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April 8, 2025 • 10 mins

Nashville Chats with Keith Urban: Coaching rising stars on the new show The Road and facing the pressure of performing a Crystal Gayle song at the Opry... with Crystal on the front row!

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi again, everybody, Charlie Lauria and here this is the
Crook and Chase Natural Chants Podcast. Glad to have you
on board, and this is where we feature conversations with
the biggest stars in the business. Not only the biggest stars,
but in some cases, especially today, some of our close
friends that we've known a long time, that includes Keith
Urban and Lorian I was looking this up. It's hard
to believe. Keith Urban we've known and first interviewed twenty

(00:21):
five years ago, Are you kidding? November eleven, nineteen ninety
nine was our first interview. You believe that.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
I remember it so well because he was literally just
coming on the scene and was kind of a starving artist.
True at the time, but look what has happened to
him so far. I cannot even name the list of accolades,
top hits, et cetera, et cetera. His new song will
be talking about straight Line, which I love, although oftentimes,

(00:48):
as you know, Keith and I do not agree on
what his songs really mean, and.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
You don't on this one.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
So that's that's a little interesting conversation. But first, also
talking about his high and a live too and his
big project with Blake Shelton, Oh boy, new music competition
The Road wrapping right here in Nashville, and we'll be
airing in the fall on CBS.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Let's find out about it. I want to hit him
with the road, Okay, Yeah, because this is a competition series.
They say reality, but I think it's a competition series
because you have these people who are trying to make
it and they're on tour and they're being judged by
the audience yet and I don't know if you Okay,
first of all, let me preface this by saying you

(01:31):
have some street cred because basically your competition lasted about
fifteen years before you started winning, you know. Yeah, so
what do you tell these people? Can you coach them?

Speaker 3 (01:41):
By the way, Yeah, I've actually been going towards the
end of that. We're a little ways into the series now,
and now that it's down to about five.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Or six.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Musicians competing, I go into soundcheck when they rehearse with
the band and sit and watch and maybe give them
some points about any that might help them connect better.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah. So it's it's a different group every city. Or
saying that.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Now, So we started with twelve people competing, and we
eliminate someone every town, we don't the audience does. Well.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
See now look at your level, we're all just kind of,
you know, sucking the energy in the life out of you.
You know, we're all hungering for what's your advice? What
is your knowledge? But what do you glean from all
of this? What do you get out of doing something
like this show?

Speaker 4 (02:31):
I'm always learning?

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I mean and Blake and I get to sit out
front and watch them play. So they get up, as
you know, they get to do an original song, they
get to do a cover song. They choose the cover,
and it's baffling. Sometimes the covers they choose that are obscure,
and I'm like, why would you choose an obscure cover?

Speaker 4 (02:48):
The whole point of the cover is.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
To get everybody singing along, so then you can give
them an original song. But they live and die by
their choices, which is perfect because that's what this is about.
This is a real world experience where you've got to
grab this audience. You've got two songs to do it,
and then you're out of there.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
But how does that teach you something?

Speaker 3 (03:07):
Do I watch out front and think, oh, they're losing
the audience, right, Now, why are they losing the audience?

Speaker 4 (03:13):
What's happening?

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Why are the audience drifting off or chatting or not
interested what's going on up on stage?

Speaker 2 (03:19):
It seems like you've know all that by now. It's
because you've lived it.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Right, Yeah, But there's always a constantly learning. There's always yeah,
ways to re engage with an audience.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, always, So you're not complacent, you're still excited.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
Oh beyond yeah yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
What's on the line for these competitors.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
What's on the line. Their career is, Charlie, it's all
over if they lose. No, it's actually amazing watching them
get super competitive with the other the other musicians they're
competing with, you know, and how everybody goes about it
sometimes strategically, you know someone's set of picking. You just

(04:01):
watch it and they go about it so differently the
next town and then other artists are like, this is
what I do I sing, and they were and it works.
So they don't change off anything. It just seems to work.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Not often do you think somebody has been voted off
by the audience that shouldn't have been so.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
Far, Well, not on that night in that with that choice.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
No, but I also think it's going to be interesting
people watching at home and whether they agree because these
people are in the club and watching at home is
a very different experience.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
All right, Let's look at you as a professional on stage.
When you sing, you don't just sing a song, You
put your soul into it. And I'm going to preface
that by saying, in watching you do a cover of
Crystal Gael the other night on the Opry one hundred Anniverse,
we don't know, maybe my brown Eyes Blue, it was

(04:49):
just phenomenal. What's going through your mind when you're on
tour and you're doing songs, whether it be covers, whether
it be yours or whatever. What are you focusing on
as you singing? Because I've always wondered about that. You
have so many distractions that could be in front.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
Of me right now, I'm thinking of doing that song
in front of Crystal Gail was incredibly disarming for me.

Speaker 4 (05:10):
I mean, I grew up listening to Crystal Gail.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
I had so many of her albums because I was
I was in a band with a female lead singer,
and so we just loved Crystal Gaale songs and we
did so many of them. And getting to meet her
was just surreal. So having to sing that song in
front of her at the rhyme and was.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
A little intimidated.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
Did you look at her?

Speaker 4 (05:31):
I tried not to. I know I could tells I
just got the hair.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
You know, the distractions right, Yeah, I'm like, oh that's
Crystal Gail. Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
So how do you get to stretch yourself and be
even more of Keith Urban on the high and alive tour?

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Uh? Just new songs and new production and just I'm
just ready to go. We haven't toured in three years,
so I'm kind of competent to bite.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
I was going to say, if you don't, when you
don't tour for a couple of years, are you about
to explode?

Speaker 4 (06:05):
Yeah? Yeah, I think the family is ready to get
me out of the house too. Haven't you get a gig? Baby?

Speaker 1 (06:11):
People can't see this, but you're just swinging back and
forth in your chair. Yeah. He's ready to go on
stage right now?

Speaker 4 (06:18):
Yea yeah, yeah, my guitar, he'll chop on it.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
I feel well because a lot of the songs on
the album are really high energy too, so I've been
really looking forward to getting those out on stage and
seeing what happens, all right?

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Uh, wearing a clean T shirt I see today showing
off the latest tattoos. What is the latest tattooed? Do
you know where it is?

Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah? This one here and there my right forearm for
those people listening that can't see.

Speaker 4 (06:42):
I get that in Las Vegas last year.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
And what is that?

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Just a design that I really liked and I know
nothing in particular.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, okay, yeah that hurts.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
You got tattoos, Charlie.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
I have No, you don't either, do We can.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
Go and get one now if you want.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
He wants to get he wants to get Keith Urban
tattooed on your butt.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
That's nice, No, I don't think so.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Okay, So half the time when I talk to you
about some of your songs and what they mean to me,
you will look at me and it's so funny. You go, yeah,
that's great, but that's not what it's about.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
But it's the songs.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
So I'm not going to tell you.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
I mean I love straight Line. Oh it's one of
my favorite songs you have ever done. So instead of
me professing why I love it, tell me why you
do what it does for.

Speaker 3 (07:34):
You Because of the the reason we wrote it was
was I'd made a record before that I wasn't happy with,
and I scrapped that whole record, and I was frustrated
that I'd sort of spend all this time on this
thing that didn't work out, and I felt like, I'm
just gonna just do whatever I want to do, and
I'm just gonna write something that's up tempo, and I'm

(07:56):
just gonna sing whatever I want to sing and play
whatevery ie wanna play.

Speaker 4 (07:58):
And don't care about anything.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
And so that song has that spirit of just wanting
to break out of monotony.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
Kiss my butt, Keith, that's a wonderful answer, but wrong, Larien.
What does it mean?

Speaker 4 (08:13):
So A should have said, I don't know. That's that's me,
but I don't know what it means. What does it
mean to me?

Speaker 3 (08:18):
To me?

Speaker 2 (08:19):
No, seriously, it's not a kiss my butt song. It's
it's more like a It is hopeful, yeah, then left charge,
it is hopeful, it is positive. Well, I mean all
of us are in a funk.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Most of the charge of your own world.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
That's right, yes, yes to.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
Me, yeah, it is very freeing, but in a different
way maybe than you wrote it.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
But that's the spirit of just just taking your life back,
you know. I mean, so many people have to do
the same thing day in day out, and at some
point you're like, what.

Speaker 4 (08:50):
Happened to my life?

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Right?

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Right?

Speaker 4 (08:53):
And yes, you know, like I used to be fun?
What happened to me?

Speaker 3 (08:56):
And then sometimes you hear a song and that just
reignites that part of you that you've been missing yet.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Get back to what your core is, a joyful core.

Speaker 4 (09:05):
That's Charlie. That's right.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
You have to goes to go now.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Always good to see Cherl.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
And you as well.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
It was a lot of fun. The Road is set
to be a limited series this fall on CBS. Keith
is billed as the headliner of the series. I guess
he's kind of like the guy gets out there and
performs and gives him some to measure up to as
far as the tests are. Producers are Blake Shelton and
Taylor Sheridan of Yellowstone Fame. Taylor's really a big fan
of country music, so I'm not surprised to see him

(09:32):
involved in this well.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
And we're also excited to announce that Charlie, Chase and
I are hosting the Top Shelf Country Music cruise early
next year, twenty twenty six, along with the great Bobby Bones,
our good friend and his on air team. Keith Urban
is one of our headliners on that cruise, and Charlie
helped me. Remember we also have lee An Rhymes have

(09:55):
the band Parmelee Lee Brice, Cassie Ashton, the husband and
wife to Thelma and James who.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
As you mentioned. You mentioned Cassie Ashtra, I think you did. Yeah,
I think you've got them all all right, and then
may be more added. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yes, Scotty McCreary.
How come we forget Scotty anyway? Hope you'll join the cruise.
You can check it out to see what's the website, Lorien, It's.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
A top shelfcountry cruise dot com.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
All right, get your reservations in right now. Hey, my friends,
we have your country covered. Be sure to listen to
the Crook and Chase Cowndown every weekend on hundreds of
radio stations across America and streaming on iHeartRadio

Speaker 2 (10:32):
And follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram at Crook
and Chase
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