PREP AUDIO:
“Father’s Day is funny because I look back and think about what Father’s Days, what we did with our dad, and I think he probably just wanted to play outside and be goofy. It’s the same thing that I want to do with my kids. Like for Father’s Day, I don’t want a trophy or anything like that. I just want to hang out with my kids. I want every day to be Father’s Day. If anything, I personally believe as a father, now celebrating my second Father’s Day, Mother’s Day is 100 times more important. They are like superheroes. We just get to join along for the ride. So, it’s a treat for us just to be allowed in the party as far as I’m concerned, but I’ve never been more proud to be a dad, and it’s the best.”
“Our dad listened to everything from Hank Williams to Willie Nelson to even pop music like Mariah Carey and Tom Petty to Bob Seger. You name it and he listened to it, so we really didn’t think about specific genres. We really just kind of soaked it all in, so we listened to it all at one time. It was just music to us. There wasn’t a day in our house without the radio on or there wasn’t a weekend at our house that there wasn’t a party and people had their guitars out, so music to us is like eating and breathing. It’s just as essential as anything else.”
“Well, I am very lucky in my life to have two incredible fathers – my own father and then I get to watch my husband be a father to our boys – strong, amazing men, I am very lucky to be around them. Mike as a dad is just super involved in our boys’ lives, very hands on. It takes a team, definitely, to be able to support my crazy life and Mike’s always running around doing a lot of charity things and he’s always meeting with people and he’s on different boards and stuff like that, so we’re very much switching off duties as far as taking boys here and there to school and sports and to all the extra-curricular activities. I just love that I feel like we’re such a great team. I love it that he gets to now work with Isaiah on sports and things like that, and I know he loves it too. So, I think that’s one of my favorite qualities about Mike is just how hands on of a father he is and very willing to pick up the slack when I’m crazy busy. Obviously, he’s just a very Godly father, as well. He keeps God as the center of our family and gets to teach our boys all about that, as well. So, he’s just a great guy all around.”
“My dad has this really unnerving ability to be able to build anything at all just by thinking of it. He can look at something and build it in his mind and build it by hand, and it always works. I’ve always respected him for that. He’s a very hard worker. He’s worked every day of his life. He’s also kind, even when he doesn’t have to be. He’s the type of guy who always gives money at the light to whoever it is on the street. One of my favorite moments with my dad was when we were driving to Macon, Georgia. I was playing a show that night, and we were driving up and we saw this dog and I could tell she was a mama dog. I could tell she had babies somewhere that she was trying to nurse, and she was so skinny. And I’m a bleeding heart. I get it from my Mama, and I just start crying, and I’m like, ‘That poor dog. She’s starving trying to feed her babies.’ I thought, ‘Poor dog.” And my dad doesn’t say anything, goes up two more blocks and pulls into the McDonalds. And he goes through and he asks me if I wanted anything, and I say no. I just think he’s hungry. He goes and he buys three or four burgers, and then he goes back to that block and he drives around until we find that dog to feed it to ‘em. I just remember looking at him, being like this is what a man is; this is what a good man does, and I’ll never forget that.”
“She had a lot great qualities, but she was always, family was first for her. She was always a rock and making sure she took care of us and making sure we had things we needed to have to survive – food and clothes and a home – and seeing that and seeing how hard she worked and all the things she did just really made me the father that I am today. I mean, I’m so crazy and hands-on with my kids. I think it all comes from watching my mom have to struggle so much to support us. And so now, I don’t want me or my wife to ever have to struggle, and I don’t want my kids to ever want or wonder where I am or where there mom is. I want them to always know where we are and always be taken care of, and that all comes from my mom.”
“When I get home, it’s a totally different reality that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Just hanging with my girls and doing the things we do and seeing life through their eyes, it’s incredible. It takes a man to do it. It’s not a boys’ game. It takes a man to do it. I love the juxtaposition to be able to be that man and to also go on the road and act like I’m 13 years old and play video games all afternoon waiting for the fans to show up. So, it’s really a blessing to be able to do both.“
“My dad was my biggest influence in country music because my dad loved country radio. So, we always drove around listening to country radio and George Strait, Hank Williams and Randy Travis and all these guys, so. Without him, I wouldn’t be doing this, that’s for sure.”
“My dad is a, I’m trying think the best way to describe it, my dad’s a great guy, honest guy, very call it like he sees it, which is where I get a lot of that. No BS, I’m gonna tell you how I feel, whether you like it not, I’m that guy, I’m me. And that’s a lot of what comes out with what I write about, what I sing about. In interviews, probably saying some things sometimes I shouldn’t, know, just that, it’s me and that’s what you get. And my dad’s that way. So I get a lot of that from him, you know, and there’s also an honesty and integrity that my dad carries himself with that I’ve always admired.
“The thing I love most about my Dad is just his overall love of life. He’s a guy that’s worked hard and is now at a point where he can enjoy it, and he’s living every day to the fullest. That’s something that I’m very thankful that I’ve seen my Dad do and something to learn from. So, that’s probably my favorite quality about the old man, and just the hard work too. My dad ran a furniture business in Shreveport for a long time with his Dad. It was great to grow up and see a guy work hard and helped his Dad build a business from the ground up to a very successful business, and that’s something that I even try to carry over into my music.”
“Coming home, having like just a kid excited to see you. It’s like the bad day fixer times 10, you know. I think it makes you realize what’s really important, no matter what it is. You come home from a write where you’re tired or you come home from the road and you’re worn out and you just want to take a nap, but you see the kids and you’re like, ‘Alright. Never mind. I wanna go play wiffle ball in the backyard.’ I don’t know. Seeing them light up when they see you – there’s no better feeling in the world.”
“My dad got us outside; he got us outdoors early, you know? We didn’t have to like to hunt and fish, but you were going to the camp. You didn’t have to hunt if you didn’t want to, but you were going to the camp and be outside, and I really want to continue that with them. We’ve got a hunting camp in Arkansas, and you know just getting them around the fire and just getting them to small town living in Arkansas is special.”
“As far as talent and potential, my oldest three, especially, they could do anything they wanted to do if they put their mind to it and their heart was there. My oldest [Hampton] is incredible at playing mandolin. Colby, we kind of noticed him turn the corner lately with the fiddle, and Marion is actually playing a ukulele that’s tuned like the top four strings on a guitar, so in essence, he’s learning how to play guitar. They’ve just kind of started incorporating some singing into some playing, so they’re starting the whole singing and playing at the same time kind of thing, and not only that, they’re even learning to play songs together on their individual instruments. So, it’s amazing to see how much they can learn in such a short amount of time. It makes me realize how much I missed out on when I was that age, ‘cause I did take some music lessons growing up and everything, but I think they feed off of each other honestly. I think that’s why they’re getting so good is because they’re all doing it, not just one of ‘em.”
“Well, my dad was, I always just go back to the life lessons that always started either in a fishing boat or hunting somewhere, and that’s why I’ve always kind of been a champion of those types of behaviors certainly with your boys and your children because you get to spend time and hand down values. My dad was always big on just hard work and being good to people and a handshake is the contract. A handshake is your bond, your word. His famous saying always was, ‘Do something right the first time and you won’t have to go back and do it over again.’ I won’t say I batted a thousand perfectly on that, but I’ve kind of tried to live by that.“
“So, for Father’s Day, I made my Dad – I think it was right before I moved to Nashville – I made my Dad this little photo book where it had like his quotes that have stuck with me my whole life and then some pictures, and it was really funky. It looks horrible. It’s not put together, but that’s one of his favorite gifts that he’s ever gotten, and I cherish that ugly photo book thing that I made for him for Father’s Day.”
“The quality I most admire about my husband as a father is he is a very hands-on dad, and he’s been a hands-on dad since the very beginning since I found out I was pregnant. And like he would go and get me a fresh juice and ginger every single day, and then once my son Grayson was born, it’s crazy, like he just wants to be there every step of the way. Like we are a very equal household when it comes to taking care of our son, and I think that is the best thing ever is to watch him be such a hands-on dad.”
“As far as my Dad, he’s like a real-life superhero. I mean the most incredible, self-disciplined, work ethic. I get my entire work ethic, I think, from him and my granddad, who’s actually my mom’s dad. I’m so lucky the kind of people that I come from, like I had no choice to go out and work hard and try to be successful. My brother definitely – that creative, artistic side of my brain I think it really was…he kind of catered to that when I was a kid. He really put a lot of emphasis on me showing that some love and some attention in trying to be creative and write songs and stuff. But I just think my work ethic and kind of drive to do things the right way come from my dad and my granddad, for sure. Just lucky to have that. I always say if everybody had a granddad like I had, the world would be a really good place.”
“So, my dad has honestly been my rock star, my whole life. He was the one to bring me to Nashville when I was 15, once I wrote my first song. He’s just really supported me. He was the one driving me to all of my try-outs for every single show I tried out for. And my dad’s taught me a lot. He’s a hard worker, and that’s where my work ethic comes from is my dad. You know, I’m one of five kids, and he always found a way…there was a lot of rough times growing up, and he always found a way to pull through and just keep going, and I think that’s why I stayed in Nashville as long as I have – it comes from my dad.”
“I’m obviously biased about my parents, but I’ve been around a lot of great men of integrity, but he is by far the best man that I know. He’s just taught me so much about being a man, doing the right thing, knowing the difference between right and wrong. And even though I don’t always follow his lead, I definitely know better because of him, and that means a whole lot to me. I was just really fortunate to have him as a dad, and he’s great.”
“I think being a dad is one of the most special gifts in the world. I’m getting to watch kids grow up — a big responsibility, but also a lot of joy. I mean, (it’s) so much fun, and to have three little kids, man, it’s a house full of energy. It’s a whole lot of fun, and one of the coolest things about it that I’ve found is it helps me kind of channel my inner child. It takes me back to being a kid and how much fun just jumping on the trampoline and playing basketball and playing outside and all that really is and how good it is for us. I’ve lost that for quite a few years, getting wrapped up in my career and working hard and just prioritizing that over being a kid and playing. So, it’s been really healthy and helpful to me to have these kids running around to just kind of channel that little boy inside of me and the person that I want to be, and it’s been really healthy and really fun and kind of re-energized me creatively as well as a songwriter and an artist. So, I’m really thankful to be a dad. Love those three little kids more than anything in the world, and it’s just so special.”
“Kindness-hopefully make them kind and that’s all we got. Five great kids, a couple of grandkids. Those grandkids are the complete light of my life. You know, they just show up and the rest of the world can kiss my you-know-what. (laughs) I say, ‘We’re just gonna go swing in the backyard; we’re gonna wrestle on the bed; we’re gonna eat those Goldfish (crackers), you know? And nothing else kind of seems to matter. And then I think what I love seeing, more than anything, for my kid to finally understand what it means to love, and it’s awesome to see my kid finally get it what that unconditional love really looks like and feels like.”
AUDIO LINERS:
“Hey, I’m Alan Jackson, wishing you a Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey everybody! I’m Billy Currington, wishing you a very Happy Father’s Day!“
“Hi! This is Brad Paisley, wishing all the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey! This is TJ, and I’m John, and we are Brothers Osborne, wishing all you fathers out there a very Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey everybody, this is Bryce Leatherwood. This is to all the Dads out there, I’m wishing you a Happy Father’s Day. Thank y’all for what y’all do, and God bless.”
“Hey, I’m Carrie Underwood, wishing you a very Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey y’all! This is Caylee Hammack. For all you Dads out there, Happy Father’s Day.“
“Hey! What’s up? This is Darius Rucker wishing you a Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey! This is Eric Church, wishing you a Happy Father’s Day.”
“Jon Pardi here. Happy Father’s Day to all you father’s out there.”
“Hey! I’m Jordan Davis, wishing you all a Happy Father’s Day.“
“Hey y’all, this is Josh Ross. To all the dads out there, wishing you a Happy Father’s Day”.
“Hey y’all! This is Josh Turner, and I just want to wish all you father’s out there a Happy Father’s Day!”
“Hey everyone! It’s Keith Urban, wishing all you Dads out there a Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hi! This is Little Big Town, wishing all you father’s a Happy Father’s Day.“
“Hey! This is Luke Bryan, wishing all the Fathers out there a very Happy Father’s Day. Here’s to you, Dad.“
“Hey everybody! I’m Maddie and I’m Tae, wishing all you fathers out there a Happy Father’s Day.“
“Hey everybody, this is Mickey Guyton, wishing you a very Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey everybody, I’m Parker McCollum, wishing you a very Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey! It’s Priscilla Block. For all you fathers – Happy Father’s Day!”
“Hey! This is Sam Hunt. To all you fathers out there, Happy Father’s Day!”
“Hi! This is Shania Twain. Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey what’s going on? It’s Tucker Wetmore. Wishing you a Happy Father’s Day.”
“Hey everybody! It’s Vince, and I just wanted to wish you a Happy Father’s Day. Wish mine was still around.”
