Ep. 35: Ray Fulcher on Sellin' Cars, Writing Hit Songs for Luke Combs, and Being a First-Time Landowner

Published Aug 20, 2024, 9:00 AM

This week Reid and Dan chat with multi-hit songwriter and artist, Ray Fulcher. The guys reminisce on hunting with their dads as young kids and how those memories are ones that will last a lifetime. Ray dives in on what it's like being a landowner for the first time and tells the story of what he did to make sure he got rid of his trespassers for good. They dive in on Ray's journey to Nashville and how it went from sellin' cars to writing multi-platinum songs and playing stadiums. As always, the episode ends with his Gravorite and a special Luke Combs sing-along. 

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Well, so you're off in God's Country we read, also known as the Brother's Home, where we take a weekly drive to the intersection of country music and the great outdoors, two things that go together like trail cameras, trespassers.

Or ray Fulcher and the Whitest Teeth in Town. Brought to you by Meat Eater and I Heart podcasts.

Raise our brother, Dude, Raise our brother. We've known him for a really long time. We've we've shared hunting camps with him, we've shared writing rooms with him. We have some songs cut. I think we even might do a little medley of tunes we've had.

We might do that.

Seriously. One of my favorite people in town. He's the nicest guy you'll ever meet.

Yeah, it's uh feel blessed to run across people like that, Sure, especially in this town. I think you're gonna enjoy hearing his story and uh just kind of finding out who he is. Talented cat, a lot of laughs, a lot of stories. Yeah, go check him out, ray Fulcher. I hope you enjoy this. Go smash that follow button, Go like the like button, Go follow us on subscribe subscribing, Go follow us on subscribing.

The Timer is rolling. This is gonna be another like brother Family episode.

We have.

Mister ray Fulcher.

Also known as the nicest man on music.

Ro whitest teeth on music.

Trying to keep it that way. This ain't helping.

They call him Rays slave, fulture. He just there's a lot.

Of what they call me. I don't I didn't know. They call me the.

First day Ray first. That's my nickname for you.

First.

You always kill, you always tag out on the first day of every.

The guy has killed some giant deer and count with us.

The first day on the first everno.

Now I'm boga only because of it, though, So I mean, I think it's time.

Honestly, coming from a guy that has not killed a giant deer the first day, I.

Think leave something for the rest of those man two about a three years, first afternoon, Hey, this couch over here is put some horn, bro put some big horn.

Absolutely we have oh yeah, on some dier on some hunt trips.

I still randomly think about your deer sometimes and I go just be driving and go, man, that's a good looking deer.

I still randomly think about your deer all.

The time, from arguably once a week.

Especially after you send us that picture, man, we'll we'll post a picture Ray. Well, we'll get into this later. But Ray killed an absolute I mean, it's the deer of a lifetime in the Mississippi last year.

I'm good. I'm just like forever if do you feel like that?

That's an interesting thought because I'm never I mean, I've kind of killed like the deer that I've always dreamed of on my own land. Yeah, so that has changed my outlook of honey. But now that you've killed like a giant and a part of the country that you're not supposed to even kill those big deer in, are you kind of just like.

I'm god, Yeah, I feel like I'm playing with house money a little bit, to be honest, because I always was like before, it was always when I was a kid and growing up, and like even you know, throughout my adult life, I'm like, one day I'm going to get that deer. You're always in that pursuit of that, like totally the thing that and honestly, I never even thought I'd kill a deer that big.

And that's like an actual like like you talking about that feeling as a young child, like that's an actual dream you have. Oh yeah, it is a it is a dream, just like move to Nashville and chasing songs and getting to play in stadiums like.

That, years old, sitting there watching Bucks Monster Bucks over and over and over going like one day.

One day.

Absolutely its occasionally it's pretty sweet. Yeah for putting ray in the oh.

The honey songs out there that I've gotten cut, Yeah, pretty interest couple.

Yeah in the party in the parking lot, grapple parking.

Lot down there right there, in a really nice bus. But yeah, but I still end up grab party. But yeah, what you were saying, it has changed my outlook. Now it's kind of like if I if I never kill a deer like that again, I'm okay, Like I'm good with that. I need another one.

But man, like if it never gets better than that, I don't know how it could. And so what I've found since then is that even though I still like right, it's like you're so that same kind of dream, it finds another spot to live, right, And so for me now it's like the this is so nerdy, But now it's like, man, how can I get like habitat as good as it can get. It's like now I'm dreaming different like deer habitat, Like how can.

I I thought you said have a tat and I was like a dream tattoo.

I don't have a.

Get that deer tattooed on your chest.

Now it's more about just like the I don't know. I went to nerd Land after I killed this big deer. So I'm sure I'll come back hunting season. But man, I don't think so. I think you'll stay one foot in.

How do I grow deer?

Yeah?

That just it just over it overtakes you a little bit. Yeah, especially you know you got your pharm now, and aren't we want to.

Do We're gonna get into that. Yeah, let's uh ray fulter big deer killing hit songwriting former Rodeo and Pat Paul Living. I love that one nicest mental music row. Hey no, no, no, wait, before we do this, before we do that, before we do oh no, we can go ahead and do this. Raise so nice that instead of doing today what you're mad at, we're gonna do what you're glad. Just tell us what it is. What you got. Did you catch a big fish? Might be a big buck or a brand new hat. Just tell us what you're glad. That sounded a lot nicer than Yeah.

Man, I think sometimes it should be what you're glad.

At me too, Man, it can't. I can't be mad at.

Usually what he used to do. What you're mad at. It's been like mos me Audis and you know, I.

Do have a watch you mad at?

It happened with dog food. It's unbelievable.

What is it?

A bruce of dog food?

Especially like good dude, I'm like, you're.

Grinding up doing it and you're selling it to me for eighty bucks, bro.

Like just because you don't know how to do it.

Gosh, it makes me mad.

Anyway, I'm here just get a mad hour. Yeah. Last night I was in the bathroom, just brushed my teeth, uh, took my contacts out and was going to clean the ears a little bit. Grab some Q tips.

You know they say not to stick anything literally all the signs of your elbow on the bom what were telling On the.

Box of a Q tip it says do not put in your ear and like all caps it's like a general warning or something. Well, I stick that thing in there and I like to get up in there. Yeah, bro, the cotton in my ear when I would have not yet. I almost did it, but I didn't at first because I like, I was doing that and then it happened because it's happened before, and I just grab it out. But I was like I reached up in there and I couldn't get it, and I was like, oh, so like I grabbed the tweezers. I went to the bedroom. Jordan was in the bed and I was and I was smiling. She's like what and I was like, well, I was like, you're gonna have to do surgery on me. She said, what do you mean. I was like, you got to get this cotton ball out of my ear. And I was like this this thing went so I wasn't. I was fine, So I laid down. She was like, give me a flashlight. Got a flashlight. She looks in there with the Tweezers and she said yeah.

First thing.

First thing she was like, she was like what cotton ball? And I was like, it's right there. She goes and I mean like she's like pulling, like doing. She goes read I can't see it, and dude, I was like I went into like hot sweat, like I was like, you can see it, right, You're just kidding. She's like no, literally, she like digging in there and can't get it, and so I have to stand up. She's like, we got to come in the bathroom. Like. So there was a good five seven minutes where she did not know she couldn't reach this thing. I was in there digging around with tweezers trying to get it. Luckily, after an argument, because I got real, I got real. I was real, Like there's a touch situation. She was like, hold your ear right here, just like so anyway, she literally had to pull it back to where it yeah, man.

Like trying to put it.

I thought she was going to push the tweezers into my brain because she had to go in there so far and grab this thing and get it out.

Oh you got to try to put a pen and a trailer lately, that's the same thing. It's like you're trying to get that the holes line.

That's frustrating.

Yeah, but this is probably times ten.

Yeah, so we got that out. So I'm mad at Q tips. I don't know if I'll ever I don't know if I'll do that again.

Man.

I freaked out. My heart rate went up listening to what reminded me of is when the two was in my face and I was like, hey, all you have to do speech this twist pull.

He's like, and it just which is not you can google that we already have. It's just not the reason you got Rocky mounted spot finger. It's through that it was already in there through.

But it is.

I did think about how how a situation can change the same the same, like nothing changed about the thing in my ear, like it was in my ear from from the jump. But like the first five minutes, dude, I.

Was it was. It was.

It was funny, interesting, it was funny, and I was I was losing it, dude. I wasn't losing at all.

I was like totally.

We were laughing about it, joking about it. I was like, I was like these stupid things.

Man.

I was like, get this thing out of my ear. And then soon we saw soon.

About what the thing is that gives you like like mine right now is it's small type spaces. I am and that is a recent development.

Yea. I have not always been like that, but.

Man, every now and then, if I'm like doom scrolling and I roll across that guy that's crawling through the thing and he's pulling himself and the water's up and he's pulling himself through the cave cavern thing. Dude, will send shot. I mean, that's my nightmare. Like what is the freak out thing in your brain that's like, you're not mare of those mine's caves for sure. I'm never going in another cave as long as I'm life.

No, I mean spiders for me, spiders. I hate spiders. Hate spiders, have trouble killing them in your house?

Hate spiders or.

I mean I just know the thought of like no, yeah, just the whole thing about you know, people are like, you know, you get the whatever statistic that somebody.

May swallow eight of them in your life.

Yeah, like they're crawling on you. Not yeah, like they say no, they say on you know, like that's right, like eight or ten.

Swallowing those spiders. I'm telling them right now, any last guy.

So when I get to think about that, especially if I'm laid up, and dude, no, I hate it always.

I always like thought it was crazy how dad hated to fly. My dad, our dad hates to fly, like and he hates elevators. He can't do elevators. He'll literally I don't like flying like eleven story hotel. Like eleven story hotel. He'll walk eleven like ten flour stairs. He will not go up in the elevator. And I always was like, man, you're crazy for that, dude, Just come on, get on this pon bro recent development and I don't know what it is. I'm thirty six years old. I don't know if it's like because you have kids and you start.

You worry about your kids or I don't.

But like planes now, like getting on getting on a plane, and like I can't sit at the window anymore. I used to only want to.

Sit by the window.

To sit on, I have to sit on the as And I had like the take off and up in the air bro I a lot of that flight. I'm talking myself da off a.

Cliff because the thing that and I recently thought I fung a ton. And but when you get up there and you think about what's actually happening. Do you can't time riding in something thirty thousand feet above the ground. It's seven hundred miles an hour, and you you let all that sink and you don't have any control of it. No, there ain't. No, that's the thing too. It's like you start letting that sink in. I can't think about it because that's when I because the flying don't bother me at all. It doesn't at all at all until the last time that I let myself go down that hole on the plane was the last time because it, like what you're talking about, get to hot and stuff.

Dude, it's the worst, man.

I mean you've seen me, dude, Like when that things starting to land on stuff and we can see.

Yeah, you fly, you flowed a whole lot. Yeah, I mean with and I was what made me get really comfortable with it was was radio tour when I had like it was in four months, I had like eighty five ninety flights or something, and so then it was like five or ninety flights.

Yeah, you want to move to Nashville and being the hard recording artists.

Come three times a day sometimes. Yeah, have you ever had like a sketchy because that's enough times? Yeah, coming. But it was actually not during that. It was coming back from uh So Songwriters Festival probably, I don't know, this is probably six years ago now, Key Songwriters Festival. Yeah, so can you tell me about that this year? Yeah, I ain't going, I ain't going, sorry, Leslie.

I.

Love I love them, but I shout I have never been on that thing. And yeah, the Turkey seasons one.

She gets it.

But on the way so Key West to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, back home, so Key West to Fort Lauderdale's probably. I mean it's a it's a small plane, and it's a small plane. Yeah. And so about halfway through that flight, hit one of those kind of you know, you kind of free fall for a second, right and you're like, look around for them about and you're like, well, about ten seconds after that, we hit a I ain't kidding you, we hit a uh seven or eight second free fall where computers and everything on the ceiling as we're going down, and then people, ladies screaming, people screaming, just ladies, guys screaming. Sorry, only ladies.

No man making a sound. It's gonna be all They are a little louder, I know what I'm saying.

The hits they get you miss the I'm dying scream too.

And then you know, boom and then boom hits the ground again. And that's that's the only time I've been around. Sorry, the ground, the computers that were on the now hit the whatever whatever's on them. And that was a moment where I was like seven.

Or eight seconds for real, mask things come out. All right, let's think, all right, ready, we're falling. Roddy right, Roddy.

Ready said, yeah, it's like a precious seven seconds.

Now I'm losing it already. Seven dude, that's how long you just felt.

It was a lot. I would be losing my mind. It was a lot.

I'd be ready to meet Jesus.

Off this plane that one.

I didn't want to fly for a little bit after that, and not even that, Like, I mean, some people have way worse, you know, experiences than that. That's the only time. And I've had some like turbulence. I've had a few times we hit the ground and I go, that was really hard. It shouldn't have been that hard, probably, but.

That's all.

Yeah, but now I don't Yeah, we're.

All we've all fell you' all r right victim to uh to uh. The randomness of Luke Combs in this in this group.

Here, oh yeah, and my randomness mine.

Is he called when it was like, hey, get on the plane in Nashville and fly to cu below.

They got a nine, like it's like.

A thirty minute flight. It's ninety buck hop on, come ride a bus. I'm like sick a man, dude. The plane was a prop plane on both sides, and when you get up to that, you done no. But I've seen them land and they come in.

They come in sideways like this, like they're coming in like this and then just whip it back. It bro and it wasn't even it wasn't even blowing the wind storming when the day that this happened.

So I get on and I'm not kidding you. You can't stand up in the plank. You have to get into the plane crouched. You crouch, walk to your seat, and then you just sit.

It's like a back country plane.

It's like this tall.

So there was probably thirty people on it. I mean it's just tiny plant. I think it's actually a bigger plane now. But I'm telling you, man, like we were in the air and I could feel the back end like doing this, and we were hitting those drives no seven seconds, but I'm telling I was one thousand percent white knuckling, literally praying like Lord, if you just let me make it through this, I'll never eat six donuts again. I'll never be a I'll never sin, I'll never sin, but true. But he got me off that plane. So I appreciate that shout out.

Oh j C, Hey, what you glad at?

What?

You're glad you go first? I mean mine's like a dad thing. But I'm glad that our youngest is about he's about to turn one, and he's about to start walking. And usually like you're like, you want him to be stationary, but I'm ready for that joke to start walking, man, because we have another one that's running all over the place and we can't. Like Jordan was talking about the day, you can't take him outside yet because like she's gone, well yeah, and like if you're by your like if you if I've got him by myself, I can't take him outside because you got to hold him the whole time. And then if you put him down in the grass, he tries to eat the grass and he rolls all over the place and gets itchy and it's just a thing. No, I just with two I feel like and he's right, like he's walking up and down the couch now.

And and I'll tell you what starts happening is they start entertaining each other, which is really great.

Yeah, and they're already doing that, but when they.

They chase each other, that's what. Yeah, and then they sleep and it's Yes, I'm glad about that. I'm glad that he is. He's getting to the point where he's about to start walking. It's a very old man, dad, I get it. I think we're probably a month away from velvet season. I'm real happy about that, dude. And I know it's only a thrill window. Yeah, velvet it's still and I probably will not be able to even get to do it, but.

You know, like attain it. It's like right there, there you go.

It's actually yeah, light at the end of the almost So I'm real glad Deer season.

It's the just so everybody knows in Tennessee, it's not the last weekend of August this year. It's the weekend before. So it's the twenty third, twenty fourth, twenty fifth, it's not the twenty ninth.

I probably have about a week old baby. I'm sure I'll be able to do that.

But if you're in your house, man.

Yeah, it's not going to happen.

But I'm glad that it's closing to think about what are you glad at? You know, I got a real quick mad ap because I was real mad.

Yes, I think it was should we do the other thing?

So I got real mad, real mad. About three days ago, was at the land walking at doing my not hurting nobody, and three yellow jackets popped me at the same time twice on the back of my nogging. You weren't either a bush hogging or nothing, dude. Man, I was like walking just looking at spots in the woods, and I guess I came across one of their little next dude one popped me on the back of my head and felt like, I mean right here on the back, and then he got me right here boom, and then went down my shirt and got me on the side. And I was so mad at them jokers. I still am. I wasn't doing nothing, and uh.

It's funny getting mad by yourself too.

Yeah.

Jordan Road was with me, and uh he was he was like, man, take your shirt off. It's I'm like, it's fine now he's out, but I'm just for a second, and uh I had to let I had to leave my hat behind because it was like he hadn't got somehow got like up in he got me right behind like the part of the hat that goes across well right when it happened. I yeah, and then you know, kind of darted off through the woods and I was like he, so you're going about to get that hat? I was that had stay in bro I am not going back over there close to that.

Yeah, yeah, that that hat.

Will there be a reminder every time I come across that hat, I will steer clear.

Yes.

So anyway, mad at the Yellow Jackets glad really small thing, but I remember so a friend of mine gave me some Jordan's uh golf She's a few years ago, but the spikes were real like worn out, and so I kind of put them somewhere and forgot about him. Came across him this week, hit up Amazon and got the spikes and so now got some in there.

Yeah.

Brother, the Jordan's the Jordan's brain and has come up with some nasty golf shoes here recently.

They're dope, and these are you know, seven eight years old, but they're that's awesome. Looking forward to getting back in them. Great segment there.

Dude, Can we can we talk about getting stung right quick and we'll probably. Do you have a right today? Yeah, we might go a little bit longer. Let's talk about getting stung for a second. You got stung on the back of the head, dude.

I've been stung recently as well, where right here in the side of my knee.

They all hurt.

It's like a red wasp. It was in the tubing of the gate where my fourheler stays when I swung the thing. I was swinging a gas can and my kids. I ride my kids on my on my zero turned on and be honest, but I strap them in. It's super safe, bro, strap them into what go on chair? A kid lawn chair.

When you strap them in with what's your strapping in mechanism, a rachet. So I don't know how safe. It's super sad and you have the blade going when you did not have.

The blade going, you have mode with what I'm saying. If the blade is going on.

He said, it's super safe.

Bro.

When I show you a picture of this, this contraption that he's got, the last thing, you think super safe?

Right here? When you got two kids in a break of life, sometimes you just got to do and if they're I agree with that, but don't call it at risk, so be it.

Don't call it super.

Moderately, it's it's in safe, not super safe.

Moderately, it's redneck safe, red neck safe, Dad safe.

They cannot fall out of that thing. I'm telling you, they totally could fall. No, it's a waste strap. N hss strap, dude. It's just like putting a car seat on the on the riding more the same thing.

It's not bro car seat on the riding more. Who's doing that?

There are car seats on the.

That did that once.

I'm just saying, it's a lot harder on a zero turn to keep your kids on it while you're driving it than it is riding more.

No doubt.

But but there's a lot more rooms anyway. So the problem is they're strapped in, right, it's not like a click. I mean, I gotta untie these jokes. Yeah, Well, when the walls starts warming, I'm swinging a gas can and they're on the moor.

Like, are you hitting the thing?

You're like, I'm not, so I can't. Every time I let the gas can now they fly towards the kids. So I'm swinging the gas can. Both the kids are like and I can't the ratchets strapped in on this little bit. I can't move them because I can't. You gotta get on the zero, you know. Anyway, it was a mess. It was a mess. So I just took a couple of things so that they didn't happen, because you know what, when you kids are involved, you're like, whatever, cut my arm off.

What as long as you don't give them a beasting.

Sure, dude, I've been I've been weed eating before and the same thing, like, come over a hornet's nest and yellow jackets are hornets in the ground, yellow jackets, hornets nest.

Let's call them that. I'm not exactly that we call them that.

We call them yellow jackets.

But they look like I mean, they're a little black and yellow.

Rock and yell black and yeah.

It's like yeah, it's like the cheerios.

They're vicious too. Man, got me, I.

Weed heed one a nest one time and they got they flew like it was like they knew exactly where to get where to go. Like I hit it in about twenty of them went.

Think about it. Looking at you right now, I would say at least ninety percent of your body is covered right now, but they would still find a way to sting you under. Why wouldn't they just go like, oh, we can't do it.

Yeah, like no, we can't do it. Boom yeah.

But I got popped probably ten twelve times o my shirt and was like running like the site.

I was running all over the place. It always happens to me bushogging. If I'm bushogging something, I'll bushog there.

Oh yeah cool.

The worst one, sorry, we'll get to you, we wrap this up. The worst one was me and Jordan upping Utah at a I play A songwriter's been up there and we're playing golf and there was a guy in front of you.

What's that you got invited to that?

Like I always say, and I've said this before, an invite can't invite an invite invit can't invite whatever. So we're playing golf on the second hole driving there's me and Jordan's Dryn with me. Guy in front of us and a cart is playing in front of us. He we just were driving long cart path, just hit our second shots into the green. He all of a sudden, So you know when you lock up up, it's like yeah, so he locks it up and it's like and in sideways and I'm like, Ernie, you all right, and we go up and dude, he's slumped over like this on his slump, slumped on his steerma I thought he had a hearttack slump. And I was like, we were like, Jordan ran up, I ran out. I was like, Ernie, hey, a man, you are you all right?

Dude? You are right?

And he comes up like this and his sunglasses are on the cart path and he was like, bro, I just got stump in the eyeball.

In the eyeball, the ball.

He's in the in the white, in the in the ball.

He said.

A bee was flying around him and he was like trying to dodge it, just like they know where to go. Went in he had sunglasses on, went under his sunglasses and was like banging off in his eye and then couldn't get out, so stung him in his eyeball.

He just closed the eyes to well, he's.

Blinking because there's a bee that's hitting you like this like going back to bro. He went.

He left.

He went to the house and sent me a picture. He sent me a picture like an hour and a half later of him laying up in bed with a swollen and he had a pack of frozen peas on his eye.

It was game.

I know it was tough.

You just recently purchased some wom Okay. Now, look, I get that's a that's that's a hard thing to do. Honestly, it's it's a lot of money, it's a lot of work, a lot of there's a lot that goes into even that happening. Can you kind of walk us through the process as far as like what you were looking for, what led you to actually pulling the trigger on that decision, and like and and where and why you did it. Can you just kind of walk us through the earth state?

So that I had for the last couple of years was like kind of went through these periods of you know, looking at all these websites of like you know, would have two or three weeks where I'm like, man, I think it's about time, so.

Your Zillo Redvens Zelo red VENs.

Yeah, for a couple of years off and on, but never really found anything, and never really and every time I would get to that point where I'm like, man, I really like this, I'm like, man, I just man, I don't have the time to like put into it like I want, you know whatever. Well, then coming off of Masciamp trip and then Opry Hunt coming and right off that, I was like the bire man, really I want to And then went up to h Jacob Davis's place actually on the like a week after uh Opry Hunt stuff up. Yeah, it's awesome, bro.

We left that, We left his place and we and we're looking at spots over the same things and so I just loved his setup and all that and so, but still wasn't like, you know, I'm about to buy something. But I met a guy there Murph uh Ryan Murphy and which is his just his buddy, but Ryan on the on the side kind of you know, he was doing some wholesale stuff like he would find pieces of land and then kind of try to help turn it for people and stuff. But also knew that he had a lot of buddies looking for land and stuff. So I just told him, I was like, hey, keep in mind, have you ever come across something that? And he sent me this piece of property and it was like in my mind, it was almost like you read my mind.

He's pretty good at what he does. Kind of exactly what I was looking for, right, like kind of you know, one hundred to two hundred acres about, you know, between a hour and two hours outside of town, kind of diverse and stuff. And he sent me this piece and I was like, you know, I was already on fire, and I was like, man, I know, if I go look at this, I'm gonna fall in love. And I did. I went and looked at it and just I mean really like on the way back, I just was like, I'm gonna look a little bit more and just see. But man, this feels good. It's almost like I want to do that thing where it was like, man, is this shouldn't be this easy, right, I mean, because there's got to be I shouldn't like take the first thing that I went and looked at or whatever. But then as I looked around at other stuff, I never really found anything else that I liked as much as that. So kind of the perfect way, yeah, for it to happen, And so for me it was. It ended up being two hundred acres two hours from town, which is sort of per for me because the you know, expensive it is around the same.

I'm saying, it's not to be taken lightly. It's only you can just go grab up.

Yeah, investment, especially.

Around here, you know.

And for me, I liked there was not a There was a couple houses on it that were kind of had fallen in, but it was going to be pretty easy to get those removed. But I like the idea of, uh, nobody had really hunted it for a few years. It was part of it was like a hay field. But I love the idea of going less turnkey and more like whatever it becomes, it's going to be from starting to finish, you know, kind of thing, which I liked.

I like that yeah were saying it was like it wasn't already food plots established and everything laid out perfectly.

You got to kind of cling. I went into it knowing how it might be three four years for it's like exactly like I want it. You know, we're getting you know here and there that that that you're really wanting stuff. But that's fun for me and cool for me. And it's really diverse. It's like you can duck hunt there if you want, and there's and so and also too. I've you know, I've just been a dream for a long time of like having a place like that too. And I didn't mind it being a couple hours from town because I love the thought of having a true unplug from yeah, you know, and that being that far, it's like a total it's so totally removed from from Nashville and like really kind of what we do, and it reminds me so much of kind of back home.

Which might be like, yeah, your first dream, like my first dream of a place, of owning a place and having a place is like thinking about big deer and thinking about thinking about growing a you know, having a habitat for deer to grow and to get an age structure going and that thing. But the thing that probably creeps up and passes that over time is the escape that that place gives you from Nashville and then like from this business.

And the memories that can be made of like I mean, think about it from arry start to finish it. Like I've already made a ton. I ain't really got to do nothing other than learn it, you know, and like planning a little bit.

What are you doing? What are you planning?

What's time? So we got the uh, the two houses I talked about, I got those kind of demolished. It's already like changed totally how it looks when you come in, it's like so clean looking at the very front of it. I met a couple of farmers down there. One is, now, my guy planning soybeans this year is gonna be doing like a rotational thing. And uh and then I'm.

Gonna leave him, gonna leave him an acre or two.

Oh yeah, on the order. Yeah, talking about how to do that. And then all right, let's talk about how you met that guy?

How'd you meet that guy?

So the previous owner of this land said that he still had the number of a guy who was farming this land before he bought it, which is five or six years before, because he didn't he like planning his own like hayfield and stuff. And then had a number of a different farmer in town. So I'll call both of them, went by and talk chatted with them.

Cool. You know, which a decent relationship with your bier, oh your with the seller. If you go in and you try to oh man, get at it. We're trying to push me in. I mean, keeping a decent relationship the people around.

You, because now I mean we can reach out to him and sure for anything. And uh. And so there was the farmers where one was kind of a really big operation that I really really liked him. I actually still talked to him a bunch. And then the other guy was his uh just him and his son and like they farm and they formed like thirty five hundred acres they least a bunch of stuff to farm. But it's just them too. And when we hung out, I was like, these are my guys, man, you know what I mean. I just related so much to to their grind. And so I was like, and he was so, you know, thankful to get to do it that land again and stuff and so. And actually the other night he uh played the opera a couple weeks ago, and he text me and was like, hey, man, I couldn't get my phone figured out until you got finished tonight, but man, I was, I was hoping to catch you on there. I will catch the next one. So he's at home like listening to the opera, you know, which is cool, just just cool folks. But and uh yeah, So now I'm just starting to get my head wrapped around on uh t s I right, timber stand improvement stuff like that. And then eventually I'll put you know, some kind of barnaminim on there. But it's all, you know, just process.

So you just running down there and stay in the day and then coming back at night, right now, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've.

Already had your had your already had to run in with trespassers and had the.

Already Yeah figure that out. Yeah, just a couple of couple of a couple of rods on there and some they messed up my turkeys this year. Yeah, I had a couple of turkeys, Like I kind of knew exactly what tree they were in and went down there early, like got up at three o'clock to go down there to listen before the season, and they were in two of them, two big ones were in the same tree right on the edge. Both times I was like, all right, this is free sure, yeah, about two weeks before and then and then the second time is about a week before. So the weekend of Turkey season, I was out of town playing a show, but I had, you know, my cameras are rolling, so I'm always, you know, like just addicted to like scroll on the camera, reveal camera.

That's the beauty of stuff on camera, being away, and.

And so that weekend I see coming across like this group of people, one on the side by side one's in a fohiler, and so first of all, on this particular camera, I'm like, well that sucks. We got to figure that out.

But then.

They were back there in the very back by that tree, just cutting doughnuts and.

Like tree giving her hell.

Yeah, yeah, giving her hell for hours for hours and raising hell. And so I remember hours, hours, hours, three or four hours. And I don't think they weren't even hunters. They were just like improbably I think that maybe at some point that last owner, they probably and they probably had because they were just riding. It wasn't like and what they were looking around or whatever. Anyway, I was like, and they were doing it fly time. I was like, no way, these turkeys are gonna be So I go back, I go on Monday, nothing and they're like five hundred yards when somebody else's land or whatever, and is what it is. But then I made the decision right then, like all right, this year, I'm not evenna mess with them on Turkey season. I'm just gonna like let it let it sit this year. Sure, you know that kind of helped me make that decision.

So how did you handle your trespassers called the farmer? Okay, I was like, hey, you know this subside.

Yeah, and he didn't, but he was, hey, I'm gonna go put up a bunch of trespass no trespass and signs for you and stuff. So he did, and this guy's great. Yeah he was awesome. He went, Yeah, he was great, And he put up a bunch of signs right there at the front two or whatever. And after kind of a weekend of every day of them coming and doing that, it was like every day for three or four days while I was gone, he put up those signs, and I saw him coming back by the camera one more time and then never again.

So if they cleaned up, cleaned up, Yeah, not too bad. No, he didn't have to fist fight nobody, right, I was willing to, but yeah, I'm glad I didn't have to. Yeah, I'm yeah, that's that's like.

That's one of the things too. You don't think about when you when you purchasing your own land. It's like dealing with that kind of stuff. Yeah, Like you only think about the positives and what you want to do now, you want to create the spot.

You don't really think about a lot of the other maintenance until you until they come up and you go, oh, it's something I wouldn't on until you actually go do it. Yeah, to handle it, Just like anything else in life, you never know about what. You never know how to handle the situation til you get in one.

Yeah, you know.

And so to circle back and answer you for I wasn't even super looking when it happened. It just felt right when it did, you know.

So give us a give us a quick rundown of like your earliest memory of being in the woods hunting and where that passion comes from.

Yeah. So I remember when I was I remember being like five and six years old and we would me and Dad would take my dad bought a one fifty, like just like a week after I was born in eighty in eighty five, and m I made three bro three yeah, come on forty and uh so he bought a new truck. And I remember it's like a five year old new truck or like a new to you truck. No, he bought that's a week after I was born. He bought it f one fifty, like an eighty six mile off the law. Okay, yeah, like off the lot, f one fifty bench seat, single Caab whatever. And then so when I was five or six. I just remember being in that truck and I would go out there with him and you know it couldn't help, but you know, set up stands and stuff like that. But my first like core memory is going out there to do that stuff when I was tiny. And it's kind of ties in music too, and hearing Ocean Front Property on the radio while we're in like the hunting club going from But when I was I mean my first.

Yeah, because that'd been like ninety one or something, and.

I so when I was five, Dad let me start going like hunting with him and stuff. But actually would be like, all right, if one comes out, you're gonna get to pull the trigger, and I'll I mean, I still remember this, but it was he put the stock of the you know, he put it on his shoulder and kind of like got it, you know, about right, and let him get right here, and old dough came out, clear cut stand take you to the spot today and buckshot shot.

That'll let you know.

Yeah, and uh she went down and and still got still got the picture of like the polaroid picture of it and stuff like that. But did you scope your five year old self like you scope yourself on this with the with the thanks for bringing that up, butch Boy stills a little yeah, there's a little thing. Nice. Yeah, I like you did that with no context and everything. But I appreciate that. But uh, it was the way I did. No, didn't because there was no scope on my shotgun. You should know that read being smart part.

I was too excited about that. I was give shots fire.

But y and just I just remember that. I mean, if it was and later in life is when I started turn like when I was in my teens.

That's the same for us, Like we didn't really turkey on its little tiny kids.

Yeah I did. It was, but I remember it was I mean, Monday going to school, even as a little kid, couldn't wait till Saturday morning, call you know, to go back, get back in the deer standing. So and it just really became i mean, early on just became like it wasn't just I mean, it wasn't just like a thing we did. It was like, it's what we do, you know. It wasn't we're no option, right, It's like, oh, you're we're gonna be in the woods, you know. And so that's sort of been just a wired in me from a very young age.

So yeah, it's funny like thinking back, but it's like as a kid, as a young kid, it's like you went to school and in our in our life, you went to school, you went to church, you played sports, and you hunted and fished like that was that's all you did. And like that's I mean, that's what five things. You only got seven days in a week. You know, Sunday you're at church, so at least six days to do all that other stuff. And then you did it every day every day. I can remember deer hunting before pee wee football games.

Do you remember that.

Yeah, we killing there bringing them.

Back and they'd be in the back of the truck while we'd be like high knees out there. In fifth, fifth, sixth grade, you know, like playing for Jones motor was here, you Jones. You're Kwan Jones. I rabbed Johns till I.

Died Yellow Blue Man.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah.

One of my favorite real quick, one of my favorite ones is it was I like taught my dad that was probably eight or nine, taught my dad into uh he had a day off work and I'm like you just take me into school late, you know, or whatever, and so the whole way there, he's like, you just let me after we hunting, taking me to elementary school, signing later or whatever, because when we get there, you just let me, I'll talk or whatever.

Okay, in other words, just let me line don't say it. Yeah yeah, yeah.

And so we get she's doing this and we're standing there and she's like, reason for being late. And before I, before my dad get anything out, I was like, we went hunting, and I remember her looking up at me and got proud of it. And Dad's like, you know, did the thing or whatever and a gift for your mother and the lady wouldn't happen about it, but she let us slide.

Yeah.

Yeah, man.

You know I get so annoyed by the reason slot because I do that too.

Yeah.

I talk about this all the time when TARTI slip, man, but I where my daughter goes to school. It's like if it's I mean, I haven't gotten her there at seven fifty eight. It starts at eight o'clock and the drop off line be cut off like two minutes before eight o'clock. Anyway, I can get hot on this, but you already have when you do, so that means you have to pull to the front, walk them in, go in there, and they got a computer set up and it says child's name, your name, and then it says reason for being late. And that makes me so mad, dude, because I'm like, why did you need to know? You know, and it's eight oh one, yeah or seven fifty nine, Like, yeah, I'm not late, and you still want a reason. So you know what, I started putting in there late. When they're like reason for being late, I'm like late late. See or I see somebody else sneaking in. I won't even checking on sneaking with those kids. Yeah, going every yeah yeah, uh bro, let's relift some rodeo in days. Man.

Yeah.

So I didn't know this and and well we'll dive into this a little bit later.

And I was really enjoying vintage Hunt there for a second though.

Dude, Oh I can go back.

I just love I just want to I just want to know, Like as far as core memories, Like when I think about what core memories I have as a kid, now that you say that I haven't thought about this in a long time, I would say seventy five percent of my kid memories are being in the woods, dude. A lot of our dad would.

Were on a bass boat.

Yeah, yeah, summers it was bass boats. But our dad would literally check us out of if he killed a big deer, he would check me out of school. And we would take and we would be like, I mean, I know that. You know the picture I'm talking about of you sitting there, Dude, he was like two years Well, if I was in school, that would have mean he'd have been like three, so i'd have been seven. I'm four years older, so I can. I can remember Dad laying a blank It was like an event, like Dad would lay a blanket that Mom would go to. We would all go and like mom would play with We be in the middle of a pine thicket, bro and me and Dad would be pulling this eight point you know, down the hill and Mom and reed, and I mean I wouldn't do it, I say, pulling.

I was probably getting in the way more than anything.

But man, isn't that I feel like I was such a blessing and I want to make sure that my kids get raised.

Like that's what I was about to say. It's like, you think about that, and I do remember those those moments when Dad would kill a deer and and before he would even go look for it, he would that's what he would come.

And get us.

He would not, dude, Like this past year when you shot that drop time behind your house, it was the same it was, but it wasn't even like we were like, hey, we got to do this because we used to do this. It was just like you have a little boy now and it's like, bro, that was such a family moment.

But you're bringing your you're digging up things that I felt when that happened, and you're exactly right. And I remember shooting. Remember I texted all y'all, I texted the video and uh, and I remember thinking, man, this is a very like I'm a I'm very proud of this moment right now, and like so proud that I'll ask my wife to be a couple of minutes late for work in order to have to share it. Yeah, that's a good point to share it with. So I see where the deer fall, and I literally I don't even go look at the deer until Read and I called Read. I was like, dude, I got He's like I'm on my way, like just immediately, I don't know what you had going on, sorry about that jumps. I don't know exactly how that went down, but I was just like, she gets it. I got it. He was like I'm out, and it was it's such like a It's such like a peaceful thing too. It wasn't like, yeah, we got it, wasn't it. It was like, many, sorry, Ray, did I blow you out? Right there?

He knows he's got one headphone off back.

When I start talking about deer, he goes, he moves one of the new guy Ray, What up?

Got Ray?

Sorry?

Oh?

Got Ray?

So anyway, it was just like I didn't even want to see the deer until my my people were there, man, so that we could kind of yeah. So immediately Re pops over, Dad pops over. We were standing at the base of the He was like, you know, where's it at. I was like, he's laying right there. He's like, you scoped to him a couple of times, not moving. I'm like, no, dude, he's laying right there, laying there. And we waited on Dad and them to all get there, and then I walked up there together. It was, man, I know that sounds cheesy or like corny or some sort of weird thing.

Isn't that cool thinking about those like those moments as a kid when you when when I remember cuting.

My first buck, it's funny you talk about that, because that's.

It, that is that's the moment, that's literally.

The backdrop of my thing is is like just us like as a family around this giant six point.

But feeling like like even your feeling right there though in that moment, and my feeling in that moment was the same exact feeling when I shot my first six point YEP on the power line down in West Tennessee. Like that feeling never changes and it shouldn't change, you know. And and and that's I think about that sometimes it's like.

To clarify, they are not the same six.

Points no, no, no, not at all. Yours as much bigger, years old. But but that just like the elation and like the celebration that happens to and I shot mine on the you know, on the on my my dad's knee, and like to have that moment with the people you love that love that moment just as much as you do. Man, it's such a special and you'll think about it, but literally think about it. For like when somebody says man, what do you think like when you think about you childhood? Do you think that's what I think about it? I think think about like think about those long thirty minute runs to Alabama to go fish in Waterloo and try to catch a big bass and pre spawn. And I think about like cuddling up under this under the uh the driving uh oh man, what's it called the console?

Yeah?

Yeah, yeah, sorry, we have to cut some of that out because but like falling asleep under there while dad was driving and just being freezing, but knowing that when we got to Waterloo and when he shut that boat down, I was about to catch a six pounder, Like like, that's what I think about. Yeah, that's that's how special those those times are when you're when you're young man.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's weird. And I guess my whole point in saying is like I'm just thankful and I know you are too, to have of those foundational building blocks as like.

The DNA of who you don't even know in the moment how they will be later on. It's thankful is the word.

For those pictures and that experience and knowing like man, I was, I was there from the jump.

Yeah, man, And and hopefully you will get to do that for the rest of your life with your kids, with your kids kids, And I mean think about dad, like being able to come over there and see Boone holding on to a deer, not knowing what that moment means.

It was so cool too. He was just oh, yeah, I bet He's just like, oh damn, yeah, that's awesome. It's awesome.

All I talk about Rodeo for just a second.

Yeah, because I we we have a picture of Ray and the cowboy had as a kid anywhere.

Oh, I got plenty.

Need to see that because like raised one of those guys that we've known for a really long time and been around and have have had trips with and in weeks at times with and have had every conversation in the book, and until we podcasted last time, I have no clue that you were a barrel racer.

Yeah.

So and I'm gonna qualify because Ray, yeah, barrel another one another one.

Yeah.

So from I'd say when I was I bet ten to like it was like a five year span where I I mean we went all over the place and doing it. And so what people don't know is like I know, you know, people from different parts of the country will listen and be like, what's he's doing? Why is he barrel racing? Because a lot of the rodeo circuit is like it literally is like you have to be a wanting to do it. Yeah, But in Georgia, in East Georgia, it's like there ain't no like there's no roping, there's no like bull right, and there's no there is none of that. But what they do have is a ton of Because the n b h A World Finals National Bear Horse is in Augusta, Georgia.

Oh wow.

And so there's a culture there and where I'm from and bell racing and there's like yeah, and so dude got into it and uh, we had a couple of horses you know growing up that that I used and it was dude, kid made the you ever win? Kid made the Youth World eighteen and Under World Finals when I was thirteen. Probably where was that that actually in Memphis?

So that you were leaning over and taking them flying on that thing.

And dude, people that say that like bell racing, is they whatever they have? No, I don't know what do people say, Oh that it's just like you know, kind of.

Primarily it's primarily a female sport now, but.

I will tell you boy's been thrown off a bunch. I mean kick, I've been uh, I mean in the ribs, like then thrown off and horse fell on me. Like I mean, I don't care what a horse Yeah, it gets we man.

It was.

It was awesome and and looking back on it, I'm like, man, I got on a horse, I think, and it was like when I the reason I stopped is because baseball and football going into like you know, more like the middle school and the high school thing became such a year round thing. And it was, I mean the last time I broil race. I'm pretty sure it was the last time I got on a horse until this past fall.

Wow.

And uh, I got was up in the mountains and got on like just a trail riding, and it was awesome and uh it brought back so many memories what I was just in like Gallenburg and it was I mean, it was fun. It brought back so many memories. At the same time, though, I was like, I ain't been on one in so long that I had to like stuff will come back to me. But I had to like re get comfortable on a horse.

Remember you're talking about that airplane when you think about what's actually going on, and that's when that's me with horses.

Yeah.

As long as I just get on, I'm like, all right, cool. But when I think about, Okay, I'm on the fifteen pounds animal beast that can do whatever, whatever time, regardless whether I'm on here or not. Yeah, that's when I started.

Yeah, and you don't know how to control that based either.

But those days were those days were awesome.

Yeah.

I made that. I didn't I didn't place in the world finals, but made cool great.

It was Triple six Mafia playing in the background while you're doing your barrels.

Dude. You know this is talking about one core Memphis rap. You know you remember that song like you say, I don't think I can throw.

Remember it was I don't think anybody is watching that.

I think you remember. So you didn't have like walk out, you know, but it was you didn't have walking but what you had was like they had this playlist so that every when you like come through the shoot, they would click the song on, so that like why you're racing got your little you're thirty. No, That's what I'm saying. You couldn't pick They just had their long playlist, but I remember this song like moaning mon oh yeah, don't don't. That was one that was like every come down, come on boy was in a paint horse, turning the barrels.

Out there.

Yeah it dust Cloud the State Barler. I just remember that song and my run. It was like one of my best runs ever. And I remember just being like, bro, I am you can't and that song is a jam and looking back jam yeah, still a jam. Yeah.

Yeah, you hear that song now and not think about it very about thirteen year old turning baby teeth was just a shining because they're shining now thirteen.

My teeth have been the same size since I was like ten, though, so I had to grow into them. They really shouted back to half of my face back then. All right, we need to get into some music.

Mys. Tell us the story behind selling cars and and that that time in your life where you were you were making decisions and kind of everything was pointing to Nashville and you didn't really know it.

Yeah.

So I had graduated college and with a masters in education, and at the time I had this guy, I had just started. Yeah, I had to throw it in there, you know, and I had just started a couple of years before. It's kind of playing some shows around Athens and like falling just in love with music and like song writing and trying the songwrit and stuff. Lightning, Yeah, I saw Eric Church played for the first time like a few years prior to that, and it just set me on fire. That song Lightning is where the the dream started for me. And so but I always thought like, man, this is this is really cool to do in college. And when I moved back home, you know, or when I'm done with college, it's kind of when the real world starts, right, So I got to kind of put this aside. Well, I'm because I'm starting a career, I thought, So I'm moving back home. And at the time there was four so for fifty years it was the worst like teaching job shortage in Georgia. Like so they're just weren't any and so I had to figure out something to do to you know, pay the bills and stuff. So I actually took a job. Never sold anything in my life, never have sense, but took a job selling cars at a I think you'd be a bad self, Jerald, Oh, I'm not good. So I sold a lot of cars because people were just like, too honest, dude, that's nice too, So you've got to be super this dude up. He's just too nice, you know.

So he's like, we're wanting thirty thousand for this car, but it's really worth like twenty four. So yeah, just hit probably don't.

Buy it at hit me with like twenty five.

So you know, yeah, you just give me eighteen and I'll take a six thousand dollars loss. Yeah, you lost us one hundred thousand dollars.

I got war out.

I got worn out a few times. I got wor out a few times.

But uh, everybody has like, hey, you need to go that folter over over.

Bring me a business man. Yeah, And so it was so it was there that I was like, you know, I was like, man, I got on the weekends, I was playing music and stuff because it was just kind of at the time, I knew that selling cars are not going to be my career, so it was just something I was doing, but then't what I was thinking about. Yeah all the time, you know, I was still thinking about music. So I started playing around town and uh formed a band called County Line there and stuff, and they yeah, I'll give a seven five, and uh so it was there that I was like, all right, man, was it ray Fulcher in county line or just county line?

Yeah, and the line sounds like a nineties sound yeah.

And so we uh, I just remember knowing it sometime in that in that time span, I remember going, man, like maybe I can move to Nashville, you know, like I haven't started my career yet. If I'm ever going to do it, this will be the time. And there was a there was just like about six months where I was going and this one day it was like, yeah, I'm gonna do it. The next day it was like, man, I could never do that. And then I remember just on the lot, the coming up with that selling cars thing and being like in the middle of that decision making process and going, if I ever moved to Nashville, like I want to write a song about this moment me standing thought about that then yeah, like, if I ever moved to Nashville, I'm going to write a song about being here that's going and thinking about thinking about the dream.

And so how long did you hold onto that until you Actually it wasn't until like twenty shoot, twenty eighteen or nineteen. You were selling cars winning two thousand and ten because nearly ten years Yeah, and I can't do that. I gotta let him go.

Wrote it with the Warren Brothers and Lance Miller, and I told him, I I literally told him, was like, man, if I ever get to play the grand old Opry, dude, I'm gonna play this song. And you know, whether they believed it. I don't even know if I believe it whatever happened at the time. But when I got to play Opry, so so like just me on the guitar.

Play that you play that song and that's probably living on the internet right like that that moment, dude, would you say that? I mean, and you've had You've had hits and out and that's my favorite moment. That was one of my favorite moments that I've ever seen in town is hearing that story and then you were literally dreaming that up ten years ago, getting to do it and then sitting in the circle and playing that song for a sold out crowd. It was crazy.

That's cool.

Yeah, I don't know if anything will for me personally when I look back. It's gonna be real hard to beat that.

What does play in the rhyme and feel like, man, what what does fel tell you?

What?

Seriously?

Because I mean I feel like we share the same anxiety. I will say this, Oh, I was the literally the closest I've ever come to truly fainting or blacking out. Was like when they came and knocked on that door and we walked down that hallway and I remember going like, man, I'm pointed johns gez. She was yeah, and walking She's walking down the hall with me. They weren't working with dating.

It's like I was dating.

It was like pure country.

Yeah, yeah, I think so. I literally started to feel a little bit of the like tunnel like where it's like I'm about to pass out. Yeah, And I had to taught myself out and I had cotton mouths so bad. But I was petrified because you like thinking about this moment all your life and it's like, oh you and it's like, man, don't mess it up, you don't mess up. And it was I got through the first verse chorus of the first song and I was good. Yeah, but man, leading up to that was the most nervous I've ever been in my whole life.

Was that, like has was that moment still to this day like was that like what is the what is my what is going on in my life moment? Like what is my life moment?

Oh yeah, Like I just remember because it's it was crazy. Not only did they get to play that song and I didn't know how it would like go over, but it was like this huge like standing ovation thing and all this, and I just remember having the moment looking out there going and my dreaming number one number two, it'll never get better than ever get better than this. And I was just like literally these flashes of like, man, all the crazy dream and all of the like stuff that you know, was probably crazy to do for this, like it all felt worth it.

The years, the years.

Of thinking about it, about about this three minute, six minute moment twelve fifteen minute however long. The sets are three songs like the years and the lifetime, almost thinking about that coming true, coming true. Yeah I can't. I mean we've had some of those, you know, and absolutely and yeah, I've never played the opry, but I can. I can imagine that standing in the circle. Yeah that right, there is a that's a whirlwind of emotion. Oh yeah, I mean it's just because that was like the dream spot for me. The Pinnacle, right, and so yeah, pretty awesome. Yeah, pretty awesome. That's awesome, which brings us to today. And and you've had you know, a bunch of success and with ELC and kind of in that same camp, you got your got a new song coming out? Yeah two cigars yep. Uh kind of walk us through that that thing and that story. Is that a true?

Yeah? I was huge exactly. Yeah.

Yeah, only if I've got to tell you all this story. But but actually, speaking of Luke, we were. I didn't write this song with.

Him, but time. Let me just fast forward this tire thing real quick. Luke and Raymie when they're very young in town, they eat chickens together. They cost a dollar a piece. They write songs for probably what six eight months before things but Luke started kind of catching on me and Red jump in. We all write songs together. It's awesome. He's changed our lives. Shout out, go back to two scars, just so everybody has a clear understanding of what that is.

So how this song was He's on day one, he's loose day one.

And uh, let you lady, and so we were how this song was born?

Luke and I checking your watch for you got something better to do. Oh, I just had to flex on that a little bit, you know, my eyes. So Luke and I were at the very first year that I went to Mossy Up with you guys. Luke and I went to that opry hunt the week after shouting out a song without us well, Zach, no, no, we know we didn't this week. This song was wrote much later, and Luke's not a writer on it, but while we were there.

That does make it feel better to Georgia.

Was playing for the national championship the first first time. Yeah, yeah, and not a Steve was Stark when they were about to blow. They hadn't won one in forty years, they had played for one, and so that whole obviously, you know. And Luke is there with me and.

Was this ricked.

Kirby.

Yeah, And so we are, Luke and I are in the deer stand a couple of hours before kick off and like, I'm jacked. I mean, I'm we're deer hunting. Me and my guy are there together dogs about to play and don't get no better?

Is that the day you saw that? And no, that was the next day. And I get a phone call in the deer stand and my a group of my friends that are like weird, grew up together us and our dads and stuff. A lot of them went to the went to the game in Indianapolis. I get a call from one of those guys, and I can immediately tell that something's wrong. One of our one of my really good friends, Dad, who also considered him a really good friend, was up there.

He died of a heart attack up there two hours before kickoff.

And so.

And Luke was in there. Luke was with me, and the kind of experienced this whole thing, and we went back in the cabin and like Luke and I are sitting there, you know, talking about it. And his name is Jamie Newsom, and as we were, as we were kind of just that was such a bittersweet night for me because you know, the dog's won, and but has also had this like you know, blanket of emotion that sure.

And so.

The thing about Jamie is that he would always bring two cigars. So if if the Georgia one, he's gonna find somebody to smoke a cigar with him. That was like his thing.

And so.

I always knew I kind of wanted to write a song about, you know, kind of as a you know, dedication or whatever you want to call it. But it wasn't until about this time last year that it kind of hit me like how to how to do it?

And so.

It really wrote the song and that's really true to that that story is. The song is really that story. But also what I you know, what I hope is. And the more I thought about it, I was like, you know, there's so many big moments and memories that we have in our life, and I feel like there are those times where you know, because of whatever event has happened, you have that thought where you go, man, so and so, man, they love to see this, they love to be here for this. And so that was such a close thing. It was like Jamie lived and breathed the dogs and it was like, you know, went to heaven two hours before he got to see him actually do it. And just the thought of like going, man, he would have loved to see this kind of thing, and just yeah, and so you know, and I feel like we all have those moments in life when we think about somebody in a moment that they can't be there for, whether they're whether they're here on earth somewhere else, or you know, in Heaven and uh so, and the way the song just fell out, and this year especially just like really really doubling down on just like being that song is a is authentically me as possible and so just doing that and really just lean into that. And that's so. And I got to debut live last year at the Georgia Theater, which is my first time I got to headline, and uh so that that.

Was that was a cool moment, you know, because life's filled with ups and downs in mountaintops and valleys, and as a songwriter, you know, we have an out to express emotion like others don't. Like do you find songwriting being a source of can could be being a source of healing for you?

Yeah?

In those in those those ideas are the things that are going on and the feelings that you haven't after an event like that, Like do you find songwriting being healing moment for that? Like writing a song about absolutely?

I mean it was. And I think what's so cool about what we get to do is now I've got to share that song with the guys that were not only there, but also you know, we're close enough to Jamie to be you know, affected by it and it's I think it's brought a lot of healing to them as well. And so that's been, you know, really cool to get to do that, and not just in this song in this scenario, but you know the songs that we get to write.

Yeah, and no telling who when you put this song out, when it comes out, like who across America that it's going to each and and help get over something that's gonna you know, relate to it and and and get somebody maybe you know, through something that they've been having trouble getting over.

Yeah, or thinking, man, no one's like, no one gets it right until they hear a song, they go, someone gets it. So yeah, that's cool man.

I was just thinking how lucky we are to to have written some songs together and have some cuts together. Let's do a mashup real quick of the songs that we've three, either together or just me and you or just me. What what's the first song you wrote with the ray.

That got cut?

Ain't far from it?

Yeah, as it goes, it's out an e.

And you're putting a lot on your boarder. Remember someone doubt. Let's go, let's go try.

Give me a stone cold George Jones, whiskey bend barstool.

Come on, yeah, we wrote this.

I don't want to fly like a hon guitar them off to that knee all eyes. Ain't wrote this on a tour bus. Down miss it and always burning me up, blooming with down.

That Jamie Davis.

There's a hole in the wall, each feeling only edge it of the course, I'm about to lie. That's on Friday night, Huh, get to cutting little.

So it swelled up time when twenty bucks spiders get guitar trum may checks turned the cool beer bus, all that lease and some plain night and letting.

Me beween' far from it.

Come on, dang, that's a jam on the jam thing under Mexicos.

That the first This is this y'all's first one.

Hold no, only.

There's a low tie role. Whatever that bus was ain't in the sense I can't see let it go. There was a shine in a dog, a line from a spark, and a line in up Pacific life under a moon.

Over Mexico.

Yeah, dude too, hold on, hold on, it's covered up snoozing now and the rest of the world ain't gotta click name of a girl and I ain't seen since Satay.

When they're stacking the chairs riding before that, this was you? Was it? I could when they're stacking the chairs rid before the time down.

And I remember fromost we loved this song.

We ride a bunch of waist away.

Two. What's the chorus? Uh?

Come on, hold on.

The course every time this song on the breeze, wos in the food scene arrived there, jet back, kick back, let the scene hum in the bus and that and need waited away with the do song you never do, losing youse the only thing words then tattoo on the song.

Come on dude. Uh, there's more. There's the recent one.

Oh yeah, if your kids.

Turn me too hot, turn me to stone, I'd be a statue stand, a tall and ancient.

No, I wouldn't get into the morning.

If your kids, yeah, shattered me like glass.

I'm being peace is trying to make the breaking glass.

That's right. And if.

I know you got this, come on the days back tonight.

Thistt has stars, its sparkle.

Of course, there's just some things and leave a man no choice.

I con see It's true.

Even the final day em it you be the reason this side raise.

Remember why I love you anyway.

I like that into to the most recent send a check to lease every Jane anywhere, every two eleven under beckam Ridge Road. I want your corn me?

How about you?

Really?

Where we hunt the bottom by the the wire.

Who grows real low before you try to pump the cloth very low?

I ain't going don't wear no time soon in case side.

Around you get order.

I just stormed out till you now down the road.

Good, go through the.

Highs and loose in all life stuff and yeah that way I'm.

Still every songhow, okay, sign around?

Yeah, playing out?

Yeah. Oh it's out of d yeah. Yeah, my bad, my bad.

We clearly didn't rehearse any of that. No, geez, we really may songs together. That's awesome. We should write more songs together.

We should What you got for the rest of the year.

What are you doing?

You're playing some playing some shows?

Yeah, I got we're playing playing Georgia Theater again. We just today Medley.

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Five or six, Yeah, cut songs that we've written to goe with heading there, pretty pretty amazing, pretty thankful. Yeah, yeah, you got super thankful. I guess that was kind of like a flex, but I didn't really mean for it to be. I just was like, let's just play and we went. We were, oh, there's this one. Yeah, yeah, it was awesome. Uh do we miss any missing?

Might have uh playing Jordia Theater again and which would be awesome head the headline there.

Yeah.

And then we're playing, uh some shows out with Luke and with Luke out with Gorge. Just when is that October?

Uh?

I want to go there so bad.

And then we got some other shows and we're gonna keep putting a bunch of music out, so I'm gonna try. We're gonna try and make that if we can.

But it's fine. Hey.

We asked a lot, we asked. We asked some people this question, and I like, where your mindset is gonna be on it? Give give some young pups trying to move to town, trying to grind in this industry and make it work.

Yeah, give them some little ray knowledge. Yeah, I would say. The thing I think that I've even learned more so recently is like how quick it's always evolving and how But also I mean the things I've always kind of like thought to myself that that helped me, I think get anywhere is one big one was all right.

When I moved to town, I was three days before my twenty ninth birthday, and I kept trying to find people that were that, like, you know, older in their twenties, that moved to town and made it work. I can never find one. And so I had this like slogan that I had it like open my bathroom, that said, there's got to be a first. So if no one's ever done it, there's got to be a first, sure, And so I just have always kept that with me. But also, you know, always keep in mind that it's like ninety nine nose to get to the first yes, and just like grinding through those and because somewhere on the other side of that it's going to be you know, if you if you do things right, do them your way, and like that there's something good on the other side of it. And really just whatever I think whatever is, like you figure out, man, this is my thing, or like this is what I love to do, even if it's what no one else is doing and it seems weird or whatever, like do that thing because I feel like that's the only way that it's ever really gonna.

That's how the world doesn't run drive.

But it's also the only thing that makes you you, and it's the only thing that makes sure songs different from me.

And and if it's outside the box, great, like finding ways to be unique and outside the box, you know, because I think it's really easy too in what we do to go like, well, that's that's working, that's what I ought to be doing kind of thing. And there's that like you have to eternally fight through that like tendency human instinct to like do that thing because it's whereas maybe this thing that you're doing or whatever is not really the thing. Well one day it probably will be. Yeah, you know, so good good stuff I learned all the time though, so.

Well you know what supported that thing?

I had to say it wasn't important.

But it's a tart of show for the one that got.

Hey, we do the one that got away. And it could be this is the first a deer. It could be a fish.

It could be.

A girl. And you're so you know you don't have we usually people with wife like you don't. You probably shouldn't say because you have a girlfriend, so you probably shouldn't say a girl anything, Hamburger, whatever you think what's your uh, what's your one that got away?

There was two quick ones, all right, So there was one of them is Me and my dad were turkey hint one time. I'll never forget this. And we worked so hard for this turkey all morning and we ended up in this spot where, for whatever reason, how the tree line on the other side of the field. It was one of them optical illusions that made the turkey kind of came out and it made him look way further away than he actually was, and so in my mind, I'm like, well, he's not close enough to shoot, and so he ended up not coming in and he's kind of one of those well man, he just couldn't quite get him in kind of thing. Walked it off thirty yards. I was kind of laying sort of like this thing and it looked further away and just he was there for five minutes.

Yeah, you know, he'll just come, you know.

Anyway, Always I always thinking about that turkey and how lucky he was.

It's got all of those things like if you went back to your childhood cafeteria right now, it would be the sizeless room. It was an ocean, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And the other one I thought about this actually the other day is and I've told you, I've texted you so much about this song? Do you found yours?

And uh?

I remember when so Luke called me to come on that trip that y'all wrote that thing on and I was on radio tour, and that's always been one that I go, Man, what if? Because I love that song, but I might have messed it up? No, what you wouldn't have? That was kind of a.

A little gift from heaven or a gift from his uncle, as you know. Yeah, the interesting I don't know if I've ever told that story on Here we meet and Luke were sitting in a blind and he said, man, if I ever showed you this knife that my uncle baby, And I was like, no, I mean you already know this and me a knife and I flipped up in the thing and I pulled it out. It's a nice made knife, you know, and I was checking it out and I flipped it over and the piece of metal that runs inserted into the handle of your knife out to the blade it's blading it or one piece is referred to as a tang. And on the tang, the spine of the tang was you found yours killer just sitting there on the back killers awesome of the thing. And I was like, and I was like, hey, do have you ever thought about making that song to day? He was like what. I was like, right here on the on the knife it says you found yours, And he was like what he had never even seen it? Wow? Pretty?

Yeah that was cool. But yeah, that's more than anything. I just want to tell you again how much I love that song. I appreciate that.

I'm glad it got away from you and made its way to me.

Yeah, I appreciate that.

I want to take your compliment and turn it into a selfish thing for myself.

The guitar, let's let's hear it. Let's just hear the gravorite.

Oh we're gonna go graving.

Yeah.

So this is one that it's like, I feel like there's only a few songs that have ever existed for me, at least that if I've heard him ten thousand times, sometimes the song will get kind of like, you know you're gonna for sure, you just get tired of a little bit. This is just one that I've always like. Looking back, I realized when I was a kid that I actually got songwriting without getting it, because I remember being fixated on this song and some of the some of the lines in it. Same too, when I was like when everybody else didn't care, like all my friends here at all, and I was like, man, I didn't understand something about this song. That's yeah, I remember that, and I you know, for you know, probably two decades now or whatever it is. I gotta play. I gotta play on this song.

I gotta play a show with Mark Messler and watch him, watch him, dude, the song it is. It will kill you?

Man?

Can we sing me? Please? Do? Let's do first course?

M h.

You always had a nye for things glitter, and I was far from being made of gold. I don't know how, but I scraped up the money.

Yeah.

I just never cook.

Quiet to you know, just like when you were leaving and we're real old. You're taking that new job in Tennessee. I quid, mine's a week be together. I can't forget the way you looked at me, just to see use smile.

Will I do anything.

That you wanted me to and all it said and done.

Well, I never count calls.

It's worth all that's laws just to see smile. God, you.

What a murder that what you played that live.

Dude, you have written many of those that do the exact same thing and go to for a long time, and we appreciate you.

Love you, thank you all for being bro.

I love you many, I love you your right song.

Yeah sure, thanks for coming out with us with the set God's Country, Country Country. We'll see all later, Bohm

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God's Country

“God’s Country” with brothers Dan and Reid Isbell is a rollicking weekly podcast that sits at the in 
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