Country star Craig Morgan sits down with Sid to talk about his one-of-a-kind journey—from jumping into jungles with the Army to jumping on stage as a chart-topping artist. A Nashville-area native with deep military roots, Craig opens up about his love for family, faith, and food (his mom’s biscuits and gravy, to be exact). Plus, he shares the story behind his powerful new EP ‘American Soundtrack’ and the moving song inspired by personal loss.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00All right. Craig Morgan, welcome to Biscuits and Jam.
00:05Well, Craig, congrats on the new EP. It's called American Soundtrack, and I know you must be really excited to be getting some new music out there.
00:16Yeah, I mean, that's what we do. So anytime we're getting to bring something new out and continue to hopefully appease our fan base and make new fans, that's our objective.
00:27Well, it's got some great songs on it, and I think you're going to definitely have some excited fans when it comes out.
00:36I want to ask you a little bit about the title track and how that one came together.
00:41You know, it sort of sounds like going down memory lane a little bit, and it's like got a little bit of everything that maybe you listened to growing up in there.
00:50There's Tom Petty and John Mellencamp and Lynyrd Skynyrd and all sorts of references.
00:55Talk to me about that song.
00:59Oh, that's exactly what it is. It's a trip down memory lane.
01:02Songs that, you know, the song themselves might not have impacted our lives, but there were impacting moments in our lives when we heard that song.
01:11So every time we hear that song, we reflect on a particular moment in our lives, and that's what that song talks about.
01:17It's an American soundtrack. Every song in there is, for me, reflects on a moment in my life where I can reflect on a moment and remember hearing that song while something was happening.
01:27And being, as I am an American, a very proud American, it's like the soundtrack to my life to some degrees.
01:37So give me an example of one song that you reference in there that kind of stands out and where that takes you back to.
01:46Like, you know, maybe it's Tom Petty or pick another one.
01:52Well, one of my, the one that I reflect on, the line that says, Sweet Home from the boys in Alabama.
01:58Yeah.
01:59Talking about Sweet Home Alabama.
02:00You know, I vividly remember skateboarding in front of my house and hearing that song playing on a radio.
02:09Every time I hear it now, I can visualize me skateboarding as a kid in front of our house.
02:15So that one was very impacting.
02:18Yeah.
02:19Well, it's funny how music can do that to you.
02:21It can really take you right back to a place and you remember exactly where you were the first time you heard it.
02:27Well, that's what we hope for.
02:28I will tell you as a songwriter that, you know, that's the, that's the goal is to have a song that in some way attaches itself, attaches itself to someone's life.
02:40And it's generally, again, like I said, because of a moment.
02:43I don't necessarily know that it's the song as much as it is because you're in a particular place, whether it be a geographical location, a spiritual place in your life, you know, an emotional place, whatever.
02:57But you hear that song at that time.
03:00And then from that point forward in the rest of your life, you reflect on that song as that's in your life.
03:07Yeah, that's so true.
03:09Well, where am I reaching you right now, by the way?
03:12Are you in Nashville?
03:14I'm just outside of Nashville, in Dixon, Tennessee.
03:16I'm home.
03:16I just got home yesterday from Alaska.
03:18I've been gone for about, I don't know, six, seven, eight weeks.
03:21It's been a long time.
03:22Wow.
03:22It had to be kind of cold up there.
03:24It was.
03:25It wasn't as cold as it usually is.
03:27In fact, there were a couple of nights where it was colder here than it was there.
03:32It's not often that I talk to people who grew up in Nashville.
03:36You know, I talk to people who live there now all the time, but not many of them were born and raised around Nashville.
03:46So tell me a little bit about that.
03:48What was the house and the neighborhood that you grew up in like?
03:54It was a real neighborhood.
03:56It was a very small neighborhood in Kingston Springs, Tennessee.
03:59I will tell you before, I always reflect on that as my place of growing up.
04:03But the reality was my parents were flipping houses before that was an actual term.
04:09They would buy a place, fix it up and sell it, buy a place, fix it up and sell it.
04:13And we did that until we lived in Kingston Springs where I finished out my high school years and moved away to join the Army.
04:22So for me, that's kind of my home place.
04:25But in Middle Tennessee, Kingston Springs is the final place, like I said, graduated from Cheatham County High School, went to Middle Tennessee State University for a little while, but lived in Dixon, Cheatham, Hickman, all in around that area.
04:40What's the place that feels most like home to you when you kind of think back on this was this is the place that I kind of picture growing up and that I have the most maybe attachment to?
04:51It was Kingston Springs. No, no questions. Yeah, it was a small little town.
04:57And we lived in a neighborhood, you know, where you could you could throw, you know, rock and hit your neighbor's house here.
05:03You know, you could look out your window and see in their window kind of thing.
05:06It was a real neighborhood in those days.
05:09You know, my parents would leave and go to work and we would walk to the elementary school where I would drop off my youngest siblings and then I would get on a bus there and ride over to the high school.
05:19So for me, that was home.
05:21That's what I reflect on when I think of my childhood in particular.
05:25You grew up in a pretty big family.
05:28You had, what, three siblings.
05:31There's four of you.
05:33And I think you had a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins.
05:38Oh, yeah.
05:39In the neighborhood or at least in the immediate area.
05:44When you think about who was the cook in your family, who stands out and what were they known for?
05:55Oh, it's no question.
05:56My mom.
05:57In fact, she didn't just cook for us.
05:59She cooked for various other, you know, throughout her life.
06:02She would cook at different places for her job.
06:06But I always found it fascinating.
06:08I would come home.
06:09I can remember as a kid coming home and looking in the cabinets in the refrigerator and not finding anything to eat.
06:14And then mom would get home and fix dinner and be like, man, where did all this come from?
06:18I was just in there.
06:18None of that crap was in there.
06:20She had the ability to make, you know, great meals out of what I thought was nothing.
06:26What were some of the dishes that she was kind of known for that you really, that you loved the most?
06:32Well, no one could touch my mom's biscuits and gravy.
06:35She could make homemade biscuits and gravy.
06:39The closest thing I've ever found that was store-bought is these Pillsbury frozen biscuits.
06:45They come in a bag.
06:46I know it sounds so super cheesy, but now when I eat those, and I don't eat them a lot.
06:52I'm a pretty heavy, pretty protein-heavy, low-carb kind of guy.
06:58But when I do, I immediately can see my mom's biscuits and gravy and lots of butter.
07:06But, yeah, she was, I mean, like I said, it didn't matter what she cooked.
07:10But I personally remember and loved her biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings.
07:14She made the best chicken and dumplings.
07:18Yeah, she was fabulous at anything, really, any meal she cooked.
07:22Tell me your mom's name.
07:24Betty.
07:25Betty.
07:25I mean, Betty Sue.
07:26It don't get any more Southern than that.
07:30No, it doesn't.
07:32And what about holidays?
07:34I mean, did y'all have big gatherings with all those cousins around?
07:39Well, you alluded to the big family, and my dad had six brothers, and each one of those
07:48guys had four children.
07:49You know, when other people would go for a summer vacation to wherever, we always went
07:54to family.
07:55And we had a family reunion every year, and at least once a month, we would have a family
08:00gathering at my grandparents.
08:02So there would be, you know, 20 or 30 plus kids running around all over the farm, and
08:08the dads and the moms and everybody cooking.
08:11And it was a, you know, it was a big, long picnic table outside during the warm weather,
08:16and everybody would gather around.
08:17Of course, all the kids sat someplace different, you know.
08:21But it was a big deal.
08:24You know, family was, that was our friends.
08:28You know, that was our close friends.
08:30When I would go somewhere for the weekends, it would be to my cousin's house.
08:33There were times when I would stay at my cousin's house during the week and go to school from
08:38there.
08:39That's how close we were as a family.
08:41Do you, do you, have you stayed close with all those cousins?
08:46A lot of them, not all of them.
08:48And by close, I mean, we don't have those gatherings like we used to, and I travel so much.
08:52And now each of us, those, we all have our own families who, some of them have families.
08:58Yeah.
08:58So we've taken that, what we had been taught, and we've integrated, you know, applied it
09:03to our own families, having those family reunions with our families.
09:07Our grandparents are since passed, so the patriarch, matriarch are no longer there.
09:13The new patriarch is my dad.
09:15And a lot of those uncles are all gone now.
09:18They've passed.
09:19Yeah.
09:19But there's a few, you know, thanks to technology, Facebook and those things, we all stay
09:24close.
09:24Y'all probably have a pretty big Facebook group.
09:26They do, yes.
09:28They do, yeah.
09:31So Craig, you know, so much of your music and your life has been about your connection
09:39to God.
09:41And your memoir is called God, Family Country.
09:45It came out a couple of years ago.
09:46And of course, you had a record called that.
09:48But was the church a regular part of your life as a kid?
09:52Oh, absolutely.
09:53Always has been.
09:55You know, that's not to say that there weren't times in my life where, you know, in my military,
10:00church was still a part of our life.
10:02In fact, it was a big part, especially with our children.
10:04But I traveled a lot.
10:06I deployed a lot.
10:06So I was gone a whole lot.
10:08So I didn't get to do the church thing as a family like I did as a kid growing up.
10:13What did it look like and feel like on a Sunday?
10:16I mean, tell me about the church itself that y'all would go to.
10:19Oh, it was a typical Southern Baptist church, you know, Sunday morning service, Sunday afternoon
10:29was just like the song.
10:31That's what I love about Sunday.
10:32Catnapping on a porch swing, football, you know, gathering with friends.
10:36And again, most of the time with us, it was family.
10:39And then Sunday night service.
10:41It was it was a pretty busy.
10:43It was a full day.
10:44Oh, it was a full week.
10:46You have a Wednesday service.
10:47Then you have a Bible study group.
10:49Then, you know, it was always something.
10:51Was there any connection between music and the church for you?
10:55Oh, absolutely.
10:56I think a lot of my influence comes from from listening to the choir sing and at times being
11:03a part of that.
11:04Music has always been a big part of my life.
11:06My dad was a musician, so I grew up in and around the music.
11:09So it was always a part of my life.
11:11But I didn't have the interest in music early on.
11:15And and I wish I had a great answer as to why.
11:18I think maybe it was because I was around it so much and it was a part of our life that
11:23I really wanted to just go do something else.
11:26Why join the army?
11:27So, yeah, but absolutely, you know, church music, gospel music.
11:31It was a big influence, a big part of my life.
11:34My mom was a great singer.
11:35She wasn't a musician.
11:37She wasn't part of a band, but she was a phenomenal singer.
11:40She had a beautiful voice.
11:41Hmm.
11:42I wanted to ask about your dad's your dad's music career or his music interests.
11:49You know, there are some great pictures in the book that you had of him with his band
11:55and they were all dressed up.
11:57Those were all his brothers.
11:58Great outfits.
11:59Yeah.
12:02I mean, tell me about his influence on you as a musician.
12:07Well, I think the influence was always there, but I didn't really, like I said, early on
12:15in my life, I didn't aspire to be a musician as a kid.
12:17I wanted to be a policeman, a fireman, a soldier.
12:20I wanted to do those kind of things.
12:25But I think the influence, like I said, was always there.
12:28But it wasn't until I was older and in the army and away from home that I started writing
12:32songs.
12:33And that's when all, you know, I kind of reflected back on some of that influence.
12:38And I think those things were always a part of me.
12:40I just kind of semi-ignored them as a young man.
12:44Again, and it wasn't until I was away from home in the army and started writing songs that
12:50I remembered a lot of the things.
12:51And, you know, when you grow up in and around it, like we, I can remember us being toted
12:57and tugged and forced to go to a session or a show or something, a place called the Jingo
13:05Jamboree in Nashville or a taping at TNT or something like that.
13:10And, you know, we didn't want to go.
13:12We wanted to be with our friends, our cousins.
13:14We wanted to go do other fun things.
13:16So it was, it was almost, it was almost like it was something I didn't.
13:20Not only did I not want to do it, I didn't want to be around it, but gained appreciation
13:25for the influence later in my life.
13:28Have you had a musical kind of dialogue with your dad over the years?
13:32Oh yeah.
13:33My dad's a big part of the reason I do this.
13:35Yeah.
13:35When I was in the army, I started writing some songs and my dad was the one that convinced
13:38me to go to the studio and record some stuff.
13:41Took me up, helped me set it up and kind of, kind of really encouraged me to try to pursue
13:46it.
13:47Yeah.
13:47Had he not done it, I probably wouldn't have.
13:48I know it's a very, very extremely difficult business, you know?
13:53Yeah.
13:54For every one, there's a hundred thousand that are trying.
13:57And I knew that and I had a good job and a family and I didn't really want to mess that
14:01up.
14:02That's the reason when I left active duty, I stayed in the active reserves because I really
14:06didn't think it would work and I didn't want to lose my time in service or my rank.
14:10So I continued to do it.
14:12And it wasn't until I had a couple of hits on the radio that I felt like, you know, I may
14:17have a shot at this.
14:18And then when they made me a member of the Opry, that's when I felt like I may be able
14:23to actually have some longevity in the business.
14:26Well, that's a pretty good sign right there.
14:30We're living with it.
14:31I want to talk about that connection between the military and music for you.
14:36You spent a lot of years in the army and, you know, during that time you were jumping
14:43out of airplanes and you were serving in active combat zones.
14:48I mean, you were doing some very intense stuff.
14:52And I'm wondering if there's some aspects of your life in the military that kind of prepared
14:56you for a career in country music.
14:59Oh, absolutely.
15:00No question.
15:01I tell people all the time, I attribute a lot of my success in this business to skill
15:07sets that I learned in the army.
15:09I think probably the greatest thing that I learned in the army that affects me today is
15:15having had the ability to go to other countries and experience other cultures and truly appreciate
15:23how fortunate we are in this country.
15:26It gave me such a great deal of appreciation for the things that I think some people can
15:32easily take for granted, especially musicians.
15:36That for me, every day was a blessing.
15:39Like I said, early on for years, I just kept waiting for somebody to tell me that it wasn't
15:43going to work going back in the army.
15:45And I would have been like, man, that's awesome.
15:46What a great time I had.
15:48What a blessing to be able to do this and that.
15:50And now looking back, you know, when writing the book, it was like, holy cow, man, I've
15:54done so much.
15:56And, you know, some of it, you just get so busy, you don't even realize it.
16:00But being in the army taught me how fortunate we are.
16:04And so for me to have a job where I get to be creative and influence other people in a
16:11positive manner is beyond anything I could ever imagine.
16:16Craig, when you think about all the people that you served with, um, the drill sergeants,
16:23the generals, the, the, you know, the people that you interacted with every day, I'm wondering
16:30if there's someone who made a really big impression on you or who changed your life in
16:36some way.
16:37Oh, yeah.
16:37I mean, I could go, you know, very, depending on my, uh, geographical location, my unit of
16:43assignment or whatever, I could name somebody from each place, but there are a few people
16:46in particular, uh, one of which is responsible, uh, partially responsible as well for me being
16:52in this business.
16:53Now, uh, gentleman's name was Colonel Bill Greer.
16:56Um, oddly enough, uh, that's my, uh, I think, you know, that's my real last name.
17:01It's Craig Morgan Greer.
17:03Yeah.
17:04Um, and Bill Greer, his wife's name was Karen.
17:09My wife's name was Karen.
17:10And we were assigned together and they would get invitations to the women's luncheons and
17:15he would always get two for Karen Greer.
17:17So he'd always throw one away and give one to his wife.
17:19He didn't realize my wife's name was Karen.
17:21But when it came time for me to re-enlist after I had almost 10 years of active duty service,
17:26I sat down with him.
17:27He was my commander at the time.
17:28Um, and I, I talked to him about, you know, uh, me potentially pursuing music.
17:36Uh, and I'll never forget this as long as I live.
17:38And my dad, at this point, I'd been in the studio.
17:41We were stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
17:42I was, uh, an observation controller, like an evaluator for the United States army.
17:47And I did all the fire support special operations stuff, uh, and I did all their evaluations.
17:52And, uh, so when they would come in and do the mock war games, I was the guy that told
17:56the guys who did what I did in the military, what they were doing right or wrong, so to speak.
18:01Um, and I'll never forget, I was at nine and a half, um, again, almost 10 years.
18:07And I sat down with him.
18:08I was up for re-enlistment and I either had to re-enlist or get out.
18:12It was that, you know, I had to make a decision.
18:15And I've been writing these songs and going in the studio with my dad.
18:18And, you know, I had a few people in Nashville that were semi-interested, you know, and, and
18:23I'll never forget sitting down with him.
18:24And I told him what my, what I was thinking about doing.
18:26And he said, look, I will tell you this.
18:28He said, if you stay in the army, I believe that you will be the Sergeant Major of the
18:32army someday.
18:33He said, but I also believe that you got a shot at this music thing that a lot of other
18:38people might not have.
18:40And I thought, well, I'm going to take the chance.
18:44Uh, and he said, what I would do is he said, I would stay in the active reserves that way.
18:48If it don't work, or if you're not happy with it, you won't lose your great, your time
18:51and service and you won't lose your rank.
18:53And so that's what I did.
18:55And I did that for the next almost seven years.
18:58So, uh, and the whole time in seven years, I had hits on the radio and I was still going,
19:03man, I just don't know.
19:06Um, but we stayed in touch and to this day, he's a very dear friend.
19:10Uh, when I first started in the music business, his wife was my fan club president back when
19:15we had fan clubs.
19:17Uh, so they've been very supportive, uh, extremely supportive and, and, and have become some of
19:22our closest friends.
19:23Well, I guess he can safely say, you know, Craig, I told you so.
19:28Oh, he has.
19:30He has said that.
19:33I think he's more proud of the fact that, uh, that I've had the success that I have than
19:37I am.
19:39He and Karen, his wife.
19:40You must've had some pretty hair raising experiences as well.
19:47Um, when you think of the different places that you served, you were in Korea, you're
19:53in Panama.
19:54Um, is there one that, that kind of stands out for you as really, that was, that was the
19:59place where, um, there was some real risk that I wasn't going to get out of there.
20:05Um, I mean, I could tell you that about half a dozen different places, but I think Panama
20:10is probably, you know, the most impacting, like a lot of service members.
20:14Um, that, that was the first real conflict.
20:18Uh, so for me, that was the first experience, you know, of, of, of battle.
20:22So absolutely.
20:23I mean, I've lots and lots of, of memories and stories, some funny, some not so funny.
20:29Um, but, but for me, it was no different than, you know, anybody else sitting there and doing
20:34the jobs that we were doing.
20:35Uh, we all had a job to do and we did our job and, and I just now have a job where I
20:40get to talk about it and bring light to some of those men and women that are serving
20:43today.
20:44Uh, some of which are experiencing, you know, a lot of what we experienced.
20:48Yeah.
20:49Yeah.
20:49Um, well, you must've made some real lifelong friendships in the, in the military.
20:57And I'm wondering if that, you know, community, um, is, uh, it seems to be a huge part of your
21:04life to this day.
21:05Um, seems to be part of everything that you, that you do, um, part of your, part of your
21:11tours and really part of your day to day.
21:14Is that fair to say?
21:15Oh, there's no question.
21:16Yeah.
21:16Uh, you know, um, even today, my group in Panama, we've lost a few people, uh, since
21:23then, uh, and during that combat, we had a couple of people in our unit that passed away,
21:27but, but my particular team, we still stay in touch today.
21:31And I, you know, we, we all talk about the negatives of the social media stuff, but I
21:36will say that is one of the blessings of the social media, uh, the concept, all of these
21:40different things, but we all are able to stay together.
21:43We communicate with each other and we are there for each other.
21:47Um, sometimes it's just a simple text, uh, a message on Facebook or, or Instagram or something
21:53like that.
21:55Uh, truth, whatever the platform may be.
21:58Um, it's, it's nice to know that you have people that have experienced what you've experienced
22:03and a lot of them with you.
22:06Uh, so it's easy to reach out and stay in touch through those, uh, media platforms.
22:11Uh, but, but, you know, even what's amazing though, and what I have found is there are
22:15people that I didn't serve with that I meet later on.
22:19Um, you know, some of these younger soldiers, service members that are coming in, uh, they
22:24say, man, I was stationed with you in, uh, Fort Campbell.
22:27And I'm like, you weren't with me in Fort Campbell because I'm twice your age and they
22:32go, no, no, I don't mean with you.
22:33I mean, I was in the same unit.
22:35Uh, so we have that connection, even though we didn't serve together, we all serve, uh,
22:40and we all feel like there's this really unique bond that is only experienced in the military.
22:46There's no other occupation in the world.
22:47I mean, even, even cross branches, you know, I met Marines and, and sailors and, and so on
22:53and so forth that regardless of their branch, we all share a bond that, uh, that is forever.
22:59Uh, and it's, and it's linking us together, uh, that, that no other occupation shares.
23:05Hmm.
23:05Oh, that's a beautiful thing.
23:07All right.
23:08Well, Craig, I want to do something that we call the jam session.
23:11Um, and this is just sort of a lightning round.
23:14Okay.
23:14This is just kind of 10 quick questions.
23:17I'm terrible at these things.
23:20Oh, it's easy.
23:21Are you ready?
23:22I'm ready.
23:24Okay.
23:25First one's a, this is about as easy as it gets.
23:28Biscuits or cornbread?
23:29Biscuits.
23:31Sweet or unsweet?
23:33Unsweet.
23:35Okay.
23:36Deer hunting or turkey hunting?
23:38Turkey hunting.
23:40No question.
23:41And the spring is here.
23:43Yes, it is.
23:44It's so warm here.
23:45I expect to hear birds gobbling today.
23:48The dish that I'm best known for in my family is blank.
23:52My steaks.
23:55Okay.
23:57The funniest thing about Blake Shelton is blank.
24:03He drinks in a deer stand.
24:05Yeah, you can never kill a deer drinking in a deer stand.
24:10That's why he's a terrible hunter.
24:14Terrible hunter.
24:15The one guitar that I would grab in a fire is blank.
24:19My 1952 Les Paul.
24:20The best dog that I ever had was named blank.
24:25Oh, that's terrible.
24:27Right now, I would have to say Creed.
24:31It was my son Jerry's dog and we have him still.
24:33He's still here.
24:34So, he's pretty special to us.
24:37If I could do a duet with anyone, it would be blank.
24:40Oh, that's tough.
24:41Probably Cece Winas.
24:43And y'all haven't done that before?
24:45We haven't.
24:46Not yet.
24:46Yeah.
24:47Got to make that happen.
24:48It's hard to find a song that she's comfortable with.
24:51Yeah.
24:52That I think will do well as well.
24:55Yeah.
24:56Yeah.
24:57We've talked about it a couple times.
24:59But, you know, usually in passing.
25:02We both go, hey, we got to do that song together.
25:04Maybe a Christmas song down the road.
25:08Okay.
25:09The best barbecue joint in Nashville is blank.
25:13Wits.
25:14Okay.
25:16Last one.
25:17The most Southern thing about me is blank.
25:20The most what?
25:21The most Southern thing about me is blank.
25:24It has to be my accent or my laugh.
25:27Everybody talks about my accent in my laugh.
25:30I didn't realize I had an accent.
25:31And it's not that bad until I get around other people who got a real bad accent.
25:36It's pretty strong, Craig.
25:38That's what they say.
25:40Ain't no hiding.
25:41All right.
25:42That's it.
25:45Okay.
25:45So I want to talk about the outdoors just for a second.
25:48I know that you've been a hunter and a fisherman for a long time.
25:52I don't know if you know this, but I was the editor of Field and Stream for about five years.
25:56And yeah, I did know that.
25:58So I've, uh, uh, I've loved the outdoors for a long time.
26:03Um, you had a show on the outdoor channel for years and I'm wondering who was your greatest
26:10mentor when it came to being an outdoorsman?
26:14Probably.
26:15Well, I mean, aside from my family, someone outside of my family, my mom, my dad, both
26:20were avid outdoors people, um, outdoorsmen.
26:24Uh, my first deer hunt was with my mom, not my dad.
26:27Really?
26:28Yeah.
26:28So I grew up as a kid, you know, not just hunting for sport, but hunting for food, fishing
26:35for food.
26:36You know, that's what we did.
26:38Um, so it's always been a part of my life, but outside of the family, there's a guy named
26:42Pete Shepley.
26:42You know who Pete is?
26:44Uh, I don't know him.
26:46I'm sorry.
26:47I don't know him.
26:48Pete Shepley, uh, with PSE Archery.
26:50He was the founder of PSE Archery.
26:51Oh, okay.
26:52Yep.
26:52An extremely intelligent and extremely avid outdoorsman.
26:57He was a man's man.
26:58I mean, a real survival, real outdoorsman, but, but genius as well.
27:04He owns more patents on the compound bowl than most other bowl companies combined.
27:09Uh, PSE did.
27:10I don't know if they still do, but he and, uh, uh, uh, I'm trying to think of founder of
27:16Quaker Boy Game Cause.
27:18Both of those two individuals, before I was Craig Morgan, before anybody knew who I was
27:23when I was still just a, uh, uh, a soldier, both of them offered me, um, uh, well, what
27:32we would call endorsements or, uh, sponsorships, um, when, again, before I was nobody, they liked
27:39my turkey calling.
27:41They liked my skill sets in the, in that world, uh, and, and took good care of me early on in
27:47my life.
27:48And so I'll never forget those guys, but Pete in particular was, was extremely, uh, influential
27:54with his knowledge.
27:58And your mom, that's so interesting that you, your first deer hunt was with your mom.
28:03Do you remember that hunt?
28:05Double off buck.
28:06Do you remember that hunt?
28:08Vividly.
28:09Yeah.
28:09We didn't, we didn't get in a stand or that.
28:10We walked out in the woods and I couldn't, I think it was, I want to say somewhere near
28:16Prim Springs over there.
28:18I don't even know where, I don't remember where, but I remember sitting down.
28:21I was young.
28:22I mean, I couldn't have been probably 10 or 12.
28:26Um, and, uh, remember sitting down at the base of a tree and mom leaned back against the
28:32tree and she put me in, in the, between her legs and I leaned back against her and I had
28:35the shotgun and I shot a doe.
28:37You did.
28:38Oh yeah.
28:38Yeah.
28:40She showed, we scanned it together.
28:41We gutted it, took it back.
28:42And me and mom and dad, um, set, you know, skin it.
28:47And I remember my siblings being around while we did it.
28:49And yeah.
28:50Wow.
28:50And then they processed all the meat.
28:52Wow.
28:53What a story.
28:54And my mom did most of the work.
28:56Wow.
28:59That's great.
29:01Well, Craig, I want to talk about, um, something that, you know, that was incredibly difficult
29:08for you, um, a few years ago and, and, um, with your own son and you, you wrote a song
29:15called the father, my son, and the Holy ghost.
29:20And that was about the loss of your son, Jerry to a boating accident.
29:26And first of all, I'm, I'm, I'm so very sorry for your loss.
29:31Um, um, I'm sure it's still with you every single day.
29:35Um, but what you did when you wrote that song was something incredibly powerful.
29:41Um, and I'm wondering what kind of response you've gotten from people, uh, when they hear
29:49that, you know, when you, when you play it at shows, um, or when people talk to you about
29:54that song and what it means to them.
29:56Yeah, it's been, it's been extremely powerful.
29:58I will tell you this.
29:59I didn't write that song.
30:00God wrote that song.
30:02Uh, I never intended for anyone to hear it when it happened.
30:06I cried the whole time I wrote it.
30:08Didn't, like I said, I, I didn't, didn't do it because I wanted to do it and help people.
30:14I I'm, I'm just telling you.
30:15And I, I didn't do it because I needed to get it out of my system.
30:18I wished I had, I knew as to why it happened.
30:21I mean, now I know, I feel like now that's what God wanted to do.
30:25And I'm grateful that I was, uh, ignorant enough to participate in what it was he was planning
30:32because I've got to see it firsthand.
30:34Uh, I've had a lot of songs.
30:36I've had a lot of hits, but I've never, ever had a song that impacted people the way that
30:41song did.
30:42Uh, wrote it by myself.
30:44Like I said, with God, uh, went in and cut it myself, um, did everything.
30:49I didn't play all that music.
30:51Obviously I hired, you know, studio musicians come in and we, we produced it.
30:54Had Sonia Isaacs who had lost a child as well, come in and sing with me on that song and what
31:01God did with that.
31:02Uh, and I tell people all the time, that song was not for me and my healing.
31:06I don't believe that.
31:07Uh, I'm a guy that believes that when something hurts, you, you don't keep doing it.
31:12You know, you, you know, you just kind of avoid it, uh, as best you can.
31:16But what I also realized that sometimes we suffer pain, not for our own benefit, but for
31:22the benefit of others, uh, and I, and I believe that with every fiber that's in my body.
31:27And if you're willing to suffer some of that pain for others, you are rewarded.
31:33It might not be now.
31:34It might not be till you're gone, but you will be rewarded.
31:37And I know that I know that I know that God used that song for a lot of people, uh, because
31:42of the response.
31:43We didn't even release it to radio and it became the number one most downloaded song of all genres
31:49four times in a row.
31:52Uh, and I've heard story after story, after story of what that song meant to people that
31:56have heard it.
31:57Uh, so that's what God does.
32:00And I was just grateful that I was a part of it.
32:03I know you sent that song to Blake Shelton, I believe when you, when you wrote it.
32:10Um, tell me about how he responded to it.
32:14Well, I was, I sent it to Blake prior to going to Alaska and I went up to Alaska and I was there
32:21for about a week.
32:21We have a place up there, a business up there that my son runs.
32:24I sent it to him and I didn't get anything.
32:26And I seen, I took a picture of a moose.
32:29Um, like 10 days later, I seen a moose out and took a picture and sent it to him.
32:35And immediately he responded to me and he said, Holy cow, this song.
32:39And I had half forgotten that I sent it.
32:42I said, what, what are you talking about?
32:44He said, the song you sent.
32:45I said, I sent you a picture of a moose.
32:47He said, I seen the moose, but I'm talking about the song.
32:49I said, dude, I think I sent that to you, you know, two weeks ago.
32:52He said, you did.
32:53I'm sorry.
32:53I didn't listen to it.
32:55Uh, and he said, it's unbelievable.
32:57I said, well, thank you.
32:58You know, Blake lost a brother early in his life.
33:00So, so that's why I sent it to him, uh, just to, you know, we're friends and we got, we
33:06share music sometimes.
33:08And, uh, like three days later, Blake calls me and says, dude, have you talked to your
33:13management or anybody in town?
33:15Now, mind you, I'm in a place where I don't get great service.
33:18And my phone, when I did get in service, it was blowing up message on top of message,
33:25email, voice messages, everything.
33:27And Blake's was the one, uh, that I clicked on first for whatever reason.
33:33And it said, dude, you need to call your management.
33:34Your song has blown up.
33:36It's gone viral.
33:37Uh, so I called my management and I said, uh, Hey, Blake, just call me and said that
33:42his song had blown up or something, you know, cause we weren't, we weren't intending on
33:46releasing it.
33:48Uh, they just put it out on, on the socials for people, you know?
33:52Yeah.
33:52And my manager's like, yeah, uh, everybody has talked about it.
33:58Uh, can you come in, uh, tomorrow or the next day?
34:01Uh, they're wanting you on Fox and friends.
34:03They're wanting you on Kelly Clarkson.
34:05They're wanting you on this and various shows.
34:08And I said, man, I can't leave here right now.
34:11I said, I'm sorry.
34:13Well, I told him, I said, look, I'll be home on Monday.
34:15And this was like a, uh, you know, a Wednesday prior.
34:19And you're in Alaska.
34:19I'm in Alaska and in the bush in Alaska.
34:23I said, I'll be home Monday and then I'll be there and y'all can, you know, we'll do
34:27whatever we need to do.
34:28And then, like I said, the rest is history.
34:31You know, it just, it just kept, you'd think it was over.
34:34It was become the number one most downloaded song.
34:36And then I did the Kelly Clarkson show and it became the number one most downloaded song
34:41again.
34:41I did Fox and friends and it became the number one most downloaded song again of all genres.
34:46It was just the craziest thing.
34:48But what I seen in it was God doing something that I didn't even know that I was a part of
34:54initially.
34:55I didn't even know that I wanted to be a part of.
34:58Um, but I'm grateful, uh, you said it earlier, you know, it still hurts every day.
35:02I tell people all the time when you lose a child for, you know, my son died in 2016 for
35:09most people, that's, you know, eight years, nine years.
35:13For me, it was yesterday and every day it was yesterday.
35:16That's how fresh and new it is in, in, in our heads and hearts every day.
35:21Um, so I think when I, for me, when I know that God is using us and our heartache to help
35:31other people, I'm willing to accept that.
35:32Well, it certainly seems to be what's happened with that song and, and, um, I think there
35:37are a whole lot of other people out there who hadn't even heard it yet.
35:40Um, and, uh, so it's got a long ways to go.
35:44Um, so it's a beautiful thing you've done.
35:47Craig, I want to, uh, uh, talk a little bit about your new music.
35:51And I know that, um, you've got a run of shows, um, uh, coming up with Blake actually.
36:00Um, and this podcast will air, I think right after you're done with those shows.
36:06Um, but I'm curious, do you, do you send him your music, uh, when you're, when you're
36:11working on something new, um, would he have heard all these songs, um, a while ago?
36:16Uh, he's heard, he's heard a few of them.
36:18I sent him a few things, you know, just to see what he liked and what he thought.
36:22And of course he'd send me some stupid message about it's the worst thing I've ever heard.
36:26I don't know what you're thinking.
36:28I'm not sure if I want you on the friends and heroes tour.
36:34Um, which means he loved it.
36:36Yeah.
36:37Yeah.
36:37Um, that's his way of saying it.
36:39We do that.
36:39He just, he just did a new project and now we're on the same label.
36:43We're on the same record label together.
36:44So it's, it's even worse, but I did go in and sing on a song.
36:48That he's about to release on a new project that he has out.
36:51Oh, that's great.
36:52That's great.
36:53Is that, is that announced or is that?
36:56Not yet.
36:56Not yet.
36:57Okay.
36:57Coming soon.
36:58Well, I want to ask you about a particular song on the new EP.
37:03Um, and again, it's called American Soundtrack and the song is called That's Who I'm From.
37:09Yeah.
37:09And it's just, it's a lot of fun.
37:12It sounds like it'll be a really fun one to play at a show.
37:16Um, tell me, you know, it sounds like a great bar song.
37:20It's just, it's, it's, it's got a great energy to it.
37:23Tell me about how this one came together.
37:25Phil and I, um, Phil had actually started it, had the idea, uh, and, and brought it
37:31to me and said, Hey, this is what I've got.
37:32He had a half a verse or so.
37:34And I said, I love it.
37:35So we were writing on it, touring and kind of got busy and got away from things.
37:40And we were in, uh, we were in Detroit doing a show for Tunnel to Towers, I think, which
37:48was sponsored by Chevrolet and Walmart.
37:51They were the big two sponsors.
37:53So we were in there and I'm like, you know, it was a very small group, very private show.
37:58Uh, and I said, man, I got an idea for the second verse of this song, but you know, let
38:03me tell you the concept first.
38:04The concept is everybody says, where are you from?
38:06Where are you from?
38:07And it's not where I'm from as much as it's who I'm from.
38:11Who am I from?
38:12The people that influence me make up who I am, not geographical locations.
38:17They do help obviously, but it's really who you're from.
38:20But we never ask anybody who you're from.
38:22And Phil and I, he had told me about this.
38:23I'm like, this is fricking genius.
38:24I love the idea.
38:26But we were there and I was said, man, we need to do something.
38:29Maybe we can get us a Chevrolet dealership, uh, endorsement if we add Chevrolet.
38:34And it was Walmart.
38:35And I said, we're Walmart, uh, we're Walmart every day, something about Chevrolet, baseball
38:41and apple pie.
38:43That's who, that's who we're from.
38:45And every line in the song, if you say it by itself, it stands alone.
38:49And it really, uh, in my opinion, uh, depicts a, uh, a reference of who you could be from,
38:57you know, uh, uh, trying to live the red words.
39:01Everybody that's any kind of faith at all, I don't care what you are, you know, the red
39:06words are the ones Jesus said, and we're trying to live what Jesus said, following the father
39:10and son.
39:11You know, it's just who we're from.
39:12So, yeah, that, that, it's a very biographical song.
39:17And I think it's, I think it's very biographical for a lot of people in our nation who for a
39:23long time have been very quiet.
39:25Yeah.
39:26Uh, you know, because humility is more important than pride in faith, uh, understanding that,
39:34you know, our faith, if we have pride in anything, it's our God, not ourselves, but we're learning
39:40that it's okay to be proud of your faith in God and, and talk about it.
39:44You know, it truly is reflective of who we are or who we're from.
39:49Yeah.
39:50And I believe it's who the majority of this, the people in this nation, who, the way they
39:55feel.
39:55So it's been about, I think, 18 months now or so since you, um, enlisted in the U S army
40:02reserve.
40:03Yes.
40:04Um, and you, you did that on stage at the Grand Ole Opry, um, which was, uh, a really cool
40:11thing to see.
40:12I saw the video of it.
40:13Um, talk to me about why you wanted to do it on that stage and, and what your service looks
40:20like today.
40:21Well, I'll tell you the selfish reason was I wanted to go back in the army.
40:24Uh, to finish out my 20 years, I wanted to get that letter that says I served my country
40:30for 20 years.
40:30You know, when you leave the army, if you don't retire from the army, if you just get
40:35out, it doesn't matter if you serve three years or 19 and a half years, you don't get
40:40a letter that says, thank you for your service to your country.
40:43You get good conduct medals, you get those things, but you don't have a letter of retirement
40:47and I didn't get that.
40:49So I wanted to do that.
40:50Secondly, I did it because I got to marry my two lives back together.
40:54When I first started the music business, I was still in the army active duty.
40:59So it was a big, the, both of those were such a big part of my life, uh, that when I started
41:06pursuing the music more full time and the military less full time, I missed it.
41:10And I've missed it since.
41:12So to bring those two worlds back together, uh, it, it was just very poignant for me to
41:18do it at the Grand Ole Opry.
41:19Uh, and lastly, I wanted to help with army recruiting.
41:23Now, when I went back in, uh, army recruiting was at an all time low and for a lot of obvious
41:29reasons.
41:29And everyone has their own take on as to why it was not working for, you know, for whatever
41:34reason.
41:35Um, but I thought if I could, in some way, encourage others to join the military and serve
41:40their country, uh, I wanted to do that because it was so good for me and so great for me,
41:45um, that I wanted other people to experience that as well.
41:49Well, it was a great ceremony and, and I love that you chose to do it that way, um, on that
41:55stage of all places.
41:57So that's great.
41:58Congrats to you on that.
41:59Uh, thank you.
42:01Well, Craig, I just have one more question for you.
42:04What does it mean to you to be Southern?
42:09Uh, kind, caring.
42:12I always felt like, and I've been all over the world, uh, and I do believe that in the
42:17South in particular, there's a sense of caring that you don't really feel everywhere else.
42:26Sometimes it may be a little, you may think it's fake with the honeys and the darlings
42:32and the sweethearts and the buddies and the buds and the bubbles and the conversations,
42:37the way people talk to you.
42:38But what you, what you get is that person pulling over to help you change a flat or making
42:44sure you're okay.
42:45Are you all right, honey?
42:47Are you all right, buddy?
42:49You need any, you need some help.
42:50Can I call somebody?
42:51You get a lot of that here.
42:54Um, and I, and I think that's important.
42:57Kindness is, uh, and, and caring is, it is at the core of our faith.
43:03And I believe it's at the core of this country.
43:06Uh, we have to take care of ourselves first or we can't take care of other people.
43:12And I think that's very important.
43:14I say that to our soldiers all the time.
43:15You got to take care of yourself or you're not going to be able to help your family and
43:18your country.
43:19Uh, I tell you, say it to Christians, you got to take care of your faith or you're not
43:24going to be able to preach to others.
43:26Um, and I believe that our country does that better than any other country in the world.
43:31And I've been to over 90 different countries and I've never experienced it anywhere else.
43:36And only in the South do you get it to that degree.
43:39Well, I couldn't agree with you more.
43:42And, um, I, I appreciate your, your perspective and your comments and your time today.
43:49And, um, I, I gotta say congrats on the new EP.
43:54It's terrific.
43:55Congrats on the book.
43:56Um, there's a paperback out now and the tour you've got coming up and everything else.
44:01And, uh, thanks for being on biscuits and jam.
44:03Thank you very much.