Kelce Tahoe Tales, Zac Brown on Sphere Residency, His New Album and Why We’re Pro-Nagging | EP 148

Summary

Summary of "Kelce Tahoe Tales, Zac Brown on Sphere Residency, His New Album and Why We’re Pro-Nagging | EP 148"

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce—hosted by Wondery—delivers another engaging episode featuring humorous banter, personal anecdotes, and an in-depth conversation with Grammy-winning artist Zach Brown. This episode, released on July 16, 2025, delves into topics ranging from the duo's experiences at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe to Zach Brown's exciting new ventures in the music industry. Below is a detailed breakdown of the episode's key segments.

---

1. Embracing Nagging in Relationships ([02:03] – [03:26])

Jason and Travis Kelce kick off the episode by discussing a relatable topic: nagging in relationships. Jason shares his personal experience with procrastination and how nagging from his partner helps him stay on track.

• Jason Kelce: "I respond to nagging. Please nag the fuck out of me. Tell me to get my lazy ass up and take the goddamn trash out. I like the nagging, and I need it because I get caught in my own thoughts and I forget to do things." ([02:03])

Travis humorously supports this stance, emphasizing their shared tendency to procrastinate.

• Travis Kelce: "It's the Kelsey way, and I am constantly telling Kylie, please, like, just tell me to do these things." ([02:22])

They conclude by advocating for proactive communication in relationships, asserting that nagging can be beneficial when used constructively.

---

2. New Cereal Mixes by General Mills ([04:59] – [08:55])

Sponsored by General Mills, this segment explores the introduction of new cereal mixes inspired by NFL stars. The Kelsey brothers discuss their own creation, the "Kelsey Mix," and highlight Justin Jefferson's innovative "Jetta's Mix."

• Travis Kelce: "General Mills serial training camp is back. Oh, nice squad. The squad this year is bringing some serious heat to the breakfast table." ([04:59])

• Jason Kelce: "They've pretty much taken the exact Kelsey Mix, but instead of it being Reese's puffs, they've gone honey nut Cheerios." ([05:57])

Travis showcases Justin Jefferson's unique mix, blending frosted lemon Cheerios with Cinnamon Toast Crunch Strawberry, and expresses excitement about testing these new flavors on the show.

• Travis Kelce: "Justin is going all in with his own custom combo this year called Jetta's mix." ([06:35])

The segment concludes with anticipation for taste tests and comparisons between the different cereal mixes.

---

3. Tales from the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe ([08:55] – [28:17])

In this entertaining segment, Jason and Travis recount their experiences at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, blending anecdotes about golf, camaraderie, and unforgettable moments.

Golf Mishaps and Highlights

The brothers share humorous stories about their less-than-stellar golf performances, including accidental mishits and the challenges of maintaining focus amidst festivities.

• Jason Kelce: "If you think of the tournament, it's just borrowed from sponsor, but I have to think it's going to be a boring day because I'm so bad at golf." ([21:02])

They discuss their strategies and interactions with fellow participants, highlighting the competitive yet light-hearted atmosphere of the event.

Karaoke and Celebrations

A memorable part of their trip involved participating in karaoke contests, where they sang alongside celebrities like Ray Romano, leading to both hilarious and humbling experiences.

• Jason Kelce: "We lost the karaoke contest, and it was a shame because we had a lot of fun." ([17:55])

Spearfishing Adventures

Travis expresses his newfound interest in spearfishing inspired by Zach Brown, sharing excitement about future aquatic adventures.

• Travis Kelce: "I'm going spear fishing." ([88:06])

---

4. Heights Hotline: Relationship Advice ([28:17] – [34:15])

In the Heights Hotline segment, listeners submit questions seeking advice on improving relationships. The Kelsey brothers address a common concern about motivating partners to participate in household chores.

• Listener Audra from Washington: "How do you gently parent your partner and/or husband into doing chores in a respectful way?" ([28:19])

Pro-Nagging Philosophy

Jason emphasizes the effectiveness of gentle nagging, explaining that reminders help him stay accountable.

• Jason Kelce: "I like the nagging and I need it because I get caught in my own thoughts and I forget to do things." ([30:09])

Travis humorously suggests practical solutions, like using a whistle to grab Jason's attention.

• Travis Kelce: "Get a whistle... Hey, nemesis, get your ass over there. Get the trash." ([31:39])

Balancing Relationship Dynamics

The brothers discuss the importance of mutual understanding and respect, ensuring that nagging remains a positive tool rather than a source of conflict.

• Jason Kelce: "I am pro nagging. I think nagging is a great thing to do." ([31:24])

---

5. Exclusive Interview with Zach Brown ([38:27] – [90:37])

The highlight of the episode is an in-depth conversation with Zach Brown, a multi-award-winning musician. Zach shares his journey from aspiring musician to successful artist, detailing his upcoming projects and personal interests.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Zach recounts his childhood passion for music, starting guitar at seven, and balancing it with his early football endeavors.

• Zach Brown: "Music was my first love. I started playing guitar when I was about 7." ([39:23])

American Century Championship and Golf Stories

Zach discusses his participation in the American Century Championship, sharing humorous encounters and the camaraderie experienced during the event.

• Zach Brown: "Our guy Miles Teller was back there with you. We were fighting for our lives, trying to make some damn cups." ([16:18])

Sphere Residency and New Album: Love and Fear

Zach unveils his ambitious project—a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas and his forthcoming album "Love and Fear." He elaborates on the innovative production and storytelling elements he plans to incorporate.

• Zach Brown: "The Sphere is the home for the spectacle. It's like making a movie as well." ([46:22])

Collaboration and Creativity

Zach highlights his collaborations with renowned artists like Snoop Dogg and Dolly Parton, emphasizing the creative freedom in his independent projects.

• Zach Brown: "I've got a song with Dolly on this album. She murdered it, man." ([49:14])

Personal Interests: Spearfishing and Knivesmithing

Beyond music, Zach shares his hobbies—spearfishing and forging knives. He describes his expertise and the joy these activities bring him.

• Zach Brown: "I've been doing it wrong for my first 10 years, but now I'm getting better." ([60:16])

Philanthropy and Camp Southern Ground

Zach discusses his philanthropic efforts through Camp Southern Ground, which provides transformative experiences for underserved and diverse youth.

• Zach Brown: "We bring underserved kids together to learn how to rely on each other and be advocates." ([79:52])

Motherhood and Balancing Personal Life

Zach touches upon his role as a father of five, balancing his career and personal life, and the joys and challenges that come with it.

• Zach Brown: "So that's priority one. And then after that is being creative, connecting with my band, writing songs." ([69:07])

Final Thoughts and Future Plans

Zach expresses gratitude for the support from fans and collaborators, looking forward to the future of his residency and album releases.

• Zach Brown: "This is my baby, man. A lot of people have seen our curveballs and love the show." ([47:42])

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Notable Quotes

• Jason Kelce: "I'm pro nagging. I think nagging is a great thing to do." ([31:24])

• Zach Brown: "Music gives us this life force, and if we can help somebody in one night, it's such an honor." ([86:17])

• Travis Kelce: "I'm going spear fishing." ([88:06])

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Insights and Conclusions

This episode of New Heights masterfully blends humor with heartfelt discussions, offering listeners an intimate look into the lives of the Kelce brothers and their guests. The conversation underscores the importance of communication in relationships, the value of pursuing one's passions relentlessly, and the impact of community and philanthropy. Zach Brown's multifaceted career serves as an inspiring testament to creativity and dedication, while the Kelces' anecdotes from Lake Tahoe add a relatable and entertaining dimension to the show.

Listeners gain valuable insights into maintaining personal accountability through supportive relationships, the intricacies of creating memorable musical experiences, and the significance of giving back to the community. The episode not only entertains but also inspires audiences to embrace their unique journeys with enthusiasm and resilience.

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For those who missed this episode, be sure to subscribe to New Heights on the Wondery app, YouTube, or your preferred podcast platform to stay updated with the latest stories and insights from Jason and Travis Kelce.

Transcript

[Travis Kelsey]

Wondry plus subscribers can listen to new heights early and ad free. Plus unlock access to exclusive episodes of the show.

[Jason Kelsey]

Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify today. Thank you to our partner Reese's.

[Travis Kelsey]

And now let's turn our attention to something we all want to talk about. Something we all want to eat, too. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, boy, do we. Tell me more. I'm all ears. And mouth and stomach. Tell me about this incredible combination of chocolate and peanut butter, please.

[Travis Kelsey]

Of course. I will now do my very best to describe the Reese's experience. Let's see how hungry I can make everyone. Ready? It all starts with that perfect circle of chocolatey goodness. That sweet richness.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, it's so good.

[Travis Kelsey]

Enveloping the creamy peanut butter center hiding within.

[Jason Kelsey]

Ooh, that sounds good. It doesn't matter what you do to describe Reese's peanut butter cup. My mouth is watering.

[Travis Kelsey]

And those ridges around the edge forever tempting you to grip and rip into Reese's iconic candy goodness.

[Jason Kelsey]

You've got me ready to tear open that orange Reese's pack and go to town.

[Travis Kelsey]

So buy Reese's Peanut Butter cups at a store near you Found literally anywhere you can find candy. You know that person in your life who just can't stand mayo? Call them traumatized. Call them closed minded. We get it. They're stuck in their ways. But here's the thing. They just haven't tried Hellman's flavored mayo. We're talking bold flavors that will flip even the biggest skeptics. Spicy mayo that adds the perfect kick to your burger. Garlic aioli that transforms ordinary fries into something extraordinary. Chipotle mayo that turns your basic wrap into a smoky sensation. So to all the mayo haters out there, yes, we're looking at you. It's time to eat your words. Because with mayo this flavorful and any hater is just a mayo lover waiting to be convinced. Hellman's flavored Mayo. Get ready to eat your words.

[Jason Kelsey]

What I respond to is nagging. Please nag the fuck out of me. Tell me to get my lazy ass up and take the goddamn trash out. I like the nagging, and I need it because I get caught in my own thoughts and I forget to do things. I'm like, oh, I'll get that later.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'll go do this big procrastination.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'll do it in an hour. I'll do it in two hours.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's the Kelsey way, and I am.

[Jason Kelsey]

Constantly telling Kylie, please, like, just tell me to do these things. And she's like, jason, I don'. Want to tell you to do these things. And I'm like, I get that. I'm just letting you know it's not going to get done unless you tell me to do it. Like, okay. Yep, you're right. I should go do this. So I am pro nagging. If you have a like a spouse that is against nagging, you got a shitty husband.

[Travis Kelsey]

Welcome back to new heights, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, a wonder show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by General Mills. Favorite cereal brands, all of them almost wrapped into one. You know. You know which ones they are. They're your favorite. We're your hosts. I'm Travis Gus and my big brother, Jason Kelsey out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, shout out to those Cincinnati Bear cats. Getting one week closer to the cats taking on the Corn Hustlers at Arrowhead, baby. Subscribe on YouTube. Wonder Plus. That's what I'm talking about. Or wherever you get your podcast and follow the show on all social media at new height show with 1s. Jason, tell the people what we got.

[Jason Kelsey]

Coming up, we got another amazing episode for United Centers. Not a lot of football to talk about right now, but we can't talk about some golf because Travis and I were out in Tahoe. That's right. Lake Tahoe, California. The American Century Championship.

[Travis Kelsey]

Well, we're on the Nevada side. We were on the California side for a little bit, but we're on the Nevada side for the most part.

[Jason Kelsey]

Is Edgewood in Nevada? Yes, that's on the Nevada side. I thought that was on the California side.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's the west side. That'd be the side the sun sets on. Jason.

[Jason Kelsey]

I didn't pay attention to which side the sun was sitting on. We're also going to get to another edition of Relationship advice from the Heights hotline. You guys have submitted some requests to, for some reason, have Travis and I talk about what we think a positive relationship looks like, which we will try and do our best.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hey.

[Jason Kelsey]

And we've got another incredible conversation coming with the one, the only. We've wanted to get him on for so long. We're so happy he's here. Zach Brown. That's right. One of our favorites. We had a great conversation. We already had it. I don't know if you guys know that sometimes we. Anyways, you'll see. We'll change outfits. It'll be fun, but you're not going to want to miss it. He's amazing. Looking very much forward to these shows. He's about to put on as well as the new album. So stay tuned for that dude.

[Travis Kelsey]

He's unbelievable.

[Jason Kelsey]

But first, we're going to start with what we always start with. New news. New news is brought to you by General Mills. That's right, parents. Parents of some of our favorite cereal brands. Yeah. Let's dive right in.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, now we've got some very important breaking news from the cereal world. General Mills serial training camp is back. Oh, nice squad. The squad this year is bringing some serious heat to the breakfast table.

[Jason Kelsey]

As everyone knows, we had our moment in the cereal spotlight last year. Little Kelsey mix.

[Travis Kelsey]

Come on now.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Let's see who's taking the snap this year. A little cinnamon toast crunch, guys.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, my God. Justin Jefferson. Oh. Oh, my God. This is the some of the greatest receivers ever played a game.

[Jason Kelsey]

I was ready to see some tasty touchdowns.

[Travis Kelsey]

Me, I want to see some touchdowns.

[Jason Kelsey]

Justin Jefferson. There we go, Joe. It's crunch time.

[Travis Kelsey]

Okay, crunch time.

[Jason Kelsey]

They've pretty much taken the exact Kelsey Mix, but instead of it being Reese's puffs, they've gone honey nut Cheerios.

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean, it's not a bad mix. Not a bad mix.

[Jason Kelsey]

Not a bad mix. It's not a bad mix. But I mean, come on, have some creativity, guys. Kelsey Mix, that's a creative mix. This isn't that creative. We got to try it. We got to have this mix versus our mix. I want to have a side by side comparison. Should we do that on the pod? I think we should do it on air.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm in. I'm down. I mean, the commercial is fantastic.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, yeah, you get three of the best receivers in the entire NFL, you're going to have a good commercial.

[Travis Kelsey]

Exactly.

[Jason Kelsey]

Who's was whose. Do we have that information?

[Travis Kelsey]

The word on the street is that Justin is going all in with his own custom combo this year called Jetta's mix. Jetta's mix actually has, I think, frosted lemon cheerios and cinnamon toast crunch Strawberry.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, now I'm very intrigued.

[Travis Kelsey]

Look at that. Oh, look at that. Look at that box. Oh, yeah, with the chain and everything. You already know. He's chain swinging. He's icy.

[Zach Brown]

This is the coolest cereal box I've ever had, honestly.

[Jason Kelsey]

So they. There's two mixes.

[Travis Kelsey]

Correct?

[Jason Kelsey]

There's two mixes. And we should compare them to our mix. It's the only logical thing to do on this show.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes. You know it. Wait, time out. It's saying here that it's the exact same as ours.

[Jason Kelsey]

No, no, the difference on this first mix is that it is. Lucky Charm Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Honey Nut Cheerios. It's absent Reese's Puffs. So it's different.

[Zach Brown]

They changed one cereal.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, but then the Jetta's mix, which is. I mean, these are just new creations. He's gone into a different realm where he's actually being way more creative than us inventing his own cereals. Frosted Lemon Cheerios. I don't think that's ever been a thing. Right. Has that ever been like a product that they've ever come out with?

[Travis Kelsey]

Never heard of it.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't remember it. If it is, I'm sorry, I missed that one. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Strawberry. So you got lemon and strawberry along with cinnamon and frosted.

[Travis Kelsey]

I like strawberry lemonade. So maybe this hits.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, I guarantee it's going to be delicious. If they're, I mean, send you guys.

[Travis Kelsey]

Boxes, they're somewhere in your homes.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay, well, we're going to wait because we're going to try all three of them on the same show one at a time and have our review on which one we like best. We know that Travis will participate in this food challenge, which I am always excited for.

[Travis Kelsey]

Big fan of cereal. I can do cereal all day.

[Jason Kelsey]

Mayonnaise flavored cereal. Kind of sounds delicious.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's disgusting.

[Jason Kelsey]

We just invented another Kelsey cereal in milk.

[Travis Kelsey]

Mayonnaise and milk. That's what it be called. Mayonnaise and milk.

[Jason Kelsey]

Listen, all I know is that I've had. It's like a mayonnaise sandwich. What else would you put? Well, like maybe have like some little dried tomatoes in there. They have your basically just having a mayonnaise and tomato sandwich.

[Travis Kelsey]

Is that supposed to be good?

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, to a lot of America think it is good.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, let's. Let's get back to this new news.

[Jason Kelsey]

If you guys can't tell, we're excited to try these mixes. I hope you guys are too.

[Travis Kelsey]

You know, that does it.

[Jason Kelsey]

For new news, brought to you by General Mills's favorite cereal brands.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right now.

[Jason Kelsey]

And we'll be back to try some of the new creations in the coming episode.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes, sir. Let's get to out of the house. We were out of the house this last weekend in America at the American Century Championship in Tahoe. The. The lake up there in California and Nevada splits right down the.

[Jason Kelsey]

The middle of the.

[Travis Kelsey]

The lake. The. The old state line.

[Jason Kelsey]

Is that technically Sierra Nevada? Is that what that is?

[Travis Kelsey]

No, it's Tahoe, Nevada.

[Jason Kelsey]

I think somebody said it was Sierra Nevada.

[Travis Kelsey]

I have no idea.

[Jason Kelsey]

Brandon, can we. Is that the Sierra Nevada area. What is Sierra Nevada?

[Travis Kelsey]

You want me to look up the mountain range? This is so funny. We were actually on the California side the majority of the time.

[Jason Kelsey]

I thought we were.

[Travis Kelsey]

The golf course is on the Nevada side.

[Jason Kelsey]

You sure?

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm positive. I'm staring at it right now.

[Jason Kelsey]

So then how the hell were we on the California side?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes, it's literally the hairs and everything is on the California side.

[Jason Kelsey]

No, you got this reversed.

[Travis Kelsey]

No, that's. Other way around. Hair's got to be on the correct. I'm telling you right now.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't need you to tell me. I know for a fact the Harris is on the Nevada side.

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean. All right.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay.

[Zach Brown]

Here. Okay.

[Travis Kelsey]

About to find out.

[Zach Brown]

I have a map. Do we want to look at a map?

[Travis Kelsey]

I've been looking at the map stating this.

[Zach Brown]

So there's your state lines right there. South Lake Tahoe. You were in California.

[Travis Kelsey]

No good. That's. Keep going in there, bud. Keep.

[Zach Brown]

I'm going to keep going.

[Jason Kelsey]

What am I looking for?

[Travis Kelsey]

Keep going right there on that state line. You'll see Edgewood. Oh, you're Nevada.

[Zach Brown]

There you go. We got it. We nailed it.

[Travis Kelsey]

And then Harris is literally right across the board. State line.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't know if this is the most accurate line then, because I'm pretty positive that all those casinos.

[Zach Brown]

Are you questioning Google Maps?

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, I'm questioning that when we were there, they told us that all of that was there on the Nevada side.

[Zach Brown]

Golden Nugget is on the Nevada side. Bally's is on the Nevada side.

[Travis Kelsey]

Harris. No. I mean, not all of them, but yes, Harris is. Yes. Okay. Well, yeah, I guess you got to be right. Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's why they're on the Nevada sidetrack.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's what I imagine. That's why I was talking to Gamble the entire time. Can you.

[Zach Brown]

Do you get anywhere with this?

[Travis Kelsey]

I think you can gamble.

[Jason Kelsey]

Apparently. We were just in Nevada all week. We weren't in California at all. Except for when we went on this lake.

[Travis Kelsey]

I should have. I should have trusted my gut.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, the blues.

[Zach Brown]

The water. All right, keep going. We're keeping all of that in Lake.

[Jason Kelsey]

Tahoe is in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. All right.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

Okay, back to your original question. Yes, it's part of the mountain range.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, the mountains. The Sierra. All right. Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

I thought the high Sierra Nevada region. Yes, yes.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right. My bad. Yeah. We were up there at American Century. Shout out to Edgewood. Shout out to everybody at American Century. It's always wonderful. My favorite events dude, it's so well run. It is very well run. Shout out to NBC for hosting it and making it, the, the production and, and how big it is. It's. And shout out to everybody that came out. It's always fun to see all the fans and, and everyone go crazy over, you know, the, the, the people that we grew up watching and then, you know, having fun with them, my, ourselves. I got a little update with my caddy. My, my good friend from my childhood, Patrick Bacon. He was not blue on Friday because he made his weight. The weigh in was Thursday. As soon as we landed, he looked.

[Zach Brown]

At me, he's like, can we get this over with?

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm starving. So my guy had been, he had been cutting weight and making sure he got his weight down so he didn't look like an absolute idiot carrying my bag as the blue man group. Not to say that the blue man groups looks like idiots. They, they put on a very unbelievable performance and they look great while they did that. But I don't think a caddy in the, in the state of Nevada would, would look good as a blue man group. Now Bacon, he absolutely killed it, as always. And shout out to Bakes for making weight. Another bake. My guy, Baker Mayfield. Oh, had a little clip being interviewed towards the end of the round by Kyra Dixon, our good friend at NBC. And here's this clip. Best part about Travis's game is when he gets into argument with his caddy, Bacon.

[Zach Brown]

He was just asking about what club they should adhere.

[Travis Kelsey]

It should be paid TV to watch them. Baker, back and forth.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, it's, it's so true. I, and I turned to Baker, I was like, dude, this is the best. When Travis is kind of struggling a little bit, him and Bake Bacon just have this like, confrontational relationship where they're each shitting at each other. I think we should mike both of you up next year and put that as like a part of new heights. We'd have to cut the vast majority of it, but the stuff that would make it in would be gold. It is so funny. Listen to you go back and forth.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's top tier caddy and player work. We're just trying to figure out what club to hit and what the fuck the greens are doing. Because even when Bacon has the green sheet, he has no idea what's going on on the green. And the, the biggest thing that he loves to tell me is that it's like if, if I was putting it, it'd go in like, why don't you help me Figure out how I should butt this. He loves to tell me how, how he would play the hole, but he, but my strengths are completely different than his strengths on the course he throws.

[Jason Kelsey]

What we need to do. Here's what we need to do. Next year we go in practice round. Bacon actually golfs Tahoe.

[Travis Kelsey]

He's done this before. See, that's the thing. If you put me in a practice round before I go out and have fun at Tahoe, I'm shooting in the 70s. The challenge with Tahoe is the amount of celebration that you have with all your friends and the people that you see up there. And all of a sudden, you know what I mean? There's, there's drinking games at the casino that night, and now you wake up a little hungover and the first thing you do is have to get back onto the train because you just want to get back into a groove of feeling good and, you know, the dehydrated, like, shakes out.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. For those of you that don't know, we're not just playing golf. We. It's. It's a full fledged party pretty much every night.

[Travis Kelsey]

We saw our guy, Matthew Tkachuk, and Kachuk just won the Stanley Cup.

[Jason Kelsey]

He did. Second time in a row.

[Travis Kelsey]

What, am I not supposed to have a few beers with him? I got to celebrate with my guy?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, well, you weren't partner. You weren't teammates with Matthew. I was. And I just want to say he's also a reigning baseball champion. I think he won last year. Did you win last year? I don't remember if he won last year.

[Travis Kelsey]

No, we didn't win last year.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, he won this year when I was on his team. And guess who was the mvp. Niger. I might have sucked ass at golf. I was Kyle Schwaber on that baseball. I was lead off home run right away. I don't think he's been lead off this year. Maybe I can't remember, but I was dialed in on that baseball game. I was preventing people from stealing, hitting home runs being very risky. And it paid off.

[Travis Kelsey]

Schwarberger kind of built. Built the same.

[Jason Kelsey]

We have similar faces. I think we're both from Ohio. He's got great vibes. I'm a big fan of the Schwaber vibes. Schwarbs, Can I get my trophy? Shopping my trophy in. No, I'm gonna get my trophy.

[Travis Kelsey]

I had a feeling he was going to do that with her. I said yes or no.

[Jason Kelsey]

I might not have taken home the trophy for the American Century Championship this week, but I did get the OSHA's table 20, 25 most valuable thrower trophy. That's right. Our guy TJ. Oh, she took it up. He took it up a level this year. Had trophies made for the back table at the Harrah's Casino where we have some fun back there.

[Travis Kelsey]

Dude, I think this. I think this is gonna get. It's gonna get some legs. It's gonna get some legs. It's so much fun back there. And honestly, TJ and then his buddy made, like, a video pumping up this year's, like, baseball game. Dude, it is hilarious. Our guy Miles Teller was back there with you. I had. I had my guy, Colin Yost, the Miz. We were over there fighting for our lives, trying to make some damn cups, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

And shout out to tj.

[Jason Kelsey]

It was a fun day, awesome time. Not our best golf, but it was our best personalities. I mean, we were. We were killing it from a energy standpoint. I think everybody who golfed with us was like, man, that was a really fun day. So we. As far as I concerned, that's a win.

[Travis Kelsey]

Nobody said they hated playing with us, so.

[Jason Kelsey]

Exactly.

[Travis Kelsey]

Can't tell me I didn't win.

[Jason Kelsey]

I think Miles, like. Jason, you remember when you almost stabbed yourself in the eye with your tea? That was hilarious.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, we. We lost the. The karaoke contest, and it was a shame because we had a lot of fun.

[Jason Kelsey]

I thought we did good. We kind of screwed up the ending. I thought the band was done. You stayed up there either way.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. No, that was on me. Shout out to Jay DeMarcus, everybody. Everybody that you know plays live for us as a bunch of J. Go up there and do our favorite renditions of our favorite songs. But it was fun. Dad came up to us afterwards like he just saw Bruce Springsteen.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, dad was very excited. The crowd, it felt like, was into it. I don't know. The crowd felt like it was into it.

[Travis Kelsey]

So, yeah, everybody seemed like they were enjoying it.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's no chance we stood a chance when Ray Romano is doing Lose Yourself by Eminem. I mean, you can't compete with that. How do you compete with that kind of offbeat, authentically bad Eminem rapping?

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean, but he sent it. But he sent it.

[Jason Kelsey]

So good. Keep talking. What he wrote down, the whole crowd go, everybody.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, all right, all right, all right, all right.

[Jason Kelsey]

So good.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'd say it's just an epic scent.

[Jason Kelsey]

He's good.

[Travis Kelsey]

You just have to. You gotta. You gotta give it to him.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's an epic send. It's unpredictive like unexpected.

[Travis Kelsey]

Unexpectedly. Like a motherfucker full sent it.

[Jason Kelsey]

So, you know, listen, I think old time rock and roll was great, but that's unexpected karaoke. So we got to come next year with a more unexpected song. Something that is just like. I can't believe these guys are doing.

[Travis Kelsey]

We're so versatile. Jason. I don't know if there's anything that's like, what would be unexpected that we go up there and, like, do, like, an opera. Like what? Like, what do you. What would be unexpected?

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't know. I. I mean, do Cisco, but Thong Song. Hong Song. Probably be unexpected.

[Travis Kelsey]

Probably be, but at the same time, expected.

[Jason Kelsey]

You go, my neck, my brace.

[Travis Kelsey]

Kia, which is. Ooh, ooh, Laffy Taffy would be a good one, too.

[Jason Kelsey]

Laffy Taffy. I mean, that's. That's expected for me from people that know me. They know I like that song.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, my God. All right, all right.

[Jason Kelsey]

We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out next year. Either way. Great job. Ray Romano, for killing it. Winning the karaoke.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, Ray and his. Ray and his kids. The Romano family killed it, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Big shout out to Pavelski. Joe Pavelski.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, Joe. Yeah, Joe ran away with it with a. With a big eagle putt on 18. Absolutely electric. And shout out to big wit Baker Mayfield and Miles Teller. Man, we love you guys. Always a fun round when we get to play 18 with the boys, man. Not my. Not my greatest performance.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

No. I think I actually am getting worse at. At the Tahoe in terms of, like, my. My actual number. Jason finished. Mine is 51.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's like cam Jurgens. I was just. I'm a big Cam Jurgens fan.

[Travis Kelsey]

Were you?

[Jason Kelsey]

Last year I was minus 51. We were just really. I was two spots higher because the field got worse, but Jason Kelsey played exactly the same. Yeah, not good, not good, not good. But I'm gonna put in time. I've been putting time in on Reddit trying to fix my golf swing, and we have a video of that, which I think my swing is better.

[Travis Kelsey]

Reddit isn't where you go for a golf swing, though. That's the thing.

[Jason Kelsey]

But I think my swing got better. Either way, we're also going to be. Jason is also going to be taking lessons, and I'm going to come back. I did. I really think I'm going to be in the positive next year. How much you want to bet right now? Next year I'm in the positive at American Century.

[Travis Kelsey]

I bet you do. You want to bet? I just Ate bacon.

[Jason Kelsey]

With which. What was the bet? I. If I don't do it, I have to do a show in a painted in blue.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay, what happens and if I win, it's how much money? I don't like winning money.

[Travis Kelsey]

Then don't do money. Money is no fun.

[Jason Kelsey]

What do I get if I win? Then you have to do the show in blue.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, fuck. I'm so in. You're not getting into.

[Jason Kelsey]

I cannot wait.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're not going to be playing it.

[Jason Kelsey]

All safe, just playing bogey golf. And I'm going to be in the possum.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm going to be sending you blue man group photos all summer, all winter, for an entire year.

[Jason Kelsey]

I am so just to remind you, I cannot wait to be in the positive next year. I can't wait.

[Travis Kelsey]

A 50 point swing, a 52 point swing.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm not even worried about it because I see the shots I hit and then I see these other know that I am better than these guys. If I just try and I'm gonna put the work in. I have nothing else to do, Travis. This is not my life. You're still playing football. There are other things for you to worry about. I have nothing else going on. I have unlimited time to get better at this sport. I'm going to be positive and I can't wait.

[Travis Kelsey]

There's no way I can't wait. This will be the greatest swing of golf.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's going to be like my swing of GPA When Brian Kelly. So one year at Cincinnati, I realized this. Probably shouldn't say this, but I realized I was probably never going to go into the corporate world. And I had this thing in my head was like, I'm either going to go play in the NFL or I'm going to become a coach. So these classes are kind of useless. Like, I don't know what, I'm going to marketing classes where I'm not going to go work in the marketing field. So I got. I just didn't stop going to class and I failed a bunch of classes. And, and for a quarter at Cincinnati, I had a point. I think it was a point. Six gpa. They told me, Jason, they said, jason, it's really nice. You won't be able to play football this year. If you don't get this thing back into the positive, you'll be ineligible to play football. And that's when Brian Kelly, at the next reporting of the end of the semester or the end of that quarter, he said, and in the biggest improvement in GPA that I've ever seen. Jason Kelsey went from a point six to Dean's list. I got a point eight.

[Travis Kelsey]

Nice.

[Jason Kelsey]

Because then I started going to class again because I was like, oh, yeah, I probably still need to play football. This would be the second biggest comeback of my life. If we can get into the positive next year and I think it's going to happen.

[Travis Kelsey]

I say we just bring new heights to Tahoe and just get a houseboat. Have some fun reporting, maybe grab some guests while we're out there.

[Jason Kelsey]

Don't try and set up all this to distract me from being in the positive. I already know what you're trying to do.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm just saying I think it'd be. I think it'd be fun.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm going in bed. I'm going to be in bed by 10pm Actually, I'm not because I'm still going to go to Ocean Stable because I got to repeat as the MVP Ultimate Thrower. I'm going to win most valuable thrower again and I'm going to be in the positive. You know how hard that is.

[Travis Kelsey]

This guy's fired up.

[Jason Kelsey]

We also found out, I mean, I found out I've never tried to snap a football or basketball between my legs. I'm really proud of this dude.

[Travis Kelsey]

You were pumped.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's Jason Kelsey. Bam, baby. That was third or fourth. I did the first one. I did the first one around. I was like, oh, wow. I could actually make this thing. This is. That is very makeable. And this is right in the hot spot of my golf round.

[Travis Kelsey]

The hammy looked good right there.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, it was tight. I'm just gonna let you know, I almost pulled my hamstring again looking between my legs. The thing is still not healthy.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's like riding a bike day. It's like riding a bike.

[Jason Kelsey]

I actually like got my hands on the side and gave it like a little flick. So it had that like little backspin going on like I was doing a potty shot.

[Travis Kelsey]

Potty shot. Yeah. We're talking about that. Will Chamberlain.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right. All righty, Trav. You also made some buckets. There's clips. You shooting lefty. See these?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. The right. The right handed jump shot isn't as smooth anymore.

[Jason Kelsey]

I got the labrum.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, I think it's the ac. The AC is the one.

[Jason Kelsey]

So you just converted the left handed. Like that's something that everybody else can do.

[Travis Kelsey]

Buckets.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh my gosh. That was good. That was very good.

[Travis Kelsey]

Was butter.

[Jason Kelsey]

That was so good.

[Travis Kelsey]

Selector.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's impressive.

[Zach Brown]

Shout out.

[Travis Kelsey]

Shout out to Mr. Turnbo for getting me to use my left hand as a kid and all the right shoulder surgeries I've had, I've just naturally been using this for all the fun. Yeah. So I know how to throw a baseball and right. Left handed, all that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Good. Either way, phenomenal time as always in Tahoe Championship. Very excited to come back next year if we're invited. I don't know at what point they stop inviting you if you're that bad at golf, but.

[Travis Kelsey]

No, no, no, it's not about the golf. It's not about the golf. Nope, it's not about the golf.

[Jason Kelsey]

Isn't the whole thing about golf?

[Travis Kelsey]

I think we. Yeah, kind of.

[Jason Kelsey]

How many fans can we hit with golf balls before they. They just. From a liability standpoint, they're like, yes, we can't.

[Travis Kelsey]

Did you catch one this year?

[Jason Kelsey]

I hit. Yeah, I. I didn't. I. You've hit somebody with, like, drives or like two irons before.

[Travis Kelsey]

I haven't hit anybody with a drive.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay.

[Travis Kelsey]

I went off a tree and I hit a guy in the neck this year. Sorry, but blame the tree, not me.

[Jason Kelsey]

I caught one thin and hit a lady in her foot. I did. I mean, she saw it coming right at her. There was no reason she shouldn't have got out of the way. Which, by the way, thank you for getting in the way because that was no way I was saving bogey. She didn't stop that ball right there. So that was a big thank you to anybody who's had the American Century Classic. If you think you can take it, you know, if you're at bat and you, you know, think a walk like getting guaranteed first base, especially, you just kind of sit there and you just let the ball hit you, right.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. You get a free pick if you.

[Jason Kelsey]

Think it's coming in with a relatively low, like, speed. You think you could take it someplace outside of the head and be, okay, do the celebrities a solid. Just take it and let the ball be closer to the field because otherwise hitting in the trees are hard. So I'll take one for the team. If I'm there, I'd stick my ass out and let. Let one of those balls hit me.

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean, you get a pick.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, that too. Yeah. I don't know if that's worth it, but maybe it is. Yeah. See you guys next year, hopefully.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you to everybody up there. And that doesn't fit out of the house.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let's do some.

[Travis Kelsey]

Some Heights hotline.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, very in on that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Heights hotline is brought to you by audible.

[Jason Kelsey]

Nice, right?

[Travis Kelsey]

You're sick of reading. Just listen.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, let's pick our favorites from this list. We got can girls. Can girls propose Dating apps, first date ideas. Getting a partner to do chores.

[Travis Kelsey]

I like that one. I like that one. Let's do 4, 4, 4, 4, 4. I like that one.

[Jason Kelsey]

This is like the worst one for me to do possible. All right, good. God damn it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Do your fucking chores.

[Jason Kelsey]

Jason.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hi.

[Jason Kelsey]

Jets.

[Travis Kelsey]

Jake and intern Brandon. Also Travis and Jason. Awesome. Okay, advice question I have for you guys. Ultimate parenting question I actually think is how do you gentle parent your partner and or husband. Spouse, whatever, into doing chores in a respectful way? Like, what motivates you? How has your wife and or significant other gotten you to do something? Nagging. My name is audra. I am 30 from Washington. Would love to hear how you guys have handled that. All right, Flaggles fly. Let's go. From Washington.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, There we go. I'll say this. I think that what I respond to really well is nagging. Please nag the out of me. Tell me to get my lazy ass up and take the goddamn trash out. I don't like, if you tell me to take the trash out, I'm not gonna be like, oh, I can't believe she's telling me to take the trash out, man. I'm like, yeah, you're right. I suppose I should be doing that. Okay, I'm sorry. I like the nagging and I need it because I get caught in my own thoughts and I forget to do things. I'm like, oh, I'll get that later. I'll go do this. I'll do it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Procrastination.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'll do it in two hours.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's the Kelsey way. We're think. We think a lot about that. Kind of doesn't really matter, but in our mind, we wander. We wander into possibilities.

[Jason Kelsey]

And I'm constantly telling Kylie, please, like, just tell me to do these things. And she's like, jason, I don't want to tell you to do these things. And I'm like, I get that. I'm just letting you know it's not going to get done unless you tell me to do it. Like, if you're like, jason, I got a bunch of trash bags. Can you please take them out? I'll take the trash out. And I will have zero. Like, I can't believe she's making me do this. I'll be like, thank you. Okay, you're right. I should go do this. So I am pro nagging. I think nagging is A great thing to do. If you have a. Like a spouse that is against nagging of things that he should be doing, you probably. You got a shitty husband. I'm. I don't know what you want me to say. Like, if. If he's already had things that he's supposed to be doing and he's not doing them. I like coaching. I've been coaching my whole life. I want people to tell me otherwise. I need that. I need that coaching. I need. Yeah, I should be better.

[Travis Kelsey]

We're coachable guys.

[Jason Kelsey]

Jason should understand when there's full trash bags on the kitchen floor, that I'm supposed to pick them up and take them outside. But sometimes Jason says, I'll get to that later. I'll get that in a couple minutes.

[Travis Kelsey]

Because if you have a spouse that is. That is, you know, grew up on sports, a big, you know, big believer in being coached. Yeah, just get a whistle. Get a whistle. Snap him out of his fucking.

[Jason Kelsey]

His.

[Travis Kelsey]

His thought process.

[Jason Kelsey]

I kind of like this idea. I'm not in.

[Travis Kelsey]

Everybody knows a whistle in, like, somewhere like a house is like an alarming thing. Like, what the fuck is this? It's like, yo, trash. Yeah, I told you about for three times, son. Get your ass over there. Get the trash.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, and a lot of times it's just the first time. If you just tell me it's there, that's the cue to me of like, okay, Jason, do your fucking job. Take this goddamn trash out. Yeah, that's not your job as a spouse at all.

[Travis Kelsey]

Get a whistle.

[Jason Kelsey]

I wouldn't be worried about being nagging now. If you're nagging about things that you shouldn't be nagging about, then, yeah, that could probably get a little annoying to the husband. But if it's. This is things that he. Her boyfriend or whoever you got going on, or girlfriend, I don't know what your situation is, lady, but I think that. I mean, I don't think it's nagging when you just remind somebody that they should be doing something. I say this, though. I have never, ever, and I will never, ever tell Kathy to do something around the house. Because it's like, I don't know. She does enough. So it's like, yeah, if something does to get done, it's like, yeah, well, I should be helping out on this. Tell me what I can do, because I am worthless unless you tell me that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, man, that was great. Thank you. Thank you for that call. Get a whistle.

[Jason Kelsey]

I like this whistle idea.

[Travis Kelsey]

I really get to get Kylie a whistle.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'M going to start getting it for my kids, too. He's like.

[Travis Kelsey]

The girls are just used it as a toy. They'll be like, oh, nice. We. We are allowed to make obnoxious noises in the house.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's what I will know. I'll shut that down real quick, too. But they. They're so, like, adhd, right? Our whole, like, the way TV is set up, games, all this stuff. It's set up to, like, these kids are on, like, crack nine times, like, all day. They're just like, sugar all day. You know how many times I have to tell them when I'm talking to them? Look at me. And they'll. And they'll look at me for a second. I'll start talking. They'll start to advert the rising. Right here. Look right here. Do not look away. I am talking to you. Stop. Stop this right now. If these little shits. I. I don't know. I don't know what kind of medication they're giving these kids today. I'm giving them the Ed Kelsey medication. Look at my goddamn eyes when I'm talking to you. Boom. Lock in. Bam. Stop hitting your sister. You hear me? You do it again, you're going on the stairs. All right, where are we at? I don't know where we went with that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Thank you for that. That does it for a heist hotline brought to you by audible. And let's get to our convo with the man, the myth, the legend, Zach Brown, baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, baby.

[Travis Kelsey]

Thank you to our presenting sponsor, General Mills's favorite cereal brands.

[Jason Kelsey]

Remember when we crushed it with the serial training camp last year? Oh, yeah. Well, this is wild. We actually got to create our own cereal, the Kelsey mix. I don't know if you guys had it. It was out there. I've signed a bunch of those boxes, seen a bunch of people that had it, and if we do say or so ourselves, I think pretty successful.

[Travis Kelsey]

I thought it was pretty damn good. I still enjoy the mix myself, actually. What's your current like go to cereal?

[Jason Kelsey]

It's always Reese's peanut butter Puffs. I mean, it was. It always will be. That's what I'm going to.

[Travis Kelsey]

Are the girls in on Reese's peanut butter cups?

[Jason Kelsey]

They like Reese's Puffs for sure.

[Travis Kelsey]

Nice.

[Jason Kelsey]

We were huge cereal fans as kids. We had our own mix last year, and we're passing on this. This mix making to some new playmakers this year. Justice Jefferson Amon Wrestling Brown and Jamar Chase are bringing the end zone energy straight to your breakfast table.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes, sir. Starting this August, you'll see the stars lighting up boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Honey Nut Cheerios and Reese Puff Cereal.

[Jason Kelsey]

And not only that, Justin's not messing around this year. He's got this insane Jetta's mix that combines frosted lemon Cheerios with Cinnamon Toast Crunch Strawberry. Available for a limited time only.

[Travis Kelsey]

Be sure to score them all at your local grocery store this August. We got to talk about this elite romance collection Audibles stacked with.

[Jason Kelsey]

So we're doing romance?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, Audible's got. I mean, the past couple of weeks we've been doing some self awareness. First of all, Audible's got what you need in any category. They got a bunch of books on there that you can listen to. But yeah, we're, we're talking a little romance. What's your favorite romance novel, Jason?

[Jason Kelsey]

Not going to lie, I've never read a romance novel.

[Travis Kelsey]

Harry Potter is very romantic.

[Jason Kelsey]

I guess everything kind of has a little bit of romance in it, but around that. I'm not against it. I've just never done it. There's a lot of unmatched romance novels out there in Audible. You want hysterical stuff with dukes and carriages. Boom. Got it. Need a billionaire CEO who's absolutely crushing it in a boardroom. They got that too. What about a hockey goalie who scores your heart? That is something I could get behind. Once they said hockey. I'm in now.

[Travis Kelsey]

And if you can't find any of these regular, you know, romance novels amusing to you, there's so many others. There's a whole world of romance on Audible where we're talking dragons and magic and the whole nine yards.

[Jason Kelsey]

I do like dragons. The options are endless. You'll be cracking up with these rom coms from Lily Chu and Ali Hazelwood. Need something with a little fantasy. Sarah J. Maas, Rebecca Yarros and bringing their A game you already know about. Bridgerton and Outlander. Straight up legendary status. If you're into romance novels, I like. I mean, Audible is the best, let's be honest, you get to listen to it. A lot of things you're doing, whether you're driving in the car, working in the kitchen, working out, there's tons of times to get whatever genre you want. Audible is where romance fans are listening. Sign up for free 30 day trial and get your first romance audiobook free. That's right. You can listen to people falling in love for free. Visit audible.com newheights there's more to imagine.

[Travis Kelsey]

When you listen behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds. There are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history. From COVID experiments pushing the boundaries of science to operations so secretive they were barely whispered about. Each week on Redacted Declassified Mysteries, we pull back the curtain on These hidden histories, 100% true and verifiable stories that expose the shadowy underbelly of power. Consider Operation Paperclip, where former Nazi scientists were brought to America after World War II not as prisoners, but as assets to advance US intelligence during the Cold War. These aren't just old conspiracy theories. They're thoroughly investigated accounts that reveal the uncomfortable truths still shaping our world today. The stories are real. The secrets are shocking. Follow Declassified Mysteries on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to redacted early and ad free right now on Wondery.

[Jason Kelsey]

Our guest today is from Lumpkin County High School in Georgia. He's a two time Academy of Country Music award winner, two time, a four time CMT award winner, and a three time Grammy award winner. Best new artist, country collaboration with vocals, and best country album. Yes, sir. You know him from his hits Colder Weather, Toes Knee Deep, A little bit of Chicken Fried. I just call it chicken fried. I don't know why it's in there. Please welcome, from the Zach Brown Band, Zach Brown himself. Yeah, baby. We got him.

[Travis Kelsey]

We got him.

[Zach Brown]

Thank you, fellas.

[Jason Kelsey]

Hot dog, it's so excited to have you on.

[Zach Brown]

Likewise.

[Travis Kelsey]

Thank you, brother. Appreciate, appreciate you giving us the time, man. And, and a football guy. Yes, football guy.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right.

[Travis Kelsey]

Can you, can you let the people know that don't know your. The story of your football journey and, and how you got into music real quick?

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, for sure, man. I started playing football when I was five. Like Pop Warner leagues. Damn.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, yeah. Down there in Georgia.

[Zach Brown]

I played 11 years till I, till I moved up to Dahlonega. You know, I played at South Forsyth and Mashburn growing up. And then like one of my favorite movies of all time is the Water Boy.

[Jason Kelsey]

Come on now. Come on now.

[Zach Brown]

So when I moved from South Forsyth up to Lumpkin county and started playing ball there, like South Forsyth had like great facilities, great everything. When we moved up to Dahlonega, man, it was like the waterboy. It was like there's no grass, no grass on the field. Like you're running in dirt, clay, you know, dirt devils, like running laps.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, gosh.

[Zach Brown]

And so I only, I only did that for, for a couple years in that kind of scenario. But you know, as far as music goes, man, music was my first Love. I was like 2, 3 years old, like, hearing jingles on TV, singing along with everything. I was the kid that everybody's cool. Like, my brothers were like, shut up. Stop singing. You know? And then I started playing guitar when I was about 7. And I carry my guitar every day as school with me every day to football practice. But it was great because when I got into. When I got into high school, you know, I'd sit around and play for the guys, and that kept them from, like, rubbing being gay on my balls and stuff too. Everybody. Everybody else that was freshmen getting hazed, but I could play some King Floyd and sit around with them. And so he kind of kept me out of trouble.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's epic, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Zach's a killer. We gotta. We gotta hang out with this guy more. That's awesome.

[Travis Kelsey]

Now we gotta keep him happy. We gotta keep him happy. You know what I'm saying? We gotta keep him happy. Keep real comfortable. Dude, that's absolutely epic. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

Did you start on guitar? Is that the first instrument you took to?

[Zach Brown]

That's the first one, yeah. I mean, I was about seven and I was. Just Found my love, man. Anywhere where I was, if I had my guitar in my hands, I was at home. I was comfortable.

[Jason Kelsey]

Hell, yeah.

[Zach Brown]

The guitar has been a really good, you know, friend to me for a lot of years. My dad played a little guitar, like, around the campfire. I would go to hunting camp with him and his buddies on the weekends, every other weekend during hunting season. And then my brother, who's 21 years older than me, my dad. My dad was older when he had me. I was like the last hoorah. But my oldest brother was 20 years old right there, and he. He got me into, like, 70s music and got me into bluegrass and, like, so all of that, like, big singer, songwriter era from the 70s, like James Taylor, Jim Croce.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, hell yeah.

[Zach Brown]

So Coolberg, Gordon Lightfoot, like, to the Eagles, to Pink Floyd, to the Allman Brothers, to Steve Miller Band.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. Pops has some taste.

[Jason Kelsey]

I wanted to say this. I mean, I'm a huge fan of your music. I'm a huge fan of your albums and the music that you've went and done. But one of the things I love about going to one of your shows, to be honest with you, is that love of music really comes across at each one of your shows that you do live. You have, like, different musicians come out with you guys. You're doing songs that I've never heard.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's the best, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

You could tell that you guys Are real, actual, like, lovers of all these genres. It ain't just country. It ain't just this specific spot. Like, you're very, very talented, man, Pulling.

[Travis Kelsey]

In covers from left and right, and everybody gets a chance to be the lead singer and have the moment, man. It's so cool.

[Jason Kelsey]

Cool.

[Travis Kelsey]

One of my favorite. It's one of my favorite shows to tell people to go and see, man.

[Zach Brown]

And thank you.

[Travis Kelsey]

Actually, I think. I think that leads us into our. Our next segment, a little new news.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay. All right. That was a good transition.

[Travis Kelsey]

This transition right into this, because you got. You got a new gig out in Vegas that we want to talk about. But we start off every new news segment by hitting everybody with the new news call.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's not going to go well. This is not going to happen.

[Travis Kelsey]

This isn't going to go well. But Jason usually starts it off, then I hit it, and then our guest hits him.

[Zach Brown]

All right.

[Jason Kelsey]

We have tried to harmonize, Travis and I. We cannot harmonize to save our asses.

[Travis Kelsey]

We can.

[Jason Kelsey]

Music.

[Travis Kelsey]

He's the only music talent in the. In the family.

[Jason Kelsey]

There is a bit of, like, a delay, so you're the musical expert. Normally we'll hit it with, like, a new news is like, the melody or the chime. Okay, what is the best way to try and harmonize this? If we were going to try and do it.

[Zach Brown]

All right, so if you want to get a triad, which is the three notes in a chord that harmonize, it's something like this. It's like one. So whatever you end on the last note. So 1, 3, 5. So if one of us is holding down the one, one's holding the three, one's holding the five. We're gonna have some three part harmony.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, you hit me the one. What's the one? What am I hitting?

[Zach Brown]

So if we went like, new, new, and the next would be new news and then new news, Whoever's holding out that first one. So you hold out the first one.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yep.

[Zach Brown]

And then I'm gonna tell you what your part is. And then you. You sing this, you sing the second one. Hold it down, and then I'll jump up.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, I'm gonna. There. I got a big old.

[Zach Brown]

Got to see if we can do it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Come on. Okay, here we go.

[Jason Kelsey]

New, new, new, new, new, new news.

[Zach Brown]

You did it. Hey, that was good.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Zach Brown]

Travis is right on the third, man. He's got an ear, too, man. That's good.

[Travis Kelsey]

Come on now. Got a little P, baby.

[Zach Brown]

Let's Go.

[Travis Kelsey]

I just need. Helped me out with. That was fun, man. Thank you for that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude musician to help me out.

[Travis Kelsey]

Exactly.

[Jason Kelsey]

Not your brother.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, well, let's get into the new news. Jason, go ahead and hit him.

[Jason Kelsey]

So the new news is, Zach, you're starting your Love and Fear residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas the first two weekends of December 2025, as well as you guys have a new album coming out, Love and Fear, which is going to release night one of the Sphere residency, baby. Wow. That's in the. All this is announcing July 15th. Am I?

[Zach Brown]

Yes, sir. That's right.

[Jason Kelsey]

Perfect. Perfect.

[Travis Kelsey]

Dude. Congratulations. This is epic.

[Jason Kelsey]

How excited? First of all, I'm assuming you have, but have you been to a show at the Sphere?

[Zach Brown]

I've been to everyone that I can make it to. I've been to five, so so far, just seeing what's really working and. And what maybe could be done a little bit better or, you know, just the way that it's utilized in the building, but. So for the last, like, three years, I've been looking for something to do. I've been looking, like, to create a spectacle.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

To do something where the production's so big. Because if you think about a couple moments, like when Pink Floyd came out with the Wall and they went on tour with it and their production was just massive, it wasn't just like a little video thing in the middle. It was like all the way stretched around. Or when the Eagles came back with their Hell Freezes over tour, it revived everything. So this is like, this is my baby. That's what I've been working on. And so like a year and a half of trying to figure out what this specter was going to be. My agent, Rob Light, was like, you need to see this place in Vegas that they're building. And so I went to see it while it was being constructed, and I was like, this is the home for the spectacle. And so we've been working on it for 14 months already, making all the content, making everything. And it's like. It's literally like making a movie as well.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hell, yeah.

[Zach Brown]

It's putting the story together, writing this album, threading it together, having a real story inside of it. We filmed a 40 piece orchestra, we filmed a 20 piece choir. Lots of stuff, man. I've been a stuntman. I've been jerked around on stunt wires and drug across the ground and thrown up in the air. It's gonna be. It's gonna be wild, man. But this is like the greatest canvas for creativity that's Ever been made? The sphere is.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, four.

[Zach Brown]

They have to measure the video in acres. Yeah, there's four acres of video.

[Travis Kelsey]

Insane.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's insane. I knew they had to create like a new bite. Like there's. I forget what the byte is, but they had for the amount of gigabyte. Well, it's not even terrible. Another one past the terror. It's like something.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

The amount of data that's going through that thing just at one moment. Right.

[Zach Brown]

Well, it's exponential. When you go from 4 to 8 is exponential. And then 8 to 12 and to 16. So 16k video is all. So it takes a month to render 30 seconds of 16K video. A month for one computer. It's nuts.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's crazy.

[Zach Brown]

But everything's gonna get faster. You know the computers will get faster over time and kind of catch up. But this, but right now this is like a marvel. Like this is like a three billion dollar video audio system. Crazy thing.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's insane, man. I love that you're a student of the game too, man. You're like, no, I want to go see what's capable, how I can make this thing the best. When I come in here, that is it. That. That's how you know it's going to be an amazing show. Not just because of your catalog and how amazing your music already is, but it. I can tell right now how excited you're getting that this is going to be a masterpiece, man.

[Zach Brown]

This is my baby, man. A lot of people that might know our songs on the radio, like our band is a hard one to understand until you see it live. So y' all have seen it. So we love the curveballs. We love, we love throwing things in that nobody would ever expect. And then over the years we've done some, some really cool stuff with costuming and black lights and like huge like inflatable things and things like that. But this is our first masterpiece. Is our first time to really, really lay our, our nuts out there and just. I mean it's all self funded. So we had to pay for making everything completely ourselves, renting the venue and be off of touring because you have to. The contract means you can't tour. So it's like, right. You're missing the whole year of touring. So I did a little spring tour which is like in. Off in smaller markets, you know, like, like in Maine and New Hampshire and, and around everywhere. But we're staying out of major markets. You know, when this gets announced, I pulled every favorite from every human that I know. That's a Part of a company or part of everything. Like, hey, we need. We need some help. So I'm hoping everything comes together. Like, we got. We got a new song with Snoop.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, let's go.

[Zach Brown]

That's on this album, and that's getting ready. That'll be released, too.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, I can't wait to hear it, man.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, it's called Let It Run, and that's gonna be awesome. Like, so July 20th, we're filming the music video for that one. And then I got a song with Dolly on this album.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hell, yeah, baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Are you kidding me? Yes.

[Zach Brown]

She murdered it, man. I sent her this song.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let's Go.

[Zach Brown]

And I was like, I just want you to sing whatever you feel like. And I sent her several songs, and she was like, this is the one. This is the one that I want. She said, don't you give that song to anybody else, honey. We got us a big hit here. Yeah, but she got. I got back, you know, the stem of her vocals, of her singing on it, man. And it was just like, chill bumps down in my toenails, man. She just.

[Travis Kelsey]

Awesome.

[Zach Brown]

Absolutely murdered it. So. So there's some great surprises on this record. I'm super proud of it. I produced this album myself.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hell, yeah, man.

[Zach Brown]

And it's. We're doing all independent, so there's no labels. There's no. It's just all betting on ourselves this year and just pulling every favor. So I appreciate you guys letting me talk about it on New Ice.

[Travis Kelsey]

Are you kidding me, man? It's a honor. Dude, this is awesome, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

I cannot wait to go check this out. I. So I tell you, I'm keeping it in the holster.

[Travis Kelsey]

I haven't gone to the sphere yet, dude. I'm finally my first experience, dude.

[Jason Kelsey]

And travel. Travis knows this because I. I've seen. I saw YouTube when Trav played in Vegas, the Super bowl, and this is what it had just started. And I'm like, dude, the opportunities with this place are wild. Like, the visuals and the way they kind of did it. Like, the first half of the show was very. You know, it's crazy. It's, like, a lot of patterny things, and it's kind of very trippy. And then the second half of the show, it's very scenic. And then all this. It feels like you're outside, so, like, it's nuts. Like, you're. At one point, I remember just looking around and, like, dude, it feels like we're at an outdoor venue and we're inside. That's how. That's how crazy the Technology is. And I can't wait to see what you guys do with that thing. That's going to be awesome, man.

[Travis Kelsey]

Cooking it up.

[Jason Kelsey]

Congratulations. How many shows. How many shows is this residency? Do you know?

[Zach Brown]

Well, we're. We're going up for sale with four, and as those sell out, we'll be adding more, so.

[Travis Kelsey]

Nice, man.

[Zach Brown]

You know, depending on how everything goes, hopefully we'll be able to come back later next year and do another batch up and do another round, because they got a big. Some big releases and stuff coming up that are coming in in February, but it'll be December and January, man, I'm so excited. It's a. It's a lot, though, from like, crazy wardrobe to the choreography, to where we're moving, to how we're interacting with the screens. There'll be parts where we're actually able to, like, you know, if I can, like, literally lift my hand up and take and move a giant wave up behind me on the screen and to the. You know what? It's. It's wild. Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

This is insane, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Wait till you check this place out. This. That venue. There's nothing like that thing in the world. I think they're building another one, like, in London or something like that.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, they're talking about London and Dubai, a couple other spots, man, but it's nuts, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

And, yeah, dude, you want to talk about toes in the water, ass in the sand, you're gonna legitimately be freaking in that. I don't know. I don't know what you got planned, but it's gonna to be epic. Yeah, man, it's gonna be great.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah. Stoked to have you guys.

[Travis Kelsey]

Congrats on it, brother. I can't wait to get out there and see you do your thing and see the. The masterpiece you put together.

[Zach Brown]

Yes, sir.

[Travis Kelsey]

So you started your music career.

[Jason Kelsey]

You.

[Travis Kelsey]

You were playing bars or. How'd your music career jump off?

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, so I started playing at coffee houses when I was, like, 14. So I was playing, you know, because you couldn't really be, you know, playing in bars and stuff when you're that young. So I started playing in coffee houses, but I was in choir since first grade, so music programs in schools is a big deal, man, because that's huge. That's really where it was reinforced for me, you know, learning harmony, learning vocal arrangements and stuff. Started when I was in first grade, and then as I got up in high school, you know, I was. I was playing coffee shops and a couple different buddies of mine, Kurt Thomas, I was playing with him and my buddy Radford Windham that I went to high school with. And then as soon as I graduated from high school, I went straight to West Georgia. So that's where I went to college. And then I started playing in bars. So I got a gig at like the Taco Mac, like playing, you know, backup for a dude for like 100 bucks, playing guitar for him. And then I started like, singing. They let me sing every once in a while and they're like, oh, wow, he can sing too. So, So I was, I was hustling bar gigs and then, man, I, I never graduated from college. I took off to go play. I got a gig in Panama City. Me and my drummer took off. We had. I sold my life insurance policy my dad had bought for me. I bought a like an old 78 Dodge Good Times van. Like bubble windows.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh my God, dude, yes.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, yeah. You're living the dream.

[Zach Brown]

Me and my dog, my. I had a Jack Russell puppy at the time. I think I was 19. We took off for, for Panama City and me and a drummer, we were playing as a two piece, so if we just set up drums and guitar, but we, we got a gig. So we were down there playing at this place called Joey's. And we were, we'd play out on this deck and we auditioned to the, for the guys. But our first auditions was six nights a week, six hours a night for 150 bucks a night. Oh my God, we were so stoked. We've been like setting up at some dude's daiquiri shack trailer that he's selling, like anybody that would give us a power outlet to plug in. So then after that, when I, when we left Panama City, we did that for a few summers. And then what I figured out is I could go to a sports bar that didn't have live music and I'll just tell them I'm going to come in and play for free and let us, and let us have the door. Once we start bringing people in, then let us just take. So it didn't cost them anything.

[Jason Kelsey]

So, like, you're betting on yourself. You're like, we know that we're going to get people in here.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah. We created a, we created our own business model because if you go try to get a gig somewhere where people already do, like in Nashville, you can make, I mean, 100 bucks a night is a decent gig in Nashville. But we would go to these sports bars and we play there every week. So after a couple months we'd have like two or three hundred People coming in on a Wednesday night like college towns, and then we're making three to five bucks at the door. So we were making, like 12, 1500 bucks. So I could pay a good drummer. I could pay a sound man. And, man, we did that. We. We rocked that circuit for seven years.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

Playing like, three nights in Panama City, two nights in Birmingham, two nights in around Atlanta. And we did that for, like, 10 years, man. So 10 years of grinding five, six nights a week, and I was playing anything. I could play anybody. People pay me for, like, a bar mitzvah or a birthday party or whatever it was, man. I was. We were. We were hustling, man. And that's really. That's really where we learned to appreciate people.

[Jason Kelsey]

Sure.

[Zach Brown]

Every single person. The person cleaning the bar at the end of the night, sometimes they'd be the only person listening. And so I love that we cut our teeth doing it that way. And it wasn't just, like, overnight. We just became successful. We thought we were. We had our CDs and we went to Panama City. We're like, we're gonna be big next year. Like, it's. But 10 years later, we finally made the right album. We got it. Chicken Fry was on the radio that took off, and then I was able to travel on a bus after that. And I could lay down and sleep while we're traveling, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

And that was back in the days when we were pretty rowdy, man. We were sponsored by Jagermeister. It was like. Oh, yeah, it was. It was.

[Travis Kelsey]

Wow.

[Zach Brown]

It was wild. That was my hustle, man. So we hustled like that for 10 years. And then all while we're traveling, riding together, being together. And a lot of my crew, man, from, like, seven years in, is still with me. You know, it's like that album's like, almost 20 years. 20 years ago, man. Which is crazy, because I don't feel any different, man. And I look in the mirror. I feel better now, actually, than I did then because I run clean now. I eat clean, I exercise.

[Jason Kelsey]

There we go.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

On the program now, but it's been a blessing.

[Travis Kelsey]

Jaeger isn't in the diet anymore.

[Zach Brown]

No, no, no, no. I have my share, man. I had a great career. I had a great.

[Travis Kelsey]

There we go. I had a good run at it. Yeah, you're right.

[Jason Kelsey]

It does not feel like that long ago the foundation came out. I still remember when Chicken Fried first came out. We were at Cincinnati. Travis, were you at Cincinnati? You were at Cincinnati. You were still in high school.

[Travis Kelsey]

I think I was Just at the tail end of high school. Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

But I remember. And I think Spotify had just, like, started to take off, too. And I remember showing all these guys, like, bro, have you heard this fucking song? Like, this thing is, like, the dopest thing I've ever come, like. And it was like, so the anthem for a number. I mean, in that whole album and everything since then, you've just continued to kill it. But it feels like that was just yesterday. But it wasn't like, that was. I just had a whole NFL career. And you're still releasing songs, live shows.

[Zach Brown]

Well, at the same time, I'm such a fan of you guys, too, man. I watched. I watched the journey of you guys as well. So it's. It's much props. I know the amount of discipline it takes and. And, you know, I mean, you look lean now, too, Jason.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm still on. I'm still doing the alcohol, but I've definitely cleaned up the diet a little bit.

[Zach Brown]

All right.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's less, though. It's less. It's less.

[Zach Brown]

I knew that there would be a day, you know, I was like, there'll be a day when it's time to, you know, put it down. And my warranty ran out when I turned 40, and I was like, you know, it was a couple years before that when I decided. But I'm like, man, if I don't invest in feeling good, then. Yeah, because I love to. You know, I. I love to be out in the woods and on the water, under the water, you know, Spearfishing is my favorite activity in the world.

[Jason Kelsey]

Spearfishing?

[Zach Brown]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's cool.

[Zach Brown]

So I do that all over the world. I want to be able to do that when I'm old.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, dude, sounds like I need to be talking to you.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

I need some of this stuff.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, but we can't just let spear fishing just slide by like this. Hold on.

[Jason Kelsey]

So how.

[Travis Kelsey]

How far down is, like, the furthest you've ever, like, spear? Like, you're like. Because you can get down to, like, 50ft, maybe even further. I don't like how.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, I've shot stuff down at 80.

[Jason Kelsey]

What?

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, but I got homies, man. Like, my buddy Justin's. My buddy Justin Lee, who's like, imagine.

[Travis Kelsey]

Holding your breath and going down 80ft.

[Jason Kelsey]

Travis, you know what? You know, I'm a terrified of sharks. You know, the number one thing to, like, get those sharks over there is spearfishing. Blood in the water. There ain't no chance I'm doing spear fishing, but this is.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, the sharks are very jealous. They're there every time, man. It's just part of it, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm cringing.

[Zach Brown]

It's part of it. And when you're in an area, when you start seeing sharks, you know there's going to be other good fish around, too. And then. But you got to watch their body language. It's like a dude in a bar that's like. Like, kind of antsies. Like, you could tell if somebody's, like, spun up. You watch their body language. Most times they're just chill, man. They're trying to get some bait, you know, I don't really. I don't spearfish, where there's great whites, very often where there's, like, things that are used to eating things our size. So most of, like, the. The Caribbean and the Gulf, Mexico, like, most places that we go, and even in Hawaii, you know, they're not. They're not eating sea lions and seals because that's what you look like in a black wetsuit, so. So a great white would be a thing. But you also have a. You also have a weapon. So if. If they keep coming around and they. And they have a body language that you don't like, then you just kind of. You go down, you. You poke them in the nose. Yeah, poke them. And they're like.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, I know that's. Yeah, well, that's.

[Zach Brown]

If you see them coming.

[Jason Kelsey]

If they come up under you. You don't see them coming, though.

[Travis Kelsey]

You could tell Jason has a lot of dreams. He has a lot of.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm terrified. I'm very jealous, though.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's so badass, though. 80ft.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, I can make. I don't have a lot of bottom time once I get down, but, like, my buddy Justin Lee, who's my hero doing it, he can free dive 200ft down and. And. And hunt something.

[Jason Kelsey]

Free dive.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Zach Brown]

It takes him a full minute to swim back up 200ft. So he's got, like, his timer on his watch. And so I go with guys that are, you know, he can hold his breath like, seven and a half minutes.

[Jason Kelsey]

Seven and a half minutes.

[Travis Kelsey]

So he goes down, chills for, like, five minutes, and then comes back up.

[Zach Brown]

He can. He can go down. Well, when you're exercising, it's a little bit different, but I think he can. He can easily get, like, four minutes of bottom time, no problem.

[Jason Kelsey]

No, that's amazing.

[Zach Brown]

But he's like. Yeah, he's one of the greatest dudes ever, man. Great family.

[Travis Kelsey]

Start working on my lung Capacity.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah. And there's technique too, man. I've been doing it. I did it wrong for my first 10 years of doing it. But the last, the last 10 years I've been doing it. I've been going with him. I've been going with Cameron Kirkconnell, who's another guy. But these guys are legends, man. They hold a bunch of world records.

[Travis Kelsey]

So dope.

[Zach Brown]

But going with them has been a whole like life changing thing. But dude, it is an avatar world under there and there's no telling. Every time you go, you see something that you've never seen before.

[Travis Kelsey]

Aliens, dude. Aliens. You can't convince me it's not.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do you have a fish that is like, I want to get one of these. Like, what? What is your ultimate fish? You want to get spearfishing one that I haven't.

[Zach Brown]

I haven't gotten a. A marlin yet.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh my gosh, that's one.

[Zach Brown]

And in Hawaii, I just have to be able to put in the time in Hawaii to be able to do it to get a big blue marlin. That's on my list. I did get my big dogfish tuna, which was like my bucket list.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, baby.

[Zach Brown]

Hang on, I'll show you a pic of this one.

[Travis Kelsey]

I was gonna say she tastes good or what?

[Zach Brown]

Oh yeah, they're delicious. They're delicious. But here's one.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh my gosh. Look at how monstrous that thing is, dude. No way.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's amazing. I don't even know how you even get something like that back up to the top.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, they float a little bit, you know.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's so badass. God damn. I didn't. I didn't mean to get off off off topic, man, but that is so cool, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's very interesting to me. Thanks to our sponsor, Zillow.

[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

My first place?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. You're afraid.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

Buying my. I'm living in it. This is the first home I've ever bought.

[Travis Kelsey]

What made you say, this is the one?

[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

This show is sponsored by Liquid IV.

[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

We could have used some Liquid IV on the golf course or doing anything this summer. Working out, being active, sweating Liquid IV is going to be a great way to make sure that you don't start cramping and then all of a sudden you're grabbing your hamstring. You go to run on a bunch of floats, you pull your hamstring. A lot of bad things can happen when you're dehydrated. It's very easy for that to happen out in the summer heat. So make sure you squeeze the most out of your summer with Liquid IV. Tear pour live more. Go to LiquidIV.com and get 20 off your first order. With code new heights at checkout.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's 20 off your first order with code new [e-mail]. hello, I'm Dax Shepard.

[Jason Kelsey]

And I'm Monica Padman.

[Zach Brown]

And we love talking to people. Every Monday and Wednesday, we sit down with actors, authors, scientists, really anyone interesting, and have real honest conversations about life, success, failure, and everything in between. We get vulnerable, we get nerdy. And yes, I occasionally overshare.

[Jason Kelsey]

Me too. And I would say more than occasionally.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah. But some of our favorite stories actually come from you, our listeners. That's why we created Armchair Anonymous. Yes, every Friday on Armchair Anonymous, we get to hear your funniest, weirdest, most jaw dropping confessions. And boy, have you delivered.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

From disastrous dates to family secrets to the time you accidentally joined a cult or evacuated without authorization, we really have heard it all.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes, we have.

[Zach Brown]

And we love it.

[Travis Kelsey]

So come pull up a chair, follow.

[Zach Brown]

Armchair Expert on the Wondery app or.

[Travis Kelsey]

Wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to armchair expert on YouTube.

[Jason Kelsey]

So I've messed around with music. I played saxophone growing up. I'll mess around on guitar. I do not consider myself a musician, but I like messing around with music. What goes into writing a song for you? Is it. Do you have like a process? Do you start with the melody? Do you start with like some type of lyric or theme? Where. What? Zach Brown's methodology, man.

[Zach Brown]

It happens all different kinds of ways. Sometimes it's a melody that you put words to. Sometimes it's like a guitar riff that you're playing and you. Something kind of a sound or a melody pops out. Sometimes it's just like something that you hear. You'll hear somebody say something or you'll hear something that's like, that's a song. And so that can happen in the middle of the night. Like, I can. I can literally wake up from a dream and like, and I got to write it down, like right then work on it then, but. But just capturing it. And then for me, it's like really don't. Not settling for anything because I can hear on the radio there's a. Lots of songs that you can tell. It just. They wrote that because it rhymed.

[Jason Kelsey]

Sure.

[Zach Brown]

And you really don't want to mail it in. So I have songs like Goodbye in Her Eyes is one of my songs. It took 11 years to find the right bridge for that song, so I knew it was good, but I didn't want to just throw something in there to get it because it rhymed. Yeah. But some songs you'll write in an hour, like, it just.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's not quick. It just, like, happens. Right.

[Zach Brown]

It happens fast. But the deeper, like philosophical songs and really trying to put the poetry into it to make it poetic. There's lots of different ways to say something. And I love the collaboration of writing with people that are really talented, too, and where there's no ego involved, where when the right idea pops up, whoever said it, it doesn't really matter who said it. It's. You both can agree, like, that's the one. That's the one we've been missing. And. And I used to be able to test them out live. You know, I'd play at a bar full of people, and I play a song, and you could tell by how they reacted. But these days, because everybody's filming everything. So, yeah, if you play a shitty version of the song that you just wrote, the first time you play it, it's on YouTube and then it's out there, like, that song is released, you know?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

So you have to sit on them. So, like, right now, sitting on all these babies that I made for this new album for Love and Fear, we released the first one a couple weeks ago. I ain't worried about it as the new one. New jam. And then the one with Snoop's coming out next is called Let It Run. My kids are older. They're playing music now, too. I'm sitting and playing guitar with my.

[Jason Kelsey]

Kids, and that's awesome.

[Zach Brown]

It's fun. I got five kids, too, so half the time I'm. I'm just there. Like, I'm their house and I love it. I'm taking them everywhere, going to their games, going to their events, doing their things.

[Travis Kelsey]

Like, that sounds like a great dad, man.

[Zach Brown]

That's half my life. So that's priority one. And then after that is, like, being creative, obviously, connecting with my band, writing songs, and then the rest is adventuring, you know, being in the mountains or under the water and exploring. But I've been so blessed to do what I love to do, man. I know you guys have to feel the same way. Like, you know it, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely.

[Travis Kelsey]

You know it.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's a wonderful country, man.

[Travis Kelsey]

You've gotten to work with a lot of artists. I mean, just to name a few. We got some here. James Taylor, Blake, Sheldon Navici, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffett, RIP The Legend, who is, like, the one of your favorite artists that you've collabed with or one of your favorite collabs that you would love to do again or.

[Zach Brown]

All of those are so weird because I was such A. Like, people that. I was a big fan of their music. Same thing with. With, like, football. Like, you idolize somebody, and then all of a sudden, you're on the field with them.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[Zach Brown]

Like. Yeah. And you climb on a stage, and I'm like. I'm singing a song with one of my musical heroes. So they're. They're literally like Batman, man, to me.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yes.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Zach Brown]

And so those moments, for me have been some of the most surreal things. Like, playing on stage with James Taylor was like, how did I. How did this happen, Dude, One of.

[Travis Kelsey]

My favorite songs by you, brother. I don't mean to cut you off, man, but Jason introduced this one to me. I didn't even know it was. It was a song overnight with Trombone Shorty.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, I was thinking of the exact same song. Travis. I don't know. Like, super smooth song. Comes on smoothest. Yes. Such a groove.

[Travis Kelsey]

You got the trombone back there going crazy, dude. That was one of my favorite collabs ever. And it's just the range that you have. You could tell. You like to. You like to show your creativity. You like to show just your. Your enjoyment of music and everything like that, man. It's just so fun. And I cannot wait to see. I mean, you. You said Snoop Dogg, and I'm just like, man, you just keep coming with surprises, man. It's badass.

[Zach Brown]

Well, I love that about Snoop too, man, because he's always relevant.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, always.

[Zach Brown]

Always, dude. He just keeps going, keeps stepping in, keeps going. So, so much respect for people like him that hold up their relationships and their vibe and, like, everybody's stoked to see Snoop, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

The hell, yeah. You can't go wrong with Snoop.

[Zach Brown]

It doesn't matter. So this. This is. This is definitely a. An herb theme song. And I was like, I got to get Snoop on it, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, what's it like living on a tour bus? We never got to experience, like, life on the road. You talked a little bit about it with the van and. But, like, what. What is that?

[Zach Brown]

Like, the first five years, we were on a 12 bunk bus, so there's 12 of us living on one bus with one bathroom and, like, one little spot in the back to, you know, to change or whatever.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay.

[Travis Kelsey]

Wow.

[Zach Brown]

You got to learn how to kind of internalize your. Your bs, you know, or whatever you're going through, because I don't know if y' all are like me, but some days I wake up and I'm like, I can hold all this shit up, you know, I'm Like. Like energized. And then some days you wake up and just Your chemistry's off and, like, everything, you're just, like, a little bit. But learning how to, like, really live in such tight, confined spaces. It's like being a. An Aztec or a Mayan, where you're, like, living in one of those places. It's, like, dug into the bank, like, stacked up on top of each other. But you gotta. You gotta learn how to, like, you know, manage yourself and your own. Whatever you're going through, and then holding space for everybody. Because, like, your drummer and your percussionist is normally just walking around tapping on everything. So they're just, like, middle of the night, they're tapping, banging on things. So for me, like, having a noise maker, a white noise. I use the white noise app, but I use. I also got a company called Demer Box that makes these. I was going to send y' all some. It's a. It's a dry box, like a pelican box, but it's got two silicone speakers in it, so it's completely waterproof, but it holds all your stuff in there. There's a battery charger for your phone inside.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, hell yeah.

[Zach Brown]

So I plugged that thing in. When I'm in a hotel or on the. On the bus, I plug that thing in and I just. That thing just rips, like, brown noise super loud, so it drowns out. Everybody's like, yeah, here's one right here.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, hell, yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's all you need right there? Yeah, so that's all you.

[Zach Brown]

Like, when I'm traveling or whatever. All your gear goes in here.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm about to say that thing keeps some beers cold or what, dude?

[Zach Brown]

So anyway, that's. That's part of it. Having the white noise and. And being able to drown everybody out is a big part of being able to sleep. Or if you're in a hotel and there's Ferraris going by, if you're in LA or, you know, construction or whatever it is. But the culture, man, it's all led from the top, man. You can't buy culture and momentum, and you got to create it and you got to lead it from the top. And. And the people that I. That I travel with and the people in my band are unbelievable human beings first, and then they're incredibly talented. So you have to really learn how to. How to, like, support each other and how to, you know, if you're having a rough day, to kind of, you know, squash it a little bit. You know, kind of. There's a lot of emotions in 12. 12 people in one bus. And then, and then there's. And then there's 12 of those. You know, there's 12 buses.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

You mentioned playing with, like your heroes. My first guy I ever snapped the ball to was Michael Vick. And that was like a moment when I got to the NFL. Like, dud. I can't believe I'm freaking playing with freaking Michael Vick. Like, what the heck is going on right now? I know you've, you've, you've sung at all these venues, you've. You've got all these musics and all this, all these genres, but what's it like to sing a national anthem? Is it. How different is that?

[Zach Brown]

Well, normally as soon as you sing a word, you're hearing that word back like two seconds later.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, no.

[Zach Brown]

So it's.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

Before I did it within air. So the first time I sang an anthem, it was at a Braves game. I was 14.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, no.

[Zach Brown]

I was 14.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's crazy.

[Zach Brown]

In high school, and me and my buddy Radford used to sing together. We did. We would sing. I would sing the bass harmony and then he would, he would sing the lead. And. And as soon as you sing a word, you're hearing the next word back to you that you just sang. And so it's hard from that standpoint. There's a lot of echo, but once you kind of get past to that. So now I put my. I have my inner monitors in, so now that blocks out a lot of the. The wash. So.

[Jason Kelsey]

So.

[Zach Brown]

But man, I like singing it just kind of og Man, I like just singing it. Singing it up high enough where you can, you know, get up on the high notes, but not really like changing it a whole lot.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

And when me and, me and my band are. We're doing some. Coming up here soon, getting to sing like four part harmony with my band, kind of like barbershop style. I sing in barbershop quartet all the way through.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let's go to court.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's go. So badass.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, but I, I love this country, man. And, and there's a lot of people that I don't think really appreciate the amount of sacrifice that it's taken from for us to be able to have what we have here.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Zach Brown]

So we have a big mission supporting our veterans. We got the camp that we built. It's actually right over there. We do 34 weeks of veteran programs throughout the year. And working with such incredible people, man. People that have real servants hearts and do whatever they're told so that we can keep our freedom and be able to pursue our dreams and live the American dream. Like we owe a lot to them. So. So yeah, that's something. You know, every night we, we get a soldier to come up on stage when we do chicken fried and come out and, and, and do a salute and just remind everybody, you know, what a blessing it is.

[Jason Kelsey]

Got it. Pretty good. All right, we got our last segment. We gotta ask. You don't have to answer these. You can tell us to, you know, fuck off. Yeah, yeah. All right, here we go. Is it true that you have 11 siblings? Is this accurate?

[Travis Kelsey]

You said you were the youngest.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, well, growing up I had, I had four stepsisters. I had two stepsisters from my dad's side, two stepsisters from my mom's side. I have two half brothers, two half sisters. And then from the time I was three years old, I've had brother in laws and sister in laws that have been like parents to me. Like my brother, my brother David, he's actually my brother in law. But since I was three years old, he taught me how to ride a bike. He co. Signed with me to get my first truck and trailer, like first loan that I ever had. He was like, he's been a dad to me. I've had, I've been adopted and taken in by a lot of people over the years by a lot of different people. And yeah, so that, so I don't have any that are full mom, full dad. So I'm, I'm the only one from my mom and my dad, but I grew up in the middle of all of them. So it's, you know, it's seven sisters and, and now I got four girls, I got four, four daughters.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hey, yeah, baby.

[Zach Brown]

And a son. I got the son last, he's 11, but my girls are 14, 15, 17, 18.

[Jason Kelsey]

We're in a similar spread right now, but we're way. We got five, four, two, and we just got a newborn.

[Zach Brown]

I've been there, man. I've been there. The change table, dude, the change table is still sitting. Where? Right there, bro.

[Jason Kelsey]

There you go. There we go.

[Zach Brown]

It's still out. It's still out. 18 years later, man. 18 years later.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's great.

[Zach Brown]

But I can relate, man. But it's beautiful. And every, every phase that kind of feels like it might be wearing you out or whatever, man. You'll miss that the most. You gotta just, just like soak that in while, while they're little, man. Because they, they grow up so fast.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely. I appreciate it. Yeah, man. We were just on the beach today. It was a freaking. That's a trip, man. But, yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to being out of diapers. There's no question about that.

[Zach Brown]

Diapers and brushing their teeth every night. Like, wrestling them down and brushing their teeth. Yeah, but that. Honestly, man, like, that was hard, but I miss it. I miss all those things. I miss every one of those things. That's. That is, like, feels like a struggle at times.

[Travis Kelsey]

Just the.

[Zach Brown]

The Groundhog Day of all of it. Bath time, you know, it's. It's nuts, dude. Throwing.

[Jason Kelsey]

Throwing them all every night is chaos. Like, it. I don't know how long it's going to take. It could be 30 minutes. It could be two hours.

[Zach Brown]

And they're like puppies, too. You get. You get them out of the water and dry them off, and they want to take. Take off. Dude, there's, like, little naked bodies running around the house. Like, aquarium, dude. It's.

[Jason Kelsey]

Wow.

[Zach Brown]

But I miss. I miss all those phases, man. It's. It's such a blessing to get to. To be a parent and. And get to be around for. For that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely.

[Travis Kelsey]

Back to a little bit of music. I want to know who was your first, like, concert that you went to when you were younger, where you were like, oh, yeah, this is what I want to do. This.

[Zach Brown]

So I was 14. We had opened up for. Sean Mullins and Matthew Kaler were like, two guys that were, like, troubadours playing by themselves. And when I was 14 and I saw them perform live, I was like, and I love music. I love to sing. But watching them play, and I was like, this is what I want to do. So same thing with the summer camp thing. I would go to summer camp when I was 14. At camp, I was like, I want to build one of these one day. I want to build a camp, and I want to play music. And I knew that from the time I was 14. And that's a blessing because a lot of people have, like, 4 degrees and they still don't know what they want to do. Like, I had a path. Like, I knew what I wanted to do, and I. And so I was able to follow what I loved and then figured out how to, you know, hustle enough to make a living doing it.

[Jason Kelsey]

So you got a camp, too? What. What is. Is it a limit on this camp?

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You could come. You could come counsel or drop in anytime. It's. Yeah. So it's called Camp Southern ground.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay.

[Zach Brown]

And nine weeks of summertime, we have about 115 kids that come in to sleep away for a week at a time.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay.

[Zach Brown]

And if this is bad, and then the other 34 weeks out of the year, we do veteran programs and then we do vision development for the corporations and stuff like that. But we got a 16 acre organic farm. It's farm to table. The kids learn how to pull stuff out of the ground. They learn how to plant things. We've got got, you know, big aquatic center over there. We've got zip lines. We've got, we got all the things that camp happens. You know, I, I had transformational experiences at camp when it was like a molded little cabin with no air conditioning. But we built like a university to do this. Like the buildings are wrapped in zinc. They're going to be there for a thousand years. But the difference that, that it makes in a kid's life, a kid that doesn't have a mentor and a kid that comes. We, we bring underserved kids in that are in the same group with kids that are on the spectrum with kids from military families that might have lost a parent or had a parent dismembered in service. And then you have mainstream kids which might have a poverty of spirit where they don't even know how to appreciate anything. They have, they have everything. They don't know how to appreciate it. So you mash them all together in one group and you help them through a week of like learning how to rely on each other and learning to be like an advocate for each other.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hell yeah.

[Zach Brown]

And it changes lives. And that's that, that's what I've experienced as a kid.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's what we experienced too, man. We. I hear everything you're saying. I'm just like, man, you're doing it right, brother.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's giving me flashbacks.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hell yeah. And we remembers though, we remember those camps and all the different, like social, economic and like racial like the melting pot that we grew up in and getting, getting to experience everybody for who they are and their culture, man, is the best.

[Jason Kelsey]

We had a Camp R was our overnight camp growing up.

[Travis Kelsey]

Dude, you want to talk about no AC in the middle of the summer, moldy ass cabins. I had mice and roaches running across my chest at night, baby. The stories and the, the memories, but it was awesome. It just throw you in the, in the woods with a bunch of high school and college kids like, like looking as your chaperones, man, is the best.

[Zach Brown]

I know. So fun.

[Travis Kelsey]

Zach, we learned. We learned you make knives.

[Zach Brown]

Yes.

[Travis Kelsey]

Sir, how did this come about? How did this even start?

[Zach Brown]

So I fell in love with knives as a kid. My dad traveled with Coca Cola for, like, I don't know, 15 years. And he would go to Mongolia and China and all these places, and he would bring me back a knife from all the places that he went.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, that's badass.

[Zach Brown]

And I started throwing knives when I was about four, so.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay.

[Zach Brown]

Having. I got an indoor throwing range here at the house, if y'.

[Jason Kelsey]

All. I got a four year old, I could not imagine giving her a freaking knife to throw. That's amazing.

[Travis Kelsey]

Jason was stabbing kids with forks.

[Jason Kelsey]

Don't give him a knife.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, that sounds like a true story.

[Jason Kelsey]

It was a sport. Technically, it was a sport. Okay.

[Zach Brown]

All right.

[Jason Kelsey]

Doesn't count.

[Zach Brown]

Kentucky Fried Chicken. Spoon fork thing, man. Yeah, I love knives. I was drawn to them just, like, as a kid. And then When I was 18, I lived in a trailer in Carrollton when I was going to West Georgia, and my neighbor's granddad had a knife shop. Shop, and he was taking, like, old buck knives and taking apart and making them automatics, like, making them switchblades. So I, I, that was my first experience when I was about 18, working on knives and being in his shop. And then after that, I just became friends with a bunch of other knife makers. And then. So now I've got a shop here at my house where I make Damascus and I forge and.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, you are.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, dude, that is so.

[Jason Kelsey]

I want to hang out with you so bad, I can't even describe it.

[Zach Brown]

Like, you and ga. Come on down.

[Travis Kelsey]

Come on now.

[Jason Kelsey]

I didn't know nothing about bladesmith and knife making, sword making, any of it. And I got. I am such a huge fan of the show Forged and Fire. And it's like, all I want to do now is go into a forge and actually make something with some steel. Like, I would. That is the coolest thing ever.

[Zach Brown]

We could do that.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, all right.

[Zach Brown]

So Neil Kamamura is one of the Forged Fire champions.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely. Yes.

[Zach Brown]

And so Neil lives on our farm on Big island in Hawaii, and his knife shop is there on the farm. And forging with him has made me so much better. Dude, he is an absolute animal.

[Travis Kelsey]

That is so awesome, man.

[Zach Brown]

He's like half Hawaiian, half Japanese.

[Jason Kelsey]

I know exactly who you're talking about, because I was, I was trying to link up with him if we were going to go out to Hawaii a couple years ago, because I'm like, dude.

[Zach Brown]

I would love you'd be staying in my place, man. Go. Go.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do it. Okay. All right, all right, all right.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah. Neil manages the farm, and his family lives there, man. But just salt of the earth people, man, that. The people we have in Hawaii are just so. Oh, you already know spearfishes, man. You know, that's. That's my Hawaii family. There's nobody better to learn how to forge from. I mean, I can show you. I could. I could. We could make some here for sure. But Neil. Neil's on another level, man. So that's. He's like my hero in. In knife making and forging.

[Jason Kelsey]

Sheesh.

[Zach Brown]

But I can show you. I. I did this basket weave one.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hang on.

[Zach Brown]

Let me show you.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, hell, yeah. What can't he do? It is amazing how many things you're good at.

[Zach Brown]

This is three to three days of work to fold the steel into the pattern. That kind of looks like a. Like a basket weave. Like that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, that looks so dope.

[Jason Kelsey]

How cool is that?

[Travis Kelsey]

That is fucking hard right there.

[Zach Brown]

And when you smash it all out, it comes out good, man. I learn a lot every time. So this is the step before that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

And you weld all that together, and then you forge it together, and then you draw it out, and then you slice it, and that's what makes those little tiles. And so making. Oh, man, mosaic is like an art, man. And there's a guy, Mareco Mamasi, that I've learned a lot from that. That guy is such a wizard at making Damascus.

[Travis Kelsey]

Sounds like you're the wizard, man.

[Zach Brown]

My wintertime program, man. Be able to go out and get in the shop. And it's also cool because anytime I need to make something, man, you know, you got some rebar you can make about anything that you need.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's dope.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Just freaking melt it down. As long as it's hardenable steel, you get it done. That's awesome, brother.

[Zach Brown]

Yeah, for sure. For sure.

[Travis Kelsey]

Quick question for you before we wrap with your brother. We gotta ask. We ask everybody what they're welcome to the NFL, to the music world, to the movies. What was your welcome to the music industry moment?

[Zach Brown]

Man, the first time that we played the CMAs, they let us play. And I was good friends with Charlie Daniels. He was such a sweet man. Dear friend.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Zach Brown]

They let us do our version of Devil Went down to Georgia on the CMAs.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, I watched this live. Yes, absolutely.

[Zach Brown]

And I remember looking out and seeing, like, getting a standing ovation from, like, Kris Kristofferson and all the other country artists and people that were there. And I just remember thinking, like, wow. Because we just been humping bars, man, Grinding, grinding, grinding, as everything took off. Like, I. I feel like some of those moments, like, on those shows where there's so many artists that are there together and they know who you are and, you know, it's just a surreal, surreal moment. And then any night, I still never get used to going out. Like, I'm literally. I'm a servant when I'm at my house. And I love it. I love it so much. And then when I step out on a stage, man, and those people are there every single night that I step out there, it's not. I don't take that for granted because I remember what it was like playing to two people in a bar. You know, I remember the journey. I remember the whole thing. But being out there where there's all these people that are singing all the words back and, like, I feel a big responsibility. Like, I want to be like Willie, man. I want to be as long as I can sing. I just saw Willie play in Austin, like, a couple months ago. It was unbelievable. But just to, like, you know, I think the music gives us, like, this life force, and if we can help somebody in one night to just have something they could put in their pocket for a rainy day or to help to make music that helps people get through things, like, it's such a. Such an honor to get to do that, man. That's my favorite part about it, is just connecting and making people feel. Good day?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Well, absolutely.

[Travis Kelsey]

You've.

[Jason Kelsey]

You've.

[Travis Kelsey]

You've done that, brother. I. I still remember the day I got to see you live, man. So can't wait to see how this fear goes. Can't wait to listen to the new album and appreciate you coming on, baby. 92 are Zach.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, baby. Hell yeah. Alrighty. That does it for our interview with Zach Brow, man. Dude.

[Travis Kelsey]

Dude, I. I'm going. I'm going spear fishing.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm not. Well, I'm definitely not doing that, but I am going to go forge a blade in Hawaii, I guarantee you that. Dude. I have always been a Zach Brown fan, and one of the reasons I've always loved him. We talked about it just a few minutes ago, but I love. You could tell how great of a musician he is and how much he loves music. In every live show I've ever been to. His, like, he embraces musicians in that area. He brings people on stage, he's doing different. Like, he's just of the pinnacle of, well, just what a great artist is. Like, this is a guy that's always trying to get better, always trying to do new things. I'm very excited to see what he's doing over here at the Sphere.

[Travis Kelsey]

Cannot wait, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, he's got all these other things going on, too. Spearfishing, he's got a ranch, he's. He's forging knives. He's got a box that you charge it. I mean, what the. I. I think it's incredible the amount of things that this guy's got going on, and it was a joy talking to him. I hope you guys all enjoyed getting to know Zach Brown a little bit more.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. And make sure you get to the Sphere and check out his new album, baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, that wraps up another episode of New Heights. Thank you to Zach Brown for joining us on the show. Make sure you subscribe in YouTube to the new Heights channel and follow New Heights on the Wondery app for wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of New Heights early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Travis Kelsey]

Once again, New Heights, a Wondery show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by General Mills. Favorite series cereal brands. Every single one that you love is always going to be General Mills because they make the best. Follow the show on all social media at new heights show with 1s for fun clips throughout the week. 92 percenters, we appreciate you guys for tuning in each and every week. And to our production and crew, we appreciate you guys making us look way.

[Zach Brown]

Better than we are.

[Jason Kelsey]

So true.

[Travis Kelsey]

Follow New Heights on the Wonry app or wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to New Heights early and ad free. Plus enjoy exclusive episodes of the show by joining Wonder plus in the Wonder app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Today.

[Jason Kelsey]

Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short [e-mail] survey.

[Zach Brown]

Yo, it's your man, Nick Cannon. And we are back with a brand new season of we playing Spades. And to the left of me is the best of me. The one and only, my best bestie, Courtney B.

[Travis Kelsey]

And you know what the B stands for? Beat your ass.

[Jason Kelsey]

And that's exactly what we doing right.

[Zach Brown]

Here this season because we playing Spades is back and better than ever. That's right.

[Travis Kelsey]

So make sure you hit the subscribe button on YouTube.

[Zach Brown]

They gave us our own YouTube channel. It's we playing spades. Bo bo bo bo bo Spade.