- 2 hours ago
Country superstar Jason Aldean takes us through his No.1 hits with personal backstories like how “Don’t You Wanna Stay” came to be with Kelly Clarkson, why Ludacris was perfect for "Dirt Road Anthem” and why he stands by his controversial chart topper “Try That in a Small Town.”
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00Hey, what's up, everybody? It's Jason Aldean here, and this is my Billboard Chart History.
00:19I just remember that was our first number one song. That was our first number one single.
00:25All of us looked really young. I remember us not having a lot of money.
00:30My guitar player in that video had on a pair of, I think he was wearing Chuck Taylors and gaff
00:35tape or something, holding them together.
00:38I'm like, really? That's the shoes you're going to wear for the video today?
00:41That was just kind of the point in time we were at. That was our second single.
00:45Our first single took like 40-something weeks to crack the top ten, and our first number one.
00:52And it was just like, you know, I just remember thinking, man, if all this goes away tomorrow, I can
00:57at least say I had a number one single.
01:00And I remember shooting that video in a house in Nashville somewhere, and it was cold, really cold.
01:07And that chick was in the pool, so I felt really bad for her, but it was awesome.
01:11It was just like us getting started really in the business, learning how to shoot music videos.
01:15And I think when we went in to record the first album, we had recorded a lot of demos and
01:20things like that leading up to that record.
01:23And, you know, I remember that song coming in, John Rich, Big Kenny, Big and Rich, those guys were songwriters
01:29on that song.
01:30And we were, you know, they were pitching us a lot of songs back then, and that was just one
01:35that, you know, I really kind of fell in love with.
01:38And I thought that it was really important for us to kind of establish that up front that, hey, you
01:42know, Hicktown, these big like up-tempo rocker type songs.
01:46Like, we do that, but we also can dial it back a little bit and do more of a ballad
01:51-style song like that.
02:06That was a game-changer.
02:07I don't know if I had a muse.
02:09I think it was just, you know, for me coming out of, that song was the lead single from the
02:16third album.
02:17And, you know, we had had a lot of success with the first album.
02:20Second album had done okay, but didn't do as well as the first one.
02:24And I remember my producer, Michael Knox, sending me that song.
02:28And I just, you know, we were out playing shows.
02:31So we saw the crowds.
02:32We knew what they were.
02:33We knew that it was, you know, a lot of younger guys and girls out there and, like, you know,
02:40college age, whatever.
02:42You know, we could see them out there wearing camo.
02:44And it was kind of like, that's where I came from, you know.
02:46So, you know, I remember going in to cut that song and just being like, all right, this is pretty
02:53heavy for what was going on at the time.
02:55Now I go back and listen to that song.
02:57And I don't think it's that heavy anymore because we've, you know, we've kind of progressed over the years.
03:01But at the time, that didn't sound like anything else that was on the radio.
03:07And it was almost immediate.
03:09I remember debuting that song on the CMA Awards.
03:14Played it for the first time.
03:16And it was within a week or two.
03:18It was just like all of a sudden.
03:19You could just feel it.
03:20It was different.
03:22It became an anthem for, you know, for us, for the crowds.
03:25And really kind of set the tone for what was to come on that record and what would ultimately come
03:31on the next album,
03:31which was the My Kind of Party record.
03:34When people a lot of times point to the My Kind of Party album as being, you know, one of
03:38the biggest albums,
03:39the biggest album probably that I've had, you know, I always point to that song and go,
03:44it would have never happened without that one because that was the one that kind of lit the fuse for
03:49everything else.
04:02You know what?
04:03That song, to me, it's, you know, obviously it was a huge song for my career.
04:11And I think when I cut that song, I don't think I ever had any intention of that being a
04:16single.
04:17Yeah.
04:18So Michael Knox was the one that kind of said, man, you need to really pay attention to this song.
04:22Like, it's cool.
04:23And I thought it was cool.
04:24I just thought it would be a cool album cut kind of thing.
04:26And, you know, the lyric was a little tongue-in-cheeky.
04:30And so, you know, I don't know.
04:33We had done, like, stuff like Hicktown and some of those things.
04:35And I kind of just didn't want to do that a lot, you know.
04:38And I wanted to kind of cut songs that lyrically maybe had a little more meat on the bone, I
04:43guess.
04:44And so that was one that I kind of gave a little pushback on.
04:47And that one took a little convincing.
04:49But even now, I mean, that's one of those that I can't imagine my career without that song being in
04:54it and being a hit.
04:56You know, that was a David Lee Murphy actually sent us that song,
04:59who I'm a huge fan of and been friends with for a long time.
05:02And, you know, I was just like, oh, David Lee was singing the demo.
05:06I thought it was cool.
05:07And he can make anything sound good, you know.
05:09And I knew he had a lot of other songs on that record that I thought were big songs.
05:14And that was just one that I'm like, I don't know that we'll get to it.
05:18You know what I mean?
05:18It's just kind of an album cut.
05:20And I'm so thankful that he talked me into putting that out as a single because it was a big
05:25one for us on that album.
05:26If we did not play that song in our show, I mean, I would never hear the end of it
05:30anymore.
05:31So.
05:41I would have never, I would have never sat by the pool in my cowboy hat normally, but here we
05:46are.
05:48You know, when I think about that song, though, I think I was extremely lucky to get that song.
05:53For them to pitch me that song as a newer artist, I'm really glad they did.
05:58Brett James wrote that song, who we lost in a plane crash last year and was just one of the
06:03coolest guys in Nashville forever.
06:07But Brett and Ashley Monroe wrote that song and I remember getting it and it was just like one of
06:13those, I don't know, that third album just really was coming together.
06:16It had She's Country and we have Big Green Tractor.
06:18But that was the song that I think, again, you know, we were talking about it earlier on my first
06:23album, we had Hicktown and then the second song was Why, which was me kind of saying, I like this,
06:30but I also can cut like serious songs that actually have some, you know, lyrical meat on the bone to
06:36that, you know, just a whole different style of music, really.
06:40And I think the truth was really that.
06:44I mean, to me, and I say this on stage, I think it's probably the most well-written song that
06:48I have probably of all time.
06:50It was perfect.
06:51I mean, just the way it worked out, it was perfect.
06:53And it set us up going into the next album, which would be my kind of party that would kind
06:57of take it to another level.
06:58But that song is, you know, that one was a gift.
07:02If I ever, probably my, Brett, Brett James, thank you so much.
07:07He was an amazing writer.
07:08He had been an artist, you know, early on in his career.
07:11And, you know, I knew him after I moved to Nashville just as a songwriter.
07:16He opened a publishing company called Corn Man Music there that, you know, and it just seemed like he was
07:22always one of those guys that would have a song or two on each one of my records.
07:26And, you know, as a guy, like I said, as a younger artist, when you're, you know, you're in town,
07:31you're trying to find songs, you're trying to get people to pitch you songs.
07:34And, you know, they're wanting to pitch them to the Tim McGraws and the Kenny Chesneys and the George Straits
07:40and the bigger acts at the time.
07:42You know, it's like you're kind of down the line.
07:45It's like if they say no and they say no and they say no, then maybe we'll send it to
07:49that guy.
07:50And Brett was one of those guys, man, that he would just, you know, for whatever reason, he would send
07:54us stuff sometimes just first.
07:58And, you know, there was a couple of those guys, but Brett was one of those that I think kind
08:01of believed in me and what I was doing early on and maybe kind of saw, you know, what was
08:07happening.
08:08Just don't tell them all the truth.
08:15I don't want to move too fast.
08:20I'm good.
08:21It's her voice.
08:23That's crazy, man.
08:24You know, I remember with her, you know, I'd always been a fan.
08:29Like everybody, I mean, I saw her on the first season of American Idol and then she came out and
08:34was, you know, having hits.
08:35And I just, man, I always loved her voice.
08:37She just, she's very soulful and just has that thing.
08:41And so we had Don't You Want to Stay was a song that we wanted to cut.
08:47And I just, I felt like it was a duet.
08:50You know, it wasn't pitched as a duet, but I just, I wanted it to be that.
08:53And so I think my manager asked me, he goes, well, who would you want on it?
08:57And I said, man, I'd love to get Kelly Clarkson on it, but I've never met her.
09:00I don't, you know, don't know anything about her or whatever.
09:03Well, we were able to pull that off.
09:05And the first time I ever met her was when we went in the studio to record that.
09:09And so I'm sitting in there, I got my notes and like, oh, get her to sing this part and
09:13do this and that.
09:14And we're just kind of letting her go in there, warm up.
09:16And I mean, after like the first run through where she's warming up, I just took my notes and threw
09:21them in the trash.
09:22I'm like, she's, she's fine.
09:24She's got this.
09:25And, and it was, you know, to me, I mean, she's one of the best female singers out there that
09:31there has been.
09:32And as long as I can remember, it was really cool to get her on that song.
09:36We got nominated for a Grammy with that song, which was amazing.
09:39And, you know, doing, doing that song with her, it kind of opened us up to a whole new audience
09:44that maybe wasn't aware of us or hadn't heard, you know, many songs of ours or whatever.
09:49So it did kind of open our audience up a little bit.
09:52And all of a sudden crowds are getting bigger and those kinds of things.
09:55And I mean, that was a big part of making all that happen was a little bit of that crossover
09:59that that song had.
10:12Probably the biggest risk I've ever taken in the music business right there.
10:16That song was, had kind of been an underground hit down around Georgia.
10:21Brantley Gilbert, Colt Ford had written that.
10:24And we were getting ready to go in and cut the My Kind of Party album.
10:28And Brantley didn't have a record deal at the time.
10:31He had kind of been doing some independent stuff down in Georgia.
10:34And then I knew Colt a little bit.
10:36Colt had done some shows with us and I'd heard Colt go out and play that every night.
10:40And I was like, man, that's cool.
10:41And, you know, crowds down in Georgia knew it.
10:44I was like, this is great.
10:45And so they pitched us a couple of those songs, My Kind of Party and that.
10:51And, and I remember cutting that.
10:54And it was, it was a lot of conversations about that song.
10:58Um, because it was like, man, we were finally starting to get it going on, you know, wide open album
11:04had done really well.
11:05We had She's Country and The Truth and all those things that were, you know, we were kind of leading
11:10into the, to the My Kind of Party record.
11:12And then I wanted that to be the first single from the album.
11:15And the label was, well, can we at least establish the album before we hit them with that one?
11:20You know, cause I think there was a lot of people a little nervous that country radio maybe wouldn't play
11:25it or like whatever the case may be.
11:27So, um, but I went to bat pretty hard for that song and I just felt like, man, you know,
11:33where I'm from, like, this is what I would put on my radio and my truck with my friends right
11:39around and listen to.
11:40And that's the only way I had to gauge it.
11:41So, um, I went to bat for that song pretty hard and, um, you know, and thank God it worked
11:48out.
11:48Cause I don't know that, I don't know that they would have let me have as much say over the
11:52years had it not.
11:53So, um, but it was, it was a game changer for my career and it had a lot of influence
11:58on, you know, Sam Hunts of the world and the FGLs of the world and those kinds of guys.
12:04We had cut a really good first record, second record, we kind of felt a little dip.
12:08Third album was, you know, it was a really big record.
12:11And so I knew it's like, man, if we make a misstep anywhere, like it can cost us a little
12:17bit.
12:17And, and so for me, it was more of like, I just wanted to go cut really cool things that
12:22I wanted to go play.
12:23And, and that was one of those.
12:25I mean, there was nothing like that song out at country radio when we put it out.
12:30And, um, I remember my, some of my friends are like, wait, you're going to rap at a song.
12:34What are you doing?
12:34Back in the day, Potts Farm was a place to go.
12:37Load a truck up, hit the dirt road.
12:39I like Eminem, you know, like there would be an occasional guy like that, that I would be like, oh,
12:43he's cool.
12:44Snoop.
12:44I love Snoop, you know, uh, Lil Wayne, those kinds of guys.
12:48Like there would be certain guys that I like, but it just, as, as a whole, it was never something
12:52that I just listened to all the time.
12:55Um, but Luda was one that I thought, man, this is a perfect fit for this song.
13:00Like get him to come out.
13:01And I was like, just write a verse, come out, do your thing.
13:04And it was awesome.
13:08It was something that I think we were trying to figure out at the time too,
13:11but something that felt kind of natural.
13:15It wasn't, didn't feel like it was forced.
13:16We were trying to do whatever.
13:17It's like, here's a country kid, like rapping like a country kid.
13:22You know what I mean?
13:23So it was, uh, and I think it worked perfectly because it was just us doing our thing.
13:27And then once the chorus hits, it's so country that it just tied it all together so well.
13:32And it didn't make it seem like it was such a stretch for a country artist to do, uh, you
13:38know, a rap lyric in a song.
13:56Full steam ahead right there.
13:58That was during the night train tour and night train being the song.
14:01But that was, uh, train was rolling right there.
14:04And, um, you know, at this point I'd had a really good relationship with Neil.
14:09We had, you know, had a few hits together at that point.
14:11And, you know, and I think he kind of started to write for us.
14:16Like he was kind of, you know, we would go in and he was starting to write songs with me
14:19in mind,
14:20which, you know, things like that were just starting to happen right here.
14:23And it's a sexier song, you know, it's cool, but it's like, it's like country boy sexy.
14:28It's not like drum loop, you know, a lot of electronics.
14:32It's just different.
14:32Well written and just timing of that thing coming off the, my kind of party album going into the night
14:38train album.
14:39And that being, uh, you know, that being the song that was, you know, kind of helping to launch that.
14:44It was just a perfect timing.
14:46Come on, baby, let's go listen to the night train.
15:00For me, that was sort of a rebranding, you know, I feel like we had, we had kind of had,
15:06I don't know,
15:08five albums or whatever it was up to that point.
15:10It was sort of time to change it up a little bit, you know, and just hit them with something
15:14that was a little different,
15:15you know, shake things up.
15:17And so, um, that song came in and, uh, it was just allowed us to do that.
15:22It allowed us to, to kind of take it in a different direction, which is again, going back to the
15:27early days.
15:28I mean, that was something that I was always aware of.
15:30It's like, I don't want to get painted into a corner of, oh, that's what he does.
15:34It's like, you don't know what I do.
15:35I do, I may go a lot of different directions at this point.
15:38So that allowed us to go take a different road, you know, a lot of electronic drums and use a
15:45lot of tracks and stuff that we didn't use on things before.
15:48So, uh, I think when that album came out, that record, I think it kind of made people go, oh,
15:53what is it?
15:53This is a different side of him than we've heard before, which was exactly the point.
15:57And if you loved it or hated it, you know, it, it was supposed to get your attention enough.
16:02We're just hanging around, burning it down, sipping on some radio.
16:07Radio had proven to us over the years, I mean, if you give us something good, we're going to give
16:11it a chance.
16:12And that's really all I care about, it's like, just give it a chance and see, and if it, you
16:16know, if it sucks and people don't like it, then pull it.
16:18I wasn't worried about that so much as maybe the fans going, like, what are you doing?
16:23You know what I mean?
16:24More of that.
16:25So, um, and we had some of that.
16:27I mean, there was some fans, it's like, oh, they loved the old stuff.
16:30They hated that stuff.
16:31And so, um, which is fun, you know, we, we also gained a lot of new fans by doing that.
16:37And then as time went on, we pulled them all back in and, you know, it was kind of the
16:41way it was supposed to go, I guess.
16:43But, um, I never worried about radio freaking out over that kind of stuff, really.
17:04The funny thing I think about when I hear that song is, so I remember calling Miranda that night.
17:09Miranda's like a homie.
17:10We've been, we kind of broke into the business together and toured it together a lot in the early years.
17:16And, um, you know, I always said, like, if I was a female artist, I'd want to do what she
17:21does.
17:22Right.
17:22And, uh, but I remember calling her about that song because we had done a song, I think it was
17:27on my second album, song called Grown Woman,
17:29that I'd had her come in and sing some backgrounds on.
17:32And we would go out and perform it live and we were touring together.
17:35And so we were getting ready to cut that album.
17:39And so I called her, I said, man, I got a song.
17:40I think it'd be cool to, you know, do something with, with you.
17:44And cause I love her voice and I sent her a song and she didn't really like the song.
17:47She didn't really love it.
17:48And so I said, well, hold on, I got another one.
17:51And so I sent her Drowns of Whiskey and, uh, she was like, all right, I love that thing.
17:56And so then we went in and started to cut it.
18:02We shot it, uh, somewhere in Nashville.
18:04We were just like, all right, we get to shoot, pull, throw darts and drink beer and whiskey all day
18:08for a video shoot.
18:09This is cool.
18:10This is how your memory drowns whiskey.
18:17It ain't nothing but a rear view town.
18:21Broken hearts and rusted plows.
18:24One of my favorite videos we ever shot, that one, you know,
18:27it's kind of a career piece type thing.
18:30And just, I don't know, that song always reminded me of just like leaving Georgia, moving from Georgia up to
18:36Nashville and sort of putting that in the rear view.
18:39And, you know, looking forward to trying to figure out what the next phase of my life was going to
18:45be, you know, trying to break into the music business and all that.
18:47And, you know, all those years later to be able to have that song and then shoot the video kind
18:54of, you know, reflecting on all those things to me was just a really cool kind of moment, I guess,
19:00in my career.
19:00And, like I said, one of my favorite videos we ever shot.
19:10We always joke about, like, how many more songs can we record that have the word town in it?
19:15Hick town, rear view town, you know, try that in a small town, all these town songs.
19:21But that was one that I think even Neil was like, I'm done writing town songs.
19:25And then he wrote, writes that one.
19:26And it's like, man, that's pretty damn good.
19:28So, but it just, to me, it just felt like, you know, sometimes you feel like songs are written about
19:35you, you know.
19:36And to me, that's what it felt like.
19:38It felt like this was a song that was written about me leaving my hometown, you know, as a teenager,
19:43early 20s, moving to Nashville, trying to, like, get started in the business.
19:47And, like, putting all these things that, the only things I'd ever known, just kind of leaving them in the
19:53rear view and, you know, packing up, moving to a town where I didn't know anybody and trying to figure
19:58out how to tackle the music business.
19:59And to me, it was just one of those that I just felt like was written for me, tailor-made.
20:05It ain't nothing but yesterday, one less truck rolling down Maine.
20:22Carrie was somebody that I'd, I'd done a couple live things with her, I think at, like, maybe CMA Fest
20:27or something like that.
20:28We had done a couple things, but had never recorded together.
20:31And so my bandmates, Tully Kennedy, Kurt Allison, John Morgan, who's a new artist we're working with.
20:40And so those guys literally went in, like, that day, wrote the song, demoed it, sent it to me, like,
20:47two days later.
20:48And they're like, what do you think of this?
20:49And I'm like, holy s***.
20:51All right.
20:51So I hung up, called my manager.
20:54I'm like, I got a song, and we need Carrie on it.
20:56And so it was just, she was the first person I thought of, like, with that kind of vocal, that
21:01sort of power vocal thing.
21:03It was like, she was, she was the one.
21:10Then it was a massive song, got nominated for a Grammy.
21:13I'm not in the business to win awards.
21:15I'm in the business to, like, record hits and be able to go tour and do what I want to
21:19do and, you know, see those numbers.
21:21That's, you know, I want to go out and play for people and play cool stuff that I like, that
21:26I want to sing all night.
21:27And so I felt like 100% we accomplished that and had this song that, you know, was a big
21:34hit now, but also people are going to be singing this thing for years to come.
21:38And that's, you know, those are the signs that, you know, that you got a really special song, and I
21:44felt like that was one of those.
21:45If I didn't love you, I'd be good by now.
21:56I think about that song, I think about coming out of, you know, COVID and all the stuff that was
22:03going on during that and the riots and the, all the, just chaos, you know, to me is what that
22:08was.
22:09And me as somebody that sits, you know, sitting in my house with my family and, you know, looking at
22:15this on TV, it's just absurd to me.
22:18And so when those guys wrote that and sent it to me, I just felt like, man, this is exactly
22:25kind of how I feel.
22:26It's frustrating, you know, I'm frustrated at this point.
22:29Like, I love this country.
22:30I love, you know, we have this amazing country that I just feel like, you know, people just can't get
22:36their shit together.
22:37Like, it's just constant chaos, and it drives me crazy.
22:41And so I feel like at that point, you know, when that song came out, there was a lot of
22:45people that felt the same way I did.
22:48And, you know, it's almost like, I've referenced this before, but like, if you remember the Billy Joel song, We
22:53Didn't Start the Fire.
22:54It's kind of that.
22:55You know, I remember hearing the song and thinking that, like, you know, it's just all these things that are
23:01just like, what is going on, man?
23:02And, like, how can people not see this, and how are we continuing to let this happen?
23:08And I just kind of was at a breaking point.
23:10And so to hear that song and, you know, for it to resonate with me like it did, I just
23:16felt like, man, there's got to be a lot of people out there that understand this, understand where I'm coming
23:21from.
23:21And then, you know, obviously, you know, we shot the video, which was one of those videos that I feel
23:27like that's a time where you need to shoot a video to really connect the dots.
23:31You know, it's like everybody's going to have their own opinions of what the song means, or, you know, if
23:36you hear it on the radio, you're going to draw your own conclusions of that.
23:39When you watch the video, that's what I'm seeing.
23:42You know, that's what I see.
23:43That's what I don't like.
23:44And, you know, with that came a lot of different things, a lot of different opinions, a lot of people,
23:51you know, claiming they knew what I meant by this, and I meant by that.
23:54It's like, no, you didn't.
23:55You didn't know what I meant if you weren't listening to what I was saying.
23:58So, to me, I was very proud of that song, you know, despite a lot of the backlash.
24:06It got a lot of backlash, but it also had a lot of people that really understood it, too.
24:11And so, you know, that's music, man.
24:13It's subjective, right?
24:16Like, it's subjective, I guess.
24:19It's, you know, you're going to feel, you're going to take something out of a song.
24:23I'm going to take something different out of it.
24:25So, it's not saying you're wrong or I'm wrong.
24:28It's just that's what you got out of it.
24:29This is what I meant by it.
24:30So, I thought the song was great.
24:34I'm proud of the song.
24:35I'm proud of the video.
24:36I feel like it, you know, I feel like if people didn't get the message, I hate that.
24:42And it got, you know, probably got more negative press on it than I hoped it would.
24:50But, you know, I've said, you know, I've stayed by the song.
24:53I, you know, I feel like it was how I felt at the time and what I wanted to say.
24:57And I wasn't going to back down from that.
25:00Did I think it was going to, like, start a conversation or did I want it to?
25:04Yeah, absolutely.
25:05That's the whole reason I put it out.
25:07Did I think it was going to be what it became and, you know, being accused of all these things?
25:13No, I didn't expect that.
25:16But, you know, it also, I mean, I'm also not a guy that's going to keep going out there and
25:21defending myself.
25:22I'm going, well, no, that's not what I meant.
25:23Oh, well, no, you got, like, listen, this is my view.
25:28This is how I feel.
25:29This is my song.
25:29This is my vision for the video.
25:32Like, read between the lines.
25:34You get what I'm saying.
25:34And we're all looking at the same TV screen.
25:36How am I seeing something different than you're seeing?
25:38Like, I don't know.
25:39If you're cool with that, that's fine.
25:41I'm not.
25:41So, I don't know.
25:42It has nothing to do with race or anything else.
25:46It's got to do with, to me, it's right, wrong, and that's just it.
25:51If you're scared to put out music or scared to put out songs or tell people how you feel, you
25:56know,
25:56because you're scared they're going to call you a racist or they're scared, whatever, like, that's bullshit.
26:00Like, you can't.
26:01I'm just not going to do that.
26:03I mean, if there's something I want to say and something that I feel like needs to be said, that's
26:07fine.
26:07I'm going to put it out.
26:08I'm not going to.
26:09I'm also very self-aware.
26:11I'm not going to do anything that I think is, like, out of line.
26:13In this instance, that song, I didn't feel that way.
26:34I love that I'm this far along in my career and we're still, I don't know, just still kind of
26:40charting new territories, you know,
26:43and, like, doing things that are different.
26:44I feel like that's one of those songs that will probably go down in my catalog as, like, one of
26:50the, you know, one of the bigger ones.
26:51I feel like that's a big song.
26:53And my bandmates, John Morgan, those guys wrote that song.
26:58So, and I remember them sending it to me going, hey, we were pretty much almost, we had all the
27:06songs we were going to record for the songs about us record.
27:09And so, they go, hey, we wrote a couple new things and, you know, we're just going to, we got
27:15them for the next album.
27:16And I was like, well, send them to me.
27:18So, they sent me that and I was like, no chance.
27:21I'm like, this is our first single.
27:23What are you talking about next album?
27:24No way we're sitting on this thing for a couple years.
27:26So, immediately when I heard that song, it was like, we had a, actually, the single that's out now, which
27:33is a song called Don't Tell Me, was going to be the first single until that came in.
27:37And I was like, that's our first single.
27:41And it just, it was just one of those that I felt like, you know, what a song to kickstart
27:46a new album with.
27:47And sort of this, you know, another, kind of like we did with Burning It Down and those kind of
27:51things, it's sort of leading into like this new era of, I don't know, this new sound or new whatever
27:58that we're kind of going into now.
28:00It's just sort of like, keep trying to reinvent yourself, you know, every three albums or whatever the case may
28:06be.
28:07And, you know, my band guys, and we started a publishing company, so we've all been kind of writing a
28:12lot more.
28:13And, you know, a lot of the stuff that's been on the last couple albums has really come out of
28:17our camp.
28:18Songs like that are just, they don't come along very often.
28:20So, when you get one, it's a special one.
28:26Sean Silva, who's our video director, he comes up to me and he goes, hey man, would you be up
28:30to wearing a wig in the video?
28:34And I thought he was kidding.
28:35So, I was like, man, I don't know, man.
28:38And so, he's like, just let me give you some pictures.
28:41And so, he sends me his picture of like, I think it's Richard Petty, sitting there with a big cowboy
28:46hat and a feather in it.
28:47And he goes, I'm telling you, it's going to be cool.
28:49Like, I got an idea for this video.
28:51And so, I love Sean.
28:54I trust him.
28:55So, I let him, I was like, all right, let's do it.
28:57Let's see what happens.
28:58And so, I ended up looking more like Burt Reynolds when it was all said and done.
29:01More so than Richard Petty.
29:03But, it was cool.
29:05It was hard to keep a straight face.
29:06I mean, the whole band had on wigs.
29:08And it turned out great.
29:09And, you know, it was just kind of one of those things.
29:11I actually think we might be selling some merch this year on tour.
29:14Like a shirt that's got my picture where I look like Burt Reynolds.
29:17So, you guys are welcome for that.
29:22Goodbye, though.
29:24Till it don't come back.
Comments