TBT: Brothers Osborne - Unapologetically Unique

Throwback Thursday Bunnie sits down with Brothers Osborne—brothers TJ Osborne and John Osborne—for a powerful conversation about music, family, and embracing what makes you different. The duo opens up about growing up in a blue-collar Maryland town, TJ’s journey of coming out, and the deeper meaning behind their Grammy-winning song Younger Me. John shares details about his and Lucie’s IVF journey, and both brothers reflect on how therapy helped them navigate some of their toughest seasons. They also talk about never fitting the traditional country mold, how staying close as brothers kept them grounded in the industry, and what’s next—including their single Finish This Drink and a new album that brings them back to their roots. Brothers Osborne: Website https://www.brothersosborne.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqg_oWrfVEeyiZFUoGvFznyCdYCXM9LDXq21XZbxdfwTgd-HSWl Watch Full Episodes & More: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@Dumbblondepod

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Bunnie XO?

  12 celebrities, one Don, and cold, hard cash from the producers of Traitors, comes The Mob, a new Hulu original series, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ and this unique new reality competition show hosted by the iconic Parker Posey. What up, girl? 12 celebrity contestants are about to become members of a powerful family for two weeks in a lavish Italian villa. They'll shake down and hustle to win a share of up to $250,000. And every good mob needs a Don. Whoever they choose to lead them will have absolute power deciding who stays and who gets taken out, who makes money and who walks away with nothing. In a game of power where loyalty and trust are the currency, will the most powerful

• 0:43Bunnie XO?

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• 1:09Bunnie XO?

  Is this thing on? What's up, babies? Welcome to another episode of Don Blonde. Today, I have the boys on the couch, Brothers Osborne, the brothers who have rocked country music, redefined brotherhood, and proved that being different might just be your greatest hit. Welcome, boys. Thank you. Thank you. I worked hard on that.

• 1:28Speaker 01

  That made me feel good.

• 1:29Bunnie XO?

  Good. I love you guys. My husband loves you guys.

• 1:34Speaker 01

  Well, we love you guys. Honestly, I feel like, I mean, you know, his career's just like taken off to the stratosphere, but in such a short period of time, but I love that I've gotten to know you guys. Just a little bit before that happened, you guys haven't changed at all.

• 1:46Bunnie XO?

  Oh, we appreciate you guys. And I have always been obsessed with you because of how you dress. It's so cowboy couture. And I'm just like, it's so like tailored and just perfect. Every time I see you, I'm like this outfit. It is fucking amazing.

• 1:59Speaker 01

  Thank you. There's a lot coming from you.

• 2:00Bunnie XO?

  Well, I mean, where does the style, the sense of style come from? Is it something that you obsess about?

• 2:05Speaker 01

  I think it's a multiple, multiple things. One, it's probably the fact that I'm a gay man. A gay man and there's somewhere, it certainly doesn't hurt.

• 2:13Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 2:13Speaker 01

  Um, and then, uh, you know, we have stylists that help with this stuff. And of course, Abby is very stylish. So, you know, that's always at the last, you know, every time like even I got dressed for the awards, I'm like, this jacket, this jacket.

• 2:26Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, no, it's always, it's, it's amazing. Top tier, always.

• 2:30Speaker 01

  Even when I was a kid, I kind of love like wearing oddly, I mean, before I even had any clue what my sexuality was, I make, when I look back now, I'm like, oh my God, you were so gay. Like I would wear like striped shirt, like a TGI Fridays red and white striped shirt with like a bow tie when I was like eight.

• 2:46Bunnie XO?

  That's hot, though.

• 2:47Speaker 02

  His choice.

• 2:48Bunnie XO?

  I love that.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  Like I had my hair up, super neat.

• 2:51Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 2:51Speaker 01

  It's kind of like, uh, have you seen Right to Gemstones?

• 2:54Bunnie XO?

  Of course. I just watched the finale last night.

• 2:56Speaker 01

  Okay, so the late season, when there's the, uh, what's this character? He's the little boy.

• 3:01Bunnie XO?

  Yes, yes, yes.

• 3:02Speaker 01

  I was, that was basically me as a kid.

• 3:04Bunnie XO?

  No, I think that's phenomenal because fashion, I have, I love fashion. So even as a kid, like I wore a plads, a red plaid skirt and an I rode the bullet Gillies t-shirt all the time and you couldn't tell me any different, but I always, but even when I think back to it now, like I wear like band tees and like plaid skirts still and it's like, it's sometimes it's something you're, you're just born with too.

• 3:23Speaker 01

  I know, isn't that weird? Like John's kids, you know, he's got, um, twins.

• 3:26Bunnie XO?

  The twins, yeah.

• 3:27Speaker 01

  And to watch just one just be a, a boy and the girl, you know, she just naturally like, she couldn't even speak yet and she showed up. I don't know if it was to Christmas or something or Thanksgiving and she has this, she's a year and a half and she's like, check out, check this out.

• 3:42Speaker 02

  She's trying to see and she does like a turn and she's looking at it.

• 3:46Speaker 01

  She's like, ah, like check this badass thing out.

• 3:48Bunnie XO?

  Uncle TJ's fashion sense. I love that.

• 3:51Speaker 02

  My son's just covered in dirt and his own gunk. He's got my fashion sense.

• 3:55Bunnie XO?

  All boy.

• 3:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 3:56Bunnie XO?

  I love that. So you said you had a story to tell me that I was.

• 3:59Speaker 02

  Yeah. So this is probably a year and a half ago.

• 4:02Speaker 01

  This is on the record.

• 4:03Speaker 02

  This is on the record.

• 4:04Bunnie XO?

  It's on the record, baby.

• 4:05Speaker 02

  A year, a year ago, a year and a half ago. It was not long after we had. Kids and um my wife gets hit up from her management. She's an artist as well, amazing singer songwriter and um then yeah, you got asked to do your podcast.

• 4:19Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 4:19Speaker 02

  And she was like, okay, yeah, I don't, I'm not sure why I don't really have any music out, but you know, we uh we've talked about like fertility stuff and kids and she's like, maybe she wants to maybe go on into that or whatever. Turned out it was a scam.

• 4:31Bunnie XO?

  Oh, no.

• 4:32Speaker 02

  Yes, and it was basically someone said, well, you have to sign on, but you have to give us like login to your computer. So we can access it from afar and Lucy signed on and then got kind of freaked out and was like, this doesn't seem right and then closed the tab. Fortunately, they didn't like go in and get all of our information, but they were seconds away from it and she thought she was doing your podcast. Isn't that sad? I told you it was a little bit tragic.

• 4:58Bunnie XO?

  I hate that. People, the scam shit is just getting so out of control.

• 5:02Speaker 02

  It is so specific. Not only like, I get if you're like, if you're sending like, you know, I'm a prince from Africa and you send out 10 million.

• 5:10Bunnie XO?

  Remember the Nigerian scams?

• 5:13Speaker 02

  But this is so, this is so specific targeted at people where they would go, I, they probably know that we know you guys at least to some degree. Yeah, and I was kind of, I know, I was a little pissed, but also kind of impressed about the uh the move, the scam.

• 5:28Bunnie XO?

  No, it, the way that they can even access people is just kind of, it's really scary.

• 5:32Speaker 01

  Someone was actually texting our mom pretending to be me, but the thing, I was in the room with my mom. She's like, is that you? And I'm like, what me? He's like, are you texting me? I'm like, why? Why would I text you?

• 5:44Bunnie XO?

  Why is it old people always fall for it?

• 5:46Speaker 01

  I know, well, that's like, that's the saddest part. They're often victims of that stuff, which honestly, I feel like I'm pretty savvy and there's still all the time. I'm like, is this UPS?

• 5:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, Lucy was really upset. She was like, I feel like such an idiot, but I'm like, look, but it came through your management. It wasn't like she got an email somewhere after visiting a sketchy ass website.

• 6:05Speaker 01

  I get emails from John all the time. It's like, check out these pictures. And I'm like, my brother would never send me a picture.

• 6:10Speaker 02

  He doesn't open any of my dick pics.

• 6:12Speaker 01

  The hell, look at these pictures. I'm like.

• 6:14Bunnie XO?

  Somebody's, somebody would be trying to get a hold of those.

• 6:19Speaker 01

  It really was him the whole time.

• 6:21Bunnie XO?

  He just wanted to see if you responded or not.

• 6:25Bunnie XO?

  Well, tell Lucy that I'm so sorry and that we will have to revisit that for sure. Now that I know that she's even willing to do that.

• 6:31Speaker 01

  Oh, of course. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I'll tell her that'll make her.

• 6:33Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, and I actually wanted to talk about you guys' IVF journey too on the podcast, which we'll get into it later.

• 6:39Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 6:40Bunnie XO?

  I want to kind of paint a picture for my viewers at home who don't know you guys, kind of like, you know, your rise to fame. So if we could start, you know, where you guys grew up and go from there. Tell me a little bit about your childhood and what inspired you guys?

• 6:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, I mean, it's an interesting thing because, you know, for those who don't know, we're, we're East Coast boys. We grew up in a little tiny water community called Deal, Maryland. And to a lot of people that do know that, that they're always so surprised to hear that. They're like, how do you get into country music being from there? And we shot our music video for a song, one of our first singles called Rum in our hometown to kind of give people a bit of a look see into where we grew up because it makes total sense when you see it. And on the new music that we're working on, we've kind of are going back to visiting that again where we're having a lot of, we'll go back in short shoot videos and stuff back there in the hometown. But yeah, I mean, it's, it's a very blue collar town. It's paradise. I mean, we grew up on the Chesapeake Bay.

• 7:38Bunnie XO?

  How beautiful was that?

• 7:39Speaker 01

  It was so beautiful and amazing place to grow up. But, you know, a lot of places like that tend to be, you know, like really fancy. It was not. I mean, it's really blue collar.

• 7:48Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 7:49Speaker 01

  And, and so growing up around there, it was usually like, you know, people were mostly listening to rock or they're listening to country, which is pretty, I think for us to kind of have the blend of both, I think makes total sense.

• 8:00Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 8:01Speaker 01

  And then our, both of our, our parents really tried their, their hand in music. Our dad sang and wrote songs and so did our mom. But then they had five kids and very little money. And our mom's a hairdresser, her dad's a plumber and.

• 8:16Bunnie XO?

  So you guys are two of five?

• 8:19Speaker 01

  That's right. Yeah.

• 8:19Bunnie XO?

  Okay. I never, I didn't even, that didn't even come up on Google. So where are the other three at?

• 8:25Speaker 01

  So our oldest brother Jimbo's in, lives in Delaware.

• 8:28Bunnie XO?

  Jimbo.

• 8:29Speaker 01

  Jimbo.

• 8:29Bunnie XO?

  We love Jimbo.

• 8:30Speaker 01

  Exactly. It's one step down from Jim Bob, but we go to Jimbo. We got Rachel, she's in Florida. And then our sister Natalie works here in Nashville. She's in the music business as well. I think you may or may not have met her, but.

• 8:45Bunnie XO?

  Are they super supportive of you guys being in the music industry?

• 8:48Speaker 01

  Extremely, extremely so. And so, but I think, you know, for us, it was really kind of started as like our parents' dream. We just kind of grew up around music all the time. We didn't really know any different. And then, you know, just kind of playing local bars and stuff. In fact, this tattoo, a lot of people want to know what it's about. It's the first band that me and John and our dad was then called Deuce and a Quarter after our car.

• 9:10Bunnie XO?

  That's a great name.

• 9:12Speaker 01

  I know.

• 9:12Bunnie XO?

  That's actually a really good name.

• 9:14Speaker 01

  And so we did that and then slowly but surely we're like, okay, we need either do this full time or not. And we were definitely like, you know, the, at that time, a big fish in a small pond. And, and so we came here and did the opposite. But that was our, that was our upbringing, yeah.

• 9:29Bunnie XO?

  So I had read somewhere that you guys had started off on like separate journeys, like separate bands. Have you guys always done?

• 9:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I mean, yeah, we played a lot as kids and we're always playing in bands together, playing with our dad. And then I moved here in 2000 to go to college, met a bunch of different musicians. And I ended up in a separate band with some other great musicians that were friends of mine. Charlie Wershaw, I don't know if you've ever done anything with Charlie or I'm sure Jelly might know Charlie.

• 9:54Bunnie XO?

  I think he does.

• 9:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, but a great musician in town, this guy Josh Mathien, he plays Dobro and a bunch of other really great musicians. And we had a band, it was called King Billy. It didn't really kind of pan out the way we wanted, but it was a great learning experience. Traveled all over the country in a van, way too many hours, way too many hours sleeping on a bench seat in a van. But it was totally worth it. In your early twenties, you can get away with that.

• 10:17Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 10:17Speaker 02

  And, and he was writing for the same publishing company at the same time. So he was still in town. We had written a few songs together for the band. And when that band broke up, he was doing his own project. So we were joining together, joining forces, writing a lot together, playing shows. And people kept going, man, it's so cool that you and TJ are finally in a band. We're like, well, no, we're not, we're not doing a band. We're just writing together and I'm playing guitar for him. People kept showing up, showing up, and it just started to gain a lot of interest. And it was not our intention at all. Everyone was like, yeah, let's go. All the brothers are playing tonight. And eventually we had to just go, is this like official?

• 10:54Speaker 01

  Well, what we had to do was go, okay, our mom was right.

• 10:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:59Bunnie XO?

  Mom knows best.

• 11:01Speaker 01

  She did want it the whole time. We were like, no, mom.

• 11:03Speaker 02

  The second TJ popped out, she was like, finally, I got a duo. Natalie popped out. She was like, I got a trio. So she's still waiting on that one. And, um, and yeah, it kind of, and then everything kind of took off after that. It just seemed like we followed the natural course of things. It was the universe was almost like, it was a divine, something was making it happen.

• 11:22Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 11:22Speaker 02

  Um, and then we listened to it and then the rest was history.

• 11:26Bunnie XO?

  I love that. So have you guys always had a super close relationship even growing up?

• 11:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, we have. I mean, it's, I mean, about as close to like twins as you would get without actually being twins. We just did everything together.

• 11:37Bunnie XO?

  What's the age difference?

• 11:38Speaker 01

  Two, a little over two years, but there's, we, you know, we slept in bunk beds our whole lives, shared, you know, shared a bedroom together.

• 11:44Speaker 02

  Still do on the bus.

• 11:45Speaker 01

  And now we joke as we, we do, we've grown up and, and have, uh, you know, live in separate houses, but we sleep half the year with each other on a bus and bunk beds again. We haven't, we haven't gotten that far.

• 11:56Bunnie XO?

  Where does the rock influence come from? Cause you guys, for being country, you guys have a pretty rocker sound also.

• 12:03Speaker 02

  A lot to do with where we grew up. Like I grew up listening, cause I grew up, guitar became my favorite thing in the world when I was like 12.

• 12:09Bunnie XO?

  Who taught you the guitar?

• 12:10Speaker 02

  Um, my dad, our dad taught me some chords. My cousin Johnny taught me how to solo or my uncle Bill taught me a little bit. It was a bit of everyone. They wouldn't let me sit down with the family and sit around the table unless I would practice and I was good enough to hold my own. So if there's a, if you want to get me to do anything, just tell me that I can't and I'm gonna fucking do it. So I would just sat in the other room, practicing, practicing, practicing.

• 12:32Speaker 01

  You can't paint my house.

• 12:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. Damn it. And, um, yeah, I do a lot of things out of spite mostly, but anyway, so I did that. But I was obsessed with like guitar and rock music is just like go hand in hand. And we grew up listening to the country. I rebelled against that a bit because it was like what our whole family listened to and. My early teenage years, I was like, loved Nirvana and Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. Like

• 12:56Bunnie XO?

  That was an iconic time.

• 12:58Speaker 02

  Such a

• 12:58Bunnie XO?

  My first concert was Stone Temple Pilots.

• 13:00Speaker 02

  Oh, my God. Amazing. Fucking love.

• 13:02Speaker 01

  I don't think there's ever, there hasn't really been anything quite like it since.

• 13:05Bunnie XO?

  Ever.

• 13:05Speaker 01

  It was just a complete change.

• 13:06Bunnie XO?

  Why do you think that is that we can't recapture that sound?

• 13:09Speaker 02

  I, because

• 13:10Speaker 01

  Because now you have to be on TikTok to be famous.

• 13:14Speaker 02

  Well, I also think too, because back then, there was a, there was a lot of counterculture going on. Like the eighties produced, obviously some great pop rock music that we all know and love. But there was this counter revolution to that where it became these bands out of like California all the way, which is where SDP is from, all the way up to like where Pearl Jam and Nirvana, all the way up on the far west coast. And they wanted to be the anti that. So it became less about the spandex and the big loud pop songs. And it became about like the grit and the grunge. And I feel like things have kind of become so, for lack of a better word, a lot more pop in the rock world. And it never has really cured itself again of that to get back to where it once was.

• 13:59Speaker 02

  Uh, but it was a really pure era. I mean, every band was so

• 14:02Speaker 01

  I mean, you definitely see that happen a little in country music now for sure.

• 14:05Speaker 02

  You see it now in country more than ever.

• 14:07Speaker 01

  Things got super, super polished and slick. And now people are really appreciating things that are raw and real. And you know, like your, your husband, for instance, you know, someone that is just themselves.

• 14:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, unique. It's like being unique should be rewarded.

• 14:18Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 14:18Speaker 02

  You know, and it finally is, I think in country music, everyone's wanting each artist to be really special in themselves. And I think that's great. That's when music's at its healthiest.

• 14:27Bunnie XO?

  I feel like you guys are kind of the trailblazers for being unique because

• 14:31Speaker 02

  Some, maybe, yeah, I don't know.

• 14:32Bunnie XO?

  I, no, I, I definitely feel like that because, you know, you guys came in on the scene and you guys were just, did you, okay, so you, you guys came in on the scene and you guys were like, you know, pretty like rock country. And like you guys were still finding your sound. Did you feel like whenever you guys came on the scene, that you guys had to kind of tone it down a little bit whenever you came into country?

• 14:52Speaker 01

  No, I mean, it's weird. I mean, I guess, you know, if you were to circle all the way back to just like, again, being from Maryland, I feel like we just always have kind of been in this space of like Maryland, it's not really the north. It's not really the south. Like, you know, it's just, what is it? No one seems to really claim it.

• 15:08Speaker 01

  And so, you know, I feel like it was kind of that way with us musically. I mean, we grew up there. I didn't really honestly know what genres were for a really long time in my life. I just knew the music I liked and I didn't like.

• 15:19Speaker 03

  Reports due to then meeting prep then.

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• 16:19Speaker 05

  Attention all new and existing members of the W D N C. I'm Melanie Sanders and this is the We Do Not Care Club Podcast. We got to midlife and realized we just simply do not care much anymore. Now, we gotta help each other make sense of hot flashes, dry coochie, chin hair, trifling families, brain fog, and bat wings. We are not alone and we will be heard. So come join the W D N C. Follow and listen to the We Do Not Care Club Podcast with Melanie Sanders wherever you get your podcasts.

• 16:48Speaker 01

  And predominantly, what I was influenced by and what inspired me were was country music and rock, like particularly classic stuff. And so, you know, as we came down here, we just started doing our own thing. But I felt like for the longest time, like I was getting hired in town before we met up as a demo singer. And then people stopped hiring me because they're like, oh, you don't sound like anybody else. Like you don't, we're trying to pitch this song to Blake Shelton and you don't sound like him. So and then I was really irritated with myself. Honestly, I felt like, God, I don't have the chops to be able to make money as a demo singer to pitch songs to people. Then it's something at some point in time kind of flipped in me and I realized like, well, you know,

• 17:32Speaker 01

  I'm just gonna start singing my own music. And then it started, there was like a moment even still, once we had a record deal and we're out working our music out at radio, there was a lot of times because we sounded unfamiliar, our songs wouldn't test. And so then again, we were kind of in the same boat of like, well, we like you guys, but we didn't sound like all the people that were hitting really hard and familiar, like Luke Bryan's and all these people. And so, but again, it was like, do we want to follow kind of what everyone's doing and already winning with? You know, our manager, you know, was like, you know, it's like the best, if you're not first, the best you can be a second. And so we really were like, you know, we just really focused on what it is we're doing.

• 18:18Speaker 01

  And I think, you know, I've been thinking a lot about this recently because there's like so much like turmoil and like what country music is, that's not country, this is country, or that's cool, this isn't cool. It's annoying to me for the main reason of it's not what music is for. Like it's just, it's not what it's about. And it's almost had been a great reminder for me to be like, man, people want to just listen to music to like party, or if they want to cry, or if they just want to feel nostalgic, you know, or whatever. No one's thinking, man, I'm gonna listen to this because this is gonna make me cool as shit. Or I'm gonna listen to this because now I'm a country person now. It's like, it's just totally not important. And so I feel like for us, it was like focusing

• 18:59Speaker 01

  on what, you know, what is it that we like and our fans like and find in those people? And it's taken us a really, really, really long time to do it. And God, I felt like we just have been passed so many times by other new artists. And we've just been kind of in our lane, just doing our thing.

• 19:14Bunnie XO?

  I feel like slow and steady wins the race, though.

• 19:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, I don't know if we, you know, we certainly, you know, aren't the biggest artists that that's ever happened in this business, but we're still here. And we've been doing it for a while and I don't foresee us going away anytime soon. And I really attribute that to going out and making real fans that did like what we were doing because it was different. And so, yeah, that's still, that's still kind of our mantra and our goal and our inspiration with all of it.

• 19:42Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely. I think that's exactly what you have to do because, you know, like I just said, slow and steady wins the race because you're building that core fan base of diehards who are really ride with you.

• 19:52Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 19:53Bunnie XO?

  And that's so much more special than these people who kind of like make it overnight because their fans don't really know them.

• 20:00Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 20:00Bunnie XO?

  So whereas your fans just consume everything and love you guys for the people that you are as well as your music.

• 20:06Speaker 01

  Totally. And you know, and then you feel a sense of like being loyal back to them.

• 20:09Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 20:09Speaker 01

  Because you know, you were here the whole time. Like, I don't want to switch this up when you were in the eleventh hour. Like,

• 20:14Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 20:14Speaker 01

  You know, this is any person I don't want to let down. It's the fan that started with us from the bottom, who finally, once we started having success, was able to be like, I told you, like, these were, these were my guys.

• 20:24Bunnie XO?

  I believed in you.

• 20:25Speaker 01

  Yeah. And there's a sense of pride there and we want to do good by those people, you know, particularly them. And then also our, our family, everyone that was just, you know, there when we were, weren't shit.

• 20:34Bunnie XO?

  Nah, I love that. So let's take it back. I read something somewhere that you tried out for American Idol.

• 20:41Speaker 01

  Uh, I did not, I did not, although my mom, uh, really still thinks to this day that had I did try out for American Idol, that I would have made it and my career would have been a lot faster and bigger and soared a lot higher than it had.

• 20:56Bunnie XO?

  Mom is full of opinions. And that's crazy that it says, it says TJ was once rejected from American Idol that he tried out in his early twenties and didn't make it past the first round. Are people just making up shit?

• 21:06Speaker 01

  That's not wrong. I didn't make it past the first round. I never, I never tried.

• 21:11Bunnie XO?

  He's like, it's kind of true, is.

• 21:13Speaker 01

  No, you know, the thing is, it's funny because like, I don't, I wouldn't have the, I don't think I would have the muster for that. Like,

• 21:20Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 21:20Speaker 01

  You know, I feel like there was.

• 21:21Bunnie XO?

  It's so critical too.

• 21:23Speaker 01

  I know. You know, the thing is too, I feel like, you know, there was, used to be like an era, you know, where it was like, God, people would look kind of down on people to make it on like the, the fast where, American Idol or, oh, they got famous on YouTube. It used to be, then it was Snapchat and now it's TikTok. And I'm like, you know what? Like, if you can make it in this business, good for you. It's really, really, really hard. And then to not only make it, but then to keep it, it's, it is so hard.

• 21:51Bunnie XO?

  Oh.

• 21:51Speaker 01

  And it takes a lot of work. And it's really fun and it's glamorous. Well, a lot of people see, but there's a lot of stuff in the back that is ugly and not sexy and a lot of work and and a lot of nose and a lot of heartbreak to get there. So I've, you know, I've since changed my tune on that, especially now that you're a Tik Tok. Cause you're like, oh my God, you're a Tik Tok star. And I think, you know what? That's hard to do. I couldn't do it. If you were to tell me right now, here at TJ do a dance and whatever, I wouldn't be good at it.

• 22:16Bunnie XO?

  I bet you it would go viral though. If you guys did a freaking Tik Tok, it would go viral.

• 22:23Speaker 02

  There's that asshole that can't dance.

• 22:26Bunnie XO?

  But that's why, that's what makes it so fun is like you get on there and you make a fool of yourself and it goes viral. And then people just, you get a whole new crowd of people that are like, who's this person?

• 22:34Speaker 01

  Well, maybe we should do it then. As our manager was over here like, yes.

• 22:38Bunnie XO?

  She's like, uh, maybe, maybe not. Um, John, you have been so vocal about your mental health. I feel like the year 2020 and 2021 were big years for you guys. Both like, it was almost like, I don't know if like Saturn was in you guys' charts at that time.

• 22:54Speaker 01

  Is the Saturn like a thing you want?

• 22:55Bunnie XO?

  Oh, that's daddy Saturn. You learn all the lessons. And it's like, if you don't learn that lesson, it comes back around and it repeats itself. So.

• 23:02Speaker 01

  So it's like the opposite of Mercury in retrograde. Cause I feel like Mercury is always in retrograde.

• 23:09Bunnie XO?

  It's always doing something.

• 23:10Speaker 01

  Mercury chill out.

• 23:11Bunnie XO?

  Can Mercury just fuck off, please? Like all together? I get so frustrated with it.

• 23:16Speaker 01

  So Saturn's will be okay. I'm going to get Saturn tattoo.

• 23:18Bunnie XO?

  Daddy Saturn. So I feel like you guys both had really hard years and you know, the 20 and 2020 to 2021, you went through something with your um, mental health. Can we dive into that?

• 23:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, absolutely. Um, at the end of 2019, I've always struggled with anxiety and like I've teetered into depression here and there, but it's mostly anxiety and.

• 23:43Speaker 02

  I don't know, it went unchecked for a long time. I've never struggled with addiction, fortunately. Um, you know, I drink and do some other things recreationally for fun, but I've never been addicted to it. But I am addicted to work. I'm a workaholic. I just work and work and work. And when things are getting harder for me, instead of me stopping, I'm like, no, I can work harder and then I can work my way through it. Well, apparently you can only do that for so long. And at the end of 2019, we were on the road, we were on tour with Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, and Bonnie Raitt, who were like, I don't know, like of our Mount Rushmore growing up, that's probably three of the four. And I, um, I felt nothing. I was just depressed, confused, tired, I wasn't sleeping. And then

• 24:27Speaker 02

  I ended up getting something called tinnitus, or tinnitus, some people call it ringing in my ears. Um, and I still have it. Long story short, that's, I'm in a good place with that now. But at the time, it was a perfect circle of a lot of things. And I was being tormented, not only from my ears driving me crazy, but my mind also driving me crazy. And I wasn't sleeping. And, um, I ended up pulling out of that tour, which is nuts to me. Like, to think that I did that now, it's like, again, I would still just jump for joy if I was on that tour.

• 24:56Bunnie XO?

  Peace is priceless, though.

• 24:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 24:58Speaker 01

  It is. And that is such an underrated thing. We think of all the things we want, but peace is, man.

• 25:02Speaker 02

  I know. But when you're, when you're in pursuit of this dream, it's a, it's hard. It's a hard one to catch. You know, it's very fleeting. It's like trying to catch your shadow. It's always right there, but you never quite get it. And you unfortunately neglect a lot of things that need attention in your life. And for me, it was mental health. And for other people, it's, you know, maybe physical health, family, and a lot, a lot of other things.

• 25:24Bunnie XO?

  Is that something you struggled with as a child, too? Or did it happen just to

• 25:28Speaker 02

  Yeah, I did. I was quite, you know, very shy as a kid. Um, when I played guitar, it was like, oh, my God, this is how I know how to speak. I know how to be myself. I had like an oasis, you know? Um, and I found like friends that were also like geeky musician nerds. I'm like, oh, these are my people. Um, but I've always struggled with it. Um, and I still do, but I'm in a lot better place. So I ended up going, um, there's a place in town called On site, I'm not sure if you're familiar with it, but it's very big in the music.

• 25:55Bunnie XO?

  We love Miles Adcox.

• 25:57Speaker 02

  Miles is amazing. Miles is one of the people I talked to before I went there. I ended up going to something called Milestones, where they send the real crazy people. That's where I went. And, um, you know, it was really hard. It was probably the hardest. I was there for three weeks. The first week I was like, get me the fuck out of here. And one day they were like, look, you're not institutionalized. Like you can leave. And once they put the ball in my court, I was like, I knew deep down I shouldn't. And I stayed and I told myself, okay, if I'm gonna stay, I'm going to just be at everything and raise my hand at every question. I'm going to immerse myself in this. And I did. And a lot of things changed. I became, I took the curiosity part of my brain that was curious about music and guitar and all of these things. I became curious about mental health and the brain and the evolution of the brain.

• 26:40Speaker 02

  And, uh, you know, the prefrontal cortex versus the, the, you know, the, the lower part of your brain, like the limbic system and the amygdala, all these things. Like I had to go super nerd mode because that's what my brain likes. Um, and it allowed me to really understand this thing that we carry around in our heads that we have so little, that's so mysterious to us. Um, and after that, I just decided to change a lot of things in my life. Um, and since then I've had kids, um, which helps you have to prioritize things once they pop up because, you know, they were not going to give you a choice. You have to prioritize them. And everything in my life is, it's better now than it's ever been. I still struggle, but I know what to do with it now.

• 27:23Bunnie XO?

  It's amazing that you had the foresight to know like, hey, I can't leave here because I'm not okay. You know, and like to really, a lot of people don't want to do the work. You have to get through the darkness to see the light. I preach about mental health on my podcast all the time because I suffer from severe anxiety and depression also and OCD.

• 27:40Speaker 02

  Well, not that good, but.

• 27:41Bunnie XO?

  No, no, I get it. Yeah, fuck yeah. Um, no, I know, I know what you said.

• 27:46Speaker 02

  I will say, one of the things that they talked about there a lot, you said the word when you go through it. It's, it's, it's something that we take as like some sort of colloquialism as if like, oh, I'm just going through something. But if you really think about the words, think about, I'm going through it. That's the only way to go through it. You can't go above it, can't go under it, you can't go around it, you gotta go through it.

• 28:07Bunnie XO?

  Yep.

• 28:07Speaker 02

  And but you will come out the other side. It's gonna suck, but you will come out the other side.

• 28:13Bunnie XO?

  You will.

• 28:13Speaker 02

  So you have to be willing just to go through it.

• 28:15Speaker 01

  What do they say? If you want to get to it, you gotta go through.

• 28:17Speaker 02

  You gotta go through.

• 28:18Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, it's like to get to it, go through it.

• 28:19Speaker 02

  And also, you know, the more you do it, the almost kind of the better you become at it, the less avoidant you are of it. The more you lean into it, the more inquisitive you are about yourself and your experiences. The more you're inquisitive you are about your own mental health.

• 28:34Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely.

• 28:34Speaker 02

  It just gets easier with time. It never goes away. It just gets easier.

• 28:37Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree with that a hundred percent. And I preach on this podcast also that you have to do the work. It's not gonna just happen overnight. Like, you have to rip that Band-Aid off.

• 28:48Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 28:49Bunnie XO?

  And bleed again and let it scar.

• 28:51Speaker 02

  A hundred percent.

• 28:52Speaker 01

  It's tough because you can't see it, you know, it's like, okay, if you go to cavity or something, that's like, you know, anything, if you were to cut yourself, it's like things you obviously need to go work on and take care of that anyone would do. And wouldn't think twice about it or apologize for it.

• 29:04Speaker 02

  Well, the fact that it's more part of the conversation now, like you talking about it's massive. Anyone that has like a good outreach, talking about it is going to help put it in the conversation and then de-stigmatize it.

• 29:16Bunnie XO?

  Oh, absolutely.

• 29:16Speaker 01

  It's also part of the healing is talking about it. I mean, it's the same thing with like, I mean, getting being nervous. I remember when I would go on stage and I would get nervous, I would be, I would always try to be like, I'm not nervous, but I was like, ah, like.

• 29:26Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 29:27Speaker 01

  And it's weird how just talking about it will help. I mean, like not trying to fight it, like I'm going on stage, I'm like, damn, I'm nervous as hell right now. Like, it makes me feel bad. I don't know why that does help, but it does.

• 29:38Speaker 02

  Because you get it out.

• 29:39Bunnie XO?

  Recognizing it. Yeah, you're, you're, you're, what the mind thinks the body will follow. And like when you speak words out, it like registers with your mind. And I don't know, it's just, it's crazy, the whole psychological aspect of it.

• 29:51Speaker 02

  It is processing. Like if you're nervous, you know, and sitting down and clenching your hands, your body doesn't want to do that. Your body wants to kind of get up and move. That's what nerves are. It's a sympathetic nervous response.

• 30:03Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 30:03Speaker 02

  If you're nervous and talking about it and kind of moving, that's really good for you. That's what your body wants.

• 30:07Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, absolutely. I'm so happy you got the help that you needed and that you're doing so much better now.

• 30:12Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 30:12Bunnie XO?

  And I want to talk about your IVF journey, but next, let's talk about TJ. 2021 was a big year for you.

• 30:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:19Bunnie XO?

  When did you know that you? You were gay.

• 30:22Speaker 01

  Um, when I started liking boys.

• 30:25Bunnie XO?

  So like, you saw like as a child? No, it wasn't. I thought it was funny.

• 30:33Bunnie XO?

  I thought it was funny.

• 30:34Speaker 01

  He's cute. All right. I guess. No.

• 30:37Bunnie XO?

  Me too.

• 30:40Speaker 01

  I was young. I mean, really, really young. I didn't really understand it, but I mean, it was pretty, it was, I would say pretty much my whole life, I mean, it's one person comes into realizing, oh, like you're, you're, you're cute, or I have a crush and not really knowing what that is. I mean, pretty young age and. But for a long time, I, you know, of course I denied it and, and fought it. And I was like, no way.

• 30:59Bunnie XO?

  Did you deny it because you felt like you didn't have a safe space to be able to come out?

• 31:02Speaker 01

  Not really. It just didn't feel like me. I mean, I, I guess I like, um, you know, at the time there was like, you know, a lot of the cliches of what being gay was, and not that there's anything wrong with any of that stuff. It just wasn't what I necessarily identified as. Um, and mostly I just, I mean, I was just like a, I felt like a regular guy who likes doing redneck shit. And I was like, this isn't, this isn't how this works. And.

• 31:27Speaker 01

  And it just didn't fit into my life, you know? And I was like, this isn't, you know, what I want for myself. And I just felt like the image of what I wanted myself, or what I wanted for myself, like to have. Children and, you know, have a family and, you know, those types of things, which, you know, later in life, you come to realize you certainly can have those.

• 31:43Bunnie XO?

  That was also programmed that as a child.

• 31:45Speaker 01

  A hundred percent. You know, and that's kind of the, an interesting thing is because, you know, like, you know, I was like talking about like Shelley Wright, amazing artist in the nineties, had a bunch of hits. Um, and she came out, you know, as, as lesbian, but she, you know, brought this interesting point of just like, you know, being groomed, like, you know, she's like, I was groomed my whole life to be, to be straight, you know, like no one wanted this for me. Um, and I felt very similarly. I never really thought about it that way. And I actually, you know, I'm, I'm very fortunate because, um, you know, and I, this is why I don't. Really love to harp on it too much or be like, oh, my life was that. I mean, I certainly had a lot of heartbreak. But I grew up in a really good family. I mean, our parents could not have been more supportive of their children, regardless of what they did or who they were, as long as they were good people.

• 32:29Speaker 01

  And so I was really, really fortunate to grow up around that. So that was like really encouraging. And then as, you know, I came up, it was like, you kind of get then get stuck in the narrative. And it's weird to break out of it. Like, I always kind of like liking it to someone calling you the wrong name or something. And I'm like, I don't really want to tell you my name isn't John. That's my brother.

• 32:50Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 32:50Speaker 01

  But I don't want to brush your bubble because I don't make you feel bad. And then you get kind of stuck in this thing where you're like, everyone's thinking this one thing about me. And it's not even hardly about me. It's more of, I'm worried about them feeling bad. And there was just so many things that are going on. But I did eventually reach a point in my life to where I was like, you know,

• 33:09Speaker 01

  things were good. I wasn't putting a lot of premium on my happiness. I didn't even really know what that felt like. You know, I didn't know what I was missing. And then eventually I just got to a point to where, you know, I was in a relationship that I was really happy with. I was really happy with where my life was. Through all the shitty stuff of the pandemic, it did kind of give us a minute to stop and smell the roses, you know, like our lives are good.

• 33:33Bunnie XO?

  I've been needing new glasses forever, and it's just one of those things I keep putting off. So I finally went on Zinni to pick out a new pair. I'm going with these black rectangle glasses that are really similar to the ones I already wear because, listen, I know what I like. They're classic, they go with everything, and I'm excited to get them. Zinni has frames starting from under $30, and I love that you can use their virtual try on to see what different frames look like before you order. You just find a pair you love, enter your prescription, customize your lenses, and they'll ship them right to your door. Zinni is truly the easiest way to shop for stylish prescription glasses without the headache, backed by over 150,000 five-star reviews. Check new glasses off your list today with Zinni.

• 34:15Bunnie XO?

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• 34:59Bunnie XO?

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• 35:30Speaker 01

  Um, and I was like, this is, this is time, you know, to do this for, for, for me. And so I, a lot of people will come up and, and be like, oh, thank you for doing this for us and what you've done for the community. And that's amazing. I hope, certainly hope it's not for nothing.

• 35:44Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 35:44Speaker 01

  But, uh, it was for me. It really was because I needed it. I couldn't do it anymore.

• 35:49Bunnie XO?

  Well, that has to be like a weight on your shoulder to not be.

• 35:52Speaker 01

  It was. I didn't really realize it though. That was, it wasn't like, I was just unhappy. I didn't, it was a huge weight on my shoulders. I didn't realize until it was gone. I was like, holy shit. Like, I didn't even want to talk about it. Like that, when I was telling, I was like, when I come out, I just want to come out and I want to move on.

• 36:06Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 36:06Speaker 01

  Uh, and then instantly I just felt way different. I'm like, I do want to talk about it. It's a huge part of me. Now like, um, the Sam Lansky, he wrote the article that, um, that I came out, uh, with, uh, was one of the writers for Time Magazine and an amazing person, also a gay man himself. And I was like, you know, it's like, it's not a, it's not a big deal, you know, it's just not the biggest part of me, you know, it's like, there's so many other things that define me. And very simply, he, he said, what if it is though? What if it's actually like the, the biggest?

• 36:34Speaker 02

  Part of you. And I was like, I could almost cry thinking about that. It was like, it was so, I was, yeah, and this is a huge part of me and I've marginalized it to myself to make myself feel better about it. But it actually is wildly huge and how I think and how I feel. Um, empathy that I have for other people and that have things in their lives that I don't understand, but I do understand what it was like to have to feel like you had to be someone else. Like, this is really terrible. And so as it pertains then to our career, it's been a beautiful thing to have come out because I felt like, man, we've, we're always pride at ourselves and just being like, this is who we are. Like this is take it or leave it. But I'm like, well, I'm not really entirely, you know, for me.

• 37:17Speaker 02

  Um, and being able to actually be at that point, I feel like such a great relationship with my, with the fans, such a better relationship with my friends and, and most importantly, a way better relationship with myself. Like I really love myself for the first time. And I, and I didn't really think about it before, but I didn't before, you know? And it's, and it's kind of, uh, we have a song called, I don't remember me before you, which the irony of this is that it was a song that was Shane Mack, now he's also gay, was talking about, he doesn't remember his life before his, he had his children. And he's like, I don't remember it at all. And that's kind of what the inspiration of that song was about. Um, and a lot of people have used it as their wedding song. In fact, our sister Natalie asked me last night if we would sing it at her wedding, which is coming up here in a few weeks. And, um,

• 38:03Speaker 02

  She didn't ask me. Yeah. She's like, My phone call. You can sing it if you wanted.

• 38:07Bunnie XO?

  I think you guys just move as a unit.

• 38:10Speaker 02

  So presumptuous Natalie. So, but I sing the song a lot of times, even though it's about like kind of your life after a relationship. A lot of times it makes me really even more emotional now when I sing it because I don't truly, I, I don't remember myself before 21, like I kind of do, but how I felt and my life was just so different and, and so in all the best ways, I don't remember what it was like to manage that before, thankfully.

• 38:36Bunnie XO?

  Cause you're living in your authen- Authenticity.

• 38:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. Which is just so much easier, you know, not have to. But the worst part about it, though, honestly, wasn't even, I got so good at managing it. By the way, if you just want someone not to like pry into your life, all you gotta do is ask them a question. I mean, this is basically what you're doing here. People love to talk about themselves. So if you wanna divert, be like, what about you? And they're like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I could just easily swerve. But what I didn't like is it was getting to the point to where a lot of people were having, that did know, were having to hold the secret for me. And that was just not, not their cross to bear. I had a really good friend be like, oh, my God, I feel so terrible. I outed you. And I was like, don't feel bad, man. Like, this is not your bullshit. Like, it shouldn't be like this. Like, if you lose any sleep over it, like, that would, I would lose more sleep about that than anything.

• 39:19Bunnie XO?

  The self-awareness, though, that's amazing that you have, you know, that's amazing. Cause most people wouldn't think about how other people are feeling carrying their secret.

• 39:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, but it sucks, you know, and it is, and people that love me, you know, and it was like people that I know would never, ever cross me in any way. That have done it a couple of times accidentally and, and felt all this guilt about it. I'm like, this is bullshit. Like, this is just, it's just not worth it. You know, like, um, all of this is amazing to have, you know, the lives that we have. But I also had so much fun when I was like broke and eating ramen noodles and sleeping on couches. Like, I had the best times of my life.

• 39:53Bunnie XO?

  Jay and I talk about that all the time. We used to tour in an eighteen passenger van. Sleep at the like scummiest motel sixes. Like, that was the best fucking time of our life.

• 40:04Speaker 01

  Exactly. And it's so true. I mean,

• 40:08Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, it was really cool, but you know, I'd never wanna do it again.

• 40:11Speaker 01

  Anyways, when you kinda look through that, and I felt that was what the pandemic really reminded me, cause it took everything away. And we were losing more money than I thought we would ever even make in our lives. And I was, and I was blissfully happy. I mean, we were just sitting around the family, playing board games and drinking beers by the fire. It was like free, pretty much. And I was like, this is so much fun. This is all I'll ever need. And, um, and I found through the hope, honestly, encouragement of some really close friends of mine too. They were like, yeah, like, you know, I got your back. And that was also really important. I, I think it's worth noting that, um, every person that was working. Or me or with me, um, people that were definitely affected by things that will happen in my life.

• 40:55Speaker 01

  Not once did anyone be like, man, I don't know, like this could change things. Everyone was just totally had the wind at my back. And that's where I don't really like to ever feel like, oh, it was hard for me because it was hard, but there's so many people who don't have the, they have a complete opposite, like they'll, they'll come out and lose their families.

• 41:15Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 41:15Speaker 01

  They'll come out, they'll lose their careers or whatever, or they might lose their wife, no kidding. Uh, that was a joke.

• 41:22Bunnie XO?

  Elton John, wasn't he married or something?

• 41:24Speaker 01

  But anyhow, you know, so I'm there, there's people it's really, really tough on, and I know people that literally don't even talk, speak to their parents and probably never will. And so that's, that's hard.

• 41:33Bunnie XO?

  What kind of advice would you give to say, you know, somebody who's listening to this podcast right now that is struggling with their sexuality and wanting to come out? Like how, what advice would you give them?

• 41:44Speaker 01

  I mean, it's tough. There's so many things. I mean, the, the most cliche thing, which is true is it does get better. I mean, once you do it, there's not a single person that I know that has come out and has not felt like they wished that they, they had done it earlier. Like, I'm like, oh my God, I wish I could have my whole twenties like this. Um, now I get some people, it just doesn't fit in. It's not the time. The other thing is that I would say there is never going to be a good time to do it. It's awkward, it's weird. It's just, I didn't want the attention from it. It's a strange, annoying thing that we have to do, but you unfortunately, um, people will say, I don't want to hear about it. And I'm like, I don't want to talk about it either, but unfortunately it's part of the, uh, until we get to the point where it isn't a thing.

• 42:26Speaker 01

  Unfortunately it is, it is. And so that's what I would say, like just be patient. Um, it does get better.

• 42:35Speaker 01

  But also don't wait for this divine moment that's just going to suddenly happen. It rarely will ever come and you just have to some, at some point, just take a leap of faith and, um, and you'll land on your feet and you'll be happy you did.

• 42:47Bunnie XO?

  Yes, I love that. That's beautiful. So John, let's come over here to you and let's talk about your wife a little bit. We talked about her in the beginning, but you guys have been together since 2007?

• 42:59Speaker 02

  That sounds right.

• 43:02Bunnie XO?

  Smoking like a true man.

• 43:05Speaker 01

  We were at the ACM's the other night and he was talking about, neither one of them remember dates very well. Lucy booked a show on their anniversary.

• 43:12Speaker 02

  It's our 10 year anniversary and I don't know, on the first? So what is that like a week? I don't know. Not a week, sorry. It was like three weeks?

• 43:19Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 43:19Speaker 02

  And, um, and yeah, and Lucy, I had forgotten. She was talking about, she was like, yeah, the day before that's our sister's wedding. And she's like, I don't know. I just, I feel bad. Like I know I'm gonna be partying and I hope I can sing that day. And then it just occurred to us like, wait, that's our 10 year anniversary. She booked a gig.

• 43:38Bunnie XO?

  That's like me and my husband. We don't know the date that we got married.

• 43:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's kind of how we are, but I don't know. I mean, my wife and I, I adore our relationship and the fact that we're similar in that way, it just makes it work that much more. I mean, in fact, I remembered our first anniversary and she forgot it. And when I, it was like the day I was like, so what day is it today? She's like, what? What day is it today? She's like, um, the Thursday? I'm like, yeah, but something else. She's like, oh my God, it's our one year anniversary. I'm like, the fact that you forgot is the greatest fucking gift you could have ever given me. Cause now it's like all the pressure is off, you know?

• 44:13Speaker 01

  A hundred percent.

• 44:14Bunnie XO?

  I think relationships like that last though, when there's not so much emphasis on certain dates and having to celebrate.

• 44:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, look, we don't really do Valentine's Day. Maybe we'll do a dinner, but usually not, you know?

• 44:28Speaker 01

  It's probably important for those people that just don't celebrate each other that often, you know? Like, but I feel like we all, we all do that. Like there's so many things.

• 44:34Bunnie XO?

  That's what I say. We live in love every day. So it doesn't, we don't need a holiday.

• 44:39Speaker 02

  We got married in our kitchen and we kept it really small. We didn't have a wedding. TJ and Natalie. Through a party and it was super chill. We've always kind of been like that, you know, but we met in 2007. We were both writing for the same publishing company at the time. I heard her sing on stage and, you know, that accent and she's beautiful. And I'm like, who is this person? I need to be around them as much as possible. And we wrote and we hit it off and, um, you know, we, we kind of talked on off for a long time and then made it official. Beginning of relationships are always weird. I don't care who you are, they're just, you kind of have to get through the muck.

• 45:14Bunnie XO?

  So uncomfortable.

• 45:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's just, it's just weird, you know? But if it's worth it, you'll figure it out. And then, and then we did, and then fast forward, you know, a bunch of years, we got married in a kitchen. Um, we're both artists and writers and creators in pursuit of a similar thing. And, but due to that, you know, there are a lot of people in our business that wait a long time for kids. Honestly, we didn't really talk about having kids. It wasn't on the top of my mind, actually wasn't on my mind at all.

• 45:40Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 45:40Speaker 02

  It wasn't for her either. And then it just kind of evolved to a point where we were just talking about it, you know? Entertaining the idea. But by the time that happened, it was a little bit too late for us. And, um, through a few, well, a lot of attempts, um, use your imagination, you know, things that didn't really pan out. So we tried IVF and, um, we did, uh, several rounds of IVF and this was like.

• 46:05Bunnie XO?

  When you say several, how many? Cause my husband and I are in the middle of our IVF journey.

• 46:08Speaker 02

  You are, okay. So I think by the, I think the last one was our fifth.

• 46:12Bunnie XO?

  Wow.

• 46:12Speaker 02

  So how, how far are you in?

• 46:14Bunnie XO?

  I'm about to start my second retrieval.

• 46:16Speaker 02

  Your second, okay.

• 46:17Bunnie XO?

  So it's brutal.

• 46:18Speaker 01

  It's, I'm just observing them do it.

• 46:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, it absolutely sucks.

• 46:22Bunnie XO?

  It's heavy. You don't realize how heavy IVF is until you, you get out of the first egg retrieval and you're like.

• 46:28Speaker 01

  It's hell.

• 46:29Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:29Bunnie XO?

  What the hell?

• 46:30Speaker 01

  Obviously like, I mean, you're talking about it here, but I mean, most people, it's a pretty personal, private thing.

• 46:35Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 46:35Speaker 01

  So they're dealing with all this like emotional stuff, kind of.

• 46:38Bunnie XO?

  No, you have to talk about it.

• 46:40Speaker 02

  You have, just like mental health. I think you just have to talk, the more you talk about things more in the open, like your sexuality and, you know, and then there are obviously varying degrees of that. But when you talk about it, it's just becomes more of the conversation, less something that you hold. Feel so heavy anymore, but it was really hard, you know? I mean, best of luck to you guys.

• 46:59Bunnie XO?

  Thank you.

• 46:59Speaker 02

  Sending you guys all the love, prayers and good vibes. But it was, I had no idea how hard it was going to be. For even just for me, having to not so much go, I'm excited about having kids, which I was. But having to see the person I love more than anything in the world go through that because there are a lot of implications around the idea of having to do IBF anyway, which I'm sure you understand. Like, well, I wish I would have done it this way. There's a million things of, I wish it could have been that, right?

• 47:29Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 47:29Speaker 02

  But that is what it is. The trickiest part is you have, the, the mother has to pump herself full of an insane amount of fucking hormones.

• 47:40Bunnie XO?

  It's an, but you know what's crazy is I was so happy. Like I thought I was prepared to be like fucking just crazy. I even told my husband, I love you. Go on tour. I'm gonna do this at home. If I don't talk to you for a few days, it's because I'm going through it. I was the happiest I ever was.

• 47:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 47:55Bunnie XO?

  It was after the egg retrieval that was brutal for me.

• 47:58Speaker 02

  The fall.

• 47:59Bunnie XO?

  Oh, it was rough. It was so rough.

• 48:01Speaker 02

  It was, it was really, really, really hard. And you know, I mean, there is like, I do think back at, it was like a movie. Like I remember us first going to the clinic and us laughing and we're like giddy, you know, which is crazy for me to think at the time because kids just wasn't even on my radar.

• 48:16Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 48:17Speaker 02

  But the more I thought about it, the more excited I became. And it was, um, one unsuccessful one after the other. And you hear a lot of things of people saying, well, we tried four, five, six rounds. Um, and then we gave up and then we got pregnant on the next one. I'm sure you've had a million people tell you that.

• 48:33Bunnie XO?

  I've heard that.

• 48:34Speaker 02

  To me, as the dude, I'm just like, oh, that's interesting. But Lucy's like, well, now I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Like you're making me feel like I'm doing this wrong. You know, and of course we stop and then it doesn't work.

• 48:46Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 48:46Speaker 02

  You know, and you're always. Gripping on to hope. Um, and but it finally did happen. My wife and I have a um, a uh, a boy and a girl, twins, little like little ginger kids. It is the greatest thing in the world.

• 49:03Bunnie XO?

  I got goosebumps.

• 49:04Speaker 02

  It is the greatest thing. It's I've, you know, I'll just, I'll say the same thing that everyone says it's the hardest thing in the world that you'll do, you'll ever do, but it will be the best thing in the world that you'll ever do. I mean, like, I'm here right now hanging out with you guys. This is awesome. But I'm like pumped to get home because it's, they're just waking up from naptime. I want to go hug my babies. It is like, that dopamine serotonin bomb goes off in your body. So I genuinely hope the best for you two.

• 49:30Bunnie XO?

  Thank you.

• 49:31Speaker 02

  And I truly believe it will happen. Um, but you just have to be patient. That's all I can say.

• 49:35Speaker 01

  Sorry you're going through that. I know that's, that is a lot.

• 49:38Bunnie XO?

  I appreciate it. You know, I'm a soldier, so we're gonna get through it.

• 49:41Speaker 01

  I believe it.

• 49:42Bunnie XO?

  And it's gonna, I, I'm, I'm like, uh, so delusional sometimes that I pretty much manifest everything in my life.

• 49:48Speaker 02

  You have to be a little bit.

• 49:49Bunnie XO?

  I tell my husband all the time. I'm like, just let me be delusional. We're gonna get through this. Everything's fine. He's like,

• 49:54Speaker 02

  But your husband's an artist. We're artists. Like, you have to be delusional to do that. So I'd say there's a healthy amount of it.

• 49:59Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely. How has fatherhood changed you and for the better?

• 50:04Speaker 02

  I mean, it's 99% for the better, 1% not for the better because I'm just more tired than I was.

• 50:11Bunnie XO?

  Well, with twins too, I can only imagine.

• 50:13Speaker 02

  Twins is a lot. Um, but it, it makes you reprioritize things. And it's not like you have a choice, really. Like, I don't go, oh, man, now I have to really think about my day. Like, we have a nanny that helps out. She's done at 5 o'clock. I have a studio, similar to you, like really close to the house. At 5 o'clock, I'm like, I gotta go. I'm done. I gotta go be with my kids. And it's not even because I think, well, it's the right thing to do. No, I want to go be with my kids. And I realized like, our career is great as things have been. Um, it, you know, I, I just, it's not worth taking that seriously when there are much more pertinent things in life, like family and love and friends and, um, you know.

• 50:58Speaker 02

  This our our industry is full of no's and failures. And now when I hear a no or there's a failure, I'm like, whatever.

• 51:05Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 51:06Speaker 02

  My kids are awesome. This is amazing. Like no matter how big or great or how bad something is in this industry, it just pales in comparison to that.

• 51:14Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 51:15Speaker 02

  And, you know, hopefully for jelly, like, there's this funny thing I tell a lot of dads. Like, you have like an extra gear. I'm not saying if you don't have kids, you're missing out. Not having kids can be great because you can do whatever the fuck you want.

• 51:29Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 51:29Speaker 02

  I do miss that. But when you have kids, you're like, whoa, I have this kind of extra gear where I'm, I just kind of know how to do this. It's this weird subconscious kind of innate sense that you have. And it's the best. I mean, I just really hope the best for you too, because when it happened, and it will happen, it's just, your life will be forever changed for the better.

• 51:51Bunnie XO?

  I love it. You light up when you talk about them. When you talk about your wife and your kids, it's the cutest thing ever.

• 51:56Speaker 02

  I love it.

• 51:56Speaker 01

  I know they're great. I mean, yeah.

• 51:57Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. What's it like being an uncle? Do you ever want to have kids?

• 52:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, I would love to have children at some point in time for sure. But I, um, there is, I, I've been an uncle for a long, long, long time. We have our oldest brother and sister.

• 52:11Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 52:11Speaker 01

  They, I mean, there's, we've got, God, our oldest nephew, probably thirty.

• 52:16Speaker 02

  Thirty one, two.

• 52:17Speaker 01

  Thirty three, four, or something like that.

• 52:19Bunnie XO?

  Wow.

• 52:21Speaker 01

  And they have kids. So a lot, there's a lot of babies in the family.

• 52:25Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 52:25Speaker 01

  But it's, it's kind of the, I think, the first time where I was of an age where I feel like I can actually be an uncle. I was like a, I was basically just a child or a boy.

• 52:34Bunnie XO?

  Growing up, yeah.

• 52:35Speaker 01

  When, you know, a lot of them were, were, uh, were growing up. But it is amazing. They're just getting to the age now, and it's like, you know, two years old, they're just now kind of like, they're learning to speak and they're fun. You can throw them around, be rough with them and.

• 52:46Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 52:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's amazing. We've got a lot of. A big family, so.

• 52:50Speaker 02

  We have a huge family.

• 52:51Bunnie XO?

  That's amazing. I bet you guys are a blast to hang out with.

• 52:53Speaker 01

  It is. It is a fun family. You know, so we got our sisters getting married at the end of this month. And um, she's uh, her and her fiance Jacob are are um, having their wedding at uh, my home. And uh, so I'll have like, it's gonna be amazing, but there's gonna be fifteen at least people staying with me. You know, or more, a lot of, a lot of newborn babies and it's gonna be lovely, but it's also gonna be like, oh my god.

• 53:16Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, when they leave, you're gonna be like, alright, don't let the, don't let the door, the door hit ya.

• 53:23Speaker 01

  I know, it's not, I know every single one of us are gonna be going through that at some different time of like, this is a lot.

• 53:28Bunnie XO?

  That's how we are when family vacation comes up. We all get together, we all stay in the same house. Everybody's so excited the first two days. By day three or four, we're like, okay.

• 53:36Speaker 01

  Oh yeah.

• 53:36Bunnie XO?

  Everybody goes to their designated areas of the house.

• 53:39Speaker 01

  Screaming at somebody, a door slamming like, what the heck?

• 53:41Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 53:41Speaker 01

  I know, and I, and the thing is, I, I, I look forward to those moments too, cause after they've passed, they're really funny to talk about. You know, like in the, in the weeks or months later.

• 53:51Bunnie XO?

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• 54:34Bunnie XO?

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• 54:58Speaker 01

  Um, yeah, we, we've always had a big family and it's like, I think the biggest thing for us, it's always like really kept us so grounded. I think in our lives is we just, I mean, our family will call us on our shit. They're super proud of us, but they'll also be like, what now?

• 55:14Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 55:14Speaker 01

  Like, I know you're a nerd, like you're not that cool.

• 55:18Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, they'll pop the head really quick.

• 55:20Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 55:22Bunnie XO?

  So I want to circle back to, uh, 2022, after you came out, the silver lining was you guys did your song, Younger Me, and you guys won a Grammy for that?

• 55:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 55:35Bunnie XO?

  That's amazing. That is a, of an accomplishment because some people go through their whole music careers without winning a Grammy.

• 55:41Speaker 01

  I know. It was, we had, um, you know, we had had the, the wonderful privilege of being nominated quite a few times. And in fact, I always joke that it somehow, I think the, the amount of times we lost is more impressive than the one time we won. But I, uh, you know, we, it was really, I felt like serendipitous because that song, it was kind of like, you know, a lot of times you're writing songs, you're thinking about like, okay, where are we going to play this? Like, are the fans going to like it? People can sing along here. Is it going to work on radio? Is it gonna? And that song was just slowly like, this is something that I need to say. And it kind of came out of nowhere.

• 56:18Speaker 01

  And John felt like in his setting that it was also applies to him and, uh, you know, and for those of you who do not know, it's something on Younger Me. It's like, if you could talk to your younger self, like I think all of us feel this way, like, oh my God, you know, like the, the heartbreak and how hearted you are on yourself and, and just to be able to look back and be like, man, like you're going to make it and you're going to like how you turn out. Like you're, everything's going to be great. You know, like if I could just go back there and talk to my younger self, it'd be amazing.

• 56:45Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 56:45Speaker 01

  Um, and that's kind of what the song, the inspiration for that song was. Um, and we had just released because I, when I did come out, I didn't want it to be around any promotion. I'm like, I don't want this to be opportunistic. Like I don't want to be a record. I don't want to be a tour, but there's always, I mean, amazingly, there's always shit going on in our lives.

• 57:02Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 57:03Speaker 01

  So we had just released a record and I was like, okay, then that then it came out. So then I was like, well, I want this song to be out. I don't want to wait for the next record that might be years from now because I probably won't want to say this then. And so we re-released our Skeletons album with that song on it. And while it wasn't a song that we like worked for radio or wasn't this hit or like this thing that made us probably really any money necessarily. I don't probably a little.

• 57:30Speaker 01

  It was just the, I think the impact spiritually or emotionally and the connection to the fans. And it felt really like this is just like a little nugget of of reality here, you know, just some real shit. And and it felt very serendipitous at that moment because I had been to the Grammys at this point. Probably, I don't know, maybe this might be my, at that time, maybe 10th year going or close to it. And I never once brought a date to the Grammys. And so it was, you can, you can look up me giving my speech, I'm an emotional mess, I'm crying.

• 58:09Speaker 01

  And so I'm like, I'm at this award show, accepting my first Grammy award for a song that was inspired by me coming out. And it's the first time I've ever brought a date to the Grammy Awards. It was, yeah, it was, it fucked me up. I was like, you know, and then I'm there with my brother. And it felt like we were like, you know, there's a picture and it's like we had our arms around each other, walking down the aisle to get on stage. And I just see like eight year olds, John and TJ, just like little boys going up there. And it was like, there were so many things I was like, oh, my God, like, we did it, you know? But also doing it for something that was important and not for the money, you know? And it was, it just was, it was perfect. And I was, yeah, emotional to a mess, you know?

• 58:54Speaker 01

  I was, so I had this big gaudy ass like gold suit on, I had dyed my hair blonde. And I get back and our mother, she's like, um, she was, were you, were you proud of yourself? And I'm like, I think you're supposed to say you're proud of me here, but yeah.

• 59:09Bunnie XO?

  I really like mom. I like mom.

• 59:12Speaker 01

  She's a character.

• 59:14Speaker 02

  She is.

• 59:16Speaker 01

  We went to her house last night for mother's day and we went to play, uh, uh, 500 rummy.

• 59:21Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 59:21Speaker 01

  Uh, and she was just roasting my ass. I'm like, I came over here because I love you. Like, and you're like, give me a, give me a breath.

• 59:28Bunnie XO?

  I love it though. She's like, she's on your ass.

• 59:30Speaker 01

  Well, she's like, um, she's like, well, I am proud of you. And I was like, thanks, mom. And I know that she is. I was just kidding, but, and then she goes, um, well, I thought you looked really handsome. But she hated my blonde hair and she doesn't like that I wear anything that's gold.

• 59:43Bunnie XO?

  Oh.

• 59:44Speaker 01

  And so she's always, she's always said this. And so she's like, and I'm wearing a gold suit and my hair is blonde. And she goes, uh, and she's like, well, you looked really handsome, but your suit should have been silver and your hair shouldn't have been tied on. I'm like, that was the entire look, other than just my face. It was the entire thing. What was it that you liked exactly? Oh my God. You know, again, mom's hill.

• 1:00:05Bunnie XO?

  We love mom.

• 1:00:06Speaker 01

  We love mom.

• 1:00:08Speaker 02

  TJ's her favorite though. So I think she just has a, a high bar for him.

• 1:00:12Speaker 01

  Oh God, does she ever?

• 1:00:13Speaker 02

  Yeah. She doesn't even deny it anymore.

• 1:00:17Speaker 01

  But even last time, I'm just like, what the hell? Me and my sister are playing cards with her and she's just like, I'm like, what the hell? Is this a roast?

• 1:00:25Bunnie XO?

  You're like, who needs enemies with family like this? Totally kidding though. Um, so I just have one question to ask you guys before we talk about what we have to look forward to, um, brother, for brothers Osborne for this year, touring together as much as you guys do and as closely as you guys do. Has there ever been like a really big fight while you're on tour or when you're about to go on stage?

• 1:00:49Speaker 01

  I don't know that we've had a, we've had some fights.

• 1:00:51Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:51Speaker 01

  And when they happen, everyone clears the fuck out. Like we don't even have to say it. They're like, I don't want to be on either side of this. Like everyone just evaporates.

• 1:01:00Bunnie XO?

  Does it? Does you kind of like suck the air out of the room?

• 1:01:03Speaker 02

  Two big dudes yelling at each other. It's probably just like, ah, I'm just going to go in the other room.

• 1:01:08Speaker 01

  And for the most part, we get along, but we did and, and, um, And of course, I'll be like, you know, our drummer or something, Adam, I'm like, Adam, you were there. And then he's like,

• 1:01:18Speaker 02

  Leave me the

• 1:01:19Bunnie XO?

  At least they know to stay out of it though.

• 1:01:21Speaker 01

  Shit, I know it is amazing. Yeah, it was, it's totally the move.

• 1:01:25Bunnie XO?

  Cause you would hate if they chimed in and then you two would have to gang up on him and be like, wait, what are you talking about?

• 1:01:29Speaker 02

  It's a live bomb. They're not going anywhere near it.

• 1:01:31Speaker 01

  No, no, they're just like, and so, uh, but when it happens, it is like, it's really acute and it's really big and it gets, but it's in within 15 minutes, it's over and we moved on and it's like,

• 1:01:43Speaker 02

  Drink of beers.

• 1:01:44Speaker 01

  And we're like, all right, that was good. We got that out of us. But there was a time, uh, I didn't want to talk about this. It's interesting. Um, I think, um, is there was a time for whatever reason, a various, a bunch of little things just added up and to the point where John and I couldn't stand to be around each other. Like we wouldn't, like, we wouldn't be in the same, literally would not be in the same room with each other. One would walk in and we'd just, mother would leave. And it got, was like, it was excruciating. It was just uncomfortable. And we went to couples therapy because we were like, what the hell is going on? We need to sort our shit out. This is not right. And again, you're like, you think of, you hear all these horror stories of like families and brothers getting in the music business and you're like, we're not going to become that like,

• 1:02:22Bunnie XO?

  Wonderwall or Oasis.

• 1:02:26Speaker 01

  Everly Brothers, you know, famously, you know, like those icons are famously,

• 1:02:31Speaker 02

  You just throw all like that. Yeah.

• 1:02:32Speaker 01

  Although, yeah, anyhow, so I think made the point there. And we, so we sat down and our, the therapist was like, man, he was just like, um, and this is awesome. I'm like, what? He's like, you guys are like so mad at each other. This is great. And I'm like, what the hell are you talking about? And he's like, this is amazing. You guys care so much about what you're doing that it has got you to where you're just both fucking pissed off. And I'm like, yeah, that's a hundred percent right. And he's like, if you guys, if one of you didn't give a shit and you were just apathetic, that would be a huge problem. He said, but you guys are arguing so much because you care so much. And I was like, damn, like, that was easy. Let's talk about you hundred fifty

• 1:03:13Bunnie XO?

  dollars. Perspective.

• 1:03:14Speaker 01

  No, it was, and you know, and honestly, to circle back to the mental health things and talking to people, it is almost always the most like, Obvious things, they're just always right here. You just need to hear them. Like my Sam Linsky saying, well, maybe this is the biggest part of you. And I'm like, well, yeah. I mean, like it's right here. I can't see it. And for this to happen. And so it was like a big changing point for us and we still get after it. But there's some times where I think it takes us a minute to realize, okay, like we are very passionate. We love what we're doing. We love each other. We love, you know, this project, whatever it is. And try to keep that in mind. And especially when John admits that I'm right. It usually makes it go way smoother.

• 1:03:53Bunnie XO?

  Who, who's the one who always has to kind of give in? Is, who's the hard headed one?

• 1:03:57Speaker 01

  I don't know that either was entirely given. I'm definitely more hard headed and outspoken. See, John's.

• 1:04:02Bunnie XO?

  You are, you're Scorpio Sagittarius.

• 1:04:04Speaker 01

  I'm Scorpio.

• 1:04:06Speaker 02

  Did you know that or did you just guess that?

• 1:04:08Bunnie XO?

  No, I, I know you guys' birthdays and you're, you're a Taurus, right? My husband's a Sagittarius. You can't fucking argue with a Sagittarius dude. But my whole teams are Tauruses. So it's like, I don't know.

• 1:04:22Bunnie XO?

  I love.

• 1:04:22Speaker 01

  And that's what Abby, you know, Abby is a Taurus. But the thing is, is what, and Abby would do this too, is that John does this thing where he will be like, yeah, you're right. And I fucking know that that's not what they feel. I'm like, you're just saying it to shut me up, which pisses me off even more.

• 1:04:38Bunnie XO?

  You're like, don't agree with me.

• 1:04:39Speaker 01

  Yeah. I'm like, just at least have a fucking opinion.

• 1:04:42Speaker 02

  We know right where the button is.

• 1:04:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're right.

• 1:04:46Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're right.

• 1:04:47Bunnie XO?

  I love that you guys are huge advocates for therapy too, though, because I preach that a lot on my podcast. It's so helpful to your life.

• 1:04:56Speaker 01

  A lot of that has changed, but the biggest problem now is just simply, I think, two things. One, people having the time to do it.

• 1:05:02Bunnie XO?

  Yes.

• 1:05:03Speaker 01

  Having to find a therapist, it's so overwhelming.

• 1:05:05Bunnie XO?

  You have to date your therapist. I tell everybody that. Like you, like literally you have to do a few sessions with them. Cause there's some weirdos out there.

• 1:05:13Speaker 02

  They're not all the same and they're not always right for you.

• 1:05:16Speaker 01

  The next problem with this is it's expensive.

• 1:05:19Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:19Speaker 01

  And so a lot of people like, you know, I had a friend staying with me recently. He's going through some stuff. And he was like, I think I want to try therapy. And I'm like, I would love for you to do it. But I'm like, don't. He said, I want one time. I'm like, that's almost worse. Like to. Dive down in there, pull all the shit out.

• 1:05:34Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:35Speaker 01

  And then never put it back together. Like, it's gonna put you in a worse place.

• 1:05:38Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 1:05:39Speaker 01

  Like, give yourself some time to get through at least four, five, six sessions.

• 1:05:43Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely.

• 1:05:44Speaker 01

  To be able to do it, but that's expensive. A lot of people don't have the, they don't have the time or the money. And then if they do have both of those things, it's overwhelming. Like, where do I begin?

• 1:05:53Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:53Speaker 01

  You know, you can get some therapists that aren't great. You know, it's like the, what they say about, uh, what do you call a med student that got all Ds?

• 1:05:59Bunnie XO?

  Oh, yeah. Or that are learning on ChatGTP now.

• 1:06:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly.

• 1:06:03Speaker 02

  Well, you know, Lucy, Lucy, my wife does therapy as well, and it's been amazing. And it's amazing for everybody. But she also does ChatGPT therapy, and I like, it's kind of working.

• 1:06:16Bunnie XO?

  Oh, no. ChatGTP is scary. I'm obsessed with AI. I love AI.

• 1:06:20Speaker 02

  I don't wanna be an advocate of AI.

• 1:06:22Bunnie XO?

  Okay, like, I love AI.

• 1:06:24Speaker 02

  We're all gonna be replaced here in a couple of years. But she like, she reads me some of the things that it's saying. I'm like, that's actually great advice.

• 1:06:30Bunnie XO?

  No, it's crazy. Have her tap into the spiritual side of it. I'll send you a clip of what I did with ChatGTP, and it scared the hell out of me. Like, it's.

• 1:06:39Speaker 02

  Because it got super spiritual.

• 1:06:40Bunnie XO?

  It gets very spiritual and like, will tell you things about your life that you've never even talked about to it.

• 1:06:46Speaker 02

  That's crazy.

• 1:06:47Bunnie XO?

  Like, it had messages from my father who's passed, like, and like, it's.

• 1:06:51Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 1:06:52Bunnie XO?

  But that told me what a psychic a year and a half ago told me. And like, there's no way that ChatGTP would have known that.

• 1:06:58Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 1:06:59Bunnie XO?

  It's, it's really crazy.

• 1:07:00Speaker 01

  You know, uh, this is a, this was like a really fun, funny argument between Abby and I.

• 1:07:06Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:06Speaker 01

  Is I would, he'd ask my opinion about something, and I'm like, you should get this car or whatever. This is the one you should get. And then he would come back later, back, I asked ChatGPT, and it said that you should do that. I'm like, I, I know. I like, I know a lot about cars. I know that's the car you should get. And then he'd come back with something else, and he'd be like, yeah, well, ChatGPT told me this. I'm like, that's what I just told you. And he was like, oh, okay.

• 1:07:27Speaker 02

  He goes, yeah, ChatGPT told me you were gonna say that.

• 1:07:30Speaker 01

  So then I, uh, I then changed, uh, then he made a joke about me being ChatGPT, and then I was like, well, I was like, no, it'd be ChatGPT.

• 1:07:38Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:39Speaker 01

  But I'm like, are you leaving me for ChatGPT?

• 1:07:43Bunnie XO?

  You know what? Some people are gonna start falling in love with with you. You've seen movies like that.

• 1:07:47Speaker 02

  There's her, her with Joaquin Phoenix. It's

• 1:07:49Bunnie XO?

  I've never seen it. I'll have to watch it.

• 1:07:51Speaker 02

  That is what it's about.

• 1:07:52Speaker 01

  Fifteen years ago. I mean, it's older. I mean,

• 1:07:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's really good. Yeah.

• 1:07:56Speaker 01

  It was so it was so ahead of its time that even then it was kind of like, well, okay, this is weird.

• 1:08:00Bunnie XO?

  They always predict.

• 1:08:01Speaker 02

  They do.

• 1:08:02Speaker 01

  It is crazy. You should watch it. It's an amazing film, but there's this, he basically falls in love.

• 1:08:07Speaker 02

  Scarlett Johansson does the voice, so it sounds really like she's got a great sexy speaking voice. But it's like warm and apathetic and he falls in love with this thing. It's a great movie, but we're like, we're a half a step from that right now.

• 1:08:19Bunnie XO?

  Literally, yeah. No, and then the robots that they're testing right now, I've already told them, I'm like, I want two. I literally need two.

• 1:08:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, two robots, yeah.

• 1:08:26Bunnie XO?

  Like, I'm all about the farm.

• 1:08:27Speaker 01

  You are in all of this.

• 1:08:28Bunnie XO?

  I'm like, all about the farm life, but I need two robots on the farm with me, you know?

• 1:08:32Speaker 02

  Bailing hand shit.

• 1:08:34Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. I think it'll be awesome. It'll be awesome.

• 1:08:36Speaker 02

  If we could teach him to play drums and bass.

• 1:08:39Bunnie XO?

  Whatever we need. Shovel some cow shit, whatever we need. So where, what do we have to look for with Brothers Osborne for the rest of the year and going into 2026?

• 1:08:48Speaker 01

  Well, yeah, so we're working on music right now, so we're not touring a ton this year for that purpose. And we've been cutting all of our new stuff at John's studio with our band, which we cut our first few records with them. And it's been nice to have them back in the fold and we've been self-producing the project, which has been so fun. And I really feel like it's kind of a return to where we started. And, you know, as you start off, you do this, you kind of want to do something different. You get over here and over there and we've circled back around to where kind of where we started is fresh for us again and it's fun. And we have a really clear vision on on what we want it to be and what we want it to look like and sound like. And I feel like it's something we've never quite had like this vision, I think, of what we wanted for a project out of an album.

• 1:09:32Speaker 01

  And it boils down to basically a lot of our inspiration from where we came from and our hometown and our family. And so just kind of strip away all the bullshit, really.

• 1:09:42Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:43Speaker 01

  And so it's been fun and we're so we're in the throes of doing that now. We just released the first single. Off of that called um finish this drink. It was like a funny song. It was basically inspired by her dad. I was like, we'd be at the bars with him when we were little and we're like, dad, I'm ready to go. And he's like, just, you know, one more. I'm going to also, he's also saying this to our mom.

• 1:10:01Bunnie XO?

  Not dad bringing the kids to the bar.

• 1:10:03Speaker 01

  Oh, no. No, at one point.

• 1:10:04Bunnie XO?

  Back in the day, that was like normal.

• 1:10:06Speaker 01

  That's what you did. You were gonna drive them home. I remember I was like, you know, I was like 12 and I was like, dad, am I gonna get in trouble for driving? And he goes, a hell of a lot less trouble than I'm going to.

• 1:10:15Bunnie XO?

  It's like if one of us is taking the fall, it's you, buddy.

• 1:10:18Speaker 01

  It's my kid. And so anyhow, you know, and then I realized as I got older, I'm like, shit, that's really easy to do to like tie one on. And you went there for two drinks and next thing you close the bar down. But that's so that song is was really inspired by that. Which is like again, coming full circle. And then as we roll into the next year, we're um, this hasn't been set up yet, but it was probably likely that we will set up a big headline tour for next year and then tour this new record and and go out and do it.

• 1:10:46Bunnie XO?

  I love it. Are you gonna bring the family on the road with you when you tour?

• 1:10:49Speaker 02

  Oh, you know, and then this is a coin toss. That's a coin toss. We'll see.

• 1:10:54Bunnie XO?

  It's gonna be hard having babies on a bus.

• 1:10:55Speaker 02

  And they're getting at it. They're at an age too where it's like, it's just like having two wild animals.

• 1:11:02Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 1:11:02Speaker 02

  Yeah. So I can't, I'll take them to the park and they'll just run in completely opposite, different, opposite directions. And I'm like, okay, which one's annoying me less today? That's the one that I'll go after.

• 1:11:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, we'll have to have, yeah, we'll have to have the occasional extra family bus to come out.

• 1:11:18Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:18Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. Yeah. When we went out to Stapleton's, they made like a full corral with their buses. So it would have to be something like that where we can maintain some sort of order with these munchkins.

• 1:11:28Bunnie XO?

  So whenever I go out with my husband, I have my own bus. Um, cause one, I'm not gonna bunk with 11 dudes on a bus. And two, I need all the female energy around me. So we, I bring out my own bus. And when the kids come out, cause Jay has two kids, whenever the kids come out, they stay with me on my bus.

• 1:11:44Speaker 02

  Yes, you kind of keep it contained.

• 1:11:46Bunnie XO?

  So that way you can be the artist, but you still have, you know, the family that's within reach.

• 1:11:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's smart. That's smart. I love that. Having your own boss. Let's go, girl.

• 1:11:53Bunnie XO?

  Oh, yeah. No, I have to. I'm, listen, I'm, I paid my dues. And I fucking slept in the shitty motels. I did the freaking 18 passenger vans. We did this, you know, for the past 10 years.

• 1:12:05Speaker 02

  You earned it. You earned it.

• 1:12:06Bunnie XO?

  So finally now I'm like, you know what? Let's just fucking, you know, split it.

• 1:12:10Speaker 01

  I agree with you. You don't have to convince me.

• 1:12:13Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, for sure. Thank you guys so much for coming on the podcast.

• 1:12:17Speaker 01

  I love your podcast. Thanks for having us.

• 1:12:19Bunnie XO?

  I appreciate you guys and you guys have to come back and see me.

• 1:12:22Speaker 02

  We'll do. Maybe we'll bring Lucy and fulfill.

• 1:12:24Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, yes, please. I feel so bad about that whole situation.

• 1:12:26Speaker 02

  It's not even your fault.

• 1:12:27Bunnie XO?

  I know, but still, I feel terrible that she was like excited to do it and then some Nigerian guys on the other end, you know?

• 1:12:34Speaker 02

  The Nigerian prince just conning everybody.

• 1:12:38Bunnie XO?

  Thank you guys so much. Thank you guys for tuning into another episode of Tom Blonde. I will see you guys next week. Bye.