Ernest is willing to help, no matter what your background is musically. The Nashville-based artist and songwriter recently returned to the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, and he had a story and anecdote for just about everything. He spoke to us about how rewarding it is to give joy to others through music, the responsibility he felt producing a Toby Keith demo after the country legend’s death, and what it’s like working with artists like Jelly Roll. And non-artists like Pat McAfee. Whether you call yourself a fan of Pat McAfee or not, there’s no denying that the 38-year-old has really carved out a lane for himself. He flipped a punting career in the NFL into a sports media empire, and now, he’s one of the faces of ESPN, all while having the freedom to do whatever he wants on ESPN. Some of that freedom led McAfee to become interested in making music. Pat has previously called his music venture a “crazy addition” to his life, and said that his journey into music production has been as much fun as he’s ever had. That’s probably because he’s working with one of the most talented hitmakers in the entire music industry. Ernest and Pat McAfee were introduced to one another through Jelly Roll, and Ernest told us that the two of them immediately hit it off: “When I was on tour with Jelly Roll, he was like, ‘I’m gonna go do Pat McAfee this morning if you want to roll with me.’ I rolled with him. I was wearing my ‘Legalize Country Music’ jacket. Me and Pat bro-ed down. Jelly connected us. Pat had mentioned he wanted to do music and Jelly was like, ‘I gotta connect you with Ernest.’ Which is crazy. I guess I’m the guy for that.” And during that initial meeting, Ernest and Pat go along so well that the country artist ended up giving him his custom, one-of-one jacket, which still sits on the back of McAfee’s chair to this day (tune in to The Pat McAfee Show to see it). After building that relational foundation, McAfee felt comfortable reaching out to Ernest and asking for help with some music ideas he had. The “Flower Shops” singer says that Pat McAfee might not be your typical artist, but the sports personality does have some writing ability: “He’s not a musician, but he’s definitely a fan of music and he’s been writing lyrics for years. His phone is so full of notes.” Ernest said that before he got involved, McAfee was feeding his lyrics into an AI songwriting tool. Those gave Pat a good idea of what he was working with, but paled in comparison to what Ernest and some others were able to bring to the table. Pat and Ernest first worked together to release a song titled “Dookie,” and the country artist says they busted out eight or nine songs that could be perfectly inserted into any sports video game: “We’re having a blast. We went in and cut eight or nine songs with a band. Pat flew into town and cut vocals. We were coaching him through it. He’s got songs… some of them are ridiculous, but they’re true story type s*** that Pat McAfee is writing. His story is insane. There’s a lot of that struggle coming up and beating the odds stuff. You could hear it as you’re creating a player on Madden. Any EA Sports game should have a Pat McAfee song on it. It’s locker room hype s***.” And if you’ve listened to what Pat has released already, and like what you hear, the good news is that there’s more to come. Ernest says just before he sat down with us, he and the former NFL punter were chatting about continuing their partnership: “We were just texting and talking about doing another session.” @whiskeyriff Check out the new Whiskey Riff Raff podcast episode with @Ernest out now. #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff #patmcafee ♬ original sound Whiskey Riff To hear more Ernest on his connection (and musical projects) with Pat McAfee, make sure to download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or click here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Cheers, y’all. Audio Video The post “His Story Is Insane”: Ernest Details Pat McAfee’s Surprising Songwriting Skills & Their Plan To Release More Music Together first appeared on Whiskey Riff.