- [Interviewer] Tell me a little bit about
what you're doing this week,
and then maybe share some old memories that you have,
some kind of standout memories from playing.
- Well we're doin' a few new things
that I'm really excited about.
We're doin' an after midnight hang.
Charlie Worsham did something similar,
and I swear, I didn't copy him.
But he is coming to mine, so I think he approves.
But yeah, we're doing a really fun
after midnight hang with Spotify.
And it's kinda like, I texted all my artist buddies,
and I was like, hey, let's just go jam to some covers
and be goofy and drink a lot.
(laughing) And have fun.
So, it has the potential to be my new favorite event
that we do every year.
Let's hope.
But I'm really excited about it.
So we're calling it the after midnight hang, or whatever.
And then we're doing the Riverfront Stage,
which I haven't done in a long time,
and I'm very excited about that.
Awesome crowds there always,
so that's somethin' to look forward to for me.
And then Saturday we're doin' our fan hang,
where, we kinda started this new thing last year
where we bring the Bluebird to Warner,
and create this guitar pool.
Sort of this guitar, this singer-songwriter atmosphere
for the fans to get to hear the stories behind
the songs and all the music, the records.
And so I've got two of my songwriter friends
who were nice enough to make the time
and join me midway through CMA madness.
And yeah, we're gonna talk and tell stories
for the fans.
Then we're gonna actually, I'm doin' a game show
Saturday afternoon that I'm really excited about.
A lotta new things this year.
And I think it really amped me up.
Because yeah, it's always somethin' to look forward to,
but this year, there's a lot for me to look forward to.
- [Interviewer] A lot of full trunk of activities.
- Lotta crazy new stuff, yeah.
- [Interviewer] Well this is the first time
you've played Riverfront in how many years?
Do you remember what the last time was?
- I'm gonna get it wrong.
I'm definitely get it wrong.
Easily five or six. Yeah.
- [Interviewer] So is there a song that you put out
in the last five or six years that you're
excited to play on that same stage
that you played on a while back?
- Yeah, actually, so we rehearsed
that show specifically.
'Cause I wanted the band to be ready for that show.
And one of the things I really wanted,
and we kinda did it over the last year,
but specifically for this show,
we returned Storm Warning to
its very first arrangement, for the most part.
We royally messed it up like many times,
but we kinda brought it back to
the first time I ever got to play it
on the stage in front of the Bridgestone,
before it was really even a single.
So I'm excited to kinda see the
before and after of that, and experience that.
And we're also playin' a bunch'a new stuff,
which I'm thrilled.
- [Interviewer] Fans can be super pumped about that.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] And do you have any kind of memories
from hanging out with other artists at CMA Fest
over the years?
Whether it's like you meeting an artist that--
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Even if you were a fan going, before?
- Oh, for sure.
I mean, I remember one of the first times
I stood in line at CMA Fest.
It was for Rascal Flats.
And I brought my accordion with me
because I thought that was a good idea.
Who does that?
And I played Prayin' For Daylight,
and they sang with me.
By the grace of God, they sang.
I don't know if I would've been as
brave as they were (laughing) to jump in.
But they were.
And it was one of my favorite memories.
It will always be one of my favorite memories.
I got to sing with my heroes.
That was probably 10 years before I got to tour with them.
- [Interviewer] Oh my gosh.
- Yeah, not that--
- [Interviewer] Full circle.
- Not that I'm dating you, or aging you at all.
But I remember bein' a kid in your
meet-n-greet line.
It's a thing.
(laughing)
- [Interviewer] I love that so much.
Did you tell them that story?
Did you remind them that you were the kid
with the accordion?
- I play my cars right when I'm around them
because I don't want them to feel
like I'm aging them, you know what I mean?
Like, they already give me a hard enough time.
I don't wanna give them any more of a reason
to give me any more shit.
- [Interviewer] If I were you,
I would've brought out the accordion
to start playing Praying for Daylight
and then see if they flash back to that.
- God, that's so brilliant, I should've.
Next time, I'm gonna do that.
I'm gonna do that.
I don't know where, I don't know when,
but I'm gonna do that.