Chris Stapleton

Summary

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Guest: Chris Stapleton
Release Date: January 19, 2026
Summary by Podcast Summarizer

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Episode Overview

In this engaging and insightful episode, Dax Shepard and Monica Padman sit down with Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton at his barn in Nashville. The conversation traverses Chris’s blue-collar Kentucky upbringing, his early career as a behind-the-scenes songwriter, and the personal philosophies that guide both his artistry and his life as a family man. The hosts and Chris delve into topics ranging from the quirky realities of the Nashville music industry to family, fame, personal insecurities, and the nature of creative drive.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Childhood, Family Background, and Early Life (08:00–18:00)

• Roots in Kentucky: Chris is from a tiny town, Staffordsville, Kentucky. His father was a coal miner and small business owner who also had an engineering degree, and his mother worked for the health department.
• Family Dynamics: Chris discusses the influence of his hardworking, stern father and describes himself as the "middle child" between an older brother (Herbert, an FBI retiree) and a much younger sister. Dax and Monica riff on “little brother energy” and the social skills it imparts.
• Academic & Athletic Life: Chris was valedictorian (“There were two of us,” 17:30) and also a football player, admitting a love for the sport’s organized aggression.

"I think it's okay to have parts. Football games are an organized street fight, you know, where you get some aggression out between the whistles." – Chris Stapleton (18:54)

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2. Path to Nashville & Becoming a Songwriter (21:00–35:00)

• Moving through Colleges: Chris began at Vanderbilt (biomedical engineering), hated it, switched majors, then transferred to University of Kentucky for business before dropping out.
• Meeting Industry Insiders: His big break came through a chance introduction to Steve Leslie, a salaried songwriter. Chris bombed some money from his uncle, moved to Nashville, and landed a publishing deal at Seagale within a week—a rare, nearly overnight success (25:53).

"I had a publishing deal in seven days, which is not anybody's story, but that's mine." – Chris Stapleton (25:53)

• Nashville’s Unique Writing Culture: There’s a collaborative spirit; often songs written with other writers/star musicians get picked up and recorded by major country stars without Chris even meeting the artist (30:27).

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3. Dynamics of Songwriting, Creativity, & Ego (35:00–44:00)

• Co-Writing Protocol & Humility: Chris prefers to “show up and assess what I can contribute,” highlighting a low-ego approach to co-writing.
• Not Chasing the Spotlight: Despite being known as a frontman now, Chris never planned to be one; he relished the role of a Nashville “songwriter behind the scenes.”
• Blind Spots & Perfectionism: He describes himself as overthinking, averse to deadlines, and admits to struggling with mistakes and being “thoughtful” (meticulous) to a fault.
• Control Issues: There’s comfort in the creative solitude of songwriting, which Monica observes as a form of control.

"There's some safety in the space of a song because I'm not having to explain it to anybody. ... I can make this thing, and you can take it, and it can be yours." – Chris Stapleton (43:43)

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4. Family, Fatherhood, and Loss (24:00–25:00; 51:00–52:00)

• Father’s Influence and Passing: Chris’s first album Traveler was written as a record his late father would have liked. He reflects on his father’s missed witnessing of his solo success.
• Balancing Career and Five Kids: Silence is rare and golden in his house, often marked by chaos.

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5. Music Philosophy: The Magic and Universality of Songs (46:00–50:00)

• Universal Appeal: Dax and Monica note that Chris reaches fans across divides: “You unify, you span the gambit. ... That is very rare.” (46:11)
• On Emotional Connection: Dax praises Chris for allowing men, in particular, to feel and emote through his music.
• Music’s Unique Power: Chris calls music a unifier and “magic”—a way for people to feel less alone, find connection and community, even if only with a song.

"The magic of music is it helps us all be connected in ways that even a conversation or a look or a touch doesn't provide." – Chris Stapleton (49:14)

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6. Fame, Anxiety, and Handling Success (58:00–70:00)

• Reluctant Celebrity: Chris is uncomfortable with fame’s invasiveness (e.g., people showing up at his house), but accepts it as part of the job.
• The Timberlake CMA Performance (58:11–65:30): The key turning point in his career, resulting from a genuine personal connection with Justin Timberlake and a “favor” phone call, culminating in an unforgettable 8.5-minute TV moment.

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7. Process and Legacy—The Search for New Fuel (85:17–88:08)

• Contentment, Burnout, and Next Steps: Chris confides he’s not currently driven to make another record or tour, reflecting on balancing career, creativity, and family life.
• Searching for New Dreams: Having already surpassed his early goals, he’s thoughtfully considering what’s next.

"I want to make a thoughtful decision about what I do with the rest of the time that I have on the Earth. ... I’ve done more than I ever set out to do." – Chris Stapleton (86:12)

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8. Miscellaneous Memorable Bits

• Guitar Collecting & Addict Scale: Chris admits his guitar collecting is obsessive (“if you want to call that an addiction, then I’m probably a 25,” 55:01).
• Knives and Superstitions: Stapleton carries pocket knives for comfort and keeps his childhood chair as a habitual relic for studio sessions.
• Beard as Emotional Armor: He jokes about his beard being both physical and emotional protection (66:59).
• Process vs. Results: Both Dax and Chris agree the joy is in the creative process, not the fleeting moment of success.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "I look for silence a lot. With five kids, silence is golden." – Chris Stapleton (07:14)
• "My dad, at some points in my life had to go to Cincinnati to work. The business got so bad ... He shut down." – Chris Stapleton (08:54)
• "I would have played football over playing music." – Chris Stapleton (19:01)
• "I had a publishing deal in seven days, which is not anybody's story, but that's mine." – Chris Stapleton (25:53)
• "There’s some safety in the space of a song because I’m not having to explain it to anybody." – Chris Stapleton (43:43)
• "Half of life, or at least the way I have gotten to live is showing up. Must be present to win." – Chris Stapleton (38:43)
• "Music is meant to unify us, though. The magic of music is it helps us all be connected..." – Chris Stapleton (49:14)
• "[After Timberlake CMAs] We had some shows booked ... they were gone. Like that." – Chris Stapleton (64:41)
• "I want to make a thoughtful decision about what I do with the rest of the time that I have on the Earth. ... I’ve done more than I ever set out to do." – Chris Stapleton (86:12)

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Memorable Moments & Stories

• Stapleton’s One Guitar Lesson: Took one lesson as a kid. The teacher quit teaching the next day (19:47).
• Band Firing: Reveals he was technically kicked out of The SteelDrivers, dispelling myths (39:41).
• The Beard Incident: His beard once saved him during a grill explosion (67:09).
• Eight-Minute CMA Slot: Lobbied for unprecedented TV time for the Timberlake performance (62:41).
• On Luck vs. Talent: Chris insists 90% of the business is luck and timing, despite personal skill (71:28).

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Chris on Growing Up in Kentucky: 08:00–18:00
• Publishing Deal in Nashville: 25:00–27:08
• First Brush with Fame & Father’s Death: 24:00–25:00
• Songwriting Mechanics & Ego: 35:00–40:00
• Tennessee Whiskey & Timberlake CMA Performance: 58:11–65:30
• Stages, Rituals, and Superstitions: 78:00–80:00
• Contemplating a New Direction: 85:17–88:08

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Tone & Style

The conversation is relaxed, honest, and occasionally self-effacing, typical of Armchair Expert’s blend of humor and emotional candor. Chris Stapleton comes across as humble, thoughtful, and deeply intentional, often redirecting attention to the communal aspect of music making and resisting the “star” narrative.

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Final Thoughts

Chris Stapleton’s episode is a heartfelt exploration of creative life and personal grounding amid fame. Listeners will be drawn in by his humility, his storytelling, and his deep respect for both the music craft and the people around him. The episode offers a treasure trove of wisdom for creatives as well as touching moments that humanize a musical giant.

Transcript

[Dax Shepard]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by the miniaturist mouse in America.

[Monica Padman]

Hi, it's me.

[Dax Shepard]

Ding, ding, ding. We've been working on this one for a while.

[Monica Padman]

Oh yeah?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. We've been begging and working and it happened hustling. Yeah. Down in Nashville too. Right where it should happen.

[Monica Padman]

That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

We were in the barn in Nashville and we have Chris Stapleton today. Chris Stapleton is a Grammy award winning singer, songwriter and guitarist. His albums are Traveler From a Room, Starting Over Higher. He's got his tour right now, the All American Road show and you can get tickets for [e-mail] stapleton.com tour. He also has a his own show on Sirius which you should check out.

[Monica Padman]

Check it out.

[Dax Shepard]

And lastly, you should drink some of his Traveler whiskey, which he was reticent to promote, which he should because it's a magical whiskey it makes.

[Monica Padman]

No, maybe he was reticent because you're.

[Dax Shepard]

Sober, but no, he's just a guy with so much integrity he doesn't want to self promote.

[Monica Padman]

Well, he definitely should have and he should have brought us some because I wanted it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it's from the, the, the, the, the brewmasters, you know, call them brew masters in whiskey. You call them some other masters. Yeah, I don't know what the hell. Whiskey masters from Pappy's.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah, big deal.

[Dax Shepard]

Big deal. So drink his whiskey, listen to his music, go see him on tour and listen to him on Sirius. Please enjoy. Chris Stapleton. We are supported by Empower. See, you've always wanted to take that bucket list safari trip where you hop in a jeep at sunrise and cruise the Serengeti. Here's the thing. If you invest well, you could do things like that. With Empower, you can get your money working for you so you can go out and live a little. Isn't that why we work so hard to splurge at certain moments? Maybe it's those concert seats that don't require binoculars or taking that trip to Athens in Greece, not Georgia. No disrespect, money. So use Empower to help you get good at money so you can be a little bad. Join their 19 million customers [e-mail] not an Empower client, paid or sponsored. We are supported by quints. Winter in LA is weird. It'll be 75 degrees one day, then suddenly you need an actual coat. I've been rotating through the same three jackets for years and honestly, they're looking rough. So I finally upgraded my winter wardrobe with quints. And the difference is wild. They're Mongolian. Cashmere sweaters are ridiculously soft. Like, I didn't know cashmere could feel this good without costing a mortgage payment. And their wool coats and Italian leather outerwear, they're the kind of pieces that actually last.

[Monica Padman]

They also have amazing homeware. Do not sleep on the homeware. And if someone's moving and you want to get them, like a little housewarming gift, it's the perfect place. I got a friend some curtains.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, you did? Yeah, curtains.

[Monica Padman]

QCs, quince curtains do it.

[Dax Shepard]

What I love about Quint's is they cut out the middleman.

[Chris Stapleton]

Bye.

[Dax Shepard]

Bye. They work directly with factories and have ethical production standards. So you're getting luxury quality without the luxury markup. We're talking premium materials, thoughtful design stuff that'll last you multiple winners, not just one. Refresh your winter wardrobe with Quints. Go to Quinte.com Dax for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q U I n c e.comdax free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.comdax we are supported by Helix. Sleep is one of those things where you don't realize how much it affects everything else until you actually fix it. I'm talking about waking up groggy, dealing with back pain, or just never feeling fully rested. A lot of that comes down to your mattress. And most of us are sleeping on something that wasn't designed for our specific body or sleep style. That's what I appreciate about Helix. They don't do the one size fits all thing. They actually customize the mattress based on how you sleep, whether you're a side sleeper, back sleeper, you sleep hot, you have back pain, whatever. It's personalized to you, which makes a huge difference in how you actually feel when you wake up. I thought this part was pretty cool. Helix has a sleep quiz that'll match you with your perfect mattress in just a minute. Check it out. It's so easy. You just fill out some basic info, your sleep habits and preferences, and they'll provide a recommendation that addresses your specific needs. Go to helixsleep.com o armchair for 27% off site wide. Exclusive for armchairies. That's helixsleep.com armchair for 27% off site Wide. Make sure you enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you. Helix sleep.com armchair he's an armchair exper.

[Monica Padman]

Is it lost?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Where did I fucking put that down?

[Chris Stapleton]

What you looking for?

[Dax Shepard]

My notes for you.

[Chris Stapleton]

You don't have it memorized.

[Dax Shepard]

You were born April 15, 1978.

[Chris Stapleton]

That's pretty good.

[Monica Padman]

That's really good.

[Chris Stapleton]

It's better than I could do.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. We're gonna test you at that point.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't even know when I'm born.

[Monica Padman]

Your home birthday. Did you have a nice holiday?

[Chris Stapleton]

I did.

[Monica Padman]

I'm from Georgia, so I was just at my family's house. It was easy.

[Chris Stapleton]

Duluth, right?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, Duluth. Oh, my God. Done your homework?

[Chris Stapleton]

No. You just set it on one. I did listen to a few things. I didn't do that much homework. I don't like to go into things doing too much homework. Sometimes I like to see what happens.

[Monica Padman]

You got him.

[Chris Stapleton]

I think it would have been fun if you couldn't find him. And we just went.

[Monica Padman]

I know. Well, that's basically what the interview will be. Those are just a safety net. Where were they?

[Dax Shepard]

On the counter inside.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, okay.

[Dax Shepard]

I didn't even bring them out. I got to start by saying, last summer, we got to interview a couple people here. Jason Aldean and Luke Combs.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I gotta catch my breath.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my.

[Dax Shepard]

I ran.

[Monica Padman]

You ran?

[Dax Shepard]

My bad calf.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no. He did sprints yesterday, so now he broke his body. I told him not to do that.

[Chris Stapleton]

New Year's resolution every day.

[Dax Shepard]

Ugh.

[Monica Padman]

I was like, after the age 35, you shouldn't be sprinting anymore.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know if that's true.

[Monica Padman]

I think it's really true.

[Dax Shepard]

I think that's clinically accurate. I think that's medically true. Yeah. So we had both Jason and Luke, and both of them independently went on these crazy tirades about you to the degree of, well, nobody can sing like Chris. That's just that and his songwriting just, you know, he's on another level that no one can really touch. And both these guys, the way they.

[Monica Padman]

Gushed about you, and they're very different people, too. That was a through line.

[Dax Shepard]

Then I just went like, oh, this is cool. I have loved your music, but it's very interesting to hear people on the inside talk about it. I found that very intriguing.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, I appreciate kind words.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. It's not my world. You know, if you were hanging out with a bunch of actors and they were like, you know, the best actor is. Is Walton Goggins.

[Monica Padman]

We're just talking about.

[Chris Stapleton]

You were?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

Because I listened to some of that episode that you guys just did with him.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay.

[Chris Stapleton]

And the goggles and the whole thing.

[Dax Shepard]

Goggins, goggles.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, the alliteration.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you listen to podcasts?

[Chris Stapleton]

Not really. People ask me what I listen to a lot, and I look for silence a lot. And that's kind of a weird thing to say. And I've said that before in other interviews. But I do like silence because I am looking for something outside of something to come down through the antenna, you know, like.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, silence is where you'll kind of receive some kind of song or just.

[Chris Stapleton]

A thought about what I need to do today doesn't have to be grand. And with five kids, silence is golden in that.

[Monica Padman]

Hard to come by.

[Chris Stapleton]

But also it can be disconcerting when you're so used to that much chaos.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it's a little scary. Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

You're just like, oh, what do I do with this?

[Dax Shepard]

Also, if you have five kids and you hear silence, this is a pretty good indication something's going really wrong.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, you go check on people at that point.

[Dax Shepard]

So you're from Staffordsville, Kentucky?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yes, sir.

[Dax Shepard]

How big of a town is that?

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know that there's actually like a population. It's more of a suburb of Paceville, Kentucky. And I don't even know what that population is.

[Dax Shepard]

It's small, like in the 5,000, 10,000 range.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. Somewhere in there. I wouldn't know what the actual population is today.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And dad was an engineer in the coal mines. Is that accurate?

[Chris Stapleton]

He was a coal miner, yes. And he had an engineering degree. He was an electrical engineer by degree.

[Dax Shepard]

But what did he physically do at work?

[Chris Stapleton]

He was an independent operator. Underground mining.

[Dax Shepard]

Was he operating machinery?

[Chris Stapleton]

He kind of ran it. It was his deal that he kind of started small business kind of person. But he did all the things.

[Dax Shepard]

Did he like, own a mine?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

How does one go about owning my used by property and start digging for coal?

[Chris Stapleton]

Really got into it. But you know, you acquire mineral rights from different landholders and you carry your pistol with you a lot.

[Dax Shepard]

And did he do well?

[Chris Stapleton]

No. That's an industry dominated by large energy companies. And please, large energy companies don't come after me for saying these things. But they control markets. They'll lose money on purpose to put other people out of business to buy their rights. And it's very volatile. There's the opportunity to make money in that business as a small operator. But my dad, at some points in my life had to go to Cincinnati to work. The business got so bad there was no more. He shut down.

[Dax Shepard]

What would he do when he went to Cincinnati?

[Chris Stapleton]

He worked for a company called Pirelli.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, Tires.

[Chris Stapleton]

They have a cabling side too. He worked for the industrial cable side.

[Dax Shepard]

Because it's coated in the rubber that.

[Chris Stapleton]

Pirelli makes or something, so I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, that's a weird.

[Chris Stapleton]

It was weird.

[Dax Shepard]

And then mom worked for the health department.

[Chris Stapleton]

Health department? Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

What kind of guy was dad?

[Chris Stapleton]

The hard working guy. He left before the sun was up and came home after the sun was down.

[Monica Padman]

Did you feel his stress?

[Chris Stapleton]

Felt very safe and maybe secure.

[Dax Shepard]

That feels rare.

[Chris Stapleton]

He was a fair man, but a hard man. Stern, Very black and white about things.

[Dax Shepard]

That he believed in.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. And unyielding to a fault.

[Dax Shepard]

How much older is Herbert than you? Your brother?

[Chris Stapleton]

My brother Herb is three years older than me.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm five years younger brother and I'm a total little brother.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, I was until my sister's 12 years younger than me. So I was the little brother for that amount of time and then I had to adjust.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And I'm six years older than my.

[Monica Padman]

Little sister, but that doesn't count.

[Dax Shepard]

It doesn't count?

[Monica Padman]

No.

[Chris Stapleton]

Why does it not count?

[Monica Padman]

Because he has little brother energy. And that's because the older brother. I'm not counting Carly, his little sister in the mix.

[Dax Shepard]

You're not? Because that's a very middle childy syndrome. Well, that's true, but she'll be using little brother as a pejorative and I'll be using it as a positive because I think you get a lot of skills as a little brother and I'm wondering if you relate.

[Chris Stapleton]

What skills do you believe that you get? That's a little brother.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, I'll hit you with them and.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'll tell you if I have them.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. And I also think it's definitely like what your personality type is. So this wouldn't be the same for all little brothers. But I see it with my kids. For sure. We were both pretty alpha y. We knew what we wanted, each of us independently. But he's five years older, so he was stronger and cooler. And I was constantly trying to be older. The worst thing I could be as a baby, I wanted to get along with his friends. The skill it kind of gave me is I've been able to be around pretty alpha dudes that I might normally butt heads with. But I know the role very well. Like, I know the role of still advocating for myself, but knowing what position to keep myself in a little bit. And I'm mostly curious for you if that showed itself when you started writing with these musicians who are in essence, big brothers. They have the status, they have the power. You gotta obviously be Able to work with them.

[Chris Stapleton]

I had an experience with a writer early on where I came in the room and the first thing he said to me, he was an established writer. And he goes, man, you must have a pretty big ego. I didn't know what that meant.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

I was like, why do you think that? He's like, well, you just think you can walk in here and write songs with. Those have been your duos. I was like, I don't look at it that way, but let's write a song. We'll find out. I never felt less than or unequal to those tasks, and I'll sit in a room with anybody and write a song. To your point. Of the little brothers. I did hang out with my brother's friends, but we also played sports together. I played sports with them. My brother is not as tall as I am. He was a free safety, and I was linebacker. We weren't necessarily competitive with each other, but we were. But he was very protective. He just retired from the FBI.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow.

[Chris Stapleton]

So that carried into his career. He's a protector. We didn't butt heads in that way where I was trying to show him up.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know that I was trying to show my brother up. As much as I just wanted his respect.

[Chris Stapleton]

I think I always felt like I had that.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't think I had.

[Chris Stapleton]

But also, I can hang.

[Dax Shepard]

That's my point. I think the thing you can get as a little brother is you learn how to hang because you're kind of in a situation where you're a guest and you'll be easily kicked out of the situation. And I think you kind of get good at the hang to your point.

[Chris Stapleton]

Of knowing your role or what you can contribute to a scenario. Even this. Right now, I have to sit here and assess what I can contribute to this conversation. You guys have done this a lot. I've done it very little.

[Dax Shepard]

How do you like press in general?

[Chris Stapleton]

It's not my comfort zone necessarily, but I don't mind doing it. You guys are really in luck today because I have absolutely nothing to promote or talk about.

[Monica Padman]

I know. That's our favorite. That is our favorite.

[Dax Shepard]

Our favorite is, like, trying to figure out, like, oh, who's the guy behind all the stuff? Or who's the woman?

[Monica Padman]

When we started this show, it was not to help promote people's projects at all. It was this. It's like, let's just have cool people who we want to get to know. And then over time, when it got bigger, then people would say, like, hey, our Client has a movie, can they come on and promote the movie? And it's like, at the end for five minutes. But we're here to do something else.

[Chris Stapleton]

Right. But you guys are a big enough thing that you're part of that wheel where people. Now, people approach you with that, and so you have to kind of sort that out.

[Dax Shepard]

But we've been hunting you. We were begging for you. Yeah, yeah. Because you and Luke have the same publicist, maybe. Is that who it is?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And when she was here, we were like, okay, so we really love Chris. I first saw you, you did a 60 Minutes profile probably three or four years ago. That was my first kind of glimpse. That was it. That was it. I mean, I'd heard your music, but that was like, oh, here's this guy who at that point, on the outside, I don't know what it felt like on the inside is like, oh, there's a phenom on the scene. And that was the essence of the 60 Minutes interview. And it was just a great profile. I also fucking love 60 Minutes. But, like, how was that? Is that majorly uncomfortable? Because that's days, Right?

[Chris Stapleton]

I've been real fortunate that people understand maybe my discomfort with some of it. And I've been real lucky in that everybody's really nice and easy to work with.

[Dax Shepard]

You're crazy. Likable.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know that I've had an experience where, like, man, that was uncomfortable. The first time I ever went on Stern, I was uncomfortable at Buck going on Stern.

[Dax Shepard]

Scary.

[Monica Padman]

That's scary.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

It was like a wild card thing. Like, I don't know what he's gonna ask or how uncomfortable he's gonna try to make me if he can, if he wants to. It was a remarkably wonderful experience, and he was so kind.

[Dax Shepard]

Were you shy as a kid?

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know that I was particularly, but I find that maybe I am more as an adult.

[Dax Shepard]

Fame can have this very bizarre effect, kind of counterintuitive effect. It certainly had it on me, which is like, I'm a huge extrovert. All growing up, I'm such an extrovert. Not shy, but when you meet people who already know you, for me, I want to deliver. I want to make sure that they enjoyed it and that when they leave, they're like, I'm glad I met him. So I enter in with a little anxiety. This change, for me, it's kind of made me less of an extrovert.

[Monica Padman]

Cause you feel like you have to be on.

[Dax Shepard]

Before, I was just a piece of Shit, I'd meet someone at 7:11. I was either phony or I wasn't who gave a shit. And then they drove away. But now I'm like, okay, I gotta.

[Chris Stapleton]

Because it feels like some kind of pressure to perform, to deliver.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, oh, here's someone who is telling me they love me and they love my stuff. I want to make sure that I.

[Monica Padman]

Give them what they want.

[Dax Shepard]

Kind of don't let them down.

[Chris Stapleton]

That's what it is.

[Dax Shepard]

I have the pressure of, like, I don't want to let someone down who has expressed that they like me.

[Chris Stapleton]

I get that. But also, at some point, you're just a human being and you just got to go, I don't have it today, man, but thank you. I can't be the dancing thing.

[Dax Shepard]

My wife yelled at me for 20 minutes on the way to this airport that you're seeing me at. So, you know, keep that in mind.

[Chris Stapleton]

In this interaction, there's human experiences that you bring into everything that people aren't necessarily seeing that in you.

[Dax Shepard]

In those moments, they're not assuming you might have had a really crazy, terrible morning.

[Chris Stapleton]

No. And for the most part, I don't. I feel very fortunate. They're right.

[Dax Shepard]

For the most part.

[Monica Padman]

That is little brother energy.

[Dax Shepard]

All right. Hear me.

[Monica Padman]

Is wanting approval.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I want approval.

[Chris Stapleton]

Listen, I want approval. I stand up on stage and want to hear people do this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm a junkie. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But you do for your work. But do you as you. I think Dax and me probably maybe a little bit lesser because I'm an older sister. You want people to approve of you, not your work necessarily. You as a person.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, we're probably opposite in that way, I guess.

[Chris Stapleton]

You think?

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I'll tell you why. You'll easily understand. When I just was acting and people giving me compliments, they did not feel like mine. You know, that was a great director. The script was great. My co stars were better than me.

[Chris Stapleton]

That can be true of all situations in life, you know, like. Like we're all the sum of the people around us.

[Dax Shepard]

That's true. But if someone loves one of your songs, you wrote it, you sang it, you played it. I feel that way about the podcast. Like, if people like me for the podcast, I'm able more to be proud of the work.

[Chris Stapleton]

Sure.

[Dax Shepard]

I was shocked and I don't know why, that you were a valedictorian.

[Monica Padman]

Congratulations.

[Chris Stapleton]

Thank you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that's awesome.

[Dax Shepard]

Now, I don't wanna insult you, but what was the pool of people they were selecting From Is this thousands of people?

[Chris Stapleton]

There were two of us.

[Monica Padman]

That's a big deal. Fuck.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I don't think we've ever interviewed a valedictorian.

[Chris Stapleton]

And we've interviewed. You have?

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know.

[Chris Stapleton]

Somebody just didn't tell you.

[Monica Padman]

Bill Gates was the valedictorian.

[Chris Stapleton]

Nobody wants to talk about. I mean, I'm 47. We're talking about something happened 30 years ago. Why are we talking about this?

[Monica Padman]

Actually, that's interesting, being the valedictorian because that early on you had a moment of, I'm number one.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And that does something to people.

[Chris Stapleton]

You think?

[Monica Padman]

I think it teaches you you can be number one. It's a possibility.

[Dax Shepard]

How did it work? First of all, how many kids were in your graduating class?

[Chris Stapleton]

Two hundred and fifty.

[Dax Shepard]

That's impressive. Does the principal call you in?

[Chris Stapleton]

No.

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Monica Padman]

Well, because you probably had to make a speech at graduation, right?

[Chris Stapleton]

I actually just sang a song. Oh, you did? I did.

[Dax Shepard]

What song did you sing?

[Chris Stapleton]

I wrote one.

[Dax Shepard]

Was it called Valedictorian?

[Chris Stapleton]

It was absolutely.

[Monica Padman]

It's only on the nose. Early work.

[Chris Stapleton]

It was called 4.0. Yeah. Not to minimize, but it was like a shared thing. There were four or five of us. We were all tied.

[Monica Padman]

We're still graying.

[Dax Shepard]

So the two things that shocked me right away is like valedictorian and then football. I think that surprised me too.

[Chris Stapleton]

Why?

[Dax Shepard]

Because you exude this really kind soulfulness, gentleness, tenderness. Tenderness, sensitive. All the things that are magic about your music. That's what you exude. And those are fucking awesome things to exude. So if you find out he's a football player and then a brainiac, you know, it's a little out of the pattern.

[Chris Stapleton]

No, I think it's okay to have parts. Football games and organized street fight, you know, where you get to get some aggression out between the whistles, you know?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

I think that's healthy and good. I love football. I enjoyed it. And if I had been good enough, I'd still be playing. I would have played football over playing music.

[Dax Shepard]

What?

[Monica Padman]

Thank God you weren't good enough.

[Dax Shepard]

I would have raced cars over anything I ended up doing.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, everybody kind of has something like that where they're like, if I was good enough, I'd be doing that. I'm glad that I'm not doing that.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, you would have been brought in on a wheelchair, probably at 47 CTE.

[Chris Stapleton]

Or something like that, you know.

[Monica Padman]

Hey, I'm glad you said it.

[Chris Stapleton]

I wor about those things just from how I Played when I was in high school, we were taught to use our heads as weapons. And we did.

[Dax Shepard]

Son, God gave you a weapon. It's on your shoulders. I want you to swing it around.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. So when did you start playing guitar?

[Chris Stapleton]

Maybe 12. My dad had bought a guitar with the thought of him learning how to play and it just sat around. And so that's why I picked up.

[Dax Shepard]

That guitar and self taught. Or did you ever take lessons?

[Chris Stapleton]

I took one lesson and the guy quit teaching lessons the next day. Oh. And so I had one lesson and that was it.

[Dax Shepard]

Did he have a health issue or were you the reason? Did you force him into retirement?

[Chris Stapleton]

Pretty much. I don't know. I really don't know it. I went to my cousin's house and me and my cousin, this guy was some local cat putting the paper or something he taught. I don't know where we found him. My mom found him or something and he came over to my cousin's house and we took one guitar lesson. I don't even know that we learned anything. That was it.

[Monica Padman]

What if he was like, I can't. There's nothing more I can do.

[Dax Shepard]

I have nothing more to teach you. Yeah, that's what. Probably.

[Chris Stapleton]

He was my only guitar.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

That's really. Yeah. That is cool. What kind of kid were you in high school?

[Chris Stapleton]

Pretty good kid. I was busy. I did all the stuff.

[Dax Shepard]

Getting the good grades.

[Chris Stapleton]

If there was an activity to do, I would do it.

[Dax Shepard]

Were you popular?

[Chris Stapleton]

Maybe in my own mind. I don't know. I'm sure you were popular among people who are my peers. I don't have any real concept of that. I think I was, but I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Did girls like you? Yeah. I hope you would know that. You had a girlfriend. Okay. That's good. A lot of guys didn't have those. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, a lot of guys. I never got one of those in high school.

[Monica Padman]

We were just talking about popular in the car the other day where I think now popular is different than what you think of it as.

[Dax Shepard]

Tell me how.

[Monica Padman]

We were talking to some kids. They were like, popular isn't like that now. It's just you're in your groups, but there's no top group.

[Dax Shepard]

But do you think that's kids in private schools in LA where they've kind of.

[Chris Stapleton]

Maybe.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I think so. Because I hear it too. Like, we have friends who go to these really nice schools and no one's getting picked on. No one got their ass kicked in the parking lot. I'm like, this is an Eden. It sounds like.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. Nobody's trying to sell bags of oregano and pass them off as marijuana.

[Monica Padman]

That's true.

[Dax Shepard]

You weren't set on music, right, in high school?

[Chris Stapleton]

I played a little music outside of school, but I did more sports oriented things in high school.

[Dax Shepard]

And when you went to Vanderbilt, you went for biomedical engineering and then switched to business.

[Chris Stapleton]

I hated all that, by the way.

[Dax Shepard]

You hated all those classes and everything?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

It couldn't have been an accident. You picked Vanderbilt. Right. Do you think in the back of your mind you're like, let's get over to Nashville?

[Chris Stapleton]

I just like Nashville. And I had been to a football camp at Vanderbilt and I liked the coaches. I was going to try to walk on because, you know, you're 18, you think you can do anything. Once again, you think you can be number one, and then you're getting in the real world and you're like, oh, that guy's 270 and runs a 400 maybe I can't do this.

[Monica Padman]

Also, you may not know this since you're not from the south, but Vanderbilt is the Ivy of the South. That's what they call it.

[Chris Stapleton]

They used to call themselves the Harvard of the South.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, Harvard of the South. It's just weird.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, So I grew up hearing that as well. So if you were valedictorian, it would make sense.

[Dax Shepard]

You're supposed to go there.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So you got here, you hated all those classes, you kept changing your major, and then as legend goes, you meet a dude who is a salaried songwriter.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, but I lived in Kentucky at the time.

[Dax Shepard]

So wait, you dropped out and then moved back to Kentucky?

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, I went to UK for two years.

[Dax Shepard]

What's uk? University of Kentucky. Okay, where's that? Lexington.

[Chris Stapleton]

Lexington, Kentucky.

[Dax Shepard]

This didn't make it to your Wikipedia page. This is like that lost years.

[Chris Stapleton]

It also says on the Wikipedia page that I was in a Travis Trick cover band, which is not true.

[Dax Shepard]

That's gone.

[Chris Stapleton]

Damn it. I always liked it that it was on there so I could mess with people.

[Monica Padman]

We'll get it back.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Someone had put in my mind that my birth name was Daximus, that lived there for years. And I was like, that's pretty great.

[Chris Stapleton]

I like it when there's fake shit on the Internet because that way when people ask you about it, you're like, no, that's fake.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so wait, you went up to Kentucky, you did two years there, and what were you majoring in there?

[Chris Stapleton]

It was business.

[Monica Padman]

But why'd you leave Vanderbilt?

[Chris Stapleton]

I hated It.

[Monica Padman]

You hated just the scene a little.

[Chris Stapleton]

Bit, and I just wasn't good at it. I wasn't prepared.

[Monica Padman]

For what?

[Chris Stapleton]

For the intensity of it.

[Monica Padman]

Of the academics. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

For the Harvard of the South.

[Chris Stapleton]

Right.

[Monica Padman]

I wasn't prepared because it came easy to you before. So then. Yeah, that makes sense.

[Dax Shepard]

Where did your dad go to college?

[Chris Stapleton]

He went to wvu. West Virginia University.

[Dax Shepard]

Is he from West Virginia? He died in 13.

[Chris Stapleton]

That sounds right.

[Dax Shepard]

My dad died in 2012. Too young. 62, 66.

[Chris Stapleton]

Was my dad.

[Dax Shepard]

Was it Cole related?

[Chris Stapleton]

No. He was diabetic and had renal failure and congestive heart failure and a number.

[Dax Shepard]

Of systemic collapse of organs. So if he died in 2013, he missed quite a bit of stuff. All of the solo career.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Does that bum you out?

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, it probably wouldn't exist. I made that first record. I tried to make a record that I thought he would like, and that was what the first record was.

[Dax Shepard]

That was Traveler.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, he did get to see me. I mean, I was in a bluegrass.

[Dax Shepard]

Band, the Steel Drivers.

[Chris Stapleton]

The Steel Drivers. And he really loved that band. He was really bummed out when I was no longer in that band.

[Dax Shepard]

The Steel Drivers were fucking great. That's what I've been listening to the last two days.

[Chris Stapleton]

Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah. That's some good first shit. Okay, so how do you end up leaving Kentucky and then getting to Nashville?

[Chris Stapleton]

I met this guy named Steve Leslie, who was a salaried songwriter at EMI at the time. Through a mutual acquaintance, he went to Morehead State University. I lived in a town called Moorhead and I was just working odd jobs and lived with a guy named Jesse Wells, who plays for Tyler Childress. Now he's an instrumentalist that I grew up with, played Little League with. Kind of lived in the house with him. Jesse met Steve and just in passing, I don't even know if it was a real comment, Steve told my friend. He's like, hey, if you know anybody that writes songs around here, I would love to help somebody out.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow.

[Chris Stapleton]

And gave him his telephone number. So I was back and forth from there, and I think I was probably back home with my parents, helping out there, doing something. I don't know what I was doing. I floated a lot in my early 20s. So I just called this guy up, I said, hey, I write songs. He's like, cool, send me a few things. I said, okay, well, here you go. I just sang some things, didn't think anything of it. And a couple weeks went by and he listened to it. Steve always likes to tell the story that he called and my mom told him, well, he's fishing. You don't have to call you back.

[Dax Shepard]

He's gone fishing.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, he's literally gone fishing. But I called him back and he said, hey, man, this stuff's pretty good. Maybe you want to come down and hang out and write. And so I came down, back and forth for a couple months, and met a few people. And it seemed like a good thing to do. And I had zero money, so I bombed a little bit of money off my uncle, got down to Nashville and had about maybe a month's worth of living expenses off. What I bumped off of my uncle.

[Dax Shepard]

How soon before Seagal?

[Chris Stapleton]

I had a publishing deal in seven days, which is not seven days, which is not anybody's story, but that's mine.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. How does it work? So you've submitted some songs to Steve.

[Chris Stapleton]

He introduced me to people, to Frank Rogers and Chris dubois, who ran this publishing company called Seagale, which was an EMI co venture at the time. And then I met Liz o', Sullivan, who was a plugger there. That's the person that kind of pitches songs around, you know, I don't know how much you know about.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't.

[Chris Stapleton]

Liz was a big advocate of mine. And then there were a couple other people that I met, a guy named Pat Finch. He ran another publishing company, and those guys kind of all got interested in me. And Liz Sullivan would call me every night. Hey, you just gotta come over here. Just come over here. And it was a co venture, so there was no opportunity to really own any of your catalog like it was at some other places. It was less money. The piece of the pie, Shra. There was no ownership, really, but it was more important to me to be working with somebody that believed in what I was doing. And I said, well, all that other stuff will work itself out. So I wasn't worried about the money.

[Dax Shepard]

So they go, okay, we're hiring you. You're under contract with us, and we want you to. What do they, like, deploy you, like, go meet with this musician?

[Chris Stapleton]

Liz orchestrated that, too. She setting up these veteran guys that you were talking about that I would get in the room with were because of her, she knew these people and they'd give some. No name. Young guy, I'm shot. Get in the room. See what you got.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. What is the protocol once you're in that room? And how are you supposed to know how it goes? That's my question. Like you've written by yourself.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm going to learn, but I don't say that going in. I know how to write a song by myself.

[Dax Shepard]

Right.

[Chris Stapleton]

And that's where you have to sit back and see what role you can play. Where am I valuable in this? This person is a better guitar player than me, or this person's a better singer than me, or this person is obviously a better writer than me. What can I bring to this? What is my role? Maybe I can go make the coffee. And that's my role.

[Dax Shepard]

You did this for 10 years. You wrote a thousand songs. In these 10 years, you wrote six number one hits for huge musicians. So it all worked out. But when you walk into a session with, let's just say, Luke Bryan or any one of these guys, you had a hit. Do you come in with a song?

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm not necessarily always writing with artists. Nashville's unique in that it's a songwriter community more than maybe not as much as it used to be. I'm not in that down there every day mix like I used to be. It's probably more LA track guys now or something, but you go in a room and it could be just two guys that write songs and be like, what do you got today? Not pointing at anything. It's a clean slate. And you just kind of see what comes.

[Dax Shepard]

So you haven't come in with anything?

[Chris Stapleton]

I would rarely come in with anything.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I don't know if you're supposed to come in like some guys.

[Chris Stapleton]

Listen, I have endless blabbering in my phone, voice memos. Voice memos. And typing shit down that I don't know what it means. Most of it's useless. But maybe five years from now. Oh, well, I can use that for this.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Well, I was kind of blown away to learn that Higher, which ended up on your album 2023. That was 21 years earlier. You had written that song.

[Chris Stapleton]

I wrote that song probably the first year I was in Nashville, so maybe fonder than that. I moved to Nashville in 2001. So at this point, 25 years old, I think sometimes it's better if they're old, because if you still like it and it's that old, it's probably pretty good.

[Dax Shepard]

And then this is nosy, but I'm just. Again, I know nothing about it. I'm so curious. When you're working with Seagal, are you just on a monthly stipend?

[Chris Stapleton]

You get paid a salary, and that's a recoupable salary, you know, against royalties.

[Dax Shepard]

Anything you end up making in the future.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. And you're also a contract worker. You're not an employee.

[Dax Shepard]

You don't get health insurance. No.

[Chris Stapleton]

You're a contract worker and it's a year to year thing whether or not they pick up options.

[Dax Shepard]

When did the leverage switch and you started getting ownership?

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, you just negotiate those things. When you contracts come up, it's contract negotiation.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Chris Stapleton]

I always like terms better than money, you know, Terms are always better than money.

[Dax Shepard]

Terms are better than money. What does that mean?

[Chris Stapleton]

The ownership things or reversions? Some guys want. Pay me as much money as you can. You can keep it all up front. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Roger, Roger, Roger.

[Monica Padman]

When it moved so fast, it was like seven days and then you have this. Were you shocked or were you like, yeah, I am really good at this?

[Chris Stapleton]

No, you just feel lucky because you know that that's not everybody else's story. You can walk around in Nashville and there's 50,000 guys trying to do that and it might take somebody five or six years or more to get a first publishing.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

And now that's based off of social media. Some way they pick up some TikTok person. It's a little different.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. One great song and then we hope that they've written another hundred or so or can write another hundred or so. Who knows of Kenny Chesney, Josh Turner, George Strait, Luke Bryant. These are all guys that you worked with and ended up writing number one singles with. How did those sessions vary?

[Chris Stapleton]

A lot of the songs you're naming worked the way that I described it. I wrote them with some other dude. They heard the song and they recorded it. I didn't know those guys necessarily.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, great. So you can go to them. Done. Without you meeting them.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I can imagine this being a very frustrating job. I would have a hard time writing the thing. Then that person gets it and it's number one and everyone is giving them accolades and it's like, but I wrote it. Is it hard?

[Chris Stapleton]

I mean, not when the check shows up in the mailbox. It's just fine.

[Monica Padman]

Wow. That is the opposite of ego.

[Chris Stapleton]

When I found out that you could have a job where you could sit in a room and make up things on a guitar, I thought, that's the greatest job I ever heard of.

[Dax Shepard]

And I think I know the distinction between why it's different is he wasn't trying to be yet the star of the movie. It's not like the writers in Hollywood are pissed that Tom Cruise is getting action. They're like, yeah, I'm a writer who writes scripts and this movie got made.

[Chris Stapleton]

If you wrote the Tom Cruise movie.

[Dax Shepard]

As a Writer, you're still. And you're just a music writer. And so you're writing hit songs. You're doing the exact thing you were hoping to do.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, you're winning.

[Dax Shepard]

And so when you start steel driver in 07, so I guess you've been here at this point for six years. What is the motivation to do that?

[Chris Stapleton]

One of the guys that I wrote songs with was a guy named Mike Henderson. Veteran guy, great blues player. He was in a band called Mike Henderson the Blue Bloods, if you ever want to check that out. Or also King Snakes, but he's a guitar slinger, fashion musician, incredible guitar player, incredible. He's passed away now, but I wrote probably more songs with him than I did anybody else. And he and I both really liked bluegrass. And as he would would have put it, we had these perfectly good songs sitting around going to waste. But they were a bunch of like bluegrass murder ballads.

[Dax Shepard]

Luke Bryan's not going to sing that.

[Chris Stapleton]

We're not pitching those to like commercial country radio. He wanted to get a gig at like VFWS or something and just a weekly gig that we could have a band, have fun. Just for fun. I think all good bands start that way. Yeah, yeah, it's just for fun. We started playing standard songs, but we have these other songs that we can play this way. And then we started playing that way. We got a few more gigs and we wound up having a deal on Rounder Records, which was a pretty good acoustic label.

[Dax Shepard]

And they did really well. The Steel Drivers did great.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, they did really well. And it was good to time.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more Armchair expert if you dare. We are supported by Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking your phone's battery before heading out. That'll get you every time. Of course, your phone dies on the way to meet someone, leaving you wandering around quietly panicking about being in the wrong spot. Yeah, yeah. Checking first is smart. So check all state first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North America Insurance Company Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. We are supported by Intuit Turbo Tax. You know that feeling when you drop your taxes off with someone and then nothing? You're just sitting there wondering if they've even started, if there's a problem. If you're getting everything you're owed code, it's like sending your car to the shop and never getting an update. That's What I appreciate about TurboTax with TurboTax Expert full service, they've completely transformed that experience. You get matched with a dedicated tax expert who actually does your taxes for you. And here's the part that changes everything. You can get real time updates on your expert's progress from start to finish. You can literally see when they're working on your return. No more guessing, no more waiting by the phone. And if you have questions, you get unlimited help from your expert at no extra cost. Even nights and weekends during tax season, they're focused on getting you the best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve.

[Monica Padman]

My dad loves TurboTax and he's a meticulous man. He doesn't cut corners.

[Dax Shepard]

If you're not going to trust me, trust the show.

[Monica Padman]

That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Chris Stapleton]

I think that made me a better writer doing that. I learned a lot from the guys in the lady in that band. They were all session people and pros. I learned how to be in a band. But I also took a pretty big hit in songwriting income because I was touring.

[Dax Shepard]

Right, you were losing money doing that.

[Chris Stapleton]

I was losing money playing that game.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, that's tricky.

[Chris Stapleton]

But I do feel like it made me better at both of those things. It felt important and it felt like something to do. It was stressful for my wife.

[Dax Shepard]

I guess there's two ways this could have happened to you, right? Like we interviewed Ted Danson and His. His analogy, which I love, was in his life, he feels like he's been sitting in the back of a pickup truck. He's not looking forward. He's just kind of like, things are happening in the environment surrounding him and these opportunities are coming. But in his mind, he wasn't steering the wheel. And I'm curious, did you just accidentally end up a lead man?

[Chris Stapleton]

100%. I moved to Nashville to be a songwriter.

[Dax Shepard]

So at no point did you go, okay, we're switching gears. I'm only writing for me. It just happened.

[Chris Stapleton]

I probably won't do that. You still won't do anything. I don't write a lot anymore, and I do get calls from people to write with them for things, which inevitably winds up being, hey, will you also come sing on this thing? You know? Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Well.

[Chris Stapleton]

Okay. But I really love the role of getting in a room with somebody and writing for their thing. And I enjoy just the exercise of walking in a room with somebody and going, what are we gonna do today? What are we gonna pull down outta the sky and put the antenna up and see what happens?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Does it get you kind of charged? Like, is there a fear that's also present?

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't have any.

[Dax Shepard]

Zero.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh, wow.

[Monica Padman]

That it won't come. I'd be so scared of that.

[Dax Shepard]

He's Bill Murray of country.

[Chris Stapleton]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

He just knows what's going to happen. He just takes a deep breath.

[Chris Stapleton]

Know that I know it's going to happen. I just feel very able.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you're competent.

[Chris Stapleton]

This is what you fucking do more than anything else. I know if I can't do anything else and I can't do a lot of other things very well, there's a lot of holes that come with being able to do a few things pretty good.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, sure.

[Dax Shepard]

Some blind spots.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, there's a lot of blind spots in your personality that come with that.

[Monica Padman]

I'm kind of interested. Interested in the blind spots. What are your blind spots? Personality wise, would you say?

[Chris Stapleton]

Personality wise?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't like deadlines.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Chris Stapleton]

Almost don't believe in them.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, sure. If you have a song that comes out 21 years after you wrote it. Deadlines are hooey.

[Chris Stapleton]

I used to say there's no such thing as a country music emergency. We're not performing brain surgery.

[Dax Shepard]

No. Hearts on ice.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. People can get really elevated about things that we do. And certainly I did have someone say to me one time that we have a healing component in what we do for music and that that's important. And I took that to heart. But there's not any real emergencies.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, the song doesn't come out in August. No one's dying.

[Chris Stapleton]

It's okay.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

And so I'm not great at deadlines in that way because I prefer something to be right over it being done what I believe to be right.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you feel a little bit like a psychologist? You sit down with a virtual stranger. I'm imagining a lot of the times. And you're like trying to get a read on their personality and you want to help fill in what they're lacking and then lean on whatever they're strong. Like, is there like a feeling out period where you're trying to figure out what's the best approach to work with this person?

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know, man. I just kind of show up.

[Dax Shepard]

That's half a life, I think.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, I do think that. I think half a life, or at least the way that I have gotten to live is showing up. Must be present to win, I used to say.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I think Nashville's a much more special place than people broadly know. I think it's a really supportive place.

[Chris Stapleton]

We're all rooting for each other. If your buddy got a number one, you're like, that's great, man.

[Dax Shepard]

The Broadway people are so kind to each other and support, supportive. And comedians are not. We're the worst. You know, fucking stand ups are all hate each other and they're jealous of each other. So, like, when I see these creative places where people are genuinely rooting for each other, it's. I think it's special. I don't think it's everywhere.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, maybe not. It works a lot better. The rising tide raises all ships.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. What prompted you to leave Steel Driver?

[Chris Stapleton]

One of the guys in the band developed a fear of flying. Oh, fear of flying.

[Monica Padman]

Wow. That's not.

[Dax Shepard]

I didn't see that coming. I'm still waiting for addiction. That's generally what brings a band down.

[Chris Stapleton]

I had an opinion about what we needed to do and everybody else in the band had a different opinion, so they got somebody else.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow.

[Dax Shepard]

Please wait hold on a second for.

[Monica Padman]

A Fear of flying. Fear? That wasn't even yours.

[Dax Shepard]

Were you fired? Is that what you're saying? Were you kicked out of the band?

[Chris Stapleton]

Technically, yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Technically? Oh, no, I didn't read that in Wikipedia.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, that's not. I probably shouldn't be saying that on here, but that's technically the truth.

[Dax Shepard]

Were you hurt?

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, sure, but I also didn't believe.

[Dax Shepard]

That we were setting the right course. Right.

[Chris Stapleton]

And so I was like, okay, I'll do something else.

[Dax Shepard]

Then. You form another band. The Johnson Brothers.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

What's this thing where you don't capitalize the T in your bands? Are you an E. Cummings fan? Why aren't we capitalizing the T in these bands? There's Steel Drivers. It's the Steel Drivers. Right.

[Chris Stapleton]

Man, you've already thought about it more than I have.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. The T's not capitalized.

[Monica Padman]

Interesting. But the S and the Dr.

[Dax Shepard]

They are. And guess what? What? The T is not capitalized in the Johnson Brothers either. But Johnson and Brothers is capitalized.

[Chris Stapleton]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

That you have no awareness of this, Chris. How could you not notice that your TE's are not capitalized? You think it's a typo?

[Chris Stapleton]

I think maybe it is. I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

It wasn't intentional.

[Chris Stapleton]

There was not a lot that was intentional for me and a lot of what I've done.

[Monica Padman]

You seem very peaceful.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. Boy, I wish that were all the way true, but try to be.

[Monica Padman]

You seem very content.

[Chris Stapleton]

Content might be elusive.

[Dax Shepard]

What are you wrestling with? Did you do New Year's resolutions?

[Chris Stapleton]

My New Year's resolution was to simplify. I have a tendency to be complicated about everything.

[Dax Shepard]

What version of complicated? You're overthinking everything.

[Chris Stapleton]

Definitely. That. I weigh out things very deliberately and in long and arduous ways that annoy my wife, who's very impulsive and can very quickly make decisions.

[Dax Shepard]

You're kind of indecisive.

[Chris Stapleton]

I prefer the word thoughtful.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Okay. Meticulous.

[Monica Padman]

I like that.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, what are we trying to head off? What fear is driving some of this? Over planning and overthinking, making mistakes.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't like to make mistakes.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I hate to be an armchair psychologist, but is this from the stern dad?

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm sure it is. It could be.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, valedictorian, all of these things.

[Dax Shepard]

No, you're like an overachiever, but at the center of that could be a bunch of different things. You're an overachiever because you don't think you're worth it, worthy of love if you're spectacular. That's kind of my thing. You could be an overachiever also because you got punished for failing. There could be a lot of different motivations.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know if I got punished for failing. Not by anyone but myself.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you beat the shit out of yourself?

[Chris Stapleton]

Sure.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a good hobby, right?

[Chris Stapleton]

Is it?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I mean, it's time consuming. Keep you busy.

[Monica Padman]

It definitely takes up a Lot of time.

[Dax Shepard]

You must acknowledge that anyone who's going to sit in a room by themselves and solve solitary and focus and do that repetitively. It's a personality type. A lot of people can't sit by themselves and dedicate that amount of time.

[Chris Stapleton]

No. A lot of people are uncomfortable with that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I think it's unique and it's really common among musicians, I think. And it's really counterintuitive because you're seeing these people that are like, they're playing in front of 90,000 people. You think they're kind of an extrovert. That's what's presenting. But you realize what gets you there is actually sitting by yourself in a room A lot.

[Chris Stapleton]

Lot.

[Dax Shepard]

It's almost like opposite what the result is.

[Chris Stapleton]

But you're sitting by yourself in the room for the 90,000 people. That's me throwing that out here right now.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Do you think you have any isms, any conditions?

[Chris Stapleton]

Sure. I'm not a doctor, so I can't diagnose any of those.

[Monica Padman]

Well, perfectionism, it sounds like, is at play for sure. If you can't make mistakes.

[Chris Stapleton]

I mean, I can make mistakes, and I do make many, many, many mistakes. And that's.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Painful for you.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't like.

[Dax Shepard]

You can't leave here without a diagnosis.

[Chris Stapleton]

Okay. What ism do you think that I have?

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I don't know. You're not giving me a lot to make my theories.

[Chris Stapleton]

It's part of my charm.

[Dax Shepard]

Let's acknowledge that. How about I think it is part of your charm.

[Monica Padman]

Do you have a hard time opening up? Oh, maybe that's an ism.

[Chris Stapleton]

Non opening up ism.

[Monica Padman]

I think so. A vulnerable. Maybe it's like a lack. You're obviously vulnerable because your songs are so deep and meaningful.

[Chris Stapleton]

But that's. I think that's why.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Control. We're getting there.

[Dax Shepard]

We're getting somewhere. We love control.

[Monica Padman]

Everyone here in this room loves control.

[Chris Stapleton]

There's some safety in the space of a song because I'm not having to explain it to anybody. And you can apply yourself to it in whatever way you want to. And I think that you should. That's what songs are for. We don't have to talk about it. I can make this thing and you can take it, and it can be yours and part of your life if you want it to be.

[Dax Shepard]

And I'm not gonna defend it. It is what it is. Right. And I just wonder where the depth of your music and the range of it and just how much of it there is, is. If you know everything, there's pain driving that or no, maybe there's not.

[Chris Stapleton]

Sure. I think a lot of it can be observation of the human condition in general. You can walk outside and I passed a homeless dude on the bridge on.

[Dax Shepard]

The way over here.

[Chris Stapleton]

It's not hard to find, whether it's yours or somebody else's.

[Monica Padman]

Do you feel like you take on other people's pain? No feelings. Okay.

[Chris Stapleton]

But I also feel like I am not unaware of it, but some people are. And I can view it and. And try to examine it. That's my job as a songwriter, is to try to attach to those things or at least examine those things and maybe help people find themselves in it.

[Dax Shepard]

This has been my experience a little bit. Is like, it used to be really results oriented because I wanted things and those things happen and they're really great. And yet they're very temporary and they don't fill you up for a very long time. And I think slowly you start hopefully transition to like, the process is the.

[Chris Stapleton]

High process is the high. But it's also disappointing when you get this thing, when you reach the moment. Yeah. And you're like, oh, that didn't do what I thought it was gonna do. And I don't take those things in very well. Like, I don't take even the good moments in very well. Yeah, I need to work on that.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you think the shoe's always gonna drop?

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh, sure. That's a Kentucky thing. We have this innate genetic component of we gotta make hay while the sun's shining or something bad's gonna happen.

[Dax Shepard]

I was raised largely by my two grandparents that are both from Kent.

[Chris Stapleton]

Moved up, you understand?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

What part of Kentucky they from?

[Dax Shepard]

Hazard.

[Chris Stapleton]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

You really understand that? Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Of my grandma's five brothers, one killed another, the other one shot the other but didn't kill him. And three of them all died in prison. That's the Honchels. The fucking Honchels are wild. I always say. Our 10 year old is clearly 12.5% honchul because she can fucking let it rip.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

As I said earlier, I grew up in Georgia. I was just there. You're the only artist I know that. All our friends in LA are so excited we're talking to you. And all my friends in Georgia are so excited we're talking to you. You unify, you span the gambit. That's not the case. That is very rare.

[Chris Stapleton]

No.

[Dax Shepard]

People almost lit our studio on fire for having Jason Aldean on.

[Chris Stapleton]

I mean, like, well, you know.

[Dax Shepard]

Some people court controversy.

[Chris Stapleton]

That's part of their thing. And some people want to discuss things that aren't about music or make that part of their thing, and it's not part of my thing.

[Monica Padman]

But you're very universal. There's something about your writing that people really gravitate towards, regardless of their specific musical taste. Like, I don't think all our friends are, like, super into country.

[Dax Shepard]

Right.

[Monica Padman]

But they love you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. What's right about your music, too, is you can come to it from all these different angles. So, yeah, like, I have a lot of friends in la. Our friend Charlie Curtis is just like. He would fucking cut off many fingers to just shake your hand his way into you is very interesting. It's like, definitely he's a very masculine man. He played football at Georgetown and Rice. He's a physical phenom. And, like, you allow him somehow to be this masculine man who is fucking feeling emotion. I think that's the unique gift you're giving to a lot of men. You're singing the national anthem at the super bowl and they fucking cut over and the coach is bawling. Fucking Kelsey's crying. The men are crying. You're allowing these men to feel and a moat. And that's so rare. And that's just a pocket of your appeal. And then my thing with you is, I hate to be repetitive of Brolin, because he interviewed you and said basically the same thing. Like, you're bringing back for me the only country I loved, which is, like, outlaw country. When I hear your stuff, I'm like, mm, this dude's whaling a parent. That's what you're channeling for me. And then the women are loving you for some other reason.

[Chris Stapleton]

So it's kind of some other reason, unbeknownst to me.

[Monica Padman]

Question mark?

[Chris Stapleton]

No. No. I don't know. Thanks.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I know there's nothing to say to that. That's probably hard to hear.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, it's not on purpose. I guess that's my question. Is it on purpose? Are you thinking.

[Chris Stapleton]

Am I thinking about who I'm connecting to? Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Or, like, I want to make sure I don't. By the way, we think about it. We think about it on this show. We don't want to contribute to the divide. We're here to, like, show humanity.

[Chris Stapleton]

I think that's an important thing to want to connect to, but I also think in a musical space, my job job is to connect to the music and then put that out in the world and let people find themselves on it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Pray for the best. Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

And the song doesn't really mean anything. No song means anything until it goes out into the world and people hear it and attach themselves to it and find themselves in it, or it marks a point in their life. That's it. That has zero meaning until that happens.

[Dax Shepard]

You have five senses, right? And this thing, music, it's in its own category of you kind of gotta call it magic. We have these ears that we're supposed to be listening to predators for, and we're gonna communicate with. And then there's this completely pointless endeavor. Music making noises that will be sitting somewhere and crying or laughing or partying.

[Monica Padman]

And you're like, remembering.

[Dax Shepard]

We have this one sense that is open to complete nonsense. There's no purpose to it.

[Chris Stapleton]

It's meant to unify us, though. That is a point to it. The magic point to me is in regards to a certain type of song. But people like sad songs, so they don't feel alone. And I think maybe all songs are that way. And then we want to feel those emotions together. There's a communal thing in that. Even if you're driving in the car by yourself, listening to a song, and it's hitting you in a certain way, it's still that communal thing. You're like, oh, there's somebody else in the world that understands this other thing that I'm going to. And so I'm not alone all of a sudden. And I think that is the magic of music. It's not some mysterious thing. That is. The magic of music is it helps us all be connected in ways that even a conversation or a look or a touch doesn't provide.

[Dax Shepard]

I would argue, too, it's the way that we can get emotion from my head into your head the quickest. To me, it's the most succinct, powerful delivery device.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't think that's true for everybody, though. I think there are people that I've met in my life, they're like, I've never been to a concert. I don't listen to music. Don't do what I think. That's not. It's not a value in everybody's household.

[Dax Shepard]

They're bad in bed, though, those people. I think you should say to those people, well, you must be a terrible lover.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, they might be sorry for your wife.

[Monica Padman]

Visual artists, they like museums.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure, yeah. You got to put Sade on when you're a kid, in your car, in high school. You know, you got to let that do some of the work for you.

[Monica Padman]

It's also so connected to memory music. And I think that's also what's so powerful about it. It's the only thing that is capable of transporting you.

[Chris Stapleton]

Right.

[Monica Padman]

Time travel.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, now I want to talk about Morgan a little bit. So your wife Morgan, who you've been married to for 18 years, you guys were working both in songwriting.

[Chris Stapleton]

She actually had a deal on rca.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, she did?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. She was an artist.

[Dax Shepard]

No, her voice is bonkers. I was listening to you guys sing a man. I was pretty shook by her voice. And also, what a rad duet for you guys to do. Okay, so she bought you a 1979. She's done this a few times. I only know about two of them, but I'm inclined to imagine there's more. So you loved this 79 Jeep Cherokee, and she found one for you and bought it?

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, oddly enough, I was looking at a scout that was in Portland, Oregon, and I was gonna buy this thing after my dad passed away, and it was gone. Somebody bought it, and I was like, well, I like this Jeep in Phoenix too. Let's go do it. Do that. And that whole trip was the impetus. I wrote Traveler on that trip. If we'd have driven from Portland, I might have made a very different first record. But we drove from Phoenix across the desert, you know, and it was a different thing. I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

This is apocryphal, but you're driving, and the sun's coming up, and Morgan's sleeping, and Traveler hits you. Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. It was right before we got to Gallup, New Mexico. And so I wrote the whole song driving, and then I had to go inside and figure out how to play it. When we got to the hotel in Gallup. You're driving a 79 Cherokee. There's not a lot of other things you can do.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Requires your full focus.

[Chris Stapleton]

It requires your full attention and both hands on the wheel most of the time.

[Dax Shepard]

But she bought you that, and then she also bought you. You have one of WH's guitars.

[Chris Stapleton]

I have that, too.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

That's a nice. That's cool.

[Chris Stapleton]

If I'd have known you'd had that painted on here, I would have brought it with me.

[Dax Shepard]

I was pretty jealous when I saw Brolin holding that. He's my higher power. I just can't get enough.

[Chris Stapleton]

There's something. And you know Robbie Turner, that played on our first record, played with Waylon in the Highwayman, so he has all these great Waylon stories, too. And, of course, Robbie passed away.

[Dax Shepard]

You're now the holder of these stories.

[Chris Stapleton]

Maybe there's a lot better people to tell them than me. But country music is great. That era in particular, because those guys were more rock and roll than the most rock and roll guys you could talk about. But a lot of those stories don't exist in the public way because it's kind of this understood rule that they don't enter the public about how rock and roll those guys really were. It was just nuts.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Nuts. Nuts.

[Chris Stapleton]

They were just nuts. Nuts. When I think of what I like about country music, that's the era I like as well. The outlaw Waylon and Willie and Haggard.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I was a young man. I was like, oh, this is dangerous.

[Chris Stapleton]

This is dangerous. Which is weird. My dad loved all that stuff too, but my dad was like the straightest arrow. I'm just like, why do you love this stuff? It's everything that you're not. And maybe that's why he loved it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, exactly.

[Chris Stapleton]

It was a real thing. Those guys were real. And Willie Nelson's the real deal.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Have you seen this show that Mike Judge does called Tales from? The two of us watched all of them. Every one of those guys shot somebody other than Whit, I think, in that first season. But the best part of that whin doc was when they're interviewing, I think, the drummer for the band at the time, and he goes, yeah, we used to have this routine before we go out on stage. We want to make sure everyone's on the same page chemically. So, you know, I'd ask Steve, how many are you on?

[Chris Stapleton]

A four.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, good. I'm on four, too. Mike, what do you want? They're talking about meth.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm on four.

[Dax Shepard]

Great. H. What are you at? 12 was always four of whatever they were on.

[Chris Stapleton]

Not math, But I do believe in being in the same chemical space. You can't have one guy drinking tequila and somebody else smoking weed and then.

[Dax Shepard]

They guy shooting dope.

[Chris Stapleton]

You're the same. You're on different musical spectrums. You know, like you're riding different waves. You got to be. You got to keep it the same. I do believe in that.

[Monica Padman]

Have you struggled with any of that stuff?

[Dax Shepard]

Out of 10, what's your addiction level, do you think? Naturally.

[Chris Stapleton]

Naturally, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm a nine. Just to let you. I'll go first.

[Chris Stapleton]

You nine?

[Dax Shepard]

I'm a nine.

[Chris Stapleton]

Five. I don't ever feel like I have to do something. I just want to do something.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure.

[Monica Padman]

It's never gotten away from you?

[Chris Stapleton]

No, not really.

[Dax Shepard]

You don't have the gene. You're Our age, you got to quit or not. I had to quit. It was untouched, tenable.

[Chris Stapleton]

I still drink. I still have a cocktail every now and then.

[Dax Shepard]

You'll have a nice Traveler whiskey.

[Chris Stapleton]

Absolutely. Yeah. I'm not here to advertise, but I am.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm really saddened by the fact that I can't drink whiskey because I would love to try Traveler because it sounds like exactly what I would be in the market for.

[Chris Stapleton]

I would have brought something if I thought somebody wanted to be respectful in space.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no, I'm very pro drinking. I don't want everyone drinking.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, you know, I think it's good for some people, and it's not a great thing for others. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And you get to see it really up close and personal in the music biz or Phil biz.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. And you know who those guys are. Immediately you're like, yeah, maybe it's not for you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, exactly.

[Chris Stapleton]

I enjoy it. But I can certainly get obsessed with things more than I would call, you know, like nuances of vintage things or weird guitar things.

[Dax Shepard]

I was going to say your guitar collection is the giveaway.

[Chris Stapleton]

If you want to call that an addiction, then I'm probably a 25.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

I definitely have lanes. I don't feel like they've ever crossed over into a lane where it's fucking my life up.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm jealous. Five's the perfect number because it means you've let it rip a lot.

[Chris Stapleton]

Sure.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. You want to let it fucking rip and then not take you down. That's like, the sweet spot of it.

[Monica Padman]

Well, especially if you don't like making mistakes and you like control.

[Chris Stapleton]

Often those things were released, too.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I was going to say you kind of should be an addict because. Because the release of control's the joy for me of being high.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't want to celebrate being an addict in any way, but I do enjoy getting a buzz. I think that's fun.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Chris Stapleton]

And a relief for some people. It is a relief, and it's maybe even a stress management. But I'll probably get some letters about that. But in a way that it's like, okay, that's a reset, and I'm cool. I'm good for a while. I don't pick it up any of those things to cope with anything necessarily. It's more of an interest or something.

[Dax Shepard]

I enjoy one of your hobbies.

[Monica Padman]

One of my.

[Chris Stapleton]

One of a few. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Martinis are one of my hob.

[Chris Stapleton]

So what's your martini goatee?

[Monica Padman]

Hendrick's martini. Lemon twist. No, Vermouth Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

So when she's over, that's what you gotta serve.

[Chris Stapleton]

You gotta have all those things.

[Monica Padman]

I'll take a Old Fashioned.

[Dax Shepard]

What was your whiskey before you had your own?

[Chris Stapleton]

My favorite was eh Trailer Pappy's. What is it? See, the reason I got in business with the Sazerac, Buffalo Trace people, they make all that stuff. They make, eh Taylor Traveler is the same master distiller as Pappy Van Winkle and Wellard and all. All that awesome rare, you know, hard to get.

[Dax Shepard]

There was a Pappy heist. Did you see this? I watched a doc on this. Yeah. Millions of dollars.

[Chris Stapleton]

I work with those guys, right?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. So you would know everything.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know everything, but they talk about it. They're like, yeah, there's inside job.

[Dax Shepard]

These fucking guys working. I think they were draining the barrels and filling them with water. And there's millions of dollars of this crazy rare.

[Chris Stapleton]

They take it very seriously. Some of it takes 25 years to make. It's a long game kind of thing. It's very cool. And it's very, very old world. One of the closest things we have in this country to this real heritage thing. Coming from Kentucky, it's culture. It's American culture.

[Dax Shepard]

We got whiskey, we got hip hop, we got country, we got a handful of things.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Jazz, blues, maybe most importantly jazz. Okay. After you do Traveler, it comes out. It's wildly successful. You are at the CMA's, I think. Is that where you do the Timberlake performance?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yep.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so you. Now, I'm not allowed to say this out loud, but Dave Cole was the other obsession. I've probably seen Dave Coe 15 times.

[Monica Padman]

Aren't you allowed to say that He's.

[Dax Shepard]

A pretty known racist. He's got some rough songs that didn't.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, it's probably not a badge you wear on your sleeve too much. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But boy, when I was 20 and a drunk, nothing was more fun than going to a Dave Kos show.

[Chris Stapleton]

I went to one. You have his book of poetry?

[Dax Shepard]

No, I need his book of poems.

[Chris Stapleton]

It was like frat boys and bikers. That was the crowd. And I went to this show in Lexington, Kentucky, but on the merch table, he had David Allan Coe short stories and poems. I didn't have the money to get it. And I told this story to a friend of mine that's a Texas act. And he somehow found this merch book and he sent me a copy of it. So I have a copy of it. I don't know that I've read many of the poems.

[Dax Shepard]

Kids probably shouldn't read that book. Your kids maybe keep that up high on a shelf.

[Chris Stapleton]

As weird of a dude as he is, he's also really written some wonderful songs.

[Dax Shepard]

Incredible. No, he's a fucking hell of a musician.

[Chris Stapleton]

Great writer. Obviously problematic.

[Dax Shepard]

You've heard the.

[Chris Stapleton]

Everybody's heard the awful, awful stuff. Yeah, is aware of him, is aware of the other awful things, but there are some also very wonderfully written, beautiful country songs.

[Dax Shepard]

Anyways, he made Tennessee Whiskey very famous, but he didn't write Tennis Whiskey Whiskey.

[Chris Stapleton]

No, he didn't write it. He had the first cut on it and George Jones had the hit on it.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay. George Jones made it, but I knew it from Company. I only know the Dave Co version, but anyways. You sing Tennessee Whiskey with Timberlake. Did you already know him? Did that pairing seem crazy to you at first?

[Chris Stapleton]

I mean, I called him to do it. I had met him somehow. He saw me on a YouTube video or something. The first time I actually met him, it was his birthday and his wife called and said, hey, it's hard for me to find experiences that my husband hasn't had. Would you fly to Montana and play for his birthday party? I'm like, all of a sudden I'm the experience that you're. I mean. And I was like, okay, his birthday's end of January.

[Dax Shepard]

Your wife says too, right?

[Chris Stapleton]

25Th. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Dax's birthday was yesterday.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, he told me 51. Or his daughters told me. Actually 51. I flew up there. I couldn't believe how cold it was in Montana in January. Have you been in Montana in January?

[Dax Shepard]

Not in January, but I've been to Wyoming and Yeah, it's negative 18.

[Chris Stapleton]

I've been inside by a fire with battery powered socks and every stitch of clothing own on. My bones hurt.

[Dax Shepard]

It's not your climate.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm not built for it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Don't let the beard fool you. This is no Grizzly Adams here.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, I mean, maybe you get used to it. I don't know. We're there for like a day. My wife's with me. We're like, what are we doing here? This is kind of odd.

[Dax Shepard]

There must have been tons of stars at his birthday party.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, as we get to that. So I think I'm going to play for this party. And so it's time to go do the party. And we get on this horse drawn Santa Claus sleigh.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow.

[Chris Stapleton]

Okay. And we go up a mountain and I'm thinking, like, there's grizzly bears up here. Who knows what we're going to run into. We go to this cabin with no electricity.

[Monica Padman]

What?

[Chris Stapleton]

Zero electricity. And we go in. There's one guy cooking on, like, an.

[Dax Shepard]

1800S wood belly stove or something.

[Chris Stapleton]

Okay, that's what's happening.

[Dax Shepard]

He really wanted an experience he had never had.

[Chris Stapleton]

Okay, well, listen, the room not much bigger than where we're sitting right now, and just a small table. I'm like, what is happen? I felt like I was getting.

[Monica Padman]

Getting pumped.

[Dax Shepard]

And he was the most famous punk person he was.

[Chris Stapleton]

He finally shows up, and it's him and, like, his best friend and maybe his cousin. It's like he's broke. Six, seven people that play a little.

[Dax Shepard]

Bit of music really quick. Does that make you nervous? Like, the smaller the group, the more nervous or less? You kind of already say. You don't get nervous. You can say bizarre. You were about to say bizarre, and you didn't want to offend anyone.

[Monica Padman]

It is strange.

[Dax Shepard]

It's crazy bizarre.

[Chris Stapleton]

But cool.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Chris Stapleton]

I played, and then he's like, hey, man, sit down. And so I wound up just sitting down. And we hung out that night and had some whiskey. Friendly. And then we went back to his house and definitely had some whiskey, had some pappy that night. In fact, there was a cake there, and I wanted to beat a piece. I cut a piece of this cake because I'd had a few issues. I said, what are you doing cutting this cake? And I look at the tag and, like, Alicia Keys had sent him the cake. And I'm like, oh. He's like, no, man, it's cool. Eat the cake. And I was like, okay. And that was kind of it. And we kind of knew each other from then on, and we had talked a little about music, and we talked about doing things together. And we're friendly, you know, we went out to dinner a few times. We had this record, and the CMAs were coming. We got nominated for a few things, and they were going to offer me a slot to play. And Morg's like, you got to call him and ask him to do it. That's the way you do it.

[Dax Shepard]

And really quick. So that's my most hated thing in the world, is to ask someone for a favor. How easy is that to do it?

[Chris Stapleton]

But I also knew that she was correct. I said, if there's ever a time he's going to say no. I'm like, hey, man, would you want to come do this? He's like, absolutely. So we got on the phone with the producer. Time on television is so precious to these Guys making these shows and just Dustin with a straight face on the telephone, he's like, we need eight and a half minutes, which is an eternity on television.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

And had he not been on that phone call, that would have been an immediate. Absolutely not.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

But it was just kind of like, yeah, you guys can have eight and a half minutes. So we got eight and a half minutes for what was essentially my first appearance on that show.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you did. There. Now, did you get nervous for that?

[Chris Stapleton]

No, because we rehearsed two days before and we dug in and we had it dialed. It was the best possible version of whatever we could have done. And I knew that he's Sopro and his band and everybody. We all dug in and we were prepared.

[Dax Shepard]

I've heard this from a few people. We had Anna Kendrick on and she was talking about having to do those troll movies. And she went in one time and she had like a really bad cold. And Justin's just like, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna do this. Blah, blah, blah. She was just talking about, to your point, what a fucking pro the dude is. He's been doing it since he's a child. And he took it seriously 100%.

[Chris Stapleton]

And he intuitively knows what to do all the time.

[Dax Shepard]

Spooky. And then this prick is the best SNL guest host of all time.

[Monica Padman]

Fucking sky.

[Dax Shepard]

You're not supposed to be good on SNL on top of all this other stuff. Dance like that and be good on snl. But, you know, the power of those performances is a pretty staggering because also, that's the Luke Combs story too. Luke Combs has this performance with Tracy Chad that is a big turning point. Yeah. For you professionally, that performance, we spent.

[Chris Stapleton]

A long time building the fire, but that threw a match on it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, right.

[Chris Stapleton]

We had some shows booked on the west coast and thousand seat theaters and things like that. We never played on the west coast at that point and they were gone. Like that very quickly. Escalated from that point.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. It's funny how many people have this similar story where it's like, it feels overnight on the outside, but you're 15 years into it or 12 years into it, and you've had a really substantial writing career. So for you, it is incremental, but from the outside it's like, oh, wow, this is like a light switch.

[Chris Stapleton]

That is definitely the view to the passerby on the television.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you think because you had had little tastes of success along the way, that by the time this thing came around, you had a little practice. Were you able to take in that moment in the ways that you would like to have?

[Chris Stapleton]

No. And we won a bunch of awards and things that night. We weren't supposed to win any of those things.

[Dax Shepard]

Album sold 2 million. Like, everything's fucking on fire at that moment. Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

It was very quickly, just a different ball game in the moment. There was a lot of celebratory things backstage. It was a very surreal moment for me, and everybody had worked with us, and it's an unforgettable. I think everybody who makes a jump somewhere in their career can pinpoint moments, and that's definitely one for us.

[Dax Shepard]

Some people handle it well, and some people don't handle it well.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't think I would have handled.

[Dax Shepard]

It well had you not been, like, married and stable and had some.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, I was 38 or something.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, Yeah, I know. You imagine giving yourself that whole experience at 21 years old, or any of the ones I had.

[Chris Stapleton]

I would have dead.

[Dax Shepard]

I would have. Yeah, I would have burnt the whole place down.

[Chris Stapleton]

Some people aren't meant to handle that. And the universe was looking out for me in that way. But also I appreciated in different ways than somebody might. That was 19.

[Dax Shepard]

You already made a good living. It's not like you're going to experience money for the first time. You're going to experience a lot more money, but you got to practice with some of this stuff a little bit.

[Chris Stapleton]

What I didn't get to practice for was people driving up your house or tour bus coming by. That was very hard for me.

[Dax Shepard]

I was going to say, you don't strike me as someone that would love the fame aspect of all this.

[Chris Stapleton]

No, I don't enjoy that. I don't enjoy it for myself. Do you feel like you should have.

[Dax Shepard]

Done the Kiss version? Kiss version, full paint.

[Chris Stapleton]

Those guys had something figured out. Those guys were marketing geniuses.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, what you do have going for you is you have the ZZ Top thing, which is you could probably shave your beard at some point and go back to Anonymous.

[Chris Stapleton]

That's my retirement plan.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I think that's a solid one.

[Monica Padman]

Do you think you're trying to be invisible with your beard. Beard in your hair?

[Chris Stapleton]

I mean, I've had the beard in the hair a long time, and I'm sure there is some shield aspect, some hiding. I had a grill blow up on me, and it was protective in that way, so it protected me from fire.

[Dax Shepard]

Wait, you had a barbecue to explode? Did it catch the hair on Fire.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh, yeah. It took hair off here and hair all the way off this arm. I had a gap in my beard for a minute.

[Dax Shepard]

Were you lighting it? And the gas had build up in it.

[Chris Stapleton]

I was sleepy and it was a rental house. I thought I had lit it and I turned them all on. I was like, oh, shit. I didn't light it. And then I.

[Dax Shepard]

It just filled that fucking. Yeah, yeah. Oh, boy. Loud explosion.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, it was dumb.

[Dax Shepard]

And then you gotta come in and say to your wife, look what I just did.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Now you gotta worry about me grilling.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, then you feel the skin peeling off your face and all that kind of stuff. You're like, oh, shit, I just made a mistake.

[Dax Shepard]

I wrongly was like, you know, he's got this beard. Anytime someone has a beard, you're like, oh, they're probably covering up stuff. I'm certainly covering up stuff. But I saw pictures of him without the beard. Fucking strong chin. He doesn't need a beard. Like, I need it. This bastard's like, he's just sitting on a great chin.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, well, even more reason to me than. I think it's an emotional beer.

[Dax Shepard]

You think it's an emotional beer.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm going to go ahead and say this.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you have any anxiety after Traveler came out and it was so fucking successful and you had such a swell. Did you have any anxiety about, like, the next album?

[Chris Stapleton]

No, but I did have an anxiety around just the amount of attention. My goal in making that record was to get to make another record. I had this very indie mentality of, like, I sell 20, 25,000 records records I can keep playing and I play pretty good shows and the world will be all right. People will never say this about corporate entities, but I have to say this about Universal. I had a failed single before Traveler that wasn't on Traveler. And so I just came to Cindy Maple, we went to lunch and I said, hey, can I just make a record? I just want to make a record and put it out and go play. That's how I know how to do it. And she was like a. Okay, that was allowed. And that's not normal process. It's usually like, have a hit single and then you can make a record in the signal.

[Dax Shepard]

That didn't do well. It also was expected to do well.

[Chris Stapleton]

I signed a record deal and it was a different head of the company. I made a whole other record previous to that. The head of the label came in to listen to it, sat there, listen the whole thing. Then he turned around. I love it. But I'm not going to be here next week.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, boy.

[Chris Stapleton]

And Capital and Universal kind of merged.

[Dax Shepard]

I didn't even, like, listen to it.

[Chris Stapleton]

Because he signed me. Luke Lewis is a music guy.

[Dax Shepard]

That was a dumb question. But if you're though you're getting fired.

[Chris Stapleton]

I thought it was a really classy move, even though it was disappointing. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Now that I've thought it through, that was the right move. Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

You know, when the merger all happened, it was kind of nine months of radio silence for me, which usually when those things happen, you're like, all right, I'm a goner. I'm gonna go back to writing songs. And I was pushing 40. I had promised myself I wouldn't tour anymore if I was 40 and not really making a difference. And so Mike Dungan, the new record label head, comes in, listens to the record. He's like, I don't hear it. And that was just kind of like, all right.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you agree with him now that record exists somewhere?

[Chris Stapleton]

It does.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you think it's much different in quality than your other albums?

[Chris Stapleton]

I made it in a very different way. It was a very built record, more than a live record. I'm playing all the stuff on it. It was a different record. It was where I was at at the time. And I don't know that it was bad. I'm not embarrassed of anything on it.

[Dax Shepard]

Did it dent your confidence at all or.

[Chris Stapleton]

No, I mean, I disagreed.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

That's the preferred outcome.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm also aware that his job was to run the business the best way that he knows how to run a business. And if that meant it wasn't for him, I missed the mark.

[Dax Shepard]

So what happened when you played Traveler? Does he come in and sit and listen to Traveler? Do you get to have, like, a round two?

[Chris Stapleton]

For some reason he was out, he would say, I kind of went around him, okay, and we're cool now. Like, it's all good.

[Dax Shepard]

This shit is the same in movies. Like, I directed a movie at Warner Bros. Brothers, right before it comes out, they fire the president, they bring in a new president. The new president is not incentivized for the old president shit to work. Right. He's incentivized for his new shit that he greenlit. And you're like, I'm just fucked. They're not gonna promote this movie.

[Chris Stapleton]

Right. It's disappointing. There's a lot of great things that get squashed in regime changes sometimes. And that's just the way there's more.

[Dax Shepard]

Business happening than people realize. Right.

[Chris Stapleton]

And the timing of things. There's a great Chris Knox record that came out a long time ago that Frank Liddell produced that I love, but that record came out, and then the whole record label shut down. You know, it got kind of squashed. But that was a great record. It just was unfortunate business timing. Things like that happen all the time.

[Dax Shepard]

Back to your luck thing. Half the game's luck.

[Chris Stapleton]

Maybe more than half. You know, I think it's probably 90% luck.

[Dax Shepard]

The better comp is really. I can't imagine. Are you into Formula one at all?

[Chris Stapleton]

I did do a song for that movie.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yes, you did.

[Dax Shepard]

That's right. Yeah. You have a song in F1.

[Chris Stapleton]

And I got scared to death. I went to the race in the Las Vegas. Why humans want to go that fast? I don't. I don't understand it.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Chris Stapleton]

We're right up on the fence, and you're just like, this doesn't feel safe even for me to watch. No.

[Dax Shepard]

It doesn't feel like physics would allow for this thing to happen. That's what's cool about it. Right? You know, the car can't go around a turn at 190 miles an hour. Right. It just.

[Monica Padman]

But I guess it did.

[Chris Stapleton]

Have you ever gotten a car with one of those guys?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I hosted this show, Top Gear, for a couple years. I raced.

[Chris Stapleton]

But you drive something like that.

[Dax Shepard]

I've never been in a Formula one car, but I have ridden with several Formula one drivers in cars. And yet. Oh, he's going into turn one. You're going. Well, he ate the farm on this one. Like, we're not making it through this turn. And then all of a sudden, you're exiting the turn, you're like, I don't think that can happen. Physics wouldn't allow. Yeah, they're on another level. But the reason I think the analogy is good is, like, the car, unfortunately, is 90% of it. But that's not to say it doesn't matter if you're Max Verstappen. It fucking matters. Like, he's head and shoulders above, but he needs that 90. I think the same is for your thing and my thing, which is like, you got to be Max Verstappen, but you need the right car. You need the 90% of luck in friendships and all this other shit.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. And the right people around you. I can't say that enough.

[Monica Padman]

You've said it a lot. I really, really like it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I like it, too.

[Chris Stapleton]

I know we were sitting here talking about the individual thing, but I do feel like a lot of What I do might put my name on a marquee or on something else. You talk about it, but you wrote the songs and all you saying all these things. But I didn't record the things. I went in the studio and Vance is sitting there pressing the button. Dave and my wife were telling me when they thought the take was right. I'm not making things without Dave, not really.

[Dax Shepard]

I've also watched you guys talk to each other, and there's definitely some spooky shit going on.

[Chris Stapleton]

We understand each other and a lot of weirdo. We're brothers in a lot of ways. And so JT and Derek, you know, the guys have been in my band from day one, played on the records from day one. Those things are important. And those things make what we do a lot more special than just my name being on it or what. Whatever I bring to it. The specialness of all those people involved is important.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you have some guilt about being the name on the marquee?

[Chris Stapleton]

No. Somebody's got to do it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm not trying to act like I'm unworthy here or something like that.

[Dax Shepard]

What I have a lot of is survivor's guilt, which is like, I, over the last 30 years, worked with so many brilliant people that didn't get lucky or didn't know the right person on the right day. I was exposed to how many people. People moved to LA and were talented and worked their asses off. And I have that guilt personally, where it's like, I don't know, man. There were four other guys in my comedy troupe that were better than me, and I don't know why. They're not rich and it's not fair.

[Chris Stapleton]

It's not. The world is not fair. And not that I think that that's right, but I'll take it.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

They're going to give it to someone. I volunteer.

[Chris Stapleton]

Appreciate it.

[Monica Padman]

I like it to be me.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, I'm sure I do have some guilt about that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I don't have imposter syndrome. I just can recognize that these people are as every bit as good as me and some better. And it didn't happen. And it's horrib. That hurts my soul a little bit. Well.

[Chris Stapleton]

But, you know, it's that whole timing thing that I keep talking about, and that's luck. And that's whatever it is that I do or you do or anybody does that gets lucky and successful. We happen to be filling some need for consumers or for the world at large. And that's important, too. You can feel Gratitude for that and maybe guilt that somebody else didn't get to fill it. But that was our call.

[Dax Shepard]

That's how it shook out.

[Chris Stapleton]

And that's okay. I don't think we have to feel too bad about it. No, I don't feel bad about it.

[Dax Shepard]

You shouldn't and I shouldn't, but I do. It's that simple. I run into dudes that are struggling and I'm like, fuck, dude. This is not fair. Like, you shouldn't be struggling at all. Just two more career y questions. One is, I think it's interesting that you've gone in and you've worked with Taylor and Adele and you're on both their albums singing. What is that experience?

[Chris Stapleton]

Like, some of these collaboration things were things that happened in Covid. They're me on the other side of screen. Obviously, you get honored when you get asked to be on anybody's record. It was such a compliment. Particularly people who are as well loved as those two ladies.

[Monica Padman]

Did you watch the Taylor doc that just came out?

[Chris Stapleton]

I have not seen. I did go to that show. I took my kids to that show. Me too. But it was awesome.

[Dax Shepard]

Show era.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh, man, it's crazy. Every song was the production budget of most people's whole show.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Chris Stapleton]

Mine included.

[Monica Padman]

That's what's so cool about the doc is you really get into the nitty gritty about the show and how they did it. And it doesn't matter if you like her music or don't like her music if you don't respect her after watching that go away.

[Chris Stapleton]

No, there's no way. It's an insane amount of work and energy to expend on something, to delegate and to trust and to manage. It's unfathomable. And only a handful of people can pull that off. And she's one of them.

[Monica Padman]

The leadership to me was such a huge. It's like what you've been saying about all the people, how many people it takes. She really highlighted that in this. It was about her, but it wasn't about her. It was about the. It was so cool.

[Chris Stapleton]

Cause none of it happens without all those people.

[Dax Shepard]

I was blown in with the stamina. Like, she could fucking go.

[Chris Stapleton]

We talked to her briefly after the show and she was like, I would sing the show and run for three hours on a treadmill to get ready for this. Like, I don't run for three hours on a treadmill ever.

[Dax Shepard]

Saved my life.

[Chris Stapleton]

Wow.

[Monica Padman]

I know. It's wild.

[Dax Shepard]

And I just want to thank you. Our whole summer was a song to Sing on the Boat. I got videos posted of Kristen dancing to that song. What a song. You know what I love about it too, is I think I was in the dark about it. What a badass Miranda is.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh, she's amazing.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I just was in the dark.

[Chris Stapleton]

She's so great. We've been friends for a long time, and she's feeling a few times when Morgan had to go do other things and sing on award shows with me. And we've always written songs together. And when I first moved to town as a songwriter, she cut one of the songs I moved to town with. She cut a song I wrote when I was 18. Oh, wow. Nobody's fool. So we've known each other a long time, and she's always been really good to me and a great friend. So it was cool to get to do something like that with her.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it's a very full circle. If she sings one of your songs you wrote when you're 18 and then you get to do a song with.

[Chris Stapleton]

Her again, those things are more pure, and I feel better because they're real things. It's not because somebody threw us together.

[Dax Shepard]

Some master producer didn't think this up. Right.

[Chris Stapleton]

It's not something somebody dreamed of. And sometimes those things work out too.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, your chair. This is the cutest thing. Your mom and dad had a dinette set, and then there's a chair that you loved. And you have taken this chair with you your whole life.

[Chris Stapleton]

That chair moved to town with me. I had a chair. And like when an army sack full.

[Dax Shepard]

Of clothes packing up the car, making room for this chair is really comical.

[Monica Padman]

Fit in the back seat is a wooden chair.

[Chris Stapleton]

No, it's got like a loose side back and it's like chrome. And when I was a kid, the seat was canary yellow vinyl. But my mom recovered it in the 80s. And it's very multicolored tweed or something.

[Dax Shepard]

It almost looks missoni. But not.

[Monica Padman]

It was your.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, it is now.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

It was just one.

[Chris Stapleton]

There are three other chairs somewhere. I don't know where all the other.

[Dax Shepard]

I gotta get my hands on one of these fuckers.

[Monica Padman]

Gonna be in the Smithsonian.

[Chris Stapleton]

Maybe my brother has one. I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

But you brought this chair. And you've written most of the songs.

[Chris Stapleton]

I recorded in the studio with that chair. That chair comes every time I'm in the studio.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, the chair's everywhere.

[Monica Padman]

That's so sweet.

[Dax Shepard]

And so first of all, it's just very, very sweet. But then I started thinking, are you superstitious? Because you also Have. You're playing the Gibson guitar you bought for four hundred hundred dollars. You're still playing that.

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know if I'm superstitious as much as I'm a creature of habit.

[Dax Shepard]

It's control, right? It's like all the things I can't control are what they are. And the things I can control, I'm going to control.

[Chris Stapleton]

It's a controlled environment thing for sure. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I sit in this chair. I played this.

[Chris Stapleton]

I mean, I built, you know, one of the first stages. When I had enough of a production budget, I built a giant diffuser to try to control sound on stage so.

[Dax Shepard]

That you could hear it, right?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yes. We have like a patent on it. If you ever look it up. It looks like some kind of Mad Max Thunderdome thing. Crazy to build. All these pieces are like 1200 pounds a piece. And it's a diffuser that we carried around on stage. And it was so stupid to build, but I had to hear it. I had to see if it would work.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

Because I was trying to control environments because most live environments aren't sonically pleasant. And I don't use ant ears. I use floor monitors. And I'm always trying to control the environment in a way that maybe I shouldn't. I gave up on that. I had a different thing that had all these moving motors that didn't work. I'm all the time drawing shit on napkins and making people who know how to do stuff try to figure it.

[Dax Shepard]

Out, see if it's possible.

[Chris Stapleton]

Will this work?

[Dax Shepard]

I love also, you have. This was fun. People should watch this. This is like your essential things that you care about was a video I watched. And your dad's knife collection in this knife roll is so special. I got like, very nostalgic seeing that.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

What was it about the knives?

[Chris Stapleton]

Where I grew up and maybe some in Georgia. I don't know if they do this in Georgia as well. People would give you a knife as a sign of respect. I and my dad had received a bunch of these knives over the years.

[Dax Shepard]

They're pocket knives, you know, they're like little pocket knives.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah. See? Let's get a visual.

[Dax Shepard]

I was sad when I learned this that I didn't have time to go out and get a cool pocket knife to give.

[Chris Stapleton]

I carry things like this.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'll rub the back of them. It's almost like it's a fidget toy for me. There's a comfort in it. There's a connection. I have some that belong to my grandfather. As well. My mom's dad.

[Dax Shepard]

You're the dream dad. I got lucky. My dad collected elephants.

[Chris Stapleton]

Elephants?

[Dax Shepard]

Elephants.

[Chris Stapleton]

Like actual elephants?

[Dax Shepard]

Real elephants? No, no, no. The figurines. Fucking statues. I don't know.

[Chris Stapleton]

Probably.

[Dax Shepard]

And now in retrospect, I don't even know if he liked them that much, but we all believed he liked them. So every Father's Day, every.

[Chris Stapleton]

You got an elephant, you knew what to do.

[Dax Shepard]

He's like, I gotta go to the mall and find me an elephant. And the trunk had to be up. That was good luck.

[Chris Stapleton]

Where did that come from?

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know. By the time I'm conscious, I already know my father likes elephants and there's already 10 figurines in the house.

[Monica Padman]

But you never asked why I liked it.

[Dax Shepard]

He just said that he learned they were good luck if the trunk was up.

[Chris Stapleton]

Cause I grew up. My mom had this porcelain. An elephant.

[Dax Shepard]

He would have wanted to get his hands on that.

[Chris Stapleton]

It looked like a really nice china.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

Painting green all over it. It was like a side table. Had like a table on it.

[Dax Shepard]

It was functional.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, it was a functional elephant.

[Dax Shepard]

That would have made his year if I could have got my hands on that thing.

[Chris Stapleton]

I think that thing's in a storage unit. Hopefully I can find it.

[Dax Shepard]

But anyways, your boys are blessed because you have four boys and they know you're gonna get a pocket knife.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. Knives and cars and guitars. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

It's great. Of the venues you've played, Super Bowl, SNL tour, twice, talk shows, is there a favorite kind of live experience you've had?

[Chris Stapleton]

Like super bowl, one of those times. I felt nervous and I don't often feel nervous.

[Dax Shepard]

Cuz that's a scary song, right?

[Chris Stapleton]

Scary song.

[Monica Padman]

No control.

[Chris Stapleton]

I controlled what I could.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

You know, there's a lot of moving parts to that.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, I made it the least amount of moving parts I could. I played it with just me and a guitar. I didn't get the band. I didn't do a pre tape. I didn't do any of that kind of stuff. And I wanted to go out there and see if I could just do it. And that's nerve wracking for that level of television show to go live. Live like that.

[Dax Shepard]

It's rare you can fuck up in front of 40 million people.

[Chris Stapleton]

You can though. I've done it. But yeah, that was special. And I played when the Letterman show was going off the air and when I was in steel drivers got to play on Conan when that was a favorite show of mine. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Now I'm going to hit you with the weirdest thought I've had through all this. Reading about you and watching interviews and listening to your voice a lot. Do you know how the old mining happened? Like hydro mining, the way they mined in like the 1800s. You start with a huge diameter pipe, let's say it's four feet, and you're running water through it. And then you reduce that to two feet and that builds pressure. And then you reduce that to a foot, and then you reduce it to 6 inches. And by the time it's coming out, spraying at the side of the hill, it's fucking, you know, a bazillion pounds of pressure.

[Chris Stapleton]

I know nothing about that.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, but you get the concept. I was looking at your. I'm like, Chris has the cutest little nose for what a big guy is. He has this tiny little nose.

[Monica Padman]

I did not see that.

[Dax Shepard]

And he's got this. He's got this big chest and he's like this big guy. And it's all starting down here in the fucking diaphragm. And by the time you work all that up and send it through this tiny little button nose, I think that's your magic sound.

[Monica Padman]

That's a wild.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a huge setup. To ask, have you observed. Go ahead, go ahead and respond to this theory. Keep going with your theory, your hydraulic mining. That's what you are as a musician. Over these 25 years of sitting with musicians and working with musicians, have you observed patterns? Like, have you noticed weird things like, oh, people with this physicality tend to sound this way. Have you picked up these just from doing it so much?

[Chris Stapleton]

I don't know if physicality. I've picked that up. Certainly where people are from probably plays into how they play. Like, people from New Orleans have a thing. People from Memphis have a thing. People from Florida have a thing. There's a rock and roll thing that happens there. You can't put your finger on them, but you can't say, like, they definitively have this thing. But they definitely come with a different slant. Whether it's the pocket that they play with or the way they hear things or the way they pronounce things when they sing or where they sing things. Maybe that's a pedestrian evaluation of music.

[Dax Shepard]

It's interesting. You say, I'm reading a book right now. It's talking about cities and the magic of stuff, Cities. And it was using as an example, like, they have tried to start tech companies in New York. They're well financed, they don't work they work in Silicon Valley, finance works in New York. Don't really know why other places have tried it, but there's all these cities who have, like, signature industries that become their DNA, and they kind of can't be done elsewhere.

[Chris Stapleton]

I can't explain that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. It's just a fascinating thing that's very similar to this.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

If you're a musician, you're also a product of something.

[Chris Stapleton]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

And can't be replicated.

[Chris Stapleton]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

My last thing I want to say is, what is the current fuel you're burning for creativity? Because I imagine it has to evolve dramatically from arriving here hungry and ambitious and fearful and all these things you have to evolve as the thing starts working out. There's all these very dramatic, youthful things that create art. And as your life stabilizes, what you're trying to get it to do, what drives the creative.

[Chris Stapleton]

I think it's probably at a bit of a crossroads and that I don't know when I'm gonna make another record or write another song. I'm probably not really in the mood, and that's okay with me. Probably not okay with managers, record labels and people like that, but that's okay with me. I don't know how much longer I'll even go play. I don't know.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, God.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I think he and I are the same age. I'm also really just contemplating what a spectacular life I've had. What do I want the rest of it to be? I wanna have made a really thoughtful day decision.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah. I want to make a thoughtful decision about what I do with the rest of the time that I have on the Earth. I got babies. I got some that are almost out of the house. And they gave up a lot for me to be sitting here with you and doing things. So I owe them some things. Some time in particular. I've done more than I ever set out to do. And I used to say this about playing the Ryman Auditorium. My dream used to be to play the Ryman Auditorium and sell it out very early, after the Timberlake moment. We played it three nights in a row and sold it out. I said, well, now I have to get a new dream.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So what's the new dream phase? Yeah. Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

And I do think it's important to find that. So I think for me, fuel is the search. So I'm going to have to search for something and I'm going to have to hunt for something. I don't know what that is or where it's going to come from.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, look, I'm in the market for rich friends in their 50s who want to retire and have fun. So I know very few people.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And I think we're virtually neighbors.

[Chris Stapleton]

And I am not in my 50s, thank you very much.

[Dax Shepard]

You'll be there in two fucking seconds, my friend.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm not saying I'm hanging up my stirs. I'm just saying I'm looking for the fire, and I want the fire to lead. That's more elusive now than it used to be.

[Dax Shepard]

Are you on testosterone?

[Chris Stapleton]

No, dude, I need.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm on testosterone.

[Chris Stapleton]

How much, man?

[Dax Shepard]

A little bit.

[Chris Stapleton]

We need to back it off a.

[Dax Shepard]

Little bit or whatever they got. I told you it was a nine on the addict scale. No, my numbers are really responsive. But I will say I was having this really crisis eight years ago. I had, like, directed a movie. It didn't work out. I'm like, I don't know, man. I don't know. Maybe I did enough.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, I do think that I've done enough.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Chris Stapleton]

And it's not about doing something else. It's about for me wanting to do something else. I think I owe it to the people who might listen to what I do or come see me play live or any of those things that they get 100% of whatever I've got left in me. If they're paying money for a ticket or a record or a whatever it is. I feel very resolute in that. And if I don't think that I can deliver on that, I have to evaluate that, too.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm going to start you on 4ml, 0.4ml. Your passion. No, your passion's going to, like, shoot back alive.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm going to make six records in a year.

[Monica Padman]

We don't use manufactured passion. It'll show itself, but you don't even.

[Dax Shepard]

Want it for the results. The feeling of I want to devour something. I want to conquer something. I want to take something on. Like, this is a good feeling. Forget the outcome of it. It's like, I like feeling like.

[Chris Stapleton]

Well, you want to feel like you can.

[Dax Shepard]

I feeling like I couldn't.

[Chris Stapleton]

I have a little of that.

[Dax Shepard]

I was just like. I don't know if I care about it.

[Monica Padman]

Maybe just need a second. It's okay to take a break.

[Dax Shepard]

No, he needs testosterone. I'm going to give you your first.

[Chris Stapleton]

Shot before you leave. You got some extra.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm always.

[Chris Stapleton]

Give me some of that testosterone.

[Dax Shepard]

I always roll it back up. Chris, again, truly, we get to talk to a ton of people. I was just Very, very excited to get to sit with you. Of all your stuff. It's just your spirit to me, screams out when you perform, and it's just so beautiful. I'm really. I get to cross pollinate, man.

[Chris Stapleton]

Thank you for having me and thanks for taking the time.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, this was really lovely. Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I want you to have peace and contentment, and I also want you to make 10 or so more albums. So however you agree, however you accomplish both that. All right, be well, everyone. Go today and buy as much Traveler whiskey as you can.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And fucking I sure will. Let it rip. You're thinking about quitting? Take your tour bus out to the desert with a case of Traveler whiskey, and it'll set you straight. Chris, thank you so much for coming, and I look forward to our retirement together.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, man, sounds good.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for the fact check so you can hear all the facts that were wrong. How you feeling?

[Monica Padman]

Good.

[Dax Shepard]

Are you tore up?

[Monica Padman]

As in, like, tired?

[Dax Shepard]

Tired. Hungover.

[Monica Padman]

I'm not hungover.

[Dax Shepard]

Party hard?

[Monica Padman]

No, no, no, I'm not hungry.

[Chris Stapleton]

Over.

[Monica Padman]

As far as my consumption, I had a teeny at the awards.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And then I got one at the Netflix party, but I only had one sip because it wasn't the way I liked it.

[Dax Shepard]

And then what was wrong with it?

[Monica Padman]

I'm particular. I'm in particular.

[Dax Shepard]

What does it got to be?

[Monica Padman]

It's a Hendrick martini. Oh, Jimmy Lemon twist.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

No vermouth, extra bruised. If I can get that. I have to see. I have to see what kind of the environment is. If someone can take that.

[Dax Shepard]

What's extra, extra bruised?

[Monica Padman]

Like shaken, A little icy.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, like chunky.

[Monica Padman]

Some ice shards.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, ice shards.

[Monica Padman]

Like, just some little shards. I like it really cold.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow. There's so much to it. How long does it take them to make this? When they do it right?

[Monica Padman]

No, if they do it. If they know their stuff.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Eight to ten minutes. I'm just kidding.

[Dax Shepard]

12, 13. I don't know. I can only order one at eight and arrives at like 8:40 to the table.

[Monica Padman]

So they're good.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know what they're doing. They do it right?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, no, it's fast, but. So there was a really cute little martini bar thing right next to where we were standing, sitting at the Netflix.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And I was like, oh, I'll. I'll get one of those. And I was like, do you have Hendrix? And he was like, oh, no, they're pre batch. And immediately I was like, oh.

[Dax Shepard]

And he said, but, like, the version of, like, Microwave. Is that like the equivalent? Since I'm of the scene.

[Monica Padman]

It's okay. Pre batch is, you know, they. They make it ahead of time in a big th. Container thermos where you put your spaghettios and then. And then they pour it into glasses for you. A lot of places do pre batch. That's not for me.

[Dax Shepard]

You just gave me the best blast from the past memory. Well, I never had that set up. But other kids did. Mothers were at home.

[Chris Stapleton]

Home.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And boy, and they. I swear, sometimes they'd pop that lid and there was still steam coming out and held the heat.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

This son of a. Is having a hot spaghetti dinner next to me.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

In a thermos. And did you have like the half size thermos?

[Monica Padman]

There's halvesies. Yeah. I. I'm. I'm only saying this because my mom will be mad if I don't say it. Because you just protected your mom as you should. And now I have to protect my mom.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Because she also worked, so she would be like, hey, I wasn't. I worked too.

[Dax Shepard]

Because you didn't have it either.

[Monica Padman]

No, I had it, but not all the time. But I had it every now and then.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

You know, my mom was making me lunch.

[Dax Shepard]

Your mother, really? She also had another person helping her.

[Monica Padman]

Make some money and stuff, you know? Money? Yes. Like, he didn't help with lunch.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

As you know, my mom's sick. It was just subway every day.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. My mom was overtime queen.

[Monica Padman]

I know, I know. I'm not. I just wanted to be clear, cuz.

[Dax Shepard]

You know, now I just. I was sending my mother like round two.

[Monica Padman]

She never made me cycle here.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Nor does she even buy that. Oh, no, that's not true. We would get some, I think when we go grocery shopping. There were a couple splurges. David and I could Both pick out 12 liter of soda occasionally.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, that's nice.

[Dax Shepard]

And then the other thing could be like, I could pick out two cans of Chef Boyardee.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. Ravioli all the way.

[Monica Padman]

I love the ravioli.

[Dax Shepard]

I would put it in my mouth and I'd like deconstruct it with my teeth and tongue so that I could like. I would scoop out the little ball of meat with my tongue. Like I really was a psychopath with the way I consumed it. And I loved it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. So you could have picked spaghettios, but you went ravioli.

[Dax Shepard]

We.

[Monica Padman]

We were mainly a ravioli. Chef Boyardee house too.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, raviolis, I believe, are Franco American.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I thought they Were Chef Boyardee.

[Dax Shepard]

They had one, but I don't think it was called SpaghettiOs. I think the trademark. Rob. SpaghettiOs is trademark Franco American spaghetti.

[Monica Padman]

Campbell's, Campbell Campbell.

[Dax Shepard]

But I think maybe Campbell's bought Franco American since the 80s 90s.

[Monica Padman]

I remember it as Campbell.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah, it was Franco American, 1965. Introduction.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. When did it, when did it dissolve or absorbed by Campbell's Soup?

[Monica Padman]

Ring shaped canned pasta was introduced in 1965 by the Campbell Soup Company under the Franco. It was a.

[Dax Shepard]

It was a subsidiary. Yeah, yeah, it was under the umbrella. The Campbell's umbrella.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God. Wow. Anyway, so the batched martini. So he said, I was like, do you have Hendrix? And he said, oh, no, they're pre batched. And I was like, oh, maybe I'll. And he was like, but they're really, really good. So, you know, he had a lot of investment and pride. And so I was like, sure, I'll do it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And then you couldn't get through it.

[Monica Padman]

It's only. Why I drank one sip.

[Chris Stapleton]

Ugh.

[Monica Padman]

That's okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Why don't you switch to a wine or something?

[Monica Padman]

I know. But then I was like, I don't want to walk all the way to the bar.

[Dax Shepard]

It felt, yeah, Triz is really doing it.

[Monica Padman]

No, no, it was, it's like there's a lot of people, you know, Was.

[Dax Shepard]

There a lot of people? Where was it?

[Monica Padman]

At Spago.

[Dax Shepard]

Spago.

[Monica Padman]

Spago.

[Dax Shepard]

Did they have canned spaghettios? Is that Italian?

[Monica Padman]

They did. They had some like big batched pastas. Ooh.

[Dax Shepard]

Pre made. Like the martinis.

[Monica Padman]

Uh huh. I didn't get any, but Rob got some.

[Chris Stapleton]

It was good.

[Dax Shepard]

It was good.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, Spago's good.

[Dax Shepard]

We went to an event and I was reminded, you know, we went a party. We all went to a party on Friday night.

[Monica Padman]

Amazon by Vanity Fair and Vanity Fair.

[Dax Shepard]

And yeah, I keep going to get reminded I'm not a big party person.

[Monica Padman]

I know. It's fun to be invited. Like. It is.

[Chris Stapleton]

Absolutely.

[Monica Padman]

It's an honor to be invited. It's flattering and I think it's nice to get cute, wear cute outfits. But then when you get there and it's just so loud and so crowded. Crowded and packed and packed. And then really you just end up like you because of the environment. You want to just be with people, you know.

[Dax Shepard]

That's right.

[Monica Padman]

So, yeah, Eventful week.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And then the big day.

[Monica Padman]

Big day.

[Dax Shepard]

Your designer came through.

[Monica Padman]

I was so happy. I was so happy with my dress. Shout out.

[Dax Shepard]

Brandon, I saw your post and they Put your name on the inside of.

[Chris Stapleton]

That.

[Monica Padman]

Name in there. It's so sweet. It was really cute too, because a few people who were there who listened to the pod.

[Chris Stapleton]

Uhhuh.

[Dax Shepard]

Were chatting and where the party or.

[Monica Padman]

No, at the show.

[Dax Shepard]

Golden Globes.

[Monica Padman]

Dakota.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. Dakota.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. We were talking and she was like, is that the Brandon Maxwell? Cuz she listened. So like they knew Mila also.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, she was on it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. So that was cute.

[Dax Shepard]

My most flattering moment. You witnessed. You almost passed out. I did. Lincoln. I mean, she screamed at the top of her lungs when I told her this.

[Monica Padman]

This is a big deal.

[Dax Shepard]

Hilarious. Jacob Alordi.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

I turned and I. You know, this son of a. Is like 65. He's so gorgeous.

[Monica Padman]

So gorgeous and so tall. You cannot miss him. He towered over you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah. And so I just looked at him and I look at this tall, handsome son of a bitch, not thinking he's going to know me. And then he said, what was. It's at both times the most flattering and humbling thing ever?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

He said, oh, my God, dude, I've been a huge fan of you my whole life.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I was like, yeah, I bet. I've been working since you were born or damn near.

[Monica Padman]

How old is he?

[Chris Stapleton]

1997. He was born 28.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. So he was six when I got on the screen. Screen. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. It's a nice reminder when memories are starting to form.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm his first met. So for him. Yeah. His whole life. Because that's when your memories kind of start imprinting. So. But I. I took it very well. And then second highlight was I was seated next to Jenna Ortega.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, that's nice.

[Dax Shepard]

So I got a whole nother two hours to annoy her.

[Monica Padman]

That's funny.

[Dax Shepard]

She was with her mom and it was so cute. Yeah. So I got to know mom really, really well.

[Monica Padman]

Well, nice.

[Dax Shepard]

And I asked her a bazillion questions and it was really fun.

[Monica Padman]

Fun.

[Dax Shepard]

And then we won. Then we won. Some people don't. Some people might think Amy Poer one and not have read that. They did call later and said they missed.

[Monica Padman]

There's a mistake.

[Chris Stapleton]

It was like moonlight when moonlight did.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. It's very similar to Moonlight.

[Monica Padman]

It was similar that. No, we did not win and that.

[Dax Shepard]

And we. They just didn't want to embarrass Snoop, you know, for reading the wrong. Yeah, you read the wrong name.

[Monica Padman]

Actually, we did an interview with him on the carpet and I said, well, regardless of what it says, are you just going to say armchair expert? He said, yes, I know.

[Dax Shepard]

And I said, I have Cage.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

I was willing to pay.

[Monica Padman]

You were willing to pay?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And then, for the record, I just. If. If I. And I told Babers, I was like, right from their announcement, if. If we had to get beat by someone, I couldn't be happier that it was Babers.

[Monica Padman]

I went up to her and I said, how dare you?

[Dax Shepard]

How dare you?

[Monica Padman]

And she was so cute. She's so cute. I just love her. Her so much.

[Dax Shepard]

And then Nikki crush. What a job.

[Monica Padman]

She did so well. She did so well. I love her. I have such an affinity for her. I went to her party after the Netflix party. Then I wanted to show up for her, and she was so cute. I said, the podcast package was so funny. Her monologue was so good. I thought, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my God. Yeah. It was so good. I was very fatigued, though, by the time we got to the show, because we had done a lot. Lot of press, which, A, I haven't done in a while, and B, we were navigating this endless share question.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Which requires, like, that you're nimble.

[Monica Padman]

You have to be. Really.

[Dax Shepard]

What I want to say is, like, guys, it was funny and a joke. Why the would we post it if we didn't think that that's what you want to say, and you're not allowed to say that.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, you're not allowed to say that, Dax. And you didn't.

[Dax Shepard]

I didn't.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And I was glad. Yeah. No, that question came up a lot.

[Dax Shepard]

Every single interview. Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Thought it might.

[Dax Shepard]

We thought it might. I thought I was like, o, we'll get hit with that once or twice, but every single one we did, sometimes I'm just. You can almost feel them waiting to drop it. Like, I'm gonna do three nice things.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

And then I'm gonna.

[Monica Padman]

It's funny because, you know, this is where my PR background comes into play.

[Dax Shepard]

Your expert training. Just the anticipated, like, okay, when is it coming?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, fix it up.

[Dax Shepard]

That was nice. That was nice. When's it coming? It's, like waiting to get shoved in the back. Like when you're in high school and you're a dude and you, you know, someone wants to kick your ass and, you know, people will tell you, like, Mike's, like, looking for you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And you kind of just walk around waiting to just get shoved in the back. And that's kind of the. The. Just a simmering feeling.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I know.

[Dax Shepard]

Also, who cares? No. Boohoo. Just.

[Monica Padman]

No. No, no. But yeah. No, I mean, Speaking of high school, the whole thing is extremely high school on crack. The from beginning to end, it's immediately popular kids versus not popular kids. Who belongs here versus who doesn't belong here? Song here.

[Dax Shepard]

Seating arrangement.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

The arrival stuff.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God. Okay, so they changed the whole thing this year. That there was stairs. It was intended. Like we had slots.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And you have to arrive during that time.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

To. To do the carpet. And then. And even that is a whole thing. It's like only nominees are allowed to go on the carpet and your name has to be there, you know.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

And no publicists are allowed on the carpet. Right.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Our slot was really early, but you were going with Kristen, so you were going a little later.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I was really caught.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

In the middle there.

[Monica Padman]

Rob and I went early. It took so long to get where we're in eyesight. Like, this is just. Was all so funny. These are things you don't know when you're watching. I think it's funny. Like we're at a hotel that is in eyeline to the Beverly Hills where.

[Dax Shepard]

We were staying versus the venue is a nine iron away if you golf.

[Monica Padman]

Yes, exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

You have to go three miles.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Maybe more.

[Monica Padman]

I think more.

[Dax Shepard]

You got to go all the way to west la.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Make a bootleg onto Wilshire.

[Monica Padman]

There's like a whole specific way that the cars have to go. And then what I did was really. Even though it was, like, frustrating maybe for people because it's. It slowed everything down. I did like, there was like, extreme security.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. I love that part.

[Monica Padman]

And I was so happy.

[Dax Shepard]

Me too.

[Monica Padman]

So that was great. But then. Yeah. So the whole thing takes so long to get there. Then you get there and then you have to stand in line for the carpet. So by the time. Doesn't matter what time you leave, unless you leave at 10:00am yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

By the time you get there, you're not in your slot. So we finally get to the front of the line and it's me and our wonder publicist and Adam Kirsch. Kirsch, our publicist and Rob and me. And so we're like going up the line and they're ready to, like, drop me off. Right. And then they have to go this other way. So we get there and she's like, to. To our publicist, she was like, are you in the right time slot? And she kind of just says, yeah. And then, like, is going. And. And then she was like, no. What? Let me see it. And she was like, well, we're not. And she was like, well, then you guys need to go over there. And I was like, wait, wait, wait. Over there? And she was like, yeah, there's photo opportunities over there. And I was like, but that's not the carpet. I was like, I just spent my entire. I'm not like, no.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And. And she was like, yeah. And she just kept saying, there's photo opportunities over there. And I was like, I'm going to go this way.

[Chris Stapleton]

And.

[Monica Padman]

And she was like, she was like, well, how many of you is it? And I was like, it's just me. And she was like, okay, if it's just you, that's fine. And I was like, I mean, and then, then you are in such a weird headspace.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure. Cuz it's like you're very insecure, you know? They didn't say that. Demostone.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. Okay, well. And, and, and as he should. Stellan Skarsgard's in front of me. He walks right in and is fine and no one's stopping him. Adam and Leighton are next to me. No one's. You know. And I was like, yeah. It starts immediately where you're just like, oh my God. And then you feel like you want to be like, I'm nominated. I'm not just here. I'm supposed to be here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that whole thing is so interesting. And then you're. That's in your head right before you have to go do these pictures in front of all these people. And it was really, it's really, it's in. I just find it very interesting. And I feel like there's a. There's a story in here, there's a book in here. And then, you know, you. You go down the stairs and sometimes people, it's like 85 people are taking pictures of someone. And then for, you know, for me, it's like one person. And then you're like, oh, it's just like ego hit after ego hit. And, and at the same time you're like, and I'm here.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, it's like, do you remember in Indiana Jones when they're going through the thing and the darts are coming out the wall? Like the blow darts.

[Monica Padman]

I know, I know. And, and it is really, really. But then you're also at like one of the biggest parties in the world. You're invited there.

[Dax Shepard]

And like, you know, and wild people are walking by. Sean Penn's walking by. Benio del Toro is walking by.

[Monica Padman]

And that's all amazing and so cool. And I also, I think I said this also when we were talking to someone. It's fun for me. Rob and I were talking about this. We're like, everyone coming down these stairs is someone we've had on this show.

[Chris Stapleton]

Uhhuh.

[Monica Padman]

Like, so many. And that was cool. It's like we've created something where all these. These people have come and chatted with us. Yeah. So. So it's just wild.

[Chris Stapleton]

And.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Where the seating is and the se. Obviously, we had to deal with a little bit like, where are you going to sit?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. I was supposed to be at the podcast table.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. With me.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm not.

[Dax Shepard]

Not sitting with my wife during Also this other added layer of everyone's scrutinizing us.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I know.

[Dax Shepard]

So if now I'm not at her table, that looks weird. I would never normally have to think about.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Chris Stapleton]

But.

[Monica Padman]

But we did some moving around. You can category, and Anna was next to me most of the time. So we had tons of fun. So. Yeah. But it's. It's all. It was really. It was really. It was fun. It was a.

[Dax Shepard]

You'll never forget that, dear.

[Monica Padman]

Was really fun.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare. The biggest event is Lincoln requested that we go back to the go kart.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I was like, oh, my gosh. He's got. He's got. She's been bit. Okay. So we went. We just got back. We did four races. First race, eight adults last time. It was mostly her and I and then a couple stragglers. But today was, you know, there was track full. She's fucking passing people.

[Monica Padman]

Amazing.

[Dax Shepard]

Took a turn, collided into somebody. Didn't give a fuck. Kept it going, finished fourth. Beat her time from last week. Brought it down every single session.

[Monica Padman]

So great.

[Dax Shepard]

Someone passed her and spun her out, and she was livid for 45 minutes. She wouldn't take her helmet off between sessions, and she wanted to get back.

[Chris Stapleton]

I'm gonna.

[Dax Shepard]

And I'm like, wow, this is incredible. Because when I watched her play soccer, I was like, girl attack collide. You gotta. You gotta get over this fear of colliding. Well, it's here. That's like, within her second time. She was like, Max, going for every pass. Fearless. Oh, so fun.

[Monica Padman]

Very fun. Yeah. I just saw her and she was showing me her.

[Dax Shepard]

Her printouts.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Really cute.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

She got into the 26s. She's so excited. She wants it. She got to get into the 25s now.

[Monica Padman]

What if she gets in the ones then?

[Dax Shepard]

So I was coasting first two races. Of course. I Got the fastest lap time.

[Monica Padman]

Of course.

[Dax Shepard]

Of course. That's my move over there. And I'm paying attention mostly to Lincoln. Then the third session, and I hadn't been in the same spot of the track. I just told. I get out and I see the printout. I was not first. What the fuck? Who's this Patrick dude? Oh, well, turns out this dude worked there. He also races Formula 4.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, cool.

[Dax Shepard]

And I was like, okay, good. I got a. I got a goal now, too.

[Monica Padman]

So you lost two days in a row?

[Dax Shepard]

I guess I did.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

And again, Max didn't win this year, and he's the best, so just look at him.

[Monica Padman]

It is funny when, like, you know, when you lose, which I don't have all that much experience with.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I'm gonna have to guide you through this experience.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, it. It's funny when you look around and you're like, look at all these other people who also did not win.

[Dax Shepard]

Like Leonardo DiCaprio.

[Monica Padman]

It's like, how can you really be upset? You're like, oh, my God, these people didn't win too.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And did you see one battle people?

[Monica Padman]

The. Yeah, yeah. Like Adam Scott sitting so close to us. I know when. And of course. But it's not because I'm not saying the person who won shouldn't have won. It's just like, oh, yeah, everyone's fucking amazing here.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

So, yeah, that is when they're like. You know when people say it's an honor to be nominated? When you're on the outside, you kind of think that's just something you say. But it is real.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It's very real.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

So was cool.

[Dax Shepard]

Very cool.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no. Should I tell people about something disgusting about me?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, sure. We love discussing.

[Monica Padman]

This is probably why we lost. I think Eric put a curse on me.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

When he had asked me, like. Or when he said, you're lucky you don't have dandruff because your hair is so black.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

And you've been experiencing a little dander.

[Monica Padman]

I hate it.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Monica Padman]

It doesn't really match with what I'm going for in this life. And I really. It's like, starting to make me feel insane. But I am using a new product. Rose. Shout out Rose for real. Also, I keep spit.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh. Oh.

[Monica Padman]

I also keep spitting because I bit my lip and it. And it's so big and it hurts. And now I'm talking bad and I'm spitting and I've dandruff. Who will date me?

[Dax Shepard]

Everyone. Everyone will date you if you let them.

[Monica Padman]

Anyway, so. Yeah. So this new product is like an exfoliant scrub. So it's. It helps.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Because one day I was like, what? Like, I was like, what's happened? I didn't. I did. I couldn't even realize it was coming from my head. That's how bad it was.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh, wow.

[Monica Padman]

And then I hated.

[Dax Shepard]

I have beard dander, so I can relate.

[Monica Padman]

That's just. I say that's just skin. All skin. I think it's perimenopause.

[Dax Shepard]

No, no, not just dander. Okay. One thing I list. We also went to a thing Saturday morning. We went to a little event.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, we did? Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I went solo. First of all, I was supposed to overlap you. And I was writing in the morning and I happened to get on one of those rare things where I was like, couldn't stop. Was in the bubble.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Then I went to take a dump, see a text from you. Where the are you? And I'm like, oh, my God, that's right now. Yeah, it was 11. And it ended when I read that text. And I'm sitting on the toilet and I'm like, oh, my God. So I got down there in like 12 minutes.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, good.

[Dax Shepard]

Hung with the people I needed to hang with. And then I was leaving. And this needs to be explained. There are fans of which I have endless time for. Then there are dudes who, when they see you going into place, they go into a printer in the back of their van, they print out posters, and then they ask you to sign them so they can sell them. I don't care about those dudes. Right.

[Monica Padman]

That's fair.

[Dax Shepard]

And so I. I was leaving and I was going to walk to my motorcycle. It was really close to the front door of this place. And there's, you know, these dudes with posters and. And I kind of walk by him and I only get like halfway by him. And then there's. There's all these TMZ people or tmz, like people there. And immediately one guy starts screaming, share signs autographs. You sign it. I don't even at me. Share assigns autographs, which first of all, no, I don't think that's true. Secondly, he's screaming that. And then this woman, she's got a camera, camera filming. And she starts going, you still gonna make your 11 year old daughter freeze her eggs? And I'm like, what is going on right now? I was saying it was as if the Internet came alive for a second. Like, you only really deal with that in writing from strangers on the Internet, dude. It was like straight Internet chatter. The worst comments just blasting as I got on my com. My motorcycle. And you're like, I dropped my glove. Oh, I'm on camera. I dropped my glove, you know, for my motorcycle gloves. And I got to bend over and I'm like, I just want to like get out of there. I'm being filmed and they're screaming just toxic things at me and I got to bend over, get my glove. And then I just stopped and I had a big giggle on the motorcycle.

[Monica Padman]

That's good.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm like, share signs autograph. Like it really got me like, what is this?

[Monica Padman]

What does it even mean? That's so dumb.

[Dax Shepard]

He's like trying knows that's bait chair. But then an autograph thing happens. So he's like, he's. He's tying these two messages together and this girl's yelling about getting my 11. And I wanted it. So you can't say anything. But I wanted to go, I just want to ask you, do you. Do you think they freeze 11 year old's eggs?

[Monica Padman]

No, she doesn't.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you think the question you asked me is a possibility on planet Earth?

[Monica Padman]

She doesn't. That's the whole thing. They know. They know the reality. They're sitting there to make you mad. Yeah, that is. That is literally the point of that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And they just attack you. I'm going to even rewind. Thank God, by the way. So earlier I had this other experience where someone, a friend of mine, I look at my DMs and it appears they've sent me a video. So I open up this video and it is this comedian lady making a video about Cher saying the thing. And she's talking about how fucking ugly I am and what a stupid name I have. And she's letting it rip. I mean, this woman hates my guts. And so I immediately, I'm like, why the fuck did my friend send this to me? Right? And then I realized because the comments that are first under a post are the people, you know, Right. They. So I see. Oh, my friend actually defended me.

[Monica Padman]

He's showing you. He defended.

[Dax Shepard]

No, just. He wasn't even showing me, but he tagged me. I don't think he realized it was going to go to my DMs.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I see.

[Dax Shepard]

So I'm like. But now I saw this fucking lady spending all this time doing this and then. So I preemptively sent my family a very nice text. All the. All my family that loves me and I know will defend me if they see something. And I said, hey, gang, there's a lot of stuff being written about me and I just want you to know it doesn't bother me and you don't need to defend me. And it'll only give oxygen to the thing. So I'm not saying anyone did anything, just preemptively, blah, blah, blah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So then I had a chat with my mom, like later that day, and she goes, I didn't really know what that text was about, so. So I looked you up and it was like, you know what? I gotta say I'm fucking proud of you. That's my son. And I'm like, what is she talking about?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, what is she.

[Dax Shepard]

Literally, I'm like, the Cher?

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I go, you're. You're proud of me? And she goes, yeah, that's such a feminist move. You're going to get your daughter's eggs. Freeze. If they wanted to so that they can be on their own timeline. And I go, hold on a second. That's a story. Which I didn't even know.

[Monica Padman]

Wait, that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, that's a huge story.

[Monica Padman]

You know that? I saw it once. I didn't know that, but I wasn't. The thing I saw didn't say 11 year old. It said the real thing.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. So my mom stumbled upon that stuff so weirdly, thank God she told me about that thing. Because if I didn't know that and this stranger just randomly talked about my daughter, the crazier thing, I think I dodged a real bull is I was gonna take Delta to that party.

[Monica Padman]

I know, I know.

[Dax Shepard]

But I left so late. I knew I was gonna ride my motorcycle so fast. I didn't wanna her on back, so I didn't take her. And she was sad about. And I was sad.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But thank God if I was walking out with her and they were doing that to her. I do. They're shameless. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't. I can't predict what I would do.

[Monica Padman]

Like, you can't talk in front of.

[Dax Shepard]

My 11 year old.

[Monica Padman]

I know, I know, but. I know, but I just.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm so lucky. I. I'm so lucky.

[Monica Padman]

That dodged.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it was like I'm now universe. Like, thank God I was late so that I didn't take Dubs because it's. That would have been saying that in front of Delta. I just. I don't know if I could have kept my cool.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Chris Stapleton]

And then there would have been another.

[Dax Shepard]

Headline that I have my daughters on my motorcycle. Then that would have been the next thing. He rides with his children on his motorcycle.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. There's a, there's an endless, you know. You got it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. But I want to say the thing that I said to my family and then I, I want everyone to know that I, it, it doesn't bother me because it is a gift of things having worked out for me. For me.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

The more it works out for you, the more that's gonna happen. And I just remind myself like, this is just a symbol of like, you got lucky, things have worked out for you. Look, in the past I haven't had a great healthy attitude about this kind of stuff, but I currently have. Have a lot of peace with it, which is I'm grateful for.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. We're gonna do some. This is for Chris Stapleton. Great. So exciting. Huge get.

[Dax Shepard]

Now would be a great time to say that. I cannot stop listening. He's the best to Steel Drivers. His first band, Heaven Sent. What a song.

[Monica Padman]

He's so good. He's just so good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Really lucky that we got to interview him. We've been trying for a while, so it was very exciting. Not very many facts.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Just a few. What is the population of Staffordsville Kids? Kentucky.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Small. 2,625 people.

[Chris Stapleton]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

So kind of Milford size where I grew up.

[Monica Padman]

Really small.

[Dax Shepard]

Small stuff.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. What is the industrial cable side of the Pirelli Company? The one his dad worked for. In 2005, Pirelli sold its cable division to Goldman Sachs, changing the new group's name to Prismian. Prismian.

[Dax Shepard]

Don't recognize it.

[Monica Padman]

P R Y, S, M.

[Dax Shepard]

Wouldn't even.

[Chris Stapleton]

Try to say it out loud.

[Monica Padman]

That's tough. I'm gonna go with Prismian.

[Chris Stapleton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know if that was the right name to go with.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, maybe it was someone's last name.

[Dax Shepard]

Maybe that's a well known term within cabling.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, maybe. Oh, speaking of today, which you posted. But today connections was exciting.

[Dax Shepard]

Wyna, Wina, we love you.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, I don't know. I don't know. It is a. What do you mean you don't phrase. So it could. It could also be just cheeky as a phrase. It might not be about us. Monica, we're making some assumptions.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I feel very. I don't even feel cocky about saying that.

[Monica Padman]

I. I don't know. I wish she would tell us.

[Dax Shepard]

Maybe next the next clue will be, you are right. Monica's wrong. Dax is right. Trying to put Dax in one of these. You can't. There's no, they can make it about group anything.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh, that's right.

[Dax Shepard]

Or the German stock exchange, maybe. Or, like, the Ds are replaced with X's.

[Monica Padman]

It could be for facts.

[Chris Stapleton]

Oh. Oh.

[Monica Padman]

Like types of machines. But the first letters change. I don't know if it was real or not. I don't know if it was for us or not for us. But regardless, we took it as a big win.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm taking it as the consolation prize for sure.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that. It was exciting. Oh. How old was Chris when he wrote the song Higher? He wrote it 23 years ago. 20 years before the album came out in 2020. He's currently 47, so he would have written it at 24.

[Dax Shepard]

24. Great age. I was really hitting my stride as a party animal at 24.

[Monica Padman]

At 24?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I was, like, developing, you know, I had like. I knew what boozes I like and what drugs I was partaking in, you know? Really? It was working.

[Monica Padman]

You knew your cocktail. Like, I know mine. My. Do you remember it?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Your Hendrix martini, bruised lemon twist, Lemon tweezed.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Because I don't like olives.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I love them.

[Monica Padman]

I want to like them.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. They look good, don't they?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, they're on my top. Foods that I wish I liked, but I don't.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you try? Cuz I do.

[Monica Padman]

I keep trying.

[Dax Shepard]

You do? Okay, great. Because I've had a lot of things flip.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Cottage cheese.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Always look so good.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

I would take a bite. It's terrible.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

Then I took a bite one day. I was like, this is good coffee. Coffee. You're like, ugh, it's bitter. And one day you're like, this stuff's delicious.

[Monica Padman]

I know. You're right. But I keep trying. And every now and then I'll just eat it.

[Dax Shepard]

Now I'll be specific. I like the purple ones. The purple and dark ones you don't like. I'm not wild about the green ones.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, interesting.

[Dax Shepard]

So have you with the purple ones. That might be a good starter.

[Monica Padman]

They get put on stuff.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you know what my gateway was? I remember the day in place.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Where it turned.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Which is. I hate olives. I hate olives. I hate olives. I was with my mother doing legwork at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona, or Scottsdale. And we went out to eat with the client for lunch, and they put an olive tomponade on the table. Uhhuh. And I sampled that olive tamponade. And I was like, hold up a second. What is this goulash this slurry. And I fell in love with tomponot, which then led to me being able to eat them in the raw. I know I'm probably not saying it right.

[Monica Padman]

No, you are.

[Dax Shepard]

I think maybe.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

No, I was just.

[Dax Shepard]

So try out olive tapenade.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

That might get you. That's what got me.

[Monica Padman]

Do you like black olives?

[Dax Shepard]

I like the purple ones. That's what's generally in a tampon.

[Monica Padman]

But what about if you order a pizza and it has olives? It's normally black.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I would never order pizza with olives.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

I would just eat the purple ones raw or eat a top of it. And I'll have a gallon of top. And you know my old favorite restaurant, Rip Tropicali.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, Tropicalia.

[Dax Shepard]

Tropicalia. They made a top that'll.

[Monica Padman]

I wonder if I ever had that top. I'm going to go find myself a top andod tonight.

[Dax Shepard]

You should.

[Monica Padman]

And I'll report back.

[Chris Stapleton]

They're.

[Dax Shepard]

They vary a lot in their quality.

[Monica Padman]

I'll say it doesn't really make sense because I love salt.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And it's. And it's baked in all. You know, not baked, but it's. It's soaked and marinated in olive oil.

[Monica Padman]

I love olive oil. Which is also makes no sense. I love olive oil. I. I like capers, which are basically olives.

[Dax Shepard]

I like capers.

[Monica Padman]

But why? I don't know.

[Chris Stapleton]

All right.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, may I hope this will be your gateway.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. 2026.

[Dax Shepard]

You're the top.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Love you.

[Dax Shepard]

Love.