a tough time when you're like Biden and Trump and you're just like holy shit how do I get through these things you know we're going on concerts it's like concerts

were being canceled. Some, some artists still toured. Like maybe, maybe Tyler didn't want to. Maybe you, I don't, I'm so curious how everything was unfolding. That's why I'm asking you. You know, I've read a lot and people have said, you know, it was political and all that. But, you know, really the public, the public issues started, I believe it was right after, right after the election in 2020. You know, he, he and his wife had unfollowed us. And, you know, he, I'm not exaggerating. You know, he got on, you can go look up the videos,

but he said, you know, BK was posting some stuff, some political stuff, and I didn't want to see it. And he, you know, told me that he liked me better in person, not online.

That caught me off guard as well, for my brother to have those thoughts and feelings. But, so that was the first kind of thing that happened, where, you know, publicly, people, I could see how they started framing that.

For sure. Because everything's very heightened at that time. Extremely heightened at that time. Yeah. For everybody. But, you know, I grew up in a world where, you know, my dad was in politics for 20 years, city commissioner, mayor, county chair. And I watched him move and progress city, counties along with different-minded people.

And that's what makes America great is people that see things differently, but can still get it done at the end of the day. Right. That's my mindset. That's how I approached it. Um, so, you know, for me and my family, it wasn't political. We didn't unfollow anybody. I was ready to go to work. And, um, so. Now, there's a lot of this stuff being just on, like, there's not a lot of communication going on and then you're both kind of finding out just things on the internet. Or are you guys kind of in tune with each other the whole time knowing that there's some instability happening? It's just, more of a ticking time bomb. Yeah, we were talking. You know, we got on a podcast, you know, a day or two after that, there's like a Rolling Stones article that came out about the unfollowing. Yeah.

The unfollowing. We got on to, I know. Got on. I didn't want to get on and do that, but got on to try to do some damage control. I don't think that did any good. Okay. You go on a podcast to do some damage control. You guys have each other's phone numbers.

Did you guys try to call each other about it? Or was it like, we'll settle this in the public eye? I mean, it wasn't really too much of a heated thing at that time. Like right after the election, it mean, it wasn't terrible. We were chatting and, you know, he did call me and tell me, I like you better in person, not online. Yeah. He told me that. It's tough words to hear.

So. Yeah. That one person that we know that hits us up on. And to be honest. Oh, yeah, yeah. And so I think one of the things that triggered him was, you know, I had an American flag and another flag flying on a close friends post to about 12 people. And in my driveway, gated, nobody could see it. And, you know, I think that was the one that was to my close friends who he was on that list.

Right. And if it was anything public I posted, I posted a couple things, but I'm proud that I posted it. I said, you know, I'm not sure why we're still locked down if there's going to be, you know, big, you know, protests in the streets and big celebrations, but we can't go do concerts. Yeah. I don't really understand that. And I was backing the blue-collar hard workers, the people that don't have a voice, people that need that kind of backup support. People like my dad, the way that I grew up, you know what I'm saying? People that were out of business, out of work.

in a tough spot, losing their, everything that they've worked for. You know, I watched your boss, Dave, raise a ton of money during that time. Yeah. Very inspiring. And, you know, I was, I was ready to get out there and play concerts, man.

You know? And again, back to. Could it a bad thing where you guys are having concerts? If both of you say, yes, we want to do concerts or was it more of like a label thing where it's like, hey, we're not going to go do? No, it wasn't a label thing in terms of live shows. I think it was up to us for sure.

And there was a disagreement between the two of you, whether you should have live concerts or not? I think at the time, you know, I think there's, there's, you know, I know we canceled our, our 2021 fall tour, which I was really excited about. But, you know, navigating through that was not easy. Right.

Being ready to go. But, you know, that kind of is what it is. Yeah. Yeah. That's a tough world. If you guys both have differing views on what's going on and you're wanting to play concerts. And I'm assuming by you saying you wanted to, I'm only going to have to assume

me that Tyler didn't want to. And there's a big disagreement with there. I mean, think about all this stuff in the NFL that was happening. Like in our locker rooms, like when we're having to do all the tedious things. And some guys are like, hey, yes. Dude, the tights got put under investigation where the NFL looked at all of our tapes. to see if guys were wearing masks or not. I was in the cold tub, maskless.

Good. You were one of the guys they were trying to get. Are you serious? I swear. I posted something after the game, like we were celebrating a win. Yeah, after the Bill's game. Yeah. And Stretcher's like, hey, you need to take this down

because the NFL will hammer down on us. Like, I know we're celebrating a win, but you need to have your mask on. I'm just thinking, you know, this is so gay. Dude, it really, it was crazy because there was a time where we're supposed to play the Steelers, right? Yeah, they got canceled. Supposed play Steelers, that game gets canceled.

Then like four days they're like, okay, you guys are playing the bills on Tuesday. We got to get ready. But we can't come in the facility because they were doing an investigation on the Titans. Right. So you guys go practice. So what's the office alignment,

receiver stuff like that? We all kind of. Dispersed. Dispursed. And we kind of went and did our thing. And that was a big. Yeah. Well, they started looking at cameras of all the NFL teams.

And they're like, well, we can't punish all of them. Right. Yeah. I didn't know. Dude, it was a, I think it was kind of under wraps. Well, somebody took a photo of the DB's practicing in a park.

Parker. Parker. Yeah. I was like, oh, yeah, basically like told on us. Yeah, snitched.

Yeah, snitched. Like, we're trying to get ready for the bills. We got to do something. I know. We actually won that game,

too. We did the shit of the bills. And we were literally like, we don't ever have to practice again. At the end of the asswoven. Brought to you by Zoom. Sponsored by Zoom. Bray,

we don't have to practice anymore. Never. Oh, man. We were fresh. Yeah. Yeah. We had a big outbreak. A bunch of guys got the vid.

Yeah. Yeah. A bunch of the boys. lost a lot of good boys out there, man. It was tough, dude. My question, in your opinion, obviously, there's a lot of, there's a multitude of things, but in your opinion, what was the breaking point for you guys? And also, second question, when you think back on some of the way you navigated it,

what are some things you look back on about, okay, I could have approached this differently? You know, I fought the good fight to keep FGL going and to continue to kind of put together a plan and what that would look like. You know, we were doing our last, you know, festival shows in 2022. We did probably 12 or 14 of them, and we were killing it. It was great. And I was, you know, we were talking in person and even, you know, via email and saying, hey, the demand is there, you know, like.

Like, hey, we're kind of nice. This, it's, I don't think, um, us having solo outlets is affecting our main business and our main brand and what we've spent, you know, our entire adult lives doing. Yeah. Clearly not affecting that. But breaking point, I don't know if there's... Sick.

That's the breaking point. That's right there. There we go. I don't know if there's a breaking point per se, but, you know, he... This part is true. I mean, he said, you know, that was his boundary. Yeah. And if he thought it was best to support me by cutting off something

that I put my life into as well, that's one way to support somebody. I didn't agree with it. I was very protective of our brand, very protective about every move that we made about, you know, are we going to go on and announce we're done on CBS Sunday mornings? No, I'm not done. I'm not going on it.

Right. I don't want to do that. I don't want to be done. So it's just, you know, seeing things, in a different light and I think he was very concerned about what a solo outlet for me specifically would do to the brand. And, you know, he voiced that many times to me. And what did he think it would do to the brand?

Water it down. And at this point, he has solo stuff out. Mm-hmm. Okay. Because I'm also- He had solo stuff out first. Let's put more clarity on that. So you and Tyler are having conversations. He's saying if you do a solo act, it's going to water down FGL.

but at the same time he had a solo act going on or he was in the middle of cutting solo stuff these are the initial conversations probably September October of 2020 Now for those of us who don't know How long does it take to write a song like Undivided Because I think that when I listened to you talk And I heard Tyler talk

Because I went back and listened to it I texted you today too You should probably listen to it Because we're a touch a lot on it Is there is such a big miscommunication Between the two of you Because Tyler feels like he was blindsided you feel like you were blindsided in a way too

that you're like, how does this not all work? So obviously there's a lack of communication, but now we're talking about timelines because that's what's really important. Because if Tyler is saying, that's where I draw the line is we're not doing solo acts, but at the same time he's cutting solo acts, well then we can see where there's a problem there.

But if it's like, I want to just know chronologically how this all worked out so we can all kind of figure our way to the truth. Yeah, fall of 2020, when I went to him, I had written a pile of songs after taking some months off. Like I said, May we... This is when you guys canceled the tour and everything. This is that year.

This is 2020 COVID. I mean, if this is fall, yeah, you're halfway in the heat right now. Undivided it was out by then. Fall of 2020. Undivided came out January, January 21. Okay, okay. All right. I'm caught up.

And so, you know, the initial conversations, probably September. That was when, you know, he was very concerned about, you know, it watering, you know, it down. But again, I went to him with the idea of, look, it's not just me. me like you can spread your wings i can spread my wings and we can continue to spread the wings of fgl right and we all under the same label we don't have to have different man like it could all be under one thing and be supportive in that way and growing right um like planning it all it was a couple months after that you know where i was you know he's you know no music out till the fGL records out and then December probably third or fourth of 2020 is when i got a call when i was looking at a boat like

I said of, you know, hey, we got to make an announcement soon. You know, I'm putting out a song with McGraw going to radio, doing this. So, um. So December, he calls you, says, I got a song coming out in McGraw, but there was a deal made that we're not going to have any solo stuff release until February when the new FGL album comes out. That's right. How does you receive that information when he told you that? No, other than the political thing.

I'm talking about from you, your partner is reaching out to you. About the song. About the song. And what you're saying is there was an agreement already. Yeah. I'm just surprised. I mean, shocked for sure. Just like, okay, I thought we had a deal, you know, about what the plan was.

So I just didn't, I didn't think it was going back to my main thing is protecting FGL. I didn't think that was a good look. Yeah. If I'd have done it or he did it. Right. You know, again, FGL was my top priority. And, you know, too, I remember y'all were talking about, you know, giving 50% to a solo career and 50% to FGL. I wasn't wanting to put 100% and start all the way over and play clubs and do all that.

I don't mind it now because I have to. Right. And I'm building. And I'm excited about it. it now. But for people to know how the origin of this all happened, you know, a lot of people think I just left and wanted to do

solo stuff because that's what he's saying. But to give context, you know, I was, like I said, very methodical about how we grow and I want to keep this together. It's important to me. This is a once in a lifetime thing. And again, you know, we talked

about it for years. We went to you know, on-site in 2018 and chatted about this. This, this plan of, you know, once our record contract's done, we're going to renegotiate and have freedom. You know, there was a time, you know, when we didn't even write separate. Yeah. And, you know, we kind of, I kind of pushed for, it's okay if we write things separate, man. I'm a fan of you. You're a brother. I support that. I'm not going to get jealous if

so-and-so cuts your song and it goes, number one. I'm happy for you. That only helps me. And that's how it should be vice versa. It helps the brand. It helps the brand for everybody. Winning is good for everybody, right? Right. So. Okay. Trying to break all this down in my head.

Break it down. So you guys had a conversation in 2018 about having, possibly doing your own solo thing. Oh, yeah. When that conversation happened was the plan, the idea fully formulated in your head of, hey, we should do solo acts as our opening acts and then do a three-hour show of FGL? or were you still working through an idea? How was the communication between you and Tyler in 2018? When that first idea came up?

Yeah, not probably that then, but keeping FGL together was top priority. Right. And you both agreed on that. Yeah. You both were like FGL is the number one thing. So now we fast forward. He's released that song with Tim McGrath.

The album comes out in February. At what point are you guys like, we're done? And who sent the divorce letter in? You know, here's here's what happened the boundary was the boundary changed over time the boundary was

if you want to do that we're not going to make FGL music for the foreseeable future so that well that's not what I want that's what I told I said I hear what you're saying that that's not what I'm asking for that's not what I want so I was like

all right well I'm going to make some music and we're going to we're still going to tour we're still going to tour we're all excited about that. The songs came out. His song, January, he had another song come out. My songs come out. You know, right after my album came out in June was kind of when, you know, it was kind of

made known to me that we were, you know, kind of done. Made known from somebody on your team from their team? No, Tyler. From Tyler? Yeah. So Tyler, we reached out to you personally. or did you reach out to you through people? Oh, personally.

And he said, hey, FGL is done. Yeah, it went from, you know, no music in the foreseeable future to, you know, now we're not even going to tour. You know, he was, you know, I'm just here to tell the truth. I'm not here to try to burn down anything, whatever. I'm here to stand up for myself and my family. And like I said, the fans. So, you know, he was trying to get out of the 2022 festival dates that we had already committed to because he didn't want to be seen with me. Really?

And be seen as a duo. because he was already ready to, you know, push his solo career and overdrive. So obviously I can see where you're coming from now when I received that phone call yesterday when, because you guys are saying exactly, you guys are saying the same things but yourself. Like you're saying that you want to do FGL.

He's saying he wanted to do FGL, but both of you think that the others broke up FGL. How does that communication, like, gets so lost in translation when you guys are together for 12 years before that, doing the barbecues, pop it and adie and headed to the next spot to now. hour megastars like how does the communication between the two of you just evaporate because

wasn't their therapy involved as well you know i don't think the communication evaporated i think um you know i put in a lot of work uh individually and together to help lead the way to to chat with um you know business coaches mental health uh coaches multiple different options so i don't think it was a lack of communication, maybe it wasn't just me having an extra outlet. I'm not 100% sure, but to lay it down that, you know, BK wanted to go solo. And just wanted your support 100%. It's just not the whole truth. There's no context around these sound bites and these clickbait things that he's saying

that y'all are putting out. You know what I'm saying? It's like it's important for me to have my voice heard just like I want to wanted to have my voice heard outside of FGL, right? Mm-hmm. So is, talk to us about when you guys are you guys, when you guys are meeting with mentors, business coaches, therapists, whatever it is. Are you guys all in the same room talking through this same stuff?

We've done in the room and then at a time, you know, in the height of COVID, I think it was a lot of Zoom too. Yeah. So we've done both. Did it ever feel like it was progressing the right way or did it just feel like, you know, things are just going to be dividing even further? when you're getting off those calls and sit with your wife Are you feeling like, I feel like we're making some progress

Or man, we might be farther away than I thought we were Or take us through those Man, it was just a little bit of a grind To try to try to find a place that we can meet in the middle And understand each other But it just never got to that place. Yeah. Is there any way in your mind that FGL gets back together one day?

I mean, you never know, man. I mean, look at the Eagles. Look at, I mean, there's lots of groups that have, you know, gone through way worse things than we have, you know. At the height of everything, it just never was really terrible. It's just seeing things different. And would you, would you get the band back together? Like, could bust some of the boys potentially, potentially fixed floor.

Did you why? Yeah. I mean, all we're asking for is like, I don't know, 10%. Yeah, would you? We get you down to five, we'd have a conversation. We're all trying to make a dime out here. Same, same. But there is, like, my mic's all messed up.

Is it good? So would you, that's fine, just keep playing with it, would you want to get the fan back together? All right, we're good. Man, I think time will tell, you know. I'm really focused on what I'm doing now. I know he's really focused. He just dropped an album,

and I know he's putting a lot of hard work into what he's doing, just as I am. So we'll have to see, man, you know. I'm sure the fans would like it. I'm sure the fans would love that, man. I feel like I'm pretty in tune with the fans. And, you know, even on country radio, they're jamming FGL songs still a ton. So we'll just have to see.

Yeah, yeah, Mitch does. He bangs in one time. What's your favorite song, Mitch? You know it's Cruz. You know it's Cruz. When you go to her, solo like, do you play FGL songs as well? No, I haven't.

Yeah, I feel like that'd be odd. If you're like singing Tyler's parts or if Tyler's doing it and he's singing your part, it's kind of like, this motherfucker. Yeah, while you're like kind of singing, I'm sure, like, you guys both, the thing that I'm trying to figure out, and I don't know how to get there because I don't have the degree for it is there's obvious hurt on both sides. And both of you feel hurt for different reasons. Well, it kind of seems like the same reasons.

Both, both males, just trying to be stoic, trying to be reserved. Right. But knowing that there's some depth. Like both of you have the same exact energy coming on this bus. Now when you call me yesterday, I could see, I could hear the hurt in your voice. Very understandable, all that. You come on here. Still calm.

Yeah, it's passion. And you need to have that. Absolutely. I did say like, oh, I mean, BK's got that. The way Taylor's explained it, I was like getting a haircut at the time. I was like, oh, shit, for real? I was like, man, juicy BK on the bus. I think could be peace off.

That'll be crazy. But it is, it's so it's, I just wish we could figure out like the core of where you both were hurt. how it all like and how you essentially fix it if nothing else then just to have a relationship again because but you spent 12 years your life of somebody traveling all over the world having the success you did like there's got to be a piece of you that I misses them a little bit it's got to be tough I miss it all you know I mean it's it's it's a big part of our life man it's very very special you know it's on it's dreams and dreams and dreams came true you know doing what we did together yeah so uh like I said very special I was going to hit another point

something you just said a second ago but I forgot what I was talking about well the beginning part was me talking about how you guys both seem hurt by the situation but I can't figure out what the exact point of hurt was it to me the way I am viewing both of your stories I'm trying to play

Tyler's story back in my head while also listening to you is you guys there was a there was a conversation I don't know where that conversation was but somebody spoke about and I feel like we can say that you brought songs to the table first being like I wrote these

kind of being like excited, kind of like I do with Will. Like, sometimes I'll hire an opportunity. I'll get real excited for Will. And Will doesn't know how to react to me because he's like, I don't know, like, do what do you want from me? And then after that, it kind of just seems like it was just a slow bleed until you guys died. And I don't, like there was, you know, the inauguration.

We talked about that. We talked about him releasing songs before. Like when you say, I think we had. Getting back to my love of FGL and the brand and all the hard work and the fans, that's one of the reasons that, you know, I haven't played FGL. songs. I'm really proud of those. And I miss playing those together. Right. That's to me where they should live. I think with some of these half truths with no context quotes coming out. Right. And maybe him playing FGL songs, one would assume that he's carrying on FGL without me. Right.

It can appear that way. So out of respect of what we've built together, that's that's why I don't you know and maybe I will one day you never know um they're great songs and I had a hand in writing a lot of our hits um so you know it really comes down to you know I love our brand I love what we built and I was very very protective um and and not wanting to announce that we were done because I wasn't done so yeah when you when you go back to the call when you're in South Florida and he talks to you about writing the song with McGraw that's going to come out yada yada and you say and I don't know how you responded but you said you know I thought that we had something going on we had we were figuring something out like what is his response when you're

saying something like that because I'm assuming it's not just I thought we had some going on it and then you're just like well that's sick bro and then you guys hang up and it just you go your ways about it like how is that conversation unfolding when you're under the assumption of something else and you were trying to, hey bro, I thought we, you know, we're going to do X, Y, and Z. I mean, to be honest with you, I just let it happen. When a song's already recorded and you've got a record label that's ready to push it and have this moment.

Not much you can do, yeah. So. Yeah. Damn. Well, Tyler, during the interview, let me see. So we asked Tyler about, like, the breakup, and the fans were kind of clamoring, wondering what was going on. And Tyler said in our podcast that,

he didn't feel like it was his place to say what was going on. He felt it was for you to say what was going on, kind of putting that situation, saying that it came from you that you wanted to go solo. That's how this kind of all originated. Where was a conversation? Was there ever a conversation about like you guys, how you're going to announce a breakup,

why you should be the one to do it, why Tyler should be the one to do it or do it together? Was there anything like that? Yeah, we went back and forth multiple times. And I just, I really wasn't willing to do it yet. You weren't willing to do it because you didn't want the breakup to happen. No, I mean, it's not just, it's two people. Right, right.

It's like one wants it over and one doesn't. Yeah, but the thing that's crazy is both you guys are saying you're the ones that got broken up with. You know, you guys are both the ones that seem the most hurt. Like, you're like, Tyler, we use the analogy of like getting divorced. Like someone comes to you and they send you give you an ultimatum and they essentially choose sleeping with the neighbors. However, Tyler said it. And now you're saying like, you didn't want it.

You didn't want to release this stuff. So you guys are both saying the same thing that you didn't want to leave Florida Georgia line. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I think, too, like he says, it's important for him to, like, kind of speak his truth and give context around the whole thing. And there's probably that ultimately it's like, you're not just going to be like, well, he said this.

You know what I mean? Yeah. It's like you're trying to like speak. I wish you would. You're trying to tell your side of everything while trying not to be like, like, I'm not coming on here to just be like, oh, he said this all the time. I said this. He said that.

Right. You know what I mean? I feel like that's kind of hard to be like, because I see what you're saying. It's like both of them feel like they were caught off guard. They're both not necessarily wanting it to happen. And it's like, well, then how could you guys not figure it out? This is the actual breakup that happens where you know they're going to see each other at a bar one night and go home together. Because there's just so much they don't know and they both have a couple of drinks and see each other.

They're like, why did we break up? And they kind of just go home and do the thing and they wake up and they remember exactly why. Yeah. Like Samuel L. Jackson shows up and he's trying to get the Avengers together. Yes. Yeah. I don't understand that reference. But yes.

Yes. well I'm going to agree with you on that. I'll tell what we need to do is get the boys back together. Not together in a band, but get them in a room together and hash it out. Would you guys come on the bus together? No.

You know, you wouldn't do it? No, man. What's the... Hey, maybe we start. Let's talk about the good times. Let's talk about the beginning. Yeah. Yeah.

Let's talk about my new record. Yeah, yeah. Let's talk about the new record, bro. Oh, hey, was Kiss My Boots about Tyler. It's about a lot of people. If y'all aren't careful, it's going to be by channel, too. No, shit.

I want to write me a line, kill me. It's destroy me, bro. No, man, it's, that song, that song's special to me, and my co-writers, you know, it really, I could tell you right now, being in the music industry, and I'm sure being a professional athlete and being in the entertainment industry, y'all probably have a growing list of people that are on your Kiss My Boots list, right? It's not directed at one person.

It's not. Um, you know, the day we, we wrote that song, I didn't show up having that title. I didn't show up thinking we're going to write that song. That song came through, uh, man, I had a guy on Zoom and then two buddies in the room. And we spent hours going over starting songs, starting songs, had a chorus here. And finally we were like, man, I go, hey, let's take a break. I need a bite to eat. And I'm not really loving anything that we're doing.

Let's, let's come back in 15 minutes. Come back. Um, fast lunch. My buddy, yeah, fast lunch. Uh, my buddy had to get off Zoom, get ready for a show. He was out of state. So I said, hey, two co-writers in the room are y'all down to stay later? It's a Friday night.

And just through being patient, man, and looking for, no pun intended, looking for the truth in every session in every writer's room every day, right? And so we just started talking about things. And my buddy Dylan was like, throughout a line that sparked that song. And then we're all pulling from personal, you know, experiences and just collaborating on the idea. But he started with the line, you know, comes out with the whiskey. And so that, that started the song. And we landed, I remember landing on the hook with Kiss My Boots. And I just, I love the song, man. It's just,

songwriting to me is magic. I have so much respect for songwriters, songwriting game, because there's days that happen like that where you sit and you're patient and you're waiting for that spark of authenticity and truth. And then there's days like, you know, I have a song called Trucks, Ducks, Bucks, and Beer. Like, I had that title. I saved it for the right group. I knew I was going to write that song that day.

Yeah. So it's just, it's such a funny thing. But that song, for real, I mean, it's, at the end of the day, I want people to make it their own. I want people to hear it and go, damn, I've felt that way and I've lived it. And I've got a couple people on my kiss my boots list. You know, some of the best comments I've seen on that are like, yo, BK, thanks for the new workout jam.

Thanks for, thanks for channeling and putting to a song what I've been dealing with, right? So that's been the greatest thing about the song. You know, it's just, you know, the whole album is definitely like a party. It's positive. There's love songs. There's songs about being on, you know, a bunch of acres,

riding around an old blazer, hanging with Brittany and my wife, you know. and I put that song last just because it's enough seriousness in one song to make up for the, for the brightness of the rest of the record. But, you know, life is life is life. And I know we've all been through, you know, points in our life where we all get thrown curveballs no matter who you are. And so I put that song out just to let people know that, you know, I'm a real human.

I'm not just a, you know, a face on a screen or just some guy up on stage. Like, you know, I go through things. I've been through things all through my life that are highs and lows. And I song right through them. I always have and I always will. How is it being that vulnerable over your own lyrics when you're essentially giving it to an audience for them to evaluate whether it's good or not? Yeah. You know, I think you just have to let go at some point.

You know, I think you just have to be, just work hard on it, man. You get it to a point where you're like, okay, I'm proud of myself. I sang as good as I could. the musician's kicked ass on this. It sounds amazing. Mix sounds great. It's thumping. You know, depending on the song, whatever it may be.

But there's a point where you have no control about how people are going to react. Good, bad, in between. They hate it, whatever. They love it. They love it. If it explodes, you know. So you have to as an artist. Because, dude, I could still be working on this record and fine-tuning it and drive yourself

to add-lids, you know, and like, oh, I wrote another song, let's add to it. Like I can, you could do that for days. You know what I'm saying? So there comes a point where you have to really just like, okay, this thing's done. Whatever happens, happens. I hope it's positive. I hope it's great. I hope it helps my career.

I hope it continues to build my fan base. I hope they can relate to it. Yeah. Being this, your second solo album, what is the feeling going into the second one as opposed to going to the first solo album after FGL, like playing stadiums, all that? Yeah. Now you're in a solo act and you're putting out the first. first album, the same nerve still there putting this one out that comes out Friday?

Yeah, I guess a little bit. You know, I just think of these, the two projects that I have so differently, you know, like, it was all fun in games, and it was such a passion project and such a release for me to put time into songwriting and making that first record, Sunshine State of Mind. Obviously, COVID, weird times. It's like, yeah, I'm writing songs, man. Like, that helps me. And so this time, this go around, you know, we don't have any FGL dates on the books.

Like there's no foreseeable future for the group. And so I consider Tennessee Truth, you know, my debut record. There's, you know, it's the first, it's the first project where I'm standing as a solo artist with a career, not just trying to have an extra outlet that doesn't compete with FGL if that makes sense. So like I said, man. Everything along the way from me has been methodical and very intentional and trying to be as respectful to the fans and the brand that we built as much as I could. What, first off, Tennessee Truth is a dope name. I know.

That's a sick name. The minute you said, I was like, I almost named it Tennessee Tone. Tennessee Tone? Tennessee Truth. You made the right choice. You made the right. Brittany goes, it's truth. Yeah, yeah, you're right.

You're right, sweetie. You're 100% right. It's all in here. Stares at a paper for three hours. She just walks by and goes that one. Keeps walking. Yeah. I really mold this one over.

Writing songs, when did you find that passion? As a kid, as you got older. Like, what made you know that, oh, shit, I can, I got like doing this. Not only do I like doing this. This can be something for me. Yeah, it would be, I mean, I started writing poems, like, in high school. Freehand, Quillian, Quill and Pan? Like, trying to figure out if I could turn it into a song.

You know, it was like right before I started playing guitar, but I remember right now like lyrics or words and I always like poems growing up and my dad loves like little sayings and poems and he'll make things rhyme and like you know I was always the guy looking up songwriters

and the you know CD covers and like oh snap that's Craig Weismar that's Jeffrey Steele or that's you know Tony Arata all you know I was very in the know of what a songwriter was and you know got a guitar when I was about 16 years old

at a flea market with my dad. It didn't start hitting heavy until a freshman year at Florida State. You know, I was writing songs during class. Like I didn't need to get... Between partying. What's that? You know, surprising shocker.

I really didn't party at Florida State. Brother, you have a gold chain on that has a bass on it. You party at Florida State. You got a lot of me. Number one, it's a tarpin. My fault. No disrespect, please. You know, I did more worship leading

at Florida State than partying. Really? Oh, yeah. No shit. Yeah. All right. I stand like a 180. That's nothing but the Tennessee truth right there.

He drinks some beer on the bass. Yeah, yeah. No, I really, I really didn't, I really didn't partake in, uh, at Florida State for my two years there. That is wild. Okay. So Florida State is when you found like, okay, this is what I want to. Yeah, I couldn't, I couldn't stop thinking about songs and I'd get a title that pop in my head in class. And like, at that point, I didn't even need a guitar.

I could write out the lyrics. I could hear how it could go. I'd get home, get my guitar, put it in my little, you know, I had a little, uh, A little shitty recording program, my roommate had given me so I could get it down so I could have it forever and remember it, you know. You still have it? No, it was on my old Dell computer and I have no freaking idea where they were down. Dude, it was a block, man.

I mean, it was a block. I have no idea. I mean, it may be in a storage unit. I've looked for it. So if anybody finds a Dell with some songs. Yeah, that's mine. Give it back immediately. That's my.

Obviously, you're a natural writer, but, get like you were saying earlier this you feel like this is your debut soul album what what is this album you know mean to you and also like what have been the learning curves with kind of getting back to the basics even though you naturally are a writer like being solo on your own you know this record means a lot to me you know it's it's a songwriter's album i'm so grateful for all the collaborators and songwriters and being able to you know mend our worlds together and find something that we all love that that means a lot to me too and that hopefully you know people that listen to it they're like yeah that's my life too it's a simple record man like i love you know i have a song called bear feeder boots

and that's the lifestyle i live man you know like i love i love being on the farm i love being in the woods i love being at the beach i love being in the backwaters the lake you know i i'm you know my morals and the way that i operate are you know god family country and i love working hard i love having something to look forward to you know what i'm saying Um, just like the people that are going to be listening to this, man. You know, my world revolves around, you know, working hard, my wife, creating time for us to make new memories. And, um, you know, like what's, what's biting?

All right. Well, we're, we're actually in Florida. I'm checking my bass, you know, app. I'm hitting some of the locals. What are, you know, snapper biting yet? Snapper season? How many, how many can we get now? You know, what's, you know, on my little trail cam, you know, oh, damn, there's a turkey.

There's a deer. You know, that's, it's a pretty simple life that, you know, I know we've come from, you know, stadiums and arenas and all these things, but when you strip it down, you know, me and Brittany are really simple, man, like our favorite nights are, you know, I've had quite a few Friday nights at the house, you know, since starting this solo career and writing for the record, you know, I really wasn't on the road. I was home a lot writing. And so we had a lot of free, you know, weekends and Friday nights it's like yo dogs are hanging out we're cooking some meals and I'm watching freaking 2020 you know what I'm saying like I love that well there's a vacancy out there

I don't know if you heard but the great Toby Keith just passed and you when you hit me with God family country thought he could be the next toby Keith you can be the next guy red solo cop you tell you just want to get into some 2020 I've never watched I've never binge that dude I'm gonna help solve a crime one day are you oh yeah that guy it's happening Shows are incredible. It may be a cold case. It may be a current, you know, new one. I'm freaking-

The murder mystery stuff. Dude, I had to sit in a deposition the last two days. No way. And just hearing these lawyers talk, I found out there's no way I could ever be a lawyer. We would go in and they would just be talking back and forth and then we'd go into a room. I'm like, okay, tell me everything that just happened. Because you're literally like a six-year-old watching like Cloud Atlas or something like that. Not even able to register how smart these individuals are.

So all that to be said, I would never be able to solve a case. It ain't happening for me, brother. I'm not putting anybody in jail. Important question for you, are you a beach or a lake guy? Oh, yeah. He did because you heard you named the boat. Yeah, this is a big one on the bus. You know, our place in Florida, we don't live on the beach.

We live like right off the beach. We live on a coastal dune lake. So pretty special little spot, kind of surrounded by the state park. So honestly, really both because the lake. No, you can't do that, bro. You gotta draw a line in the sand and pick one. You have to. Look, we all enjoy being on the water.

You know what I'm saying? Oh, so. That's not a bad call. What do you enjoy more? If you had to pick on activity. You got one more day at the beach house. Your kids are sitting there. It's split 50, 50 down the middle.

You can either go, sand, ocean, waves, sea life, or you can go over here, woods, boat, wakeboarding, those types of things. Which one are you picking? Man, if it's going on, is what we call down in Grayton Beach, if it's going off in Grayton, which means the Gulf is laid down freaking teal blues. It looks like a lake. It's flat. Weather's freaking popping.

We're going to beach day. We're getting the truck out there. We can drive on the beach. I'm getting all my coolers. I'm getting my umbrellas. I'm getting my chairs. We're having a beach freaking safari. That's how, that's, I've had some of my best days doing that with Brittany and some

of our friends. We have a lot of local friends. I mean, just watching the day go by. I mean, and once you get out there, I mean, like, some days you can get out there, and it's just like a vibe day. But some days, you know, you can fish right off the beach, stick your pole in. You may not catch anything if they're not biting, but just lots of activities, you know what I'm saying? Just the fact that there's a line in the water.

Put the paddell boards on the top of the truck, get them out to the beach, go out in the Gulf. I mean, I knew we get there. bro i got you i can take you on i think we'll be coming more of a beach guy he's becoming more of a beach guy hey i did say the better day is a perfect beach day based on this where we're at in the bahamas i mean it was fucking where were you name a couple spots abacus um is it where uh is it like a discovery property i don't even know what that means it was nice of shit he was uh it was what kind of no no albby yeah yeah yeah albany no yeah ohbany no yeah Albany, no.

In a nice spot. He sent me pictures. Was it Exuma? I think Exuma. Damn. It was a nice spot. And they were like, I was telling JP, we went out there on the boat one day and you, you, like, pulled up on a sand dune. And the water's like this high on your shin.

And you're just out, like, in the middle of the water. Yeah. On a sand dune. And it was, you know, Roo's running around. Like, it was one of the thing when he says teal blue, flat, nothing going on. It's unbelievable. I said, I said the best beach day and vibe has. beats bests the best lake day vibe but as far as average what I'd like to do the majority of my time

I think a lake I'm a lake boy I love the lake too that's how Will works you gotta it's a slow it's been like a three year conversation this lake versus beach saying it's been like a three and slowly what are you Taylor I'm a beach guy I think you the culture of a beach you walk around literally you could be as stressed as you possibly could be in your entire life the minute you step put your toes in the sand and you're looking at the water and you just see you people just relaxing and knowing that I might have problems but not today that is what a beach brings that sounds like a song you might be a damn

songwriter you're welcome sir you can have that you can so what I'm thinking at some point y'all want to do that's mine you can't just tell what we can do my words he can take we should do a little beach trip okay y'all come down we could do one more pod have some fun right on the beach and then just kind that could be a good celebrate life I'm happy now hang on are we going to be on a boat we could oh bro yeah I'm just saying you know oh yeah Boat guy, big boat guy. Yeah.

Yeah. We'll like to walk around it and press the buttons. He gets real excited. And in Grattan Beach. I feel like a superhero like flying at the tip. I got you. Yeah. In Graten Beach, you can launch, the captain's launch to go fishing right off the beach.

Really? They back their boats up. Plop them out and you ain't got to go far to catch fish. Catch them fish? Then we come back to the truck. I'm down? I'm down. We can all have chains at the end.

I know. That thing does go hard though. I know I chirped it a little bit, but I kind of mess with it. You know? Dude, I got this from, uh, I've, I've made some really good friends in Grand Junction, Colorado. It's a family jeweler, three generations. And the son, the younger son, does a lot of cool freeform gold work.

I was there in person years ago on a tour stop. I wandered in there. Found a really cool ring. And we kept a relationship ever since. They've sent me some free things that they've made for me and Brittany. And then I bought some stuff from them. And I just was like, man, can you make a tarpin with like a little diamond eye? and, you know, just something, something cool.

And he's like, hell yeah. Can I bring it to you at your, at your all show in Vegas? I'm like, yeah, hell yeah. Every to your show in Vegas. He's like, I'm not going to mail it. But can I come to the show and drop it off? I'm like, buddy, yeah. That is a good tradeoff.

Yeah, so I'm good buddies with them. They're great people. They're living the American dream, working hard, making some really cool pieces, man. That's awesome. Carrying their family tradition. That's cool to see. When it's all said and done, you decide to hang up the guitar. Where do you, where do you, where do you,

see your life. You can be at that beach house 24-7? You head to West Coast. What are you going to do? Not the West Coast. I do love the West Coast. I think there's some great spots. That's not for you on. Not full-time. Not like, not full-time. I mean, I definitely love. Nevada.

Nevada's nice, yeah. Arizona. You know, I could see I love what we're at in Florida. I mean, I don't ever imagine us really leaving there. I could see I have a vision of like a, you know, kind of an old Florida farm, maybe, maybe more like central Florida, you know,

like ranch style. I have an idea to, you know, open this thing where it's like, it's called Good Shepherd Ranch. So we have German Shepherds. We have four. Love Shepherds. Basically, it'd be like, you know, try to find a good deal on a bunch of acreage, have a little house there, and be able to, you know, rehabilitate shepherds, take shepherds in that need a home, maybe foster some, raise some up.

And then I think it'd be really cool too, man. There's kind of another element that I've really been kind of thinking about lately to where, you know, maybe some kids that don't have a family system that something like I grew up in, I'm very grateful for my mom and dad. And, you know, maybe that's something they could come to Good Shepherd Ranch and we can work with dogs, kind of some dog therapy. And, you know, maybe I can rub off on. them a little bit in terms of like whatever they're going through and how to deal with things and how

to you know maybe maybe some life advice or some if they want to get into music maybe there's a little studio on the property but something that's yeah something that's kind of you know giving back um and also that has a lot of dogs on it you love dogs big shepherd guy they're inside inside dogs yeah they are shatters it's their house shedders big time you let them on the couch yeah you let them lick your face? Oh yeah. Man, only two of them. What those other two do to you? The sisters, man, if they've been outside, you better watch it. You'll smell it before it comes, but they, they like to eat the poo-poo. See, you got two boy dogs, two girl dogs? One boy, three girls, but we have sisters, litter mates, smoke and sage, and for some reason. Smoke? Smoke. I have a dog named Smoke. Can't

stand her. Yeah. She's the worst. What kind of dog? A husky. My wife loves husky. Maybe she needs a A couple weeks of Good Shepherd Ranch, man. Yeah, she could go. And I'll just forget to figure out. Taylin would love Good Shepherd Ranch. Oh, yeah. The whole time you're talking, I'm thinking to myself, Taylor is going to hear this.

Taylor was into it, and then you started mentioned fostering, and he just started to have, like, PTSD. Dude, I'm looking after bunnies right now. I wouldn't know what to do with bunnies. Dude, my wife, she's trying to be a wildlife rehabilitationist or whatever it is. She's like getting certified for it. Come on.

Sounds cool on paper. And then we get four bunnies. Because she tells me that, I'm like, bro, if we can get a raccoon or like, baby skunk that would be hype a baby skunk yes dude they don't take a raccoon they don't get their smell thing until like two years old oh i don't know so they kind of just chill and hang out and i'm thinking we're gonna get some dope animals and they throw bunnies over at us we got bunnies i got two of them that just sit outside hang out they they bite or they no they're like they're literally dude they're

this big oh they're this big and i have to bottle feed them every night every night and every morning and it just piss they're great on his feet they're great love bottle feed them having a great it starts off my wife being like honey i want to do so yeah you go ahead and you go ahead and and do that. I love that. I support you, whatever you want to deal. But then one night, kids have a hard night. I come downstairs. I'm ready for bed. If I'm a guy like, the minute the kids go to sleep, I'm trying to get to sleep by 930. If I can get to sleep by 930, my life's going to be great the next day. And that's really all I'm thinking about. Same. And she's, it's like, 915. She's like, I got to feed the monies. That's an hour.

Okay. That's an hour of my life that I got out now. Luckily, they're getting older. So we're going to release me. What do you say? You're like, damn, it sucks. No, no. You know me. Dude, I fucking bend the knee quick. Quick. Oh. I mean, I have an attitude. I have like a teenage attitude and I go and do what I'm supposed to be doing anyway. I have a bad attitude and then I do it. Just kind of stop her on the house. Go to bed, kind of man.

Good Shepherd Ranch sounds like it could be what we talked about, the ranch, or it could be like, it's like total hallmark movie. Yeah. Good Shepherd Ranch. Yeah. I could see that. Sunsetting. Oh, yeah.

It's like this. Crazy Southern boy meets a city girl. Exactly. They don't belong together. Exactly. But the dogs bring them together. Steal something from her. Steals her purse, runs over to the guy.

that's how they meet. Yeah. Dogs cute, he's cuter. What's going to happen? Damn. The boy, he'll just get going now. He's about to create an entire move before. I do enjoy living in my own head.

What my wife wants to do, she wants to get a farm and then have a grocery store attached to the farm. Everything comes from there. It's like her next dream that she wants to do, which I think would be sick. Like, what was it, Casa Boniva? Is that what it is? Tassaboniva. Oh, oh, yeah, but that's a slaughterhouse. Slaughter house.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ours is kind of like a. Like we would have to like ninja smoke them like go to the cows and then just you know get them down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah. What's trial? You should probably do that. Not that.

Not that. Not that. Yeah. Yeah. We're trying to purchase a couple things. Oh yeah? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

She, uh, Bar 3 studios. She's a franchise operations manager for Bar 3. It's like a boutique fitness. Nice. It's like Taylor Toward women. It's like Pilates, group fitness. Yep. type of vibe and she's been in that industry she's been with that company for a while now

and a couple there's an opportunity that popped up in Nashville that's right now we are in the in middle of trying to oh she would like to be a business owner hell yeah yeah yeah that's awesome yeah yeah yeah get on that I know get that what's up let me get on it Taylor I got a question for you go ahead so when you do these when you do these ice bats so say you're you're in Vegas I've seen you do ice baths in Vegas when you're out there, you know, playing blackjack and stuff. For some reason, I can't wrap my head around because it's in the hotel room, the ice bath, right? Where does, how do you, how do they get the water out in the hotel room?

That's the best part about Red Rock. I don't know. Dude, Red Rock is the greatest, like, hospitality place I've ever been in my entire life. I've been to Blackberry farms. I've been to really nice places. The hospitality of Red Rock is second to none. I told them one time, hey, it'd be cool to have a cold tub. my room. The next time I came there, there's a cold tub. They refill the ice. I spill everywhere. I don't

clean them out for myself. I'm a dirty boy. And then I come in, everything's cleaned up. Car everywhere. It's unreal. So I don't have a necessary. The hospitality is crazy. It's nuts too. You get an answer. I'm curious. You get into Blackjack when you're out there in Vegas? I love, that's really all I play. Really? Yeah, I love Blackjack. A ton of chaos. Dude, I really enjoy it. Yeah. I've had some good nights in Vegas. Nothing crazy. I know there's like some other country artists that go freaking ham and that they'll bet like a ton ton name one you know i'm pretty conservative when it comes to you know uh you shake the play vibe i made some pretty good money but like i kind of i kind of start slow and then you know i kind of

i'm a i'm a feel guy so like if i kind of i get that from my dad too you kind of feel what you're going to get you know it's like if i feel like i'm about to get hot like i'm all right double down double down you figure out figure out what you're going to do but what's been your best trip money money what yeah how much yeah how much you leave with probably 14K

not it's not like I know y'all y'all you all go with Dana and you know yeah but that's a cheap code like we're not living in a fantasy world that's a different one like 14 going home with 14 is amazing yeah when you're yeah when you're but I started with like shoot I started with like five or 600

yeah that's nasty trip hit bro just like and then I'm like all right I can tell us this shit's getting cold. I'm rolling. Really? That's my problem. I feel like Jack will hit some looks like that. You'll have a few hundred and turn it into a few thousand? Yep. Yeah, Jack will go crazy sometimes.

It's a fun, man. It's a fun game. When you've got people you know, you know, and you have a drink, whatever. Yeah. And it's like, I just, I love that game. I really do. Yeah, yeah. We would do all line trips and Will came on one, one year. And it was like five of us sat at the table, two or three guys standing behind, just drinking drinks, all kind of like talking each other into betting a little bit more. We'll also be scared about more Yeah, run the ball is $100.

Nice. Like, oh, hey, we're throwing a Hail Mary 500 here on this one. Yeah, damn right. And the boys just win or loose together. It's awesome. Yeah. The world will that I have gotten into has kind of been, it's a little, it's much more scarier.

There's a lot more room for error. How often do y'all go there? I try to go every month. No. I try to go every single month. Like, truly have a, I have such an addictive personality. And the minute I saw that this was impossible. And then when I start to lose, how Dana kind of just saves me,

I'm as kid. It's no reason to never go there. It's ridiculous. Well, hopefully we end up in Vegas together because I'd love to play with y'all. Well, I'll tell you, you go to, you take us to Florida. We hit that beach day. We have no choice but to get you to Vegas. I'm down, man.

That sounds like a good deal. I don't know what you're doing. June 26th, but you could come watch the beer games championships of the world. That's the problem, well, June 25th. June 25th. That's what Big Cat was talking about. June 25th. It's on a Tuesday.

You should actually. come June 20th June 24th June 24th when we're gambling yeah so we're doing the tunnel of chaos we're having a big party in the high roller room of Red Rock and then it's going to be like food drinks people gambling we'll have a little tunnel yeah where there's going to be one table with just one betting platform where that's a tunnel of chaos you know it's going to be a nuts time we'll get you the info if you yeah it's a Monday yeah it's a Monday because we is all tailored around people that are kind of in your category who are like travel Thursday to Sunday yeah yeah and so we want everybody to kind of come and have their schedule be as open as possible.

Cool. Yeah. What can we look forward to this year after the album drops tomorrow? Man, I got some festivals this summer. I'm really excited about that. I already played Tortuga a couple weeks back. That was like an awesome festival right on the beach. Yeah.

Very fitting for what I do. And I think I'm going to bring back. I did this in 2022. I did like a mini-residency. I did probably them 26, 27 shows. but we have a little surf shop we own down in Graden where we live. And we kind of converted the backyard space into a little concert venue. And so real intimate, maybe 200 people max a night.

So I'm going to do probably, I think right now we've got it at 12 shows, you know, a couple in June, couple in July. So really looking forward to that. Man, I know the fans that came the first time, had a great time. And it's kind of a power acoustic set, but really casual, really intimate, it really stripped down and it's um you know i really loved it man because you know it was an experience that i was able to create that didn't exist you know um i think that was that was that was that was really enjoyable to you know um i love playing all sorts of venues i love i you know it's

fun to play go back and play small clubs it's great to do that fun obviously to play big big you know arenas, amphitheaters, all that. But to really connect in, you know, a 200-person space, man, is like, I don't know. I feel like I got my chops up even more when I did that, man, because you kind of put yourself in a position to where it's so personable and personal that you've got people there like, hey, play this song. And you're like, sick, all right. Yeah.

Calling out something from the record that maybe wasn't on the set list, but you're really able to connect and, you know, that's what Brittany and I love about, you know, being entrepreneurs and creating things is like trying to figure out, it's all about the experience. You know what I'm saying? And to offer something different that doesn't exist really, really gets us excited. And so I'm excited about that. And then this fall, probably some more touring, trying to get the logistics locked down for that. That's awesome, man. I'm excited about, I know I got obviously a record coming out, but I'm really looking forward to getting back in the studio and writing and seeing what, what else we can come up with. Is that your number one passion is the writing part?

It is. I mean, it's one of my main things, but I don't think I could have it without the other part. You know, like I love writing and grinding and thinking and brainstorming and figuring out the freaking details of the song and the message of the song and all that, even the production, love recording it.

But the whole thing of getting it out on the road and playing live and doing that. I mean, I don't think I could have one without the other. That's awesome, man. Yeah. We appreciate you coming on. I appreciate you. Being open, being honest.

Hell yeah. And having a little fun too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I appreciate the platform and I thank y'all for answering the call and getting me on here. And I really appreciate it. Yeah, man. Thanks for being open.

Glad you can come on, man. Being willing to hear, you know, my side and my experience and hopefully for everybody listen. You know, I hope that has given some clarity. Yeah, absolutely, man. Before we get out of here, going. I know you already talks about it, but plug that new album real quick.

Yeah. Check out Tennessee Truth. It's a good time, and it's all about simple living, working hard, playing harder. Yeah. And loving who you love. Hope you all can make it the soundtrack to your summer

and maybe your fall too. And I hope these songs mean something to you. They mean a lot to me. And I hope you can figure out a way to put them in your everyday life, whether that's headed to work or on the lake. That's right. on the beach while you're partying whatever yeah Tennessee truth is dropping uh tomorrow

bK thank you which is what's the day on that thank you absolutely May 10 May 9th today today today's Friday oh yeah the 10th job's Friday jop's Friday jop's friday May 10th yeah yeah brother appreciate thank you thank you yeah that was awesome hey guys it's us the Jonas brothers I'm Joe I'm Kevin and I'm Nick and guess what we created our own podcast called hey Jonas we invented a podcast Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make.

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