Ep: 1201 | Why Phil Robertson Banned Country Music & Jase Discovers Larry Fleet’s Viral Faith Anthem

Summary

Unashamed with the Robertson Family

Ep: 1201 | Why Phil Robertson Banned Country Music & Jase Discovers Larry Fleet’s Viral Faith Anthem
Date: November 4, 2025
Host: Tread Lively
Guests: Larry Fleet, Jase Robertson, Willie Robertson, Zach Robertson

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Robertson family broadcasts from Nashville, welcoming country singer-songwriter Larry Fleet. The conversation ranges from hunting tales to the influence of country music in their lives, to Larry Fleet's faith journey and the story behind his viral hit "Where I Find God." The episode explores how faith, family, and personal transformation intersect in country music and everyday life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Anecdotes: Duck Hunting and Family Stories

[00:06 – 13:54]

• Jase explains being in Nashville during teal season, lamenting missing hunting but sharing an epic, low-expectation duck hunt that turned into a memorable success.
• The crew—Jase, Jay, Burley, Cody ("the blind builder"), and Willie’s son-in-law—relive a hunt where 5 guys took on a small pond, hoping for a rare group of teal.
• Highlights Burley's role as "the angel of death" nurse—an imposing but gentle character who was deeply present during Phil’s final days.
  • "If you wake up from a surgery and Burley's walking towards you, you might think you didn't make it." – Willie, [04:21]
• Detailed recounting of the hunt: despite low expectations, they shot an impressive 13 out of 14 incoming teal.
  • "There were 14 teal and we shot 13 of them. That’s impressive with two misses.” – Jase, [13:54]
• Reflection on the value of teamwork, anticipation, and assigning roles, both in the blind and life.

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2. The Robertson Upbringing & Phil’s Country Music Ban

[21:19 – 23:59]

• Jase and Willie recall childhood rules—especially Phil’s ban on country music. Phil preferred classic rock (notably the Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd) and considered country music “just stupid.”
  • "We couldn’t listen to country music. It wasn’t like a rule. It was just like, that’s just stupid." – Jase, [21:35]
  • "He came from a classic rock background...he did like Skynyrd." – Jase & Willie, [23:14]
• Jase’s attempt to introduce Hank Jr.'s “A Country Boy Can Survive” to Phil fails once a swear word comes up.
  • "He said, turn that off…He was like, no, we quit all that." – Jase, [22:40]

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3. Introducing Larry Fleet: Faith, Family, and Bearded Camaraderie

[17:56 – 21:19]

• Larry’s personal style and beard immediately fit the Robertson aesthetic.
  • "I don't wear a shirt or a pair of pants that don't stretch anymore." – Larry, [17:56]
• Larry shares anecdotes about growing a beard to avoid football rash, being mistaken for Willie, and making peace with looking “country.”
  • "When I get out of here, I’m never shaving again." – Larry, [20:51]

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4. Larry Fleet’s Musical Roots & Faith Journey

[28:32 – 57:09]

4.1 Growing up with Bluegrass, Country, and Southern Rock

• Larry recalls learning music on his great aunt's porch, playing bluegrass and gospel standards, and early exposure to classic country.
  • "If you can play bluegrass, you can play anything." – Larry, [29:33]
• Family’s deep connection to George Jones and Merle Haggard; Larry’s granddad imitating 'The Possum.'
• Early public performance:
  • "I actually played [the Ryman Auditorium] when I was about seven years old in the bluegrass band." – Larry, [31:53]

4.2 The Long Road: Bars, Bricklaying, and “Gospel Song Sunday”

• Larry’s path involved working construction, playing local bar gigs, and writing songs on the side.
  • "Pouring concrete, making all right money…weekends playing for tires on my truck." – Larry, [35:18]
• A fateful encounter at a barn wedding with Jake Owen, leading to his first break.
  • "You got to quit your job, you got to make this thing happen." – Jake Owen (relayed by Larry), [36:51]
• Building an audience through social media, notably with 'Gospel Song Sunday.'
  • "Whatever I played at church, I play it and video it and put it on social media…that became a thing." – Larry, [39:16]

4.3 “Where I Find God”: The Viral Faith Anthem

• Origin story: Written with Connie Harrington, initially shelved by the record label, and resisted by radio.
  • "I talked them into it and said, let’s put it out on Good Friday. It’s called 'Where I Find God'..." – Larry, [41:59]
• Shoe-string budget video ($3,000) during lockdown, organic viral spread.
  • "The first week it was out, it got a million views. I was like, well, we’re on to something." – Larry, [43:16]
• *Massive emotional impact—performed worldwide, fans singing along in Australia and at U.S. venues.
  • "23,000 people sang 'Where I Find God'—they knew every bit of it." – Larry, [45:34]
• The song’s frank message (faith, family, working hard) became his brand.
  • "All he ever sings about is faith, family, and working hard. I said, you got it, bud." – Larry, [46:13]

4.4 Testimony: From Prodigal Living to Redemption

• Larry describes a cyclical faith journey, from high school “chasing a girl” into church, to years of prodigal wandering, and ultimate return through his wife's family and their church.
  • "Just because you get saved doesn't mean your life just changes...it’s a thing you practice forever." – Larry, [50:44]
  • "If you’d have given me money and fame in my twenties, I’d be dead probably." – Larry, [51:21]
• Baptized with his wife in the Tennessee River—new spiritual focus was foundational for success.
  • "When I did that, that’s when 'Where I Find God' came along. That’s when the record deal..." – Larry, [51:21]

4.5 Nature, Faith, and the Outdoors

• Robertsons and Larry reflect on finding God in creation, not just church; roots in hunting and fishing.
  • "There is something about Romans 1...God's divine nature being seen in what has been made." – Jase, [53:15]
  • "I’ve talked to God more in a cab of a truck on a backroad than I have in church." – Larry, [55:40]
• Identifying with biblical figures like Paul—the hope of grace for those with messy pasts.
  • "Some of the disciples were terrible...that gives me hope." – Larry, [56:16]

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Notable Quotes

On Faith and Authenticity:

• "Just because you get saved doesn't mean your life just changes; it's a thing you practice forever."
  — Larry Fleet, [50:44]

On Songwriting and Mission:

• "If you will just play it, that's all. I don't care if it's the number one hit...those people need to hear it."
  — Larry Fleet, [44:31]

On Gospel in Country Music:

• "You’re sharing the gospel in a different kind of way...the working-man way."
  — Zach Robertson & Larry Fleet, [27:03]

On Creation and Faith:

• "I’ve talked to God more in a cab of a truck driving down a back road than I have in church."
  — Larry Fleet, [55:40]

On Personal Transformation:

• "If you’d have given me money and fame in my twenties, I’d be dead probably...I wasn’t ready for it."
  — Larry Fleet, [51:21]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:06] Opening: Missing teal hunting for Nashville, low expectations
• [03:54] Burley's origin and significance in the Robertson family
• [13:54] The epic teal hunt & intern "forensic investigation"
• [17:56] Larry Fleet joins the show (country music, bearded bonding)
• [21:19] Phil's rules: Banning country music, musical upbringing
• [24:52] George Jones, Southern rock, and musical influences
• [31:53] Larry on learning bluegrass, playing at the Ryman at age seven
• [35:18] Concrete work to country music—Larry’s career path
• [39:16] 'Gospel Song Sunday' origins
• [42:16] The making and unexpected success of 'Where I Find God'
• [46:13] Embracing a message of faith, family, hard work in music
• [50:44] Larry's faith journey: rededication, baptism, and impact on his life and career
• [53:15] God in nature—hunting, fishing, Romans 1
• [55:40] Music as ministry, finding God outside the church

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Memorable Moments

• The Duck Blind Metaphor: Jase’s detailed, humorous recounting of the low-expectation duck hunt, paralleling life’s surprises and teamwork.
• Larry’s Zero-to-Hero Video: The viral video for "Where I Find God" shot on a bare-bones budget, gaining massive organic traction during pandemic lockdowns.
• Cultural Resonance: The shock of hearing 23,000 Australians sing along to Larry’s faith anthem, far from the American South.
• Music as Invitation: Reflections on how songs about the outdoors, family, and hard work point listeners towards faith in an approachable way.

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Conclusion

This episode blends humor, authenticity, and a deep love for faith, family, and the outdoors. The Robertson family and Larry Fleet showcase the power of telling real stories—whether about hunting mishaps, overcoming hard times, or writing country songs that serve as gospel invitations. Larry’s journey and the unashamed faith he expresses through his music resonate far beyond Nashville, echoing the episode’s core message: God finds us wherever we are—sometimes even in the duck blind or the cab of a truck.

Transcript

[Jase Robertson]

I am unashamed.

[Larry Fleet]

What about you?

[Jase Robertson]

We're in Nashville, which is strange because teal season has begun.

[Willie Robertson]

So you're missing and you're here, and.

[Jase Robertson]

I've looked around, and there's no teal. Well.

[Willie Robertson]

Well, there's no water.

[Jase Robertson]

I'm in a concrete jungle.

[Willie Robertson]

There's a. There's a river right down there, but I don't know. But what is that?

[Zach Robertson]

Did it start today?

[Jase Robertson]

Deal.

[Zach Robertson]

Season started today.

[Jase Robertson]

No.

[Willie Robertson]

No, man, I don't.

[Zach Robertson]

I haven't duck hunted in two years.

[Jase Robertson]

You know why?

[Zach Robertson]

Because I live in North Carolina.

[Jase Robertson]

Because your dad was a yuppie.

[Willie Robertson]

It's all Gordo's.

[Zach Robertson]

Well, I. I anticipate to come down this year, maybe do a little duck hunting, so maybe you can get me.

[Larry Fleet]

In the duck line. Jace.

[Jase Robertson]

What happened is Dallas reached out and was like, I'm being Nashville. Let's do a podcast together. And they had, in Louisiana, cut till season from 16 days to 8.

[Willie Robertson]

Really?

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Willie Robertson]

I didn't know that.

[Jase Robertson]

They said the numbers were low, and so I thought, well, there's not a whole lot of teal this year, evidently. And it wasn't worth us setting up our place to teal hunt.

[Zach Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

For just a week.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

So we were like, we'll put a little water out there, basically a pond, just in case some come by. And I'm going to go to Nashville and do some podcasts and spend time with the family on. Among other things. And I'm just going to hunt opening day, which was last Saturday. So in our world, I don't even know what today is. Today's Wednesday. Today's Wednesday. So I only. I hunted opening day, and I have not hunted since.

[Zach Robertson]

Did y' all kill him?

[Jase Robertson]

Well, I'm fixed to tell you a story, so I got to tell you this. So our expectations were so low, we're basically hunting the smallest form of a pond that you can hunt. We have just enough water to basically shoot across.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

There had been no teal sighted in the two weeks before opening day until the day before. Jay went out there to put the decoys out, and there were four teal in the little water in the little pothole.

[Willie Robertson]

So now you got hope because everybody.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah, we were like, we're going to get those four. The only problem was when he went, we have another little pond across in the woods across the road and which we own. But when he went there, the same four teal got up had to be, because he jumped them up. They went that way. He then goes and just looks at it. Well, those four teal. I was like, they're not coming back. You scared them twice. So they're. They're going to Mexico. But our expectations there were. Because part of a duck hunter is you got to think, is it possible for a duck to even come here? And we. We had hope. So I was the only one. We get up, it's opening day, and everybody was like, we're not going to. The expectations were low, but I said, I think we're going to get them. Just because those four, I thought it is possible. So we get in the blind. And it was five of us. It was me. This is. This is the reason I'm telling you. This is because quite the story is evolved. It's me.

[Willie Robertson]

Somehow I knew Jay. Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

Burley from Colorado early made an appearance. Well, because he got asked to speak at celebrate recovery. And he's like. Even though that was five days before. Till season opened, he just stayed late. What's five days.

[Zach Robertson]

Five days to a man like Burley?

[Jase Robertson]

And. And to Burley's credit, he was. He was a warrior, you know, in the last days. My dad's life, you know, he has. He is a nurse.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

And. But he basically stayed bedside with my dad the last 36 hours, probably.

[Willie Robertson]

And it told me years ago, years ago, when he became a nurse, he said, when the time comes, I want to be there to help shepherd your dad across the other side. And I mean, to his credit, he did.

[Jase Robertson]

He was loving. Yet now, if no one has ever seen Burley, we'll have to find.

[Zach Robertson]

He's not the nurse. You want to look up. He doesn't have the face or the.

[Willie Robertson]

Dad used to always say. And me would say, if you wake up from a surgery and Burley's walking towards you, you might think you didn't make it.

[Jase Robertson]

He has what I've described. He has an angel of death look. So if you wake up, you thought, oh, no, here's the angel of death. He's. He's just a massive human. That's why he got his nickname.

[Willie Robertson]

I mean, he played football for a year at the university of Oklahoma. So that tells you right there, you don't play.

[Zach Robertson]

Probably paid. What defensive linebacker.

[Willie Robertson]

He was in the defense lineb.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah. So Phil nicknamed him Burley because.

[Willie Robertson]

And his dad was big boy.

[Zach Robertson]

Yep.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah. My dad thought it just means a large human. But actually, this is interesting when Burley looked up in the Webster's dictionary the definition of burley because he thought, I guess, you know, Mr. Phil's going to keep calling me Burley. Yeah, it said large black man. And that's what it said. And so true story. Now that I didn't know.

[Willie Robertson]

Looking it up. Well, they probably changed it.

[Jase Robertson]

No, don't get offended. That's what the dictionary said. And Burley was like, what's the deal, Phil? Bill said, I don't know where they got that from.

[Zach Robertson]

I just physically large, strong, sturdy. Usually described someone who's big, muscular, heavyset, who looks powerful. I mean, he has all of those things.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah, they've changed.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, they probably changed the, the meaning. But whatever dictionary he looked up, that's what it said. Which, you know, he's like, well, you.

[Willie Robertson]

Know, dad has a little library there. So he had this.

[Jase Robertson]

So Burley. I mean, I don't know, I don't want to give weights inside. He's probably six, four.

[Willie Robertson]

We had gotten thin. Has he gotten bigger?

[Jase Robertson]

250.

[Willie Robertson]

Okay.

[Zach Robertson]

I don't know.

[Jase Robertson]

Maybe.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Zach Robertson]

I mean, but he's got the. But it's like his. He could tell his bones probably weigh at least £220.

[Jase Robertson]

Just a massive.

[Willie Robertson]

He's a big man.

[Zach Robertson]

Yeah, he's a big.

[Jase Robertson]

And he has let him go as far as facial hair. And he probably hadn't had a haircut in decades or beard. Oh yeah, yeah, none of it. He looks like Santa Claus now because he's gotten older. And I told him, I was like, if it doesn't work out in your nursing thing because he's been fired many times.

[Willie Robertson]

Well, he was doing PRN work at one of the local hospitals in our area. And so he comes in there and the charge nurse saw him, she said, no, yeah, just go ahead and you can come back if you shave and cut that air.

[Jase Robertson]

But he did say in the medical community he's been real helpful because like people who are like, oh, you have had drug problems and are like combative where they send in barely because I mean, let me tell you, you're not going to win in some kind of hand.

[Willie Robertson]

But for a man that's so massive and able to handle himself, he's very gentle with people.

[Jase Robertson]

Oh, he has a heart of, you know. And Jesus.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

You know, created that. I, I worked with Burley when I was a early 20s, trying to just make a dollar right when he was converted. So I saw the transition and the good, sincere, soft hearted Burley as a way better version of when I was working with him. But anyway, we go way back and he's awesome. So he was there and he. And he's kind of helping a lot of what Phil Did. Because Burley's an excellent builder and blind brusher. So he's just. Those five days he's been working on the property. Just. Just for the love of.

[Willie Robertson]

You know, honey, they're next to mom and dad.

[Jase Robertson]

He does so. So that's through. We got Jay Burley, me. Then we have the guy we nicknamed the blind builder. Who has been building the blinds. That's what he does. He builds house.

[Willie Robertson]

Cody.

[Jase Robertson]

That's Cody. And because you call him the blind builder. We call him.

[Zach Robertson]

That's a long nickname.

[Larry Fleet]

Right.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, but it caught on. Yeah. Because we say that on.

[Willie Robertson]

Because you have to have some purpose.

[Jase Robertson]

For you to have a purpose. Well, and then we had one of Willie's son in law.

[Larry Fleet]

What do you call?

[Willie Robertson]

We call him.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, he's just one of Jacobs. Yeah, he's.

[Zach Robertson]

He ain't got a name yet.

[Willie Robertson]

Well, I can't. Willie calls it something, but I don't.

[Larry Fleet]

Whatever.

[Jase Robertson]

We affectionately call him the duck boys. Even though he's married to Willie's daughter. And he's like in training.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah, he's a good kid. But we.

[Jase Robertson]

We purposely use that nickname for like Cody. Because we're trying to subtly tell the duck men in training, you need to bring something to the table.

[Willie Robertson]

I get it.

[Jase Robertson]

I mean, Burley's going around brushing. Jay's doing what he does. I'm doing what I'm doing. What do you have to offer this stage of their career? Nothing. They sit there and so it's us five. Well, five minutes in, I look up and I think. I think that's a teal. So we cut one till come flying by. He just came right in the decoys and lit. And so as excited as I was to get on the board, he was so close in the middle of the decoys. I said, y' all shoot him. When I said that, it alerted the tail. And he got up. I'm just sitting there with my gun. It was ba boom. And I'm looking at where the pellets are hitting the water.

[Willie Robertson]

Way behind him.

[Jase Robertson]

Nowhere close.

[Willie Robertson]

Oh, not even.

[Jase Robertson]

Oh, no. Just. Just look like a shot from the hip. And so then the next two shots were me and Jay at the same time. And the duck folds. But I thought that was a bad sign about the gunners in the blind. And so Jason can't see the pellets.

[Willie Robertson]

That's not good.

[Jase Robertson]

So in the spirit of fail, Jay said, who fired those first two shots? And it was Burley, who's never been known for his shotgunning.

[Willie Robertson]

He likes to shoot him on the.

[Jase Robertson]

Water and Jacob the Duckman in training. And so I said, well, I've got a couple of tips. Number one, make sure your eyes are open when you pull the trigger. Number two, you need to get the bead of that. That little highlighted end of your barrel. You need to get that in the vicinity of the duck that you're shooting and out in front of him, preferably. So I just thought, we got him, you know, so, fine. So then 45 minutes goes by. Nothing. We watched the sun rise, and I thought, well, we got one. I mean, I was pretty pleased. I mean. And then the blind builder said, hey, is that ducks? And what he was pointing at, they were not ducks. But I looked to the left, up high, and I said, oh, yeah, that's duck. But he was pointing this way, and I was looking from the north high, and I thought, oh. So there was a little movement. I said, well, there's one bunch. I said, there they are. And I was like, get out. So I called really loud because they were way off. Those things locked. And it was 14 teal. And we. We. We had a cameraman there, and they turned and came straight down and did what that one did. No pass us.

[Willie Robertson]

Sounded like a jet airplane.

[Jase Robertson]

And they lit. And as soon as they lit, I said, three, two, one, and let's go. That means every. And everybody was familiar with the rule, because I thought, we're not getting any more. This is Pat. The teal only fly early. So you kind of have the game within the game for duck hunting. What happened was when they lit three lit right in front of me in the decoys. Then there was a little nest of five that was right to the left, and then all the rest of them were left of that. So usually you shoot where you are, the lanes, in the lanes. But when I went 3, 2, 1, I saw the blind builder who's right beside me, his gun was going toward those three. But in my mind, I was calculating. I've already seen these boys shoot two of two of the men. They can't shoot. That's obvious. So I'm thinking, well, if he shoots, because the blind bills are pretty good shot, I was like, I need to go left first. Because I'm thinking, I got three shells, but he's fixing to shoot at one of them that I'm going to shoot. So in one second, I went to those five, and they were kind of together. So I went, boom there. Went back right immediately. Of course, what happens is they go in every direction, and I just tried to pick the hard ones. At that point, one just come winging out wide open, dead right. I boom, Got him. So then I look back, I have one shell left, and I. To my surprise, I look up, I only see one duck left, and it's leaving. And then there was boom. Amiss. Boom. The blind builder missed. And I'm like, I got one shell, and I just waited.

[Willie Robertson]

Waited.

[Jase Robertson]

Because I thought, this is. This is either the culmination of a great wagon or I'm going to mess. And I boom. And he just folded, and everybody erupted because it was like he was out there. And I was like, did we get them all? But somebody said, I saw one leave, left. So I thought, really? But I got to look in, and I thought, how did we do this? Because there were 14 tail and we shot 13 of them.

[Willie Robertson]

That's impressive with.

[Jase Robertson]

With two misses.

[Willie Robertson]

Wow.

[Jase Robertson]

Because we saw the two misses.

[Zach Robertson]

They were on the water, but still.

[Jase Robertson]

The first shot was on the water.

[Willie Robertson]

Which is why you want a three to one.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Zach Robertson]

And you made the right move by going left, though.

[Jase Robertson]

I was the right move.

[Zach Robertson]

So you must have hit that whole bunch in one swat.

[Jase Robertson]

No, no. There was in pot. There was five of them there, and there was somebody else's. There was, like, three of them kind of in my vicinity. I mean, I know I got one of them, possibly two, but you hunt.

[Zach Robertson]

The right side of the blind, Right?

[Jase Robertson]

The right side of the.

[Zach Robertson]

So everything was in front of the blind.

[Jase Robertson]

What I really think is I get two in one shot, and then I went boom.

[Willie Robertson]

Boom.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah, well, Jay. Because then what happens is an investigation. We were so shocked. I mean, this goes back to Duckman days.

[Willie Robertson]

That's.

[Zach Robertson]

You got on camera.

[Jase Robertson]

Shop got it on camera, but it was a wide view because it happened so fast. Yeah.

[Willie Robertson]

Hunting is very hard to get on.

[Zach Robertson]

Camera because it is fast.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah. And so it's out there somewhere. But so then Jay starts the investigation on how this happened. He's like, well, there were two misses. Everybody shot three times. So that's 15 shots. But now we're down to 13. And so we assume Jay killed at least two and one shot because he was in the big wad on the left. I killed two in one shot. That's four. Then we. Me and Jay both went two for two there.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

But now we're already up to eight. Well, that only leaves them five. And so we let them fight over the five, which it's pretty much what we talked about.

[Zach Robertson]

That's like the. That's like forensic. You know, you guys are doing a forensic investigation on the whole deal.

[Jase Robertson]

Oh, and that's always so the whole point of that story was the expectations were low, but it was so epic, I thought nothing that's going to happen the rest of this week is going to equal that.

[Zach Robertson]

Well, we got a duck hunter coming on the next segment and a fan of the podcast. Fan of the podcast Duck Hunter.

[Willie Robertson]

And.

[Zach Robertson]

And a country, country music singer.

[Willie Robertson]

Because we are in Nashville.

[Zach Robertson]

We're in Nashville.

[Willie Robertson]

You got to have a dinger on the podcast. So let's introduce.

[Jase Robertson]

Do we know who this is? We'll wait. Cliffhanger. All right.

[Willie Robertson]

So we talk a lot about life on this podcast, both from a biblical perspective, but also just for the fight for life that's going on in our culture right now. There was a recent Danish study that found that within a year after an abortion, women were 50% more likely to need psychiatric treatment and 87% more likely to have personality or behavioral disorders. So that's not women's health care. Lisa openly talks to audiences about the negative effect that abortion had on her. In her spirit, in her mind, and even in her body, that's trauma. So for our good friends at Preborn, women receive care that truly heals. When a woman visits a preborn network clinic, she meets her baby for the first time through an ultrasound and is shown life instead of loss. And she's offered hope filled options. But that's not all. When she chooses life, Preborn continues walking with her for up to two years, providing maternity clothes, diapers, counseling, and so much more. Preborn truly cares for the whole woman, body, mind and soul and the precious baby that's growing inside of her. As you think about your year end giving, consider the greatest investment you could ever make. And that's the gift of life. You just dial £250. Say the keyword baby. That's £250, baby. Or you can visit preborn.comunashamed. that's preborn.comunashamed. all gifts are tax deductible and Preborn is a five star rated charity. We got a special guest on set and this is a man that I could tell when he walked in with what he's wearing. He has fit into our world.

[Larry Fleet]

Hey, look at this. And it stretches. I don't wear a shirt or a pair of pants that don't stretch anymore.

[Willie Robertson]

Larry Fleet, welcome to the Unashamed podcast.

[Larry Fleet]

I'm excited, guys.

[Willie Robertson]

You listen to the podcast, right?

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah, for a few years now.

[Willie Robertson]

And that thread count, that's what dad would call your bearded. That thread count is Impressive.

[Larry Fleet]

And I even trimmed it up.

[Jase Robertson]

Don't take this the wrong way. When you walked in, I looked up, I thought, what's Willie doing?

[Larry Fleet]

You know what? For the longest time, I had long hair and it was in a beard. And the way I would. I was out playing, I wore a bandana. And then the whole duck nasty, all that stuff come out. And I was like, dang, they gonna think I look like Willie. You trying to look like Willie? I work. I was doing it before I even knew he was doing it.

[Willie Robertson]

Trying to look like me. Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

And. But you know, so shave the head now. Still. Still happening. You know what I mean?

[Willie Robertson]

I love it.

[Jase Robertson]

Hey, I think it works with the trucker hat.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah. You know.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

Keep your face warm. A bees get in it.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

It's hard to get them out. Okay. But.

[Jase Robertson]

And I'm just. I'm just assuming no one has tried to mug you.

[Larry Fleet]

No, No, I don't. Long time. So, yeah, I mean, I'm pretty nice guy, you know, but I guess from a distance, you, you know, you think twice. But yeah, so I like that.

[Jase Robertson]

I do that in my speeches. I'm like, the beard has a lot of things going for it. Which we got that from our. Our dad. He used to always defend it because people were like, oh, yeah, why don't you look more civilized? And he's like, keeps my face warm. It's great camouflage. I'm saving money because I'm not wasting it on razors.

[Willie Robertson]

And yeah, daddy, you don't grow a beard. It does that on its own. Yeah, you're just getting in the way. Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

Let it do its thing. And yeah, I don't know. Here's the reason why I even grew a beard was when I played high school football, I was starting to grow facial hair, you know, and that, you know, my helmet would have the chin strap. Well, they make a shave and it would break my chin out real bad because, you know, sweat and just rubbing around. And so I thought, well, I'm gonna. I'm gonna fix that. I'm just gonna grow a little facial just right here at least, you know. Well, some kid ratted me out one day, and they handed me a single blade razor with a bar of soap and said, go shave that off. And I'm talking about. I had to do it before the game. My whole face was just looked like I'd rolled around in poison ivy. And I said, that was a rule. That was a rule. They made facial hair and you could have a mustache. I thought, this is back before Morgan Wall and come out with a mustache. And everybody thought it was cool.

[Jase Robertson]

What state was this in?

[Larry Fleet]

Tennessee, right?

[Jase Robertson]

And World's Going on. It seemed like if you could have facial hair in high school, they should give you an award or something ahead of the class.

[Larry Fleet]

I look like this in high school. I was, you know, 6:1, 6:2, £300. So, you know, I was, I was a man by this time, you know, and somewhat. And then. But yeah, I thought, you know what? When I get out of here, I'm never shaving again. I showed them, didn't I?

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah, that's what we are. He said, when I retired the military, boys, the razor went with it.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Willie Robertson]

And he hasn't, he hasn't ever shaved. And he should.

[Jase Robertson]

Funny. Well, my dad had all these rules, you know, don't, don't shave, don't mow the grass. Because the same principle applied. But one of, of the rules. I remember this. We couldn't listen to country music. It wasn't like a rule. It was just like, that's just stupid.

[Willie Robertson]

It was frowned upon.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah, he didn't like. And so I finally went.

[Willie Robertson]

He was like a classic rock.

[Jase Robertson]

And so we never listened to country music. Like, I was introduced to you yesterday, my son, because he's like, who you having on the podcast tomorrow? And I was like, some guy named Larry Fleet. He's like, some guy named Larry Fleet. He's like. And so in two seconds, he played two songs of yours. And I was like, okay, warming up. That really happened yesterday. But I was, I was thinking about that story when I heard Hank Williams Jr. Country boy can Survive. I thought, well, my dad's got to love this because it basically, oh, it.

[Willie Robertson]

Was an anthem for our life, you know, what we lived.

[Jase Robertson]

I walked in there nervously because my dad is just so intimidating. And I said, I want you to hear this song. But the first time, what I didn't factor in is the first time a four letter word came out in the song. I just never thought about it because I thought, well, those words are in the Bible, hell and damn. You know, my dad said, turn that off. So we were that close.

[Larry Fleet]

We had him.

[Jase Robertson]

And then we could have gotten the.

[Willie Robertson]

Lyrics without the four letter words.

[Zach Robertson]

He should have started with I can skin a buck.

[Willie Robertson]

He.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah, well, he liked.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

Till he said that it made him uncomfortable. You know, I don't know why, because I'd heard my dad say way worse. But it was. He was like, no, we quit all that.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

But I thought it was funny. So that's kind of our history behind that. Why we just. I don't know how you would describe it, Al. He was. Because he came from a classic rock background.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah. Eagles.

[Jase Robertson]

And so, you know that when we built Jock Calls, that was the playlist before there was a playlist, and it was these.

[Willie Robertson]

And, you know, right up until the end.

[Zach Robertson]

But he did like Skynyrd.

[Willie Robertson]

He liked letting her, which is kind.

[Larry Fleet]

Of what I really met. Anybody that didn't like Skinner?

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah, he had him way high up on the list. They actually tried the. The few remaining, you know, members of the band and family tried to reach out to him, but he was taking a nap, which was another rule. You don't wake me up. And he said, hey, if Leonard Skynyrd calls, you wake me up.

[Willie Robertson]

Or the president.

[Jase Robertson]

Or the president. He said, it's pretty funny.

[Larry Fleet]

One of the members of Leonard Skinner died, I don't know, two, three years ago, whatever it was. And we were out playing a festival in Oregon or somewhere, and this woman come back wanting. Wanting to meet us. Older lady, and she said, yeah, my. My brother, he. He played for Leonard Skynyrd, and he just died. And we played Where I Find God at the funeral. We're big fans. I thought, are you kidding me? Like, what a small. What a crazy thing. Because I grew up listening to Skynyrd.

[Willie Robertson]

Oh, yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

And Allman Brothers and things like that. You know, we're from the south, and they were, too.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

Southern rock. And so it's kind of cool because when I grew up, it was bluegrass. Like, we played bluegrass and, like, gospel stuff, but then it was like country music and some Southern rock. But we listen to Alabama, and, you know, my parents got married to Alabama song, so I knew everyone. And it was, you know, that's when, you know, you're. Yeah, we're reading it.

[Willie Robertson]

Exactly, exactly.

[Larry Fleet]

And so we. We grew up listening to that Merle Haggard and George Jones, my granddaddy, he still. He still was, but he. To this day, I think he thinks he is George Jones. And, like, he had that. That hair and he'd slick it back. I mean, and it was. If you went in, he tried to look like him, talk like him, and he was so, you know, we love George Jones, but we were very much of a country music kind of family. But.

[Willie Robertson]

Well, it was funny for me. I went. When I was like, a prodigal, I went through a rebellion phase in my teenage years, and I went country to be rebellious.

[Jase Robertson]

My dad, oh, he hated it.

[Willie Robertson]

You know, I was Hank Williams, jr. George Jones, David Allen Coe. I Mean, you know, it was all this kind of rebel country, you know, But I loved it for a period. And then I came back from the Prodigal and I guess I got. Then I didn't listen to much of anything, so I don't know, it just.

[Jase Robertson]

Kind of what's where is the only country music concert I've ever gone to, which, I don't know if you know, this was a George Jones concert.

[Willie Robertson]

I've been to George.

[Jase Robertson]

Me and Willie were doing an event in California and he. He was out there. This is like right before he died. Oh, wow. He didn't even sing. He just, like, talked. But everybody was cheering by then.

[Willie Robertson]

It's a respect.

[Jase Robertson]

I just felt like, man, this guy, I was impressed just because I saw.

[Willie Robertson]

Him in New Orleans. But it's funny, he was doing a makeup concert for one. He had, like, gotten too drunk to do so it was, like, forced to do it. So he sang like four songs and walked off.

[Larry Fleet]

He was like a contract to feel exactly.

[Jase Robertson]

So funny about that night, though, because he was getting close to the end of his life and he. He talked about the Lord a lot, you know, and it was just kind of nostalgic. I'm glad I went.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

Then it was. It was pretty incredible.

[Willie Robertson]

I watched that one on the hbo or somebody did a thing about George and Tammy.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Willie Robertson]

Which I was intrigued. It was so good. It, man, it let you know a lot about the early part of their lives that I didn't know.

[Zach Robertson]

I grew up. I love country music.

[Willie Robertson]

I always have.

[Zach Robertson]

But to me, it's about. I mean, it really is kind of our childhood, really, a lot of those songs. And even, like, I love what you're doing too, because you're, you're, you're. I. I feel like you're sharing the gospel in.

[Jase Robertson]

In a.

[Zach Robertson]

In a different kind of way.

[Jase Robertson]

You know what I mean?

[Zach Robertson]

It's not. You ain't nothing.

[Larry Fleet]

The working man way.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. Getting excited about hunting season. Are you kind of getting that itch? Are you ready to get out there and get after it?

[Jase Robertson]

Oh, I'm. Full scale excitement. The weather's cooler, the leaves are starting to change colors, and lots of waterfowl and other animals are starting that process that happens every year.

[Willie Robertson]

So we have, obviously, a large hunting property that our dad and Jason, Willie and others bought together. The whole idea is to conserve, to be able to build this wetland and our good friends that create the federal duck stamp, which for years was just something we had to have to hunt. Now we realize that they're also effective conservation tools. Almost every dollar that you spend on the federal duck stamp goes straight to buying and protecting wetland habitat. Because the duck stamp millions of acres of land are still wild today. Places that feed the birds and the deer, filter the water and show God's glory in creation. Without the kind of work that duck stamp supports, a lot of the spots that we grew up hunting would be gone by now. They'd be drained, they'd be developed and they'd be destroyed. And so we want to help conservation, want to keep this going for future generations, digital and physical. They've got [e-mail] unashamed it's easy. It makes a big difference. Duckstamp.com unashamed get yours today.

[Jase Robertson]

For people like me, who I mean, I discovered you yesterday, but I was, I was impressed. I thought, now how did this happen? So maybe you can share kind of how that happened.

[Larry Fleet]

We converted one.

[Jase Robertson]

But country music in general is not characterized by the two songs I heard yesterday is what I'm saying, where I.

[Willie Robertson]

Find God was just Man. That's.

[Larry Fleet]

Well, that one was a bit. That was a big one. That's the one that's built the whole thing really. But. And what a better. I couldn't think of a better song to build a career off of, but.

[Willie Robertson]

Exactly.

[Larry Fleet]

And mine started rough. I played the bars and I did what nowadays it's sort of, you know, there's so much social media and tick tock things and people are like they're getting record deals and they've never even played a show before. Well, we didn't have that. So I had to do it the old fashioned way. And it was develop a drinking problem and go to the bar, you know. And so I learned everything. I mean we.

[Willie Robertson]

Alcoholism, which is.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah, that's it.

[Willie Robertson]

The. The highway into the part of the path.

[Larry Fleet]

Exactly. And. But I mean, I think it was. Well, growing up, like I said, I played bluegrass music, which I'm very thankful for because if you can play bluegrass, you can play anything. It's very technical thing to play. So we had that. We had, you know, gospel influences in there.

[Zach Robertson]

Did you grow up in church?

[Larry Fleet]

Not. Not really. So.

[Jase Robertson]

So the. So there is a. Well, you know, it's interesting. My last event was last weekend in South Carolina and before I got up, they had a bluegrass band. They had a bluegrass man for me.

[Willie Robertson]

In Oregon last week.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Willie Robertson]

Of all places. And they were fantastic. And that you could tell they had some gospel overtones in theirs because they did a couple of old hymns. I could Hear it in there, doing it. Bluegrass. But it was so good.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, and it was just so. It was kind of weird for me because I'm not into that, because they all had the. And I met them backstage before they got up there, and I was like, no, what do you all do? Cuz they look like they were, like, fixing to carry a casket somewhere. They all had the same outfit, but one guy had a different outfit. And I thought, look, I know this crazy question. Why does he have a different outfit than y'? All? And one of the guys said, he's better.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

I mean, he earned it. Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

Well, they went out there and it was just, you know. And I thought, well, I've never had a lead in by bluegrass, but that was your.

[Zach Robertson]

So bluegrass was your kind of base.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

Will a circle being broke. And we do all those things because that was bluegrass. Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

And so. And we all would sit on my. As my great aunt and uncle, Uncle Jim and aunt sue, we'd go to their house, and that's where everybody sit. And that's how I learned to play music was at their house on the back porch. And mostly because my cousin, who was a year older than me, he was about 7 or so, 6 or 7 at the time, and he was another little chubby kid, and he's playing fiddle. And I was like, okay, well, I'm. I want to play, too. And so here's a guitar. We'll teach you a couple of chords you can learn how to play and you can play with us. So that was all I cared about, was being able to play with them. And so everybody just kind of joined in. But bluegrass was a lot of old gospel hymns. What it was, you just speed them up or slow them down and put a little twang to it. Yeah. And so that's what we do. And so that's how I started. And then, you know the rhyming auditorium up here.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Willie Robertson]

Oh, yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

I actually played there when I was about seven years old.

[Jase Robertson]

Really?

[Larry Fleet]

In the bluegrass band?

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

Did anybody film that yet somewhere?

[Willie Robertson]

Were you.

[Zach Robertson]

Were you dressed different than everybody else?

[Larry Fleet]

I had a Garth Brooks shirt on. It was one of them that was like the black and white from the. This is. You know, this is the 90s, this.

[Willie Robertson]

Right.

[Larry Fleet]

You know, and so, I mean, it was cool at the time. I had a big old cowboy hat on. I'm just, you know, six or seven years old.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

But it was fun. And that's how it started. And I always say that I started the ramen and it went downhill and so, you know, you start there at the mother church and then you end up in the bar. But so by the time I'd made it to high school, I started writing songs and stuff like that because I was bored of playing everybody else's songs. And I had a knack for making things rhyme, I guess, but so I started there and then we get to, to college and everybody's sitting around and I just happened to be the guy that could play. I knew a few songs.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

So, you know, so you're the leader. I'm a leader, you know. And I would kill deer and I would bring them up there, we would cook back straps and I would and sit and play music that's a good.

[Zach Robertson]

Deal for everybody else.

[Willie Robertson]

That's the ultimate.

[Larry Fleet]

That's how I got my wife and that had a cool truck, you know. And so I sat there and we would kind of play and. And the way it started, I never intended on being anything in the music. Like I never thought that. I didn't know you can make money at it, you know, that was a career path. And so I'm in college, I'm kind of doing this and. And people told me enough times, you're pretty good, man. Like, like you oughta, you ought to go play somewhere. I'm like, you're drunk. I'm not, you know, I'm not gonna do that. And so I ended up kind of believing them after a while. And so my cousin was like, hey, I've got this little bar gig down the road over here. Why don't you come and play my set breaks? So he would play and he would have a 15, 20 minute break and I would get up and play. And they. So I did that the first night and they gave me like 40 bucks in tips and I was like, we're on to something. Okay, this is okay. And so, you know, at the time I was probably laying brick or something, making $8 an hour. So I thought, well, that was four hours of work, you know, I didn't had fun. So that kind of kick started and it gave me this fire to do it. Well. Then I started writing songs and all my friends were like, man, you were awesome, you were so good. And I was like, you know what I am. And then I went to my first songwriter show and I was awful and everybody was so betterment because there was a guy that wrote a bunch of songs for Hank Jr. And they're all sitting up there playing these great songs and I'm like, I. I shouldn't even be Here like this. I'm terrible. So that just made me want to go back and write more songs. And I was like, I'm gonna be the best songwriter that I can be. So I just focused in on writing songs and playing and, you know, God gave me a gift to sing. I never took a lesson. I don't know anything about singing. I just did it, you know, and it worked. So, you know, years go by and I'm playing the bars, I'm writing the songs, and I got a couple little publishing deals and things like that, and nothing would ever really take off. And finally me and my wife had gotten together, and I said, I tell you what, I'm going to go back to pouring concrete because I'm not going to be an old man sitting in a bar trying to make it, you know, I need to be a real man here. So I went start pouring concrete again. That's what my dad does, and all of us kind of did.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

So I'm pouring concrete, and I'm giving you the condensed version here as it goes for years. But so I, you know, at this point, I've kind of stepped away from everything. I'm pouring concrete, I'm living a decent life, you know, making all right money. And then I would go to the bars and play on the weekends because I needed tires on my truck, you know, and so I'm doing that. And then I meet my bass player at the time. I call him Crazy Legs. If you ever come to a show, you understand why. But he's the dancer of the band. So we meet at this bar and I'm like, this guy's good, you know, I like him. He was cool. So I said, why don't we just start our own thing? You know, we're not gonna make any money at it, but we'll have fun. We'll go down the studio and I'll. We'll record some stuff. We took the drummer that night. I just took this guy's band and I just said, y' all can't play. And so we did. We kind of started this up. Well, then that started working, and it. We started playing the little things on the weekends. And I thought that was all it was going to be. And then a guy called me one night and said, I want you to come and play my wedding or wedding party kind of thing, reception thing, and say, for some barbecue and a couple hundred bucks, I'll play about anything. So we went over there. I went over there by myself and played. Well, a guy named Jake Owen, another country Singer walks in, and I was like, oh, I know him, you know? Yeah. What's he doing here in this. In a. I was in a barn. Like, literally a barn. And he come in and said, watch me play Merle Haggard songs and stuff I'd written. And we get to talking. He's like, well, who you signed with? You got a record deal? I said, no, I poured concrete, dude. You know? And he was like, so you. You don't have any kind of deal? I said, no. Like, I'm just. This guy paid me a few hundred bucks, you know, that's why I'm here. He was like, you've got to quit your job. You got to make this thing happen. I said, well, I tell you what, you take me on the road with you, we'll see what happens. We called me, like, the next week and said, get your stuff, let's go. And I said, all right. So I talked to my wife. She was like, I mean, I feel like you ought to do it, you know?

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

So Harry, my boss at work, I said, harry, I gotta at least give this a shot, right? And he goes, yeah, go for it. He goes, if it don't work, just come on back. I'll give you a job back. I said, all right. And I've never poured another concrete day in my life. And so that's kind of how it happened for me.

[Zach Robertson]

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[Larry Fleet]

What really made it happen blow up was I was doing. I was going to church and I was playing when all this is starting to happen. And Jake told me, he said, you got to build your social media. And I was like, well, how do you do that? He goes, well, just, I don't know, play video or, like, record songs. Like, do stuff, you know, and people will follow you. I was like, all right. And so the only thing I knew to do was we would go to church at this time, you know, and I would come home and I would just play whatever song we played at church because I could play. And, yeah, this time we're living in Chattanooga, so. So, you know, there wasn't a whole lot to pick from. I was, you know, I was the guy that had to go play. And so, you know, whatever I played at church, I play it and video it and put it on social media, on, you know, Facebook and all that, and that. I called it Gospel Song Sunday. Well, that become a thing. And all of a sudden, people every Sunday, we want to see that, man. We want to see it. And I was like, all right. Then a woman named Connie Harrington called me, which is a huge songwriter in town. I'm a big fan of hers. And I was like, hey, what's up? She's like, I seen your gospel Song Sunday. Like, I would love to write with you. This is, at the time, the biggest, like, thing I'd ever. Like a songwriter wise. Hadn't really happened to me. I was like, yes. Like, yeah, all right. So the first time I ever met her, we sat down to write a song, we had a cup of coffee, and we wrote Where I Find God. And it was based off of Gospel Song Sunday. And I didn't have a record deal. I had nothing, you know, really happened. I was just writing songs at this point, and that was. There was a couple big artists Real big country artists and they were wanting to record that song. So if that would have happened at that point in time in my life, that was life changing for me and my family to get a big song like that. So I was like, yeah, this is great. Well, it went for a year and this guy had it on hold to record and then he never recorded it. And I messed around and got myself a record deal. And they said, well, what do you want to do? I said, I got one. And I went in and recorded Where I Find God. And they put it on the shelf and did not release it for over a year. And because I got the record deal, they put out eight songs that they thought was, you know, gonna work. And here's a whiskey song, you know what I mean? And stuff like that. And I mean, it got me a little buzz going. But I said, I got this song, guys. I think there's something to it. I don't know. It didn't really. They rate all your songs at the record label, you know, so that only ranked like a 3 out of 5 or so. I said, ah, I don't. I think we're wrong. I think we're missing it. So anyways, I talked him into it and I said, let's put it out on Good Friday. It's called Where I Find God. It'd be a great time to release this song. I said, okay, some. We'll give you a little money, you make a music video with it. And so most music videos, they're gonna give you fifty to a hundred thousand dollars. They gave me three thousand dollars.

[Zach Robertson]

Get your cell phone camera.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah. I said, you ring light.

[Jase Robertson]

Sounds like what we got going on.

[Larry Fleet]

Well, all right. So I called up my buddy, I said, said, let's. Can you help me? And he was like, yeah, he had done a couple other videos and he know I didn't have any money. And he was sort of just getting by and trying to get it going too. And he said, yeah, let's go. So we went down to Lake Martin in Alabama, and our friends of ours had a place down there. So my little boy at the time was about six months old. I said, I'm going to get in that, that Kawasaki mule over there. I'm just going to ride around and you just follow me in the truck. And he's sitting on the truck bed, follow me. And we're doing that and I'm standing out by the lake. We're doing a few things together. Went down by the church and that was it. 3,000 bucks. There's a couple acoustic videos. We put it out. That song exploded because it come out April. It was April 10, which would have been Good Friday of 2020. So the world just shut down.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

And I was like. When we put it out, about the first week it was out, it got a million views. And I was like, well, we own to something. And it just kept going and kept going and kept going. And then the record label hit me up like, well, I think. I think we might be on the 1. They were about 4.5.

[Jase Robertson]

At what point did it become their idea?

[Larry Fleet]

Oh, as soon as it works. And which. I don't care whose idea.

[Jase Robertson]

God's idea, you know, Exactly.

[Larry Fleet]

Why not? I think that. I think everything worked out exactly. It's supposed to. And by this time I'm in. I'm 33, 34 years old or whatever. Most kids are coming up, getting their record deals. They're in their early 20s. So I'm on, you know, the backside of that a little bit here. And they said, we're going to take it to radio. So I have a double first verse ballad called Where I Find God that's four minutes long. Are you going to try to get that played on country radio? So it comes out and everybody loved it, but they would not work it up the chart at all. And so it just sort of just stayed on the radio for over a year. And we had the hardest time trying to get people to accept it in. In the radio business, you know.

[Willie Robertson]

Right.

[Larry Fleet]

And. But I had a lot of champions. That was really good to me. So. But it did its job. I told everybody, I said, if you will just play it. That's all. I. I don't care if it's the number one hit or not, because I think those people need to hear it. And I think that that's what we. That's the goal here. I don't care, you know, if it's a number one or not. So I finally talked enough people into it, I guess, and they played it. But that song, everybody thought it was a number one. It didn't even break top 40. And then they pulled it off the radio. But then it just kept coming back. It won't go away. And so then I went on tour of Morgan Wallen and that he was like, let's do that song together. So we did it at Madison Square Garden or something one night and we did a video of it. And that thing's got like a hundred million views. And then I went to Australia in March and I played Where I find God for 23,000 people in Australia. And I was like, I've never been here. You'd have thought I was the Beatles out there. And I was like, what's going on? And 23,000 people saying, where I found. Find God.

[Jase Robertson]

Wow.

[Willie Robertson]

They knew the words.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah, yeah. They knew every bit of it.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

And so it's the song, you know, this is the song that never ends. It was like, that's the way I feel about it. It just keeps working and keeps grinding, but every day, there's new people that. That hear it for the first time. And I love it because I'm known for a song called Where I Find God.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

In the country.

[Zach Robertson]

That's a good song to be known by.

[Larry Fleet]

Exactly. I think so. And. And so then I. I said, man, this is what I want to do. So what that did was allow me to do music the way I wanted to do it. And so, you know, I didn't have to do, you know, nothing against what everybody else is doing, but that's not what I want to do.

[Willie Robertson]

Right.

[Larry Fleet]

I want to sing. Well, some dude tried to criticize me the other day on some thing, and he said all he ever sings about is faith, family, and working hard. I said, you got it, bud. That's exactly what I do.

[Jase Robertson]

How did that. That transition, like, in your life? I mean, because you said you started off in bars and was drinking way too much, so there had to be some kind of epiphany in there.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah. So, you know, I was listening to y' all talking a few episodes ago. Whatever. About just sort of your wife or something getting saved early and then. Yeah, again later. That was what happened to me.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

Because in high school, I was kind of after this girl, you know what I mean? And she was, like, going to church and being in church, which helped me tremendously because I'd never really done a whole lot in church. And so that got me in the Doors, and then, you know, God was working with me, but I did not know exactly what was happening.

[Jase Robertson]

You were distracted by the girl.

[Larry Fleet]

Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

[Willie Robertson]

Jase, the. The holiday season is upon us, and when you think about Thanksgiving, sweet potato pies, pecan pies. I mean, you know, the eating and the Robertsons kind of go together, right?

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah. And it's coming.

[Willie Robertson]

So those of us who have struggled a bit in the past with weight, we always have to be aware of that, and I do as well. I've been on this weight loss journey with PhD weight loss, and I've lost over 70 pounds now, which has Been a great blessing for me. Take control. You can skip that holiday weight gain. The good folks at PhD tell you what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, and have the right relationship with food, which really does change a lot of your perspective. It's all about resetting your metabolism and burning fat. That's what they're into and they're really great. It's not starvation. It's not all the big workout stuff. No shots, no gimmicks, none of that stuff. You will do better. And it's a science based system that works. And it has worked for me. You've seen the difference. If you're watching on YouTube, it's a picture of me in the before and after. And as you can see, not only look better, but I'm much healthier. My meds have been cut almost completely out. I don't have a CPAP machine anymore. So it's definitely feeling better, looking better right now. For November only. PhD weight loss is making it even easier to get started. They'll waive your consultation fee, add two weeks to your program for free, and even cover the cost of your food just for booking. You'll also get five steps to reset the scale. Mention code 2026. Start when you call PhD Weight Loss at 864641900 or visit my PhD Weight Loss dot com. And that's exactly the way she describes her. She said, I was, I was baptized into the Robertson family.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Willie Robertson]

Not into Christ. And she said, At 33, I finally figured out I needed relationship with him.

[Larry Fleet]

Oh, yeah.

[Willie Robertson]

So that's what changed.

[Larry Fleet]

And that was kind of me. It was like I'm, I'm there, you know, kind of chasing a girl and then I'm. But I'm hearing bits and pieces.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

So then that was getting it started. And then whenever I went on my own way, she did hers. And it was like, so now I'm out in the world. And you know how it is for a kid coming out of high school, going to college, that's a tough time. Absolutely. A lot of influence.

[Zach Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

And so I had no good influences. I had my good friends or whatever, but we were all doing the same thing. You're drinking and you're running wild and you're just in the world. And so I did that for years. And then it was a little bit later I started going. I was like, I can get back to church. You know. So we started going and actually went and got baptized in my early 20s. And then I was like, okay, this is it. I'm Making the change. Well, I soon got drugged back into the world, you know, and then I thought, all right. And once me and my wife got together, I was. I was trying to get away from everything. I just didn't feel right. So when we got together, her uncle's a Baptist preacher, and so we went to church and that was. I started kind of making friends inside the church and different preachers and people. That was kind of helping me out. And I tell people all the time, this is how it worked for me. And I think this happens for a lot of people is just because you get. Get saved doesn't mean your life is changing. Exactly that. It's a. It's a thing that practice forever. Like you're working on it for a long time.

[Jase Robertson]

Right.

[Larry Fleet]

And so that was me. That was my case. So once we got together, my wife and I actually got baptized in the Tennessee river together. It was cool. And that was, you know, around, I don't know, probably 10 or close to 10 years ago or so now. And before we had kids and stuff. And it was like, we got to get it together. And so we did. And we, you know, dove into church and started getting the groups around us doing small groups and. But that was my change. And I think that's whenever. Because if you'd have made me give me money and fame in my 20s, I'd be dead probably, you know, I would have blew it. It had been a disaster.

[Willie Robertson]

You weren't ready for it.

[Larry Fleet]

I wasn't ready, yeah. And I think that once I was start, I understood what I was doing and it was like, okay, this is what, this is what you should be doing and what you should be working towards, which is God. And when I did that, that's when. Where I find God come along. That's when the record deal. That's when everything started happening. That never happened before. It finally was like, now's your time. And so whenever that happened, I just, I said, okay, I'm. I'm all in. And like I said, I'm like anybody else. You battle with it every day. In this world and entertainment type industry, you get pulled a million different directions and somebody's always, you know, chirping over your shoulder about something. So you have to stay very focused and you make sure you surround yourself with the right people around you because. Yeah, that's something we battle with every day.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah. What I found kind of nostalgic about the two songs that I listened to because I go back to my childhood. Our dad. You know, there's been a Movie about his past and all. But in an effort to be. Become a better father, you only started taking. Taking us hunting. And I had the same experience as that song. Because I'm looking around for the first time thinking, I think somebody created this. Yeah, exactly.

[Larry Fleet]

Oh, yeah.

[Jase Robertson]

And it was not really found in a church setting, but more just because I love fishing and hunting. And so when I eventually got to John and I'm like, reading it for myself, I'm like, he picked a bunch of fishermen, which is. That's all we did. That's how we made a living before the duck calls. And so I think that's why that song really resonates with people, because you think back on your life and there is something about that Romans one that says, I just think about that we're without excuse because of the God's divine nature being seen.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Zach Robertson]

And by what has been made, the creation itself speaks to the very nature of God.

[Jase Robertson]

Always make a joke that to people who don't believe in God, it's not funny. But I'm like, look, I've blown up a lot of stuff in my life because they're all about. There was a big bang, you know, and there's matter, and we don't know where it all came from. But I'm like, every time I blow something up, it's complete chaos. Not perfect order with, you know, it.

[Larry Fleet]

Didn'T mold itself into something.

[Jase Robertson]

You know what I'm saying? This is not making any sense to me. So I went through all those questions that I was coming up. But I think that's why the song works, because you're basically using something that God said is undeniable. People look around at creation. That's why hunters and fishermen and outdoors people. It's just very hard for us not to believe in God.

[Larry Fleet]

Exactly. For me, it was going to church and stuff. But you always. I don't know, y' all probably like, you feel God tug at you at church sometimes. And that was what happened to me early on.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

I didn't know what it was.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

But then my dad would take. Take us hunting. Me and my brother. We got a brother's four years younger than me, and so we would go turkey hunting, deer hunting, duck hunting, whatever. And I'll just. That was always the time I could. Well, I felt like I could see God that or at least what he has done. And so that kind of made me think. I was like, how could somebody not believe in God? If you've ever walked outside, you know, and just took a look around or.

[Jase Robertson]

With an open mind and just say, what. What happened?

[Larry Fleet]

Well, yeah, and how everything is perfectly created. You can't replicate that, you know, and everything has been laid out perfectly. And that's what was always kind of mind blowing me. You can't. You can't make that up, you know, And. And it was, I think, in my line of work, too, what I talked to a lot of people about is they have trouble. They'll say, well, I don't know. I think, you know, I think there could be a creator. But, you know, I don't know if it, you know, Jesus and all that. And I'm like, all right. And so that's kind of, you know, to kind of fast forward to how this music is. Got me here in my story, like. Like, mine come from outdoors and all that stuff. But now I think where I'm at, it's really cool that I get to sing a song that gets to millions and millions of people, but it can change their way of thinking.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

With a song.

[Willie Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

And so just like, you know, from. From a hayfield in a Chevrolet back to Nashville and all that. I've. I've talked to God more in a cab of a truck driving down a back road than I have in church, I can tell you that. And sitting in a deer stand when that sun starts to crack up and it's the coldest part of the morning. You know what I mean? Or in the duck blind, like, it's beautiful. Like it is. That is God's creation right there. And so all of those made it undeniable to me that this is what it is. And with Paul and everybody, like, how terrible, like, some of the disciples were.

[Jase Robertson]

Oh, yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

And that gives me hope because I'm like, well, I was pretty terrible, terrible for a long time. And so I. That's kind of when I'm talking to people like, that is the gospel, you know? That's why I'll tell you, I listen to Yalls podcasts a lot. And so y' all got a good way of putting things. And I. I'm gonna say it.

[Jase Robertson]

I have.

[Larry Fleet]

I've ripped off a few lines. Okay.

[Willie Robertson]

And so use them well.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah, you got a real good way.

[Larry Fleet]

To lay it out for a good old country boy, you know?

[Zach Robertson]

Do you think Jace is too rough on me? What's your opinion on that? Since.

[Larry Fleet]

I don't know. I'm rough on my buddies, too.

[Jase Robertson]

You know, I'm trying to tell him that's a sign that I love him.

[Larry Fleet]

Zach is always, like, the one that would lay it out to where I was like, I don't know what he said, but you know what I mean, I'm on board with it.

[Willie Robertson]

And then we translate that exactly. Well, Larry, it's been a blessing having you on. And, you know, it may have started with where I find God, but it's obvious now. It's where God has found you.

[Jase Robertson]

Yeah.

[Larry Fleet]

Oh.

[Willie Robertson]

And that's the power of what you're doing going forward. So, man, we're. We're glad to have you in Unashamed Nation. And now we're in Larry Fleet Nation, so.

[Larry Fleet]

Yeah.

[Zach Robertson]

Yeah, we're in your deck.

[Larry Fleet]

Well, thank you.

[Jase Robertson]

I mean, I'm a one day follower.

[Larry Fleet]

Yes. Yeah, we got one. I appreciate y' all having me. Like, I'm. I've done a lot of podcasts, but I'm telling you, this was. I was excited. I was super excited because we've been listen to this for years and I'll tell everybody about it. So I'm spreading the good news about.

[Zach Robertson]

Thank you for spreading the good news about Larry Fleas.

[Willie Robertson]

See you next time. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.