Larry Fleet Recalls Jake Owen Texting Him For A Bonfire & Guitar Night

Larry Fleet stopped by for his debut performance on The Bobby Bones Show this morning (October 22). He shared the story behind his career, how Jake Owen has helped him on his journey, what it was like to play the Grand Ole Opry for the first time, and his new album.

Fleet actually pursued being an artist years ago, however things didn't work out. So he moved back to his hometown Chattanooga, TN and found a job there, which he was doing for the last few years. He still kept up with his music talents by playing weddings and other side gigs, but wasn't going to pursue it full time any longer. That all changed when he played a wedding for one of his side gigs. At the wedding was Owen, who sat and watched Fleet perform for several hours. After his performance, Fleet and Owen talked and Owen was trying to convince Fleet to quit his job and pursue music full time again. Though Fleet confessed he wasn't going to do it again, until he gave Owen an ultimatum. He said he would consider quitting his job in Chattanooga if Owen took him on the road with him. So, Owen did exactly that. They toured for a bit together, and just as Fleet quit his job, Owen didn't have any other shows for Fleet to open.

This time instead of giving up the music career again, Fleet kept at it and started songwriting. During one of those songwriting sessions, they wrote his song "Where I Find God" which is on his newly released album Stack Of Records. He admits he's very proud of this project because it's a "singer songwriter kinda thing." His song came out of all of the songwriters talking about the places they talk to God, or the places they feel him. They decided to make a song out of that idea, and he admitted that he listens to that particular song when he goes to the duck blind. Now, his fans are using the song across the board from weddings to funerals. Not only did his songwriting time benefit him, Fleet was asked to join one of his heroes Willie Nelson on tour.

Fleet and Owen stayed in touch since their first initial meeting and playing shows together. Fleet recalled a particular story that makes him laugh. Owen invited Fleet over to his house one night for a night of "picking and fire," which is a bunch of talents sitting around a bonfire and playing songs. Fleet had just worked a full day at his job at the time, and he would have to drive 2 hours from Chattanooga to Nashville just to be there. But he did it. Meanwhile Owen had no idea Fleet was having to drive from Chattanooga, so he was texting Fleet asking him where he was at. Things were great once he got there, Owen was even posting Fleet on his Instagram page when he was sharing songs. Those posts helped Fleet go from 100 followers on Instagram to over 1,000 in one night.

Things have continued to show success for Fleet. He got to play the Grand Ole Opry for the first time in September. He had always dreamed of getting to play there and admitted that he tried to downplay the whole thing so he wouldn't get nervous. He brought along an upright bass player and a dobro player to make his performance a little different. All 3 of them stood in the circle together and performed his set. He was excited to share teh evening with his wife and their two kids, noting to Bobby Bones, "It was cool."

Larry Fleet performed an acoustic version of his song "Where I Find God," watch it below!


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