Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1201 | Why Phil Robertson Banned Country Music & Jase Discovers Larry Fleet’s Viral Faith Anthem

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

Jase and Al reveal why Phil banned country music in their home growing up, but even that didn’t stop them from catching a few of George Jones’ live shows, including one of his last on this earth. Country artist Larry Fleet shares his story of going from pouring concrete and playing late-night bar gigs to fame with his hit “Where I Find God.” He opens up about how his life changed when he found Jesus on the back roads of Tennessee and how those encounters reshaped his music, his family, and his purpose. Chapters: 00:00-08:58 How to get invited to hunt with the Duckmen 08:59-15:52 Forensic shooting investigation 15:53-21:29 Introduction to Larry Fleet 21:30-26:50 Why Phil banned country music at home 26:51-37:51 How Larry Fleet got his big break 37:52-46:48 Gospel Song Sunday goes viral 46:49-58:41 Where Larry Fleet found God -- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? In Nashville, which is strange because teal season has begun. So you're missing. And you're here. And I've looked around and there's no teal. Well, there's no water. I'm in a concrete jungle here. There's a river right down there, but I don't know. What is that? The test? Did it start today? Thiel season started today? No. No. Exactly. I don't, man, I don't, I haven't done in two years. You know why? Because I live in North Carolina.

Because your dad was a yuppie, a yuppie. It's all gordoes. Well, I anticipated to come down this year, maybe do a little duck hunting, so maybe you can get me in the duck line, Jace. What happened is Dallas reached out. He was like, I'm going to be a Nashville. Let's do a podcast together. And they had, in Louisiana, cut till season from 16 days to eight.

Really? Yeah. And I didn't know that. They said the numbers were low. And so I thought, well, there's not a whole lot of teal this year, evidently. And it wasn't worth us setting up our place to teal hunt for just a week. So we were like, we'll put a little water out there, basically a pond, just in case some come by. And I'm going to go to Nashville and do some podcasts and spend time with the family, among other things.

and I'm just going to hunt opening day, which was last Saturday. So in our world, I don't even know what today is. Today is Wednesday. Today is Wednesday. So I hunted opening day, and I have not hunted since. Did you all kill them? Well, I'm fixed to tell your story. So I got to tell you this.

So our expectations were so low. We're basically hunting the smallest form of a pond that you can hunt. We have just enough water to basically. basically shoot across. Yeah. There had been no teal sighted in the two weeks before opening day until the day before. Jay went out there to put the decoys out, and there were four teal. In the little water.

In the little pothole. So now you got hope because there's a least four. Yeah, we were like, we're going to get those four. The only problem was when he went, we have another little pond across in the woods, across the road, which we own. But when he went there, the same four-teal got up, had to be. Because he jumped him up. They went that way.

He then goes and just looks at it. Well, those four-till, I was like, they're not coming back. You scared them twice. So they're gone to Mexico. But our expectations, because part of a duck hunter is you got to think, is it possible for a duck to even come here? And we had hope. So I was the only one.

We get up. It's opening day. And everybody was like, we're not going to, the expectations for low. But I said, I think we're going to get them. Just because of those four, I thought it is possible. So we get in the blind and it was five of us. It was me. This is the reason I'm telling you this is because quite the story evolved.

It's me. somehow I knew Jay Burley from Colorado Burley made an appearance well because he got asked

to speak at celebrate recovery and he's like even though that was five days before Till season opened he just stayed late what's five days

five days to a man like Burley and to Burley's credit he was a he was a warrior you know in the last days of my dad's

life you know he has he is a nurse. Yeah. And, but he basically stayed bedside with my dad the last 36 hours probably. And it told me years ago,

years ago, when he became a nurse, he said, when the time comes, I want to be there to help shepherd your dad across the other side. And I mean, to his credit, he did.

He was loving yet. Now, if no one has ever seen Barley, we'll have to find. He's not the nurse you want to look up. He doesn't have the face. Dad used to always say, and me would say,

if you wake up from a surgery and Burley's walking towards you, you might think you didn't make it. He has what I've described. He has an angel of death look. So if you wake up, you thought, oh, no. Here's the angel of death. He's just a massive human. That's why he got his nickname.

He played football for a year at the University of Oklahoma. So that tells you right there. You don't play it. Probably played what, defensive line? He was in the defense, linebacker. Yeah. Yeah. So Phil nicknamed.

him burly because and his dad was big boy yeah yeah my dad thought it just means a large human but actually this is interesting when burley looked up in the webster's dictionary the definition of burly because he thought i guess you know mr phil's going to keep calling me burly yeah it's a large black man and uh that's what's it said true story now that i didn't know the exact look at it up. They probably changed it now. Don't get offended. That's what the dictionary said.

And Burley was like, what's the deal, Phil? Phil said, I don't know where they got that from. I just thought. Physically large, strong, sturdy, usually described someone who's big, muscular, heavy set, who looks powerful. I mean, he has all of those things. Yeah. They've changed.

Well, they probably changed the meaning. But whatever dictionary, he looked up, that's what it said. which, you know, he's like, well, you know, dad has a little library there, so I'm sure he had the... So Burley,

I mean, I don't know, I don't want to give weights and so. He's probably six, four... He'd gotten thin. Is he gotten bigger again?

250. Okay. Maybe, yeah, I mean, but he's got the, but it's like his, he could tell his bones

probably weigh at least 220 pounds. He's a big man. Yeah, he's a big one. And he has let himself go as far as facial hair, and he probably hadn't had a haircut. And,

decades. Or beard. Oh, yeah. Yeah, none of it. He looks like Santa Claus now because he's gotten older. And I told him, I was like, if it doesn't work out in your nursing thing, because he's been fired many times. Well, he was doing PRM work at one of the local hospitals in our area. And so he comes in there and the charge nurse saw him. She said, no.

Yeah, exactly. Just go ahead and you can come back if you shave and cut that air. But he did say in the medical community, he's been real helpful because, like, people who were like, have had drug problems and are like combative where they send them burly. Because I mean, let me tell you, you're not going to win in some kind of hand-to-hand. But for a man that's so massive and able to handle himself, he's very gentle with people. Oh, he has a heart of, you know, and Jesus, you know, created that. I worked with Burley when I was early 20s trying to just make a dollar right when he was converted.

So I saw the transition and the good, sincere, soft-hearted Burley is a way better version of when I was working with him. But anyway, we go way back and he's awesome. So he was there and he's kind of helping a lot of what Phil did because Burley's an excellent builder and blindbrusher. So he's just those five days, he's been working on the property. Just for the love of, you know, hunting and helping. a house out there next to mom and dad he does so so that's through we got j burley me then we have the guy we nicknamed the blind builder who has been building the blinds that's what he does he builds house that's cody that's cody okay and uh because you call him the blind builder that's a long

nickname right well but it called on yeah because we say that on because you have to have some purpose for me have a purpose well and then we had one of willie's son-in-law what do you call him what he call him Well, he's just one of Willie Jacobs. Yeah, he's, he hasn't got a name yet. Well, I can't tell him. Willie calls him something, but I don't want to. We affectionately call him the duck boys, even though he's married to Willie's daughter, and he's like in training.

Yeah, he's a good kid. But we purposely use that nickname for like Cody, because we're trying to subtly tell the duck men in training, you need to bring something to the table. I get it. I mean, Burley's going around brushing. Jay's doing what he does. I'm doing what I'm doing. What do you have to offer?

This stage of their career, nothing. They sit there. And so it's us five. Well, five minutes in, I look up and I think, I think that's a deal. So we cut one teal. Come flying by, he just came right in the decoys and lit. And so as excited as I was to get on the board, was so close in the middle of the decoys i said y'all shoot him when i said that it alerted the

till and he got up i'm just sitting there with my gun it was bab boom and i'm looking at where the pellets are hitting the water way behind him nowhere close oh not even about oh no just just looked like they shot from the hip and uh so then the next two shots were me and jay at the same time and the duck faults. But I thought, hmm, that was a bad sign about the gunners in the blind. And so Jay said,

You can't see the pellets. That's not good. So in the spirit of field, Jay said, who fired those first two shots? And it was Burley, who's never been known for his shotgunning.

He likes to shoot him on the water. And Jacob, the duck men in training. Okay. And so I said, well, I've got a couple of tips. Number one, make sure your eyes are open.

when you pull the trigger. Number two, you need to get the beat of that that little highlighted end of your barrel. You need to get that in the vicinity of the duck that you're shooting. And out in front of them, I'm in. Preferably. So I just thought, okay, but we got it.

You know, so fine. So then 45 minutes goes by nothing. We watched the sunrise, and I thought, well, we got one. I mean, I was pretty pleased. I mean, and then the blind builder said, hey, is that ducks? And what he was pointing at, they were not ducks. But I looked to the left of high, and I said, oh, yeah, that's duck. But he was pointing this way, and I was looking from the north high.

And I thought, oh, so there was a little movement. I said, well, it's one bunch. I said, there they are. And I was like, get out. So I called really loud because they were way off. Those things locked and it was 14 till. And we had a cameraman there. And they turned and came straight down and did what that one did.

No pass. It sounded like a jet airport. And they lit. And as soon as they lit, I said, three, two, one, and that means, and everybody was familiar with the rule because I thought we're not getting anymore. This is Pat, the teal only fly early.

So you kind of have the game within the game for duck hunting. What happened was when they lit, three lit right in front of me in the decoys. Then there was a little nest of five that was right to the left. And then all the rest of them were left of that. So usually you shoot where you are. The lanes. And the lanes. But when I went three, two, one, I saw the blind builder who's right beside me.

His gun was going toward those three. But in my mind, I was calculating I've already seen these boys shoot. Two of the men, they can't shoot. That's obvious. So I'm thinking, well, if he shoots, because the blind builders are pretty good shot, I was like, I need to go left first. because I'm thinking I got three shells, but he's fixed to shoot at one of them that I'm going to shoot.

So in one second, I went to those five, and they were kind of together. So I went, boom, there, and went back right immediately. Of course, what happens is they go in every direction. And I just tried to pick the hard ones at that point. One just come winging out wide open, dead right. And I boom, got him. So then I look back, I have one shell left, and to my surprise, I look up,

I only see one duck left, and it's leaving. And then there was boom, I miss, boom, the blind builder missed. And I'm like, I got one shell. And I just waited, waited because I thought this is either the culmination of a great whacking or I'm going to miss. And I boom, and he just folded. And everybody erupted because it was like. Well, he was out there.

And I was like, did we get them all? But somebody said, I saw one leave left. So I thought, really. But I got to look in and I thought, how did we do this? Because there were 14 till, and we shot 13 of them. That's impressive. With look. With two misses.

Wow. Because we saw the two misses. They were on the water, but still, I mean, the first shot was on the water. Which is why you wanted three, two, one. Yeah. And you made the right. moved by going left though that was the right move so you must have hit that

whole bunch in one swat no no i i there was in part there was five of them there and there was a couple there was like three of them kind of in my vicinity i mean i know i got one of them possibly too but you hunt the right side of the blind right on the right side of the blind so everything was in front of the blind what i really think is i got two in one shot and then i went boom boom yeah well jay because then what happens is an investigation We were so shocked. I mean, this goes back to Duckman days. Not that's a good, that's a, you got it on camera?

I was shocked, got it on camera. But it was a wide view because it happened so fast. Yeah. Teal hunting is very hard to get on camera because it's so quick. Yeah. And so it's out there somewhere. But so then Jay starts the investigation on how this happened. He's like, well, there were two misses.

Everybody shot three times, so that's 15 shots. But now we're down to 13. And so we assume Jay killed at least two in one shot Because he was in the big wide on the left I killed two in one shot that's four Then me and Jay both went two for two there Yeah But now we're already up to eight

Well that only leaves them five And so we let them fight over the five Which is pretty much what we talked about the rest of the time That's like the that's like forensic you know You guys are doing a forensic investment investigation on the whole deal. Oh, and that's always what it is. So the whole point of that story was the expectations were low, but it was so epic.

I thought nothing that's going to happen the rest of this week is going to equal that. Well, we got a duck hunter coming on in the next segment. And a fan of the podcast. Fan of the podcast, Duck Hunter and a country singer. Because we are in Nashville. We're in Nashville. You got to have a country singer on the podcast. So let's introduce.

Do we know who this is? We'll wait. We got a clip hanger. All right. We got a special guest on set. And this is a man that I can tell when he walked in with what he's wearing. He has fit into our world. Hey, look at this.

And it stretches. I don't wear a shirt or a pair of pants and don't stretch anymore. Larry Fleet, welcome to the Unashamed podcast. I'm excited, guys. You listen to the podcast, right? Yeah, for a few years now. And that thread count, that's what Dad would call your bearded. That threat count is impressive.

And I even trimmed it up to them. Don't take this the wrong way. When you walked in and looked up, I thought, what's Willie doing? You know what? For the longest time, I had long hair. And it was in the beard. And the way I was out playing stuff, I wore a bandana. And then the whole Duck Dynasty, all that stuff came out.

And I was like, dang, they're going to think I look like Willie. You're talking like Willie? I was doing it before. I even knew he was Willie trying to look like me. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, so I shaved the head. Now, still happening, you know what I mean?

I love it. Hey. I think it works with the trucker hat. Yeah, you know. Yeah. Keep your face warm. A bees get in it. Yeah.

It's hard to get them out. Okay. But. And I'm just, I'm just assuming no one has tried to mug you. No, no, I don't. It's not a long time, you know. So, yeah, I mean, I'm a pretty nice guy, you know. But I guess.

from a distance, you think twice. Yeah, I think so. I like that. I do that in my speeches. I'm like, the beard has a lot of things going for it, which we got that from our dad. He used to always defend it because people were like, oh, why don't you look more civilized?

And he's like, keeps my face warm. It's great camouflage. I'm saving money because I'm not wasting it on razors. Yeah. Dad used to say, you don't grow a beard. it does that on its own. You're just getting in the way. Let it do its thing.

Yeah, I don't know. Here's the reason why I even grew a beard was when I played high school football, I started growing facial hair, you know? And, you know, my helmet would have the chin strap. Well, they'd make a shave, and it would break my chin out real bad because, you know, sweat and just rubbing around.

And so I thought, well, I'm going to fix that. I'm just going to grow a little facial. Just right here at least, you know. Well, some kid rated me out one day, and they handed me a single blade razor with a bar of soap and said, go shave that off. And I'm talking about I had to do it before the game. My whole face was just looked like I'd rolled around in poison ivy, you know.

And I said, that was a rule? That was a rule? That was a rule? You couldn't have facial hair? You could have a mustache. And I thought, this is back before Morgan Wall and come out with a mustache, and everybody thought it was cool. What state was this in?

Tennessee, right in the room. What the world's going on? I know. It seemed like if you could have facial hair in high school, they should give you an award or something. You should. You should have a head of the class. I looked like this in high school. I was, you know, 6-1, 6-2, 300 pounds.

So, you know, I was a man by this time, you know, and we're somewhat. And then, but yeah, I thought, you know what? When I get out of here, I'm never shaving again. I showed them, didn't I? That's what we are. That's what the size said. He said, when I retired the military boys, the razor went with it. Yeah, yeah.

And he hasn't. He hasn't ever shaved. And he shouldn't. Well, my dad had all these rules, you know, don't, don't shave, don't mow the grass because the same principle applied. But one of the rules, I remember this, we couldn't listen to country music. It wasn't like a rule. It was just like, that's just stupid.

It was frowned upon. Yeah. He didn't like country music. And so I finally went. He was like a classic rock dance. And so we never listened to. country music. I was introduced to you yesterday, my son,

because he's like, who are you having on the podcast tomorrow? And I was like, some guy named Larry Fleet. He's like, some guy named Larry Fleet. He's like, and so in two seconds, he played two songs of years.

And I was like, okay, warming up to him. That really happened yesterday. But I was thinking about that story. When I heard Hank Williams Jr., a country boy can survive, I thought, well, my dad

dad's got to love this because it basically oh it was an anthem for our life yeah yeah you know it's what we lived i walked in there nervously because my dad is just so intimidating and i said i want you to hear this song but the first time what i didn't factor in is the first time a four-letter word came out in the song i just never thought about it because i thought well those words are in the bible hell and damn you know my dad said turn that off win So we were that close. We had him and then we loved it. He could have gotten the lyrics without the four letter words.

He should have started with I can skid a buck. Yeah. Well, he liked until he said that and it made him uncomfortable, you know. I don't know why because I'd heard my dad said way worse. But he was like, no, we quit all that. But I thought it was funny. So that's kind of our history behind that. Why we just, I don't know how you would describe it out.

he was because he came from a classic rock background yeah yeah eagles and so you know that when we built duck calls that was the playlist before there was a playlist and it was the and you know right up until the but he did like skinner he like he'd like let him see the skinner which is kind of kind of i really met anybody that didn't like skinner yeah exactly he had him way high up on the list they actually tried the the few remaining you know members of the band and family tried to reach out to him but he was taking a nap, which was another rule. You don't wake him up. And he said, hey, if Leonard Skinner calls, you wake me up.

Or the president. Or the president's what he said. That's pretty funny. One of the members of Leonard Skinner died, I don't know, two or three years ago, whatever it was. And we were out playing a festival in Oregon or somewhere. And this woman come back and wanted to meet us, an older lady. and she said, yeah, my brother, he played for Leonard Skinnerd, and he just died and we played where I find God at the funeral.

We're big fans. I thought, you kidding me? Like, what a small, what a crazy thing. Because I grew up listening to Skinnerd. Oh, yeah. And Almond Brothers and things like that, you know. So we're from the South, and they were too. Yeah, exactly.

And Southern Rock. And so it's kind of cool because when I grew up, it was Bluegrass. Like, we played Bluegrass and, like, gospel stuff. But then it was like country music and some Southern rock. But we listened to Alabama. Oh, yeah. You know, my parents got married to Alabama songs, so I knew every one of them. That's when you know your son.

Yeah, we're redneck. Exactly. And so we grew up listening to that, Merrill Haggard and George Jones, my granddaddy, he still was. But he, to this day, I think he thinks he is George Jones. And, like, he had that hair, and he'd slick it back. I mean, and it was, if you went in, he tried to look like him, talk like him. I mean, he was, so, you know, we love George Jones. But we were very much of a country music kind of family.

Well, it was funny for me. I went, when I was like a prodigal, I went through a rebellion phase in my teenage years, and I went country to be rebellious. And he burned my dad. Oh, he hated it. You know, I was Hank Williams, Jr., George Jones, David Allen Coe. I mean, you know, it was all this kind of rebel country, you know, but I loved it. for a period and then I came back from the prodigal and I guess I got

then I didn't listen to much of anything so I don't know it just kind of what's where is the only country music concert I've ever gone to which I don't know if you know this was a George Jones concert I've been to George Jones me and me and Willie were doing an event in California and he he was out that this is like right before he died oh wow he didn't even sing he just like talked yeah word but everybody was cheering by then it's a respect I just felt like like, man, this guy, I was impressed just because I saw him in New Orleans, but it was funny. He was doing a makeup concert for one. He had, like, gotten too drunk to do. So it was, like,

forced to do it. So he sang like four songs and walked off his. It was like a force. Contract fulfilled. Exactly. Exactly. It was so funny about that night, though, because he was getting close to the end of his life. And he talked about the Lord a lot, you know. And it was just kind of nostalgic. I'm glad I went. Yeah. And then it was pretty incredible. I watched that one of the HBO or somebody did a thing about George and Tammy. Yeah. Which I was intrigued.

It was so good. It was just like, man, it let you know a lot about the early part of their lives that I didn't know. I grew up one. I love country music. I always have it. To me, it's about, I mean, it really is kind of our childhood. Really, a lot of those songs. And even, like, I love what you're doing, too, because you're, you're, I feel like you're sharing the gospel in a different kind of way.

You know what I mean? It's not, you ain't a working man way. Yeah, exactly, exactly. For people like me who, I mean, I discovered you yesterday, but I was, I was in prayer. I thought, now how did this happen? So maybe you can share kind of how that happened. I mean, country music.

We converted one. All right, we got one. But country music in general is not characterized by the two songs I heard yesterday. That's what I'm saying. Where I find God was just, man, that's. Well, that one was a big one. That's the one that's the one that's built the whole thing. Yeah, right.

But, and what a better, I couldn't think of a better song to build a career off of. Exactly. And mine started rough. I played the bars and I did what, nowadays it's sort of, you know, there's so much social media and TikTok all of things. And people are like, they're getting record deals and they never even played a show before. We didn't have that. So I had to do it the old-fashioned way. And it was develop a drinking problem and go to the bar.

And so I learned everything. I mean, we... Alcoholism, which is the highway end. It's part of the path, you know? Exactly. And, but I mean, I think it was, well, growing up, like I said, I played bluegrass music, which I'm very thankful for because if you can play bluegrass, you can play anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's a very technical thing to play. So we had that. We had, you know, gospel influences in there. Did you grow up in church? Not, not really. So the, so there is a, well, you know, it's interesting. My last event was last weekend in South Carolina, and before I got up, they had a bluegrass band. They had a bluegrass man for me in Oregon last week, of all places.

And they were fantastic. And you could tell they had some gospel overtones in theirs because they did a couple of old hymns. I could hear it in there doing it at bluegrass, but it was so good. Well, and it was just so, it was kind of weird for me. Because I'm not into that. Because they all had the, and I met them backstage before they got up there, and I was like, no, what do y'all do? because they looked like they were like fixing to carry a casket somewhere they all had the same outfit but one guy had a different outfit and i thought look you know this is a crazy question

why does he have a different outfit than y'all and one of the guys said he's better yeah he earned it yeah well they went up there and it was just he here here you know and i thought boy i've never had a lead-in by bluegrass that was your so blue Grass is your kind of base. Yeah, yeah. Well, the circle, then, I'm broke. We do all those things because that was bluegrass stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so, and we all would sit on my, it was my great aunt and uncle, Uncle Jim, Aunt Sue. We'd go to their house and that's where everybody sat. And that's how I learned to play music was at their house on the back porch. And mostly because my cousin, who was a year older than me, he was about seven or so, six or seven a time. He was another little chubby kid, and he's playing fiddle. And I was like, okay, well, I want to play it too.

And so, here's a guitar. We'll teach you a couple of chords. You can learn how to play, and you can play with us. So that was all I cared about was being able to play with them. And so everybody just kind of joined in. But Bluegrass was a lot of old gospel hymns, what it was. You just speed them up or slow them down and put a little twang to it. And so that's what we do.

And so that's how I started. And then, you know, the Raman Auditorium up here? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I actually played there when I was about six. seven years old. Really? And the Bluegrass Band.

Yeah. Did anybody film that? Yeah, it's somewhere. Oh. Or you, were you dressed different than everybody else? I had a Garth Brooks shirt on it. Oh, wow.

It was one of them that was like the black and white, like whatever from the, this is, you know, this is the 90s. Right. You know, and so, I mean, it was cool at the time I had a big old cowboy hat on. I'm just, you know, six or seven years old. Yeah. But it was fun. And that's how it started.

And I always say that I started the rhyming and it went downhill. And so, You start there at the mother church and then you end up the bar. So by the time I had made it to high school, I'll start writing songs and stuff like that because I was bored of playing everybody else's songs. And I had an act for making things rhyme, I guess. So I started there, and then we get to college, and everybody's sitting around. And I just happened to be the guy that could play, and I knew a few songs.

Yeah. So, you know. So you're the leader. I'm the leader. And I would kill deer, and I would bring them up there. we would cook back straps and I would sit and play music. That's a good deal for that. That's the ultimate.

I tell you got my wife. And that had a cool truck, you know. And so I sat there and we would kind of play. And the way it started, I never intended on being anything in the music. Like, I never thought that. I didn't know you can make money at it, you know. That was a career path. And so I'm in college.

I'm kind of doing this. And people told me enough times, you're pretty good, man. Like, you ought to go play somewhere. I'm like, you're drunk. I'm not going to do that. So I ended up kind of believing him after a while. And so my cousin was like, hey, I've got this little bar gig down the road over here. Why don't you come and play my set breaks?

So he would play and he would have a 15, 20 minute break and I would get up and play. So I did that at the first night and they gave me like 40 bucks and tips. And I was like, we're on to something. This is, uh, I'm crazy. Yeah. And so, you know, at the time I was probably laying brick or something, making $8 an hour. So I thought, well, that was four hours of work, you know. I didn't, had fun. So that kind of kickstarted, and it gave me this fire to do it. Well, then I started writing songs, and all my friends were like, man, you were awesome.

You were so good. And I was like, you know what I am. And then I went to my first songwriter show, and I was awful. And everybody was so much better because there was a guy that he wrote a bunch of songs for Hank Junior, and they're all sitting there playing these great songs, and I'm like, I shouldn't even be here. Like this, I'm terrible. So that just made me want to go back and write more songs. And I was like, I'm going to be the best songwriter that I can be.

So I just focused in on writing songs and playing. And, you know, God gave me a gift to sing. I never took a lesson. I don't know anything about singing. I just did it, you know, and it worked. So, you know, years go by and I'm playing the bars and writing the songs. And I got a couple little public. deals and things like that and nothing would ever really take off and finally me and my wife

had gotten together and I said I'll tell you what I'm gonna go back to pouring concrete because I'm not gonna be an old man sitting in a bar trying to make it you know I need to be a real man here so I went start pouring concrete again that's what my dad does and all of this kind of did yeah so I'm pouring concrete and I'm giving you the condensed version here as it goes for years. But so, you know, at this point, I've kind of stepped away from everything. I'm pouring concrete.

I'm living a decent life, you know, making all right money. And then I would go to the bars and play on the weekends because I needed tires on my truck. Yeah, I'm not trying to make little cash, you know? And so I'm doing that, and then I meet my bass player at the time.

I call him crazy legs. If you ever come to a show, you understand why. But he's the dancer of the band. So we meet at this bar, and I'm like, this guy's good. You know, I like him. He was cool. So I said, why don't we just start our own thing?

You know, we're not going to make any money at it, but we'll have fun. We'll go down the studio and we'll record some stuff. We took the drummer that night. I just took this guy's band and I just said, y'all can't play. And so we did. We kind of started this up. Well, then that started working and we started playing the little things on the weekends. And I thought that was all it was going to be.

And then a guy called me one night and said, I want you to come and play my wedding or wedding party kind of thing reception thing and say, hey, for some barbecue and a couple hundred bucks I played about anything.

So we went over there, I went over there by myself and played well a guy named Jake O and another country singer walks in and I was like, oh, I know him, you know?

What's he doing here? I was in a barn, like literally a barn. And he come in and said, watch me play Merrill Haggard songs and stuff I'd written. And we get to,

to talk and he's like, well, who you sign with? You got a record, dude? I said, no, I pour concrete, dude, you know? And he was like, so you don't have any kind of deal? I said, no. Like, this guy paid me a few hundred bucks, you know? That's why I'm here. He was like, you've got to quit your job. You got to make this thing happen. I said, well, I tell you what? You take me on the road with you. We'll see what happens. We called me like the next week and said, get you stuff. Let's go. And I said, all right. So talk to my wife. She was like, I mean, I feel like you ought to do it, you know? Yeah.

So Harry, my boss at work, I said, Hey, I got to at least give this a shot, right? And he goes, yeah, go for it. He goes, if it don't work, you just come on back. I'll give you a job back. I said, all right. And I've never poured another concrete day in my life. And so that's kind of how it happened for me.

What really made it happen blow up was I was doing, I was going to church and I was playing when all this is starting to happen. And Jake told me, he said, you got to build your social media. And I was like, well, how do you do that? He goes, well, just, I don't know, play video or like record songs, like do stuff, you know, and people will follow you. I was like, all right.

And so the only thing I knew to do was we would go to church at this time, you know, and I would just play whatever song we played at church because I could play. And this time we're living in Chattanooga. So, you know, there wasn't a whole lot to pick from. I was the guy that had to go play. And so, you know, whatever I played at church, play it and video it and put it on social media on, you know, Facebook and all that. And that, I called it gospel song Sunday. Well, that become a thing. And all of a sudden, people, every

Sunday, we want to see that, man, I want to see it. And I was like, all right. Then a woman named Connie Harrington called me, which is a huge songwriter in town. I'm a big fan of hers. And I was like, hey, what's up? She's like, I've seen your gospel song Sunday. Like, I would love to write with you. this is at the time the biggest thing had ever, like the songwriter was, hadn't really happened to me. I was like, yes. Like, yeah, all right.

So the first time I ever met her, we sat down to write a song. We had a cup of coffee and we wrote where I find God. And it was based off of Gospel Song Sunday. And I didn't have a record deal. I had nothing, you know, really happened. I was just writing songs at this point. And that was,

there was a couple of big artists, real big country artists. And they were wanting to record that song. So if that would have happened at that point in time of my life, that was life changing for me and my family to get a big song like that. So I was like, yeah, like, this is great, you know. Well, it went for a year and this guy had it on hold to record. And then he never recorded it.

And I messed around and got myself a record deal. And they said, well, what do you want to do? I said, I got one. And I went in and record it where I, I find God, and they put it on the shelf and did not release it for over a year. And because I got the record deal, they put out eight songs that they thought was, you know, going to work. And here's a whiskey song, you know what I mean?

And stuff like that. And, I mean, it got me a little buzz going. But I said, I got this song, guys. I think there's something to it. I don't know. It didn't really. They rate all your songs at the record label, you know? So I only ranked like a three out of five or something.

I said, I don't, I think we're wrong. I think we're missing it. So anyways, I talked them into it, and I said, let's put it out on Good Friday. It's called where I find God. It'd be a great time to release this song. They said, okay, we'll give you a little money, make a music video with it. And so most music videos, they're going to give you $50,000 to $100,000. They gave me $3,000.

Get your cell phone camera out. Yeah, I said, your ring light. Sounds like the, what we got going on around here. I said, well, all right. So I called up my buddy. I said, let's, can you help me? And he was like, yeah, he had done a couple other videos, and he knew I didn't have any money.

And he was sort of just getting by and trying to get it going to. And he said, yeah, let's go. So we went down to Lake Martin in Alabama, and our friends of ours had a place down there. So my little boy at the time was about six months old. I said, I'm going to get in that Kawasaki mule over there. I'm just going to ride around. And you just follow me in the truck.

and he's sitting on the truck bed, follow me. And we're doing that, and I'm standing out by the lake, and we're doing a few things together, went down by the church. And that was it. $3,000.

There's a couple of acoustic videos. We put it out. That song exploded, because it come out April, I think it was April 10th, which would have been Good Friday of 2020. So the world just shut down. Yeah.

And I was like, well, we put it out. About the first week, it was out of got a million views. and I was like, well, we owned or something. And it just kept going and kept going and kept going. And then the record label hit me up and like, well, I think we might be on the one. They were about 4.5.

Oh, okay. At what point did it become their idea? Oh, as soon as it works. Which I don't care who's idea. Exactly. It's all right. God's idea, you know. Exactly.

Well, and I think that. I think everything worked out exactly what it's supposed to. And by this time, I'm in. I'm 33, 34 years old or whatever. Most kids are coming up getting their record deals. They're in their early 20s. So I'm on the backside of that a little bit. And they said, we're going to take it to radio.

So I have a double first verse ballad called Where I Find God that's four minutes long. Are you going to try to get that played on country radio? So it comes out and everybody loved it, but they would not work it up the chart at all. And so it just sort of just stayed on the radio for over a year. And we had the hardest time trying to get people to accept it in the radio business. Yeah, right. But I had a lot of champions that was really good to me. But it did its job.

I told everybody, I said, if you will just play it, that's all like, I don't care if it's a number one hit or not. Because I think there's people need to hear it. And I think that that's what we, that's the goal here. I don't care, you know, if it's a number one or not. So I finally talked enough people into it, I guess, and they played it. But that song, everybody thought it was the number one. It didn't even break top 40, and then they pulled it off the radio. But then it just kept coming back.

It won't go away. And so then I went on tour of Morgan Wallen, and he was like, let's do that song together. So we did it at Madison Square Garden or something one night, and we did a video of it, and that thing's got like 100 million views. and then I went to Australia in March, and I played Where I Find God for 23,000 people in Australia. And I was like, I've never been here. You'd have thought I was the Beatles out there.

And I was like, what's going on? And 23,000 people sing where I find God. Wow. They knew the words. Yeah. They knew every bit of it. And so it's the song, you know, this is the song that never ends. It was like, that's the way I feel about it.

It just keeps working and keeps grinding. but every day there's new people that hear it for the first time. And I love it because I'm known for a song called Where I Find God. Yeah. In the country music world. That's a good song to be known by. Exactly. I think so.

And so then I said, man, this is what I want to do. So what that deal was allowed me to do music the way I wanted to do it. And so, you know, I didn't have to do, you know, nothing against what everybody else is doing. But that's not what I want to do. Right. I want to sing, well, some dude tried to criticize me the other day on some thing. And he said, all he ever sings about is faith, family, and working hard. I said, you got it, buddy.

That's exactly what I do. So how did that transition, like, in your life? I mean, because you said you started off in bars and was drinking way too much. So there had to be some kind of epiphany in there. Yeah. So, you know, I was listening to y'all talking a few episodes, ago, whatever, about just sort of, your wife for something, getting saved early and then again later. That was what happened to me.

Yeah. Because in high school, I was kind of after this girl, you know what I mean? And she was like going to church, a big in church, which helped me tremendously because I'd never really done a whole lot in church. And so that got me in the doors. And then, you know, God was working with me, but I did not know exactly what was happening. You were distracted by the girl. Exactly.

Yeah. Exactly. And that's exactly the way she. describes her. She said, I was, I was baptizing into the Robertson family. Yeah. Not into Christ. And she said at 33, I finally figured out. I needed a relationship with him. Oh, yeah. So that's what changed. And that was kind of me. It was like, I'm, I'm there, you know, kind of chasing a girl. And then I'm, but I'm hearing bits and pieces. Yeah. So then that was getting it started. And then whenever I went on my own way, she did hers.

And it was like, so now I'm out in the world. And you know how it is for a kid coming out of high school, going to college, that's a tough time. Absolutely. You had a lot of influence. Yeah. And so I had no good influences. I had my good friends or whatever, but we were all doing the same thing. You're drinking and you're running wild and you're just in the world.

And so I did that for years. And then it was a little bit later, I started going. I was like, I can get back in church, you know. So we started going. And I actually went and got baptized in my early 20s. and then I was like, okay, this is it, I'm making the change. Well, I soon got drugged back into the world, you know. And then I thought, all right, and once me and my wife got together,

I was trying to get away from everything. I just didn't feel right, you know. So when we got together, her uncle's a Baptist preacher. And so we went to church. Yeah. And that was, I started kind of making friends inside the church and different preachers and people that was kind of helping me out. And I tell people all the time, this is how it worked for me.

And I think this happens for a lot of people is just because you get saved doesn't mean your life is changing exactly that. It's a thing that takes forever. Like you're working on it for a long time. And so that was me. That was my case. So once we got together, my wife and I actually got baptized in the Tennessee River together. It was cool.

And that was, you know, around, I don't know, probably 10, close to 10. 10 years ago or so now. Yeah. And before we had kids and stuff, and it was like, we got to get it together. And so we did, and we dove in the church

and started getting the groups around us, doing small groups. But that was my change. And I think that's whenever, because if you had made me, give me money and fame in my 20s, I'd be dead probably. You know, I would have blew it.

It'd have been a disaster. You weren't ready for it. I wasn't ready. Yeah. And I think that once I was, I understood what I was doing. And it was like, okay, this is what you should be doing and what you should be working towards, which is God.

And when I did that, that's when where I find God come along. That's when the record deal. That's when everything started happening that never happened before. It finally was like, now is your time. And so whenever that happened, I just, I said, okay, I'm all in. And like I said, I'm like anybody else. So you battle with it every day. Sure.

In this world, in entertainment-type industry, you get pulled a million different directions, and somebody's always, you know, chirping over your shoulder about something. So you have to stay very focused and makes sure you surround yourself with the right people around you because that's something we battle with every day. Yeah, what I found kind of nostalgic about the two songs that I listen to, because I'd go back to my childhood, our dad,

you know, there's been a movie about his past, and all, but in an effort to become a better father, you only started taking us hunting. And I had the same experience as that song, because I'm looking around for the first time thinking, I think somebody created this. Exactly. And it was not really found in a church setting,

but more just because I love fishing and hunting. And so when I eventually got to John, and I'm like reading it for myself, I'm like, he picked, a bunch of fishermen, which is, that's all we did. Yeah. That's how we made a living before the duck calls. And so I think that's why that song really resonates with people,

because you think back on your life. And there is something about that Romans 1 that says, we're without excuse because of the God's divine nature being seen. Yeah. And by what has been made. The creation itself speaks to the very nature of God. Always make a joke that to people who don't believe in God, it's not funny, but I'm like, look, I've blown up a lot of stuff in my life because they're all about,

there was a big bang, you know, and there's matter and we don't know where it all came from, but I'm like, every time I blow something up, it's complete chaos, not in perfect order. You know. It didn't mold itself into something. Yeah, I'm like, this is not making any sense to me. So I went through all those questions that I was coming up. But I think that's why the song works because you're basically using something that God said is undeniable. People look around at creation.

That's why hunters and fishermen and outdoors people, it's just very hard for us not to believe in God. Oh, yeah. Exactly. And I think, yeah, for me, it was going to church and stuff. But you always, I don't know, y'all probably, like you feel God tug at you at church sometimes. And that was what happened to me early on.

Yeah. I didn't know what it was. Yeah. But then my dad would take us hunting me and my brother. We got a brother that's four years younger me. And so we would go turkey hunting, deer hunting, duck hunting, whatever. And I just, that was always the time I could, well, I felt like I could see God that, or at least what he has done.

And so that kind of made me think. I was like, how could somebody not believe in God if you've ever walked outside, you know, like, and just took a look around? With an open mind and just say, what happened? Well, yeah, and how everything is perfectly created. You can't replicate that, you know? And everything has been laid out perfectly. And that's what was always kind of mind-blown.

You can't make that up, you know? And it was, I think, in my line of work, too, what I talked to a lot of people about is they have trouble. They'll say, well, I don't know. I think, you know, I think there could be a creator. But, you know, I don't know if it, you know, the Jesus and all that. And I'm like, all right.

And so that's kind of, you know, to kind of fast forward how this music has got me here in my story. Like mine come from outdoors and all that stuff. But now I think where I'm at, it's really cool that I get to sing a song that gets to millions and millions of people, but it can change their way of thinking with a song. And so just like, you know, from a hayfield and a Chevrolet back to Nashville and all. Like, I've talked to God more in a cab of a truck driving down a backroad than I have in church. I can tell you that.

Yeah. And sitting in a deer stand when that sun starts to crack up, it's the coldest part of the morning, you know what I mean? Or in the duck line. Like, it's beautiful. Like, that is God's creation right there. And so all of those made it undeniable to me that this is what it did. And with Paul and everybody, like, how terrible, like, some of the disciples were. Oh, yeah.

And that gives me hope because I'm like, well, I was pretty terrible for a long time. And so that's kind of when I'm talking to people. Like, that is the gospel. You know what I mean? That's, well, I'll tell you, I listen to y'all's podcast a lot. And so y'all got a good way of putting things. And I'm going to say it. I've ripped off a few lines, okay?

Use them. Well, yeah. They're holy spirit. You've got a real good way to lay it. out for a good old country boy, you know. Do you think Jayce is too rough on me? What's your opinion on that? Well, I don't know.

I'm rough on my buddies too, you know? Exactly. I'm trying to tell him that's a sign that I love him. Zach is always like the one that would lay it out to where I was like, I don't know what he said, but you know what I mean? It sounds really good. I'm on board with it. And then we translate that.

Exactly. Well, it's been a blessing having you. Yeah. And, you know, it may have started with where I find God, but it's, you know, it may have started with where I find God, but it's obvious now. It's where God has found you. Yeah. And that's the power of what you're doing going forward.

So, man, we're glad to have you in Unashamed Nation. Now we're in Larry Fleet Nation. So we're on board. Well, thank you. I mean, this is. I'm a one day follower. Yes. Yeah, we got one.

I appreciate y'all having me. Like, I've done a lot of podcasts, but I'm telling you this was, I was excited. I was super excited because we've been listening to this for years. And I'll tell everybody about it. So I'm spreading the good news about it. Thank you for coming out. We'll spread it. Good news about Larry Fleets.

We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.