Aaron Lewis on Being Blacklisted from Radio & Why Record Labels Intentionally Promote Terrible Music

How did you wind up singing country music? Well, my childhood, the soundtrack to my  childhood is all country music. That's all. I heard from the time I woke up in the morning  until the time that the lights went out. It's. funny. You're from Northern New England, which I  think people don't associate with country music, but it's Oh, yeah. For sure.  Country, like out in the woods, everybody's listening to country music.  For sure. [Music] [Applause] [Music].

[Music] [Applause] [Music]. But yeah, I I would I spent a lot of time at my  grandparents house where um in uh Wallingford. Vermont. Um, spent a lot of time there. It was a  safe place for me. Um, and my grandmother would.

wake up in the morning and the very first thing  that happened before an egg hit the frying pan. or anything was the country radio got turned on.  Wow. And it was on all day long. And the very last. thing that got shut off before the light got shut  off was the radio. So, I mean, it didn't matter if.

I was going fishing with my grandfather or whether  I was at the house. If we were going fishing, I can still visualize the pile of eight tracks on  the floor of his Grand Torino with with the the. boat tied to the top of the car and and it was  just it was permanent. There was always country. music, always. And if we were in the boat, he was  singing it. So my whole childhood is just steeped.

in country music. So when I decided, excuse me,  when I decided to do something different because I. had gotten to the end of my contract with Stained,  um, and I was now free to do whatever I wanted. to do. I had always thought about putting out a  solo record, if you will. A lot of lead singers. do that. Um, I didn't want it to be stained light.  I I wanted I wanted to do something different and.

reinvent what I was doing without reinventing  myself. Yes. And the only direction to go was. country music because it was such a part of my  being, part of my my whole childhood memories and.

and the landscape of it. So when I decided that  I was actually going to do something by myself, that was the direction that I went. It's funny. I  think people think of country music as a regional. music. southern Appalachin, you know, Tennessee,  Southwest Virginia, kind of the birthplace. Um, they don't think of it as the music of the  country. So, it's like central California. Bakersfield, of course. Oh, yeah. Vermont.  Bakersfield is a piece of Texas of Exactly. in the.

middle of California. And you grew up in northern  New England, which is, you know, very rural, one of the most rural places in the world. And  you get out of the cities in New England, and. it's as country as country gets. And it's as red  as red gets. Even the state of Massachusetts. Oh, I know. If you look at the state of Massachusetts  broken down county by county, the whole state's. red except for Boston, Worcester, and Springfield.  Yeah. You get outside those three big cities and.

in the state of Massachusetts which is one of the  worst. California too. You get outside those big. cities, it's all red. Yeah. Not a lot of Kamla  voters up near Mount Shasta. No, no, no, not. at It's it's just music is such a a window into  attitudes and culture and it's just it's funny. that country music is basically popular everywhere  outside the cities. Mhm. 100%. Interesting. So,

how was it weird for you to go from a one genre  to a completely different one? Weird. I don't know. if it was I don't know if it was weird. It was  foolish by everybody else's accounts because I had. already built something substantial in the rock  industry. Yeah. And I kind of walked away from. that and went to a completely different genre that  there might be some overlap of stained fans that.

also liked country music. But I was certainly in  that moment shooting myself in the foot and having. to basically start over because my value in the  industry was was towards the rock industry and and. nobody knew who I was in the country industry  unless they would listen to rock music too.

So it kind of in perfect me form I I I took the  hard road and decided I was going to change genres. along with putting something out by myself which  would have been hard enough as it is. How how has. country music changed itself as a genre? I don't  really recognize country music anymore really. Well, what's playing on the radio? Like there, how  do you draw a line from what's on the radio now.

and called country music to what was on the radio  when we were kids called country music? Like, there's there's no there's no line to be  drawn. I listen to Bluegrass Junction, so this is all it's all outside my  world. But tell me how it's changed. It's been infiltrated by California just like  everything else. Really? When uh within my career.

about halfway through it, everything changed in  the industry and a lot of consolidation happened. A lot of people lost their jobs at whatever record  label they were at or they were in the top 40 side. of things and everything got condensed and they  lost their Well, they all either went to Nashville. or they went to country radio. And I truly believe  that that has something to do with why country has.

become so popified where it's like the land of the  misfit toys where it's not really country, it's. not really pop. It kind of rides right down the  middle of it and becomes its own thing. And they. should call it its own thing. Like it should have  its own genre and classification. and instead they.

call it country. And I don't know how you can put  George Jones and Merl Haggard in the same sentence. as as Morgan Wallen or or or the Rascal Flats. I I  mean, h how do you even h how does that correlate? How does that fall into the same category? Because  it it doesn't in any way to me. Which is better? country. Yeah, we have pop music. I think pop  music with a country twang is a little weird.

Why' they do Did that happen organically or do  you think it was on purpose? It's the It's the. control mechanism. It's the people in in power  calling the shots and and being the taste makers, if you will, and and choosing for us what we  want to hear and then stuffing it down our. throat until we accept it. You may have noticed  this is a great country with bad food. Our food.

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you know, it's like it's pretty it's  pretty untamed in a lot of way. I mean, there's like a true outlaw, not a fake outlaw  element, but like a real outlaw element. I think. that country music is is Americana. Like it's  the it's the genre that we as as the country. of America are certainly responsible for. It came  from here. it it didn't come from somewhere else.

where where rock had a lot of English influence  all those English bands from back in the 60s and. stuff and but they brought country music is  country music still isn't worldwide it's it's. big in Germany it's it it might have it's got a  listening audience in in England and in Germany. but it doesn't expand much further than that  like country music is an American genre and it's.

become less American and more international, more  more like Barcelona. It's just everyone's city, right? Like it's like so it's nobody's  city. I It's like the land of the misfit. toys. That's the best way to describe it where  it doesn't fit in pop, doesn't fit in country, just kind of but you can push it in either  direction and it would and it works, but it has no.

it doesn't have its own soul, if you  will. It's not it's definitely not. pure to the genre. Do you think um that  there's still a demand for it? I mean, could country music? Yeah, real country  music. Could Merl Haggard make a living today? I don't know. I mean, I would certainly hope  so, but if you listen to the landscape that's. on country radio right now, I don't see where he  would fit in at all. H I don't see where I fit.

in at all. Are you on the radio? No. Really? No.  They won't play me. They don't like my my my uh. thoughts on things really. How important is Well,  it's obviously you How many shows did you do last. year? Oh, probably 175 180 shows last year. Yeah.  So, obviously you're pretty much pretty much all. of them sold out. You're doing fine. I'm doing  just fine. It's nice to not have to bow down.

to the powers that be. It's nice to not have to  undermine my value in a market because the radio. station wants to get as much out of my show as  they can. So they sell my ticket for a low do. $10 ticket and they've just devalued my value in  that market by selling such a cheap ticket when I.

can sell hard tickets. I don't I don't need to  sell sell myself short by by doing favors for. a radio station. Is that how it works? Oh, first  you sell your soul to the record label and then. you sell everything else you've got to the machine  which is the radio that drives music. Really? Is.

it satellite or terrestrial radio? Like all of  it. All of it. Satellite just took over. Yeah. But it's the same idea. Same concept. So how does  if you don't mind revealing the sleazy underbelly. of the business like that you don't participate  in apparently? How how does that work? Um, we're. the we are the the indentured servant. I mean, I  think that indentured servitude laws are literally.

still on the books in California so that they can  get away with what they do with us. The performer, the artist you're talking about? Yeah. Everything,  every every penny that we ever get paid from a. record label is all a loan. It's all a loan.  And they they ju to give you a con just a a. conceptual breakdown. This is all just kind of a  take a dollar. Yeah. So 25 cents of that dollar,

let's just say it's probably more goes to  the record label just because because they. invested the rest of it. Business management  takes their percentage. Lawyer takes their. percentage. Management takes their percentage.  Business manager takes their percentage. Then the government takes their percentage and  then the overhead and then what's left, let's.

call it 10 cents at the end of the day, that goes  back to the record label to pay back the loan that. they gave you of the money that they gave you up  front. So any money that I've actually made from.

the record label, I've I've made them 80 times  as much. Like that's it of a dollar. Let's just. say there's 12 cents left. The 12 cents actually  goes to pay back the record label for the money. that they gave you. It's insane. How does that  still exist? because of the laws on the books. It It's like It's insane. Are the record label  people adding a lot to the process? Are they.

creative geniuses? No. I just love how all the  people who are getting rich from creativity are. the least creative people. They're the ones that  can't create, but they are making the most money. off of the creatives. We're here because who  wouldn't want a record label? Who who wouldn't. want to live this dream? Who wouldn't want to make  music if they're a musician? Who wouldn't want to.

make music as their livelihood? So, we're in a  very a very [ __ ] up situation where there's a. thousand people behind me. Yeah. That would kill  me to have my freaking job. Yes. Exactly. So, I'm in I I got no leverage. Television's the  same. I got no leverage with the with the. industry because I'm I'm a I'm a I'm a I'm a I'm  easily chewed up and spit out because there's a.

thousand people behind me waiting to get chewed  up and spit out. How long did you participate. in that system? Uh it was 2012 or 13. That last  stained record that we put out was was the the. last record where I really had to do the dance and  and play the game with radio and and not ruffle.

any feathers and not offend anybody and and play  the game. And then once that contract was done, I tried to play the game with country music and  then I released a song called That Ain't Country. that was basically talking about the whole  industry that has created this amalgamation of. music that doesn't really fit in a genre. Um, and  that was the end of it. I put out a song expect.

trying to get country radio to play it about them  and they didn't like that very much. So, okay. So, you attacked the distributors and then were  surprised when they didn't distribute it. Yeah. Super smart. Yeah. Super smart. I admire your  purity. But principled. Exactly. But principled. That's That's hilarious. So, uh, that didn't  that didn't work. So, what did it work? Well,

I don't know. It basically did it. It didn't work  to my advantage to be getting played on the radio, but it certainly freed me from being  a servant to radio. Yes. So, it's a. I I it is so freeing to not be under  that thumb. Yes. I can write songs.

that are over three and a half minutes  long. I can put lyrics in songs that. that I want to put there. You  know, I'm just I I'm no longer. held to the industry standard because I'm not  necessarily trying to participate in the industry. game. I go out there, I play successful shows.  I have a fan base that seeks out my music and.

doesn't just listen to what the radio stuffs down  their throat. And I'm very very blessed and very. very lucky to that I don't have to participate  in the game anymore. How has Spotify changed it? I'm a Spotify billionaire. I've have over  a billion spins on Spotify. If I only had.

a penny for every spin on Spotify, that  would be fantastic. A dollar, a a quarter, a penny from every spin. with over a billion  spins on Spotify. All I have is a plaque. Well, you never got paid. It's so by the time Spotify  plays it, there's so many people in the middle.

I don't even think a penny comes my way to be  honest with you. For a billion spins, you made. no money. I don't think so. I don't That's not  how Spotify works. Well, how does it work? I'm. not sure. I'm just know I just know that that it  cuts a lot of people in on my financial stream. That's all I know. And a lot of people who are not  you, right? That once again aren't the creatives.

and they're the ones making all the money. So you  think some they were creative in how they came up. with something to get into somebody else's money  stream. what's called creative accounting, which. is a form of creativity, long unrecognized in the  West. Um, I would call it being a leech, but yeah, I would I would say the same. If it ain't broke,  don't fix it. It's a cliche for a reason cuz it's. pretty good advice, but sometimes it's not true.  Cell phones are a glaring exception. You've got.

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company. It's America's wireless company. It's  Pure Talk. That's amazing to me. It's um a billion. plays more than and you don't get paid. I don't  I mean I might have. It certainly wasn't enough. for me to to notice. Whoa, where the hell did all  this money come from in my bank account? Oh, I got. spun over a billion times on Spotify. That's why.  Mm-m. No. I mean, do I know for sure that no money.

came in? No. But well, if you don't remember,  then obviously it's minuscule comparative. It's. minuscule comparatively speaking. Well, that is so  interesting. Have there been um that's basically. the whole thing. The amount of money that we  generate as the artist, what we get back for. that is minuscule comparatively speaking to what  everybody else with their hands in the cookie jar.

makes. So whenever I hear people talk about the  I'm not complaining. Well, you should complain. I'm very blessed and I'm very lucky and I and I'm  and and you know obviously God has a plan for me. because this the way that all of this has just  happened and I am just a passenger and and I'm not. driving this ship. Yes. Um, but and I'm I'm very  lucky and very blessed, but I can still recognize.

the faults to the system and not necessarily be  complaining about how amazing of a ride I've had. doing this. It's just it's interesting. I mean,  but I should just say Spotify has been such a. huge blessing for us on this podcast. I mean, it's  just crazy. It's an amazing new way for people to. consume. Yeah. and it's run by a guy I know um who  owns it and I think is a good guy and committed to. to speech and and so I'm I'm very pro Spotify, but  I just didn't understand that um the creators on.

the music side were cut out of the benefits.  Again, not cut out. No, but I mean a billion. that's a lot. I mean, I should have I should have  seen a pretty significant deposit into my account. for that many spins. But what's interesting  is they probably paid somebody but not you. So you hear the probably I'm sure my record label  got paid. Well, you see the accounting of the US. economy like what's our GDP? You know, how much  money is the United States economy generating?

And like a lot. So the question is not you know  is the engine functioning. The question is where's. the money going? And my complaint about the US is  not capitalism which clearly works. It's about who. benefits from it. And it does seem like the least  useful, least creative, least certainly least. patriotic, but least decent people make all them  big money. Mhm. And I think that's this is another.

example of it. Like how did Larry Frink get so  like what what did Larry Frink do for America, etc., etc. Figured out a way to completely leech  off of everything that's already there. Well, it that's that's certainly the way it seems to me.  Certainly does. Right. So, how do you make money. by getting on the road? That is how and that's  why I work as hard as I do because that is where I. make my money. I don't make money on record sales.  I don't make money off of spins. I make money off.

of merch and actually playing shows. Wow. Um,  but that's a much it feels like that's a much. more direct transaction. Like you're renting the  venue, you're performing for two and a half hours. or whatever, you're getting a cut of gate. Like  it there are fewer middlemen in that, right? There. seems to be less of a less of a machine that puts  itself in between. Yeah. Um, but there is this.

thing that has taken place since I got my record  deal 28 years ago, 27 years ago, um, is called a. 360 deal. H, where now the younger artists,  they're sharing the profits for everything.

The record label gets a cut of their merch. The  record label gets a cut of their live performance. pay. The record record label gets a cut of 360  everything. Why? No matter what you generate, because they can. Because there's a thousand  people behind every single person with a record. label with a with a record deal that wants it as  badly as you did before you got it. And they can. give you the shittiest deal on the planet because  if you don't take it, the guy behind you will.

Wow. And they're not only uh greedy and  dishonest, ruthless, they're also very political, right? The record labels and usually in the  wrong direction. And I don't understand how. a record label that I mean it certainly isn't  capitalism with a conscience but it is it's.

certainly capitalism where the record label is  in it to make money and it's not necessarily. about what's the art that is being created by the  creative. It's about the money that that creative. artist is going to generate for the record label  to cover the 15 failures that they brought to. the table. Yes. And dumped all this money into I  get it. Publishing is the same way. Yeah. So, um,

you know, you've been in it your whole life.  You've toured with everybody. Everybody. You. were telling me last night about smoking weed  with Willie Nelson on his bus many years ago. So, you've turned with everybody. Um, how many  creators, artists, performers in your business. in private hate and resent the record companies?  Most. Most. Most, if not all. I don't know that in.

a private setting, in a private conversation  where things aren't going any further, I don't know of anybody that I know in  the business that would have good things. to say about it. Would it be possible for a decent  person to start a record company and record label?

I would think so. I would think so. But  the problem is is that the the the the. um the operating system, it's just it's not  decent, right? So a decent person could start. a record label but unless they change the entire  formula and then the entire way that the whole. business is ran the business itself is lurerous.  So a good person could start it but unless they.

change the whole thing it's going to be the same.  Right. It's like getting elected to Congress. Yeah. It's pretty obvious now that this country is  getting weaker than ever, meaning the population. is unhealthier. That's what MA is about. Trying to  counteract this long-term trend that's culminated. in a disaster. Americans are so unhealthy we can't  staff the military. And it's really, really sad.

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Obama getting elected. That was a moment, wasn't  it? And you weren't fully on board. Hell no. You. didn't worship Black Jesus? I I immediately  recognized it as a a as a horrible blow to. our country immediately. Not even knowing why  yet. Yeah. Like I just knew. Instinct tells you. instinctively in my gut I knew that we had made  a massive massive mistake as a country. Yeah,

that's for sure. And so many balls got rolling  during that time frame that we're still that. we're still trying to slow down. No, I know  it it it but yeah. Um when TMZ would get me. when I landed in Los Angeles and I was walking  through the airport and they'd they'd they'd. get me and ask me questions and and that  was that was when I started expressing my.

my feelings and my opinions on you know how they  get you. Do you know the answer to this? I found. out I've been gotten a few times at LAX by TMZ  and other airports. And um I once asked like, "How did you know I was on that plane?" Like,  you know, cuz they kn they know because they. bribed the airline. The guy told me this. They  bribed the airline to give them the manifest. Makes sense now. That that makes sense. How  out of nowhere they're like, "Hey, like what?

Where? How? What? How did you even know I was  here? Thanks, United. Bless you, American. Um, you know, it's it's pretty Anyway, so they would  you'd roll off the flight at LAX. Someone come up. to you and ask you a question. What did you say?  Oh, I was I have I have I had no issues then, nor do I have any issue now telling anybody  exactly how I feel. Um, and you know, I I was.

already talking about the unconstitutionalness  of Obama's actions and what he was doing and. I mean mentioning that what he was doing  was borderline treasonous and and that was. how I started the ball rolling. And what kind of  responses did you get? Cuz you weren't allowed to. criticize Obama there for a while or else you were  I can't remember the word racist. Yeah, I know.

I've been I've been labeled that racist. And then  there was there was one time I was I was playing a. show down by the down by the border and uh I mean  I've played a lot of shows and I've played a lot. of shows back before I had a record deal and this  was the rudest crowd I had played to in I don't. know 15 years. I'm playing completely acoustic all  by myself. Not even any extra musicians on stage.

or anything. Just me and my guitar. I could not  get them to shut up all night just talking over. me like I was the jukebox. And I made the mistake  of back then at the end of the show, I would do. a song completely unplugged where I would pull a  chord out of my guitar and I'd walk away from the. microphone and I'd go stand right on the edge of  the stage and I would acoustically play the last.

song with no microphone, with no nothing, just  belting to the crowd. And for some strange reason, after such a rude evening, I decided I was  going to do that and try to prove everybody. wrong. They're going to listen to me whether they  want to or not. So, I attempt to try to start the.

song. I explained to them what I was going to do  through the microphone before I stepped away from. the microphone. and I attempted to start the song.  As I got to where I started to sing, the volume. had gone up and not down. Now, mind you, there's  no sound system anymore. It's just me singing to. the room. So, I stop. I walk back around. I go  to the microphone. I explain to everybody what. I'm going to do again. I start again. Volume goes  up. So, I go back to the microphone and I was and.

I'm going to I was like, you know, listen, I don't  have to do this. I was trying to do something and. a lady that was standing right there in the front  row, like four people from the center, she's like, tell him to shut the [ __ ] up in Spanish.  And I said close to the microphone. I wasn't.

necessarily talking into the I was talking to her,  but it was close. And I said, "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't speak Spanish. I'm American." The world  ended for like a week all over the like broke the. internet. Aaron Lewis a racist. Aaron Lewis this  a racist, right? Because I said, "I'm I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't speak Spanish. I am American." That  was what I beat me. But that's what went around.

Perez Hilton did a hit piece on me about how much  of a racist I am. Put the video connected to it. And if you watch the video, you see that the whole  interview is I mean the whole piece is a complete. [ __ ] and a complete fabrication of all of it.  And they would write these hit pieces and actually. attach the video that completely contradicted the  hit piece. Yeah, it doesn't matter. But it doesn't.

matter because people wouldn't actually they just  read Perez Hilton. Boy, I haven't heard that name. in a while. Is he still alive? I don't know. Boy,  that's I don't know. Maybe the vax got him. I I. don't know. Possible. That's wild. So, you're  a racist for saying that I don't speak Spanish. I'm American. when America, it says clearly in  the books in the naturalization process that. you have to have a full working knowledge of the  English language before you can become a citizen.

in this country. Yeah. Well, you know, English  is not a race. The United States is not a race. There's nothing about race in that sentence  or sentiment. I know, right? Um Oh, yeah. Oh, boy. Well, you you just brought me back to an  earlier time. I don't think that would happen now. I don't know. People are so over that. People  are over it, but I think that that side of. things probably still would have tried. Well, now  they call you an anti-semite. Probably I'm a I'm. a I'm any of theists, right? Oh, wow. That's  wild. So, how did how did your manager and a.

assorted handlers record label feel about this?  Um, I mean it was just one of those things where. you just had to kind of let it go by. Yeah. Just  let it die out. Let it let it play its course and. go away. Was the crowd mad when you said that? No.  Yeah. Right. No. And then I tried one more time to.

sing the song and they wouldn't listen. And I put  my guitar down on the stage and walked off stage. What' you do? I was already two plus hours into a  show. It's not like they they they they were like. it's not like any of the show got taken away from  them at all. I was done. I was just trying to do. something special and and they didn't want it. So  So did you ever have like direct conflict with an.

employer over politics? With an employer? Yeah.  With the label? I mean, my record label president, we've had some pretty heated discussions about  politics and and he I mean, when you do the whole. breakdown and you start talking really bare bones  basics, there's a lot of things that he agrees.

with me on, but when you bring all the rest of it  in, we don't see eye to eye on much of anything, right? Um I I get that a lot. Reasonable people,  similar values, actually, but they're just they. see themselves so differently and they're just  committed to some weird partisan addiction. It. It's almost like a feel-good addiction, like a  like a um like it's a virtue signaling addiction.

that people seem to have that for some reason  feel so guilty about their own life that they. need to create these these things to to virtue  signal and and make themselves feel like a better. person because at the end of the day how they  present themselves and and behave in life is is.

is unfulfilling for them. So they somehow  have to virtue signal to make them feel. better about their unfulfilled lives. I  it's it's a very strange strange thing. I I have found as a 53year-old  man looking at the people that. are younger than me that are going to  take over this country when I'm gone. um.

they just want to be a victim. Like it's the  craziest thing happening with with our culture. where all of our younger generation there's  more pride taken in being a victim than there. is in getting over and getting through and moving  past whatever it is that you were a victim of.

It's not pull your bootstraps up and and and stand  up and and keep moving forward anymore. It's it's. lavish in the victimhood as long as possible.  And that just doesn't compute with me. No. Like. I don't that's not what I was taught at all. At  all. At all. You weren't encouraged to whine as. a child. No. No. I wasn't either. Honestly, if  I was whining, I don't think that my my voice.

was even acknowledged. Of course not. As it  shouldn't be, right? Do you feel guilty about. growing up as rich as you did going to Hodgekiss  and Yale and all the advantages that you had? I I grew up very much like most in this  country. We were lower middle class at.

best. I The first memories that I have  are living in a single wide trailer in. a trailer park in Castleton, Vermont.  Charming place. Super charming. Yeah, it's not it's not the Vermont of weekend getaways,  is it? Not so much. It's not Stow really. Um, and my dad back in the 60s, he bought a hunting  camp up on the side of a mountain in Shrewsbury.

and he moved us from the trailer park to that  hunting camp. It's It's in the It's in the song. Country Board. My My dad picked the place up for  1,500 bucks back in 1964. He bought this hunting. camp on the side of a mountain for $1,500. And  he moved us into that hunting camp. And by the.

time we moved, he sold that same place for 85  grand, I think. And that was what put us in a. regular middle class neighborhood at that point.  That was the up that he that he turned that $1,500. investment into 80s something. I've always wanted  to live at my hunting camp. I think that's the. dream for a lot of people. I would just like to  live in a hunting camp. What was that like? As.

good as as as a kid. Yeah. Lonely. I bet lonely.  I had to keep myself occupied for sure. I was out. in the middle of the woods as a 5-year-old kid.  What's your mom say? What does a woman say when. her husband moves her to a hunting camp? I don't  think my mom minded. I don't think my mom minded. There was like she had the garden out front and  and they were always I mean my parents were kind. of hippie-ish. Yeah, that sounds I mean my dad  got arrested at the Yankee nuclear power plant for.

protesting back in the day before it was up and  running. Yes. Was it I mean what was deer season. like if you already live in the hunting camp? It  wasn't there. We would go to to Wallingford and to. Dani and up where up where the family was and the  Lewis farm was in Dami and was you know half of. the Dami is almost like a almost like a volcano  like an inactive volcano where at the top of of.

uh the mountain there's a valley. So it's like  a old like an ancient ancient volcano that at. some point blew off but you would never know but  there's a valley on the top of the mountain and. that was the valley that Louis the Lewis farm  was in and it was like top 10 dairy farms in in.

Vermont. Um, and so the farm is where we would  go and everybody would gather up and we would. do the classic drives and pushes and and all that  stuff. And it was always rifle. I didn't get into. bow hunting until till later in life. Yeah. Well,  it didn't there wasn't much of it. Not really. Not. then. No. No. I mean, bows have really come a long  way since like the mid80s to now. I remember the.

first time I heard it, I thought it was like  one of the not not bad. I wasn't against it, but I was like, "Wow, you kill a deer with  a bow." Like hayawa. Like that was wild, huh? Do you still hunting fish? I do all the time.  I'm so completely ate up with upland bird hunting. and and I'm from New England so I had never hunt  quail before and I earlier this year went on my.

first quail hunt and oh my god that was it for  me really that was it for me like I have gone I. I went probably 15 times since I found found quail  hunting and and I hunted all the way up until the. last day of the season in Florida is April 15th.  15th or 20th maybe or somewhere around there. And.

literally hunted all the way through to the  last day. And uh what do you like about it? Everything. The tradition. The tradition is the  biggest thing for me. Like I'm I'm all about it. I'm I'm hunting with with a gun that, you  know, should be in a museum or in a in. somebody's private collection and and I those are  my hunting guns. Um, what do you hunt with? I'm.

a big 410 guy. I love the 410. It's the smallest  of the shotgun gauges. It is the smallest of the. shotgun gauges. It is the most gentlemanly, if you  will. Um, and but I'll be out there in full Filson. regalia and and and looking like I just came  out of a out of a safari or something. And and. I'm all about it. I'm I I I respect the tradition  of it. Um, the camaraderie, the dogs. Oh my god,

I love watching the dogs work. They're  unbelievable. Watching a dog slam into. a point like that. Like like somebody just shot  him with electricity. Just It's amazing. It is. amazing. It is amazing. It is amazing that that's  that's almost as enjoyable as the actual flush and.

the shot is actually watching the dogs. I totally  agree with that. That's that's half threearters. of the enjoyment is experiencing that whole thing  with with the dogs and how amazingly trained they. are. I mean just how does a dog know to do that? I  don't know. It's amazing. It's latent. I mean they. think it's in the dog and your job is to bring  it out. Instinctual and then you got to bring it.

out. That's it. It's amazing. Can you hit a quail  with a 410? Almost every time. Really? Yes, sir. You're doing 180 shows a year. How'd you get to be  such a good shot? Um, I had a I I was hunting with. my dad bird hunting for roughed grouse and and  woodcock just like you love so much. Um, at seven,

eight. Yep. I think I got my first double for  Woodcocks at 10 or 11. Got my first double on. Grouse at like 12 or 13. Wow. I've never done  that. The Grouse one was like it couldn't have. been more perfect. Three Grouse all went up at the  same time and they all flew straight away from me. I probably could have got a triple if I was using  a semi-auto and not a You had another barrel. So,

for people who don't I mean, I'm sure we're  going to lose an audience uh point here, but for people who don't know what New England  grouse hunting is, can you describe it? Um, a grouse is a big woodland bird about the size of  a chicken. About the size of a chicken. And they. they they strut like a turkey does. Yeah. Um, and  they've they're one of the most beautiful birds.

and they're one of the hardest. Yes, they're  as fast as an F-15 and you literally have If. you get two seconds as a window of opportunity  for that shot, that's a lot. That's a lot. Yeah, that's a lot. And they they go off and it's like  and they're gone. You literally have that much.

and they're gone. And the noise I'm making is what  it sounds like when they take off from their bird. from their wings hitting their body and it'll it  will stop your heart like Yeah. And they're no. pen raised rough grouse. I mean, they're just all  wild birds 100%. And they're as wild as wild gets. And for you to go out and have a successful  day of roughed grouse hunting or partridge as.

they're also called. Yeah. Um you've you've  accomplished something. That's for sure. You. you you get a limit and you're actually done for  the day and can't keep hunting for the day with. roughed grouse. You are you have accomplished  something. If you're doing it on foot, I I've. never done that, but um never limit it out on  grouse. But like how many how far per bird do you. think you walk in grouse? Miles. Miles. Unless you  unless you have found a a a thick population, you.

will cover some ground and you will put in a lot  of work. It's probably why I like quail hunting. films. You get older cuz I'm I'm I'm 53. I I don't  necessarily want to walk into a piece of woods. that is up and down and the thickest. They of  course they live in the thickest crap. Oh yeah. So. you're really, really, really, really putting in  a lot of effort to possibly put up one bird. where.

with quail hunting, if you go to a plantation  where that's their deal is quail hunting, with a nice leisurely stroll, nice leisurely  gentlemanly stroll through the woods, you can. put up a 100 birds instead of possibly one.  Yeah. In that sense, the the the hot and heavy.

action is what kind of keeps makes the the quail  hunting thing kind of at the top, if if you will. Quail hunting is a rich man's sport. Rough grouse  hunting in New England is a is a poor man's sport. Quail hunting is a rich man's sport because of  the fact that the majority of the quail hunting. that you can do at this point in in our in in  our society and in our growth as a country,

everything else, it's really hard to actually  find wild quail to begin with. Yes. So what. you're hunting is a put and take situation.  So there's an overhead to it. Yeah. And you.

you're paying anywhere from a,000 to astronomical  prices to go and hunt this place. Yep. Some places. are are insane and so exclusive and so private  that even if you had the the ridiculous amount. of money depend you can't um but yes it's a it  is a a rich man sport in the sense that it's.

hard to go do it on your your own time with no  dime for sure. you you you gotta go to a place. that for the most part you got to go to a place  that it charges you because there's a massive. overhead for the cost of the birds and the cost  of everything. So, um, if you know, musician, if. you had to pair a musician with these two kinds of  up on bird hunting, you'd say Bruce Springsteen, who's the representative of America's working man.  Oh, yeah. Totally. He would be a gr such a like I.

I would put him as my representation any day.  Do you know Bruce Springsteen? No, thankfully. What do you think of him? Um, I I think that that  he is a a disgusting display of not appreciating. what was handed to him for as in this country as  being an American, the success that he has had.

I I the fact that he duped us all with one of  the most anti-American songs ever and called it. Born in the USA as some sort of celebration  of how great it is to be born in the USA. I I'm angry at myself for not seeing  it for so long and actually giving.

him in my mind the credit of being a  representation of bluecollar America. I think that he has forgotten where he came  from. Yep. I think that if you're not careful.

doing this, this career that that me and him have  both been so blessed to have had, if you're not. careful, it will consume you and and it's obvious  that it creates a situation where you've lost. sight of the reality of the country that you live  in because you've you've lived such a cush. Um,

you've had so much. You have so much that  it's really easy to take a stance that is. so anti- everything that that that you  that you were lucky enough to have lucky.

enough to create lucky enough to to be  to change your your situation in life. and he's just lost touch with the struggles.  He's lost touch with the struggle. And it seems like most people who have  lost touch with the true struggle of life,

those are the people that  vote for these [ __ ] idiots. Those are the people that feel like they have  to virtue signal. Th those are the people that. somewhere along the way they feel guilty for the  success that they have had. So they somehow have. to make it up with this nonsensical [ __ ] that  like you grew up at the same time dream I did.

It was the most unraially driven the the  the the verbal beating that we took over. and over and over our whole childhood of  you don't judge a man by the color of his. skin. You judge a man by the content  of his character. and [Music] and like.

it was the best that our country has ever  been. And I think that that didn't work well. for the Democrats and the Communists. Why?  Because they thrive in the chaos. They they. want us at each other's throats. They want  us bickering internally. So that we have no.

sense of of shared country pride that we have  no sense of of shared morality because they've. created so many things artificially for us to  fight about. I mean there is no doubt in my. mind at this point it's not coincidental. It's  purposeful. Like there is definitely a a a power.

center in this world that definitely does not  want to see us as the the shining light on the. hill. No. No. At all. They're against peace and  prosperity and well because there's no money in. it. Self-sufficiency and God. Um yeah. No, I I  couldn't. There's no money in it. If we're all, you know, how can they exploit us if we're all  united and getting along when we're all looking.

out for each other as human beings? How can they  exploit us? They can't. So, they have to they have. to keep us in a constant state of conflict.  When did you start to realize this? [Music]. as I got old enough to be carrying the  weight of that responsibility on my. shoulders. Yes. Like knowing full well that  okay it's my turn now. I have assumed the.

responsibility which we are all supposed  to do that the country is in my hands. It. was in my father's hands before that. It  was in my grandfather's hands before that. And as as our as our generations grow and get  older, each generation it's now their turn to. become and take over as the stewards  of this amazing, beautiful country.

And we forgot about that for a little bit. And  we haven't been doing that over the probably the. past 30 years. And that's not okay with me. Like  it is my responsibility now as a father and a. proud patriot. It's my responsibility now to make  sure that what I hand over to the next generation.

behind me is better than I found it. Because  that's that's what we're supposed to do. That's. that's what we were taught our whole lives. You  walk into the woods, you leave it cleaner than you. found it. You find one piece of trash. It doesn't  even matter. One piece of trash and you pick it. up and you put it in your pocket. You have left  that better than you found it. And our generation, that's what was instilled in us, beaten into us.  That's for sure. Yeah. Yeah, that's I still come.

from I come from the generation of of still it's  probably the last generation of as a kid now. Did. it [ __ ] me up and and make me feel like my my  voice doesn't get heard and and I like I and like. a an incessant thing for me is to be heard because  I didn't feel like my voice was heard as a kid at. all because I was like the last generation of kids  that are kids are to speak when they're spoken.

to and that's it. Like that's I got that from my  grandparents. Like children are only to speak when. they're spoken to. That's fair. And children are  to be seen and not heard. Also fair. Unless they. have something interesting to say. Sure. Yeah.  But if you don't I think in general if you don't. have something interesting to say I think that  all supports the whole thing of because I said.

so. It doesn't I don't have to give you a reason  as my child as to why like because I said so it. there's a huge lesson with that in life. Your boss  isn't going to explain to you why you have to do. something. He's going to tell you to do something  and you need to just do it. There's going to be. situations in life where if somebody tells you  to do something and you hesitate and don't do it,

your life could be in danger. There there it's  just a it's a lost art form. It's a lost art form. Parenting is a lost art form. I said that all the  way back in 2001 on the cover of Rolling Stone. Parents have forgotten how to be parents. Like I  realized that all the way back then and it's only. gotten worse. Yeah. The the average kid these  days the biggest parental figure in their life.

is their computer or their phone. It's not their  parent. Yeah. It's the internet. It's insane. We. are knowingly and willingly flushing everything  down the toilet out of convenience. It's so. convenient to have this fully operating computer  in my hand at all times. It's so convenient.

Every important piece of thread that makes up the  fabric of this country is being picked out one at. a time. And it's going to leave us with this empty  shell that nobody knows what to do with it now. because we've already discarded and thrown away  everything that kept us on a on a path on a good.

path in life. Feels like new people will rebuild  a new and different society in place of the. Americans who were here when you and I were born.  And that's scary. Oh, I know. That's scary. If. if if we hand this country off as the stewards of  today, if we hand this country off to the younger. generation without fixing it first and they're  able to do what they've been taught to do, this.

country will cease to exist. Certainly will not  be the shining light on the hill anymore. I don't. know that it is already. I mean, the the the love  and want and desire for this country to go back to. where it was for a lot of people is still strong.  But I don't know if we have the wherewithal as.

a society, as an entire country to pull our  heads out of our asses long enough to fix it. It's scary. I'm I'm scared. I'm scared for my  kids. I I I I lose sleep over what this country is. going to be for good lord, my grandkids. It's bad  enough for my kids. Yes. But another generation,

my grandkids, if this doesn't if this ship doesn't  get writed, what are they even going to have? Is. their life going to even have the se even the  slightest semblance of what our lives were? Do. our kids now is their life even the slightest  semblance of what me and you had as kids? No. [ __ ] way. How's it different? You've got three  kids. We were latch key kids. You didn't even have.

to lock your door. It like you came home and  and and so many parents weren't even there. And there was no worry like I never  had a key to my house. I don't have a. key to my house now actually because of  where you live. Yeah. Well, right. No, that's right. And I love it out here. This is like  No, I agree. No, but you're you're right. I mean, the feeling of safety um what was kind  of unquestioned. the feeling of trust,

just overall trust of your fellow man. There's  there's that's that's instinct. It's it's it's. it's extinct. It doesn't it doesn't really exist  anymore. So, you travel by vehicle, by bus through.

America. I don't like to fly. I literally have  not flown on a commercial plane since everything. shut down for CO. Wow. Good for you. I am I will  I drive everywhere unless I absolutely have to fly. and then I am guilty. I won't fly commercial. But  once maybe twice a year when I absolutely have to.

fly, I will I will be bougie and get a plane. Get  a plane. But because you're traveling overland the. majority of the year, I see what this country  exactly. So that's what do you see? And you've. been doing this for what 30 years? You've been  on the road across America. I have watched the. flyover states just crumble. You go into a small  town, half the b businesses are boarded up. You.

know those small classic what you would think  of as Americana, those Norman Rockwell towns. They're all boarded up. There's nobody downtown.  There's no commerce. There's there's there's a. Dollar General down the street. Yeah. There's a  Walmart 10 minutes away, but every mom and pop.

shop is all gone. Family businesses that have that  have provided for that family and provided for the. town with the business that they provide. It's  all gone everywhere pretty much. pretty much. What are the you you play in every region of the  country? Yeah. What are the toughest parts of the.

country right now? Rural. Yeah. Rural. Second  you leave the cities. H. And that and it's and. and it's undeniable visually right there in front  of your face. You have to close your eyes to not. see it. So why does no one ever mention that? I  never I every US senator I know I know all the. Republicans. I mean they're very upset about Iran  or Ukraine, but I don't ever hear them mention.

their own states outside the cities. I know it's  disgusting. And these are supposed to be the. people that are the representatives of that area.  Yeah. You wonder has Tom Cotton ever been to the. Delta in Arkansas? Like when was the Seriously,  when was the last time he was in El Dorado, Arkansas? Right. And I've been through all of  Arkansas and it's it's poverty stricker and.

falling apart and and that's anywhere. Tennessee  I know. Like anywhere. I know. 30 years ago, 40 years ago, Pineluff, Arkansas was a real town  and now, you know, it's one of the most dangerous. places in the country. I just wonder like what do  they think? I don't know. And I don't understand. why their policies never work. No, like they never  ever work. I don't know of a single communist.

policy that has actually done good for whoever  it was that the policy was designed for. None of. them, right? It's only about destruction.  It is. It's only about destruction. Well, here's a story you probably haven't heard a  lot about. The Chinese mafia is exploiting.

rural America to create a drug empire. This is  not available on cable news. The network's not. telling you about this, but it's totally real.  Communist affiliated drug gangs destroying parts. of the United States, the parts that Washington  ignores, to sell drugs, laundering money, and building a black market network inside this  country's most beautiful but least served areas. We've got a brand new documentary on this.  It's called High Crimes: The Chinese Mafia.

Takeover of Rural America. It's available now on  tuckercarlson.com. It's excellent. the purchase. of churches and schools to aid the operation, the  jerryrigging of power boxes to steal electricity, foreign pesticides, collusion with the Mexican  cartels. It's it's unbelievable. By the way, one of the drug houses is like walking distance  from my house. I didn't know that. It's a. layered and fascinating story. Head to tucker  carlson.com to watch now. We think you'll love it.

So, here's uh here's one of my favorite  quotes. My favorite Aaron Lewis quotes, my book of Aaron Lewis quotes. Um, you know,  everyone want you know, everyone in music is. like an outlaw. I'm a rebel and they all say the  same thing and they all mouth the same pieties, read the same stupid bumper stickers,  kiss ass to the same powerful people. Um, so this this actually is kind of an outlaw  thing to say. And here's what you said in 2022. And I'm quoting you. You know, as [ __ ] up as it  sounds, maybe we should listen to what Vladimir.

Putin is saying. I got I got so I got in so much  trouble for that. And I let me I will continue. to quote you back to you. Maybe when Claus Schwab  and George Soros and every other earth destroying. MF are all jump on the same B bandwagon, maybe,  just maybe, we should take a good look at that. Why are they trying to protect Ukraine so much?  What do they all have to lose? So, I would think. like in a in a country with creative people, a  free country, that you would be one of many people.

asking the single most obvious questions.  Why can't we listen to what the other side. is saying? And why are all these people who were  pretty obviously bad all so vested in this one far. away country? Like, what do they have to lose? I  mean, first of all, bless you for saying that. Um, second, did anyone ever answer your question? Um,  nope. Nope. Um, I lost employees. Employees? Oh,

yeah. People that not direct employees in my like  in my knit circle. Yeah. But external employees, people that worked for me in in different  areas that wouldn't that that wanted nothing. to do with it anymore. It's it's a it's a funny  story. in your part of it. The reason I said. that is because I had literally just watched your  show. Oh gosh. And you were the one to say, "hm, maybe we should have maybe we should listen to  Putin and see what he has to say." And I was like,

"Well, if Tucker has said it on Fox, how' that  worked out for me?" It worked out for both of. us the same way. Man, I agree. It worked out  for both of us the same way. It it it it took. weeks for that one to go away. Really? Oh,  yeah. But I just I I am not an artist. I'm. I'm guy who gives his opinions on YouTube. But I  appreciate artists, which is to say people whose.

whole job is to pursue the truth, you know,  whether they get there or not. But I mean, that's their job. And every society carves out  room for them to do that. And a healthy society. isn't run by artists. Don't want them. They're not  in charge of the power grid. Okay. But a healthy. society does kind of listen sometimes to what they  say because they're saying unconventional things, challenge you to think a little more deeply about  things you assume are true. Are they actually. true? Um, you pay artists to say things like that.  So, it's just wild to live in a society where.

artists are leading the charge for conformity.  They're like, "No, no, obey." That doesn't When. did that happen? I don't know. But it's very  weird. It it it seems like what once was like. on that edge is now so blunted and everybody is  just a spokesperson person for the machine. It. does feel that way because they're all afraid  of losing their position in the machine. Yeah.

When all of the higherups think the opposite  that you do, most of the time in this industry, those people don't have the wiggle room that I do.  Yeah. So, they have to conform or they lose their. spot. I was lucky enough to have built and created  my spot before I chose to not conform. Right. So,

I didn't necessarily lose my spot just because  I didn't conform because I had already built it. and they couldn't take that away from me at that  point. Like, they've already tried to cancel me. They've already done everything that they can  do to talk [ __ ] about me. So, now they just. ignore my existence. Now, they don't even say  bad things. They just don't say anything at all.

It it doesn't seem to have affected your sales.  Doesn't seem to. You had one of the biggest songs. in the country a couple years ago. Everybody hated  it. Everybody in charge hated it. Am I the only. one? Yeah. Yeah. There was a outward call within  the industry for me to be cancelled and to lose. my record deal. And my record label president,  who we don't see eye to eye on politics at all,

stood up for my right to free speech and my  right and my right to creativity and as an. artist my right to express myself however I  want. What didn't they like about the song? that it was a patriotic, countryloving. point out the what the [ __ ] is going on  right now. Yeah. point of view and they didn't.

like that. They they they didn't like that I  was pointing out the obvious in a time where. every single one of us was sitting  there scratching our heads going, "What in the [ __ ] is going on in this  country?" I'm I'm 49 or 50 at the time or.

whatever it was and I've never seen anything  even remotely close to what's going on right. now in this country. Like where did our sense of  free people go where all of a sudden we're just. conforming to these rules that just don't make  any sense? It seems like they're just taking. handfuls of [ __ ] and throwing it against the  wall and seeing what sticks. And I was like, "What the [ __ ] Am I the only one who's seeing  this? Who's who who's recognizing how completely.

how completely absurd the whole concept was  of shutting everything down? How how do we. survive that as a as an economy, as a a as  a as a the wheels that need to keep moving.

at all times just screeched to a freaking  halt. And you know, me and and Jeff Steel. and Ira Dean got together and everybody was  wearing masks at the time. Everybody was was. was distancing themselves from everybody. That  moment in time was one of the most destructive. moments in time that we've ever experienced. It  it destroyed our our close-knitness. It destroyed.

human beings are are are social people. They we  want to be in groups. They want to be together. We we we want to we're we're you know we  we we want to come together instinctively. and to do that like there's a there's a whole lot  of people that that are responsible for that that.

that should be held accountable for what they  did. I couldn't agree more. I I'm I'm still. blown away by it. I still I still feel like the  words to that song are are just as relevant to.

this moment that we are sitting in right now  as it was 5 years ago when we were locked up. and told that we had to wear masks and then we  couldn't. I I had a mask in my car just to put. on if I went into Dunkin' Donuts or if I And that  didn't even last for very long. A month into it, I was like, "This is [ __ ] bullshit." I I'm  not I got thrown out of Dunkin Donuts one day.

for walking in without my mask on. You got thrown  at Dunkin Donuts and like like rudely really like. you are putting everybody in this in this place's  life in danger and and you should be ashamed of. yourself. I was waiting notice the place where  homeless junkies shoot up in the bathroom. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Same place. Yeah. Yeah.  Okay. Um but what you were doing was unclean, right? Yeah. So I Yeah. I never knew that people  were that easy to to train. I never knew they were.

that obedient. I never knew there were that many  people with no self-respect at all. At the time, I. was living in a a very very left town. Which town?  Massachusetts. Northampton, Massachusetts. Lesbian. capital of the world. Mhm. It's where Smith  College is. It's a It is a festering cesspool.

of of anti-American everything. What's the  happiness level, would you say, in Northampton, man? Misery. I don't see I don't see anybody  smiling ever. Ever. They are all these people. that feel the need to virtue signal every time  they turn around are some of the most miserable. people you've ever met in your life. Oh, I've  noticed. Oh, yeah. What are they up mad about? Their own failures. I I don't I don't know.  I don't know why it's such an incessant need.

these days to to do it. Like just live  a good life. All this virtue signaling, all this all this fake outrage, ju just live  a good life. Yeah. Treat people good. You'll. get treated good. in return. How' they How'  they treat you in Northampton if they knew.

who I was? Probably not very good. Country  music's not that big in Northampton. I'm not. I'm a I'm not the artist celebrity. I hate I  don't even like using that word. It makes me. feel weird. I'm not I'm not the artist that  wants to get noticed. I I I try my best to to. stay under the radar. A successful day for me of  going out and about is not getting noticed. So.

I it uh it doesn't I don't even remember  where I was. Sometimes I get on a roll and. I I lose track. Well, you just picked  the right town for anonymity. I mean, if you were say the Indigo Girls or the Dixie  wouldn't be able to walk down the street. No. No. But um you really did you choose  Northampton because you know not a single.

person there has ever heard of your music  at the time? It was out of convenience. Um, but. I certainly would not choose, nor do I, now  that I don't live in downtown Northampton. I. I don't I don't choose to go there. I will go  into Northampton for pretty much one reason.

and one reason only. And his name is Sam and he  is the sushi chef at Moshimoshi. Oh. And I will. go and I will sit down at the sushi bar with  Sam, drink saki with him, and eat sushi. So. you'll make the sushi pilgrimage, but you would  but no more residential time there. No. What's. your Let me ask you a couple questions about  what you like. I want to try that flavor. Oh,

it's the best. This is sweet nectar. We just  came out with it and I got like a case of it. So, I've been I've been on it and I really What are  the other two new flavor the other couple flavors? I know that I heard you. We have a bunch. We've  got fruit and mint and winter green and all that, but this is um and we've got a bunch of  other flavors we're working on, but that. uh the government makes it hard to introduce new  flavors. It's crazy. Well, cuz you're you're ad. you're trying to get the kids. That's what it  is. Yeah. I can't I'm not even allowed to talk.

about that topic. Nicotine for the children is  totally verboten. Um I started really young. I'll just say that and I'm glad I did. But  anyway, uh I know everyone disagrees with me, but that's how I actually feel, so I'm just  going to say it. I had my first cigarette at 8. And I've actually been smoking like have a pack  of cigarettes. I've been smoking since I was.

like 13. Yeah, me too. But I I quit at 45. And  what brand do you smoke? American Spirits. It's. a good cigarette. It is. As far as a cigarette  goes, it's del It's delicious. It's delicious. It. doesn't have all the extra 1,600 chemicals that  they put in there to make it more addictive, to. make it burn faster, to make it burn slower. They  even put chemicals in there that are contradictory. to themselves. Yeah. For fire fireproofing their  cigarettes. I mean, it's all Yeah. And then an.

American Spirit will go out on its own. No,  I know. If you I smoked American Spirit Blues. um the light blue and I always took the filters  off and I just thought, "Wow, that's like that's. the strongest cigarette made in America." If  you do that, it's incredible cigarette. I don't. smoke anymore anyway. Sorry. So, I'm not promoting  smoking though. It is delicious. Very delicious. More delicious than anything I've ever done before  or since. I'm just That's why people do it. By the.

way, the piety around smoking. Obviously,  smoking is not good for you. I don't want. my teeth good for you. It smells. It looks gross.  All of those things. I disagree. I And it's such. a satisfying five minutes removed off your life.  Well, you think about people who kind of openly, brazenly, publicly send young men off to die in  pointless wars on behalf of some other country.

Like that's just that that's just par in the  US Congress. all can't wait to do that and they. face no moral sanction whatsoever. But if you  were to light a cigarette and someone saw you, you'd be like a monster. I I look, I'm not arguing  for smoking. I'm just saying it's good to have a. sensible moral hierarchy in mind when you assess  other people's behavior. Like some things are bad, but some things are worse than that. Right.  Right. And and make your choices accordingly,

you know? Well, kind of. And make your judgments  accordingly. I mean, I do think violence is bad. Sure. And sending off other people's kids to die  is one of the worst things I can imagine. And yet. that's celebrated. You would think that that would  be like a really hard decision to make. It's not. No, it's like the easiest decision for them to  make. Ex Lindsey Graham literally can't wait. And I do think all of them should be forced to  go to the front lines in Ukraine and worry about.

getting droned. Not because I wish them harm, but  because there should be some skin in the game. I I. just want some [ __ ] truth. Yeah, I agree. I I  want to know why Lindsey Graham is such a a a a. Ukraine like what what were you doing over there  Lindsay in 2014? Fair ask. What were you doing?

Why are you so vested in in Ukraine? Why why why  would you put Ukraine over everything else? like. what is going on? I mean, as as you know, as so  many people are fully aware, the Ukraine is one of. the dirtiest and most corrupt places in the world  aside from the United States. Run by a Stalinist, by the way, who canled elections, closed the  biggest Christian denomination in the country,

put the priests and nuns in prison, like  murdering his political enemies. I can't. go to Ukraine. going to get killed if I went to  Ukraine, a country that my tax dollars support, right? And Lindsey Graham was like, "No, that's  great. I I don't know. I mean, let's just wake. up a second. This is bonkers. It's degrading us.  It's beyond immoral. It's like self harm at scale. It's crushing the United States." It just makes  me wonder how many of these politicians that make.

these decisions that were like, "What the [ __ ]  are you even thinking? Did you get caught in a. honeypot? Did Did Did you do something and they  caught you doing it and now they have you under. their thumb? Oh, I know. Like Madison Cawthorne  got ran out because he started mentioning stuff. like that, started talking about the parties that  happened and start they got rid of him as fast as. they could. He's a good dude. Well, Matt Gates,  same thing. Matt Gates, same thing. They're like,

"Oh, you don't know. I don't know how Marjorie  Taylor Green has has somehow made it this far. aside from being a woman. And I don't think  they have anything on her. I think she's like. a decent person. Yeah, I think she's incredible.  But it was so funny with Gates. They're like, he starts making, you know, unauthorized noises  about this or that and all of a sudden they're. like, "Well, you had sex with children. Okay,  where's the evidence?" And by the way, where's.

the indictment? They never indicted him for it.  Oh, I know. So, how can you accuse somebody of a. crime and then not the government is accusing him  of a crime and then not indicting him for it? Why. is that not a crime in itself? If Matt Gates had  sex with children, indict him. Arrest him. Put. him on trial and prove it. Or you're in trouble  yourself for for um for destroying his character, using my tax dollars to commit slander against  your political opponents. Yeah, that's a crime, right? But no one's ever prosecuted. And  and but that's what that does is it puts.

the fear of God into all the other freaks in  Congress. All of whom have some not all but. many of whom have something to hide, including  people we've just mentioned. And they're like, "Whoa, you know, I better stay way away from  the boundaries because I could get hurt." It. just casts a Paul over everybody of fear.  Mhm. Um you obviously don't feel that. No. How How long can you do 180 shows a year if I'm  doing the country thing? Yeah. Forever. Really?

Well, Willie Nelson does it. He's 90. Yeah,  I could I can if I live that long, I could I. could still be the country thing. I could still  be doing that. The stained thing that's a that's. a little bit more taxing. Yeah, I believe to  my to my voice. It's a lot of yelling. It's a. lot of screaming. It's it's it's it's a lot more  taxing to where if I'm being completely honest,

there's probably more of a shelf life to my  country thing than there is to the stained thing. There's probably going to come a point where  I'm going to have to be like, you know what? It's It's too taxing on me and it takes too long  for me to recover from being on tour with Stained. for a month. And there's probably going to come a  point where I'm going to be like, for longevity's.

purposes, I I I I need to either do less shows  or not so many in a row or the country thing, man. I could do three shows a day every single  day and never blow myself out and enjoy it.

You have to be pretty damn blessed in life. to be able to continue enjoying a job. Yeah,  it is a job at the end of the day. at the I'm. blessed that I was able to create my job around  something that I love and that I'm driven to do.

But as a job, there's parts of that that  kind of ruin the the experience of it. all. There's it's the music business. The  music part I love. Yeah. the business part. it it it can ruin the part that I love so  much. That's why no one enjoys porn. Sorry, I should have said that. No, but it's true.  I mean, like any anytime you, you know,

take a good thing and and make it a business, it  it diminishes it. Of course. Oh, god. Our poor. kids these days, they're they're sex addicts and  porn addicts before they've even had sex. Yeah, I know. It's depressing. They're learning about  sex through porn. Yeah. And Yeah. That's a That's. a healthy sex life. That's It's Yeah. You Yeah.  Speaking of like creating a moral hierarchy, the people who make and profit from porn, I  mean, I don't know why they're not in prison,

but um I talk about exploitation. Oh, yeah. Right.  But it's it's the cigarette smokers and the people. who doubt Zilinsky who really should lose their  jobs. Okay, let me end on a on a happy note. So, you've said a lot of um tough things about the  music business and the people who profit from it. You described them as leeches. I don't know that  to be true cuz I've never been in your business, but we all know we all know that they're all  calling them a leech. It's a that's a pretty.

negative connotation, but just a blood sucking  parasite in general. What a leech does is it. parasites off of a living organism and that  that leech isn't the one that's responsible. for the life that it's leeching off of. Exactly.  And so it's an analogy. I don't want to be that.

negative or like hateful about it. I'm  I'm very grateful to to my president, the record label president, for  standing up for me and for But, you know, it's a it's a it's a it's a a business  in a in a situation that you stop paying attention. for a half a second and you're ate up and  spit out already and you're gone. Yeah, I believe that. it. Uh, so who are so here's  the the question I want to end on because it.

is a it isn't a positive question having been  in it for 30 years. Who are the good guys? Who. are the artists who you know personally who  are actually in the green room good guys? Long sigh there. Um, I I I keep my  circle pretty small. Mhm. Um, you know,

Bob's Bob's my friend. That'd be Kid Rock. Mhm.  Um, you know, I I don't interact very much with. the rest of the industry really. I mean, I  don't I don't find myself in Nashville very. often. I don't go to the gatherings and the  parties and the and the I'm I live out in the.

corn and the soybeans and the tobacco and and and  you know there's miles in every direction around. my house of just agriculture. I I so I don't  really interact with the business very much. I'm I'm very particular about my inner circle  and and who I consider a friend and I don't I.

don't have a lot of those. So, you know, I don't  I don't have a lot picture here. Aaron Lewis, I gave you a So, I was like, "All right,  who are the good guys?" and you're like, "Uh, well, uh, you know, this this business  is is tough." Would you want your kids to go. into it? No. And and they've had my my my oldest  daughter, Zoe, is on one of my records singing.

um uh singing Traveling Soldier  by the Dixie Chicks, actually. Um, and I don't know, so many people approached me  like, "You're I'll give her a record deal. Let's. let's She doesn't want nothing to do with  it." My kids have my kids have been on the. receiving end of all the [ __ ] that comes with  this industry and all the sacrifice and all the.

all the the the the disappointment and the you  know I'm a I'm a slave to the grind. You know, the grind has taken precedent over important  things in my life that I can never get back. You. know, monumental things. My kids' first steps, my  kids' first words, my kids first days of school,

my kids last days of school, my kids graduations.  I haven't been able to be there for a lot of them. the the the sacrifice is real. Yeah. Um but it's  it's created a situation where I just don't let. very many people in. So to in a big roundabout  circle to answer your question, I I have a lot.

of acquaintances in the industry. Like there's  people that I have huge love and respect for. I I. um like pen pals like me and you text all  the time. Me and Marilyn Manson text all. the time. Yeah. Um I haven't seen He'd actually  surprise you. I I interviewed him in the 90s, Brian. And uh and I thought he was smart  in maybe 1999 at the Chateau Mormont in LA.

Brian is one of the most intelligent, profound  conversations I have ever had with somebody. I. I like he's a and I use the word evil lightly,  but he's like an evil genius. He He is fully. aware of every single button he is purposely  pushing. Like all it's all been He's a genius.

It's like it it's all been calculated. It's  all like he knows exactly what he's doing. He. knows exactly what buttons he's pushing and  he's pushing them on purpose. Interesting. He's amazing. Jonathan Davis from  K. One of my favorite people. Um. I can't believe you text with Marilyn Manson. He's  like my modern-day pen pal. We never actually talk.

on the phone. We just text. Give him my best. I  will. Aaron Lewis, thank you. Thank you. I'm going. to go bird shooting with you. I I look forward  to it. I can't wait. I can't wait to watch you uh. watch you use your your new hammer gun. I don't  know if I'll be able to use it correctly, but. we'll find out. Thank you. My pleasure. [Music]  So, it turns out that YouTube is suppressing this.

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