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[00:00:00] As somebody who grew up uh with cowboys [00:00:02] all around me and ranchers, I I am [00:00:04] steeped in it, steeped in the culture, [00:00:06] and I love it. And uh I'm so I'm really [00:00:08] excited about this next guest, Jeffrey [00:00:10] Steel. He's a Hall of Fame songwriter. [00:00:13] Uh he's written hits like Cowboy and Me [00:00:16] uh by Tim McGrath, Rascal Flat, What's [00:00:18] Flats, What Hurts the Most, and My Wish. [00:00:21] Um Montgomery Gentry, My Town, and Hell [00:00:24] Yeah. Uh it's so I mean this guy has uh [00:00:28] done some absolute bangers, some huge [00:00:30] huge hits. And he released a song called [00:00:33] A Voice. Uh and it mentions Charlie. It [00:00:36] was a beautiful tribute to Charlie. And [00:00:38] when he released it, I got this song [00:00:40] sent to me by about I'm not kidding [00:00:42] maybe 15, maybe 20 people, uh saying we [00:00:45] should have him on. So I'm going to play [00:00:46] his song and we'll welcome Jeffrey [00:00:48] Steel. 385. [00:00:51] We're the coal miners, the firefighters, [00:00:54] the Charlie Kirk choir, all lighting our [00:00:57] lighters. Finally waking up. Yeah, we've [00:00:59] had enough of the liars [00:01:03] setting the world on fire. [00:01:10] >> So, Jeffrey Steel, Hall of Fame [00:01:12] songwriter, uh, welcome to the Charlie [00:01:14] Kirk show. It's good to have you. [00:01:15] >> What an honor to be here. Thank you for [00:01:17] having me. [00:01:18] Well, it's an honor that you chose to [00:01:20] honor uh Charlie in that way. And to [00:01:23] just tell us, it felt like the right [00:01:25] time to do this interview because we [00:01:27] just had our All-American halftime show [00:01:30] and millions tuned in. We're still [00:01:32] working on a final number, 40, 50 [00:01:34] million people watch that thing. We had [00:01:36] obviously a bunch of country acts and [00:01:38] Kid Rock even did uh Tell You Can't. So, [00:01:41] it felt like the right time to do this. [00:01:42] Tell us what inspired you to to do this [00:01:44] song and and this tribute to Charlie. [00:01:48] >> Well, I mean, the message of the song [00:01:50] speaks to what you're just talking [00:01:51] about, the numbers you're talking about. [00:01:53] People do feel unspoken for and and we [00:01:56] just saw it with these numbers that [00:01:58] you've got. Um, the song was written [00:02:01] about me wanting to try to make a point [00:02:05] of talking about the people that are [00:02:08] unspoken for and the people that are are [00:02:10] always neglected in this society. And [00:02:13] after Charlie was assassinated, I went [00:02:15] after the song was written, I went to a [00:02:18] hometown vigil in Franklin, Tennessee, [00:02:20] my hometown. And I showed up with a [00:02:22] bunch of friends. And there were 5,000 [00:02:24] people in the town square overflowing [00:02:27] with people just praying and singing. [00:02:29] >> There was no statues coming down. There [00:02:31] was no flags being lit. There was nobody [00:02:33] cussing and screaming and fighting. It [00:02:35] was just people praying for a better [00:02:37] outcome and and a representation of who [00:02:40] Charlie really was. And and I just as a [00:02:43] songwriter, I was just standing there [00:02:44] watching all of that happen. I was like, [00:02:47] man, I've got to put this in the song. [00:02:48] It's a Charlie Kirk choir out here. And [00:02:51] and and I just felt like it had to go in [00:02:53] the song. [00:02:55] >> And I got thrown at me for that. [00:02:58] >> Did I was going to say, what's the [00:03:00] reaction been um from your release of [00:03:03] this? Because you're really well known [00:03:05] in that community. I mean, if people in [00:03:07] the at home don't know who you are, [00:03:09] everybody in Nashville knows who you [00:03:11] are. So, it's a big deal. [00:03:14] >> And a lot of a lot of people um heard [00:03:17] the song and the first reaction was, [00:03:18] well, we can we can help you with this [00:03:21] song, but you're going to have to change [00:03:22] a couple of the lines. And I was like, I [00:03:25] wonder which ones they want me to [00:03:26] change. And [00:03:28] >> I I said, no, I can't I can't do that [00:03:30] because that that's that's my job as a [00:03:31] songwriter. I write what I see. I write [00:03:33] the truth and I try to represent that [00:03:35] the best I can. And I I I just figured I [00:03:38] could work this song on my own, [00:03:39] grassroots if I couldn't get the help [00:03:41] from the industry that was kind of [00:03:43] frowning upon what I wrote about. So, I [00:03:46] just figured I'd try to go for it myself [00:03:48] with the help of some people like John [00:03:49] Rich uh and others. Uh uh I I got a few [00:03:53] platforms where I could launch this [00:03:54] thing and get it heard and with [00:03:56] accompanying, you know, accompanying [00:03:58] video and next thing I know I'm I'm off [00:04:01] to the races. uh uh with a hit song on [00:04:03] my hands because people want to hear it. [00:04:06] >> People do feel like they're not spoken [00:04:07] for and they do need a voice. [00:04:09] >> Thank you. Thank you for your courage. [00:04:11] And I I think you know Blake's probably [00:04:13] going to have some thoughts on this too, [00:04:14] but you know when we went to about when [00:04:16] we went set about doing the halftime [00:04:18] show, we we hit some serious push back [00:04:22] from venues, from not really artists. A [00:04:26] lot of the artists were really excited [00:04:27] to be a part of it, but then their [00:04:29] agents and their managers would get [00:04:30] involved and they'd be looking at dollar [00:04:32] signs and then there was some sort of [00:04:34] hesitancy. [00:04:35] >> Explain that piece of the industry that [00:04:37] people maybe don't understand. You know, [00:04:40] why would there be reticence to use the [00:04:41] name Charlie Kirk in a song? Why would [00:04:43] there be reticence to be a part of [00:04:44] something like the halftime show? And [00:04:46] when we push through and we get 40 to 50 [00:04:48] million eyeballs on it, does that change [00:04:50] things? [00:04:52] Charlie taught us that strong [00:04:54] communities are built through mutual [00:04:56] understanding. Tik Tok believes in those [00:04:59] same values, places where people can [00:05:01] share what they know and invite others [00:05:03] to join in the conversation. Like a [00:05:05] father sharing his meaningful life [00:05:07] advice with the world. Or a teacher [00:05:09] explaining math in ways that make it [00:05:11] click. Someone sharing their favorite [00:05:13] books with millions of others. Different [00:05:14] worlds connected by curiosity. Because [00:05:17] learning doesn't belong to one person or [00:05:19] one classroom. It belongs to everyone [00:05:22] willing to listen and share. [00:05:28] >> Yeah. I I feel like, you know, they're [00:05:31] they're pushing a narrative as hard as [00:05:34] they can and it started a few years ago [00:05:36] with the national anthem and taking a [00:05:38] knee and and the public the public [00:05:40] immediately showed what they thought [00:05:42] about that. And you've you've got [00:05:44] basically a a a country that that so [00:05:47] many people are wa everybody in the [00:05:48] world's watching this game, but but the [00:05:51] American audience is so vast and what [00:05:54] they what they want to see on that field [00:05:57] is a representation of what they feel [00:05:59] America is. And I I I keep I think that [00:06:02] every year this thing gets crazier, more [00:06:04] outlandish, more sex driven, less less [00:06:07] morality, less less about faith, less [00:06:10] about country. And I just think there [00:06:12] there's quite a few hundred million [00:06:14] Americans out there that have just said [00:06:16] enough. We've had enough. And and that [00:06:18] that was the reason to try to be a voice [00:06:20] for those voices that are just being [00:06:22] completely silenced by by the music [00:06:25] industry. Uh um for me to try to get [00:06:27] this song out. I can give you a great [00:06:28] example. Um, the week after I released [00:06:31] this song, Bruce Springsteen comes out [00:06:33] with an anthem about Minneapolis and [00:06:36] it's an anti-Trump and it's an anti-ICE [00:06:39] lyric and it's immediately embraced and [00:06:42] and and wrapped around and and it goes [00:06:44] to number one where my song I they won't [00:06:46] even they tell me it's too rightwing. [00:06:48] They can't play it on the radio. And [00:06:50] that's what we're up against as a [00:06:52] conservative uh uh uh uh a music [00:06:55] listener. You can't find the music [00:06:57] unless I find a way I have to creep and [00:07:00] crawl to find a way to get it out there [00:07:02] to the public that really wants to hear [00:07:04] it. And and the main thing is Andrew, [00:07:05] everywhere I've gone playing this song [00:07:08] live before I released it, everywhere I [00:07:10] went and played the song live, people [00:07:11] are on their feet. They're just [00:07:13] immediately on their feet cheering and [00:07:15] and I knew that I knew that I was [00:07:17] hitting a nerve. And so so to have them [00:07:19] push back at me uh and not and not help [00:07:22] me promote it was it was a tough thing [00:07:24] for a guy that's been around for 45 [00:07:25] years is a tough thing, but but you [00:07:27] know, you just have to find ways and and [00:07:29] you know, people want to hear it, so you [00:07:31] keep pushing for the truth. That's all [00:07:32] you can do. [00:07:34] >> Blake is our resident huge massive [00:07:37] country fan. Any thoughts, Blake? [00:07:39] >> I mean, I I'm very glad. No, I'm I am [00:07:43] very glad about about the reaction. And [00:07:45] it's just, you were saying, Andrew, like [00:07:47] you grew up around ranchers. I grew [00:07:48] around a lot of ranchers, too. It just [00:07:50] did it did not [00:07:51] >> I didn't, you know, like Charlie, I was [00:07:53] not born with the country gene in my [00:07:55] brain. Uh, but I'm very I'm very glad [00:07:59] that you've uh shown that love for [00:08:01] Charlie Jeffrey. I'm very glad your song [00:08:02] is is a hit for that reason. And I'm I'm [00:08:05] glad the All-American Halftime Show was [00:08:06] a hit. If people want to hear country [00:08:08] music, they should hear country music. [00:08:10] >> I just like go put on rock music [00:08:12] instead. [00:08:13] >> Absolutely. And I think I think to to [00:08:15] put it down to to to to put down the [00:08:17] halftime show and to like to put down [00:08:19] somebody's work. I mean, this is [00:08:22] America. It's it's free speech. We [00:08:23] should be able to get it all out there. [00:08:25] Either we get all of it out there or we [00:08:26] get none of it out there. And that the [00:08:28] one thing that Charlie was was a voice [00:08:30] for for everybody. He was a voice for [00:08:33] everybody that felt like they didn't [00:08:34] have a voice. That was his whole mission [00:08:36] to to bring what he knew and just try to [00:08:39] bring some common sense to everything he [00:08:41] spoke about and let people have a [00:08:43] microphone and have a voice to speak [00:08:45] their minds. And that's really was the [00:08:47] basis of the song. So there was no way I [00:08:49] couldn't include that in the song. I had [00:08:51] to speak to him and what he did for for [00:08:53] young Americans. [00:08:54] >> Good. Good for you, Jeffrey. Um, so how [00:08:57] do people get the song? How do they [00:08:59] support you? 30 seconds left, Jeffrey. [00:09:02] >> Okay. through all the traditional means, [00:09:03] whether it's iTunes, Spotify, all the [00:09:05] streaming services, you can go to [00:09:06] jefferssteel.com and that will link you [00:09:09] right to it. That's probably the easiest [00:09:10] way. But, uh, and look for me. I'll be [00:09:13] around all around the country playing [00:09:14] this song. Um, but it's available all [00:09:17] your normal streaming, Spotify, Pandora, [00:09:20] all of them, anywhere, iTunes, and [00:09:23] jeeoff steel.com. [00:09:24] >> A voice. Be a voice. [00:09:27] >> Yeah. Amen. God bless you. I mean, [00:09:29] you're a legend in the space. And uh [00:09:31] thank you for honoring our friend in the [00:09:33] way that you have and for standing firm, [00:09:35] keeping his name in there. God bless [00:09:36] you, Jeffrey. [00:09:37] >> Thank you. Thank you for giving me a [00:09:38] minute. I appreciate you guys.