Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 781 | Phil Breaks the Church Dress Code & How ‘Duck Dynasty’ Is Today's ‘Andy Griffith’

Episode Date: November 3, 2023

Phil and the guys are joined by someone whom they’ve inspired to speak out about Jesus: country singer, songwriter, and internet sensation Buddy Brown and his wife, Bootsy. Phil cracks wise about his reputation for bucking the dress code wherever he goes, and Al draws a line between the Robertson family as seen in “The Blind” and the Robertson family of today. Buddy encourages the next generation to stand up for faith and backwoods wisdom. The guys, Buddy, and Bootsy lament the way that modern entertainment tries to shut out faith-based content.  https://philmerch.com — Get your “Unashamed” mugs, shirts, hats & hoodies! Own 'The Blind' on digital TODAY & watch instantly: https://theblindmovie.com/watch — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed podcast. We still have, as you can see, no Jace. He's out on assignment. I always tell the audience that when Jay's is not here, we're letting him. So he has to build up some new stories. And all he really has to do for Jace to have a story is just walk around and live life. And things will happen to him that happen to know. person ever. That's right. I mean, it's just, it's, he's like a magnet.

But are they really happening? I don't know. I have no idea. He could be making all of it up. And I don't think he's making all of it up, but I do think that it's, what's the word I'm looking for? Do you think he's embellished? Maybe stretching the truth just a little.

Well, it's always, like, every, he goes to, he stops a convenience store. I stop at a convenience store every other day. And I put gas in my vehicle. Nothing happens. Like it's just gas in, you leave. But with him, someone accosted him, someone yelled at him, someone, you know, it's always like something happens, leaving on the most mundane, you know, tracks with Jays. It's always something.

I mean, I pull up on the side of the road and just because I got my hand on an AK 47, I mean, people don't walk over. It's something about that, AKA. I wonder why. Some of that AR on your left. It's so inviting, you know. So, Zach, you weren't here, but so a week or two, I think the episode dropped last week, but I'm trying to figure out where we are now.

But we did an episode that when you were not with us, I was in Gulf Shores, but dad told the story about him going to Jersey Joe's daughter's wedding because he decided, like, late in the game to go. It was one of the amazing things. It amazed me. And so I laughed that this story was eight and a half minutes long. Speaking of stories, if dad telling him about him going to this wedding,

which he didn't know where it was exactly. He knew generally where it was. And his mindset was, well, you know, Louisiana's not that big of a state. So he just takes off like, I find it. And an hour and a half later, he did. He crossed three parishes to find it, Talk to a police officer. And I'm leaving now.

And the road I chose to leave on, I was going along and I saw some trucks and cars over there. I did a U-turned, pullback up there. And on a post, it said, Amanda. Happy wedding. What was that girl's name? Amanda. Amanda.

And I said, Amanda, I think that might be the girl. I asked somebody pulled up there. I said, is this a place going to be a wedding today? they said you've come to the right spot oh i told so he yeah you had no directions or anything you just started driving and of course he has no phone and so he just started driving and so he knew it was around farmable so he's i went north of farmable almost to junction city sterling east of there i went over on the left over there and the final blow was i'm leaving and that was the road it was on about three or four miles out of town it was out there in the woods did you make it a time for the wedding

He did. Look, he was 10 minutes early and he still beat mom there who had left an hour before he left. And she coming out. And she had. And how did you get here? I said, well, it's a long story. I told Joe, so Joe, I tell Joe after we recorded that podcast, I said, Joe, you've got to tell me what you were thinking when you saw Dad because he just told me the story on the podcast about what happened. Of course, he was thrilled. You know, he looks at Dad like his spiritual father, you know, because he mentors him. I was. Yeah. And so it meant a lot that you went to Joe, by the way.

I'm just impressed that you went to a wedding. I don't think you made it to my wedding. Of course, it was in North Carolina. But now Kay was there. Al, you were there because you were. I was one of the efficients. And, of course, Zach was a comical wedding because he forgot the ring back in the dressing room and left it in his pocket of his jeans. So when it came to the moment of, do you have the ring?

Of course, Zach just has this panic look on his face because he doesn't have it. And then Jill. dad reacts because he's sitting on the front row, he realizes that Zach doesn't have the ring. He threw his head back, hit the candle that went back in the other people's lap. We were now turning into like one of these shows, one of these videos. Comedy of errors. Yeah, comedy of errors. And so then we just kind of fake the whole ring thing to get through that part.

So I forgot about that, Zach. That's right. Yeah. The line was, with this ring. And I said, with this ring and whatever the next line was. And he goes, and I trust that you do. because I had no symbol of or token of my affection. So how many years was that?

What? Yeah. Three or four? 21 maybe. So, and now your daughter is getting married this year. Yeah. I haven't asked you about that on the podcast. How do you feel about that?

It's, um, I feel good about it. I mean, it's, you know, he's a good young man. I mean, he's very. He is. He loves Jesus. He's in the production business. I have not hired him yet. he's uh he's got to prove you gotta go yeah go make your own way let someone else uh you know

prune you and then uh but no he's uh he's working in nashville layla's doing music now you know she did the uh she's working with sadie who was on our last podcast by the way we we need to have them on um talk about their music but uh and so then she did a internship her and max did an internship this summer with Shane and they cut it out cut an album i think it's coming out then next month. So we'll maybe have them back on too to talk about that. But yeah, that's crazy when your kids get on here.

We should do that for sure. We'll do that. We'll have Max and Layla on and talk about music. But yeah, it's good. Well, Max is, I won't lie. I love all your kids,

but Max is my favorite because he's the only LSU fan in the family. They seem to have grown up so rapidly. I know. It went by fast. I mean, I thought the same thing, because it was always just little. little stair, step, or dashers.

And now they're out singing and married. But that's what happens, Dad. We're getting old. That's what happens. Well, I was down there with Phil last year. I got in the truck with him. We were driving to the podcast studio where you guys are sitting now. And Phil said, I think you were 76 at the time.

And you said, we're just driving. You said, Zach, let me tell you what I've learned. That was the fastest 76 years I've ever. live. I was like, it just hit me. It was that moment like where you're like, yeah, I mean, but it is. It's fast. I saw his kids and they were grown.

And I'm like, good night. Yeah. And so talented, you know, which is a blessing. So I wanted to talk about the movie because we got some guests coming on the podcast later and while I have Zach with us. You can, it's official now, and we mentioned this already once, but I wanted to let the audience know again that November 3rd is when you can buy it digitally. Is that right, Zach?

Yeah, you know how like when you get on Amazon or, you know, you can purchase it and watch it from home. Right. Before it's available on rental. And if you purchase it, then you have it in your digital library forever. So I don't. So if it works out well, once it goes on the Internet, does that, what percentage, of growth that it is that that is what is yeah yeah that's a good question yeah how does that 10% say i'll tell you what i'll look at it here i bet it's more i bet it's more now i get i bet post-covid way

more people probably download movies than you i think so i think i think it'll probably be more people will see this post-theatrical release than they did in the theaters i would agree which is really encouraging, you know, when you think about the message of the movie. So, and a lot of people, you know, that we've talked to, because this film was super impactful for a lot of people. I mean, I mean, it's that, that, there's no question about that. And I think what we're seeing is a lot of people are like, I'm going to buy this DVD so that I can give it to somebody for Christmas that I think needs to have it.

So I think we'll probably do better than most movies. I think it will. So that's November, November 14th is the DVD. in blue ray release. So if you... But you can get it now. Yeah, you can do it pre-order now. Walmart.com and Amazon.

So... Yeah. Yeah. I mean, available November 3rd and November 14th. And there's still a way, if you go to the blind movie.com, there's still a way to get it to your church. You have until November 6th for that. So if you're in a situation where that appeals to you, maybe your pastor or someone

listening that has a church somewhere that may have not been able to see the movie, you can still do that for a little while, right, Zach? So there's that opportunity, too, if you want to check into that. So, you know, community. Because I mentioned that I think I mentioned this on the previous podcast, too, but we became Fathom's number one release of all time, which is a big deal. I mean, we actually got that as an update from a news site too, Zach. So I guess you guys did a press release or something.

And so I actually got that in my email that said that same thing that it was now number one. Of course, I thought it'll be, it'll probably be short live because, Chosen will probably take it back next year when they do season four. But it's kind of like competing with Sadie on podcast. It's like, this is a good thing. You know? Yeah. I mean, I love The Chosen.

I love our movie, obviously. So I don't mind just leapfrogging those guys back and forth. That's awesome. No, they're great guys. Dallas and those guys are great guys and what they're doing is incredible. Yeah, but we're going to enjoy it in the window. That's right. Enjoy it.

Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Yeah. And look, I mean, it's been cool because I've noticed even our podcast has grown quite a bit through the movie. And because a lot of people are like, man, I didn't even know you guys had a podcast, which is so crazy to me. But this is the way the algorithms work on Facebook and Instagram, they don't really show our

entire audience what we're doing. Yeah. But the movie has brought a lot of attention to even this Bible study, which has been kind of full circle because this Bible study, this podcast spurred the movie. And now the movie is bringing people to the podcast. So it's kind of interesting. I just got a note from somebody. and I don't think I've responded to you yet, so I know you're probably listening, but

that had somehow just discovered our podcast since the movie and has listened to all 700 and whatever we're up to 80 episodes in going 8 and 10 hours a day. I was like, now that's commitment. So to listen to that since the movie released, I'm impressed and your brain must be full because we have talked a lot of Bible and told a lot of J-Store. and a lot of crazy stuff over the course of that period of time. So kudos to you for that. And I'm sure there's a few others doing that as well.

So we love it. Zach, we want to let you go and take a break. And we come back. We've got some special guests that I'm super excited about having on the podcast today with dad and I. So Zach's always a pleasure. We'll see you. Next step. Next up.

Buddy and Bootsie Brown. Welcome back. We got Buddy and Bootsie Brown here from all the way from Jackson, Mississippi. That's right? Yeah, which is, of course, the capital of Mississippi, and it's almost like our cousins over there. You know, you're just right now. We're kind of like cousins? Yeah, that's exactly right.

Yeah, yeah. We claim you guys. I'll go with that. You're originally from Florida. Originally from Mississippi. But when the boys got to be like seven, eight years old, I looked at my wife, I said, is there any way we cannot raise our boys in central Florida? She goes, where do you want to go?

I said, there's this place that's just perfect. And, you know, Madison, Mississippi, how about we go there? And now she's got more friends than I do. Well, and it's so good that you're so right getting out of Florida because that's where Zach and my cousins, you know, grew up there. And they're all, they're in Gainesville. So they were all Gator fans in Trenton area. And so I was like, so I've lived with that Florida stuff my whole life. So you did great and get out of it.

Yeah, thank you. Get out of it. But we love Florida. It's the free red state is now what we call it where people are going to. So Bootsie, we originally. We were just going to have buddy. He and I were talking. I wanted to have him on the podcast.

But then when I heard your name was Bootsie, I was like, does your wife do a podcast too? Because with a name like Bootsie, you need to be on our podcast. So that was my only qualification. That was it. That's all you had to have. You could have been a mute. And you still would have been on this podcast. Come on.

You can thank my sisters. I was born with my grandmother's name, which is a beautiful name. But I was never called it. There's a few stories that go around on how I went from Elizabeth to Bootsy. and the main one is I had a breathing apnea as a little baby, and I would take some pauses, and I wouldn't really breathe again. So they took me to the hospital and then brought me home on, with a lot of wires, like a lot of breathing wires and whatnot. And monitors and stuff. Uh-huh. Yeah. And they had to have a little backpack with a battery if we traveled. So I was a little bit of a freak baby with all these

wires coming off of me, and my sisters were four and six. So they were like, that baby has a boo-boo. which was Boo Boo. And somehow they wanted to shut down Boo Boo like I was a mistake or something. And then there is. You were a little Terminator is what you were. Apparently I was a force to be reckoned with from the very get-go. And there's a picture of me with one cowboy boot only in a diaper. I don't know.

Somehow Bootsie became. So by the time I started kindergarten. Booboo to Bootsie and it stuck. By the time I was kindergarten, it was Bootsie being written on my papers. Oh, yeah. I love it. Is that what? I like to say she had six toes on one foot.

The stories get better. Because it's a better story. You know, it's a songwriter. It's a sigh story. Yeah. You wouldn't want to go back too far and her too far and you've allowed to run into some stuff back in here. Yeah. A couple hundred years ago.

Where were you from originally? Orlando. Oh, so you were from Florida. Okay, yeah. Used to be a small town. Orlando used to be a real small town. Yeah, not so much anymore. It was still the south when I got down there in 91 and then about 2000, just.

this wave came in that you just left it unrecognizable at this point. Oh, yeah. It's not. I don't think your governor is a decent man. Oh, yeah. He was. Yeah, I mean, he is. That guy has done unbelievable stuff for the-

Yes, sir. He's not a reflection of the state of Florida, but we're glad to have them down there. Yeah. State of Florida, I mean, you go down the middle of the heart of the middle. You got just a civil war of politics going on. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So many people come from so many of,

other places. I mean, that's the thing with Florida. It's like, you know, so many other states that you've got kind of the originals and then you've got everybody else that's coming. And so then you've got that merge of politics. So red or blue become purple and here we go, right? Yeah, to see, y'all are like me. Get away from all that city stuff. Was it the, the closer I am to the country, the further I am away from idiots? That's exactly. You know, and not that they're idiots. We love them. But I just, I wanted to raise my boys on four-wheelers and hunting and being able to own land. You can't own land in Central Florida.

What land are you going to own down there? Exactly right. So, you know, we got away and it's been no looking back. Is that many kids do you have? Two boys. Two boys. How old are they? Oh, they're at that age right now.

God bless them if they watch this. They're at 13 and 14. Oh, boy. We might need to send them down. I need to ask Ms. Kay for some advice. I was the youngest of three girls. I know nothing about these boys that I live in. We need to just loan them to fill for some work.

All my grandchildren, when they began to get married and weddings and all that, and I'm like, is that that? Yeah. I mean, I let's look up, you know, and I mean, it's amazing. When we get together now as a family group, it's about 60 people. Of course, we had three boys, you know, with me, Jay's and Willie for the longest period of time. And then once mom and dad came to Christ, we had Jeff, who I used to call my baby sister. sister because he was sensitive, you know, he was the little one. And he's, you know, he's still kind of sensitive when you, when you talk to him.

And then we found out we actually had a sister. We found her three years ago, four years ago now. And so Jeff's back to being a brother. But yeah, we're huge. I mean, we're like with all of our kids. We're all now our own patriarchs and matriarchs, you know, and it's been an interesting dynamic because you realize once you get your family, your wing gets so big, you just have less time to do the things you used to do with your brothers.

So far there's no divorces, no. We've managed to stay together, that's right, and do that, which I think we learned that, you know, you guys saw the movies. So, I mean, I think we learned from mom and dad, you know, what we didn't want to do. And so we figured out, okay, we need to figure out how to stick together, have Jesus number one. Amen. So now you guys did, Cy and Dad were on your podcast. They were on mine.

So tell me about that experience because I, That was wild because, I mean, I walk in the duck call room and those talking about, first, it was Cy and I for about 30 minutes, and he's telling me war stories before it even began, like terrifying war stories. And that's the moment we meet. And, but we had a great, we had a great time. It was really, the video did great. And we were telling people the gospel. And then I met Phil. He gave his whole testimony. And we just got to bounce off of each of. other because Phil is a big reason why I started doing what I was doing. Yeah.

And that's been, I guess, three or four years now since I took this path. We can get into that in a little bit. Yeah. I was a football player at, you know, got a scholarship to play at U.F. be a gator. Really? And under Steve Sparrier, he calls on a block number one night, says, you're going to give your scholarship to a defensive back. I need him more.

And I'm thinking, everybody's reported. It's two weeks away. You know, we're going to two a days now. I've got no team. I had 12, 13 D1 scholarships to punt my dad kick for Mississippi State. I was thinking, maybe this is God calmly into the ministry. Maybe this is it, and I'm hard-headed. So I got to be Moses for the last 20 years, wrestling with God.

It took a lot of right and left turns. A lot of right and left turns. You were airing and her into the story, right? Yeah. So Bootsie comes in. I had her number on. the phone. Do you remember those old phones where you could only have 25 numbers saved in your phones? I remember when

it was worse than that. I was in the air. Rotary. Yeah. 15 phones are given to a neighborhood and all these old women and when it rings for one it rings for all of them. And you pick it up. Hello. You get out to telephone. It wasn't quite like that. But I was in my college dorm, my freshman year at Liberty University. That's where I went.

I thought I was going to go into seminary. Yeah. But I was deleting old numbers. Don't need that one anymore. Don't need that one anymore. And I came to Bootsie's phone number. I couldn't delete it. Which I'm shocked you even had.

Couldn't delete it. So instead of deleting it, I pick up the phone, I call her, and we hit it off. How did you have her number, did you? We were friends in high school. Okay. Nothing to. Boy, that's almost a godsend. Oh.

Because we came back from college together. at Florida State. What did you do? You said, Habuti, you're not going to believe this. I didn't delete your number. Yeah, this is going to sound weird, but thank God's telling us we need to be together. And she had a background in communications, and she just understood

the whole media side. I was, you know, kind of leaving football at the time, playing for Mississippi State and putting for them. So you did go to Mississippi State. This would be 0,304. A bunch of schools. I rode back up like a champ.

The guy that was backing up ended up playing for the Raiders and winning the Ray Guy Award, which is the highest award you can win for a punter. So I called my dad one day and said, I went to the wrong school. Then country music came along. Mississippi State is always known for their kicking. Yeah. You know, you better know how to punt. I know it, exactly.

So I could always sing. I always loved Randy Travis, George Strait, you know, Johnny Cash, Wayland, Jenny. And so I would listen to that stuff and I said, I could do this. And so went to Nashville. She said, if you want to do this, we need to do this, We didn't get married saying, hey, by the way, I want to do this. It was just kind of like something is pulling me in that direction. And it went great.

Three Billboard country albums, two number ones on iTunes for iTunes country. You know, 400 million views. And none of that mattered. Because I got to the point where three years ago when COVID hit and all the madness broke open, I saw Phil over here talking about just, you. Laying it out there is what he was doing. I had never spoken the name Jesus on my channel. In country music in Nashville, they get up there and they accept an award and they say,

I want to thank the big man upstairs. I want to thank God. Or I want to thank somebody was looking out for me up there, higher power. All those generic terms. I'd never say the name Jesus. And it all happened. I was thinking, this is not a time to be shy about who we are. I just started putting it out there.

And instead of everybody leaving, I thought, everybody's just going to, we almost got a million subscribers. They're just, they're going to be gone. Nobody left. Yeah. And it's been something I've been able to stand by and been encouraged by y'all to, to do without a doubt. But she's been right there making it all happen because I didn't understand how to edit videos.

I didn't understand how it's supposed to look. You shoot a video with like nine feet over your head of headspace. I'm a little opinionated. It looks terrible. Most people in communications. But I'm usually behind the scenes. Yes. She's in every background going, you know, quit slouching.

You know, stand up straight. Yeah. Move over that way. But it all works because now it's in my head without her if I'm going out doing my own thing. So when you were, that's what you went to school for? I mean, how did you learn this? How did you learn to be able to do this? Or was that just something you enjoyed it?

You were a TV production and all that? Yeah, I think TV production in high school. Okay. My sisters and I always were in that program. Yeah. So it comes naturally to me. I'm a better editor. I have no imagination, none.

But I can look at something and go, that's wrong, or font bigger or sideways or this or that. Which is, it's so amazing on the creative side because you have to have both roles, right? I mean, because with him, he's able to just think like a creative, but if unless he has somebody that can frame it up and get it out where it's presentable, you know, it takes both of it. It's wonderful to work with each other. It's pretty amazing. So y'all work together. I'm a peach. You've worked together your whole, the whole.

time you've been doing this? Old time. It's been y'all doing it, which is amazing. So Lisa and I worked together as well and love it because we started at Duck Commander and then I went into ministry and then she did some other things and then wound up joining me there working for another ministry, but we're still together. It was really great because I had like strict rules about meeting with women and stuff like this because I'd just seen people fall.

And so I'd call her up and I'd say, hey, I got somebody coming in, come down and sit in with me. And so that's how really we started doing ministry together. It was just like listening to people's problems and stuff like that or marriage stuff and all that. But now we get to travel around the country and speak together, which is pretty amazing. So, which y'all will get to me later. But so you did watch, so you watched our show. Did you watch Stuck Dynasty?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So y'all are fans of that as well. We're fans of that and now my boys are watching it. It's like the next generation. That's right. It's their default to put on after school. Yeah.

I love that. That it's kind of, it, I tell honest as a whole. the time it's like Andy Griffin. Like there are people now that discover Andy Griffin like a new generation, and that show was made 60 years ago. And so, but when some shows are worthy of being generational, and I feel like ours is as well.

Well, it displays a family dynamic that not a lot of people have right now. Not a lot of people have very involved families or generational families. You are speaking the truth. It's tough out there. So to even watch an example of a family on TV in your comfort zone, you can gain knowledge. and you can gain life experience just by seeing it. Well, and when we were on, Modern Family was a popular show on the broadcast.

And, of course, it couldn't have been more different than ours. And it was interesting because someone did a study, some university, at Duck Dynasty versus Modern Family. And that was the title of the study. So it was all this analytical data about who would watch either show and why. And it was really interesting because it was speaking a lot to our culture. Corey and I were talking recently, though, and we both kind of came to this realization at the same time in our conversation. And this is really kind of sad that our show could not be made now in 2020.

You don't think? No, no venue. Like, I mean, we could do it and put it out ourselves and do something on YouTube or whatever, kind of like you guys have done. But no network would touch us anymore. Now, in 2011, they were still willing to do something like take a chance on a family like us. But just in a decade, that's how much. changed, right, that we wouldn't even get a shot to be on unless it was on Fox or someplace, you know, that was more traditional or conservative. So it's really sad, but you know the audience

is there. So it's not about audience. It's about something else, which is kind of what we're facing, which is sad, which is why we have to have your inspiration to be more vocal about who you are has to happen now across all the genres for us to be able to do what we do. We're paving the way for people to have a family like us. Because look, there's going to be others that come along after us. We just had Christian Sadie on the last podcast, and dad's like, wow, this is the next generation. I said, well, dad looks like we're in good hands, you know, because that's what we need is the next generation, your boys and how they approach the future. Yeah. You know, where they're not afraid to speak Jesus. To me, it was always,

this is what a family is supposed to look like. And not that it's perfect or anything. There's a million flaws. We all see that, but it's that craving that we have in our, in our heart. I saw a video of a, it was an older man bring in a bunch of sausage that he made for his neighbor. And you know they have those ring doorbells now that just video tape the whole. Right. Anybody that comes to, it's for security. But it captured the whole moment. He brings the sausage in and he's like, I just made this for you. Hot off the grill. Just thank you for being a wonderful neighbor. And the comments, if you looked, if you just read through them, it was this kind of America doesn't exist anymore. This kind of heart, this kind of neighbor. Yeah. This is only something you read about. And to me, a lot of Duck Dynasty,

was that for me and for probably millions of people to say, man, my family's pretty screwed up. But I wish it was like this. And if my only escape is to watch a 30-minute episode, kind of get some of that in my soul. Yeah, that's exactly right. I love showing. There's a picture I have that I show when Lee's and I speak. And it's the last night we filmed the show together in 2017. And it's a great shot.

One of the crew members took it. And it's kind of the way they had it stage with all of us sitting around. because we were filming like the clip show, you know, the series is over. So now this is it. This is the last shot. And there's four generations of faith represented. And so it's a great shot. And I love showing that.

And everybody's, you watch the audience. Yeah, yeah, I love that family. And then I said, but you know what? Let me show you another picture of the same family. And I pop one in from 1972. That's dad with no beard, no shirt on, mom who's pregnant with Willie at the time. And me and Jay's with their little bowl haircuts. And I was like, this 72,

family could never even imagine that 2017 family because they were in such terrible place. And of course, that was the birthplace of the movie. And but the reason we do that is because you're speaking to these huge audiences of people that are in some kind of degree of crisis or difficulty or they've gone through a tough patch. And so they're like, man, if we could just be like the Robertsons, you are the Robertsons. You know, you just hadn't gotten where God needs you to be yet. You just have to surrender. And so that becomes part of the story, you know.

So I love that the visual. of those two pictures. So I want to ask you guys, so how did you come to faith? Were you raised up Christians? Or how did you become? I have very different stories on that. You can go first.

You go first, but is it. Okay. So I was, we were, had beautiful matching dresses on Christmas and Easter. Yeah. We were, went on Christmas and Easter. So I was raised to respect the church, but like wasn't in it all the time.

actually in high school, and that's probably why you had my numbers from that. We had, we went to a really large high school. It ended up being 8A right now, super large high school, but we had a Bible study that was just ran by a guy who had graduated from there. And it was kind of, I don't want to say the cool thing to do, but it was a thing to do. It was. Yeah. So we went to that on Thursday nights, whatever night it was, just kind of, I don't want to say casually, But it wasn't, I, again, was the youngest of three girls. My sisters are wonderful and were editor-in-chief of the yearbook and homecoming queens and beautiful, wonderful, smart girls. And I thought I was going to be that.

Like, that's what I wanted to be. That was my number one is to be what they were. And I still love them and I still admire them. But that was my goal. So it wasn't until I randomly got a message. And it wasn't, I'm not someone who usually gets messages. but I got the message I need to go to a Christian camp for girls in North Carolina. Out of the blue.

So I went home and I told my mom, we need to research these camps because I'm getting a message I need to go. And that wasn't a normal thing for me. So we start to look up camps and I decide on a camp. I go as a camper for a few years on the summers and then I become a counselor later. But it was I was there for one summer and I got a note that I did not make the cheerleading squad that I wanted to make. therefore, and I was not going to be on the track for leadership of your book. So all the things I had idolized were quickly being shut down. And it seems like not a big deal now, but as a 16, 17-year-old, that was a big deal.

So I was told no by the things I really, really wanted. And I took that pretty hard, and I realized that my faith was in my achievements and the things that I sought first. So I there was this bridge on the way to the chapel and it was during our quiet time and I sat down on that bridge and I said everything's done. Everything's done. It's Jesus or nothing. And that's where it happened for me. But it's awesome. After that it was still a hard battle. I still, a year to the date actually of that was one of my hardest times in college. So it's it's always been a battle to surrender and to I can be someone. who enjoy sufficiency and someone who can. I spent eight years being educated. Work college, you get one degree, you get in your master's. Eight years in the making. Through that eight years, Louisiana Tech, good college.

Not, I did not hear one time the word Jesus. Not one. All that education, I look back at it now. There was no Jesus. None. That's one of the things when I came to Christ, I looked back and I said, I mean, that university I attended, after being educated, did not say one word about the one we literally count time by. Yeah. You'd think.

They'd throw his name in. You know, think about you might want to check him out. He's got a story to tell. But now. Achievements are what sell. However, somebody did say, out, I think, said, but they actually put my picture on the wall somewhere over there. So there's when dad had reconnected with Bradshaw, we did a, they had a special night in 2014.

And where they honored Dad and Bradshaw together on the football field. It was cool, you know, because they had not really. other than running each other at an airport, had not seen each other in, you know, 40 years. Wow. And so all of a sudden, Terry's there. He's broadcasting a game for Fox. He interviewed Dad.

They did a bunch of stuff on camera. And they had this moment. But they were just visiting and catching up. And so the President of University comes in and announces at this moment that dad's going to be the 2014 alumnus of the year for Louisiana Tech, which was really cool to everybody but dad. He doesn't care at all. And so dad's just looking, you know.

And so, like, everybody's waiting for him to say something, and he's not saying anything. And he looks over at me. He says, how, you remember when we used to catch fish on the Westall River? And I knew what was coming. And I said, yes, sir. He said, nobody from Louisiana Tech called me then about how special I was and how good I am. And I deserve to be called. You know, and now everybody's getting nervous because they're like, is this a rebuke or what it?

And so Bradshaw starts slapping his leg and laughing. He said, Phil, they don't care. about that. You're rich now. They just want a big fat check. That's why you're 11ness of the year. They educated me. And 40 years later, they said, he's a genius. That would be a good time to donate. So. But there was no Jesus with them. So I thought, no, let me get out of here. So what they do when you're becoming an alumnus of the year in the alumni center, there's a wall called the Louisiana Tech Alumni Hall of Fame. And so there's a picture up there going back to 18, whatever, you know, when they started. and each of them has a bronze picture on a plaque.

And so Dad's is there. And I went down and looked at and took a picture of it because I thought, I wanted, because we knew it was getting it and I'd approve stuff about it. You know, Dad never knew what was going on. And so I went down there to take a picture of it and look at it. And on the plaque, it says duck hunting icon, television personality, because it has like your accomplishment. And then the third one was serving of Christ.

Love it. And which I thought, you know, it's pretty neat. Dad never heard the name of Jesus there, but now it's hanging in the hall. Now it is. How about that? Yeah, which was really cool. And I have to say, Dad, I looked around, it's 150 whatever, how many years at university, and the name of Jesus is on no other plaque.

Did you request that? Yeah, we did. Oh, you did? Yeah, it was from me. But the thing about it was I wanted that because Dad had told this story my whole life that he never heard Jesus there. And I thought, well, Servant of Christ is going. And then I didn't know what they, if they would.

put it on there or not, but they did, which was really good. To fully get a college education, I would at least throw the name of Jesus in there somewhere. Yeah. I mean, just think about it. Well, at least as a historical figure, we've talked about this before. Like there's a guy that taught me history at ULM that meets with us now that helps dad's class. And he taught history. And he says, he says, we never were allowed really to teach Jesus, even as a historical. orical figure in college. And I thought, well, that makes no sense because this is a guy that's had a huge, I mean, at least you have to talk about him.

I mean, talk about any of the religious figure. Talk about Muhammad. I mean, these people have shaped the world. Yeah. Well, he doesn't even deserve a mention in a history class. Come on. It's the thing. People, you know, it's a big misconception that the South is the Bible Belt.

And I stop them every time because I heard a pastor say this one time. He said, no, no, no. It's the church belt. Yeah. It's the church belt. That's a great point. We all know about, you know, the Bible, and we know how to act Christian or we'll show up at church. And you'd never know what anybody's going through.

But that was kind of how I got saved. I was eight, you know, mom and dad, walk me through it. Thank God. I had that knowledge, but I never flipped that switch. And you know the switch I'm talking about. It's fork in the road. That's it. Do you really believe this or not?

Yep. And I had a guy about 24. I was 18. grab a hold of me and say, this ain't, you know, what you say you are, you ain't, you know. Right. And I was thinking, what are you talking about? And, you know, all of a sudden you start getting scared. Yeah.

Because you know what the repercussions are, you know, but it's the church belt. And I looked right, man, I had the khakis and the button down shirt. I had the right shoes. I was in the right groups. I was, my dad was a deacon. You can play the part. Check, check, check, check. What else do you need me to do?

Well, how about follow what? Yeah, a few years back, I broke the dress code. Yeah, which we all thank you for, by the way. Shocker. Let's take our last break. So that's when you... That church belt, you know, that dress code, it's... Watch it.

So is 18 when you surrender then, or was it lighter than that? 18. And the same Bible study, Bootsie's talking about, I had a gift to play guitar. So the guy looked at me and said, how about you come play guitar and sing a few worship songs? Well, I'm still struggling. I'm still thinking, you know what I thought in my head? This would be a great opportunity to get girls. Because I can play guitar.

And I can learn these songs. And man, the more he just dug into me and wouldn't let go and read scripture with me and mentored me. and the more people started looking to me as, you know, a guy who was actually pursuing that, you can either, you have two choices. I can be a hypocrite and just completely turn my back to it, or I can actually pursue this. And I got on fire for the Lord. And, I mean, it was all legit after that. Yeah.

But I didn't know that I was just walking, you know, I was talking the talk for those 10 years. I didn't know that's what it was. I told somebody, I tell them quite often. And every once in a while they'll say, so how will people know that I'm saved? I mean, how will I really know? I said, well, kind of do like start with simple things. I said, make sure. And I said, I'm trying to remember the last time I said a curse word.

I used a curse word. I said, it's been 30 or 40 years. So far back. I said, just start with your mouth. So, you know, they're like. And as a parent of middle schoolers, the mouth can be real tricky. It can be. So look, because I want our audience to hear about the music business and what you guys are doing,

because I think it's phenomenal. And I was saying, buddy, that, and of course, is an old guy like me, I compared you to a newer version of Ray Stevens because your stuff is really good and some of it's funny, but some of it speaks to culture in a powerful, way. So I've loved what I've discovered about you, which is why I want to contact you. I wanted to be on the podcast. But tell a little bit about how you did what you're doing, because you're kind of non-traditional. I'm assuming. I don't know. How does this, I don't know much about the music business, but I know you guys are out there with a huge following of people. But you don't seem like you're part of these like other people I've met in Nashville that seem to be kind of systemized. So I don't know. You see it seems different. But I don't tell us. You know what I'm going to say. Yeah. The, there was a breaking point. where I'm just writing songs I think people are going to like, and then maybe one day you should actually say something, what are you going to leave as your legacy? I wrote a song that was, you know, political. I guess people see it as political. I think it's just common sense is what

it really is. And my producer called me the night before and said, I don't think you should do that song. We're recording in Nashville the next morning. These players might walk out. They might be because it was taken just a more of a godly, just in a hardcore, like family, country, you know, guns and this and that. And you were speaking to your audience, by the way. It was. Apparently so. It did well.

He said it might be too much. And I've made that decision. And we had all the right agents in Nashville. We had all the right things, you know, lined up. The right agents. I know you're shaking your head to get you to wear the right, you know, the record label and the big, we've toured with some of the biggest acts in country music. But once you see that lifestyle,

you look around and you go, this isn't it? Do I want to be up at three in the morning with all these women and all these drugs and all of the watching my buddies I was touring with who are very well-known national acts, taking uppers to wake up in the morning, taking downers to go to sleep,

and just not really having any ambition past 35. Not a good path to be on. Every time we tried to have a success in that route, it just didn't feel right. It didn't feel like God was in it that that was our path. Yeah, so I called my son called. We're like, I was seven or eight states away on a concert, and he called and he wanted a bedtime story at 9 o'clock at night. I'm thinking, what am I doing? You know, is this all for me?

Or is this, yeah, I can sing, I can write. We've had some big hits, but is this really me? And it was like I told you in my wilderness episode, well, what do you want from me, Lord? Because then I started speaking on political nature things. And as much as those videos blew up, I still didn't feel like that was it. It never shifted gears until I opened up the possibility of talking about our Lord. And it's, like I said, nobody left. And so I want to be an encouragement to anybody who's listening to this.

You think people are going to disown your turn your back. And even if they do, I mean, if you stick to your guns at the end of the day. Yeah. And you know that's who you are. And if you're supposed to do, you're going to feel way better than you ever did trying to play this fake character of playing it safe with everybody you meet. Well, said. Just dive in there, man.

Well said. And we're similar to you guys. I mean, immortality is riding on a... Just a little bit of a big deal. You know, we're on a platform that obviously is a political platform as it's... Genesis and some really great voices out there that are part of that. But we decided, along with the people that, you know, are the head of our network and what we're doing on Blaze, that we need somebody that's willing to go upstream of politics, upstream of all culture, and speak truth

into it. You know, and that's really, because we know that's the game changer. I mean, that's the unify. The only way we're ever going to unify the country is if more people know about Jesus than don't. And so we're like that, too. That's been our disco. We'll talk about politics, of course, because we're here. We're engaged. We're involved. And we have opinions about that.

But we know that the book is going to be the one that's going to make the ultimate difference. And yet at the same time, like you guys, we know that part of the reason people love us is because we're entertaining and we can tell stories. And in your case, you can sing songs and tell stories that way. That gets you in the door. It opens the door. Yeah. Exactly right. Well, the whole world of Internet evolved during this time, too.

Like when we first started, it was YouTube was a. website and he had to go to your desktop. That reminds me, I never have owned them. You don't have a cell phone? I'm sure some people around here have some. I see people they're looking at it. You know, right, but I said, Dad, when you hear the words YouTube, what does that mean to you?

What does that bring out? It's basically an appendage for the next generation. How do you function inside a world with these things? Here's a beautiful thing, though. I said, I hear there some fun. stuff on that thing. I don't know for sure. When Phil always talks about living in computer land, or that stuff is going out to computer land. I've heard this funky, but I never have actually seen it. But what a blessing you've been to people like me in

computer land. That's right. You know, you can't make fun of it anymore. That's right. Well, the thing is now, y'all can go into people's living rooms. It used to be such an event to go, and now you can be friends with lots of people just being authentic to who you are. It doesn't have to have committees and boards and approves. approval and then... Plus, without the little black box, podcast, no, couldn't get it up. This is the way to get the gospel preached quickly, way faster.

That's why I told, we were flying along somewhere, and I said, oh, you and Zach come in here a minute. So I said, y'all need to get this thing on that little black box. I said, I'm not coming on it, but I mean, I said, I wanted to get out there. But looking back, Al, that was a good move to take. Well, but it was impacted by it. So, yeah, that's exactly right.

There's millions you will never meet. That will tell you I've been unbelievably impacted by it. Right, which is great because the beautiful thing, people ask me all the time, what's the best part about, you know, doing a show and all this stuff we've been able to do? And I always say, the people we meet, they were impacted and positive. way. I mean, when I run across them, just like when you and I first taught, it's like, man, you realize that God used you without you, you're just doing what he's called you to do. And you guys are doing the same thing, which is fun. And you get to meet those people along the journey, which is fantastic, because you share that. Every week, they, at some, one day out of the week, I'm in a location. We tell them where we'll be. They want to come down here and all that. I said, just be there at nine o'clock. And we, preach the gospel, but you wouldn't believe how many people have been born again from that one little, they come in there. Where are you from? Canada. Where are you from? You know, Samoa.

Where are you from? You know, I said, New York City. I said, is there where you come from? New York City. Can anything good? California. Can anything good? Is you from New York? Is that north of Charleston? So unlike a lot of people, we have been very open to still having direct contact with people. And, you know, we're going to meet anyway at our church. And so, and dad's going to be teaching his class. And when I'm in town, I'm going to be preaching. We're over on the side.

They won't let us in the big. Oh, no. We've got to keep down in the outer regions. Yeah, you can't get him in the mainstream. But we just like, come on. We'd love to meet you. We'd love to be a part of your spiritual journey. So it is unique for sure.

So tell folks, because we're out of time, but tell folks, where can they get to find out about you guys are... We're just Buddy Brown on YouTube and this pretty girl's behind all that. Not much we'll show up if you Google me. You call it Buddy Brown? It's just Buddy Brown, yeah. Buddy Brown.

I go to you and a lot of stuff. I like it. We do a show called Backwood's Wisdom. Yeah. It's out in the woods. She's a hand-by-side-by-side. I can't listen, nobody in a three-piece suit telling me about the world. I want to hear it from somebody like me with some dirt underneath his fingernails.

Yeah. I first started watching you, I thought of Chad Prather because he used to do it with his dog and the truck. Yeah. And so you're in the ATV, which is good. So we're going to do overtime. I hope you guys can stay over with us. We do a few bonus minutes. And we'll talk a little bit more to these guys.

But we appreciate having Buddy and Bootsie. You said it right. I said it right. I did it right. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes.

And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes. And for even more content that you won't get. anywhere else, subscribe to Blaze TV at blazedtv.com slash unashamed.