Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, I'm George Burge.
Speaker 2: You know, I would see people around me move to
Speaker 2: town and have a hit song, songs placed on TV shows,
Speaker 2: or big tour offers, or you know, opportunity to write
Speaker 2: with the biggest writers in town, and I would start
Speaker 2: to question, like, what do I not have that they have.
Speaker 2: God provides you with blessings when he feels like you're
Speaker 2: ready to handle them. I think that God was making
Speaker 2: sure that I was really sound. I can genuinely say
Speaker 2: like without a foundation of faith, like I wouldn't be
Speaker 2: here today.
Speaker 1: And this is the upload.
Speaker 3: Well, y'all, I'm excited for this conversation. He's a husband,
Speaker 3: he's a father, he is an amazing country artist, and
Speaker 3: I'm just excited to learn more about just a little
Speaker 3: bit of our friend, George Burge.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the upload, Brook, Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: having me in. I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 3: I love your voice because I feel like you can
Speaker 3: hear him smile like those who are not watching the
Speaker 3: video when you when you speak, I feel like I
Speaker 3: can just hear joy in your voice.
Speaker 1: Life is pretty good.
Speaker 2: I don't have a lot to frown about these days,
Speaker 2: so I am genuinely happy to be here.
Speaker 4: I love that.
Speaker 3: Well, we always start the converse just kind of learning
Speaker 3: about what your faith is like and what faith means
Speaker 3: to you as a human being.
Speaker 1: I think it's foundation for me.
Speaker 2: We, especially in the music industry, live in a world
Speaker 2: where you're judged every day, and there are times of
Speaker 2: like insane prosperity, and then there's times where it's just
Speaker 2: like scarce and you know the people that you thought,
Speaker 2: where friends are fleeting, and you know there's you know,
Speaker 2: dry periods where maybe your music's not working or even
Speaker 2: on the come up, you know, it's like you're you're
Speaker 2: out there just kind of trying to make something out
Speaker 2: of nothing, and without that foundation of like trust that
Speaker 2: God's got you and that you're on the right path
Speaker 2: and that you know his timing is perfect, a lot
Speaker 2: of times you can start questioning or trying to force things,
Speaker 2: and I can genuinely say, like, without a foundation of faith,
Speaker 2: like I wouldn't be here today totally.
Speaker 3: And I know that your your story. We're going to
Speaker 3: dive more deep into it. But even starting in a
Speaker 3: duo and then kind of going along doing your own thing,
Speaker 3: that's got to be a big like faith roller coaster
Speaker 3: for you, trying to figure out what you're going to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I moved to town in a country duo
Speaker 2: called Waterloo Revival. And I had never thought that I
Speaker 2: would play music for a living. I always just did
Speaker 2: it out of passion.
Speaker 1: I loved it.
Speaker 2: And so we had a little band and we were
Speaker 2: playing on Sixth Street down in Austin, and I had
Speaker 2: a job, and you know, intention of, I bought a house.
Speaker 2: My wife and I you know, were building a life together.
Speaker 2: And all of a sudden, I got an offer for
Speaker 2: my first record deal to move to Nashville. And so
Speaker 2: that was even that having faith of like maybe this
Speaker 2: is what I've called to do, Like I've always wanted
Speaker 2: to play music for a living. I've got my job
Speaker 2: that I was supposed to get, but I'm not that happy.
Speaker 2: Like God, I'm gonna trust you. I'm gonna quit my
Speaker 2: job and move to Nashville, and I'm gonna take a
Speaker 2: shot on this record deal.
Speaker 1: And so that's what we did.
Speaker 2: We packed up a U haul, I quit my job,
Speaker 2: my wife quit her job, and we moved up to
Speaker 2: Nashville and we chased it for a couple of years
Speaker 2: as a couple of probably six years as a duo
Speaker 2: and it just didn't happen. We were putting out songs
Speaker 2: and they would get a little bit of heat and
Speaker 2: then they would kind of, you know, fall off, and
Speaker 2: nothing would happen. We'd go tour and there'd be twenty
Speaker 2: thirty people there. It shows, and you know, I was
Speaker 2: grinding and out trying to write songs that would connect
Speaker 2: with people. I was trying to figure out, you know,
Speaker 2: why other people around me were having success and I wasn't.
Speaker 2: And it was definitely like, you know, a time where
Speaker 2: I kind of question everything, like did I throw away
Speaker 2: a life and a career that I should have been
Speaker 2: having to go chase his dream? Did I make the
Speaker 2: wrong decision? You know, I made my wife quit her
Speaker 2: job and moved to Nashville. You know, what are we
Speaker 2: doing out here? And it was one of those things
Speaker 2: that had I not had a her support and be
Speaker 2: just like the trust in like God's timing is perfect,
Speaker 2: I probably would have quit. And I did try to
Speaker 2: quit a couple of times, but it ended up working
Speaker 2: out like it was supposed to.
Speaker 3: Take us through some of those moments of questioning, because
Speaker 3: I feel like we all question day to day, there's
Speaker 3: always you know, things that are happening in our lives
Speaker 3: where were like, why this doesn't make sense? Yeah, in
Speaker 3: those moments of questioning, what were you feeling?
Speaker 2: You know, I think it's really hard to take your
Speaker 2: ego out of stuff. And so, you know, I would
Speaker 2: see people around me move to town and have a
Speaker 2: hit song, you know, six months later, I would see
Speaker 2: people getting looks, you know, either songs placed on TV
Speaker 2: shows or big tour offers, or you know, opportunity to
Speaker 2: write with the biggest writers in town. And I would
Speaker 2: start to question, like what do I not have that
Speaker 2: they have? Or what do I not have that they have?
Speaker 2: You know, why am I not getting blessed with these things?
Speaker 2: I'm trying to, you know, pray and live the right
Speaker 2: life and and do good, and you know, I just
Speaker 2: it wasn't coming to me. And and so then I
Speaker 2: started questioning if that was even what I was supposed
Speaker 2: to be doing, making music. And it's one of those
Speaker 2: things that, uh, I think that God provides you with
Speaker 2: blessings when he feels like you're ready to handle them.
Speaker 2: And now that I'm on the other side of it,
Speaker 2: I think that God was making sure that I was
Speaker 2: sound in my marriage, with a relationship with my kids,
Speaker 2: as a father, making sure that I knew how to
Speaker 2: handle like the temptation out on the road, the temptation
Speaker 2: of having money and clout and the opportunity to do
Speaker 2: whatever you want, but making sure you're on.
Speaker 1: The right path.
Speaker 2: And I do feel pretty strongly that had he blessed
Speaker 2: me with all those things, like right when I moved
Speaker 2: to town, I did not have the tools in place
Speaker 2: to be able to handle that. And so like as
Speaker 2: I've started to have success now and grow now, his
Speaker 2: plan and his vision has become a lot more clear
Speaker 2: to me, and it's given me even more peace for
Speaker 2: like what the future is going to hold, because his
Speaker 2: plan has been so perfect so far that I don't
Speaker 2: have to question it. And it's it's nice to kind
Speaker 2: of have found peace in that. And it was a
Speaker 2: really rocky road to get there. But I think that
Speaker 2: you know a lot of times, the trials, the struggles,
Speaker 2: you know, the twelve hour drives overnight, the you know,
Speaker 2: ratty hotel rooms that you get bed bugs in, the
Speaker 2: nobody's showing up to your shows, the sparse times or
Speaker 2: there's no money coming in all of that is just
Speaker 2: strengthening you, toughening you for when he does provide. And
Speaker 2: that's kind of how I've felt in this last year.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I love what you said about you know, I
Speaker 5: try to quit multiple times. Yeah, And you've got to
Speaker 5: tell it's hard to take the ego out of it.
Speaker 5: And in that look back, and it's like he was
Speaker 5: preparing me, and I wonder if that is the plan
Speaker 5: for us to when we're following Jesus and we're also
Speaker 5: immersed in temptation, fame, all of these things, but also
Speaker 5: the purification of the agenda my why Almost It's like
Speaker 5: I wonder if the giving up, It's like that's what
Speaker 5: he was trying to do all along, is getting you
Speaker 5: to give up so that he could step in and
Speaker 5: kind of make it happen for you for the credit
Speaker 5: being his, not the credit being mine. Is that Do
Speaker 5: you feel like there's another way other than that? Do
Speaker 5: you feel like that? Because I just hear a lot
Speaker 5: of stories that that's the way. That's not like it
Speaker 5: looks different, feels different every time, but like every time,
Speaker 5: that's the way he was just trying to get me
Speaker 5: to give up.
Speaker 2: It's super interesting to hear you say, and I guess
Speaker 2: i'd maybe never put it in that lens. But even
Speaker 2: when I think about my timeline, so you know, I
Speaker 2: had moved to town, I'd gotten my record deal, and
Speaker 2: when you get your record deal, you know everything.
Speaker 1: You've seen on TV in the movies, you think, Okay, well.
Speaker 2: Now I've made it right, Like now I'm going to
Speaker 2: be a millionaire. Now it's like they're gonna be huge.
Speaker 2: And it just wasn't right. That was step one, and
Speaker 2: then it kind of fizzled out after that. And so
Speaker 2: when I asked out of my deal and when I
Speaker 2: thought I was done.
Speaker 1: I basically had given up.
Speaker 2: I decided I was going to be a songwriter, and
Speaker 2: then I was done with touring and done with the
Speaker 2: artist thing. And I talked to my duo partner in
Speaker 2: the band and just kind of been like, hey, I
Speaker 2: think I'm done touring. We've given this a fair shot.
Speaker 2: It's not working. I'm going to write songs for a
Speaker 2: little bit. And it wouldn't six months after that that
Speaker 2: I had just kind of let it all go that
Speaker 2: my solo career started working out. I started really focusing
Speaker 2: on songs. I started unapologetically being myself instead of trying
Speaker 2: to chase the other people that I saw making it.
Speaker 2: Maybe if I sounded more like him, I would make it,
Speaker 2: or maybe if I acted more like this person, I
Speaker 2: would make it. And all of that kind of went
Speaker 2: away because I had let go, and then I just
Speaker 2: dug into myself and I was like, what kind of
Speaker 2: songs do I.
Speaker 1: Want to write?
Speaker 2: You know, how do I you know, look in the
Speaker 2: mirror and write stuff that I'm proud of that means something.
Speaker 2: And it was when I started doing that that people
Speaker 2: started connecting with my music when I wasn't even trying.
Speaker 1: And that's it.
Speaker 5: But I think, like I hear, it's like God doesn't
Speaker 5: want you to give up. He just wants I feel
Speaker 5: it in my own story, but like God wants you
Speaker 5: to give up pretending yes because that's what you're like. Man.
Speaker 5: I was trying to like, okay, what works and trying
Speaker 5: to put that imprint on top of who I really was.
Speaker 5: But as soon as I didn't care anymore in the
Speaker 5: right way, yes, you know, not in there, I'm going
Speaker 5: to show them and screw there like I will show
Speaker 5: you know, not not caring in that way, but like
Speaker 5: letting go and being like I'm just going to be
Speaker 5: me because I've kind of like tried it, it didn't work.
Speaker 5: Now I'm free, and so there's the consistency and this
Speaker 5: halfway point of like giving up pretending but still being
Speaker 5: faithful to the mission and not conflating those two things.
Speaker 5: That's a really beautiful thing, bro to actually.
Speaker 2: Fancy a mission without pretending. That's exactly right, And that's
Speaker 2: that's it's such a hard thing to do because it's
Speaker 2: so easy, especially like I said, when when there's ego
Speaker 2: involved and when you've got your own intentions involved, it's
Speaker 2: so easy to try to force the agenda. It's so
Speaker 2: easy to try to say, well, I can see everything,
Speaker 2: I can see your plan working for these people, so
Speaker 2: I'm just going to do exactly that. When you know
Speaker 2: it's it's unique to everybody, and your own challenges and
Speaker 2: your own journey are all.
Speaker 1: Preparing you for you know, the reward at the end.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so good.
Speaker 3: And this is so fun because over the weekend I
Speaker 3: actually just learned about something called the Iceberg method, and
Speaker 3: like everything you're saying is really just kind of like
Speaker 3: speaking to that. So it's basically like you see everything
Speaker 3: that's happening in public, but you neglect everything that happens
Speaker 3: in private and basically in an iceberg, if you're like
Speaker 3: visually looking at something, there's like ten percent of an
Speaker 3: iceberg above water, right, and then ninety percent is below
Speaker 3: the water. So it's you know, you neglect all of
Speaker 3: the things that are happening below the water, and everybody
Speaker 3: sees this perfect life you're trying to live on Instagram
Speaker 3: or like in the world or in your career. Everybody
Speaker 3: thinks you're doing great. But below the water, you're like,
Speaker 3: this is hard, this is heavy, and basically like saying like,
Speaker 3: don't cut corners, be authentically you. You were talking earlier
Speaker 3: about laying a firm foundation, and I think laying that foundation,
Speaker 3: God was almost protecting you in all of this, saying
Speaker 3: you think this is where you're supposed to be, you know,
Speaker 3: living Waterloo Revival or living you know, this Nashville life.
Speaker 3: But like, I need you to focus on what's below
Speaker 3: the water first. So you built the firm foundation. You
Speaker 3: worked on your marriage, you had time with your kids
Speaker 3: when they were little, you know what I mean, and
Speaker 3: really building that foundation so that way you're a strong
Speaker 3: it that way, everything above water matches everything below water,
Speaker 3: and I.
Speaker 2: Really think that when I turned the lens inward was
Speaker 2: when I figured out how to operate on a bigger scale.
Speaker 2: You know, once I got that foundation really solidified, that
Speaker 2: freed me up to to fearlessly go chase my dream
Speaker 2: And because I knew that my wife and I were
Speaker 2: rock solid, and I knew that my kids knew who
Speaker 2: their dad was and that we were going to talk
Speaker 2: on the phone every night, and that you know, they
Speaker 2: wouldn't ever not feel like they had.
Speaker 1: A support system from me.
Speaker 2: And it's crazy how much that frees you up. And
Speaker 2: you know, when we started music, it was crazy for
Speaker 2: me and it was crazy for Kara. And we obviously
Speaker 2: had our struggles of like learning how to tour and
Speaker 2: learning how to communicate and learning how to chase dreams
Speaker 2: without you know, sacrificing our whole life. And I think
Speaker 2: that we were able to make it through that struggle
Speaker 2: and create this super strong foundation where we really trust
Speaker 2: each other and we really know how to communicate with
Speaker 2: each other, and even just like praying together and like
Speaker 2: being intentional and like unapologetically saying our dreams out loud
Speaker 2: has like made us so much closer. And then I
Speaker 2: think that even without saying it. We both operate like
Speaker 2: chasing that because we've said it out loud together and
Speaker 2: that we know that there's a higher power watching over us.
Speaker 2: So all of that foundation helps me go out on
Speaker 2: the road and be like, hey, whatever this turns into,
Speaker 2: if I have ten more number ones, if I don't
Speaker 2: ever have another number one, I have the most important
Speaker 2: thing in the world to me at home, and that
Speaker 2: lets me go out there and chase it fearlessly.
Speaker 4: Yeah, let's talk more about that. Ways.
Speaker 3: Now, the success is loud, right, the success is happening.
Speaker 3: Everything's been thrown at you. Life is awesome. How do
Speaker 3: you protect your faith in these moments?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 2: You know, I have been so well insulated by the
Speaker 2: touring team that I've built. We have a super tight
Speaker 2: knit family. We pray together before every show. We love
Speaker 2: to kind of hype each other up. My band goes
Speaker 2: to Bible study together when they're back in town. And
Speaker 2: so it's like, I think we've created this this almost
Speaker 2: like touring family where we support each other on and
Speaker 2: off the road, and we know what is required at
Speaker 2: home as well. And so you know, there's a lot
Speaker 2: of grace for the touring family because of that. And
Speaker 2: then when I am home, it's it's just being intentional.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: We we try to go to church on Sundays when
Speaker 2: we come back. My boys, I've really encouraged them to,
Speaker 2: like before we have dinner tonight. I even my six
Speaker 2: year old to be like, all right, Luke, you want
Speaker 2: to you want to lead us some prayer tonight before
Speaker 2: we get dinner, and.
Speaker 1: It'll be his, you know, little version of a prayer.
Speaker 2: But it's like giving them knowing that it's something that
Speaker 2: I'm rooted in, but giving them the authority to feel
Speaker 2: like they're leading. And so you know, we have a
Speaker 2: different member of the band lead prayer before we go
Speaker 2: on stage every night, and my kids, you know, I
Speaker 2: try to be like, all right, buddy, what do you
Speaker 2: want to say? How do you want to talk to God?
Speaker 2: And trying to have everybody involved, have everybody speaking their peace,
Speaker 2: and then just you know, having each other's back when
Speaker 2: we're on the road too, because we're all going to
Speaker 2: stumble and we're all going to have hard times. But
Speaker 2: knowing that you have that safety nut around you is
Speaker 2: pretty awesome.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's amazing, dude. And I heard you say, Earlie,
Speaker 5: one thing that stuck out to me, just like knowing
Speaker 5: who to trust and kind of like people that you
Speaker 5: thought were your friends. I think that you kind of
Speaker 5: got bumpy or whatever happened. There was falling out through
Speaker 5: that process of giving up but then also making it
Speaker 5: and whatever that means and success and fame. What does
Speaker 5: that look like? What's what does it look like to
Speaker 5: know who to trust? How do you know who to trust?
Speaker 5: How have you wrestled with that? I think support systems
Speaker 5: are everything. I'm so glad to hear you have a
Speaker 5: great one around your touring. But what was it like
Speaker 5: with just that relational tussle of knowing who to trust
Speaker 5: and motivations and people jumping on the train, on the
Speaker 5: vandwagon all that.
Speaker 2: I think, especially in show business, and especially when you're
Speaker 2: new to it and you fee and you are a
Speaker 2: bit blinded by the shining lights and everything, it's very
Speaker 2: easy to get lost in transactional relationships and believe that
Speaker 2: they are real and people are going to be drawn
Speaker 2: to people that can help them grow. And so a
Speaker 2: lot of times you'll come to town and I had
Speaker 2: a little bit of heat.
Speaker 1: I had a new record deal.
Speaker 2: So all these big songwriters wanted to write with me,
Speaker 2: and you know, all these big press publications wanted to,
Speaker 2: you know, have interviews with me, and you start believing that, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I deserve this, and all these people are lucky to
Speaker 2: be my friends, and you know that I'm friends with
Speaker 2: all these people. And then you lose your record deal
Speaker 2: and then your song doesn't work, and then you don't
Speaker 2: get return phone calls or you know, and and and
Speaker 2: you just kind of fall off the earth, and that
Speaker 2: it'll hit you hard if you genuinely believe like that
Speaker 2: is your value and those are your friendship. But there
Speaker 2: are people that still answer the phone when you're not
Speaker 2: on top of the mountain, and that's like your real foundation.
Speaker 2: And I think the second time on the climb, for me,
Speaker 2: it's making sure that I'm aware of that and making
Speaker 2: sure I know I nurture the ones that are going
Speaker 2: to be there forever. And I mean my wife is
Speaker 2: the number one example of that, right Like she was
Speaker 2: coming to watch me play shows at the Mellow Mushroom
Speaker 2: when I was playing open mic night on the oh
Speaker 2: you know, on the drag at the University of Texas,
Speaker 2: and she's been there, like she's seen me at my
Speaker 2: lowest my most embarrassing attitude guitars when I couldn't sing
Speaker 2: to save my life. But I was still chasing it.
Speaker 2: And now she's seen me on the other side of it.
Speaker 2: Never once do I question if this all went away,
Speaker 2: that she would still be there tomorrow. And I think
Speaker 2: it's like finding value in like knowing that God loves you,
Speaker 2: knowing that you have a foundation in your family, and
Speaker 2: knowing that you have friends that.
Speaker 1: Love you for who you are and not what you have.
Speaker 2: And it doesn't mean you can't have transactional relationships, like
Speaker 2: you can have people that can help you get where
Speaker 2: you're going, and you can help other people get where
Speaker 2: they're going, and it is part of the industry that
Speaker 2: we're in, Like you have to have it, you have
Speaker 2: to have somebody giving you a hand up. But I
Speaker 2: think it's realizing what's real, what's work, and where your
Speaker 2: value lies is not in the transaction, but it's in
Speaker 2: who you are as a person, who you are as
Speaker 2: a friend.
Speaker 3: I just like see the word integrity like all over
Speaker 3: you like celebrating and just surrounding yourself with people of
Speaker 3: integrity is so important. Actually, have been reading proverbs and
Speaker 3: it's just like you know the weight of your influence
Speaker 3: is so important, and I think you making that, you
Speaker 3: know the decision to say I need to surround myself
Speaker 3: with people who are going to be there when things
Speaker 3: go bad. That not even just it as an artist,
Speaker 3: people that are watching or listening to this, like in
Speaker 3: real life at work, people that you you know, do
Speaker 3: life with, friends that you know are your neighbors. Like
Speaker 3: celebrating and surrounding yourself with people of integrity that are
Speaker 3: always going to have your back and always know who
Speaker 3: you are regardless of this circumstance.
Speaker 4: Gosh, that's so important.
Speaker 1: It's probably the most important.
Speaker 2: And I feel like this year, I was just talking
Speaker 2: to my wife yesterday about this, I have felt God
Speaker 2: call me more than probably ever in my life, and
Speaker 2: it's like it is from the people that He has
Speaker 2: surrounded me with. And I've tried to listen and I've
Speaker 2: tried to lean into that. From some of my best
Speaker 2: songwriting buddies inviting me to Bible study, to hiring a
Speaker 2: couple guys in the band that were had a lot
Speaker 2: of the same values as I did and weren't interested
Speaker 2: in like chasing girls on the road or getting you know,
Speaker 2: into trouble every night, and then you know, we ended
Speaker 2: up starting to hire more and more people like that,
Speaker 2: and then the new guys that would come on to
Speaker 2: the crew, they would see the culture of our band,
Speaker 2: and we would have the opportunity to influence these guys
Speaker 2: that are right out of college or just starting their
Speaker 2: first touring career, and they're starting to see, hey, you
Speaker 2: don't have to be a scumbag to be on the road,
Speaker 2: and hey you can't have a family life and you can,
Speaker 2: you know, Chase, you know, positive things and still have
Speaker 2: fun and be on the road and make music and
Speaker 2: have a good time like that that can co exist.
Speaker 2: And I think that for me it's just been leaning
Speaker 2: into that influence that God is calling me. I don't
Speaker 2: have to be out like preaching every night and bashing
Speaker 2: people over the head with it. And I do think
Speaker 2: that it is good to share the word, and I
Speaker 2: do try to as best I can. But I think
Speaker 2: even if you can just live a life where your
Speaker 2: content and where you are just leading by example, and
Speaker 2: I think that that's what we try to do, is
Speaker 2: just you know, have as many people out there showing
Speaker 2: that you can do both. And I've had friends lead
Speaker 2: me by example, go into Bible study every Tuesday morning
Speaker 2: on music row and just you know, being unafraid to
Speaker 2: pray for each other and being unafraid to be vulnerable
Speaker 2: and talk about their problems. That doesn't come naturally to me,
Speaker 2: but they've led me by example being a part of that.
Speaker 2: And so now that's like every Tuesday I go fill
Speaker 2: my cup and it takes to weight off my shoulders
Speaker 2: being like, hey, these are real friends, and I can
Speaker 2: we all have real problem and we can all pray
Speaker 2: for each other. And I think just when you listen
Speaker 2: to God and you see the people that He puts
Speaker 2: in your life that are pulling you in the right direction,
Speaker 2: lean into it because He's doing it for a reason.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you shall know them by their fruit. Lead by example.
Speaker 5: It's like God his love is communicated to people, not
Speaker 5: just from the principles from the mountaintop, but like your
Speaker 5: life and the integrity a good name is worth more
Speaker 5: than gold. And you can see and I just want
Speaker 5: to affirm, like one hundred percent, Bro, there's like a
Speaker 5: character and a name that you've wrestled with in terms
Speaker 5: of choices, and I'd love to hear like that's not
Speaker 5: an easy for someone who personally, you know, kind of
Speaker 5: knows a little bit of that wrestle. It's intense. I've
Speaker 5: been last year was a very intense wrestle for like
Speaker 5: what are you going to be? And how you know?
Speaker 5: What are you going to choose when no one's watching?
Speaker 5: And I think for for that wrestle to speak like
Speaker 5: you've chosen that over and over again, you've been great
Speaker 5: at it, you'd been not so great at it. But
Speaker 5: the wrestle of the choice too, for integrity in the
Speaker 5: private when no one's watching, How do you? How do
Speaker 5: you do it? Yeah? How do you do? Because I
Speaker 5: think so many people like man, I just can't. I
Speaker 5: just keep falling and praise God for his grace and
Speaker 5: he keeps picking it up. But like the disciplines of
Speaker 5: of good choices in in the behind the scenes, Yeah,
Speaker 5: it's the gold, Like, that's the gold.
Speaker 2: I think that I've found a lot of peace this
Speaker 2: year in accepting that nobody is perfect and you can't
Speaker 2: be perfect. And God, you know, designed us in his image,
Speaker 2: but he didn't design us to be perfect.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: That's why he had to send Jesus down, and that's
Speaker 2: why you know he had to be sacrificed. It's because
Speaker 2: there's nobody that can live perfectly. And I think that
Speaker 2: all he wants is us to be pursued him. And
Speaker 2: if you're actively pursuing him, and if you are wrestling,
Speaker 2: that means you're doing it right. If you've given up
Speaker 2: and you just say, you know, let this in take
Speaker 2: you over and say I'm going to be taken by
Speaker 2: temptation and I'm going to accept it. That's one thing.
Speaker 2: We're all going to have temptation. We're all going to stumble.
Speaker 2: But I think that if you wake up every day
Speaker 2: choosing to wrestle it and choosing to try to pursue God,
Speaker 2: you can find peace that you're doing what he's asking.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I have been having really deep conversations with my husband
Speaker 3: recently about just like men of God, and he's been
Speaker 3: i don't know, just like convicted to be a leader
Speaker 3: because he's like, so many of these young men are lost,
Speaker 3: and you talking about bringing these guys right out of
Speaker 3: college on the road with you and teaching them like
Speaker 3: what a life can look like when you are a
Speaker 3: man of God. Talk to us about some of those
Speaker 3: like values and things that you're trying to instill into them,
Speaker 3: because what is what is being a man of God
Speaker 3: to you?
Speaker 4: What does that feel like? I mean, you've got two
Speaker 4: boys as well.
Speaker 2: Sure, I think the the thing that I struggled with
Speaker 2: most in the beginning was like, who am I to
Speaker 2: tell these guys what to do? Or who am I
Speaker 2: to be a leader? Like I'm not perfect and I
Speaker 2: have my flaws, and you know, I struggle every day,
Speaker 2: But I think it's just an effort to you know,
Speaker 2: try to save them from some of the stuff that
Speaker 2: I struggled with and teach them some of the tips
Speaker 2: that I've learned to be able to you know, function
Speaker 2: and live life in a way that's fulfilling. And you know,
Speaker 2: I didn't have a ton of people around me in
Speaker 2: the beginning pulling me in a great direction. And so
Speaker 2: once I found those people, I've tried to like understand,
Speaker 2: you know, what they did for me and how they
Speaker 2: pulled me in, and I've tried to do that for
Speaker 2: other people. And so again, it's just like creating a
Speaker 2: culture where it's like we're not preaching or we're not
Speaker 2: bashing over the head, or we're not judging you, but
Speaker 2: it's like, hey, you know, we're being vulnerable, we're praying,
Speaker 2: we're going to church, we're being faithful to our spouse.
Speaker 2: Is you know, we still like to have a good
Speaker 2: time and we still like to go out on the
Speaker 2: road and make music and do what we love. And
Speaker 2: you can have both. There's a world where all of
Speaker 2: that can exist. And we're not going to bash you
Speaker 2: over the head with it. But like, if you want
Speaker 2: to come join us, come on, yeah, and we'll teach
Speaker 2: you what you know and what we know.
Speaker 3: Proverbs eleven thirty. The one who is wise saves lives.
Speaker 3: I just I love that. I see that all over you,
Speaker 3: just like a man of integrity, a man of God
Speaker 3: who is he's doing his best. You're doing your best,
Speaker 3: You've lived through life, and you're trying to help others
Speaker 3: along the way. I think it's such a special thing,
Speaker 3: and it's such a special special characteristic, especially in this
Speaker 3: industry where people are unfaithful to their wives and people
Speaker 3: you know, fall to all of the temptation that's around
Speaker 3: them all of the time. Like you think that walk
Speaker 3: into work every day and like, you know, living a
Speaker 3: normal life, like there's temptation there. Get yourself on the
Speaker 3: road where you're in front of thousands of people every night.
Speaker 3: Girls are in the DMS. They don't care that you're married,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean. There's just so many things
Speaker 3: in the industry that I think the weight of that
Speaker 3: can get so heavy.
Speaker 4: But man, you carry it well.
Speaker 2: Thank you for saying that. It's It's interesting. I've heard
Speaker 2: some artists and some famous people before I kind of
Speaker 2: got to a level of some success, talk about how
Speaker 2: it's never enough to fill the hole. You know, you've
Speaker 2: got rock bottom where you have nothing and you're hungry,
Speaker 2: and you always are like, you know, one day when
Speaker 2: I have money, or one day when I have a house,
Speaker 2: or one day I want to have a car, but
Speaker 2: it's never enough. And eventually, when you have everything and
Speaker 2: you can have anything you want at any time and
Speaker 2: it still doesn't scratch the itch, then what do you do?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 2: And that's where a lot of people fall into, you know,
Speaker 2: bad problems. And so I think that it's been really
Speaker 2: important to have the things that you can't buy with money.
Speaker 2: You can't buy with fame, you can't buy in that world.
Speaker 2: It's the family, the friends. Golf has been huge for me.
Speaker 2: It's a game that I can never conquer and you
Speaker 2: know something that always keeps me challenged. And I think
Speaker 2: that's the that what God had to teach me before
Speaker 2: he could give me success was that when you can
Speaker 2: find peace in what is important and what you do have,
Speaker 2: then I can provide you with this bounty and you'll
Speaker 2: be ready to handle it and you will know that
Speaker 2: that is not the end. I'll be all, it's just
Speaker 2: a blessing.
Speaker 1: Our type of it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I guess that's coming back to the whole
Speaker 5: like giving up thing. And we're having this conversation last
Speaker 5: night but about billionaires, and it was like, like we
Speaker 5: know too, Like the guy I was playing golf with
Speaker 5: and he's like, they're like the nicest people I've ever met,
Speaker 5: like the best people, like, and they're billionaires. Like and
Speaker 5: he goes, but then I know, like millionaires that are
Speaker 5: the worst people. And it's like it's skips. There's something happens.
Speaker 5: And I said to him something that I that I
Speaker 5: just recognized in this conversation. I think there's a process
Speaker 5: that everyone goes through of like the wrestle of what
Speaker 5: will fill that hole. It's like, oh, a little bit
Speaker 5: of that, and then you go, Okay, there's nothing that
Speaker 5: will fill that hole to a point of God's really
Speaker 5: not interested in the stuff, He's not really interested in
Speaker 5: giving me, or that He's really really interested in me
Speaker 5: and getting the real me. And so the process is
Speaker 5: to get the real me, to strip away all the ego,
Speaker 5: the pride that gets in the way, the sin that
Speaker 5: so easily entangles, so that I can see all of
Speaker 5: this for the real thing, like all of the game.
Speaker 5: I can see it for how he sees it. Sure,
Speaker 5: And then I think the billionaires are just the ones
Speaker 5: that have been beat up a lot by the wrong
Speaker 5: thinking and submitted to the process. I'm just stripping away
Speaker 5: to then. And it's not about a money thing. But
Speaker 5: we just made the interesting correlation of everyone's got a process.
Speaker 5: It's all the same journey to get to the real you.
Speaker 5: It's an identity thing that the world is trying everything
Speaker 5: to constrict, conflate, pervert, distract who you really are. And ah,
Speaker 5: God really cares, is like, who's the real mack? Let him?
Speaker 5: You know? Eminem said, at first, I guess with a
Speaker 5: real slim shady please stand.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2: That's a throwback right well, and it gives you so
Speaker 2: much peace and not having to pretend right and just
Speaker 2: being able to I don't know, you're not putting on
Speaker 2: a show. You're you get to go be yourself and
Speaker 2: you get to be content and feel that you're enough.
Speaker 2: And that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy, uh, the
Speaker 2: success and enjoy the gifts that God gives you. It's
Speaker 2: it's just taking them for what they are, yeah, and
Speaker 2: then trying to do good and share with them, you know,
Speaker 2: donating time, donating shows, donating to charities, that that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff, and and knowing you know, finding joy in
Speaker 2: that as well.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, man, I just who much has given?
Speaker 3: Much is required and you know kind of talking about
Speaker 3: what you're just saying about giving back and things like that.
Speaker 3: The billionaire mindset too. It's just like if you live
Speaker 3: with your fists clothed, you know, it's just like you're
Speaker 3: you're gonna miss out. But if you just live with
Speaker 3: your hands open and are just like, if I'm blessed,
Speaker 3: you're blessed, you know what I mean. I feel like
Speaker 3: you're even you're rewarded even more because it's you know,
Speaker 3: God wants to give you the desires of your heart,
Speaker 3: but he doesn't want you to be stingy with them.
Speaker 3: He wants you to be generous, and that's what we're
Speaker 3: called to do. Love God, love people, be generous, build
Speaker 3: up the people around us.
Speaker 4: And I don't know, I.
Speaker 3: Just I keep just wanting to like build you up,
Speaker 3: like you're just doing such a great job, and I'm
Speaker 3: just proud to know you.
Speaker 2: I felt that really early in the beginning, was like
Speaker 2: I felt so tight fisted of like I need to
Speaker 2: make it so that I can provide for my family
Speaker 2: and that we never have to worry about money again.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: I need to make I need to have these hits
Speaker 2: so that I can buy a house and then I
Speaker 2: can buy a car, and that I can be bulletproof
Speaker 2: to the world and I will have my fortune and
Speaker 2: nobody can take it and I'll be set. And that
Speaker 2: was my mindset in the beginning, and it was it
Speaker 2: was the wrong one. It was when I you know,
Speaker 2: leaned in, try to plan, give to others, you know,
Speaker 2: and when you give, it comes back ten times full.
Speaker 5: It's it's pretty that's freedom. Yeah, Like that attitude is freedom,
Speaker 5: you know, the type fist. It's like, you know, control,
Speaker 5: which is fear based, which is our own prison. And
Speaker 5: we get convinced into it because you know, it does.
Speaker 5: It does in some instances work in the short term.
Speaker 5: But like inside, we're in this prison of fear, and
Speaker 5: that's what I think the difference is. And just here
Speaker 5: and it's like, man, there is a freedom of like
Speaker 5: I don't care in the right way. It's free, you know.
Speaker 2: And I've been shocked in the number of times that
Speaker 2: I've since I've started to try to invest my time
Speaker 2: more and not worry about what other people can do
Speaker 2: for me, how many times I've leaned into somebody or
Speaker 2: try to be there for somebody that I didn't think
Speaker 2: could do anything for me. Where it's come back more
Speaker 2: so than and the relationships that I was chasing, the
Speaker 2: where I thought people could do something for me, And yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's crazy.
Speaker 5: His way, he is a higher than our ways. It's like,
Speaker 5: you know, he knows, like, hey, I'm I care about
Speaker 5: the outcome more than you, but I also really really
Speaker 5: care about the process because the process is important for
Speaker 5: the outcome, and that's the refinement of the real you
Speaker 5: living in that place that's free, not this like you know,
Speaker 5: controlling watching my back, but like the full the big picture,
Speaker 5: because really the big picture's eternity anyway. Yes, it's not
Speaker 5: even like an inheritance for my children's children. The big
Speaker 5: picture is forever, yes, and that's the game he's playing,
Speaker 5: and I'm just playing, like, hey, but what about next week?
Speaker 1: Exactly?
Speaker 5: So dang, yeah, good reminder.
Speaker 3: You mentioned, you know, refinement, and I feel like in
Speaker 3: the beginning of your career you did go through this
Speaker 3: refining process of like your thoughts and how you are
Speaker 3: living your life and like you know, what you thought
Speaker 3: the end goal was and things like that, and really
Speaker 3: just letting go of it at that moment. Right now currently,
Speaker 3: is God refining anything in your life right now that
Speaker 3: you're working on or you're learning, or anything that you'd
Speaker 3: like to share.
Speaker 2: That's a great question. Yes, one hundred percent. You know,
Speaker 2: I was talking about feeling him calling me more this
Speaker 2: year through the people around me, and so I think
Speaker 2: that He is refining me more in being selfless with
Speaker 2: my time and what I'm giving and not being so
Speaker 2: g oriented all the time. I pray almost every day
Speaker 2: of like, God, help me just trust your plan and
Speaker 2: you know, relinquish my own wants and needs. You know,
Speaker 2: this is what I want, but I want it to
Speaker 2: be part of your plan too, and I think that
Speaker 2: that's what he's refining in me right now, and it
Speaker 2: has helped me massively in my my anxiety of being
Speaker 2: able to let go and give it to him. And
Speaker 2: so I work on that through, you know, vocalizing it
Speaker 2: with my friends and and praying every day and just
Speaker 2: trying to really lean into We've started eating dinner as
Speaker 2: a family every night when I'm home at the table,
Speaker 2: which is new for us too, and it's just kind
Speaker 2: of taking in little things, talking about goals, but also
Speaker 2: trusting and giving thanks every day. It's thank you for
Speaker 2: the blessings that are in front of us, and whatever
Speaker 2: blessings you have ahead of us, or trials that you
Speaker 2: have ahead of us.
Speaker 1: We know that you're going to be walking with us.
Speaker 2: And for me, I am such a type a control freak,
Speaker 2: and so for him to kind of be standing those
Speaker 2: edges off of me, I can almost hear that voice
Speaker 2: in my head, and I can feel every time I pray,
Speaker 2: or every time I sit down and find peace with
Speaker 2: my family at the table or go to Bible study,
Speaker 2: I can almost feel that weight just melt off of
Speaker 2: me a little bit of like, hey, I'm not in control,
Speaker 2: so don't pretend to be. And that is kind of
Speaker 2: what he's working on me right now, and it's it's
Speaker 2: going to take a lot of work, but I'm getting closer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, the same way in.
Speaker 3: My family especially, I'm just so I just want to
Speaker 3: be in control, like you're doing that wrong, let me
Speaker 3: just do it, or you know this is happening, I
Speaker 3: need to do it myself because you're just gonna you're
Speaker 3: going to mess it up, or you know, you want
Speaker 3: to be in control of who's doing well, where they're going,
Speaker 3: things like that, And that's been something I've been working
Speaker 3: on too, where it's like, you know what, I've got
Speaker 3: to let you do it wrong because I can't do everything.
Speaker 3: You know true, And it's such a hard thing when
Speaker 3: you are that type a mentality where you're you're you're
Speaker 3: just naturally the one who is just outgoing, You're you're
Speaker 3: always ahead of everybody, you want to be everybody's friend,
Speaker 3: you want to you don't want to, you know, disappoint people,
Speaker 3: and you're like, well, if I can just make this, this,
Speaker 3: this and this and this happen, let me just taking
Speaker 3: that step back. Boy is at heart, so when you're
Speaker 3: talking about you know that that refinement of letting go
Speaker 3: and being like God, Jesus take the wheel.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I quit, I quit.
Speaker 5: In the right way. I'm still here, but I quit. Yeah,
Speaker 5: that's like.
Speaker 2: Well, And it's it's finding that middle ground of it's
Speaker 2: not quitting, but it's it's relinquishing control, right, And because
Speaker 2: it doesn't mean I can't hustle, and it doesn't mean
Speaker 2: I can't chase my dreams and it doesn't mean that
Speaker 2: I can't go try to outwork everybody and.
Speaker 1: Be the best at what I do.
Speaker 2: But it's being content with the result, and he's going
Speaker 2: to choose the result, and he's going to tell you
Speaker 2: when it's time. And that I think is the biggest
Speaker 2: thing for me, Like it's helped me find enjoyment in
Speaker 2: the journey. It's helped me find enjoyment in pure songwriting
Speaker 2: and enjoyment and purely just working on my show to
Speaker 2: have it be the best show that I can be
Speaker 2: and working on myself to be the best husband and
Speaker 2: best dat I can be. And whatever the result of
Speaker 2: that is in physical terms, is going to be what
Speaker 2: it is. But that's not my decision to make. So
Speaker 2: that has been what I'm working on, and you know,
Speaker 2: the there was a time where I felt guilty of
Speaker 2: like praying for a number one song, or praying for
Speaker 2: people to show up to my shows, or praying to
Speaker 2: have a tour bus or you know, why would God
Speaker 2: care about that when there's so many problems in the world.
Speaker 2: But it's God's going to give you your vehicle and
Speaker 2: use you in the way that he needs to use you.
Speaker 2: And it's okay to pray for success but also pray
Speaker 2: for the tools to know how to use it. And
Speaker 2: that's kind of what I'm working on right now.
Speaker 5: That's good. Yeah, so good. I needed two of us.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna stop that.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say, though, let's let's go there, because
Speaker 3: I feel like those listening who maybe I have a
Speaker 3: really one of my best friends in the entire world.
Speaker 3: She is the most faithful human being on the planet.
Speaker 3: She is knowledge like, she's knowledgeable, she is close. She's
Speaker 3: got such a heart for God, but she also struggles
Speaker 3: very hard with asking the Lord for the desires of
Speaker 3: her heart. And so we we decided collectively as a
Speaker 3: group of friends that we were going to do the
Speaker 3: esther fast together. She was just like, listen, I've been
Speaker 3: convicted that, you know, I want to ask for what
Speaker 3: I want to ask for. So in the Book of Esther,
Speaker 3: basically Esther she you know, she doesn't eat or drink
Speaker 3: for three days. We did water for three days. But
Speaker 3: she was just like, at the end of this fast,
Speaker 3: we're going to get together and we are going to
Speaker 3: sit in our our robes of gold, and we are
Speaker 3: going to ask God for what we want. She was
Speaker 3: just like, because this is something that I'm struggling with,
Speaker 3: and I want us to do this together. So in
Speaker 3: that sentiment asking the Lord for the desires of your heart,
Speaker 3: for somebody who's listening and wants a tangible way to say, like,
Speaker 3: how do I do that? What prayers are you praying
Speaker 3: to you know? Or what are you telling yourself to
Speaker 3: you know? How do you ask God for the desires
Speaker 3: of your heart without feeling guilty?
Speaker 1: I think that, you know.
Speaker 2: The biggest thing that I always start is, you know,
Speaker 2: if it be your will, you know, if it's something
Speaker 2: that's in your plans. I would love to have a
Speaker 2: great headline tour this year, and I would I would
Speaker 2: love to sell out these shows. And God please also
Speaker 2: grant me the tools to use that success to help
Speaker 2: share your name and help share your message and to
Speaker 2: make to bring me closer to you. God, Please help
Speaker 2: me be somebody that you would be proud of. Help
Speaker 2: me walk in your light, and please help me take
Speaker 2: these blessings and glorify your name, you know, And whether
Speaker 2: that's you know, having our house be the house in
Speaker 2: the neighborhood that's the open door and the kids can
Speaker 2: come over anytime they want, and all their friends can
Speaker 2: come over and they feel safe and they see, you know,
Speaker 2: a mom and dad that love each other, and you know,
Speaker 2: they feel supported, and they can take that out into
Speaker 2: their world, whether it's bringing new people on the band
Speaker 2: into you know, our touring world and giving them a
Speaker 2: place where they feel supported and a place that they
Speaker 2: feel like they can thrive and start a career and
Speaker 2: build their own family.
Speaker 1: It's it's okay to be blessed.
Speaker 2: It's okay to be thankful for the gifts that you have,
Speaker 2: and it's okay to to have your wants and desires.
Speaker 1: It's just part of being human.
Speaker 2: But it's also praying for the tools to you know, God,
Speaker 2: how do I use these blessings that You've given me
Speaker 2: in the best way.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, good God, I don't look at it. I
Speaker 5: got four kids, and my two older boys specifically have
Speaker 5: a lot of wants, and they come to me all
Speaker 5: the time, and I don't look at them when they
Speaker 5: ask me. Sometimes I look at them and go, dude,
Speaker 5: you don't really want that. I know you say you
Speaker 5: want that, but you don't really want that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Other times, I'm doing everything I can. Most of the time,
Speaker 5: I'm doing everything I can as a human average father
Speaker 5: that's full of I'm not God even close to it,
Speaker 5: but I do everything I can to figure out how
Speaker 5: to get my boys what they want, even the things
Speaker 5: when I'm like, ah, it's not even I know it's
Speaker 5: not the best thing for them, but I'm but I
Speaker 5: never ever I'm like, dude, you're an idiot. Stop wanting
Speaker 5: the wrong thing, not one time, even if they keep
Speaker 5: doing it. Yeah, And I just think to myself, Man,
Speaker 5: if me and my human Jesus would say it, you know,
Speaker 5: if it's like if a father of the earthly would
Speaker 5: not give his son a scorpion if he asks for
Speaker 5: a piece of bread, do you think like your father
Speaker 5: in heaven, who is infinitely more kind and perfect and
Speaker 5: loving and one of his names is provider. You think
Speaker 5: he's pissed that you're asking about what you want. He's
Speaker 5: looking at his son or his daughter, gone, how do
Speaker 5: I get this to them? Like, I want to show
Speaker 5: them that I love them so much? His desire, He
Speaker 5: created us for this. How can I communicate that I
Speaker 5: love this son, this daughter so much? And so I
Speaker 5: just I think the enemy is the accuser, and the
Speaker 5: enemy is like, dude, you're you're a jerk for wanting that. Yeah,
Speaker 5: and I think that's shame.
Speaker 1: That's like, why would a father and I want his
Speaker 1: child to be happy?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 2: And it's and I think that you know, it's it's
Speaker 2: exactly that as dad's we want our kids to be happy,
Speaker 2: and we want to give and we want to provide
Speaker 2: to them. And that's just a fraction of the love
Speaker 2: that we're getting from God. So it's like, of course
Speaker 2: he wants to bless us, but he also wants us
Speaker 2: to give us the tools to understand the value of
Speaker 2: the blessings and you know what directionally we need to
Speaker 2: be putting our stock in.
Speaker 5: So yeah, that's I want to know they want to
Speaker 5: go to crack about tonight. Yeah, I don't want to
Speaker 5: whip out that, you know, the pumpkin soup again for
Speaker 5: the freezer. I want to know, I want to go
Speaker 5: to Crack. Do you want to go to Crack? Let's
Speaker 5: go to It's such a good fair, Like what are
Speaker 5: your ages?
Speaker 1: Six and eight?
Speaker 5: Six and eight, nine and six and then the other
Speaker 5: ones that small ones three, I think the small ones,
Speaker 5: but like it's such a good for our ages. It's
Speaker 5: such a good family. It is kind of an expensive
Speaker 5: trip there because the front shop.
Speaker 2: Cracker Barrel, has been pretty good about keeping their prices
Speaker 2: locked in though we on the food.
Speaker 5: It's the retail journey through the through the.
Speaker 2: You can make get through the shopping in the beginning
Speaker 2: without any tears, you know it's gonna be a good Yeah.
Speaker 3: I love that. The only Cracker bare of family families.
Speaker 3: Because my daughter Emma, she calls it roll house. She
Speaker 3: loves Texas roadhouse.
Speaker 2: I'm like getting one in my neighborhood, like half a
Speaker 2: mile down the road.
Speaker 1: So we're rejected for the role house.
Speaker 4: The rose. She's like, can we go to Rollhouse tonight?
Speaker 4: And I'm like, look at you wanting steak? Got that
Speaker 4: like expensive dayste Okay?
Speaker 3: Love it, man, I'm just thinking about these prayers and
Speaker 3: like asking for the desires of your heart. I feel
Speaker 3: like something I've been learning lately too, is kind of
Speaker 3: in the beginning where you were saying that will be done,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, whatever your will is in
Speaker 3: my prayers. I'm like, this is this is what I'm
Speaker 3: asking for, and this is what I'm believing for. But
Speaker 3: even if it's not what is for me, you're still
Speaker 3: good and learning that recently, like through like a really
Speaker 3: hard time, Like it's just even if this doesn't happen,
Speaker 3: you're still good and clinging to that and knowing that
Speaker 3: it's such a hard concept for people to grasp if
Speaker 3: they're not believers or if they're not you know, fully
Speaker 3: in their walk with Christ. So in those even if
Speaker 3: moments in your life, like say Waterloo Revival for example,
Speaker 3: in the very beginning of your career, you're like, oh,
Speaker 3: this is what I want, this is what I want,
Speaker 3: this is what I want, but it didn't happen for me,
Speaker 3: and you have this time in that moment of this
Speaker 3: even if period before songs go viral on social media
Speaker 3: and then you know, everything starts taking off for you.
Speaker 3: In those moments, what were your prayers.
Speaker 2: Like God, help me find peace in your plan for me.
Speaker 2: That's I always ask for, you know, help me feel
Speaker 2: your presence, help me calm the anxiety, and trust you.
Speaker 2: I'm always asked for him to help me trust him
Speaker 2: because I try to insert myself and I try to
Speaker 2: act like I know better, and I try to move
Speaker 2: in ways that maybe if I would be patient and
Speaker 2: trust him, it would work out. And He's given me
Speaker 2: plenty of examples of that. My first number one song,
Speaker 2: I wrote it, pitched it to Jason al Dean, Jason
Speaker 2: Alden was ready to cut it, take it into the studio,
Speaker 2: and he slowed me down, and I ended up getting
Speaker 2: a record deal and I ended up getting the song back.
Speaker 2: And there was a time where I was like, man,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm going to go put this out and
Speaker 2: it's not going to do anything. And I just took
Speaker 2: it away from the entertainer of the Year, and you
Speaker 2: know what, this is a huge where I literally kind
Speaker 2: of got bummed out and went on to be my
Speaker 2: first number one song broke me as an artist, and
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be here today without it. And that was
Speaker 2: God slowing me down and pointing me in the right direction.
Speaker 1: And I've had multiple cases of that.
Speaker 2: I have a duet about to come out this year
Speaker 2: with the biggest artists that I've ever collaborated with, and
Speaker 2: I wrote it two years ago and it was going
Speaker 2: to go another direction with a different artist, and you know,
Speaker 2: God slowed me down with the artist that I wrote
Speaker 2: it with, and we both agreed that, you know, it
Speaker 2: needed to go this other direction. And now it's going
Speaker 2: to be probably the biggest song that I've ever had
Speaker 2: a feature on. And God, God has a plan.
Speaker 4: So yeah, isn't it awesome? How kind God is?
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, just looking back at moments and just being like, oh,
Speaker 3: that's what you were doing. Yeah, those moments are just
Speaker 3: so priceless in life.
Speaker 5: And He would have let us, He would have let
Speaker 5: you go and make it happen. But that's the invitation.
Speaker 5: The opportunity is like, hey, you can have it now
Speaker 5: and you can force it, or you can slow down
Speaker 5: and listen and hit the bulls eye. And I think accuracy,
Speaker 5: the unprecedented accuracy. You know, I'm hunting that too. Of
Speaker 5: like God, I don't want to just keep like, oh,
Speaker 5: let's just try this, try this. Ten eynes in the fire,
Speaker 5: But like slow down and aim well, and that's what
Speaker 5: I hear in Like, that's so cool to hear that.
Speaker 5: Just yeah, I had this song and then it was
Speaker 5: just like, no, you know what doesn't feel like let
Speaker 5: me just keep that tension a little bit longer and
Speaker 5: then bang it and then it hits the bulls eye
Speaker 5: and then you're like, it's pretty awesome.
Speaker 1: And it's being.
Speaker 2: Able to listen to the pivot without doubting, you know,
Speaker 2: And that was I struggled.
Speaker 1: That's so hard.
Speaker 2: No, this is what I initially set my side on
Speaker 2: and I'm not going to take my eyes off because
Speaker 2: this is a path that I wanted to be on
Speaker 2: and that's the only path I'm going to go down.
Speaker 2: And it's when you let him guide, you take turns,
Speaker 2: listen to him, slow down, and talk to God enough
Speaker 2: to hear him talk back, is when you land where
Speaker 2: you need to be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'd love for you to give some just advice
Speaker 3: to anybody that might be watching or listening to the
Speaker 3: podcast that just might feel like they're in a season
Speaker 3: of God. I don't know what to do now. I'm
Speaker 3: not sure where my steps are supposed to go. Help
Speaker 3: me figure out what to do. Those people that are
Speaker 3: in those doubting seasons or those anxious, you know, seasons
Speaker 3: of like what is happening? What is some something that
Speaker 3: you'd speak into them.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, I would just say patience and
Speaker 2: trust the process, and know that God is good, and
Speaker 2: know that He loves you and does have a plan
Speaker 2: for you. I moved to town ten years before I
Speaker 2: had my first hit ten years and fan and trailer
Speaker 2: of playing Nobody shows of anxiousness of wondering if it's
Speaker 2: ever going to happen. But I really feel very strongly
Speaker 2: that if you talk to God enough, you will hear
Speaker 2: him talk back. And if you ask him for direction,
Speaker 2: if you ask him for comfort, if you ask him
Speaker 2: for peace, which I do almost every day, he will
Speaker 2: eventually start to show you his plans. And then also,
Speaker 2: I think the thing that I was blind to forever
Speaker 2: because I was chasing fame and fortune and famous friends
Speaker 2: and shiny lights is pay attention to the people that
Speaker 2: God is putting in your life for a reason and
Speaker 2: lean into them, because He is everywhere, and you do
Speaker 2: have real friends, and you do have people that will
Speaker 2: help you get closer to God, and that will help
Speaker 2: you understand God more and people that will help you
Speaker 2: in your journey, and all of us, whether we know
Speaker 2: it or not, have people that He has put there
Speaker 2: to be resources and be support for us. Pay attention
Speaker 2: and find them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 3: We always like to end the podcast with sort of
Speaker 3: just things in your life right now that maybe you
Speaker 3: and your wife and your family.
Speaker 4: What are you guys praying for right now?
Speaker 2: That's a great question. We are praying for, well, it's
Speaker 2: a pretty long list.
Speaker 1: Is a family because we do it every day.
Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing is we prayed for continued
Speaker 2: closeness as a family. We pray to also be like
Speaker 2: good resources and friends and a light that help shine God.
Speaker 5: In the world.
Speaker 2: We pray for safe travel because we're on the road
Speaker 2: all the time. And then you know, we're always praying
Speaker 2: for peace. This is a wild world and there's a
Speaker 2: lot going on, but just for God to have a
Speaker 2: hand in our life, for his voice to be heard,
Speaker 2: and for him to help guide us.
Speaker 1: Yeah all that all right?
Speaker 3: Well, Holy Spirit's asking you to pray today usually close
Speaker 3: things out, but theirs, like Mark Mark Mark, so.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, God, we just we humble ourselves just right now
Speaker 5: and we just bring to you all of these prayer
Speaker 5: requests goded this the success pointed to you as a lighthouse.
Speaker 5: I just thank you for this incredible family that they
Speaker 5: have been raised up for such a time as this God,
Speaker 5: that you have trusted, You've you have entrusted, literally trusted
Speaker 5: this season to a man and and a family with
Speaker 5: deep integrity and roots in you. I thank you for
Speaker 5: the process. I thank you for the pain, not because
Speaker 5: it makes sense, but because you were near through the
Speaker 5: whole thing, and you were close and you're close now.
Speaker 5: And I just pray, just even over this duet, I
Speaker 5: just feel like God, that there would be a blessing
Speaker 5: God in a grace on it like never before. I
Speaker 5: pray for the safe travel and the touring. I pray
Speaker 5: for you know. I just feel right now as we're praying,
Speaker 5: like God wants to give you like blueprints that are
Speaker 5: like different ways of doing things. Like it's like God
Speaker 5: wants to not in a contrarian way, but it's like
Speaker 5: he wants to give you keys and pathways even for
Speaker 5: the industry of changing it up. And I don't know
Speaker 5: what's in your heart as far as the ideas, but
Speaker 5: that there's supernatural ideas and keys to change up, change
Speaker 5: up the game. And I think you see things that
Speaker 5: other people don't see in terms of the past ways
Speaker 5: to what would lead to health in people's hearts. And
Speaker 5: I really think it's around health and it's around like
Speaker 5: just supernatural key. So God, I just pray for ideas,
Speaker 5: like from heaven. I pray for dreams, God to open
Speaker 5: up fresh ideas. The annoying on his life to build
Speaker 5: and to to architect, Like there's an architect anoying, and
Speaker 5: so I just pray for supernatural ideas. God for a
Speaker 5: blessing for innovation. God, I see it in songs. I
Speaker 5: also see it. Thank you, Lord for your hand on
Speaker 5: his life. Lord, this Daniel annoying God of this consistent Lord,
Speaker 5: you're raising him up. So we just bless his family,
Speaker 5: his children, health and friendship and just great team of
Speaker 5: bless his band around him on the road. In Jesus
Speaker 5: Mighty name, we pray Amen.
Speaker 1: Amen, Thank you, Mike.
Speaker 5: Absolutely sorry I went into a little bit of but
Speaker 5: I do feel, Bro, there's an architect like you kind
Speaker 5: of see the pathways and like God wants to give
Speaker 5: you that like the supernatural whatever. I don't know what
Speaker 5: it looks like.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to learn how to listen. So thank you,
Speaker 2: thank you for saying that broke.
Speaker 1: That was amazing. You guys are awesome.