How are you? Are you excited for the holidays?

I am, yes. Um and honestly, it's I'm just as excited as I would be as if I was touring all year to be honest with you. Um I think I've had more time to prepare and it's not such a rush, you know, so I've I've been watching Christmas movies and um, you know, the shopping was a lot more enjoyable, not just one day I had to get it all done. I had time to figure out some good stuff.

Yeah. What's one thing you want for Christmas?

I want to go back to uh touring. That's all. That's all. For being honest. That's all I need. That'd be the most ideal gift, yeah. It you know, I've made the best of my year. We've we've um been able to write some great songs and and go in and record those. So I'm excited for what 2021 has to bring.

How different is it is it for you like an artist's perspective having released an album right before the pandemic and kind of living at home and seeing people's reactions?

It's been cool. I think that's the blessing of social media. One of them, you know, is is being able to see what songs people are connecting to and what songs they make part of their lives.

Before you got into music, we saw in an interview that you did, you went when you were in college, you would play at frat parties and stuff.

Yeah.

How how was that playing your music?

You know, I kind of miss those days. It was a lot more work for me because I was bus driver, um I was I was the backstage road crew. I was the sound engineer and the dude singing on stage. So I and then I'd have to drive home. I mean, I would do uh a lot of the years I was doing that I had a day job too. So I I would leave my day job early at like 3:00 p. m. you know, drive wherever we were headed, usually an SEC school. Um and set up for the show. We'd start playing at like 11:15, you know, whenever college kids get out of bed at night. And then we play until about 2:30. I'd have to tear the stage down and load it back into my trailer and drive home, straight back to my day job. I wouldn't sleep for two days. So, um, you know, doing shows like we do now and having such a great village of people,

Yeah.

dozens and dozens of people behind the scenes at every show helping out.

But it's good that you know every standpoint of like show and everything because you did it.

fun. You know, I kind of know what what everybody's job is cuz I've done it.

Were you in a frat yourself in college?

I was not. No, I was actually uh I was I was, well, I I guess I can consider myself an athlete, but not really. I was a golfer. I was on the golf team. Um so I yeah, that's honestly what got me to Nashville. I got to school on a full ride playing golf. Um so

Sick.

it was a blessing, you know, it allowed me to come to Nashville, Tennessee and this other dream of uh, you know, music. I I never had whatever mentally I needed to compete um at a professional level with golf and I knew that. Um I just could not beat the guys that and honestly I was getting to play with guys that are have now that are now having a lot of success on tour. So

That's so cool though. You both succeeded very much.

Yeah. So I just I could never beat him in college. It was a mental thing for me that I couldn't get past. And um so music was was definitely my my my dream job and and just so blessed to be still doing it.

And now you met your girlfriend through Instagram, right?

Yeah, for sure. Um which you know, I we talked about blessings of social media. That's another one.

Did you remember what the first message was? Did you message her? She messaged you, do you remember?

I don't know. Probably, oh my God and a drool face. I don't know. I'm just kidding. That's something random happened um in my day that was kind it was it was super unique um at a restaurant and so it was kind of an easy launching point for our conversation to to go and like just this unique experience whenever she hit me back that was going on at the time. So we kind of had that to just go off of and and

That is good. But you think you messaged first?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm a southern gentleman, of course.

You saw that you knew, you're like, okay, I'm sliding in now. That's fun.

No doubt.

What advice would you give to people because 2020 has basically been online dating, like DMming people. What advice would you give to people when it comes to online dating?

Shoot your shot. You never know what's going to happen. And honestly, I think preconceived notions can go out the door. I I honestly thought Kelly was a completely different was going to be a completely different person than uh, you know, when we actually met in real life and started hanging out. We come from pretty much the same background and um, you know, and and have the same values and so I I think, you know, don't never be nervous. Heck, what do you have to lose? That's one of those things where you just you just go for it and uh, you know, if the stars align and you're meant to be, then it'll happen.

Oh, I love it so much. Well, I'm glad it worked out for you guys.

Me too. Thank you.

Okay, and then we have a quick game this or that. So I'm going to read off some scenarios and then you're going to pick which one.

Okay, yes.

Okay. So, lake day or farm day?

Oh, that's so tough. Um, you know, let's go lake day. Way more people involved and a lot more fun.

On your Instagram, it's either music you playing, you on a tractor, or you at the lake.

That's my life. I mean, that is my life and I and I love it. You know, I wouldn't want to be doing nothing else. Maybe throw in some surfing um on the West Coast. Yeah. That that may be something I'm missing. I need to start working on or in Hawaii. Yeah. Um,

Early bird or sleep in?

I'm an early bird. It's something that I think I've grown to like more. Um the past couple years, I I've really enjoyed my coffee time in the morning. So, getting up not at sunrise. I I like for the sun to wake me up. So I'm up after sunrise and uh pour a cup of coffee and do some reading for about an hour.

Sounds good. White claws or beer?

Beer for sure.

Uh Spotify or Apple Music?

Wow. Um, I've always been a Spotify user, but I have both on my phone.

Mama's house or Cowboys and Angels?

Um, Cowboys and Angels, only because I say that, I always, you know, I I get asked the question, what's your favorite song to play live? Cowboys and Angels is it because I wrote it about my grandparents' love story and I'm still blessed to still have them in my life. Um unfortunately, not getting to hang out much right now, but hopefully in the near future and uh, it's just crazy to be able to travel anywhere in the world that we go, you know, or asked to come play and people want to hear that song and sing that song back loud to us and dance to it and um, you know, just to think that it's about my grandparents is so cool to kind of take them anywhere we go. So, that that would be it.

What is it like when you are doing concerts like throwback before COVID and people actually sing your songs back to you? Like, does it ever feel real or like normal?

I don't I don't know about normal, but it definitely um, it's one of those things where you you constantly, at least myself, I have to remind myself like soak this in. This is really cool, you know, it's not I I think we can get caught up as musicians on stage or my band, I'll speak from from me and my band here, we're always trying to be the best we can be every night. And so we're so focused on being the best we can be that sometimes we forget just to open up and and live in the moment of what's happening. Yeah. And um, yes, it's so hearing our songs sung back to us, never gets old. It's um, it still gives me chills. Uh which is embarrassing on stage because every time it happens, I feel like people can see them. Yeah. I still I still get chills on stage whenever um one of our crowds is really into it and inspired and and come at all that same wave length.