1
00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:03,600
Speaker 1: Music Saved Me as a writer. As an artist, we

2
00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:08,920
Speaker 1: must provide the lyric and the melody and the marriage

3
00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,080
Speaker 1: of those two in such a way that we create images.

4
00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,720
Speaker 1: And we do that from our own perspectives. But as

5
00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,000
Speaker 1: an artist and as a writer espace that I can

6
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,239
Speaker 1: tell you, I try to write things that I think

7
00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,680
Speaker 1: that the majority of our fan base can in some

8
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,400
Speaker 1: way attach themselves to something within that song.

9
00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,240
Speaker 2: I'm Len Hoffman, and welcome to another edition of our

10
00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,960
Speaker 2: Music Saved Me Podcasts, the podcast where we explore the

11
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,519
Speaker 2: healing power of music.

12
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:35,960
Speaker 1: Now.

13
00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,320
Speaker 2: If you like this podcast, thank you, and please check

14
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,600
Speaker 2: out our companion podcast, Taken a Walk, hosted by Buzznight,

15
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,680
Speaker 2: which is available everywhere you get your podcast Now. Today

16
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:50,040
Speaker 2: I am joined by a great singer songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee,

17
00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:51,720
Speaker 2: Craig Morgan.

18
00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:52,760
Speaker 1: I get this.

19
00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,240
Speaker 2: Craig has a huge audience of fans reaching far and wide,

20
00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,279
Speaker 2: and over the years has earned two point five billion yes,

21
00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,039
Speaker 2: with a b billion streams of his music, over twenty

22
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,200
Speaker 2: five songs on the Billboard charts, two hundred and fifty

23
00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,520
Speaker 2: appearances at the Grand Ole Opry, and on top of

24
00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,480
Speaker 2: all that, valiantly served our country as a seventeen year

25
00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,600
Speaker 2: veteran of the Army and Army Reserve, and recently Goosebumps

26
00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:22,080
Speaker 2: re enlisted as an Army Reserve soldier. Wow. I couldn't

27
00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:23,679
Speaker 2: even believe that when I heard it. And if you

28
00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,120
Speaker 2: think I'm done, no I'm not, because he's still busy.

29
00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,400
Speaker 2: In addition to his military and music career, he has

30
00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,200
Speaker 2: also found time to become a best selling author, a

31
00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:36,080
Speaker 2: noted outdoorsman, an actor, and TV personality. In fact, I

32
00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,240
Speaker 2: just saw him on a big morning show performing the

33
00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,679
Speaker 2: title track off his most recent EP called American Soundtrack,

34
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,480
Speaker 2: which is now stuck in my head. I can't stop

35
00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,520
Speaker 2: singing it. Craig Morgan, welcome to Music Save Me. It

36
00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,360
Speaker 2: is a true honor to have you here on the

37
00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:49,960
Speaker 2: show today.

38
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:52,600
Speaker 1: I'm honored to be here. Thank you, thank you.

39
00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:54,600
Speaker 2: I can't get that song out of my head. It

40
00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,040
Speaker 2: is so good. It is the soundtrack to my entire life.

41
00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,560
Speaker 1: Oh that's wonderful. That's what we all uh as songwriters

42
00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,080
Speaker 1: in particular, but as artists also, we strive to achieve

43
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,160
Speaker 1: that that that thing where when you hear that song

44
00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:13,880
Speaker 1: once or twice, it's forever in your head or at

45
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:15,800
Speaker 1: least part of it or something about it is in

46
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,200
Speaker 1: your in your head.

47
00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:23,520
Speaker 2: It's there American soundtrack. My husband's like, all right, enough,

48
00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,760
Speaker 2: how can I start off with asking you first? How

49
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,640
Speaker 2: has music played a role in helping you navigate the

50
00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,880
Speaker 2: challenges that come across life? Sometimes?

51
00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,560
Speaker 1: Well, I would say primarily it's my livelihood. I mean,

52
00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,840
Speaker 1: so my you know, our our livelihood for me my

53
00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:52,000
Speaker 1: family has depended on me achieving and maintaining a certain

54
00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,040
Speaker 1: level of success in the business. Uh, for no other reason,

55
00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,560
Speaker 1: just for the financial standing. But I mean it's it's

56
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:00,200
Speaker 1: opened up the doors. As you alluded to, some of

57
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,160
Speaker 1: the other things that I've done. I don't think that

58
00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,840
Speaker 1: I would have been able to get into some of

59
00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,160
Speaker 1: the spots, acting and doing some of the things had

60
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,280
Speaker 1: it not been for the music. So yeah, I mean

61
00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,960
Speaker 1: it's that's that's I would say, that's the primary I'm

62
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:15,840
Speaker 1: not like a lot of folks. I will tell you this.

63
00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:21,880
Speaker 1: I truly appreciate, respect, love, and understand the impact music

64
00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,560
Speaker 1: has on people's lives. And I will tell you some

65
00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,520
Speaker 1: stories that I have been told about my music. But

66
00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:35,280
Speaker 1: for me, it's an occupation. It's what I do. That

67
00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,320
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that I don't enjoy playing. It doesn't mean

68
00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,200
Speaker 1: that I don't get something out of it. It doesn't

69
00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,760
Speaker 1: mean that I don't find it calming or sometimes or

70
00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,680
Speaker 1: sometimes the opposite. But but but for me, it is

71
00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,200
Speaker 1: an occupation. It's what I do. You know, It's again,

72
00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:58,680
Speaker 1: I truly respect and appreciate the impact. But for me,

73
00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,600
Speaker 1: it's I will tell you this, it ain't my therapy.

74
00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,080
Speaker 1: My therapy is that My therapy is a tractor or

75
00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,720
Speaker 1: being in the woods or you know, any place that

76
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:12,600
Speaker 1: I can get a little closer to God. And the

77
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:13,920
Speaker 1: music does that as well.

78
00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:14,600
Speaker 2: Sure does.

79
00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,400
Speaker 1: There's moments in my music where I feel like I've

80
00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:22,200
Speaker 1: strengthened my relationship. But yeah, that's I mean, if that's

81
00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,480
Speaker 1: I don't know how you know, I'm always careful about

82
00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,280
Speaker 1: how I tend to be careful about how I wor

83
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,560
Speaker 1: this because I would never want anyone, especially my fans,

84
00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,240
Speaker 1: to think that I don't appreciate what I've been blessed

85
00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:40,159
Speaker 1: with and in and around this music. But I can't

86
00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,000
Speaker 1: lie and say that it is my therapy, my personal therapy.

87
00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,320
Speaker 1: I have dear friends and they tell me that, you know,

88
00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,400
Speaker 1: that's their therapy is listening to music. I probably listen

89
00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,120
Speaker 1: to music less than any of my friends at all.

90
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,760
Speaker 2: That's interesting, but I understand it. My background is in music,

91
00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,440
Speaker 2: it's radio. But it's interesting how very rarely I listen

92
00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,240
Speaker 2: to the radio. Not saying that here, you know, but

93
00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,160
Speaker 2: it's when you're busy doing the work. You don't really

94
00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,120
Speaker 2: have time, do you.

95
00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:10,320
Speaker 1: No, that's it. And when I am, when I do

96
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,240
Speaker 1: have some time off, if I'm not writing that, which

97
00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:17,800
Speaker 1: is my only avenue outside of the entertainment world and

98
00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:19,880
Speaker 1: traveling and touring and all the other things that I'm

99
00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,679
Speaker 1: doing to maintain some sense of relevance in the business,

100
00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,640
Speaker 1: I'm doing something else and it's not It doesn't include

101
00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,960
Speaker 1: music very rarely. Even like when we go to Alaska

102
00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:32,960
Speaker 1: and we have our place and our business up there,

103
00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,239
Speaker 1: unless we have friends or a group that's there visiting

104
00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,200
Speaker 1: that's wanting to listen to music, we're not listening to music.

105
00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:41,680
Speaker 1: When I drive around in my car, I'm not listening

106
00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,960
Speaker 1: to music as a songwriter. There's two reasons. One, just because,

107
00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,279
Speaker 1: as you alluded to it said, it's what we do,

108
00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:50,640
Speaker 1: so I just don't do it when I'm not doing

109
00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,920
Speaker 1: it professionally. But two, I'm usually listening to podcasts and

110
00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:55,520
Speaker 1: stuff like that.

111
00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,839
Speaker 2: Oh, really, tell me what podcasts have you been listening to.

112
00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:06,239
Speaker 1: I really enjoy Joe Rogan, theo Von. I also listen

113
00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,320
Speaker 1: to Catholic Answers Live. I love that program. It's one

114
00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:15,040
Speaker 1: of my favorites to listen to anything where people are thinking.

115
00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, what you're thinking. It's amazing because people really don't

116
00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,240
Speaker 2: talk about what they listen to for podcasts, and it's

117
00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,720
Speaker 2: interesting to find out, you know. And they also don't

118
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:26,680
Speaker 2: go on each other's shows, which I think is crazy.

119
00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,719
Speaker 2: I think we should all be, you know, talking to

120
00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:30,159
Speaker 2: each other.

121
00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:33,760
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, you know.

122
00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,040
Speaker 2: It's funny right when we get on this zoom call

123
00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,880
Speaker 2: and I think there's a plane doing acrobats outside this studio.

124
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:41,240
Speaker 1: I don't know if you can hear it or not.

125
00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:46,479
Speaker 2: It's like zooming around in circles. Because you don't use music,

126
00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,560
Speaker 2: as you just said, as a form of therapy for yourself,

127
00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:54,000
Speaker 2: can you do you know what it is about the music?

128
00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,159
Speaker 2: Is it the writing or the arrangement of the words,

129
00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,880
Speaker 2: the words themselves, or the actual performance and being a

130
00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:03,880
Speaker 2: part of the entire thing. What do you think it

131
00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,200
Speaker 2: is about that that people can it can be therapeutic

132
00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:10,360
Speaker 2: for people listening. I mean, do you have any idea?

133
00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,640
Speaker 1: I mean, I have my own perspectives, my own take

134
00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:15,400
Speaker 1: on it. I believe it's a combination of a lot

135
00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,320
Speaker 1: of things. But primarily what I've learned, and I think

136
00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,640
Speaker 1: what American Soundtrack, not the song, but this project in

137
00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:29,320
Speaker 1: general has shown me, is that it's not necessarily the

138
00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:33,080
Speaker 1: song as much as it is that moment in your

139
00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:34,680
Speaker 1: life when that song happens to.

140
00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:36,480
Speaker 2: Be playing interesting.

141
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,120
Speaker 1: So you might be in a very low place in

142
00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,400
Speaker 1: your life and you hear a song and it lifts

143
00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,200
Speaker 1: you up. You will forever remember that moment because of

144
00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,200
Speaker 1: that song. And you will forever remember that song because

145
00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,200
Speaker 1: of that moment. So they married together. But there's no

146
00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:56,440
Speaker 1: question as a writer, as an artist, we must provide

147
00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,280
Speaker 1: the lyric and the melody and the marriage of those

148
00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:04,520
Speaker 1: two in such a way that we create images, and

149
00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,800
Speaker 1: we do that from our own perspectives. But as an

150
00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,360
Speaker 1: artist and as a writer especially, I can tell you

151
00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,520
Speaker 1: I try to write things that I think that the

152
00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,360
Speaker 1: majority of our fan base can in some way attach

153
00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,880
Speaker 1: themselves to something within that song. When you think about

154
00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:26,000
Speaker 1: Blue Collar Prayer, there's a line that says under her

155
00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,120
Speaker 1: Low's clothes, little Junior starting to show. I think that

156
00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:35,959
Speaker 1: every pregnant woman out there will relate to that line.

157
00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,600
Speaker 1: And I'm talking about a farmer in that song, I'm

158
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,199
Speaker 1: talking about a soldier. I'm talking about different perspectives but

159
00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:47,280
Speaker 1: having the same thing of prayer. So that again, when writing,

160
00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:51,600
Speaker 1: I try to write towards and four the majority of

161
00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,520
Speaker 1: our listening audience. Because my wife and her family don't

162
00:08:55,520 --> 00:09:00,560
Speaker 1: buy my records.

163
00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,000
Speaker 2: That is not surprising to me at all.

164
00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:04,280
Speaker 1: You know, you do what you do.

165
00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,840
Speaker 2: She does what she does, and you know it's actually

166
00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:09,840
Speaker 2: probably better that way it is.

167
00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,439
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been married to my wife now for thirty

168
00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:17,000
Speaker 1: oh gosh, thirty six years. Thirty seven great?

169
00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:18,760
Speaker 2: Oh did you hear it?

170
00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,360
Speaker 1: Thirty seven years? Yeah, and it met thirty seven years.

171
00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,920
Speaker 1: I bet she hasn't been to a dozen or more shows.

172
00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,680
Speaker 1: Just I mean, we have our life, and like I

173
00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,439
Speaker 1: said earlier, you know, music is my occupation. It's not

174
00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,240
Speaker 1: it's not who I am, it's what I do.

175
00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,800
Speaker 2: It's so true. You're right when I think about it.

176
00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:40,920
Speaker 2: My husband and I have been together almost thirty years

177
00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,000
Speaker 2: and he's never once come to a television taping or

178
00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:49,240
Speaker 2: he didn't never ever. We just actually had a conversation

179
00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,640
Speaker 2: about it recently. But there's something to that.

180
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:54,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm trying to get her to go with me

181
00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,200
Speaker 1: on tour this weekend, just to spend the weekend with

182
00:09:57,240 --> 00:09:59,440
Speaker 1: me out on the road, mainly because I want her

183
00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,960
Speaker 1: to see the show that Blake and Trace and Dana

184
00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,920
Speaker 1: and I are doing. I want her to see that. Uh.

185
00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,199
Speaker 1: But but our livelihood is again, it's it's my livelihood.

186
00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,839
Speaker 1: It's not it's not who I am. It's a it

187
00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,800
Speaker 1: dictates and and and has impacted a large part of

188
00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,240
Speaker 1: who I am, but it's not it's not me as

189
00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:20,880
Speaker 1: a whole. Uh. And I don't know you know, again,

190
00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:24,160
Speaker 1: I can't speak on every artist behalf. I love music.

191
00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,120
Speaker 1: I love what it does. And like I said, I'll

192
00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:28,840
Speaker 1: tell you some stories about uh some stories I've been

193
00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,000
Speaker 1: told about what my songs have meant to people. And

194
00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:32,040
Speaker 1: I love that.

195
00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,080
Speaker 2: That was my next question was, you know, what's the

196
00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,720
Speaker 2: reaction when you get that real you know, that affirmation

197
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,440
Speaker 2: that what you wrote was connecting with your audience.

198
00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,320
Speaker 1: Uh. I'm gonna start with a story I was told

199
00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,800
Speaker 1: a long time ago. I had a soldier. We were

200
00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,520
Speaker 1: in Washington, state playing the State Fair that year. It's

201
00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,480
Speaker 1: a big state fair. Uh. And afterwards I decided I

202
00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:56,880
Speaker 1: had that I was releasing an album, so I decided

203
00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,520
Speaker 1: I was gonna do autographs appers. So I out there

204
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,800
Speaker 1: to sign on. There's this huge line of people and

205
00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,120
Speaker 1: I thought, lord, man, I may never get through with this.

206
00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:07,680
Speaker 1: And over to the side there was a young man

207
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:12,760
Speaker 1: amputee standing there and I said, hey, you can come

208
00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:14,120
Speaker 1: on up. You don't need to stand. He said, no,

209
00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:15,760
Speaker 1: I want to wait till the end. I got a story.

210
00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,280
Speaker 1: And I'm like, bro, this may be a while, and

211
00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:19,680
Speaker 1: he said, I don't mind. So we got him a

212
00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,280
Speaker 1: chure and he sat there four hours later. He sat

213
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,240
Speaker 1: there for four hours to tell me this story. He said,

214
00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,480
Speaker 1: I just wanted you to know that your music saved

215
00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,480
Speaker 1: my life. I said, buddy, it ain't. It ain't me

216
00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,560
Speaker 1: or my music. That's that's God. But I'm grateful that

217
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:36,839
Speaker 1: he used my music. And he said, well, I just

218
00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:38,320
Speaker 1: got to tell you the story. He said, I first

219
00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,559
Speaker 1: time I was in Iraq and I was driving down

220
00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:43,400
Speaker 1: the road and I was listening to a song that

221
00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,640
Speaker 1: you had written called Paradise. It was my very first

222
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,640
Speaker 1: thing on country radio. He said, I didn't know who

223
00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:51,680
Speaker 1: you were. And this, you know, this was many years

224
00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,760
Speaker 1: after that song had been released, and someone gave him

225
00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,040
Speaker 1: the CD, I guess. He said. We were driving down

226
00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,600
Speaker 1: the road and the CD started skipping or something on

227
00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,080
Speaker 1: these little portable seed players. He said. He bent down

228
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,040
Speaker 1: to try to fix it, and a sniper shot through

229
00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:11,000
Speaker 1: the window and missing. And I said, well, bro, that

230
00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,240
Speaker 1: definitely wasn't me. That was the God thing. And he said,

231
00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,160
Speaker 1: but that was the first time. He said the second time,

232
00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:18,120
Speaker 1: I was sitting at my house and he said, everything

233
00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,080
Speaker 1: had piled up and I was done, and he said,

234
00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,439
Speaker 1: I can remember having the pistol and I was gonna

235
00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:24,800
Speaker 1: put it in my mouth and a song came on

236
00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,160
Speaker 1: the radio called Almost Home. Uh, and he said, I

237
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,680
Speaker 1: didn't do it. He said, twice your music saved my life.

238
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,240
Speaker 1: I'll never forget that story as long as I live. Uh.

239
00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,520
Speaker 1: That's you know, and and it's I know that God

240
00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:41,200
Speaker 1: uses that and I'm grateful and I'm just I'm humbled

241
00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,520
Speaker 1: and to be a part of anything that God's doing.

242
00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:45,080
Speaker 2: Wow.

243
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:46,680
Speaker 1: Uh. And I tried to make it clear to that

244
00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:48,880
Speaker 1: young man that hey, that wasn't me, man, But I

245
00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,440
Speaker 1: am thankful for the story and and and it just

246
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:51,920
Speaker 1: changed me.

247
00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,640
Speaker 2: What was his reaction when you you know, with your response.

248
00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:57,640
Speaker 1: Oh, we both cried. I ain't gonna gonna be honest,

249
00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,600
Speaker 1: we both sat there and cried. You know, is what

250
00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:01,120
Speaker 1: it is.

251
00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,400
Speaker 2: That's such a beautiful Why do you what do you

252
00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,400
Speaker 2: think it is that makes music such a powerful tool

253
00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:07,840
Speaker 2: for emotional healing?

254
00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:12,559
Speaker 1: Well, again, I think it's the combination and the marriage

255
00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:15,679
Speaker 1: of the melody and the lyric. Uh. There have been

256
00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,160
Speaker 1: a lot of studies in the music world and in

257
00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:23,760
Speaker 1: the medical world concerning music, UH, talking about how a

258
00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:29,440
Speaker 1: melody can influence the whatever in your brain that controls

259
00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:31,000
Speaker 1: your emotions.

260
00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:31,559
Speaker 2: Interesting.

261
00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot of great I work with an organization.

262
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,320
Speaker 1: I got a buddy that started works with a group

263
00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:43,080
Speaker 1: called Guitars for Vets UH, and it's just absolutely amazing

264
00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:46,719
Speaker 1: these guys that have PTSD or contemplating suicide or any

265
00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:48,960
Speaker 1: of these things, when they put a guitar in their

266
00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,040
Speaker 1: hand and they go through a full twelve week program

267
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:53,440
Speaker 1: learn how to play and how when they get to

268
00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,040
Speaker 1: that spot where they're they're really contemplating, you know, doing

269
00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,760
Speaker 1: something that when they put a guitar in the hand

270
00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,160
Speaker 1: they're able to release that and it changes their energy.

271
00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,000
Speaker 1: It's just fascinating. Again. I think it's the combination of

272
00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,440
Speaker 1: the melody, the lyric, and again that point in their

273
00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,520
Speaker 1: life where something's happening and they either hear a song

274
00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:20,280
Speaker 1: or in the case of guitarists for events, they start

275
00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:25,560
Speaker 1: playing and making up something that does it. But ultimately,

276
00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:29,200
Speaker 1: I ultimately it's God and music is just one of

277
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,080
Speaker 1: the many tools that I believe He uses.

278
00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,760
Speaker 2: I couldn't agree more. What advice would you give to

279
00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:36,280
Speaker 2: someone who's looking to use music as a way to

280
00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,280
Speaker 2: cope with personal challenges?

281
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,880
Speaker 1: Oh, experiment, use it, listen, don't don't, don't look for

282
00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,000
Speaker 1: it to be a hello end all. Oh, everything's wonderful,

283
00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,320
Speaker 1: because here's the deal. Here's what I've learned too. H

284
00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:53,120
Speaker 1: life is is. We're full of suffering. It's gonna happen.

285
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,840
Speaker 1: The Bible is very clear. So don't expect life to

286
00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,840
Speaker 1: be fun and grand and easy all the time. You can't.

287
00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,240
Speaker 1: You can't live that way because if you do, you're

288
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,480
Speaker 1: constantly going to be disappointed and hurt and broken. But

289
00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:08,360
Speaker 1: knowing that there's light at the end and accepting that

290
00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,800
Speaker 1: a certain level of suffering will lead to healing, will

291
00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:14,920
Speaker 1: make it easier, and music can do that, music can

292
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,120
Speaker 1: calm that. I do believe that.

293
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:22,200
Speaker 2: Do you find in your conversations with other writers and

294
00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,280
Speaker 2: performers you know that they don't quite understand where you're

295
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,640
Speaker 2: coming from in terms of that, because so many do

296
00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:31,960
Speaker 2: use music as a therapy for themselves, and it is

297
00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:33,960
Speaker 2: why they even started writing to begin with. I mean,

298
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:38,520
Speaker 2: so there's so many different levels of creating music.

299
00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:43,320
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely, I've had these conversations, Yes, for sure. I

300
00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,560
Speaker 1: know artists, and some of which are very close friends,

301
00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,800
Speaker 1: that literally say they don't know what they would do

302
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,480
Speaker 1: in and with their life if they were not in

303
00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,720
Speaker 1: the music world. And I mean, I don't tell them

304
00:15:57,720 --> 00:15:59,760
Speaker 1: that that's sad, but I think it's a little sad,

305
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,320
Speaker 1: I really do. I've talked to musicians that if they

306
00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,040
Speaker 1: I've had I've got a close friend that once told

307
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,280
Speaker 1: me that if he couldn't play, he would probably kill himself.

308
00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,360
Speaker 1: And that just kills me. It broke my heart to

309
00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:14,600
Speaker 1: think that you realize so much on one thing that

310
00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:20,200
Speaker 1: your entire being, your entire presence, depends on that. Uh.

311
00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,640
Speaker 1: I think it's imperative. When I talk to soldiers who

312
00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,040
Speaker 1: are struggling. I tell them you need to diversify, keep busy,

313
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:32,280
Speaker 1: maintain some sense of mental acuteness and and uh, you know,

314
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:35,840
Speaker 1: I always hear this analogy. Physically, a body in motion

315
00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,200
Speaker 1: stays in motion, a body at rest stays at rest.

316
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:42,880
Speaker 1: The same applies to your physical, spiritual, uh, everything else

317
00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,240
Speaker 1: in your life. You have to you have to keep

318
00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,840
Speaker 1: it occupied. I'm not a big reader. My wife can

319
00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:50,480
Speaker 1: read two or three books a day, I mean, and

320
00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,120
Speaker 1: she reads every day, every morning, every evening. But but

321
00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,480
Speaker 1: I am a listener, uh, to to books, podcasts, different things.

322
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:03,440
Speaker 1: So I'm always keeping my mind occupied. Be creative, whether

323
00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,920
Speaker 1: it be writing a song, whittling a spoon, do something

324
00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:12,159
Speaker 1: that causes your brain to think and be creative. And

325
00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,320
Speaker 1: music can do that too. When you're trying to write

326
00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:17,800
Speaker 1: a song, or trying to play a guitar or trying

327
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,119
Speaker 1: to play a piano, your creative juices are flowing, and

328
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,280
Speaker 1: I think that flows into your entire energy and even

329
00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:25,800
Speaker 1: into your spiritual life.

330
00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,440
Speaker 2: Some very wise words of wisdom from a man who

331
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:33,119
Speaker 2: knows Craig Morgan, thank you sincerely for your service to

332
00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,800
Speaker 2: our country. I don't think many people have done what

333
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:40,400
Speaker 2: you are doing and it's pretty amazing. And also thank

334
00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:42,760
Speaker 2: you for your tremendous gift of the music that you

335
00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,520
Speaker 2: continue to put out while you're doing all of these

336
00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,000
Speaker 2: other things. It's just amazing. And thank you for sharing

337
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,760
Speaker 2: some of your story on Music Saved Me Is. It's

338
00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,000
Speaker 2: just been I could talk to you for another hour.

339
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,399
Speaker 2: Your energy is so amazing, and I just want to

340
00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,159
Speaker 2: steal a little bit for the day, for myself and

341
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,280
Speaker 2: for people listening. So maybe you'll come back.

342
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,680
Speaker 1: I will for sure. It's an absolute honor.

343
00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:07,880
Speaker 2: Thank you, Oh my god, thank you, and have fun

344
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,760
Speaker 2: with Blake and Trace and everybody on tour. This year

345
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:12,840
Speaker 2: is going to be a big one for you.

346
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,080
Speaker 1: Well, if we don't, you'll read about it.

347
00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:17,040
Speaker 2: I'm sure I will.

348
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,399
Speaker 1: I've almost fallen, like the first pre shows, almost felled

349
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,959
Speaker 1: on the stage. I was tripping over everything. It was terrible.

350
00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,359
Speaker 1: Oh it's been awesome and funny at the same time.

351
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:30,360
Speaker 2: Another reason to go Yeah, well, Craig's what happened.

352
00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:32,960
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Thank you,