Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Luke Bryan

Episode Date: August 8, 2021

Luke Bryan has been one of the biggest draws in all of music for nearly a decade, but his audience has grown recently thanks to his role as a judge on American Idol alongside Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the country music star in Nashville to talk about that rise to the top of the music world, and the triumphs and trials along the way. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. We stepped away from Sunday today on NBC for the last couple of weeks while the network carried coverage of the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. But we are back and back in style, if I do say so, myself, with one of the biggest stars, not just in country music, but in all of music. Luke Brian. Luke already had risen to the top of the country game with number one hits, entertainer of the year awards, selling out football stadiums across the country when he took a job in 2017 as a judge on American Idol, sitting alongside Lionel Richie and Katie Perry and growing his audience and his appeal even more. He's one of the great guys,

and he invited me down to Nashville to sit and talk with him in a studio called Ocean Way that sits along the famed Music Row. It's a place where he's recorded some of his albums. It's one of the little houses, and in fact this one, Ocean Way, is a converted church that sit along the street if you've never been there. It's really cool just to drive up and down and see all these little houses where music history has been made and some of the most famous songs and the history of music have been recorded. We got together to talk about his new docu series called My Dirt Road Diary. That's also the title of one of his songs, which traces his rise from the peanut farms of South Georgia, Leesburg, Georgia, to be exact, to the top of the music world. You know about his

success. You also may know there's been a lot of tragedy in his life. His older brother Chris was killed in a car accident. Literally the night before, Luke was set to leave Georgia at age 20 and go to Nashville to chase his dream. Luke stayed home for five years after that to be with his grieving family, delayed his dream, but he got there. Soon after, his sister died suddenly, his brother-in-law died. Luke and his wife, Caroline, who was awesome, took in the couple's three children. It's an amazing story, coming from where he has come from, rising to where he has risen, and all the bumps along that road.

So I'm excited to bring you a great conversation with a truly great guy, Luke Bryan, right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Great to see you, man. Good to see you. Thanks for being in the town. This is... made a lot of music in this studio. I was going to say, you've recorded in here. Yeah, we, you know, it's funny with, with studios in Nashville and stuff.

You kind of, you do a couple of albums in one, and you're like, well, let me go try this one out. So you kind of, you kind of pop around to different studios. And so, yeah, I've spent a lot of time here in Ocean Way and got a lot of, I mean, there's been, you know, some really amazing stuff that I've gotten to do in here. And so it's good to be back here. Yeah, I'm in the heart of music road. This is it. This is it. You've been, as we sit here, you're getting ready to head out on tour.

Yeah. How much have you missed those live audiences? Because this docu series that we're going to talk about, it became very clear to me that about the age of eight or nine, you needed a crowd. Yeah, I mean, I tell you, you know, I do have to be careful of that because you get in a habit where you just kind of assume the role of, you know, trying to make everybody laugh and entertain everybody. So I hadn't had to, I hadn't been doing that. Well, other than, you know, obviously, thank God I was able to do some of that on Idol. But, but yeah, I mean, I tell you what, you know, everything I do in music, I mean, the reason why I moved to Nashville was to set in motion, set in motion, me getting on stage in front of people. I mean, when I left Georgia, that was all I knew was, you know, playing in front of, no matter the venue, the crowd, you know, the birthday, you know, the birthday. party or whatever, it was all about me making people have fun and enjoy themselves. And, I mean, when you remove that element out of my life, I mean, it took some, it took some reprogramming

of the, of the brain. But I tell you, I mean, looking back, it was a lot of, a lot of amazing little things with my family. And, you know, consecutive nights, same bed, you know, going to bed at normal hours and it was pretty amazing. And, you know, what worries me is now my boys have gotten a little accustomed to dad being around and now, you know, which thankfully it's summer and, you know, they'll come out on the road. But it's just them re kind of, them kind of relearning dad not being home as much. But what's funny about my boys, I mean, they are like, they're in cell phone mode and I swear like the transition of blowing mom up daily has come over to me. I mean, they are like, you know, nine, you know, nine in the morning, they call, they make their daily

request of the festivities of the day. Is it, is it going wake surfing, golfing, fishing? Are we going to go build a rope swing, you know, tree house? And they lay their daily agendas out over coffee. So you're a camp director, basically. I have been. Yeah. I have been. And then they bring buddies. And then it's like, you know, they bring buddies.

So it's like five, six boys, you know. You've probably got the fun house, right? You got all that stuff to play with. You know, the house is exactly what me and Caroline wanted it to be. Even with our nephew Till being there, the basketball, like the past two days, the basketball courts, been full of boys out there shooting basketball. basketball and, you know, the Gatorade truck pulls into the farm. They unload crates of Gatorade. They drink them that day. So, I mean, we, like I said, we cannot keep our refrigerator stocked.

You know, the Pop-Tarts are gone daily. So we're having to feed all these animals. You really are running a camp. So you may need to get out on the road. Yeah, but there's always boys around the house. And it's a big, my home was like that. I mean, when I grew up and, you know, I even reference in the dokey series. I mean, our home was a hub. It was right in the heart of Leesburg. And, you know, my brother and sister, they had all their, we had the pool. We had all the farmers, you know, end of a summer day. My dad, you know, they, you know, all huddled up around a truck bed drinking beer at the end of the day talking about, is it, is it too dry? Is it hot? When we get in rain, did we get too much rain? So it was a lot, it was a little melting pot.

for us. You made some new music. You put the deluxe edition of your album out. You were doing American Idol. So you were, as you say, still keeping busy with your jobs and your music. Yeah, I was really blessed to stay real busy with the idol. And yeah, we were in the studio and did the deluxe edition. And, but I mean, what's crazy is, you know, the, you don't realize the physical toll that time changes and stuff. time changes and when I'm on the road

by the time I get off stage it's 11, 11, 15, go to bed at 1 and then I come back home and you know so all those little changes I mean it wears on you but you love it

you know it's like the it's like the you love being a part of that and so yeah we're gonna dive back into it it's funny it's like you know when I get out on tour you know I've always got these little vocal issues

you're tired you're running down like my voice for a year and seven months has been like the best ever. I'm sure opening weekend I'll get out there and breathe in some ragweed that's blooming somewhere and it'll shut my whole deal down. You're going to blow it out on the first show. I'll sound like a coyote up there. You know, it was funny.

We were talking about American Idol before we started here. And that is that, you know, you're going out to L.A. You're doing all that. And you've become now over these seasons an institution on the show with Katie and L. But I didn't realize how, you know, you really wrestled with the decision about whether or not to do that show because you are so busy. Well, I think with, and we were talking off camera a little bit, when you, when you're, you know, selling out this and you're playing big stadiums and all that, and then you go over to start being a judge on American Idol, I was wondering, or are the fans thinking I'm kind of sailing off into another avenue? and you don't want to make one decision in your career that will make fans assume that you're not still focused on the touring. Because at the nucleus and the epicenter of what I always want to be is a country music singer.

Now, you know, being a judge on American Idol has been amazing for me to learn. I mean, I've learned so many things about this aspect of TV. and it may morph into me being able to do more stuff like that with creating fun television shows down the road. You never know what's going to come up. But at the core of me, I want to be that country music singer. And so getting back out on the road and seeing live, you know, people's faces and watching them have fun really kind of warms my heart.

But then getting to sit next to, you know, Lionel and Katie. And, I mean, we really, the beauty of our show. is we really enjoy each other's company. We enjoy working together for the common goal of finding a legitimate superstar. And even when you watch Ryan Sechrist prepare for his job when the cameras aren't rolling, it inspires you to be a better whatever you're doing in any form of. So when you're around real pros doing pro stuff, it's always inspiring. firing. Kind of like, you know, you know. You learning as we sit here, I'm just soaking in all of this

stuff you put in. The greatness that's coming across. You did have a little bit of an example, though, what you were saying, talking to Blake about the voice, which is he took that job. He probably had some concerns too, but it's totally changed his life and elevated him and brought in new fans. So I have to imagine there are people who love Katie Perry or Lionel Richie who watch and go, oh, I like that guy. he's kind of funny and he's goofy. I'm going to go listen to his music and they fall in love with you. I think all that goes on. I mean, with Blake, I mean, yeah, Blake was one of my phone calls

when I was kind of juggling whether I was going to do Idol or not. And he was like, you really need to do it. And he goes, I'm just telling you there's things that will open up in your life that you can't understand until you get into it. And he was completely right. I mean, even with, even with being, around Lionel and Katie and, you know, they operate in a whole different, you know, they operate in a whole different level.

I mean, Lionel gets on a plane, flies to Switzerland, and plays some Prince's birthday party and plays hello and two of his love songs and flies back. I mean, in Lionel, I'm just sitting there listening to Lionel's stories. And when you talk about Katie, you know, just a global pop phenomenon. I mean, I can just really, you know, I can really learn some stuff. And they learn from me, too. I mean, Lionel's like, where were you hunting last week, boy? And I'm like, and he thinks I probably wasn't.

And then I'm like, well, here's what I did last week. And he's like, you climbed what mountain and did what? And so the fact that we're all really, we love each other's personalities and characters, and we feed off that and we enjoy it teaches us. I mean, we're a little bit of a kind of a, we're a little bit of a microcosm of something going on there. So we really learn a lot from one another and we have fun doing it. I mean, when you're, I mean, when we're sitting there during auditions for 12, 13 hour days, that is not the scenario that you want to be out there with people that you don't like.

Right. That's a day. That's a day. Now, hearing you say that, you've got to get Lionel down to South Georgia, get him on a peanut plantation and go whale hunting. You know, I've got, I've got Lionel. You know, he's promised me fishing trips. Okay. And I'm trying to get some custom-made Gucci's for fishing, you know, shoes.

Because he says he's, you know. Gucci waiters? Gucci waiters. And, yeah, we'll joke. You know, he'll say, the only thing I'm hunting is a nice pair of Gucci's. But, you know, we're going to get them. And Katie and Orlando, they keep threatening to, they keep threatening to come and spend a little time in Nashville. Like so many people are doing, by the way.

So I'm like, when y'all get here, I can put you in the city. I can put you in the country. You can have self-service and you can have no self-service. You need to just let me know what you want to do. So, yeah, we're having fun. I'm ready to get Lionel in a fishing boat. I think you need to. Get them down on the river down there.

You know, we're about the same age, so we grew up on Lionel Richie all night long, dancing on the ceiling, all that. It's such a part of our life. You couldn't get a girl to dance with you to a Lionel Richie song. That's on you. Yeah, you got, yeah, it's on you. It's essentially your fault. So is that a crazy thing, though, to be sitting and to be a colleague and be on that same level with a guy you looked up to?

Yeah, when you look at Lionel's body of work as, I mean, he has, I mean, there are countless bodies of work around the Lionel Richie thing. Yeah. And when you look at what he's achieved throughout his career and you look at, you look at everything he's achieved. And yet he is the sweetest, most humble, engaging. I mean, he's literally, I could call him right now and go, Lionel, man, I need some help with this. And he'll, when you have Lionel, you have him. And he's spent a lifetime doing that. You know, I mean, he has spent a lifetime loving on people like he can.

And it's really inspiring to be around somebody that truly never has a bad day and always lights up the room. And I've been there. I've been around him for four years now. And it's the same, you can hear him coming down the hall. You can hear him saying, hey, to everybody in the hallway that works. Hey, man, how you doing? What's up, brother? Hey, good to see you. There comes Lyle. And that's, you know, he spent a lifetime of spreading that joy. And it makes me want to go when I'm, when I'm, gosh, I mean, you can't even, like, he posted a picture. And I'm like, dude, he's in Greece. He was in Greece. And I'm like, you look 30. He literally looked 30. He's like, got Jordans on. And, you know, and I'm like, how are you? You thought it was a throwback photo. Just had a birthday.

And, you know, to see just how he goes about life is awesome. Yeah, that's so cool that you get to work with one of your heroes that way and be buddies with him. Yeah, to grow up learning his songs, following his writing technique. And now we're buddies. I mean, are you kidding me? Really? Well, that gets to the way you grew up in this docu series, which I just watched the first two episodes. And I'll tell you one thing, I wasn't ready to be so moved so quickly.

it's really well done. There's incredible footage from your earliest shows when you were a little kid. A lot of it shot by your brother. Why did you want to tell this five-part series about where you come from? Well, it's been an evolving thing. When we started this thing, we certainly didn't know that it was going to be called a docuseries. And we didn't know was it going to be a movie? Was it going to be a three-hour hit play. And so the bottom line is my videographer, Michael Monaco, who is, I mean, when we hired him, he came and he lived on our bus. And he documented me, he documented everything, my shows, my laughs, my ups and my downs. And one of his goals and one of his dreams was to be a part of something like this. And I kept telling him, I was like,

like, come on now, let's don't do all this. And finally, as he kept working, he kind of whittled me down to where I was like, and then he started showing stuff he was putting together. And it started to become where with all of the ups and downs and the highs and the lows and the laughs and the tears, we started realizing that this is something that people can watch. And hopefully we wanted to be an uplifting, healing situation. And it's been well documented. And even, I tell you, I'm going back and really digging up, I mean, Monaco and my manager and my mom and my dad and my wife and in-laws and old friends that my brother had. I mean, we had people digging in trunks of closets, pulling out old VHS tapes of when I played at the Train Depot and Albany, Georgia.

And to go back and know that my brother was filming a lot of that, and then to know that to see all that unfold in front of your eyes is like, I couldn't imagine my life without, I couldn't imagine my life not having this documented like that because it's brought up so many wonderful memories and just so many wonderful things. Was there any hesitation about talking through it all again? I mean, you've had so much success in your life, but you've also had so much tragedy in your life. Was that a difficult thing for you to sit and say, all right, let's sit and do it, but I'm going to have to tell you everything, including the tough parts?

Yeah, I mean, when you start talking about the loss of siblings and even the loss of my brother, brother-in-law who, I don't care what nobody says, we were brothers. I mean, he was my brother. He had been in my life since I was seven, eight years old. And the hesitancy is, gosh, you almost feel anxiety of telling aspects of your life that are so tragic. I mean, it almost is, it gets, you see what I'm saying? It gets, it's like you worry about people at home just really wondering why this much tragedy and unfortunate things have happened in my life. But then I have to remember there are people out there that have gone through similar stuff that I have. I mean, I've talked to, I've been out on the road or I've talked to somebody that said,

you know, I lost my family, all my family in a car wreck. and you want to know how they got through. And so me telling my story of how we get through this as a family, you pray and you feel like you're going to help some people. And at the end of the day, that's really what we're trying to do. I think we're trying to just tell the story of my, I mean, you know, we say it, my dirt road diary. I mean, my life was small town and riding down.

dirt roads with my dad and my brother and my sister. And, you know, some people can, you know, I mean, I see the criticisms of my music like everybody else. I'm sure you've seen, you know, reviews of a show you did. But once people see this, there ain't no doubt of whether I came from a country scenario and I'm proud of that. And I think it's amazing. I think if people see where I come from and realize that you can come from something,

then apply it to your life and then grow to other stuff that will hopefully inspire people too. I mean, I think it's a it's a roadmap of the American dream seeing where I came from to present day. And you're not going to go through all of that without ups and downs, tragedies and bumps in the road. I mean, it's also so if you watch it, it's so important to inform the kind of performer you've become when you talk about Chris coming home from that Garth show in Jacksonville. I know, I know. And he says, nobody sat down the whole time. Right. And something clicked in your mind. Totally. That's what I need to be. Well, yeah. I mean, um, when you think about, yeah, I think that was a real pretty moment in the documentary. I think it was a pretty moment in the docu-series when, yeah, I mean,

I remember sitting on the bed talking to my brother. because back then you had to get to get into a Garth Brooks concert, you had to join a lottery. Like, people don't, like, when he came to a smaller city, you just, you had to get a lottery ticket, essentially. And my brother got one on the third night, and he comes home, you know, he comes home and he tells me, look, I've never seen anything like it. You know, people were.

And that, that moment became the new, wave of how people enjoy a country concert. And, you know, it started with the Tim McGraths of the world, the Kenny Chesneys of the world, the, I mean, the, you know, the George Strait even morphing into the late 90s were. When I was at a George Strait concert in Atlanta, Fulton County Stadium, I mean, not Fulton County, but Turner Field, I mean, I was up there partying with George Strait. You know, it changed the dynamic of how you enjoy country music. Yeah.

And so when I started, I wanted to make sure, I mean, my goal was when you come to my show, you ain't sitting down. And it started with that moment. And there's the other big revelation for me, Luke, Luke, Brian, theater kid. Man, I, yeah, you know, you look at the things that naturally fall in place. and I was predominantly an athlete, thought I was. We all did. I mean, you're tall.

I'm sure somebody tried to make you hit, throw, or shoot something. And I never will forget. Yeah, I was a pretty good athlete. I was a decent baseball. I was a good little athlete, but, you know, when it got to my junior and senior year of high school, I had started playing guitar, and I'm looking around at my peers who are star athletes hitting home runs, and I'm like, you know, it's been a minute since I hit one out of the infield. I'm like, I seem to be getting more reactions with the guitar.

Yeah. And I really did stumble into the theater aspect. It was my senior year of high school, and my goal for my senior year of high school was to sign up for as many electives as I could. I mean, my senior year was English, you know, because I need four years of English, probably five. English, computer keyboard and weight training, PE, shop, metals. welding, and the last one, I picked drama. It was right in the last period of my, of school was that, it was, my drama teacher was Robbie Davis, who was in the docu-series, and his wife, Dottie Davis, who was in the docu-series.

And meeting Robbie really, I mean, when I walk into the classroom, he would make us do singing exercises. And when he heard my voice, he was like, you're trying to. trying out tomorrow for my one act play. And I'm like, man, I don't think that's my thing. And he goes, I don't care if it's your thing or not. I'll see you after school. And I rolled in there. And then it started, it started, he opened me up to just, yeah, theater aspects. And he was a really, really influential teacher. I mean, he, he would load us up and take us to, there was a, there was something to call the Alabama Shakespeare Festival

and close to Montgomery and it was this an amazing theater, a Broadway-like theater. He took us to see, you know, Peter Pan and you know, Big River and all these things that I didn't know nothing about. And so yeah, it was a, that was

something that was another little feather in my cap for being on stage. And there's footage in the docu-series. So we have proof that you actually, you were good. You were good. I think it was Annie Get Your Gun. You're up there. You're belting it out. Oh, man.

But that's probably where you picked up a little stage presence, I imagine. Well, back then, you know, well, you know, when you're a kid and you got to run out there in front of it. And at the time, I mean, that theater, our theater program had really started turning heads. And when we announced a new musical or something, it sold out four or five nights in a row. And it was a pressure moment. I mean, it was like, I mean, it was literally the first moments of my life that I really felt pressures that I would have to conquer the same way I got to go conquer the first time I hosted the ACM awards or the first time I walk out on a stadium or sing the, the anthem at the Super Bowl. And those were the same emotions I had when I was an 18-year-old kid walking out to perform. and he'd get your gun when the kind of, you know, it was really magical stuff that was laying the

groundwork. And Robbie, he'd tell you when you were awful and he wouldn't, he wouldn't, no sugar coating. Yeah. It was, you were terrible when you did this. You need to do this to fix it. And I went and fixed it. And that's, that's how he rolled. And it paid off.

It paid off. It paid off for sure. You're doing okay. Your dad in the docu series, there's a moment where he says, he's like he's as country as country can be, kind of a gruff guy. And he says to somebody, after watching you with the guitar,

and you've got your little karaoke machine. And he said, I think we've got another Elvis on our hands there. So clearly, he believed in you throughout this whole process. Your family believed you could do this, even with all those bumps along the way. Was there, were there any moments, Luke,

where you said, man, I don't know. Maybe there is some other way I could go, or was it always going to be music one way or the other? Maybe you wouldn't be selling out stadiums, but you'd be playing at bars or playing music somewhere. There are so many people instrumental and critical in shoving me out of that nest of Leesburg, Georgia. I mean, I think when you grow up in a town like that, and there's so many kids like that, it's safe. You know, if you show up, do this job, you're going to be all right. Yeah. You know, and my dad and my mother and my father and my siblings and their extended group, I mean, everybody was behind me. And I tell you, even after when I moved to Nashville, I mean, we're sitting in the studio and 100 yards away is my first publishing deal. It's the first publishing company that I wrote for. And me and my fellow writers in there, they, their family didn't support them.

They moved to town to prove their family wrong. And it broke my heart when you hear stories like that because that was not my dynamic. I had support. I had love. And it makes you really, I mean, I still meet kids to this day. well, my dad, you know, they think I'm crazy to move to Nashville. They think I'm chasing, I think I'm just out goofing off. And it makes me want to hug them and go, well, man, you're not.

You know, you're the, or girl, you're not. Or, you know, it makes you want to rally behind them. But, you know, I even said in the dokey series, I mean, if I needed a new guitar, you know, Santa Claus brought it, you know. Yeah. If I needed a, I mean, as we were growing as a little band, if I needed a set of speakers, and, you know, my dad, my dad would come up to me and he'd give me some, he'd be, you know, writing the check, ah, you better go be something one day.

Go get them, you know, so we'd go get the speakers. And that was always going on. So I was really, when I got to Nashville, it was never any, it was never any, it was Never anything but go make your town, your family, and your friends proud, and go have some fun doing it and make sure. Because my dad, we all knew if it didn't work out, I could have went back and worked at the peanut company or sold fertilizer or even worked with my brother-in-law. And so we knew I, you know, we knew that I knew that I could always go back.

But when you're young and youth is, youth is your time to try that stuff. And it's kind of what I preach to my boys and people in my world now when you're, when you're 21 and 23 getting out of college, you better go do some stuff to check off your list. First of all, it's an honor to be sitting across the lead singer of Niami Road right now. It's an honor that you pronounced it right. I studied that one for you. So you guys are getting, you guys are, you're playing together. You even say in the docu-series, it was a terrible name. It was terrible.

But we were pretty good. I said pretty good in the documentary series. Maybe you didn't say that. Okay? Yeah. You got the name right, but you didn't, no. I think it's another, like I said, it's another step. Yeah.

I mean, I listen to that. I mean, I pray no one sees this and goes and we'll find it. Researches that. That stuff, you know, that lives out there forever. You can't ever. Yeah, but it's part of the road. It's part of the road. It's part of the journey.

I mean, I mean, Loden, those were the days that if we played a local show, like within 30 minutes, we would go get one of my dad's peanut wagons and put our gear in a peanut wagon and show up at our gig with our speakers and guitars in a peanut wagon. It's the same way the Rolling Stones show up for their neck and key. They hooked the peanut wagon.

wagon behind their 747. But, and then we'd hit a rainstorm. We'd have to pull off at Walmart or Home Depot by tarp, duct tape it to the, I mean, those were the days. And we loved every minute of it. We loved every second of it. And it was just, and we were learning and we were just being kids. And I was doing college through, I mean, how did I even, I don't even know how I, you know,

You know how I made it through college. I still have anxiety that I'm having nightmares and I wake up and I didn't get my degree. It's over. You're safe. You did it. But, yeah, it was a ride. It was really fun. And you learned a lot.

You learned how to, you know, I learned how to, if I didn't have a crowd, you know, I got a crowd in front of me, but they don't care. I learned how to play the songs, play the covers. I learned the go-to. I learned that in any given moment, fishing in the time. dark gets people singing. So even to this day. I was going to say, it still does. Still does. So you're going to play some new music for us in just a minute about Chris. Right. And so when we talk about coming to Nashville, for people who don't know literally the night before you're about to come here and chase your dream, you lose Chris. Right. And you put that dream on hold for longer than I

remember. I mean, you were back in Leesburg for four or five years, I think. Yeah, well, when when Chris passed away, it was, you know, it was just devastating. And it was devastating because no one was more fired up about me going to Nashville than him. Yeah. And, you know, no one would, I mean, he would be working. I mean, there's nothing would have kept him off that tour bus to come work. for me when stuff started happening. And when that, yeah, so, you know, in 96, fall of 96 when he passed away, I had just turned 20 years old.

And I had decided we had an apartment, me and Michael Carter, my guitar player, who is still my guitar player and he's in the docu-series. We had an apartment. We had plans. We had a, and he passes away. And he actually moved, Michael moved up here. And a couple months later, he's just like, look, it's just, I can't do it without kind of, it was about me and you. And actually, we went back to college. He went to Georgia Southern.

I went to Georgia Southern. And that's where I met Caroline. And that's where I formed, you know, got an even bigger following going. So Chris is losing Chris really just put my path. Yeah, it put my Nashville dreams on hold for five years. But looking back, I wonder would I have been this naive 20-year-old kid from the South, moved to Nashville, overwhelmed, first time away from home, would I have given up, would I have been dejected, would stuff not have?

had gone like I wanted to. And so when I came here when I was 25, I had had a lot more living. I was a little more savvy. And I even had, I mean, I was even much more focused. I mean, there's no telling me what trouble I would have gotten in when I was 20. So it really set my life and my path on a different trajectory. And you were back with your dad at the peanut mill.

I learned that peanut season might not be, music may be a little more fun than peanut season. There's a great moment in the docu series that got me as a dad myself where he's watching you and he kind of feels like you're settling into that life down there. And he knows it's not your dream. And he looks at you and says, go. Yeah, I remember the color of the sky the day we were riding in the truck. and I had the anxiety of asking my dad, what did he think about me moving in Nashville?

And he was like, if you don't go, I'm going to kick you out of here. I'm going to fire you. I'm going to make you go. And once he said that, the pressure of maybe me having to take over his business one day, it went away. And it was, let's pick the date and let's go to Nashville. And that's how it went. And gosh, I mean, what a really, really amazing, an amazing moment in my life.

That's a gift from your dad to let you go that way. Then when you get to Nashville, there's another great scene where your mom, who we love, social media, internet sensation. And I know her only through Instagram, so that's who I know. And then she's talking about this phone call on the 11th floor of Capitol Records, And she breaks down in the series and says, you call mom and you say, I did, first call. I got a deal.

I got a record deal. What's your version of the story on the other end of the phone? Well, my version was the best feeling on my life. When you, listen, I was a student of country music. I truly was. And I had spent my life watching interviews where other, were my heroes, talk about the day they got their record deal. And the second that happened to me, it was that feeling.

And when Mike Dungan, the president of Capitol, he looked at me and he goes, we don't know what we're going to do with you, but we know we want you. And we know there's something special about you. And he goes, and we're giving you a record deal. And it was, I mean, it was the most emotional high you could ever have and calling my mother and hearing her. I mean, my mother's all, I mean, in any given moment, you know, kitten on the side of the road, she starts squalling, a commercial, anything. She's not afraid to let her emotions show. Sometimes you're like, all right, you may be overdoing it, mom.

But, you know, like all mothers do. Not on this one, though. But when I called her and heard her, heard her emotions through the phone, it was magical. And, you know, when you watch her in the docu-series, I mean, it's that same emotion. And that's the beauty of, gosh, you know, having her and my dad. I mean, when you see my dad tear up. Yeah. I mean, a man that does not tear up.

I mean, these are things that. that are really, really big moments in our life. And we even, you know, I've even referenced it before. I mean, you've got to, you've got to really enjoy the amazing times because tough times are going to happen. And I think they're just all a part of trying to make life somewhat even for all of us. But you don't want to think about it in those terms, but you got to love those great times.

And that hearing you got a record deal is nothing feels better than that. You almost like, I wish I could just have somebody just tell me that again. Well, people who want to grow up to be the next Luke, Brian, should know, should know, too, that there was struggle in Nashville before that phone call where you'd go and have these showcases and they'd go, I don't see it, I don't see it. And that, so there were, you know, not just in your personal life, but there were professional valleys you had to. come out of it. Yeah, I mean, I think as, as this business and this town, Nashville, it certainly isn't designed for things to get handed to you. And I tell, I mean, even, even when we're on set at American Idol, we try to prepare these kids for this is just a step in your journey. And so when you move to Nashville, I mean, I remember thinking I'm coming to Nashville.

I've been playing shows. I'm like a, you know, I'm like Minnie Elvis, because everybody's been telling me that. And then you get downtown and you start seeing some other people and their skills and you learn real quick. You better, you better polish up your chops. And so, yeah, I mean, I had to, I played, I played my songs for record. executives that I played my songs for record executives that when I bought

Clint Black's record and I read then I'm in front of that guy that's in these CD jackets and stuff and that was nerve-wracking stuff and they told me no. And then you play for another one and they tell you there's something

there but you're not ready and you just keep and you've got to be naive too. I tell people, you know, these kids will call me or I'll talk to somebody and they want to know all the info, but that's impossible. You can't, you're not going to know all the info. You've got to just get in there and figure it out yourself. And that's what I was doing. And when somebody would not give me a record deal, I'd just be like, okay, well, you know, I guess I'll just keep on working.

And so that's just what, I guess, the small town. hardworking upbringing prepares you for. And so it all paid off when I got that record deal. It was just crazy. Do you have moments, Luke, where you walk out into a stage and there are 40, 50,000 people in some football stadium? Do you ever go, you think about Leesburg? Every time.

You think about being in a tent in Statesboro playing for 10 people. Do you think about that? Every time. I mean, I think what I've tried to do my career is really relish, enjoy. appreciate every moment. And I think you've got to really live in the moment while it's happening. And you've got to understand, too, that things will change. And potentially that moment may not always be like that.

And do I want to be the old bitter guy that's mad because it wasn't like it was? No. I want to be the happy guy every day because I achieve. I figured it out and I had the time of my life doing it and I had the time I had the time of my life doing it with a bunch of wonderful people around me and and that's the cool thing. You know, it's, it's, yeah, I mean, I don't step on a stage. I mean, some of my songs, I mean, when I go, you got your hands up and you look out there and everybody's got their hands up and nobody at that moment. is worrying about anything. They're not worried about, they're not worried about their taxes.

They're not worried about their job. They're just, they're in the moment with me. And that's, that's just spiritual. And it always is, every time. It's like your adorable school principal says right at the beginning.

He's never forgotten Leesburg. It's with them all the way. I know. And I'm getting back, I go back there more than ever these days. So I'm loving getting back to, spent got this tan right here on the Flint River.

Is that Flint River tan? Get a little Tulane in the boat with you. I like that plug. Well, I could talk to for hours about the series amazing. I think we'll take a minute and listen some music.

Yeah. All right, cool. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Luke Brian right after the break. Welcome back to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Now more of my conversation with Luke Brian as we move and sit down at the soundboard in the studio,

and Luke gives us an exclusive early listen to a very meaningful, very personal song he wrote for his late brother Chris. You know what I love about you, Luke, your hands-on artist, and you know what every one of these buttons does. Yeah, this is the flux capacitor. You have no idea. I have no, no, I mean, this is where you. You hire the pros.

And I tell you what, like, these boards are like, you know, they're just vintage. And that's what, it's pretty cool. Yeah, this is a throwback. It's cool. It's all throwback. So, yeah, so, yeah, I'll play you, I'll play you the song that we're really featuring in the docus series. And it's a song about kind of how me and Chris, my brother, this is kind of how we rolled. And, yeah, we won't, let me let you hear it.

All right. Songs you never heard. Yeah, so the funny thing about Chris is he's the worst singer ever. You got me, man. You got me. You know, what's fun is we had went back and put some more guitar parts in there, and that's the first time I really got to hear the new guitar parts on, like, big studio speakers. But, yeah, I mean, one of my, one of the big things that me and my brother would do,

especially Chris, he'd come in, he'd be like, did you hear so, did you hear Randy Travis's new song? Or did you hear Clint Black's new song? And I'd be like, no, because, you know, I'm a kid and I'm not really, he was older than me. So he was locked into the music. And we'd play it and, you know, heck, it became the song that year and or whatever. So I never will forget. I was riding in my truck and I heard George Strait singing run. And I was like, man, I wish, I mean, could you imagine, I could imagine my brother here and run for the first time?

And he'd have freaked out. And then I could have. And so the beauty of the way this song came about is like the perfect definition of Nashville. So I had my two co-writers on it, Josh Osborne and Luke Laird. they were out on the road with me the next day after I had heard run on the radio. And Michael Monaco was playing edits of the documentary. So Luke and Josh were seeing the documentary and learning about it coming out. And then so I really wasn't being productive writing songs.

And they were out for about three days. Well, the first thing goes through, the first day, the first day goes through. And that night on the bus, they're over, I'm on my bus. I can't remember. Anyway, I get this idea. I'm like, oh, my God, I can't imagine. Like, there's been all these songs that have come out since my brother passed away. And I can't imagine what his reaction would be if he'd have got to hear

these songs. And so I ran over and I tell Luke and Josh this idea that I have. And they're like, oh my God. Well, I go back to the next day I start doing shows. And then that day, I think I went and played golf. And then that day I come in from the golf course and then go, Luke, we've been watching the documentary. You told us the idea. You told us about here and run. And this is what we've been working on and they played me like 80, 90% of that. And I mean, I was like, boys, this is the craziest way a song has ever come about. And then I was able to get in and really fine tune a couple of other lyrics. And then we come up with like I remember like my, my, I remember the first time I heard Jamie Johnson sing in color. I was like, gosh, my brother would have freaked out over this song because

it's that amazing. And so we were able to. to build it that way. It's beautiful. I mean, I, you know, I got emotional listening to it. Are those songs hard for you to sit and write and sing when you start thinking about your brother? I tell you what, when you're in the moment of trying to really capture it, right, it's very emotional. Sometimes the songwriters will cry, sometimes I'll cry. But then when I start playing it for my wife and my people in my world, and my band members and my bus driver. I mean, my bus driver is my best barometer on how good we did on a song.

And I've had some buddies from home hear it, and they get emotional. I mean, when you're in a truck with one of your hometown boys and they start crying, it's what writing a song is all about. And you kind of say it in the song, but Chris really was your biggest fan. Oh, gosh. The footage that's in the docu series, I said, where did you get all this footage? And Chris shot most of it. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing.

He was interesting. He, I mean, he was a UPS driver, but when he wasn't working for UPS, he had a little, he had like the world's first, like, little mini camera recorder, you know. It was, and he had that thing with him everywhere he went. He videoed his hunting stuff, his fishing stuff, and he videoed. My concerts and my cousin, his band, he videoed their concerts. And gosh, you know, it's like a testament that we could use his footage to be a really important part of this thing. You've got to think about them when you're out there. Think about what he would think about where you are or what you've achieved and the hand he had and encouraging you to get there.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you think about, I think about him and I certainly, I try to. imagine, you know, life with my, that's what, you know, I tell people, I've had some, some people come up to me and they're like, how do you get through this stuff? And I said, you know what, you just got to talk to them like they're still here. You have to kind of imagine what they would be doing if they were still here on earth with you. And like, I mean, me and my wife, we've sat on the beach many times. And we're like, even when we had, you know, infants and, kids were like, gosh, if my sister were here, she'd be in the house looking after the babies

and giving us an extra 30 minutes on the beach. And then even my brother-in-law, Lee, you know, just imagining, seeing things that, you know, that's what this song is kind of all about. I mean, I'm hearing songs that I can imagine my brother's face listening to the song. And then I see things that I can imagine my sister and I see things that I could imagine how my brother-in-law would react. And, you know, my brother didn't get to see an aspect of my career. My sister did get to see a segment of my career and she got to enjoy some of it. And then my brother-in-law really got to see the success coming together. And so they all got to experience it in different ways. And, you know, it's a, it's a, like I said, it's a, it's a moment where you're like, man, what would it be like if they're here?

But that wasn't the plan. And that's, you know, certainly, no, there's a lot of people out there that's got the same questions, you know. It's been a hell of a road from that little peanut town, huh? Oh, buddy. It's been a ride since, since, I like, hey, I may write that, that little peanut town. Right? We've got to get you a lawyer. We have it on film now.

Publishing rights. Yes. He documented his song idea. It took me two hours, but I walked the end of that one. That little peanut town, coming to a streaming device near you. Waiting for my check. Thanks, man. So great to see you.

I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it. I'm going to hold Luke to that. I want those checks, baby. My thanks again to Luke, Brian, for a great conversation for spending some time with me in Nashville. you can catch his docu series, My Dirt Road Diary, streaming now on IMDB TV. And my thanks to all of you, as always, for tuning in this week.

If you want to hear more of my conversations with all of our guests every week, be sure to click subscribe so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.