Find out how unplugging and getting out in nature helped Brett Eldredge soothe his anxiety and spark creativity for his latest record, Sunday Drive.
Country singer Brett Eldredge was at the top of his game. He had released four chart-topping records and performed with stars like Taylor Swift and Blake Shelton. But life as a touring musician took a toll on him. Brett felt like he was spending all of his time worrying about the next performance. He decided to take a vacation from stress and social media to reconnect with the outdoors. In this episode, find out how unplugging and getting out in nature helped Brett soothe his anxiety and spark creativity for his latest record, Sunday Drive.
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Shelby Stanger: The presenting sponsor for this season of Wild Ideas Worth Living is Ford. Their 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is the SUV that'll get you to your outdoor adventures. It's an off road SUV built for the thrill seeker, the sightseer, and the day tripper. This SUV has many available features to help you get to your destination, with enough ground clearance, off-roading capabilities, and purposeful design that includes easy to clean surfaces and plenty of interior space. This SUV is your gateway to the outdoors. The Ford Bronco Sport is equipped to help you get out there, to the mountain ranges, the woodland trails, and to the coast. You can learn more about what the Bronco Sport has to offer at ford.com or in our show notes.
Shelby Stanger: Are we going to be able to play some of It's Going To Be a Good Day on this podcast?
Brett Eldredge: I would have to get my guitar.
Shelby Stanger: Go get it. Let's do it.
Brett Eldredge: I'll just play you a chorus.
Shelby Stanger: I love it.
Brett Eldredge: All right. (singing). There you go.
Shelby Stanger: That beautiful, soulful voice is country singer, Brett Eldredge. To be honest, I'm not a huge country music fan. But listening to Brett sing, I am becoming a total convert. It's not just me who feels this way. Brett is a big deal in the country music world. He's gone on tour with huge stars like Blake Shelton and Taylor Swift. But a few years ago, Brett was feeling like all the time he spent on the road was draining his soul. He also felt like his desire for perfectionism was making him anxious. Brett needed to reset, so he decided to unplug and get outside.
Shelby Stanger: I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living.
Shelby Stanger: Brett performs in front of 40,000 person audiences, and you can even find gossipy articles about him in the tabloids. He's also a bit of a heartthrob. Fans love him. Before we dive into his decision to go off the grid, I asked Brett to take us back to when and how his singing career began.
Shelby Stanger: You know, you're turning me onto country music with your voice. You have a great voice.
Brett Eldredge: Thank you.
Shelby Stanger: Really curious. When did you get started singing? And tell us a little bit about your country music career.
Brett Eldredge: Yeah, I started as a kid, nervous as hell. I would stare at the floor and I'd be scared. I was a shy, kind of introverted kid, but I had this big voice. And I found a huge connection to the world by getting it out. I just was scared to do that in front of people. But the more and more I started to get used to it a little bit, and I started to have support from people, and I started to love it. And I started to get in front of people, and I'd start to sing, and I'd start to love every performance a little more and more. And then it just became this thing where I was kind of known in my little town as the kid with the big voice, and maybe he's going places. People in a small town of 8000 people in Illinois, I had a lot of support, and I eventually made the trek to Nashville and started knocking on doors and trying to find anybody that would want to hear my voice and listen to my songs.
Brett Eldredge: And I started writing songs and just playing the smallest songwriter nights, sometimes when there would be two people in the crowd, literally. Sometimes there'd be nobody in the crowd, and you'd just be playing to a sound guy, which was a very interesting experience. But I still have flashbacks to those experiences when I've had that situation where my brain will go to when I was playing in front of two people at a songwriter night, where the lady was smoking cigarettes and singing harmonies to my song behind a podium. It was the weirdest stuff. I just had all these weird, crazy experiences. But I learned so much about life and performing that way. When I'm getting ready to go onstage at a festival with 40,000 people or something, and I'll flash back to those moments of when there was nobody in the crowd. And those were just as important as the big ones.
Brett Eldredge: So I think I've just, I've been on a great journey with it. And it has continued to grow for me, and been something that I enjoy more now than I ever did, even in the 10 years of doing this.
Shelby Stanger: Brett signed with his first record label in 2010. Since then, he's written countless songs and released several albums. He's toured across the country, and his songs have topped the country music charts. But life in the spotlight wasn't all peaches and ice cream. Brett was always fixating on the next performance, always trying to create the perfect experience for his fans. A couple of years ago, he realized that something had to change, so he traded in his smartphone, and he decided to spend several months out of the spotlight.
Shelby Stanger: You recently went off the grid to write an album. Why did you go off the grid? And what is going off the grid for you? Tell me what that means, because it could mean a lot of things to a lot of people.
Brett Eldredge: Yeah. It's definitely different in a lot of situations. Some people go live in the woods for months at a time, and grow a giant beard and eat off the land. Me, I didn't do quite that, but that sounds amazing. I got rid of my smartphone. I got a flip phone. I kind of went off on my own and went on a lot of travels on my own, and kind of disconnected myself from a lot of the distractions of the world and life at times, and got more focused into my passion and what I do. And once I really stepped away from all that, I had a Polaroid camera, I had the flip phone. I had a pen and pan, I was fully analog, pretty much. It was just so profound what you find out when you pull away those distractions. And I started getting all these melodies pop in my head, and all these lyrics, and all these titles, and all these different things because I wasn't taking away from my heart and my soul and my inner being. So it was so powerful, and I did it for quite a long time.
Shelby Stanger: I'm just really curious why. I'm always fascinated by why people do a wild idea. Where did that come from? Obviously, there was a reason why you needed to go off the grid.
Brett Eldredge: I had pretty strong anxiety. I'm kind of a recovering perfectionist in a way, where I'm always trying to control everything I can to be able to make sure I do everything perfect, which is not possible, but I had to learn that. And so that was causing me a lot of anxiety, and to step away from that and to embrace the imperfections was my goal. And I really would say I took a big stride in doing that. Of course, it never leaves you completely, but when you have the awareness, I needed to find more awareness of how I could handle that just with myself. And I've been traveling on the road for 10 years. I've been to different countries and three different cities a week for 10 years straight, and just never slowed down to kind of take in what's happened and where I am in my life, and that was really important for me to do. So that's what I really needed to step off the grid for.
Shelby Stanger: So Brett, thanks for sharing that because I have massive anxiety that's tied to perfectionism. And it really is hard. And for me, the key has always been nature. That's been a big remedy for me. So when you're out there, did you go on hikes? Did you go on walks?
Brett Eldredge: Yeah. In fact, I became obsessed with hiking, just because I learned how much I can get more connected that way. It's a natural state. It's where we're supposed to be, but until ... I've been hiking a little bit through the years, but now to the point where I almost go every day. If I don't go on a day, I at least go for a walk and just get outside. But getting in the woods and taking the time to see the leaves falling off the trees, or the snow falling, or the leaves budding and starting to grow, and the world coming alive, and the water from the rain running through the streams, all those different things. I just sound like I'm being some super hippie or something, and hopefully I am because that's what I want to be. That's where I'm supposed to be, is out there in the elements and taking that all in.
Brett Eldredge: And once I really started to feel that, it added so much to my life. I started getting all these song ideas and lyrics and melodies while I'm on hikes. Or whenever I'm having kind of a depressed, down day, I will go force myself sometimes, even if it's easier to sit on the couch and wrap up in a blanket, which is what your mind tells you to do, be safe. I go, "I've got to get outside." And every time I do, I might still be a little bit on edge when I go on the hike, but by the end of it, I'm so glad I did it. And it's just such a game changer, I think.
Shelby Stanger: Well, there's science in there. And I think we're starting to learn that that's real. So there's the work of the neuroscientist, Andrew Huberman, who has a great podcast. And he talks about when you're outside in nature, even if when you look at an open vista, your mind slows down. There's a book called The Nature Fix, that proves that being outside makes us healthier, happier, especially if you're a creative. We're able to make more creative segues, or creative leaps when we're outside in nature. So tell me about the songs that you came up with.
Brett Eldredge: Well, I continue to come up with them by doing this. I mean, I went out to California. I like to spend a lot of time out there. Obviously, you can attest to the amazingness that is the beauty of California. But I kind of started my whole journey of disconnecting out there. And I'd go find as many different hikes as I could. So I think a lot of this whole Sunday Drive album that I just put out last year was kind of centered and rooted in a lot of those hikes in different ways. I might not even get an idea, or a melody, or write a song from the hike, but I think you're creating that space for whatever you are in your life by going out there and do that. The amount of time that you're not focusing on the things that you feel like you're supposed to be focusing on, and just be, and looking around, and listen to the birds, and feel your feet on the ground, and going through the mud and all those things. It's like those are all feeding to music, and to my lyrics, and to my soul.
Shelby Stanger: Is there a line that sticks out that came to you when you were outside?
Brett Eldredge: There's a line in the song Good Day, that I just put out as my new single, and it's 42, cold and raining, something's got me thinking maybe it's going to be a good day. I don't know why, but it feels like love's coming my way, and the sun ain't even shining. That's from that feeling on several hikes, several days where I was struggling getting out in it. And when it was 42, cold and raining, when people would be like, "Stay inside," you can also just bundle up and go for it. And the weather might not be what is ideal, but I remember a certain hike around that time to where I put on the raincoat. It was torrential downpour. It rains like crazy here at times. And I got out in it, and I was almost in pure bliss at a certain point of just laughter thinking, "This is insane, but I'm so glad I'm out here in it." And then I think going towards that was huge, and that line kind of came from that experience.
Shelby Stanger: We all have those days where the weather is gross and we're just not that motivated to get outside. But getting out there, no matter the conditions, has been key for Brett's creativity and mental health. When we come back, Brett talks about his latest album and how it was released at both the best and the worst time. Plus, he talks about how he incorporates the outdoors into his lifestyle as a busy musician.
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Shelby Stanger: During his digital hiatus, Brett wrote the album, Sunday Drive. And he released it early on in the pandemic. In some ways, it was unfortunate timing. Like so many musicians, Brett's live concerts were completely canceled. But his song, Good Day, also reached the public at just the right time. It added a little extra optimism when people needed it most.
Shelby Stanger: I'm really curious. So Sunday drive, you were so vulnerable when you wrote that. It was raw. It was real. I imagine the response has been great because people really appreciate honesty and vulnerability. And one thing is you're not the only one going through anxiety right now. I mean, they called it the great depression a long time ago, but this feels like the great anxiety, like the time we're in right now.
Brett Eldredge: Yeah. I think the vulnerability, embracing the vulnerability was huge for me because I always looked like I was the most laid back dude ever, and everybody thought of me as that. And the media, I'd be on TV shows, and I'd have a panic attack on a TV show, but no one would know because I was trying to hold all that in. I mean, I'm still very chill in a lot of my aspects in my life. But just certain things would kind of set it off. Well, then I started opening it up about it. First of all, with myself, and with my music, it started to pour into that. In recordings, I was recording organically. If the note wasn't exactly right on the session and somebody would miss a note on the piano too, or whatever it is, it was like, "No, that stuff's awesome." I tried to embrace that in my life of embracing the screw ups, and the not perfects, and the being okay with that.
Brett Eldredge: And actually, that's what everybody wants because everybody is imperfect. And to be able to be reminded of that for myself, and then also so I can help other people, it really, really became a superpower, I think in a way, to help me through all that, and to know I can also help other people. And so that's been a big, big move for me, is embracing that vulnerability. And right now, especially with the song, Good Day, I just put out, is setting an intention from the moment I wake up in the morning. I meditate, kind of on that kind of feeling of, yeah, it's going to be a good day. Doesn't mean it's going to be a perfect day. It doesn't mean everything's going to go right. It might mean that nothing's going to go right. But at least I'm choosing to put my best foot forward, and to know that there's going to be things that come at me that I can't control. And being vulnerable about that and with my music is huge for me.
Shelby Stanger: I'm excited for you. I think a lot of people are going to pack stadiums to see you live very soon. 40,000 people, that's no joke to play in front of that many people. Is there any tactics you do to get over nerves?
Brett Eldredge: In the past, there was a point where I never worried about it. Then there was a point where I tried to hold up to that perfection. I needed my voice to be perfect every night, all that stuff. So I went through a stage where I would almost pass out before I went onstage. This is when I had several number one songs. I had a lot of success, but for whatever reason, I was telling myself I've got to be perfect, and so it was freaking me out. And it was just making me crazy anxiety all day. You sit there on the bus, waiting for the show that's at 9 o'clock. And you're sitting there at 8:00 AM, just feeling like you're losing your mind.
Brett Eldredge: Well, then I started to work on myself getting out, seeing the different cities. I'm going to three different cities a week. I'd go outside and I'd go on hikes, I'd start seeing things. And then I started, before the show, I'd do a dance party with the band, where we just play the most ridiculous songs that will make you not take life serious. I don't care what it is, Barbie Girl or something like that.
Shelby Stanger: I love it.
Brett Eldredge: Something hilarious, like random, we'll play fun songs that we all love too. But we'll play something that's just like, goof off as much as you can, be ridiculous. Shake out that extra nervous energy because that's all that is that you're feeling before a show, or before you're going to pass out, or whatever, you're in that fight or flight mode, or whatever. So if you move with that excess energy, that has been a huge release for me. And then I get up on stage and I'm always like, "Why was I feeling that way before the show?" This is what I love to do, so anytime, that's kind of my ritual is a pre show dance party.
Shelby Stanger: I love the mental image of Brett breaking it down to Barbie Girl. It's great that he's found ways to manage his stress and anxiety around performing. Since Brett has come back on the grid, he's also changed his daily routine. He limits his screen time to two hours a day, and he's taken up some outdoor hobbies that keep his mind clear and his creativity flowing.
Shelby Stanger: So let's talk about your other hobbies. You fly fish and you run. I don't really know a lot about fly fishing. I've got a friend who's the top fly fisherman in the country, according to his wife. I don't know if he really is. But yeah, he's awesome. Tell me. Do you fly fish a lot in Nashville?
Brett Eldredge: So I do a lot of it. Actually, I've just bought all the gear to do it here in Nashville now too. But a lot of time, I've gone out West. I love to go in Tahoe, the Little Truckee River in Tahoe. Montana, there's so many great spots out West. There's great spots all over the country, really, and that's what I started to figure out. A lot of artists golf when they're on the road. I'm not a big golfer. I don't have anything ... I would love to put in the time to do that, but it just frustrates me, and I get a lot more enjoyment out of fishing. So I decided I'm going to invest and get all the good gear. I'm going to stock up, so I have no excuse that I have to go out there and start getting in the water because I just feel so free when I get out there in the streams and the surroundings.
Brett Eldredge: It's like being on hikes, but adding another element to it with fishing and staying in the middle of that stream with your waders on or whatever, feels so free, even if you don't enjoy fishing. Just getting out there, and all of a sudden, you realize there's such an art to it. And after you get yourself untangled a few times and figure out even if I do get tangled up, at least I'm out here in this. I just love that. And so fly fishing's been a big, big thing.
Shelby Stanger: Yeah. It looks so peaceful just sitting out there, and you're in nature. And then when you catch a fish, I'm sure it's pretty thrilling.
Brett Eldredge: Yeah. It's very thrilling. And then with the running thing, I've just been ... So at the beginning of the pandemic, I was running a little bit, but I was like, "I want to do something that I normally haven't done. I want to find some resilience because I know this is going to be brutal." It's on me, because I'm used to traveling, I'm used to doing all this stuff. Now I'm going to have to sit with this anxiety in my own place. You know what I mean? And I don't want to have to sit with that. I need to move. And so I figured, I was like, "I want to find resilience in a different way than I ever have." And so I decided I wanted to get into running. And I was going to run a half marathon, even there weren't any going on. I was just like, "I'm going to go do my own."
Brett Eldredge: And so I got a running watch. I started really just hitting the streets. I would start four miles a day or whatever. And then I got on a plan where I was following a marathon plan. And then the next thing I know, five miles is the most I ever ran. Then all of a sudden, I'm running eight miles every other day. And then all of a sudden, I'm running 12. And then the next two weeks later, I run 13.1. And the thing I love about it, and still love about it, is that I find the times in the moments in a run where my mind tells me to give up or to stop, your mind gives up way earlier than what really you're capable of doing.
Brett Eldredge: And so to hear those voices and then prove those voices wrong, those are just thoughts and I can push through them. And I know I had the training, I've done this. I can go a little farther, and focus on this mile right here. I'm not worried about the next one. Focus on this. Finding that resilience just moved more into my personal life too on the things that I can actually handle and go through. And so I think that was the biggest lesson with running. I'm kind of obsessed with it now, and I love it.
Shelby Stanger: I love running. That's so cool.
Brett Eldredge: I don't know exactly the right form and everything. I just know the more I get out and do it, the more I want to do it. And the more I, especially for the mental aspect, if I'm teetering on, "Should I just stay on the couch or should I go out there and run?" If I get myself to go out there, while I'm in the middle of that run, that endorphin rush by the end of it, I just feel like I took a medication of ... And I think I read that 30 minutes of running is like a Xanax equal-ness of running, which really does make me feel like that, like a natural Xanax or something, or natural medicine. Back in the day, I tried all the medicines for anxieties and everything. And I found through the years and trying different things that really, the natural state was the best for me. And using exercise and getting outside has been the medicine for me. And so that's what I just recommend, is get out there and put in the work. And it'll work for you as well.
Shelby Stanger: It seems like you also ran recently for a cause and raised a lot of money for ... Was it mental health awareness?
Brett Eldredge: Yes, for Mental Health America. I trained for the half marathon. I didn't have all the hoopla to be surrounding me with a bunch of people, and bands playing, and thousands of people running next to me, which I feel like would be so much easier to have that. But I'm glad I experienced it this way because I had to lean into the tough stuff that was going on in my life, and just around everywhere. I was like, "Okay, this is a whole different experience, but I'm going to embrace this." So through the whole journey and when I started kind of talking way more extremely open, really, about anxieties and stuff I've gone through, I was like, "I want to help other people that are going through it like me," and so I partnered with Mental Health America.
Brett Eldredge: And I ran this half marathon to support them and raise a lot of money for that and thousands of dollars. And I know a lot of people are going through a lot, and I want them to know that, that's all right.
Shelby Stanger: Whether you're an outdoor athlete, or a country singer, or a beautiful Wild Ideas listener, there are moments when we all feel like we're going through a lot. I appreciate Brett for adding his voice to the conversation about mental health. Brett's story reminds us that getting out into nature can help calm us, ground us, restore us, and even spark creativity. So many people talk about ditching their technology, but so few of us actually do it. I love that it led Brett to create more meaningful art.
Shelby Stanger: If you want to stay in touch with Brett, or see where he's going to be performing, check out his website, bretteldredge.com. That's B-R-E-T-T-E-L-D-R-E-D-G-E.com. You can also find him at Brett Eldredge on social media. Once again, that's at B-R-E-T-T-E-L-D-R-E-D-G-E. Brett, thank you so much for coming on the show. I get very nostalgic every time I remember you singing during this interview and every time I hear your voice. It was awesome, and I could feel your energy across the internet.
Shelby Stanger: Wild Ideas Worth Living is part of the REI Podcast Network. It's hosted by me, Shelby Stanger, written and edited by Sylvia Thomas, and produced by Chelsea Davis. Our executive producers are Paolo Mottola and Joe Crosby. And our presenting sponsor is Ford. As always, we love it when you follow, rate and review this show wherever you listen. I read every single one of your reviews. They mean a ton. And remember, some of the best adventures happen when you follow your wildest ideas.