Thank you so much for being here, man.
Oh, thanks for having me.
Man, these chairs are comfy.
Absolutely.
It is, right?
Nice little sit down.
Right?
Now congrats on the ACMs New Male Artist of the Year, man.
And also, this is groundbreaking, man.
You are the first Black country artist to win.
So how does that feel, man?
Man, on one half it feels great.
The other half is kind of sad that we're 2021 and kind
of still talking about that.
So my thing, man, it shows the growth of the country music
genre where we're heading.
And hopefully in the next couple of years
it'll be like every other genre where it's not really
about your skin color.
It's just focused on the music and the type of show
you put on, and the type of person you are.
Absolutely.
And you're also speaking about person and character,
man, your story is incredible, your come up story.
I understand you lived in the car for a little bit,
you were discovered at a grocery store.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah, man.
I moved to Nashville 2007 with $21 in my bank account
because I know you can fill up on credit with $1.00.
And it won't hit you till two days later.
So I was like, I'm good.
I can get down there.
I was looking for a place to live.
I was stopping off and checking Craigslist back
then for a place to live.
I found this trailer with no electric, lived there
for a little bit.
I had the choice after the lady sold the trailer
to go back home to Delaware or stay in my car.
So I lived in my car for a little while, man.
And fast forward to 2016, at the time
I was working a bunch of jobs.
I was writing songs, janitor, overnight stock at Walmart,
and working at Bonefish Grill.
And I played a place called Puckett's
in Franklin, Tennessee.
It's a grocery store, a restaurant, and a music venue.
Oh wow.
Yeah, it was a lot.
And I played around there.
I was playing music and I was discovered
by this guy named Ash Bowers who's my manager now, man.
And changed my life.
Signed me a week later, after being
told in town for 10 years.
He told me yes and things been great.
Incredible.
We can clap for that.
That's amazing.
And what a journey it's been, man.
Because you performed on American Idol but
you also auditioned back in 2011.
So talk about full circle moment, man.
What was that like?
Well it was crazy to go back to Idol because I only
made top 40.
So they sent me home when they were picking
the top 24 for the live show.
And going back this time singing my own music this time,
I still felt like I was being judged.
I was nervous, like yo, they're about to send me home again,
man.
I got PTSD, bro.
I was still sitting there freaking out.
And I was wearing these tight leather pants anyways.
So I was really nervous.
I was up there like--
losing my mind.
But we did all right.
That's incredible, man.
That's incredible.
And man congrats, you just recently got
married, which is awesome.
Now I got to ask, man.
And so I've been married for eight years now.
How involved with the planning were you?
Because the planning is serious.
I was there.
You know what I mean?
It was like it's little things.
I was like, look.
I got some groomsmen.
I got 13 groomsmen, I had my friends
from college, my cousins, my band,
they're like brothers to me.
And I was like, I'm only getting married once.
So we're going to do this thing right
and we're going to do it big.
But she had a problem with my suit.
So I had to design a lot of my own clothes.
And I designed this one suit she wasn't a fan of.
She's like, no.
You can't wear that.
I said, that's not fair.
You get to look at my suit but I can't see your dress.
What if I don't like your dress?
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
No, I was about to say, that probably didn't go over well.
Long story short, I designed another suit she approved of
and everything was good.
Because now you know happy wife happy life.
Happy wife, happy life, bro.
Absolutely.
And happy life, man.
You just welcomed your first daughter.
First daughter here, man.
You're now part of the girl dad club, man.
How's it feel?
Boy, it's different.
Because I had my son.
My son's seven now.
And it was different.
And I'm glad my daughter was my second kid
because your first kid you're like,
I don't want to move their arms too much.
I don't want to break their arms trying to put their clothes on.
So my second with my daughter is different.
I didn't know.
She just looks at me different than my son did.
It's like I'm there for her.
She needs me there.
And it's like now she's at the age where she's really
wanting more daddy time.
And every morning before I start my day,
we get up early about 5:36.
And I lay in the bed with her, me, her, and my wife,
and we just hang out.
We play with her, talk, laugh, and watch her favorite TV
shows.
And we have about an hour and a half of that time.
Then I get up and start my day.
But it's important to me to have that time in the morning
because I feel like you make time
for what's important to you.
Absolutely.
And I think this is what's so great about with your new book,
man, is that you get to continue to lay down
that foundational work.
Tell us about book, man, My Voice is a Trumpet.
I loved it.
Man, so I was reached out to by this lady
named Margaret from Flamingo Books Penguin
and asked if I'd be interested in writing a kid's book.
And I was like, yeah, that's always
something I wanted to do.
So we sat around and talked, had this idea
called My Voice is a Trumpet, just teaching kids
to use their voice at young age to encourage people,
motivate yourself, motivate other people.
But also when you see things happening that shouldn't, stand
up for it.
Because I-- stand up for those people
that can't speak for themselves.
Because I think it's so important
to teach them at a young age.
That way they grow up to be adults
that still have that same confidence
to speak up for themselves and speak up for other people.
And using your voice is your physical voice, but also
sign language.
It's also writing notes.
Your voice is whatever you say and how you say it to the world
however you need to get that message across.
It's a beautiful thing, man.
Thank you.
Jimmie's book is called My Voice is a Trumpet.
It's available July 13.
We'll be back.
This is Jimmie Allen right here y'all.