- 6 hours ago
Craig Morgan joins Katie Neal to share his advice for singing the National Anthem, talk about his latest EP, and the important distinction between Veterans Day and Memorial Day.
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00:00Well, thank you so much for being here today. I've got a great little intro for you. He has served
00:0417 years in the Army and Army Reserve with the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. He re-enlisted in the
00:10Army Reserve nearly three years ago and is currently a Chief Warrant Officer, too, and a member of the 313th
00:15Army Band, Mr. Craig Morgan.
00:18Howdy.
00:18Did I get all that right?
00:19You did.
00:19I did.
00:20Very well done.
00:20Did I miss anything?
00:21You said 313ths. Most people say 313 or the 313ths.
00:26I was trying to really get the vernacular correct.
00:28You did.
00:29Can you explain to me, though, when someone says the 101st and the 82nd, what exactly does that mean? Is
00:36there an 81st and an 83rd?
00:38No, it's the unit identification. Basically, it is the Army's branding of that unit, the 82nd Airborne Division. They've been
00:47the 82nd since they were established. The 101st Air Assault Airborne Division has been the 101st.
00:55And they were named for various reasons at different times in their...
00:59Got it. Okay. So it doesn't mean that there's 82 others.
01:02It doesn't mean that there's 81 before them. No.
01:04This is very helpful to know because that's something, as a civilian, I did not realize. And I always wondered.
01:09I saw someone speak this weekend. It was like a motivational speaker that was actually one of the guys from
01:14Black Hawk Down.
01:14Oh, yeah.
01:15But I saw him. He's also an artist. He came and spoke at something I was at. And as he
01:18was talking, I kept thinking that. I was like, what are all those numbers?
01:21Kenny Thomas, probably.
01:22Kenny Thomas. That's exactly who it was.
01:24Yeah, I know.
01:24And he was fantastic.
01:25You're a man.
01:25Yeah, definitely.
01:26He was just recently inducted into the Army Ranger Hall of Fame.
01:30Was he really?
01:30Yes, he was.
01:31Of course, he did not tell everyone that. But yeah, that's a huge deal.
01:34It's a very big deal.
01:35Amazing. Well, thank you so much for coming to see us. How are you? How have you been?
01:38Good. Very well.
01:39Very busy, I'm sure.
01:40Terribly. But I'm scared to complain.
01:43You can't.
01:44As you know, in our business, the opposite is not good.
01:46I know that very, very well.
01:49I saw on Instagram that you were recently in Alaska shooting something for a documentary.
01:52Yeah, I just got back the day before yesterday.
01:54Really? How was Alaska?
01:55Amazing. Yeah.
01:56We have a business up there that my son runs.
01:58Okay.
01:58It didn't start out as a business. It started out as a place that I bought for my family
02:02and friends and myself to get away from the world for a little bit.
02:06What drew you to Alaska for that?
02:08We have an off-grid experience. It's called Jerry Lake, Alaska, where people can come up
02:13and experience the off-grid living lifestyle.
02:16I would like to do that.
02:17I'd like to do that.
02:17The whole bit. Yeah. We're about seven miles from the closest road. We're about 30 miles from
02:24the closest store, and we're about 45 miles from the closest town, a 45-minute flight from Anchorage.
02:31So how do you get people in if you're seven miles from the closest road?
02:33They fly in.
02:34You're flying. Wow.
02:35They fly in and land on the lake during the warm season and on skis on the snow, ice during
02:42the frozen season.
02:43Oh my gosh. I had no idea that you guys had this. That's so cool.
02:48Pretty cool. Yeah.
02:48So we were up there for like, I don't know, eight or 10 days actually building another cabin
02:54for clients.
02:54So when you say off-the-grid, like, is there electricity? Is there, like, what is the whole...
02:59The closest electric line to us is about 20 miles.
03:03Wow.
03:03So yeah. Now, having said that, we do have some forms of electricity. We utilize solar
03:08and generator.
03:10Okay.
03:10But when you, like, the client's cabins, they don't have lights that where you flick a switch.
03:15No. They have battery-operated lights that are recharged through the solar system and
03:20that kind of stuff.
03:20I love this. That's amazing.
03:22They have outhouses.
03:24There's no even, like, handing over a phone.
03:25Like, the phone just worked. No running water.
03:27No.
03:28Oh my gosh.
03:29But we do have bathhouses and quite honestly, you wouldn't really know a lot of difference
03:33because you basically go in and when they shower and they turn a switch on and they
03:37have hot water.
03:38Yeah. Okay.
03:38But it all works off propane, works off battery-operated systems, no electricity.
03:44Yeah.
03:44Craig, that's so cool. Are people, like, foraging for their own food?
03:48No, no. That's what separates us from the other facilities.
03:51We pride ourselves on our accommodations and our meals. Dinners are always a big deal. It's
03:55always a five-course meal. It's all Alaskan cuisine. One night's halibut. One night's salmon.
04:00One night is moose stroganoff. We do a pizza night. Those kind of things.
04:04Again, I sold.
04:05It's all about the food.
04:06I will be Googling this the second that you leave. That is so cool. Okay. So you're in
04:10Alaska for that. That sounds like it's so much fun. And, you know, I was funny. I was driving
04:13into the studio this morning listening to music and I was thinking about you. I was like,
04:16Craig Morgan is like the summer version of Mariah Carey, right? Like she's got her whole thing at
04:20Christmas, but you've got Redneck Yacht Club and we're going into like Redneck Yacht Club
04:24season. Yeah, it is Redneck Yacht Club season coming up.
04:28This is so true. Last summer you released an EP. Talk about American Soundtrack and the six songs
04:33that are on here.
04:34Oh, it was just something. I would say it's a little different, but I loved this project because
04:39I was doing things that people might not actually expect from me. Like the title track, American
04:44Soundtrack, it just had this super groovy, almost 70s, you know, I listened to a lot of
04:52older music and it had that great vibe. It's been a long time since I've heard a bass solo
04:57on an album and we did that on that song.
05:00Yeah, it's kind of what it just, I tell people it wasn't a drastic change in what I do because
05:06I am a country singer and I sing country music, but there were a few things that were a little
05:10different. Yeah. And then there were other things on the project that were very much in
05:14line with That's What I Love About Sunday, Almost Home, the kind of music that people are expecting
05:20from me. Definitely. It's been fun to see how like the 70s are kind of like making their way
05:24back into music right now. It's unbelievable. It's weird. Like with everything like Ella's doing
05:27and you see Miranda's going to release a country and disco record. Like it's just a very fun time
05:33right now. It was a great era in our history. For sure. Musically wise. Yeah. I also, there was
05:38a really fun and emotional moment that everyone got to witness a few months ago. It's been now,
05:43but you got to surprise Jelly Roll by letting him know that he was going to become a member
05:46of the Grand Ole Opry. Talk about your friendship with Jelly and being asked to do that.
05:50Well, it all came about because of his very first appearance on the Opry when he stood on the
05:55stage and told this story about the song Almost Home and Craig Morgan and how it affected
06:00him while he was in prison, jail. I was actually on the road when he did that. I wasn't around
06:06and a buddy of mine texted me and said, Hey, there's some guy on the Opry talking about you
06:09and your song. And I said, what song? And he said, Almost Home. I said, who is it? You know,
06:13and I, for whatever reason, I was thinking it was going to be someone that we knew. And he said,
06:18some guy, new guy named Jelly Roll. And I said, man, what kind of name is Jelly Roll? What's he
06:22doing
06:22on the stage of the Opry? You know, kind of being funny, you know, and he said, dude,
06:26you got to go. So immediately I went on YouTube and looked it up and sure enough, there he was.
06:31And I listened to the story and it absolutely floored me. It moved me in a way that I had
06:37not
06:37been moved. It was just such an inspiration to hear. And not because it was my song, but it was
06:43because of the impact that he was having and that emotion that he put into that story. You could tell
06:50that it was genuine. And I love that about our format. I think there's some genuineness in our
06:56genre that maybe doesn't come across fully in other genres. And that he was the epitome of that
07:02that night. So I told my managers, I said, Hey, I want to reach out to this guy. Let's talk
07:06to him.
07:07You fast forward. We did the song together on the stage one night and I gave him a copy of
07:12the
07:12lyrics and he was extremely emotional about that. So much so that he talked to Dwayne Johnson,
07:17the rock about it on the set of some show. And then I was doing my next project at the
07:24time,
07:25which was a duets project. And I had him come in and sing it with me. So I've just come
07:30to love the
07:30guy. He and bunny both. I think they're two beautiful, genuine people who have experienced
07:34a lot of trauma in their life and they're managing to overcome it. And they're not, they're not as,
07:41as, as not proud. They, as they may be, they're unashamed enough to share it in hopes that it will
07:48inspire other people. And I think that speaks volumes about their character.
07:51And it's like, we're watching them heal in real time. And by doing that, we're like,
07:55like it's healing other people. Yes. It's so beautiful. He really does. And he does a lot
07:59for other people. Oh my God. He works hard to help other people and, and I just love him to
08:02death. And I'll never, uh, probably never have anything bad to say about the guy. Just, uh,
08:07just genuinely love him. He's so wonderful. Something else I saw you did recently on Instagram was
08:11you were singing the national anthem and I, you know, we get artists in here all the time that
08:15have got like some big performance of the national anthem coming up and they're always
08:19so nervous about it. Right. Because it's become such a big thing. It's not like you sing it and it
08:23goes away. Now it lives on the internet forever. And I'm very curious as someone who has served for
08:28our country is currently serving for our country. And it's also a country artist who regularly sings
08:32the national anthem. What is the advice that you give to people when they are going to sing the
08:37anthem? Well, for one, I'm, I try not to give too much advice because you never know what might
08:41happen. Uh, I just tell them to be themselves. Uh, I do one thing that a lot of guys, I
08:48say,
08:48I always try to tell people, Hey, look, don't try to over sing it. Don't try to overdo it. Uh,
08:53it is the national anthem. It's meant to be saying a certain way. That doesn't mean that you
08:57shouldn't input your own energy and motion and even inflection. Uh, but it is our national anthem
09:04and it is understanding that it is probably the most emotionally impacting song that you're going
09:10to do. It's the one thing you don't want to screw up. Um, but to be proud of the fact
09:16that you
09:16get to represent everyone in singing that song. Yeah. So be proud of that. It's so beautiful.
09:23And sometimes I wish I could give advice to people who are being so judgy on the internet
09:26about someone singing the national anthem. I'm like, you couldn't sing that if you wanted to.
09:30Yeah. I, you know what? I see that sometimes and it is what it is. Uh, it is a very
09:35difficult
09:35song to sing. And for me lately, I do it a lot in uniform. Uh, it's part of my occupation
09:39for the army.
09:40I'm, I represent the army in that aspect. And it's one thing to do it in civilian clothes as Craig
09:45Morgan. It's another to do it as a soldier. You, I mean, you're expecting to not mess up because
09:50it's, you know, it's your job. I was going to say, yeah, there's never going to be like, oh,
09:57thank you for doing this. Thank you for your service. I'm so excited to get to highlight this
10:02and talk to you about it. And, you know, one of the things I wanted to start with is, you
10:06know,
10:06Memorial day is about honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
10:11What do you wish people understood better about that? Uh, this is a, uh, this is a difficult
10:19conversation. You might not believe this, but a lot of us veterans especially have this conversation
10:24and there are those personnel within our community, within the veteran community who get really
10:30aggravated when people misconstrue veterans day with Memorial day. Uh, but I heard a great
10:36quote from a very close veteran friend of mine, an officer, a pilot, uh, the guy worked for the CIA.
10:42He's done a lot of great stuff. And he said, look, man, don't, don't beat up, uh, the civilian
10:48populace when they make the mistake of saying thank you to our veterans on that day. Uh, it's okay.
10:54Uh, that is not a day for them to be corrected is a day for us to make sure that
10:58we are correct.
11:01We're not here to correct them. We're here to be correct. And so on, on Memorial day as a veteran,
11:07it's imperative for all of us as veterans to recognize that that is a day, not about us,
11:13me or our veteran service, or even our buddies, veteran service, but for those who, as you said,
11:18made the ultimate sacrifice, we memorialize them on that day and remember them and remember the
11:23sacrifices that they made so that we celebrate the freedoms that we do.
11:26Absolutely. I didn't even think about that. Yeah. Cause there are so many times you hear
11:29all this like dialogue about veterans on Memorial day. So I'm sure it's hard. Yeah. I'm sure it's
11:34on Memorial day. I go, man, I'm going to thank all the veterans for their service on this Memorial
11:37day. And there's nothing wrong with that. No, there absolutely nothing wrong with that. I thank
11:42them and God bless them. Absolutely. But I'm sure. Yeah. Internally you almost, it's like being
11:47thanked for something you didn't do. As a veteran, that's what the veterans deal with. But like
11:52I said, it's not their issue. You know, it's ours. Make sure we're right. What, how do you believe
11:58is, or like, what would you, what can people do on Memorial day to honor those who have given the
12:05ultimate sacrifice? I think as they're, as they're celebrating, as they're having hot dogs and they're
12:09with their family and friend in, in their prayer, if they pray, just to be sure to pray that the
12:18families of those that have made that ultimate sacrifice are in their struggles are being, um,
12:24comforted, comforted in some way. Yeah. Um, and if they're not prayers, just remember those that
12:29have fallen. If you believe in the freedoms of this nation, which you must, if you're here,
12:34you must celebrate it. Uh, might not agree with everything that's going on in the world and in the,
12:39or in, in our nation, but you should be very, very grateful for the fact that we are the freest
12:44nation in the world. And we owe that to those men and women who have, especially those who have
12:48paid the ultimate sacrifice. So remember them that day. You don't have to know them by name,
12:52but just think, you know, wow, I'm blessed to be here. And there's someone who died so that I could
12:58continue to celebrate. Yeah. Which I do think is like one of the best ways that you can do that.
13:02Cause I know there's always like also a lot of dialogue about like, you know, the Memorial day
13:05isn't about boating and barbecues and it's not, but I do feel like it's one of those things that
13:09like, because of where it falls in the year, it's kind of like becomes synonymous with the
13:13unofficial start of summer. And I think it's okay. Yeah. Celebrate however you will. Just
13:18remember. Yeah. Like the best way also to like honor those that you've lost is by living and
13:23living well and remembering them, I think is like one of the very important things to,
13:28to add to your mental list of things is Memorial day. Is there any, I'm very curious,
13:34like, you know, given all the places that you've been and probably performed and been asked to
13:37attend, is there any memorial in this country that stands out to you that you think like if someone
13:43was going to visit a memorial like this one above others felt very sacred to you or stands out to
13:48you in your memory that you have visited? I mean, DC, obviously we have the wall for the Vietnam
13:54veterans. That one for me holds it kind of holds a special place. I wasn't in that era. Yeah. That's
13:58way before me, but, uh, believe it or not, some people think that I was in Vietnam. I've been,
14:05I've been doing this music business for like 25 years. So people think I was alive in Vietnam.
14:09You were too great. I started young. Uh, but, um, I, it holds a special place because
14:17of the knowledge that our nation was not as respectful to those veterans as they should have
14:22been. So I think, uh, if you get the chance to visit that and to put your hand on that
14:28wall and
14:28to see the names and to think about those, um, the Lincoln Memorial, you know, if you go there,
14:34I don't know how people go to these things and not feel some emotional experience knowing what we
14:41have been through as a nation and where we are as a nation. I mean, it is the greatest country
14:47in the world. It truly is. And I know there are people here that don't believe that, but
14:51I would venture to say that I'd love to have conversations with those people because I've been
14:56in over a hundred different countries and I've never stepped foot in one that celebrates the
14:59freedoms that we do in this nation. That's absolutely true. So any of those memorials,
15:03but for me in particular, the Vietnam wall, um, again, because I know that those veterans
15:09did not get the homecoming that they deserved. Uh, and we do a lot of that now. I was just
15:13up in
15:14DC doing that and did a walk with the Vietnam veterans. Um, and it was a very emotional thing to
15:20feel like we're finally giving them the welcome home that they deserve. Absolutely. But it,
15:24but it should have happened when they were here. No, absolutely. And it's something that like
15:28knowing that I read a book recently that was about Vietnam and I, it was the first time that I
15:32really felt like I understood what was happening when those servicemen and women were coming home.
15:38And it really did break my heart to think about that's how they landed back on U S soil and
15:43how
15:43they were received. And so whenever I see someone now in a Vietnam hat or anything like that, I always
15:48like take a moment to say, thank you for thinking, because it, it probably, as much as it means to
15:53anyone when that happens, it probably tenfold. That's the way I feel. It has to be magnified for
15:58them because they didn't receive it before. Absolutely. I would love to know what, um,
16:03what would you say to anyone who's currently thinking about enlisting? Talk about, you know,
16:08the difference it made in your life. Uh, you better hurry. We just met, uh, our, our quota for the
16:12year
16:13in the army. Uh, I would tell you, here's what I tell the people consider, especially young people.
16:18Uh, there is no other, no other occupation in the world. None. I've done a lot of them, but there's
16:26none that will afford you the opportunity to excel the way the United States army does and other
16:31military branches as well. But for me in particular, the United States army and established relationships
16:36that will be forever binding. And only in that environment are those relationships established.
16:41Uh, a lot of people, uh, attribute it to something, uh, like a, a football team. They have a bit
16:48of that
16:48because there's that, you know, you're dealing with the harshness of, of that competition and you're
16:53doing it as a team. Uh, but it's compounded in the military. It is absolutely compounded, uh, in the
17:01military, but the army is the only place where you can get an education while you're getting paid and get
17:08to travel and, and do a job, all of this stuff, all at once at the same time. You can,
17:13you can do all of that
17:14at the same time and be fed. You don't have to worry about your meals. You know, as a young
17:18soldier
17:19coming into the military, they got a mess hall, they get to go eat at, uh, there's a good chance
17:23they're going to get a nice bonus so they can buy them a decent car right up front. Yeah. Um,
17:28that, you know,
17:29this is without college with college. Those things are more advanced. Uh, a lot of times you, with a college
17:34degree, you go right into OCS, go right into a military academy and become an officer. So there's lots of
17:40opportunities that you can't get in any other occupation in the world. Very few high school kids. And there are
17:46some that are offered jobs, tech, some tech jobs. Yeah. You know, these kids, a whiz kid and has developed
17:52something and a tech company says, Hey, we'll hire you and we're going to pay you a hundred thousand
17:56dollars a year. You know, those are very, very, very, very rare opportunities. Oh, normally a kid right out of
18:02high school is going either into college or a trade school or something like that. And I would
18:06encourage them to understand that in the military, they earn a trade that they can carry forward for
18:11the rest of their life. Everything from an electrician to a plumber. I mean, you name the
18:17skills, there's, there's plenty of it, but they also get something in the United States army that they
18:21can't get when they go to college. When you go to college and I know, cause I've done both. When
18:26you go
18:26to college, you don't get leadership training. No one teaches you how to be a leader in the United States
18:30army. They do. They teach you how to make decisions, the decision-making process and
18:35thought process that goes into that. And they teach you how to do that under very difficult
18:41situations, which you absolutely will not get near that in a college environment or even in
18:46their occupation, even in the trades industry. And again, you get paid while you do that.
18:53I was going to say, just like knowing the economy we're in right now and how expensive everything
18:57is. In addition to like going to a four-year school. Imagine trying to go to school, not getting
19:00paid. Oh my God. And having to pay for school, having to buy food and all these things, not in
19:03the army, all that stuff's taken care of. And you do four years. Uh, if you don't stay in, you've
19:09earned a trade that you can take with you into the civilian populace. And you have a head start above
19:13every other, uh, person that's your age that went to college because you have leadership training
19:17and you have a skillset that is written on paper that, uh, employer can look at and they
19:23appreciate that more. I promise you. Are you sure you're not working in recruiting? No. I mean,
19:27I work with them. I love them. No, I know you, but I'm not a recruiter. I'm sold. I'm not
19:31a recruiter.
19:32No, but like you, you know, yeah. But when you speak about it, I think you would be very good
19:36at
19:36it because just the way that you talk about it. And I know that there might be very things.
19:39I'm just stating facts. Yeah. It's really that simple. It is a fact. Do some homework, do a little
19:45research and there's an occupation for you. You might not know it. I mean, it's unbelievable.
19:49The list of occupations, everything from an infantryman to, like I said, a plumber,
19:54electrician, a drone. It's amazing. They even have social media people now in the United States
19:58military. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah. Think about that. Band members. I didn't know that when
20:04I went back in and they said, we're going to put you in the band. I thought, okay, cool. I'll
20:07still
20:07be a 13 Fox, which was my MOS before a forward observer. I thought I'd be doing, that would be
20:12my job.
20:12And they're just going to attach me to make me a band guy. I always thought that the bands,
20:16the army bands were people that had normal jobs, whether they were a pack clerk, a cook,
20:22infantryman or an artilleryman, whatever. And they were good on a guitar and they put them in the
20:26band for a while. That's not the case. If you actually are a band member, it's your job in the
20:31army is to play in a band. And some of these band guys, it's the only occupation in the United
20:35States
20:36Army you have to audition for. Really? Yeah. Oh my God. And that is wild. Cause I feel like some
20:41of
20:41the bands that I've seen too are like, I'm like, you are unbelievably talented too.
20:45I'm working on a program right now. It's the first ever soldier led suicide prevention music
20:52initiative. It's a big deal for the army. And I'm the producer of this project. And I'm one of the
20:59executive producers on the documentary that we're filming with a big outside film company. And
21:05when I started producing this, one of the songs has an orchestra and I'm like,
21:09we have an orchestra. So I've brought in the army orchestra. It is so unbelievable what we have
21:16accomplished on this project music wise. And it's all about trying to create music that convinces
21:22soldiers that they're in a bad place. They can seek, seek guidance. That's amazing. I also want
21:28to talk just really quickly before we wrap up about the book that you put out in 2022, God, Family,
21:34Country. Talk about, you know, how do you feel, what does this change for you now that
21:39this story is like out in the world? I always talk to people like right before a memoir comes
21:42out or a book that, you know, I'm curious to hear from you three years out now, like what stories
21:46are
21:46you hearing from fans that maybe stood out or changed things? Oddly enough, I think it's just
21:50the, I shared my life in that book. And I think while they're a question, there was a lot of
21:55things
21:55that I shared that people had never heard. One of the biggest examples is some of my military
22:00experience. Some of the things that I did while in the military, a lot of people, I never talked about
22:04it publicly. We had to get this stuff approved even through various agencies where I jumped into
22:10Panama with the CIA and did some other fun stuff. We had to get all that approved and we did.
22:15So it
22:15was a story I was able to tell that I was never, I never told before publicly in any way.
22:21So there
22:21was that kind of that thing, but it was also a little weird because it, it's my life. It literally
22:28is a book now. I've always been, if people talk to me about the death of my son, my marriage,
22:36my
22:36politics, all of these things, I tell them honest answers. I've never hid anything from anybody. I don't
22:43do a lot of politicking on stage. I tell people that I feel like my life should tell you my
22:49story. Look
22:49at what I do. Look at where I'm at. Look at the things that I participate in. And that will
22:54tell you a
22:55whole about a whole lot about who I am and where I'm at. Uh, and I don't, I don't expect
22:59everyone
23:00to agree with that, but my job on stage is to be an entertainer. And I talk about that in
23:04the book.
23:05I talk about the entertainment industry and how it works. That was one of the fascinating things.
23:10People coming up and talking to me about, man, I had no idea that the publishing of a song,
23:14that it worked that way. I didn't know how to, I thought all artists wrote everything, you know,
23:19they didn't know. Uh, and you know, I kind of got my start in this business as a writer. I
23:23wasn't
23:23intending to be an artist. So I talk about all of that in my book. Um, so literally, I'm, I'm
23:30figuratively and literally an open book, uh, you know, you certainly are. Uh, and, and now there,
23:36it is there for everyone to read. But my hopes in doing that was that people would see a side
23:41of me
23:41that they may not have seen and understand that I'm, I always attempt to be as transparent as I
23:47possibly can. Absolutely. Craig Warren, I have so enjoyed this. Thank you so much for coming into
23:52us about all of this. I really appreciate your time. I know how busy you are and thank you for
23:57being here to help us honor those who we have lost for Memorial day. Well, we would not celebrate
24:02the freedoms that we do if it weren't for those who made those ultimate sacrifices and a special
24:06shout out and prayer for all their families. Yes, absolutely. Amen. Thank you, Craig Morgan. Thank you.
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