>> Ray Fulcher: This is Ray Fulcher, and you're listening to

Chasing Birdies.

>> Jonathan: You guys tuning in here today on Chasing Birdies?

Welcome back. It's Thursday. It's a great episode.

It's a great weekend coming up, bud. It's a great

day. What's up?

>> RB: Um, I'm sitting in the Grinch room for a

completely good reason. I mean, this last seven

days of betting.

>> Jonathan: Oh, my God. Is we're gonna go there? Out the gate.

>> RB: Tragic. Tragic. I mean, you. I'll tell you what.

By Sunday, I should have. Whatever I thought or

you thought we should just went opposite. Like,

have we not learned this yet?

>> Jonathan: No. You know, no. And. And every Saturday in

college football this year, if I look back on. On

totals, um, it's been a disaster. There hasn't

been a week there.

>> RB: There's been one week where we were hot.

>> Jonathan: It was maybe in August. Okay.

>> RB: Like, the.

>> Jonathan: No black numbers on Saturdays.

>> RB: Number one sport this year in gambling was

baseball.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: Which is like, can baseball just keep continuing

throughout the year just so I can get some of this

pack?

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: I'm going to be betting on. On the. The world,

whatever. USA versus Canada baseball, just to get

some money back.

>> Jonathan: Well, look, I did tell you, you know, I was going

to roll. Roll with the Broncos last Sunday

afternoon against the Kansas City Chiefs. The

Chiefs are always a four point favorite. In fact,

this weekend they're playing the Colts. And guess

what? On Sunday, the Chiefs opened up as a four

point favorite. How? Why?

>> Ray Fulcher: What?

>> Jonathan: You know, and sometimes those lines bait you in a

little bit, as we all know. But, um. Yeah, you

missed the boat on that one. But. But I feel your

pain. I do. I feel your pain. I feel it.

>> RB: I mean, the Pittsburgh Penguins. I take him in.

Sweden. 1 nothing with 55 seconds left. I'm like,

this is great, dude. I'm gonna finally smack one.

Nope. They lose every time. Two. One. But I did

take them. I, uh, had a little credit, boys, for

Sunday. 45 credit to win. 33. And I won. So I

guess I can't say that I didn't win anything.

>> Jonathan: Yeah. Did you forget to turn your light on or

something? You're just, like, sitting in dark.

>> RB: No, it's because I'm sitting a little further

away. I got a new office set up that I got to

figure out where it's gonna be. The. The right.

The right lighting and all that. So, um, I moved

the desk, I moved the couch, I moved all this

stuff to clean it up a little bit, bud. For this

purpose. But, yeah, um, very. Like I said, I was

getting grinchy with it today. I didn't want to

even talk to you today.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: I'm so miserable. I understand. Here we are. The

show must go on.

>> Jonathan: The show must go on, man.

I was just going to say there was some exciting

golf topics that happened this past weekend, uh,

especially with the DP tour, where McRoy claimed

the Dubai title again, the Race to Dubai title.

But he lost. Fitzpatrick won the tournament.

McElroy. I don't know. I was watching some of the

highlights. The Eagle, the last hole to get it to

playoff, and Matty Fitz with the braces and all,

just took it down. Dude, a bet Nardi guy right

there.

>> RB: The only thing that makes Matty Fitz semi cool is

the bet Nardi, so.

>> Jonathan: Yeah, that's true. You know, Justin Thomas put out

that statement last week where you know, he's

going to miss some stuff because of his back.

Tiger woods undergoes another God knows what the

hell it was on a disc. I mean, I don't understand

why we have to disclose that, because no one's

really banking on him playing anyways, so why are

we putting these statements out?

>> RB: Like, did you see the talk about Tiger with the

Champions Tour? They were really concerned that

the Champions Tour might get more media coverage

than the PGA Tour if he plays in that. So that'll

be interesting. Um, I mean, which I don't doubt

that it will be really cool to see Tiger in the

Champions Tour. Him and John Daly can be CART

partners rolling around in the same cart.

>> Jonathan: Look, anytime Tiger's going to tee it up,

obviously, I just want to tune in and watch it.

But, um, at this point in the game, man, like, you

know, I'm not saying he's done. He's not done. But

I don't think we need updates every time that, you

know, he cuts.

>> RB: His toenails and there's no relevancy in golf

right now. That's the problem.

>> Jonathan: Well, apparently YouTube golfers and all this

bullshit that's happening with this stuff is

picking up steam.

>> RB: There's people going on pace for anecdotal.

Apparently cheated. Um, I don't know on who they.

They said that she was surprising pushing down the

front of the. The grass. Meanwhile, she told the

one guy that he. You must never play competitive

golf. He turned to his partner and said, I've

played in five US Amateurs.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: So, um, and then the other guy with the

rangefinder, little suspicious dude. I mean, I did

see a little thumb movement when he got to the

cart. Did he flicked off? Did he flick the. The

slope off when he got back to the cart. And Dave

Portman was hilarious with the. With it. Ryan

Whitney was hilarious with it. Um, so it was fun.

And then, of course, what a great outcome with

Beef. I mean, the guy tragically passed away, but

he ended up winning. And I think he had said

whenever, if he were to win it, he would donate

the money and pay his parents house off. Um, so

hopefully he got to do that before he passed away.

It was. It was cool to watch it. God bless him and

how much everybody likes him, too. It's. That's

the other thing. And how much he respects the game

of golf and everybody. So, um, well, yes, rest in

peace to Beef. And. And again, I hope he got to do

what he wanted to do with those funds.

>> Jonathan: I do love the barstool people, man.

>> RB: They.

>> Ray Fulcher: They're so funny.

>> Jonathan: Well, so, uh, it's like, such ingenuity, and it's

like, you know, it's great. It's hilarious. I feel

bad for, uh. So when you. When this happened, I

was thinking Beef Johnson boys. I was thinking

Will Davidson, caddy for the guy at the U.S.

mickelson and Shinnecock, and I'm thinking that.

But no, we got another beef. We got a character on

the online world, Beef M. Naturally, you look at

the guy, he's a walking heart attack to begin

with. No offense, but, um, certainly it's tragic

nonetheless, because of his passion love for the

game of golf, and that's where we connect. So I

do. God, uh, bless him and the family right now

going through that. That's terrible. It's

absolutely tragic.

>> RB: You know what else is sad? Um, you know, Kai Trump

just played at Pelican Golf Club, which we've been

fortunate enough to play a few times. And. And,

you know, I have a trophy laying around here

somewhere, um, of the clubhouse. But, you know,

our friend, our buddy Brandon sent us a photo of

Kai playing, which she played pretty good. I think

she shot like, 83.78, which people were like, 83,

78. It's her first LPGA Tour event. She's 18 years

old. Like, give the girl a break. Um, her

grandfather is Donald Trump. Her mom's boyfriend's

Tiger Woods. Little bit of pressure here. A little

bit. It was sad to see the girl playing golf

inside the ropes, and there's security everywhere,

and it's like, this girl's 18 years old. This is

her life. I get it. They chose to be in this

position, but at the same time, it's like she

doesn't have a vest on. So what's the point of

these guys? You know what I mean? Like, if

somebody, uh. I don't know, I think it's scary

that that's where our world has come to. This 18

year old girl can't be an 18 year old. Uh, she's

got security following her with vests on and

armed, um, facing outwards, um, looking for

people. A little bit of wild in my mind, so.

>> Jonathan: No, it is. Yeah, dude, it's, it's wild, man. It's

just the way the world is right now. And frankly,

I don't know what the hell is that guy gonna do,

to be honest? I mean, I don't know. But, you know,

golf's a place where you should not have to worry

about that.

>> RB: That's my, that's my. It's. It should be like a.

Yeah, a safe haven. Yeah. Um, it was good seeing

you in Nashville.

>> Jonathan: Well, yeah, it was great.

>> RB: Uh, we, we moseyed out to see our buddy at, at

Troubadour, one of our buddies. I'll tell you

what, dude, the, the, the clubhouse, I mean, I

mean, it might be the nicest clubhouse I've ever

seen. 100 million dollar renovation out there.

>> Jonathan: 100 million dollar project. Renault the project.

>> RB: You're correct. Sorry. Uh, the pool, I mean, that

fireplace, dude, you stand 100ft away, you still

feel the heat.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: The gym, amazing. I mean, just everything they've,

they've done everything the, the speakeasy, uh, to

where even if you, you pass out and you fall

forward, there's a headrest that you can smack

your head off of or rest your head on.

Unfortunately for you, um, it's a little.

>> Jonathan: Taller, but yeah, I don't quite reach it. If I, if

I fell forward, I'm hitting the, I'm hitting the

head of the, the urinal. But no, it was great

getting down there, checking things out. You know,

uh, like Chandler Parsons said on the show a

couple months ago what the discovery properties

are doing with Golf. Honestly, it's like I'm

really buying into that movement, you know, no pun

intended. In other words, I think that that's the

way to go, man. It's like you want to get out

there with your boys, you want to have good times,

you want to have good, uh, you know, aesthetics,

you want to have good vibes.

>> RB: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: And with, with Troubadour, it's just, it's

remarkable. Dude, it was fun. It was fun catching

up with you down there a little bit.

>> RB: And then, um, and we moved over to Old Hick.

>> Jonathan: Then we moseyed up to old hick. Didn't take the

clubs.

>> RB: We. We did not. But we saw, you know, uh, Taminsky

there. We saw Casey. Casey was, um, holding the

puppy the size of a guinea pig.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: Um, cute as could be. And then he was so nice to

take us over to Boulevard Golf, which him and Cole

Taylor are involved in. And I'll tell you what, I

love the idea. I love it. It's incredible. It's

like a VIP bay for each simulator. Uh, he has

everything so thought out. He's so excited. Um, so

I wish him nothing but the best. Maybe we have a

Chasing Birdies. Two men in the winner there.

>> Jonathan: There we go.

All right. Now you talking. Yeah, it was great. It

was great. Kind of having the boys around a little

bit when we were down there seeing everyone. And

naturally, our guest today, Ray Fulcher, long

overdue. I mean, we've known Ray now for several

years, and, uh, hell, we've gone on golf trips and

it kind of dawned on us. But we. We need to get

Ray on the podcast. What are we doing?

>> RB: I couldn't believe we never interviewed him.

>> Jonathan: Um, that's what you said. You're like, yeah, we

did. No, we never did. So Ray has been one of the

most sought after songwriters in Nashville. I

mean, the guy writes hits. I mean, that week we're

just bullshitting on the side. And he's like, I

wrote six this week. You know, and you're like,

wow, that.

>> RB: Was Monday to Wednesday, correct?

>> Jonathan: Yeah. Because he had a dust. So he. He was headed

down to wherever he was headed to.

>> RB: But Mississippi State, Georgia game.

>> Jonathan: That's right. That's right. So, you know, uh, I

think it's fair that we, uh, you and I love. I

love when we can just get on these tangents and

talk some topics. But, um, let's get that started.

Yeah. Here we go.

All right, we are back here on Chase and Birdies,

coming from Old Hick in Nashville, Tennessee.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: We are with one of country music's most sought

after songwriters in the industry and a great

friend of the podcast. Long time coming, Ray

Fulcher, here on Chasing Birdies. My guy Ray, it's

good seeing you in person.

>> Ray Fulcher: What's up, Bash? What's up, Pepe?

>> RB: What's up?

>> Jonathan: There it is.

>> RB: There it is.

>> Jonathan: Hey, wait.

>> RB: He loves the way that you say it. PayPal.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, it's a thing. I didn't know it was a thing.

Oh, I'm glad I did it.

>> Jonathan: As of recently, too, I have a video that we just

put out. Uh, well, for the last drop. Because we

mentioned that we were doing you on the next

episode, and Pep said, uh, if you care to tell

everyone how he says my last name. And I said,

pepe.

>> Ray Fulcher: Pepe.

>> Jonathan: What's up? Pay. Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yes. You gotta go full sin. Yeah.

>> Jonathan: Oh, man. Uh, what's going on, boys? It's good to

be back.

>> Ray Fulcher: I'm, um, happy to see y'. All. We're, uh, here at

Old Hickory, which is cool because it's at my home

course and, you know, we spend a lot of time

together on golf courses, so it's only fitting

that we're at a golf course doing it.

>> RB: Yeah, well, I mean, like, I told him, like, when

we first actually met.

>> Ray Fulcher: Mhm.

>> RB: And it wasn't. It was just I was with Thomas

Archer and I met you, and it was at Troubadour.

But we've. You and I. You've played golf with

Bash, but you and I have, like.

>> Jonathan: Yeah, you guys.

>> Ray Fulcher: Valley Troubadour.

>> RB: I mean, we've done some cool shit.

>> Ray Fulcher: We didn't know what door we were unlocking that

day. Yeah. You know, life comes at you fast. The

next thing you know, we're. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

>> Jonathan: Wait, when you talk about not knowing what door

you were unlocking, was that at Troubadour or was

that at Sage Valley?

>> Ray Fulcher: Well, like with. We didn't know.

>> RB: Well, Sage didn't even know we were coming, to be

fair.

>> Ray Fulcher: So, uh, yeah, you need to have that. Have that

from time to time.

>> Jonathan: Oh, I took that wrong. I thought you guys were

like, you were drunk and you couldn't figure it

out. What?

>> RB: No.

>> Ray Fulcher: Like a door of life. We didn't know that the

friendship we were unlocking that day.

>> RB: Yeah, we, um. Well, the first time I ever met him

was at True, and I met him on the range. And. And

again, I never drank tequila because I'm just

like, you know, you have it in college and it was

shitty and.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. Bad headache.

>> RB: I was so hammered that day, I was drinking because

every three holes, these guys, they don't stop.

Um, it was Devin, Dawson, Mitchell, you, Thomas

and myself. And it's like every three holes,

let's. Well, did. I was absolutely buckled.

>> Ray Fulcher: Well, they had those. It's like Troubadours. Like,

it feels like it's sponsored by tequila.

>> RB: Yes.

>> Ray Fulcher: And it feels like it's the center of the tequila

universe. Because every hole you're at, Thomas is

like, well, there's a. There's a cooler there with

tequila in it. We're like, well, there was the

last hole too. He's Like. Yeah, I know, but this

one, too.

>> RB: And he's like, this one's better, though.

>> Ray Fulcher: This is better.

>> RB: Ah.

>> Jonathan: I mean. And that's the day you shot 65.

>> RB: Yes.

>> Ray Fulcher: It played out of his mind.

>> RB: Yeah. 65. And. And Mitchell, at one point, I think

I was like, only two under. And Mitchell was like,

man, I never played with him when he's under par.

And I'm like, baby sleeping. Dude, you don't ever

talk about what people are on the golf.

>> Ray Fulcher: I know. We doing that.

>> RB: Yeah. So we have 10. We had a hooting time.

>> Jonathan: You're a little low on the fuel right now.

>> RB: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: The old.

>> Jonathan: The orange cider.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. This is a, uh. This is the first blue moon

I've had in a long time. But it's just something

felt right about it tonight.

>> RB: That's the official drink of Summer Ripple.

>> Ray Fulcher: My wife. And we're gonna transition now into, uh.

>> Jonathan: Well, I gotta tell you, I never. I'm not a fan of

dark beers.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. And I was just about to say we got a

transition into dark beers.

>> Jonathan: I don't know if I'm drinking. If I'm drinking

coffee. It's great. Flavor's great. I love it. But

I'm just simply stating the fact that, like, this

is not typical of me.

>> Ray Fulcher: Everybody out there. Bash is getting through this.

Uh, and I'll. I'll back us up for 30 minutes ago.

He. We've all been there. He ordered one thing,

thinking it was going to come out looking a

certain way.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: It didn't come out looking that way, but my man's

a champ. Yeah, he's getting through it.

>> Jonathan: Oh, dude, I'm here for it. Yeah, I. I just love

being here. Yeah, this is a great spot.

>> Ray Fulcher: It's a great spot, man. Yeah.

>> Jonathan: And, you know, we. We, uh. Yeah, we. We've been

fortunate enough to have to experience what Old

Hickory is about.

>> RB: We played the Blue Otter last year with him.

>> Ray Fulcher: That's right.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: Yes.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yep. Oh, is it. Have you all just done it one

year?

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: Is it just one year?

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: Jesse broke our hearts, but it's all good.

>> Ray Fulcher: Jesse got a shout out, but not in the way he

wanted, probably.

>> Jonathan: That's all right.

>> RB: Jess, what about you?

>> Jonathan: Do you remember the guy that we played with? He

was a veterinarian, and he went. He's the Iowa

State guy.

>> Ray Fulcher: Dr. Phil. That's what we call him. Dr. Phil.

>> Jonathan: Yeah, Dr. Phil.

>> Ray Fulcher: Dude, he is. Dr. Phil is like, to me, shout out

Dr. Phil. One of our buddies from back home. He is

like a, um, walking sitcom.

>> Jonathan: Yes.

>> Ray Fulcher: He's like a sitcom character in real life. And I

love him so much.

>> Jonathan: I thought about him. About a month ago, my pup cut

his paw pad. And I don't have like, you know, a

buddy that I just texted.

>> Ray Fulcher: You don't have a Dr. Phil to be like, hey, come

meet us on the.

>> Jonathan: That's the only vet that I know that I could be

like, hey, man, what should I do here? You know,

instead of me actually taking the dog to the vet,

which I ended up doing, obviously. But, uh.

>> Ray Fulcher: How's the paw pad?

>> Jonathan: Healed.

>> Ray Fulcher: Healed okay.

>> Jonathan: It was a trying. The pup is very active. He's one.

He does not like to sit still.

>> Ray Fulcher: Mhm.

>> Jonathan: So for about a week I had him with that cone. He.

And it was. It was tough, man.

Yeah, it was tough. But he's. He's great. So.

>> Ray Fulcher: Good.

>> Jonathan: Um. Yeah, Dr. Phil.

>> Ray Fulcher: Shout out, doc.

>> RB: So, Ray Fulcher from Georgia.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. What part outside of Augusta?

>> Jonathan: Little.

>> Ray Fulcher: Little town called Harlem. Um, probably 20 miles

from like, not Harlem, New York. Yeah. Spelled the

same. Spelled the same. But you know, a lot that

the buildings are much shorter and, uh, the

traffic's way better. So.

>> RB: So about. I would say, um, based on when you told

me the story, I would say about 11 years ago, you

made the transition to Nashville.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: And, um, I think, you know, I don't want to put

words in your mouth, but it was a rainy night, you

were driving your U Haul and you ran into another

guy.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. So, um, I was driving in Asheville, made the

decision to move, like by myself. Didn't really

know anybody. Scariest thing I ever did. Stopped

in Monteagle, Tennessee to get gas, and there was

another guy with a truck and trailer. And, uh, I

was like, well, if you're gonna do this, you can't

be afraid of asking stuff now, right? It's like we

got to go full sin. And so I was like, might as

well start here. So I was like, I wonder he might

be moving in Nashville. So I go and ask the guy.

Lo and behold, he is. We exchanged numbers. Three

days later is my birthday. So who am I going to

call? The guy I just met at the gas station?

Because he's the only person I know.

>> Jonathan: Yeah, right.

>> Ray Fulcher: So I call him and I'm like, hey, it's my birthday.

I know. We just met at a gas station. You want to

hang out? And he's like, yeah, let's go to Buffalo

Wild Wings. So that's what we did. So we're

sitting there and I think we've all had the phone

call where either you forgot something or you

forgot what day something is. And somebody calls

you and you're like, oh, my gosh. It hits you

right in the moment. You're like, oh, Lord.

Anyway, he did that, and he stepped away. He's

like, hey, man, I got to go. I forgot. You know, I

told a buddy to come stay on my couch. He's moving

in September, but he's here to record some songs.

Need somewhere to stay? I gotta go back there. Do

you want to come hang out? And I go, oh, yeah. I

don't know anybody else, so I'll come hang out

with y'.

>> Jonathan: All.

>> Ray Fulcher: We get there. The guy who stayed on his couch was

a guy at the time who no one knew his name. At

least I didn't. Maybe some users of vine, if

you're early, early fans. Yeah, I remember vine

knew. Knew his name, but he goes. I was like, hey,

I'm Ray F. Like, what's up? I'm Luke combs. And in

2014, I'm like, just a guy named Luke Combs. And,

uh, that's the night we met. My third day in

Nashville. And, uh, our first thing that we kind

of hit it off was Eric Church. You know, um,

you're.

>> RB: You. You're both of your loves for Eric Church.

Yes. And.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: And I mean that in a. Like, you looked up to him.

>> Ray Fulcher: Heck, yeah, man. He was like our. I mean, my

biggest inspiration. I mean, really, I love

country music growing up, but the only reason that

I started wanting to do this was seeing him in

concert for the first time in 2006 or seven.

>> Jonathan: Um, was that at Appalachian State?

>> Ray Fulcher: No, that was in Athens. He came and played. Oh, at

a place in Athens. Yeah.

>> RB: But there's only one university we talk about on

this podcast with Ray Fulture and University of

Georgia. Yeah, well, so. But your relationship.

>> Ray Fulcher: But that wasn't a bad assumption because both him

and Luke went to. Yeah, you know, I'm gonna stick

up for my boy. Come on. We're doing bumps right

here. We're doing fist bumps. So.

>> RB: So you guys, did you hit it off? Like, was it one

of those things that you hit off, or.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, so we kind of did. Right? And it was because

of, you know, we just. When you meet. Sometimes

you meet people and you go, like, man, we're kind

of just naturally cut from the same cloth. It was

easy to talk. And then we, you know, we're talking

about. We realized we love the same music. We kind

of dug the same songs. So when he moved that

September, we just started kind of hanging out as

friends. Like, he would invite me over to.

>> RB: Play in that time. He's, um. He's. He's not who

he.

>> Ray Fulcher: No, no. This is September 2014.

>> Jonathan: But what about the guy that you met at the gas

station?

>> RB: What's he doing?

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, he's still doing it. If you've heard of John

Langston out there. Yeah, um, I was just saw John

last week, so he, you know, he went on to have a

good touring career. He's still touring music and

stuff.

>> Jonathan: Yeah, I gotcha.

>> Ray Fulcher: Um, but we, uh. So Luke used to call. Like when he

moved to town. We didn't. His first call was not

like, hey, let's write songs. It was, hey, I

don't. I don't know anybody else either. Let's,

you know, come hang out. He had a, uh, apartment

over in Hermitage at the time. So I would go over

there. And Luke loved. Luke loved Madden. Like

early on, Xbox, Madden. But what he loved more

than Madden was just beating the hell out of me in

Madden. And so he basically, like, would just call

me up, be like, you want to play mad? And I'm

like, sure, that means I'm getting my brains beat

in, but yeah, I'll come play mad. And so I would

go and hang out. And then from there, you know, we

just continued to build rapport, become friends.

And he was like, we kind of. I remember playing

Madden one night and we're kind of talking about

songs and stuff, and we had this song idea and

called our buddy who. Who we had recently met,

named James McNair. And that was our first. Yeah,

James McNair.

>> RB: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: Friend of the show.

>> RB: Yeah, he's been, um.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, we, uh. So we were like, hey, let's write

this song idea together. That was the first song

that I had. I wrote with Luke. It's called Beer

Can. It was on his very first album. Um. Yeah, one

of the. One of the album album tracks on that

first one. And so from there it just was like. It

just felt so natural. And we just continue to do

it to this day and, um, still are really tight.

Great friends, but got started kind of just by

chance, man.

>> Jonathan: Dude, it's just. That's just the way it's so crazy

this works.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's.

>> RB: It's.

>> Ray Fulcher: It's magic, right? It's like you can't.

>> Jonathan: And I think here's why that's irrelevant. Because

when you, When. When people research Ray Folger,

your link to your hits is Luke Homes, right?

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: So it's not only a Testament to your ability to

write. Because obviously for a guy like him

putting his trust in certain things with you, uh,

it. It not validates, but it just shows your

ability to. To do what you do at the top level.

>> Ray Fulcher: Right.

>> Jonathan: Which is chase birdies.

>> Ray Fulcher: Chasing birdies, baby. I'm always chasing. I don't

catch them always. But.

>> RB: And that's, that's the same thing. You look at

Luke Combs.

>> Ray Fulcher: Mhm.

>> RB: Ray Fulcher. You look at, uh, Morgan Wallen, who's

his guy. Everybody has a guy that they're like.

>> Ray Fulcher: Or a group. It's a group. It's kind of like a

three or.

>> RB: Four guys that they trust and they know that like

they're going to get it done. And that's.

And that's speaks to your relationship. Right. And

it's like, I feel like if Ryan has a problem, I.

I'm willing to gamble one or two people that he's

calling.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: And that's kind of the same thing.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: That like.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. I mean, you, you build trust. I think it all

has to do with like, trust over time. Right. And

like, that comes from. It comes from relationship,

comes from your depth of friendship. But it also.

That trust comes in like, in the room even. Right.

The writing room. Now we're getting in the weeds

of like, writing. But it's like, I'm gonna trust

this guy to. And it works vice versa for like,

we're speaking to me and Luke right now. But

there's. There's more than just him that I feel

this way about. Yeah. Um, but it's like you trust

this person too when. If the line's not right or

if the song's not quite there, I trust him to not

stop till it's there. Right. And we both kind of

like when we can look at each other and be like,

dude, that's it. That's it. Right. It's like, uh,

you have that trust in that other person to go

like it just is. And it has to do with instinct.

It has to do with like, the way you're wired. It

has to do with all this stuff. And that's why it's

like, it's certain people.

>> Jonathan: Yep.

>> Ray Fulcher: It's not everybody. Because we all. Everybody's

version of what's right may be different, but when

you can find that group of people that feel the

same way about and have the same standard of what

a song should be, there can be magic that happens.

>> RB: Well, in, in, you know, Thomas Archer, mutual

friend, um, told us a story about when he was

writing Keith Whitley.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: And they gave it to Wallen. And Wallen basically

was like. He's like, he could have kept it and

just changed himself and been a writer on.

>> Ray Fulcher: Uh. Yeah.

>> RB: Instead he said, I know you guys can get it done.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yep.

>> RB: Just fix it.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. You trust him.

>> RB: And that's back to that trust, right? Because it's

like, all of a sudden, now Wallen, who has more

money or Luke has more money than everybody

combined, is saying, listen, I want you to do

this. I don't want to dip into this pot at all.

And that's. Again, that's trust, and that's trust.

And that's back to the trusting thing.

>> Jonathan: But it's not. But it's also, too. It's t. But it's

talent. I mean, Ray obviously has the ability to

deliver.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. I mean, it's. You know what I think, too?

It's like. It's. So find the people that sort of

compliment you, right? And it's like. And. And

sometimes it's. You can't. It's this, like,

unspoken thing where it's like, you can't all. You

can't just pull that out of thin air. It's like,

you gotta. I was just talking to someone this week

about. They're. They're new to town, and they were

asking me, like, you know, what's some advice or

whatever you can give? And I told them, I'm still

learning every day.

>> RB: If you're not, you're not getting better, right?

>> Ray Fulcher: I'm still. And I'm trying to learn every single

day. But one thing I do know is I found out early

on, um, and actually, Cole. Shout out to Cole

Taylor. He was the first one to kind of tell me

this because he had been in town about a year

before me. He's like, you gotta, like, find your,

like, crew and find your people or whatever. And

I'm like, what. How do you. How do you do that?

And I realized over time, that naturally happens,

right? You. You do your best, you try, you work

really hard, and then, like, you kind of naturally

gravitate and find your people that, um. I don't

mean you're not friends with a ton of people, but

just kind of like your core group of, like,

songwriters and stuff that sort of get each other.

Um, and that happens over time, naturally. So.

>> RB: And two things. There's one thing that.

And I didn't come up with this. I heard this on

some podcast, and I've been using it with my son

with schoolwork, is there's two people in this

world. You're either gonna get better at something

in the day or you're gonna get worse at something.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, yeah.

>> RB: You're never gonna stay the same.

>> Ray Fulcher: Never.

>> RB: Which one do you want to do? And that's what I

keep, like, beating into my son's head is, which

one do you want to do? Do you want to do your

words and get better at them?

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: Or do you want to just not do them and you're

gonna fall by the wayside?

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, that's very true, man.

>> RB: Um, and I. I find that, like, that hits to him

because, you know, my son, he likes nice things.

And I'm like, well, how do you get those nice

things?

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: Um, so, dad.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, just dad.

>> RB: Just my dad will do it. It's fine. Um, can you get

me this?

>> Jonathan: And you're like, yeah, buddy.

>> RB: Yeah, sure. But I think that that's the thing.

That too. And the other side of it, I think that

this industry, as Ryan and I have started this

podcast, we've gotten deeper with people. It's a

very tight knit industry. Yes. You have your

little group of people that, yeah, they're friends

with these four. They're really close.

>> Ray Fulcher: Right.

>> RB: But they're all friends.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, my gosh. Yeah, it's like, it is some, um. It's

a. Another way to say it, um, like a beautiful.

It's like the community in this town. And like on

Music Row, it's like, again, you have, early on,

you find those, like you said, five to ten people

that you're, like super close with. You write a

ton, but then you expand from that. And now it's

like your crew is so big, and it's like, it is a

community of like, I got your back, you got mine.

Because we. We all go to Music Row every day and

we do something. We try to do something really

hard, which is to make something great up out of

thin air. And there's that mutual respect that is

there, where it's like, we're kind of all. We're

in this thing together, and it's like we're trying

to do this. We're trying to push this boulder up a

hill.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: Together. So I'm, you know, I'm super pumped when

this. When a great thing happens for you, you're

super pumped when it happens for me. And it's like

creates this synergy, you know?

>> Jonathan: I mean, look, we're talking about arguably the

number one genre in music today.

>> Ray Fulcher: Right now.

>> Jonathan: Today. Yeah, right now. And here's the deal, dude.

Well, let me just say this out loud to. To our

listeners I mean, we've had multiple songwriters

on this podcast, probably more than any. Maybe

hockey, but maybe. Uh, but I am never. It never

really kind of. It always amazes me at what you

all do, each and every single one of you. It's so

interesting, the fact that. That this is a

business. Yeah, it's a business.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: And I'm so interested in it. And maybe it's

because of some musical background in my mind.

>> Ray Fulcher: All right.

>> Jonathan: But I don't. I don't care. I want to hear, like, I

want to hear the stories. Yeah. That you have. I

want to hear about your journey and you're

reaching to the top and how you go about your

craft, you know, where you draw your inspiration.

It.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: It never gets old. Never gets old.

>> RB: And everyone. And that's the thing. Everyone has a

story. George Burge.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: Mitchell, songwriters. Everyone has a story in

country music that is cool and it's different.

There's nobody. There's no two stories in country

music. You could write a freaking song about that

alone. Is. Is that.

But let me ask you, the first day. I mean, uh,

let's get the joke out of the way. Everybody calls

you Payday Rey for a reason. Right. So your first

number one. Mhm. How did you find out? What was

your reaction? What went through Ray Fulture's

mind when you. You got a number one?

>> Ray Fulcher: So I'll tell you what. I. I was on tour with Luke

Combs, um, his first sort of headline, uh, tour

after he had a record deal, Hurricane, it already

went number one. So he's on his first headline

tour and I'm on. I'm this supporting. That I did

not write Hurricane. Thomas Archer did, though.

The, uh, aforementioned Thomas Archer.

>> RB: All right, we'll give him credit on that one.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. If we have to. Right. Um, we were in

Illinois playing, and I knew that the Psalm was

close, but then when Luke gets up on stage, he

gets later, towards later, it was set. And he's

like, if I could get, you know, Ray Fulture back

up here. And I'm like, what's going on? And I get

up there and he's like, hey, we got something cool

to announce. Uh, just check. Just. I just. Just

checked my phone and actually this, uh, song is as

of like 30 minutes ago, is the number one song in

the country. So if y' all will. Me and Ray are

gonna. We wrote it together. We're gonna sing it.

Y' all sing it. When it rains, it pours. And so I

was with him when on tour together. We sang it

together the night it went number one.

>> RB: So I think that. That. So cool. So many volumes

about the person, and I've never met him, but this

speaks so much about the person that Luke is that

he wants you to be a part of it, because he could

have easily been like, okay, uh, I'm gonna

announce this.

>> Jonathan: Yeah, yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: No, man, he's such a he. Speaking of community,

he's just. He's that guy, man. He's that guy.

>> Jonathan: That's. This is love. So. Okay. Sunday morning man

she woke up fighting mad yeah. All right.

>> RB: That's.

>> Jonathan: That's the opening line to that song.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: So.

>> Ray Fulcher: Just you.

>> Jonathan: Was. Was there any other variation to that opening

line? Sunday morning man she woke up fighting mad

Man.

>> Ray Fulcher: There was no variation of that line. But I'll tell

you, to get to that line, we originally had that

idea, and we started it that morning as, like, a

sad song. Like, literally talking about the rain.

Like, it. When it rains, it pours and I pour

whiskey kind of thing. It is very, like, rip your

heart out. And we were like. We tried to start it,

and we were so bored. We were like, is there any

way to kind of flip this thing on its head and

make it that saying a positive thing? It was

myself, Luke Combs, Jordan Walker. And, uh, we're

sitting there, you know, 20, 30 minutes, trying to

figure out how. And Luke picks up a guitar. He's

just kind of strumming. And the next thing that

comes out is the first line you hear to this day.

Sunday morning, man she woke up fighting mad. And

that was the first thing he said, and it stuck,

and we just went from there. Once we kind of

switched gears from it being a sad song to a happy

song.

>> Jonathan: So you built around that?

>> Ray Fulcher: Built around it, yeah. And just created this.

Like, I just remember us going, what if we created

the story where instead of it being a bad thing,

like, we always talk about, well, this happened.

So what, man? When it rains, it pours. What if

it's like, this one thing happened and the next

three weeks are just, like, the best time of his

life? What if we did that and then we just created

this story?

>> Jonathan: It's fine. It's so good.

>> RB: It's so cool.

>> Jonathan: Engulf's in it.

>> Ray Fulcher: Golf's in it.

>> Jonathan: Like the part five. Or.

>> Ray Fulcher: Or, uh, the, uh.

>> Jonathan: Which part is it?

>> RB: Part five?

>> Ray Fulcher: No, that's in Love it on you. This is the three.

What you wrote, Buddies. Uh, I did write that. Uh,

this is the five. So the second course, um, spent

five bucks at the Moose Club Raffle for a useful

wheel and three free passes to take me and two of

my buddies to play around a golf. So I get asked

about that all the time. Why is it only three

buddies playing golf? Like, oh, why not a

foursome? Why don't they give you a foursome? I

go, well, we did this thing that we worked so hard

on that day, thinking that everyone would pick up

on it. And apparently because of how many times

I've been asked about it, no one picked up on it.

But if you notice, we go, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Five

bucks at the Moose Club raffle for use. Four

wheeler and three free passes for me and two of my

buddies to play a round of golf. So we went 5, 4,

3, 2, 1. And literally no one got it, and it

didn't matter, but no one got it.

>> RB: Five, four, three, two, one.

>> Jonathan: Yeah. Five, four, three, 2. Oh, that's what no one

got. Five, four, three, Two, one.

>> Ray Fulcher: They didn't realize that in the lyrics.

>> RB: We built that in.

>> Ray Fulcher: Built five, four, three, two, one in it.

>> Jonathan: Yeah. I don't know if I did.

>> RB: I'm a member at the Moose Club, funny enough.

>> Ray Fulcher: Moose Club outside my hometown. And that's where

we got the Moose Club thing. Yeah.

>> Jonathan: Three for two of past. Dude, that's. That's what I

mean.

>> Ray Fulcher: People see people. But m. We thought, man,

everyone's gonna get the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. No one got

it. No one.

>> RB: So you've done the Luke Combs, which. It's so cool

because you can tell that you're. You're truly

friends.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, yeah, we're great buddies.

>> RB: You're going on, um, hunting trips. You're golfing

in his golf video. I think I sent it to you. Which

you already saw, clearly, is that of him breaking

his driver, which.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, my gosh, the guys. He is a riot to play golf

with. It's. It's, uh.

>> RB: You say, hey, he hates it, but he loves it.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, he absolutely loves it. He's in love with

golf, but he. But when you're out there and he

makes a bad shot, you think it's the worst. Dave's

life.

>> RB: Yeah. We got a buddy like that.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. And I've been there, too. I've been there.

>> Jonathan: He's out. Uh, once the putter, the phone goes.

Yeah, uh, he's out. He's out.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yep.

>> Jonathan: Tough.

>> RB: So you've. You've obviously made a. A bunch of

number ones for Luke Combs. Um, Cody Johnson.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: You just did a. Uh, yes, there.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, we have Cody's, um. Or I have Cody's current

radio single right now that's doing really well,

called the Fall.

>> Jonathan: The Fall.

>> Ray Fulcher: The Fall, Yeah, it's doing real well, which I'm

super excited about. I mean, Cody's been someone

that I've looked up to for a long time, but also

have just been a fan of his music. And so through

this process, getting to know him and him cutting

a song that we didn't even write together. Right.

Like, he heard the song and loved it so much. It's

like such an honor for a guy like him to cut that

or record it.

>> RB: Uh, so let me ask you, as a person who's always

with Luke and. And all of that.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: When is there a little bit of you that's a fan

that you're kind of like when Cody. Because you're

so. It's almost like Luke's your dude.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: He's just Luke to you.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: He's not this guy.

>> Ray Fulcher: Right.

>> RB: He's your best friend. Hey, dude, what's going on?

How you doing? How the kids doing?

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: When somebody like Cody Johnson's involved, are

you kind of like in your mind? Like, this is. This

is pretty sweet.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, yeah, for sure.

>> RB: And I mean, a pinch me moment, I guess. Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: But here's the deal, too. And I've. I've been

very, um. Um, I've been very, like, strict with

myself about this too, as to, like, even though we

are, like, me and Luke are so close, it's like I

understand how I'm so grateful for the position

that I've been in with him, and I'm so thankful,

like, even though that we're like, so close, it's

like, man, I know that some of the things we've

got to do is so special. And so even though all

the. Any other cuts that I've ever gotten are not

any more special, it's just different because

maybe I don't not as close with them.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: Um, and so that's a different thing because it's

like just the randomness of it too. Right. It's

like one night stand. Yeah, it is. Yes. Every day

at songwriting feels like that you never. You go

in there and you're like, I'm gonna pour out my

soul for a day, and then maybe. Maybe I'll see in

a couple months.

>> RB: But it's a one night stand that makes you money,

not loses your money.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. Uh, you hope. I told somebody today on the

phone, it was actually Jesse. I was like, he's

like, you know, coming back in for Music Row, and,

uh, I Said, yeah. And he goes, how was it? And I

go, man, the song was great. I think I go, but

we're just. We're just scratching off lottery

tickets every day. We don't know which one's going

to work. We don't know which one's, um, gonna be.

The things half the time, the ones that we are

just dead sure of that are gonna work, don't. And

the ones that we walk out and don't think of for

three months are the ones we get the call about.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: So there's no rhyme or reason. It's just going in

there every day trying to cook. Do your thing and

trying, uh, to cook, man.

>> RB: Remind me to tell you. Remind me to tell you a

lottery ticket story after this.

>> Ray Fulcher: All right.

>> RB: Um. Any Eric Church. I mean, that's your idol.

That's who you looked up to. Any Eric Church songs

that anybody would recognize? Uh, yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: So, uh, the. Actually, the Luke and Eric, um, duet

does to me. I wrote that one. I've got a chance to

hang out with. With Eric a few times, and he's

been super cool to me, which was like, they

always. You know, there's that saying, never meet

your heroes kind of thing. Right. And so there's

always that apprehension of, like, I don't want

to, like, hang out with them. And that ruined the.

>> Jonathan: The vibe.

>> Ray Fulcher: The pedestal I put him. Yeah, whatever you want to

call. Whatever my expectations were for Eric, he

went above and beyond that. He's been so cool to

me, and every time I've hung out with him, um, and

so I can't say enough about that guy.

>> RB: And you talk about not meeting your heroes and.

And, you know, we were on a trip to Grove 23.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: That's sick.

>> Ray Fulcher: Rolex you got on, bud.

>> RB: Thanks, man.

>> Ray Fulcher: That thing is flash.

>> RB: He has somebody. Someone.

>> Jonathan: Damn.

>> RB: I mean, that was a. A, uh, gift.

>> Jonathan: Both you probably.

>> RB: For number one.

>> Ray Fulcher: It was a gift for. It was the end of Tour gift for

2021 Arena Tour that I was on with Luke, and he

surprised me with this. That's beautiful. Yeah.

>> RB: I heard the Luke Bryan Rolex story with, um. Who

was it? Oh, my God. I forget who it was, but he

gave him a Rolex and he dropped it and the face

shattered.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, no, I hadn't heard this.

>> RB: Yeah, I forget who it was. Somebody just told me

this story. George told me it. That he. That Luke

presented him with a Rolex and the guy dropped it

and it just shattered.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, God.

>> RB: He was, like, so excited. Um, but we were at Grove

23, and I went while we're having lunch to use the

restroom. Yeah, he was there.

>> Jonathan: Yeah. Grove.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: With still. I mean, dude, that's right. That's

what I was saying to you today in a car. I'm like,

I was with Ray somewhere. It was a Sage Valley.

And he's like, no, it wasn't Sage Valley. I was

there.

>> RB: And I'm like, baby, we'll get into the Sage talk.

But it grows about the Grove talk. Okay, so it.

Grove, I'm in the restroom and you talk about,

like, you never want to meet your idols. And I'm

standing there at the standup urinal, and I like,

you feel this presence just. And it is mj. Bucket

hat on, cigar and mouth.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh. Just like you want.

>> RB: Coming at you. And you're like. And I'm wearing

his shoes.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: And Jordan Brennan underwear.

>> Ray Fulcher: But, um, he should have said, thank you.

Appreciate it.

>> RB: He looks and he says, what's up, big guy? And I

said, oh, nothing. How about you?

>> Ray Fulcher: And I'm like, that was your shot.

>> RB: This is what I did.

>> Ray Fulcher: That was your chance.

>> RB: And Gentry, who played in two man last year, who

you meant? Yeah, he was his dude. He's like, bud,

you'd be surprised how many people couldn't get

anything out at.

>> Ray Fulcher: That of their mouth.

>> RB: Uh, so it's like what you're saying? But yeah,

that was one of the cooler.

>> Ray Fulcher: That day was incredible. That day was incredible.

Thank you all again.

>> RB: Oh, dude, we're working on another day.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, uh, I'm gonna hold you to it.

>> Jonathan: Yeah. Was that not great? That was.

>> Ray Fulcher: Dude, it was. It was.

>> RB: Ray was chipping in cowboy boots.

>> Jonathan: It was so awesome. The first night, we're all

there, we're figuring out how Stel's picking up

the teams. We're doing. We're yelling out.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: We have no clue what we're doing. But it was.

>> Ray Fulcher: It was absolutely. It was just how you would draw

it up. Right. It's like the weather was great. We

played till literally we had like, uh. We had

flashlights out for that. For that parts.

>> Jonathan: Oh, yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: Or that we. Yeah. With the headlights to see our

shots at the end. I mean, played took the whole

day. It was amazing.

>> RB: Stell was my partner. He should be probably using

a 48 inch driver. He used like a 39 inch driver

that round.

>> Jonathan: But, uh, no, he used a 45. He should be using 50.

I was playing with Archer in one of the rounds,

and I'm just. We're just bullshitting, you know,

Ryan Ross, so what are you working on? You know?

And he said, well, I got this song that I'm

working on with Nate Smith called I Wish I Never

Felt. He's like, it's not out. It was.

>> RB: This was in January when he wasn't even anybody

needed.

>> Jonathan: It's not out yet, but it's gonna get cut. So he,

he played it for me. I'm like, damn, dude, that's

a good song.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: You know what I mean? And then, like, six months

later, that song was being played everywhere.

Yeah, I'm like, I heard that song in January when

it was just.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, you got that.

>> RB: Uh, I will be honest with you. Those texts are the

best texts that you get from, like, George sends

you something. Oh, yeah. Sends you something. And

you just listen to it and you're like, yeah, this

is gonna be sick. And then you hear it on the

radio and you're like, I've had, like, what you

said. Yeah, I've heard that for six months.

>> Jonathan: Right. It's just. I love what you guys do, man.

I'm jealous.

>> Ray Fulcher: That was us with. I just got flashback to Two

Cigars, and you were like.

>> RB: So I was going to get into that.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: All right, so let's get into the two stars. Um,

so, you know, for everybody out there, I, I, I

like to think myself as a songwriter, and I only

get about four or five words into the song, but I

said to Ray every start. Yeah, we were, uh, we

were member guest partners at Nicole. And I said,

ray, I said, somebody needs to come out with a

cigar song, dude. Like, Slow Burn or, you know,

like Time, whatever.

>> Jonathan: About hot ash.

>> RB: Yeah, something. And he, and so, like, like, that

he didn't say much. And I'm like, kind of weird.

So he, like, comes over, he's like, hey, man. He's

like, I got a song. It's called Two Cigars. I'm

like, no, uh, and so then he goes into it. So why

don't you talk about your song Two Cigars, which

is, it is deep, it is good, but it, there's so

much meaning to it. Uh, and why the two cigars

thing?

>> Ray Fulcher: Well, I just remember when you, when you brought

that up that day, we already were sort of just

like, talking about life and stuff. And I was

like, at that time, the song wasn't out. I think I

only just had, like, a work tape of it.

>> RB: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: But I was like, literally, I was, I have to play

this for him, like, now. And so the story behind

the song for everybody is, um, again, I'm from

Harlem, Georgia, went to University of Georgia.

Um, I'm a huge Dogs fan. But again, if you are

kind of have been around SEC circles, you know

that it means the world. It means the world. And,

um, and you, you form a lot of bonds through that.

And so a guy that I grew up with, and we're a big

group of friends back home, his dad was one that

kind of went on the, uh, um, to the games with us

together. I grew up with a son. Uh, he sang in our

church growing up. And it's name's Mr. Jamie

Newsome. And so Jamie, um, and the crew go down to

go up to Indianapolis to watch Georgia play, uh,

Alabama for the national championship. Um, so it's

been January 22nd for the 21 season. And, uh,

literally while they're up there, about two hours

before kickoff, Jamie passes away in the hotel

room getting ready to go to the game. That's just

a tragedy that happened. Um, and. But one thing

about Jamie is there's a. He was a great, great

man. But if Georgia won the game, he's going to

find someone to smoke a cigar with him.

>> RB: So is that any game?

>> Ray Fulcher: If, uh, they win a game, he's going to suppose.

>> RB: Okay.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, and I knew I wanted to

write something to honor his memory, but I never

could. Like, I didn't know what I want to be. And

then it just literally hit me one morning and I

was like, that's it. Like it's all tied back into

that. And, um, got up and, uh, me and my roommate

worked on it. Joan Rowe. And you know, it's one of

them that it is about Jamie. But as you go through

it, it's like really just honoring the people

that, you know, because it's sort of about, man.

Six hours later, George is winning a national

championship and waited so long to see that. And

even though he didn't see it here, I have a belief

that he saw it, you know. And so, um. But in that

moment, it's like this great thing is happening,

but you're missing someone. And so really I just

wanted to write something to. No matter what the

person is for you or me or whoever, we. In any big

event in our life, there's you missing someone.

Like, there's that passing thought of like, man, I

wish so and so was here to see this because they

would love this. And I know we all have those

people in our life, those memories of people. And

so I wanted that to be for them and. And I. I

ended up putting the song out and it became, um,

you know, especially for our friend group back

home. And stuff. A really special song and one

that you know, it's, it's not number one on the

radio, but it's like one that doesn't matter. It's

the type of song that I moved to town to write and

it's the type of story that I moved here to. To

tell tell, you know. So um, I came here, I, I came

here to affect people in the way that I was

affected by music growing up. And that's like, you

know, just hitting you right in the heart and just

like really putting perspective on things and all.

And, and that song does it as good as anything

that I've ever wrote personally, I think. And.

>> Jonathan: And um, you're with uh, you're with Universal

Music as a publisher?

>> Ray Fulcher: Yes, Universal, ah, Music publishing.

>> Jonathan: I mean it's.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, I've been there with them for probably five

years. Yeah. So I was with River House, a smaller

company and then I was with River House and

Universal. Now I'm ah, with Universal. Um, and I

mean I'm just thankful to like. I mean there was a

day in time where it was like, it felt like that

it was like moving the ends of the earth to be

able to get a publishing deal. And so there's not

a day that goes by that I don't appreciate that.

I'm so grateful for being there, you know, and uh,

and get to write with the people I do every day.

But yeah, Universal, man.

>> Jonathan: Gratitude is so powerful.

>> Ray Fulcher: Mhm.

>> Jonathan: I mean if you really know how to exercise that.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: It really shifts your perspective on everything.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. I mean I'm a stuff, I'm a true believer that

like so much about life and joy and happiness and

all that is so much tied to perspective. Right.

And so much tied to like being able to step back

and look at the situation and not just be in it,

but look at it and understand like golly, look at

your journey. Right. Look where I got to make a

list. And making a. Even if it's a mental list of

like all the things that you have to be thankful

for, then it's like, boom, that changes it the

changes life, dude.

>> Jonathan: So how many number ones you have?

>> Ray Fulcher: Uh, six number ones.

>> Jonathan: All right, Not a bad.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, six number ones.

>> RB: And Luke has four or five.

>> Ray Fulcher: Luke Holmes has four.

>> Jonathan: Four.

>> RB: No, I'm saying like that you've written.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh no, so, so my number ones, I was about to say

you might need to quadruple that little offense

there.

>> RB: But I thought we were like wait.

>> Ray Fulcher: A second, dog, I gotta, yeah, I gotta stick it for

my guy. Uh, Four. No, uh, six of the. So those six

are with Luke. Um, we have high hopes for the, uh,

Cody. For the Cody song. Um, had a top 20 last

year with a guy named Radio with Dylan Carmichael.

But I've been lucky enough to have, um, cuts with

a bunch of folks that I look up to. Jordan Davis

cut, um, a song, mine and Thomas's and Michael,

uh, Tyler and Jordan Rowe last year. Know you like

that. It went number one on the highway. So when

we speak of number ones, it's more about just FM

radio number one. But that song did do well on the

highway with number one stuff. And what was it

called? Know you like that. Oh, yeah. Know you

like that.

>> Jonathan: I didn't know you wrote that.

>> Ray Fulcher: And, uh, so.

>> Jonathan: Well, I mean, but it's hard to keep up with a guy

like.

>> Ray Fulcher: And been lucky to have a lot of people cut songs,

which I'm very thankful of. But, yeah, the six big

ones so far, I've been with. With my main man,

Luke.

>> Jonathan: What do you got cooking right now? 20, 25,

November. What do you got cooking, man?

>> Ray Fulcher: I tell you what, I made it a huge goal of mine in

January time. Talking about, like, there's no one

that's going to outwork me this year. That was my

goal. And, like. And I just. Because I'm a firm

believer. Red Aikens told me this one time, and

I've never forgotten it. He said, we can't.

There's so much in our business that you can't

control. Right. But the thing you can't control is

your work ethic, showing up every day and doing

everything you do the best of your ability. And.

And he goes. He had a cool thing. He goes, all

we're doing every day is we're planting seeds.

Yeah. And we're planting the best seeds we can.

And we don't get to pick what grows. We don't get

to pick when it grows. But I'm a firm believer

that if you plant those seeds the right way, that

something will grow. And, um.

>> RB: So true.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. So to your point about what's going on this

year or November 25, um, 26 got a chance to be a

Big Year. So, uh, there's a lot of stuff that I.

That I can't say specifics on. Uh.

>> Jonathan: Oh, come on, give us a spill. Uh, like, with what

artist?

>> Ray Fulcher: There's. There. I can't. But let me say this.

>> Jonathan: Oh, come on, Ray.

>> Ray Fulcher: Let me say this. I'mma update you. I'm g. Update

you. We're g. And we're going to do this again.

And then we'll get to go back through. We'll get

to listen to this little piece and you'll go, um,

okay. Because it's. Man, I.

>> Jonathan: It's under wraps.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. It's just part of the business. Right.

Because so many things until they fail, but until

they have. Until they happen, they haven't

happened. But there's a lot of, uh.

>> Jonathan: I respect it.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. A lot of cool things that. That are

hopefully coming down the. The pipe. And, um. And

I think it's a direct correlation with. Right.

Like showing up, trying to do it the right way.

And, um. Yeah, it's been a good year for that.

That I. I hope you know, we're talking about seeds

and stuff growing. Hopefully there's some harvest

going on in 26.

>> Jonathan: So, you know, I was just talking.

>> RB: Only one seed bastard plan.

>> Jonathan: I was talking to, uh, my buddy about this because

he's. He's reading the book the Atomic Habits.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, yeah.

>> Jonathan: And, um, I haven't read yet. Listening to. But,

you know, in theory, it's not so much not caring

about the goals. Goals are important. But it's the

procedures and it's the process. Process.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: To get. And that's where the discipline comes in.

>> Ray Fulcher: Because I have. I learned too, like, I mean, what

we do is. So it's hard, right, to kind of like,

keep your. And it's like, I've learned that the

more that you. When you take your. Off the process

and you look up and you go, well, gosh, like, why

isn't this happening? Or like, man, I'm working so

hard, and why isn't this happening? And it's like,

we've all had those moments, right, where you find

something in the. Like when you're not looking for

it is when it happens. And it's the same thing.

And like, uh, in our business, too, it's like, put

your head down, work. And you, like, you just have

faith that results are going to come.

>> Jonathan: That's right.

>> Ray Fulcher: The good Lord's going to bless what you're doing.

You just have faith in that.

>> Jonathan: Amen.

>> Ray Fulcher: Um, and it's like when you. Man, it's like your

head's on the ground, you know, nose is on the

grindstone. And then it's like, oh, well, somebody

taps you on the shoulder and goes, hey, this good

thing happened. And then you keep going and it's

like, hey, buddy, this good thing happened. And

you go, oh, there's a direct correlation from just

like me not looking for it, you know, so the

process.

>> RB: Is everything yeah, See, I'll use a golf quote

about what you just spoke about. And. And I think

what Ben Hogan said, um, was. Is still very true.

Is the harder you work, the luckier you get.

>> Ray Fulcher: 100. Yeah, that's a great quote.

>> RB: So, um, I think that's with everything in life,

right?

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: You know, like, I. Like I went back to that. What

I. I'm, um, talking to my son. Somebody's gonna do

something to get better today or get worse. You're

not gonna ever stay the same.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. And that's the truth. I mean, that's true

about life in general.

>> RB: There's probably days where you wake up. I

guarantee you there's days where you wake up and

you're like, I really don't want to go this.

Right.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, uh, I mean.

>> RB: And you know what?

>> Ray Fulcher: You're like, no, I'm not too proud to say I had

one this week. The difference is it was probably

with Thomas Archer. Still going. Yeah, it wasn't.

But let's just. Because we're gonna dog on him.

Let's just say it was with Thomas.

>> RB: Thomas Archer. I knew it. Miserable.

>> Ray Fulcher: But I think the difference is, is like. And what

I've learned to do. I haven't always shown up on

those days. Right. There's been times in my life

where I haven't. On the days where I'm like, this

is the last thing I want to do. But there's power

just showing up, especially when you don't want

to. Right.

>> Jonathan: You know, that's the discipline aspect, dude.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: It's like me, you know, it's like I was tired of,

like, looking at my back shoulder and seeing a

pimple. Yeah. So I bought a backwash.

>> Ray Fulcher: You know, one thing leads to the next, baby.

>> Jonathan: But seriously, you know, the whole work aspect is.

Is that it's the discipline approach. There's.

Yeah. You don't want to show up things, but you

got to.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. And it's like you just. It's kind of.

Because not. You got to think about. We're

creating something every day. So you're not.

This is. We're humans. We're not wired to, like.

We're not going to wake up every day feeling

creative.

>> Jonathan: No.

>> Ray Fulcher: You're just not. And so you gotta find a way to be

creative on the days you don't feel creative.

Yeah.

>> RB: Golf.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: What does the game of. Well, first off, golf's

responsible for why we are sitting here.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: Uh, it's, uh, the truth. We talked about that

today, and it.

>> RB: Is the sole reason how we met you, um. And I feel

like, let's be honest, it's the bond to our

relationship.

>> Ray Fulcher: 100 it is. I mean, we haven't.

>> Jonathan: Well, I mean, he doesn't want to.

>> RB: Talk to me at a time, but, um. But golf. What.

What does that game. Sport do for you as a

individual?

>> Ray Fulcher: It's a lot of. I mean, it's a lot of things I have

grown to. So the first time that I've been around

someone who loved golf is my best friend from back

home, like my. My lifelong. Since we were five

years old. Uh, Jordy Whitaker. Jordan Whitaker.

Um, I call him Jordy Jordan. But he loved golf

growing up, and I really wasn't into golf, but I,

like, saw how much he loved it. And so then it's

like, I got older. I'm like, man, I'm gonna try

this golf thing with Jordan. And, man, I, um. I

quickly fell in love with it for a lot of reasons.

And the reasons it is today is like, it. Golf is

such, like a. Hey, it takes up your mind, too. And

so it gives me this full unplug. Right. From

everything else. And it gets. It gives me

something to pour myself into. And it. Because I'm

a competitive person, I played sports growing up.

I get to scratch that competitive itch. Not

necessarily even against someone else, but the you

versus you thing.

>> Jonathan: Right.

>> Ray Fulcher: Um. And there's just so much. I don't know. It's.

It's hard to put into words, but there's. There's,

like. The game of golf is magical, perfect.

There's, like, something about it that, uh. And I

think. I mean, half the time I'm out here because

it's. It's beautiful. It's like you're outside. It

is. Is all the things that make up you as a man in

one place. Right. It's like the competitive thing,

the unplugging thing. It's beautiful.

It's all this stuff. And you're hanging out with

your boys.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: And you're catching up on life, and you're talking

about song ideas, and you're like. And it's just

combination of all that.

>> Jonathan: Especially for you writers. Yes.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: Talking about ideas.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: I mean, for me, I've played golf. I mean, since I

came out of the womb, I was obsessed with golf.

>> Ray Fulcher: Right.

>> RB: I mean, my mom was telling me stories when I was 2

and 3 years old in my crib. I. I stole my dad's

Golf Digest magazines.

>> Ray Fulcher: Would.

>> RB: They'd sit there and listen to me saying, golf

ball hit swish.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: Like, it's Been a part of my life. Yeah. Like it's

been a part of my life and now I look at it and I

play a sport with my dad, 73 years old myself and

my 8 year old son.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. Yep.

>> RB: What else?

>> Jonathan: Can't do that.

>> RB: You can't do that in any other sport.

>> Ray Fulcher: Ah.

>> RB: Or anything. You know. And then also on the flip

side of that, have seven buddies play a round of

golf. And, and, and we have the time of our life

drinking beers and, and having fun.

>> Ray Fulcher: So I think that the camaraderie and the memories

made is like, it just creates the. It like built,

perpetually builds on itself of like the memories.

Right. And it's like, then you've played a course

and we get to talk about it. Yeah. I go, dude, you

got to come play this with me. And it's like, it's

just this foundation of memories, camaraderie, the

building of the friendship. It's like all that.

>> RB: I mean, think about where we have all played as

US3.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: Okay. Yeah. Your troubadours.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yep.

>> RB: Your Grove 23s. Your sage valleys nemecle Old

Hickory. Like, okay, our life's pretty sick.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: Um, but you know the Sage Valley story. You got me

as a roommate.

>> Jonathan: Tell me if you're a pretty great roommate, though.

>> RB: Well now though.

>> Ray Fulcher: Huh? Huh?

>> RB: I snore now though.

>> Ray Fulcher: You snore now, Everyone.

>> Jonathan: Every other day, dude.

>> RB: Today's my on day.

>> Jonathan: She woke me up. She woke me up last night and was

like so weird.

>> RB: What is going on?

>> Jonathan: You're snoring and I'm all, I must have a dry

throat.

>> Ray Fulcher: Is it because we're getting older buds?

>> Jonathan: I don't know, man. I'm kind of like not cool with

that.

>> RB: So we, we. Well, we show up stage cold. Taylor. I

always divert back to him. Like, he didn't tell

anybody we're coming. Neil and I. So we showed up

and luckily it all worked out to where like Ray

was like, dude, I got an extra bed. Just stay with

me.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, perfect.

>> RB: So I'm like, I'm with Ray, which I know him and

it's all good.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: I am hammered.

>> Ray Fulcher: Smashed.

>> RB: Smashed it.

>> Jonathan: Well, I wasn't there, but I'm just in emphasizing.

>> RB: I mean, my man, you. He. My man was his. Ray is

exactly what you would think. Like, uh, everything

was laid out perfectly.

>> Ray Fulcher: Shoes were lined up for the next two days.

>> RB: Yeah, shoes are lined up, belts are rolled up.

Everything's perfect. I come in like a hurricane,

no pun intended. And I freaking. I don't even know

if you Were in there. I trip over a cowboy boot. I

thought I was face planning this dresser, dude. I

mean, like, thank God I didn't see it.

>> Ray Fulcher: You told me.

>> RB: Oh, my God. So then I'm sitting there the next

morning, and I'm like, oh, God, this is terrible.

We gotta play golf today. Like, I don't even want

to play golf. He's like, go in the shower. I'm

like, why? Because I didn't experience this yet.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: And he's like, just go in the shower. I'm like,

okay, turn it on, dude.

>> Ray Fulcher: It's unbelievable.

>> RB: The. This is so weird to talk about, but the

single greatest showers in all of America.

>> Jonathan: Stupid.

>> Ray Fulcher: I'll stand. I'll stand by that.

>> RB: Uh, hands down, this thing brought me back to

life. I was in there in the hot water, and then I

flipped it to cold to get really cold. Yeah. And,

dude, it was like. I'm like, huh?

>> Ray Fulcher: It's the best water pressure in the continental

United States. It has to be.

>> RB: Yes.

>> Jonathan: They don't pass code. Oh, that's what. That's what

everyone says anyways. There's just no way. But

it's.

>> RB: It is. I did. Our other buddy, Tyler Reeve, knows

how many buckets come out of the second.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, he does.

>> RB: How many pine needles are laying on the golf

course? But it's just like, dude. Well, so this

all started from a random day.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: And I know that I could text you and be like, hey,

you want to go off here or you want to.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: Or if you need anything, you're going to Pinehurst

in a couple weeks. You need anything, just let me

know. I mean, I got Pinehurst.

>> Ray Fulcher: Remember that day that I. It was like, remember

my. Something happened. My laundry. I was on radio

tour or something, and I was going to be close to

Pinehurst. Yeah. And I was like, hey, dude, I. I

have to take. I have to do laundry.

>> RB: Yeah, Blair.

>> Ray Fulcher: Like, I have to do. He was like, dude, I got you,

bro. You're good. And it's like, yeah. All because

it started with golf.

>> RB: Yes.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: Drunk.

>> Jonathan: And now we're family.

>> Ray Fulcher: Now we're fam.

>> Jonathan: So I got a good one. That Pep. Pep's going to

remember when I start to tell this story. Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: Huh.

>> Jonathan: Well, just because there's a link to you in some

respect. Well, kind of. But. Yeah, there is. But,

uh, we're at Sage Valley in May, and I randomly

hosted a guy at Pikewood national, where I'm a

member in Morgantown, and he and I hit it off.

Great. One of my favorite humans, Taylor Kenny.

And he plays on Chicago Fire Seide. So we're going

to Sage Valley. Pepe sets this trip up in May. So

we're like, let's get tk to go. TK's with Chris

Collins.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, yeah, Chris Collins. Okay.

>> Jonathan: Yeah. Uh, so TK rolls down and this was for

Chris's son's event in Savannah, or where were we?

>> RB: I know where you're going with us. Yeah, we. Well,

we were in Augusta. Was at the Marriott.

>> Jonathan: We're in Augusta to Marriott. We got it. We. We

have to leave Sage Valley to go to this event.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> Jonathan: Which is fine. Totally cool. So I'm like, TK's

getting dressed and we gotta leave at like 6:30.

And Pep's frantically walking around like, you

know, we gotta go, we gotta go, we gotta go. And

I'm like, all right, man, what do you want me to

do? I can't tell the guy to like, you know,

whatever. So.

>> RB: Hey, bud, hurry up.

>> Jonathan: So I'm like, yo, we gotta leave in like, 15. Okay,

cool. So TK has no idea where the we're go.

Neither do we. We don't know where we're going.

>> RB: We don't know where we're going into.

>> Jonathan: We're going into this.

>> RB: A charity event.

>> Jonathan: Charity event. And it was when I got there, I'm

like, holy. There's cop cars, fire, all this

stuff, right?

>> RB: It was awesome for his son.

>> Jonathan: But the auctioneer, as soon as we walked in, the

auctioneer comes up to Taylor.

>> RB: Bang.

>> Jonathan: And he's like, man, you're. You're one of my

favorite characters on tv. You know, the show's on

NBC and every woman.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, I can't imagine.

>> RB: Came over and take a photo.

>> Jonathan: So I'm like, oh, my God. Like, Taylor is probably

going like, what.

>> Ray Fulcher: The hell did you guys.

>> Jonathan: Did you guys bring me to? Because I'm getting

bombarded by people and the auctioneers up to him.

He's like, hey, man, I'm gonna be auctioning off a

fire cap tonight. A helmet fire cap. And he's

like, I want you to come up when I do it, you

know, and whatever, whatever. And TK was great.

He's like, sure, whatever, you. You know. So we're

sitting around there, we're at this table. It's

me, Pep, Vinnie Trocheck, and TK bcats. And I, uh,

don't know who else was there. Mike Oates. And the

guy comes up finally to. To TK to get him to come

up. So he goes up in front of all these people,

and the women are Going nuts. They're going nuts.

>> Ray Fulcher: Like Elvis back in the day.

>> Jonathan: And he gives TK the mic to talk. And now I'm. I'm

like. I'm kind of like, oh, my. I'm feeling

awkward because I'm like, number one, I didn't,

like, preface this was ever gonna happen. I didn't

know it was gonna happen. But number two, I'm

thinking to myself, this guy's never gonna want to

come on a golf trip with us again because. Because

we're going to. I brought him to this event. And

so TK Bids on this boot that was auctioned off as

a worn Luke Combs boot on tour.

>> RB: Best part of the story.

>> Jonathan: So TK Gets it. He's like, pep, let's get whatever.

So he gets his boot, and I, uh. He didn't, uh. It

was a sign.

>> RB: He thought it was what? He thought it was Sean

Combs. That's the best part of this story. He

thought it was Sean. Sean.

>> Ray Fulcher: Puffy Combs.

>> RB: Yes.

>> Ray Fulcher: That's why.

>> RB: So he bid on it because he's like, oh, it's Sean

Combs, P. Diddy. So he bid on it, and whenever he

won it, they're like this. Congratulations on

loose comes. And he brings it back laughing. He

goes, I thought it was Sean Combs. So we have this

boot.

>> Jonathan: So Peps had. So he gave Pep the boot. He said,

this is our trophy for our future golf trips. You

know, I don't know how we're going to utilize it.

>> RB: You usually don't know about what's. What's

happening with it.

>> Jonathan: Well, how. Yeah, I.

>> RB: Don't.

>> Jonathan: Tell me.

>> RB: So. And this is funny. Um, so at the end of hockey

games, they give players, like, in. In that locker

room. So the Nashville Predators will be like, all

right. They have a catfish. And they're like, hey,

all right.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, yeah.

>> RB: Hey, boys, you played good today. Uh, here's your

player of the game. And they. The teammate hands

it off from the day that. Before that, who was the

player of the game? Well, I'm in a group text with

Trojek and TK and we're talking about when we're

going to. In December to see TK and go to dinner

with Vince. And Vince said, who has the boot? And

I said, well, I still have the boot. And he said,

you need to bring it. He said, that's gonna. He

said, we need some luck to change around here. We

want to pat. We want to use it as the. As the, uh,

player of the game.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, wow.

>> Jonathan: Oh. So it's going to New York.

>> RB: So it's going to be in the Rangers locker room.

>> Ray Fulcher: Wow.

>> Jonathan: So it's no longer. That's pretty dope.

>> Ray Fulcher: It's pretty awesome.

>> RB: We just need that back, though, because Sean

Combs. Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: You give it a loan.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> Ray Fulcher: You give it a loan. It's not. It's not a forever

thing, right?

>> RB: No, no. Like, but what we were talking about is

maybe like take it on golf trips and have people

sign the boot.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah.

>> RB: And so. But the fact that he thought it was Sean

Com.

>> Jonathan: It's hilarious.

>> Ray Fulcher: That is all Timer.

>> Jonathan: Hilarious.

>> RB: Like, dude, so funny. Cuz he.

>> Ray Fulcher: First of all, they're going to call him Sean Combs

and not all the other things. Puff Daddy P. Diddy.

>> RB: Like a million other things.

>> Jonathan: God, that is so puffy. So I didn't know that.

>> Ray Fulcher: Wow.

>> RB: Yeah, he literally. Because that's why he was

laughing so hard. He's like. I thought he said. I

thought it was for Sean Combs.

>> Ray Fulcher: Unbelievable.

>> Jonathan: Now you know, the question is whether or not it's

a legitimate boot that Luke wore.

>> RB: I think he donated it.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, I could have. Yeah.

>> RB: I think two. What's his name?

>> Ray Fulcher: Sonny Davis.

>> RB: Football at Texas am. Um, punter. Oh, I'll tell

you, I don't know.

>> Ray Fulcher: It could have. It might not have. There's probably

some more, son. Davis. Yeah, yeah. Davis. Yeah.

Oh, I forgot he kicked it. Texas Stadium.

I was thinking about East Carolina the.

>> RB: Whole time Johnny Manzo was there.

>> Ray Fulcher: I was thinking about East Carolina.

>> Jonathan: Texas A M is one of the top four. Sniffing around.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, yeah, they're doing real good.

>> RB: So you. You were. You worked for the. The old

Bulldogs?

>> Ray Fulcher: I did. I was a manager and student assistant for.

Then I was a grad assistant.

>> RB: Were you rubbing the balls down or what?

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Balls trainer. Trainer

stuff. That's trainer stuff.

>> RB: Well, you got to rub the balls down, dude. Brand

new balls. They got to like. Did you ever watch

the process of how they rub those down?

>> Ray Fulcher: No, actually, if we're talking about the

footballs.

>> RB: The football.

>> Ray Fulcher: And I actually did do that. That was part of my.

Yeah, because I was. I work with the quarterbacks.

You did? Oh, yeah.

>> RB: Who was your quarterback then?

>> Ray Fulcher: Uh, it was my. My first year was David Green, then

it was DJ Shockley, and then it was Matt Stafford.

>> Jonathan: No, Stafford.

>> Ray Fulcher: And then, um, when I was kind of on the way out

was when Aaron Murray was coming in.

>> RB: Wait, is that. We got him on a podcast. Um, Aaron

Murray, but we had it. But Stafford, his wife's

like flying off the handle. Why is she the One

with the podcast.

>> Jonathan: Yes.

>> Ray Fulcher: I don't know.

>> RB: Yeah, she's like flying off the handle that she

like, while she was dating Stafford in college.

She took it or some.

>> Ray Fulcher: Well, yeah, I don't know who, I don't know who

the, the other, the other, uh, party was, but she

did, uh, she said something about that. Yeah, I

heard about it and I.

>> RB: Was like, you'd be bringing this up right now.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, like, my God.

>> Jonathan: And he's on a. I mean, the Rams are playing great

ball. He's a great. That's pretty cool. I didn't

know that, Ray.

>> RB: You didn't know that?

>> Jonathan: No, Rod balls. I didn't know that.

>> RB: The footballs.

>> Ray Fulcher: The football. Oh, we're going to get in the weeds

and footballs now. All right, so.

>> RB: So what, what's the process? Here's the dealing a

football down.

>> Ray Fulcher: So when you like game balls, right? So brand new

footballs, all these colleges pro, they get a like

tons of brand new football.

>> RB: Georgia gets more than anybody, tons of.

>> Ray Fulcher: Brand new footballs to start the year. But a brand

new football is so like, you can't throw that

thing. It's so waxy and stuff. So the game balls

start out as like the balls that kickers are like

practicing with every day. So they're getting like

broke in. And then from that they go to like

practice balls. So then it's the ones that the

quarterbacks are like practicing with. And then

every once in a while the quarterback will be

like, huh, uh, yeah, this is a game ball. So by

the time they get to be a game ball, they're like

super, super, super broken.

>> RB: It's slick, right?

>> Ray Fulcher: No, it's not slick. It's like it actually has

tacked on it. Right? Because they're super slick

when they come out of the. When they just come out

of the box. Um, and so probably at least I did.

Everybody assumes that like the game balls are

brand new balls. They're not. They're the ones

that have been through the ringer and have come

out and are just like the perfect feel for the

quarterback. The quarterback's the one that

decides the game. Yeah. And so there's a bag of

like, you know, there's like, probably. I remember

when I was doing it because I was working with the

quarterbacks. That was one of my. It's funny you

bring that up. One of my responsibilities was game

balls. And so I had this just this bag of. And not

like a grocery bag, like a big kind of, um, a

zipper bag. A big athletic looking zipper bag that

I Would. Duffel bag thing like a hockey bag? Yeah.

Yes. That I would have the game balls in, and I

had more than most people would have because I

would just accumulate them. Because Stafford would

always be like. And he would be good about it.

Staffer would be like, this is one. And I just put

that up. I wouldn't. We wouldn't practice with

anymore. Put it up. So I had an accumulation of 10

or 12. You don't really need more than 6 for the

game. But then we play Kentucky. Kentucky. And

back then, Kentucky had a problem with. Not a

problem. They had a tradition, you say, of every

extra point and every field goal, that ball is

getting tossed to the top of the stadium and

getting thrown out. And so we played at Kentucky,

and. Because I had those 10 or 12 game balls. No,

because I had the 10 or 12 game balls. That saved

my ass. Because they. We scored 40 on them or

whatever, and they threw. They threw five or six

out of the stadium.

>> RB: So they. So actually, the fans, it's like the

student section just gets it, and they're.

>> Ray Fulcher: Like, throwing and they toss it up.

>> RB: That's hilarious.

>> Ray Fulcher: To the very top. And then it goes out of the

stadium. That happened. And I remember going, I

always thought I was crazy for being that neurotic

for having this many game balls. Thank God I did,

like, say something to you, huh? No. Nobody gives.

Nobody cares. So they just expect it to be there,

right?

>> RB: SEC ball. Um, my sister played college golf in

Kentucky, and from 98 to 2002, well, her official

visit to UK was for the Tim Couch Peyton Manning

game at UK.

>> Ray Fulcher: Oh, wow.

>> RB: Pretty sick.

>> Jonathan: That is.

>> Ray Fulcher: That's awesome.

>> RB: That's pretty sick.

>> Ray Fulcher: That's awesome. So, dude, I haven't talked about

game balls in 15 years.

>> RB: So how long does it take? Like, you say you sand

it down, then you oil it?

>> Ray Fulcher: Well, they have these little pads that. I don't

even know what's on the pad. I don't remember. But

you kind of, like, you start kind of with this

pad, and it. It kind of helps build that tact,

right?

>> Jonathan: So you even do that before the kickers get it.

>> Ray Fulcher: You can do that at the beginning, but then you

definitely do it once it becomes like a game ball.

You kind of just, you know, just kind of rub it

down. It's not like. It's just basically to. To

make sure that leather is just can. You can grip

it, so don't get too slick or whatever. Um, and

then. So before every game, though, the officials

take those game balls and they. They go through

them and make sure that everyone is to regulation.

So this, you know, this inflated to the right

amount that it doesn't have like that tact on it

or whatever.

>> RB: Um, so the Patriots, they get a.

>> Ray Fulcher: Hold of it, like, see, I gotta know more about

that because is that something.

>> RB: Can you, can you toy with that a little bit? The

pounds and all that, or no.

>> Ray Fulcher: I mean, maybe there's people that do. I didn't

have the cojones to do that. I ain't messing with

that. Y' all know, so. Because so once the. Once

the referees, uh, the officials got done with that

bag, I was not like, not.

>> RB: You weren't privy.

>> Ray Fulcher: I ain't messing with them. I ain't messing with

them. So I ain't saying other people. Hatton, I

don't know that. I don't disk know that, but I

never did.

>> Jonathan: So that's hilarious. See all the. That like exists

and like that.

>> RB: My man was, uh, rubbing down footballs, the

driving U hauls at gas stations when it's raining.

And now here we are.

>> Ray Fulcher: Here we are, everybody's story. Yeah, and that's

what. Going back to what you were saying earlier,

I think like in kind of what we do not. I mean,

not just the music business, but in life, it's

like there really is no blueprint, right? It's

like there's not. There's not a blueprint. It's

not like you do this, you do that, you do this,

you do that, and this is the outcome. It don't

work that way.

>> RB: How do you, you know, you get. Just got to get

there.

>> Ray Fulcher: And it's all about Coach Bobo used to, about.

Used to put, um, when I worked there, the

offensive coordinator now for Georgia was there

when I was at Georgia. But I remember every game

day he would put on the whiteboard. Quarterback

whiteboard. Enjoy the journey. And I remember in

college being like, what does he mean by that?

Yeah, you know, what does that have to do with our

football game? And now I get it right, because

it's all a journey. And it's all like appreciating

the moment you're in in that journey, you know,

and how it relates to football is like, if you

appreciate the moment, it gives you a better

chance. Driving in the moment.

>> RB: Last thing I will say about this, uh, during this

podcast, this is my last. Well, until the tap in

segment. Marshall played at Georgia this year.

They did 30, 38 and a half point underdogs. I bet

Cole Taylor in the second half. I owe him drinks.

I owe him a whole night.

>> Ray Fulcher: Well, he's only about 400ft away from us right

now.

>> RB: I don't. I don't. I don't.

>> Ray Fulcher: He's.

>> RB: He's somewhere. He's somewhere. He might pop out

of that ATM.

>> Ray Fulcher: When we go around this corner. He might be

standing there.

>> Jonathan: He might be.

>> RB: But I took the herd and the dogs only beat him by

38.

>> Jonathan: Yeah, I remember that.

>> Ray Fulcher: Covered by half a point.

>> RB: Yes.

>> Jonathan: Yeah.

>> RB: It's insane.

>> Jonathan: So, Ray Ray, man, it's been awesome.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah. Thank you all. Man, hearing your story, I

was pumped to talk about. About golf and life.

>> Jonathan: Yeah. And I know for sure, you know, getting back

to Grove, because that's where we were. I mean, my

guy can play some G. You were paid a Ray at Grove?

>> RB: He was.

>> Ray Fulcher: I was kind of doing it that day, man.

>> RB: I wanted to lay him out.

>> Ray Fulcher: I was having a day.

>> Jonathan: Just had to pay him.

>> RB: Stella and I finished last.

>> Jonathan: That's all you had to do is pay him?

>> Ray Fulcher: Pay pick at like, there it was again. It's not.

It's not even on purpose. It's just what you're

paying me.

>> Jonathan: I gotta show you the real.

>> RB: When we're done.

>> Jonathan: When we're done. Yeah, because it's so good, dude.

It's so good.

>> Ray Fulcher: But, um. But no, I mean, thank y'. All and another

trip to the Grove is. It's. Let me just say, it's

not low on my priority list. It's not low. It's.

>> RB: You know, you're. You're clear that week, huh?

>> Ray Fulcher: Huh? Yeah, I'm clear that week, though.

>> Jonathan: Yeah, I think. I think we all are.

>> Ray Fulcher: Yeah, I'm clear that week.

>> Jonathan: Come on. Sorks it.

>> Ray Fulcher: Let's go.

>> Jonathan: All right, we're going to finish this off here

with our standard tap in segment presented by Bet