The Bobby Bones Show: Bobbycast – Top 10 BobbyCast Episodes of 2025! (Part 2)

Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Bobby Bones
Podcast: The Bobby Bones Show / BobbyCast

Episode Overview

In this special episode, Bobby Bones counts down the Top 5 most popular BobbyCast interviews of 2025. This Part 2 episode features wide-ranging, intimate conversations with Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, John Fogerty, and Ringo Starr. Each segment revisits highlights from remarkably candid interviews, covering topics like creative process, career challenges, success, personal growth, and pivotal music industry moments.

The tone is conversational, insightful, and often humorous, showcasing Bobby’s rapport with iconic musicians who openly reflect on their lives and art.

Key Discussion Points and Memorable Moments

#5: Keith Urban (Episode 516)

Early Career & Breakthroughs

• Origin Story: Keith details his move from Australia to Nashville, describing the cultural shift and grind to make it (00:33).
• First Hit:

  "The third song was 'But for the Grace of God', which became my first number one...very slow, incremental movement." – Keith Urban (01:25)

• Describes gradual traction: each release outdoing the last, building toward real industry attention.

Chasing Inspiration

• Artistic Authenticity: On creating the album 'Golden Road':

  "I like to say that record had more stubble than the first one. It was a bit looser...the music that I wanted to make, not what was on the radio." – Keith Urban (02:13)

• Guitar Tone:

  "I'm only seeking inspiration. That's all. I'm just waiting for a sound...where I'm inspired to play." – Keith Urban (03:55)

Studio and Live Performance

• Discusses the struggle of being original vs. playing covers and how touring with his own band brought confidence and authenticity.
• “Somebody Like You” was an exceptionally fast studio experience:

  “Everybody on the floor...Dan Huff is sitting in the middle...and Justin Ebanker’s in there, and he hits record and away we go.” – Keith Urban (06:42)

Creative Process

• Minimalism in "Making Memories of Us":

  "We spent a long time stripping it down...trying to make it more and more simple, less slick, just more singer-songwriter." – Keith Urban (04:37)

Perseverance and Success

• Awards and Recognition: On achieving the Triple Crown of country music:

  "It just took years and years and years of chipping away to finally figure out how to fit in and not lose myself." – Keith Urban (12:01)

• Advice About Discipline vs. Spontaneity: Scrapped an entire album ("615") when it felt lifeless:

  "It didn't have the spontaneity and the spark and the spirit. So I scrapped it..." (08:49)

Live Show Craft

• Discusses setlist artistry and staying present on tour:

  "A set list...it's not a group of songs. I’m shaping an experience...trying to create a great playlist for a two hour party." – Keith Urban (16:59)

• Adapts each night but warns against "over-adjusting" based on a single show.

#4: Luke Bryan (Episode 499)

Performing & Preparation

• Pre-show VIP Sets and Fan Requests:

  "I will do a little two or three song acoustic set for like VIPs...every now and then I’ll ask the crowd for requests. They always request some random damn song from one of my first albums..." – Luke Bryan (19:50)

• Recalls needing to review old material to avoid forgetting lyrics, especially after breaks from touring.

Musicianship

• Rhythm and "the Click":

  "I can really, I can sing to click...my ability...if I’m on piano or guitar, I’m locked in." – Luke Bryan (21:28)

• On crowd mics and feeling the audience energy in his in-ear monitors.

American Idol Opportunity

• Reluctance and Negotiation:

  "I was 70% against it to start...at the moment I was at the height of stadiums and didn’t want to get my mental focus going down." – Luke Bryan (25:46)

• Peer Advice:

  "I started calling Blake and Keith Urban...Blake went, ‘TV opens up another domain and dynamic.’" – Luke Bryan (28:59)

• Honesty About Salary: On public reporting of his Idol contract:

  "I’ve never been a fan of it...but I think...people need to know a little bit of how successful you are..." – Luke Bryan (29:56)

The American Dream and Success

• Bobby and Luke swap stories about growing up poor, getting rich, and the importance of acknowledging their success honestly, not because of privilege but perseverance.
• On Aspiration:

  "I think us talking about it props up the American dream." – Luke Bryan (34:37)

• Authenticity and Fulfillment:

  "...the American dream is not even about money. It’s about fulfillment." – Bobby Bones (35:55)

Relatability and Payoff

• Candid discussion of their roots and their pride in showing that upward mobility is possible—even from humble, rural backgrounds.

#3: Eric Church (Episode 510)

Sports and Ownership

• New Part-Owner of NBA’s Charlotte Hornets:

  "MJ goes, ‘Hey, I want you to be involved with the Hornets ownership group...I want North Carolina presence.’...So I got involved." – Eric Church (38:29)

• Talks requirements of the role (stadium renovations, three to five year plan, local pride).

Musician’s Road and Songwriting

• First Guitar and Songwriting Drive:

  "I was writing songs, poetry, kind of song things...that was just an avenue for me to get the songs out." – Eric Church (40:39)

• Learning Through Experience:

  "I always talk about...in the world we live in now, it’s easier to get discovered...but it’s harder to earn that as a musician..." – Eric Church (42:50)

Giving Voice & Advocacy

• Discusses being an advocate for fans, writing songs that speak for “people that need a voice.”
• On Fan Support:

  "We got here completely on the backs of our fans...we didn’t have a ton of industry success..." – Eric Church (43:44)

The Struggle to “Make It”

• Details the long road through tough gigs, underappreciation, and finally breakthrough with 'Chief.'

  "The first couple albums were...really challenging time...it’s just a grind. It was a grind for us." – Eric Church (46:48)

Nashville Beginnings

• Arrived with no contacts; sold knives on the Shop at Home network while breaking in musically (49:33).
• Humorous story of getting fired for telling an inebriated late night caller not to buy knives.

Songwriting as Resilience

• Discusses creativity versus commerce and the influence of the school shooting in Nashville in inspiring the song “Johnny” and the symbolic fight of good versus evil.

  "The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life is drop my kids off the day after [the shooting]..." – Eric Church (53:06)

#2: John Fogerty (Episode 538)

The Journey to CCR

• Describes how his first band (the Blue Velvets) was discovered and recorded local doo-wop records, slowly building experience (56:08).
• Early recordings and struggles to get noticed; his band was renamed "the Gollywogs" by a record label—without their consent:

  "...we opened the box and it says Gollywogs. I just figured it was a typo...he let us know the evil plot that was afoot here." – John Fogerty (61:43)

Naming the Band

• Long, poetic story about inventing the name “Creedence Clearwater Revival,” and the meaning behind each word.

  "...on Christmas Eve of 1967, I came up with Creedence Clearwater Revival. And I knew it was it." – John Fogerty (65:09)

Writing "Proud Mary"

• The moment of writing their first real classic after leaving the Army:

  "Left a good job in the city, working for the man every night and day...what came out of me was...Proud Mary..." – John Fogerty (70:13)

• Describes the self-awareness of writing a “classic” and the bizarre feeling of knowing, before anyone else, that something would be massive:

  "I’m the only person in the whole world that knows this...understanding, I guess, in some primitive way, it’s going to go everywhere, but you’re the only one that knows it right now." – John Fogerty (73:08)

#1: Ringo Starr (Episode 495)

Early Days and Influences

• Opened for Roy Orbison and others, describing the intimidating joy of sharing the stage with legends.

  "Roy was the hardest actor we ever had to follow...he would just stand there with those shades on and not a lot of movement, but all coming out." – Ringo Starr (75:51)

Family & Musical Foundation

• Music entered his life via his stepdad’s love of big band and jazz; he later passed that open-minded attitude on to his children (77:00).
• Early personal favorite: “I like the blues. I love country. And they were the first two...” (78:55)

The Country Album and Artistic Authenticity

• Working with T Bone Burnett to make a country record that felt natural, not forced.

  "He pointed that out to me...he always felt...mine always had sort of a countryish feel...the first songs I wrote were sort of country songs." – Ringo Starr (80:47)

Whistling, Names, and Personal Touches

• Became “Ringo” because of his love for flashy rings and the Liverpool habit of giving nicknames:

  "They were starting to say, hey Rings, what’s going on? ...So I put Ringo Starr." – Ringo Starr (88:12)

Beatles' Early Gigs

• The legendary Hamburg marathon club sessions:

  "At weekends we did 12 hours between us...I love it because we’re in that book, 10,000 hours...We actually put in our 10,000 hours." – Ringo Starr (90:10)

• The grind created real musicianship—something lost in the current era of instant stardom.

Final Thoughts

• On the new album:

  "No, I really loved it myself and it was very. The me I like to be. The vocal was great...They were all in my key." – Ringo Starr (89:03)

• Appreciates the honest, non-generic questions about his upbringing and reflects on the value of club work for musicians.

Memorable Quotes with Timestamps

• Keith Urban:

  "By the time we made Golden Road, I was feeling that sense of who I am musically..." (02:13)
  "It just took years and years and years of chipping away to finally figure out how to fit in and not lose myself." (12:01)

• Luke Bryan:

  "I think us talking about it props up the American dream." (34:37)
  "I was 70% against [Idol] to start..." (25:46)

• Eric Church:

  "If you don't feel like you deserve the big moment, you might not meet the moment." (42:50)
  "We got here completely on the backs of our fans..." (43:44)

• John Fogerty:

  "I’m holding that piece of paper. You’ve written a classic, John." (73:06)
  "I came up with Creedence Clearwater Revival. And I knew it was it." (65:09)

• Ringo Starr:

  "We actually put in our 10,000 hours." (90:40)
  "Mine always had sort of a countryish feel. The first songs I wrote were sort of country songs." (80:47)

Notable Episode Structure and Flow

• Each segment transitions smoothly, with Bobby introducing the guest, contextualizing the episode, and reprising the most interesting, moving, or funny parts of each original conversation.
• Themes of perseverance, authenticity, and the evolution of musicianship recur, often with playful or self-effacing anecdotes.
• The hosts and guests use accessible, direct language and humor, creating a warm, inviting listening atmosphere.

Key Timestamps

00:33 – Keith Urban’s segment begins
19:50 – Luke Bryan’s segment begins
37:24 – Eric Church’s segment begins
55:21 – John Fogerty’s segment begins
74:33 – Ringo Starr’s segment begins

Listener Walkaway

This episode serves as an inspiring, entertaining compendium of hard-won wisdom from music icons—tracing humble origins, artistic struggles, moments of doubt, creative breakthroughs, and the enduring value of authenticity. Whether discussing songwriting, gigging, fame, or personal fulfillment, Bobby and his guests remind listeners that the “American dream” takes persistence, humility, and owning your story—no matter where you start.