Writing, Healing & Hitting, the Stage with Levi Hummon

What do a broken heart, a country music stage, and a wedding countdown have in common? 

Emily reconnects with longtime friend and rising country artist Levi Hummon. 

From growing up with a legendary songwriter dad to navigating heartbreaks, record deals, and viral TikTok dances, Levi opens up about the highs and lows of life on and off stage. 

The two reminisce on CMA Fest memories, share behind-the-scenes moments from Levi’s songwriting journey (including working with Walker Hayes and Steven Tyler), and dive into his upcoming wedding, his mom’s inspiring non-profit Thistle Farms, and the unexpected ways grief and love shape creativity. 

This episode is a beautiful blend of vulnerability, humor, music, and meaningful reflection — one you won’t want to miss.

Listen For:

06:10 – “I Made It” Moments and the Power of the Opry

13:41 – Is Levi Writing a Wedding Song? (Spoiler: Yes!)

16:40 – Pre-Show Rituals, Dad Advice & Kicking Over Beers

29:38 – Gratitude, Grief, and the Power of Perspective

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Connect with guest: LEVI HUMMON

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Contact Emily:

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Transcript

Emily Cave Boit (00:03):

Hey everyone. Welcome back to episode 12 of You Are More with Emily Cave Boit. I want to start off this episode reading another review. I love reading your guys' reviews, your comments, your dms, but this one says, I just want to thank you for continuing to share your story and how you've been able to reach others over the last five years. I'm sure Colby's smiling down and that was from Gypsy 0 3 0 3. So thank you so much. I hope he's smiling down. I definitely have tried to make him proud, the last fear five years, and I honestly cannot believe it's almost been five years. We are reaching half a decade. Yeah, it just feels like yesterday. But this episode, I am super excited for this guest, Levi. He's a long time friend and also country music artist. We met many, many years ago during CMA Fest and ever since then have stayed friends.

(01:03):

He has watched my journey from pre Colby to Colby to meeting Colby to Colby passing away, being there for me to now Colin and now I'm watching him on his new journey, just signed with a new record label today and also getting married in less than three months. So excited to have him on and for you guys to hear his story. So yeah, welcome to the show, Levi. I've been super excited. I feel like I also haven't seen you. I think the last time I saw you was with Colby, actually I think it was after one of your sets at CMA

Levi Hummon (01:39):

Fest. Yeah, it was probably like six, seven years ago.

Emily Cave Boit (01:43):

That's wild. And then Covid happened. That was crazy. And then light was it just flipped upside,

Levi Hummon (01:48):

Upside down. Was it recent hearts or where were we? No, you have CMA fest, so you'd be in Nashville?

Emily Cave Boit (01:52):

No, it was CMA. Yeah, it was in Nashville because I remember Colby was there, his season had ended. My dad was there and your set was on Broadway?

Levi Hummon (02:02):

Yes. It was probably at the Hard Rock stage over actually on Broadway.

Emily Cave Boit (02:06):

Yes, I think so. Yes. That's wild. I feel like your life has so much has happened since then and same with mine. It's wild. But yeah, wanted to come on, kind of hear a little bit about your story and just share with listeners. Obviously you're more talking about people's stories, getting to know you more than just a musician, kind of your upbringing, the behind the scenes and everything. So let's hear a little bit about your upbringing. I obviously know it, but

Levi Hummon (02:39):

I just love the abouts. That's my new favorite thing with Canadians.

Emily Cave Boit (02:43):

I know abouts and a's I know we're so kind.

Levi Hummon (02:47):

Yeah, so yeah, a little bit about me is I'm from Nashville, Tennessee, born and raised. My dad is a songwriter. He wrote songs like Blessed, a Broken Road, cowboy, take Me Away, born To Fly. My mom's a Preacher and so I grew up in a very interesting household to say the least. I can imagine. My mom started an organization called Thistle Farms. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it.

Emily Cave Boit (03:09):

We're going to talk about that later.

Levi Hummon (03:11):

And so I grew up with that and definitely get into that because that's a huge part of my life. But I grew up not really pursuing music as a profession, but went to college in Florida for two years and ended up getting my heart broken and ended up writing songs, which ended up having me move back to Nashville. And then I started pursuing music professionally. I ended up signing my first ever publishing deal with a guy named Desmond Child who wrote, dude looks like a lady living on a prayer. He wrote Live in the Vita Loca. And so I was just immediately surrounded by really incredible talented people, signed a big machine record deal right after that and then eventually got dropped from that label. And so I spent about seven years kind of finding myself as an independent artist and just recently signed a new record deal with Kevin Jonas Sr. The dad of the Jonas Brothers and their new label imprint here in Nashville. So we are so

Emily Cave Boit (04:00):

Exciting,

Levi Hummon (04:01):

Congrats and dealing and time flies, but it's been crazy.

Emily Cave Boit (04:05):

I bet. Did you find growing up with a dad who was a songwriter that obviously you didn't pursue music and you have two brothers too, do you think because you saw the lifestyle never interests you or you're just kind of doing my own thing? That's my dad. At the end of the day, remember we posted a TikTok and you your dad's in the airport and you're like, no one knows that this guy wrote their favorite country music song because obviously to you he was just dad, so you never thought that this would be your life route.

Levi Hummon (04:43):

I think at the end of the day when I was growing up, I thought of music as my dad's thing and I was like, I never want to do that just because it was my dad and I thought my dad was not cool growing up. And then as I grew up, I realized how cool my dad was and then I also realized pretty cool guy. Yeah, I think as I grew up I was like, wow, I've been a rebel in skating and trying to be as cool as possible and running away from this when it's right in front of me my whole life.

(05:10):

But it was funny. I would listen to all these different types of music and then as a hobby when I was a kid and then later in life when I pursue music, I realized that all the stuff I was hearing from my dad and kind of all the things I was surrounded by in Nashville really affected me as a songwriter. And so I would be listening to all this crazy music like The Clash and Ramones and anything that was just counterculture and then I'll pick up a guitar and it would sound like the RAs of Flaz. I realized that relationship with my dad, that was what happened.

Emily Cave Boit (05:41):

It was deeply rooted in you, but you just didn't see it right at the time.

Levi Hummon (05:46):

Exactly. It was in my jeans.

Emily Cave Boit (05:49):

Do you think, so you moved back from Florida in Nashville, obviously you signed a big deal, but do you remember, was it signing the deal? Was it hearing your song on the radio for the first time? What was the moment that it was almost like I made it, this is so cool.

Levi Hummon (06:10):

I'm still waiting for the, I made a moment, but I will say a big deal, signing deals and stuff like that, that was really fun, especially at a young age like 22 years old and signing a big machine was crazy. I think the thing that made me feel like I am doing this and I'm professional and this is my job and this is like I'm a real musician, was one, getting to make my debut at The Opry was incredible and getting to bring my dad up on the Opry stage and sing Blessed Broken Road with him, but two was going out on the road and touring and really making a name for myself where outside of the Nashville Circle, a lot of people did not know who my dad was. And being able to create my own fan base and create my own image was huge for me.

Emily Cave Boit (06:55):

Do you have any favorite moments on tour or if anyone you were with or something that Yeah, memory, it could be pro and like a funny story or something that you're like, this is tour life that no one would expect?

Levi Hummon (07:12):

Well, honestly, I have a million favorite memories on tour, but one of my favorite memories was playing boots and hearts. I remember Canada.

Emily Cave Boit (07:18):

Canada,

Levi Hummon (07:19):

You Canadians are crazy and it was such a fun show and that same, it was me and Morgan Wallen on the same day. It was before Morgan popped off. And so I remember playing the show and it was packed in this little off stage. It wasn't the main stage, it was the side stage, but it was me and then Morgan. And it's wild to see somebody go from one of those side stages where there's just a thousand people to stadiums. And I remember thinking, I was like, this guy is legit. Holy, holy crap.

Emily Cave Boit (07:51):

You're like, he's going to be amazing.

Levi Hummon (07:53):

Yeah.

Emily Cave Boit (07:55):

Did you eat anything cool in Canada? Was there anything that was super Canadian?

Levi Hummon (07:59):

Did I eat anything cool?

Emily Cave Boit (08:02):

I

Levi Hummon (08:02):

Drank a lot of cool stuff.

Emily Cave Boit (08:04):

Oh yeah. How was the Canadian beer?

Levi Hummon (08:07):

I

Emily Cave Boit (08:07):

Remember what

Levi Hummon (08:08):

I remember from that was there was the two Clydesdales from Budweiser were at the festival and I drank Budweiser, so that wasn't very Canadian.

Emily Cave Boit (08:15):

Okay, okay. Dang it. I thought that there would be a little bit more there.

Levi Hummon (08:20):

I don't really, actually, here's a good memory from Canada. I just thought of one. I got to play a show with Dean Brody and Jessica Mitchell in Toronto, which was super fun. But what we ate that night I remember was we ate a curry or something like that.

Emily Cave Boit (08:35):

Okay. So not really Canadian, but that is a cool moment.

Levi Hummon (08:38):

Yeah, it was fantastic.

Emily Cave Boit (08:40):

That's awesome. Obviously you have so many songs out there, which one was your favorite to write and which one was maybe your hardest? Right. My

Levi Hummon (08:56):

Hardest to Write, well, I'll start with My favorite. When I wrote Paying for it was Walker Hayes. And just that day alone, it was so exciting. I was so excited to write with Walker. I had been preparing this idea of a song called Paying for It, and in my mind, paying for it was this sad song about this guy who's still literally paying for it. He's still broken up over this person, but Walker heard it and he thought of it as a funny song, like a funny kind of breakup song, but it was lighthearted. And so when we collaborated and got to write that day, I mean, that was one of my favorite writes ever. And putting out the song, getting Walker Hasta feature on it was incredible. And the whole journey of that, because Fancy for Walker was popping off while we were putting out that song was just wild. One of the hardest songs I ever had to write. Well, I wrote a song for Steven Tyler that was really hard to write because we had written the song and then Steven Tyler wanted to come in and adjust it to make it more Steven Tyler.

(09:56):

And so that was a very interesting experience.

Emily Cave Boit (09:58):

Okay. Yeah, that sounds like that's hard when you pour your heart and soul into that and then someone doesn't see Eye to Eye. That sucks.

Levi Hummon (10:07):

Well, it was also, it was a fantastic experience. It was life changing because Steven, Tyler and Aerosmith is one of my favorite bands and singers growing up. But what was hard about it was the process of making it all come together and turn into a country song.

Emily Cave Boit (10:24):

Okay. Okay. Yeah, I could see that. I can see that. Okay. Speaking of favorite songs, I really wanted to talk to you about this. You have a song called Love Heals, and I know that there is a big meaning behind it and is kind of a part of how you grew up and who you are today. So I kind of want to deep dive into that a little bit more.

Levi Hummon (10:51):

Wow. Yes. That was actually in terms of, hard is not the word, but it was in a song that kind of needed to be written for me. So my mom started organization, like we said earlier, called Thistle Farms. It's a place where women with a history of drug abuse, prostitution and sex trafficking go for two years of sobriety and free living. And then Thistle Farms also employs these women where they make healing bath and body care products and also candles and all this amazing stuff. But my mom is a CNN here of the year. She's Tennesseean of the year, three years, and she's just an incredible woman. And so one of her books that she released was called Love Heal, and I remember I was playing a show with my dad and it was actually a benefit for Thistle Farms. And somebody looked at us and said, have you written a song called Love Heal?

(11:40):

And I looked at my dad, I was like, why have we not written that song yet? What are we doing? And we ended up writing a song with Tom Douglas who wrote House That Built Me and a bunch of other amazing songs. And the song itself was really powerful and we were able to feature Alison Kraus on the song, which was exponentially more amazing. And the whole experience was incredible because I feel like it was a gift that I could give to my mom for all the beliefs she poured to me in Return the Favor with music.

Emily Cave Boit (12:10):

Is there any way for any of these listeners that are now hearing about this to be able to support or give back as well?

Levi Hummon (12:20):

Yeah, I mean Thistle Farms is incredible that there's a website, there's a storefront in Nashville. A big part of what Thistle Farms does is they make products that you guys can buy and support, but also just kind of being aware that it's there in the world and just looking it up on the internet and seeing if you're interested in the actual mission is always important.

Emily Cave Boit (12:41):

That's amazing. So here's a big one. Are you writing a song for your upcoming wedding?

Levi Hummon (12:53):

I have a million songs for

Emily Cave Boit (12:55):

Kirsten. Or is that top secret?

Levi Hummon (12:58):

No, I have a song in my back pocket that I really love and I know it's kind of written about this moment and this person, obviously Kirsten and so we are what you, Kirsten? Kirsten, yeah. It's like KEAR.

Emily Cave Boit (13:16):

Way to go. Way to go. Kirsten, you got a catch?

Levi Hummon (13:18):

Yeah, I got a catch. I don't know what she got, but

Emily Cave Boit (13:23):

Yeah, she's the catch actually.

Levi Hummon (13:24):

Yeah, she's a catch. I don't know what I did to earn that, but we are so excited. We're getting married down in Florida, and so I probably do need to actually write a song that's fully about this

Emily Cave Boit (13:41):

Looking. So talking about songs that you've written, how long does it normally, what's a song process writing to take? Do you lock yourself in a room and get pen to the paper for days or how does that process work for you?

Levi Hummon (13:56):

Well, in Nashville writing songs is a job and usually we write between the hours of 11 and 2 33. And I'm actually, I feel like this could be a bad thing too. I'm a pretty quick writer always. If I feel like I'm struggling to write the song, it almost never as good. And that's not even a statement against the writers I'm with just sometimes it's hard to be inspired, but sometimes the best songs, especially in my life, have been the songs that are just the easiest and that just kind of fall out. I've always talked to my dad about this and we've had deep conversations about this because he's a lifelong professional songwriter is sometimes inspiration and music and creativity is a spiritual experience. Even if it's a dumb country song, it's like it can come into your heart and it kind of arrives in your soul and you just have to write it.

Emily Cave Boit (14:55):

Do you think, what was one of the songs you got the most emotional writing? Do you get emotional when you're writing or does a lyric come right across and you're like, that's it, that's the course right there?

Levi Hummon (15:09):

I definitely get, especially if I'm writing about Kirsten, I feel definitely emotional

(15:17):

And

(15:18):

If I write about my family, but it's not like a, I'm going to cry emotionally, it feels like you choke up, you feel it

Emily Cave Boit (15:26):

In your soul.

Levi Hummon (15:27):

Yeah, it's like a choke up feeling, butterfly feeling. And I think the more exciting feeling for me is when I want to show them the song and I want to get the reaction, and if they hate it, then it just also in an emotional way, it hurts my feelings.

Emily Cave Boit (15:41):

I feel like I've seen some of those videos when you've been in the car either with your family and you've been like, okay, I wrote this song, and you're like recording to see their reaction.

Levi Hummon (15:51):

See, I try to do it and be legit. A lot of people tease it up and I've done that also, but I try my best to actually show somebody the song for the first time, and I've had some negative responses from my dad where he is like, this is crap.

Emily Cave Boit (16:08):

That's amazing. That's what you should be posting.

Levi Hummon (16:11):

I know.

Emily Cave Boit (16:11):

Should be posting his reaction to that.

Levi Hummon (16:13):

I'm like, can I ask you?

Emily Cave Boit (16:16):

You're like, okay, dad, we know that you're the top, but I'm trying here.

Levi Hummon (16:22):

That is the story of my life.

Emily Cave Boit (16:25):

Okay. When you're on tour or before a show, do you have a drink or a shot that you like to take or a routine of the day you're going to? You know how athletes have a game day routine. Do you have a kind of routine like that?

Levi Hummon (16:40):

Yeah, I think mean, this is probably bad to say, but I like to have a beer or something, especially if I'm at a club because just loosens me up.

(16:50):

But my dad, not to keep talking about my dad, but he's my creative best friend and we do everything together pretty much. He's pretty awesome. He told me from a very young age, I had 19 years old, he is like, if you're going to drink before you play, never have more than three drinks. He's like, from experience, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. And obviously I've toured for over a decade, so there's been many times where I've accidentally partake or partook the night before and definitely agree, but I think one beer before I go on stage is always kind of the go-to for

Emily Cave Boit (17:21):

Me. I feel like you usually have a beer on stage, don't you too?

Levi Hummon (17:26):

I usually do. I have it up there as walk up and then I put it down and then I forget about it.

Emily Cave Boit (17:30):

Yeah, it gets warm and then it's gross. Yeah, or you can kick it over.

Levi Hummon (17:35):

True. Usually I kick it over. I'm not even, I think I kick every single beer of mine over.

Emily Cave Boit (17:39):

Is it for dramatic effects or is it for you're just

Levi Hummon (17:43):

Generally it's right there. I just,

Emily Cave Boit (17:46):

Okay. Okay. Or who is your favorite person that you toured with?

Levi Hummon (17:54):

He is my favorite. Well, we just did the Walker Hayes tour, same drunk tour last year and got to go sing with him every night on that tour, and it was incredible. He's such a nice guy and his family's amazing. His entire crew is amazing. So I would say based on just the fact that it was last year Walker.

Emily Cave Boit (18:12):

Okay, I could see that. I feel like it's incredible. I also love seeing everyone. Do your guys' dance to that song online? I feel like it just went viral. Like you said,

Levi Hummon (18:22):

I have forgotten it. Everybody out there in the world. I don't remember how to do it anymore.

Emily Cave Boit (18:27):

You don't?

Levi Hummon (18:28):

I was thinking about this the other day. I was like, I remember this part in the, I can't remember after that.

Emily Cave Boit (18:33):

Who choreographed that?

Levi Hummon (18:36):

Walker's daughter. Lela,

Emily Cave Boit (18:38):

Okay.

Levi Hummon (18:39):

Yeah.

Emily Cave Boit (18:39):

Okay, so it wasn't you at there trying and choreograph?

Levi Hummon (18:43):

No, I had never done a dance before at all. I've been at the club, but I've never learned to dance before, so I remember the second she put it out there, it was so complicated for me. I have never done a dance. I had to learn how to do dance count. I was like 5, 6, 7, Nate, first, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, and I was literally the whole thing. And it was actually really complicated. It was very hard for me to learn.

Emily Cave Boit (19:13):

You were basically your own musical scene playing dancing. You're like a one man show.

Levi Hummon (19:18):

I'm like Justin Bieber. That's basically what I think of.

Emily Cave Boit (19:23):

For those people that haven't been to Nashville, what is your favorite bar to play at and what's your favorite bar to go to?

Levi Hummon (19:33):

If I'm going to play at a bar, I really, really, I mean honestly, Emily, I don't really go out anymore.

Emily Cave Boit (19:39):

I feel like we're old now. Back in our time when we met, we probably would've been having pickle juice shots at the bar until 2:00 AM and now we're grandparents old.

Levi Hummon (19:50):

We did, what was it? Oh my gosh. We went to, this is MMA, but an Armor, MMA people in actual armor, MA on Saturday I had three drinks and I was dead on Sunday. And after that I looked at Kirsten and I was like, is something wrong with me? Full on? I used to actually be able to drink.

Emily Cave Boit (20:09):

That's why your dad said only three, only three drinks before

Levi Hummon (20:12):

You as you get older. That's so true. Well, yeah. Favorite bar to go to. If I'm going to a bar, I don't even want to ruin it. It's kind of a local hang. I'll just say it, but so there's a place called the Villager in Hillsborough Village and it's just like a darts bar, little dive bar. And it's my absolute favorite bar right now. It not for music or anything, just from Nashville born and raised. And so I like to go down the street and play if I'm performing at a bar. Old Red Downtown is actually probably the best sound system in Nashville and currently my favorite place to play.

Emily Cave Boit (20:53):

Okay. I feel like, yeah, I've been to Old Red. I haven't been to that one. I thought you were going to say winners and losers, but I feel like that's not as local anymore. I feel like

Levi Hummon (21:06):

Spending a bit

Emily Cave Boit (21:07):

About that.

Levi Hummon (21:08):

I have not been to Midtown in 10 years. No,

Emily Cave Boit (21:15):

Really are old.

Levi Hummon (21:16):

It's been like a couple weeks, honestly. But I haven't been out drinking in Midtown since 2020.

Emily Cave Boit (21:22):

Okay. I feel like I was just in Nashville for my Bachelorette and Jason Aldean got me pretty good. That bars the rooftop and everything. It's a good setup.

Levi Hummon (21:35):

Yeah,

Emily Cave Boit (21:36):

It's fun.

Levi Hummon (21:37):

It can be bad there.

Emily Cave Boit (21:38):

Yeah, seriously.

Levi Hummon (21:39):

Good, bad.

Emily Cave Boit (21:40):

The wedding, I love your little tiktoks asking how many more days You're such an excited fiance. How's the planning? How's it all going?

Levi Hummon (21:54):

It's good. Like I said, I think we're just, we're at the very tail end. I think we blinked and it was like went from 500 days to 90 days,

(22:05):

But luckily we're both, I feel very chill. So we knew Kirsten said, she was like, I'll marry you anywhere. And so I said, I want to get married on the beach. And so we met there, we're going to the beach and love it. We're really excited. Florida's a big part of my life because I went to school in Florida for two years, but also whenever I've had moments of just I need to get out of Nashville, I always have gone back to St. Pete and down to the Keys and just, that's my safe place. Love. I'm really excited to just kind go down there, just have a vacation and then a wedding in the middle of the vacation.

Emily Cave Boit (22:42):

That's amazing. And I can't believe I didn't ask you this. How did you meet your wife or future wife?

Levi Hummon (22:52):

We had a bunch of mutual friends, but to be honest, I slid up in her dms. That was kind of our millennial love

Emily Cave Boit (23:01):

Story. Yeah. I feel you. Like everything now is dms dating apps? I feel like you don't have the old meet at a bar or a cafe.

Levi Hummon (23:14):

Meeting in the wild is hard, but I think once you, I knew that I would never really get to spend time or meet Kirsten unless I hit her up. So that was the journey,

Emily Cave Boit (23:24):

Not from Nashville originally.

Levi Hummon (23:27):

She's from Madison, Wisconsin and kind of Indiana originally. But yeah, so she was living here in town. We had a mutual friends, like everybody in Nashville, it's a small town,

(23:36):

It's

(23:36):

A big small town, but we had never really actually met, so I was like, do you want to go out? And then I accidentally couldn't make it twice. She's going to run in here and be like, but the third time I finally got to take her out and I got her cheese curds and it was true love.

Emily Cave Boit (23:56):

I don't think I've ever had a cheese curd, but I do love that. What a patient she is. Such a catch third time. Levi, what were the two other excuses before

Levi Hummon (24:06):

One excuse was CMA fest, I had to go do the bush flight stage.

Emily Cave Boit (24:11):

I have seen you at CMA fest that is valid.

Levi Hummon (24:14):

So I had to go. Once you're in CMA fest, it's hard. It's like get out of there. And also we ended up going to the actual Nissan Stadium that night, so I didn't have time. And then the other time, I can't remember, she definitely shouldn't have ever responded.

Emily Cave Boit (24:33):

What a catch. Good for you. I'm so excited for you. Are your brothers your grimson?

Levi Hummon (24:40):

They are. We have currently nine groomsmen, but two people might not be able to make it. There would be on the exact same opposite side, so we'll probably have eight groomsmen and bridesmaids, so 16, but two of them are my brothers. Yes. And then my brother, my middle brother got married last year, so I'm the second humming brother to get married.

Emily Cave Boit (25:01):

Okay. Wow. She snatched. Yeah. What would you say to a fiance and the wedding planning support? What would you tell them? Buckle up.

Levi Hummon (25:17):

I would say

Emily Cave Boit (25:18):

Grab the tissues,

Levi Hummon (25:20):

Grab a beer. I think there's a few things that I would get if I was telling a man, one, I'm blessed with the easiest person to plan a wedding with ever. So I don't know. I've seen the different sides of how intense it can be, but I think for me in our journey, it's so important for it to be fun. And the second that it's not fun to plan that part of the wedding, it's like take moments to talk to each other and be like, why is this not fun? This is obviously worth it to do whatever, but finding ways to make everything fun. And then also as the man or just the significant other of the person that's very passionate about planning it is if you're not willing to die on the hill, then don't die on the hill. Just kind of go with the flow and just be a supporter and your person's best friend.

Emily Cave Boit (26:17):

That's great advice. You should write a song about that.

Levi Hummon (26:22):

Just a year.

Emily Cave Boit (26:24):

Yeah. How fast can you write those lyrics?

Levi Hummon (26:26):

As long as I got the beach, I was like, I don't give a shit about anything else You do. You as always as I'm on the beach,

Emily Cave Boit (26:32):

Beer beach, you're good to go. Stipulations some pickle, your pickle back shots and you're fine.

Levi Hummon (26:39):

That's actually true. We should get pickle back. Why did we

Emily Cave Boit (26:41):

Not bother that? Should your signature drink?

Levi Hummon (26:44):

Our signature drink? Kirsten loves whiskey. What do they call it? Espresso martinis.

Emily Cave Boit (26:50):

Oh, does she like them? Strong espresso or more creamy with Bailey's in it?

Levi Hummon (26:55):

I think from my experience, I think she likes more creamy.

Emily Cave Boit (27:00):

Yes. That's my girl.

Levi Hummon (27:01):

I drink my coffee box. That's

Emily Cave Boit (27:01):

My girl. Okay. Yeah, I definitely like them more creamy for sure. Add a girl. Okay. What would you tell young inspiring writers or what would you tell your younger self really?

Levi Hummon (27:19):

Yeah, I mean I actually work with a lot of young artists just as a passion of mine is helping other people out. And what I always tell 'em is just be creative. The first thing I always tell everybody is even if it's bad, write a song by yourself. Learn how you speak and what you want to say. Even if it's crap, just experience sitting in a room alone and write because a lot of people just will not do that. And it's so important to sit with a guitar, learn about who you are as a person and allow that to either inspire writes that are collaborative with other writers in the future, or let it inspire you as a person to bring ideas into the world. And so I always say be creative is so important. And that's what I tell myself too. It's when everything in the world is so many nos in this business and music where it's like people just dragging you down, people wanting you to fail, people just not believing in you. And if I always tell myself if I can sing a song and write a song by myself, then I'll always be good. I don't need a lot of people to say yes to me or say I'll believe in you if I can sit with a guitar and just be inspired. So that's probably my biggest piece of advice to myself and to other artists.

Emily Cave Boit (28:35):

That makes sense. You think, looking back, do you think you would do anything differently? Are you a firm believer in you're so lucky that the way that it's played out?

Levi Hummon (28:47):

I think as an artist and just a creator, I think life on my end right now, I was just really good. And so I'm really grateful and I don't know if I was exponentially more successful at this time in my life or I was less successful at this point in my life or I didn't sign this deal or I did sign this deal, would I still be here? And honestly, I'm just grateful for where I am. So that's kind of would I change anything? No, because I get to be here.

Emily Cave Boit (29:18):

I feel like that's such a good reminder. I feel like people are always like the grass is greener on the other side, or had I changed or had I done this, you can always think that way, but it's about being content and being like, I am so happy to be here and grateful for how everything's played out.

Levi Hummon (29:38):

Absolutely. And I think obviously there's points in my life where I've been down and even I know there's going to be future things, but it's just so important to use that, especially in the creative space as fuel. And that's how I've always internalized everything. It's just always been fuel.

Emily Cave Boit (29:58):

That's a great, it gives you a purpose. It's like pain in your purpose.

Levi Hummon (30:02):

Absolutely.

Emily Cave Boit (30:03):

Pain in your purpose. I see a bunch of guitars behind you, which one would be your favorite? And when did you get your first guitar? Do you still have

Levi Hummon (30:12):

That? Well, I have, this is my favorite right now. I just play it all the time. This is Old Martin, but my first actual amazing guitar that I got was my high school graduation present from my dad that sat in my dorm for two years, not played at all. And then I got broken up with in Florida and ended up picking it up and wrote my first 200 songs on it. And that's just a little crappy, crappy guitar. But I love it.

Emily Cave Boit (30:40):

I feel like if you're that girl, that's hard. That's hard to hear the songs. Do you ever struggle with writing songs and people's judgment, whether it's fans or whatever, are you very It is what it is.

Levi Hummon (31:00):

I don't think about anything like that. I do think this sometimes. A funny thing that happened with me and Kirsten was I write really good breakup songs. Even if I'm in a really happy relationship, I'm just constantly writing breakup

Emily Cave Boit (31:14):

Songs. Hopefully you don't break four songs.

Levi Hummon (31:18):

Actually, those make a lot of money though, so actually, actually probably would probably now I had that song Good Rid to the Past and everybody's send it to my ex-husband and burning wedding dresses and crap, so that's always funny. But I remember playing Kirsten in a bunch of my new songs and they're all like uptempo fun breakup songs and she's like, you realize you're not in breakup right now. And I was like, oh, you're right. So now I've spent my last year working on being able to write uptempo fun, love songs, transit and be more in the spirit of the moment.

Emily Cave Boit (31:47):

Yes, transition. You should write a song about wedding planning. Don't die on the hill. If you don't want to die on

Levi Hummon (31:53):

The hill, don't die on the hill.

Emily Cave Boit (31:57):

That's amazing. I feel like you have known me through a lot like pre Colby, Colby Post Colby Grief. Now Colin, I will tell you this, there is not enough country songs because country is obviously my favorite John other than Christian about widowhood. So you could write on that, you could write a song on that. I'm giving you inspiration. I feel like there's only a handful, and that's one thing that I leaned into a lot during my grief is a lot of music. I feel like music gives people a voice that when they feel like they don't have a voice or makes them feel seen.

(32:48):

But there is definitely not a lot of country songs about widowhood. So that could be not that don't want to wish that bad luck on you because we don't want to write about makeup songs or divorce or anything. But yeah, I do think it's been hard. I think as you know, the public eye isn't always graceful. The way that Colby passed away was very traumatic, very sudden. I mean you saw him, he was a happy, healthy guy. Totally normal. Definitely been in a journey remarrying again and balancing both. I'll always love Colby and I'll always miss Colby kind of like my heart is with two now and that doesn't take away one either from Colin or Colby. But yeah, I definitely wouldn't wish young widowhood on anyone, but we are slowly figuring it out. It's a journey and yeah, that's the way I kind of look at it. But there's definitely good days, definitely bad days. I can't believe it's been five years, to be honest, or almost five years. I feel like April, 2020 just feels like so long ago. And I think it was hard with, I couldn't see a lot of people and the world shut down. So actually next week I'm flying back to one of the rinks that he played in one of the city, actually the last city we were in right before he died for the first time in five years. So

(34:25):

It's kind of weird having those first so delayed because normally you have that right away. So yeah, it'll be my first time going back to the rink. They have his glove in the rink in a memorial, so I'll see all that. But yeah, I feel like it's life and it's a journey, but we're getting there. We're trying the best we can.

Levi Hummon (34:50):

You're obviously incredibly strong and so I'm proud of you for getting through it and that's just a crazy, horrible thing that nobody should ever go through, but you are definitely a example of how to do it. So it's been inspiring to watch you.

Emily Cave Boit (35:03):

Yeah, I definitely remember there was some days right after we passed away, I think you were checking in. I think the whole world was kind of checking in and I think I was pretty numb, but we're getting there and we're figuring it all out. But yeah,

Levi Hummon (35:18):

Absolutely.

Emily Cave Boit (35:18):

I love watching your journey from the distance too and rooting you on for your upcoming wedding. Hopefully not too many pickle back shots or maybe that would be a good idea.

Levi Hummon (35:33):

That'll be the day after, right?

Emily Cave Boit (35:34):

Yeah, that will be your hangover.

Levi Hummon (35:36):

Yeah.

Emily Cave Boit (35:37):

What is it? Hair of the dog. Hair of the dog. Hair of the dog, yeah. That's awesome. But yeah, other than that, I am just so happy to catch up and absolutely hear what's happening on life and everything. But yeah, thanks for coming

Levi Hummon (35:54):

On. Any other questions for me?

Emily Cave Boit (35:58):

Ooh, do you have anything else you want to say?

Levi Hummon (36:02):

No, just let me know, however, when this comes out, what I can do social media wise to help you support it, because this is awesome and I want to help your podcast and anything I can do.

Emily Cave Boit (36:13):

Well, thank

Levi Hummon (36:14):

You. And then when you're back in Nashville, we got to get drinks. Double date, not

Emily Cave Boit (36:17):

Put. Yes, yes, definitely got to do a double date. I almost wore my cowboy boots for this episode. Even though you wouldn't have seen

Levi Hummon (36:24):

Them, you have to. What are we doing here? I know,

Emily Cave Boit (36:28):

I know, I know. I'm sorry I failed you. Well thank you so much and yeah, excited to see all the wedding photos soon,

Levi Hummon (36:37):

Three months or less.

Emily Cave Boit (36:40):

Love it. As you guys can see, Levi is awesome. One of my favorite humans and one of my favorite country music artists. He is incredibly talented. So go listen to his work. You'll absolutely love it. While you're at it, if you leave a rating or review, I would appreciate it so much or share this episode with a friend, whether they're a famous country or whether they love country or are in the music industry or want to be in the music industry. Levi has such an incredible story to his journey to become the artist and who he is is just pretty awesome. So I'm super proud of him and thanks again guys, and go make somebody feel like somebody and always remember that you are one.