- 5 days ago
Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts joins Katie Neal at the Audacy studios inside the Hard Rock located in the heart of Nashville to talk about 20 years of the album, 'Me And My Gang,' and plans for 2026.
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00:00First of all, week of 2026, we're back from the new year.
00:05Jada Marcus from Rascal Flatts is hanging out with us.
00:07You just told me you hate January.
00:08Why do you hate January?
00:10Well, I actually hate January through March.
00:11I think they should be removed from the calendar.
00:14I mean, nothing except for the Super Bowl and the playoffs.
00:16Like, when that's over, it's just cold and darkness.
00:20I know.
00:20You have to, like, find things to look forward to.
00:22I'm like, oh, Bridgerton's coming out at the end of January.
00:25That will keep me going.
00:26Yeah, you do.
00:27Like, I'm such a burr months person, you know.
00:30When you hit September through December, like, it's my favorite time of year.
00:34It's a sweet spot, you know.
00:35Football starts back, and then you have the magic of the holiday season.
00:39And it's just, it just comes to a grinding halt at the New Year's Day, you know.
00:46It really does.
00:46And then everyone's like, hey, I need you back at work, and I need you paying attention.
00:50And I need you freezing to death.
00:51You're like, what's going on?
00:53It's hard to refocus for me.
00:55But the good thing is, is that the last two years, we've had the tour to focus on.
00:59So it's kind of taken me, it's diverted my attention from being, you know, depressed about the holidays being over and having something really fun to look forward to.
01:06Yeah, we talked a little bit about this off the air.
01:08It seems like you had a really great holiday.
01:10You were up in New York, like, right up until Christmas Day, which was magical.
01:13Yeah, through Christmas Day.
01:15We left on Christmas morning.
01:16Oh, you did?
01:17Okay, okay.
01:17And flew up there.
01:17The kids did not know we surprised them before we went to bed on Christmas Eve.
01:21That's so cool.
01:22Because they were like, is Santa coming or what?
01:23And we're like, no, you're too old now for that.
01:26But we got a great surprise for you.
01:27So we bought them suitcases, and my wife put these ornaments in their suitcases, and we said, hey, we're going to New York tomorrow.
01:33Oh, my gosh.
01:34It was really cool.
01:34That is magical.
01:34That's like my version of going to Disney World.
01:38I'm not a Disney adult, but I'm like, when I see the skyline of New York City, I'm like, we're here.
01:43It's just something about that place that is mesmerizing.
01:46You know, it kind of sucks you in.
01:47Especially during Christmas.
01:49Yeah, it's very, very memorable.
01:49You can't really find it anywhere else.
01:51And then did you make any New Year's resolutions for 2026?
01:56No, I never do that.
01:58I just think that I'm setting myself up for failure.
02:01So I've tried several years to go, I'm not going to drink during January.
02:05I'm going to do, you know, and then my manager sucks me right back in.
02:08He's an alcoholic.
02:10So I end up drinking with Brian Wolf is his name.
02:13He's a very, I mean, we're praying for him.
02:14He is an alcoholic.
02:16Oh, my gosh.
02:16Poor Brian.
02:18So you, yeah, dry January.
02:20I always think I'm like, that is, it sounds like a good idea, but it is the worst, like you were saying, it's like one of the worst months of the year.
02:25Why would you deprive yourself even more?
02:27I feel like if you're going to be out of the holidays and you're going to be depressed and back at work, that is the month to drink, right?
02:34Right.
02:35I was thinking about how going into 2026 this year, the album Me and My Gang turns 20, which I'm sure that that feels crazy to say.
02:44It didn't even dawn on me.
02:45That, like, that album had so many amazing, incredible songs.
02:50And when this airs, it will be almost to the day, 20 years since you guys released What Hurts the Most.
02:57Talk about why you guys decided to cut that song and what it's become to you.
03:02You know, I think it was one of those moments we were looking for a big song to release first, and it was our first record with Dan Huff.
03:11He had cut Life is a Highway for the movie on us, and then we decided to make a change at producer with him for the Me and My Gang album.
03:19And it was the first song that he came to us and said, look, this has been cut before.
03:23Mark Wills had cut it.
03:25He said, but I think I've held on to it for Keith.
03:28And Keith passed on it.
03:30He said, and I feel like you guys could really, really do this song, do a great job with this song.
03:36We listened to it, considered it.
03:38That course Jeffrey Steele had written was just a no-brainer.
03:41And it just, it was one of those gut things, you know, throughout our careers, we had always been really good about not being precious about songs we had written, or, you know, we'd always let the best song win.
03:53And this song just stood out as one of those, you know, pieces of music that was so far above everything else we had held at that point.
04:01And we went in, and I remember Gary was sick the day that we tracked it, so we were at the sound kitchen in Brentwood, Tennessee.
04:11And we came out in the lobby, and Dan said, I'm not sure what we're going to do since Gary's not here.
04:16And we always had this thing that I could tell what key would be appropriate for us to cut in.
04:21If it was just a little too high for me, I knew that it would be perfect for Gary.
04:25So we guessed at the key.
04:26And we went in and tracked it, and it just felt like one of those moments we'd captured some lightning in a bottle, you know.
04:33Oh my God, that is so crazy.
04:34It's also, I love the stories of songs and kind of the lives that they have.
04:39And, you know, the fact that that song had been cut before, and that also it was on hold for Keith.
04:43Like, that would have been a totally different song.
04:45And I'm sure that you guys have songs like that, too, where you're like, we almost cut that, but we didn't.
04:50Like, are there any that come to mind when you think about that?
04:52You know, there were a couple examples that I can't remember titles now, but there were a couple of songs.
05:01But we were fortunate enough to have people like, and this happens with everyone, that when you get in that sweet spot of having success and you're selling records and tickets and you're kind of clipping along and winning awards,
05:13you kind of have the whole town digging in and writing for you because everybody wants a cut.
05:16So we were the beneficiaries of some really, really great songs.
05:21And so I remember, oh, Watching Airplanes, which was a Gary Allen cut, was originally held by us.
05:29And we almost cut that song.
05:31And for whatever reason, it didn't make the cut.
05:33And my dear friend Mark Wright ended up cutting it on Gary.
05:37And he was like, I'm sure I'm glad you sumbitcher didn't cut that song.
05:41Right. I know that turned out to be a big one for him.
05:43Also on the Me and My Gang album was My Wish.
05:47Could you talk about the story behind that one?
05:48It was another Jeffrey Steele song.
05:50He was on fire at that time.
05:52I remember every time he would do a demo session, people were chomping at the bit to listen to the demos and hear what songs and what genius he'd come up with.
06:00And that song was very personal for him.
06:02And you could certainly hear it through the demo.
06:04When he sang and delivered the vocal, you could tell there was so much emotion behind it.
06:09And I think our job was to try to recapture some of that magic and some of that emotion in the vocal delivery of what he had,
06:16because it was so magical and so special hearing him sing it.
06:22You know, it was a tough job to get in there and try to equal the passion and the transparency and the vulnerability he had in that vocal.
06:28And, you know, it's just a testament to Gary, too, and what an incredible singer he is and how he's able to digest something and make it his own and turn it into something so powerful.
06:39You know, it just and Dan Huff, you know, he rarely misses when it comes to building a right kind of track around showcasing a vocal.
06:47And I think it's one of the more the whole me and my game record is kind of our Joshua tree.
06:53You know, I think all the stars aligned came together.
06:56And that year, I mean, it's a weird thing to talk about.
06:58And at the risk of sounding, you know, egotistical, that record that year sold more records than any other record in the world.
07:06Wow.
07:07Six and a half million records.
07:08And we were sitting at the Grammys.
07:10And I never will forget during commercial break, Gary leaned over to me and he said,
07:13Hey, cuz, look at the people that we're sitting in the room with.
07:16There's Beyonce, there's Jay-Z, there's Lady Gaga, Elton John.
07:22And I was like, yeah, I can't believe this, man.
07:24We're sitting in the same room.
07:25And he goes, now think about this.
07:27We sold more records than anybody in here this year.
07:30And I never, that's one of those memories that like chokes me up.
07:33Wow.
07:34Yeah.
07:34Because when you dream about being an artist, you know, you hope you make it to the Grammys.
07:37You hope you have a hit song.
07:38But that's one of the memories that I'll always share with Gary that was uniquely our own.
07:43Yeah.
07:43Just between the two of us.
07:45Well, not anymore.
07:46Yeah.
07:47But sitting during commercial break and having that little moment between the two of us,
07:51I'll never forget that as long as I live.
07:52That's gotta be such a wild, yeah, to look around.
07:56Oh my, I like have the chills for you.
07:57I don't even know like a follow up to that question to that because it's such a like.
08:01We can quit the interview now.
08:03No, but it's like, what a powerful moment.
08:05And to be able to realize that in that room, because I'm sure, yeah, you look it over at Elton John,
08:08you're like, well, of course he.
08:09And then it's like, no, wait, he didn't.
08:10Yeah.
08:10That's amazing.
08:11I know even when I was like doing prep for this interview, I was like, God, there were so many good songs on that album.
08:16And then I don't know the story behind like Life is a Highway.
08:20You guys cut that for the Cars movie.
08:22Yeah.
08:22When they came to you guys to cut that or however that came together, like, did you have any idea how big that song was going to be?
08:29No.
08:29I mean, we didn't at the time, you know, John Lasseter, who was the head of Pixar Studios, he actually owned it.
08:36He started it.
08:37He'd had great success with Toy Story, among other things that he was working on.
08:42And he actually flew in to meet with us and sat down with us with Randy Goodman, who was running Lyric Street, which was, you know, the history there is Lyric Street was the Disney division of country music here in Nashville.
08:56And we were, you know, on the label, obviously, along with people like Laurie White and Shadaisi and folks like that.
09:03Aaron Tippin was on there as well.
09:04So we were young and we'd only been out a few years.
09:07And John Lasseter liked us.
09:10He was a fan of what we had been doing.
09:12And we went to dinner at the Capitol Grill and he showed us the storybook that he had with sketches of, like, cars talking to each other.
09:19And I thought it was pretty silly, honestly.
09:21You know, I'm kind of sitting there rolling my eyes like cars that talk to each other, like people.
09:25I mean, and he goes, and there's this montage down Route 66.
09:30And I just hear you guys singing Life is a Highway.
09:34And I was like, really?
09:37That's already been a hit.
09:38Like, everybody else gets to write their own song for the movie.
09:41Like, can we write something?
09:43And he was like, nope.
09:45And I said, oh, my gosh.
09:46All right.
09:47Well, I mean, it's already kind of been a hit, but I guess we could take a swing at it.
09:53And then he left and he flew out.
09:54And we sat there with Randy Goodman for a little while longer.
09:57And he goes, well, guys, what do you think?
09:59This is a pretty big opportunity.
10:01And I said, I don't know, man.
10:02That's a tough one to tackle.
10:03You know, Tom Cochran's version is pretty stout.
10:07Like, I don't know what we're going to do with it to do it different.
10:09I think we should pass.
10:10And Randy said, that's what you think, huh?
10:13And I said, yeah.
10:14And he goes, well, you're doing it.
10:16Sorry, there was no question here.
10:18No question about it.
10:19I think he wanted to make us feel like we had a say in it.
10:21Yes.
10:21But we did not.
10:22But that's got to be one of those moments you're like, oh, thank God, because that song.
10:27I was dying laughing the other day.
10:29I saw this meme.
10:30Somebody had tweeted, and it said, I'm a rascal flat earther.
10:33Yeah, I saw that.
10:34And I believe Life is a Highway.
10:35It's amazing.
10:36I really got a good kick out of it.
10:37We should make some t-shirts that say that for the tour.
10:39Oh, my God.
10:40How is there not, I'm a rascal flat earther?
10:42I don't know.
10:43Can we get somebody on that?
10:44Right.
10:46So you guys are going to be out on the Life is a Highway tour.
10:48My manager said he would, but he's drunk.
10:50That guy.
10:51Anyway, you know, extended the Life is a Highway tour into 2026, taking Lauren Alaina and Chris
10:58Lane out with you again.
10:59Talk about having those two out with you, because you guys have done this together before, like
11:04this trio of you three.
11:06Just felt like extending the tour with more dates.
11:09It was a natural evolution to just keep them with us and keep the ball rolling, because we'd
11:14had so much fun.
11:16And the tour was so successful last year that we wanted to just keep it moving forward.
11:20And Lauren's doing some great things right now, and she's got some great momentum.
11:24And Chris Lane, of course, is on Red Street Records.
11:26I'm proud to have him there.
11:28And we just wanted to keep the team together.
11:30So we're thrilled about it.
11:32And it's going to be a whole lot of fun.
11:35Yeah, I'm sure that it is.
11:36I also wanted to ask you about, I almost forgot about this, but the last time Joe Don was in,
11:40he told me this story that I did not realize, because one of the songs we're playing while
11:43we have you on this week is These Days.
11:44And I didn't know that you met your wife on the music video shoot for that.
11:48Tell that story, because I think that's so cool.
11:50Yeah, she had gotten hired to play the lead in that.
11:54And she was Gary's love interest in the video, of course.
11:58And she was engaged at the time, but I didn't know it because she had, they made her take
12:03her engagement ring off to play the girlfriend of Gary.
12:06So, you know, she was sitting beside me in the makeup chair.
12:09And obviously, this gorgeous woman was sitting next to me.
12:12And so I didn't have anything better to do.
12:16So I just started flirting with her and following her around and not thinking much of it, you
12:20know.
12:20And then she started chasing me around and wouldn't leave me alone.
12:24And I'm kidding.
12:26That never happened.
12:27She spent most of the day kind of blowing me off.
12:30And I started coming up with different reasons to keep her around longer and film more scenes
12:34with her.
12:35So Robert Deaton and George Flanagan had a production company at that time.
12:38And they did music videos.
12:40I've known Robert Deaton since he started back in Christian music, doing Christian videos.
12:44And he was, he and I were pretty good friends even back then.
12:47And so I would go to him and I'd go, you know, it'd be cool as we get her point of view
12:51of her staring through the fence at us while we're on the tarmac.
12:55And you could get coverage like behind her and keep her in.
12:59And he was like, that's a really great idea.
13:01Ask her if she can stay till two o'clock in the morning.
13:03So they had some poor producer who had the job of asking her to stay.
13:08And she tells me today, she was like, I was getting paid like 200 bucks to be there.
13:11And then they kept me around all night long.
13:13And I'm glad they did because we kept running into each other after we filmed that video.
13:18I'd never seen her before.
13:19But around town, we kept running into each other.
13:22And one thing led to another.
13:23And we went on a date.
13:24And we've been together ever since then.
13:28And, you know, I'm the best thing to happen to her.
13:31Yeah.
13:32And I'm sure you would say the same.
13:34Absolutely.
13:36One of the other things I wanted to talk to you about, obviously, the refueled duets,
13:40Life is a Highway, came out earlier in 2025.
13:43And I'm curious, like with the tour coming up, is it been fun because you've got all these
13:46collabs now, like if you're crossing cities with other artists to like have people come
13:51out and do these songs?
13:53No, that has not been fun.
13:54No?
13:55No, I'm kidding.
13:56I'm totally joking.
13:57It has been really surprising to me that people have been so excited about jumping up on stage
14:02with us when we're in their cities.
14:04And we had a ball last year with Carly and, you know, Brandon came out and sang with us.
14:10So I'm hoping, I've got my fingers crossed, that we're able to line up a few more of those
14:14folks to come out because it really is, you know, there's something so special about being
14:19able to make music with your peers and people that you have mutual respect for in their own
14:24artistry.
14:24And that's another reason why we kept Chris and Lauren out is because, you know, Lauren
14:29is an amazing singer and we get to be on stage with her for a little bit and have some fun
14:33and Chris as well.
14:35So it's real.
14:35I love collaborating with different people and seeing their takes on the songs that we've
14:40already recorded has been a really neat thing to witness.
14:43Yeah.
14:43And then the current single, I Dare You with the Jonas Brothers.
14:46The last time I saw you guys, you guys had not yet been in the same room with the Jonas
14:49Brothers since this song had been cut.
14:51Has that changed yet?
14:52Have you seen them?
14:52No, that has not changed.
14:53Oh my gosh.
14:54We still have not seen them.
14:55Um, I'm starting to think now maybe they're AI generated because they've never been real.
15:03Physical Joe Jonas or Kevin or no, we have not been in the same room with them.
15:07All right.
15:08We'll manifest that for 2026.
15:10And then what about new music going into this new year?
15:12Have you guys been working on anything yet?
15:14We have just kind of been concentrating on touring right now and promoting this record
15:19because we're still kind of in the middle of this single, obviously.
15:23So we're promoting this record and, you know, it's not to say never, but we're really, really
15:29in this place right now to where there's not much left to prove single-wise and release-wise.
15:34So if we find songs that are undeniable that we feel like we just, we have to cut, we probably
15:39will do that.
15:40But that's not, that's kind of not our focus right now.
15:43It's touring again and getting in front of as many fans as we can.
15:46Yeah.
15:46Well, you guys, I mean, you got a lot going on.
15:48You're very busy.
15:48We do.
15:49We get a lot juggling.
15:50Yeah, you do.
15:50So you guys are going to be doing something really fun for us.
15:53You're going to be playing a totally private show here at the Hard Rock.
15:55A winner is going to get to bring four friends.
15:57It's so fun.
15:58But I always love to ask, like, if you could win something like that or you could have a
16:01totally private show, like, who's the artist you would want to do that with?
16:04At this point, I'd have to say the Jonas Brothers.
16:06I mean, I'd love to see them face to face.
16:08You know, you sing a song with them, it'd be really nice to have a private concert.
16:13I'm sure.
16:13I was thinking about, and I always ask this, too, when we talk about these private shows,
16:17because I know that you guys get paid sometimes to do private shows and sometimes early in
16:21your career.
16:21Sometimes they're kind of strange.
16:22Has there ever been, like, what's the weirdest private gig you guys have ever been asked to
16:25play?
16:26We were on radio tour one time, and we played this burger joint, and it was called Bub's Burgers,
16:33and it was in California, and I think it's since closed.
16:35But we went in there at lunchtime, and we went around and started, like, making burgers,
16:40and they were taking pictures and stuff.
16:41And somebody said, hey, why don't you pull your acoustics out and play some songs for us?
16:45So we sat there with some folks and fans that were there.
16:48And you could tell the people that didn't know that there was a radio event at the burger
16:54joint were so put out by the fact that we were singing in the middle of this restaurant.
16:58They're like guys, they're painters there on their lunch break trying to have a burger
17:02and eating peas.
17:03And they're just totally put out by the fact that they were in there.
17:06This is like whenever they have, like, an artist, like, play a song on an airplane, and you're
17:09trying to sleep.
17:10Like, I'm like, I don't know who this, this is cool, but I'm tired.
17:13I want to, like.
17:14We played a Perkins one time, too.
17:16Did you really?
17:17Totally embarrassing.
17:18Oh, my God.
17:18I hadn't thought about a Perkins in how long.
17:19Yeah, I think most of them are gone now.
17:21Right.
17:22Oh, my gosh.
17:22You know, people are trying to eat their pancakes, and we're singing I'm Moving On about, you know.
17:28Incredible.
17:28Good times.
17:29Thank you so much for coming in to see us and to talk about this.
17:31I'm really excited for this really private show you guys are going to play.
17:34And hopefully have an amazing 2026.
17:35I can't wait to come see the tour.
17:37Thank you so much.
17:38Jada Marcus, thank you.
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