The Country Star, Tyler Filmore, Who Refused to Quit

I've seen you say you're the country artist that's almost made it. Writing for Pimple, doing songs with them, or on his record label. How did it happen? A shout out to Barefoot Country Music Fest. It was me, Pippo and Blake Shelton. Not a bad lineup. I just played that USA song for the first time. And I literally was running off stage. Someone on Pippo's team was there, shot a video of me performing. I was like, one of Pippo's managers, like, well, I'm like, no way, I don't believe you. Yeah. Three days later, I got a text from Pitt. And the next thing you know, like, I got pit napped on the jet for like seven days. What up, guys? We're back here in Nashville yet again at Nashville Creative Spaces at Brand Builders, about to give you another amazing interview. I have my boy Tyler Fillmore with me. Fillmore Music from Missouri. And now he's a country star. Just got done collabing with Pippo. He's writing for him. And he's also been signed to Pippo's record label. So this interview right here, you're going to be seeing this guy headlining all over the United States very, very shortly. And you get to meet him here first. So welcome to the show, homie. And thank you so much for having me. Dude, it's so cool, man, like two years of, you know, being friends from afar. Yeah. You know, it's so funny because like everybody bashes social media. My wife especially hates it. I'm like, yo, I guess where I meet everybody. That's what we built this platform on. And, you know, it's been really cool to see your journey and, you know, to also see you become a father. Oh, man. Not once, but twice. So, dude, like I'm just super excited to have you here. I'm happy to be here, man. And honestly, like same thing, like watching all everything that you're doing. Like this is such an honor to be on here. I'm like super pumped. And the whole social media thing, it's like, it's definitely a love hate thing for me at least. Yeah. And I, but that's where we meet a lot of people. And that's like, it's just such a part of the job. Like when I started doing music, like that wasn't the biggest part of the job. And then, you know, as the years progress and COVID hits and TikTok and things, it's like the game changes, music changes because of that platform. It's been a wild ride, but I'm just glad that it connected us. You know, that's crazy, isn't it, man? But no, you're right, man. It's, you know, the game changes and COVID, especially, you know, that's when I started the show, not because I was like, OK, everybody else is doing it. But there's this whole, this burning passion to do something different, to do something bigger. Oh, yeah. And, you know, I've never gone viral. I've never had any of that crap, but I can tell you something. I have really built something along with my team now that I'm very comfortable with and that I feel like every interview we have brings so much value to the audience, you know. And that's why I'm super excited to tell your story. But I want to start at the humble beginnings, man. You know, Ozarks, you know, Middle America, now you're in Nashville. And, you know, the audience wants to know what people have been through and how they've overcome the adversity through determination and discipline. That's what we do here, man. I love it. No, I love telling that story and it is a hustle, man. I'll do it. I'll do it. I mean, life is. Yeah. Yeah. No matter what you do, right? Yeah. No matter what you do, there's going to be problems. There's going to be adversity. And it's like you get to decide if you buckle, which is OK to buckle a little bit, but don't break, don't break, you know, keep going. So walk us through, you know, you went to Mizzou. Yes, sir. Right. Go SEC. I'm IZ. Yeah, Mizzou is great. I went there about a year and a half, two years ago. It was the coldest I've ever been in my fucking life. My toes are still frozen. I went to watch a baseball player that I used to work with, Jackson Beeman. And and yeah, man, like he went off that week and it was beautiful, but it was literally, I think, 20 degrees and up there on Turner and Turner Field. I think that's what it's called. It's on a hill and it's windier and it's cold. So I don't know how you dealt with that. It was, you know, Missouri's got every type of weather. But then I grew up in Missouri and Wildwood. But yeah, I remember there were sometimes like leaving my fraternity house. Like there was like we like there were some winters. And I don't know if it's as bad now, you know, climate. There's this change. But years ago, like there were times where like the mountains and we're in Missouri. Like you think it'd be like a Minnesota thing. There were mountains of snow like higher than my head and you're walking a class on a sidewalk. You're like, dude, what is happening? Yeah. So we had some crazy winners for sure. You ain't short. You're like, what, six, two, six, three? I'm six one. Are you six one? Almost six one. Yeah. I mean, dude, you look taller than that. I appreciate it. I mean, I really do hunch. Yeah. I got to work on that. Don't be all. It's like I'm sitting here trying to like this posture, you know, like hold my kid. I'm like, this is not getting any better. Oh, dude, funny, funny thing about that. Like you can go lift weights, right? And it's like that's that's bearable. But when you're holding a baby that won't sleep and you're walking around trying to give your wife some time, how bad do your shoulder blades hurt? Yeah, just it just now you get almost I used to say I had like, I didn't know if it was golf elbow or dad elbow. Yeah, dad elbow, man. Dad elbow. And I'd be like, yo, I can't believe I'm complaining about this. But like, I would like, I like be on stage like playing guitar. And I'm like, yo, like what happened? I was like, father injury, though. I was like, yeah, I was like, it's just so like you just get so used to it. I didn't need to switch arms. Dude, it's crazy. But like, to a point like when you're carrying a baby, like it, it, it does burn. Yeah. Yeah. Especially if you can't get him to sleep. So OK, so let's go through the beginning. You know, you got into music. I believe it was in college, right? Yeah. Well, yeah, I kind of high school. I was always always in music. I was in choir and but I was really a jock and I was trying. I wanted to do sports after high school, but then I ended up, you know, placing in state, singing and getting a vocal performance scholarship to Mizzou. And then, you know, the rest of the kind of history I decided not to play baseball and go up to Mizzou and chase that and, you know, got a business degree as well. And kind of next thing you know, finished college from straight to Nashville. I always wanted to go straight to Nashville. Like it was like in high school when I knew I was going to do music. And then I had fun four years in college. So I'm glad I did it. But yeah, it was nice to see. Like when I did some more background diving, because I know your music, obviously, but I was like, I wanted to know Tyler, you know, I want to know what the journey was. I didn't know that you played baseball. Yeah. No, I've played a bunch of sports. What's up position? I was center field. Oh, wow, really? I was a catcher. Oh, yeah. Dude. Damn. Crazy. I played at LSU. So played in the SEC. And I'm crazy, bro. That's awesome. Crazy. And I thought that was going to be my path, right? And it turned out like I get to sit in chairs and talk to bad asses like you. Right back at you. What a dream, dude. So I was there. I didn't play at LSU. That's amazing. Dude, I was telling my boy Chris here that I feel like I'm in the big leagues. Like I feel like this right here is my big leagues. And, you know, it's a lot like you, you know, I don't feel we've hit our I know we haven't hit our peak yet. And that's always hard to deal with, man. You know, it's like, you know what you have inside you. How do you really filter that in your own mind? Because I am positive that you think and truly believe in every fiber of your body that you should be way up here now. Yeah. Yeah. How do you how do you work through that, man? It's just it's such a grind and I want to get to be like the biggest household name. And it just feels like look like anything else is a lot of politics involved in any industry that you're in, whether it was base anything, like when you're catch red LSU, there's politics involved in every any path you take, obviously. And, you know, the music industry is a very, very hard industry. Cuff road, man. And it's it's, you know, sometimes it's bless your heart to your face. It's not real. And there's a lot of like there's a lot of fake and a lot of BS you kind of swim through. I just always try to say like true to myself and just know that like I don't take no for an answer. Never really have. I am, you know, I am first generation Hispanic. I'm 50 percent Hispanic. I think I do have a little bit of that, you know, that that fire in me, you know, to kind of I definitely see there's a Hispanic side to me that's like, you know, I'm going to get this. No one can tell me no kind of thing. I get that from my mom. But yeah, to kind of be where I'm at today, there's just different choices that I made during my career. And it was more about betting on myself than it was on anybody else. But sometimes when you do that, what's 100 percent of nothing, you know, it's nothing. So sometimes I didn't give up percentages of things and I really just kept rebetting on myself and reinvesting in myself. And it's made me very sustainable in life and in a way better position than a lot of people that took the wrong risk. But some other people that took, you know, a lot of money from other people and a lot of things like that. And then it didn't they didn't strike lightning again. You know, now they're not in the career. They don't have a career anymore. And I've been doing this, you know, I've been doing this for four, you know, I've been in Nashville 13 years, almost 14 and never had a real job. And so, you know, like it's it's amazing. I'm a songwriter, I'm an artist. You know, I do everything I possibly can in music and from the house, you know, how the biggest I want to be. Like I'm working with the biggest artists in the world with people. And he's like a mentor and it's really helped elevate to where I want to get to. It helps me dance between genres a little bit, too. That's so dope, too. I'm a redneck from Missouri, but I'm Hispanic and I love I grew up with a pop station, a country station. And I'm just kind of putting everything out there. I'm exactly who I am. And that's why the album was called Atypical. But, you know, before we dive into all that, it's like really just honestly, like I think mentally every day, it's just like I can't live through comparison. And I make sure that like I have my focus goals and I have good support team around me. And I just literally just try to stay laser focused on that. And the creativity part in my life is so fun. And I feel like that is what really drives me. It's like coming up with song ideas constantly and just thinking about music and like, you know, I have a studio session after this and it's like just every second of every day, I'm thinking about music. And I just know where I'm supposed to be. And I know I'm going to get there to the top. You know, I feel like I'm in the middle somewhere, but I'm going to get there. Yeah, I think you're middle, but you're above middle, man. I think we're we're smelling it. Yeah, yeah. Smelling it. We're on the home stretch. So what I'm hearing is overnight success. Yeah, I get shit, right? What I'm hearing is authenticity. 100 percent. Yes. And I think there's a lot of there's a lot of there's there's a lot of authenticity lacking in the music industry. I think there's a lot of people. It's just when you kind of pull the curtain back, I think there's a lot of there's a lot of fake made people. And that can be a thing. And I don't I don't think that's wrong. I just think that that's the life you end up having to live. That's not your path, right? And it's so funny because like in the podcast industry, I think with anything, there's a lot of fake made people taking the elevator to success. And you always see the ones that have a lot of capital behind them. They blow up really quickly, but then you find it's very empty. You know, so like I always love the fact that, hey, I'm choosing a lane, right? No one else is doing it how we're doing it, right? Most people are going to sit there and, you know, rapid fire questions, move on to the next one. I'm bringing out the soul in my in my guest to give to the audience so they can learn. And there might be other people doing that. I don't want to, you know, sound like I'm altruistic or I'm the only one. But I listen to a lot of shows, study. Yeah, right. I study. Nothing is done without any type of preparation, but we're also unscripted. Right. We we we know I know where I want to go with conversations. And I always also lean on my intuition and my and my talents to bring out the best conversation, right? So it's like the authenticity part of it. You know, could I be further along if I was rage baiting people and click baiting people? Probably. Yeah. But what's the cost of that? I don't know. I see a lot of people at a rage bait and get after people and somehow they're still living at the top. There's not really a lot of sometimes I just wonder, I'm like, how do you sustain that? And some people sometimes they do crazy. You know, who's the best at it? The Paul Brothers. Oh, yeah, they're amazing. They're so smart, dude. They are so smart. Like they're so good. I watch all their stuff. I watch a show like they're genius. Paul American, you watch that? I watched it. I need to watch that. Koei Red told me about that show last night. That was good. I heard it's good. And honestly, like everything, like I see what they're doing, but it's also just like it's very entertaining and they're very smart. Like they're the I mean, you look back at, I don't know how old you are, but I'm 47. I'm 37. OK, so back in the day when Tyson and Holyfield and all those fighters, Lennox Lewis, I mean, you had Don King, like he was the king. He was the no pun intended, but he was a king of promoter. Oh, yeah. But now it's dude, it's it's the Paul Brothers. I mean, like if you even look at like what they did with Tom Brady, I smelled that a mile away. Oh, it was amazing. I was like, OK, cool. So they're going to do all this. They're going to promote the flag football thing. And then Gronk is going to get pissed off and then they're going to fight. Right. And then they announced, you know, and I know Gronk, right? Because he's been on the show as I message him like, hey, dude, get it done, man. But, you know, he's awesome. Oh, dude, he's great. And but I do think the Paul Brothers are being their authentic selves. But they just know something that not many other people know. They know the algorithm. They know how to to grab people into the screen and shove them right in the face and then not get off their videos. But but again, back to the the initial point is I don't think they're being disingenuous. No, disingenuous. I think they're being themselves. And I think they understand things that we don't understand. But the one thing that I always hold on to. And I think you're a lot like me in this regard is like. If we move from being our our authentic selves, we're not going to be happy at anything we achieve because it's not real. That's how I feel. Yeah. Yeah. Very well said. Let's say. I've had a lot of different opportunities to not be my authentic self. And, you know, even dabbled in like maybe reaching for something that wasn't fully me and then having to pull back and then find myself again. But that's just a part of learning who you are as an artist and, you know, what I want my career to look like and what I want to look back on and be proud of. But yeah, man. I. Dude. As a father, that is more important than you realize. Yeah, no, I feel that changed my life two years ago, even that. Let's talk about that a little bit. I can just more country stuff. So, you know, you're oldest is 21 months. Yes. And then your your newest baby is what? A couple months old? No. Yeah. Like 40 something days old. Oh, dude. So like a month. Yeah. Like, dude, we're the NICU for like a half of that. Yeah, you told me that. How was that for you, man? You and your wife? How did you work through that? I was more like she started working at Vanderbilt. And I was like, all right, we get a free birth. This is sick. And then then we go in the NICU and I'm like, this deleted the whole purpose of getting a free birth. It's like, well, come on, man, be better. How much money we were racking up? It was 17 days in here. What are we doing? Oh, man, was the baby early or really early? And actually the baby dropped like the day my album dropped, basically like midnight of that same day. And I had to I was playing the House of Blues in Houston and then came through the night and I was going to do a pop up just for fans that we announced like the week of and we were going to do these like pop up unplugged shows that personally just for me, it was just more like I want to supersede the super fans and markets I haven't been to in a long time haven't been in Austin in a second to play probably since like 2019. Oh, damn. And so maybe yeah. And that was for radio. So like honestly, like we were on our way to Austin and we had a team of hit venues had the band and I was like, yo, we finished House of Blues. We're going to Austin. We're going to do a pop up. We're doing another pop up in Fort Worth and like move there. And then we'll fly back like it was all just like on the fly. Teams hitting up the venues like Fillmore, Hell yeah, like come in and like I would do like an acoustic unplugged thing that we had set up. We ended up doing a couple of them before before the album launch, but then the other ones all got canceled and rescheduled because my baby was born on, you know, on basically on the release day. So we had the veer to the airport in Austin immediately from Houston because we were on our way and then I get on the plane and then someone said something like someone on my team said something to the, you know, the person on the plane. So now it's a whole ordeal and everyone's like staring at me the whole flight and they're like, is he going to make it to see the birth of his child? It was like a real life movie for everyone, I guess. And then like they pause me on the plane. I run off the plane. I had my dad like waiting out in the Nashville airport, jumped in the car, took me straight to the airport. My daughter was born two hours later. They had like, they're kind of like trying to hold her off on not being too dilated and like where she was and like, I got there and then it was go time. And then yeah, it was crazy. What was, was there anything else going through your mind? Because you obviously knew it was early, right? And it's like, so you're having to rush the airport. Oh my God, can't miss it. But then also was there, was there other worries that you had to work through in those moments? Yeah, so many worries. I mean, honestly, like my first kid, like the birth was not easy. And there was a lot of things that that were very scary during that. I'm not going to go into all that during the birthing process with my wife and everything. So like that was always in the back of my head. And then it kind of started happening again during this birth. And then the baby wasn't like fully breathing with her lungs. And so all of a sudden I was like, here we can, it was just, it was super, super nerve wracking the whole time. But then now everyone's healthy. It's amazing. It's such a blessing. And I wouldn't trade it for the world, honestly. It's it's a, and you know, I, I don't know. I think, I think we're done after two, but I mean, it ain't easy. No, it ain't easy. You know, it ain't easy, man. It's the biggest blessing in the world, but it's it's also so damn hard, man. And nobody is honest. You know, we talked about it, you know, when you got here with Gil Chris back here, him and his wife were about to have their first shout out to the Petersons. You know, sorry, I was just so blunt. I said two, two words to him and I walked up and I go, hey, man, the first three months of that baby's in your life, your life is over. So worse experience. Because no one just, no one says it. Everyone like, or we forget. And I get it's such, like I said, a blessing. It's amazing, like miracle. And it's the best thing ever. But like your life, especially with the first kid, like eight. And look, I live a life as an artist, like, you know, like I'll go out, like I work all day. I go to the studio. I write, I got shows. I'm traveling constantly. Then you're talking to people like your social meter is drained at all times, like doing this. And so then like when you get home, like you need those hours of sleep just to kind of run it back again. And then next thing you know, it's like, well, I can't drink as much. I got to like, pull this back. That's hard for a country artist. Yeah. Hey, come on. And, and, you know, it definitely, it definitely made me less of a degenerate and a better person. But the shell shock of like, just think no one telling me how bad those three months are going to be. And when I say bad, I just mean like a life awakening experience of like, yo, like they depend on you every waking moment. And like, and then it's just like something switches in your whole life where it's like, I think I'm a whole different human now. I operate my business differently. I've had more success. I've had a growth in success since my child was born. Like it's honestly like, maybe I wasn't fully doing it right. And maybe that's why it was such a shell shock. Honestly, you don't look like, you know, you're too crazy. So I feel like it's not going to be as much of a shell shock, but maybe you're hiding this from me. You're not drunk at 10 a.m. So that's good. That's good. That's good start. I think it'll be okay. Yeah, he could be. What's in that bottle, man? Yeah, he could be on some gummies. We don't know. You don't know. You don't know, man, which is fine. Yeah, which is great. Yeah. Those are, those are great for fatherhood. You can't do that in Tennessee, man. You can. Oh, wow. Yeah, we got THC on draft at the bar. Really? Oh yeah. That stuff's good, man. The THC seltzers. So good. I'm a huge fan. Big fan. Huge fan. Big fan. And that was something I found in fatherhood and I was like, these are great. Yeah, it chills you out. Yeah, it's still kind of courage, my anxiety, you know. Yeah. That's the other thing, dude, as a father, I mean, the amount of anxiety that I feel so, so many times, like you didn't get to meet them, but my, my wife and my youngest was here for yesterday's shows and they had to fly back because I had to pick up, you know, my two oldest from school and, and get them home and so they're on, they're probably at the airport now. But the amount of anxiety that I feel not traveling with them is insurmountable. Like I cried leaving the hotel room this morning. Yeah. It's just, it's the, the amount of stress a father feels that we don't talk about. Yeah. And, and, you know, I don't know if it's because men are supposed to be strong and you're not supposed to talk about these things. But bro, the moment I had a child is when I started worrying about a billion different things every day. Yeah, it's so real. Yeah, man. Yeah, dude. But dude, congratulations. You're doing it right, man. Thank you, man. You know what, man? Like these things, you know, it's, it's like anything, fatherhood and being a parent, you know, for the, for the moms out there too, this is for you. And, you know, you have your careers and you have everything going on. And also, well, by the way, sustaining a marriage in a relationship and connection, right? Um, there's adversity in everything. You know, and we have to fight through those moments and do the best we can and not worry about the outcome, right? Like the gift is in the struggle. The gift is in the struggle with you becoming a new father again, you know, your music, everything. That's what builds you into who you're going to be for when you break that threshold, because it's coming. It's coming. And like you need to be ready for it, right? And, and all these moments prepare you. I agree. I feel like even the ride to this point from a career aspect, and you say that moment's coming, it's like, if it all ended tomorrow, like I, I feel like I've already accomplished every, I mean, so much of everything that I've ever, like younger me when I first moved to Nashville 13 years ago, will be looking at me like you did it. You made it. You, you did it. Like everything you wanted to do, you did it. I mean, I've pretty much played every huge venue across America and in Europe. I've, you know, I've been on most TV shows. I, I feel like everything that you, you know, maybe, I don't know, it's just weird. I just feel like, I feel like I've accomplished so much and I've, I've broken barriers that, and I have certain accolades that some of the biggest artists in the world don't have. Wow. So I feel like I'm at a point where it's like, I'd be so proud of what I've done to this point. And I had to remind myself that because I'm such a driven person and I still have to fight to not compare myself and everything like that. But, and there's so much politics and it's just like, you have to just understand like everyone has an agenda and you just got to stay and do what's best for you and just hope that other people will continue to align with you to get you to where, you know, that big moment is, but I feel like even if I was like at Pitbull's level or when I get there, I still feel like I'm going to be working towards another level. It never stops. I feel like I'm never going to stop. It never stops, man. And I'm glad you brought that up because that was one of my questions. If everything ended today, would you be proud? I'm so proud. And that's something that I struggle with as well. It took me a long time to say that, but I'm telling you, since the kid, like I, I truly like where I'm at today, I'm like, yeah, I just feel like I'm, I'm, I'm so proud and I need to say that I'll add more because sometimes I'm like, I'm so, I'm so critical of myself and trying to make sure I make everyone happy and I had to learn like, I'm not going to make everyone happy. Can't. I can't be overly loyal anymore because people are now inadvertently, even if they don't mean it, leeching off me and taking stuff and taking my valuable time and not giving back the same energy. And I'm just allowing it to happen. Dude, I go through that so much, Tyler. I mean, you know, it anytime I have someone on that's of, of any type of level. Oh, can you talk to him for me? Can you do? I'm like, but like, I work to get here. Like I'm just going to give you the keys of the kingdom, but I also love helping people. So it's like a constant. It's a balanced man. And, you know, it's hard, you know, but what I struggle with is what you seem to be, I think you're further ahead than I am in the, if everything ended today, you know, if podcasts were no longer a thing, would I be proud? I would say yes, but I would be like, damn, another almost. Another almost. Yeah. I mean, think about that. So many almost in my life. It's crazy. There's two words right there. Another almost. I don't know if I can shoulder another almost, you know, and, but also I look at what we've created. We've been in rooms with Jay Leno, you, Jana Kramer. I've interviewed William H. Macy been in the room, Tony freaking Goldwyn bro. From scandal, like. Other podcasters are looking at this, like that's the goal. And then me three years ago, you know, or even a year ago, be like, that's my goal, but things shift, right? You're like, OK, myself like you. I'm a heavy driver. Like I have to be the best I can possibly be. And I am nowhere close. And, you know, one question I wanted to ask you, because, you know, you say, like, you do you want that household name? I also want that. Yeah. I crave it. I know why I want it and I'll get to that, but I want to know why you want it. What is the main underlying variable? The reason why you want that? I think anything I've ever done, and I think sports kind of ingrained that into you, but I'm a no quit, like take no for an answer. Like I love someone telling me I can't do something. Pagassing that engine, baby. Yeah. And so it's just ingrained in me. I don't fully have like, and like I said, even when I got to that top, I'm probably still going to be chasing the biggest part of that top, you know, like whatever I could do to be. It's just the grind is so fun to me. I love that. And rewarding. And, and especially when I'm doing something that I love, like music and writing and performing. And then knowing that that I'm doing something I'm so passionate about that I love that it's like my favorite thing in the world. You can do that for a living. And so like if I can like do that at the highest level, I just feel like it doesn't answer, it doesn't solve anything or make my life any better. Like I said, I'd be proud if it all ended tomorrow, but it's like, it just is the competitive drive in me to be the best of the best. And that's like, I think it's just who I am. And I don't know, have a full answer of why I just, uh, and like I said, when I get there, it's not going to be like, uh, all right, what do I do now? I did it. I'm just gonna keep doing it. Like I'm just going to keep doing it and, and keep chasing things that I love musically and, um, you know, trying to break barriers that like maybe people don't expect because that's something I love. And I'm just going to find new versions of, of things that I haven't tried yet. Um, um, because music is so versatile and there's so many paths and so many directions I go and can go. And honestly, like there's not enough years in life for me to accomplish all the things I want to do in music anyway. Like I'm just going to do everything I possibly can. And then I'm, like I said, I'm already proud. So it's okay. You know, I, I look at your music and it's it every song I listen to makes me feel good. Oh yeah. So when, when I look at you and when you're that household name, because it's coming, you're going to be making people feel good all over the globe. Appreciate that. That's, that's big. That's impact. And for me, you know, when I reach that household name, when I reach that, I'll never be Joe Rogan. I'm going to be Sean French. Right. I'll, you know, I can't be him. I can't be this other big names, but I can execute at the highest level of what I'm capable of. And being that household name for me, I want to walk in places and people go, holy shit, that's Sean French. Here's why it's not an ego play. Yeah. Me. It's not a look at me. I'm this, you know, dude that was a salesperson that turned into the one of the biggest podcasters of the world. What it is for me is impact. When I get messages and I get them daily, bro, this guy reach out to me from New Zealand, going through something with his wife. She, she made a mistake about four years ago. He's trying to work through it. He's in New Zealand and he found me on Spotify and sends me a message and didn't ever think I would write back. That's what I'm after. Yeah. Like that right there because, and then when I responded with a voice and he's like, whoa, like, dude, thank you. Oh my bro, I'm a human that cares about other humans. I never want to lose that touch. You know, now granted as things grow, it's going to be harder for me to do it. But, you know, for me, it's just the impact, man. Like I, I want to help people. And if I can reach the top, then I know there's a bunch of people that their lives are improving because of what I'm doing. Yeah, I love that. I'm still in that impact. That's great. Because that's exactly, I feel the same way. That's, that's amazing. I already, I already knew that's like the underlying variable, right? Because you're not a big flashy look at me type of dude. You're like, you know, your music is thoughtful. Except for my hair styles. Dude, your hair is fucking fresh. They're always weird. They're always weird. I love it, man. The hair. Man, one lasted too long. I'm sorry to everybody. What's that? The man one lasted too long. I'm sorry. Oh yeah, dude. I mean, I like that one, but I like this. You got to, it's, you have like the, the big league haircut right now. Like all the baseball players are doing that haircut. Oh, they take it. The dad mull it. Yeah, dude, it looks good, man. I couldn't pull it off. I can't even grow that much hair. It's, I mean, dude, it's kind of a half. It looks dope though. I appreciate it. It's your vibe. You know, it's, it's, it's crazy because, you know, I've seen you say you were, you're the country artist that's almost made it. You know, do you actually believe that or do you use that for fuel? I actually believe that. Yeah. There's so many circumstances in my life where I'm like, I didn't even watch people pass you. Like I said, the comparison thing, it's like you watch people like, but it's politics, it's money. It's there, you know, nothing is what it seems. That's all I'm going to say in music and what we do as artists and everything like that, everything that you see as an audience member for 85% of it, you are told to see what you're supposed to see. It's crazy to me. It's completely controlled. And I love, I love that because you're doing it differently. You're a disrupter. I love disruptors. I'm a disrupter. I'm not going to do what everybody tells me that I need to do in order to grow. You know, and now if it's logical and it makes sense and it's aligned with who I am, you're not disrupting just to disrupt. You're disrupting because it's a part of what you're doing. And it's truly who you, it's your values, what you believe in. And you're not going to let anyone else come in and change those values or your direction because like this is what makes you who you are. So you're going to, you're going to drive that force. And I feel like, yeah, sorry. Yeah. No, it's great. No. Has there been a point? Because I always talk about this and people always say like, Oh, no, I've never thought about quitting because, you know, I just, that that's not who I am. Um, I, I've thought about quitting a hundred times, but I just can't because I love it. Has there been ever a point where you're like, I just need to move on from this man, like this is too hard, but then you quickly go, what the fuck am I talking about? I know it's a hard question. Uh, it isn't an act of thought. Like I, I think I'm crazy. I just, I don't think there's anything else. Like, I can't, like I just, there are so many hard things that I've gone through in the music industry and in my career. Um, but never was I going, it almost was just like, well, I'm just going to prove you wrong. I love that. Um, but yeah, I think there's days like no, yeah, you question everything. And there's days where I'm like, yo, like it's life I've built. It's pretty sweet. Like I really don't want to leave and play that show. I really don't want to go to this thing, but I know it leads to this thing. And so it's like, I was supposed to stay home with my family this weekend. And since, you know, since having kids really, and, and, and since being with my wife as well, like there are moments where I'm like, I'd rather just do, I'd rather, you know, that's not life. Like, what am I going to do? I don't, there's nothing else I'm going to do. So it's funny because like to your point, like I feel like this is what I'm really good at. And like, if I don't do this, what am I going to do? Yeah. I'm not going to go back to corporate and have someone tell me where to be and what to do and check in on me and do one-on-ones every freaking week. And, you know, no, it, it, I'm glad I did it because it built me. Right. And, and I learned how to talk to multiple different types of people, you know, but it, you know, every time I think of like, man, I'm just tired, you know, like my legs are tired and, you know, I've taken too many stairs and I'm just worn out. I just sleep on it, you know, I, and I wake up in the morning and go tired. That's the, that's the cost of this man. Like you get to be tired, you get to be stressed, you get to have adversity and overcome these things. Just think it's super important. So I'm glad to, I'd like to hear that you don't go deep into like, yeah, I'm done. You know, I'm done. I mean, I see it happen all around me all the time, but I'm not in it. You know, I think I've, I think the whole thing is I'm chasing just being me. You know, if the goal at the end is impact, like you were saying, like, it's just like, this is what I'm here to do. So it's like, there's not really a alternative. And that's what I love about this conversation because, you know, the vibe to the audience is so on brand with our show. It's like, okay, this man is staying true to himself. And like for the audience listening and watching, that's what you need to be. You need to, you need to be true to yourself. You need to stay in line with who you are and what your core values are. I mean, I cannot stress that enough. You can never sell out your core values in your integrity because you might be able to achieve something, but if you do, you have to live with that every day. Like I cheated or I, or I was someone different than who I really am. How that's not success. It could look like it. Oh yeah. But like that's not, that doesn't feel good internally, man. You know, you mentioned, you know, you've been through so many hard points in your music career. What was one of the hardest points for you that you had to overcome? No, I feel like one of the harder ones in the recent years was parting ways with my manager, my previous manager. Man's my best friend, best man in my wedding. So making decisions that were just like something I had to do for myself. You know, it's just like, I have to make career decisions and I have a family and I have things that I have to do to get to where I need to go. I'm a very loyal person. And I feel like. I feel like that's been taken advantage of in the past, you know, whether it's previous band people or a label or things like that. So my whole thing is just like, yeah, I think that was really tough. I think, I don't know, I think there's been a lot of different breaking points in my career. It was hard to go into a label and then get out of a label. You know, COVID didn't help with stuff. You know, now being signed to Pippal's record label and finding my path there and everything is just, I found myself and like everything was supposed to happen for a reason and I mean, I'm aligned with Mr. Worldwide, man. It's been a, I never thought that in a million years. And like, and that wasn't like a, like there wasn't like a, a path to get there. It's just things happen in your life that, you know, think your direction changes. It's still going towards the top of the mountain, but how you get there, everyone's path's different. And I think if there was a direct way to do this, everyone would do it. Exactly. Maybe, but it might be too much work. They might say, yeah, exactly. You know, I don't want to do all that stuff. I mean, that sounds like work to me. Yeah. You know, it's, it's interesting because you mentioned you're aligned and working with Pippal and you said that one of my questions was that I was thinking about, like, did you ever think you were going to get there, but you already answered it. That, that's pretty damn big tie. I mean, I, I don't, that's like me aligning with Joe Rogan. Yeah. Cause, cause, cause to me, you know, Pippal is the best of the best. Like he's a genius. Like he is so big and you know, you're some dude from Missouri, bro. And not, and writing for Pippal, doing, doing songs with them or on his record label. Like what was that path like? How did it happen? Because here's why I asked this question. Cause there's somebody listening right now that doesn't understand that they are so close and they stop. And all of a sudden they could hit something like I could hit something like tomorrow something could happen for, for me and my, in my brand that is on level with what you've done with Pippal. So walk me, how did this all transpire? I mean, to even like say something about what we just said, it's like, I feel like there's people will quit or give up because it didn't go like the way they have it in their head. But it's like, it's more about like, it's a non give up mentality, but also like, I don't think enough people chase something that could turn into something else. I think enough people like they want it like, okay, I want to play this show and I need this amount of money. And that makes that valuable to me for my time. I think for myself from day one, even becoming one of the biggest independent country artists in, in, in the 2000s, as I started my career and built that. The determination of that was because I didn't, I never said no to anything. And I, I, I flew to Buckowin's Palace and opened up a show full band, I think for Canismith for $250. I lost like thousands of dollars. I love that dude. And I did so many things like that. I have multiple tours. I can tell you exactly how much money I lost on every single tour. But it was all because it was leading towards something else. And I knew that this opportunity would open another door or I just prayed that it would. And like, it always has. Every opportunity that I went and took, it opened some random door that led me on another path, but it's the people that don't go take those risks. And that means like, in my personal opinion, that means you don't want it bad enough. Like this is it for me. Like this is all I'll ever do. This is it. And whatever path leads me to get, like that's what's going to happen. Like, and everyone around me knows that. Like that's, this is, this is it. So I will take a lot of risks that other people won't because I think that something can turn out from that opportunity. And that's just with the whole people situation. Not a crazy risk. I'd actually open for him in 2017, I think, or 18. Um, it was me, Pippo and Blake Shelton and Pendleton, Oregon. Um, not a bad lineup. Yeah. Crazy. But yeah, like it was, I, I didn't, when you got it, you're like, what is this show? And then like show up and it was just amazing. Like everything about that was awesome. I didn't really get to hang or like really sit with, um, with Pippo at the time. Um, and you know, I'm on my come up and stuff. So I kind of try to stay out of the way and I'm just, I'm there to, my job as an opener is to get the crowd warmed up and do the best live show I possibly can. And then I just move out and I just, I try to be respectful of every other artist and their time and who they are. If I get the opportunity to hang with them or they want to meet me, cool, but I'm not like, I don't, I'm not gourmet. I don't do any of that shit. So, um, we didn't really connect there. Um, he did FaceTime. My mom during the meet and greet, which was hilarious. That's cool. Um, they were talking Spanish and everything like that was awesome. Um, but she took all my time really. Um, thanks mom in that moment. Thanks mom. Uh, but yeah, then it was years later. I, I was opening a Blake Shelton again, playing a festival for like 40, 45,000 people a shout out to barefoot country music fest in wild wouldn't New Jersey. Um, I've played it twice now. This year will be my third time playing it on planet in June. Um, so super pumped to get back to that festival and that festival is a very special place in my heart. Uh, shout out to Bob Durkin. Great festival. Um, and I literally like was running off stage and I just played that USA song for the first time. I don't know what compelled me to do it. Um, the band knew it. Uh, we didn't have it out. It was not released. And I was about to go on the break, young tour after that. And so I was like, I want to try this song. And so the rap on the bridge was different. I actually wrote a whole different rap and I had written it a certain way. And it was just like a fun live song that I wanted to do. And I ran off stage, like someone on people's team was there checking out the festival, whether he was going to do that in the future or something like that. Cause he loves country music. And he's obviously done festivals that are multi-genre and stuff as well. Um, he's Mr. Worldwide. So someone that was checking them out, shot a video of me performing. I was like, Hey, like, I was like one of people's managers, like, well, well, I'm like, I'm like, no way. I don't believe you. I go on the tour bus and the next thing you know, like they come up and I had a bunch of songs in Spanish actually at the time. Cause I was translating some other stuff in Spanish. My mom was coming to the studio with me and making sure I didn't sound too gringo on my accident. So I was just like, Oh, I'll play this stuff for you and like whatever. And then it's like three days later, I got like a text or an email from, from Pitt and it was like, I'd appreciate the opportunity to be on the USA song. Cause he had heard the video I got sent to him and everything. And then sent it over, blah, blah. And then the rest is kind of history. I, you know, then it was like, then it was like, um, I don't even know if you fully know, I don't know if he knows this, but, um, then it was like, Hey, like let's get together and talk about like releasing the song and stuff. And so he's on tour all the time. And, um, he's like, can you be in, in, uh, Bentonville, Arkansas, like tomorrow or something. And, um, I was like, of course, sure, like looking at my schedule. I'm like, I don't even know. So like, I like looked at my wife and I was like, let's get in the car and go. And so I call my team up and they're like, what are you doing? I'm like, they're making sense to anyone. I'm like, I'm going to go meet people. And what, what someone, he just asked me to meet him. Like, yeah, you go. It'd be an Egypt. I'm afraid I had to get there. Yeah. 1000%. Whatever. On top of a freaking pyramid. Yeah. Get out of here. I'm going to get there. And it's not even know if you like real, I think he realized it afterwards, but I, I, you know, we just jumped in my wife's car. Um, and we, you know, I drove like nine hours and got there and got to watch him perform and meet him and hang out in person. And then next thing you know, like, um, like he was like, yo, like, you know, we stayed and then stayed there the next night. And then I, um, we're trying to figure out what we want to do the next night. And we're having dinner talking about like the song and everything. Just getting to know each other. It was awesome. And then it's like, what do you want to do tonight? I'm like, well, Jason, I'll Dean and all them are playing this is it. Walmart Amphitheater tonight. And like Hardy and everyone. And so, and DJ Silver and everyone. And so I literally like sent the texts to my country family. I was like, I'm going to show up like backstage. I got like a couple of cars with me and they're like, yeah, come on. So I roll up and like Jason Aldean walks up and B.O.C. with Live Nation and, uh, who else? Uh, Hardy and everyone's there. And they like walk up backstage and I'm like, oh yeah, I brought Pippo. By the way. Yeah. And so, oh man, people ends up like bartending, uh, in between the buses, like Jason Aldean's bar and stuff. He was bartending. He just walks in and starts bartending, like doing the thing. You're a dope dude, man. It was, yeah, he was amazing. And he's like, oh, he's like, he's serving people. But he's like, I feel more like you're checking on me. I'm like, I'm like, what is this? It's going on. And so, yeah, he's absolutely the best. And so that was a great hang. And then he, you know, went up to us like, well, as we're getting ready to leave there and he's like, we got going on tomorrow. Like my wife had to get back to, uh, she works at the hospital and she's like, oh, gotta get back and kind of looked at all. She kind of looked at us and was like, but. You know, Tyler can go with you. And so I got pit napped on the jet for like seven days. And then pit napped, pit napped, baby. Coined the term. And, uh, you know, that's a good experience. That's the best. Yeah. Um, it's just funny to say it that way. But, um, no, it's in, in just became fast friends and, uh, like a mentor to me and, um, has helped shaped my career in the last four years and has been nothing but the absolute best. And, uh, so I'm just thankful and anything he needs or anything I can be a part of, uh, it's the first thing that I will do. It takes all priority because I believe in him so much and he believes in me so much. And I, I don't want to ever let him down because he's, uh, he is what you see. And it's, I think it's very rare these days that you meet someone that is exactly who they portray themselves to be. And that's what I aspire to do. And so being around him and learning from the best, um, I think is only going to help me be the best version myself. And I still got a lot to learn and I'm not perfect in any way. Um, and I've made a lot of mistakes even in the last four years, but, um, he's been nothing but, uh, supportive and helpful. So that's beautiful, man. The one thing that I want the audience to realize out of this and then, you know, back to that day at the festival, right? You're just doing your deal. You're doing your craft. You are executing what you know how to do and you want to do it the best way possible. So if you're present in the moment and you give your best performance, you record the best show you can, you don't know who's watching. Yeah. And look what happened. So for you guys listening and watching show the fuck up. Always show up. Show out. Yeah. And, and, and don't listen to anybody. Like if someone tells you it's not a good idea, but your gut is telling you like, this could turn into something. Okay. What else do you have going on? Like let's just say it's tomorrow and someone's like, Hey, there's this opportunity. It's pay zero dollars. You're actually going to lose money. But if you show up, there's an audience of people that potentially could see it, that could turn into something. And you sit there and you have no obligations the next day and then you don't take that opportunity. I don't have to tell you. You know, it's, it's interesting because I can relate to this 110%. I lose money every time I travel. I lost it for fashion week when I walked. I'm losing it now. I lost it in New York. I lost it in LA when we traveled to do Jay Leno. I lost money doing that. I paid it. No brand paid for a sponsorship. Nobody paid for anything. It was our hard earned dollars for the show that we paid for. But you know, what's crazy is when I think of like, yeah, I lost or I spent money. It costs me money. But the brand building is worth everything. And if people are so proud that they can't go and do something for free, they'll never make it. In June, I'm speaking at the biohacking, the World Biohacking Conference in New York for zero dollars. You know, I was like, hey, maybe we can get a hotel to give me a stay. Maybe we can get, you know, a flight taken care of. But, you know, so it doesn't cost me that. But, you know, the thing is, man, it is such a beautiful point because, yeah, you may be losing that that money value, right? But what you're gaining is so much bigger and people do not understand that you, you know, soon you're not even going to have to ask those questions. It's going to be, hey, Sean, we need you to come here. Right. I need you to speak and we have 50 G's budgeted for you. Will that work? Yeah, man, that'll work. Yeah, it'll work. Yeah, that'd be nice. That'd be nice. Love it. Well, you know, maybe we can get a hotel. Yeah, don't worry about the hotel. Speak for party. Yeah, it's like, I'll speak for much less than that. I speak for free. You know, like, you know, it's, but it's who's going to be there. Yeah. Who's who's coming, you know, but that's the beautiful part. Like, you don't know who's going to be there. You don't like that's the thing about your story, dude, as you're talking about people, you did not know that that manager or representation was in that crowd. So if we stay present and if we stay true and we just execute our craft, we don't know, we have no idea. Right. I don't know who's going to, I don't know who's going to listen to this show. Like you may send it to somebody massive and they're like, yo, I want to meet this guy. And I'm like, holy shit, what just happened? You know, what just happened in my life that this is a thing now. And so like the audience needs to understand that because that's what this show is all about. That's what the themes are. It's like, yo, keep going when you feel like you can't because you don't know when it's going to hit. And that's also the sexy part about it. Right. It's like, yeah. You know, the unknown, man. I mean, it's scary, but it's fun. There's too many people playing checkers when they need to play chess. Oh, come on, dude. There's just a lot of like, it's just like people need to change their mindset, but there's a lot of risk. It's not for everybody. Yeah. And it is stressful. It is exhausting. And it is scary as hell, but I don't know what it is. Maybe it's us being athletes, you know, that I truly believe that that ingrains a skill in you, you know. And then like, you know, like the cost benefit analysis of everything. It's just like I'm always ready to just take a risk on the cost and hope for the benefit. You know, so funny because like that's the business agree talking, right? And I love it. Dude, it's great. It's true. You know, my wife is always like, no, you're worth more. I'm like, but baby. You listen, you got to look at this. Look at everything that's building soon. We won't have to ask. Yeah. It'll just be like here. That's what we're working towards. And creating that value is priceless. It's massive, dude. Man, I know you got to get a session to get. Yeah, I know you have a session to get to, man. And talk all day. This is dude. This is fun, man. I feel like I could do like a two, three hour show with you. I know, dude. I'm so much to talk. I'm flup. I know, dude. We're almost at an hour right now. And it's just like, it's like, bang, you know, I have to run back another, another episode. No, we dude, one billion percent. Like whenever you want, man, I have a feeling, you know, we've made some contact with some representation up here. And I think we're going to be up here a lot more. Okay, sweet. You know, and I'll do everything out of here and at national creative spaces. So yeah, this is a lot. Absolutely. Gorgeous. I mean, you want to talk about profession, like a professional place. Like, you know, Chris Peterson has been amazing. Rory Vaden has been incredible. And, you know, some of the biggest names in my industry, Rory and brand builders built the back end, built the, you know, the everything about what they were doing. So I have him later today. I'm really excited. As well as going to have like a one on one meeting too, because I want him. It's time now. Yeah. Right. Because I think that when everybody starts, everybody wants to be seen, but they may not be ready to be seen. And that was the case because years ago, about five years ago, I was looking to, you know, hire them to build me. I'm like, what are they going to work with right now? It's like, it's like, good luck, dude. Like, I know you're great, but but no one's that good to, you know, to build a house out of no material, you know, such a good point. Yeah, man. So it's just, it's been a blessing, man. And this conversation has been so valuable. And I agree. It I always love getting to meet people like you said that you've been connected with and just kind of see if they're really about what they're about. And dude, you did not disappoint, man. Right back at you. Thank you, man. It's, you know, we always have to be authentic and we're crazy. We're nuts, dude. It's exhausting to put yourself out there on social media and in the public and be yourself and then always show up like that. You know, I think a lot of people struggle with it. But for me, it's hard because not because it's a hard act to do because I'm just being me, but you get hurt in the process a lot. I'm sure you get taken advantage of. And it's not so much of your social meter that can like sustain for a long period of time. Yeah. Yeah, man. One more question for you. You know, the show is about determination and discipline. You know, when I created the show was at a point in my life where I felt like I needed to make a change. I was unhappy and no matter how money would fulfill me. And I just, I started really kind of looking under the hood of successful people. And what I found is they, you know, they did what they needed to do, no matter how they felt. And so when I built a determined society, my, my thought was I have to wake up in a world or I want to wake up in a world that everybody chases their dreams, no matter how they feel emotionally at that time. You know, and this is a question I always ask, I bet, say about 90 percent of the time to always forget to, because I'm ADHD is crazy. But what is your, your definition of determination? My definition of determination. I did, I think it's just the no quit attitude. It's just kind of what I've said earlier. I mean, I think that provides like, if I'm not going to quit, then I'm clearly determined. So it's, it's the never give up. It's the, I don't know. It's just whatever has been ingrained in me that is a party who I am that's not going to change. I think there's a lot of growth in change, but I feel like the determined part of me is not going anywhere because I'm just so competitive. And even though I don't want to live through comparison and stuff like, you still got to compete every once in a while. You know, I'm looking over like, OK, I got this. Like, oh yeah, I just beat them out. OK, we'll get the next thing. But and that's fun, dude. Competition is fun. Yeah. And that's why we do a lot of things in our life too. So it's everybody has a target on someone's back. I have mine. I got one. I got and we don't have to just we'll talk about it off camera. You guys don't need to know it because it's for us. Oh, yeah. But I mean, it's it's not malicious. No, I'm not going to do anything negative. But I just want them to eventually see where I'm at. And then I just kind of want to smile and walk away. Exactly. Exactly. I love that about you, man. Well, dude, that was a great definition of determination because what most people don't understand, it's not this loud, sexy thing. It's the it's the I don't want to go to the gym, but I'm going to put my shoes on anyway and see if I can walk out the door. You know, I don't want to write this song, but maybe you just write two sentences. You know, it's the ability to continue to move forward. Even if you're 100 percent that day is about 25 percent. Yeah. You have to still do something. And so thank you so much. I'm coffee. Dude, this is great coffee. So cheers. I appreciate you. Oh, man, thank you so much, dude. Looking forward to doing more with you. And we still got to get forced or moving, man. We got to figure out what we're going to do. I agree. I mean, let's go. Is it? I think like a determination fest. I love this. Oh, man. We could do something. We'd be fun. Agreed. We're going to. Yeah, we'll talk about that. Let's get some things rolling. Yeah. For the audience, we've been side texting and talking on the phone about this. That's a good idea. Yeah, it's going to be nuts. And we'll definitely let you know when it's going to happen. But for the audience, share the show with somebody you know, love and trust. And and and if you haven't already listened to Tyler's music, it's Fillmore music, one L and you you need to dive into it. You need to listen to it. It's great music. If you like hip hop, you like pop, you like country. Then listen to the damn music and support him. Very, very proud of him. I've known him for a couple years and I'm just ecstatic at what he's becoming as a father and in his career. And so Fillmore music, guys. My favorite song is Betcha Ghana. That's I love it. Oh, my God, that song is so good. And how hell yeah, bro. And then don't forget Yee-ha with Pitbull. That's a dope song, too. If you got children, don't play it around there because Pitbull goes hard. Pitbull goes hard. But thank you again, guys, for listening. And until next time, stay determined.