Mustache and Music: The Rise of John Morgan :: Ep 60 Try That in a Small Town Podcast
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And then you get a 90. Like, a year ago, I would have freaked out at a 90, right? I'm like, oh, my God, that's so much talking, you know? But now it's like you just feel it's just room to breathe now. You know, by the time I got connected with you guys, it was almost too good to be true. You know, if you think about it from my perspective, I'm like, come on, dog. All of a sudden, now Dean's coming. You didn't believe me. No.

I don't think I did at first, to be honest with you. Most people don't. That wasn't because of you. It was just because of the situation. You're just like, man, I'm nervous already. I was like, don't do this to me, bro. I cannot hit this bridge. He's like, I got it. So we're in the show, 20,000, 30,000 people, however many. There's a million out there. And I'm playing, trying to just stay locked in.

And we get to the bridge, and Aldean does this number right here, and he's like. He does the head nod to it. I was, like, living all the way up to the bridge. I mean, I was feeling I was in the zone, you know. And he did that to me, dude, and I'm like, I dribbled a little bit. I dribbled, dude. The Try That in a Small Town podcast begins now. Try That in a Small Town.

Jim, do you kinda have me? It's really kind of fun. I'm glad you're amused. Alright, welcome back to the very festive Patriot Mobile Studios. This is looking good. We'll explain that in just a second. Look at the balloons.

We got, of course, all of the usual suspects. We got Kalo behind this balloon. We got Thrash. We got TK over here. And we got, hey, I like Kurt Fondue. Myself, I do. I like, not Kurt Mandu, I like Kurt Fondue. When did you come up with that? It's pretty good. It's like an overflowing, never stopping, never ending overflow of brilliance. Kurt Fondue.

I don't hate it. I don't hate it. And let's introduce our guest. Geez, enough. This guy is the...

I don't think Kurt's on board. I'm not. The pride of Silva, North Carolina. Telling me I think that he single-handedly brought back the mustache. He did. And he's bogarted the charts for about the last month. He's got a couple number ones in the last month or so, including tonight. Yes! Welcome, John Morgan. Let's go! Finally! Come on! Finally! All right. Thanks for having me.

Right now, today, Whiskey Drink is the number one song in the country. I got mine written by. Written by John Morgan. And. Tully Kennedy. Tully Kennedy. That's right. Kurt Allison. And John Edwards. That's right. Cheers, A. So I guess we're going to toast early. Number ones don't come along very often, boys. No, they don't. Unless you're John Morgan. Then they come along. That's true. Let's do this. Cheers. Mm. Mm. Mm.

That is good. Woo! But it is filling. We are not sponsored by any whiskey. Congrats, boys. I want to congrats. All three of you right now. Thank you. Should I move this number one or do we think we should just keep it right by me? I don't know. It looks so good. All right.

All right. Let's put it over here. Those look pretty good. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about it. We got whiskey drink, but just, what, a few weeks ago, John, as an artist and a songwriter, had friends like that. Number one song. Yes. Great song. You're on a streak. Good gracious. He's on a tear. We're trying, man. We're out here trying, doing the Lord's work.

Hey, man, don't sound so excited. You're doing a lot of things right. Yeah, you can tell I'm just coming off the road. Dude, it's been great, man. I was telling y'all we've been doing a lot of fly dates, so those catch up to me a little quicker. But yeah, man, it's been so much fun. I think the funnest thing for me right now is like,

Well, we played Million Dollar Cowboy last week up in Jackson Hole. I've never been up there. What's that? What's Million Dollar Cowboy? Is it a club? Yeah, it's a club up there in Jackson Hole. Like a New Gillies or something? Yeah, it's – Just old school kind of country –

right yeah it is yeah it's just a little little hole in the wall but um strippers not at our show beautiful place though oh yeah man we uh we had such a great time dude it was our first sold out headlining show ah and it was just like i didn't even think about it until they they came up and told us right before the show and i was like dude it was just cool you know so that's one of those shows and we talk about

That happening for us way back in, you know, 20 years ago. That's funny because I was going to ask you if you've had one yet, but that's going to be the show in 10 years you go. That's right. That was when it kind of turned. Does your brain get foggy sometimes? Like even when you're doing all the right things and you're eating clean, you're working out? Absolutely. You know, the scary thing is it might not just be burnout. You can have parasites. So this new groundbreaking research by Dr. Alan McDonald is,

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knowing that you already sold the place out. It was our best show to date, I think. I told the guys when we got done, I was like, I don't know what just happened, but we had an encore. It was our first encore. Now, let me ask you this. How many times are you playing Friends like that? Right now, one and a half. We really milked that outro. We bookended the show with Hicktown. I love that. I mean, we started with it.

We started with the three and a half minute version that you hear on the radio. Yeah, the radio cut. But I think the last, the ending version of it, that was 18 minutes because we put, we needed to fill time. So you got band introductions. And so don't lose, I mean, don't lose the low hanging fruit. John's got these songs he's written. He gets to do. He gets to fill up the show, have the show with the hits that he's written.

That's a great point, Neil. Yeah, you got three or four number ones, right? With Aldine just before anyone. Who's counting really?

Yeah, yeah. Three to be exact, but nobody thinks it's a problem. No, that's true. How long is your set? Is it an hour and a half? Like at a club? I think that set was like at 90. Yeah. So, yeah, we haven't done a whole lot of those either. So that was, you know, it's fun. At first, I feel like when you're building your show at those early stages, you're like, you know, we got to burn through. We got to play as many songs as we can. And then...

Cause, cause most of the time you're getting a 25 to 45 minutes set. Right. And you're just playing your heaters and get out. And then you get a 90, like a year ago, I would have freaked out at a 90. Right. I'm like, Oh God, that's so much talking, you know, like, um, but now it's like, you, you just feel, it's just room to breathe. Now, you know, you feel like you've got, like, we've got the songs, we've been learning a lot of the new material and stuff. So it's fun to just like be able to slow roll through a show, you know, and how many shows are you doing this year?

This summer? Dude, I don't even know, man. That's how you know it's a lot. I don't look past next week, to be honest with you. You haven't actually looked at the schedule to see? Not in depth, no. I love it. Show up and sing. Freaking love it. You got to sometimes, man. I don't know. I've really enjoyed it. We've definitely been busy. It's been my busiest year yet. I can say that for sure. A lot of good things, man. A lot of good things. This is one of them.

Yeah, dude, you're busy. No, that's a good sign. Yeah. Neil, I'm going to hold on. I'm going to deflect for a second. You got your golf garb on, man. Oh, yeah. I just got back. I mean, you literally noticed the VIP above the parking space.

Anyway. What's the handicap you got to be to get that? No, I just came in here on two wheels. I thought I was going to be late, but John was late, so he's normal. He's like Kalo now. You can count on that most times. You and Kalo. Yeah. Count on it. I'm good. Yeah. But I played in a golf tournament today for Tunnel to Towers. Oh.

Lee Greenwood was there. He sang God Bless USA. He sang the National Anthem. We had a flyover from the 101st Airborne. It was amazing. Did he golf? No. He just does his three and a half. Lee didn't play golf. Anyway, that's why I was late. I would have left earlier.

If it had been something else but Tunnels to Towers, I had to stick around and finish out the whole round. How'd you shoot? I played good today. I've been playing good lately, guys, so I don't know if you guys really want to. Neil is scratch. No, we're supposed to do a golf tournament. Let's get John up to date here. Yeah.

Al Dean's supposed to play with us. Oh, wow. Cletus D. Judd's supposed to play with us. We're going to go at us a six-em. They want to take me on. That's fine. It's five of us against Neal. And you know I'm useless. I think we're going to bring up in threes. Yeah, because Cletus is a pretty good player too. But they're going to play. I'm playing really good right now. I'm just saying. I'm just saying, guys. I'm playing really good. I got a new putter. It's really good.

If y'all want to do it. And we need to have something on the line. But it's going to be a podcast. We're going to have cameras with us. We're going to show everybody what's going on. When I slay these boys. Maybe that's it. My putter's broken. I need a new putter. Dude, Neil's got 17 putters here. You know what? As long as you look good, Tully.

That's all that matters. As long as you look good, wear your knickers, whatever the garb is you wear when you play golf, wear it. The only thing better than the knickers is when I walk in, people are super pumped about my knickers and the old ladies are flipping out. Then they cause quite a stir, but then I go tee off. The look of disappointment is amazing. It's like, oh.

I know this episode was about John Morgan and it should be and it's going to be. Do you play golf, John? A little bit. Oh, he's good. Oh, really? John's an athlete. He's good. He's a natural athlete. We'll take John on our team. I'll slow down on the athlete. Do you put your hair in a ponytail when you play? No, man. Golf?

No, I love that. That's my tunnel vision, man. Oh, really? No, it's part of the swing. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, yeah. I get it. I know it is, but I wanted to mention Tunnels to Towers today. Absolutely. It's the first golf tournament they've had in the state of Tennessee, and I was honored to be a part of it. That's cool. That's very cool. Nice work, Neil. Anytime Lee Greenwood is there, I'm there. Yeah. Yeah, I'm for it. It was amazing. It was awesome. Yeah.

Okay, so we were saying John's an athlete. He is. Maybe we'll get to the... I thought we got over it. Well, we've been out golfing, actually. And, of course, we did pickleball matches. Well, we've had some pretty heated pickleball matches. So he's a pickleballer. That is true. But John's just an athlete.

But, hey, let's go way back to athlete. You played ball in school, right? I tried. Yeah, I tried. Baseball is like first love. I loved baseball. And then when I got my freshman year of high school, our school program shut down. So I switched to basketball and just kind of fell in love with that. And, you know, there's a lot more.

Fast-paced, I guess, at the time. Did Google tell me right that your dad switched you to be a right-hand thrower in baseball? Oh, yeah. Even though you are a lefty? Are you serious? He wanted me to play short, so he taught me how to field right-handed. Because I know you're a lefty. You do everything left, right? Except for throw a baseball. Yeah, I do baseball. Football is left. Basketball is left. Golf is right. I kind of...

I mean, guitar is right. Cause that's the guitar. I had to learn off. I'm really, I'm really, I really pissed. You can do both. We didn't say I could do them good. I can do them both, but, uh, no, it just depends. You know, it's just how I learned whatever sport it was. That's what I had. Um,

Yeah, my guitar. My uncle had a right-handed guitar, so that's why I play guitar right-handed, just because that's what I had to learn on. I was not smart enough to turn it upside down and give me Hendrix or anything. That's what dads do, though. I remember my son, he did everything left-handed, and then he started playing guitar, and I said, no, no, no, no, no.

You have to play three-handed. And so you force that on your children. But John's, I got to take a second. It's a tough word out there for lefties, man. It is brutal. Your dad, John's dad, is a warrior. He is one of my favorite people. So when John was on the road with us opening up the first time a couple years ago. 21, 22, yeah. They had this beat, really. What was that? It was a little short kind of beat.

bus you converted it wasn't even a sprinter it was a short bus it was a short bus no it was more of a church bus yeah it broke down it felt like every between every show these guys are rolling in barely making sound check well his dad was driving yeah and his dad's an amazing man so talk about pickleball so every day at noon you know we're out there playing pickleball getting ready to

Here comes the church bus, you know, Pearl last minute, last minute. And his dad's been driving all night. Hops out, that thing changes pickleball right to the court. No breaks, no break drove all night.

Two hours of pickleball. Yeah. And whooped ass. What kind of people? Yeah. I know the show you're specifically thinking of. It was Corpus Christi. Yes. And we drove through the night. Dude, I had the last leg of that too because I was like, I was driving and it was, I think I started at like 5, 5 or 6 a.m., something like that. So I'm like,

you know, drinking a monster, like just hanging in there for dear life. And we're in Corpus Christi. So there's nothing. You're just on this road for a hundred miles. Right. And dude, I, we had one turn.

and i blew by it i was just in the zone you know and i blew by it and there was not a promise there was 25 miles before we could turn around oh and i'm like dude i've never been more pissed in my life that was probably the most angry i've ever been because i'm like you couldn't turn around there was nowhere to turn around just a straight shot i'm like oh boy but yeah that's when we rolled in hot and he was like i'm let's pickle and

I couldn't believe it. And he's a player. And his dad, you can tell. I knew right away the minute. I could tell he played tennis. Your dad played some serious tennis, and he was laying it on. I mean, I was like, okay. Well, and he's got no sleep, and he's doing this. It's amazing. Yeah, he was legit. Those were great times. Let's go back to how we met you, when we met you, which for us is like,

I can't wait for you guys to tell it because I'm always the one that has to tell it. We need your story, but we'll fill in. Nice work, John. It's what I love about this town and how one little chance meeting and how everything gets intertwined. God leaves things out there. I'll try to keep it short, but it's such a cool story.

um a friend of ours john edwards who our co-writer with us he sent us half a song one day he goes hey guys uh you know me and kurt you guys want to come in and finish this thing with us and i said well who'd you write it with and this is well this guy met john morgan like okay i'll listen to it so i'm out walking it was like what year was it was it covid it was 2020 2020 or something like that so i put my phone in my ear and i listened to the song they started i'm like

I immediately sent it to Kurt. I was like, listen to the song. There's something here. And Kurt goes, listen to the voice. And we're like, who is this guy? So I literally text John Edwards. I said, yeah,

Send me this guy's number now. I walked back, got on my porch, and I called him up. Oh, you got it. I got it. And my, you know, and he knows me. Fairly aggressive personality every now and then. Well, it's just like you get things done. But I tell you this, though. We knew there was something here. And I called John. I'm like, man, what?

I got a vision. You know, you, how about you want to be in a duo? You want to be in a duo? You want to be in a duo? I forgot about that. Cause I was like, I've had my mind set. It's been Tully's vision for a while to create a duo. You're going to be in a duo. And it's so funny. I was like, sure, who's up? Well, it's so funny knowing each other now and how, you know, how, how funny this is now. But anyway, you know, I won't bore you with all that stuff, but we,

that process. I forgot about that. But you know, we started the process of like, John's like, man, if I was going to do a do, I'd do it with this guy. I'm like, no, no, we'll work like that. We got to do this, you know? And then we let some time, we started writing and that kind of let the dust settle. And I remember we wrote a few songs and they were all

really cool and he would sing them and like man this is great and kind of made some calls and then it and then we finished the original song the first song that they'd sent we actually finished it and i that's when i sent it to aldine i'm like man we have got to do something and that that was in the morning like at like 10 30 on a sunday and by six i

we had formed what is now triple play. Yeah. Because it was just, that's, I love how that worked. And triple play is the publishing company that we have with Jason, uh, and night train records, the label that Jason has, John is signed to, which I get nothing of, but what an honor. Right.

But what some people don't know, and we can finish telling that part of the story, but as Paul Harvard, you guys don't know who Paul Harvard is. Old time radio guy. He used to say, but the rest of the story, which is actually the more interesting part, is how you got to know John Edwards. And I know you're sick of telling the story. No, I'm not. But it is incredible. So foreshadow Tully's story. Yeah, so...

Yeah, it was fun. The duo thing I completely forgot about. We should revisit that maybe at some point. I think it's working right now. What was funny though, and you may have to edit this out, Jim, I don't know, but there's so many pieces of the story that get forgotten. Yeah. After the whole duo thing, I could tell like, okay, well, he's not really into the duo thing because he told me you weren't really into the duo thing. Yeah. So,

I remember when we were writing songs, I remember telling you, okay, I'm going to set up a meeting at BMG. And I said, I'm going to meet with whoever and thinking, how can we get something going? We wrote a bunch of songs and you would call me and you'd say, man, this is moving kind of fast. I remember having those conversations. And what's funny about that is like, had we just moved quickly with no purpose,

None of this great stuff probably would have happened. It took like getting the right thing, getting Jason involved, the whole vision. They're like really, really cool when you look back on it. And you know, if you're like us at all, we just like full steam ahead, never really stopped to look back. Yeah. But it's the whole, how it happened and, and, and you meeting John Edwards. Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree, man. It's I, you know, you, I, I've been in a few different,

situations where it felt like there was an opportunity that was going to present itself, you know, in the music industry. And I got burned a couple of times. So, you know, by the time I, you know, got connected with you guys, it was almost too good to be true. You know, if you think about it from my perspective, I'm like, oh, yeah. All of a sudden, Al Dean's coming. Right. You didn't believe me.

I don't think I did at first, to be honest with you. Most people don't. That wasn't because of you. It was just because of the situation. You're just like, man. But no, I don't know. I think you're right. It took time for us to, I think, get to know each other, too. That's the kind of people we are in the long run anyway. You get to know somebody. I just...

I didn't really know. I was super green when I moved here, you know, really green in a lot of ways. And a lot of ways that was good. It was beneficial. I think in the writing sense, man, it's like when I, when I first started writing, you know, with hit songwriters, which was pretty early on, thanks to you guys, you know, it was just like,

I could tell that what I was writing back in North Carolina, they weren't bad ideas. I just didn't know how to get them there. You know, that was the coolest thing to me. It was like seeing somebody turn that corner on a song and like hook it. I was like, wow, that's cool. You know, that's what I want to do. And so, um,

That was honestly my whole goal in moving. I knew if being an artist was going to be a thing, it would happen or it wouldn't. It would either happen or it wouldn't. And so I was trying to prepare for that, but also I love writing songs. And so before I moved to Nashville, that's pretty much what I did. Me and Rob, my drummer, we would get in my dad's shop. And it was funny because he had...

He had added on this section of his shop for like his... I guess it was his retirement plan to do woodworking. He bought all these tools, moved them into this section of his shop and had a nice little space. And he was still working his butt off. So one by one, I would slowly move each piece out and...

and you know, just so he wouldn't notice. And, uh, he obviously noticed, but, uh, I was just, I would just move one piece out at a time. And I eventually like finished, I put some flooring in there, you know, treated it and I turned it into my music room. And so me and Rob would, you know, we would hang out and write, uh, you know, ideas there, a couple of, a couple of my other buddies from back home. Um, but that's when I caught the bug. I was like, man, this is fun. You know, you get to collab and like, I'd never collab with somebody. I was always writing ideas by myself, you know? And it's like,

I would never, I felt like I would never finish anything because I was like, man, it's just, there's something missing, you know? So it was fun to get, to catch that bug. But, um, yeah, to tie all that in with, with meeting Edwards, um, I moved to Nashville in 2020 pursuit of a pub deal. I wanted, I want to write songs. And, uh, so when I moved here, it was actually before I officially moved here. Actually, I think it was like 20, late 2019. Um,

And I was making trips down to, you know, write with Rob and whoever I could write with at the time. Playing bill court taps every night, you know, whatever, anybody, wherever anybody had me. And, you know, started kind of getting established here. And we, Rob was like, hey, man, that's like you've never seen downtown. Let's go downtown. We'll find a place to eat or do something. I'll show you around.

So we went, we, we called an Uber and we're, you know, riding downtown and this guy starts chatting with us, you know, and I'm like, it was a cool guy. And you know, he's just a nice guy. You know, you meet him, you're like, I like this guy. And, uh, you know, he starts talking about, you know, being in town for a while and he was just kind of doing that on the side. And, uh, you know, he was like, he's like, you know, I'm, you know, writing a few songs. He told us some songs he'd written and, and we were like, you know, this is awesome. And so, um,

For whatever reason, I was, I guess, just hungry or something. But I was just like, all right, cool, man. Nice to meet you. See you. Well, you might not have believed him. It's an Uber driver. If an Uber driver is saying that to me, I'm like, bro. Whatever, man. Nice to meet you. I was like, cool, man. I appreciate it. Thanks for the ride. You know what's funny about that with Edwards? And Edwards, we go so far back with Edwards, over 20 years. I actually remember when he said he was driving.

We've known him. About the day we were playing on his demos and writing songs with him. Have I ever met John Edwards? John is like our little secret weapon. What do you keep him? Where is he? We keep him in different parts of town. What's funny about this story... You can't keep that man anywhere. He never told me and Kurt that he was driving an Uber. When this story came out, I'm like...

hell was he talking about? What did they concocted? Cause John told me he met you at lucky jeans. Well, this is the end of the story. Yeah. You don't know the end of the story, but he didn't know. I know. Yeah. He, yeah. He met you driving Uber. Yeah. That was our initial, the first time we met. Right. And so,

He drops me and Rob off to eat. I don't remember where we went, but I was like, appreciate it, man. Cool. Good to meet you. You know, didn't think anything of it. Went about my way, went to eat. You know, I think so. Yeah, that was late 2019. So when I officially moved a year later, fast forward a year from that.

I moved to town in 2020. I had a part-time gig working at Lucky Brand Jeans over at Opry Mills, if you can imagine that. I would have bought some jeans for you. Yeah, you would. No doubt. You and your mask. No, I don't think John was wearing a mask. I was definitely not in a mask. Well, you might not have recognized me. I was a young lad back then. But no, man, I was working, and yeah, I...

Typically, I was stocking shelves. That's what I, when they gave me the job, they were like, yeah, you'll just be in the back stocking shelves. I'm like, perfect. Give me some headphones. I'll be good. I'll get you dialed in. And so, but they got shorthanded. We had a few people leave. And so, I ended up, you know, working the floor. And so, you like how I said that, didn't you? Yeah.

Yeah, I was working the floor and, you know, this dude walks in one day and I'm like, man, I know this guy. You know, I just recognize his face. So I went up to him, started talking, and it was Uber. It was my Uber driver from a year earlier. And he was just like in there shopping, I guess. I don't know what he was, you know, who knows with him. But we kind of reconnected and he was like, man, he's like, what are you doing? I'm like, well...

I'm, uh, I was in the floor. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, you know, but I sent him some, some demos that I'd been working on. Just, I had a little setup in my bedroom over in Wedgwood and, um, I sent him a few songs I'd been writing and just, you know, demos I'd done. And he, um, he actually, you know, Evers, well, he, he loved the store. I was like, cool. Got his number, sent him some songs, went back to work.

He left about an hour later. He texts me. What time do you get off? And I'm like, I think I was closing that night. I was like, I'm, I'm late, man. Like I'll be here till midnight or whatever. He was like, cool. I'll be back. I'll come, I'll come meet you whenever you close. So shows back up after I get off and we start hanging out. The weirdest part of it was that Rob, my drummer was he, he randomly, I hadn't texted him all day. He showed up

at Opry Mills and came in the store right after Edwards had left. So Edwards comes, I meet him again, you know, rekindle that friendship. He leaves. Rob comes in right after. I didn't know. I had no idea he was in the mall. He was like, Hey man, what's up? I just figured I'd pop in since you were working. So anyway, long story short, we all meet back up. I was like, dude, you'll never believe who I ran into. You

And so we all meet back up. Edward shows us some stuff at his studio that, you know, he'd been working on and we just kind of chill for a little while and hang out, become, you know, a little more acquainted with each other. And yeah, it was like probably the next week he was like, man, I'd love to try to write something. And that's when we wrote this.

um over you over me i believe was yeah it was funny because he never ever told me i thought he goes i said would you meet this guy that day when i called you he said i met him at look i he never told me anything about driving uber and at all so that when that story came out i was like what is it are they making this whole thing up yeah it's just all for the all for the headlines now it's it's

It's wild. It is incredibly wild. And actually, we've got to tell some other parts of that story when we come back. But let's do this. Let's take a break real quick. Let's get a word from the sponsors. We're here with John Morgan. We'll be right back. This is a Try That in a Small Town podcast. VIP parking. My name is Glenn Story. I'm the founder and CEO of Patriot Mobile. And then we have four principals.

First Amendment, Second Amendment, right to life, military and first responders. If you have a place to go, put your money, you always want to put it with somebody that's like mine. Of course. I think that's the beauty of Patriot Mobile. We're a conservative alternative. Don't get fooled by other providers pretending to share your values or have the same coverage. Go to patriotmobile.com forward slash smalltown to get a free month of service when you use the offer code smalltown or call 972-PATRIOT.

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Gotta talk to you, gotta catch you up on the hill I'm in right now Yeah, whiskey drink, no you won't believe The things I said, the way she left, the way the leaving all went down It might take all night to get her off my mind I need you one more time Yeah, be a good friend, come on, kick in, whiskey drink

Thank God who she's with, where she is, how bad I miss her now Come on cigarette, yeah smoke out that Pour it straight and strong, make my memory gone before you let me leave Come on whiskey drink, mmm

Come on whiskey drink. You want the second one or no? Woo! Keep going. Yeah, tell me Jack. Tell me that you got my back. That you ran it with me till the bottle's empty just like you always have. Come on help me out.

Just give me bye. I'd rather be hung over than cold sober, still hung up on goodbye. So come on, whiskey drink. I don't want to think, think, think about who she's with or where she is or how bad I miss her now. Come on, cigarette. Yeah, smoke out that regret.

Pour straight and strong, make a memory gone before you let me leave. Come on, whiskey drink. Woo! Whoa-oh. Come on, whiskey drink. Forgot the bridge. Oh, yeah. Hear it. It might take all night to get her off my mind. I need you one more time. Well, come on, whiskey drink.

I don't wanna think, think, think About who she's with or where she is Or how 'bout I miss her now Come on, cigarette Yeah, smoke out that regret Pour it straight and strong Make a memory gone Before you let me leave Oh, come on, whiskey drink

Number one! Right now. Nice! You wanted the verse, of course you did the whole thing. Hey, how could you possibly stop? Number one right now, this week.

That's more chords, man. Neil, that was impressive. That's it. The number one song in the nation. That's right. So y'all got to give us a story. In the world. I'm not selfish. In the country world. I like everybody's music. I remember listening. I remember the first time, because when I flip through my phone and listen to new artists do stuff, whenever they post things on Instagram or TikTok or whatever, I remember...

The first time that I came across John Morgan, and I'm going, because normally I don't listen to the whole thing. I'm like, next. And I'm like, flip, next, flip, next. My thumb's good at that. Flip, next. But when John comes up, I'm like, oh, God. And I'm like, boom, and I'll watch the full story.

or whatever i'm like this dude's solid this dude's like like you know no really it's like i listened to the whole thing and i was like i'm a fan i'm a huge fan thank you well you are both thank you artists yeah i mean you know this is you know i feel like that end of the

Very famous. It led me into writing songs. Dude, you know, it's funny. One of the first times we wrote, I remember like, ah,

I think it was over Zoom. I think it was during COVID and all that where I don't even remember who it was with. Did Neil have a mask on through Zoom? He knows I didn't have a mask on. Maybe a hockey mask. He did leave at one point during the Zoom for about 25 minutes and it made me

wonder if I was still like on the chat or if I got like booted off or something I was just like I don't know that's on you yeah I figured I figured it was nothing against you

Dude, I get out. Yeah, that was a weird time. I got to move. I got to walk around. When I write, I got to get up and move. If you don't see me on the screen, I'm just walking around. I'm putting or whatever. I knew that. It was just funny because I didn't want to leave. I'm like, as soon as I leave, he'll come back. I'll be like, what? No, it was fun, but I remember getting the demo back.

And I can't remember what, I know freight train was one where I was like, yeah, freight train was one. Why, why are you singing that high? I'm like, how do you even, the range, it blew my mind. Cause I'm like, I'm even trying to sing like a low third to it. You know, like I'm like trying to sing a low third. I'm like, there's no way. Like, yeah, that was stupid. Yeah. I tell you what I love about writing when Neil, you'll sit there and you sit in your right. And there's lots of time. He'll, he,

Gets quiet, which I'm completely... When he does this, when he looks at you and he'll go, he'll say something, he'll be like... What? What is that? That's what you do. What's the point? What is that? I don't point at people. But then... What is that? That's what I see.

what this you're me it's a compliment it means you're about to spew brilliance don't interrupt me in the hand because it's like it's like this you want to see the hand but yeah shortly after it's abrasive shortly after that this thread of melody and some great stuff comes out and you're like oh yeah that's why that's why you get the hand and the hand it signals you're

No matter what you're going to say, I've got something better. That's the signal. And we all wait for it. So we're all wrong. So then we start checking email, catching up on text and stuff. Like I said, we're waiting for the hand. They're making me sound like an ass. No, no, no. You're a genius. We're kind of kidding. This is what I love. When I see this...

And sometimes there'll be a... There's that. When I play golf with guys, they say that after I hit a good shot, I do this little dance. And I'm going, what are you talking about? What is a dance? You don't know. No, I have no idea what they're talking about. Like I do this little step. When I hit one perfect, they're like... Like a shimmy? You do a little shimmy. We'll make sure Jim will capture it. And I'm like, what are you talking... I do a shimmy? What do you mean? And...

I got to see that on tape. What are you talking about? I don't do a shimmy. That's so gay. What is it, Wade? What's the correct term here? Like a little two-step or whatever. Like, oh, plump me like I'm... Yeah, a little two-step and go. Like, I'll just get that.

I hit it perfect. I'm going back to the cart. Good luck. Whatever. And I'm like, what? I do that? That's so bad. I got to work on it. I'm sorry. I want to apologize. Don't apologize for it. That's amazing. I don't want to put the hand up to anyone. The two-step feels like an off-the-tee move to me. You just hit an absolute bullseye.

down the middle of the fairway. Off the T2. Yeah, a little two-step back to bend down and pick your T up. Is it like Tiger spinning? Yeah, yeah. It's equivalent, yes. It spins a club. I don't want to do that. John, what was the first cut that we got together? Was it If I Didn't Love You? It was, yeah. That was the first one y'all wrote? Yeah.

Well, the first, it wasn't the first one we wrote. It was the first one. Yeah. Yeah. That was, it was my first cut, man. So at what point do you go, I mean, this is your first cut is like, do you go, do you realize the magnitude of what that cut is? And me? No. Yeah. We tried to tell him. He still didn't grasp it. A thousand percent. Tried to tell me. Um, no, I, I didn't realize, I didn't know it would be a career changing song. You know what I mean? Cause that's the song. It's like you were saying, um,

Even in my set, I've got that in my back pocket. Anytime I can pull that out, people are seeing that one back. Do you tell the people that you wrote these songs when you do those? Yeah, usually. In our show, I try to break it down. Towards the middle of our set, I'll break it down and do some acoustic, do some covers, do some old rock songs, and then do If I Didn't Love You. I usually tell...

That bit, what I said earlier, I moved to town to write songs, and this was one of the ones that changed my life, changed my career, truthfully. Even though I didn't, in the moment, know it, but now looking back, it was definitely...

you know, a pivotal moment and also just ammo. And like I said, in my back pocket for when I am out there and nobody knows who the hell I am, you know, I'll play that. They're like, Oh, they can associate something, you know, tell them the story of how it came up. Like that was an evening, a night, right? Yeah. Yeah. Cause it was a, it was very panicky time. You get to tell the text, bro. That's my favorite. Again, a long story, but the short of it is we were under the gun to try to come up with something or we were going to get,

beat or something you guys were a day or two out from finishing the record too right like two days out or so y'all know it was gonna be a duo record no no a duet we knew so here's the story go ahead we had written a song that was gonna be a duet and then the person that jason wanted to do it with said uh no they don't want to do it and then that sparked a whole thing of like oh let's do a duet with a different song and we didn't have a different song

So it's set. Everyone in town was writing duets all of a sudden. So you guys know how small this town is in Nashville. The bulletin is out. Aldine's looking for a duet song. So for three days, everybody's writing what could be a duet. We went from having the duet song to no longer having it to everyone in town wanting to write it. And I'll never forget it. It was COVID, and we played a show at Bonnaroo. And Jason's manager was there. And he's like, do you guys have any other songs for duets? I'm like, Clarence.

And we went home, got back from Bonnaroo and I was laying in bed the next night and I said, I am very upset. So I, so I texted John and Lydia Vaughn and who we've been writing a lot with at that point, these two. And I just texted a bunch of like little siren. Did you get a text?

I knew that was coming. I know it's coming. Wait, this is kind of pre-Kalo. He actually waited longer than I thought he would. This is kind of pre-Kalo, though, really. I didn't know you guys. But I texted... It wasn't pre-Nilo. That's true. Pre-Nilo. But I texted a bunch of little sirens and an ambulance.

And like, yeah, the ambulance emojis is what got me, man. I was like, all right, we should write tomorrow night. And it's a nighttime. And you know, it's like we had, we were doing a vocal that day producing and it was like, Hey, look, if we don't get something by seven o'clock, we'll just call it. And we went in there to our little shack and wrote, if I don't love you. And I love telling that story because you never know when you're going to write that. We did the track that night saying that night, we sent it off the next day.

Patrick mixed it the next morning. That's how it happens. Aldean Knox heard it and said, yes, we got to cut this. We have to lick our wounds, Caleb. That's how it happens. That is how it happens. Timing is everything. No doubt. We just got blessed that day. I'll say this too, man. You guys will agree with me. I know.

Had Lydia Vaughn not been in the room, that song never would have happened. Not a chance. She's detailed. I think you had the title, but having that viewpoint and that approach, you know, just her... Another side of it, you know, that was a game changer, I think, for, like, really fast-tracking. Because, I mean, I don't...

I don't remember the last time we've written a song in a couple of hours. You know what I mean? Usually it's, it's, we chip away at it and make sure it's good. But that one, I think just having her keeping the wheels rolling, man, it was, it was a game. She sang the girl part on the demo and Carrie pretty much copped her part except for the high deal at the end. I mean, yeah, it is. Well, especially the second, the second verse. Cause you know, having the female perspective of, okay, where would we go? What, what would,

What's a girl thing? We think we know. Listen, I know this is a question we already have an answer to, but just reiterate. I remember texting Aldine. We finished that. I said, we just wrote it. We wrote it. Yeah. I knew it. Yeah. The weird thing was, though, when we tracked it, we didn't have anyone to do it. There was no partner. There was no duet partner. So we just tracked it bare bones. And remember, Aldine goes...

I want to get Carrie on this. And he's like, glad you got it. And it happened. Yeah. Yeah. Fun story. Yeah. Yeah. You know, yeah, it was definitely fun for me. Thank you guys. I saw a picture of the night you're in. I took it in the shack. I mean, you're singing the demo and our little shack of you singing it. Cause I, it felt like, yeah, the shack. Gosh, everybody got sick after they left the shack. It's okay.

You guys would have loved the shack, man. There were a few people who did. I'm glad I missed the shack.

You would love it, actually. Well, John, let's talk about your first number one. You had several number ones, but your first number one is an artist. Friends like that. Tell the story about that a little bit. Please. Yeah. It's another kind of situation. I just, I feel like I've been so fortunate, man. And just timing, it's like you guys were talking about. Timing does go a long way. And I feel like...

Um, you know, I, I, I wrote friends with a couple of buddies of mine, um, Brent Anderson, Will Bundy and Lydia Vaughn. And I just remember, um,

you know, that song when we wrote it, it wasn't, I didn't think it would be a game changer. I didn't think it would be what it was. You know what I mean? It was just a song that we, I write with those guys a lot. So sometimes you get in a room and you don't necessarily, nobody has an idea they've been sitting on, right? And you just kind of, you know, try to come up with something together. And that's kind of what happened. And if I remember right, we were kind of on a different vibe. We started writing it more like,

It's heartfelt, I guess. And it was just like, it was too much because the lyrics depressing already, you know, so can't have the music be depressing too. So we kind of got a verse course down. I think we kind of shifted gears and tried to put like, you know, more lighthearted chords underneath of it to lighten it up. And I don't know. I just remember writing it and being like, man, this is fun. This would be sick in our live show. Like, you know, I loved it. I was out the gate. I wanted to cut it.

Um, but I just didn't, I never thought it would be the one, you know, to put me on the map, so to say. And, um, you know, I just remember, um, we had, I guess it was, I guess friends, we put it out, I put it out by myself and it was out to streaming to the streaming world, uh, maybe four or five months, I think at the time. Um,

uh we'd all been talking about you know writing something aldina had texted me and said hey man at some point i'd love to do some kind of collab you know and i didn't i didn't really know what that meant but i was like cool you know whatever yeah sure yeah you just send me a two makes and i'll throw a vocal on it but no he was like yeah i'd love to do something so you know i think there were some that we wrote that i that i was like man this would be cool or this would be cool

And I think, you know, just from what I remember, like the timing of it, when he texted me, there was a couple months, I think, passed after that. And Friends just started raising its hand on the streaming world.

And I remember we were playing a show out in Minnesota. And I remember kind of waking up, like, you know, getting ready for sound check, you know, at 1 p.m. And, you know, I'm like checking my phone. I looked, checked Spotify and just had overnight, for whatever reason, a ton of organic streams hit Friends. And it just kind of, it went from like, you know, 10K to like 100K or something crazy like that. And so I was just like, man, that's crazy. And so...

Um, long story short, I ended up, I think somebody, I can't remember whose idea it actually was, but somebody hit me up about, Hey, would you be interested in, you know, doing a collab? Um, you know, I feel like it might've been somebody from the label was like, this might be a good idea. And, um,

I hit Jason up and was just like, Hey man, like, you know, I know we were talking about, you know, trying to find something. I was like, this, this song is kind of raising its hand right now. And it was funny cause it's talking about friends. This is, you know, the subject of, of the song. And, uh, you know, I felt like it fit both of our worlds sonically to a little bit. It kind of touched in both lanes with, you know, just, just a driving song. So, um, he was all about it and I didn't,

I twisted his arm a little bit, but I didn't have to do too much. Thankfully, he was like, yeah, let's do it. So it kind of worked out, man. It was perfect. It was such a good song, too. Yeah. Thanks, man. It was great. It was a cool video. I kind of refreshed on it today. Yeah. That was really cool. Brent Anderson is a mutual friend. Yeah.

Yeah. He's a talented dude. Freaking history musically and everything. Yeah. Just a great guy. So I'm glad. Because he produced... I mean, your album just dropped, right? Yeah, man. Just a little bit ago. Carolina Blue. Yeah. Yeah, it's been out a month or so, I guess now. It's been fun, man. I just...

You know, there's a couple different things I could say, you know, touch on, but I am super grateful, you know, to have a label that even, you know, lets me have any kind of say on the creative side of things because, you know, they could – most don't from what I understand. And so it's – that was a lot of fun, you know, to have –

you know, a lot of input and just being on the, on the ground floor of building these tracks. And, you know, that's, that's when I, when I got found, when these guys found me, it was like, you know, that's what I was doing anyway. I was, I was in producer mode, you know, I was about to sign a track guy deal with, you know, another company. And it was just like, that's, that's where it totally comes in. People don't realize. So John is like,

uber talent he's not I know you know he's a great singer but he's a great guitar player I know it he's a great producer in his own right what do you like more you like writing more or performing more right now it's I was gonna throw that question on you I know but you'll get this though you'll get this

I'm in the sweet spot right now in my career where... You're doing both. I'm doing everything, man. I get to create. I get to bring an idea, a baby idea to life in a writing room with some of the best in the world. And then I get to go in the studio, bring it to life, do whatever it is I do on it. And then you get to go out and play it live. And even with friends, you hear people singing it back. It's cool. There's a fan base out there for you that wants to hear you sing.

I hope so. No, no, no, there is, there is. Cause you sell it and you're really good. And I'm a huge fan. Thank you, boys. Thank you, man. I, that means a lot coming from you. I just, you know, I just love doing it, man. I love anything. My goal was to make a living doing music, whatever way that was, you know, I knew production, uh,

you know, doing tracks, whatever it may be, riding, but get my foot in the door with better riders. You know, if I was doing a track at the end of the day, if I could sing it, if I could play the instrument, like, you're going to get in better rooms. You know, that was a good piece of advice I was told early on. And so...

I just went all in on it. And, you know, thankfully these guys found me before I got locked into a 10-year production deal. Yeah, you fell into it. You fell into a great group, you know, for sure. I did. You mentioned the track, I think, which is kind of interesting because I think you and I had written maybe twice, but the first time we wrote is with Jesse Alexander, you know, amazingly talented, you know, incredible in everything. And so we're coming in there, we're writing with you. It was the first time I'd met you. But you were the...

You were the track guy. You were the singer. And we used your idea. You already had something going. I'm like... And he played guitar all the time. I'll do this all the time. This is fantastic. Yeah. So anyway... Yeah, it's just part of... I don't know, man. I don't think I could write with... I mean, now I feel more confident in writing without having a crutch or needing a guitar or whatever. I feel like I can hang, but...

Yeah, I definitely feel like I get my best stuff when I am at least on guitar and, you know, just noodling around because I feel like I sing like I play guitar. You know what I mean? So sometimes that hearing a few notes that I wouldn't normally hear, you know, without a guitar kind of makes me think differently melodically sometimes. It just takes you in a different direction. Yeah.

I don't know, man. I just love doing it. That's the bottom line. What did Al Dean think of you covering the truth like you do? Dude, you know what? I'm like, the first time I heard you do the truth, I was like, oh, shit. They need to put that out. Yeah, man. Him and Al Dean need to put that out again. And this is a, I'm going to give Brett James some love here.

that is one of my favorite songs. It's a great song. It's fantastic. Top three for me, man. We didn't even do it in our set for a couple of years. And then John was opening for us and we were talking about bringing John up and like, Hey, what do you want to do? And you're the one that brought up that song, right? Yeah. Jason was like, Hey man, you know, he never gives me, he's never given me a run through my wife. He's just like, yeah, you're good. Yeah, we got it. Cool. Yeah. Uh, 20,000 people. Cool. Um,

But no, he was like, yeah, I want you to come up and do one with us. And he was like, what would you want to do if we brought you out? And I was like, well, you don't even have my favorite song on the set right now. I was just kind of joking. He was like, what is it?

I was like, the truth? He's like, all right. So, of course, they just pull it, you know. I don't remember the last time you guys have probably played it, but played it to the record. It's so good. To the freaking note, down to the downbeat. And you do it so good. Well, dude, you know what's funny is that was, speaking of your range, that was...

One of those songs that you've heard, I've heard a million times, right? And I sing every damn word of it in the truck. You know, I'm ripping, right? And then it comes down to you to sing the bridge by yourself and you realize how freaking high that song is. What are you talking about? Yeah, you don't. For me, and I remember telling him like, because I think we had a couple run-throughs with it. It was like the first night of tour. I think we were out and

And he, and I, I remember telling him, you guys remember this too. I was like, dude, I cannot hit that bridge. You got to swing the bridge. And, and, and I was like, I can't hit it, man. I just, you know, I was nervous already. You know, I was like, don't do this to me, bro. I cannot hit this bridge. You know, he's like, I got, I got it. You know? So we're in the show and I remember this vividly. This is like a stark, like piss yourself moment.

And we're in the middle of the show, 20,000, 30,000 people, however many, there's a million out there and I'm playing, you know, trying to, you know, trying to just stay locked in and we get to the bridge and Al Dean does this number right here. And he's like, I was like,

living all the way up to the bridge. Yeah. I mean, I was feeling, I was in the zone, you know, and he did that to me, dude. And I'm like, I dribbled a little bit. And as he did the head on, they went right into it, right into the mic. So it was just a split second of like, like just straight terror. There's no way I'm hitting that. Dude, it happens to all of us. Trust me. You know, it was a great happy accident. It was, you remember a couple of years ago,

The label said, we need some content, right? And we had to, they said. Shocker. Yeah, they needed content. And we're like, well, let's just do this. Remember we said, let's all just set up some amps and go to a rehearsal space and just play some music. Yeah. And they're like trying to, of course, what labels do, they're trying to recreate, reinvent the wheel, you know? We're like, look, we're taking some road cases, some amps, we're going to sit down. Here's a bunch of guitars. A little smoke.

Two lights. Anyway, we did The Truth, Who's Rearview, Trouble with the Heartbreak, and a couple others. And it's one of the coolest things on YouTube. They're all there. And The Truth lit up. That version of The Truth. It's just five guys sitting around playing and singing. It's like a Guns N' Roses video. It's fantastic. And we literally went in there one day and did it, and it was like,

Of course, we didn't rehearse for it. I was going to say, did you guys get a run through? No. That was another time where I'm like, oh boy. Literally show up, you know, not a single run through. Like, I played the truth, you know, in the live full band setting, whatever, not a single run through. I think we might have hit it once or twice before we went, but yeah, not singing, right? Not singing it down. And we get up there and they're like, all right, we're rolling. I'm like...

I hope I'm still singing the second verse because I didn't even ask, but here we go. But dude, it's so much fun. It's fun to do that every once in a while. Just get up there and see what happens, you know? You've got that thing. It's like when somebody calls on you and you're not expecting it. Yeah. It's like just...

clench your butt cheeks together and go. It's like, all right, I'm on, let's go. And you deliver. You have every time. Yeah, well, somebody gives me a job, I'm like, all right, I got to get up here. It's time to go. I got to do it. I'm on. Yeah, I would have definitely drilled that bridge to the wall. But we did every night in that tour and it was highlight. Yeah, it's one of my favorite tour memories just to date, man. Just so much fun getting to

get up there especially with you guys too you know that makes it even funner when you know I get to get out there and you know just just just enjoy the moment you know because after after the nerves kind of where I got nervous every time we did it but you know you get through a verse and you're like all right this is fun yeah right it's so cool you know I know totally and I say this all the time and we talk about this it's amazing that we get to do this for a living anyway

But when you get to do with people you love, it's that much better. Yeah. And, you know, we've been, went through a lot with John and then to have him up there on stage with us, it was a very cool moment every night. Yeah. Really awesome. Yeah. I think people, you know, it's hard to realize as, as fans, like all the space in between these big events. Yeah. All this space, you know, meeting you and then writing the songs and then,

Getting you to come out and tour and getting friends like that, like all the things that go on in between those big moments. Yeah. You know, that I like looking back on now. Yeah. It's, it's fun.

It's, it's, you get caught in the hamster wheel and you, it's hard to like, I'm trying to get better at looking back at those things, you know? Yeah. But it's important to like, even these times with the band, when you're right now, when you're, you know, all together and band. Yeah. But you look back on this and those will be the best time. I know, man. I know. I, I, I've, and you've, you've, you've told me that.

specifically a few other times. And I think it was one of the times you told me really hit home. Cause I'm like, dude, I gotta, I gotta remember to enjoy this while it's happening. You know, like, cause you know, you get in the sprinter van, you know, you crawl into whatever it is, anything but a Prevost and, you know, and, and, and you're just like, man, like,

There are moments where you're like, God, dude, this sucks. You're 12 hours into an 18-hour trip, and you're like, I cannot see any more of upstate New York. I can't. It just doesn't end. And you hit those moments, but I feel like those are, like you said, those are the rubber meets the road moments where you're like, is this really for me or not? Yeah.

You know, do I love this? Do I like being out here enough to do this? Because if you do, then, you know, more power to you. And that's where I've been, man. I've been...

you know, in that grind season, I'm just like, I got to get it now. This wave only comes one time, you know, it only comes one time. You miss it, it's gone. It don't come back. You're not, you're not the new kid on the block twice. You know what I mean? So I've just been trying to, you know, keep my nose to the grindstone and really take every opportunity, um,

And try to enjoy the moment because it is hard sometimes. I've got all my, I mean, you guys know this too. It's like all the guys that are on the road with me are all my best friends too. So it's like that makes it fun but also even more challenging because you're like always, there's always drama. There's always something going down. And you're like, come on, boys.

And a lot of responsibility, and people don't realize that. I mean, you're responsible for these guys having work, and that all is all on you. That's a tough thing. That's true, yeah. God has called you to be a lot of things, and in this business is one. But before we leave, I want to say this too, because you're such a good human being. You were also born to be a dad, and you're put on this earth to be a dad, and he is...

Three times over now in the last year. That's how quick. Oh, bro. Three kids under the age of three. Is that right? Three and under? Dude, I don't waste... My days off are well accounted for. Well accounted for. Yeah, it's... Yeah, 303. It's a lot, man. But same thing. If I didn't love it, you know, I love being a dad. There's nothing more fulfilling than that, I don't think. You know, it's just... Especially when you do...

When you do have the opportunity to do what you love and still have that at home, like, I don't know how I looked into that, but, you know, that's where I'm at right now. And that's why when I do get tired, I'm like, dude, I have nothing to complain about. You know, I have everything, you know, that I could possibly have ever dreamed of and on both ends of it. And so, you know, it definitely makes it, you know, challenging, like I said, trying to be present. I think that's the key I've learned today.

And you guys, you know, from many years of being on the road, it's like you don't have to necessarily be at everything. But when you are there, you got to be there. You know, I've I've tried to like, you know, really cut down on phone time. Anything that's distracting me from like being present, you know, because they're going to they're not going to remember the times that I'm out playing shows. But they're going to remember the times I'm there. Was I paying attention? You know, like those are the things I try to.

Try to remember, but, dude, it's hard, man. It's hard to, you know, get off. When you are in grind season, too, you're, like, always trying to, like, you know, you're always chatting with somebody. You're always on the phone. You're trying to, you know, work angles or whatever it may be. And so, I don't know, man. It's tough.

it's a lot of fun. I'm so thankful for, for that piece of it too, because it's definitely, uh, kept me sane on the road and, and some ways. Um, but you know, it's, it's definitely been like, you know, a big driving. It

i've never had more to work for in my life you know what i mean so it's it's a lot of fun i told them they got to book me some more shows because i cannot afford any more days off you got your head on straight bro yeah thanks man absolutely you're approaching it the right way well like i said man i i think truthfully i think when it comes down to it i i would be happy doing whatever

you know, worked out. If I'm writing songs for the next 10, 15, 20 years, um,

That'd be great. If I'm on the road, that'd be great. I'm in that spot where I'm like, I'm putting 100% in every lane and whichever one, you know, like you said, God has for me and, you know, wants me to take. That's kind of, I'm just trying to chase it all right now and see which one's dead end and which ones don't, you know. So it's a lot of fun. Well, you're doing an amazing job at it. And you're one of the only artists, actually, that has...

succeeding as an artist and still having hits not just cuts on other artists but but number one hits and so let's kind of end where we started with whiskey drink being the number one song in the nation right now you want us to play it again play one more time but but uh you know a lot of things but besides it being a great song and a great artist a lot of timing and you know

record labels, time and promotion, all that stuff to, you know, to a little bit of luck sometimes and hard work to get to number one. There's a lot, you know, a lot of difference between a number two and a number one, you know, chicken fingers and a plaque is one of them, but, but, but number one, they're just really cool, you know? So for all the, like the long bus rides and all this, all this stuff, uh,

you know, and a lot of songs that don't get recorded. Yeah. Number one feels amazing. And we'll just start, let's start with, let's start with Tully. Then we'll go to Kurt. I want to congratulate you. We have to congratulate the three of you guys. No, we want to, you know, supremely congratulate you. It's just, it's huge and it feels impossible, but when it happens, it's just, it's just,

It's rare. An amazing feeling, you think. So I just want to know. Live it up. Like, tell me, what are you feeling right now about having the number one song in the nation, Whiskey Drink by Jason Aldean and Go? Well, I mean, I think what I'm learning and trying to be better at is really appreciating the moment instead of worrying so much about

Trying to do it again. Yeah. You know, which is hard because it's like you said, you have family's responsibilities and you want to keep things going well. Yeah. But I got to stop and enjoy it. Yeah. You know, which is trying to get better at, but you know, my OCD and my, I'm just some. Well, we're wired the same in that sense, man. I'm like always, what's next? What's next? You know, how are we going to follow it up? And yeah, you got to. You got to enjoy it. Yeah. There's a fine line between getting, you know,

greedy and enjoying the moment yeah there's a fine line right there but do people like 100% us if you're driven and you're competitive and you have that in you do any of us actually enjoy the moment and this is sad to say but you just probably don't um because we do but when you say the word moment it is a moment but i'm telling you we're talking about it right now we had a shot i know but i'm

Honestly, probably not celebrating it like I should. Well, you're driven. But we all are. Yeah, that's the key word. We're driven, and it was like, thank you, now what?

What's next? I'm pretty stressed out actually about what's next. You're right. I'm really not enjoying it. I'm trying to lie for the podcast sake, but I'm really amped up about what's coming. I'm very stressed about what's coming. I'm really not enjoying it at all. If you stop for two seconds and think about the percentage and how blessed and fortunate you are.

You are right. I know you're right. It really is. I mean, you have to stop for like... I know you're right. And don't... Not just for right now, but even tomorrow. You know what, dude? This is straight up, man. I feel like I've celebrated...

I've celebrated these like riding successes, like especially whiskey drink, man. I feel like I celebrated it early, just out of pure schedule. Like, you know what I mean? Like not, not that I, not because it, not because of the number, but just because I, I mean, did I have a song on the charts? Yeah.

That by itself, especially in the top 10, top five, it's hard to do. That's right. And so from, you know, like I said, I've been doing a lot of fly baits. It was hard to get you here. Yeah, a lot of isolated time. Southwest doesn't always have Wi-Fi, so a lot of times I'm sitting there like twiddling my thumbs, you know, thinking about stuff. But, yeah, I feel like I was just like, man, you know, I was able to do that with friends and whiskey drink. And then when it actually happened, I was already like,

not past it but like you know i was already in appreciation mode like you know it wasn't like wow it hit me all at once you know i think that's that's the thing for me i've just i've just appreciated you know being in the game because it is hard it's very the percentages are very low yes you know so yeah it's it is it's a lot of fun but i agree with you it's hard to appreciate it all at once in the moment you know i think it's a stage of life too you know if you

I've got a son going to college. A lot going on. A lot going on. So it's like, I need, what's next? This is great. You're right. It's not a great way to think. I'm very stressed out. It's going to be what it is, guys. I'm not going to get less stressed. Well, that's really good. I think we need Kurt to enjoy it a little more. I want Kurt to enjoy it a little more. My wife would tell you the same thing. Kurt Fondue.

now you just I actually love it Neil I actually love that it's pretty good fondue

I don't have anything else. We better end this. All right. We've got to let John get going. All right. John, actually, off to rehearsal. We've kept you too late. You know what? No, they need this. They need this. Let's see what they do by the time I get there. No, John, you need this.

Thanks, Neil. You know what? You're right. I do need this. You do. I do need this. You need this. We're very appreciative of John. He's a, you know, he is our friend, but he is a solid human being. We're proud to know you. We're proud that you came here and spent your time, very busy time with us.

Thank you, buddy. Thank you, guys, man. This has been one of the fun ones. A lot of times you never know what you're getting. By the way, you're all over the podcast world. I'm seeing you everywhere. I wish you would have saved it all for us. Dude, I would have. Trust me. It would have been my choice. It was cool. It's actually been fun seeing all of that stuff. We want to thank John. We want to thank our sponsors. We got...

who all we got let's remind me we got the wellness company we're working with that patriot mobile the ogb wellness company it's uh everybody we've been so yeah e-spaces it's been really

dot com that's pretty good so good thank you these are the Patriot Mobile Studios or this is the Patriot Mobile Studios we've got our balloons somewhere we're going to get back in congrats on the number one boys thanks John Morgan thank you buddy thanks for having me on the Small Town Podcast yeah man thank you brother make sure to follow along subscribe share rate the show and check out our merch at try that in a small town dot com