BOBBYCAST - Little Big Town on Almost Breaking Up, Luxury Guilt & What Comes Next

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bobby Bones Show – BOBBYCAST: Little Big Town on Almost Breaking Up, Luxury Guilt & What Comes Next

Date: July 23, 2026
Host: Bobby Bones
Guests: Karen Fairchild & Kimberly Schlapman (Little Big Town)
Episode Theme:
An intimate, relaxed conversation with Karen and Kimberly of Little Big Town about family, parenting, the band’s journey and struggles, handling success and setbacks, dealing with luxury guilt, career longevity, their new music, and what lies ahead.

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Episode Overview

In this BobbyCast episode, Bobby Bones welcomes Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman of country supergroup Little Big Town to talk candidly about their 26-year journey in music, growing through personal and collective adversity, finding balance in success, the challenges of parenting, and the making of their upcoming album It's a Dying Art (out August 28). Listeners are treated to memorable anecdotes from the band’s early days, real talk on mental health and family, discussion of evolving in the industry, and the unvarnished truth of long-term collaboration.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Early Parenting, Family Dynamics, and Generational Upbringing

• (03:49–10:16) The episode begins with warm, funny stories about Bobby’s new baby daughter and the learning curve of parenting. The conversation covers differences in childhoods, aspirations for raising strong daughters, and the tension between shielding kids from adversity and letting them grow resilient.
  • Notable Quote:
    Karen: “That’s when it gets good, when they start crawling and smiling... and then when they get older and don’t want to talk to you anymore. That’s not fair.” (05:58)
  • The trio swaps stories about balancing love vs. “adversity” in parenting methods and how their upbringings inform their approach with their own children.

Santa Claus, Parenting Philosophies, and Family Culture

• (10:28–14:51) Bobby debates whether to “do Santa Claus” for his daughter, worried about honesty and not wanting her to feel tricked or excluded at school. Karen and Kimberly share their fun Santa traditions, parental regrets, and how childhood myths morph into questions about life and belief.
  • Notable Quote:
    Karen: “I have a friend... she chose not to do the Santa thing. She so regrets it because she feels like she deprived them of that wonderment and joy and curiosity.” (12:03)

Then vs. Now: Technology, Memory, and Social Skills

• (15:31–22:52; 26:21–28:13) A nostalgic reflection on growing up with payphones, no cell phones, and memorizing phone numbers, contrasting with today’s tech-reliant, ultra-connected (yet sometimes disconnected) lives.
  • Karen and Kimberly reminisce about surviving teenage years without GPS or cell phones, learning real-world navigation, and how today’s youth face unique challenges.
  • Notable Quote:
    Karen: “If I got hit one time by a tractor-trailer... used a payphone to call my dad. Who did I think I was?” (21:56)

Effects of COVID-19 on Kids and Creative Lives

• (28:15–31:22) The group discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, social skills, and their own work. The pandemic forced a reevaluation of priorities, brought unexpected blessings (Bobby met his wife), and created a collective pause amid chaos.
  • Memorable Moment:
    Kimberly recounts how she almost gave up homeschooling during lockdown, highlighting universal pandemic struggles.

Almost Breaking Up: Band Survival Through Grief and Setbacks

• (31:40–36:35) Intimate look at Little Big Town’s lowest moments—including after Kimberly’s husband passed away—when band members shielded, protected, and supported each other through grief while on the road, pre-stardom.
  • Notable Quote:
    Kimberly: “There was a very specific dinner... I couldn’t get any farther than that. And I just left. And they were always so gracious. They just held me together.” (33:30) Karen: “We had like signals to get her out of the room... We were family.” (34:05)
• Reflection on the myth that their success was immediate:
  Kimberly: “People don’t know that for six years nothing happened except for bad things... we got dropped and nobody wanted anything to do with us.” (36:08)

Navigating Fame, Luxury, and Guilt

• (43:01–47:16) The band and Bobby open up about guilt and awkwardness that can come with financial success and luxury, whether it’s being gifted designer bags or dealing with TMZ exposing home purchases.
  • Karen: “You don’t have to apologize for your Louis bag. I’ve stayed at so many Howard Johnson’s across the street.” (44:29)
  • The fun of moving up in the world is weighed against the humility of remembering their earliest, grittiest gigs (e.g., sleeping at Howard Johnson’s, driving their own van).

Age, Confidence, and Letting Go of Perceptions

• (47:42–48:05) The group celebrates the growth that comes with age—worrying less about people’s opinions and setting boundaries for mental health (Bobby only checks comments on Tuesdays).
  • Notable Quote:
    Kimberly: “I care about what people say, but I don’t really care what they say about me anymore. I love that.” (46:42)

Being Misunderstood & The “Challenger” Personality

• (52:09–54:19) Vulnerable moments exploring how strong personalities (and being a woman in country music) are often misread, and the importance of toughness, loyalty, and fighting for justice.
  • Notable Quote:
    Karen: “I think eights get misunderstood. But luckily, we have a little bit of tough... I crave justice.” (53:56)

Industry Memories & Working with Country Legends

• (54:42–56:46) Lighthearted memories of industry events, late night TV performances, and playing major tribute concerts—like Alan Jackson and George Strait’s stadium show.
  • Kimberly and Karen reminisce about the awe of sharing the stage with heroes, the magnitude of those moments, and their ongoing relationships with industry veterans.

Tenacity, Longevity, and Band Dynamics

• (58:42–61:15) Raw honesty about the unique mix of insecurity, ego, and work ethic necessary for a lasting music or media career.
  • Karen: “Tenacity is what pushes people over the line to really get to a goal... I’m going to work my ass off... Nobody tells us when we quit.” (59:18; 59:48)
• Bobby and the band agree that perseverance—not talent alone—sets successful people apart.

The Early Days: Humble Gigs, Loss & Learning

• (61:56–63:35) Hilarious and humbling stories about losing and regaining buses, going back to the van, opening for George Jones in Branson, and realizing the markers of “making it” (bus, guitar tech).
  • Memorable Moment:
    “You know it’s a big moment when you get a bus... It’s even bigger when you lose a bus.” (62:51)

Parenting, Privilege, and Values

• (63:54–65:20) Karen gently challenges Bobby’s ideas about “building character” for his daughter, noting how childhood expectations reflect a parent’s own upbringing.
  • Notable Quote:
    Karen: “You’ll see in your parenting that you will often be parenting yourself... especially with your background and the struggles you went through.” (64:54)

Favorite Sad Songs

• (65:27–68:09) In honor of Little Big Town’s new single “Sucker for a Sad Song,” the guests and Bobby discuss their all-time favorite sad songs (e.g. “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “Whiskey Lullaby,” “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am”).
  • Notable Quote:
    Bobby: “All my favorite songs are sad songs. Because I can feel.” (65:44)

Upcoming Album: “It’s a Dying Art”

• (69:09–71:00) The new album title is clarified to represent authenticity and “artistry” in an age of AI and superficiality—not a hint at the band quitting.
  • Notable Quote:
    Karen: “It says everything about where we feel like, as artists, we want to be, which is getting back to all things that we actually do with our voices and instruments and art.” (69:39)

Building Community: Bringing New Artists on Tour

• (82:36–83:41; 86:59–87:19) Karen and Bobby praise the importance of nurturing new talent on the road and bringing openers like Zac Brown Band, Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, and Brothers Osborne.
  • Notable Quote:
    Karen: “There’s such a value in having a discovery of an artist in front of us... I love those moments where I’m dying to get dressed early so I can watch side stage.” (82:55, 83:17)

Bobby's "Educational Kid's Rap"

• (84:47–88:29) On a lighter note, Bobby shares a story about his kids’ record—“Raging Kitties”—and performs part of his educational planets song, displaying the same blend of humor and heart that defines the episode.

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Notable Quotes

• “People think when Boondocks came out, that was the first music we ever made... but it wasn’t.” – Emily/Kimberly (36:19)
• “We quit when we want to quit. No one tells us when we quit.” – Karen (59:48)
• "You know it’s a big moment when you get a bus. It’s even bigger when you lose a bus.” – Karen (62:51)
• “Tenacity... gives us a chance to entertain. That little drive in there... I’m going to show up and not take no for an answer.” – Karen (59:18, 59:48)
• “I love being in my 50s because I’m not worried about what everybody around me thinks about me.” – Kimberly (46:42)
• “There’s enough room at the table.” – Karen (78:08)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Karen on Parent Guilt & Childhood (05:58–06:11)
• Santa Claus and Parenting Truths (10:28–14:51)
• Tech Nostalgia and Memory (15:31–22:52; 26:21–28:13)
• COVID's Impact on Kids and Life (28:15–31:22)
• Band Grief & Not Quitting (31:40–36:35)
• Upward Mobility / Luxury Guilt (43:01–47:16)
• Being Misunderstood/Eight Enneagram (52:09–54:19)
• Tenacity and Band Survival (58:42–61:15)
• Early Career Humbling (61:56–63:35)
• Parenting Philosophy (63:54–65:20)
• On Sad Songs (65:27–68:09)
• Album Title Meaning (69:09–71:00)
• Nurturing New Artists (82:36–83:41, 86:59–87:19)
• Bobby’s Planet Song (84:47–88:29)

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Episode Tone and Takeaways

Friendly, open-hearted, and self-deprecating humor runs through the entire episode. The conversation is unguarded and insightful, giving fans an inside look at the real lives of working musicians and long-time friends, staying grounded amid fame, and the importance of resilience and mutual support.

For fans, musicians, and anyone navigating career, family, and self-growth, this episode is an inspiring reminder that longevity and happiness are about community, self-awareness, and the willingness to keep showing up—during the good, the bad, and the weird.

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Upcoming:
Little Big Town’s album It’s a Dying Art out August 28;
New single “Sucker for a Sad Song” (with Ashley Monroe);
Art of It Fall Tour (tickets at littlebigtown.com)

Transcript

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

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[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Hey, everybody. I'm Tareka Fosta Brasby. What's up, y'?

[Michael Rapoport]

All?

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

I'm your girl, Sheryl Swoooobs. When you tune in to a new episode of our podcast, Levels to this, you're definitely gonna get some spicy WNBA analysis. But we're more than just hoops, and the real conversation is what we actually bring. It's been really, really cool seeing kind of these women just really step into their power off the court and understand that they are basketball, right? And they're not asking for permission. Listen to Levels to this with Sheryl Swoopz and Tareka Foster brasby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mangesha Tegular]

I'm Mangesha Teegular, and I'm back with a new season of my podcast, Skyline Drive. This time I talk to scientists, biopunks, curmudgeons, blue zoners, super seniors, and Goa's top cryotherapy lab to try to understand this obsession with living forever and what it means for all of us. And I get into a bit of trouble along the way.

[Emily Oster]

I'd say probably start bone smashing.

[Karen Fairchild]

That doesn't work.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

To make it look more defined.

[Emily Oster]

They say it works.

[Karen Fairchild]

I don't know.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Listen to Skyline Drive, how to live Forever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Emily Oster]

I'm Emily Oster.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

I'm an economist and data expert.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

And I'm Perry Wilson.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm a medical doctor.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

And this is our new podcast, Wellness.

[Bobby Bones]

Actually, you're getting a staggering amount of health and wellness information, and some of

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

it is awesome and some of it is, well, actually, bull. Fortunately, we're both people who know how to read studies and can tell you what's worth trying out and what you can safely ignore.

[Bobby Bones]

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

[Karen Fairchild]

I got hit one time by a tractor trailer and it swung me around the highway. I climbed down to a cellular one store or something and used a phone, a payphone to call my dad. And I told the truck driver, I said, don't leave. Stay here. You hit me. Don't move.

[Bobby Bones]

So we got two of the voices behind one of the most iconic groups in country music. So joining me in studio will be Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman from Little Big Town. They've been making music together for nearly three decades with massive songs like Boondocks Jam, Pontoon Jam, Girl Crush. You get the point. Better Man Day Drinking, Tornado. They have so many awesome songs, but it's about their new music because they are back with a brand new album. The album is called It's a dying art, out August 28, plus a new single called Sucker for a Sad Song with Ashley Monroe. And they're going out on tour for the Art of It tour this fall. Get [e-mail] they are so good live. They always have a great opener as well. We'll talk about all that. So here's my conversation with with Karen and Kimberly of Little Big Town. Good to see you guys.

[Karen Fairchild]

Good to see you.

[Bobby Bones]

Before we started this, we were talking about kids. I just had one.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, look at me.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm going to show you guys this video.

[Karen Fairchild]

I love her name.

[Bobby Bones]

Thanks. Yeah, thanks. I really was rooting for Bobby with an I. Bobby.

[Emily Oster]

That's what they call my mama. Her name's Barbara and they call her Bobby.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, that's a good nickname. My wife said we're not naming a kid after you.

[Karen Fairchild]

I like your wife.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I do too. Yeah, she's the only person that's ever really just like, whipped me around.

[Michael Rapoport]

Aww.

[Emily Oster]

Then it's meant to be. I didn't mean that to come out.

[Bobby Bones]

No, you're right. No, no, you're right. You're right. Like, she challenges me sometimes and it's so frustrating to lose.

[Emily Oster]

Aw.

[Karen Fairchild]

Look at how different your life is from where it was. Like, think about it. We've known you a long time.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, wow.

[Bobby Bones]

It's very different. And I say that in the most complimentary way. Like, the crazy thing about my wife is I felt like, and I've been pretty gifted to be pretty quick, just naturally. Right. I could just go into any sort of argument, debate, and just figured out myself in the middle of it. That ended so quick. Ended so quick.

[Emily Oster]

It's really sweet.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I know she's my wife's awesome, but man, she like, beats me and stuff.

[Karen Fairchild]

She's Stunningly beautiful.

[Emily Oster]

She's a challenge.

[Bobby Bones]

This is our four month old.

[Emily Oster]

Oh my stars. That hair.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. It's crazy.

[Gary Valenciano]

It's crazy.

[Karen Fairchild]

Oh, her eyes too.

[Emily Oster]

She had me wrapped around her finger.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

She laughed for the first time last night. Like hard laugh. And I was laughing so hard that she was laughing that she was laughing back at me.

[Karen Fairchild]

Oh yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

What's crazy is that now she knows who I am.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Because for a long time and my therapist told me because I had all these issues with, I didn't have a dad or parents or anything. So what? I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. I don't have a model. And so my therapist was like, do not have any sort of judgment on yourself when you have that baby because that baby doesn't need you as a dad. It won't even be able to see you really. And so she's just now starting to like know who I am. And that's pretty cool. That's how I felt like when you guys learned who I was, I was like, that's pretty cool.

[Karen Fairchild]

That's when it gets good, when they start. When they start like coming towards you crawling and smiling and laughing. And then when they get older and they don't want to talk to you anymore. That's not fair.

[Bobby Bones]

Everyone has told me because obviously we have a girl. And I think you guys could speak on this because your kids are older than our baby's four months old, that boys are harder earlier than girls get harder later. And I would assume that's because of hormones, just generally speaking. Would you guys find that to be accurate?

[Emily Oster]

She has a boy and I have two girls.

[Bobby Bones]

So you have nothing to compare it to really then, I mean, we know

[Karen Fairchild]

our kids, I mean we know our kids, each other's children really well. I wouldn't say that a 16 year old boy in this day and age is easy, you know, like he's just a rambunctious kid. He always has been and he's hilarious and funny and. But man, just social media and living in this day and age, it is just not easy on teenagers. But yeah, is it easy? Yeah. I just get worried he's driving now, you know, so that brings on a whole different. It's so set of worries. But girls, I don't know you'd have to speak to that.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, girls, they're amazing. And what I wanted in my girls was for them to grow up as strong women, which I've kind of always been a pushover. And I wanted them to be strong and Stand up for themselves.

[Karen Fairchild]

You're not really a pushover.

[Emily Oster]

But not anymore. But dang it, that's hard to raise. It's hard to raise a strong little girl. As a matter of fact, I just got off the phone with my 9 year old and her 19 year old sister is taken her to her doctor's appointment just to check up today. And I was like, did you take a shower? No. Remember when you pinky promised? Because she doesn't break pinky promises. Remember when you pinky promised mommy you would take a shower? Yes. I'm really sorry. And I said okay, well I need you to get in the shower. It's going to take you four minutes. Just hop in there real fast. Karen helped her learn how to take a super duper fast shower. And so not that Karen does that, but she was helping me out when

[Karen Fairchild]

I had military showers.

[Emily Oster]

Military shower.

[Karen Fairchild]

When we went over with the USA to Afghanistan, it's three minutes but she

[Emily Oster]

can't quite get it done in three minutes. So we call it a four minute. So anyway, I was like, okay, go take your clothes off, get in there in the shower. I'm already dressed and my hair is already fixed. Okay, it's okay. You're going to the doctor. Get in the shower. Okay. But it's probably not going to happen. And I was like, oh kiddo. Okay, so if you don't get in the shower, you're going to be punished. Okay, so that's what she said. So I'm. So I said okay. So you'd rather get punished than take a four minute shower? Yes. Alrighty then. Now I gotta think up a punishment. That's the stinkin hardest thing to do. Now I gotta go home with a big punishment in my back pocket.

[Bobby Bones]

It's crazy. She's nine. That blows my mind.

[Emily Oster]

And she's amazing.

[Karen Fairchild]

So funny and so spicy and so awesome. Great.

[Emily Oster]

Both of my girls are just, oh wonderful.

[Bobby Bones]

We have in our, we're just celebrated five years of being married and then we have this baby that's four months old. And my wife has a really loving, nurturing family. They're the best. I love them. They're amazing. She had a different upbringing and she's all about love and support and the, you know, making sure that the baby always feels a certain way. And me, I'm like, adversity, we need to start now. Weighted vests. Do they make weighted vests for babies? Because we need to right now start building that strength.

[Karen Fairchild]

It's gonna come. It's so fast. Adversity. Just enjoy the lack of tension now,

[Bobby Bones]

that's what she says. She says adversity's gonna happen.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And I just want to, whenever she gets old enough, have her be so equipped for the real world that if she needs to hug it or punch it in the face, she's ready either way.

[Karen Fairchild]

And maybe.

[Bobby Bones]

Maybe it's both in the same day.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yep.

[Bobby Bones]

My wife just wants to love, and I. You know, it's a good balance, I think. Yeah. And so that's. Oh, so here's an issue.

[Emily Oster]

We're having adversity. You already have it.

[Bobby Bones]

Well. And if you have a kid listening, that's very young. If you guys are watching on Netflix with the kids, run away. So I'm talking about Santa Claus for a second.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't want to. There's two reasons I don't want Santa Claus to exist. One, I don't want my daughter to be at school and she thinks there's this mysterious man flying, and other kids know there's not. And then she feels dumb because one, she finds out we lied to her. Or two, there were other kids that knew something she didn't know. Like, I have that right. I also never believed in Santa Claus, so I sure that's the real reason. And then two, it's. I want the credit. So it's those. It's those two things.

[Karen Fairchild]

You're honest. I love it.

[Bobby Bones]

And my wife thinks about herself when she was younger and somebody get up on the roof and do the jingle bells, and there'd be tracks. And we were talking about this in our couples therapy, and eventually I'll just give in. But mine is no Santa. We don't know this guy. So did you guys have that at all, the Santa drama, or does everybody just. You guys just in.

[Karen Fairchild]

We were in.

[Emily Oster]

In. You know what you're gonna love is that it's gonna bring you so much joy. Watching her see what Santa Claus brought is gonna bring you, as her daddy, so much joy. Just watching her little face that.

[Bobby Bones]

But what about what Daddy brought?

[Karen Fairchild]

Well, yeah, but you're gonna bring things, too.

[Emily Oster]

Daddy and Santa.

[Karen Fairchild]

There's Daddy presents. There's Daddy and mommy presents, and then there's Santa presents. Now, I have a friend that is my age, one of our college buddies, and at the time, she chose not to do the Santa thing. She so regrets it because she chose not to. She feels like she really deprived them of that wonderment and joy and curiosity. And hers were for different reasons than yours is. I mean, she might have wanted the credit, but I think it was More about.

[Bobby Bones]

That was second, by the way. Credit was second. I want to get that.

[Emily Oster]

We get the school thing. I get the school thing.

[Karen Fairchild]

The school thing is hard because when they get to a certain age, you start getting really nervous. Like, oh, God.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't want her to feel dumb because other kids are like, we can't believe you believe in Santa. You dumb, dumb. And she's like, oh, no. She comes on crying, and the next thing you know, it's like, yeah, we lied.

[Emily Oster]

I don't think you ever have. I don't think you have to say we lied. I think you. Because, like, I never thought about that with. With my parents. Santa Claus always came and still does. And I never felt. I never felt betrayed.

[Karen Fairchild]

I didn't either.

[Emily Oster]

And also, you can always show Santa up. Daddy's presents are even better than Santa.

[Bobby Bones]

So my wife made that negotiation. She said, hey, what if we make sure that our presents are always better than Santa's? His can be the B tier.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the plan.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. I mean, we always said we weren't gonna go overboard. And then he went overboard. Then you buy the drum set. Then you buy the art table. And then you're like, but we need cute chairs at the art table. And he's like, you know, they don't know what you're doing, but it's like. And then we're up all night, and

[Emily Oster]

we're like, oh, my word.

[Karen Fairchild]

There's an entire basement of things that have to be put together. I will say Jimmy would tell you that he knew for a few years about Santa and pretended to not know because he loved it so much. So he just.

[Bobby Bones]

That's an aware child.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, he just would, like, go with it. Cause he was the last of all the kids. But that kind of tells you, too, like a child's heart. They really do love it. Your kid's gonna be, like, tough and smart.

[Bobby Bones]

You think?

[Karen Fairchild]

Right when she figures it out, then she'll be like. She'll be like, why didn't you tell me? And you'll see, Mom.

[Bobby Bones]

No, that's what I'm gonna say.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Mom.

[Karen Fairchild]

Mom's fault.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, Mom. She said to lie.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Emily Oster]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

So that's what we did. And that's on her. So. Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

Elijah asked me one time if Superman was real. And I said, well, because he's kind of going through all these, like, characters. And then that led to, well, is Jesus real? Like, their little brains start really going like, yeah, well, if this isn't real, then who is real? You know, like, did you have to

[Bobby Bones]

have the tough conversation about aliens that they are?

[Karen Fairchild]

I have not.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay.

[Karen Fairchild]

Jimmy would do that.

[Bobby Bones]

You need to call me. Yeah. Okay.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. Like, I don't really feel like I have time for that. I don't have. I have so much on my mind, I can't think about aliens.

[Emily Oster]

Jimmy's got that covered.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, Jimmy and Philip have that down.

[Bobby Bones]

I prefer to call them non human origin, but just for the sake of

[Karen Fairchild]

that non human origin.

[Bobby Bones]

Alien. Just so we can.

[Karen Fairchild]

Do you used to listen to that radio show, the one that was after midnight? No, no, that was.

[Bobby Bones]

That was Cody Allen.

[Karen Fairchild]

That was Cody.

[Emily Oster]

Cody Allen is not an alien. What was that? Across America? Something. Across something.

[Karen Fairchild]

Does anybody know? Because when we were driving around in a van, that was our thing to stay up so that we wouldn't fall asleep. And we had two in the back and then one staying up with the driver.

[Bobby Bones]

Was it like a national show where an older guy was always talking about paranormal stuff? Yes.

[Karen Fairchild]

And it was like wormholes. And Philip was so into that. Yes, Philip and Jimmy. They loved it.

[Bobby Bones]

So they're not anymore.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, they still are.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, yeah, me too.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, they're in.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Do you know why they're not here, by the way? I mean, I know why they're not here. Do you know why they're not here? We don't have four microphones. Oh, did you guys wonder why. Oh, we're going without the full band. I don't ever do four people. I don't have four microphones.

[Emily Oster]

Girls versus boys.

[Karen Fairchild]

We weren't. I didn't. I don't think they took it personally. They were.

[Emily Oster]

They didn't. Wait, didn't they.

[Karen Fairchild]

I mean, I hate it for you that you're missing the soccer game.

[Bobby Bones]

That's okay. It's not America. I don't give a crap.

[Karen Fairchild]

You kind of don't want to watch Messi, though.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm just not soccer.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I tried. I've gone to things in foreign countries. I went to watch. What's the game where they bounce it and it hits three sticks.

[Emily Oster]

Bocce.

[Bobby Bones]

No, that's what old people play in Florida. I'm talking about the game in India. But it's.

[Karen Fairchild]

They do it in Miami, too. It's B. It has the long curved.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, so? So it's not bocce, but maybe you're onto something. What is that called? Mike? It's like the. It's India's biggest sport. I went to one of those in Australia. I just don't know enough rules. I've Gone to soccer games. What is it you talking about?

[Michael Rapoport]

Cricket.

[Bobby Bones]

Maybe it's cricket.

[Karen Fairchild]

Oh, well, cricket is the long, skinny, like, paddle thing.

[Bobby Bones]

Which one did you do? What was your shape?

[Karen Fairchild]

But,

[Bobby Bones]

well, who has. Claude, if it's. Yeah, I know. If it's. What'd you say? Nothing. If it's not an American sport. Football, baseball, basketball. And I'm way into those sports.

[Karen Fairchild]

Oh, I know you are, but.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I just. Growing up in Arkansas, we didn't have soccer.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, we didn't either.

[Karen Fairchild]

In Georgia, North Georgia, I played soccer, but that was Atlanta. Indiana. Indiana. Outside of Chicago, so it was kind of coming up as a sport.

[Bobby Bones]

You played soccer till what age?

[Karen Fairchild]

Just like, young. Because when I moved to Atlanta, then I didn't play.

[Emily Oster]

We didn't have it.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, in Georgia.

[Bobby Bones]

But you guys didn't go to elementary school together. You went to high school together.

[Karen Fairchild]

College together.

[Bobby Bones]

Got it.

[Karen Fairchild]

We lived down the hall.

[Bobby Bones]

Where in college?

[Karen Fairchild]

Sanford and Birmingham.

[Bobby Bones]

So you guys were in the. Were you in the dorms at the same time?

[Karen Fairchild]

Un air conditioned dorm. She lived like. I lived on the corner and she lived about six doors down.

[Emily Oster]

You know how we met? We were both in the a cappella choir. And we and Sanford back then, for the choir, always had choir camp, where we went to Muscle Shoals for a few days, and we met on the bus going to choir camp, and we realized we were both from Georgia. I was sitting behind her and she was in front of me, and we struck up a conversation. And that was a long, long time ago.

[Bobby Bones]

Were you guys friends pretty instantly, or were you.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Did you guys sing together instantly?

[Emily Oster]

We did.

[Karen Fairchild]

We did. Because we were in that. Which is a really, really incredible musical experience. Like, to be in a 45 person a cappella choir that really. It was like, at such a high level. She was in the school of music. I was not. I didn't read music. She did. So that was a little more challenging for me. Not. Not so much singing the parts, but learning them off a page because they're very complicated.

[Emily Oster]

You could sing them by ear.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, fast. Anyhow, that's how we met. And then we audition, like a smaller group. Kind of think like Glee.

[Bobby Bones]

Smaller big town.

[Emily Oster]

Smaller big town.

[Karen Fairchild]

Like a 16 person, 12 person.

[Emily Oster]

It was called the Samford Singers, The Sanford Singers.

[Karen Fairchild]

We basically did recruitment for the college, like, you know, and went around and sang, and then we both made that.

[Bobby Bones]

Did you move here together?

[Emily Oster]

Mm.

[Karen Fairchild]

Mm.

[Emily Oster]

Separately. She came first. I came about six months later.

[Bobby Bones]

Did you know she was going to come? Did you know you were gonna Come or did you just go, like. I don't know. What was that?

[Karen Fairchild]

I came on my. I came on my own, like, in 94.

[Bobby Bones]

Was it your plan to always come?

[Emily Oster]

Mm.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay.

[Emily Oster]

Yep. Yeah. And we. Back then, we were just kind of doing our own thing. We didn't have any plans whatsoever of doing anything together, you know, when we were grown up, did we have.

[Karen Fairchild]

We had cell phones in 94?

[Bobby Bones]

I didn't.

[Emily Oster]

I don't think so.

[Karen Fairchild]

We didn't. So, like, the only way we talked was getting on the phone.

[Emily Oster]

Yes. And I remember. I remember one time when I called you and said on my house phone and said I was coming to Nashville, and I knew you were already there.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, that's right. And then you called me and said, yeah, you want to eat lunch one day? I just. I'm here. Yeah. That is so weird to think about not having a phone.

[Emily Oster]

I know.

[Bobby Bones]

We have an odd generation because we got to have no connection.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

At a high level of us, our thinking capacity and our awareness and then all connection.

[Emily Oster]

That's true.

[Bobby Bones]

It's a really odd age for us to be because we got to experience it all. Because I remember no Internet. I remember having to have somebody drive me into the local public library, and I would get into a chat room, and you write a message and push Enter and it would refresh the screen. I thought the Internet was so crazy, but I had to have somebody drop me off and, like, 10th or 11th grade to do that.

[Michael Rapoport]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I had a pager.

[Emily Oster]

You had a pager? I didn't have a pager.

[Gary Valenciano]

Did you?

[Karen Fairchild]

No, not until. No. No. But I just. I think about, like, Elijah now, driving around without. Like, we would just hop in the car and go. I would just drive all over Atlanta by myself. And then as a 17, 16 year old.

[Emily Oster]

But our parents didn't know any better.

[Karen Fairchild]

Well, yeah.

[Emily Oster]

No.

[Karen Fairchild]

And if I. If I. I got hit one time by a tractor trailer, and it swung me around the highway. I climbed down off of. What is that?

[Emily Oster]

Spaghetti Junction?

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. I climbed down to a Cellular One store or something and used a phone, a payphone to call my dad. And I told the truck driver, I said, don't leave. Stay here. You hit me. Don't move. Who did I think I was?

[Bobby Bones]

Did he move?

[Karen Fairchild]

No, he stayed there.

[Emily Oster]

No, he stayed right there.

[Bobby Bones]

We also had to remember phone numbers.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yes. That was so good for our brain. I still remember my home phone number.

[Karen Fairchild]

I don't.

[Emily Oster]

404-778-2306.

[Bobby Bones]

I remember mine. I think somebody still has it like somebody. And I've said it before on shows and people started calling it oh no. And so that person doesn't like when I do that. But I remember that number too. There's like four numbers that I still remember from being a kid.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, me too. My best friend.

[Bobby Bones]

But we don't remember numbers. We never had to get places.

[Michael Rapoport]

Gps.

[Emily Oster]

It's not good for our brains. We used to have to remember how to get somewhere. Now we can multitask while we drive, and that is not a good thing.

[Bobby Bones]

Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

This episode sponsored by Apollo. Still moving deals forward from your desk. With Apollo, you can go to market on the go, find leads, research accounts, and launch outreach right Inside Claude and ChatGPT. You can even make calls or research leads from Gmail, your CRM or company websites. So whether you're at the airport or on a coffee run, Apollo works where you work. No more switching tabs or devices. Grow boldly with Apollo, the revenue engine trusted by over 3 million teams. Visit Apollo IO anywhere and start free today. That's Apollo IO anywhere.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Hey everybody, I'm Tarika Foster Brasby. What's up, y'? All? I'm your girl, Cheryl Swoooo. When you tune in to a new episode of our podcast, Levels to this, you're definitely gonna get some spy cwmba analysis. I see a lot of men who

[Emily Oster]

get into the space because now it's

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

a hot product and that grinds my gears to dust. But then the conversation goes on and levels up beyond basketball. It's been really, really cool seeing kind of these women just really step into their power off the court and understand that they are basketball. Right? And they're not. Ask. Because on Levels to this, the game is always the starting point. But we're more than just hoops and the real conversation is what we actually bring. This is Levels to this, the podcast about all the levels of stuff that women go through. Listen to Levels to this with Sheryl Swoopes and Tareka Foster brasby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Mangesha Tegular]

I'm Mangesha Tegudar and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science.

[Karen Fairchild]

I can make a brain for you and Then we can test what draw is the best for your brain as opposed to his brain.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Here are some hard truths.

[Karen Fairchild]

I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to

[Bobby Bones]

be almost a four to five year

[Mangesha Tegular]

acceleration and get myself into a world of trouble.

[Emily Oster]

I'd say probably start bone smashing.

[Mangesha Tegular]

That doesn't work.

[Emily Oster]

To make it look more defined, they say it works.

[Karen Fairchild]

I don't know.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Listen to Skyline, how to live Forever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Gary Valenciano]

We've all been there. We've had seasons that have shaken everything. The question is, what remains when the shaking stops? Hi, I'm Gary Valenciano, and on my podcast Unshaken with Gary Vee, I sit down with amazing personalities and we talk about the seasons that nearly broke them, the lows that carried them to their highs. Listen to Unshaken with Gary Vee on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bobby Bones]

And we're back on the Bobbycast. Do you know anybody's number now? Anybody's current number?

[Emily Oster]

I know hers. You want me to say it? I'm just kidding.

[Karen Fairchild]

I know. Jimmy'.

[Emily Oster]

I know my husband's and my daughters and Karen's.

[Karen Fairchild]

She's had it for 25 years.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, we got it. We got to get that in there.

[Karen Fairchild]

I know. I don't know.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't know my wife's.

[Karen Fairchild]

It's kind of a hard number.

[Emily Oster]

What if you drop your phone in the toilet and you need to call your wife?

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, I was thinking, what if I get hit by a tractor trailer or like prison or something? Oh, yeah.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah. And you get one call and you don't know your wife's phone number?

[Bobby Bones]

I don't know anybody's phone. Who would I call, like, if I know no one's number one.

[Karen Fairchild]

You don't know anyone's. You know, Mike's, probably.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't know. I don't think I know anybody's number.

[Emily Oster]

Okay, tonight isn't that crazy?

[Karen Fairchild]

Tonight our homework is to learn our spouses. Well, I know my spouse. I need to learn my son's Elijah's.

[Emily Oster]

And you gotta. You gotta learn your precious waffs.

[Bobby Bones]

I know every word to Bare Naked Ladies. One week.

[Karen Fairchild]

You know why?

[Emily Oster]

Something.

[Karen Fairchild]

That was our younger brains.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, yeah. I thought it was so cool because I knew all the words and I thought at some point that song was randomly gonna come on somewhere and I would just be with people and they would know and I'd be saying every word and they'd be like, that's so cool. You know all of it. Like, I memorized all the words of that song only for that reason. And do you know how many times it paid off?

[Karen Fairchild]

Never none.

[Bobby Bones]

Only for me to say. Now I know every word. To chickity China, the Chinese chicken. You got a drumstick and your brain stops ticking. Watch the next files with no lights on. I'm Dalla Mason. Oh, if the smokey man's in this one like Harrison Ford I'm getting frantic Like Stingham Tantric like stinkers guaranteed to satisfy like Curacao make mad films, K. I don't make films. But if it did have a samurai get a set of.

[Emily Oster]

It just paid off, Bobby Bones. It just paid off.

[Bobby Bones]

You don't know my wife's phone number. We're fixing that at the same time. Do your kids stay on the phone all the time?

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Is that a problem for teenagers to just stay?

[Emily Oster]

It's a problem.

[Karen Fairchild]

It's a problem. Especially the ones that went through Covid, I feel like even have a harder time with it because that was their only connection. That and video games and stuff.

[Bobby Bones]

Do you feel like when kids didn't go to school during COVID it really did set them back a step or half step.

[Emily Oster]

Just generally speaking, I think socially, I'd say so socially and emotionally, I think they just.

[Karen Fairchild]

I don't think necessarily, like, I just remember being down and we had gone down to the beach when he had to leave school, and there was a group of people and Shane McInally and Michael were down there, and our kids all went to the same school and theirs were in, like, first and ours was in third or something, and we all just gave up. There was just a month in. Oh, and you were supposed to be homeschooling March. And we were supposed to be homeschooling and like, Elijah would be laying on the picnic table and, like, not listening to the teacher. And then Michael and Shane the same thing. And Michael goes, I give up. I can't do this. I wasn't made to be a teacher. This is not my job. And I'm just telling them that I give up. And I was like, I'm giving up too. Then, like, let's just call it.

[Emily Oster]

Let's all give up together.

[Bobby Bones]

How bizarre was that time? It was just weird, right? Like, looking back now, aside from the actual Covid and all the things that people want to talk about with clique, it was just a weird time.

[Emily Oster]

It was. It was scary.

[Bobby Bones]

So my wife was. She had. Was working in Oil and gas, and she was doing, like, international commodities in Houston. And she moved to California to go back to school and get her master's. She was living in California, and we had met through her friend who's from Oklahoma, But California shut down way before here. And so we had been dating a few months, but I said, you should just come to Nashville. Covid's over in two weeks. Just stay here for a couple weeks. Like, my experience with COVID is different than everybody else's because it made my wife move here.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

That was probably kind of romantic and fun.

[Bobby Bones]

It was awesome.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Because that wouldn't have happened at that pace because she moved here and then couldn't leave because California shut down completely here. I mean, everybody's running around naked at Kid Rocks. We didn't change anything here. It was just.

[Karen Fairchild]

Florida was even worse. It was like, they're like, what is it? What's that mask on your face?

[Bobby Bones]

But that was so bizarre because I just remember looking at the phone and all my artists, friends, they would just all be live.

[Emily Oster]

Yes.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

Because that was the only way to perform. So it would just be all lives all across the top. Because everybody was just playing music to their phones.

[Emily Oster]

What did y' all do? Did you work through that?

[Bobby Bones]

I did.

[Emily Oster]

From home.

[Bobby Bones]

My life really didn't change. I just never. I didn't go in for a while, but I had the studio at the house. I just worked from home, and that was it. And it was kind of great.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. There are parts of it that I'm fond. I was fond of only in a very selfish. Like having to take a break away. Like, it forced me to rest a little bit, but. Cause I was going stir crazy after a while.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. But it got me back on video games. I hadn't played video games in 20 years. And then I got on. It sounds like heroin. Then I got back off the wagon. I was back to playing NBA 2K. I was never the same after that. I was reading a couple notes. I guess you guys have been together 25 years now. Is that true?

[Karen Fairchild]

26.

[Bobby Bones]

26. Did you guys ever get close to breaking up?

[Emily Oster]

Not breaking up? No. After my husband died, I kind of wanted to quit, but we've never.

[Karen Fairchild]

That was the closest time, I think, was probably after he passed.

[Emily Oster]

It wasn't because of a breakup or anything. We've never.

[Bobby Bones]

Do you think just the numbers of it. 25, 26 years, that at some point something like that would happen? But I guess from you, you know, when your husband died, whenever. Cause my show's been together for 20, like 20 plus years. Right. Like, those have been my friends forever.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And so we've moved cities together. We've been together forever. And you know, when Amy's mom and dad died and she was. And it was like, she was like, I think I'm out. And I was like, just go away. Like, take months off. We're gonna be here whenever you're back. Is that what happened with you guys? Whenever you were thinking about, you know, not staying with the group?

[Emily Oster]

Well, we weren't very successful at that point. That was before we had a hit. So we were literally driving ourselves around in a van. I think we had moved from a minivan to a 15 passenger van at that point.

[Karen Fairchild]

And we were doing radio tour.

[Emily Oster]

And we were doing a radio tour because we had. We had put out boondocks. We were about to put out boondocks. And so we, right after he. I guess we were in the middle. Yes, in the middle of a radio tour when he passed.

[Karen Fairchild]

So we canceled a few weeks of stuff. But then there was some big opportunities coming. We kind of didn't know how to handle that.

[Emily Oster]

Well, they asked me, what do you want to do? And by that point, I mean, not much time had passed.

[Karen Fairchild]

You weren't ready, I wasn't ready. We should not have done that.

[Emily Oster]

But yet I felt obligated to them because if I stop, that means their three lives stop. And that's not fair. So I went. But yeah, I was a zombie. But like you did for Amy, they just held me together and sometimes I couldn't show up. Like, I remember there was a very specific dinner we had a big fancy radio dinner we had up in the northeast. And I walked in the door and sat down and I couldn't get any farther than that. And so I just left. And they were always so gracious about that, you know.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, we had like signs to get her out of the room or, you know, or people wouldn't know. And they'd be like, are you married? Are you married? And then. And one of us would just interrupt one of the other three of us, interrupt the DJ or whatever. Cause we'd be live on the air and you could just see her heart, you know. And so we had little, like things that we did to try to get her out of situations, but it was too soon. It was like too soon, but it's okay. At the same time, we were together. Yeah, we were together and we were family.

[Emily Oster]

I remember driving up the Pacific Coast Highway a few weeks afterwards and I was Just laid out in the back seat of the 15 passenger van, just crying, crying. And we drove. They drove. They took the three of them. Usually it was all four of us taking turns driving. I didn't drive at all at that point. Three switched around and we went all the way up the coast, stopping at radio stations a long way. Sometimes I made it inside and sometimes I didn't, but. But it was all okay. And they just covered for me and literally picked me up off the floor. And it was really. It's a beautiful picture of friendship what they did for me. They were my family. I also had my family in Georgia who had carried me along and lifted me up, but they were right there beside me, physically toting me along through 25 years.

[Bobby Bones]

There's a lot of life that gets lived and there's in the rotation. Everybody kind of needs it at times. At least that's my experience with the group for that long.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, your show is the same way. Exactly.

[Bobby Bones]

There's been really great crap and really hard crap for all. It's rotating right. You just live enough life together. Life happens for everybody. And so in Revisionist history, does everybody just think you guys were really successful from the start?

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, because people don't know that for six years nothing happened except for bad things. You know, we got dropped and, you know, nobody wanted anything to do with us for six years, which is a long time.

[Bobby Bones]

That's a long time. Yeah.

[Emily Oster]

Now it's not that long when you look at 26 years, but six years was a long time. And the fact that we kept going and we kept trying and kept trying and kept trying. Yeah. And so people think when Boodox came out, that was the first music we ever made, you know, but it wasn't.

[Bobby Bones]

I remember the first time seeing what you guys look like. I was watching Crook and Chase in Arkansas and tornado was. Was hitting and I was like, oh, they're cool looking. That's like a retro compliment.

[Emily Oster]

That's awesome.

[Bobby Bones]

Thank you.

[Karen Fairchild]

Thank you.

[Bobby Bones]

I was like, those guys are cool looking. Crook and Chase were pretty awesome like that.

[Michael Rapoport]

That's.

[Bobby Bones]

That's how like I connected to country music was. Was listening to Crook and Chase, especially on the weekends. Like, I had my Arkansas guys that I listen to, but Crook and Chase, they felt like they were here. I mean, they were like my connection in. So I would think as a young artist, I would have thought it was cool to meet Crook and Chase. Did you guys feel that way?

[Karen Fairchild]

Oh, yeah. We have had an incredible relationship with them for 20 something years. Yeah, they're just kind people. And then what was the TV show?

[Emily Oster]

Tnn. Nashville Now.

[Karen Fairchild]

Nashville Now. Did you watch that?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I did.

[Karen Fairchild]

That was another one that was like. That's how we saw new artists. We discovered people that way, you know, I cannot think that show needs to be back.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

That type of show, though, I know. In long form, is impossible to get to work.

[Emily Oster]

We aren't that patient anymore.

[Karen Fairchild]

It's sad, but like those old shows like Johnny Cash and Barbara Mandrill. Barbara Mandrill. Just the variety.

[Bobby Bones]

Glen Campbell had a great show.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

I mean, but there were only four channels, though, at the time. You didn't have many other places to go. But now even the late night shows, they're not being watched live a lot. They're making a lot of their Money off of YouTube. Everything being clipped.

[Emily Oster]

It's crazy.

[Bobby Bones]

And if you're not doing that, if you're not, you know, if you don't have a bit, even you saw that with like James Corden.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

He had carpool, karaoke. But getting people to stay and watch anything for an hour is almost impossible.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. And I have to say that, like, those late night guys are some of the nicest people in the business. I mean. Oh, they are the nicest.

[Bobby Bones]

How many of those shows have you done, late night shows? What hosts have you met?

[Emily Oster]

We met Jay Leno.

[Karen Fairchild]

Jay Leno.

[Emily Oster]

So nice.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, so nice. Jimmy Fallon, Letterman. I wanted Letterman to kiss my hand. Cause that's how you knew that you were like in the Chosen.

[Emily Oster]

We needed to go again.

[Karen Fairchild]

And I was like, he kisses Sarah Jessica Parker's hand and he kisses Julia Roberts hand. And then I was worried he's gonna kiss Kimberly's hand. And I was gonna be, like, so bummed out, but he didn't. And Seth Meyers, like, we've gotten to know Seth and Jimmy Fallon pretty well. And they are. They're just amazing people. So nice.

[Bobby Bones]

Those late night shows are a bit odd, though, because it's like, get ready, go, done.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Even I would go up and guess hosted Today show some.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, you were great.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, thank you. I don't know that you watch, but I appreciate you saying that.

[Karen Fairchild]

No, I always watch the Today show.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, thanks.

[Karen Fairchild]

I love. They're also a family.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

That whole crew.

[Bobby Bones]

Yes, yes. So warm, by the way.

[Karen Fairchild]

They are wonderful, all of them.

[Bobby Bones]

And the artists were. And they even let me bring artists on. And like, I took Nicole Gallagher to perform. And so I took, you know, different artists that I liked and. But they would have to get there at, like, 3:30 in the morning. And then, you know, line check or whatever it is, and then you just wait and then it's okay, go. And then you're. It's just done. All right, thank you.

[Emily Oster]

Three minutes. Yeah.

[Michael Rapoport]

Quick.

[Emily Oster]

It's so fast. It's so much get ready time. Yeah. Like your alarm clock goes off at 2 or 2:30 and you're up and then.

[Karen Fairchild]

And then it's like adrenaline and then

[Emily Oster]

you crash after that and go eat something.

[Bobby Bones]

Even doing morning radio shows, like, I years ago stopped having people come in early because no one wants to wake up. I get it. And if anybody comes in now, it's 10:30 or 11 and we record it for the next day. It's 3pm when you guys came over here. Now, because I don't want to put you guys in a place where it's 6:30 or 7 in the morning and you're singing or having to act happy. I'm already having to act happy. I ain't happy. I hate mornings.

[Emily Oster]

I'm not happy at 6:30.

[Bobby Bones]

No, not at all. And so. But yeah, what I found really cool, but also I was quite shocked by was how early they had to get there. And then it's just quick, you ready? Okay, go on. And then. All right.

[Karen Fairchild]

And how, like, their job demands so much of them from an energy standpoint and cerebral. Like, they gotta know what they're talking about, from news to culture to whatever and how awake they are. And on it.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Way early. I was there and Queen Elizabeth died. So I'm just there doing a week. And they don't expect Queen Elizabeth to die or they wouldn't have had me there. And so Queen Elizabeth died and they're going, all right, can you handle it? I was like, yeah, I can talk about whatever. And I'm pretty good on a prompter. So, yeah, it was just me and Hoda doing Queen Elizabeth's dead.

[Emily Oster]

Love that woman.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, she's awesome, right? I don't even say nice because nice feels fake. The kindest, kind.

[Emily Oster]

True, true.

[Bobby Bones]

Hearty.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yes, true.

[Emily Oster]

Yes. And Queen Elizabeth, of course. I mean.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, were you talking about Queen Elizabeth? No, I wasn't.

[Emily Oster]

I've never met her.

[Bobby Bones]

I was thinking of Hoda.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, yeah, I was talking about Hoda.

[Bobby Bones]

If you were talking about Queen Elizabeth,

[Emily Oster]

I was like, no, I feel like I glazed right over Queen Elizabeth and she.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, I didn't know her. I just thought it was crazy. I happened to be there when she died and all of a sudden I'm talking to like, Derek Jeter. About a kids book. And it's like, you got to cut everything and go to Queen Elizabeth coverage. And I'm there like, all right, Bobby R. Murrow here. We're going to check in at Westminster. So how are the local people?

[Michael Rapoport]

It just.

[Bobby Bones]

I had to do news guy.

[Emily Oster]

What a. What? I don't want to say a fun memory. What a memorable moment to be a part of history. Television history.

[Karen Fairchild]

I feel like there's nothing like that, though, that you can't handle.

[Bobby Bones]

I feel like I've had to be a Swiss army knife.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

On purpose. I didn't want to. I didn't want to have to be pretty good at a lot of stuff. But it was my only way to get into so many doors.

[Karen Fairchild]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

Was to have a bit of knowledge in fashion. So E puts me on a red carpet to talk about fashion. Ted. No sports.

[Karen Fairchild]

So now you have a Bottega Veneta bag.

[Bobby Bones]

So, you know.

[Karen Fairchild]

And you know, don't think I didn't notice on that plane what was strapped around your. Your shoulder.

[Bobby Bones]

I think maybe I'd have been embarrassed at some point. Not anymore.

[Karen Fairchild]

You don't need to be embarrassed.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, I think I was.

[Karen Fairchild]

You look great. You and your wife have incredible fashion.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Yes.

[Karen Fairchild]

I love it. Remember when I teased you about possibly flying on a private plane?

[Bobby Bones]

I do.

[Karen Fairchild]

Years ago.

[Bobby Bones]

Yep. And I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed that I had money. And I think I thought maybe I don't want people to know I have money, so I'm gonna just still be the person that people knew me for. And this might sound weird, but I just. I can't hide. Not I'm screaming, I have money.

[Emily Oster]

You ain't hiding money, Bobby.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, you can just Google stuff, right?

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. Well, Kimberly got a Louis bag from our manager and so did you. I know. He gave us all. Jason gave us all Louis bag one year for Christmas or something. And now we get candles. I don't know what's happened to him. Last Christmas, he's gotten richer.

[Emily Oster]

Last Christmas we didn't get a candle.

[Karen Fairchild]

We didn't even get a candle last Christmas.

[Emily Oster]

We didn't. We used to get a candle, but no one. But we're not. It's fine.

[Karen Fairchild]

I know. I'm like, one year we got a candle with his face on it.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, we did.

[Karen Fairchild]

Remember those, Lisa? No, we love. Jason is the best gift buyer. So he bought us all Louis like duffels.

[Emily Oster]

Do you think he thought that would last for a whole decade?

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

The Louis did.

[Bobby Bones]

It was the covering for that. In nine more years.

[Karen Fairchild]

It was a Gift for the decade.

[Emily Oster]

I hope he's listening. Cause I'm ready for another Louie.

[Karen Fairchild]

But. So I just remember that this sweet driver was picking us up at a hotel or something, and he pulled out your Louis bag. And she goes, I didn't buy that for myself. And I go. We get in and I go, you don't have to apologize for your Louis bag. I've stayed at so many Howard Johnson's across the street. Yes, I have.

[Emily Oster]

She made me a hotel snob. First hotel we ever stayed in. Howard Johnson's in Asheville, North Carolina.

[Karen Fairchild]

I'm sorry if it still exists, but

[Emily Oster]

that was the most disgusting way it still exists. It had shag carpet from the 60s. We were opening up for Billy Ray Cyrus. We drove ourselves over. We probably paid to play. Well, we did because we paid all of our expenses and all that. But that hojo, she was always talking.

[Karen Fairchild]

I told her, I was like, you're gonna want a nice hotel, I'm telling you. I mean, I was talking about a Hampton, you know, I wasn't talking about the Four Seasons.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

Yeah.

[Emily Oster]

When we made it, she was like,

[Karen Fairchild]

no, I like to camp and stuff. I can do it. I'll be fine. And then she got in that. And she's like, this is disgusting.

[Emily Oster]

But, yeah, I'm not proud that I am a hotel snob now.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. I was embarrassed for a while, and now I just don't want to lie about it.

[Emily Oster]

No.

[Bobby Bones]

And that. The weirdest thing for me is when TMZ put our last house on their site.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, dear me.

[Bobby Bones]

I had nothing to do with that. I don't want. That's.

[Emily Oster]

No, no, no.

[Bobby Bones]

If I want to get a headline, I think now I'm equipped to get a headline.

[Michael Rapoport]

If.

[Gary Valenciano]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

And I choose that's not the headline I want. And they list that our house was for sale down here. And I was like, oh, my God. And the dollar amount. I'm like, that's crazy. It had to be inside job.

[Karen Fairchild]

Oh, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Inside job.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Kind of pissed me off, because I understand why you want to sell the house and how do you sell a house? You get more eyeballs on it. But, man, what do you mean from the.

[Emily Oster]

From the next seller? From the next seller. That's not rad.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. That's a tough one for me.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

But I'm getting there. I just don't care anymore. I'm too gay.

[Emily Oster]

Isn't it great? I don't know how old you are, but I'm barely 50, and I love being in my 50s because I care. About what people say, but I don't really care what they say about me anymore. And I love that. I love that. My whole life I've worried, been like, I didn't buy that Louis Vuitton bag for myself. I might not say that today. I might still say that, actually. But I love being in my 50s because I'm not worried about what everybody around me thinks about me. I love it.

[Bobby Bones]

I think I have to worry about me wanting to fight people more than what they say about me. Like, I only go into comments on Tuesdays because that's good. I know what's not good for me, and I don't care that people have feelings about me. I realize I have a job where if I'm just gonna say things that make people feel uncomfortable or just opinions. In this town, sometimes opinions aren't standard.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah. Right. Because everybody's supposed to be Southern. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

So I don't really care that much. I've had to toughen up on that. But I do get really. I get triggered and confrontational because I'll. Okay, let's fight. And so I only go on on Tuesdays.

[Emily Oster]

That's smart.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

Oh, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I have to know my. I know my boundaries.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Yeah.

[Emily Oster]

That's great.

[Bobby Bones]

Because I know what keeps me healthy in my mind.

[Karen Fairchild]

Right. Cause there can be these little tiny, like, seeds that get planted of negativity. I don't like being misunderstood. So that's when I get fighting mad.

[Bobby Bones]

The Bobby cast. We'll be right back.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Hey, everybody. I'm Tareka Fosta Brasby. What's up, y'?

[Emily Oster]

All?

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

I'm your girl, Sheryl Swoops. When you tune in to a new episode of our podcast, Levels to this, you're definitely gonna get some spicy WNBA analysis. I see a lot of men who

[Emily Oster]

get into the space because now it's

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

a hot product, and that grinds my gears to dust. But then the conversation goes on and levels up beyond basketball. It's been really, really cool seeing kind of these women just really step into their power off the court and understand that they are basketball. Right. And they're not asking for permission. Because on Levels to this, the game is always the starting point. But we're more than just hoops, and the real conversation is what we actually bring. This is Levels to this, the podcast about all the levels of stuff that women go listen to. Levels to this with Sheryl Swoopes and Tarika Foster brasby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mangesha Tegular]

I'm mangish Shetigulur. And I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science.

[Karen Fairchild]

I can make a brain for you. And then we can test what drug is the best for your brain as opposed to his brain.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Here are some hard truths.

[Bobby Bones]

I would expect Indians to age faster,

[Karen Fairchild]

but I did not expect it to

[Bobby Bones]

be almost a four to five year

[Mangesha Tegular]

acceleration and get myself into a world of trouble.

[Emily Oster]

I'd say probably start bone smashing.

[Bobby Bones]

That doesn't work.

[Emily Oster]

Make it look more defined. They say it works.

[Karen Fairchild]

I don't know.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Listen to Skyline Drive how to live Forever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Gary Valenciano]

We've all been there. We've had seasons that have shaken everything. The question is, what remains when the shaking stops? Hi, I'm Gary Valenciano and on my podcast Unshaken with Gary Vee, I sit down with amazing personalities and we talk about the seasons that nearly broke them, the lows that carried them to their highs. Listen to Unshaken with Gary Vee on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Michael Rapoport]

This is Michael Rapoport and my podcast, the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast is unlike anyone you you've ever heard. We're a variety show and if you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid, Jafar Jackson is as good as Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, and it's as good as Timothee Shamalay as Bob Dylan. And I say that with love and respect for both of those actors, everybody. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out. I don't know if it's 5, 6 for best actor. 150%. This kid Jafar Jackson should absolutely, positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am rapaport on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Karen Fairchild]

I Am Rappaport podcast.

[Bobby Bones]

This is the Bobbycast. How would you be misunderstood?

[Emily Oster]

She's a strong woman in a southern business and that's not always looked upon as.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, I think misunderstood in a way of like what my intentions are.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

From a business maybe aspect with the band.

[Emily Oster]

No, not Internally?

[Karen Fairchild]

No, not internally. I think it's. Listen, I have amazing relationships in this town that I've had for years and years and years. But every once in a while I hear something like, huh, had no idea that person thought that about me. It's not at all true, you know, but that must be to them what I put out, you know? But it's also their own narrative or

[Bobby Bones]

what they're searching for from you.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yes, yes.

[Bobby Bones]

Cause I find that a lot. Like, I feel like I'm a pretty nice person. Although I think sometimes my inability to be the most gregarious person makes people think I'm not a nice guy. Because if I'm not on, I got. I'm minimal. And some people will go, oh, what a dick. And it's like, no, I'm not performing right.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I don't not like you. I didn't come here to be rude. I kind of do my thing and then get out. But it has nothing to do with you. And the next thing I know, it's, man, what a dick that dude is. And I've kind of had to get over. I've had to, like, not allow that to affect me as much because it's a different. It's definitely a different part of me. Cause I'm introverted like crazy.

[Emily Oster]

What? Do you know what enneagram number you have?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I'm an eight, and I'll challenge any. I'll punch anybody in the face.

[Karen Fairchild]

I'm an eight, too.

[Emily Oster]

She's an eight, too.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

No, I'm telling you, that's what I mean. I think eights get misunderstood. Yes, sometimes. But luckily we have that. A little bit of tough.

[Bobby Bones]

We're challengers, man.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, but I. Yeah, I mean, but I can still get my feelings hurt, you know? But I also crave justice.

[Bobby Bones]

Me too. Me too.

[Karen Fairchild]

I mean, I can't stand to see, like, someone being taken advantage of or to see them be misunderstood. I will go to war. And that's probably why I don't. I don't read the comments a lot either, because, you know, if somebody says something about them, I'm probably gonna fight

[Bobby Bones]

a little, you know, the Alan Jackson thing, was that cool?

[Emily Oster]

Oh, what about his voice? Holy cow, it was phenomenal. And then when he and George got

[Karen Fairchild]

together, I know, we looked, we were standing by Miranda, and she goes, I can't handle this. I can't handle it. And she started crying. Tears. I think she cried like four times in the night. But when. Yeah, when George came out, that was that stadium oh, my gosh.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, that. I mean, that's something that may have never happened before and it certainly won't happen again. It was, oh, so incredible to be a part of. What did you think?

[Bobby Bones]

Alan Jackson is? In that part of my life where I think I was figuring out who I was as like a older kid, young adult. Like, that was that time in my life. So that's. And he is so important to me and I don't really have a relationship with him. I've met him a few times and not just like I was doing some comedy and he was performing, we were doing it and he said like three words to me, but it was like a nice three words. And then someone else was like, that's Alan. So I didn't take anything. I wasn't taking offense to it at all.

[Karen Fairchild]

I don't know.

[Bobby Bones]

He's just such a big part of my life. I'm glad I don't not like him.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Because. And I'm glad that he got to perform such a big show to such a loving stadium, outdoor stadium full of people. Like, it was just special. So I'm happy. I hate that he's sick.

[Emily Oster]

I know.

[Bobby Bones]

Like, that sucks.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

But I thought it was really cool. I thought it was an outpouring of love in a freaking football stadium.

[Karen Fairchild]

It was amazing.

[Emily Oster]

It was, it was. It was so special to be a part of that kind of celebration. Just a small part of lifting him up and saying, you know, we love you like crazy. And, oh, it was just one of those things that we'll never, ever, ever forget. I have a question.

[Bobby Bones]

What'd you guys sing, by the way?

[Emily Oster]

Don Williams.

[Karen Fairchild]

The Don Williams. It Must Be Love. It Must Be Love, yeah. Was a huge hit for Don and for Alan.

[Bobby Bones]

What were you gonna ask me?

[Emily Oster]

I was gonna ask you. So you said in that time when Alan kind of popped is when you were kind of figuring out your way. So when did you know that you had a talent for talking and entertaining people on the radio? At what point did you figure out you had something great enough to really go for it?

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, man. I think I was able to sharpen this skill as a kid to not get beat up. I had to learn to be funny because I wasn't large and I was a poor kid and I was a small kid. And so if I'm not gonna fight, what are you gonna do? Luckily, I was smart, meaning I had a God given ability to even want to pursue learning. And so my weapon was funny and it was just my escape. Hatch forever more than anything else. And it was my way out. It was my way to get out of Mountain Pine, Arkansas. It was a way to graduate high school, graduate, get to college. And so. But I mean, we all have to have this irrational, like, screw loose to pursue any of. This is the craziest world job.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

It is.

[Bobby Bones]

All of it. So why did you guys even think you could do it? Because nobody does it. You can't do this. You can't replicate this.

[Karen Fairchild]

No.

[Emily Oster]

I don't know how, why, or how we did it. I know as a kid, I wanted to be on stage singing, but of course, as a kid, you have no idea what all that entails. I mean, you just think, oh, I'm going to be a singer one day on stage. But.

[Bobby Bones]

But to pursue this, you have to think I'm doing me too. You have to think that you have something. There's some ego involved that is so good that people are going to spend money to watch it or spend time. Like, you have to believe in yourself so much. And it's an odd juxtaposition of believing in yourself so much and also being wildly insecure. Like, for me, that was it. Yes. It's the insecurity that drives me, like, completely. And it's luckily having some ability and then tenacity.

[Karen Fairchild]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

It's like this weird soup. It is without the insecurity, though. I'm not here.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. I think the tenacity part is what pushes people over the line to really get to a goal, to really see it through. It's like that innate thing in you that it makes an athlete great, it makes you great. It gives us a chance to entertain. And that little drive in there that is like, I have something. I'm not better than anybody, but I'm gonna work my ass off.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

And I'm gonna show up and I'm not gonna take no for an answer. It's not an answer. And I'm gonna keep going, keep going, keep going. And that really has been our motto as a band. Like, there were some rough years in there, even after we had some success and then we didn't have success. And people were saying things and I was like, I wrote the band one night. And I was like, you know, nobody tells us when we quit. We quit when we want to quit. That's it. No one. I don't care who they are. No label president. Nobody tells us when we quit. And that was kind of our little mantra of, if we all want to go to the house someday, we will, but we'll decide together. It won't be anybody finishing us.

[Bobby Bones]

The through line with most really successful people is that they don't have some wildly set of amazing set of skills. It's just they don't quit. I mean, that's really the one common thing that I see with people who are really successful. It's not that they were born with some wonderfully innate ability to do anything. It's that they don't stop and they continue, like, learning.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. Work ethic.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Emily Oster]

And we've had so many opportunities to quit because of being dropped and all.

[Karen Fairchild]

A million reasons.

[Emily Oster]

A million reasons. But we never have.

[Bobby Bones]

How much longer do you think you guys have? Can you do another 20?

[Emily Oster]

Depends on the day.

[Bobby Bones]

Can you do another 20?

[Emily Oster]

Oh, I'm just gonna say it right here. I can't do another 20.

[Karen Fairchild]

Really?

[Emily Oster]

We'll be in the old folks home by then. No, we're not that old, but we might.

[Karen Fairchild]

I'll be in Palm Springs with the turban on, having a dirty martini. I don't know where the rest of y' all be.

[Emily Oster]

I'll be making biscuits and jelly.

[Bobby Bones]

Occasionally. Coming back to the Opry or your theater in Branson. Those are the two things. That's what Brett Eldredge and I have always said is one of my best friends. Like, dude, one day when it's over for both of us, we're just gonna go to theater in Branson. We're just gonna live there and do our thing.

[Karen Fairchild]

Do your thing.

[Emily Oster]

I love it.

[Karen Fairchild]

That was one of our first shows, Branson, and we opened up for George Jones, and we. I think I have that ticket stub somewhere.

[Emily Oster]

We were in a green minivan, and

[Karen Fairchild]

we loaded in our merch.

[Emily Oster]

In our own merch.

[Karen Fairchild]

And then we only owned one guitar, and Philip broke a string on it. And we had to ask George's crew and band if we could borrow a guitar. And that was, like, horrifying.

[Emily Oster]

Philip used to always break strings.

[Karen Fairchild]

Oh, my God.

[Emily Oster]

And we only had one guitar, so it shut down the show. We had a Bari.

[Karen Fairchild]

One we knew we made. It was when we got a guitar tech for Philip.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yeah. And that was way in. Well, first we got two for both

[Bobby Bones]

of the boys, but he got an extra guitar before. A tech, though, right?

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yeah. We had two guitars. Then a few years later, we had a tech.

[Karen Fairchild]

Then we had four. Yeah. Then we had four guitars, backups.

[Bobby Bones]

You know what's a big moment? Is when you get a bus.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

You know what's a big moment? When you lose a Bus.

[Emily Oster]

It's kind of even bigger when you

[Karen Fairchild]

get a bus and then you lose a deal and you get off a bus and you go back to a van, you talk about humbling. We watched the bus drive off, and I said, watch it, y'. All. Watch. Not gonna happen for a while.

[Emily Oster]

And it didn't.

[Karen Fairchild]

And we were like, back to the van, really?

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

That's when you know you want it. You get back in a van, you want it. People need to get in vans and drive around. We talk about this with Kenny Chesney all the time. Like, that life of, like, really road dogging it. And it's hard. Is what makes you.

[Bobby Bones]

It really does at least allows you to appreciate it when you are making it.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

I've often wondered, would I rather be Oprah or Queen Elizabeth? Well, Queen Elizabeth. Elizabeth dead, as we talked about earlier. But would I rather be Oprah or Queen Elizabeth? And it's always Oprah. Because she's gone through the crap.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

So she can appreciate everything that's not crap if you're just born into it. Like, what do you even appreciate?

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

So what will you do for your child to understand? Cause that's what I know. It's the thing. I used to laugh at Jimmy because he'd be like, why won't Elijah just go play in a creek? Like I did. And I was like, cause you flew him around the world. It's not his fault. And now he does like to play in creeks and fishes and stuff. But it's our expectations of what we think a childhood should be or shouldn't be. And you'll see that in your parenting that you will often be parenting yourself. You're, like, trying to do something that really. You're talking about yourself, especially with your

[Emily Oster]

background and the struggles that you went through.

[Bobby Bones]

My wife was giving her car on her 16th birthday with a bow on it. She said, what about you? I went to work. You know, I got. I bought a Subaru for $280 that barely. So, you know, we have different versions of that.

[Karen Fairchild]

Very different. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And she's like, I can't wait. You know, we're gonna get her a car. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no.

[Karen Fairchild]

But then you will, because you want her to be safe. And you'll be like, I'm gonna put her in bubble wrap and then put her in the car.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm sure I talk a big game right now.

[Karen Fairchild]

No, you'll do great. You're gonna.

[Bobby Bones]

Ho, ho, ho. I know, I know. I know.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

You're right.

[Bobby Bones]

You're absolutely right.

[Gary Valenciano]

I'm sure.

[Emily Oster]

I talked at Christmas in a couple of years.

[Bobby Bones]

What's the best sad song ever?

[Emily Oster]

Oh, wow.

[Bobby Bones]

I'll go. Blue eyes, Crying in the rain. It's one of my top five favorite songs of all time. All my favorite songs are sad songs. Me too, because I. I can feel.

[Karen Fairchild]

We just wrote a song on the record called sucker for a sad.

[Bobby Bones]

That's why I asked that question.

[Gary Valenciano]

Oh.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, yeah.

[Emily Oster]

Well, you know what I almost said?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're.

[Karen Fairchild]

That's where we're going. You're so smart. You do this for a living.

[Emily Oster]

I almost said. When you said that about favorite sad song, I almost named one of our own songs, which is on the new record. Oh, just name it the idea.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, but that one's. I don't know that one.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, but.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay, good.

[Emily Oster]

It's devastating. Every time the chorus comes around, it's devastating.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, what's the idea?

[Emily Oster]

The idea is you want to be in love. We talk about you say you love me. You. You can probably remember all the lyrics.

[Karen Fairchild]

It's like. I don't know if I want to say it.

[Bobby Bones]

No, don't say it yet.

[Emily Oster]

Okay.

[Bobby Bones]

No, yeah, don't.

[Karen Fairchild]

But yeah, because the hook is so good and you don't see it coming.

[Bobby Bones]

I just wonder what the idea is like. The idea of not having the.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Emily Oster]

If you. If we will tell you behind the

[Karen Fairchild]

scenes, it comes out embargoed. I think my favorite sad song is. Is when I call your name, Patti Loveless.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

No, not when I call your name. That's Vince. No, you don't even know. You don't even know who I am.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yes. I knew what you were talking about because you always say that. Yes.

[Karen Fairchild]

I love that song.

[Bobby Bones]

So your favorite sad song is you

[Karen Fairchild]

don't even know who I am, Patti Loveless.

[Bobby Bones]

Your favorite sad song is don't pick your own.

[Emily Oster]

I know. I'm trying to think of my. I mean. I mean, I could be obvious and say he stopped loving her today, which is pretty devastatingly sad.

[Bobby Bones]

Still, though, it's cliche, but also cliche for a reason.

[Emily Oster]

Cause it's the saddest song ever.

[Bobby Bones]

The only reason he stopped loving her is because he died.

[Emily Oster]

That's pitiful. That's also Whiskey lullaby, my favorite.

[Bobby Bones]

It's one of the greatest songs of all. Just songs, period. Of all time.

[Karen Fairchild]

My favorite song and how great that it was on popular radio.

[Bobby Bones]

It is. That's one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time.

[Karen Fairchild]

Would that happen now?

[Bobby Bones]

You Think if it went extremely viral because Paisley was doing a dance.

[Emily Oster]

Oh,

[Bobby Bones]

then they couldn't deny it.

[Emily Oster]

You know, we can work on that. Also. Ghost in this House.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I'd throw Ain't no Sunshine up there. Yeah, I know. That's a. That's a tough one.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Blue Eyes, Crying in the Rain. One of my favorite songs ever.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yes.

[Bobby Bones]

Everybody Hurts, REM I probably played that more in college than any other song because I was just lonely.

[Karen Fairchild]

You know what we. We turned that into on the bus when we had kids was everybody poops. Sometimes when the kids were in diapers and you'd have one of them that would be like, you know, just.

[Bobby Bones]

You guys are doing parodies to poop?

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Even Little Big Town does poop parodies.

[Karen Fairchild]

Oh, you don't know how many parodies we do. I can't say most of them, but Jimmy and Philip are. They should make a living writing parody music.

[Emily Oster]

Like, they first started doing that, like, in truck stops, which is a perfect

[Bobby Bones]

place to do vulgar parodies.

[Emily Oster]

Yes. And they would come back and get in the van after being in the bathroom, and they would have a new poop parody.

[Karen Fairchild]

Well, we have. We have some group ones, too, but I wouldn't say them on your show.

[Bobby Bones]

It's a Dying Art. It's a late night show with the album coming out. It's a Dying Art. You guys aren't quitting, are you?

[Karen Fairchild]

No.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay.

[Karen Fairchild]

Did that title throw you? You can be honest.

[Bobby Bones]

I didn't know if you were just kind of. It didn't throw me, but I wasn't convinced it wasn't what you were saying.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. It's a Dying Art is a song about, like, enduring love and.

[Bobby Bones]

But you could have picked any title to be that.

[Karen Fairchild]

I know, but you know, what it is for us is, like, it says everything about where we feel like, as artists, we want to be, which is getting back to all things that we actually do with our voices and instruments and art, even down to the COVID of the record, was a photo that was taken by Becky Fluke that we stretched on canvas and found an old frame and then found a guy that makes those little gold plaques and engraved onto the. Like, when you would walk into any family house and you would see an old portrait of a family, have a nameplate, and then we took a photo of the photo. And so down to, like, celebrating the art that we make and getting back to that. And I know there's all the discussion about AI and everything. And listen, I love to use it for, like, homework. Not My homework. Don't we all? You know, then I know what they're

[Emily Oster]

talking about, but also, like, looking each other in the eye and putting the phones down and just having true fellowship with the people you love. That's a dying art.

[Bobby Bones]

It's not that Little Big Town's quitting after this record.

[Karen Fairchild]

No, no, it's just like when you hear that song and then you hear the whole record, you're gonna go, oh, I get it. I get. Makes sense.

[Bobby Bones]

Now let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Hey, everybody, I'm Tareka Foster Brasby. What's up, y'?

[Emily Oster]

All?

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

I'm your girl, Sheryl Swoops. When you tune in to to a new episode of our podcast, Levels to this, you're definitely gonna get some spy CWNBA analysis. I see a lot of men who

[Emily Oster]

get into the space because now it's

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

a hot product and that grinds my gears to dust. But then the conversation goes on and levels up. Beyond basketball. It's been really, really cool seeing kind of these women just really step into their power off the court and understand that they are basketball, right? And they're not asking for permission because on Levels to this, the game is always the starting point. But we're more than just hoops, and the real conversation is what we actually bring. This is Levels to this, the podcast about all the levels of stuff that women go through. Listen to Levels to this with Sheryl Swoopes and Tareka Foster brasby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mangesha Tegular]

I'm Mangish Shetigulur and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science.

[Karen Fairchild]

I can make a brain for you. And then we can test what drug is the best for your brain as opposed to his brain.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Here are some hard truths.

[Karen Fairchild]

I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to

[Bobby Bones]

be almost a four to five year

[Mangesha Tegular]

acceleration and get myself into a world of trouble.

[Emily Oster]

I'd say probably start bone smashing.

[Mangesha Tegular]

That doesn't work.

[Karen Fairchild]

To make it look more defined.

[Emily Oster]

They say it works.

[Karen Fairchild]

I don't know.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Listen to Skyline how to live Forever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Gary Valenciano]

We've all Been there. We've had seasons that have shaken everything. The question is, what remains when the shaking stops? Hi, I'm Gary Valenciano, and on my podcast Unshaken with Gary Vee, I sit down with amazing personalities and we talk about the seasons that nearly broke them, the lows that carried them to their highs. Listen to Unshaken with Gary Vee on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Michael Rapoport]

This is Michael Rapoport and my podcast, the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast, is unlike any one you've ever heard. We're a variety show, and if you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture, and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid Jafar Jackson is as good as Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. And it's as good as Timothee Shamalay as Bob Dylan. And I say that with love and respect for both of those actors. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out. I don't know if it's 5, 6 for best actor. 150%. This kid Jafar Jackson should absolutely, positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am rappaport on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast I Am Rappaport podcast.

[Bobby Bones]

And we're back on the Bobby Cast. Do you ever hear a song of yours that you recorded a long time ago and not remember recording it?

[Emily Oster]

Yeah, that happened recently.

[Michael Rapoport]

Mm.

[Karen Fairchild]

What were we listening to? One day and I was like, what is that?

[Emily Oster]

And Philip goes.

[Karen Fairchild]

Your song.

[Emily Oster]

Philip always remembers. He always remembers all the obscure songs that we recorded and never, like, he listens. I think he listens to us a lot. Like, at home, you know? I think he does. That's fine.

[Bobby Bones]

You're his favorite band.

[Emily Oster]

We're his favorite band. He is our number one fan.

[Karen Fairchild]

I forgot the duet that I sang with Luke Bryan that went number one. And we went to the Redbird Games, their charity that they have. And Luke goes, karen, I could. It was gone. I could not find the verse. And he looked at. He was so offended. He was so mad at me. He was like, what do you mean? You don't know? Couldn't come to me. It wasn't there. Talk about a rich guy.

[Bobby Bones]

Hey, here's the thing.

[Karen Fairchild]

I tease him all the time. I always say, you just can't hide money.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, you can hide a helicopter. But we all know.

[Karen Fairchild]

I know. We all know.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, we all know.

[Karen Fairchild]

I love it. For him too. You talk about a good, great dude.

[Emily Oster]

Generous. He's so generous.

[Bobby Bones]

I wouldn't have really known, but we did four years together doing American Idol. And so with that on a TV set, you're just there sitting forever. And you either get really close with the people or you don't at all. It's one of two ways. And like Luke and Carrie, his manager.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah. Oh, Carrie.

[Bobby Bones]

Like, Carrie defended me at times against Katy Perry that were because she's awful. But they were terrible. And Carrie would be in there fighting for me. And I just have such, like, admiration for him and for her because they're together. To me, that's a unit.

[Michael Rapoport]

Right.

[Bobby Bones]

And yeah, Luke is awesome. Awesome.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Just.

[Bobby Bones]

Just a great guy.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

He's the reason why. Yeah. It's not Luke. Brian Cartier.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh, your watch. I thought you were showing me your tan. Oh, they bought you a tanning bed or something?

[Karen Fairchild]

No, no, even better. Really fancy watches when we toured with him. So generous. I mean, just so generous. So nice.

[Bobby Bones]

If you're friends with Katy Perry. Sorry about that. Just making sure we don't.

[Karen Fairchild]

We've met her.

[Bobby Bones]

Oh. I don't even have any more to say. I'm just saying that, like, that you either get really close with people or you don't.

[Emily Oster]

That's right.

[Michael Rapoport]

You know what?

[Karen Fairchild]

I was talking to a. And I don't know if you find this to be true, but I was talking to a younger artist recently. Not a brand new artist, a very successful, but younger artist. And they were just expressing the husband and wife of, like, how their generation of artists don't really hang and we hang. And I was like, oh, my gosh, you're missing out. And they're like, it's so competitive. And I was like, it doesn't have to be that way. Like, I am never looking at Miranda or Kelsey and going, I want what they have. I'm more looking at them going, damn, those are good songs. Wow, that inspires me so much. There's enough room at the table, you know, And I don't feel that way. Do you?

[Bobby Bones]

I don't. But I could see being young and feeling that way because when I was younger, everybody was the enemy.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And not because I didn't like them, but because we're fighting for the same oxygen here. But then as I got older, but then when I also came could eat, that pressure falls off a little bit.

[Karen Fairchild]

That's true. Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

But it's weird to be around for like, a few creative generations in this town because now I have been And I've been able to see the cycle happen four times now. And you see the artist blow up and go, everybody go. This is the craziest thing.

[Michael Rapoport]

How big.

[Bobby Bones]

I've got to see it with Sam. I've got to see it with Wallen. I've got. We saw Luke. But when I first. And it's been wild to see. And now it's happening, you know, with Ella and Megan, and everything changes, but everything stays the same. And that's what's crazy about this town.

[Emily Oster]

Yep.

[Bobby Bones]

Is. And it's just. It's the same cycle. And then even like the. There are younger male artists that I will feel an understanding of their story, where they come from. And now I've also seen the pitfalls that can happen. And it's, don't get anybody pregnant. And if you don't, don't hit anybody. And if you go to jail, I got you. And no one will know. But just don't do those things right, because it'll happen. Because here's the cycle. You have no money now. You have more money than you've ever had. So you're gonna make decisions that you've never had, because it's gonna be on you so quick, and you're going, oh, my God. And then you're gonna get so caught up in oh, my God, that you're in trouble. And it's nice to see that. And you can't keep people from doing it. You can make them aware that it's coming. And that's been pretty cool. I like this version of me now because I feel like I've seen it a bunch of times, and if I have to get a little older to have that wisdom, that's okay. But it's been nice to be able to not shepherd anybody, but just go, this is gonna happen, and I gotcha.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And also to not think, because here's the young artist cycle. Young artist comes, they get a couple hits, they start feeling themselves. Then they're too cool. They got some money, and they're feeling themselves. Eventually, everybody you see going up, you're gonna see coming back down a little bit. And eventually you're going to come back down a little bit. Nobody's able to maintain, and you may go back up, but you're gonna do the. It is a freaking roller coaster. And so to have that perspective is pretty valuable. Listen, when I moved to this town and it hit for me hard, I was the same way. I was like, oh, my God, I got money. Oh, my God. I'm doing all These shows, I'm so cool. And then when it all stopped coming for me, I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I gotta remind myself who I am. But I did that. And so being able to like have that knowledge is fun.

[Emily Oster]

Wisdom. That's wisdom.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

I just feel like I should have

[Karen Fairchild]

like one of the beards, like a Rick Rubin beard.

[Bobby Bones]

That's a future that I, I.

[Karen Fairchild]

You would never. You wouldn't like that.

[Bobby Bones]

I have long hair though, for like, I've been growing my hair out.

[Emily Oster]

It's good. I like it.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Baby likes it. I just don't cut it because baby likes it.

[Karen Fairchild]

See?

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I haven't heard the record yet. I don't listen to records early because I like to listen to them when all my people that watch and listen hear them. But I'm gonna be ready for the idea.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Yeah.

[Emily Oster]

Yes.

[Karen Fairchild]

Thank you.

[Bobby Bones]

Is that like the song in your guys mind? Not single.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

Not single.

[Bobby Bones]

But is that like the song? When people listen to it, they're gonna go, that's the one I remember.

[Karen Fairchild]

I think so. I mean, I feel that way about a couple of songs, but that one, like when we do play it for people, they go, yeah. You kind of hear the room, the air suck out of the room. We didn't write it. It's Lauren Hungate, Liz Rose, Topher Brown song. And Topher sent it to me one night and I was just blown away. It's just like one of those gifts of a song that really. The chorus says it so beautifully.

[Emily Oster]

The hook, it's like you guys are

[Bobby Bones]

going back out on the road. Do you have your openers? Do you know who they are?

[Karen Fairchild]

We haven't announced the openers.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay, don't announce it right now.

[Karen Fairchild]

The fans are just stuck with us.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, you guys have been great. My point was you guys have been great at bringing along people.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, we definitely are gonna. We're about to announce openers. We just haven't yet.

[Bobby Bones]

But bringing along like cool new people.

[Karen Fairchild]

I know. I love it. And like, I, I don't ever want to do just an evening with Little Big Town. I mean, I like us, but I like, there's such a value in having a discovery of an artist, like in front of us and us being able to say, like, wait till you hear Caitlin Smith singing.

[Bobby Bones]

I was literally gonna say Caitlin Smith.

[Emily Oster]

Oh, yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

That was who I was in my head. And I.

[Karen Fairchild]

She did. She did Nightfall with us and just blew us away every night, you know? And I love those moments where I'm dying to get Dressed early so I can go watch side stage and watch it all happen. Yeah. There's just so many good. I'm obsessed with Joshua Sloan. Have you listened to that record?

[Bobby Bones]

They have somebody. They yelled a yes.

[Emily Oster]

So good.

[Bobby Bones]

They've talked about the record.

[Karen Fairchild]

Listening to it. It is. If I wake up in the middle of the night, that's what I'm singing. I think I'm singing him in the key. I've listened to it so much. Like, I am such a huge fan. I figured you maybe had already met him.

[Bobby Bones]

You know, I know what I'm listening to. Fisher Price. Purple monkey in a bubble gum tree. And if you can't see a purple monkey and a bubble gum tree and yeah. Yeah. That's what I'm listening to. Push that orange button on that massive piano and listen to the same four baby songs over and over again.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah. Wait till you enter into the Peppa Pig years.

[Emily Oster]

Bluey. You're gonna love Bluey.

[Bobby Bones]

What's gonna happen is. Because I wrote a kid's book before I had a kid. A little weird. What's gonna happen is I'm gonna be inspired to like, create something. Kid.

[Emily Oster]

Yes, you are.

[Karen Fairchild]

Kids record.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah. I did a kid's record once. Cracker Barrel bought it immediately. It's my. Yeah, I did. So we did Raging Kitty. It's. And Cracker Barrel bought it and it was all over theirs. Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

I'm sorry that I didn't know that.

[Emily Oster]

I didn't need to.

[Karen Fairchild]

The kids one.

[Bobby Bones]

It's okay. You're probably watching me on today's show when you. Whenever we put it out. It's just so much.

[Karen Fairchild]

I remember the book.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah.

[Karen Fairchild]

I mean, raging critique.

[Bobby Bones]

Raging kitties. I did a song about the planets just for fun. And I did like a. This rap song because I had a record deal as a hip hop artist at one point. Well, for one song. Did you guys know that about me?

[Emily Oster]

I feel like I did.

[Bobby Bones]

And this is not a joke, but I did. I was kind of funny when I rap, but I was Captain Caucasian. That was my name.

[Michael Rapoport]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

And so a little bit. I can corny rap. And so I did a song about the planets.

[Karen Fairchild]

I love that.

[Bobby Bones]

So it was an educational song. And then I had a record deal at Black river and they said, oh, let's do more of these songs. And I was like, well, this was just kind of a fun joke. And I did a whole kids record, and the Cracker Roll bought it, and it was all over the store forever.

[Emily Oster]

That's so cool. So what's the Song about the planets.

[Bobby Bones]

Well, let's see. I can do Bare Naked Ladies one week. No, it's gonna be one of my songs.

[Emily Oster]

It's like when Luke Bryan said to Karen, you don't know her song.

[Bobby Bones]

Yeah, I don't know that. I have Barrett.

[Emily Oster]

I wanna get that record, though. Cause I have a nine year old and she's writing that.

[Bobby Bones]

You don't want the record, but it's up. But do you guys remember Sir Mix a lot?

[Emily Oster]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay. He had a song called Buttermilk Biscuits that was like Buttermilk Biscuits round and. But I did the chorus to that where it was like, my very energetic mother just served us nine pizzas. So that's, you know, my very Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. And it started with Planet. Let me just play. And then we're done here.

[Karen Fairchild]

And Schoolhouse Rock. We just sang all those on the. On the plane the other day. We tried to remember all of them.

[Bobby Bones]

Brace yourselves, guys.

[Karen Fairchild]

I'm ready.

[Bobby Bones]

Do you know there's a hundred planet songs? Wow. I thought I was the only one.

[Karen Fairchild]

Whoa, you made a planet song and that's why you're Bobby Bones.

[Bobby Bones]

I believe in myself so much.

[Karen Fairchild]

I thought I was the only one.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay, let's see here. And then my point, by the way, with your artist is that you guys have done such a great job at bringing along really cool artists, was that if you had announced them, I wanted people to know when they go to you guys shows to get there for the opener because you guys do such a great job of that.

[Karen Fairchild]

Thank you.

[Emily Oster]

Yeah. Can I brag for a second while you find your planet song?

[Bobby Bones]

I want you to brag. I've already found it, but I want you to brag anyway.

[Emily Oster]

So we had. We took out Zac Brown band to open for us. We took out Chris Stapleton to open for us. Casey Musgraves, Kelsey Ballerini, Brothers Osbourne. I mean, yeah. Get there for the open and act because we have a pretty doggone good record.

[Bobby Bones]

That's pretty cool, that resume of free flat openers. Okay. And then we're gonna. Hold on. There's a planet. There's a talking part.

[Michael Rapoport]

Hold on.

[Bobby Bones]

Do you know how to remember their order?

[Emily Oster]

No.

[Michael Rapoport]

How? Easy.

[Bobby Bones]

My very energetic mother just served us nine pizzas. Get ready for it. I wrote a song about it. I want to hear it.

[Emily Oster]

My very energetic mother just served us nine pizzas. My very energetic mother just served us nine pieces.

[Bobby Bones]

30 seconds and I'm done. My very energetic mother just served us my pizza. From the start at planet number one, meet My good friend Mercury, it's closest to the sun, so it was all educational, and I was holding up planets,

[Karen Fairchild]

and it's 11 Beastie Boys.

[Bobby Bones]

I like it. The Roman goddess of beauty is where it got its name. The whole planet is burning. It's basically a flame. So I just did all the planets and didn't. And then went back to the chorus. It's okay. But.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah, it's really cracker.

[Bobby Bones]

Bought it. I was like, this is awesome.

[Apollo Sponsor Voice]

How.

[Bobby Bones]

Who knew music was easy?

[Karen Fairchild]

I mean, joke.

[Emily Oster]

No, no, no. I. I'm blown away. That's really cool.

[Bobby Bones]

I'm not musical, really, but, yeah. Big Beastie Boys guy, right?

[Karen Fairchild]

Yeah.

[Bobby Bones]

Okay. Before you came in, we talked about the tour, and congrats on the record whenever it comes out. Can't wait for it. I'm a big fan of you guys. So it's really great to see you guys.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Thank you.

[Bobby Bones]

In a town where everybody kind of lives close together, nobody really ever sees anybody. So it is really great to see you guys.

[Karen Fairchild]

Good to see you, too.

[Bobby Bones]

Tell the guys I said hello.

[Emily Oster]

We will.

[Karen Fairchild]

Tell Caitlin we said hello.

[Bobby Bones]

I definitely will. And continued success. You guys are amazing. Thank you for coming.

[Karen Fairchild]

Thank you for having us.

[Emily Oster]

It's great to see you.

[Bobby Bones]

Thanks for listening to a BobbyKast production.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Hey, everybody. I'm Tereka Fosta Brasby. What's up, y'?

[Emily Oster]

All?

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

I'm your girl, Cheryl Swoopz. When you tune in to a new episode of our podcast, Levels to this, you're definitely gonna get some Spy, CW NBA Analysis. But we're more than just hoops, and the real conversation is what we actually bring. It's been really, really cool seeing kind of these women just really step into their power off the court and understand that they are basketball.

[Karen Fairchild]

Right?

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

And they're not asking for permission. Listen to Levels to this with Sheryl Swoopes and Tarika Foster brasby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Mangesha Tegular]

I'm Mangesha Tegadir, and I'm back with a new season of my podcast, Skyline Drive. This time, I talk to scientists, biopunks, curmudgeons, Blue Zone super seniors, and Goa's top cryotherapy lab to try to understand this obsession with living forever and what it means for all of us. And I get into a bit of trouble along the way.

[Emily Oster]

I'd say probably start bone smashing.

[Bobby Bones]

That doesn't work.

[Emily Oster]

To make it look more defined, they say it works.

[Karen Fairchild]

I don't know.

[Mangesha Tegular]

Listen to Skyline Drive. How to live Forever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Karen Fairchild]

Bill, why is my eye twitching? Does this mean I'm in perimenopause? Where's my phone?

[Bobby Bones]

Juliana, maybe we can ask an actual human.

[Karen Fairchild]

Yes, because I have questions, and I bet you do, too. Like, is it normal to sleep in separate bedrooms?

[Bobby Bones]

We do that.

[Karen Fairchild]

And I still need to know why my poop's been green.

[Bobby Bones]

We've got actual people answering these exact questions. Listen to Bill and Juliana, the podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Paul Verze here, and I want to talk to you about Paul's best podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Plan, Players Network, and iHeartRadio. I sit down each week with a special guest, and we discuss the absolute best of things.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Pete Davidson.

[Bobby Bones]

It's that and then there's everything else. Dude, his whole life has sounded like the first drop of a roller coaster. I mean, I can't even tell you, Paul, how crazy it was.

[Karen Fairchild]

It was insane.

[Bobby Bones]

Listen to Paul's best podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.