In this video, Tyler joins Sid to talk about his new music, how different his solo career has been from his days with Florida Georgia Line, and the father he misses every day. Tyler Hubbard was born and raised in Monroe, Georgia, where he grew up working in the garden with his family, competing in motocross races, and playing music at his church. He met his bandmate, Brian Kelley, at Belmont University in Nashville, and by 2012 Florida Georgia Line was one of the hottest acts in country music. These days, he’s entered a new phase in his life and career. He’s a father now, with a wife and three kids, and after taking a break from recording with Kelley, he’s also reintroducing himself to fans as a solo act. His new album, Strong, is set to release just a few days after this episode comes out, and he has a big tour ahead of him with Kane Brown.
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00:00Hey y'all, welcome to Biscuits and Jam from Southern Living. I'm your host, Sid Evans,
00:07and today I'm talking with someone whose voice some of you might recognize from his work in
00:12the long-running country duo Florida-Georgia Line. Tyler Hubbard was born and raised in Monroe,
00:18Georgia, where he grew up working in the garden with his family, competing in motocross races,
00:23and playing music at his church. He met his bandmate, Brian Kelly, at Belmont University
00:29in Nashville, and by 2012, Florida-Georgia Line was one of the hottest acts in country music.
00:35These days, he's entered a new phase in his life and career. He's a father now, with a wife and
00:41three kids, and after taking a break from recording with Kelly, he's also reintroducing himself to fans
00:47as a solo act. His new album, Strong, has just come out, and he has a big tour ahead of him with
00:53Kane Brown. We'll talk about all that, how he's now gardening with his kids, and the father he
00:59misses every day on this week's Biscuits and Jam.
01:10Tyler Hubbard, welcome to Biscuits and Jam.
01:13Hey, thanks, Sid. Appreciate you having me. How are you?
01:16I'm great. Where am I reaching you right now?
01:18I'm in Nashville.
01:19Okay. Well, I know you're headed out on a tour before too long, and I just want to say congrats
01:27on the new album. It's called Strong, and it's your second album since you've gone solo.
01:33Yeah.
01:33And it's great. Sounds great. I just listened to it.
01:36Thanks, Sid. I appreciate it, man. Yeah, I'm excited to get that album out and share it with
01:42the world, and it feels really good. It's something I'm really proud of, and even more excited to play
01:47them live and, like you said, get out on tour with Kane Brown this spring and play fairs and
01:53festivals all summer and then headline some stuff in the fall. So there's a lot of fun stuff bands
01:58excited about, and we're all in a good space, man, just having a lot of fun. And like I said,
02:02it just feels good to have this new music out.
02:05Yeah. Well, so tell me about the title. It's called Strong, and that's a word that can mean a lot of
02:11different things. Yeah. I mean, it's obviously a song that's on the album, but we kept referring to
02:16everything as being strong, whether it was a song or a mix or a take. And so we just decided it feels
02:24like it's really leading us to calling this whole project Strong, which I personally was excited about
02:29because for me, Strong represents so many different things for different people. I think strength can
02:35come in so many different forms, strengthen vulnerability, strengthen being real, strengthen
02:41doing hard things. When I think of strong people, I think of teachers and nurses and police officers
02:48and people in the service, but also parents. I just think it touches on a lot of different things,
02:53and I think it's just fun to think about our inner strength and where that comes from. And if you
02:56listen to the song, it's more based around my relationship with my wife, but ultimately strong
03:02relationships in general and the beauty in that and the beauty in working to make a relationship
03:06strong. It doesn't happen overnight, and it's fun to watch the strength build within relationships as
03:13you put in the work. Yeah. Well, I want to get more into the album in a minute, but before we do that,
03:20I'd love to talk just a little bit about your background and where some of your strength as a
03:26person comes from, I guess. You grew up in Monroe, Georgia, or right around there, which is kind of
03:33east of Atlanta. Is that right? Yep, that's right. Northeast a little bit, close to Athens. But yeah,
03:39small town called Monroe and grew up there my majority of my life. Grew up in the country. Grew up very
03:46kind of small town, simple life, which I'm really grateful for and love where I grew up. Had great
03:52parents and grew up in church and grew up in a great home. And so when I was 18, I moved out and
03:59moved to college and went to Nashville and went to Belmont. And I'd fallen in love with Nashville
04:04on a trip and just thought, man, this place is magical. I love this place. And I got accepted
04:10to go to Belmont and thought, well, that's where I'm headed then. I love Nashville and maybe music is
04:15something that'll hold my interest long enough to get through college. And until this day, I call
04:19Nashville home. I love it here and love the people and the community and the culture. And
04:23now I got three kids that were raising me and my wife right outside of Nashville and just really
04:29grateful to be here. Well, Tyler, if you were to sort of paint a picture of Monroe and particularly
04:35when you were growing up there, I imagine it looks a lot different now, probably a lot more people
04:40there now. But, you know, when you were a kid and maybe even in high school, what was the lay of the
04:47land in Monroe and the area? Does it feel kind of rural or did it really have more kind of a town
04:53center? It was fairly rural. I actually lived in a little outskirt of Monroe. If there is a such
04:59thing called Good Hope, which was super rural. It had one yellow flashing light, one general store
05:04and a little post office. And that was the extent of that. But Monroe, which was 10 minutes from our
05:09house, I would say downtown Monroe, it's very kind of like, I don't know the word, maybe historic.
05:15It had a main street that had a lot of character, a lot of local shops, Ace Hardware. The high school
05:21was kind of like an old rundown building and it was an older feeling town, small. A lot of the basic
05:27fast food restaurants, a couple of good local spots, Southern cooking kind of places and good breakfast
05:33spots. Your Waffle House and your Walmart, regular Walmart, not a super center. And we did get a
05:40super center before I moved and that was kind of a big deal. But yeah, very kind of small town like
05:46that, small town culture. And it was a great way to grow up. Everybody kind of knew everybody.
05:52Everybody hung out at the baseball field. It was a good way to grow up.
05:56What did your mom and dad do for a living?
05:58Well, my mom, most of my childhood was a stay-at-home mom, which was great. And my dad
06:03was an entrepreneur, kind of ran his own businesses and did different things. What he did the most of
06:09probably was the tree service. So he had a tree service company, but he also dabbled in the mini
06:15warehouse business, dabbled in the landscape business. When I was really young, he had a mobile
06:20lube company where he'd go and change people's oils in their car, at their house or whatever. And so,
06:27yeah, he was an entrepreneur. And that's kind of where I got a lot of that entrepreneurial spirit
06:30from him and learned how to run a company and how to work hard and take care of business from him.
06:35So that was, again, something that looking back now, I'm really grateful for and thankful for
06:39the way I grew up and thankful that they were hardworking parents and really good examples.
06:44Yeah. And I've read that you spent a lot of time on dirt bikes.
06:47Yeah. Yeah. I grew up racing motocross as a kid, kind of quit that. And I just rode,
06:55it got really serious at an early age and it kind of turned me off, I think. So I took a step back
06:59from racing, but we always rode. That was one of my dad's hobbies that he loved to do. And so we
07:05always rode together and had a good time.
07:08Well, Tyler, what does it take to be really good on a dirt bike? I mean, what separates the kids that
07:15were kind of okay at it from the ones who were winning the races?
07:20Yeah. I'd say it was just tons of practice and tons of seat time. That was why I was turned off
07:24because it was like every day. It was essentially like you're training. As I got older and in college,
07:29I was like, man, this is what I felt like at five years old. I remember it was kind of like,
07:34you need to be training and practicing every day or I'm not going to invest in this because it was a
07:40sacrifice. We were traveling every weekend. We had a motor home and a few bikes and
07:45all that kind of thing. So yeah, it was a lot of work for sure. And definitely the discipline
07:50and the practice is what separated the pretty good from the really good, you know?
07:54And was this you and your dad mostly going to these races on weekends or was it kind of the
07:59whole family?
08:00It was kind of the whole family, usually. Every now and then it was just me and dad,
08:04but usually we'd all load up in the motor home and hit the road and go anywhere two to four hours
08:09away, you know, to race every weekend. It was fun.
08:12Tyler, I always talk about food a little bit on this podcast. And when you think about all the
08:18cooks in your family, and it could be mom, dad, grandparents, anyone, who really stands out in
08:25your mind?
08:26Probably my mom. She was kind of the homemaker, if you will. And she made great dinners and we
08:31always sat down as a family and had dinner, which was a lot of great memories and something that I
08:36now get to do with my own family and just good quality family time, you know? And we had a garden
08:42growing up. So a lot of the stuff was fresh and we had chickens and kind of had the farm life. So
08:47we were able to provide a lot of those foods and it was great growing up, watching where food comes
08:52from and how it's grown and that type of thing. So yeah, food was, I wouldn't say it was huge in
08:58our home, but it was definitely a big part of our family time, if nothing else, working the garden,
09:04sitting down at meals at night and doing the thing. So it was a lot of fun.
09:07Were you kind of expected to work in the garden? I mean, was that kind of part of your chores?
09:11Yeah, for sure. I did yard work from the time I could just about walk, but the garden was part of
09:16that. And yeah, cut the grass, weed eating. And then when it was garden season, I was in the garden,
09:21weeding the garden and doing stuff and learning. So I spent some time barefoot in the garden for sure.
09:26I got a lot of memories of that as a kid.
09:29What are some of the dishes your mom was known for? I mean,
09:32the things that kind of stand out or that you remember the most?
09:36Oh man. I liked tacos. We made tacos a lot, spaghetti, you know, the easy stuff,
09:43but the stuff is just hearty and good. We'd probably do one of those every week for sure.
09:49And we'd have burgers and stuff pretty regularly and steak occasionally and vegetables. We'd do fish.
09:56And did you have grandparents around there too?
09:59I did not. No, my grandparents lived in Alabama. Actually, the rest of my whole family
10:03lived in Alabama from Tuscaloosa to Centerville.
10:06Oh, okay.
10:07So we'd go drive to visit them every so often, but it was just our immediate family that was in Georgia.
10:13Yeah. What about the holidays? Was that a big deal in your family? Would everybody kind of travel and
10:18come together?
10:19Yeah. Occasionally they'd come see us, but most of the time we were going to Alabama to see everybody.
10:24And it was good, man. Good memories, you know, good family time. Just a lot of fond memories running around with my
10:30cousins and hanging out, having a good time sharing, you know, exchanging gifts and having a good meal.
10:35We'd usually do that before Christmas. And then we'd come home and have our family Christmas Eve service at church and just
10:42have some family time on Christmas morning and hang out, open gifts and spend time together.
10:47So it was always a fun time. A lot of fond memories, Thanksgiving and Christmas for sure,
10:52going to Alabama and hanging with the family.
10:54Yeah. You know, you mentioned the church and I know that was a big part of your life growing up.
11:01I'm just wondering what that meant to you when it came to music. Were there certain hymns that really
11:07struck a chord with you or did you do a lot of performing yourself in the church?
11:12Yeah, I'd say the church is where I fell in love with music for sure. I think that was my direct
11:18pathway connection to God first and foremost. And so I think that was really powerful. And so I fell
11:24in love with music for that reason. And then I wanted to learn how to play guitar and be in the
11:28worship band and thought that was a cool idea. So I was able to do that and started learning to play
11:34and learning to sing and getting out of my comfort zone, you know, and getting up on stage and
11:38eventually was asked to lead worship. And that's where I really kind of got my stage legs, if you
11:44will, and got comfortable in front of a crowd and sort of leading the crowd. For a couple of years,
11:49I went to a private Christian school and became their worship leader as well and kind of led the
11:55worship team and did that there. So that was sort of my passion through, I would say, probably my
12:00sophomore year of high school up until I graduated. And that's why I felt led to continue to pursue music
12:06through college and stuff, which led me to Nashville. But yeah, I would say in church is
12:11where I fell in love with music overall and the general craft of writing songs. I just felt like
12:16music was such a fun, creative path and really was limitless, you know, whether it was leading
12:21worship or writing songs or making beats or whatever. It was a great outlet for me in high school.
12:28So what kind of church was this? I mean, was this a really big church with a lot of people
12:33and a stage and a lot of sound equipment or was it a smaller setup?
12:37Well, it was multiple setups, you know, for like youth group, it was a small room,
12:41small PA and very minimal. It was a medium sized church. It wasn't a mega church, but it wasn't a
12:47small church. And I don't know how many people went there, maybe six or 800 people or something
12:52like that. So yeah, it's a pretty good little congregation. And we had PA and got to learn about
12:57sound in that way a bit, you know, and running my own sound and figuring out how it all kind of works.
13:02What's the song that you played that you really locked into? Was there one that you were like,
13:08oh, I just love this. I love to perform this one.
13:11Here I am to worship. It was a good one. You know, how great is our God? I actually just got
13:16asked to lead worship again at an event that I was at and I got out of my comfort zone and did it.
13:22But I told him, I said, only songs I remember are songs from like 2003. So you got to bear with me.
13:27And so I just played some of the classics and it worked out. Everybody knew the songs and it was
13:32familiar. So anyways, I'd say those two popped into mind pretty quickly.
13:36Yeah. Well, Tyler, I want to ask you about your dad a little bit. You lost your dad. I guess it's
13:43been about 15 years ago or so. And you wrote a song about him that's called Miss My Daddy.
13:50And you talk about all the things that you miss about spending time with him. And that song's
13:56been out there for a little bit now. And I'm just wondering what kind of reaction you've heard from
14:01fans about that song.
14:03It's been cool to get people's feedback. It's obviously a different song than the rest of the
14:07album. It's a song I wrote by myself. It's very personal and it's very real and raw. And that's
14:12also one of the reasons that it's fun to now be able to have an outlet, like being a solo artist,
14:18where I can get super personal and super real and raw with my story and with some of my songs.
14:24One night I was just missing my dad and just kind of letting songwriting be my therapeutic outlet.
14:29And that was a song that I really never thought anyone would hear, but it kind of stuck around and
14:34my team really loved it and thought, you know, this might be an important piece to your first album
14:39to tell this part of your story and to show this side of who you are. And I agreed. I said, yeah,
14:44I think you're right. Let's do this. And let me just get as real as I can get, you know. And I think
14:49people connect with authenticity and realness. And a lot of people have dealt with loss, you know,
14:54and a lot of people can relate to that emotion of just missing someone. So I think it really touched
14:58a lot of hearts and it's cool to hear people's response and feedback from that song and how it
15:03brought them to tears or made them smile or made them remember the ones that they love and miss.
15:08And I really just hope that that song was as therapeutic for everyone else that listened
15:12to it as it was for me to write it, you know.
15:15Is that a song that you ever would have written with Florida Georgia Line or you really had to
15:20kind of be on your own for that to happen?
15:24I think I had to be on my own for that to happen. It's such a personal story.
15:28Yeah.
15:29That it's hard to do it within the confines of being in a partnership because the other
15:33partner can't relate to that or doesn't understand. Not that we couldn't have done
15:38that regardless. You know, BK could have said, hey, let's write about your story and let's share
15:42this song. That could have probably happened. But I think it would have struck a little bit
15:47of a different chord being in the dynamic of a band as opposed to one individual person who's
15:53gone through the story and is sharing from the heart. Timing was everything. And like I said,
15:58kind of grateful to have the ability to put songs like that out.
16:03Did your dad really encourage your musical journey?
16:06He did. Yeah. He loved that I was into music and he encouraged it in every aspect. I remember
16:12having friends, had a couple of buddies that I made music with and we would be up all night
16:17making beats and trying to figure out how to record music. And a few times he'd come up there and shut
16:22it down and be like, it's time to go to bed, boys. But the next day we'd always play him what we
16:26worked on. And he was always so proud and he would want a copy of it. He would be showing
16:30his friends and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, he was definitely a big supporter and
16:35he didn't get to stick around long enough to see the fruits of those long nights. But
16:40he was definitely a supporter early on and a big fan of me doing the music thing.
16:44Yeah. Well, I'm sure you would have been very proud to see these albums that you've got
16:49now under your own name.
16:50Appreciate it, man.
16:51After the break, I'll talk more with Tyler Hubbard about how his solo career has been
16:58different from his time in Florida Georgia Line. We'll also talk about his new album,
17:02Strong, and I'll ask him a few rapid fire questions that we call the Jam Session.
17:14What's up, y'all? I'm Tyler Hubbard and this is my Southern Living Jam Session.
17:18All right. Biscuits or cornbread?
17:21Biscuits.
17:22Sweet or unsweet?
17:23Sweet.
17:25Acoustic or electric?
17:27Mmm, acoustic.
17:29Florida or Georgia?
17:31Ah, Georgia.
17:32Easy one, right?
17:33Mm-hmm.
17:34Waylon or Willie?
17:36Oh, Willie.
17:37I'd love to sing a duet with blank.
17:40Oh, a duet with Jack Harlow.
17:43Okay. My favorite Southern town is blank.
17:48Southern town? Well, we've been talking about Monroe and it's actually gotten a lot cooler
17:52since I moved, so I'm going to go with Monroe. Hometown.
17:55I like it. My favorite hometown restaurant is blank.
18:00Oh, D-Best Wings.
18:03And where's that?
18:04Right in Monroe.
18:05Okay.
18:06It's a local little quick spot. You can get the best wings in town.
18:09All right. You got to check that out. I got my first tattoo when I was blank years old.
18:15When I was 20.
18:18Okay. Last one. The most Southern thing about me is blank.
18:23Probably still my accent. And it's died down a lot since I was a kid and since I moved out of
18:29Georgia. But especially if I've had a couple drinks or it's pretty late at night, it starts
18:34to get pretty thick. So we'll go with accent.
18:37It's still plenty strong, Tyler.
18:38It happens, man. Especially if I started talking to my family. My wife's like, wow,
18:45I can tell who you're talking to right now.
18:46That's funny.
18:48Okay. So I got to ask you about the tattoos. Anyone who's seen pictures of you knows that
18:53you have fondness for tattoos and maybe not as much as Jelly Roll. I don't think you have
18:59any on your face yet.
19:00Not yet.
19:01I'm wondering if there is a story behind every one or if you just kind of add to them over
19:08time.
19:09I would say every tattoo has a story behind it for sure. Some have more meaning than others,
19:13you know?
19:14Yeah.
19:14One of my funniest tattoos is just at the time I loved to ride street bikes and I woke up
19:19one day and wanted a tattoo. So I Googled motorcycle tattoos and picked the first one
19:24that came up and stuck it right here on my arm, you know? Around it, I wrote ride to live,
19:28live to ride. That was it. And I just went and got it that day. Didn't think a whole lot
19:31about it. Looking back now, it's like, that's some really good real estate right there.
19:35I could have done something way cooler. But anyways, yeah, everything's kind of got a
19:38story, even if it's just something silly like that. But ironically, my dad used to say,
19:43basically, son, if you ever get a tattoo or earring, don't worry about coming home kind
19:48of thing. And he was halfway serious. And so the irony behind it all was me and my brother,
19:53after he passed, the first thing we did in his honor was to go get a tattoo of his initials
19:58and his favorite Bible verse and all that on our back is where I got mine. So after that,
20:03it was sort of downhill from there, I was hooked. But yeah, I love art in any form or fashion. And
20:09I think tattoos are really cool ways to express yourself and tell stories. And now I got tattoos
20:15that represent life and nature and my kids and my wife and music and everything I love. So
20:21now I'm looking for more ideas as we speak.
20:24Are you running out of real estate yet?
20:26No, I still got some leg room and some chest room. I still got some good space to keep going.
20:33All right. Well, I want to talk about music for a minute, Tyler. So your musical identity for so
20:41long was wrapped up in Florida, Georgia Line, so much so that I think a lot of people had never
20:46even heard of Tyler Hubbard. What's been different about climbing this mountain, getting your name
20:54out there, getting your music out there versus the one that you climb with Brian Kelly?
21:00Hmm. Well, I'm about 12 years older, which doesn't sound like a lot, but at the pace of life that
21:06we're living, there's a lot of experience that happens in 12 years. So I'm really grateful to
21:10be able to have an opportunity to take everything I learned over the first go around, if you will,
21:16and kind of reapply it into the second go around with a more mature perspective and
21:21a great support team, great management. Now I have three kids and a wife. When we started,
21:27it was just me and BK and the band, and we didn't have anything to lose. We were definitely living
21:33month to month and grinding. We used to call the clubs ourselves and act like we were booking agents
21:38and that we had a band they had to hear, you know? And I mean, we were, it was that kind of thing,
21:43you know, driving ourselves around the Southeast, building fans, and that was the goal. And so
21:48we really started from ground zero the first time. And although I have sort of started in a sense
21:54from ground zero, I still have the experience. I still have the catalog and the history. I can
21:58still play some of these massive hit songs at my show. So it's not completely starting from scratch
22:05or still a little bit of a fan base, although it's not automatic. Like one may think I'm rebuilding the
22:10different fan base and I can definitely feel that live. And it's really cool to see the shift. I mean,
22:15there's definitely some FGL fans that are Tyler Hubbard fans, but like you said, there's people that
22:21have never heard of Tyler Hubbard that love FGL and there's people that love Tyler Hubbard.
22:25There's kids that love my music and don't even really know Cruz. So it's really interesting and
22:30cool. And it just adds to my gratitude. I would say I was grateful the first time around, but we were
22:36also in the middle of a whirlwind and just trying to hold on tight and just trying to keep the train
22:41on the tracks, if you will. All those years of it, just the trajectory was insane. And so this time
22:47I'm really taking my time. I'm enjoying the process. I'm really grateful not only to be doing it again
22:54because of the pandemic and the thing that took it all away for a while, but now just this new season
23:00and getting to reconnect with the fans in a more personal way. And just, I don't know, man, I just feel
23:04a little older, a little bit wiser and a whole lot of gratitude in my heart. I get to come home to
23:09beautiful, healthy kids and a beautiful wife. And it's just a good reminder of why I'm doing it and what
23:14really matters. And I'm pulling inspiration from the life I'm getting to live and the blessings
23:18around me. And so it's almost sweeter the second time around, to be honest. The first time was
23:23great. I'll never forget it and never take it for granted, but it's really been sweet the second go
23:28around and getting to do it the way I'm doing it. Well, you were talking about your wife and your kids,
23:33and now you've got this album out that's called Strong, and we kind of touched on it before,
23:38but the title track really does seem to be about your wife and about family and about that strength
23:47that comes from that. Is that fair? Yeah, definitely. Fair for sure. And I'd say,
23:54as I think about it, it's like any marriage, you know, you get out of it what you put into it.
23:58You can fall in love, but being a life partner doesn't happen overnight. And there's definitely
24:03ups and downs, and the downs really make you stronger. So when you get back on top, it's really
24:08nice to have the song kind of represent the work that goes into having a strong relationship,
24:13whether it's with your kids, whether it's with your wife, whether it's with your friends,
24:18or even with yourself, having a strong, healthy relationship with yourself and knowing who you are
24:23and those types of things. So yeah, I love the song, and I love what it represents, and I'm grateful
24:29to have a relationship like I do. Well, it also seems to be about a kind of value system that you
24:35believe in and that you grew up with and that maybe you've inherited from your parents and
24:42from everybody you were surrounded by. Yeah. Like I said, I had a great example,
24:47and what a gift. I know everybody doesn't get to grow up with a great example of what a marriage
24:52looks like, of what a strong house looks like, and strong family, and a strong sense of self and
24:58confidence. My parents had all that. And so it was really a blessing to get to just soak that in as a
25:04kid, and it's part of who I am as well. So I get to reflect and pull inspiration from that
25:11and putting it into my music. That's what it's all about. I hope it inspires people and touches
25:16people for sure. Tyler, there's another great song on this album, and it's called Turn,
25:21another great kind of one-word title. And this also sounds like one where you could be talking
25:27about your wife, Haley. But what was on your mind when you wrote that one?
25:32I feel like that song just paints a million pictures. I would say it's a songwriter song.
25:38It's a lifestyle song, and it definitely touches on the power of falling in love and having a girl
25:43make your whole world go around. But yeah, it's a tribute to small-town life and what that means and
25:49what that looks like. And it's one of my favorites off the album, one I'm really proud of. My buddy,
25:53Josh Miller came in one day with that idea and had it partially sussed out already. And I thought,
25:59yeah, I'm honored to finish this one with you. It feels like a great idea and turned into a great
26:03song. So I'm excited about that one. And we just started playing it live as well, and it feels really
26:08good. So I hope everybody loves it as much as I do.
26:12Well, I think they're going to love it.
26:13Thanks, man.
26:13I have no doubt about that. I want to ask you about Haley. And one thing I've heard is that you're
26:19into your garden, and you kind of grew up working in the garden. And it sounds like that might be
26:24something that you're still into. Is that something y'all enjoy?
26:27Yeah, we do. Yeah, we have a garden here at the house and planted every season. And
26:32last year, we actually planted a bunch of flowers as well and did a little bit less food,
26:38more flowers. And that was kind of cool just to mix it up. But it's also fun to have our kids go
26:43out there and learn. And that's nostalgic for me. Our garden now is a lot more beautiful than my
26:48childhood garden, you know, in the backyard. But it's like raised beds and got a nice fence around
26:53it with roses and stuff. So it's really beautiful. And it's turned into something great over the
26:57years. But it's really cool just to see life grow in there every year and watch it come to life and
27:03watch our kids learn along the way. And we just got a chicken coop. So this year, we're going to have
27:08chickens and just letting our kids learn where our food's coming from. It's important. And it's a lot
27:13of fun. And it's one of those things we enjoy having. I'm about to do a chicken coop myself. So
27:18we may have to trade tips later. Well, I didn't know they even had them. But now they got these
27:23prefab coops that are so nice. You pay for them, but they end up probably being about the same
27:28price as if you did it yourself. So we're making it a lot easier these days. Yeah, we've got it all
27:32set up. Now all we have to do is go and pick up some chicks. So nice. Same, same. That's the fun part.
27:39Well, you know, Tyler, you got a big tour coming up. You've got a lot of dates. I'm sure it's going
27:46to be a really busy summer. How do you balance being a dad and a husband and being a touring
27:51artist? Yeah, it's a juggling act for sure. And it's something I'm constantly getting in check.
27:57You know, I live by the calendar. I look at it every month and try to make sure it's balanced,
28:01you know, make sure if I'm on the road a lot that when I'm home, I'm able to be really present,
28:07be dad and be here. And I also wear a songwriting hat too, which that's another thing I'm juggling.
28:12So it's a lot. I actually enjoy the challenge of juggling it all, but it is a lot. And it basically
28:17requires me to be very intentional. I have a great team around me that helps me be intentional as
28:22well and just keep it in check and make sure that everything's balanced because it's all important.
28:27And I got to give time uninterrupted and very intentional time to each aspect of my life that's
28:32important. So it's a weekly challenge. Yeah. Well, Tyler, I just have one more question for
28:39you. What does it mean to you to be Southern? Good question. I think for me, it's a lifestyle.
28:46It's hospitality. It's kindness. I think it's faith. I think it's organic and natural. And I think it's
28:54simple a lot of times. And it's just a way of life, you know? And I think it's different for
29:00everybody. Wherever you came from, whatever your little pocket of culture that you come from,
29:04it looks different for everyone. I'm grateful to have grown up in different parts of that culture,
29:09growing up in Nashville, growing up in Georgia, growing up in a small town, growing up in a big
29:14city. But it's all considered being in the South, you know? I think it's good food. I think it's good
29:20people. And I think it's good music. So I don't know if that fully encompasses being Southern,
29:26but it is pretty close. That's a pretty good start. Thanks, Sid. Well, listen, congrats on the
29:32album and good luck with the tour and everything else. And thanks so much for being on Biscuits
29:38and Jam. Of course. Thanks for having me and hope to see you on the road sometime. Absolutely.
29:43Come on. See you, Sid.
29:47Thanks for listening to my conversation with Tyler Hubbard. Southern Living is based in Birmingham,
29:52Alabama. Be sure to follow Biscuits and Jam on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
29:58And we'd love your feedback. If you could rate this podcast and leave us a review, we'd really
30:03appreciate it. You can also find us online at southernliving.com slash biscuits and jam. Our theme
30:09song is by Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek. Hope you'll join me next time when I'll be talking with the
30:14Castellos, three young sisters from Georgia who are lighting up Nashville with a new EP called A Little Goes
30:21a Long Way. We'll see you then.