Return to Transcripts main page
Glenn Beck
Encore: Honest Questions with Travis Tritt
Aired July 18, 2008 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): A little bit of country, a lot of rock and roll. Travis Tritt has a new album, and it`s taking the music world by storm, selling more than 25 million albums and earning two Grammy awards. Tritt is a musical force to be reckoned with.
But don`t expect any ego from this country superstar. He`s still just a rebel southern boy at heart. Real, rebellious, and true to his roots.
Now, an incredible hour of honest questions with Travis Tritt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Hello, America.
Once again, welcome back to the program. Welcome to New York, Travis Tritt.
TRAVIS TRITT, COUNTRY MUSIC STAR: Great to be back. Thank you for having me.
BECK: You bet.
You fascinate me because you are a -- you`re not -- you`re a square peg in a round hole. You know, you`re not really anything that you`d say, "Oh, yes, he`s a guy who wears a country music hat." You know what I mean? Where does that come from?
TRITT: That comes from an entire career of fighting specifically to be exactly that: not something you can put into the boxes.
It`s really funny in this business, because I grew up -- as a kid just outside of Atlanta, I grew up listening to radio station, WSB Radio in Atlanta, and they would play -- first of all, they weren`t listed as a country station, a pop station, a rock station. They were just a radio station.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: And you`re listening to them as a kid growing up before you`d get ready to go to school in the morning. They would play a Patsy Cline song followed by the Captain & Tenille, followed by Marvin Gaye, followed by Willie Nelson, followed by Elvis. It was just all over the place.
BECK: It`s kind of like an iPod.
TRITT: Exactly.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: And I grew up listening to music that way. And I never understood when I got later on, when I decided to do this for a living, I never understood why you had to be broken down into these categories and be stuck in these boxes. They try so hard to stick you in these boxes. And I fought my whole career, I guess, being put in those boxes, I guess.
BECK: Is some of it -- is it just that this is who you are, or is some of it that your rebellion comes from being told, "No, you can`t do it. It`s not good for you"?
I mean, let me go back at the very beginning. Eight years old first time you pick up a guitar?
TRITT: Yes. Actually, 6.
BECK: What happened?
TRITT: Well, I, you know, just wanted to learn how to play a guitar. It was something I was gravitating toward as a child. And you know, my parents indulged me at that -- at that age, but my father, you know, was -- he came from a very hard-working background, of course raised during the Depression, and all the musicians that he knew at the time were people that were too lazy to work.
BECK: Right.
TRITT: And he basically said, you know, every musician I`ve ever met in my life was either a drunk or too lazy to work or both and they never had anything. And you know, he just -- I think it was -- it was his way of trying to protect me.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: And I was told, "No, you can`t do this" from a very, very young age.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: And I just -- I guess tried to basically show people this is a dream I have, and I really think I`ve got an opportunity to do something.
BECK: My -- my grandfather was raised in the Depression as well. My father and mother were very, very supportive. My whole family was.
My grandfather, however, in my career -- at 8 years old I wanted to be in broadcasting. And Grandpa, who was raised in the Depression and lived through the Depression, said the same thing: "You`ll never make any money. You can`t do that. Get a real job," et cetera, et cetera.
TRITT: Absolutely. Sure.
BECK: So you kind of understand that. Was your drive -- at any time when you were young -- because you started writing music at 14?
TRITT: Mm-hmm.
BECK: Was your drive at any time to not be your dad, not be that bus driver?
TRITT: Yes, I think there were parts of -- there were parts of my dad that I really -- I really respected. And you know, as a kid it`s funny, because you seem to -- at least I did. I seemed to find the things that I liked about my father that I thought were respectable and that were really good traits to follow, and then the things about him that I absolutely couldn`t stand.
And I tried to pattern myself -- as a child growing up, I tried to pattern myself after the good things and tried to avoid the bad things and haven`t always been successful with that. But I think a lot of the rebellion, a lot of the determination came from my father.
BECK: Do you remember any of the first songs that you first wrote?
TRITT: Oh, yes. I remember the first one for sure. I wrote...
BECK: Do a little. Just hum a little.
TRITT (singing): Spend a little time with me baby let me know exactly how you feel. I can`t read your mind. I don`t know what you`re thinking. Is there a love inside of you for me that`s real?
(speaking) And I wrote that on the lifeguard stand in Gulf Shores, Alabama, because I had gone with a girl who was -- I was dating a girl who was a graduating senior, and I thought I was really -- I thought I was dating her.
BECK: I had one of those myself.
TRITT: And I ended up going with her on her senior trip, lied to my parents, told them I was going fishing or something, and went down to Gulf Shores, Alabama, with her. And within a matter of, I think, 24 hours a day she had -- was out with this lifeguard and I was kind of by myself. And so I thought it was really kind of ironic that I ended up on top of a lifeguard stand at 4 a.m. in the morning writing this song.
But that was kind of the introduction. And I played it for people later on, and people said, "Oh, that`s actually pretty good. You should do more of that."
BECK: So your mom wanted -- your mom said no rock `n` roll; you`ve got to be gospel.
TRITT: Absolutely. I was the grandson -- her father was a Pentecostal pastor, and growing up in that environment, obviously, my mother...
BECK: Did you try to do that or did you...
TRITT: Yes, yes. Very, very hard to. I mean, I was in church every Sunday. My mother absolutely insisted upon it. And I was part of my grandfather`s church. Being part of the music scene at that time, trying to help with the children`s choir and help with their music program in the church.
BECK: So the name of the album is "The Storm".
TRITT: Mm-hmm.
BECK: Why "The Storm"?
TRITT: Well, actually, when we started putting this album together, we were signed to a record label that the moniker that we toured under, the record label was called Category 5. The moniker that we toured under when we first signed was Travis Tritt: A Storm is Coming.
We signed with the record label approximately two years before we knew we were going to release product. So they wanted to let people know that there was a new record label out there, and they also wanted to let people know that they`d signed me.
So they took some pictures of a live show we did down in Atlanta, and they -- they printed up advertisements, billboards, that sort of thing. And across the top it said "Travis Tritt: A Storm is Coming".
And after touring for two years under that moniker, I was talking with Randy Jackson in the studio when we were recording the album. And I said, "You know, wouldn`t it be really neat to be able to have a song on this album called `The Storm` and then be able to call the album `The Storm`?" It just seems like a natural marketing plan.
BECK: I have to tell you, I figured that was the answer. But I wondered if there was anything -- because you are a guy, and this is what I -- I like people who -- I`m a recovering alcoholic.
TRITT: Yes.
BECK: I crashed into the wall.
TRITT: Sure.
BECK: I like people who have a pivot point, because I think that they know themselves better than most. Because you have to.
TRITT: That`s exactly right. You definitely -- when you get to a point of where you realize, you know, I`ve got to really make some changes and then have the courage and the commitment to step forth and make those changes, I think it definitely -- it gives you a wake-up call. And it gives you, certainly, a recognition of who you are as a person, what you mean.
BECK: Right. OK. So let me -- I`m going to take a break early because I don`t want to -- I don`t want to interrupt this conversation about your personal storm and the pivot point in your life. We`ll be back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAPHIC: What reality television show used Travis Tritt`s "Girls Gone Wild" to help promote it? A, "America`s Next Top Model"; B, "The Bachelor"; C, "The Simple Life"; D, "My Super Sweet 16.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAPHIC: What reality television show used Travis Tritt`s "Girls Gone Wild" to help promote it? C, "The Simple Life".
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Travis Tritt, welcome to the program. I mean -- I mean, that question was for 4-year-olds. I mean, jeez, for the love of Pete.
OK. So you were married and divorced and married and divorced between 18 and 22 years old.
TRITT: Eighteen and 20 -- yes, somewhere in that area, 23.
BECK: Pretty -- pretty tight. Love, lust, stupidity, or fear?
TRITT: Probably a combination of all those things. I got married the first time, really, quite frankly, to prove all the people that were saying it never is going to work wrong and, really, to get out of the house. And I didn`t find that out, obviously, till in retrospect.
BECK: Yes, yes. Yes.
TRITT: And then the second time it was, I think, more of a rebound kind of thing.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: And you know, that -- I went out of that situation into a period of about probably eight years, ten years, whatever, of being totally single and being in this business and having success in this business. So...
BECK: Bad.
TRITT: Well...
BECK: That`s bad. Can I -- maybe I`m wrong. I`ve got to believe that being in music, on the road, having a life that is just never really anchored, making a lot of money, has got to be tough to hang onto your soul.
TRITT: Well, it definitely is. It`s -- it was a learning experience for me. Both good and bad. I mean, I found myself in a position at that time -- pivot points, things that we were talking about earlier. I found myself at the end of that period reaching that pivot point, because I make no bones about it.
I have been very, very honest and open about the fact that I took advantage of everything that that offered. Everything that it offered. Drugs, alcohol...
BECK: Tell me your worst day. Was there a pivot point -- was there a moment that you went, "Good God, I`ve turned into this"?
TRITT: It was more -- it was a gradual thing for me. But the pivot point was, for me, realizing being so just drained, tired, constantly at the party, constantly -- you know, it was a 24-hour party that went on forever. And you know, I had a great time, but the fact is that I started realizing that the music, which was really what got me there to start with, was starting to suffer.
I felt creatively, personally just sort of burned out, stifled, really kind of like man, you`ve just burned this candle at both ends for so long, there`s really just nothing left.
And at that point I loved this industry so much, loved doing the music so much -- and that`s what brought me to the party -- that I didn`t want to lose that. And I realized that there was a very, very good, strong chance that I was going to lose that if I kept up with the situation.
BECK: Ever a point -- ever a point when you were so out of control, when you were into the money, into the drugs, into the women, into everything else, the whole lifestyle, that you thought, jeez, to keep it, all right, I`ll wear the stupid cowboy hat?
TRITT: Nope. Never did it. I was always...
BECK: You`d done everything else but you won`t wear that damn cowboy hat?
TRITT: Well, you know, see, for me it was all about -- you know, you came in at the time -- in 1989 when I came in, I came in at the same time as class of `89, Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, all these other guys. And we all had a tremendous amount of success, and all those guys wore cowboy hats. You know, all those guys were real clean-cut. They fit in the image.
Me -- and I think a lot of people never really understood this -- I wasn`t creating something out of nothing. My image was very much a reflection of who I was. I was a product of the biker bars and the pool halls and the bowling alleys and all the places that I had played for so many years in clubs before I ever got a record deal in Nashville. So I was -- you know, that was who I was.
The thing is, when I came to Nashville, I had hair down to here and I had, you know, leather pants, and I looked totally the opposite of the rest of those guys.
And I think there was a lot of people in Nashville, and I think maybe even still to this day, because I don`t get the red carpet rolled out for me in Nashville like a lot of other people have. And I think one of the reasons is because a lot of people never got by the hair and the leather, which is really -- once again, it`s that -- people trying to put you into those boxes.
BECK: When you were wearing -- when you were working in an air- conditioning factory, how old were you?
TRITT: I was working for a heating and air-conditioning wholesale company. I started that job when I was 19.
BECK: And when did you say, "Jeez, man, what am I doing? I`m going to go play music"?
TRITT: I got a divorce when I was 20. And...
BECK: Did you take the job because of the marriage? Did you take it to...
TRITT: Yes. Because that`s what everybody did.
BECK: Yes, right.
TRITT: Everybody in my neck of the woods. You know, you go to high school. If you don`t go to college, as soon as you get out of high school, you go out and get a job, get married, settle down, that`s your life.
BECK: Right.
TRITT: And I was trying really hard to fit into that mold, you know, especially being from the background that I was raised in.
BECK: Do you think -- I have a sense that so many people do the things they think they`re supposed to do, don`t really follow their dreams, but they -- do you think that most people live in fear?
TRITT: I think a lot of people live in fear. You know, that`s one of the reasons why I`ve always been able to feel really good about just telling people what I`ve done in my life. You know, although it`s extremely difficult to explain to your kids at some point...
BECK: Sure.
TRITT: ... you know, about all the things that you`ve done wrong. Don`t do as I do, do as I say. And you know, that`s something we`re just all going to have to deal with.
But I think there`s a lot of people out there that do live in fear because they`re not honest with people.
BECK: Right.
TRITT: And my life`s always been an open book. I`m all about honesty. If you don`t want to he no the truth don`t ask me, because I`ll tell you.
BECK: Some people say -- because I`m the same way. I came to a point in my life where I thought, you know what? I`m going to play every card face up on the table. You want to know -- you want to know a question, I`ll answer it. I`m not going to lie to you.
I`m not going to live in fear any more. I`m not going to live in the fear of hiding something that someone could take and say, "Oh, yes? Well, you said or did this." And then it`s played against you. You know what I mean?
TRITT: Yes.
BECK: It becomes your -- your weaknesses become your strengths.
TRITT: And you know, I think fear comes from a lot of different places. I think fear comes sometimes from not having an understanding of who you are as a person.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: I think sometimes it`s...
BECK: Or feeling you that don`t -- that there isn`t anybody in there.
TRITT: Exactly.
BECK: Except this fake one.
TRITT: Exactly. And also I think there`s a lot of people out there that, quite frankly, are scared to make any sort of a stance or commitment for fear of ridicule.
BECK: Sure.
TRITT: So I mean, all those things, I mean, you just basically...
BECK: So what is the advice? Because I`ve heard from -- people have told me, "Glenn, you shouldn`t be so honest. You shouldn`t tell people all of this stuff."
And I`m like, "You know what? They don`t like me because of it, then we`re not really friends anyhow."
TRITT: You know...
BECK: What would your advice be to people who do live in fear? How do you get over it?
TRITT: Well, basically, you know, you never really learn how to swim until you jump in the water. And the fact is, is that once you -- yes, you are going to be ridiculed. I`ll tell you straight up. If you state your opinion, you`re going to polarize somebody.
BECK: Mm-hmm.
TRITT: On any subject. It doesn`t make any difference. Whether you`re talking about politics or whether or not to have capital punishment with your children or, you know...
BECK: Corporal.
TRITT: Corporal punishment. Sorry.
BECK: America, I`m pretty against that. You can talk me into it. But right now, I`d say no electric chair.
TRITT: There`s times you want to kill them. But the fact is, you know, whether you`re talking about any of those different things, if you take a stand sometimes, you`re going to polarize somebody.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: And the fact is some people choose not to do that. For me, I`ve always been the kind of guy that just -- you know, I state what I state. And you take the criticism and sort of let it be like water off a duck`s back. You can`t let it really stick to you. You know?
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: Because then if you...
BECK: You`ve got to care but not too much.
TRITT: Exactly.
BECK: OK. Back with Travis Tritt.
What happens when you take that big leap, and you decided to walk around some of the giant trees? What o you actually get to see? Back in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Travis Tritt and Paris Hilton. There`s a combination for you.
TRITT: Oh, man, we`re not going to throw me in that...
BECK: You are so not Hollywood. You are so not Hollywood.
TRITT: Oh, man. No. That`s a fact.
BECK: You -- because that video was actually used for "Simple Life".
TRITT: That`s right.
BECK: Did you ever meet...
TRITT: I actually met her one night in -- not long after we did that song, the video. She was at a club in Las Vegas, and I was out doing a television show out there, and met her just briefly. But...
BECK: Yes, yes. Well, fascinating.
Let me -- let me talk about something with some substance. One of the guys -- we were talking about how you were in the -- you were in the air- conditioning business and you said, "You know what? I`m going to pursue my dream."
TRITT: Mm-hmm.
BECK: You have had such a remarkable opportunity, because you took that leap. You have worked with Ray Charles, which -- one of your idols, right?
TRITT: Yes. Has more to do with what comes out of my mouth when I sing than anything.
BECK: Biggest thing he taught you?
TRITT: Just the fact that you should always be who you are. And once again, what we were talking about earlier.
He was one of those guys that absolutely, man, Ray told you what he thought. He was not scared of that.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: He knew exactly who he was. And he used to say -- he used to say to me all the time, he said, "Travis" -- he said, you know, he said, "I sing for free." He said, "What I get paid for is all this other stuff I have to deal with: the travel, being away from home for long periods of time, having to deal with all these employees that I`ve got, having to deal with all the business end and, you know, carrying a music/lyric case in one hand and a briefcase in the other and knowing how to use both of them well."
That was something he was -- he was a big stickler for. I learned a lot from him.
BECK: Yes. I saw him, oh, I don`t know -- probably 20 years ago I saw him in concert in Louisville, Kentucky. Boy, oh boy, you could, you know -- you know the performers that are faking it.
TRITT: That`s a fact.
BECK: You know the performers who -- there`s just something about somebody who, it`s just their life.
TRITT: That`s exactly right.
BECK: Johnny Cash, another guy.
TRITT: Johnny Cash I actually was introduced through my dear friend Marty Stewart. And John was a guy that -- I learned a tremendous amount from John because of the fact that he was -- he was one of those guys that understood who he was exactly. He knew exactly who Johnny Cash was.
BECK: Had to have.
TRITT: Big-time.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: But one of the most -- I mean, if you went up to him and told him how much you admired him or, you know, I`ve had people walk up to him and tell him, you know, "You`re like a god to me," and him say something -- you know, give the old "aw, shucks"...
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: ... and kick a rock and, you know, that sort of thing. But he knew in the back of his mind. He knew exactly who John was.
BECK: Real quick. We have a hard break here in about 30 seconds. Did you see the movie "Walk the Line"?
TRITT: Yes, I did.
BECK: Is that him?
TRITT: Parts. There was a lot of stuff they left out.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: A lot of stuff they left out.
BECK: But did he capture -- did Joaquin...
TRITT: I think he -- I think he captured that part. I think there was a lot of emphasis, though, on the -- obviously, on the tormented and the renegade side...
BECK: And not the spiritual side.
TRITT: Exactly. And, you know, Kris Kristofferson used to refer to Johnny Cash as a walking contradiction.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: And I think for a lot of reasons and that`s one of them.
BECK: I think if you`re a real spiritual guy sometimes to get there...
TRITT: You better believe it.
BECK: ... you`ve got to go through hell.
TRITT: That`s right.
BECK: Back in a second. Travis Tritt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: That`s nice.
TRITT: Yes. She`s awesome. I love her.
BECK: Travis Tritt, in your video, "Anymore," you pay a paraplegic.
TRITT: Yes.
BECK: Tell me about it.
TRITT: That was the scariest role I ever did, not because I was playing a paraplegic, but because I was playing a disabled American veteran. That was for a song called "Anymore," which was -- the record label at the time that I was with, they wanted me to do a video for that song, and I obviously disagreed with them. I didn`t think it needed one. I thought it was very self-explanatory.
We basically said, "Look, you come up with an idea that knocks me out, and I`ll do it, otherwise we`ll skip the video on this one, OK?" So they came up with this idea, one of these people they sent a treatment to. They came up with this idea of me playing this disabled American veteran.
And I was in Orlando, Florida -- I`ll never forget it -- when the script came, and I was supposed to be meeting some people at a restaurant for dinner. And I got there a little bit early, and I tore open this FedEx envelope, and I`m sitting there reading a script. And if anybody was looking at me, I`m sure they thought I was crazy, because I break into tears. I`m crying, in the middle of sitting at a table by myself in the middle of this restaurant, because it was such a moving script.
And it was obviously the story of a guy who goes off to war and comes back home in a wheelchair, obviously. And he`s married. He doesn`t want to leave the hospital to go home and see his wife because he feels he`s half the man he was when he left. And it was such a moving script.
But then I got scared, because I thought, "They want me to shoot this and play this in a veterans hospital." That was shot at the Alvin C. York Veterans Hospital in Murphysboro, Tennessee. Everybody in that video, with the exception of the gentleman that plays my buddy and the lady that plays my wife, everyone was either staff members or actually patients at that hospital, disabled vets.
And I just knew, Glenn, they were going to hate me, because I thought they were going at look at me and say, "First of all, who does this kid think he is?" You know, I was young then. "Who does this kid think he is coming in here and trying to play one of us? He`s never even been in the service; he`s never even been in the military; he`s certainly not disabled by any stretch of the imagination. So how`s he think he`s going to come in here and play one of us?"
I knew they were going to hate me. And I was -- man, I was petrified of it, right up to the morning that we got ready to start shooting the first scene. And I went in and sat down in a wheelchair in the gymnasium of that hospital, and immediately got surrounded by about eight guys who were all veterans in wheelchairs. And I thought, "Oh, no, here it comes."
And these guys I found very quickly were approaching me, first of all, to introduce themselves to me and, second of all, to help me to try to sit in the chair properly, to look the way that I should look, to tell me a few things about personal experiences that they had had, both before they were injured and afterwards. I mean, I`d known these guys like two minutes, and I`m hearing some inside stories that I don`t feel like I deserve to be hearing.
BECK: I was down in Washington, D.C., two months ago, and I met a guy who I will never, ever forget. Sergeant Stubey (ph) is his name. And he was in Afghanistan, and he had a rocket go through the back of his Humvee and through him. And the fuel spilled and burned his insides. He`s only got a quarter of his stomach, a quarter of his intestines. He had a hole inside of him for a year that had to be packed. His wife packed it. The first time she saw him -- I mean, it was grueling.
TRITT: Yes.
BECK: And she passed out. Within two days, she was pushing the doctors and the nurses out of the way and saying, "This is my husband." I have never, never met more amazing people in the quantity that you will meet when you meet the guys who are serving our country. And I know this sounds patronizing and it`s politically correct to say, but it`s true.
TRITT: Well, you know, there are several things about that. First of all, I`ll tell you that, as a result of doing that video, we went back a few weeks later after we had shot that video, and we went back to the Alvin C. York hospital there, and debuted it in front of all of those people that were actually in it.
And I looked out -- I didn`t even look at the screen the whole time it was being played. I just looked out in the audience, and I saw the tears, and I saw the emotion, and I felt a bond with these people. And immediately, from that point, we went to Washington, D.C. And I just basically went in and I said, "Look, I don`t know what I can do or how I can be a part of this or how I can help, but I feel a bond to these people."
And as a result of that, I had the opportunity to serve as the celebrity chairman, spokesperson for the Disabled American Veterans Association for about four years, and as a result of that had an opportunity to tour hospitals all over the country.
And that was both...
BECK: They`re different.
TRITT: It was good and bad. I`ll tell you what, like last year when all the stories came out about Walter Reed and all the things that were happening there, that really didn`t come as a surprise to me, because I saw some pretty horrifying -- it`s deplorable how we treat our veterans in this country, quite frankly.
BECK: Well, buckle up because that`s the way we treat our heroes. I can`t wait until we all get treated like that.
TRITT: And that`s the other thing about that, too. Really, it bothers me tremendously, especially now when I hear comments from the left coast and the entertainment industry, about how we support the troops, we support the troops, we support the troops. And, in fact, you know for a fact they really don`t.
And I just -- you know, my experience serving as a part of that organization and getting to actually go around and sit down, and talk with, and shake hands with, and get to know some people that if you looked up the word "hero" in the dictionary, you`d see their picture next to it.
So as a result of that, it was -- I had more people -- I had people thank me, and I said, "No, no, no, please, don`t thank me. I got more out of that experience than anybody."
BECK: Oh, yeah. So then help me on this, because you have been so dedicated with the troops and what you`ve just said about Hollywood. But then you go out and you work with John Cougar Mellencamp, who -- not really a guy who is perceived by many as, you know, supportive of the troops or...
TRITT: Well, what you have to do is you have to look at that song that we did. And, actually, the reason that John was a person that we wanted to do that song, the song was just prior to the last elections. And it was a song called "What Say You."
And, basically, it was a song that says, you know, I have my beliefs. I`m not trying to say I`m smarter than you; I`m not trying to say that my beliefs are always correct. I`m saying this is what I feel, and you tell me what you feel, and between the two of us, let`s see if we can`t find some common ground.
BECK: So this was an intentional trying to bring two people together. God bless you. That`s great. Good for him, too.
TRITT: Because what it was -- you know, I made no secret about the fact that I`m a conservative. He`s made no secret about the fact that he`s more liberal.
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: And the two of us knew where we stood, but we thought that the song brought the two of us, who were polarized, together, and at a time it just seemed right, because it seemed like at a time when the country was more divided than it had ever been.
You know, I`d heard all of these stories prior to the last election about how the red states and the blue states, and it`s so much different than anybody could ever remember in the history of this country. And so I really thought it was a perfect time and a perfect situation for us to get an opportunity to work together and maybe try to find some common ground.
BECK: I`m concerned -- I mean, you watch the show, so you know some of the stuff that I`m concerned about on -- I think we`re just ripping each other apart at the seams, and we are being pushed farther and farther to the edges, where I think most people in this country are standing there, not in the middle necessarily on policies, but on principles. And, I mean, you see so many people every year. Do you think we`re getting better or worse?
TRITT: I think -- I don`t know. There`s times to me when it seems like that we`re getting pushed farther and father apart, largely because of the fact that political parties, I think, really more than anything else, I think there`s a tremendous focus on people standing up -- it`s almost like, in the Christian world, I`ll give you an example of this.
A few years ago, being from the background that I`m from, people, instead of coming up to you and saying, "I`m a Christian," would say first, "I`m a Baptist," or "I am a Methodist," or "I am a Assembly of God," or I am a whatever. And then they would say, "I`m a Christian." It was almost like denomination was more important than the Christianity was.
And I think, in the political system right now, we`re really kind of along those same lines. People are so much more focused on saying, "I`m a Democrat," or, "I`m a Republican," or I`m a this, or I`m a that, and I think that those things are kind of pushing us in opposite directions.
BECK: Because we forget we`re Americans.
TRITT: Exactly.
BECK: We`re Americans.
TRITT: And there`s really a lot of common ground, I think, that could be achieved if we are able to get past all of the, quote, unquote, "political"...
BECK: Yes, people just trying to grab power, and money, and control, and everything else.
TRITT: And, once again, that`s something I relate to, because once again trying to break out of those boxes that people try to put you in. Same thing.
BECK: I know. OK, back with Travis Tritt on success, family, and balance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RANDY JACKSON, JUDGE, "AMERICAN IDOL": Now, this is going to alarm everyone, but Randy Travis. Hey. What? What? And we actually liked Randy-Travis.
TRITT: We do. We love Randy-Travis.
JACKSON: He`s a great guy, great talent.
TRITT: There you go.
JACKSON: Hey, we didn`t even think about it.
TRITT: See? That`s it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: How do you describe success now? I mean, that must have been surreal to be sitting, you know, with Randy -- did he say "a little pitchy for me, dog," at all?
TRITT: The dog part for sure.
BECK: Yeah, some of the things that you have done in your life and the success that you`ve had, what was the moment where you said, "Wow"?
TRITT: Well, I tell you, for me, I describe success, first of all, as being able to do things because you want to, not because you have to. There`s a tremendous amount to be said for that. And I`m at a real good point in my life right now.
I don`t do -- I have a basic three criteria that I use for everything that I do at this point in my life. And I have to have two of the three met before I do them. Those three things are: It has to be something that elevates the career in some way or another or takes my music to someplace where it`s never had an opportunity to go before. It has to be something maybe that pays me a tremendous amount of money, undeniable amount of money. Or it has to be a whole lot of fun. And if two of those three -- it has to be two. It can`t just be one. If two of those three criteria are met, then I do it.
BECK: So why the hell are you sitting here?
(LAUGHTER)
TRITT: It`s fun talking to you.
BECK: That`s only one of the three.
TRITT: Well, yes, but it`s taken me to some places that I wouldn`t normally get to go.
BECK: Yeah, on a cable news program. It ain`t all that much. OK, are you a happy man?
TRITT: Oh, man, extremely happy.
BECK: Secret to happiness?
TRITT: I think, first of all, finding out who you are as a person and finding out that...
BECK: Let me stop you there. Can you be happy without knowing who you are?
TRITT: I don`t think so.
BECK: Can you know who you are without the downward spikes, without trials?
TRITT: I don`t think so. I don`t think you can ever get to the mountaintop without going through a few valleys. It`s just the way it works. And for me, you know, all of that time -- that`s why I said earlier, I think the time that I spent -- you know, all the womanizing, and all the partying and this, that, and the other, in a way, I`m sort of thankful for that, because now, you know, I`m celebrating a 10-year anniversary this year with my wife. We`ve been together 10 years.
BECK: I know. Congratulations.
TRITT: Thank you. And we`ve actually been together...
BECK: I mean, what the hell is she doing with you? Look at that. I mean, no offense but...
TRITT: I married way over my head.
BECK: Way over your head. That`s the money talking there, I`ll tell you that.
TRITT: Dog, marry up. But, you know, for me, it`s all about -- you know, I know I`ve got friends of mine, people that I know, that really feel like they missed out on something at some point in their lives, and maybe feel trapped or maybe feel, you know, in a situation that they don`t feel comfortable in because they didn`t get a chance to, quote, unquote, "sow their wild oats" or do this or do that.
And for me, I know exactly what I`m missing: nothing. Because I lived it, and I think it makes me a better father. I think it makes me a better husband, because I know now what`s out there. And I can`t say, "Oh, I never experienced that. I never had a chance to do that." I did it all, all of it. And, you know, I think it made me certainly a stronger person, hopefully a better person.
BECK: When we called you -- I don`t know when we set this up -- but just recently we called you and said, you know, we wanted to bring you in, we want to put you up at a nice hotel and everything else. And, you know, I mean, it`s CNN. It would have been a Holiday Inn at least. It wouldn`t have been the Express. It would have been the full-fledged Holiday Inn. And you said, "No, no, no, no, I`ll just stay in my bus."
My first thought was, "How sweet is the bus? It`s got to be pretty nice." What everybody said in the office is, "Glenn, this is who this guy is. He`s just like no, no, I don`t put anybody out." How have you stayed connected? Is it your wife? Is it your kids? How have you stayed connected?
TRITT: Wife and kids, for sure, but even more important than that, I think, good family. You know, in spite of all the negativity that I may have dealt with as a child growing up, the fact of the matter is, look, my parents were both -- there was no question in my mind that they were both doing everything in their power always to look out for my best interests, to look out for my well-being.
And there`s no question that both my parents are as proud of me now and as happy with what I`ve been able to accomplish and, you know, just -- they taught me, I think more than anything else, they taught me: Don`t ever get above your raising. And they still to this day...
BECK: What does that mean?
TRITT: Well, get above your raising. There`s an expression in the South that we use a lot, getting too big for your britches. You start thinking -- you start buying your own ticket, thinking you`re Mr. Superstar, let me tell you something. If I ever went around my parents -- both of them still living, thank God -- if I went around to either one of my parents ever with some sort of attitude that they didn`t recognize, somebody besides Travis shows up...
BECK: Yes.
TRITT: ... looks like Travis, sounds like Travis, but it`s not Travis, because that`s not the son we raised, they would not hesitate one second to snatch me back into reality and bring me back down to Earth. And I think that`s being -- being grounded is really important for me.
BECK: Did you ever talk to your dad and say, "Dad, you`ve told me I shouldn`t do this, I couldn`t do this. You know, everybody you met was a drunk or lazy"? Did you ever have...
TRITT: I didn`t have to have that conversation, because, first of all, having that conversation I felt like would be sort of me sort of trying to rub his face in it. I think it was very obvious to me, very soon after we started having success, that my father realized that he was mistaken. And, once again, I don`t think he...
BECK: I don`t think it was -- yes.
TRITT: It was never malicious. It was never malicious.
BECK: There`s a difference between doing the right thing and trying, in your level of understanding or whatever, saying this is what the right thing is, and then being malicious about it.
TRITT: Absolutely.
BECK: And, obviously, with the man that you have turned out to be, they`re good folks.
TRITT: Well, they are.
BECK: Final moments we have. We have some rapid-fire questions for country legend Travis Tritt, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: All right, back with some rapid-fire questions. So answer them as quickly as you can, and we`ll get through.
TRITT: OK, putting me on the spot.
BECK: Yes. What would the 44-year-old Travis Tritt tell the 22-year- old Travis Tritt?
TRITT: Stay focused. Don`t be misled by all these lies and all these different things. There`s a lot of distractions out there. Just keep your eye on what you want to do.
BECK: Biggest lie?
TRITT: Biggest lie?
BECK: Life. Life`s biggest lie.
TRITT: Life`s biggest lie? That money brings happiness.
BECK: Oh, boy. You see? You see that in Hollywood that that`s not true, don`t you?
TRITT: Yes.
BECK: Best piece of advice you`ve ever gotten.
TRITT: To basically always follow your dream, and don`t be afraid of criticism, don`t be afraid of negativity, just go after what you see. Keep your eye on the prize.
BECK: This one came from one of the writers upstairs that has lived in New York their whole life. What the hell is honky-tonk?
TRITT: Honky-tonk, let`s see. Honky-tonk, juke joint, that would be a reference to some of these places down...
BECK: A kick-butt bar?
TRITT: Yes, down where I come from. Yes.
BECK: Let`s see. Are you a success because of failure, or are you not a failure because of success?
TRITT: Well, it depends on what you would determine success is. I say that I am a success because I was given a wonderful gift. And I don`t know why I got it. I still don`t know. But the man upstairs obviously smiled down on me at some point and gave me a wonderful gift that, fortunately, I`m able to share.
BECK: How much does failure play a role in your life?
TRITT: Failure, obviously it plays a tremendous role in that what it`s taught me. It`s taught me that basically, you know, you can get back up again.
BECK: It`s kind of an Edison kind of thing. I failed creating the light bulb 600 times, but it taught me something every time.
TRITT: It`s like I teach my child right now, my son, my middle son, every now and then, I get an opportunity to go out to his baseball games and even got a chance to coach a few, like first base, you know, something like that. And right now he`s at that point where he`s really good at bat, but when it comes to catching, he`s a little scared of the ball. He does that a lot.
And I was telling him the other day, I was out throwing the ball with him in the yard, and I said, "Son, don`t be scared of it." I said, "Listen, let me tell you something, I`ll just go ahead and tell you. You`re going to get hit in the face with the ball. Before this is all over with, trust me." I said, "But look. Look at your dad. I mean, I got hit in the face a lot, and I`m still pretty."
(LAUGHTER)
BECK: Travis Tritt, thank you, sir.
TRITT: Thank you.
BECK: The CD is "The Storm." It`s in stores now. Thanks for being here.
TRITT: Thank you for having me.
BECK: Good night, America.
END
