BOBBYCAST: #607 - We’re Talking About Current Stuff! Ft. Hosts of God's Country

Summary

The Bobby Bones Show – BOBBYCAST #607: “We’re Talking About Current Stuff!”

Date: May 11, 2026
Guests: Dan & Reed Isbell, Hosts of God’s Country Podcast

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Episode Overview

In this episode of The Bobbycast, Bobby Bones welcomes Dan and Reed Isbell, accomplished Nashville songwriters and hosts of the God’s Country podcast. The discussion blends light-hearted storytelling, industry insights, and real talk about life as music creators, podcasters, and dads in 2026. The trio dives into evolving music industry tactics (from paying for streams to social media bot purges), the realities of ticket pricing and touring, and the enduring challenges and quirks of podcasting in a crowded media landscape—all with the honest, playful dynamic familiar to listeners of both shows.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Artist vs. Songwriter Journeys in Nashville

[02:20–05:54]

• Dan and Reed share a humorous recount of their near-pursuit of an artist career, ultimately choosing songwriting over the pressures (and misery) of touring.
  • Dan: “We had this scheme...My brother Reeves figured it out. Great singer. We’ll write all the songs, produce all the stuff, and he can go do the road stuff that we don’t want to do.” [03:06]
  • Reed: “Deer camp and ribeyes, man.” [03:55]
• Both reveal they fell in love with the storytelling and creative process of songwriting, preferring the stability and creativity behind the scenes over artist life.

2. The Power—and Pitfalls—of Song and Podcast Creation

[06:01–06:46]

• Bobby reminisces about creating "Neon People," a hologram-based virtual artist concept, highlighting how digital experimentation continues to shape the industry.
  • Bobby: “Our idea was we can have somebody be the baby opener on, like, three or four tours...very cheap.” [06:13]

3. Roots, Upbringing, and Early Musical Influences

[06:52–09:56]

• The Isbells discuss growing up in rural West Tennessee, navigating the Bible Belt, gospel music, and limited access to mainstream concerts due to finances and their preacher dad.
  • Dan: “Our dad’s a Baptist preacher...killer storyteller, too...I always wanted to be that.” [08:56]
• Bobby shares his own upbringing in a poor area, highlighting how programs like the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! reading program provided not just joy but actual meals for his family.
  • Bobby: “We were a very poor school. You could read and actually provide dinner. It was a culture changer for us.” [11:17]

4. Podcasting Realities: Guests, Media Saturation & Authenticity

[12:47–17:20]

• Discussion on the oversaturated podcast/press junket culture and listener fatigue.
  • Bobby: "If a great guest does nine shows in one week, it's watered down...the solo episodes...perform best for me." [15:46]
• Value of conversational podcasting as opposed to rigid interviews.
• The challenge of balancing prepared questions with organic conversation.
  • Reed: "Ours are not interviews...feels more of a conversation." [16:39]

5. Industry 'Games': Bots, Streams, and Social Media Manipulation

[23:52–38:08]

• The crew discusses the Instagram and TikTok bot purges, lost followers (Bobby lost ~12,000), and the emotional/financial impacts on creators whose entire platforms are at risk.
  • Dan: “There were some people literally committing suicide...they’ve built legit businesses out of those media.” [24:37]
  • Bobby: “Social media is not social as much anymore…more what you’re interested in, not who you follow.” [27:13]
• Inside look at buying streams and views, and how labels/artists sometimes view it as an investment to kickstart momentum.
  • Bobby: “It’s an investment game...buy streams, get work, pay off the investment.” [30:55]
  • Dan: “Most of the guys that come in here are not like, ‘I can go drop 250 grand’ to get my song...” [34:18]
• The proliferation of bot-run accounts, clip-sharing companies, and how even “organically viral” artists benefit from strategic spending.
  • Bobby: “There are companies you can pay ten grand a month to...they create all these basically bot accounts...” [35:51]

6. Ticket Prices, 'Blue Dot Fever', and the Live Touring Bubble

[40:00–48:10]

• Intimate discussion of “Blue Dot Fever”—the stress of watching unsold tickets (blue dots) on Ticketmaster maps, leading to tour cancellations for acts who overestimate their draw.
  • Bobby: “I’d look at the freakin’ dots on your shows...wonder if today’s the day nobody likes me anymore.” [40:12]
  • Reed: “It gives an opportunity to be creative and figure out a new way...really connect with fans.” [43:29]
• The real price of attending shows: not just tickets, but sky-high hotels, Airbnbs, and logistics.
  • Dan: “It is the craziest thing...people paying what they’re paying.” [44:45]
• Speculation on which artists truly have stadium-level draw and the risks/rewards involved for up-and-comers.

7. Songwriting Success & Day-to-Day Life

[56:55–62:05]

• Reed credits “The Kind of Love We Make” (Luke Combs) as his most lucrative song; Dan credits “Better Together.”
  • Dan: “It was a five week number one. It was in the heat of the Combs...” [61:17]
• They discuss the evolution from paper checks to direct deposit for royalties, and the funny logistics (and anticipation) of paydays in the songwriting world.

8. Anecdotes, Real Life, & Relatability

[58:28–60:53]

• The team swaps funny stories about dream cars (Bentleys and Lamborghinis in Nashville’s pothole-laden streets), flat tires on the way to record the show, and the universal struggle of adulthood—even successful songwriters are not exempt from mundane frustrations.
  • Dan: “Songwriting rich...can’t call me out for having a Lamborghini and not admit your songwriting rich!” [60:53]

9. Podcast Workflow & Anxiety

[64:32–65:30]

• Both shows admit last-minute prep and healthy anxiety help keep standards high, fueling their best, most focused work.
  • Bobby: “My anxiety...is my superpower. It pushes you...I have to super focus.” [65:25]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Early Career Choices:

  • Reed: “I was on the fence of being an artist, being a songwriter...but fell in love with writing songs.” [03:55]

• On Social Media Purges and Perspective:

  • Bobby: “I lost like 12,000 [followers]...but social media isn’t social as much anymore. It’s not who you follow, it’s what you’re interested in.” [24:06, 27:13]

• On Industry Tactics:

  • Dan: “Most of the guys that come in here are not like, 'I can go drop 250 grand to get my song'.” [34:18]
  • Bobby: “You can have a great artist that only has been broken because of people doing what we’re talking about doing.” [33:44]

• On Touring Costs:

  • Dan: “You take a family of four to a show, you’re out two Gs just on tickets...A T-shirt’s $89. A hat, 60 bucks.” [45:10, 45:13]

• On Podcasting Styles:

  • Reed: “Ours aren’t interviews...feels more like a conversation.” [16:39]
  • Bobby: “I bring on the greatest A-list guest, and still, the episodes that perform the best...are when I have no guests at all.” [16:14]

• On Making It Work:

  • Reed: “I know without a shadow of a doubt, when we walk into a room, no matter who we’re with...it’s going to be a good show.” [64:45]

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Important Timestamps

• 02:23 — Introduction of Dan & Reed Isbell (God’s Country podcast), discussion of their career paths.
• 06:01 — Bobby’s "Neon People" hologram artist story.
• 09:56 — Influence of family, church, and rural upbringing on musical tastes.
• 11:17 — Personal impact of the BOOK IT! program on Bobby’s childhood.
• 15:46 — Podcast guest quality vs. download numbers.
• 23:52 — Social media bot purge and the meaning of authenticity online.
• 35:51 — Buying streams, bots, and social media manipulation in the music industry.
• 40:00 — "Blue Dot Fever:" stress of unsold tour seats, fan costs, touring bubble.
• 46:45 — Live concert and ticketing economics.
• 56:55 — Favorite podcast guests and meaningful surprises.
• 61:06 — Royalties, getting paid as songwriters.
• 64:32 — Podcast preparation, dealing with anxiety, and trusting the process.

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Conclusion

This is a candid, playful episode that pulls back the curtain on the realities of modern music and podcasting—from the games of social media and streaming numbers to the challenges of fan access, money, and authenticity. Dan and Reed’s camaraderie with Bobby shines, making for an episode that’s both informative and highly entertaining, packed with stories, self-deprecation, and the real-life pressures (and joys) behind the music and podcast industries.

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Listen to the full episode for more behind-the-scenes stories, nuanced industry debate, and plenty of laughs with Bobby Bones and the Isbells.

Transcript

[Bobby Bones]

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[Reed]

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[Bobby Bones]

Okay, so you brought me this stat. T Mobile customers had the lowest wireless

[Reed]

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[Bobby Bones]

That seems surprising. Surprising but true.

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[Bobby Bones]

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[Podcast Promo Voice]

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[Bobby Bones]

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

[Podcast Promo Voice]

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[Reed]

Hey guys.

[Bobby Bones]

Welcome to the episode. And before we get into the current stuff, I want to bring in Dan and Reed Isabel who have the God's country podcast, which I'm a fan of. I'm mostly a fan of the episode that you guys did with me. My favorite episode, the one you guys did. I watch it every week.

[Reed]

It was our least performing.

[Bobby Bones]

Didn't matter. All the views are from me, so.

[Reed]

Perfect before the guys in here.

[Bobby Bones]

So you guys check out the God's country podcast. These guys here are very talented songwriters. Did you guys ever try to do I hope I'm not insulting you guys,

[Reed]

but the artist thing, but almost.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't care, right? Because I like. I know you guys. Did you guys try hard to. The artist thing.

[Dan]

Wait, this is a kind of funny story. Fucking take a second.

[Reed]

So there was a plan.

[Dan]

There was a plan. So I had been in town and my buddy Jonathan Singleton, we had this scheme. We were like, dude, my brother Reeves figured it out. Really great singer. We'll write all the songs, produce all the stuff, and he can go do the road stuff that we don't want to do.

[Reed]

He's miserable. He don't know who he is. So he has no idea.

[Dan]

We'll just burn him out, right?

[Reed]

He doesn't have an identity. He has seen him on the road.

[Dan]

We wrote a bunch of songs and started working with Scooter Caruso and really building this and built a five or six song EP that was kind of bulletproof, right? So we start mixing and mastering, and in the meantime, we booked some shows. We start playing some shows. And he's like, will you be in the band? I'm like, ah, I don't really want to do that, but maybe for a few times, you know? So we go do this run, we come back, and then he calls, and he's like, hey, we got. I got a couple of acoustic shows next week. You good to go? And I was like, dude, I'm going to deer camp with dad. Like, what are you talking about? We kicked you off. You started like. He was like, do what y' all cooking? Ribeyes? I was like, yeah, it's the bow opener. Like, we're going.

[Reed]

I was like, I think I just want to be a songwriter.

[Dan]

He was like, I'm canceling shows. If y' all think y' all are going to deer camp without me, it's never happening. End.

[Bobby Bones]

That was the end of the artist career.

[Reed]

Yeah. I mean, like, deer camp and ribeyes, man. And dude, I always was like, I was on the fence of, like, being an artist, being a songwriter. And I. And I. And I moved to town, obviously, with the plan to be an artist, but fell in love with writing songs, especially when I was writing with Jonathan and him out the gate.

[Bobby Bones]

And so when you came here, though, you thought it was gonna be artists because that's probably what you knew.

[Reed]

Yeah, I mean, all I knew how to do was sing.

[Dan]

Oh, he used those Church ladies worked.

[Reed]

Oh, I'd be singing the same song two and three times at the end of a service, though. He. He always had the voice, dude, I can only imagine.

[Bobby Bones]

Can't sing that. I'll get fine. Yeah.

[Dan]

Kick us off for I can't.

[Bobby Bones]

Only AI probably shuts that down, too.

[Reed]

Yeah, yeah. They're gonna catch the melon even imagine.

[Dan]

That's.

[Bobby Bones]

All right. Yeah, you can speak it out. Can.

[Reed]

Well, see, we have. We have full creative control on our podcast, so we can do whatever we want.

[Bobby Bones]

You still can't sing songs, though, because you get sued.

[Reed]

We sing songs all the time.

[Bobby Bones]

But no, it's kind of worse.

[Reed]

Yes. Like, every episode, sing songs.

[Dan]

I want to say that out loud.

[Bobby Bones]

We used to do that, too. They shut us down.

[Reed]

Okay, maybe we'll just cut that part.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, yeah, no, no. Good for you guys. If you want to hear songs sang illegally, God's country podcast.

[Reed]

We wrote. We wrote a bunch of them, though. It's covers.

[Dan]

Does that matter?

[Bobby Bones]

Uh, even worse, actually. Yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Reed]

Isn't there some blanket lessons out there that covers that stuff?

[Dan]

Can we just leave? Can we just get out of here?

[Reed]

Can we just start over?

[Bobby Bones]

Well, what's funny about that story is that's kind of what Brian Wilson did with the Beach Boys. He stayed back and wrote and got everything ready and sent the band out. And so the Beach Boys will be traveling all over touring. Way back in the day, Brian Wilson's like, I don't want to go tour. I'll let them go do concert. I'll take my cut, and then when they come back, I'll hop in. But I've got everything ready to go.

[Dan]

It's kind of the gig. Kind of the best gig, truthfully.

[Bobby Bones]

And then. But there were no stakes involved in that story.

[Reed]

Well, yeah, there's probably some.

[Dan]

These are probably not great stakes. I mean, we're talking about Bagley Wiggly type stuff.

[Bobby Bones]

I love the idea, though, of creating something that can go out and make money, not having to do it, like, musical.

[Reed]

Yeah, me too.

[Bobby Bones]

Like, five or six years ago, I probably told you guys this story, but me, Nicole Galleon, who's a massive writer, and Ross Copperman, I went and I said, hey, I have this idea for a hologram artist that opens for, like, five tours at once. And I said, let's write songs. And so we created this group called Neon People. And we went and we wrote every day and recorded all these songs, mastered them. Nicole was singing it. We were manipulating the voice a little bit. And our idea was we can have somebody be the baby opener on, like, three or four tours. And there were great songs and very cheap.

[Dan]

Yeah, we split everything that comes down the pot.

[Bobby Bones]

And so all the streams, all the money, the touring revenue, and Then Nicole ended up being a president of a record label, and she had to, like, quit. She was like, I can't. I was like, integrity.

[Reed]

This kind of goes against what.

[Bobby Bones]

What the heck?

[Dan]

What? We had Neon People rolling.

[Bobby Bones]

It's up.

[Reed]

It's up on, like, me. Neon People was read as well. Jumping off the fence to just be a songwriter. I don't want to do the artist thing.

[Dan]

It was.

[Bobby Bones]

You guys grew up where?

[Dan]

West Tennessee.

[Reed]

Right where Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee meet the county above. That's Hardin County.

[Bobby Bones]

Where was town then? Memphis.

[Reed]

Savannah, Georgia, Tennessee.

[Dan]

Oh, but Florence is where we took our dates. You know what I'm saying?

[Reed]

Red Lobster or Corinth. Shout out. Red Lobster or Corinth. 30 minutes away.

[Bobby Bones]

So then where would concerts come that was closest?

[Dan]

Well, it's interesting because we're kind of from a melting pot of, like, a lot of different influences right there. You had rockabilly from Jackson, Tennessee, blues from Memphis. You had country, obviously, R and B, swaggy type stuff from. Came out of Memphis. And also north South Mississippi Delta blues from South Mississippi. And then you had country music from Nashville. And then you had the Swampers and the funk stuff from Florence. So all of that kind of blended.

[Reed]

And our dad's a Baptist preacher, and the. The obviously Bible belt. There's a ton of, you know, Christian music going on in there. Hymns going on, too. So you got that influence.

[Bobby Bones]

Could you guys have secular music, though, growing up?

[Dan]

We could watch tnn.

[Reed]

You'd have to go. You have to go upstairs and turn it down. If you watch trl.

[Dan]

Yeah. You have to do research until.

[Bobby Bones]

So you get to go to real concert. Like, big pop culture.

[Dan]

I mean, my first concert was Billy Joel, Elton John, and it was awesome.

[Bobby Bones]

How old were you?

[Dan]

18, dude.

[Reed]

Our parents weren't like. Like, I hear stories now, especially talking to people. Like, that's all they did when they were little. It's like their. Their parents took them on the road to go see Alabama or go see, you know, Grateful Dead or whoever it is. And, like, our parents were never.

[Dan]

No, they liked music.

[Reed]

They liked music, but they just. We just. It's a lot of work, and it's expensive to take a bunch of kids to go see. See shows. So, like, we had. We saw a ton of, like, quartets come through the church, though, man. Like, all those. All those. All those, like, traveling bands that would come through and do and doing, like, the church stuff. We went to all those. Cause they would all come through our

[Dan]

gospel quartet, like, harmony gospel quartets.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And you two End up in music.

[Dan]

I think our mom would have loved if we had been a gospel singing duo.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Dan]

You know, like doing the thing. But it just. For me, I loved the storytelling aspect of country music. And my dad's a killer storyteller, too. Like, I've seen him hold cord at deer camps and churches and pavilions and parking lots with random P. McDonald's lines. Just captivating these people with stories. And I think that's what I always wanted to be that. And so I kind of wrote poems and things like that. And then I didn't want anybody to know because that was seen as effeminate in my small town stuff. And so then I realized if I get girls, if I put those words and stuff to music. So I learned how to play guitar. And from there, we already knew how to harmonize because of the church and the. In the. In the singing groups we were in. And it just kind of. I went band, band, band, band. Had a big band in Mississippi State. Started getting some looks in Nashville. Didn't know it, but we were getting the run up here and just ended up falling in love with being a songwriter. I also hated the road. I'm just not a road guy at all.

[Bobby Bones]

In your hometown, you have a Pizza Hut?

[Dan]

Hell, yeah.

[Reed]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Bobby Bones]

We were talking about it recently how I don't see any standalone Pizza Huts. Like, we talked about that in the building. The shape building.

[Reed]

Yeah, yeah, like the. The Pizza Hut building.

[Bobby Bones]

And you know the shape of a Pizza Hut building? You see one, because sometimes you'll see a dentist office in a Pizza Hut building. You're like, that used to be a Pizza Hut building. Doesn't matter.

[Dan]

Yeah, you can dress it up however you want to. There were personal pans cooked in that hut.

[Reed]

Dude, what a great. What a great. What a great marketing scheme is to make your building one of a kind.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Except when you want to sell it.

[Dan]

Except when you sell it. Yeah, it kind of works.

[Reed]

Well, if you're Pizza Hut, though.

[Bobby Bones]

I mean, did you guys do book it ever?

[Dan]

Yes, dude. No, he said he didn't do it.

[Reed]

We did Accelerated Reader, which is kind

[Dan]

of the same thing. I remember it swapping when I was in Bookit.

[Bobby Bones]

Let's practice. Pizza Hut didn't want to pay the. Give away the free pizzas anymore. Then they just traded it to.

[Reed]

I promise you, if there was a program where you got personal pants for free, I would have been in that chain, bro.

[Dan]

I'm still wearing those personal pants. I read, like a song, bitch.

[Bobby Bones]

No, me too. Like in May first, it launched back at Pizza Hut this year where they're doing Book it Again.

[Reed]

Right. Oh, and for me, can anybody do it? Can I do it?

[Dan]

No.

[Reed]

If there was an adult, I'd be doing it right. I'd be reading Johnny Cash the Life in the lyrics right now, trying to get 40 points for two personal fans.

[Bobby Bones]

It was such a big deal in my school. Like, socioeconomically, we were a very poor school.

[Dan]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

In areas that didn't have money, you could read and actually provide dinner. It was a culture changer for us. And I love to read, but I could read two books a week, for sure. And that was not only dinner for my sister and I, it was.

[Dan]

Are you telling me you provided for your family by reading?

[Bobby Bones]

I am saying that.

[Dan]

I'm not going to laugh at that.

[Bobby Bones]

I know it's crazy.

[Reed]

I think I want to laugh, but in a good way.

[Dan]

But I'm also.

[Reed]

I think it's awesome. Awesome.

[Bobby Bones]

When I saw it was coming back, I was like, dang. I don't think people understand for kids that didn't have anything.

[Dan]

No. I wouldn't have never understood that. That's crazy.

[Bobby Bones]

It's because I would. You could read a book, take a quiz on it back in the day, and then you get your personal pan. That what the cost was, though, Gas going into town because we didn't have a Pizza Hut, so we had to go into Hot Springs.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

So we driving. But two personal pan pizzas would be. Because it was four pieces. Three pieces for dinner, one for breakfast the next day. That was two.

[Reed]

Come on.

[Bobby Bones]

Two meals for each of us.

[Reed]

Absolutely. Dude, that's awesome.

[Dan]

I love that.

[Reed]

Never considered that we've never. Our town never, like, we've never been in that position, you know, with our. With our family or anything like that. And honestly, really never saw that in our town in that way. But thinking about it that way is. Man, that's awesome.

[Dan]

I remember you specifically talking about. That's one. I mean, that's a part of your foundation is you're very food driven. If you don't have food.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, yeah, I've got that on my favorite episode of the God's country podcast. Yeah.

[Reed]

One of the worst episodes.

[Bobby Bones]

But this worst performing but most meaningful, most impactful.

[Reed]

That's what matters, right? Especially in our industry, when you guys

[Bobby Bones]

book guests, something that I deal with is like, I can get a really good guest, but if they're doing like nine things at once, it doesn't do that well, because.

[Dan]

What do you mean, nine things at once?

[Bobby Bones]

Let's say, I'll just pick an artist off my wall. So I'm not picking anybody specifically. So I'm gonna say John Mayer, because John Mayer is one of my favorite artists of all time if I have him in and we do a great hour together. But he's also doing nine other podcasts around the same time, like a media tour. It's so watered down that even a great guest is not gonna get the numbers that the great guest should get if the great guest is doing so many shows at once.

[Dan]

You mean like ours and yours?

[Bobby Bones]

Well, they're on the same level, but I'm just saying, like, if they.

[Dan]

What level?

[Reed]

What level?

[Dan]

In which direction?

[Reed]

What charts are we talking about?

[Dan]

I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

[Bobby Bones]

Do you guys ever see that? Like, you'll have somebody that you're like, man, this is gonna be awesome. And the interview is fantastic. But they're doing so many things at once that it possibly doesn't reflect in

[Dan]

the numbers we kind of have to say from the jump, hey, man, we're not really like your media training guys. Like, you can be here as free in here as you want to be. I feel like that. Does that helps open something?

[Reed]

Yeah, but you can still see.

[Dan]

See some downedness.

[Reed]

Well, see, some of them still, they don't know how to. They don't. It's just so ingrained in them and trained in them that they go straight forward. Like, it's the. It's. The first thing they do is go toward media training. And I get that because, like, you see the. You see the clips and the stor. Or the videos or whatever that. That we clip and put on mostly, honestly, like, the ones that hit and pop off are like the. The kind of. The sporadic. Like, the thing that wasn't planned, the story that wasn't planned, or just like the authentic realness, you know, of. Of storytelling. Those usually do the best for us. But I can. I think. I think that we're probably falling the same boat is like. Because most of the days when you catch those artists, they're. It's media day. It's podcast day.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Reed]

So they're doing four after yours.

[Bobby Bones]

And if it's a fan of theirs who you'd like to come to your podcast, they're possibly going to go listen to their person, do any of the four.

[Reed]

Sure.

[Bobby Bones]

And so it just tends to be water itself down if I have somebody in that's doing a bunch of interviews in a bunch of places because they have a TV show coming out or something.

[Dan]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

I really got to do that for, like, my own people because they're everywhere.

[Reed]

And you got to find a way to do it different. Right? Like. Like, do you have a do. You're like, man, I need a certain. I need a specific game. I need to play with this, this, this artist or this guest to make it interesting or spur it along or anything like that. Like, do you go into it preparing anything like that way you should do

[Bobby Bones]

them in Spanish if that's the case.

[Reed]

Dope.

[Bobby Bones]

Just hit them with that. I feel that's a good question. No, I talk a lot in mine. I think sometimes people will be like, hey, why do you talk so much when you're interviewing people? It's like, this is my show too, dude.

[Reed]

Amen.

[Bobby Bones]

And honestly.

[Reed]

And you're an interesting cat.

[Bobby Bones]

I can bring on the biggest guests, and this is something that we've seen with so much data. I can bring on the greatest a list guest. And still the episodes that perform the best for me are when I have no guests at all. That's the weirdest part, is that we'll get so pumped because we have somebody come in, let's say it's John Mayer, and John Mayer comes in and crushes it. And then I'm like, hey, I'm doing a solo episode the next time, and it's only going to be, you know, fun stuff. Book it. I'm talking about book it. And Instagram. And that will perform so much higher.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And that's a weird thing. So I'm like, well, I'm just going to talk with them then.

[Dan]

Yeah, we get popped a lot with. Do you guys sing with every guest that comes on.

[Bobby Bones]

But you're singers. That's the thing.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Have they not heard about the band you tried to start with your brother?

[Dan]

That's the whole entire point of this.

[Bobby Bones]

And it's like, me, too. Like, I'm not an interviewer. I'm somebody who likes to talk with people.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

You guys are real life successful songwriters and singers, so of course you're going to be singing with people.

[Dan]

I mean, and our.

[Reed]

That's kind of our stick, too, is like, we don't. It doesn't really feel like an interview to us ever. Like, and that's why I think sometimes it feels like, well, I mean, there's. There's a. There's a certain couple that come to mind. But I'm saying, like, it's still. People ask me, like, man, do you enjoy the podcast? And I'm still genuinely saying, yeah, I really do, because it Feels like I'm having a conversation with somebody for the first time. And it really does. Like, it doesn't feel like work when it. And I know that's cliche or whatever, but sitting down and having a conversation and getting to know about somebody is. It doesn't feel like work to me. Still. There are times and days that it does, but ours are not interviews. It doesn't feel like. It feels like it's more of a conversation.

[Bobby Bones]

The two times it feels like work to me is if I'm exhausted. And that sucks. And I feel bad for the person who's coming in.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I end up doing a better job because I'm aware that I'm exhausted. It's kind of funny how that works because I'm like, I do not feel good. I'm so tired. And it kind of focuses me on a level. Yeah. So that sucks if I'm not feeling good. And two man. If people come in so media trained and there are artists in town who I like as people, but they are so trained and big artists who I can think of. I'm not gonna say their name. I'm friends with them that like, they have their stories down to beats and it's not good for an hour long conversation podcast.

[Reed]

I've seen that.

[Dan]

Let me ask you this. What actually happens in media training? Like, we obviously are not famous enough for anybody to care about training.

[Bobby Bones]

I've never done media training. Okay. So I've led sports athletes in media training because they get interviewed and they have no background talking to a microphone.

[Clifford Taylor IV]

Sure.

[Bobby Bones]

So I've gone to universities and walked people through media training. Meaning if you don't know what to say, here's where you go and you're trying to teach some people, athletes especially, the most cliche things to say that mean nothing. Athletes just trying to exist.

[Reed]

I'm just grateful to be here.

[Bobby Bones]

Say nothing and get off my teammate. They will immediately.

[Reed]

Ain't no I in team.

[Dan]

Coach had us prepared.

[Reed]

Yeah, that's it.

[Dan]

That's why you hear the same things over and over when they. Yeah.

[Reed]

And those guys know how to ball, dude. Like, and they don't. They don't know how to talk and they don't have to because they're so freaking good at their job.

[Dan]

And their giants.

[Reed]

Well, yeah, but that's what I'm saying.

[Bobby Bones]

Unless they're jockeys and then they're not giants.

[Reed]

But there's gonna be a microphone in their face and they've gotta say something. They gotta say something.

[Bobby Bones]

I've worked with Some new.

[Reed]

Still a business.

[Bobby Bones]

Like new artists in town secretly. I mean, I'm not hiding from it, but I'll get a call from a friend who's like a manager being like, hey, could you. Will you just teach this person how to be trained but not sound trained? And that's just not getting yourself in trouble. Like, that's all media training is now.

[Dan]

Boy, there's some that just can't help it.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, but I think some of the people getting in trouble are trained to get in trouble. Like, it's purposeful, obvious.

[Reed]

Oh, for like clickbait kind of stuff, for sure.

[Bobby Bones]

And they're smart about it.

[Reed]

Oh, go viral moments.

[Dan]

That's a good. Yeah, I just thought they were dumb.

[Bobby Bones]

Some are that, though.

[Reed]

Well, it's that way too. Yeah, I think that's true.

[Bobby Bones]

Some are that too. But the hour long interviews are almost impossible with people that come in with an absolute agenda.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's pretty easy to pick up to. It's pretty easy to pick up on. We've had a few lately that I'm like, oh, yeah, okay. Have it. Have the floor. It's not really.

[Reed]

Go through your bullet points.

[Bobby Bones]

That's it. Do it and get it over with.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And if I feel that in one of ours, we're about to. We're gonna exhaust what you want.

[Dan]

It would almost be like me talking about God's country that airs every Tuesday on. Was it Anywhere you get it?

[Bobby Bones]

Anywhere you get it.

[Dan]

Search your podcast.

[Bobby Bones]

But that happens.

[Reed]

Yeah, like this Tuesday when Averiana's coming on.

[Dan]

Yeah, she was great.

[Reed]

She was awesome.

[Dan]

Anyway, back to your thing.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, we had her like two months ago. It was great. People can scroll up and see that.

[Reed]

Yeah, she's grown a lot and done a lot of cool things.

[Bobby Bones]

She's been on yours, so probably a lot of new stuff.

[Reed]

She actually took a hiatus from podcast because she hated yours so much.

[Dan]

Oh, no.

[Reed]

And then now she's back on ours.

[Bobby Bones]

Dang.

[Reed]

Because ours numbers were so big that she had to come back.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, when she was sitting in here, she was like, this is the last one I want to do. Because if I have to do freaking God's country, that means I have fallen off.

[Dan]

That's true.

[Bobby Bones]

So. I know, I know.

[Dan]

That's really funny.

[Reed]

Maybe songwriter's gonna die there too.

[Bobby Bones]

Hang T. The Bobby cast will be right back.

[Podcast Promo Voice]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odenkirk. To David Letterman. Help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. There's the worst singer in the group.

[Bobby Bones]

The worst?

[Podcast Promo Voice]

Yeah, me. Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard, you only got in because your parents made a huge

[Dan]

donation to the group?

[Reed]

To the group.

[Bobby Bones]

The Yardbirds, Right?

[Dan]

That's the name.

[Podcast Promo Voice]

The Harvard Yardbird. They're open.

[Dan]

Do you have a name suggestion?

[Reed]

We're open.

[Podcast Promo Voice]

Since you guys are middle aged, one erection. Listen to humor. Meet with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio Apple, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Bobby Bones]

Humor me. I need some jokes to make me seem funny.

[Podcast Promo Voice]

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not

[Bobby Bones]

only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all. Embedded in the games and with the athletes.

[Dan]

For a full year, within probably 10 days, I'd put on £10. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

[Bobby Bones]

Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Clifford Taylor IV]

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what y' all say. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor iv. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And for more behind the scenes, follow Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network. On TikTok

[Bobby Bones]

and Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance. With Liberty Mutual Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show. Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird.

[Reed]

What is this, your first date?

[Dan]

Oh, no.

[Bobby Bones]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Reed]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Bobby Bones]

Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.

[Reed]

Liberty, Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Bobby Bones]

And we're back on the Bobbycast. Did you lose any Instagram followers from the big purge?

[Dan]

Oh, did we? We read about that. Did we lose any? Jumps is on that. Do we lose any? No bots for us.

[Reed]

It's authentic over there, bro.

[Bobby Bones]

I lost like 12,000. Did you? Yeah. And these bots have to exist. They have to follow a bunch of people.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And I was looking at some of

[Reed]

the folks, so you don't. So it's not like people are going and paying for these bots, and then when the bots get gone, they're gone. These bots are actually just. Just fake accounts that are following people. Both.

[Bobby Bones]

So there are ways to buy. The reason I would never buy is because you're gonna spend money and they're gonna wipe it away at some point.

[Dan]

Eventually. They're gonna wipe away at some point.

[Bobby Bones]

That's right.

[Reed]

I feel sad, too. To buy followers. It feels real sad.

[Dan]

I was telling him, do you remember when they did this? They had the big thing on TikTok where people were losing their stuff and there were some people literally committing suicide.

[Reed]

It's their job.

[Dan]

Followers, too. That was crazy to me, man. That was crazy.

[Bobby Bones]

Is that real?

[Dan]

Yeah, man. When they had the big TikTok, I

[Bobby Bones]

remember when they were going to cancel TikTok.

[Reed]

The big TikTok thing.

[Bobby Bones]

When you say the big TikTok thing,

[Dan]

I'm not very versed in this.

[Reed]

Yes, keep asking him. Keep asking. Please drill it with these.

[Dan]

I'm telling you, I remember seeing a video of a dude crying, saying, I have X amount of followers. And now I have this. Because of this, I've lost all my sponsorships. I don't know how I'm going to feed my family. I'm not saying that guy did it, but I'm just saying there are some people that have built legit businesses out of those media.

[Reed]

That's terrifying.

[Bobby Bones]

And then you lose them. You can buy. I would never. Because that's just throwing away money. That's a temporary investment. Hopefully people see you have these followers, get your clout. You get to be on other things. But there are bots that Just follow big accounts as well because they have to prove they're a real person and you can find a bot real easy if they're fault. If they have. They're not following anybody and they're just posting like crazy. So there are strategies to create bots as well, where you don't have to buy them. So in the biggest accounts, get the most bot follows. Not even purchased.

[Dan]

Oh, wow.

[Bobby Bones]

So that's why like Taylor lost 5 million.

[Reed]

5 million. How many did she have? 300 million million. Is that more people than there in the world?

[Bobby Bones]

I just pulled the one. I'm just kidding. That would be funny if there wasn't. That's how you know they're buying.

[Reed]

It's like 10 billion, 50 billion people following.

[Bobby Bones]

Kendall Jenner lost 3.7 million. Selena Gome lost 6 million. Beyonce lost 5 million. Bieber lost 4 million.

[Dan]

Same thing. I like water weight, right? If I came in here and said I dropped 18 pounds, that's funny.

[Bobby Bones]

That's it.

[Dan]

You'd be like, hell yeah, man, congratulations. But if I said, well, I actually just took this hydroxy cut and sponsor us and because of that it's just a bunch of water weight, you'd be like, well,

[Bobby Bones]

these bots are water weight. So. Yeah, I didn't know if you guys lost any with your wildly successful podcast.

[Dan]

I mean, we.

[Reed]

Honestly, bro, if we did, I wouldn't even know.

[Dan]

We're barely treading water here, buddy. You know, I mean like in life general, not just the podcast. It's doing great. We have zero time.

[Reed]

I was like, I was like, wait,

[Dan]

it is to check up on the followers. But yeah, we did research it just so we would kind of know what you're talking about.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I lost between 10 and 15,000.

[Dan]

But do you do right sitting here,

[Reed]

Is that going to affect you?

[Dan]

Do you care?

[Bobby Bones]

Do I care?

[Dan]

Do you care?

[Bobby Bones]

I expect those bot. I expect that to happen, those flushes, because they happen about every year.

[Dan]

Oh, a year. They happen once a year?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, about every year. There's one of those that happens. This one wasn't that bad for me, so. And I have like on my personal account, I was getting real close to 1.3 million. I was at 1.2 and I was like, oh, I'm about to hit 1.3. They flushed me right before 1.3. So that was a little frustrating. But I don't. Social media is not social as much anymore. Meaning it's not who you follow as much, it's more of what you're interested in. So algorithms Feed us the stuff all the time. More so what we're interested in and what we're looking at more than who we follow. It used to be back in the day, you follow a bunch of people, you're just gonna see what all your friends are doing. Yeah, yeah, sure. You can follow everybody and that's fine. But if your friends aren't posting things that you would generally be interested in, you're gonna see it very little, and your algorithm's gonna feed you things that you like that you don't even follow.

[Dan]

Very true.

[Bobby Bones]

So it's more like a follower media than a social media.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah, that works.

[Bobby Bones]

Was I hurt? No. Was I a little frustrated? Yeah, yeah. Something about buying them back. That's how I buy them. I buy them back to get even.

[Dan]

I got. I got you bots bought people.

[Reed]

Is it the bots you're getting or is it. So I don't know who it is.

[Bobby Bones]

There are these services and I. I don't know if they're true that they say they can get you organic followers. That just feels like bots, though.

[Dan]

I mean, you can buy streams. I mean, people know that. Like, there's this guy.

[Bobby Bones]

See, I don't know how to do that. I could show you how to buy bots.

[Dan]

Well, let's just say I know a guy that knows a guy. And it is literally. I can't tell you the exact number, but from the. Judging by the video I was shown, thousands of phones plugged in.

[Bobby Bones]

I've seen those on TikTok.

[Dan]

And they. And he goes to a computer and doo doo doo boop and all of those things, just playing the same song, playing the same song. And they run that joker for.

[Reed]

So you can pay. You can pay this guy X amount of money to run your $100,000.

[Dan]

I can. I can guarantee you 100,000 streams or a million, whatever the exponential factor is. But yeah, ultimately you just send a check and whatever you pay is what they.

[Reed]

Is that going on with PDs anymore still?

[Bobby Bones]

I have no idea. I don't do music. I have nothing to do with music. And I would say no.

[Reed]

Like a payola thing, Is that still happening?

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, no.

[Reed]

God.

[Bobby Bones]

They want. No, they watch that stuff. And I'm not involved. I do nothing with music and radio except if I want to have somebody up and play or if I want to, like. But my career is not based off of music anymore. It's just the content that I'm creating for the most part.

[Reed]

So you're not doing the radio, the morning show yeah, but I just talk

[Bobby Bones]

about me like I was talking about earlier. I just talk about me the whole time. Or bring in artists, the guests, and.

[Dan]

Sure, let them talk about it.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't play music. Yeah, music's played. I don't pick it. If I want to, like, play a song, I can.

[Reed]

But if I was to kick you, like, 10k, would you play?

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, God, no. It wouldn't be worth it.

[Reed]

100k.

[Bobby Bones]

No, literally, I can play this game.

[Reed]

How much can I make on a catalog sale?

[Dan]

I love how much. How much game? Like, what would it take you to do this?

[Bobby Bones]

No chance. They are. They crack down on that stuff so hard. But I saw the FCC was investigating the streaming services because of all of the manipulation of streams. The difference is, though, the streaming services aren't public. Broadcast is public. They got a crack down on that because they own that. That's government.

[Dan]

Got to.

[Bobby Bones]

But you're right. You can buy so many streams. YouTube is. You can buy looks. But what they do is they feed it in there for you. So it's not really. They're not forcing anybody to watch it. Streams. They can fake streams, but it works. Because if there's an artist and somebody's pitching them for, you know, to open or. Sure, they're like, yeah, they've got four. They had 4 million streams last month. You're like, what the crap really does

[Reed]

not matter if they were real or not.

[Dan]

You're not gonna get, you know, absolutely know how to.

[Reed]

So it's an investment game.

[Bobby Bones]

It's an investment to buy streams. And I'm not saying you should do this. It's an investment to buy streams, and then you get streams, then you get work. And hopefully that work that you're getting pays off the investment that you just

[Reed]

did to get the streams and picks

[Bobby Bones]

up the streams, which then picks up the streams.

[Reed]

That's right. You don't have to have fake streams anymore.

[Bobby Bones]

And in the end, if you believe the artist is good enough to actually get streams, if you run the process, you invest in that.

[Reed]

Hmm.

[Dan]

Yikes.

[Bobby Bones]

If you don't have integrity, I'd like

[Reed]

to say that at the end.

[Podcast Promo Voice]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Cause, like, I get the game. Yeah, for sure. I get the game.

[Reed]

That is the game, right? That is. That's. Bottom of the seventh. You're down one. The game right there, dude.

[Dan]

The inside ball of all these things is what kind of blows my mind. Like, we had a best. We have a best buddy that pitched in the majors for a long time. And for a long time, I thought

[Reed]

Baseball didn't just say pitch he wanted. Sigh. Young.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay, well, then, yeah, he's a man, jp.

[Dan]

He's.

[Bobby Bones]

He plays music too, doesn't he?

[Reed]

He does, yeah.

[Dan]

But he. When. When we really became buddies with him and he explained to us what's really going on in baseball. It isn't even what you think baseball is.

[Reed]

It's not what you're watching, like, I assume.

[Dan]

And I was a player. I played my entire, like, you know, high school, middle school, whatever, Little league. The. The game to me was seeing the ball come out of the hand, deciding on what that pitch was, and doing my best to hit the ball. That is not the game in the major leagues. The ball's moving so fast that these cats are choosing how they're going to swing before he ever even winds up.

[Reed]

Yeah, based on. Based on. Based on tons of information. Yeah, they're previous pitches.

[Bobby Bones]

They're sitting on pitches based on have

[Reed]

to count inning habits. Down, up. Absolutely. Last pitch, base runners. No base runners. How many outs are in? Yeah, absolutely.

[Bobby Bones]

Man.

[Dan]

There's always. I feel like the older I get, the more I realize there's, like, inside

[Bobby Bones]

ball on everything, and the more knowledge there is about everything, the more inside ball is created.

[Reed]

100%. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And it's happening with music now, but it has been happening at every level in every generation. There's a group of guys like us or women sitting around going, can you believe how crazy it is now? Like, oh, dude, that has never stopped.

[Reed]

Absolutely, man.

[Bobby Bones]

There's no doubt there's gonna be people in 20 years doing the same thing with low holograms, doing low hologram podcast.

[Reed]

Yeah. AI will be old news.

[Bobby Bones]

It was so good back in 2026. It was so easy. All you had to do is buy streams. And now it's like, well, you gotta call your psychic. And so it's an odd. It's odd because you would just think artist is good.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

Artist plays and gets discovered because they are good people. Then follow.

[Dan]

Come on.

[Bobby Bones]

There are great artists now that were discovered because of people running the schemes.

[Reed]

There were great artists now there are

[Bobby Bones]

great artists that only have been broken because of people doing what we're talking about doing.

[Dan]

Ain't no doubt.

[Reed]

Ain't no doubt. Ain't no doubt.

[Bobby Bones]

And that doesn't mean they're any less. That was just a financial strategy.

[Reed]

That was their road.

[Bobby Bones]

Yep.

[Reed]

Yeah, man.

[Bobby Bones]

And so. And if it were me, I would do it for me. Like, if I were an artist and I had the money, I'd buy streams.

[Dan]

Oh, if you Were an artist and you could pump your stuff up to get to another level, you would.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, because if I was really that good, I would.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Reed]

And that's your lifelong dream. If it's really your passion and really you believe you can really do it, absolutely. You're gonna go to all cost to make it work. And if that's a viable option, then that's a viable.

[Dan]

Most of the time it's not an option, though. Right? Like, most of the guys that come in here are not like, I can go drop 250 grand to get my song.

[Reed]

Is it that much? I don't know.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. I don't know. You're the. You're the one that has.

[Dan]

No, wait.

[Bobby Bones]

The data factory at your house running the phone.

[Dan]

I don't pay for anything.

[Bobby Bones]

You told on yourself. You're the one running the scheme.

[Dan]

I'm playing.

[Reed]

I swear.

[Bobby Bones]

It is very much a game inside a game, though. And a R is a whole different world. And, you know, they're like, put out a song 72 times and only play a clip of it. And if one of them catches, that's good. But now you can hire these companies. I think Goose, the band was. They were just in a story. And I can look this up where people are like, oh, they're industry plants. Because they had paid all this money to this company to clip. Feed them. And that's not industry plant. That's them just choosing a strategy. That's paying.

[Dan]

That's paying somebody to clip our stuff.

[Bobby Bones]

Different.

[Dan]

Oh, there's a.

[Reed]

Shut up.

[Bobby Bones]

There's something that would be. You're paying one person to do the editing and the clipping.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm gonna give you an example of something here.

[Reed]

Tuesday. Avery. Anna.

[Dan]

Oh, my God.

[Bobby Bones]

There is a service.

[Dan]

They're following us.

[Bobby Bones]

Different companies that you can hire. Yeah, yeah. And let's say if I wanted to do cost.

[Dan]

Are we doing something legal here? Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, for sure it's legal.

[Reed]

This is legal.

[Bobby Bones]

That's why I don't feel like the goose industry plant story is fair to them. They just chose a strategy.

[Reed]

Absolutely.

[Dan]

I heard that as the goose industry comma, plant, and I was like, there's too much.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Remove. Sorry.

[Bobby Bones]

Get out of the woods.

[Dan]

Come back to music industry plant.

[Bobby Bones]

Goose is a rock band.

[Dan]

Got it. Great name.

[Bobby Bones]

There are companies that you can pay ten grand a month to. They will take your stuff, and in that 10 grand a month, not only will they send it to be to these influencer accounts to put on and organically talk about it, they create all of these basically bot accounts, and they start loading up all your clips all over the place. Now, because it's not social media, it's interest media, you start to catch all these bot accounts that are playing. You're seeing it. Because if you ever see something cool and you're like, the account's 422683 red, red, red. You're like, oh, that's not a real account. But it does have 90s wrestling. I love 90s wrestling.

[Dan]

Yeah, I've seen that. So mine's always cop cams. I'm always following a cop.

[Reed]

What cam?

[Dan]

Cop cam. You know, where a cop goes into like.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, Puh.

[Reed]

Chicken husband.

[Dan]

What's funny about cop Cop with a

[Reed]

p. Cop cam, however. Just keep talking. Just keep talking.

[Dan]

Anyway, so when Tennessee Vids 346-3443 says, Send me this in a DM, it's not a real person.

[Bobby Bones]

Not a real person. Isn't that weird when they're like, can I share this?

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Because that's just a bot.

[Dan]

Just bot doing that at the very bottom.

[Bobby Bones]

The other interesting.

[Reed]

That's why I don't even mess with any of that.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan]

The reason is me and Jumps carry the weight of what you don't do.

[Reed]

Thank you. Because this sounds terrible.

[Dan]

It is.

[Bobby Bones]

You don't do it.

[Reed]

Hell no.

[Dan]

He don't do nothing.

[Reed]

Yeah, right. I don't do social media. Like, I hate. I hate it. And it stresses me out. And she'll fill me in if I need to be filled in, but so do we get it too.

[Dan]

You got to do it.

[Reed]

You don't do it. You do it because you're addicted to it.

[Dan]

I do it because if I don't do it, then Jumps has to post all her stuff by herself.

[Reed]

How much you post them, bro?

[Dan]

I mean, once a year, slow.

[Bobby Bones]

But the captions.

[Dan]

I help her on those.

[Bobby Bones]

Those are. There are people that you can hire because the captions are so important. The captions and the hook to the video that are so important that that is their specific job. And I will say there is absolute value to it.

[Dan]

Sure.

[Bobby Bones]

Just captioning videos and making sure the first three seconds has a hook to it. And if it can be the greatest video ever, and if there's not something that creates engagement that makes people want to comment on it, it won't be seen. Because the Instagrams, tiktoks of the world, they are basing what they're sharing on the engagement, the comments, the shares to share to other people. So that's an art. It's an absolute art for people to do captions and yes, clips.

[Dan]

I also think it's an art to maintain the integrity and sound like the voice of whoever is featured in the clips. Like that's the thing that me and Jumps run between each other so much because yes, she's doing all that. Right. But like if it doesn't sound like a post from our voice, it doesn't do as well.

[Bobby Bones]

What about a post that doesn't sound like your voice that does great or a post that sounds like your voice that does terrible? Which would you rather have? The great one. Yeah, but it's. It's a tough thing to.

[Dan]

Yeah, for sure.

[Bobby Bones]

It for sure is tough. But yeah, I realized that sometimes it doesn't need to sound like it's from my voice depending on who I'm talking to. Like the. Like I had a labor and delivery nurse on. My wife just had a baby and I'm so like I'm so interested in that world now.

[Reed]

And congrats by the way.

[Dan]

It's awesome.

[Bobby Bones]

Thanks. It was a big gift guest wise. Thank you.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Now with the baby. I got it. Yeah.

[Reed]

Wait, what just happened?

[Dan]

It's just. Anyway.

[Bobby Bones]

But I have to trust my people.

[Dan]

Yeah, you have to. You have to. There was a rocky road there for a little bit of the man and then you hone it in, you know, and now it's we completely trust our people.

[Bobby Bones]

The Bobby cast.

[Clifford Taylor IV]

We'll be right back.

[Bobby Bones]

Welcome back to the Bobby cast. What about the. It's called Blue Dot Fever. Have you guys been seeing this? Where. So Blue Dot Fever is if you go to the map, let's say if it's Ticketmaster or wherever it is, all the blue dots are seats that haven't been sold. Do you ever go to that? You ever see. Are you familiar?

[Dan]

I'm familiar.

[Bobby Bones]

Cuz like when I would. When I was doing a lot of stand up, I would look at the freaking dots on your shows. Oh my God.

[Reed]

Interesting.

[Bobby Bones]

As soon as tickets went on sale.

[Reed]

Interesting.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm online watching, going, I wonder if today's the day that nobody likes me anymore. Like I was putting so much of my worth into that.

[Reed]

It's kinda like reading the comments a little bit.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, a little bit. Except these people are choosing not to spend. That's money.

[Reed]

No doubt. It's more expensive.

[Bobby Bones]

A lot of these shows are getting canceled. Pussycat Dolls got canceled. Their tour got canceled. Meghan Trainor's tour canceled. We saw some early Post Malone Jelly Roll stadium shows get canceled and they're calling it Blue Dot Fever because you go and look at the map and there's so many blue dots, you're like, oh, this is not going to sell enough for them to make their money back.

[Reed]

They can't, bro. Not. Not in today's day.

[Bobby Bones]

Why do you think it's weird? Because the Wallens and the Combs is. Are still doing freaking stadiums.

[Reed]

And. And that's where. That's where I think I'm at with it is like, I think stadiums could still. Like, I think stadiums are still. If you're an act that can fill up a stadium.

[Bobby Bones]

But there's not. There's not many. I think people think they are that act.

[Reed]

Exactly.

[Dan]

Look, man, we got to be honest about the factors that determine that, right? Like, availability of. I mean, look, man. My best. Our best buddy is Luke Combs. Everybody in the world knows that by now. He played in Knoxville last weekend. My wife was like, we should go. I'm like, yeah, let's check out the prices. And everybody gets crazy.

[Reed]

Well, it wasn't the ticket. It's the Airbnbs and the hotels ruining my story here.

[Dan]

So

[Reed]

I'm pretty sure you cut mine off.

[Dan]

So I was talking to. She goes, oh, yes, this hotel room's $1,100 an hour. I was like, forget that, dude. We'll see Combs at his barn and make him play a few songs for our kids and go to the house. Like, it's cheaper to do that than to pay three nights for that. So we completely wrote it off, which in turn had me had a conversation. My best friend in life is Luke Combs, guitar player, and he said that even some of the. So they get the dates, right? They get the dates, like, a year in advance. Some of the band's family was booking Airbnbs in Knoxville because they knew that was. That the show was coming. And then Airbnb, or whatever the thing was, was canceling their stuff and rebooking, putting it available for four times as much. And his argument was, everybody's whining about Ticketmaster and how they gap price gouges. He said they ought to check some of these hotels, and Airbnb's doing that same thing because everybody in those towns are doing that. And I think that contributes to lack of fortune to go to these shows.

[Reed]

A plane, plane ticket, gas, if you're driving, the ticket to the concerts going up. I mean. And problem is, yeah, these. Some of these acts can't. It's not justifiable to do some of the venues that they're doing. And I don't know that. I don't know that most of them will go down in venue size to make it work.

[Bobby Bones]

I think, too, it's a bit of. My grandma would always say, your eyes are bigger than your belly is. And I think that's with management and agents more than it is the artist, where you have managers and agents going. We're gonna try to do a stadium. We're gonna try to do arena.

[Reed]

A million percent.

[Bobby Bones]

We're gonna risk it. We think it's close, but we think you can do it. And then when it doesn't, it doesn't look bad on the manager or the agent. No, it's kind of embarrassing for the artist, 100%. And the artist just wants to do shows.

[Dan]

They don't care.

[Reed]

I think what it does get, I think it gives an opportunity to be creative and figure out a way to do it a new way and more intimate and, like, really connect with fans instead of just going up there and standing on a stage and playing in front of 40,000 people and never, never engaging with them. I think it's got to. I think there's a real, real opportunity for somebody to engage in a way that. That they can do to make money as well as in a different way.

[Dan]

There's what you're saying, right?

[Bobby Bones]

Tickets are so expensive, dude.

[Reed]

Yeah, they're so expensive, but it ain't the ticket, dude. It's. It's. It's.

[Bobby Bones]

But I'm telling Trip, it's a weekend. It's also the ticket. I agree with you fully. And. But like, dynamic ticket pricing, I get. I get it. Grocery stores are doing that now, too, a little bit. Where it's like, well, yeah, some of them are starting to do that. Where it's like, the less that there are because it's higher in demand, we're going to make it more expensive, right?

[Dan]

Perfect bars. Golly. I'm so much. 280 apiece.

[Bobby Bones]

I just looked. They're $11 now a piece because they're out. Dynamic ticket pricing on perfect bars, man.

[Dan]

When I see my kids eating half of them things and throwing them down in the mud, I just want to.

[Reed]

I just pick it up and eat it.

[Dan]

Hug my kid.

[Reed]

I'm a trash can dude at my house. Nothing good. If I pay for it, it's getting eaten by someone.

[Dan]

Let's just say this dog to me. In the world, dude. In the world. If you're not balling out now, how do you afford anything, dude? I mean, it is the craziest thing to me that.

[Reed]

That.

[Dan]

That people are paying what they're paying. I mean, even to the Combs shows. I love him to death. And I'm like, man, these guys are spending five to eight GS to be here tonight. And they're going to four shows a

[Bobby Bones]

year, like, just to get really high tickets. You're gonna spend. You and your wife, you're gonna spend 5, 600 bucks to get the worst.

[Dan]

Seriously.

[Bobby Bones]

To get the worst high. Yeah.

[Dan]

So if you take a family of four to a show, you're out two G's just on tickets.

[Reed]

And, bro, a T shirt's $89. A hat, 60 bucks.

[Bobby Bones]

Everything's getting more expensive. And people aren't making the money, right?

[Dan]

No, yeah, they are not making the money.

[Reed]

But it's also becoming easier. And it's also becoming easier to view it in different mediums as well. And I think that's what people are doing it, too. I think people are. Oh, bro, you don't have to pay for a ticket to go see them anymore.

[Dan]

Sit on my couch and watch the Titans lose them.

[Reed]

That's what I'm saying. And used to. You could. Used to is the only way to do it was to pay a ticket to go see who you love. Now you can see them on YouTube. You can see them on Instagram. You see them on. It's not the same.

[Bobby Bones]

I get it.

[Reed]

I know. I get it, but.

[Bobby Bones]

I know, but it's easier.

[Reed]

It's something to think and go, oh, man. Well, I can just sit back on this one.

[Dan]

What do you think you had in on your first concert you ever went to?

[Bobby Bones]

I don't know. Church paid for it. I went to Diamond Rio. Church paid for that one. Church paid for Diamond Rio at Magic Springs theme park. It was awesome.

[Dan]

Church.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Reed]

Diamond Rio, man.

[Bobby Bones]

The first concert. Can't sing, bought tickets to. Oh, yeah, you can't sing on this show. Sorry.

[Dan]

One more day.

[Bobby Bones]

There you go.

[Reed]

You got a guitar sitting there. You can't even sing on the show,

[Bobby Bones]

but people will play it and go, like, let me show you how I did. Wrote this part of this song. They can do that. Like, the lead singer of Switchfoot was in. And I was like, hey, stars. Kind of sound. He's like, yeah, this is how it went from the bridge here. That's all fine. You don't gotta pay for that. First ticket ever bought at a concert was probably John Fogarty.

[Dan]

Good one.

[Bobby Bones]

And that was like. But also, you're talking, like, 25 years. That's like 18 bucks.

[Reed]

Yeah. Dude, that's.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, it used to be just a concert fee would be like three bucks, but now the fees are almost double the ticket price.

[Dan]

I just think in life, people are getting. Coming to the edge, dude. People are coming to the edge.

[Bobby Bones]

I think the bubble's about to pop for.

[Reed]

There's a tension.

[Dan]

We're not doing it anymore. Like, we're just not going to pay for it anymore.

[Bobby Bones]

But there are a few artists that can do stadiums, and those artists that are right below them are being encouraged to do. And then it's not working out, and it's kind of embarrassing for them because then the news runs with it.

[Reed]

Love it.

[Bobby Bones]

They love it.

[Reed]

Oh, dude, absolutely.

[Bobby Bones]

The. The stadium acts now, Wallen, Combs, Zach, Brian, those three. Because they do them currently. Sure. Kenny and country music. Garth for sure.

[Reed]

Think Eric could do it?

[Bobby Bones]

I think he could strategically do it.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I don't know that he wants to do it.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't either. And I don't think he invests enough in keeping him.

[Dan]

Agreed.

[Bobby Bones]

Like, he.

[Reed]

He don't care.

[Bobby Bones]

He does his own thing. He's not trying to stay extremely relevant, do a massive press tour and get new people to fall in love with him. I think those five. I think if you were to team some people up, you could do it. But even that's hard. Like George Strait with Stapleton does it.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

George Strait doing three shows a year can do it. But to do like Wallen and Combs and every weekend just go pop around and do frigging stadium, bro.

[Dan]

He's doing two shows at Lambeau.

[Reed]

Yeah, man.

[Dan]

He's doing Wembley.

[Reed]

Yeah. Three nights.

[Bobby Bones]

But to see that encourage you to go, man, maybe I can do that. If he can do that. And that is a hard jump from an arena to a stadium.

[Reed]

Oh, it's huge, man.

[Dan]

Big jump.

[Bobby Bones]

That is a hard. That's a jump from a big stadium. 22, 000 to 80 or 90, 000. You're like 4, 4 Xing it.

[Dan]

And let me just. Let me just say this for my boy, too, man. What does he got?

[Reed]

40? It's a 47. It's like 47.

[Dan]

But here's the tractor trainer. Here's the other sneaky.

[Bobby Bones]

He's got 47 trucks.

[Reed]

It's. Dude, it might be 147. I mean, there are.

[Dan]

Stadium shows are different when you're blocking off an end zone and doing a stadium show.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, yeah.

[Reed]

360 is crazy.

[Dan]

There is nothing blocked off. Dude. That is a complete 360. Every seat you can sit in. Is open. Yeah. I mean, what do you do at Knoxville? 92.

[Reed]

He did 97 in Ohio, bro.

[Dan]

Dude.

[Reed]

And I'm talking about. It looks like. It feels like. It feels like Elon Musk is about to send a SpaceX ship off this.

[Dan]

It does feel like they're gonna just go and just lift.

[Reed]

It's intense, man. It's intense. It's the wild. All this.

[Dan]

It's wild.

[Bobby Bones]

This is my coolest stadium story. It's a minor flex that I've told it before. It was April Fool's Day a few years ago, and I got a call from Finger, Quote, Garth Brooks on April Fool's Day. And Garth Brooks was like, hey, it's Garth. I didn't recognize the number, and I know Garth a little bit. I have Garth's number on my phone. It was from a number that wasn't Garth.

[Reed]

Did it sound like Garth?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, a little bit. And I had my wife come over, and I was like. I put it on mute. I was like, this guy says he's Garth. Listen. And so she comes over and I put it back on speaker, and he's like, hey, man, it's Garth. I'm gonna play Razorback Stadium. We're about to announce it in Arkansas. Would love for you to be the main support for me and Trisha. And I'm like, okay, yeah, I'm in. Hey, I'm in. I'll come play the stadium.

[Dan]

Garth. Yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

April Fool's. April Fool's Day, right? And I was like, yeah, count me in. And so he's like, cool, man. Hangs up. And he hung up so quickly. I was like, was that actually Garth? And my wife goes, I don't. It's April Fool's Day. Like, why would you believe anything on April Fool's Day?

[Reed]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And I'm like, okay. Next day, Garth's manager called and said, hey, you're gonna open. You're gonna be main support for Garth and Razorbike Stadium. I was like, was that real?

[Reed]

And he was like, that's a great story.

[Bobby Bones]

He was like, yes.

[Dan]

So it was Garth.

[Bobby Bones]

I played for 102,000 people. Biggest.

[Reed]

That's amazing.

[Bobby Bones]

Biggest show ever in Arkansas history. It was the Garth headline show in the round, Full stadium around. And before the show, because he had an opener.

[Reed]

And Mitch.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Reed]

And so he's a good buddy of mine.

[Bobby Bones]

And he was great.

[Reed]

He's great.

[Bobby Bones]

And Garth was like, hey, I don't want you to go on till it's dark. He came before I went on And I was like, that's so cool. Like, who would even think of that? And he said, because I want you to, like, experience this with the lights.

[Dan]

Pretty sick, dude.

[Bobby Bones]

It's pretty sick. And then he said. Then Garth said, I also. If you want to go over your time. Because he gave us 40 minutes, he said, if you want to go over your time, get yourself. Go over. Tricia was right next to him, and she goes, don't go over. And I was like, don't worry. I ain't going over.

[Reed]

I wasn't going to.

[Dan]

Wasn't going to in the first place.

[Bobby Bones]

No part of me was even thinking I was going to do 39, actually.

[Reed]

Tell me to go 30.

[Bobby Bones]

Yes, please. And then what was cool, though? He's like, hey, this is around, like you're talking about. It's exhausting to play that because you have to pay attention to everybody. He said, I want you to use the whole stage because people will feel like that you're not giving it to them because they're all around.

[Dan]

Yeah, you got to keep it moving.

[Bobby Bones]

And no one was there to see me. They were there to see Garth. But to see that, like, how much energy has to be done all the way around. There are people. It's sea to shining sea in the stadium. And for Combs to do that constantly and to not be 40 years old, that's crazy.

[Dan]

It's crazy.

[Reed]

Crazy, man. It's crazy. It's crazy experience.

[Dan]

I mean, as far as, like, what all goes into it, it's just the logistics are insane.

[Reed]

They don't make sense.

[Dan]

The night we're there, we're on the bus. I mean, I kind of busted Combs out on this, but he's like, y', all. We're standing. Y' all stand on the bus. We're like, all right, so we. We hang out, we eat, we warm up some pizza in a microwave. We eat that, we go to bed, and all of a sudden, we hear, like, 13 alarms go off.

[Reed]

This is in South Bend.

[Dan]

From his room, it's like,

[Reed]

please take shelter. Please take shelter.

[Dan]

He comes.

[Reed]

You were in the direct line of a tornado.

[Dan]

There's a tornado coming right for us. Everybody get off this bus and get inside the stadium right now.

[Reed]

We're like, hey, man, maybe we could just chill and see if it, like, comes.

[Dan]

He's like, no, off the bus. And Harp, his best lifetime buddy, is like, I don't want to do this, Lou.

[Reed]

Harp's like, look, false alarm. He's like.

[Dan]

He's like, going.

[Reed]

So it's we're running. We run through a torrential downpour. I already have my contacts in into the stadium. I don't even know I had a shirt on. Into the stadium in the locker room.

[Dan]

No, we were trying to get in. We were like, oh, yeah, it's like two o' clock in the morning. There's nobody in the stadium.

[Bobby Bones]

Did the tornado hit anywhere close?

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, it did.

[Dan]

Yeah, it came right through there.

[Reed]

It came right up just like south. Yeah, I think just south of South Bend.

[Bobby Bones]

So he was kind of right then.

[Dan]

I mean, the bus didn't get picked up and thrown away.

[Reed]

Oh, dude. I mean, like, there's a guy on YouTube that we all watch now that I've kind of put everybody on, and it's a weather guy and he's like, Ryan hall is saying to get into

[Dan]

cover, so we gotta get in that stuff right now. Put a helmet on. It was. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Did you guys have tornadoes growing up?

[Dan]

Oh, yeah. I feel like it's more now, though, dude.

[Reed]

Yeah, I feel like it is. Two more. I do feel like, though. And I tell people this and I hope my. I hope I've got a little.

[Dan]

I've got a little boy.

[Reed]

I got a little girl too. But like, when I was little and there was a tornado coming through, this is how much I trusted my dad, dude. I would. I would go to him and I'd go, hey, Dad. I was like, are we gonna be all right? And he'd be like, yeah, man, we're gonna be fine. And, dude, I would have gone out there and played basketball in it just. Cause the way I tr. Like I didn't know, but like, I remember being. Going to our neighbors over there that we used to go to the Morris's and going downstairs and. Yeah. And just playing video games and not being scared because dad said to not be scared when it could have been. We could have been absolutely direct hit.

[Bobby Bones]

But when Luke Combs says be scared,

[Reed]

do you be scared?

[Bobby Bones]

You also were scared.

[Dan]

I was not scared.

[Bobby Bones]

You were not scared.

[Dan]

I was completely fine. I was Team Harp. We were gonna stay on the bus, but, like, he was gonna drag us down.

[Reed]

Nobody staying on that bus.

[Dan]

He was gonna drag us out by our anchors.

[Reed]

Yeah. There was no way you're standing to

[Dan]

get in that if we had to.

[Bobby Bones]

We don't have basements here, which is odd because we have, like you said, a lot of tornadoes living in Nashville. And half, I was reading, are nocturnal tornadoes, which means we gotta freaking be butt puckered all night long. One of us has to Stay awake and watch. Because they hit at night here in Nashville, dude.

[Dan]

Why is that? It's very true.

[Reed]

It does feel like you called them nocturnal.

[Bobby Bones]

I didn't. I read about it.

[Reed]

It's kind of a cool name.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Half of the tornadoes that hit where we live are nocturnal. Tornadoes.

[Reed]

Night NATO. So nightmares. Night Naders.

[Dan]

Tornadoes.

[Bobby Bones]

We had a bunch growing up. We had a bunch in Arkansas.

[Reed]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Because Arkansas is not quite Oklahoma and Kansas, but it's close. So we would not have the worst version of it, but we had a bunch. And for, like, significant parts of my life at different times, I lived in different trailer parks. And what I remember most is when tornadoes would come. Everybody, this is. It sounds, you know, counterintuitive to what you do. Everybody gets out and they go to a ditch. You're outside, and you go to a ditch and you cover yourself. Because if you're in the tornado and not even if the tornado hits, if the heavy winds hit. Yeah.

[Reed]

The trailer smash, flying.

[Bobby Bones]

One of the memories that's, like, embedded into my mind is when tornadoes were coming. Everybody would be coming out of the trailers. Walking down to the ditch.

[Reed]

Yep.

[Bobby Bones]

And just getting down.

[Reed]

Sheesh. Crazy.

[Dan]

That's pretty nuts.

[Reed]

You do hear those stories of, like. Like, that's like. It hit the trailer park, and there was one guy holding onto the toilet, you know? Cause it was like. Like the house was gone. But he was sitting there, you know, strapped in.

[Bobby Bones]

Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor. This is the Bobbycast. Who have you had on your show recently that you did not expect to really like? Not that you didn't think you disliked them, but maybe you didn't know.

[Dan]

Didn't know.

[Bobby Bones]

But they came in and they left,

[Reed]

and you're like, legit Zach Top for me. I didn't know. I. We didn't know it from Adam. I loved his stuff. I loved the. The two records he did. And obviously, he's a monster, you know, playing the guitar, musician. And he can sing, you know, phone book. But, like, really, you know, not knowing anything about him, what he's like, what he likes, his interest, that. That emphasis or that conversation and interview was. I left going, man, I'm an even bigger fan of Zach Topp than I was originally.

[Dan]

I like Morgan Evans, dude. I thought he was such. He's a great guy.

[Reed]

Such a nice. Morgan's a great guy. I've known Morgan for a while.

[Bobby Bones]

Same. He's the greatest. He's just a great dude.

[Dan]

Yeah, he's a great dude.

[Reed]

Like, man's, man.

[Bobby Bones]

Like, just like, I feel like I could call him. If somebody was gonna beat me up, I could call him. If I needed some money, I could call. He would just be there. And, like, we have that relationship, though.

[Dan]

That's awesome.

[Bobby Bones]

I know you guys had some viral stuff with. I mean, I had some. Some, like, crazy stuff.

[Dan]

Yeah, some crazy stuff.

[Reed]

Well, because we piggybacked off that a little bit.

[Dan]

Thanks.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, great. I just. The Garth Morgan Nevin stuff for you guys.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, that's what I'm talking about.

[Reed]

But we talked about.

[Dan]

Yeah, we were talking about the guy that caught that. We really went nuts on the guy.

[Reed]

Yeah, the girl guy that called him a girl.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

You know, the guy that wears V necks with no shirts under him.

[Reed]

It's got blonde strips in his hair.

[Bobby Bones]

I tell you what, though. If I could pull that off, I would, though. That's the thing.

[Dan]

Oh, you would?

[Bobby Bones]

I think so.

[Dan]

I can't wait for that, though.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm not. I'm too old. Yes.

[Dan]

No. Cool. You're a cool guy.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm not.

[Dan]

Well, you're a cool guy.

[Reed]

I can see you going. Streaks. I wear.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I wear cardigans every day of my life. I think I'm cool because I don't chase it anymore. I chased it for a while.

[Dan]

You did.

[Reed]

That car's kind of screaming Chasey.

[Bobby Bones]

My car.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Dan]

What's his car? I was thinking about the shoes.

[Reed]

I'm guessing it's the. Probably the blue Porsche that's sitting right here.

[Bobby Bones]

No, it's a Lamborghini.

[Dan]

Chasey. Nothing says I want to blend like a blue Lamborghini.

[Reed]

Get it right. I'm not a car guy, so I don't know.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm not a car guy either. I know nothing. No. Know nothing about cars. My dream, my whole life was to have a Bentley. And when I.

[Dan]

Your whole life?

[Bobby Bones]

Well, as soon as I saw, like, rich people on tv, Bentley.

[Reed]

I want a Bentley.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. I was like, I want a Bentley with the bee.

[Reed]

That's the bee with the wings on.

[Bobby Bones]

You know what? It also was a bee. That makes sense because also, my name's

[Dan]

B. Yeah, it is. Twice.

[Bobby Bones]

I just connected. Well, not my real name.

[Reed]

How sick would it be to have a Bentley that had the BB on it? Dude, that's dirty.

[Dan]

Maybe it's coming, dude.

[Bobby Bones]

I told him he'll probably have one tomorrow. I didn't trade it in for that. Yeah. But I didn't. I got it and it was cool. And I was like, man, this all but it was so low to the ground, and it was like, I should have been dry. I should have been chauffeuring somebody.

[Reed]

It felt like somebody. If you really got a Bentley, you're riding in the back of it.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, it's a good point, too.

[Reed]

I didn't have a driver, and it

[Bobby Bones]

was a cool car, but I don't see very well. And I kept hitting potholes because this town sucks for potholes. And my wife's like, you have to have an suv. This is God's honest story. Truth. And I said, okay. So I finally had my dream car, to which my. When I first moved to town, I got a business manager, which was weird to me to pay somebody money to watch money.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

But then I was having to, like, pay percentages. And, Yeah, I felt like I was going to go to jail for paying for doing wrong. So I was like, I got to have a business manager.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And I said, my.

[Dan]

That broke boy mindset, though.

[Bobby Bones]

Very much.

[Dan]

I had the same.

[Bobby Bones]

Absolutely, very much. And I said, I really want it to get to the point where I make enough money to get a Bentley. And so for Christmas that next year, she gave me a remote control Bentley. She was like, this will do for now. I still have that remote control Bentley from when I first moved to town. But I bought that car. It was a big deal for me. And I kept having flat tires, and those rims are not cheap. So my wife says, you gotta get an suv. So I was like, let's go practical. And I bought the Lamborghini suv.

[Dan]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, there's a screw in my tire right now letting air out in your parking lot. And I have a big truck, so regardless of what you have, there's screws all over this town.

[Reed]

Lot of screws.

[Bobby Bones]

Why? When did that happen?

[Dan]

Well, we hopped in the truck today to pick Reed up, and he goes, hey, man.

[Reed]

I was like, your back. Left tire's flat.

[Dan]

We were coming.

[Bobby Bones]

You just sensed it. You're like the princess in the pea. You just get in a truck and know when a tire's low.

[Reed]

No, I looked at it. It was pancaked in my driveway.

[Bobby Bones]

He sits in. It's like, left. Nope. Right rear tire flat.

[Reed]

I'm a dude. I know what a flat tire looks like.

[Dan]

He goes, your back tire's flat. I was like, no, dude, everybody's.

[Reed]

He's like, get in. We're late. Come on.

[Dan]

I was like, we gotta go right now.

[Bobby Bones]

All right.

[Dan]

I whip it out. I'm like, let me just check. It's like 31, 31, 31. 13. I was like, oh, my God, that's happening right now.

[Reed]

We're rolling. We're already rolling down the road. And I'm like. He's like, oh, you weren't lying. My tire's flat.

[Dan]

He's like, I know what a flat tire looks like.

[Reed]

No shit.

[Dan]

What did you tell me? He's like, I did we rip it around?

[Reed]

That's the story of my life.

[Dan]

He's like, I can plug it real quick. I was like, no, dude, we're gonna be late. Just gas that thing up. We'll fill it up at a bp.

[Reed]

It'll be flat. It'll be flat.

[Dan]

It's going flat out.

[Reed]

We're gonna have to stop at the BP and do the whole tire thing. Well, you are.

[Bobby Bones]

That sucks.

[Dan]

No, it's fine.

[Bobby Bones]

Back in the day, you fill up with.

[Dan]

Fix a flat back in the day. I'd be really concerned about it today. I haven't thought about it until right now.

[Bobby Bones]

Cause you got songwriting rich. You can't call me out for having a Lamborghini and not admit your songwriting rich.

[Dan]

I can't say anything about you.

[Bobby Bones]

Lamborghini.

[Reed]

Dab me up, bro. Dab me up.

[Bobby Bones]

What song have you written that you made the most money from?

[Reed]

Reed kind of love we make.

[Bobby Bones]

Luke Combs kind of love we make. I'm not asking you how much. I would never do that to you. Call me out for a Porsche. And not even a Porsche. Dan.

[Reed]

Not a car guy. Car.

[Bobby Bones]

Guys, what song have you written that you made the most money from?

[Dan]

Oh, man.

[Reed]

His is kind of love too.

[Dan]

Probably better together. But it was a five week number one. It was in the heat. Heat of the Combs.

[Reed]

He's got a four week right now, bro.

[Dan]

I'm not saying he's not still on the rocket ship. I'm just saying this was the incline of the. I think I had like one of the. Well, I had the first big piano ballad, you know, and it just happened to really do good.

[Bobby Bones]

Do you guys get paper checks in the mail or does it just go to your bank?

[Dan]

We did for a long time. BMI would just send us. You get a check biannually, I think.

[Reed]

But now it's direct deposit and there's still some, like. There's still some publishing checks you can get in the mail. If you don't have it set up to go direct deposit.

[Dan]

It just makes sense to get direct deposit, though. It doesn't get lost.

[Bobby Bones]

You gotta convince me I'm familiar With how the direct deposit works, I just wondered if it actually just mailed it to you.

[Dan]

I'll tell you this, though. My wife knew what day it was. She'd be waiting, but she'd be standing by that.

[Reed]

Oh, yeah, they know.

[Dan]

They know when that thing was coming, baby.

[Bobby Bones]

I have nothing to say about that. I'm not jumping in that. They know. In case everybody's.

[Dan]

Bro, they.

[Bobby Bones]

That's just them.

[Reed]

He knows. They know. No, I'm looking at your camera too.

[Dan]

We know you. We know you. We know you know.

[Reed]

I'm looking at your camera for you and saying they know.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay, look, look. God's country podcast. You guys do a great job.

[Dan]

Is this over already?

[Bobby Bones]

We've done over an hour and your tire's flat. Now I'm starting to feel guilty. But your tire's flat out there. Cause that's all I could think about. If I were in here in your position and had a flat tire, All I would be thinking about is, oh, my God, I'm gonna walk out and I'm gonna be just on a nub, bro.

[Reed]

We literally filled it up with air and we got like. I was like, all right, it's good. And it was like.

[Dan]

I was like, let's get it.

[Podcast Promo Voice]

Oh, you can hear it.

[Reed]

I was like, you can literally hear it.

[Dan]

Well, I couldn't be late. Cause last time I was late.

[Bobby Bones]

You're very late. We started. We did the whole half the interview before you even got there.

[Dan]

Yeah, no, it wasn't. It wasn't. I wasn't that late. You just can't ever tell with Nashville traffic, man. They. They liable to be fixing potholes at

[Bobby Bones]

2 o' clock on Nashville traffic. Are you talking about the last video we did? You still apologizing for that one? Yeah, that was the latest anybody has ever been in the history, though, honest to God. In the history of me doing. That's the latest anybody's ever been 10 minutes. Yeah. Because once they hit about seven, I cancel it.

[Dan]

You didn't cancel us. Because he was already starting. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that. I understand that, actually. Unless it was out of my control, but I get it.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, it's all good.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Dan]

All right.

[Bobby Bones]

It's gonna have to be everybody. Check out the God's country podcast. I'm a fan of it.

[Reed]

Come back on.

[Bobby Bones]

We just did the thing. I'm happy to come back on.

[Dan]

I'd love to do this thing.

[Reed]

Oh, yeah, the thing.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, it's like, what am I gonna talk about? Unless we're talking.

[Reed]

Talk about Fishing or go fishing.

[Bobby Bones]

Unless we're.

[Reed]

Let's go. Let's do it. Let's go fishing. Podcast.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I would do that with you guys.

[Dan]

That'd be fun.

[Reed]

Book it.

[Bobby Bones]

I would do that. That would be fun.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Still running it over.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, I'm just going through my calendar. I'm a little busy that day.

[Dan]

Like, every day, forever. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I wanted. You heard me want to do it.

[Reed]

You know, actually, just going fishing without podcasting would be way more fun, so I think we're just gonna do that.

[Dan]

I just watched anxiety win.

[Bobby Bones]

I just saw real time.

[Reed]

That's exactly right.

[Dan]

Listen, you got to beat that devil down. I know you got to go, man. That sounds fun right now, and it'll be fun the day I do it.

[Bobby Bones]

How are you guys juggling your time, though, to make sure you do a quality show whenever? You guys are writing songs all the time.

[Dan]

H. We just go before.

[Reed]

We just go. Like, we. Like, there's. Honestly, like. Like, Jordan gives us a little prep sheet before the show and the night before, and we kind of research it. But, like, I know without a shadow of a doubt that when we walk into a room, it doesn't matter who we're with. Whatever show it is, it's going to be a good show. Like, I just. I. I've got complete 100% confidence in us.

[Dan]

They're not going to bomb.

[Reed]

At least. Yeah, nothing's going to. Nothing's going to fail.

[Dan]

And if we do bomb, it'll at least be funny. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

That's awesome. I feel the opposite. It's gonna suck.

[Dan]

We.

[Reed]

Oh, I feel that every time driving into town. But then I also know at the end of it, like, get that anxiety

[Dan]

double off your back, dude, you gotta beat him.

[Reed]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. I live it. But it's also my superpower. Honest to God, like, me being so. It pushes you very much so. I have to super focus.

[Reed]

That exhaustion thing we're talking about. Dial it in.

[Bobby Bones]

Very much so. I wasn't worried about you guys. Like, I like talking with you guys.

[Dan]

Did you wonder if we're gonna be on time?

[Bobby Bones]

No. No, not at all. I didn't remember that.

[Reed]

We were real close to being late.

[Dan]

Yeah, but it was legit this time.

[Reed]

We're gonna be late to whatever we gotta go to next because we gotta fix that tire.

[Bobby Bones]

What's next?

[Reed]

I don't even.

[Bobby Bones]

Are you writing?

[Reed]

No, it's Friday, dude. He writes on Friday.

[Dan]

One of my kids birthday parties tomorrow. And then the next day we're hosting, like, mama's mother's. At Mother's Day. It's why a lot coming down the chute.

[Bobby Bones]

Is it like a work thing or just like eight mothers? Like family, friends.

[Dan]

There's plenty of work involved, but it's a marriage thing. Yeah, got it.

[Reed]

They know we don't need to go there.

[Bobby Bones]

Dude, you guys speak so negatively. Like, the tone is just always so negative.

[Reed]

What do you mean?

[Bobby Bones]

They know we don't got to go there.

[Dan]

What do you mean always? Always.

[Bobby Bones]

It was brought up twice. It was just so negative.

[Dan]

Twice is a long way from always. Yeah. All right, well, guys, is a long way from do it.

[Reed]

Yeah. Twice a long way from always.

[Bobby Bones]

Now is that song had been published.

[Dan]

It just got published because we co wrote it.

[Bobby Bones]

That's three of us. That's not how it works. It's not publishers. Because you sing it. That's like, I declare bankruptcy and then

[Dan]

going, we just see, we got to turn it around.

[Reed]

Yeah, we just. We just. Yeah, yeah. We just trademarked it by singing it recorded also.

[Bobby Bones]

That's not how that works.

[Reed]

I thought that's how that worked.

[Bobby Bones]

Gotta be a brand.

[Dan]

We don't know anything work.

[Bobby Bones]

We should do some legal. I get you out of legal. Zoom.

[Reed]

Subscribe now. We're good. All right.

[Dan]

I'm good.

[Bobby Bones]

All right. God's country podcast.

[Dan]

I think I'd rather go to jail actually, than do that with me.

[Bobby Bones]

Subscribe. Check them out. They know country music. They live country music. They write country music. They bring on the greatest artists and country music to come on. And you guys do a great job. Seriously. I told you this for a long time. So, yeah, you guys check out God's country podcast and we will see you guys later on this week. All right, bye, everybody. This has been a Bobby Kast production. Foreign.

[Podcast Sponsor/Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Reed]

Guaranteed Human.