WEBVTT - Classic Music Saved Me with Struggle Jennings 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:01.280 Music saved me. 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:05.280 But telling that story through my music and watching you know, 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:10.119 the tens of thousands, one hundred thousands of people gravitate 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:14.160 towards that fine inspiration and hope in my music and 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:16.479 use my music to help them get through whatever they're 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:18.840 going through. And then they get to meet them at 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:21.040 meet and Greece at shows and hug their neck and 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:24.840 you know them crown our shoulder. And that's what's cant 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:26.239 me going, That's what's capt me straight. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.120 I'm Lyn Hoffman, and welcome to the Music Saved Me Podcast, 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.240 the podcast where we get the incredible opportunity to chat 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:37.720 with musicians who share their stories about overcoming adversity or 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:40.600 what I like to call obstacles through the healing power 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.280 of music. If you enjoy our show, please share it 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.280 with your friends and check out our companion podcast with 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:49.000 a really cool guy that I think you're going to 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:52.040 like a lot. His name is Buzznight and he hosts 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.520 a really great podcast, also music related, called Taking a Walk, 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.080 and you can find that wherever you get your podcasts. 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:03.800 All right, today, we are really excited to welcome Struggle 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:08.080 Jennings as the grandson of Whylon Jennings and Jesse Coulter. 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.640 He hails from a legacy of outlaws and rock stars, 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:13.520 which I think should be the name of your next album. 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.200 Struggle has new music out called Live from Rikers Island, 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.880 and he's also had chart topping success with one of 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.560 our very first guests on the Music Save Me podcast, 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.160 Jelly Roll. Struggle is also the face of the Sound 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:32.080 Sobriety Rehab Clinics, which is a revolutionary music themed rehab 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:36.120 program that we'll also get to discuss. Welcome Struggle Jennings 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:39.120 to Music Save Me. It's so great to have you here, so. 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:41.440 Good to be here. I'm so grateful, Thank you for 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:41.920 having me. 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.880 I could have you talk to me forever. That voice 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:49.120 is just I'm sort of a voice geek, even just talking. 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:51.559 Yeah, to say thank you so much. 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:55.880 All right, let's start at the beginning, Struggle, can you 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:58.160 tell us a little bit about your musical upbringing and 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.920 some of your early influences when you were growing up 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:02.200 in Nashville. 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:06.440 Yeah, so, I'm an eighties baby, and I grew up, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:08.560 of course in a musical family. My mom had a 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:12.920 piano in the house, and my grandfather was whaling, and 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:18.760 grandmother Jesse and so the first ten years of my life, 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:20.880 or from the time I was four to six, my 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:25.320 mom was touring with Whalan as a backup singer, and 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.119 so summertimes stuff like that, I'd get to go out 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:33.640 on tour with them, and standing backstage and you know, 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.239 watching Whalan do his sing and watching my mom sing 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.960 and hearing the instruments. I was automatically just so drawing 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:45.919 to the emotion and music. And of course we'll get 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:47.840 into it a little bit later. But like my mother, 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.239 you know, she liked bad boys. She didn't want to 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:54.160 take handouts from Whalan. So we ended up living in 0:02:54.240 --> 0:03:00.640 lower class areas throughout Nashville. And so as I was 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:05.200 growing hip hop, really as it was blowing up, it's 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:08.839 what I really latched onto, you know, the storytelling and 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:14.480 the stories of hard times and heartbreak and the same 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:17.360 as country. Just it was that generation, you know, and 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:19.880 that was the That's what spoke to me due to 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:23.520 my environment more than anything. So at a young age, 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:27.440 I started writing poetry and falling in love with music. 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.800 And you know, my mom would play the piano every 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:33.359 night when she'd get off work, or every morning when 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:35.840 she woke me up for school. She would start today 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:39.560 singing hymn notes and playing and you know, kind of 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:48.480 infuse that energetic, happy, blessed to be awake environment even 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:51.720 through our hardest times. She was sixteen when she had me, 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.880 so you know, we struggled a lot with her growing 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:56.720 up and us kind of raising each other. 0:03:57.640 --> 0:03:58.600 But she always tried to. 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:02.400 Infuse music into the house household as uplifting and as 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:06.120 a way. So I latched onto that immediately, And a 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.560 lot of my influences, of course, was wailing musically. A 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.400 lot it came from my tupac, you know, with my 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:18.880 lyricism and telling my story in a way that others 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.440 could gravitate towards it. Right, Like always, even when I 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.520 was just doing poems when I was young, writing poems 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:29.400 in school, but it was always something maybe not that 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:31.720 I went through, but that I was watching somebody else 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:35.880 go through. And it's really heartfelt things. 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:39.280 Well, that's interesting, So even when you were young, you 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:44.160 observed things and were inspired to write about them poetically. 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.880 Yeah. One of the first poems that ever wrote was 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.559 about abortion, and of course I was like eleven years old, 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.479 so I didn't really even understand what that concept was. 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:56.920 But it was called nine Months and it was about 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.599 being in the womb and then but you know, then. 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:02.080 It was about abortion. 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:06.200 So yeah, I was always I've always been like the 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.640 person to like soak up everything around me, like we'll 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:11.520 get into it later. I did five years in prison, 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:13.400 and I didn't write a single song while I was 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:15.960 in there because I was like, I want to just 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:18.800 really take care of everything else I need to take 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.080 care of right now, observe, soak this up and then 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.880 I'll tell the story when I leave. And I've always 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:29.359 just been that kind of person, you know, like super pathic. 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.680 So well, do you do you remember? And pathic is 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.000 a phenomenal way to explain it. Do you remember the 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.680 first moment that music really deeply touched you? 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:40.520 I mean, it's I. 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:45.159 Don't I think it's been happening so long that I 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:48.320 probably don't remember the exact but I remember being in 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:53.320 kindergarten and liking a girl named Sarah in school, and 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.320 that song Sarah was like on the radio, and I 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.000 can remember just like being emotional on the way to 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.680 school thinking about this girl that is in I'm in 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.080 kindergarten that I have a crush on, you know, and 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:10.080 latching onto that song or you know, my Mom was 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:12.800 really musical since she was always listening to the radio, 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.279 Like music was constant when we were in the car 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:18.400 and the music was up all the way, And as 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:22.279 long as I can remember, I can remember the feeling 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:26.680 of the emotion from the songs, right, So, like I 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:31.279 can pinpoint a time of my life to a song. 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:34.719 A lot of times an emotion like when I was 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:36.920 going through a breakup, or when I was, you know, 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.160 going through a tough time in school, or you know, 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.960 when I lost my father ten I can kind of 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:48.599 pinpoint songs to that because I've latched on so heavy 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.279 my whole life to music and the emotion that came 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:58.159 from it, whether it's to soothe or to inspire or 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.880 to make me feel better about whatever the situation I'm 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.480 going through, or you know, like I've got all these 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:06.800 different playlists and the range of music is. 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:10.040 So wide, you know, depending on you know, if I'm 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:10.600 going to the. 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:13.120 Gym and I need like something that's going to get 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.840 me there, or if I'm sad or happier. You know, 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:23.200 music has such a power of being able to steer. 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:29.000 That for sure. And speaking of steering, you were once 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:33.560 hailed as one of Nashville's top rappers. And I'm curious, 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.960 despite your country music routs, what grew you to wrap 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:37.520 hip hop? 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:40.080 Well, it was just the environment. It was the era. 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.560 It was, you know, the eighties and on up in 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:47.040 the early nineties, becoming a teenager and you know, ninety three, 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:52.920 ninety four and Tupac and the long list of you know, 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.400 UGK and A Ball and MJG. That were like from 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.000 kind of close to where I'm from, and growing up, 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.680 that was what I gravitated towards, you know. 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:02.720 And by the time I was twelve, I was in 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:03.160 a gang. 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:06.200 My mom was working two jobs, and my dad was 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:08.760 murdered when I was ten, and so my wife had 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:13.600 kind of taken this huge shift to a different path, 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:14.200 you know. 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:18.400 And rap is just what I latched onto. It's what 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:19.160 spoke to me. 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:22.520 It's what made me feel okay, it's what made me 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.800 feel like I wasn't alone and what I was going 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.280 through how I felt then, I you know, I started 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:32.040 writing raps at twelve thirteen years old and decided that's 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.800 what I wanted to do, you know. And of course 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:39.480 life had its different obstacles and different you know, speed bumps, 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:41.959 But yeah, I think that's really where that came from. 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.040 But country music was still always a backdrop, you know. 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:48.320 It was always the soundtrack, you know, when I was 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:50.640 with my dad or when you know, after my dad 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.520 was gone and I was with my uncle's, country was 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:56.960 what everybody was listening to country or southern rock, and 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.640 so that was always ingrained in me, and I would 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.360 I found the same kind of comforting country a lot 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.280 of times just because of the storytelling. 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.760 So they kind of both coincided in my life. 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:11.679 To really pay that path to me being one of 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.880 the first artists to ever mix the two genres, you know, 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:22.400 and then now leaning into country and finding what my 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.040 voice is, what my world in country music is. And 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:27.040 a lot of these songs that I'm doing now are 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:30.080 coming out really old school, and you know, it's natural. 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:31.880 It's not like we're pushing to get a sound or 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.480 we're pushing it. We're just going in there and writing 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:36.439 about my life and. 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.400 Laying the instruments to it. And it's turning out. 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.959 I've got sixty five unreleased country songs right now. 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.240 Wow, coming up in the next year. 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:47.200 So congratulations. 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.199 You know, I took a break from touring last year 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:51.880 for just a few months. 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:52.680 For three months. 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:55.200 I still did over one hundred shows last year, but 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:58.200 for three months I took a break from touring and 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:01.080 wrote over one hundred songs in those three months. 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.839 It's been working. How did you having Whalen Jennings as 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:09.360 a grandfather impact your relationship with music? 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:14.120 Well, one, you know, growing up with him as my grandfather, 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:18.520 I didn't really you know, he's papa. So until I 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.240 got older, I didn't realize, like, oh man, my papa 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:27.000 is like the band. Like back then, he was just papa, 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.080 and I knew he was. I knew he was famous. 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:32.240 But also in school and stuff, kids would give me 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:36.320 stuff about it, like, you know, you know, my mom said, 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.440 your dad's your grandpa is not a country music star. 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:41.320 He's just a drug addict or you know, because he 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.680 had been going through legal cases with his drug abuse 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.360 and stuff. But I didn't know that side of him 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.240 because and I think it was an eighty five or 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:52.240 somewhere when I was like five or six, he had 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.920 that big heart attack and he quit doing everything. So 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.760 when I was just really young, he switched over to 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.600 a whole nother role as who he was, and I 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.400 got the best years of him. You know as a grandfather, 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:11.160 but musically it drew me, of course, closer to music. 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:14.200 Watching the guy that was like, you know everything my 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.640 dad wasn't around anymore, and wailing it stepped up to 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:21.320 the plate to really be like my father, and getting 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.760 to watch him walk out on those stages and the 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:28.559 people just go crazy, and him sing those songs, and 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:33.200 that of course solidified what I wanted to do as 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.520 a man. He taught me so much about family and 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:40.200 about integrity and about standing your ground and not selling 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:45.120 out or selling yourself short. Musically, he inspired me so 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:47.880 much to just tell your story and be truthful and 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.920 honest and just be you. Don't try to be like 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.160 somebody else, or you know, don't follow he used to say, 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:55.520 don't follow in my footsteps. 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:59.200 Find your own life, you know, stand in my shadow. Yeah. 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.199 There's so much that I gained from those years with 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.840 him being my grandfather. But when I was young, I 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.040 didn't you know, He's just like, yeah, whyn't Jens is 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:09.480 my grandfather And some people are like yeah, right, or 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:11.440 really or you know, And it got to a point 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.080 when I was older, I didn't tell anybody for a 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.920 few years. Yellow Wolf tells the story all the time 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:18.760 that he was you know me and they were best 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:21.760 friends for almost a year before I even brought it up. 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:27.640 Because yeah reaction, he was like what, yeah, right, you know, 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.120 but I didn't want to be judged that way musically 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:36.480 coming in, Like I didn't adopt the name Jennings until 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:39.560 probably twenty and twelve, twenty thirteen. 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:42.760 Like, I was just struggle. You know, there's a lot 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.679 that comes with that. You know, some people automatically assume, oh, 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.319 you've had it easier. You're riding your grandpa's coat tails. 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.959 You've had it easier because of who he is. It's like, man, 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.000 it makes it ten times harder. They expect you to 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.520 fill his shoes. They say, oh, you're not like your 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:56.959 grand wall. 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.480 Of course I'm not. I'm not him. 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:04.400 Myself, you know, I'm doing things my own way, and. 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.840 So there it actually makes it a lot harder. 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:09.280 Now, it makes for a good conversation piece, you know, 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:11.800 when you walk into a room of musicians or artists, 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.400 of course, but as far as in the industry or fans, 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.320 there was no head, you know, there was no like 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:20.679 I didn't get any free rise because of that. 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:21.600 If anything, it made it. 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:23.200 A lot harder I bet it was. 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.240 And the reason the reason I even adopted the name 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.000 is because that's what they started calling me. They started 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.440 calling me struggled Jennings when like everybody was talking about 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.000 me going to prison and like. 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:35.160 The news, you know. 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.600 And dear friend of mine who's been riding with me 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:40.719 the whole time and helped me build my brand, a 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.880 guy named Sebastians Marberry. He was like, man, if you 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.720 type in struggle on Google, you're never going to find you. 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.600 But you put in Jennings, you know it'll pop up. 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.160 And I talked to a Shooter about it, and Shooter 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.400 was like, man, please, that would be amazing, like pay 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.040 homage to them and use the name. 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.520 So I fought it for a while, but it just 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.280 kind of came part of the story. You know. 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.679 Yeah, it's a great legacy. And I understand that because 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.000 I've talked to so many artists who have kids who 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.120 have said the words like I've ruined my kids. They 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.079 all think they're going to be just like me, and 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:18.960 it's you know, there you are with your grandfather, and 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:21.960 it's a tremendous burden to carry, especially if you're going 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:26.560 to go right into that same industry. Yeah, I totally know. 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:28.720 One of the things that I think one of the 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:32.640 things that helped the most about being his grandson and 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.960 having that relationship even in my darkest moments, even when 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.920 my music wasn't streaming, even when I had a fiction 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:43.360 notices on the door, even when you know, I was 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.240 getting into trouble and fighting court cases, and regardless all 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:52.080 the different phases of my life, I never gave up 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:56.200 because he was a clear example that I had from 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.920 as early as I can remember that he came from nothing, 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:04.120 dirt floors in Texas and to me seeing him that 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:07.160 his prime with you know, a nanny and maids and 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:11.320 Cadillacs and Mercedes and guards at the shack and you know, 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:14.840 like so I got to see what was possible. So 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:18.840 regardless of how bad things got, always had that glimmer 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.800 of faith and hope that it would it's possible. And 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:24.840 I think a lot of people from my neighborhood and 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:26.720 a lot of my old friends, they never had that, 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:29.520 And that was one of the defining things, you know, 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.560 And I'll try to instill that in my kids now 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.240 and in other people's kids. You know, I have friends 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:39.320 that are still struggling and you know, work, you know, 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.680 sixty hours a week to still barely getting by, and 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:44.720 they can't do as much for their kids as maybe 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:46.840 I can. But I try to pick up that slack 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:49.680 and take them on vacations and do things because I 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.560 want those kids to see that too. Like this is, 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.800 if you get a taste of that better life, sometimes 0:15:55.840 --> 0:16:00.040 you'll you'll never settle for less. And I think that 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.120 what one of the differences was is I never settled 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.120 and I never gave up, regardless of what was handed 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:07.560 to me or what was in front of me. 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.840 Yeah, and that's something that's definitely built in when you 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:15.600 know it naturally to not give up, and you know, 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.880 people leading ahead of you by example certainly put that 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:20.480 out there, but you have to be able to see 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:23.920 it and make that choice. And that's really hard, I 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:27.360 think for a lot of people to just choose to 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.840 not give up. Yeah, it sounds so simple, but it's 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:34.320 you know, like you said, it's a choice. 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.600 It's a choice. There was many times in my life 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:38.320 where I never thought the music would work. 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:42.880 Out, and you know, being Tony Montana wasn't working out. 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:42.960 And. 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.560 You know, all these different phases of my life and 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.560 the neighborhood that I come from West Nashville. It's called 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:57.520 the Nations. It's surrounded by prisons and factories. And you know, 0:16:57.640 --> 0:16:59.640 in our neighborhood, you either worked at the factories or 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:00.800 you want to prison. You know. 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:05.720 It's kind of like those were the two, and so like. 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:09.119 To make it in that neighborhood is to get a 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.480 job with the city, you know. 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:13.600 Work your way up to twenty dollars an hour in 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:15.119 a retirement fund, you know. 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:19.720 And I just I always saw past that so far 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:24.119 that I never could settle into that comfort. 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:28.600 You know, you're a visionary. You know, you speak quite openly. 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.280 I've seen on TikTok and a couple of other places 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:37.119 about a very pivotal moment in your life. Although you 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:41.479 saw the potential in the future, you still ended up 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.000 going through quite a bit of strife to get where 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.800 you are now. And when you were in prison, you 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.240 decided to turn your life around. That was the moment, 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:51.960 at least, that's what I can recall from what you 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:56.199 would had said. Yeah, can can you describe that moment? 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.119 That that moment for the listeners right now? Because I 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.280 feel like, you know, you're such an amazing example of 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.480 someone who has like everybody thinks, you had it all 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.440 and you had all the best influences from the top down, 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:11.960 and you saw the good, you saw the bad, but 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.840 you still ended up where you ended up. How did 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:18.240 you What was that moment like for you? And can 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:19.280 you tell us? 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:19.800 Yeah? 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:23.040 Well, you know, there was a lot of in and 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:28.479 outs as far as jail, and you know, I tempted 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:32.040 to change my life a few times and been successful 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.439 and then failed, and you know, took steps forward and 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.920 fell steps back. And at one point I did fifteen 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:42.200 months in jail for a marijuana case and got out 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:44.920 and my kids were scattered. The mother of my kids 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.320 was fighting a fed case, and so I went and 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:49.040 got my kids and I was a single dad with 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.000 two kids. And I did good for like five six years, 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:56.080 stayed straight, working you know, two jobs if I had to, 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.520 and started having more kids with the mother of my 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:01.480 three youngest. 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:03.879 And fell back in. 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.600 You know, it was like one too too many or 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:11.480 too too many viction notices and you know, jobs not 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.480 panning out, and you know, I just I kept I 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:18.240 kept working hard, and that I you know, get knocked 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.439 down and or allowed myself to fall. I hate to 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.439 use the get knocked down, because we have this choice 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:29.120 as well, right to get back up. And I fell 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:33.080 short numerous times in and out of jail, and I 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:35.720 you know, did good for years and then I fall 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.280 back off. And then this last time when I went 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.200 to prison. At that point, I had five kids, and 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:46.199 I was watching the ones that I thought for so 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:50.000 long I was doing right by you know, where I 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:54.040 was instilled with a lot of irrational beliefs at a 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:54.840 young age. 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:56.360 You know, you feature. 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:59.359 Family by any means necessary. It's okay to do wrong 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:01.159 if you're doing it for the right reasons. You know, 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:03.800 I live by that. I justify everything by like, I'm 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:06.159 just doing this for my kids. I'm just doing this 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:08.000 for my family, to take care of my kids. 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:12.760 You know. Then when those gate shut, my kids became 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:13.800 the biggest victim. 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:17.680 They were left without a father, without someone to protect them, 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:21.360 provide for them. You know, my wife at the time 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:23.840 was left without a partner, without the man that was 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.600 paying the bills and taking care of her. So I 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:30.040 got slapped with that reality real fast that hey, I'm 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:31.800 not the man I thought I was, and I'm not 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:34.399 being a good father, I'm not being a good husband. 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:36.720 I'm not being a good son, I'm not being a 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:40.439 good friend by continuing to put my family through this. 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:44.199 That's a hard pill to swallow, you know, when you 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:47.760 really have to look at things and take accountability and say, 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:51.720 everything that is happening to me and everything that is 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.000 happening to the people that I love, is a direct 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:57.280 result of a decision that I made. 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.960 You know, you can't really hide anymore. You can't hide behind, 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:01.960 you can't justify. 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:04.320 You know, you can't be mad at the guy that 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:06.639 told on you because I shouldn't have been doing what 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:11.800 I was doing. And then the top that I'm watching 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:15.800 what's happening the mother of my kids hooking up with 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.560 another guy getting addicted to drugs again, and when I worked. 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:22.880 Hard to get her off of them. 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:24.840 My children being drug through the mud and in the 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:29.119 bad situations, you know, having to make those phone calls 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:31.520 home and my five year old daughter at the time 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:34.280 is crying, saying, Daddy, we have an eight and I'm 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:36.159 having a teacher from a jail phone how to make 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:39.119 macaroni and cheese so she can feed her two siblings 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:43.399 because her mom's passed out on drugs. And realizing that 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:49.239 I'm not there. I can't protect them, you know. And 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:54.600 then my daughter got molested in a drug house, you know. 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:59.480 And I'm finding all this out while sitting behind concrete 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:03.439 and still with no one to blame but myself. You 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:06.720 come to a point where you're like, hey, the same 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.800 way I messed all this up, I'm the only one 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:13.119 that can fix it. So I decided to just really 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.480 buckle down and work to become the best man that 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:18.399 I could make sure that my kids never had to 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:21.160 go through that again. There were a lot of moments 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:23.760 in there where I'm looking around the room and I'm 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:27.600 seeing the guys that are gambling and smoking cigarettes, eating 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:30.119 honey buns and you know, and then I'm seeing the 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:32.840 guys that are reading books, going to every program, working out. 0:22:32.920 --> 0:22:35.080 I said, that's what I want to do. 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:40.879 So I spent every day of my five years training mind, body, soul, spirit, 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:44.720 finding out, stripping down all those layers and finding out 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:47.880 why do I keep coming back? Why do I keep 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:51.000 coming here? How can I stop this fish a cycle? 0:22:51.000 --> 0:22:54.040 Because my uncle said it. My dad was killed when 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:57.200 I was ten, and you know, he was a great man, 0:22:57.280 --> 0:23:00.240 but you know, he sold drugs and worked all and 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:01.080 just a good old boy. 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:03.320 But it's a vicious cycle. You know. 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:07.040 Wailing passed from drug induced diabetes, you know, from years 0:23:07.080 --> 0:23:12.359 of addiction. I don't want my kids to have to 0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:15.199 go through what I went through. I want them to 0:23:15.200 --> 0:23:17.400 have a father, I want them to have a role model. 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:19.960 I want them to have somebody that can look up to, 0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:23.720 look to count on. I started stripping all those layers 0:23:23.760 --> 0:23:28.280 away and really digging and so searching and finding myself, 0:23:28.560 --> 0:23:30.840 finding who I wanted to. 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:32.679 Be, Like who am I really? You know. 0:23:32.680 --> 0:23:36.240 That's why I wear all the turquoise because for so long, 0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:37.480 since I was a kid. 0:23:37.320 --> 0:23:38.840 Turquoise was my favorite stone. 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:41.520 But I was so caught up in what was cool 0:23:42.040 --> 0:23:44.720 and what I thought I was supposed to be that 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:46.880 I would never wear it. I had all these diamond 0:23:47.040 --> 0:23:50.800 chains and gold and you know, and so when I 0:23:50.840 --> 0:23:54.000 came home, I was like, turquoise wasn't cool at that time, 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:55.800 you know, And I was like, but it was to me. 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:59.960 So I started rocking the turquoise. Now it's trendy, but you. 0:23:59.880 --> 0:24:01.720 Know, back then, my first time. 0:24:01.960 --> 0:24:06.679 Yeah, but yeah, So it was like watching all this happen, 0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:11.119 you know, even leading up to the death of the 0:24:11.119 --> 0:24:13.400 mother of my kids who died from a drug overdose 0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:16.640 a few years ago, watching what my children were going 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:19.960 through and having to honestly look at that and go. 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:24.000 Just because of me, This is because of. 0:24:24.080 --> 0:24:26.720 That guy I was trying to be and I justified 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:33.639 it for so long, you know, and now trying to 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:38.160 make sure that I can keep those same irrational beliefs 0:24:38.240 --> 0:24:43.040 out of my children's mind. So, you know, those moments 0:24:43.640 --> 0:24:47.920 and those phone calls calling home. I remember as soon 0:24:47.920 --> 0:24:49.560 as I got into County Jail, one of the first 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:52.960 things that my five year old daughter, Innocence, who just 0:24:53.119 --> 0:24:57.320 went through so much, finding out that her mom had 0:24:57.359 --> 0:25:01.160 passed out and she was at a bus stop crying, 0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:04.520 couldn't you know, one there to pick her up for 0:25:04.560 --> 0:25:08.360 four hours, you know, and thinking about what a six 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:11.400 year old is going through in their mind when she's 0:25:11.720 --> 0:25:14.000 used to Daddy pulling up and being there, and now 0:25:14.040 --> 0:25:16.280 Daddy's not here, and now nobody's there to pick her up. 0:25:16.359 --> 0:25:22.679 Like those moments were the just the ones that is, 0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:24.640 even though as tragic as they are, and I tell 0:25:24.680 --> 0:25:28.080 my family all the time, it's like, that's why I'm 0:25:28.119 --> 0:25:30.080 not going to give up. That's why I didn't give up. 0:25:30.480 --> 0:25:32.480 Something great has to come from this, or it was 0:25:32.520 --> 0:25:35.160 all in vain. If we can take all the pain 0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:39.280 and all the tragedy and all the bad mistakes and 0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:41.639 do something great with that, learn. 0:25:41.440 --> 0:25:42.119 From it and. 0:25:43.760 --> 0:25:49.080 Inspire others and live a purpose driven life in gratitude, 0:25:49.720 --> 0:25:51.560 and we can do something great with all of this, 0:25:52.440 --> 0:25:53.200 it wasn't in vain. 0:25:53.840 --> 0:25:56.359 We'll be right back with more of the Music Saved 0:25:56.440 --> 0:25:59.520 Me podcast. And by the way, if you like this podcast, 0:25:59.560 --> 0:26:02.600 you were going to love our companion podcast called Taking 0:26:02.680 --> 0:26:05.600 a Walk. It's hosted by my dear friend Buzz Night 0:26:05.640 --> 0:26:08.200 and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts. 0:26:12.359 --> 0:26:15.800 Welcome back to the Music Saved Me Podcast, the podcast 0:26:15.800 --> 0:26:18.719 where we discussed the healing powers of music with some 0:26:18.760 --> 0:26:21.600 of the biggest names in music as well as up 0:26:21.600 --> 0:26:26.280 and comers, and looking inward, the fact that you had 0:26:26.280 --> 0:26:29.880 the wherewithal to look inward. I'm curious, did writing and 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:33.520 creating music play any type of role in your personal 0:26:33.560 --> 0:26:37.160 transformation on top of all of discovery. 0:26:37.240 --> 0:26:39.359 Yeah, yeah, every bit of it. You know. 0:26:41.160 --> 0:26:45.200 I journaled the whole time I was there. I wrote letters, 0:26:46.080 --> 0:26:48.760 I would write while I was in there. I didn't 0:26:48.840 --> 0:26:51.840 actually form songs because I was like I'm just going 0:26:51.920 --> 0:26:55.200 to write my you know, write about things. And it's 0:26:55.240 --> 0:26:58.359 always been my go to A's always where my therapy was. 0:26:59.160 --> 0:27:04.480 And then getting out from prison and telling that story, 0:27:04.520 --> 0:27:07.320 showing that transformation of course and my actions and who 0:27:07.320 --> 0:27:11.560 I am, but telling that story through my music and 0:27:11.600 --> 0:27:15.560 watching you know, the tens of thousands, one hundred thousands 0:27:15.600 --> 0:27:20.600 of people gravitate towards that find inspiration and hope in 0:27:20.720 --> 0:27:23.440 my music and use my music to help them get 0:27:23.480 --> 0:27:26.080 through whatever they're going through. And then to get to 0:27:26.080 --> 0:27:28.120 meet them at meet and greets at shows and hug 0:27:28.160 --> 0:27:30.520 their neck and you know them cry on our shoulder. 0:27:30.560 --> 0:27:34.040 And that's what's kept me going. That's what's kept me straight, 0:27:34.040 --> 0:27:37.320 that's what keeps me focused, That's what keeps me from 0:27:37.480 --> 0:27:39.040 you know, losing it. 0:27:39.240 --> 0:27:41.080 God allowed me to be strong enough to make it 0:27:41.119 --> 0:27:41.399 through this. 0:27:42.280 --> 0:27:44.600 And now I have a testimony to give and I 0:27:44.600 --> 0:27:49.600 have an opportunity to give that back. And you know, 0:27:50.040 --> 0:27:53.199 when you have that, when you have a purpose, when 0:27:53.280 --> 0:27:55.960 you feel like there's purpose in what you do, right, 0:27:57.359 --> 0:27:58.760 all the other things that come. 0:27:59.520 --> 0:28:01.360 Now. I tell people all the time, I don't look 0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:04.680 at ops. I look at obstacles as opportunities. 0:28:05.680 --> 0:28:09.000 Another notch under my belt story to tell to show 0:28:09.080 --> 0:28:11.199 somebody else that they can get through this too, you know, 0:28:11.320 --> 0:28:13.879 like when I found out that I found out recently 0:28:13.960 --> 0:28:16.840 that how my father had got killed, you know, and 0:28:16.880 --> 0:28:19.639 it had been by a family member, And when I 0:28:19.720 --> 0:28:23.479 was young. He died when I was ten and I 0:28:23.560 --> 0:28:27.199 was outside playing football and my mom comes out there 0:28:27.200 --> 0:28:29.000 and she's like, hey, your dad's on the phone, and 0:28:29.040 --> 0:28:30.600 I was like, tell him, I'll call him back later. 0:28:31.440 --> 0:28:33.560 Well, when I came in that night, she was crying. 0:28:33.920 --> 0:28:36.160 All my family pulled up, told me that my dad 0:28:36.240 --> 0:28:40.200 was no longer with us. I was ten, and they 0:28:40.200 --> 0:28:44.840 told me it was suicide. So where they thought they 0:28:44.880 --> 0:28:47.640 were protecting me by telling me it was suicide, I 0:28:47.680 --> 0:28:50.760 was the last person he called and I didn't take 0:28:50.800 --> 0:28:54.680 the phone call. So I lived with that all through 0:28:54.720 --> 0:28:58.440 my teenage years, feeling that regret of what if I 0:28:58.480 --> 0:29:02.320 would answer the phone, which of course led me to 0:29:02.360 --> 0:29:05.440 be suicidal because then I was like, you know, last 0:29:05.440 --> 0:29:06.360 time my dad died. 0:29:07.960 --> 0:29:08.960 And it wasn't until I was. 0:29:08.920 --> 0:29:12.560 Eighteen and my uncle told me, boy, your dad didn't 0:29:12.600 --> 0:29:16.440 kill himself. He was killed, but I never got a 0:29:16.480 --> 0:29:18.920 clear answer who it was. And then one of my 0:29:18.960 --> 0:29:22.800 family members of my favorite aunts. She was on her 0:29:23.080 --> 0:29:25.560 deathbed and I went to visit her, and one of 0:29:25.560 --> 0:29:27.360 my other uncles let it out the bag that she 0:29:27.480 --> 0:29:28.080 was the one that. 0:29:28.880 --> 0:29:29.520 Had killed him. 0:29:31.240 --> 0:29:34.280 And I had my arm around her when it was 0:29:34.320 --> 0:29:37.280 told to me, and it was one of those moments 0:29:37.280 --> 0:29:40.600 where like, you know, I kind of blanked out, you know, 0:29:40.760 --> 0:29:42.800 and I just kind of looked around, and I looked 0:29:42.800 --> 0:29:47.440 at her, and she didn't budge, you know, she took 0:29:47.480 --> 0:29:50.680 it all the way to the grave with it. But 0:29:50.760 --> 0:29:54.040 she had been such a light in my life, and 0:29:54.080 --> 0:29:55.840 she had took care of me so many times when 0:29:55.840 --> 0:29:58.560 I was in my darkest moment, and I wasn't even 0:29:58.600 --> 0:29:59.000 mad at her. 0:29:59.080 --> 0:30:01.040 It was another level of closure. 0:30:02.160 --> 0:30:05.160 I would have liked to been able to talk to 0:30:05.160 --> 0:30:07.760 her and find out like what happened, you know, like 0:30:08.040 --> 0:30:11.160 if they got an argument or what the reason was. 0:30:12.240 --> 0:30:14.600 But she passed that night and I didn't. I never 0:30:14.640 --> 0:30:17.440 got that. But but even then it was one of 0:30:17.520 --> 0:30:17.960 those things. 0:30:17.960 --> 0:30:20.840 It was like I had to go through that to 0:30:20.920 --> 0:30:23.040 become who I am today and to be able to 0:30:23.040 --> 0:30:25.920 talk to other people that are going through the same 0:30:26.000 --> 0:30:29.320 things or that have been through or been through you know, 0:30:29.400 --> 0:30:31.760 things like that to let them know that they're not 0:30:31.840 --> 0:30:34.440 alone and that they can find strength, and the fact 0:30:34.440 --> 0:30:41.160 that I'm still here and I'm doing good. You know, 0:30:41.200 --> 0:30:44.160 I'm working to do great, but I'm doing good. You know, 0:30:44.440 --> 0:30:48.160 I've got all seven kids in the house, you know, 0:30:48.320 --> 0:30:53.000 my daughter who was molested and you know, cooking macaroni 0:30:53.040 --> 0:30:56.000 and cheese in that apartment, talking to her dad on 0:30:56.040 --> 0:30:58.200 the phone, trying to feed her siblings, and watching her 0:30:58.240 --> 0:31:02.120 mom overdose and pass out, and then eventually losing her 0:31:02.160 --> 0:31:03.440 mother to a drug overdose. 0:31:04.200 --> 0:31:06.440 She just called me this morning because she couldn't. She 0:31:06.480 --> 0:31:08.200 was trying to figure out where to get her parking past. 0:31:08.240 --> 0:31:13.000 At college, she graduated with three point nine SHEPA honors. 0:31:13.480 --> 0:31:15.200 You know, that's such amassing. 0:31:15.600 --> 0:31:19.520 Western She's in Western Kentucky now, you know, for going 0:31:19.520 --> 0:31:24.200 to college, you know, and is doing incredible. My daughter, 0:31:24.280 --> 0:31:27.640 Curtis that who's sixteen, she's you know, she was right there. 0:31:27.720 --> 0:31:30.360 She was the younger sister, and she went through all 0:31:30.400 --> 0:31:33.480 of that just as much, you know, and having to 0:31:33.560 --> 0:31:36.280 be stripped from not only their father leaving, but then 0:31:36.320 --> 0:31:39.959 their mother crashing when he left, and then you know, 0:31:40.040 --> 0:31:43.880 going from a life where I was providing to the 0:31:44.040 --> 0:31:47.400 depths of poverty until they ended up in foster care. 0:31:47.680 --> 0:31:50.760 And then you know, I came home and fought for 0:31:50.800 --> 0:31:53.200 a year to get them out of foster care and 0:31:53.280 --> 0:31:55.640 to get custody of them again, and then you know, 0:31:55.760 --> 0:31:59.920 rebuilding those relationships and those that trust and stability. 0:32:00.080 --> 0:32:04.000 And you know, now she's. 0:32:02.720 --> 0:32:06.480 Sixteen and drives some brand new Lexus at V and 0:32:07.720 --> 0:32:13.800 the homecoming queen straight a student like not even ninety eight, 0:32:14.000 --> 0:32:16.960 like one hundreds and hundred and two s like, you know, 0:32:17.960 --> 0:32:20.360 in an incredible relationship with a great guy who was 0:32:20.400 --> 0:32:24.440 a huge soccer star. I mean, it's just you know, there, 0:32:24.680 --> 0:32:27.120 it is possible to turn it all around. You just 0:32:27.280 --> 0:32:29.840 have to believe. You have to believe in yourself. You 0:32:29.880 --> 0:32:32.040 have to put the work in, and you have to 0:32:32.760 --> 0:32:34.960 find those things. Like for me, music was one of 0:32:35.000 --> 0:32:38.880 the biggest things that I could latch onto and when 0:32:38.920 --> 0:32:42.160 I needed you know, of course I have prayer and 0:32:42.200 --> 0:32:45.479 other things, but when I need to just recenter, I 0:32:45.520 --> 0:32:50.080 can find that song, you know, and strike that emotion. 0:32:50.240 --> 0:32:53.320 And whether it's me driving around you know with it 0:32:53.360 --> 0:32:56.880 on ten, crying my eyes out, or you know, getting 0:32:56.920 --> 0:32:59.080 amped up, or just a happy singing at the top 0:32:59.120 --> 0:33:01.959 of my lungs, whatever or that is, whatever that emotion 0:33:02.080 --> 0:33:03.960 I need or that strength that I need being able to. 0:33:03.880 --> 0:33:04.760 Pull it for music. 0:33:06.200 --> 0:33:10.480 You know, That's why we came out with Sound Sobriety 0:33:10.520 --> 0:33:13.560 and the concept to Sound Sobriety, which is the rehabs 0:33:13.600 --> 0:33:14.240 that were opening. 0:33:14.760 --> 0:33:16.560 I'm supposed to be cutting the ribbon on the first 0:33:16.560 --> 0:33:17.120 one soon. 0:33:17.200 --> 0:33:20.440 We had a few hiccups in it, but we're lined 0:33:20.520 --> 0:33:23.280 up to do about twenty of them as soon as 0:33:23.280 --> 0:33:25.960 we get the first model completely locked in and done. 0:33:26.240 --> 0:33:28.880 But I'm also working. We're still working, even though we 0:33:28.920 --> 0:33:31.440 don't have our facility open yet. We're still doing things. 0:33:31.480 --> 0:33:34.960 But the concept behind it was, you know, for me, 0:33:35.160 --> 0:33:39.840 writing was one of my biggest avenues of release and therapy. 0:33:39.960 --> 0:33:41.160 And you know, so. 0:33:42.840 --> 0:33:45.800 I'll be having big songwriters and big artists come in 0:33:45.840 --> 0:33:49.920 to the rehabs and Pete doing the songwriting class where 0:33:49.920 --> 0:33:55.840 we teach each participant that comes through how to put 0:33:55.880 --> 0:33:59.040 their life and their emotions and their feelings into song form. 0:34:00.000 --> 0:34:03.120 And then when they graduate the program, they'll get a 0:34:03.720 --> 0:34:06.840 be my number and be a registered songwriter, and so 0:34:06.880 --> 0:34:08.839 they'll have somebody that they can pitch it. We'll pitch 0:34:08.920 --> 0:34:10.640 songs for them, you know, they'll have somebody that they 0:34:10.680 --> 0:34:13.120 can turn their songs into and pitch them for other 0:34:13.239 --> 0:34:16.640 artists and hopefully give them, you know, hope and of 0:34:16.680 --> 0:34:20.160 a career in that as well, because. 0:34:19.840 --> 0:34:20.799 That's what it's been for me. 0:34:20.960 --> 0:34:25.840 You know, if I didn't have divine connection with music 0:34:25.920 --> 0:34:30.720 or that deep passion to create, and you know, who 0:34:30.760 --> 0:34:32.480 knows if I would have made it through all this stuff. 0:34:33.680 --> 0:34:36.680 I didn't even want to stop this momentum because you're 0:34:36.800 --> 0:34:40.160 just your story is just so incredible. And then every 0:34:40.200 --> 0:34:42.680 time I think I've heard it all, it's just another 0:34:42.760 --> 0:34:46.319 height that you've reached after reaching the lowest lows. It's 0:34:46.360 --> 0:34:49.719 pretty incredible, and it's amazing how much music has been 0:34:49.760 --> 0:34:52.360 a part of it. And obviously this question I'm going 0:34:52.400 --> 0:34:53.759 to ask you, I'm going to guess I know the 0:34:53.800 --> 0:34:57.040 answer to Do you believe that music has healing powers? 0:34:57.800 --> 0:35:00.000 I think it's one of the strongest. 0:35:00.120 --> 0:35:03.279 I mean, we know it scientifically right through, like you know, 0:35:03.360 --> 0:35:06.440 different frequencies and stuff you know that are able to 0:35:06.480 --> 0:35:10.680 heal soundbats, and you know, there's so much scientific research, 0:35:10.760 --> 0:35:13.920 but just as far as the personal, yes, I think 0:35:13.920 --> 0:35:17.160 it's one of the most healing things ever. You know, 0:35:17.480 --> 0:35:20.480 I've had songs that I needed to write, like when 0:35:20.480 --> 0:35:24.040 the mother and my children passed, or when I was 0:35:24.040 --> 0:35:27.240 first coming home and I didn't really have that relationship 0:35:27.280 --> 0:35:30.600 back with my daughters yet that I'd have these songs. 0:35:31.560 --> 0:35:33.640 They take me months to write because every time I'd 0:35:33.640 --> 0:35:36.520 get emotional when I try to write it. But once 0:35:36.600 --> 0:35:38.239 I got that out on the paper and once I 0:35:38.360 --> 0:35:42.960 sang it through that microphone, not only did I get 0:35:43.000 --> 0:35:45.000 a level of healing, but then being able to play 0:35:45.000 --> 0:35:49.000 it for them and then understand and have that to 0:35:49.000 --> 0:35:50.000 hold on to as well. 0:35:50.040 --> 0:35:52.359 It's just a whole nother you know. 0:35:52.680 --> 0:35:56.279 I think music has definitely been what's healed me more 0:35:56.320 --> 0:35:57.360 than anything else. 0:35:58.200 --> 0:36:00.799 Who are so much artists that you listen into when 0:36:00.840 --> 0:36:04.080 you're having sort of a difficult time or maybe that 0:36:04.160 --> 0:36:07.560 you can recall you listen to in times of darkness. 0:36:08.200 --> 0:36:12.160 I mean there's so many, you know, and different levels 0:36:12.200 --> 0:36:16.560 of different years and who was everything from you know 0:36:17.719 --> 0:36:22.759 old country, nineties country, George Street and George John like 0:36:22.840 --> 0:36:27.080 heartbreak songs, or you know Ed Sheeran has had there's 0:36:27.120 --> 0:36:29.799 He's had a couple of songs. There's an artist named 0:36:29.880 --> 0:36:33.200 Ron Pope who he had some songs that got me 0:36:33.239 --> 0:36:37.799 through some really really dark times. Let's go Chris Stapleton, 0:36:38.239 --> 0:36:41.440 you know, I mean there's just so many, you know, 0:36:41.480 --> 0:36:43.839 you can go back to, you know, Whaland songs and 0:36:44.480 --> 0:36:47.480 Tupac songs. You know old rat that was just telling 0:36:47.520 --> 0:36:51.600 those stories. There's there's so many, you know. I couldn't 0:36:51.600 --> 0:36:52.720 pinpoint one artist. 0:36:53.040 --> 0:36:56.759 That would be a whole other show, isn't it. Well, 0:36:56.840 --> 0:37:00.480 you know, speaking of artists, one of your bestie? Can 0:37:00.520 --> 0:37:03.120 I say that about guys best? 0:37:03.560 --> 0:37:03.960 Actually? 0:37:04.120 --> 0:37:07.040 When I just when I just went to the ad MS, 0:37:07.560 --> 0:37:11.880 the ATHM Awards last year and in Texas, uh, you know, 0:37:11.920 --> 0:37:14.840 you get your credentials, and Jelly was up for a 0:37:14.840 --> 0:37:15.680 bunch of awards. 0:37:15.680 --> 0:37:17.600 I wasn't out for any awards or anything, but I. 0:37:17.600 --> 0:37:21.800 Was there as his guest and my credential, said Struggle 0:37:21.920 --> 0:37:24.480 Jennings artist Jelly Rolls bestie. 0:37:24.760 --> 0:37:27.799 Oh good, So I'm not the only one that called 0:37:27.840 --> 0:37:32.200 me that. I love that so much? Can you tell 0:37:32.200 --> 0:37:36.520 me I love him too? How important is that brotherhood 0:37:36.680 --> 0:37:39.760 with someone like Jelly Roll on your on your journey? 0:37:40.520 --> 0:37:42.439 Well, it's been everything, you know, I mean, it's been 0:37:42.520 --> 0:37:47.400 it's been such a major role. He we met I 0:37:47.480 --> 0:37:51.000 was fresh out of a jail sentence, raising two kids 0:37:51.000 --> 0:37:51.719 by myself. 0:37:52.200 --> 0:37:52.680 I think I. 0:37:54.480 --> 0:37:57.359 Hadn't even had my third child yet when I when 0:37:57.520 --> 0:38:01.200 we met and he just got out of jail or 0:38:01.320 --> 0:38:05.439 juvenile because he was still young and he was out 0:38:05.520 --> 0:38:08.600 selling CDs and doing rap battles and I was promoting 0:38:08.600 --> 0:38:10.799 the show and selling my CD and we met and 0:38:10.920 --> 0:38:12.600 just automatically clicked. 0:38:13.560 --> 0:38:17.200 And going on twenty three years of a friendship. 0:38:17.239 --> 0:38:20.719 You know, he slept on my couch and I've watched him, 0:38:21.239 --> 0:38:25.640 you know, grow and become who he's becoming. Not only 0:38:25.640 --> 0:38:28.600 did our friendship because we were in the streets together. 0:38:28.719 --> 0:38:30.480 You know, we we did a lot of things. We 0:38:30.520 --> 0:38:32.560 carried a lot of caskets together, We lost a lot 0:38:32.560 --> 0:38:38.800 of friends. We both did time, you know, during our friendship. 0:38:38.840 --> 0:38:47.279 And having somebody that you just always know is there 0:38:47.320 --> 0:38:52.200 for you, you know, has been such a major part 0:38:52.200 --> 0:38:56.160 of it because there's you know, I think a lot 0:38:56.160 --> 0:38:59.520 of people make a lot more That's why I believe 0:38:59.560 --> 0:39:00.799 in support system so much. 0:39:00.920 --> 0:39:03.280 I believe that a lot of people make a lot worse. 0:39:03.400 --> 0:39:06.239 Decisions when they feel like they're all alone and they 0:39:06.239 --> 0:39:11.000 have nobody, you know, the level of desperation or the 0:39:11.120 --> 0:39:12.279 level of loneliness and. 0:39:13.560 --> 0:39:15.000 Feeling like you have nothing to lose. 0:39:15.000 --> 0:39:17.880 And there's something Jelly's always given me is feeling like 0:39:17.920 --> 0:39:21.120 I had something to lose. You know, when I was 0:39:21.120 --> 0:39:27.960 in prison, he you know, calling him from that jail phone. 0:39:28.040 --> 0:39:30.839 And him being like, oh man, I'm in Missouri. I'm 0:39:30.880 --> 0:39:31.680 in Mississippi. 0:39:31.680 --> 0:39:33.920 You know, he was out doing shows and he was 0:39:33.920 --> 0:39:37.960 sleeping in a van, and you know, he started telling 0:39:38.040 --> 0:39:40.320 me as I was getting close to getting out. 0:39:40.239 --> 0:39:42.879 Like sure, I'm telling you, this is possible. Man. 0:39:43.280 --> 0:39:45.680 You guys made a thousand bucks last night at the show, 0:39:46.120 --> 0:39:47.200 you know, Like why you mean a. 0:39:47.200 --> 0:39:49.719 Thousand dollars in one night without set of drugs, like, 0:39:50.239 --> 0:39:50.440 you know. 0:39:51.840 --> 0:39:55.759 So there was so much inspiration and hope. And when 0:39:55.760 --> 0:39:58.040 I came home, you know, he still didn't having figured out. 0:39:58.080 --> 0:40:04.000 It was still you know, doing shows and sleeping in 0:40:04.000 --> 0:40:08.160 a van still sometimes and you know he wasn't but 0:40:08.200 --> 0:40:11.319 then he just never gave up. He kept plugging away 0:40:11.360 --> 0:40:15.000 and uh, and it definitely was a big inspiration for 0:40:15.040 --> 0:40:19.480 me to not give up, you know. And then we 0:40:19.560 --> 0:40:22.719 started doing the Weaving and Willie albums together and they 0:40:22.800 --> 0:40:26.080 just took off, and then he signed with Strange Music. 0:40:26.160 --> 0:40:28.239 And then had the song save Me, and. 0:40:28.200 --> 0:40:33.320 It was just like yep, now. 0:40:32.400 --> 0:40:34.880 He's the household name, and I couldn't be more proud 0:40:34.920 --> 0:40:38.200 of him. I love it, and he's he's still this 0:40:38.320 --> 0:40:41.200 day my best friend. You know, we we can sometimes 0:40:41.280 --> 0:40:44.680 talk five times a week, or sometimes we might not 0:40:44.760 --> 0:40:47.000 talk for three or four weeks because of his schedule. 0:40:47.360 --> 0:40:48.719 He's picked left off. 0:40:49.760 --> 0:40:53.160 Well anytime we cost two three hour phone call. You know, 0:40:54.320 --> 0:40:56.840 I can be that sounding board for him and he 0:40:56.920 --> 0:41:00.440 can decompress and know that anything he says that phone 0:41:00.480 --> 0:41:04.040 with me is a thousand percent safe and things that 0:41:04.360 --> 0:41:06.879 you know, a lot of times, men we don't have 0:41:07.080 --> 0:41:12.040 too many people that we can really just vent and 0:41:12.160 --> 0:41:15.279 lay it all on, you know, like our wives, or 0:41:15.280 --> 0:41:18.880 our children, or our mothers or everybody kind of looks 0:41:18.960 --> 0:41:21.239 to us to be that strength in that backbone. 0:41:21.280 --> 0:41:24.560 So in our moments of weakness sometimes it's hard. You know, 0:41:24.600 --> 0:41:25.240 we try. 0:41:25.040 --> 0:41:30.360 To hold that into shield others from feeling you know, 0:41:30.719 --> 0:41:33.239 getting nervous or ANTSI you know, we got to act 0:41:33.280 --> 0:41:34.360 like we've got it all together. 0:41:38.000 --> 0:41:41.520 So me and him have that in each other. 0:41:41.560 --> 0:41:45.560 And you know, I don't call him because I respect 0:41:45.600 --> 0:41:47.959 his time and I know how busy he is, all right. 0:41:48.280 --> 0:41:49.120 I mean, if I had. 0:41:48.960 --> 0:41:52.040 Something, you know, that I really needed to talk to 0:41:52.120 --> 0:41:54.560 him about, it was like an important or something, I 0:41:54.560 --> 0:41:57.319 would call him. I'm not saying I don't ever call him, 0:41:57.320 --> 0:42:00.080 but I just I kind of try to be that 0:42:00.239 --> 0:42:02.600 friend that is just like he knows he can call 0:42:02.640 --> 0:42:05.040 me at any time, and I'm going to shut the 0:42:05.080 --> 0:42:07.000 world down and give him those two or three hours 0:42:07.000 --> 0:42:10.799 that he needs because he's he's really busy right now. 0:42:10.840 --> 0:42:14.080 He's going through a lot a lot of changes, you know, 0:42:14.200 --> 0:42:17.560 from coming from where we came from and going through 0:42:17.560 --> 0:42:20.439 what he's went through to now being the biggest star 0:42:20.520 --> 0:42:21.560 on the face of the planet. 0:42:21.600 --> 0:42:23.120 You know, there's a lot of pressure in that. There's 0:42:23.120 --> 0:42:25.680 a lot of you know, I know he's so busy. 0:42:25.719 --> 0:42:28.839 He's got people pulling them a hundred different ways, right 0:42:30.000 --> 0:42:31.840 So being able to be that support for him and 0:42:31.920 --> 0:42:32.799 just be that guy for. 0:42:32.800 --> 0:42:35.480 Him that's always there for him means the world to me. 0:42:35.840 --> 0:42:39.880 You know, two things, keeping each other grounded and also 0:42:40.200 --> 0:42:43.080 knowing that as much as it's great to ride to 0:42:43.200 --> 0:42:46.279 the success levels, there's also pitfalls that come with it, 0:42:46.400 --> 0:42:50.080 and I'm sure he needs the safety of your friendship 0:42:50.920 --> 0:42:51.880 even though he's. 0:42:51.960 --> 0:42:55.040 Always have it and always have it. 0:42:55.040 --> 0:42:57.839 It really is holding each other accountable to you know, 0:42:58.000 --> 0:43:02.520 like he calls me all my sh it. You know, 0:43:02.640 --> 0:43:06.520 he's like struggle or you're not being accountable or not 0:43:06.560 --> 0:43:08.040 holding yourself accountable right now? 0:43:08.760 --> 0:43:09.640 Why did that happen? 0:43:09.800 --> 0:43:11.560 You know, that's a nice way of putting it. 0:43:12.120 --> 0:43:14.800 Yeah. Well, he likes to give me my own medicine. 0:43:14.400 --> 0:43:16.680 You know, Yes, you know, I got to hear my 0:43:16.760 --> 0:43:19.840 own sermons sometimes from somebody else. 0:43:20.320 --> 0:43:23.160 Yeah, like what would you say to yourself? What would 0:43:23.200 --> 0:43:25.960 you tell me? Tell yourself that same thing kind of 0:43:26.480 --> 0:43:28.160 advice it Jelly does that. 0:43:28.239 --> 0:43:34.120 He uses uh, he uses my own sayings against me, 0:43:34.400 --> 0:43:34.960 not against me. 0:43:35.000 --> 0:43:35.880 It's for me, you know. 0:43:36.680 --> 0:43:39.279 Yeah, but you need that, you need you know, if 0:43:39.320 --> 0:43:42.439 you're surrounded by yes men or people that just tell 0:43:42.480 --> 0:43:46.680 you what you want to hear, or you know, condone 0:43:47.520 --> 0:43:49.479 your bad behavior rights, We're all going to slip. 0:43:49.480 --> 0:43:52.399 We're all going to make mistakes. That never stops, right. 0:43:52.480 --> 0:43:57.680 It's really just realizing when you make those, taking accountability 0:43:57.800 --> 0:44:02.040 for him and then it because it's really not about 0:44:02.040 --> 0:44:03.880 how many times you falls, about how many times you 0:44:03.920 --> 0:44:04.520 get back up. 0:44:05.360 --> 0:44:08.040 You know, we all have were riddled with human nature. 0:44:08.480 --> 0:44:12.600 Mistakes. I like to say mistakes are tuition, you know, 0:44:12.719 --> 0:44:16.359 if you use them correctly, then they're not mistakes. Yeah, 0:44:16.680 --> 0:44:19.200 and sometimes you have to have a piano. A friend 0:44:19.200 --> 0:44:22.080 of mine said this once. It was so sometimes you 0:44:22.120 --> 0:44:24.280 know when like a piano just falls on your head, 0:44:24.719 --> 0:44:26.839 like those are those moments that you need to wake up, 0:44:27.040 --> 0:44:31.960 you know whatever that you know incredibly. I saw a 0:44:32.080 --> 0:44:34.680 video and I believe it just happened this past year, 0:44:34.680 --> 0:44:36.960 and I just want to congratulate you when you were 0:44:37.000 --> 0:44:40.719 invited to the grandel Opry. I'm falling watching the video 0:44:40.800 --> 0:44:42.640 over asking you, well. 0:44:43.719 --> 0:44:44.800 I didn't know what's going to happen. 0:44:44.880 --> 0:44:46.560 He told me I needed to come down there today 0:44:46.680 --> 0:44:50.280 CMS and there was like a little grandell'd opery event 0:44:50.320 --> 0:44:52.719 that he wanted me to come to. And when did 0:44:52.760 --> 0:44:55.640 Billy Bob's with them the night before? And so I'm 0:44:55.640 --> 0:44:59.080 in there and the vent's cool or whatever, but I 0:44:59.120 --> 0:45:01.720 was like, eh, I'm I might have a drink or something, 0:45:01.960 --> 0:45:03.839 you know. So I mows you over to the bar 0:45:03.960 --> 0:45:06.719 and I'm talking to other artists and hanging out, and 0:45:06.880 --> 0:45:10.319 I see him coming across the room and I can 0:45:10.360 --> 0:45:11.280 tell that he's upset. 0:45:12.040 --> 0:45:14.279 But he's like teary ad and he gets up on 0:45:14.440 --> 0:45:16.960 me and I'm paying attention to him. 0:45:16.960 --> 0:45:19.399 So I didn't even realize there was cameras around us, right, 0:45:19.440 --> 0:45:22.359 but they were like camera crew's following him. But I'm 0:45:22.400 --> 0:45:25.200 locked into his eyes because I can see he's like 0:45:25.600 --> 0:45:28.520 choked up. He's like, man, I got to tell you something. 0:45:29.480 --> 0:45:32.960 And my first thing because of our history, and you know, 0:45:32.960 --> 0:45:35.560 I thought somebody had died, you know, like we lost 0:45:35.560 --> 0:45:39.080 one of our best friends, like our little nephew a 0:45:39.160 --> 0:45:42.560 year two years before that, the day me and him 0:45:42.560 --> 0:45:44.960 were doing Red Rocks together, we got the call that 0:45:45.000 --> 0:45:47.799 he had got killed outside of a club in Nashville, 0:45:48.719 --> 0:45:49.560 our nephew, Nate. 0:45:49.719 --> 0:45:52.600 And so it's like we've had so many of those 0:45:52.680 --> 0:45:54.480 kind of moments. 0:45:54.040 --> 0:45:57.160 That I just automatically went into like what's wrong, what's wrong, 0:45:57.200 --> 0:46:00.759 what's wrong? And then he's like they've invited you to 0:46:00.760 --> 0:46:01.960 play the grand old Opery. 0:46:03.719 --> 0:46:05.919 He couldn't even get the words out, he couldn't even 0:46:05.960 --> 0:46:06.359 say it. 0:46:06.880 --> 0:46:08.879 I'd betther look on my face of the video. 0:46:08.960 --> 0:46:10.600 I laugh at it all the time because it was 0:46:10.719 --> 0:46:15.799 like a whirlwind of emotions going from thinking somebody's died 0:46:15.960 --> 0:46:18.680 or something's really wrong to Oh my God, this is 0:46:18.719 --> 0:46:21.320 one of the greatest honors I could ever get, and 0:46:21.360 --> 0:46:24.399 I don't take something else. How God likes to give 0:46:24.440 --> 0:46:26.080 little winks every once in a while and let you 0:46:26.160 --> 0:46:26.960 know you're doing right. 0:46:27.800 --> 0:46:30.759 My Grand Old Opry debut, I didn't get to pick 0:46:30.800 --> 0:46:31.719 the date, you know. 0:46:31.760 --> 0:46:34.240 They said, well, this is the day that you're gonna 0:46:34.880 --> 0:46:36.440 that we want you to come do. 0:46:36.520 --> 0:46:39.680 The Grand Old Opry fell on the same day is 0:46:39.760 --> 0:46:40.840 my last day of parole. 0:46:42.719 --> 0:46:44.960 So I walked out on the stage at the Grand 0:46:44.960 --> 0:46:48.839 Old Opry a free man, and it was like one 0:46:48.840 --> 0:46:51.440 of those wings from God saying this is the end 0:46:51.480 --> 0:46:52.239 of one chapter in. 0:46:52.280 --> 0:46:53.200 The beginning of another. 0:46:54.239 --> 0:46:55.960 You know it sure was. 0:46:56.280 --> 0:46:59.800 You can't make it up, man, can't make it up. 0:46:59.080 --> 0:47:02.839 It's just so beautiful. How if you just stay in 0:47:02.840 --> 0:47:04.560 tune and you stay in line. 0:47:04.239 --> 0:47:08.160 And you listen and you pay attention, do your best 0:47:08.200 --> 0:47:13.160 to be your best and be humble and grateful, so 0:47:13.360 --> 0:47:17.719 much amazing things fall into place, things we could never 0:47:17.760 --> 0:47:18.480 even design. 0:47:18.880 --> 0:47:22.880 You know, Struggle Jennings, thank you so much for coming 0:47:22.960 --> 0:47:26.040 on Music Save Me and sharing your story with us. Well, 0:47:26.200 --> 0:47:28.839 thank you, really, I mean, just wonderful, wonderful stuff that 0:47:28.880 --> 0:47:31.040 you're doing, and keep doing what you're doing, and that's 0:47:31.040 --> 0:47:34.759 what we're doing here and highlighting stories like you love 0:47:34.800 --> 0:47:37.200 It are just some of the most amazing things that 0:47:37.400 --> 0:47:39.520 I feel like I've ever been a part of. So 0:47:39.600 --> 0:47:42.520 thanks for coming on to share it and for the liteners. 0:47:43.040 --> 0:47:45.840 Thank you doing what you're doing. Thanks keep touching lives. 0:47:46.080 --> 0:47:46.880 People need to hear it.