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Larry Fleet Says Conversations With Fans & Everyday People Often Turn Into Song Ideas: “They’re Just Telling Me Their Story”
Larry Fleet actually has two jobs. Officially, he’s a country music singer, and unofficially, he’s a counselor for his fans.
Larry Fleet joined the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast to talk new music, faith, sobriety, and to dive into some downright wild stories. He shared how he connects with fans around the world, and why he still writes drinking songs despite stepping away from alcohol. Larry also opened up about the role God plays in his music… and tells us about the UFO he saw, his ghost encounter, and why he believes in Bigfoot (it gets really interesting at the end of the episode).
He’s a steward of good songwriting and someone who sees himself as a force moving country music in the right direction. Fleet has a multitude of songs that put faith and God front and center, and that’s an intentional move by him. The country singer’s main motivation is just his own relationship with the Lord, and hoping to help lead others to Him. But another, sub-motive is to hopefully shift the subject matter of what country music is usually based upon:
“With country music, the drinking and the partying and hell raising has been glorified. Where you don’t glorify God or glorify these other things. So I try to write to write the opposite of that.
I think that radio and country music and everything else has really glorified the partying and the drinking. That’s not really country music. What country music was back in the day was very much gospel influence and it was on family and love on all these different things. We’ve kind of steered away from things that actually mean something.”
Is that a hot take? I personally don’t think so, but I suppose each country music fan has their own opinion on the current state – and current focus – of modern country music.
For Fleet, who has been sober for over four years, he’s simply entered a time in his life where he feels as though he understands what is most important. He stated that he no longer needs to party to have fun, but that he can still draw upon past experiences to curate a hit drinking or party song if he needed to.
However, Fleet is very aware that his fans really cherish his work because it’s vulnerable, and often shines a light on the importance of a relationship with God. Because he pens and sings song about faith so often, we asked if that leads to fans coming up to him and spilling everything about their lives to him:
He immediately answered with this:
“Lord, yes. I’m a counselor most of the time. It’s cool because talking to people is fun. I like talking, but I like talking about (real) stuff. I like hearing about what other people are doing in their life.”
Larry Fleet says that his career has allowed for him to meet plenty of “cool people.” His one example was NFL legend and broadcaster Troy Aikman recently hitting him up. Even though his wife didn’t know who Aikman was, it was a surreal experience for him. That being said, Fleet is actually more drawn to conversing with those everyday people that he crosses paths with:
“I’m really drawn to the guy shoeing horses down the road, or the guy on the skid steer, or the guy pouring concrete. I like talking to those guys and seeing what they are into. I’m drawn to the normal guy, the normal person. They come up to me and they’re drawn to me because I sing ‘Working Man’ and ‘Where I Find God.’ I sing everything about their day.”
He sure does.
Fleet then jokingly talked about how he was going to get a shirt made that says “Your dad’s favorite singer,” because that’s what most of the younger crowd comes up to him and says. The “Where I Find God” singer doesn’t mind. He’s just happy and grateful to be where he is in his career (Fleet excitedly mentioned that he just bought his first ever new truck recently), and in his eyes, every interaction with a fan is an opportunity for a new song:
“Not only am I talking to people just to hear about their life, I’m getting song ideas all day long. They’re just telling me their story and I’m good at making things rhyme. I can twist that around and bring a hook in and sing it in a way – God gave me a good voice – that definitely helps me out. I love talking to people, and yes, (singing about faith) opens them up and they feel comfortable to come talk to me.”
So if you ever get the chance to talk to Larry Fleet, just know that he’s listening, and he’s listening so well that your life story could be flipped into a country music hit.
If you want to hear more from Larry Fleet, make sure to download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or by clicking here.
We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts.
Cheers, y’all.
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