Try That in a Small Town Podcast

From New Year Myths To Hard Work - Why Success Is On You :: Ep 88 Try That in a Small Town

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A fresh calendar won’t change your life—your habits will. We kick things off with a light jab at New Year superstitions and quickly get into the real drivers of progress: discipline, honest self-audits, and the courage to adapt when your industry shifts under your feet. If you’ve felt the pull of comfort or the lure of blaming “the system,” you’ll hear why we’re doubling down on ownership this year and stacking more “lottery tickets” by writing, showing up, and doing the work even when it isn’t glamorous.

We also share what it takes to perform live when the weather fights back, why we refuse to lean on tracks, and how authenticity reads from the stage—especially on a freezing New Year’s Eve. From there, we rewind our most-watched conversations of the year and unpack why those episodes hit so hard. Names like John Rich, Jason Aldean, Kirk Herbstreit, Hulk Hogan, and Rob O’Neill brought stories that stuck with us, and we lay out a bold wish list for the next run—think Peyton Manning, Jeff Foxworthy, Dennis Quaid, and Dale Jr. If you’ve got a guest in mind, we want to hear it.

The heart of this one is about people and priorities. We talk circles of trust, boundaries, and how to spot relationships that drain more than they give. When is it worth trying to reconcile, and when is a “hard cut” the healthiest move? The answers aren’t soft, but they are simple: loyalty matters, reciprocity matters, and your time is precious. Traditions can be fun—black-eyed peas, cornbread, cabbage—but they’re not engines for change. Systems are. If you’re stepping into a new year, consider this your nudge to set goals you act on today, not after midnight.

If this hit home, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a reset, and drop a comment with the guest you want to hear next. And if you’re feeling generous, leave a quick review—it helps more folks find the show.

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SPEAKER_04:

For good luck, you're supposed to eat black-eyed peas. On black? Yeah, it's right before. Right before news or on never heard of peas. I'm not sure. But it helps your resolutions come true. It's a good luck thing.

SPEAKER_05:

I didn't know that's just black-eyed peas since I have more. Never heard of that. Wait, that's a black-eyed peas.

SPEAKER_04:

So if we do the call the response uh for the questions, things like that. Y'all please comment and tell me whether y'all have heard of who's heard again.

SPEAKER_03:

When I cut it off, it's not being mean, but it's it's done. You will not hear from me ever again. We will never. It is over. There's no more and I I need it that way for myself. I I like to concentrate on my close friends because that's who I know would be there for me. Yeah, it's getting we're coming down to the wire.

SPEAKER_01:

It's getting tight.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, that's that's it used to be we would write and write and write and write, and our and the people that were pitching our songs were running into each other on 16th and 17th Avenue. And and it was a song contest. It's nothing like that now, and you have to actually double down and figure it out. You have to adapt or die in this in this. Yeah, there's so many other things at the play. And that's all on me. Every bit of it's like, how hard do I want to work?

SPEAKER_09:

A try that in a small town podcast begins.

SPEAKER_06:

Happy holidays, everybody.

SPEAKER_07:

I know it. Christmas is over. I don't care. This is a try that in the small town podcast. You heard Neil. Smear the queer. Oh my gosh. Welcome back. Okay. I'm Kurt. Like I said, this is Try That Small Town Podcast. Coming to you from the Patriot Mobile Studios, powered by eSpaces. Got original Glory Beer, to think as well. Um yeah, so the new year is upon us or coming up soon. Uh I know we talked about this last year. Do you guys even do resolutions?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_07:

Still do them. You do? To myself. Yeah. Oh, they're personal? They're you're inside the world. Well, I tell our listeners.

SPEAKER_03:

I tell our listen our listeners. Last year I said I was gonna try to be calmer and not um so quick to be angry.

SPEAKER_07:

How do you how do we think we did?

SPEAKER_03:

I say I did on a one to ten scale. Six.

SPEAKER_07:

Ten being the best or worst.

SPEAKER_03:

No, ten being the best, right? Okay. Yeah, yeah. I did about a six.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay. I don't I don't think that's a question you ask him. I think that's the question you ask his wife and everybody around him.

SPEAKER_03:

No, I definitely to get their accurate answer. That's probably fair. I mean, I I did pretty good on that. It's good.

SPEAKER_04:

I feel like I feel like you you uh were a little more laid back this year, I think. Since a little less tension in the face. I think so. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

I don't know. You guys have had some back and forths lately.

SPEAKER_03:

Maybe there's more to he likes to come at me. That's really not true. That's very true.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, it's like he likes to come at me. It's all I love it. It goes both ways. I mean, it started with ticks.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, well, that and laugh to have cried and a lot of things. And and then having two parents, you know. I know. Um rubbing that in my face. But um, but no, I think you've done think you've done good. You look a little more laid back this year.

SPEAKER_05:

Your color's good. It's probably all that's been a year. It's probably all that money.

SPEAKER_04:

It's probably all the money.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Your single's doing great.

SPEAKER_05:

Do you have any uh resolutions, Caleb?

SPEAKER_04:

Uh yeah. I I don't have them exactly, but I thought of one uh this last uh trip. Neil and I went to uh Watertown, South Dakota uh this last weekend to play uh uh just a show for a friend of ours. Um and and the family is so incredibly nice, you know, like like when you meet a guy like that, and he's very successful, he's uh in dentistry, but he also does he does all of it, you know, everything and has a bunch of different businesses and they're so good to us. And we actually met him through uh was Governor Christy Gnome, now DHS secretary. And um and he was really nice to us, and what but the other thing that struck me wasn't just him, he was consistently nice, but then the next day we were leaving, and then Brian Gnome, who's uh uh Christy Gnome's husband, and they're all the family that was left, they just got in from DC, maybe at midnight, one o'clock, something like that. And they met us for breakfast right before we flew out. And and I just processed that and I thought, man, if that were me, I would have slept in and felt fine about it. But those are the type of people they always do that, they always try to see people when they're in town. Well, and they'll just they'll just forget the sleep or whatever. And I don't consistently do that. So I felt like, you know what, I want to try to do that more. Because how many times has somebody said, Hey, I'm in for the night, you know, you know, you want to come down and have dinner? You know, it's downtown, and when you hear downtown naturally, like, uh, you know, look, I know how to just got just got out.

SPEAKER_03:

You, you keep that resolution. Just got out. But yeah, that's all you but how that goes. That's all you.

SPEAKER_04:

But so part of my resolution uh is one of them I thought about is I'm gonna try to be a better person in that way to try to carve out time if somebody's in town or something.

SPEAKER_05:

No, there's very few people I would do that. It's a positive thing. That's good. But it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_04:

No, no, it's a good way to think.

SPEAKER_05:

And I love I love how people can rub off on you and be an influence to you. Yeah. And be an example. Every new game It happens every it happens all the time. What?

SPEAKER_03:

What's your new game? Next year, not not this year, but next year the holidays come. We all write down like ten resolutions and put them in a hat and we pick them, and you're stuck with every draw one.

SPEAKER_07:

See, I don't I I I I probably said this last year. I think I'm out on resolutions. Well, we're too old. You were too old. We ran the gamut. Failed out them all. No, I think I don't think so.

SPEAKER_05:

You're still standing, still walking over an hour. You're too old to make a resolution.

SPEAKER_08:

Eh.

SPEAKER_07:

Why not just do it in October? Why are you waiting till January to do it?

SPEAKER_03:

Because it's a fresh start. It's like when you cover your books in school, remember? Yeah. And you're like, this is the year. This is the year you True. And then it goes to shit.

SPEAKER_05:

I'm gonna have to agree with them. Why wait until January? Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

You know what? If you wait till January, it's not gonna be there in March.

SPEAKER_05:

We're being a bunch of sheep. That's right. That's all we are. Mainly, I think. Mainly I think. Why does a revolution have to happen January 1? Exactly. I'm with you. All right, thank you. I apologize.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm like a woman. I apologize. And another lesson for all you young for all you young people out there, for all you young people like teenagers and young adults.

SPEAKER_07:

Do you think they listen to us?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, if they are, I have a lesson. Okay. Actually, it's for the it's for the 20-somethings on Instagram. It says, 2026. This is the year. It's like, let me tell you something. Years, all it's gonna be, there's gonna be great stuff that happened every year and shitty stuff that happened every year. You're not gonna get through a year, you're not gonna run the gamut of like the greatest year in history. You're gonna have you people are gonna pass, you're gonna lose people, it's gonna be bad, and some great. That's the reality of it. A year is just peaks and valleys. God's gonna be there with us, that's that's the main thing. But it's gonna be good and bad. Not you know, the music like the people in the music business are amazing about that. They're like, this is gonna be the perfect year. It's like, no, it's not. It's gonna be it's gonna be another year. If you have your family and your health, that's gonna be a good year.

SPEAKER_07:

I've spoken like a very uh elderly statesman person.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, I wish someone would have called I wish someone would have told me that. You know, it's like you yeah, you start the year, it's like, okay. 2026, three fire emojis. Yeah. It it's not gonna be that way. Yeah. You gotta eat through but it might be.

SPEAKER_04:

But like for some people, this this can be the best year they ever had. It it is it does happen. People have great years, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I I I'm sure, but stuff will happen. Bad stuff will happen. Well, great stuff will happen.

SPEAKER_04:

God maybe that it's also possible that somebody could have their first number one or their tenth number one and nobody die in their family all in the same year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, it all depends on you what you consider a good year. For me, a good year mean my my family being healthy, everybody I love being healthy, you guys being healthy, me staying alive, being healthy, doesn't necessarily uh success in the music business doesn't make it a good year or a bad year.

SPEAKER_04:

It's because you're having success. No, that's not I've had plenty of years without success. No, but if you weren't, here's the thing though. If you if you weren't rolling, you might be thinking Alright, this year, man, I'm gonna freaking dig in. Now I'm gonna know but that we're talking about.

SPEAKER_03:

But if you're not digging in anyway, then that's why it's not working.

SPEAKER_04:

Not necessarily.

SPEAKER_03:

You gotta dig in even where you know you I mean you never stop working. I mean, I don't ever remember not working, and you and I've had plenty of years where I've worked where we worked to the bone, and and it wasn't still you look back and you're like, okay, we didn't make a lot of money.

SPEAKER_05:

And yeah, we've all had those years.

SPEAKER_03:

You know, but it still wasn't a a bad year. You still you gotta work hard no matter what. So that's what I mean. That's you should work hard anyway, and then it doesn't always mean that.

SPEAKER_05:

You know what? It's real easy, it's real easy, and I've had this discussion with myself. It's like you can blame the industry, you can blame a lot of things for a lot of things that aren't happening or happening or whatever. It's like it always comes back to me. Neil? I'm I'm always I'm always like, you know what? I've gotta I've gotta do more. I've got to it's it's it's all on me. And I am in one percent agreement. Is on me. And I'm I think your New Year's resolution should be to get rid of that Will Levitt's cup. Actually, I agree. You know what? It's time to kneel.

SPEAKER_03:

You're on you were on fire already. That thing that thing is. Let's have a ceremonial torch.

SPEAKER_05:

It's time for I don't want to see it on the table next year, this year. I don't want to see it. Right now, do it.

unknown:

Go.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't want to get rid of it. He's looking through me.

SPEAKER_05:

Why don't you take one shot of Evan Williams eggnog and throw it away? Or not?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. We can we can get rid of Will. Actually, he just he became kind of a kind of a mainstay. Where should I put him? Just throw it.

SPEAKER_07:

It doesn't matter. We can't hit any of our guests or our quick.

SPEAKER_03:

The Will Levis Cup not going to hit anything with this thing. I mean, hey no, that's just a good thing. I mean, there goes. Hey Will, but to uh we could uh auction that off and we can sell it on uh our merch. Yeah. Which one of our viewers wants a Will Levis cup? Well, but to it's weird not having him here. Yeah, I was just in front of me since we started. I know. See if you can do it. It's been your rock. No.

SPEAKER_07:

Sometimes I look at it and talk. I love that point. I know too many people that are too quick to blame something or someone or anything because it something didn't go right for you. Well, it's the easiest thing. It's the easiest thing to do. It is the easy thing to do.

SPEAKER_05:

It's so easy to to you know to grain.

SPEAKER_07:

But it always comes back to yourself. I don't care if somebody did something wrong to you, somehow you gotta say, okay, but uh what did I do to facilitate the situation?

SPEAKER_04:

But a lot of people don't have that ability.

SPEAKER_05:

That's not true. No, that's true too. That's absolutely true. But you have to have the wherewithal and the mindset to go, wait a minute. I'm I'm burning more energy blaming somebody. Nobody's cutting your songs and looking at it. Okay, what do I do different? How can I do this different? Exactly. And you can work and and that's a And I can tell you right now, I can I can I can admit that I I haven't in the last five years maybe I haven't worked as hard as I probably should have because I got spoiled and I've been blessed over the last 30 years with what we do, and and I'm like, you get kind of lazy. I'm like, wait a minute. I still got my brain. You know, I'm still walking around, I'm still good. I need to I need to k I need to quit blaming people.

SPEAKER_03:

You know, you know that right there, 11. That that is man, that's an amazing statement that I think people need to absorb. And like and like all you can control is is working your ass off. And it doesn't mean you're gonna have success. No, it doesn't matter. But but you but you have to that's what we do. That's what that's what that's what we do. You know, and and and generally it it it goes hand in hand. If you work hard, I think you'll see success in some way. Whether it's financial success or just the satisfaction of knowing you did all you could. Yep.

SPEAKER_05:

And that that that that's the satisfaction of knowing and knowing that you really did all you could.

SPEAKER_04:

The only thing I would when you when you said the word lazy, that's the only thing I may not disagree with, but to kind of a add on. It's it's not as much being lazy as it is we're kind of used to feeling like you've written the right song and then it gets recorded. And then that doesn't always happen.

SPEAKER_05:

No, it's a different, but the industry is so different.

SPEAKER_04:

So then you've got to change, so you're gonna have to write more of those, more lotto tickets.

SPEAKER_05:

People need to understand, our listeners need to understand that in our in our business, the songwriting business, it's n nothing like it used to be. Nothing. It used to be a song contest in this town. It used to be we would write and write and write and write, and our and the people that were pitching our songs were running into each other on 16th and 17th Avenue, and and it was a song contest. It's nothing like that now. And you have to actually double down and figure it out, you have to adapt or die in this in this arena now.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, there's so many other things at play.

SPEAKER_05:

And that's all on me, every bit of it. It's like how hard do I want to work? Do I want to be lazy? I was just talking about this today with my wife. I was just like, you know what? I've kind of I've gotten too comfortable. I've gotten, you know, well, you know, it's right here, right there, right a couple here. It doesn't matter if they're good or not. I have to absolutely kill it. I have to go upstairs and be disciplined to go upstairs and freaking write my ass off. I have to. See, that's a kind of motivation we need.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah. Um this kind of there. It's not it hadn't left me. I still have the same brain I have. 100%. That's good. That the conversation came from uh resolutions and of course New Year's Eve, which is upon us. Uh do you guys know, and this is a plug for us, watch CBS on New Year's Eve. I think it's CBS. Yeah, I think so. Tully and I are gonna be out in the freezing cold on Broadway. Speaking of downtown Nashville. Man, we are playing the New Year's Eve Bash on whatever channel that is. What time does it be great? I don't know. Like I know it's after midnight, but like First of all, we're gonna have to take a nap that day because we're not used to being up that late. Big nap. Second of all, it's gonna be freezing as beep.

SPEAKER_05:

You don't know that yet.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, it we haven't seen the forecast, and we don't it's going to be below fifty degrees at midnight. Really hard to really hard to play in those. Extended very hard. Watch us. Yeah. See how many layers we're telling you. Yeah. We'll at least be wearing this. Yes. I will probably have a stocking cap on.

SPEAKER_05:

I want you guys to be up on stage if it's five degrees. I want y'all to stand up there and I want y'all to be thankful. Oh, of course. That you're on that stage playing in five degree weather. It's gonna be hard, Neil.

SPEAKER_03:

I was just gonna say, so blessed to do a living, but it's that chilly.

SPEAKER_04:

It's that cold. If it's that cold and definitely hard to move your hands and everything like that, would you guys in that circumstance, would you use tracks?

SPEAKER_07:

Oh my god, no. What do we do? Let me tell you just asking. I think you're gonna ask if we'd have heaters on today. Oh my god, no.

SPEAKER_03:

I'd rather I'd rather lose a limb to the frostbite.

SPEAKER_07:

Okay. What kind of question is that? So it's we talk about it a lot.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, I get to talk about it like if CMA is like a lot of people doing. You've already proven yourself.

SPEAKER_05:

Everybody in the world knows that you can play live. Everybody is playing.

SPEAKER_07:

People on past New Year's Eve have used tracks. Right. Perhaps. So it's a very good thing.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, first of all, we don't even have I don't even we've been in situations before. I remember years ago, we um it was a I'd say Today Show or Good Morning America, one of those it's probably six, seven years ago, maybe maybe ten years, I don't know, maybe longer. Long time ago. Oh, I know what it was. It was our Review Town album. That's when it was. So whenever that was, I know that we went up to uh went up to New York and we played early morning show. And we gotta be out there, you know. Sound check on those things was like five in the morning. So you're up at three. It's snowing. We're up there early spring. Outside, yeah. Outside snowing. It was 18 degrees or so when we played, you know, and it's hard. Like for me personally, like my hands just don't work on the bass and in that temperature. It's it's just you don't feel it, it's stiff.

SPEAKER_07:

Um well, yeah, you the wood adapts to the temperature. Yeah, so it's freezing the steel strings that you're trying to bet. Yeah, it's it's a challenge, but it's not easy.

SPEAKER_03:

And we'll have a good time, but never uh playing the I mean, I'd rather we'll we'll just fight our way through it, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, and we're not doing one song or two songs, we're playing 90 minutes. Yeah, it's a full show. We're doing the show.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay, ooh, you'll be moving around a lot. You're gonna see that's right. You're gonna see that picture right there that night.

SPEAKER_07:

You're not airborne. Uh but anyway, air pulley. We do invite people to watch because it it should be fun. It'd be fun. That'd be great. And if you guys want to come down, that'd be great. Yeah. No, I won't we'll be there. I won't be there. Do you guys do anything for New Year's? Do you even stay up till midnight? Because you we typically don't.

SPEAKER_04:

I I generally stay up uh because it's not to midnight because we're on slow time, central time. Yeah, call it slow time. Um I want to see the ball drop and make sure everything's okay in the world, and then I can go to bed.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, is that the reason?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. I was to make sure nothing happens, you know.

SPEAKER_07:

Wow.

SPEAKER_04:

So it's kind of dark. Yeah, I know, but it kind of is what it is, you know.

SPEAKER_05:

I just want to say that it's like where your brain goes now.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. I just want to make sure everybody's good, and then I say, cool, nothing happened. Hey, Ben.

SPEAKER_07:

What if it reminded me? What about uh Y2K? A lot of our listeners probably don't remember that, but like what did you guys do that year and were you legitimately concerned something could happen? Well, remember, we we were probably we were probably hanging out. Ninety nine, I actually my dad had a gig that night that uh I think it did.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, we remember we stayed up. I mean we were I mean waiting to see what happened, and nothing happened, of course. No. Yeah. Nothing happened.

SPEAKER_05:

Nothing. And it never does. And I'm I haven't fallen for it since. I hadn't fallen for it since.

SPEAKER_04:

I think by the time it got close, I think everybody was, you know, onto the fact that nothing was going to happen.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah. But it was a big deal, though, leading up to the biggest thing. It was a big bull that there was something.

SPEAKER_04:

It was a big deal.

SPEAKER_03:

Everybody was disappointed when nothing happened. You know how they did? It's like those weather people that, you know, call them their tornadoes. Oh, dude. I always feel like they're a little sad it didn't do something.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, little bit.

SPEAKER_03:

I always feel like they're just a little bummed out that it didn't spiral out of control. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07:

No, that's what they do. They're pushing fear. That's why you watch. You watch because you're scared.

SPEAKER_06:

You weren't scared, you wouldn't watch.

SPEAKER_03:

Channel two, is it channel two or I can't remember? This one lady. Daniel Breezy. Okay. Thank you. This woman needs to not do this anymore. The news. The weather in general. Tornado's coming. And you're looking at the graph and it's up in the atmosphere and it's spiraling. She's like, find your safe place. When this lands, this is going to destroy the area. Extinction level event. Find your safe place. And the other dude on the other channel is like, well, it's up in the atmosphere and not really worried about this. She wants it. Is it her? Is it Danielle Brees in? That's her. Like I don't I can't watch it.

SPEAKER_05:

Young girl kinda.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, she's very um aggressive with her calling of their tornadoes. Yep.

SPEAKER_05:

Yep. They're they get pissed. They get pissed when it doesn't touch down. She gets a little upset. They get pissed. I'm gonna have to tell it. You can smell it.

SPEAKER_03:

As just someone watching, I sense a little disappointment.

SPEAKER_05:

I think all the weather people that the weather channels are the worst. Well, maybe they're the worst.

SPEAKER_04:

Maybe it's not not as much. They want to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_05:

They stay in there in hurricanes like this, like with a football helmet on. Like I'm gonna get blown away. And they're not I mean, they're not moving. You can see some dude walking down the street behind them upright. Yeah. Normally this dude's like he's getting ready to die.

SPEAKER_04:

Definitely the chasers. I mean, they they want to see that like they don't want people to get hurt, obviously, but they do want to see like the biggest tornado ever, and they're right at it. They live it and breathe it, man. They live and breathe it.

SPEAKER_03:

I like watching that that show, that like the chasing of tornadoes and all that stuff. That's yeah, that's crazy. Jarring right into it.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, yeah. That's that's a different wiring. You know what?

SPEAKER_05:

You know, if they drive into it and they get sucked up, I mean it was on you, bro. Yeah, that's on you.

SPEAKER_03:

I agree. It's like the zookeeper that gets eaten by the lion. It's like him a steak. I mean you're sorry you got you by the arm, man. I mean, you're I don't know what to tell you. Did you guys see the the uh video of the guy in Yellowstone like a couple weeks ago? He he's in Yellowstone and like a fool, he runs out into the prairie where the where the wolves are. And it's like, dude. Like, I don't know what to tell you. If you're hanging with the black wolves, probably not gonna be a good ending for you. Did he get attacked? I didn't see how it ended, but they were trying to get him out of there. As Neil says, That's on you, bro.

SPEAKER_04:

That's on you, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

It's true though.

SPEAKER_04:

It is kind of like that grizzly man years ago.

SPEAKER_03:

Grizzly man, well that dude just I'm he had a coming.

SPEAKER_05:

I mean, you're hey, that's a whole episode, too. I'm talking about all these people that mess with these wild animals. You know, when they s when they finally decide to turn on you, it's on you. You bro.

SPEAKER_03:

And then they then they always put down the animal. You know, they put down the bear that that ate that guy. It's like, what do you think is gonna happen? The bears and that time of season, that time of season the bears were starving. And he's up there in a tent, and bear's hungry, yeah, draining. Exactly.

unknown:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03:

There's nothing else to eat, and yeah, it's like the bear is gonna eat that dude. Exactly. And you're gonna kill the bear. Yeah. Yeah. That's messed up.

SPEAKER_05:

And the dude that stabbed the woman on the subway still walking around. Let's put the bear down. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Makes a lot of sense. Happy New Year, everybody. Happy New Year.

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SPEAKER_07:

Thinking about um some of our best episodes of the year. First, I would love our listeners and viewers to tell us what their favorite episode was of the year. You know, you think back? We do we know we do this week to week, and you just forget, oh yeah, we had such and such on, and that was great. Yeah. I was looking, you know, these numbers vary from What's our biggest one, Kurt? Well, I'm about to tell you. Thank you. But this is solely YouTube because it's just the easiest to see those numbers. So it's different on down lows or Spotify or whatever, but if you're watching on YouTube, why wouldn't you want to watch us? Right? I mean that's a very that's I mean we're bigger than it is more entertaining. Okay. Top five episodes of the year. As far as actual viewers go, do you guys even remember any episodes you want to guess what could be in the top five? John Rich is probably in the top five. John Rich, I don't think was this this year.

SPEAKER_04:

Was has Aldine been on this year? If so. Aldean has been on this year. Then I would say that would have to be.

SPEAKER_07:

It is the most viewed episode. Um When was the John Rich one? Because I thought that was.

SPEAKER_04:

I feel like it was this year. I feel like it was a few months ago.

SPEAKER_07:

Then that's the number one is John Rich.

SPEAKER_04:

That's the number one, okay. Yeah. That was a fun one. Um April 7th.

SPEAKER_07:

Yes, April 7th.

SPEAKER_04:

So you're asking us to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_07:

By the way, almost all of our most viewed episodes were in this April, May, June area. Wow. We definitely were in a hot streak then. We were riding high. So John Rich is the top one. Okay. Al Deaton was the next one. Yep. Think of anybody else that's been on. Or one by ourselves. Uh Riley Gaines? Riley Gaines was prior year. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay. Uh Leanne Baker, maybe?

SPEAKER_07:

Prior year. Prior year.

SPEAKER_04:

Prior year. Holy time. No kidding.

SPEAKER_07:

Brett Favre. Brett Favre did not make the top five or even. Was Gary Lavox this year? That was last year prior. Okay. That one did great.

SPEAKER_05:

I can't even think how far back that was.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, what about Herb Street? Herb Street made the top five. Yeah. That was one of my favorites. Yeah, that was a good one. Yeah, he was great. That was fantastic. I was back in July. Hulk Hogan was next to me. So that's so glad we got him on for so thankful. He was if you haven't seen that one, do yourself a huge favor and go watch it. He is an incredible man, incredible human being. That was a great one. Hulk Hogan.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Especially at the end when he's talking about his life. And I think Neil had mentioned it, you know, his you know, dedicating his life to to Christ and everything. Absolutely. And uh obviously he didn't know anything was wrong at that point. But then when he passes, you feel you know you feel pretty confident in that, you know.

SPEAKER_07:

The next one was Rob O'Neill. Oh, okay. Our neighbor seal who took out Ben Laughter. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

That whole episode, I was sitting there with my mouth open. Shh, shh, shh.

SPEAKER_04:

I never remember when you sneak it up. Yeah. He's like, yeah, I like to I like to sneak up on them when they're asleep. You're in Afghanistan or wherever you are, and you put my finger up their lips. You know, when they when they wake up and say, shh.

SPEAKER_07:

I was like, I was speechless on that. We all were. It was like this dude, it's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_03:

And we get now we got to get some more guests, which is a always a fun and daunting process. Last one. Last one. We'll round it out.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Um give us a hint.

SPEAKER_07:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Because we've had like what, 85, 86 episodes.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, just this this is just this year. Our top episodes of this year. Yeah. So Cletus T. Judd is your guest. Oh, great. That's a good hint. Oh, heck. Yeah. Yeah. Which is another He texts us from time to time. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And we still, which remind him, he he that reminds me of we still have to do our golf competition. I know. We've been supposed to do that.

SPEAKER_07:

We've been saying we're gonna do it for like a year.

SPEAKER_05:

That's our maybe that's our resolution. That's our resolution this year. We have to get the golf competition in. We'll wait till it warms up a little bit and y'all's fingers have thawed out for the New Year's show. And we'll do that. Have to do it. Yes. That's a must.

SPEAKER_04:

He actually cut it, he had called me or texted me or whatever. He cut a song and did a video. Uh, because he he talked about his his walk, you know, with Christ also. And there's an old song that me and Brad Paisley wrote and that Brad cut a long time ago called Those Crazy Christians. And and Cletus called me and said, Hey, I'd really like to cut this, you know. And so he he did and shot this video and everything, so it's really cool.

SPEAKER_07:

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04:

He's a he's a crier. He'll get he'll get he'll get you.

SPEAKER_07:

Who do we want to get the shirt? I think we did this last year.

SPEAKER_03:

We we spouted off a couple names and well now I think we were we know more and we know what's uh attainable. Yeah, okay. Good word attainable, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Some people are not attainable. No. I want to get Christy Gnome back on. I'm gonna get her back on. Good one. I wanna I wanna Christy Gnome would be great. I'm gonna get Cash Patel back on. Yep. Well let's get the whole cabinet back on.

SPEAKER_07:

Do we talk about this? Let's talk about it. We uh this is by the time we're well we're filming this, obviously now, this won't air for a week and a half, but apparently, I don't think you guys have heard this. Cash stepped down from the FBI.

SPEAKER_04:

No, I did not hear that.

SPEAKER_07:

So that will date this because like I said, this won't air for a week and a half. So people will be like, yeah, dummies. But yeah, so we're just finding that out.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm glad for I'm glad for selfish reasons because they can now we can come out and party with us again. Because I miss them. Well, but So we'll get cash back on. Come back on and do fun things. Come to show's cast, we can hang out. I I I fed up with the FBI thing.

SPEAKER_04:

So we have to wait anymore. We have to wait until he comes back on to learn why he stepped down.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, maybe to get the real reason, yes.

SPEAKER_04:

Do we have a fake reason? Something I can just drive home with?

SPEAKER_07:

Um we'll save that. But um but yeah, who else would we like to get? You've said that.

SPEAKER_04:

I've got a list that I write down.

SPEAKER_05:

I want I want to get Nugent on the case. We were just talking about this on the way.

SPEAKER_04:

Jeff Foxworthy working on.

SPEAKER_05:

Jeff Foxworthy would be amazing. He's great. And all these our wish lists are these people are probably so inundated with requests to come on. I'm sure. You know, but we're to try that in the scout to our podcast.

SPEAKER_07:

Come on. Why would they? I mean, we have Evan Williams eggnog. Why wouldn't they? We have one bottle of I do want to say, talking about our our uh most viewed and watched episodes of the year, this is somewhat not skewed, but it it our CMA review is right on the bottom of the top five. Yeah. But if it would have come out When are the Grammys? February. Oh, it's oh I can't wait for the biggest.

SPEAKER_03:

But here's the thing about the Grammys, though, it's almost low-hanging fruit. What good great. Well, I mean, but no, in a good way, but like the CMAs are good because we're like in the industry here, and I think we pretty much nailed it. I felt pretty good. I bought I when I look back, I'm like, you know what? Yeah. Nobody likes Calci Ballerini. I was right. Double down. Double down on it. Megamaroni.

SPEAKER_05:

You know what my you know what my New Year's resolution's gonna be? What? I'm gonna say more of what everybody's thinking.

SPEAKER_03:

How can you possibly more?

SPEAKER_05:

I'm gonna double down and say more of what everybody's really thinking. Have you always been like this?

SPEAKER_07:

Has he always been like this? Uh always like this. Okay. Now I'm gonna double down.

SPEAKER_05:

Double down. I'm tired of it. This is Neil. This is Neil. Calm double down, double down. I'm you know what, it's just done.

SPEAKER_04:

So yeah, so there's a lot, I mean a lot of names that we're gonna go after, and some of them we already have, and they'll say get back, but like you got Vince Neal from Motley Crue, Johnny Van Zant, Skinnard, Tracy Lawrence, which we're all kind of working on on that. Um you know, you can get Hauser, you can get Chris Christie, that'd be cool to get. Uh we could get Chris, yeah. You know, that'd be he'd be Rob Snyder. I would like to get Fetterman on here. Just because Fetterman, that'd be Chris.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, we'd all have to wear our hoodies.

SPEAKER_04:

You know, he turned around. I know it'd be great though. Yeah, it'd be fantastic. Um but yeah, in the beginning, I didn't I didn't think much of him. He's actually the mo one of the most common sense. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

We should make sure, by the way, as you're reading off this list, if you are watching or listening, leave it in comments. Give us suggestions of like, oh, you guys should have such and such on. What do you guys think? You should such and such on. Uh believe me, because really, for the most part, people might wonder how we get these guests. We literally just DM them or message. I mean, it's I want I really want to get Dale Jr. Yeah, that'd be great.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, he'd be awesome. I really would love to get Dale Jr.

SPEAKER_05:

We can talk some racing over here.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Sylvester Stallone, 201.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, Stallone, that'd be a bucket list.

SPEAKER_04:

George Strait, even. You know, be great.

SPEAKER_05:

Incredible. I love those. Are you working on these? I've got a list.

SPEAKER_04:

You know, so throwing things in there.

SPEAKER_05:

Hey, we're still hey, we're still working on Quaid, Dennis Quaid. We'll get him. That's another good one. We'll get him. I've played golf with him like three times, and you know how they're so busy, it's you y'all know, as y'all well.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

But it's out there and he knows.

SPEAKER_03:

I think a lot of people try to do it with the stuff. It's always tough to get him to nail down the date and time. You know, I know a lot of people want to do it. So um Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Reach out to Bart Herbison, very close friend to all of us. And um hadn't heard back.

SPEAKER_07:

We'll get him. We'll get him. That happens a lot though.

SPEAKER_04:

I'll hear from him soon when he's wanting us to do a writer's name.

SPEAKER_07:

Like I'll whatever, usually on Instagram is where I'll reach out, you know, just hope somebody sees the message.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

But I get a lot of not responding. But then you never know. Sometimes they just don't see it, it goes to their folder, you know, that's a different thing.

SPEAKER_05:

You know, we've we've mentioned all these these guests in our wish list, but I think at the top of my wish list is Peyton Manning. Let's see him on here. Now it would be amazing. I want to get Peyton Manning on here.

SPEAKER_03:

And whether he thinks he's overrated.

SPEAKER_05:

Yep. And I want I want you, I want you, Tully, and Peyton. To hash that out. I want I want to see it. I think he's signed with me. I mean, so we've got the picture up here on the wall. We've had it here the whole time we've been here in our new studio at eSpaces. Yeah. It's right there, Peyton. It's right there, bruh. We want you've signed that picture. We want you to sign this guitar. Come on the show. And you and Tully can hash it out. Amazing. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

It'd be amazing. Great uh top 10 QB ever.

SPEAKER_05:

You won't go top five, will you? No.

SPEAKER_04:

Even if he was sitting here?

SPEAKER_05:

No.

SPEAKER_04:

Come on, Peggy. Really? Let's roll.

SPEAKER_03:

He wouldn't do that. Let's roll. No, I I just he knows he knows.

SPEAKER_04:

He's a fairly large man.

SPEAKER_03:

It's not a look, uh it's just a conversation.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Yeah. I think Herb Street disagreed with you there.

SPEAKER_03:

That's fine. He did. It's his right. It's his right to disagree with me.

SPEAKER_04:

And he's more in the field than say us.

SPEAKER_03:

It's just my opinion. Yeah. I think if you I think if you poll people, I think I think 50-50 split, I think people would say you gotta look at uh rings, you gotta look at success. College plays no uh bearing in this conversation. College football has no weight when you talk about Well he actually didn't play.

SPEAKER_04:

I don't think he did bad. But he didn't win anybody.

SPEAKER_03:

He didn't win national championship, it was the year after. But again, we're we we're just gonna have to do that. We've had this conversation. Yeah, there is one conversation that we have that we can ring the new year in. Um the Mahomes Brady conversation. That's that people have to backpedal on that. Mahomes, he's hurt, and he may not be able to.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, the the stat I saw was at this time of their careers, they had both won three Super Bowls and they both tore their ACLs in the same year. That's right. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05:

There is a different different uh but I will but I will tell you this.

SPEAKER_03:

Knowing Mahomes, I have no doubt that he can come back and reel off another run of Super Bowls. I would not put it past that. Yeah. I I still don't believe they're out of the playoffs. I still feel like they're gonna get it somehow. Yeah. Or he's gonna come back and he's not playing. Oh yeah. Or he does come back on one leg and you know.

SPEAKER_05:

I think my I think my head, as the show goes on, just sinks down like this. This is how I drive when I'm driving through Nashville. Why is that? I don't know. It's like a tension thing. It's like really.

SPEAKER_04:

So nobody sees you and asks for an autograph. You know.

SPEAKER_05:

But I feel better. I feel I feel good about 26. You do? Yeah, I really do. Okay. It's all up to me. It's all up to me. It is screw y'all. And to go back to me.

SPEAKER_04:

To go back to that with this being the New Year's episode. And y'all were talking about resolution, stuff like that, and and why people make them. I mean, generally, I think for a a lot of people, it's all about diets. Hey, I'm not gonna eat as much, I'm gonna work out, not gonna drink as much. So the reason it happens on January 1st is because it's the holidays, so so we eat and drink as much as possible because we know that we're not gonna do that ever again. Right? And that but that's where the resolution comes from. And of course they say what, like 30 percent.

SPEAKER_07:

Hold on, you're saying it comes from because it's post holidays?

SPEAKER_04:

I'm just saying, like you say, why do people make why is January the first time? And it's it's because the it's because the holidays, because everybody's doing a free for all, and they're gonna have fun and they're gonna do everything in excess, and then January 1st.

SPEAKER_07:

I think it's just because it's January first.

SPEAKER_04:

It's a new calendar year. That's true, though. No, that's right. If you if you're a gym, like a like the gym memberships, like the people that go to a gym, they hate the people that have been there all year. They hate January because that's All the new people are gonna be in and they're gonna they're gonna take up all the machines and everything, but if you can just wait it out for three weeks, it'll be back just to the same people. Um but I was gonna ask you guys, uh do you do anything like uh that's supposed for good luck? Because that's one of those things. Do the black-eyed peas, you do cornbread, you do cabbage, anything like that? Do you want to do that? What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_05:

No, I don't I pray.

SPEAKER_04:

But y'all have heard of that, right? People eating people eating certain things. No, actually, I haven't even heard of it. Really? Yeah, but it's oh no, that's uh never.

SPEAKER_05:

I've never heard of that either. No, it sounds like witchcraft. No, you've heard of that.

SPEAKER_06:

It sounds like witchcraft, but it's a glory.

SPEAKER_04:

So no, Obama's always told us to get it. You gotta have mom. Oh, yeah. Um when I think about Obama now, I think about the children's books is Lama Llama Red Pajama. I don't know if you've read that book, but no. Anyway, it's pretty good. It's not bad. But uh, anyway, for good luck, you're supposed to eat black-eyed peas. Black-eyed peas? Yeah, just right before, right before news or on. I've never heard of it. I'm not sure. But it helps your resolutions come true. It's a good luck thing.

SPEAKER_05:

So I didn't know that's just eat black-eyed peas since I have four.

SPEAKER_04:

That's amazing. And we do the call to response uh for the questions, things like that. Y'all please comment and tell me whether y'all have heard of who's eating anything. Yeah, for good luck. It's good. Black-eyed peas, cabbage, cornbread. Those are the three things. That's the three, it's the three big ones. Yeah. We always had black-eyed peas, and I hate black-eyed peas. I love them. But I love cornbread. I've never heard that. Yeah. I have never heard of that. Like cornbread, but like cornbread signifies gold, you know. Uh cabbage, I think, uh signifies money, you know. Cabbage? Yeah, cabbage.

SPEAKER_01:

Not if you're Irish.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, but even that, like back in the day, it's like it's like, hey, give me some cabbage. I mean, cabbage was dollars. Right, right. But uh, and I forget the black-eyed pea uh reference, but uh but anyway, that's a thing. I oh black-eyed peas is for peace. That's what it's for peace.

SPEAKER_03:

Black-eyed peas. I feel like I've never heard I heard that somewhere, but I've I didn't know you applied it. I never did.

SPEAKER_04:

No, mom makes us, and we'll be doing it this year, too. So you eat those three things. Yeah, and I just eat like a few of them. You know, just mainly just black-eyed peas. If I figure if I could get one of them, it'd be good enough.

SPEAKER_05:

I love black-eyed peas. I love any kind of pea there is. You put ketchup on them? No. No, no, no. Like ever. Ketchup on my own. I don't know. I'm just trying to make them taste good. You I could eat a vegetable plate for breakfast, dinner, lunch, and dinner. I could eat vegetable, I could eat any kind of pea, cabbage, beets. Love beets.

SPEAKER_01:

Nah, they're too earthy.

SPEAKER_05:

Love beets. If it's got dirt, if it came out of the dirt, if it grows in the dirt like a beet or a radish or an onion or a sweet potato or a potato, I'm all over the bottom. What do you not like?

SPEAKER_07:

What food will you not eat? Maybe we should ask your dad.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. No. Can you think of a food that you I don't like coconut cake. Can't stand it. Okay. Hate it. I like coconut. I like coconut cake. I love coconut. I like coconut. I don't want I don't want those little slivers in my mouth when I'm eating something sweet. That's so funny, dude. Tell me anything. No.

SPEAKER_03:

What is it that you don't like? No way. Uh I I'm not picky. I know. Is there a food that you Well, you know, I can't eat like certain fish because I'm allergic. Um but I like I can't think of anything off the bat that I won't eat like.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I like to spare everything.

SPEAKER_07:

No, I just um I I almost eat anything. The one thing that really turned my taste buds was collard greens.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I've only had them once I can do those. Okay. I I could I could suffer through them. I mean, it's not I'm not gonna order collard greens. Let me ask you all this.

SPEAKER_05:

Did you the older you got, did you lose your sweet tooth the older you got? No. Went to more salty things. Or did it was it vice versa?

SPEAKER_07:

No, I I will binge on sweets.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, see, I lost I kind of lost my sweet tooth with age and went to more salty things. I wish I was a great thing.

SPEAKER_04:

I like both. The only food I can't, or vegetable I've never been able to eat, is green peas. Like when I was a kid, as a kid I'd used to uh I'd hide them in my under my potatoes, you know, so mom think thought I ate them. You wouldn't eat your potatoes. But I couldn't, even when they no, I'd eat the potatoes, I just hid the green beans under the potatoes and just left a little layer on top. Uh-huh. But I they and they kept pushing them. They thought I was just out of they didn't think I said, no, I'm gonna get sick because I would actually gag just smelling my making those. And then one time they actually said you they made me, it forced me to do it, and then uh and then something tragic happened. And then then they never asked me to. Did you throw up? They never asked me to. Oh, you showed them. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. I told you. Take them away, officer.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, Kaylee, you got something for us to kind of head home? Oh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_04:

Let's see.

SPEAKER_07:

I'm ready for the new year. Um I'm ready for the new year, too. Yeah. I'm excited. Is there a best year yet? It's gonna be a best year, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Something bad's gonna happen. Yeah. Um I I like the even years, not the odd years. 25, yeah. Let's go. I'm ready for an even year. Let's go.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. So, what about this is instead of things that you're gonna do, is there anything that you're gonna leave behind, including people or a person in your life? Is there any anything or a person you're gonna leave my life? We should name the people we're leaving behind us. So, let's do this right now.

SPEAKER_03:

Now we're getting somewhere. See, like let's let's go.

SPEAKER_04:

And it is like what am I leaving behind in the sense in a sense that I'm not doing that anymore? Like, I don't want to be in this relationship anymore, or I'm not I'm just things that I'm not gonna do. You know.

SPEAKER_06:

Wow. I d I feel like I do that a lot. Uh actually uh anything new though?

SPEAKER_04:

Like if you said, you know what, I've learned in the this year, this is taking this, not this. This thing is taking too much time, so I'm not doing it anymore. Or something like that.

SPEAKER_07:

So I need to maybe give this some thought because once again, I try not to wait till January 1st to apply. Like if I feel like something's doing that, it's like, okay, at the at the moment, that's what I'm doing. Um anything you're gonna leave behind, anyone you're gonna leave behind. I feel like there's people I leave behind every year. Circle is getting are you guys a sort of thing?

SPEAKER_04:

The relationship is done, like you say when you say leaving this person behind, are you done like that relationship?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, you don't do it intentionally.

SPEAKER_07:

Talks with the person, it's just that's not getting behind.

SPEAKER_05:

Everybody, you know, we have life and we everybody has kids and we have and your life changes and your lifestyle changes. And I don't think you do anything intentionally.

SPEAKER_03:

When I leave someone behind, I cut the cord. No contact. Even if they reach out, you're like, nope, not doing it. If I make the choice, it's like it's like it's a hard cut, no communication, number gone. Cut. No wonder you have a lot of people.

SPEAKER_04:

Is there something recent? Like a i is there a relationship within the last six months that you say, you know what, I'm out on that. There's some I'm thinking about cutting. Okay. Keep in mind we still have to work together today. It doesn't count. I mean, there's a couple, there's a there's a lot of things. Does everybody here make the cut?

SPEAKER_03:

You guys are any good. Okay. No, there's the contract. There's people I've I've come across the last couple years, I'm like, you know. You know, it might get cut. And I and I and like Kurt, like I like, you know, I I I have I am so blessed to have honestly some of the greatest friends and greatest family. I love my friends. The circle is is getting smaller, and I'm really good with that. I'm more comfortable inside the small circle because the older I get, I realize I don't necessarily need the friends around me that only want to be friends because they need something. You know what I mean? The friends that will be there for you when things aren't going right, that's what I have right now. You know, I love I love that. There's some people on the second ring. The second ring. It's like a tree. Yeah. The second ring. There's some on the bubble that you think they know who they are?

SPEAKER_04:

That that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03:

I don't know if they really know who they are. They're about to.

SPEAKER_04:

Will they be devastated or at least mildly hurt once they realize I'm gonna cut them off?

SPEAKER_07:

I'm gonna answer for them yes.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, it's because it's a hard no.

SPEAKER_03:

It's a it's a it's a hard it's a hard cut. Like it's like a there I don't leave much the imagination after it's and it's on it's how I have to do it. Like it's a um I don't wish ill will on anybody, but I if you're not if I don't think you're loyal or if I don't if I loyalty to me is uh it's everything. It's like I expect it from myself, I expect it from my friends, and to have each other's back when it matters. If I start to feel like there's people that I'm doing that for that I'm not getting that back, that's it's an easy cut for me. So some some some people on the ball, but I haven't made up my mind yet.

SPEAKER_04:

So would this, if it happens, would this be an actual breakup or does it just go away? Like do you make it official? Do you say say, hey, I don't think we should spend time together more, or we don't align, or anything like that. You just they just go away. They'll know. They'll know. Okay. Interesting. I want to know who later. I mean, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_07:

Off air, of course. Yeah. I'm very lucky to to to have the friends. But yeah, the positive side is is that like you, very lucky to have the people in my life and the friends in my life and the family in my life that I can count on, that can count on me, and um I focus my energy there. That's that's I don't I don't need to go have lunch with somebody that isn't of that same thinking.

SPEAKER_04:

Neil?

SPEAKER_07:

I agree.

SPEAKER_05:

That's it, that's as deep as we get. No, the listeners want to know. No, I totally agree with everything that I've heard from the three of you guys. I totally agree. It's it's a it's a hard, it's a tough place to be. I agree. I'm just gonna say this. It's like when you do what we do for a living, there's a lot of people that want to hang out. Yeah. This is true. There's a lot of people that want to hang out, and I'll just leave it right there. Yeah, and it's it's tough to it's just a it's a it's a tough, it can put you in a tough spot because you can get inundated with more people than you need in your Rolodex.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, and then you're not putting the energy where you should or could be. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, and everything else suffers because and and Kalo, I can I can tell you right now, he's a people pleaser. So he's much more so than I am or anybody else. You know, and and and and sometimes you can put yourselves in situations, I've done it too, not just you. Yeah, where you can put yourself in a situation where you've opened the door to somebody and all of a sudden it is out of control. And you wind up having to change your freaking number.

SPEAKER_04:

I I have you know what I'm saying. Yes, yeah, I've actually prayed people uh out of my life, like in a healthy way, like not an only thing bad to happen to them. Right, but it a relationship is taking so much time it's not. No, that it's not normal. So I'm asking, said Lord, could you could you please minimize uh this time because I'm going crazy? You know, so I I've I've done that before and it and it and it worked, you know.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, we gotta have a tier system, like a first ring, second ring. You're talking about third ring. Yeah. No, there is no third ring. Third ring. The third ring, if it if it even gets that far, like the Is third ring texting? Can they just ring that's out when when I cut it off, it's not being mean, but it's it's done. You will not hear from me ever again. We will never it is over. There's no more and I I need it that way for myself. I I like to concentrate on my close friends because that's who I know would be there for me. Yeah, it's getting we're coming down to the wire.

SPEAKER_01:

It's getting tight.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, that's that's yeah, it's that's who I know will be there for me. And and when it really matters, and I and and I keep a roll of decks of memory, which is little checks and balances in a friendship over the course of years. And I know who I can call when something's not going right, and that won't change anybody. But he's a p you know, those friends that you can just really be yourself around.

SPEAKER_05:

You get wiser with age and you start and you start you start seeing the ones that are they want they want to be in contact with you for the wrong reason, and you can tell pretty quick now. You can read people that are in that like they just want you for something. And they're not genuine, it's not authentic.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

It's real easy to pick them off really quick. The inauthentic ones. And I just don't call them back or text them back. Well, all right. I mean, that's my way of of of of dealing with it. I don't I don't I don't communicate anymore. I just don't, I just stop, like, you know, like and I don't sometimes I don't even read their text, so they can't know that I read their text.

SPEAKER_04:

Well I can never do that. Um I'll say so I'll say for you guys then because y'all y'all have said many times very lovingly, you know, hey everybody loves K Lo, all that stuff. Um and I've never really said anything about it because it's a very nice compliment and everything, but but I've been struggling with and and still am. When I say struggle, I don't mean like like, oh my gosh, I've got to handle this immediately. It's not that, but I have at least four relationships that I pray about wondering if I should be the one to to try to fix it. And the reason why is because in all four of these, I feel that the last conversation we had that I was a hundred percent right. The only problem is they feel they're a hundred percent right. And they're definitely not gonna make the first move like ever. You're like in until we die, right? So you could just not have any relationship with them when that and that's okay. But I just didn't feel like it was resolved in the way that I wanted it resolved. And and I do know that if I met with these people in person, I would probably walk away probably mad from it, because you'd realize, oh, they still don't see your side at all.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, I was about to ask that. So y you couldn't uh call, let's just say one of these people and say, hey, let's go get coffee and just have a have a talk.

SPEAKER_04:

I could uh with all y'all and I I think I think it would, I think it would work, except for one of them, just because I don't know how to get in touch with him anymore. But um But yeah, but I you could do that, but the thing that already irks me about it pre-irks me that I'm the one having to reach out. You know what I mean? So it's like because it seems like like I really want to repair this so things go back like like they were, and that's really not the case. Um it's just you want to, you know, you just want to talk about it. Like you said, it everybody's getting, you know, quick question.

SPEAKER_07:

No, no, no. I just want to ask this, just to get uh into the psyche of this. Do you want to make it right just because that's the kind of person you are, or do you feel like this person really needs to be in your life and you need to mend it? Or are you just trying to do it because you want everything to be good and happy? Because if it's the latter, brother, you don't need to do that.

SPEAKER_04:

No. Yeah, it's not about it being good and happy, because I know these relationships I think are changed forever to some degree. They would never go back like they were. Um I just feel like I want to get I want to make sure that my point is heard at least. Yep.

SPEAKER_05:

I know one of them, but I won't say any names, but I know and they're connected. I know one of them.

SPEAKER_04:

Except for one. Three of them are all connected to them.

SPEAKER_05:

And I will I will and I will can I voice my opinion? I won't name names.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

But I know one of them.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Yeah, you can give your opinion.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, you're the only one in that relationship that has a heart. And I will say that right now. Well. No, it's the truth, because I know everything.

SPEAKER_04:

Because Well, no, he's saying he knows everything about that relationship. I know it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_05:

I know everything about that relationship. Yeah. And I and you know what? It's you need to move on. That's my opinion. That's coming from me. If it, you know, you have you have a beautiful family and you need to move on, you need to just wipe that off. Because I know the situation. And I know that you you don't have anything to be guilty about or to feel bad about because you did everything the right way. That person is just a selfish prick, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_08:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And that's my opinion. I and I'm dying to name names. Well done. But I but I but I won't, and and but I I know I know the situation. And I'm glad this came up.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, so it's one of those things that that that I do pray about. And again, it's not an emergency prayer. You know, it's like one of those things, and Lord, you're like you kind of tag at the end, you know.

SPEAKER_05:

That's one of those that's one of those situations. If if I were you, if I was in that situation, that's just that's a slate wiped clean, in my opinion. You have a beautiful wife, you have a beautiful daughter. It's you don't need to be wasting energy worrying about that.

SPEAKER_08:

All right.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Well, thank you for that.

SPEAKER_07:

Do you want to lie down while we have the coming? You can be on the couch and you know, because I know how you lay hands on. I know how you handled it. I know how you handle it. Well, Caleb, yes. I mean, we're not trying to talk your business on, you know, for the world to hear, but we all know you. You're a an amazing man, you're a good person. That other person is a selfish prick. You're you're well, thank you. You're uh you're a good human being. Hey, with that, tell the people you love you love them. You know what I mean? Uh it's a good time. If you want to have a resolution, do it. Do it now. Don't wait to tell people how you feel about them. Hold on to them, give them a hug, just say you love them. Uh just like you. Just like you. Just like I feel like Mr. Rogers would not. We're doing great. Um, it's it's a good thing to end on. Uh we want to make sure we give our thanks uh to each other. Everybody here, Jim. We appreciate you, man. Love you, brother. Um, we would want to thank Patriot Mobile, right? They've been incredible to us all year. Amazing. Uh eSpace is the same thing. They've just been incredible to us. Original Glory Beer is keep going and keep going. They are outstanding with their support for us. We give it back to them. Uh, we want to thank all of the viewers, the listeners, watching, downloading, all of that, Spotify, Apple Music, wherever you listen, YouTube, keep doing it. We won't let you down.

SPEAKER_04:

And we have some new stuff coming up in 2026. Big things ahead. We do have big things, but we're also gonna get uh listeners more involved. We got some contests that we're working on right now, figured out how we're gonna do that to get you guys more involved because we love all the comments and stuff, and so um so we're gonna do that and make uh the listeners more part of the show.

SPEAKER_07:

Two thousand twenty six is our year. Fire emoji, fire emoji, fire emoji happen. Thank you everybody. This is the Try That in a Small Town Podcast.

SPEAKER_09:

Make sure to follow along, subscribe, share, rate the show, and check out our merch at try thatinasmalltown.com.