Kick Butt Tip: Ryan Larkins Says Let Go of the Past, and Enjoy the Ride

Today's Kick Butt Tip of the Day comes from Country singer/songwriter Ryan Larkins. My guess is that we are going to be hearing a lot from Ryan in the near future.  In fact, his latest single "King of Country Music" has already gotten the attention of a lot of folks in the world of Country music, and for good reason.  Back on September 27, 2023, Ryan was kind enough to visit and perform in the BIG 957 WKML Don Chase & Sarah studio.  The entire team was very impressed with Ryan.

At a young age, Ryan already has an extensive resume of songwriting experience with the likes of Rhett Atkins (Thomas Rhett's Father), Craig Wiseman, Tim Nichols, Ben Hayslip, Tom Douglas, Tony Lane, Lee Miller and even a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and a songwriter extraordinaire himself, Bill Anderson. Trivia buffs and Country music fans will find it amazing that the legendary Bill Anderson picked up his first Grammy nomination with a song he and Ryan co-wrote. The song is “Someday It’ll All Make Sense” and was a duet with Dolly Parton and Bill Anderson.

Ryan also got the attention of Country superstars Tim McGraw and Cody Johnson. Ryan has songs on both of their albums.

Before we get into the Kick Butt Tip of the Day, you no doubt know the Country group Rascal Flatts. One of the members of Rascal Flatts, Jay DeMarcus owns Ryan's record label Red Street Records based in Nashville Tennessee.

Now, let's get on with today's Kick Butt Tip of the Day from Ryan Larkins. "Be present. Be patient. Be thankful. Learn from mistakes. Let go of the past. Forgive. Worry less. Play more games. Take more walks. Read more books. Draw more pictures. Write more songs. Enjoy the ride."

Remember, God don't make no junk. You are awesome! Now go be awesome.

- Don Chase's Kick Butt Tip of the Day is a daily motivational feature designed to give you the inspiration you need to power through your day. Check out all the Kick Butt Tips here.

Chris Stapleton is one country superstar who doesn't release a music video for all his songs. He doesn't even have a music video for his official single releases. So, it has to be pretty special when he releases a music video for a song.

With only a handful of music video releases in his career, the serial award winner has won two Music Video awards for his 2016 video "Fire Away," which won Music Video of the Year at the 2016 CMA Awards, and for Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2016 CMT Music Awards.

Music videos aside, in 2022, Chris said he's written over one thousand songs, and during an interview with 6o Minutes, when asked how many of those songs were good, Chris replied modestly, "About ten."

Stapleton also noted in the CBS interview that he had no idea a song would be a hit after he wrote it. He said, "I don't think I ever know that. The win is finishing the song."

He added, "There are a lot of songwriters who will claim that they know the secret [to writing a hit song]. I really think those guys are full of s----. I don't think anybody knows that. Like, you can't possibly know how everybody's gonna feel about a song that you write. That's impossible to know."

Chris said that when it comes to knowing a song is good, it has to be from the people, "I trust people, and I trust people with taste."

We did a deep dive into the music video work of Stapleton, although there weren't very many videos to see, and found four "official music videos" to detail. In true Chris Stapleton style, he makes sure, his music video work, much like his songwriting and recording work, is top notch.

Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton - Timberlake is really the guy who jumpstarted Stapleton's massive career when they performed together at the 2015 CMA Awards. The two sang two of Chris's songs, "Tennessee Whiskey" and "Drink You Away." Chris said about the collaboration, "I really just went out to Los Angeles to write songs with him; it's a very fluid process with him; there's a lot going on. That was one of those things where there wasn't necessarily a plan. He was like, 'All right, you hop in there and take a verse,' and I'm like, 'You want me to do what?' It came out great." The music video on YouTube has received over 410 million views as of January 2024.

Stapleton released this video with the Lego group playing himself as a Lego character. The charming video has been viewed almost 2 million times on YouTube. He said of the video, "We had a lot of fun doing it, but it took maybe two years to get through all the approvals, and then a whole year on top to work on it. It's been a long road, but in the end, I think it's something really unique."

This music video is for the album title song that scored Chris a GRAMMY for Best Country Album at the 64th GRAMMY Awards. The footage shows Stapleton playing guitar in the recording studio, sitting on a stool. It also shows clips of himself and his wife Morgane, who sings in the song, listening back to it.

The music video concept for "Fire Away" was conceived by Stapleton. The video follows a couple through courtship and marriage, going through exciting life moments such as buying and decorating a home together. The happy memories soon fade, dissolving into struggle and, ultimately, tragedy, as it is evident that the woman has mental illness and tries multiple times to commit suicide.

The video won the Music Video of the Year award at the 2016 CMA Awards and Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2016 CMT Music Awards.