00:00You guys took a step back a few years ago, kind of, you know, took some time apart, and Jay, I believe you said in an interview that it would take many steps for the group to kind of be together again and to, you know, to get back together. What kind of changed and what were those steps that were taken?
00:14Well, I think all of us had to go on our own journey and figure out what to do with not being together. And it was a really weird time. You know, COVID hit, canceled the farewell tour. And looking back now, that was probably one of the biggest blessings because we don't have to call this a farewell anymore.
00:30We were all going through different seasons in our lives, you know, and Jodon's journey has been very public. And I don't think I'm speaking out of turn, but he had to sort of find himself again and work his way through being healthy again.
00:41And we're so proud of all the things that he's been able to go through and come out on the other side of it. And he's fantastic. Of course, we did fire him. That's why he's not here.
00:50But no, I'm kidding. So all of us had to go through our own journey. And I think that while it was difficult to take the break, it was much needed.
01:00And the five years have allowed us to come back to this thing with a different perspective and probably a different appreciation and love for what we've been able to do together.
01:08And certainly this last tour, seeing the fans and feeling the love from the fans and cemented the fact that we may have meant more to people and our music may have meant more to people than we ever imagined we did.
01:21So it's been a wonderful thing to kind of come back to this and honor it and have a much deeper appreciation now for the music and for each other than we did before.
01:35You know, we were a band that toured, did records, toured, did records, toured, did records, and were sort of a slave to the machine and never really took a break.
01:43So I think the break, while it was difficult in a lot of ways, was much needed and necessary.
01:52Yeah, no, I had a conversation with Thomas Rhett not too long ago, and he kind of said the same thing when you, you know, you tour, put out a record, tour, but the fun kind of gets taken out of it.
01:59Did that kind of happen to you a little bit? Like, you were kind of missing that spark, and maybe that break gave you that spark again, like you said, kind of a fresh new perspective.
02:07Yeah, I mean, for two decades, all we did was, we just work, work, work, work.
02:11So it's, I mean, it's tough to be able to be at the top of your game when, you know, I mean, every athlete has to have, take some type of break.
02:19You know, we just didn't, we just, we continued, and the next song was, got to be the best song, and the next tour's got to be bigger than the last tour, and you just get on the hamster wheel.
02:29And so, you know, you just, you fall prey to it just turning into a job and not a craft, you know, so.
02:38You get to the point to where you're working more for other people than you're working for yourself, just to keep the machine moving forward.
02:43Mm-hmm.
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