CHASE THE DREAM - With Dierks Bentley

Show up and be AUTHENTIC After being blown away by watching Dierks live, I just had to sit down with him! In addition to his brilliance as a performer, I really wanted you all to get to know how truly thoughtful and humble this man is. In this interview, we go deep... Deep into one of the most unlikely and inspiring stories you will ever hear to superstardom. We talk about him moving across the country to boarding school at 14, the risk he took with moving to Nashville to make music and many of the experiences that got him to where he is today. Dierks eloquently describes how showing up as your authentic self is the road that takes you to your ultimate fulfillment. When you are “Afflicted with the Love for Something “it never feels like work, and it's amazing what you will find yourself accomplishing. He doesn’t believe that he is gifted, he believes that his love of country music was the catalyst for developing the SKILLS to become one of the greatest country artists of all time. This interview is raw and honest, Dierks and I come clean about how we don’t always want to go on stage. However, the moment we do, we realize exactly why we love it, and that’s because it feels like HOME. You’ll know you are living your PURPOSE when you feel it in your bones that you are exactly where you need to be. HOME! Give yourself permission to let go of the shame you might feel about a particular mess you might have in your life right now. Your mess will someday be your MESSAGE You are a RISER, stay BLISSFULLY dissatisfied while you go after the life you want. Get ready to hear a whole other side of Dierks you didn’t know! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

  I hear so many small business owners say the exact same thing. They just never have enough time in the day. Well, I measure time differently. I've compressed, condensed, heck, I've bent time. My first day is 6:00 a.m. to noon. My second day starts at noon and goes till 6:00 P.M. And my third day, 6:00 P.M. to midnight. I now get 21 days a week. Stack that up over a month, over a year, over five years, and my life's completely different than it would have been otherwise. And if you want to win as an entrepreneur, you have to compress your time, too. And you definitely can't afford to waste it waiting weeks on a big bank for capital. Your best bet's to work with my friends at Cardiff. They know how to compress time for entrepreneurs. They get your business approved in minutes and funded the very same day. They're America's favorite small business lender, and for good reason.

• 0:45Ed Mylett?

  Over 20 years in business, over $12 billion deployed to small business across America. Stop letting bank delays slow down your momentum. Head to cardiff.co/ed. That's cardiff.co/ed. Cardiff.co. Real growth, fast funding. Cardiff. Borrow better.

• 1:01Speaker 01

  Mr. President, my company, for me, of the explosion on our rig.

• 1:05Speaker 02

  On October 2nd.

• 1:06Speaker 01

  Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me.

• 1:11Speaker 02

  Tom Cruise is. Digger got us into this mess. And Digger's gonna dig us up. From the director of Birdman and the Revenant.

• 1:18Speaker 01

  What would happen if I stopped drilling? You stop, you freeze to death, that's what.

• 1:22Speaker 02

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 1:25Speaker 01

  I'm not the first nanny.

• 1:27Speaker 02

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only in theaters October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17. Not a middle without parent.

• 1:38Speaker 03

  This is The Ed Mylett Show.

• 1:46Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to Max Out, everybody. I'm Ed Mylett. I'm fired up because I was at this guy's show last night. It was the best live concert I have. Ever been to, and you need to own that compliment.

• 1:55Speaker 04

  Let me get the wallet out here. Cash going here.

• 1:59Ed Mylett?

  It was legit, you got eleven dollars.

• 2:00Speaker 04

  Eleven dollars.

• 2:01Ed Mylett?

  That wouldn't have worked anyway. Very rich man, evidently these tours don't pay off. But, all of you recognize this gentleman on my left. We were talking about the stats earlier, he called himself the Susan Lucci of the Grammy Awards, but fourteen Grammy noms, like over thirty CMT, CMA nominations, like eight wins, millions of albums, records sold.

• 2:22Speaker 04

  Lot of nominations.

• 2:23Ed Mylett?

  Lot of noms.

• 2:23Speaker 04

  King of noms.

• 2:24Ed Mylett?

  Lot of wins too.

• 2:25Speaker 04

  Lots of wins.

• 2:26Ed Mylett?

  And, and, and my favorite artist, and becoming my friend, so this is Dirk Spentley.

• 2:31Speaker 04

  It's a pleasure to be on the show, I've seen the background, I've watched a lot of the podcasts and videocasts, so it's nice to be at your spot here, and I don't know if I can hold up to some of the previous interviews you've had, like Rob O'Neil, that one blew me away, but I'll do my best.

• 2:45Ed Mylett?

  Oh, they're gonna love you brothers, because your story's so good, so.

• 2:47Speaker 04

  Thanks, man.

• 2:48Ed Mylett?

  What I want to do, probably everybody knows you, but I want to do a little bit of the, there's always like the before and after.

• 2:53Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:54Ed Mylett?

  By the way, I'm researching you, and it's actually Frederick Dirk Spentley. And I thought, I wonder if you went out as Fred Bentley? Had everything turned out the same, because you have the coolest name in the world, right?

• 3:05Speaker 04

  Do I? My name's so tough, there's so many marquees, my name still gets spelled wrong, Dirk Spentley, or...

• 3:10Ed Mylett?

  Really?

• 3:11Speaker 04

  My friends, yeah.

• 3:12Ed Mylett?

  I didn't even think it was a real name, it was such a good name.

• 3:14Speaker 04

  Could be a good...

• 3:15Ed Mylett?

  But if you were Fred Bentley, do you think all of this would have happened as Fred Bentley?

• 3:19Speaker 04

  I don't know, my mom, so all of us go by our middle name, so my brother, my sister, we've all, my mom used a family name for the first name, then our middle name is like the actual name we go with. But I've had people throughout my whole career be like, is Dirk's a stage name?

• 3:32Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 3:32Speaker 04

  You think I would choose that as a stage name?

• 3:35Ed Mylett?

  You don't think that's a cool name?

• 3:37Speaker 04

  I don't know if it's cool or not, but it's hard.

• 3:39Ed Mylett?

  Dirk Spentley just sounds studly, to me.

• 3:43Speaker 04

  Buck Bentley. That's a good country singer name, Buck Bentley.

• 3:46Ed Mylett?

  Speaking of that, this is a weird place, we're gonna go all over the place, but Doug Douglisten.

• 3:51Speaker 04

  Doug Douglisten?

• 3:52Ed Mylett?

  So, this is, we're gonna go all over the place in this interview, but he's got this like alter ego guy going right now.

• 3:57Speaker 04

  I love Doug, yeah.

• 3:59Ed Mylett?

  Where did he come from?

• 4:00Speaker 04

  So, man, we, you know.

• 4:02Ed Mylett?

  This is Hot Country Nights, everybody, if you haven't seen this, you have to see this.

• 4:04Speaker 04

  We, uh, we've been doing this for a long time on the road, it's funny, you get on the road and all, everything's going great and you're having so much fun, but you always reminisce about the old days, right? You're like, man, how much fun was that? We used to play on Lower Broadway for tips and, you know, your car would get towed and, and just all the crazes that used to happen in Nashville in the old days. And it's like, man, it'd be so fun to go back there and do it again, but you really think about it, it's like, the good old days are good because they're gone. They're fun to look back on, but like, were they really that much fun, like lugging your PA system through Lower Broadway to play a gig? But we love, we love country music, we love 90's country, I mean, I grew up listening to Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stewart, all that stuff. So, in the 90's were just a really fun period in country music, the clothing, the hair, you know, it's, it's, it was just great.

• 4:46Speaker 04

  So, we started playing these songs on our off days, and we, with the tour ended, we put together a little band to play around town a little bit, and we dressed in, in time, you know, in.

• 4:55Ed Mylett?

  You got the full mullet rolling.

• 4:56Speaker 04

  The mullets, the high-waisted jeans, the whole, the starched wranglers. And then, uh, we took it on the road, man, we started just going out there and not telling the fans, and we'd just sneak onstage and play unannounced.

• 5:08Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 5:09Speaker 04

  And people are just going, but the main thing for us is that the music has to be like, perfect.

• 5:13Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 5:14Speaker 04

  The music's great, you can get away with anything, so then, we really worked hard to make sure, we probably rehearsed, like, our ratio of rehearsing to actually gigs at that point was like, you know, 100 to 1.

• 5:21Ed Mylett?

  Is that right?

• 5:21Speaker 04

  A lot of rehearsing, but, um, we got dialed in and now it's like actually on the bill, so we're the openers for the openers, for the opener for, for us. So, we're the first of four bands to go on every night, 7 o'clock to 7:20, uh, and Doug Douglisten is my, it's me, it's my alter ego.

• 5:37Ed Mylett?

  You, because all of you follow probably Dirks and No Dirks, but I don't know if you follow Hot Country Nights and Doug Douglisten, and you need to go.

• 5:44Speaker 04

  Hot Country Nights with a K, Nights with a K, it's a. Clever. See what I did there? Playing words.

• 5:48Ed Mylett?

  It was clever, and it's hilarious because I was backstage last night and all y'all came off the stage.

• 5:52Speaker 04

  I know. First time I really saw you.

• 5:53Ed Mylett?

  I was there, and you're in full mullet mode, but the guys in the band were in full character, like, "Look, no photos." You know, there's just me back there. They put a little line around me so I couldn't get to them. It was so awesome.

• 6:06Speaker 04

  Yeah, I think Rolling Stone was shooting some stuff there last night, and we were doing the same... Guys, please, like, no more paparazzi. We can't take it. But yeah, they're like a really... They're home thing. It's just kind of being like a sad, pathetic cover band that's trying to make it.

• 6:21Ed Mylett?

  It was awesome, but the key thing, as you said, is the music's awesome, too.

• 6:24Speaker 04

  Thanks, man.

• 6:25Ed Mylett?

  And so I want to talk a little bit about... So kind of go back to those times for you.

• 6:28Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 6:29Ed Mylett?

  I think on my show, I try to feature... I try to take this mega achiever, a max-out achiever like you, and have them see the real person.

• 6:38Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 6:38Ed Mylett?

  You know what I mean? Like, the real story. And the thing that I probably admire most about you is the kind of... I'm learning about you is the kind of husband and father you are, and just the way I've also just observed you treat people. It's your humility. Like, you're genuinely one of the most humble, successful people in any field I've met. I admire that about you.

• 6:54Speaker 04

  Thanks, man.

• 6:55Ed Mylett?

  And I think maybe part of that is kind of where you come from. So you tell me about your dad, Leon. Your dad was older when he had you, number one, but I get the feeling he was a pretty...

• 7:06Speaker 04

  I've got a brother that's 10 years younger than me, so my dad was 62 when my brother was born.

• 7:09Ed Mylett?

  You're kidding me?

• 7:10Speaker 04

  Yeah. My mom was keeping him young. Both second marriages were both my folks.

• 7:15Ed Mylett?

  Whoa.

• 7:15Speaker 04

  My mom was in a pretty... Not a very good marriage, her first go-around. My dad's wife passed away of cancer, so they met at different times in their life. My dad was 50, my mom was 30, and I think, yeah, he was 51 and 52 when I was born. And he's just a great guy, man. Great sense of humor, big people person. You know, he was... He just always talking to people, loved all the... You know, you always think your dad's one way, but I look back on my dad, like, he loved watching, like... We only had three channels on TV. We never had cable, but he... Like, any of those celebrity shows, like, you know, the... He was always watching that stuff. He liked that stuff. He liked the gossip stuff, but you wouldn't really know that about him. And I didn't know that about him until I started making it as a country singer. He was be, he'd be up on all the latest stuff that's going on in Nashville and who's coming around me.

• 7:59Speaker 04

  And I'm like, Dad, it's not a, it's my dr- let me handle, just enjoy it.

• 8:03Ed Mylett?

  Really?

• 8:04Speaker 04

  Just come to the show and have fun, don't worry about it. But, oh, he, my mom would tell me, stay up late at night worrying about what's going on in the business and stuff. And the many nominations I didn't win. Is that right? No. But he, they, they, they loved it all. But he was just a great person, great guy. You know, he's one of those people I learned a lot through just because, not through words, but just through, you never wanted, never wanted to disappoint him. He's a World War II veteran, grew up in a small town. You know, just, just one of the, part of the great generation of people and.

• 8:31Ed Mylett?

  That's a remarkable, your dad was a World War II vet.

• 8:33Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:33Ed Mylett?

  That probably, I bet you that's something 80% of the people don't know about your dad.

• 8:38Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:38Ed Mylett?

  But he was sort of a part of some kind of defining moments. I want you to picture little Dirks here, everybody, not this guy in front of, you know, millions of people. Because it'll give you hope, number one, if your life isn't where exactly you want it right now, like everything's not in order. And you're gonna see where he was to where he's gone. I think it's gonna blow your mind. I think it's literally gonna blow your mind. And then for somebody that have children that maybe aren't.

• 9:00Speaker 04

  Do lives ever get in order? I mean, that'd be great.

• 9:02Ed Mylett?

  That's a great question.

• 9:03Speaker 04

  Has it ever worked out?

• 9:04Ed Mylett?

  In small moments of order.

• 9:05Speaker 04

  I think you're always fine tuning, right? You never stop.

• 9:07Ed Mylett?

  I do.

• 9:07Speaker 04

  That's why I'm here, that's why I listen to you, that's why I'm here. I'm always trying to tweak it and get it a little more worked out.

• 9:11Ed Mylett?

  So am I, by the way. I'm clearly a work in progress. Somebody might even have teenagers that are a little bit not on their A-game. Your parents sent you to boarding school.

• 9:20Speaker 04

  They did.

• 9:20Ed Mylett?

  Did you need it?

• 9:21Speaker 04

  I did.

• 9:22Ed Mylett?

  What was going on? And what happened when you went there?

• 9:25Speaker 04

  I mean, I threatened to run away. I had friends' parents that were gonna let me stay at their place and not go. I mean, I had no desire to go to New Jersey.

• 9:34Speaker 04

  You know, eighth grade was, eighth grade was a great year. I went to middle, you know, I was in this public school, Ingleside Middle School. And it was just such a great year. It was like, you know, passing notes between every class with all the girls and the fights. There was always some fight after school every day. And there's like all different characters and types of people packed in this seventh and eighth grade. I met my wife there, I know you met your wife in the.

• 9:54Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 9:54Speaker 04

  In high school or.

• 9:55Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 9:56Speaker 04

  It was like junior high and. It was just, it was unbelievable, you know, just such an amazing time. But it was also a lot of partying. I mean, I think I had partied more in eighth grade than I did, you know, the first few years of high school. Oh, man, we were every day after school, there was something, you know, drinking, people smoking before people, before class, and it was just, it was, it was a lot of fun. And my mom, my sister had gone to Culver Military Academy for camp. I ended up going there for high school. So I think it's where my mom got in this whole idea of like, maybe sending us off to be fixed. And so, yeah, she kinda said, you're going to, you're going to go away for high school. Did it fix you or not? Well, it's where, you know, I got out there, I was in New Jersey, I was the only kid from Arizona out there.

• 10:41Speaker 04

  I made some great friends. I kinda, I kinda, I'm like, like you in a way, I'm a chameleon. I make friends, I just can fit in kinda anywhere, I feel like. I'm gonna make friends no matter where I am. And I feel like my whole life, I've been a little bit of a, I have a lot of friends, but I don't have necessarily like one super tight overall group. I just have a lot of great groups I get to be part of. And some of those friends from that school still have those friends around. And that's really where I got into country music. So it was a great experience. I was out there kinda, I had a lonesome feeling, just being away from everybody. And I mean, as far as my dad goes, there is some sadness there, because I was 14, 14 year kinda gone, you know? I'm from Arizona, New Jersey. And so from that point on, the time I only saw my parents or my, and my dad before he passed away, it was through, you know, Christmas vacation or string break. And I was pretty busy in the summers.

• 11:23Speaker 04

  But, but they, I mean, it was the nicest thing I think you could do for your kids is to give them wings and go chase, go find your own life. That's a kinda significant move, though. Big move, yeah. So you- It's not Merle Haggard in a, you know, growing up in a boxcar. It's a little different type of way of getting there. But it's the same idea of just like kinda being on your own and, and being totally rooted from, you know, pulled out from your roots and where you were from. And kinda trying to figure out what, what this world is and what you're trying to do there. I wonder if it dawns on you-

• 11:53Ed Mylett?

  I don't think it does. Like, who, what's happened here? Because you're in the midst of doing it, right? I don't, you know, oftentimes, very rarely, whatever the good fortunes are that have come my way.

• 12:03Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 12:04Ed Mylett?

  I don't know that it dawns on me, you know, what the hell's going on?

• 12:07Speaker 04

  I don't think, I mean, I think you and I are talking off camera about people who've influenced us, like Tony Robbins, obviously, your show. I have a lot of friends out there that have been successful. My friend Blake McCosky from Tom Shoes. He's a guy that's always looking for ways to, you know, just get better at what we're doing. And I think when you do that, you spend a lot of time in the present. You don't spend a lot of time in the past. I rarely, unless, like, doing an interview like this, this is only their third podcast I've ever done.

• 12:33Ed Mylett?

  Thank you for doing it.

• 12:34Speaker 04

  Oh, man, this is probably my last one. This is, I feel like, you can't go out on top. But it's like, how do you, you know, it's like, I don't spend much time reflecting on that stuff. When you do, it's kind of scary, you know? It's like, you get into something, I'm sure all your businesses, it's like, you look back on it now, there's a lot of, there's a linear line, you can see how it all worked out. But when you're on the other perspective, looking forward, it's, I look back on that now and think, like, the kid that was playing those bars and doing all those gigs, I never, I was always present in those times. It doesn't matter where I was, playing a casino gig at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, sun's beating down. I was having fun. I'm playing a gig. This is amazing. So I never really, but looking back on it now, it's like, gosh, I can't believe all that stuff actually worked out. What was I doing? A kid from Arizona.

• 13:16Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 13:17Speaker 04

  Parents have no musical abilities. I chose to be a country singer. I wound up in Nashville. I, it's all very, it's, yeah, it's kind of scary to look back at. So I like being in the present moment and, you know, focusing on the future.

• 13:30Ed Mylett?

  You said it to me last night. I think it's like a running theme with you, is trying to be more present. I think one thing I want to do, I always kind of try to pull up little lessons. I think, I just gave a talk yesterday about this, just oddly, that you're saying. And I was in Ohio, I don't even know where it came from, because it wasn't in my notes. But I was talking about how most achievers that I know are present, or actually maybe even looking a little bit forward.

• 13:49Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 13:50Ed Mylett?

  And most people I know that are struggling in their life, if they were really being honest are running an old story. They're looking, they're running this old story, they continue to, their life becomes almost like a boring book of one long chapter. Cause they're repeating either like a previous victory, I was a quarterback in high school.

• 14:05Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 14:05Ed Mylett?

  Or I got my master's degree, or it's something negative that happened, right? My parents sent me to boarding school, my dad was an alcoholic, like they're, they're, if you're listening to this, this is a huge clue. Like if you got nothing out of today and you're gonna get more, it's that, where's your frame of reference most of the time in your life? Is it past, present, or future? The happiest people are present.

• 14:26Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 14:26Ed Mylett?

  And achievers struggle, most achievers struggle with becoming present because they're looking forward all the time.

• 14:32Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 14:32Ed Mylett?

  And most people that are in pain are not achieving at their maximum potential are in a past frame of reference.

• 14:38Speaker 04

  Totally.

• 14:39Ed Mylett?

  So this is something really huge for most of it. It's why, actually, when I do the show, it's difficult for achievers to go, okay, I'll go back for you because you're asking me, I'll tell you my old story.

• 14:48Speaker 04

  Right, right, right.

• 14:49Ed Mylett?

  But it's kind of uncomfortable, awkward, and...

• 14:51Speaker 04

  And it's kind of not really, I mean, it's relevant.

• 14:53Ed Mylett?

  It's relevant to the listener, but not relevant to you.

• 14:55Speaker 04

  That's really, and all these stuff I said there, the ones like, you know, I think about a friend of mine, Jesse Alexander, with the song The Climb. For Miley Cyrus, and that song is all about enjoying the climb. It's not about the destination, it's about enjoying the climb, right? That's a big thing for, probably for overachievers. I just reread that book, The Four Agreements, and that talks a lot about being, you know...

• 15:15Ed Mylett?

  Tom Brady recommended that to me.

• 15:16Speaker 04

  Did he really?

• 15:16Ed Mylett?

  It's his, like, that's his reference book.

• 15:19Speaker 04

  That's his thing, it's easy, it's about this big, it's about four things, right? Your words, be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions, and always try to do better, those are the four things.

• 15:28Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 15:29Speaker 04

  But the early part of that book, it talks about being your story. But, and I haven't been through nearly what so many of your listeners have been through, there's so many traumatic experiences, especially for a lot of women out there. I can't imagine what that's like.

• 15:40Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 15:41Speaker 04

  But... I still would say it's your life, it's very short, you can, at some point, if you're gonna have any happiness, you have to like, just.

• 15:48Ed Mylett?

  You gotta move forward?

• 15:49Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 15:49Ed Mylett?

  I didn't know we were gonna go there, but like, I have this thing that I talk about often where everything in your life happens for you and not to you, if you believe that to be the case. So like, my dad's drinking and my dad's my best friend, he's been sober a long time. But it actually happened for me.

• 16:02Speaker 04

  I heard you talk about that, it's amazing.

• 16:03Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, I would literally not be doing this. I wouldn't have been pretty good at like a value. And my dad would come home, I'd have to kinda distinguish, is it sober dad? Or, not sober dad, by the way, my dad's my best friend, literally. But it built these skills in me.

• 16:16Speaker 04

  It made you.

• 16:16Ed Mylett?

  That when I went to work at the group home, the other one here knows my story, but it happened for me, but if you're always replaying it.

• 16:22Speaker 04

  For me.

• 16:23Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, if it's always replaying it as just the negative, it's gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna be a self fulfilling prophecy the rest of your life.

• 16:30Speaker 04

  It's amazing how, and I feel like recently, this is something I've been working on, but it just like, when something happens where you're always like, oh, that's damn, and it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. And I'll tell my wife, I'm like, this could be a good thing, you know, this is a prime example. The other day I was fishing in Colorado at my festival, I didn't have a fishing license, right? So, I was on a private farm, fishing a creek. I wasn't even expecting to fish, it was just such a random thing. My buddy Luke Bryan had been there the day before, he caught a fish on there. And so I had to go out there and try to top him, of course, the next day, and I caught four. And I posted on Instagram, really smart move, right? And I'm walking through town the next day, and I'm taking pictures, there's some local people, just kinda checking out how the festival was, having a good time. There's a wildlife guy there with his camera, and I'm like, he's like, do you wanna do this here or somewhere else? And I was like, my ego, I'm like, he wants to take a picture with me, obviously.

• 17:14Speaker 04

  Yeah, we can do whatever you want, man, I'm cool, we can do it here. He goes, did you catch four rainbow yesterday? I said, yeah. You have a license? I said, no. He goes, do you wanna do this here or somewhere else? So I got his car and he gave me a ticket.

• 17:24Ed Mylett?

  I saw this!

• 17:25Speaker 04

  And so I posted it on Instagram, but I immediately took it down, cause I don't wanna mess with, Luke is a huge hunter and a fisherman, so I don't wanna mess with his whole situation.

• 17:32Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 17:33Speaker 04

  He and I actually, yeah.

• 17:34Ed Mylett?

  And now 10 million people heard it.

• 17:35Speaker 04

  But I took it off Instagram, yeah, now they're...

• 17:38Ed Mylett?

  Just kidding.

• 17:38Speaker 04

  But, well, here's the thing, so he calls me, cause I took it down off Instagram, but I forgot about it, it's still on Facebook and all that, it's all linked, I'm not very good at all that stuff. And I was like, man, you know, this could end up being a good thing. Cause we need to own up to it, you know, and you need to, you know, call the folks at Colorado Wildlife. You might make some friends there. It might be, you know, it might be some, you know, this is what you do. He is a hunter fisherman. That's what he does. This could have been, he's like, buddy, I, I talked to the folks over there, made some good friends. There's a 10 out of 10 conversation, you know, they got it. I paid, I paid the, so I just feel like every, everything that happens to you, for you, could be something you turn before you, cause you can you can kind of spin it all into being a positive thing.

• 18:18Ed Mylett?

  The happiest people, if you look at any area of your life, eventually.

• 18:21Speaker 04

  I know there's people that have been through horrific things, but you can, you can turn it into being something that makes you who you are. The heartbreak you go through, that girl broke your heart, but it made you the person that you are.

• 18:31Ed Mylett?

  I, I like to think that, I think you're right. I like to think that it should have at least taught you something.

• 18:36Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 18:37Ed Mylett?

  There's a lesson to learn. That's when you learn.

• 18:39Speaker 04

  You only learn in the hearts.

• 18:40Ed Mylett?

  And I'm a huge, huge believer in that. And I think the happiest people don't wait for hindsight for that. They discover that in the present moment. Like, one little random example is my dad's got cancer right now. And you think, my God, what the hell is good about your father suffering with cancer? Right? But to be candid with you, I've looked at my own family as the time more precious now.

• 19:00Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 19:01Ed Mylett?

  When the phone rings and it was my dad before, maybe every once in a while, I'd be like, yeah, I'll call him back. Now it's like, oh, it's dad. I get to talk to him again. Um, it's just made everything more precious. It's, it's not that like this stuff's not cool, but like really, would I rather have a beach house or would I rather just be able to talk to my dad? Right? So it's put things in perspective. So everybody listening to this, I just want you to understand something. Cause this is why I wanted Dirks to talk about, you know, some of his beginnings. Your mess does not disqualify you from being successful. Your current mess, the current thing that you're ashamed of, or gives you anxiety, or gave you pain. You have our permission to set that down, turn the page and start to write a new chapter in your life. And that's why I want to talk about some of those other chapters too, by the way. So with you, you're gonna say something.

• 19:43Speaker 04

  Well, I know, it's amazing. It's, it's what I love about life is that you can, you know, it's, I think it was a little easier probably before social media. But you can just be, you could, I like being the idea of, but to change whoever I want to be. I don't like being stuck in one type of like person or whoever my parents were, whoever. I think one thing about growing up in Arizona, there's less, there's almost less roots to like a culture. It's more just like, just be who, you know, I'm in the south now. There's definitely a lot of like.

• 20:06Ed Mylett?

  Sure. Legacy thinking.

• 20:07Speaker 04

  Legacy. Yeah. And it's like, that's good for some folks. That's fine. But for me, I just like, man. Who do you want to be today?

• 20:13Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 20:14Speaker 04

  Be whoever you want to be. It's fun. That's what kids do. I learned so much from my kids. By the way, the get to, got through, got to, I was riding my, to school with my daughter and I was like, "Yeah, I gotta write songs today with these guys." And I was kinda saying it like that and she goes, "You get to, you got to or you get to?" I was like, "Mmm." I was like, "Yeah, I get to." You know, like you lose perspective. You get something, like a house or something, something that would have changed your whole life. Your life would be perfect if you just own a house, right?

• 20:38Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 20:39Speaker 04

  And then, three years later, you know, you own it for a while and you kinda forget that you own a house.

• 20:42Ed Mylett?

  You're right.

• 20:43Speaker 04

  I'm a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. I get to write songs. Amazing people. Actually, I wrote a song that day called, "I don't got to, I get to."

• 20:50Ed Mylett?

  You did?

• 20:51Speaker 04

  Based on what she'd said, but uh...

• 20:52Ed Mylett?

  How beautiful is that?

• 20:53Speaker 04

  Yeah, but...

• 20:54Ed Mylett?

  I did this yesterday, it's so weird. After I spoke, I went to our team and I said, "I have to go do this signing with the books and the pictures."

• 21:01Speaker 04

  Right.

• 21:02Ed Mylett?

  And I said, immediately I went, "Let me correct that. I get to." And it changed the whole experience for me. Speaking of your children, Knox is a smart dude.

• 21:11Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 21:11Ed Mylett?

  Because he understood how much bigger my arms were than yours last night.

• 21:14Speaker 04

  He didn't remember how much I tried to be. I was giving him a wedgie. I was like, the knuckle of justice was coming in there. His arms, he was bigger.

• 21:22Ed Mylett?

  He's your identical twin, by the way.

• 21:24Speaker 04

  Little mini me.

• 21:24Ed Mylett?

  That was so cool. So, I wanna talk about defining moment a little bit. I get the feeling, cause your dad was involved a little bit. Didn't you drive, wasn't there kind of a significant decision you made to just head to Tennessee?

• 21:35Speaker 04

  I did.

• 21:36Ed Mylett?

  What is that? What happened there?

• 21:37Speaker 04

  I just knew after high school, I went to Vermont, University of Vermont for a year and great place. I don't know what the hell I was doing. I was kinda drifting a little bit. I got in, so I went. I wanted to go to Boulder where my wife went, but I did not get in there. I've never been a very good student. But I got there and I just realized, I was obsessed with country music. I don't know why. I mean, I, there's been a couple defining moments in my life. One was I was 17 years old. My friend Jack Brown, who lives in Chicago, he sat me down. I was playing like, I was, I'd been into country music with my dad. He liked country music, so I listened to it because of him. 13 to 17, I was into anything that had power chords. Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, you know. I was just listening to anything.

• 22:21Speaker 04

  But I wasn't really, hadn't really found a musical home, but my buddy sat me down and he played me one song by Hank Jr., Hank Williams Jr., let's see if his song called "Man to Man" and it is... I don't know how to describe it, but it's like a, you know, maybe like a coin going down a slot machine and hitting all the right levers of your being. It's just like, I knew exactly what I wanted to do from that one moment. And he played me a Marty Stewart song, and he played me an Alan Jackson song. I can tell you the three songs. It was, and I was like, yeah, put the electric guitar down, get the acoustic guitar out. Like, it was like I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And I moved to Nashville two years later. He actually went to school down at Vanderbilt where I was and.

• 22:57Ed Mylett?

  Did you know when you moved there, like, was there something for you to go to when you got there?

• 23:01Speaker 04

  No, I had no family there. I had, um, I had no one there.

• 23:06Ed Mylett?

  You just chased the dream?

• 23:06Speaker 04

  I went to, I went there, and that, this time around when I applied to school, I went to talk to the admissions director. I mean, she could see the passion in my, I was like, I have to be, I have to be in Nashville, I have to be at the school and just, you know, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you're really, people can see that, that's authentic.

• 23:23Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 23:23Speaker 04

  You coming through. And I got into school there. And the first day I got to Nashville, I got a job as an intern to the Country Music Association. And, I mean.

• 23:31Ed Mylett?

  How weird is that?

• 23:32Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 23:32Ed Mylett?

  You were an intern for CMA?

• 23:34Speaker 04

  Yeah, oh yeah. Oh yeah. I used to walk on the walkie talkie on and, you know, escorting Shania Twain back to her bus and.

• 23:41Ed Mylett?

  That's so amazing to me.

• 23:42Speaker 04

  I did all that stuff behind the scenes back there, yeah.

• 23:44Ed Mylett?

  Can you, are you all hearing this? Like, I don't, I don't know if everybody gets this. This dude was an intern at, at CMA. Like, that's, how'd you get that job, by the way?

• 23:52Speaker 04

  Just got it. I wanted it, you know? There's a, the one quote that I carried around my whole, like, I had this binder that had like my songs in there, but I also had all my songwriting appointments and it just kept with me. And I, there's a guy named Harold Bradley, who was a big, big figure in Nashville. And on his tombstone, he had this quote. I thought it was his. It turns out, I think it's from Calvin Coolidge, but it's about how nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. And, uh,

• 24:17Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 24:17Speaker 04

  I could, it's, you know, it's, nothing will take, um, talent will not, nothing's more common than unrewarded talent. Genius will not.

• 24:27Speaker 04

  Unrecognized genius is almost a proverb. Educational not, the world's full of educated derelicts.

• 24:31Ed Mylett?

  Listen to you.

• 24:32Speaker 04

  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. And persistence has just always been like my thing, I think. I'm not the best singer by any means. I'm like, probably not that great of a singer, honestly. I'm like...

• 24:44Ed Mylett?

  I don't even know what you're talking about.

• 24:45Speaker 04

  I can find a note and put a lot of air behind it. And I have some gravel to my voice. And I'm like, I'm a good bar singer, you know? There's some unbelievable singers out there. And they're on TV, they're all over the country. I mean, it's kind of like the lottery. You have to be present to win. You have to be in Nashville to do this, right? So that's just step one. And then you've just got to be persistent. But it's easy to be persistent when you are afflicted with the love of something, right? I just love the country music. And my buddy, yeah, it's more than a desire. It's like, it's an affliction. Like, I can't help but like, listen to this music. I love this music. I have to get to Nashville. I don't have any friends there, I don't have any family there. I don't know how it's going to work out, but I've just got to be there. And I don't know how this is even going to work out. But I just love this music so much. And I'm such a fan of it, still am. And...

• 25:29Ed Mylett?

  I've done a lot of shows. No one's ever said that. Afflicted with the love of something. That's good.

• 25:34Speaker 04

  Trademark that, we'll write that.

• 25:36Ed Mylett?

  That was good. No, I think sometimes also people that are successful take for granted things they're good at. Like, one line, I don't care if it's like a football player, a businesswoman I've had on the show or whatever, is the, and you did it. Like, they're very comfortable stepping into spaces, buildings, environments, that they're ill-prepared for. Like, they have a threshold where they're like, I'm just going to get in there and then I'll figure it out.

• 26:00Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 26:00Ed Mylett?

  Right? And that's what you did. You got in the car, you went to Nashville, you just like, you know, Vanderbilt, you just like, stepped in there, you'd figure it out.

• 26:07Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 26:08Ed Mylett?

  Whereas, most people go, I have to be completely prepared. I have to know everything. I have to have everything lined up. Then, I'll take a step.

• 26:14Speaker 04

  That's amazing. You know Saagar, he ever, he talks about the, he was getting ready to speak somewhere. I go, are you going to prepare for it? He goes, no, I just show up. And I was like, wow, it's amazing what you mean. Your whole life's preparation, right? Just show up, just be there.

• 26:27Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 26:27Speaker 04

  Be present in that moment, be authentic. You know, that's like some of my best shows are the ones where I just walk onstage with that get to attitude, that sense of joy and wonder. You know, how would Knox walk onstage? Whoa, look at these light bulbs. This is amazing. We have a video screen. You know, how would a kid walk onstage? And then just be, be present and be, um, be, just be. And, oh, the hell we're talking about now, but uh...

• 26:53Ed Mylett?

  No, I love what you're doing. You're, you're turning into a little bit of a Yoda, which I like. No, but, no, I, I watched this last night with you. Like, it's just two dudes. The irony is, we're talking about these really deep things and you and I are just sort of dudes, right? But, but I love this because...

• 27:06Speaker 04

  Well, I love that I can talk to you about this stuff because I don't, I'm not gonna talk to this about...

• 27:09Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 27:10Speaker 04

  The band guys talk and I talk about this stuff. I probably won't talk about this on stage tonight in San Francisco.

• 27:14Ed Mylett?

  No, I'm so thrilled we get to do it. And I watched you last night and there, because you said that to me backstage about, you know, Knox and everything's special and wow and the lights and that, in life, in business, in anything.

• 27:25Speaker 04

  Joy and wonder, yeah.

• 27:25Ed Mylett?

  You can't, and you can't transfer something to somebody that you're not really experiencing.

• 27:30Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 27:30Ed Mylett?

  So, like, I watched you and I'm like, he's really experiencing this joy and bliss and wonderment up there last night and gratitude.

• 27:38Speaker 04

  Yes. Oh, man.

• 27:39Ed Mylett?

  And you feel it because you're really experiencing it. Those of you that want to have an effect on people, it has to be authentic, right?

• 27:45Speaker 04

  It has to be, yeah. One of my, one of the first lessons I got in singing was, uh, I never had like a real lesson. I went to the bar, paid my $5 cover charge and watched this band play "Bertus" tonight. But the lead singer, I got him, Terry Elders, he's like, "You want to sing country music, you have to hear the words in your head and then they have to filter through your, a broken heart of some sort and then come out. You just can't go straight from here to here." And that probably works in any business where it has to go through like some experience, something like traumatic experience you've had.

• 28:09Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 28:09Speaker 04

  It helps when you, especially in country music, someone like George Jones or Merle Haggard, when they're singing, there's so many great technical singers out there. They can do all this stuff, but I don't personally, it doesn't like hit me.

• 28:22Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 28:23Speaker 04

  Like someone like George Jones who maybe wasn't always perfectly in tune and in key.

• 28:28Ed Mylett?

  Yep, right.

• 28:29Speaker 04

  But when he sings, you feel it, right? It's not like hearing it, you feel him singing it. So, my buddy Terry said it to me at the time. I was like 19. I was like... Damn, I haven't like, you know, my parents are still living and I haven't had any girls that really broke my heart yet, like, am I ever gonna be able to sing this music? And then I had some experiences that that helped me, that did break my heart and helped me understand what he's talking about, the difference between like, listening to something and actually feeling and hearing it and uh.

• 28:55Ed Mylett?

  Can you tell us what one of those experiences were?

• 28:56Speaker 04

  I mean, I'm certain there's certainly some relationships where, you know, I think I'm a romantic type, even though I don't wish I wasn't at times, but I, you know, I really believe in the whole, I think my parents, you know, married for thirty some odd years, I, I believe in that, I want that, and uh, I've seen some situations where, one in particular where, uh, yeah, my hair was falling out, my mom sent me these huge like horse pills to try to keep my hair, I mean, it was just coming out in clumps in the shower.

• 29:19Ed Mylett?

  That stress.

• 29:20Speaker 04

  Lost all this weight, I mean, it was so skinny, uh, a buddy of mine who's at the show last night, Vaughn, you might have seen him, he uh, he took me to the YMCA, tried to get me back in shape, well, I got a hernia, because I was like, you know, just like, just working out too hard, it was bad times, and I really, and uh, I was just going down this really dark, unnecessary like path, I mean, it was just so unnecessary, I remember my dad being like, Dirks, your mom's one of like a thousand women I could have married, there's no one person for any of us, I was like, Dad, of course there is, what are you talking about, there's the one.

• 29:50Ed Mylett?

  Mm-hmm.

• 29:50Speaker 04

  Um, but a friend of mine, kind of like someone listening to you, just like snapped me out of it, he's like, dude, stop, what are you doing? Stop, and he kinda pushed me up against the wall, was kinda threatening to kick my ass, and it's something, something just snapped like that, I was like, you're right, what am I, what am I doing? This is ridiculous, I still remember the date, and uh, that that happened, and where it was, and um, but yeah, that like, that, that, and just certainly my dad passing away was, had a big impact on me too, really kids, gosh, I think I get, I get to be a better singer and better performer just with, with each kid that comes along.

• 30:25Ed Mylett?

  I read this quote of yours about writing, that fits this, and you said, you can't write about stuff you don't know, you have to live it, you have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty, live life, uh, you have to live life to be a, a great communicator, basically, you said that, and so.

• 30:41Speaker 04

  One thing that's great about country music, there's always gonna be the seventeen year old kids like me that, you know, driving a pickup truck that, you know, get to go see Garth Brooks. First time, you love those party songs. Ain't going down, the sun comes up. And those are the songs that get you into country music. But what country music is really geared towards, I think, is for life experiences. And that's why it's got this beautiful, beautiful fan base of people that love the sad songs, man. You don't get that in other genres of music. There's a whole, we love, sad songs don't make you sad. Sad songs make you feel like a friend. And, you know, a lot of kids, when I was seventeen, or when I was thirteen to seventeen, the country music really didn't speak to me because I hadn't had those life experiences. But I feel like for me now, I mean, your dad passes away, a son's born, the circle of life stuff. You even, you look back, you've been married for ten years.

• 31:27Speaker 04

  You know, just, you've hit the top of one mountain. But, you know, there's, David Brooks has a book out there called Second Mountain. You read a lot, don't you? My wife kind of got me into reading. Country, we do read country singers. I do like, I do, I try to read more. But that, it's like you've reached the top one mountain, you know, career and family. What's your second mountain gonna be? You know, and so like, these ideas, they, I think what makes country music great, the older you get, the more wisdom you get, just makes you a better songwriter, makes you a better singer, makes you a better communicator to your audience out there. You wrote I Hold On for, about your dad, right? I did. He passed away, and that day that he passed away, I was actually holding his hand as he passed away,

• 32:08Speaker 04

  which was, which was, was, not a, it was not overly important for me to be there because I know it's such a chancy thing to be there when that actually happens. But I've been thinking about holding his hand and how much I looked at my dad's hands in general. He always had a Timex Ironman watch, and his hands could do anything, right? My dad was like the generation that could fix anything and do anything with his hands. And I was just thinking, I was driving around Phoenix thinking about him and drove to this church we used to go to, and then, and I still have the same truck that he and I drove to Nashville. And we drove out in a nineteen ninety-four Chevy truck, which finally just put a new stereo in after, it's running great. And I was like, why do I hold on to that truck? Why do I have his watch? Why do I, why do I hold on to these things?

• 32:49Speaker 04

  And I wasn't trying to write a song, I was just trying to answer some of those big questions that come when your dad passes away. And I ended up writing.

• 32:59Speaker 04

  Ended up writing a love song that only would work in country music. Because it's about, it's a love song about how you hold on, why do I hold on to this old beat up truck? Why do I keep this old beat up guitar? And use those two analogies to explain to your wife why you'll never leave her. It's like, that would never work in like any other genre of music. It's like, what do you mean, you're comparing me to an old beat up truck? But, uh, country fans get it. But yeah, it was actually my biggest song. And honestly, in a weird way, what do you believe in? When my dad passed away, like, my career took a whole nother, like, it actually began to really work.

• 33:31Ed Mylett?

  Unbelievable.

• 33:32Speaker 04

  He's up there pulling some strings for me, I feel like.

• 33:35Ed Mylett?

  That's beautiful, bro. I, uh, very few songs, uh, I don't know, affect me lyrically.

• 33:42Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 33:42Ed Mylett?

  I love "Riser." Um, I think it's one of them, I just, all of you, even if you're not a country music fan, like, if you go read some of the lyrics this man's written, like, they'll, they make a difference. It's actually, don't, and I know you're gonna slough it off as, you know, you'll be humble about it.

• 33:56Speaker 04

  I'm not gonna be humble about this one, this is one of the songs I didn't write.

• 33:58Ed Mylett?

  Okay, you didn't write that, okay.

• 33:59Speaker 04

  So I can drag on this one, bro, I love this song.

• 34:00Ed Mylett?

  Like, uh, it's like, some of it's like poetry, right? But like, that song gives me, I'm serious, I play that song literally when I'm going through difficult things. It's a trigger song for me. Music can be a trigger, by the way, to change your state, we all know that.

• 34:16Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 34:16Ed Mylett?

  You hear a song from your childhood, it takes you back to that moment instantly. Music can do that to you. This song, "Riser," for me, man, it's like, I just step into-

• 34:23Speaker 04

  Music's so powerful. There's a lot of times I get in a car, if I'm going from the airport to something, I'm like, don't play music. Or if I'm going to work out first thing in the morning, I, when I'm really on my game at home, I work, I do like a 5 a.m. workout.

• 34:33Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 34:33Speaker 04

  And I don't listen to music in the way to workout, 'cause I'm like, I just wanna be present in this moment, 'cause music is gonna take it. The second here song, I'm going somewhere. We're going back in the past, or I'm, I'm getting pumped up, maybe I wanna keep my energy low. Music's so powerful, it's crazy. It does, it can transform your life. That song, Travis Meadows, Steve Mokler wrote that song, it got sent to me. I was like, whoa, this is like who I want to be. Yes. Actually, I still have some of the ink on my hand last night from the guy dedicated that song to his wife had passed away. And I dedicated that song to him because that was their song. I always meet people backstage that inspire me before I walk on stage. Those meet and greets are so important for giving me the feel to walk out there and give the show context. But, oh man, what a great song. I became the corners. I named the album after the album was called The Riser Album.

• 35:18Speaker 04

  And so, yeah, that's, there's some people in Nashville, you know, they write songs every day. And there's, I go and try to hang in there with them when it's time to make albums, but I'm always just. What percentage do you write versus songs of someone else's? Some albums, I've written the whole album. Okay. A lot of, maybe too many albums. I've written too many of my own songs. It's hard to tour. And also be a great songwriter. And there's some times I feel like I've written too many songs.

• 35:43Speaker 04

  It's probably 70, 30 I write. You write. Yeah, but. Burning Man, you did not write. Burning Man, I did not write. Unbelievable lyrics too, right? You agree with me on that? That song's unbelievable. I had that song for Luke Dick.

• 35:57Speaker 04

  Oh gosh, Luke Dick is one of the songwriters in that song. And just unbelievable. They told me. And Bobby Pinson. And they had it for two years. I cut it three different times trying to get it right, but it's such a powerful song. It's so personal to me. But I think about country music and songs, the more personal they are to you, the more you write. Look at Taylor Swift. She writes songs with the guys naming them, you know? Yeah. I know publishers have told her like, hey, don't put Ned's name in there. Nobody knows Ned. She's like, well, that's who broke my heart, so I'm still gonna write about it. The more personal you make it, it's amazing. The more universal it becomes. So like, songs like Riser, Burning Man, they're so personal to me. You, they release them out to the wild and people make that, that becomes woven into the thread of their lives. But I remember when they wrote that song, they wanted it for you.

• 36:41Speaker 04

  I think so. I've been writing with this guy. I wrote with Luke Dick a lot for my record. And my thing is like, listen, if we can write songs that are great, if you write something of me and mine, please send it to me. I don't care where it comes from. I'm trying to make, just like, if you could, writing a book. If you could, you know, have people write certain chapters, I would make a great album.

• 36:58Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 36:59Speaker 04

  I'm not necessarily like, I don't want credit for each song, but that's about making a great body of work. And if I could borrow some songs from people to help say what I'm trying to say, instead of just trying to draw from the 70 songs. All right, if I can draw from 3, 4,000 songs, I'm gonna make a much better album.

• 37:13Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, and you own them too. Half your life you struggle, half your life you fly, half your life you're making trouble, half your life you're making it right. One day I'm the exception, most days I'm just like most. Some days I'm headed in the right direction and some days I ain't even close.

• 37:27Speaker 04

  I mean, it's so good, right?

• 37:29Ed Mylett?

  It's so true.

• 37:30Speaker 04

  It relates to everybody, all of us, man.

• 37:32Ed Mylett?

  Dude, it's so good.

• 37:33Speaker 04

  It's such a great song. Thank you, man.

• 37:35Ed Mylett?

  And I'm not, everyone knows me pretty well, like, I love songs that make me feel something. And your songs make an impact on me. That's why I told you last night was the best live show I've ever been to before. Couple of quick things, I just wrote some questions I wanted to ask you myself.

• 37:48Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 37:48Ed Mylett?

  So not like stream of consciousness. Are you gifted or are you skilled? Meaning, were you born with a gift for this or do you think you've developed a skill?

• 37:58Speaker 04

  Definitely all, all skills. It's like, even when I play like a guitar.

• 38:04Speaker 04

  I mean, it's all, it's all muscle memory. I wish I could tell you about, I actually took a theory class and had to drop out. I don't understand how it works. I don't know, and I'm, one day, I'm not giving up on it, I'm still a student. I played mandolin, I love playing the mandolin, it's like my kind of go-to like instrument I'm trying to learn how to get better at. But it's all, I've had to just like take a round peg and hammer it into a square hole and just like, you know, it's all through like just sweat and physically, you know, sweat equity is the whole way I've gotten here.

• 38:30Ed Mylett?

  I want everyone to hear that. You're talking about one of the most successful men in the history of country music. When you add up albums sold and et cetera, et cetera. One of the most relevant people in the music industry today. And he's telling you he didn't have a natural born talent for what he does. And there's all of you out there, you know, that want to make some big dream come true. There's something you want to pursue, you're thinking, I don't have an incredible gift. Actually, by the way, you could have a gift. Part of that gift could be your ability to just be available. I just did a video on this, but one of the best abilities is availability. You're a grinder.

• 39:01Speaker 04

  Love that.

• 39:01Ed Mylett?

  Like, this dude grinds, like he works his ass off, has worked his ass off. Picture this, at his level, he performs three times a night at his shows right now on this Burning Man tour.

• 39:10Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 39:11Ed Mylett?

  He plays the first one like that acoustic set, right?

• 39:13Speaker 04

  Yeah, 30 minute acoustic set and the... Play mandolin, which is great. And I do the Hot Country Nights at 7:00 and my main show at 9:30.

• 39:21Ed Mylett?

  Come on.

• 39:22Speaker 04

  You know, what I do, and this might be interesting to your listeners, but the worst part of your day, or the worst part of your setlist, or whatever it is, I always try to take that worst part and make it my favorite part. So that acoustic show I do at 6:15, it used to be me alone with a guitar. I'm a band guy. I like playing music. Me and music is like people playing music together. Alone on the guitar, I can do, but it's just not really fun for me. I'm not that great of a guitar player.

• 39:45Speaker 04

  So I used to do it alone, 6:15. If anyone wants to come out with some extra money, you get food, drinks, and you get an acoustic performance, right? I did it every night. And it was like, it just wasn't the most fun. I gotta leave the guys behind. We're in the dressing room, jackass-ing around, like, I gotta go do this. I gotta go do this thing. And then, you know, one of the guys started joining me, and then two guys joined me, just out of the love of doing it. You know, and then, they all joined me. And it was like, you know, let's take this thing, and let's make this the highlight of our whole day. And like, I'm trying to get better at the mandolin. How about I get paid to do band mandolin practice every night? So I put the guitar down. I got my mandolin out, scared to death, plugged it in. They all sound so terrible when you plug them in. And instead of just singing acoustically, now I have my ears in, an awesome microphone, great speakers.

• 40:29Speaker 04

  We're up there, and I'm getting a chance to practice bluegrass music for a half an hour every night. And then, I can take all that money and split it six ways. So the guys are making a bunch of money, too, now, you know? Everyone's making, it's like, become a really fun. If I took something, it was just like... So Aimele Silas, the part of the show that is like, oh, this is not the best. How do we, okay, how do we make that like my favorite part of the whole show? You just keep like, upping that, so...

• 40:50Ed Mylett?

  What a great lesson. In your day, in everyone's day, they typically avoid the thing they fear the most, or the thing that's the most uncomfortable for them to do. And it's the very thing that if you did it, would be your gateway to the next level.

• 41:03Speaker 04

  Right.

• 41:03Ed Mylett?

  That's so cool that you said that. So you're not naturally talented. He's telling you, everybody, that he's developed this skill. I got a question for you. I've asked a few guys at your level, when they're... Are you afraid you're gonna lose all this?

• 41:17Speaker 04

  You know, I think I'm at a point where I just like to go on my own terms, but I think when it's over, we were talking about this off camera, I'm playing golf with Jack Nicklaus on Friday, Saturday, which is ridiculous, so I'm not that very good a golfer, but I'm a big fan of his because I read a book on him and he talks about golf as just an extension of his competitive spirit, which is crazy. You think of Jack, you think of golf, you think this guy loves golf, you think he's like, it's like, he's like, really, it's just like the way I get the competitiveness, that's the way I compete. And he's like, so when I stopped being competitive at it, it wasn't hard for me to walk away from it. I think the same thing for me with music, when it stops being, it is, I mean, Nashville's a great community, we're all such a good, it's such a cool community compared to like the LA music scenes, so I hear. Because everyone is supporting each other, these award shows, we're all like, you know, yeah, it's like...

• 42:02Ed Mylett?

  Which he's hosted, by the way, which you did great.

• 42:04Speaker 04

  Oh, thanks, I got replaced by Reba, which is, that's pretty good, I don't feel too bad about that. But yeah, it's like, but we are, it is competitive, I walk on stage, I'm definitely competing for myself in a lot of ways, and when it stops being competitive, I think it's okay, I got, like, there's a lot of, a lot of things I want to get to and do, and most of them involve just like, water and mountains and...

• 42:24Ed Mylett?

  So are you telling me you really envision a time, I'm surprised by this, you're telling me you could envision a time where this is not what you're doing?

• 42:34Speaker 04

  Really? I mean, I hate to put anything out there, some people are manifesting stuff, so I hate to put anything into the universe and like, and have it come true. But I, at some point, I mean, it's gonna end at some point, right? I mean, there are some guys that do it, Merle Haggard, you know, he died on the tour bus, you know, I love that, and those are, that's unbelievable. Man, at some point, it's gonna, I mean, hopefully you can do it on your own terms where like George Strait's doing it, you know, certain number of shows a year and still has a whole other situation going on, but it's funny, I don't know, it changes so much. I've had guys leave the band because they want to be with their kids, and then their kids like a year later are like, "Dad, when are you going back out on the road?" And they're like,

• 43:07Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 43:08Speaker 04

  "I quit to be here with you, what are you talking about?"

• 43:10Ed Mylett?

  Right, right.

• 43:11Speaker 04

  You know, my kids now, it changes where, I asked Evy, my 10-year-old, I'm like, "Hey, what do you think I can slow down and retire, what are you thinking?" And she goes, "How about 2088?" Okay, I'll be 104. Guys, like, come on now, because they love the road, they love us, so as long as it's fun for everyone. I have such a great band, it's such a great crew, it's the whole environment out there. You know, anybody, if you're backstage at my show and anyone walks by, they're gonna say hi, they're, "What's up?" It's such a great community.

• 43:37Ed Mylett?

  It really is.

• 43:38Speaker 04

  We built that up, I'd hate to ever lose, that's, I'm worried more about losing that.

• 43:42Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 43:42Speaker 04

  Than about being on stage and having my ego fed by, you know, but I do have so much fun on stage. Nobody, I don't think anyone has more fun doing what I do nightly, the three shows, being on stage. It's like, not, I don't want to overextend our time here, but I have some friends that do, um, have been in these great, I mean, I could probably use one, like a therapist type of retreat situation to really dial it in and break it down and bash it all out and figure it out. And I, I would love to do something like that, but if you look at my daily, my everyday, what I do, I mean,

• 44:12Speaker 04

  Wim Hof, the water guy, and he talks about, one of the great reasons about getting an ice bath is because it sucks.

• 44:16Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 44:17Speaker 04

  And you should do something every day that sucks, right? Do something that is just not fun.

• 44:20Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 44:20Speaker 04

  Like, something you have to do. Do I look forward to tonight, like, the physical exhaustion of singing three shows and all the meet and greets and all the information I'm taking about somebody's son died in Iraq and this song is, did that? And it's just, there's a lot to go through, it's like facing them out, it's like, it's like, there's a marathon I have to run tonight. I'm not necessarily looking forward to it, to be honest.

• 44:40Ed Mylett?

  I know what you mean.

• 44:42Speaker 04

  I could just stay here and be pretty happy the rest of the day.

• 44:44Ed Mylett?

  I think it's one of the most honest things anyone's said on my show, because I'm the same way. But I'm gonna tell you what I watched with you last night, because a lot of people, if they strip their BS away, exactly what you just said is true, exactly what you just said, and I'm that way too. If I'm being really honest, there's times that I'm flying to go do a speaking, and I'm like, like, I would rather really be there, right? And, and, but something happens when I get there.

• 45:09Speaker 04

  Yeah, your feet touch the ground, and it's like electricity comes through you, and it's like, it's just like running, my wife's a runner, she, I can't run very well, but she can run a marathon. But I can imagine, when I've done my workout, as you know, like, the first couple of reps. But then something, the chemical change happens, like it probably is biochemistry.

• 45:26Ed Mylett?

  It is.

• 45:26Speaker 04

  And like, all of a sudden, you're like, you're home where you're meant to be. And it's like, it becomes the greatest, you can't imagine life without it.

• 45:32Ed Mylett?

  Brother, that was the word I was just gonna use. It's your home.

• 45:35Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 45:36Ed Mylett?

  It's your calling. And it may not be forever.

• 45:38Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 45:39Ed Mylett?

  But when you are, when you get somewhere, you may not always wanna get there, but when you get there and that electricity affects you, that dopamine kicks in, that energy surge happens, where you're like superhuman almost.

• 45:49Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah.

• 45:49Ed Mylett?

  It's a feeling. I don't care if it's a sales call, if it's coming home that you're caring for your children, you're walking out on stage to perform or speak like I do, whatever it is, something happens to you and it's home. It's the home. It's where you're supposed to be in that moment.

• 46:02Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 46:02Ed Mylett?

  You weren't supposed to be on the beach in that moment.

• 46:05Speaker 04

  No matter what you're doing. Everyone in my crew, whether Josh Brown who sells t-shirts or everyone does what exactly they love to do. Josh, I've never met someone so excited about selling t-shirts. And he knows the whole deal, right? Like, I used to try to design t-shirts and sell them. Like, they were terrible. I found Josh, like, this guy, this is what he does. He's really good at it. But, uh, for me, like, it's the whole therapy, the whole day is just like, so I get there and I'm, you know, firstly, you usually wake up in a hotel room and you bump into someone doing housekeeping. So right away, you're just like, oh my God, I have so much gratitude that I get to like, I'm not doing this all day long, you know? So right away, it's a level of gratitude from being on the road, just the people that are, you're meeting backstage doing security and how hard they work and, you know, the caterers. And then you get to, you know, get to meet all these fans who have gone through horrific stuff and they're telling you one of their songs changed their life.

• 46:47Speaker 04

  And for me, I found meeting greets, I'm sure the same for you, is like, the more open I am, the more easier it is. If I go in there trying to be like, if I'm all kinda guarded and like, just trying to get through it, it's gonna be a real pain.

• 46:59Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 47:00Speaker 04

  You know, my guys have to drag people away, like, Dirks, it's like, we gotta, I'm like, okay, well, I'm sharing the story. So, but you take all that in, and then I get to go on stage, well, I get to do much different stage stuff. But the main show, I go out there and yell and scream and pound my chest and lose my mind and lose my voice and literally jumping and pounding on my chest and having, and then I go after that, I go sit with five other guys in the band who are all married, most have kids, and we talk out, you know, whatever we need to talk out.

• 47:24Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 47:25Speaker 04

  And then that's just, I do it all again the next day. So it's like,

• 47:27Ed Mylett?

  Remarkable.

• 47:28Speaker 04

  It's an indirect effect that the road has, the benefits for me, beyond, like, just totally separate from what people see out front. What it does for me as a person and has created the person I am and how it gives me sanity is something people don't see at all. But it's, I think that exists in anything. When you get to do something, you really, Can you put your whole heart and soul into it? It does kind of self-correct any deficiencies.

• 47:52Ed Mylett?

  If what you're doing every single day never gives you the feeling that you just described, perhaps that's not where you're supposed to be. Perhaps that's not your home. It's not the approach to it. It's when you're in the midst of doing what you do. Is there an energy, a peace, a superhuman quality to you? An enjoyment, a bliss? Something in your spirit that feels right while you're doing it? That should be the indicator that you're planted in the right place. Because I know exactly what you mean and it's cool that you admit it. Because it's not something everybody, "I love doing this." No, there are days that you don't love it, but when you get there and do it, you feel a certain way. Just curious, a couple more things.

• 48:28Speaker 04

  Sure.

• 48:28Ed Mylett?

  What do you think you would have done if you weren't doing this?

• 48:30Speaker 04

  I mean, that's a great question. I'm so eat up with music when I'd be playing somewhere.

• 48:35Ed Mylett?

  You would be?

• 48:36Speaker 04

  I'd be probably playing Lower Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee. And that's not a bad place to play now. When I was in Nashville back in the day, there was really nothing going on down there. You'd take your friends out of Lower Broadway. Lower Broadway's the stretch of streets from 6th down to the river. It's one street. It's an amazing place now. Back in the day, it was just a bunch of old honky-tonks. And it was cool back then, too, for a totally different reason. But, I mean, you'd have, you know, you're playing for tips. And sometimes I used to play for free drinks.

• 49:01Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 49:02Speaker 04

  But now, you can just make a great living down there. But more importantly, you can have a lot of fun. I mean, there's like the number one bachelorette destination in the country, more so than Vegas per capita. So it's like, I mean, if I had got a gig down in there, I'd be like, hmm, don't want to go on the road? Or just like, stay here and let everyone just come to me?

• 49:20Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, I understand.

• 49:21Speaker 04

  So I think I'd still be playing music in some capacity. I don't know, I really don't know what I would have done. You know, I have some friends from working in CMA, friends in the TV, Nashville Network, CMT, CMA. I could probably be doing a production job or something. I don't know.

• 49:36Ed Mylett?

  How about business? By the way, I should tell everybody that you and I are business partners in Pig Out Chips.

• 49:42Speaker 04

  Yes, we are.

• 49:43Ed Mylett?

  We should plug that today, at least make sure we've said that, so.

• 49:46Speaker 04

  I've done some crazy stuff.

• 49:49Speaker 04

  I like challenges. I don't know why I do them, but I set myself up for stuff just to do stuff. I don't know why. Like I quit drinking most of last year.

• 49:56Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 49:56Speaker 04

  Did seventy, did three seventy day breaks, which is hard when you're on the road with the brothers Osborne and Lanko.

• 50:02Ed Mylett?

  I can't even.

• 50:02Speaker 04

  These guys. I mean, but it was like, my wife and I kind of did together and it was like a really good physical challenge for me. And I've also, when it comes, I took a year off of eating, actually did a year and a half off of eating meat. And cheese as a band. We did it as a band together. We watched the documentary Cow Conspiracy.

• 50:18Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 50:19Speaker 04

  And we all just, we were playing a gig up in Syracuse, beautiful venue, but the lake next to it's totally toxic. You can't even like look at it. Your eyes stinging. And we just decided to try something. And then I'm all down for like, just, just trying stuff. I'm all for experimenting. It was hard. I, I'm back, I'm not on the train anymore, but I do. What's that?

• 50:38Ed Mylett?

  I saw that.

• 50:39Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah. I, I, yeah, I eat pretty much anything these days. But I do think, I learned so much from that experience about, I mean, I now, I never really ate, you know, ate salads before that. Now I can see, now like my, you can retrain your taste buds to like literally salivate over like a cucumber, which is like so bizarre to me. I can see that. I can see my mouth, I can, right now. I can like, I never even liked cucumbers before, but I had a year where I was just eating like a lot of full plant-based diet. It changed my whole.

• 51:04Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 51:05Speaker 04

  DNA, basically like of what I have, I see food. So now I'm more likely to eat, you know, we tell our kids this stuff, eat your vegetables. But then as adults, we're like, when's that steak coming around, man? Vegetables, oh. But, so it definitely helped me kind of just become more conscious of my food stuff. But I'm all, all for some sort of like, there's that, there's a Navy SEAL that wrote a book about eliminating yourself, like, you know, like spend a week sleeping on the floor. Then you'll go back to your bed and be like, oh my gosh, I have a bed. You know, just like just.

• 51:34Ed Mylett?

  You do those kind of things.

• 51:35Speaker 04

  I've never done that, but I.

• 51:37Ed Mylett?

  But those kind of things though, you like to challenge yourself out. I'm surprised, I'm not, I guess I'm not surprised to hear it. I'm surprised that, at the randomness of it though. Like you'll do it with your diet or your drinking.

• 51:48Speaker 04

  Or working out. Like, I do like, I did like a couple of months of five AM workouts, getting up at four forty-five. I do the cold, I always do a cold shower, always cold shower every morning if I take a shower at all. I love the cold, on the road I have the trash can. You know, it's just like getting past, it's all about, I think, just getting past the conscious, like retooling your subconscious.

• 52:04Ed Mylett?

  Exactly right.

• 52:05Speaker 04

  With the drinking stuff, you know, we were talking about Sheldon. There's such, drinking is just, you know, you just gotta find ways to monitor that, you know, especially doing what we do. I have so many friends at the show last night, they're texting me about how hungover they are. I'm like, guys, you gotta like, you gotta learn how to like, break down past that subconscious a little bit and know like what you're.

• 52:24Ed Mylett?

  Be aware.

• 52:25Speaker 04

  Be aware of it, yeah.

• 52:25Ed Mylett?

  Self-awareness is a huge thing. It's one of the things I think that's why you have so much humility. That's what I've noticed in you anyways.

• 52:31Speaker 04

  Thanks, man.

• 52:31Ed Mylett?

  Alright, I got something for you last. By the way, I've enjoyed this so much.

• 52:34Speaker 04

  Me too. Thank you so much.

• 52:35Ed Mylett?

  Honestly, like there's a, um, I've liked you and I've watched how you've treated people, all of our exchanges about your family and your children being the center of your life. I just admire.

• 52:44Speaker 04

  Thanks, man.

• 52:45Ed Mylett?

  But, um, what I'm excited about our friendship for is like, there's a depth to you that I really, really, um, I'm so thrilled to see. And it explains your success to me.

• 52:55Speaker 04

  I've been listening and, uh, I'm learning, so thank you.

• 52:58Ed Mylett?

  Well, I'm glad. Anything I can do to help, obviously, you know, I wanna do that.

• 53:00Speaker 04

  Amazing podcast.

• 53:01Ed Mylett?

  Thank you. If you had, um, advice to someone, so everyone listening to this, they got a dream of some type, like you did.

• 53:08Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 53:08Ed Mylett?

  When you were that 19-year-old dude and they wanna make something happen, whether it's a business or a relationship, or they wanna get their dream home, or they're an artist.

• 53:17Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 53:18Ed Mylett?

  You know, they wanna sing or play professional football, or whatever it might be.

• 53:21Speaker 04

  See, this is why I listen to you. I don't, I don't have the answers to this stuff. I don't know what that advice would be.

• 53:25Ed Mylett?

  Well, I bet you do. I bet you there's something, I'm gonna push you on it, cause I, you've, you, you do it. I mean, I, I think you did it myself, if I observe you with crazy work ethic, but I'll let you answer the question.

• 53:36Speaker 04

  Well, I do think there's something we talked about earlier about the calling and finding something that really speaks to you. I mean, it's a lot easier to work hard and be persistent and then have that. If you find something that's like, it doesn't matter off the wall, there's, you could be wanting to be a country singer from Phoenix, Arizona. Uh, it doesn't matter, it just, if it's something that really speaks to you, it's gonna be a lot easier to like, to, to go after, you know? And you do need to take advice along the way. And it's funny for me, I took this, this little positive advice that people give me, I'd kinda stalk that and be like, hey, he said I, you know, I remember one time I was just like kinda pounding on my dashboard to a song and a bluegrass buddy of mine was like, you have really good timing. Like my playing, my wrist. I was like, hmm, John Golden said I had good timing, alright. But then also, you gotta be realistic too, if you're not, if it just, it's not working, then maybe, you know, don't be afraid to.

• 54:22Ed Mylett?

  Course correct.

• 54:22Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 54:23Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, course correct.

• 54:24Speaker 04

  Course correct. I love that. Um.

• 54:27Speaker 04

  But I do think it's gonna come a lot of, for me, it just comes down to, you know, I played so many gigs and nobody wanted to play, right? I'd go play a crawfish boil. I'd played gigs where literally we like blended into the background. Me and my cousin Avion banjo, me and guitar, like just might as well be wallpaper. Nobody even knows we're there, you know? Just any opportunity there was to play, to get out there and do it. I think people talk about songwriting, you don't talk about actually do it. Write a song a day.

• 54:53Ed Mylett?

  Yeah. Very good.

• 54:55Speaker 04

  Get out and play music. If you're doing something, get out there and do it. Don't talk about it, but I don't know, I got some respect. To me, it feels like everything just gets harder and harder as the world continues, man. I feel like the kids out there navigating all the social media and, you know, I think certainly for singing, I think it's just, it's tough. I think it's tougher, I do think it's a lot harder for girls and my business is for guys. And I got a lot of respect for anybody that's out there just trying to make it happen, man.

• 55:22Ed Mylett?

  So do I. I respect the grind. I respect the effort.

• 55:25Speaker 04

  I always call myself a grinder. We were talking about hockey earlier, there's like the slap, the power D, you got the finesse guys. I've always just been the guy that goes in the corner and digs the puck out. And that's kinda like what I'm.

• 55:34Ed Mylett?

  And I think you take for granted that you do that. I just, I'm glad that you commented on it because there's two things I've observed about you, and you've said them both, but I just wanna say them back to you. One, I think that people that do things, everyone I interview, they do so many things very well, they think like isn't that big of a deal. So all the gigs you did play for nothing, or for a free drink, or in the background, or all those little things, there are millions of guys who also loved country music, who also wanted to be you, who passed on that stuff the second time it came out, like I already did it, I got nothing out of it. You went and did it again, and again, and again, and again. And there's this thing with persistence, as you've said, that eventually gets rewarded. The best ability is available.

• 56:17Ed Mylett?

  Eventually you'll get noticed, eventually there's a breakthrough, eventually somebody sees you. And then last night, I told Cristiano when we left, it was a lesson for me. I learned something watching you last night. I told her, and I know, we're in the car driving back, she goes, "You're thinking." You know? And I thought, I'll tell you, because I really admired what I saw, seriously. And I, not, your performance was unbelievable, but I watched you backstage, I watched you talk with people, I watched you with me. And I went, I told her, I go, "That was a guy not working." And I said, just so you know, not all of that shit's easy for him. Not all that meeting everybody's easy for him. He's found a way that it's like a fuel for him. He's found a way. You, just so you all know, he not only performed three times last night,

• 57:01Ed Mylett?

  but he loves the business so much, he went backstage in the side of the stage and watched the other people perform.

• 57:07Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 57:08Ed Mylett?

  You were in bliss last night when you were there. And I told her, I said, I need to be conscious of being grateful for all of these opportunities I have. Cause for a man at his level of success to be that grateful and to still work that hard, really inspired me.

• 57:24Speaker 04

  Well, yeah, I think I'm just, I'm a student of so many people out there and I, I, I, I take what, you know, I think I can learn from and try to incorporate in my own life. I think I have a natural love of, of, of just, of what I do and, and I want to share with people, but I've certainly, I remember the first time I took my wife to see Garth Brooks and he, um, you know, we, we went backstage and he immediately just shushed me. And I think it might have been a ton of this last night. And he's just one knee talking to my wife the whole time. He's like, I gotta see you, Dirk. Anyway, so Cassidy, you were a marketing major? I was a marketing major. On one knee talking to the whole time. He goes out there and plays a three hour show. We're leaving, she's walking down the concourse, she's got high heels on, her feet are killing her. And I hear, Dirk, did Cassidy have a good time? Like, how do you remember her name after like a three hour show? It's like little things like that stick with you.

• 58:09Speaker 04

  Taylor has always been so nice to when we go on the road. She's like, you know, she's just always seen such great care of us. And I say, you just, you draw from the people and it probably applies to everyone out there listening, no matter what kind of line of work they're in. You just draw, you know, imitate, you know, draw from people that have inspired you. And you get a chance to incorporate that in your own life. Don't have to go reinvent the wheel. Just like look for people that are already kind of doing something you like doing and, and, and, you know, borrow from them.

• 58:32Ed Mylett?

  Great key. I call it modeling.

• 58:34Speaker 04

  Modeling.

• 58:34Ed Mylett?

  That's exactly right. I had no idea we were gonna talk about so many relevant things today. I thought we were gonna talk about music.

• 58:40Speaker 04

  Hey, I did too.

• 58:41Ed Mylett?

  And I, I'm thrilled that we didn't just talk about music.

• 58:43Speaker 04

  Funny, cause music's just the front for the whole, you know, for your, for your life. I, I always say like, it's all combined, you know, you can't, career, family, all these bits and pieces people try to have. I want to win the overall, the whole thing, right?

• 58:54Ed Mylett?

  You want to win the whole game.

• 58:55Speaker 04

  To me, it's like the career. Family, it's just one life, right? So how do you get the whole win on the whole deal? And I think modeling is a big part of it. Looking around and seeing people that starts with your parents. You might, you know, some people had a harder upbringing than others. My dad was a great model to start from. And I think from there, I've always looked for people that I can model stuff off of and draw from and incorporate in my own life and hopefully my own success.

• 59:16Ed Mylett?

  I think you're a good model.

• 59:17Speaker 04

  Thanks, man.

• 59:18Ed Mylett?

  And I picked up some stuff last night that I'm modeling. So thank you for today. This is one of my, I'll be honest with you, pleasantly so surprised with what we talked about today.

• 59:28Speaker 04

  I'll take that, man.

• 59:29Ed Mylett?

  I'm really grateful for it. Thank you so much for being here, brother.

• 59:31Speaker 04

  Thank you. We can do it again tonight if you want to come to San Francisco.

• 59:33Ed Mylett?

  I would love that. I might jump on the plane and come watch you.

• 59:35Speaker 04

  Come on, let's go.

• 59:36Ed Mylett?

  Hey, everybody, I hope you enjoyed today's show. Obviously, I want you following Dirks on his social media, on Instagram at Dirks Bentley. And I want to remind you on my Instagram too. Every day we run the max out two minute drill. When I make a post every day on Instagram, when I make that post, you got two minutes. Make a comment.

• 59:51Speaker 04

  Get that comment in there, folks.

• 59:52Ed Mylett?

  You make that comment. We do a drawing every day. If you make a comment in the first two minutes, or if you make a comment on other people's comments, or third, if you just make a comment every day on every post, we pick winners. Every week on Sundays, we announce them. You get rides on my jet, you get my book, you get coaching calls, you get max out gear, all kinds of cool stuff. And I'd love to help you with your life by picking you as one of the winners there. Maybe get a coaching call with me. So make sure you're engaged on my Instagram every day. Hope you enjoyed today's show. Tell people about it. God bless you. Max out your life.