← The Bobby Bones Show
The Bobby Bones Show
BOBBYCAST: Luke Bryan on Being a Victim of His Own Success with Songs + The First Time He Got the Call to Be Host on American Idol + The Most Important Song of His Career
01:03:26
Loading summary
Transcript282 lines
- [00:00]
Bobby Bones
No matter where the new sound is coming from. T Mobile helps you tune in because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now. Keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com KeepAndSwitch up to 4 lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.
- [00:30]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible snacks like Outshine Fruit Bars and Ritz Crackers or sweet treat favorites like Nestle Drumsticks, Nerds, Gummy Clusters and Lindor Chocolates plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply this. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.
- [01:00]
Designer Shoe Warehouse
Want to pull off the season's freshest trends? You just need the right shoes. That's where designer shoe warehouse comes in. Loving wide leg jeans. Pair them with sleek low profile sneakers.
- [01:12]
Luke Bryan
Obsessed with the sheer trend? Try it with mesh flats, peeling boho comfy sandals.
- [01:18]
Designer Shoe Warehouse
Nail the whole free spirited thing. Find on trend shoes from the brands you love like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas and more at dsw.
- [01:36]
Luke Bryan
I passed stupidly on the Morgan sanding my boots because I had a lot of negativity on socials that I was getting pegged as maybe a one trick pony in that lane.
- [01:53]
Bobby Bones
Episode 499 with Luke Bryan well well well, he's back on American Idol. Idol runs through May I encourage you to watch it. This is Luke's eighth season. Pretty cool this year because Carrie's a judge. His country song came on tour Happening Farm Tour Happening and that one he pays for all himself sets up literally in a farmer's I won't say yard, but field all the tickets to that@lukebryan.com Luke is my friend. That's pretty cool. Luke's got a Hulu series called It's all country that you can check out. We get to a lot of stuff and I will say before the show, before this happened, he broke the chair. Now the chair was already an old chair. I did not rewarn him that if you sit down hard, it's like a little love seat. But it's from, like, 1930s. We just got it because it looked cool. He was at the house just prior we. I know we talk about this coming up, but he was at the house, like, four days prior. And I was like, be careful in the chair. And he did. And this time we were just talking. He just sat down. It's bound to go anyway. Luckily, he's pretty athletic, so when he fell, it looked like a really good athletic stop, drop, and roll, like if you're on fire. And then he got up, and we did the show. We did the hour. I love Luke. I hope you like this. I feel like there's parts of Luke here that he hasn't shared yet. Find him on Socialske. Bryan, get all the tickets to all the stuff. Lukebrian.com Mike, any thoughts? I mean, he's just the presence. When he, like, walks in, even just go into the bathroom, you can, like, tell he's in there. So when he came in and sat down, I was like, oh, there goes that chair. He's a big guy.
- [03:33]
Luke Bryan
Yeah.
- [03:34]
Bobby Bones
And big presence. And I think I do talk about how we would be at dinner. Me, Luke, Lionel Richie, Seacrest, Katy Perry, a couple producers, and that everybody's fighting for oxygen in that room. I'm not. I don't want to even talk if it's just me and my wife and a few of us. But they want attention. He dominates, and not on purpose. Like, he just has that kind of presence here. He is my friend and yours, Luke Bryant. Let's address this. First you did fall over. Just.
- [04:03]
Luke Bryan
Yes, the chair. Bobby has a.
- [04:06]
Bobby Bones
But first you knew about it.
- [04:08]
Luke Bryan
How can I remember?
- [04:10]
Bobby Bones
You knew about it. You knew as soon as you fell, you were like, oh, yeah, I remember now.
- [04:14]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, that went through my mind as I was. As my ass was going over my head. But yeah, this chair has a. A leg that's. I went on and finished off, but I'm just gonna stay on this side.
- [04:27]
Bobby Bones
I think it's a lot of tensing your body for the next 40 minutes.
- [04:31]
Luke Bryan
What's that?
- [04:31]
Bobby Bones
You're gonna have to sit there for 40 minutes.
- [04:33]
Luke Bryan
I need. I can engage the core.
- [04:35]
Bobby Bones
You fell over. You fell back in the chair. You did sit hard, to be honest. And it's a chair from, like, 1890. And I was like, you were here a week or so ago. I was like, hey, be careful on that chair because you might fall over. You dominated it today, though.
- [04:46]
Luke Bryan
Yeah. I mean, athletic, too. I will Say I. I mean I. It was. I wish we would have. It would have been worth having. I'm good at falling, Bobby.
- [04:55]
Bobby Bones
It was an athletic fall. And now, now, now, now.
- [04:59]
Luke Bryan
This microphone needs Viagra.
- [05:02]
Bobby Bones
Reed, you want to blue pill this thing? Oh, there it goes.
- [05:07]
Luke Bryan
I think I. No. You look like a guy that's done.
- [05:10]
Bobby Bones
That a few times. Do you have a nervous tick? Because I do with a microphone when I first get it at all times to like reset it.
- [05:16]
Luke Bryan
Well, when.
- [05:17]
Bobby Bones
Or was that one just not set? Cuz I will grab.
- [05:19]
Luke Bryan
Well, it's just, it's just sagging. You got to understand when you're at P, I'm at a piano.
- [05:25]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, yeah. You got to adjust.
- [05:26]
Luke Bryan
You got to get it where you like it. You know, it's just like.
- [05:30]
Bobby Bones
See that chair's.
- [05:31]
Luke Bryan
It's good.
- [05:32]
Bobby Bones
Are you okay?
- [05:33]
Luke Bryan
I'm okay with the chair and I'm okay. I just got done with four days of snow skiing and. Yeah. So I have fallen and chased my children up and down the mountains and fallen and cracked vertebra and all that. So I'm good.
- [05:49]
Bobby Bones
I'd like to ask you about snow skiing. I've never been.
- [05:51]
Luke Bryan
You've never been?
- [05:52]
Bobby Bones
No. And I. If I'm just guessing, I would imagine you didn't go till later.
- [05:56]
Luke Bryan
I didn't snow ski until I was gifted for college graduation at 23. My dad, we took a big. Me and a bunch of my fraternity brothers went on a trip and that was the first time I learned. And it was Jackson Hole, Wyoming and it's like a hard ass mountain to learn on. But yeah, I didn't start till 23. But then since then I've gone every year.
- [06:22]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, we didn't have snows. I mean, you're from Georgia, I'm from Arkansas. It's not like anywhere around us.
- [06:26]
Luke Bryan
Well, for the money, I mean when you start looking at western snow skiing and the cost, I mean it's a. It's a booger again.
- [06:36]
Bobby Bones
Which is why we probably didn't go when we were young.
- [06:37]
Luke Bryan
Oh, we wouldn't have even. My, my parents wouldn't have even have. They wouldn't have even known that to. I mean we, we did good to get to Panama City to the beach. But. But if you do do it, and I think you all.
- [06:50]
Bobby Bones
I'm scared of ACL MCls. I'm scared of.
- [06:52]
Luke Bryan
Have you ever torn one?
- [06:53]
Bobby Bones
Nope. But that's why I don't want to go snow skiing.
- [06:56]
Luke Bryan
You're not going to tear one when you fall.
- [06:59]
Bobby Bones
As was evidence with Your fall here, it's different when you're an adult.
- [07:03]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, but they'll set your skis and all your, your bite. They'll make it where, when you, you know they all your settings when, when, when the boots and the skis don't like the way they're turned, you'll pop out of them. The only way you're ever going to. You would ever blow an acl. Well, first of all, I was going to tell you if you do, you ought to do it. First of all. Secondly, day one, get a, get, get an instructor for three days and they're that and learn, learn properly, learn the right way. And all your skis and bindings. If you make a hard fall, your skis pop off. What, what blows your legs out is when you stay hooked to your skis.
- [07:44]
Bobby Bones
Which also is what. I didn't tear ACLs or MCLs but we lived near water so we would ski and then we'd wakeboard. Wake surf. And not getting out of a wakeboard like when you wipe, I think that's.
- [07:56]
Luke Bryan
More, way more dange. Cuz you're, you're in. You're not coming. I mean like Jake Owen. Jake's torn. I mean he's torn his knees a lot cuz he, he wake. Wakeboarded every day. So.
- [08:06]
Bobby Bones
Which is why eventually we just started wake surfing and wake skating come off of that. If you wipe out.
- [08:12]
Luke Bryan
Yeah. And when you fall wake surfing, it's.
- [08:14]
Bobby Bones
Just like, like you fell a minute ago.
- [08:15]
Luke Bryan
He's like slow mo again.
- [08:18]
Bobby Bones
And I'm not, I'm not being funny about this. You fell very athletic. You did fall.
- [08:23]
Luke Bryan
Well, like I said, I'm still, I mean I'm still jacked up from us being 10,000ft in the, in the mountains. I'm still.
- [08:32]
Bobby Bones
But when you're 12. Were you an athlete?
- [08:35]
Luke Bryan
I was a pretty good athlete as a kid. I was a very proficient athlete. I mean baseball and football all stars every year until like 8th or 9th grade. I did not grow. Everybody else grew. So when everybody else hit puberty and all that, here I am. And, and I was the youngest kid in my whole grade. My birthday was July 17th and back then the cutoff, the starts were like August I think. So I should have been held back a year, but I wasn't. So. So here I am, the youngest kid in my grade and I'm the latest blooming boy in the grade. So I made the ninth grade baseball team. I made the tenth grade baseball team. I didn't even go out for football because football Was our football program was not that good, and I just didn't need to be on the field. But then 10th, going into 11th grade, I still was like, I just. I. I went to my coach and said, man, everybody else can hit homers and hit it off the wall. I said, man, I'm not going to be able to compete. And that's when I essentially started really getting into music. Thank God, you know, and really, the time that I dedicated to maybe baseball and football practices and all that, I would. I would start. I had a little high school band, and we'd. We go, you know, play Leonard Skynyrd songs in a garage on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And, you know, that's kind of what got me into music.
- [10:15]
Bobby Bones
How big's your dad?
- [10:16]
Luke Bryan
My dad's six. Six one. Yeah. So he's. He's 61 2, 15 his whole life, you know, he was. He was kind of a. You know, I didn't know he was a big dude. And then all my buddies would be like, man, your dad's. Your dad's kind of a big guy.
- [10:30]
Bobby Bones
So you're a big guy. Like, people have to be surprised when they meet you, how large you are.
- [10:34]
Luke Bryan
Well, I think, yeah, I think people are like, yeah, people are always. That's the first thing I say was like, man, we didn't realize you were. Well, you know what's funny is, like, Blake's a big dude. Blake is bigger than me. He's probably an inch or two taller than me. But then, like, if I throw on a pair of cowboy boots, I'm six four all day long. So that makes me even more like, people are like, well, but I mean, I'm. I'm 62, you know, and little. Little heavier than I want to be, but working on that.
- [11:04]
Bobby Bones
But Tracy Lawrence yesterday, and we were talking about country music, and to me, when I was a kid, country music talked about where I was from, and I felt that related there. But, like, alternative music talked about how I felt.
- [11:18]
Luke Bryan
Right.
- [11:19]
Bobby Bones
Because country music used to be a bit older. They would sing a lot of parent songs when we were younger. Like, country music was definitely like adults singing to adults a lot.
- [11:26]
Luke Bryan
No doubt.
- [11:27]
Bobby Bones
And just kind of talk to him about how that's changed a lot. And the artists, I mean, including you, especially when you started younger, the country music messaging is more broad. It's gotten far more populous popular. Has your music changed in what you're looking to record when you're 25 versus now, just as you growing up?
- [11:52]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, I mean, I think naturally, I entered in. And when you look at my first two albums, there were. It. It was very, very. I mean, fiddle, heavy steel guitar, heavy country songs, like. And. And I had, you know, I think I had a lot of those aspects of kind of some classic country stuff in those first two albums and then kind of morphed into, as I was playing clubs, college bars, and watching. I mean, I was a direct reflection of watching college kids right when I got off stage. And I would play all of the big covers, I'd play, you know, I'd play Fishing in the Dark, and you never even call me by my name and Skynyrd and all the Brooks and Dunn stuff and Tracy Lawrence, and we'd play ma. Even, you know, I, like. We would learn, like, modern, like, Gary Allen songs at the time, songs about rain, and we were playing these things. And then right when I got done, they put on the biggest hip hop songs. And that's when the energy level in that college bar went to 11. And so that's when I started going, well, if I'm gonna. If I'm gonna really kind of dance in this space, you know, you got to be able to relate to that demographic. And so. Yeah. But you know what's interesting, Bobby? When you look at somebody like. Like Morgan and even, like, I don't know how old. I mean, when you look at, like, Connor Smith or some of these kids that. I mean, Morgan really got going when he was 24, 25. I really got going when I was 32. Really? 30. 30. 30 to 32 is when like.
- [13:54]
Bobby Bones
Like, you're already a full adult then, right?
- [13:56]
Luke Bryan
I mean, I didn't move to Nashville Till I was 25, so I was tricking people a little bit in my. Like, when I look at Thomas Red, he was like, 20.
- [14:08]
Bobby Bones
He's a kid.
- [14:08]
Luke Bryan
Yeah. He was a baby. And he's calling me like, what did you do? And I was like, dude, I was, you know, I was going through what. You're. You're 21. I was 31. I had, you know, I had a baby at home and a wife. And. And. And so, you know, it was a little bit different for me because I, you know, I just. I didn't get to town until I was 25. And, you know, that. That. The reason why that happened is I had lost my brother in the car wreck. I was moving here when I was 19, and when. When he passed away in 96, that kind of delayed. I. I was. Already had an apartment here. And then. Yes. So 96, I'd have been 20. So then I just kind of shut her down for a minute. Then I went and did college and worked for my dad a couple years. So it kind of just threw me off, which I'm glad I came here with a mature mindset. I think if, I think if moving away from Leesburg, Georgia straight to Tennessee, there's no telling how I would have reacted in that. So I think going to college and getting some. Getting away from home and then coming here was perfect.
- [15:28]
Bobby Bones
But can you imagine though, those 19 year old athletes that go to the NBA though? Because you're talking about, you know, you're glad at 19 because you don't think you had the.
- [15:35]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, I mean I think the. I think imagine that you get the deck. I think the odds in the deck are stacked against them. I mean it's really. I can't imagine resources like crazy, like millions of dollars.
- [15:45]
Bobby Bones
And now you're 19 and you're living in LA, New York, Boston, wherever.
- [15:50]
Luke Bryan
Listen, I mean it's a lot. You, you have to give grace. You have to give them some grace in the. The good, the positives and the negatives. I mean they're still boys really. I mean.
- [16:04]
Bobby Bones
Well, mostly too is like the music even then like I can look at some of the songs like Mr. Mom or like some of the Colin Ray stuff. It was very adults singing to adults.
- [16:13]
Luke Bryan
I sang along with those songs because I was such a radio same geek. I mean I was a top 40 country radio geek. I didn't, I didn't know any Texas artist. I didn't know like your underground, like your Robert Earl Keane King. Is it Keen. Keen K E E N. I didn't really know their music. I didn't know like the Lyle Lovett scene. I didn't know the, you know, those under those kind of underground things.
- [16:44]
Bobby Bones
The Texas red dirt stuff. It just barely got to Arkansas. So I can't imagine it was in Georgia.
- [16:49]
Luke Bryan
Well, the only thing. Yeah, like we had like if we had any. Well so yeah. And then. And if we had any like underground Georgia stuff, it would have been like a driving and crying. Do you remember them? And like, like REM was almost a little too alternative really for us to get into. I mean we knew R.E.M. because you know, they were a, you know, a global band and even you know, in college, I mean obviously Dave Matthews was kind of east coast underground and obviously Hootie and the Blowfish. But, but the bottom line is, I think, I think when I look back when I got here in 2001, like Mr. Mom and just Another Day in Paradise.
- [17:40]
Bobby Bones
That's an adult song. It's a massive hit, but it's an adult country song, which there aren't a lot of those now, but as the young guys.
- [17:48]
Luke Bryan
But when I think about college and I think about what when I think about what really shaped me, it was Tim McGraw, greengrass grows and it was Kenny Chesney back where I Come from and and that's what we were jamming and that's what I was covering in my cover band. I didn't really, but I felt like yeah, there was a more. There was that 45 year old woman demographic going on and certainly that's flipped a little bit currently.
- [18:24]
Bobby Bones
Let's take a quick pause for a.
- [18:25]
Ryan Seacrest
Message from our sponsor.
- [18:28]
Bobby Bones
It is T Mobile's critical mission to provide unparalleled 5G coverage for when connectivity is mission critical. Introducing T Priority with the world's first network slice for public safety, T Priority delivers America's best 5G network experience for first responders even in times of congestion. For uninterrupted communication between more emergency response teams. T Priority has more capacity and faster speeds for real time actionable intelligence built with coverage that goes even farther for reliable connectivity in rural areas from HD drone footage to real time body camera feeds. T Priority is ready for data intensive emergency technology. T Priority from T Mobile built for tomorrow's emergencies ready today. Discover more@t-priority.com for qualifying organizations on eligible rate plans. Coverage not available in some areas and may be impacted by emergencies.
- [19:23]
Jenny Garth
Hi, it's Jenny Garth. We all know the importance of taking care of our physical and mental health, but what about our sexual health? I've been there, feeling totally stuck when it comes to my libido. That's why I started taking Addi and let me tell you, I have seen firsthand what a difference it can make in how you feel. ADDI is the only FDA approved pill clinically proven to help certain premenopausal women have more interest in sex, have more satisfying sex and lower the stress from low libido. ADDI has helped hundreds of thousands of women get their drive back, including me. Talk to your doctor or visit a d d y I.com to learn more about Addy, the Little Pink Pill. Individual results may vary.
- [20:10]
Designer Shoe Warehouse
Addi or Flibanserin is for pre menopausal women with Acquired Generalized Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder HSDD who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past who have had low sexual desire. No matter the type of sexual activity, the situation or the sexual partner. This low sexual desire is troubling to them and is not due to a medical or mental health problem. Problems in the for medicine or other drug use. Addi is not for use in children, men, or to enhance sexual performance. Your risk of severe low blood pressure and fainting is increased if you drink one to two standard alcoholic drinks. Close in time to your Addi dose. Wait at least two hours after drinking before taking Addi at bedtime. This risk increases if you take certain prescriptions, OTC or herbal medications, or have liver problems and can happen when you take Addi without alcohol or other medicines. Do not take if you are allergic to any of addi's ingredients. Allergic reaction may include hives, itching or trouble breathing. Sometimes serious sleepiness can occur. Common side effects include dizziness, nausea, tiredness, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, and dry mouth. See full PI and medication guide including boxed morning@ addy.com PI addy.
- [21:01]
Jenny Garth
Visit a d d y I.com to learn more about Addy.
- [21:06]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible cleaning items from Charmin, Tide and Downey and dinner essentials from Stouffer's, DiGiorno, Arby's and Violife, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details. And we're back on the Bobby cast.
- [21:46]
Bobby Bones
I feel like it's flipping back though because the young guys of you guys are now 10 years in and you're starting to change it back to it being it's allowed to be a little more mature now. Was my point was that like you and Jason and you can do Jake and Dirks and you guys have been around for 15 years, right?
- [22:04]
Luke Bryan
Yeah.
- [22:05]
Bobby Bones
And the music things you were singing about then was very young and the young is still here. But also you guys are so established and still relevant that you can sing older songs now, which was what my question was leading to was like are you now at times picking songs that you wouldn't have cut five years ago because of the of what the song's about?
- [22:24]
Luke Bryan
Well I for instance four by four by you. I mean there was one point in my career I had sing about trucks enough to where I mean I passed stupidly on the Morgan sanding my boots because it had Chevrolet in It.
- [22:50]
Bobby Bones
And you felt it was just too much truck because you were doing so many.
- [22:53]
Luke Bryan
I just felt like that I just went through two years of my life. I went through two years of my life where I was like, man, I have sing, you know, I sing about trucks a lot. I sing about tailgates. And you know, I kind of. I think I got in my head a little bit because I think if I had a lot of negativity socially on socials, that, that I was getting pegged as maybe a one trick pony in that lane.
- [23:22]
Bobby Bones
You were also a victim of your own success, which is a great way to.
- [23:25]
Luke Bryan
Which happens. Yeah, I mean, which. I'll take that. I'll take that any damn day of the week. Well, now I think. And Bobby, what's interesting too, when I was doing spring break stuff, I was 34, 35, 36, 37. Like making spring break albums appealing to 20 year olds.
- [23:49]
Bobby Bones
Did that feel weird for you?
- [23:51]
Luke Bryan
Well, it got a little weird. It didn't get weird. It just felt like, you know, it's time to move on from maybe the spring break, me trying to sing college songs. But it was fun for me and it was awesome and it totally told the world that, that, that's my personality, I think. I think no matter how people want to categorize me, I think people generally think my personality is, let's have some fun. And if, if I'm known for that, if I don't get male vocalists of the year and Grammys or whatever, because I may be known as the guy that has had fun through his career and put out a lot of fun songs, I'm cool with that. I mean, I think vocally I may have been overlooked for that party ness. I think there's stuff out there that I've done vocally that certainly it's not Chris Stapleton vocals and Ronnie Dunn vocals and, and the guys that are really, really known as vocalists, but I think I might have gotten overlooked in that a little bit, which is fine. Like I said, I agree.
- [25:04]
Bobby Bones
I think the, the character that people painted of you because what's so dominating about your presence is like you walk in a room, you own it inadvertently. Oh, for sure. I don't think it's your pressing to do it.
- [25:17]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, I just.
- [25:18]
Bobby Bones
I would watch a room when I was on Idol those years. We'd go to dinner, everybody, and it's crazy who's going to win that room because it ain't me. And Katie was big and large now. And you, if you came, Katie were large. It was Your room, it. It was really cool to watch you come in, and you did not dominate the room on purpose, but you have such a magnetic personality, and it is quite large where I could see that people would. And that's partly what allowed you to rise was. Was. But then it got so big, people wouldn't see the other things that you could do, which is why Idol was so great, because you would sit at a freaking piano and people would have their mind blown to watch you go and then just pour a straight vocal over keys, and they're like, we didn't know we could do that. Now you've been doing it the whole time.
- [26:05]
Luke Bryan
Yeah. I think people thank you for saying all that. And I think it's just. Listen, I mean, to. To. To get to a level of every artist that. That. That makes the leap from throwing out some radio hits, they've got to have something that's like. Takes them to that kind of like, I didn't never know. I'd be like, what's termed as a superstar. I mean, every time somebody introduces me as Luke, country music superstar Luke Bryan, like, it still freaks me out. Like, it's. I'm still like, how in the hell did I pull that title off? So when you look at somebody that goes from like, climbing, digging, digging, digging, 1, 1 hit, 2 hit, 3 hit, 4 hit, then next thing you know, they blow up to be a superstar. There's something about them that kind of made that happen. And with me, I think it was personality and my willingness on stage to. To just go for. Go for whatever that. To dance and cut up and be. And I think that was different enough to set me apart. Where I think when you got Jason Aldean, that went into superstar mode. It was that rock, Southern rock. She's country.
- [27:36]
Bobby Bones
It was electric guitar.
- [27:37]
Luke Bryan
It was electric guitar walls, like, layers of electric. And then when you look at Chesney, it was like.
- [27:47]
Bobby Bones
It was.
- [27:48]
Luke Bryan
It was.
- [27:49]
Bobby Bones
To me, he's beach, like, all beach all the time. Because the early Chesney, I wasn't into.
- [27:54]
Luke Bryan
See, I knew I was into everything he did from the first album. Knew every song on his Capricorn album.
- [28:03]
Bobby Bones
Yes. I. I only got into Chesney. I would say early mid. So you were in early, early.
- [28:09]
Luke Bryan
Oh, like, I might have been fan number one.
- [28:14]
Bobby Bones
There was. We were talking about this and that Aldean had posted this on a story, and I actually replied in his Instagram story, and he posted a meme from somebody that was like, who's the one artist? Or what was the one Artist that made you love country music. And so I was just being funny and I replied to him, Lil Nas X. And so I thought that was. So I took it on the show and I was talking about, like, the song. And you only pick one song, one artist. The song that made me go, holy crap was Tim McGraw, don't take the Girl. Because that was like a story song. And I remember, like, oh, my God, did she live? Like, I was a kid. And I was like, that song. It wrecked me. First song that really wrecked me. But the artist to me was Garth, because he was larger than life, right? Everything about him. So same question to you. Give me this one song, one artist that made you fall in love with country. It's an impossible question.
- [29:01]
Luke Bryan
It is.
- [29:02]
Bobby Bones
It was hard for me, but I had to boil it down if I.
- [29:04]
Luke Bryan
Gotta say the most. The most. The. The. The most definite thing. When I was in my formative light, I would say, Clint Black, Killing Time.
- [29:14]
Bobby Bones
God, it's such a jam. And I could think of exactly where I wasn't that someone come on the radio.
- [29:18]
Luke Bryan
And when. When I. Now, now, listen, you've got to understand. I've got, like. There are four Conway Twitty songs, there's seven Alabama songs, there's eight Milsap songs, there's eight Earl Thomas Conley's, there's two Mel McDaniels. I mean, when you think about Louisiana, Saturday night, and I'm five years old and my parents are drinking beer in the kitchen, dancing to that.
- [29:45]
Bobby Bones
I mean, that's John Anderson for me, with my grandma. Oh, like, swinging.
- [29:49]
Luke Bryan
Oh, yeah.
- [29:50]
Bobby Bones
Like that. Same kind of memory.
- [29:51]
Luke Bryan
But when. When Killing Time came out and. And then you know, just that album when you're a kid. And I went and bought that album and you did. Like, we. I had a stereo, you know, a CD player and these huge speakers. And I just sit there and listen to it for every day. Every day I would dedicate that album and just sitting there and listening to it and thumbing through Bassmasters magazines or whatever. But that. That was a big one for me. And. But, you know, I mean, I was so into that top 40 country. I mean. I mean, there's. There's 10 George Straits that really. I mean, the George Strait song that really probably hit me the most was Run. When I heard Run for the first time. And the fact that George did that to me. I mean, he already had me with 25 other songs. But the fact that, you know, I would assume. What's George now? He's probably mid. Is George mid 60 now, I would think late 70.
- [31:09]
Bobby Bones
Huh? Well, our Mike 72.
- [31:13]
Luke Bryan
So think about this. I moved town in 2001, 2002 and he came out with run in 2002 or 2003. So that would have been 15 years ago.
- [31:28]
Bobby Bones
So he was 52. We're getting dude, that's like 20 years.
- [31:33]
Luke Bryan
So he would have been 52 and drops run and then he drops Give it away. And those are giant. Like if I'm 48 and if I can figure out a song that at the end of the year, through all the new artists coming out, all the me and Audis and George dropped to at 52 years old, that still slayed the country music market. I mean, when he put out Give It Away, he owned the radio with.
- [32:12]
Bobby Bones
That song and he talked in that song.
- [32:14]
Luke Bryan
Right. Which so that's my job to try to attempt to do at the age of 48.
- [32:23]
Ryan Seacrest
The Bobbycast we'll be right back.
- [32:27]
Bobby Bones
It is T Mobile's critical mission to provide unparalleled 5G coverage for when connectivity is mission critical. Introducing T Priority with the world's first network slice for public safety, T Priority delivers America's best 5G network experience for first responders even in times of congestion. For uninterrupted communication between more emergency response teams. T Priority has more capacity and faster speeds for real time actionable intelligence built with coverage that goes even farther for reliable connectivity in rural areas. From HD drone footage to real time body camera feeds. T Priority is ready for data intensive emergency technology. T Priority from T Mobile built for tomorrow's emergencies, ready today. Discover more@t-priority.com for qualifying organizations on eligible rate plans. Coverage not available in some areas and may be impacted by emergencies.
- [33:22]
Jenny Garth
Hi, it's Jenny Garth. We all know the importance of taking care of our physical and mental health. But what about our sexual health? I've been there, feeling totally stuck when it comes to my libido. That's why I started taking Addi. And let me tell you, I have seen firsthand what a difference it can make in how you feel. Addi is the only FDA approved pill clinically proven to help certain premenopausal women have more interest in sex, have more satisfying sex and lower the stress from low libido. Addi has helped hundreds of thousands of women get their drive back, including me. Talk to your doctor or visit a d d y I.com to learn more about Addy, the little pink pill. Individual results may vary.
- [34:09]
Designer Shoe Warehouse
Addi or Flabanserin is for premenopausal Women with Acquired Generalized Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder HSDD who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past who have had low sexual desire. No matter the type of sexual activity, the situation, or the sexual partner, this low sexual desire is troubling to them and is not due to a medical or mental health problem, problems in the relationship, or medicine or other drug use. Addie is not for use in children, men, or to enhance sexual performance. Your risk of severe pressure and fainting is increased if you drink one to two standard alcoholic drinks close in time to your adidose. Wait at least two hours after drinking before taking ADDI at bedtime. This risk increases if you take certain prescriptions, OTC or herbal medications, or have liver problems and can happen when you take ADDI without alcohol or other medicines. Do not take if you're allergic to any of addi's ingredients. Allergic reaction may include hives, itching or trouble breathing. Sometimes serious sleepiness can occur. Common side effects include dizziness, nausea, tiredness, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, and dry mouth. See fall PI and medication guide including boxed morning@addie.com PI addy.
- [35:00]
Jenny Garth
Visit a D D Y I dot com to learn more about Addy.
- [35:05]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible cleaning items from Charmin, Tide and Downey and dinner essentials from Stouffer's, DiGiorno, Arby's and Violife, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details. This is the bobbycast.
- [35:45]
Bobby Bones
I think the environment was a bit different than because older artists were able to exist. But I think the guys that are still cool now, that have been around 15 years ago can actually shift that back to that where you guys are able to put out music that's adult, that's not tailgates or whiskey that adults who've grown up with you can still enjoy without feeling like they're living a lie by making out.
- [36:11]
Luke Bryan
Well, I think with me, I mean I've. I think I've when you look at my first album, all country country, second album, 80% country. I mean, what else is it?
- [36:23]
Bobby Bones
What's the other 20%?
- [36:25]
Luke Bryan
Well, whatever. I'm just. I'm not even speaking correctly. Yeah, it was 100. 100% country. And it's. In my opinion, it's always been 100% country. It's just people, you know, people that judge stuff don't necessarily. Didn't necessarily appreciate country girl, shake it for me or whatever. That's fine. But what they don't know about me is they don't know that name a song from 85, nameless song that was on the radar from 1985 to present day. And I guarantee you, I could play it and sing it.
- [36:58]
Bobby Bones
Oh, yeah.
- [36:59]
Luke Bryan
From Mr. Mom to Phil Vassar to Diamond Rio, all of them. Because I listen. That's. But my thing is, so when I go back, like my current song, country song came home, It's a throwback song for me. But some people may be like, well, that's Luke pandering to maybe what's pop? No, it's not pandering. Like, it's me being authentically. Like, that song spoke to me. Like, I was like, hell, yeah, I'm cutting that. That's me.
- [37:29]
Bobby Bones
I also don't think you would have cut that 10 years ago.
- [37:33]
Luke Bryan
Probably not.
- [37:34]
Bobby Bones
Even though you would have loved it then as well. I think you were.
- [37:37]
Luke Bryan
But I think as. As. As. As. Country music is broad. It gets sucked into everybody doing one thing, then it broadens back out. And I think we're in the broadest time period ever where you can be Morgan and little Dirk doing a thing, and then you can be Zach Top.
- [37:57]
Bobby Bones
Well, and that's the beauty of having all the outlets for it to exist, from the streaming to. It's not just radio, which it used to be, but you, like, you got streaming, you got the digital social media, you got radio. You have all of that allows all of that to be successful in different ways.
- [38:14]
Luke Bryan
I mean, every time I clicked on TikTok and you heard, do you stop broken into something? I was like, that's how that song got fed to me. And that's great. The fact that artists can get broke like that Artists can get broke.
- [38:31]
Bobby Bones
Streaming stories on a. Streaming stories.
- [38:33]
Luke Bryan
I mean, like I said, I mean, when I see Zach top post, him sitting on a damn log with a. With a pair of jean shorts by the lake, and he plays the guitar and sings. I watch it.
- [38:47]
Bobby Bones
And very bluegrassy as well.
- [38:48]
Luke Bryan
Totally.
- [38:49]
Bobby Bones
So I don't think again, if we just do. Ten years ago, I don't think he would have been allowed to have the airspace to see if people liked him 10 years ago, because everybody was like, we only have so much room. And this is not the current what fits. I don't think Zach Top would have happened like he's happened today, right?
- [39:08]
Luke Bryan
And I don't think you would have. You know, you got a band like Parmalee out there that's delivering straight down the path. Big old, Big old radio hits, and then you've got. I just think it's interesting. I think it's. I think there's hits that are hits, and then I think they're hits that massively impactful for your career. I mean, I think.
- [39:36]
Bobby Bones
What's the most impactful song you put out? Impactful?
- [39:39]
Luke Bryan
I think the most important song I ever. I ever obviously ever did was Country Girl Shake it from Me. I think when I look at the most, maybe, you know, when I look at a drink of beer or most people are good. Those. Those were my opportunities at songs that I thought would be up for song of the years, and I never got a song of the year, which. That's when I was kind of like, man, you know, I really thought those would at least get nominated for something, and they never did. And then I was like, well, you know, at this point in my career, I just need to be free with what I do. Don't. You know? And I mean, when I look at one margarita and what that does for my career, man, it is fun in the room. It is fun in the summertime with 20,000 people, you don't get no more fun than performing one margarita. And if I can. If I can periodically have a knocking boots and one margarita partnered up with my big up tempos from Kick the Dust up and all that, I think it's about, like, in the next year or two, like, I'd love to have a big old fun summer anthem pop up because that's fun to have. Now what? I got to go write it or I got to go find it. And I hope I can find it. And I hope that it can be kind of coined song of the summer and fun and people can be like, oh, that's Luke with one of his party songs, you know, and so. But either way, I mean, it's so fun where I'm at in my career. I can just build my set list with my songs to create the vibe that I want to create. And just the fact that I can do that is a dream come true.
- [41:33]
Bobby Bones
What song did you almost not cut? Could have been yours or someone else. And it got. And you almost didn't. And you were like, I don't know if we're going to put this on, but it ended up being a monster.
- [41:43]
Luke Bryan
I never even thought about Rain as a good thing, as being a single. What was one that was like.
- [41:50]
Bobby Bones
Do you know the answer to that, Carrie? What did he almost not cut? And maybe he had to be convinced or he had to convince somebody.
- [41:56]
Luke Bryan
You know, I. I tell you what. Drunk on you. You gotta understand that at the time, I'm on the bus with, like, my band, and I think at that time, Cole Swindell was living on my bus. My merch guy. I mean, a couple of other, like, my. And drunk on you. Essentially, me watching the people in my inner circle react to that song, like, convinced you. Convinced me that it was something that was more special than I thought it was. And that was one that I almost could have let slip away. But, I mean, why'd you say, carrie.
- [42:42]
Bobby Bones
Give me some of that?
- [42:44]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, I had. Get me some of that. Because Michael, my guitar player, wrote that. Another one was, hey, girl. What's your name, girl?
- [42:58]
Bobby Bones
Billy Crington's.
- [42:59]
Luke Bryan
Yeah. And. And I. I don't know. I mean, I. I was close, but those.
- [43:06]
Bobby Bones
You didn't cut that one, though.
- [43:08]
Luke Bryan
Oh, right.
- [43:08]
Bobby Bones
That's the difference.
- [43:09]
Luke Bryan
You're right. I didn't cut it. I think the one that.
- [43:14]
Bobby Bones
That was a jam, though, if you just sang that one. Come on.
- [43:16]
Luke Bryan
Oh, and then Billy crushes it, too.
- [43:18]
Bobby Bones
But it's different. It's different. It would have been two different songs.
- [43:21]
Luke Bryan
Yeah. One that I wish I would have singled. That I didn't. Was a song called Way Way Back. Way Way Back, London Old Dirt Roads. I mean, I will still have artists kind of like in my. You know, like, artists in my friend group that they'll be on the bus listening to that. And I'm like, damn, I should. You know, Bobby, one of the most. Now think about this. This is one of the funniest. This is where, like, I knew things were stupidly successful for me, which I is so funny to think about. But on my last spring break album I put out. We had a. We had like a. I guess it would have been a CRS Kind of get together. And I was doing an interview, talking about my spring break album and all that. And a couple of the programmers go, off your spring break album, which song would you choose to be a single? And I said, man, right now I cannot stop thinking about a song called Games that I wrote. Me and Ashley Gorely, we. We literally wrote it by ourselves. And I put on the spring break album. Well, that. I guess. CRS is always this time of year in. In February. So we were ramping up our promotion for the spring break Album in February. The label had already picked Kick the Dust up to come out as the lead single from my new album that we'd already had done. So Kick the Dust up was supposed to come out in April. When we busted up for crs, all of the programmers started blaring games.
- [45:10]
Bobby Bones
They started playing games, which pressures your label to put to well.
- [45:15]
Luke Bryan
So as a. As one, as long as I live, I will deem this as a mistake of mine. Games got to 16 on the charts back then. If this were current, we could have just put both of them out. Yeah, yeah, but back then it was so taboo. You didn't even. You didn't even drum up trying to work two singles at one time.
- [45:37]
Bobby Bones
Was the label promoting Games once people started to play it, or was it the label?
- [45:40]
Luke Bryan
We were all jacked up. Yeah, but what we should have done is delayed. Delayed Kick the Dust Up. But. But, like, we had this whole thing behind Kick the Dust up to, like, just got in. We. Games would have went to number one, and I think Games would have probably been maybe one of my bigger singles ever. We killed it on purpose.
- [46:11]
Bobby Bones
You cannibalized yourself.
- [46:13]
Luke Bryan
We totally did. And I look back and I'm like. And I look back, me and Ashley Gorey, and Ashley's like, can you believe we actually killed a song to put out Kick the Dust up five years later?
- [46:27]
Bobby Bones
It had been fine. It's what's funny too, the timing, the. You know what year it was? Maybe 10. But, yeah, now you can do that, no problem. You can have three on at the same time.
- [46:34]
Luke Bryan
And so. And. And what was interesting is even Latin, not this past year, the year before, I played a full version of Games, like, in my concert, and, man, it went over great. You know, I wonder.
- [46:51]
Bobby Bones
I did a charity event with Darius once, and I asked him before the show, I said, hey, my favorite, because I was a massive Hootie fan.
- [46:57]
Luke Bryan
Loved, right?
- [46:58]
Bobby Bones
Knew every song.
- [46:59]
Luke Bryan
Me too.
- [46:59]
Bobby Bones
A sides, B sides, C sides, F sides, it didn't matter. Like, I loved it all. I burnt a tape out, like, played it so much, you know, the words came off of it.
- [47:06]
Luke Bryan
The correct review.
- [47:07]
Bobby Bones
And so I said, hey, I used to listen to this going to football practice every day. There was a song called Running from the Devil. And I was like. And he's like, man, I haven't played that in 20 years. But he's like, if you give me, like, 15 minutes before I go on, we'll learn it. And so it was the coolest thing. And again, he went on stage, the full band Then he's like running, running from the devil. And I'm like. It was like. It like meant something to me that he went and relearned that song and he has the musical prowess to do that too. If someone came to you and said a song you haven't heard on one of your first records in forever and said, man, I really want you to play this, and you're like, man, I barely remember that. How long until you could get that and play a full band on stage?
- [47:46]
Luke Bryan
Oh, I would probably be able to do that, what Darius did.
- [47:50]
Bobby Bones
Really?
- [47:50]
Luke Bryan
Now I can go back if I get a couple listens. I've always thanked God my level of being able to, to pull pulls. I just need one or two listens and it'll all come back. Now that doesn't mean I'm not assuring I wouldn't blank midway. But what's been fun through the years is every night before a show, it's, it's not the thing to do, but I will do a little two or three song acoustic set for like VIP that have bought the tickets for this little VIP experience. And I know better than to do it. But every now and then I'll ask the crowd for any request. Well, they always request some random damn song from, you know, one of my first albums. And then we'll go down the wormhole, which is fun because it's, it's not me just doing my standard little couple songs get it? And so once I see the lyric and remember the melody, then, then it'll start, it'll start popping back. But like, like, for instance, if I know that like we'll. I'll go two months without doing like a full band concert, like the Houston Rodeo's coming up. And I'll go down there and I will go listen to the songs and because I've had, I've had some moments where I didn't prepare and I would blank on a few words here or there. But I'm pretty good about retaining, you know, chords and lyrics and stuff like that. But I would say, you know, you still need to be a little more prepared as I get, you know. But back when I was 35, you know, I was doing 200 something shows a year. I mean, it was so there was never a break to get rusty.
- [49:46]
Bobby Bones
Do you use a click?
- [49:48]
Luke Bryan
There is a click in my ears.
- [49:50]
Bobby Bones
You sing to click.
- [49:51]
Luke Bryan
I can really, I can sing to click.
- [49:53]
Bobby Bones
You do you need to sing to click?
- [49:55]
Luke Bryan
No, but what I can. I listen, I'll tell you what, I'm good at and what I'm bad at, what I'm really good at is pocket on the acoustic guitar. Like. Like when we start, drink a beer, I'm not on the click, but when my bank, when my drummer fires the click with me playing, my tempo is on the click natural.
- [50:21]
Bobby Bones
You will just stay on it.
- [50:22]
Luke Bryan
And that band comes in.
- [50:24]
Bobby Bones
Yeah.
- [50:24]
Luke Bryan
Now we, you know, year after year, we. I prefer the click. I've just. Now it's gotten to be a. I.
- [50:37]
Bobby Bones
Prefer it if you don't have it. Is it weird?
- [50:40]
Luke Bryan
No. Like I said, my ability, like this foot. If you see that foot doing that, if I'm on piano or guitar, I'm locked in. And I learned that by you. I didn't have that one. My first record deal, I didn't have that. I learned that by going on radio tours and playing, playing 200 people College bars with just me and my guitar. And if you don't have that pocket dialed in, then, then you need a band.
- [51:11]
Bobby Bones
Do you need microphones on stage to hear the crowd? Do you need crowd mics?
- [51:14]
Luke Bryan
I have crowd mics, but I do that for. I more or less do that to pick up the ambient room noise to make the mix in my ears feel not isolated. Like right now, you and I are isolated. I want to feel all of the sounds and I want to. I want it to feel vibrant and, and. And all that.
- [51:41]
Bobby Bones
What about. Because there's a bit of delay on those, right. When the crowd cheering into the mic, into the board, into your ears. Even if it's split. Like when we would play click stuff briefly when we did full band stuff at festivals, I would be like, God dang, this delay, they hate. Oh, there they are. There they are. But you're probably so used to that, right?
- [51:59]
Luke Bryan
You know? Yes. So all my stadiums, you know, you could never sound check a stadium properly.
- [52:09]
Bobby Bones
Because it's different with people.
- [52:10]
Luke Bryan
It doesn't work. And you know, you could go set your levels, but the levels, throw them out the window. Well, well. So we sound check for stadiums. I never really geeked out on it because I knew everything would change. Well, then I would come up in the middle of the football field. Well, the only way I could get on time was to watch my drummers. I mean, I would watch my. I'd make a visual click. Oh, that's the only way.
- [52:42]
Bobby Bones
Wow.
- [52:42]
Luke Bryan
And we would start with like, I got that real good. And I'd have to watch. I'm 50 yards from him watching this.
- [52:54]
Bobby Bones
Is he being over.
- [52:55]
Luke Bryan
He's being overly. You can see his hands dramatic. And once, once we got through most of like that's my kind of night. Then my, my ear mix guy, he had the clicks and all the the snare hitting hard enough to override everything.
- [53:11]
Bobby Bones
I have like two other things I want to talk about and we talked about before you came in. We talked about Idol and Idol starts.
- [53:18]
Luke Bryan
Isn't it funny how quick these go? How long have I been here?
- [53:21]
Bobby Bones
Yeah, about an hour.
- [53:22]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, I'm good on time now. We don't, I mean we're snowed in.
- [53:26]
Bobby Bones
You know, it's like I never want to like keep running you but I do want to talk idle for a second. Let's take a quick pause for a.
- [53:33]
Ryan Seacrest
Message from our sponsor.
- [53:35]
Bobby Bones
It is T Mobile's critical mission to provide unparalleled 5G coverage for when connectivity is mission critical. Introducing T Priority with the world's first network slice for public safety, T Priority delivers America's best 5G network experience for first responders even in times of congestion. For uninterrupted communication between more emergency response teams. T Priority has more capacity and faster speeds for real time actionable intelligence built with coverage that goes even farther for reliable connectivity in rural areas from HD drone footage to real time body camera feeds. T Priority is ready for data intensive emergency technology. T Priority from T Mobile built for tomorrow's emergencies ready today. Discover more@t-priority.com for qualifying organizations on eligible rate plans. Coverage not available in some areas and may be impacted by emergencies.
- [54:30]
Jenny Garth
Hi, it's Jenny Garth. We all know the importance of taking care of our physical and mental health, but what about our sexual health? I've been there, feeling totally stuck when it comes to my libido. That's why I started taking addi and let me tell you, I have seen firsthand what a difference it can make in how you feel. ADDI is the only FDA approved pill clinically proven to help certain pre menopausal women have more interest in sex, have more satisfying sex and lower the stress from low libido. ADDI has helped hundreds of thousands of women get their drive back, including me. Talk to your doctor or visit a d d y I.com to learn more about Addy, the little pink Pill. Individual results may vary.
- [55:18]
Designer Shoe Warehouse
ADDI or Flibanserin is for premenopausal women with Acquired Generalized Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder HSDD who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past who have had low sexual desire. No matter the type of sexual activity, the situation or the sexual partner. This low sexual desire is troubling to them and is not due to a medical or mental health problem, problems in the relationship or medicine or other drug use. Addie is not for use in children, men, or to enhance sexual performance. Your risk of severe pressure and fainting is increased if you drink one to two standard alcoholic drinks. Close in time to your ADDI dose. Wait at least two hours after drinking before taking Addi at bedtime. This risk increases if you take certain prescriptions, OTC or herbal medications, or have liver problems and can happen when you take ADDI without alcohol or other medicines. Do not take if you are allergic to any of Addi's ingredients. Allergic reaction may include hives, itching or trouble breathing. Sometimes serious sleepiness can occur. Common side effects include dizziness, nausea, tiredness, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, and dry mouth. See full PI and medication guide including boxed warning@ addy.com PI addy.
- [56:09]
Jenny Garth
Visit a d d y I.com to learn more about Addy.
- [56:14]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible snacks like Outshine fruit bars and Ritz Crackers, or Sweet treat favorites like Nestle Drumsticks, Nerds, Gummy Clusters and Lindor Chocolates, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details. And we're back on the Bobby cast.
- [56:54]
Bobby Bones
Are you seven? Is this your seventh? Eighth.
- [56:59]
Luke Bryan
We're in the eighth year, yeah.
- [57:01]
Bobby Bones
God dang.
- [57:01]
Luke Bryan
Yeah. That's crazy.
- [57:04]
Bobby Bones
Okay, I want this story about the first time it was even an option or a conversation that you might be on American Idol. Like the first call you get. Who is it? Like, wait, what? Like, I want to know about that.
- [57:17]
Luke Bryan
So I'm at my beach house and, well, my manager, Carrie, she calls me and says, we've been contacted about the reboot of American Idol and I had already, we had already seen some headlines at Katy Perry. You know, they, they signed Katy and then they launched a big, you know, you knew the show was coming back. And so they reached out to my manager and I must say I was 70% against it to start because I really, I mean, at that moment, I was at the height of stadiums and, and didn't want to get. Didn't want to get. What's the word I'm looking for? Just, I didn't want to get my mental focus going down. Like life was so good just being.
- [58:26]
Bobby Bones
So you don't lose your focus on what, what you were killing then.
- [58:29]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, and, but I was at the beach house and this is the truth. And, and I was like, man, I cannot go to like LA or New York and I'm not going to go up there and do this meeting that I don't want to do. Carrie calls me and she goes, hey, they want to come, they want to come to 30A and they want to, they'll fly to us.
- [59:01]
Bobby Bones
So they were going to come pitch you basically right down to Florida.
- [59:05]
Luke Bryan
So I said, all right, well I'm, you know, and back then, you know, anyway, Kerry goes, all right, they'll be here on Wednesday night. Just ride over to Alice Beach. And I drove over and hell, Carrie rode a bicycle there. And we sat down and we meet with two of the, you know, two of the people, you know, an ABC person and a Fremantle person. I'll leave their names out, but they know I love them and they, they started pitching it and I told them I'm really probably not interested. I'm really. And what's funny about those, the people that like, they have no idea, Luke Bryant, they don't know that I'm like doing sold out stadiums and double amphitheaters and that I'm making enough money touring that I don't need like at the time, like if Idol, I didn't need to give up money here to go spend more time doing this. I just needed to go throw shows up and go rock it. But, and maybe this is too much information, but either way, I went back and I, and I called, I started calling Blake and Keith Urban and I called Blake and we had a great talk and Blake went through, he was like, Luke, he was like, the TV opens up another domain and dynamic. And I called Keith Urban and Keith Urban said, man, he had loved it and, and after I, when he did, when he did Idol. And so once I got, I mean those are two guys that I love and trust and, and then I, then I, then I said, you know, I mean we kind of threw them out a crazy number and damn it, they paid it.
- [61:07]
Bobby Bones
Is it weird that people knew how much money you made for in a contract? Because athletes, they have that. But in our, you know, I think.
- [61:13]
Luke Bryan
It'S a little weird that that info gets leaked out. I don, Why, I don't understand how that info leaks.
- [61:23]
Bobby Bones
Oh, I thought you said you don't know why people are interested. I'm Like, I'm interested, but.
- [61:26]
Luke Bryan
Yeah, no, I. I get it.
- [61:27]
Bobby Bones
Like somebody, right? Somebody knows somebody.
- [61:29]
Luke Bryan
Somebody is leaking that info. Because I know it ain't. I know it ain't anybody on our side, but. But somebody leaks it and I don't know. I mean, you know, I think. Here's the deal. I think the generation that we grew up in, our parents, like, nobody talked about their finances. And I think this day and age, everybody's. Especially in the public eye, you know, from athletes to entertainers. And I mean, when you Google net worth and Forbes and what, you know, I mean, I think. And now it's almost like a little bit of a braggadocious. I think you kind of need to. People need to know how. They need to know a little bit of how successful you are as a little bit of a. Like, this is how good his. You know, there's a. There's a little healthy dose of that, but I've never been a fan of it.
- [62:31]
Bobby Bones
I feel the need a bit. And I was again with having the conversation yesterday that I was talking about with Tracy Lawrence. I feel the need now if. Because he was just asking me my story and we eventually took it on a microphone. I feel the need now to talk about my success. So it doesn't feel like I'm pandering with all of my upbringing because I grew up very poor. Food stamp kid, trailer park, you know, mom died, dad left, all of that. And by the end of it, I was like, I don't want to come off as disingenuous. I'm rich now, right. And I used to feel like that would set people in a. Like a wrong. Like not feel good. But I feel now it's the most honest thing I can do because I don't want people to think I'm being dishonest by not saying that or that. That I'm feeding them a lie that. That I'm just like, oh, it's tough. You know, I have the understanding of my whole life not being like, I'm as new money as it can possibly be.
- [63:26]
Luke Bryan
Me too. Yeah. And.
- [63:28]
Bobby Bones
But I think you're right. I think for me to be totally honest, I have to somewhat share that. That's my story. But if I'm being totally honest now, I've had success and it's not like.
- [63:39]
Luke Bryan
That anymore, you know, And I think what's interesting, I don't think you want to get around a group of people that are not successful. If I'm talking about money, I want people to understand, like, if somebody's asking me money advice. Like, they're like, I want them to be able to freely talk about money with me because they know there's no. That there's. They know there's no weird psychological stuff going on. It's like. Like, if I know a. Like, I mean, there's some people in my world that I can tell they're about to get successful.
- [64:13]
Bobby Bones
Yeah.
- [64:13]
Luke Bryan
And I'm like, hey, just so you know, don't. Don't do this until you run a few things by me. And. And I love the ability to do that. And I think. And then I love to get around people that are in the same income bracket and we can talk the income bracket freely and we can laugh about the old days and how we didn't have these problems, and we can laugh about, you know, this and that. So I think there's a healthy dose of people I never will forget. Like, I never will forget. I was doing some. Some land clearing, and this old guy was on a big old excavator on my property. And I pulled up just to see what they were doing. And I get out and he shuts the machine off and he just runs down and he shakes my hand. He goes, man, I've never shaken a millionaire's hand. And I just. I was like, you don't have to think of me like that.
- [65:16]
Bobby Bones
Right. Because you don't think of you like that.
- [65:18]
Luke Bryan
No, I said, you just think of me. Same good old boy that I'm happy you're out here. He goes, well, I just never shaken a millionaire's hand. And I. And I knew I was working for you and I knew I wanted to shake. So stuff like that is really endearing and cool.
- [65:32]
Bobby Bones
I also think it's important, though, with your story and mine to go. It's not like either one of us had an uncle that got us in, or we don't come from money. And that's. It's like, if you or me can decide to do this, commit ourselves to it, take some risks, strategize, fail, fail, fail. Get back up if we can do it. The reason I like to share it. One, I think people just want authenticity more than they want to be a hundred percent relatable. Because you're very relatable. But there's parts of you that aren't because of your success. But I think with me, it's important to go, if I can do it, really anybody can do it. That it's not unattainable.
- [66:08]
Luke Bryan
Right. And I think us talking about it props up the American dream.
- [66:15]
Bobby Bones
Fully, even more fully agree.
- [66:17]
Luke Bryan
I think that, and I think the American dream is on a hundred different levels, but even the hope of it is really, really special.
- [66:32]
Bobby Bones
I mean, Leesburg, Georgia, Mountain Pine, Arkansas, if you can come from there, you can come from literally anywhere.
- [66:38]
Luke Bryan
I think you can come from anywhere. And I think that, I tell you, I mean, I went to school with, with kids. Listen, that even were hundred percent worse than me. And knowing that some of those boys that I grew up with went to become. Two of them are doctors. And that's just a one girl. One girl. She was our valedictorian and her mother drove, she drove a tractor for the dairy and she became valedictorian. And it was so. And, and so those are, those were the success stories far beyond me out of my little group of Leesburg, Georgia.
- [67:26]
Bobby Bones
But I also think the American dream you brought up, I don't. I think it's not even about money. It's about fulfillment.
- [67:32]
Luke Bryan
Right.
- [67:32]
Bobby Bones
I think if you can do something and be fulfilled by it.
- [67:35]
Luke Bryan
Yeah. If you grow up in a trailer park and you become a pharmacist, yes. That's the American dream and you're fulfilled by it.
- [67:41]
Bobby Bones
Like it's like.
- [67:41]
Luke Bryan
Or if you go, yes, you get out and you go play college football, you blow your knee out, but then you go coach three state championships just because you got a D1 scholarship, because.
- [67:53]
Bobby Bones
You love doing it and you're able to pay the bills. That's why we wanted to do that. We just wanted to pay the bills doing something we loved.
- [67:59]
Luke Bryan
Well, and listen, I joke. I had this conversation with a very famous athlete two days ago. There's only so much I can do as a country music singer. I, I did not go to Stanford and write a, an app that, that will ever make me worth $10 billion. Like, that wasn't my path. My, My job is to be as happy as I can be, having done as well as I can do as a country music singer. Now the guy that wrote the app that sold it to Microsoft and got $10 billion, I hope his job is to have as much fun and I hope the football coach is having the same amount of fun. So, so it's just funny how it's just about where you're at mentally through the whole process. And man, I, you know, it's just been a damn blast for me.
- [68:54]
Bobby Bones
Well, then I want to let you go, but I'm going to ask you this last thing. Do you ever drive by big houses and go, how'd they make their money? I Do that crap all the time.
- [69:01]
Luke Bryan
What's funny is there, like I said, when you're scrolling through TikTok, there's this country girl, she's like, on a lake in Alabama, and she's like, what did these people do?
- [69:10]
Bobby Bones
I feel the same way. I'm like, how do people make money? Because I feel like I caught lightning in a bottle. I think I did a lot of things right, a lot of things wrong. I've learned from it, have tenacity. That's my superpower. But I know how. So I don't think I was lucky. I think I had some tough decisions made, bounce back. But again, caught lightning in a bottle still, because you can do everything right, and this isn't going to happen. Nine times out of ten, and I am like, how do people make money?
- [69:34]
Luke Bryan
Well, I think. In my opinion, I think. And I've seen it, I think there's a tremendous amount of money out there. And I tell you what, there's a tremendous amount of money out there by people that have went and busted their ass. Now. There's a tremendous amount of money that needs to be out there to help a lot of people, too, in my opinion.
- [69:53]
Bobby Bones
I agree.
- [69:54]
Luke Bryan
I mean, when I go to L. A and when I go to these big cities and. And, you know, so. So I think that. And. And I will always, you know, now, whether one administration did this and one administration who's running the country and whatever, you know, I will always believe that there's enough money in this country to where no one should be hungry. And no teacher. No, I mean, a teacher that's underpaid or a firefighter. A firefighter or a veteran or anybody like that, wanting for anything in this country. A child hungry.
- [70:35]
Bobby Bones
Yeah. Food insecurity is my biggest thing.
- [70:37]
Luke Bryan
I mean, a child.
- [70:38]
Bobby Bones
It's what I probably put the most money into. It's what I wind up. If I run for politics, that'll be the thing, like, because I had that. And so that, to me is. I'm in shock that there's so much and some people still have so little.
- [70:54]
Luke Bryan
Listen, Bobby, I mean, when you think about if there. I mean, we could spend two days talking about stuff, but when you think about a plate of food that gets served to us at a restaurant and us eating half of it in every restaurant in this country, throwing away a half of a plate of food, I can't understand why we, as a nation, you just tell the restaurant, hey, just bring me a little food, and then charge me the same. And then the food that's in the kitchen back there. Like, I don't know. I mean, like the food waste and the. I don't know. We could go down a whole nother deep dive with that.
- [71:42]
Bobby Bones
The last thing. And Simon, a real question. I mentioned it before you got here. Farm. Farm tour. Doing California shows.
- [71:48]
Luke Bryan
Yes.
- [71:48]
Bobby Bones
Is that the first time?
- [71:49]
Luke Bryan
First time ever.
- [71:49]
Bobby Bones
Well, give me 30 seconds. Why here?
- [71:52]
Luke Bryan
Here's my thoughts about California. California is a giant state with many, many untapped cool little markets in it. Through the years of going to small markets in Illinois and Michigan and all that and selling 20,000 tickets, like, we'll roll up to these towns and it's like the coolest thing in the world. It's amazing to be in Michigan. I mean, these towns through the years of 15, 16 years of farm tour when 15, 20,000 people pull up in a field. It's. It's awesome and mind blowing. And then I look at, like, I mean, every year I'll go to California and I'll do Sacramento, Louisiana, San Diego, and then I'm out. But I'm like, there's 60 million people living in California. If I go to some of these things, it's got to be. People have got to want to come to it. And what's cool about it is it's in these. We got to remember California is. Is still probably the largest agricultural state, and we need to get them in a situation where they're happy about that and it's uplifted. It seems like California doesn't. So I want to bring awareness to California ag and that it's not all L. A, it's not all la It's Bakersfield, Reading, and it's these towns we're going to. And it's orchards and it's almond. I mean, it's almond makers and, and pecan orchards and orange groves and I mean, it's. It's a lot of farming. So it's going to be fun to go there. And we just wanted to celebrate. Celebrate that aspect of California too. And I thought, what better way than to go park, you know, park there. And I think we'll be able to do that out there for years. Our. I mean, we're selling tickets as fast as we ever have out there, and it's really, really exciting.
- [73:40]
Bobby Bones
Lukebrian.com all the tickets, idol back March 9th. We talked about that. All right, buddy. I love you. Thanks.
- [73:47]
Luke Bryan
I love you. Thank you. This was fun.
- [73:48]
Bobby Bones
And then. Yeah, we'll see you soon. Dude, you're killing it. It's super cool. You're killing it.
- [73:55]
Luke Bryan
Good luck, too.
- [73:56]
Bobby Bones
For those that missed it, we're gonna. We edited out a lot of stuff. He got very controversial and naked. We edited it all out and he fell. It was a whole thing.
- [74:02]
Luke Bryan
Oh God. I would let you run all that.
- [74:05]
Bobby Bones
Just so I don't want you to run it. No, we don' want to because, you know, I don't want my friend canceled because he said a lot. Oh, it got real bad. All right, Luke. Bryan. All right, Luke. See you, buddy.
- [74:15]
Ryan Seacrest
Thanks for listening to a Bobbycast production. Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's Stock up Savings time now through March 25th. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible snacks like Outshine Fruit Bars and Ritz Crackers or sweet treat favorites like Nestle Drumsticks, Nerds, Gummy Clusters and Lindor Chocolates, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details. The Unshakables podcast is kicking off season two with an episode you won't want to miss. Join host Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business, as he welcomes a very special Guest, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase Jamie Dimon. Hear about the challenges facing small businesses and some of the oh moments Jamie has overcome. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Chase Mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JP Morgan Chase Bank NA Member FDIC Copyright 2025 JP Morgan Chase & Co. Do you own a business that's ready to thrive? It's time to let Intuit QuickBooks take things like unpaid invoices and expenses off your plate so you can take things to the next level. Intuit QuickBooks is an all in one business platform that can help with those day to day tasks like invoicing and expenses. Manage and grow your business all in one place. Intuit QuickBooks your way to Money Money Movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc. Licensed as a money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial.