Journey to Contentment and Success

Wes Hampton 0:00

I had been discontent a long time being at Eberkills . I had tried to push a solo career . It just was not happening . I would offer to go sing at churches for free . You're just calling churches . Hey , can I just come to your concert ? No one would respond to me , no one . And I got discouraged and I realized God was telling me hey , I don't want you to do this right now , this is not the right season . It's not the right time to do this right now . This is not the right season . It's not the right time . As soon as I became content and where God had placed me , that's when he opened the door to the next thing .

Rhett 0:30

That's huge , so good .

Wes Hampton 0:31

If you're younger and you're listening to this and you're discontent , maybe God is saying to you hey , I've got you in this place for this particular moment in time because I'm trying to teach you something , or I'm trying to grow you in some area . Whatever it is . You need to ask yourself and ask God what is it you're trying to teach me ? So I learned contentment through that process , and then that's when the audition process happened for me .

Rhett 1:15

Welcome back to another episode of Armchair Authentic , a podcast with your friends Rhett and Justin . It is our hope to have real conversations centered around real life with real people . And today , my friends , you are in for a treat . We have the opportunity to have an in-depth behind-the-scenes conversation with Grammy Award winner , dove Award winner , the longest-standing member of the Gaither vocal band outside of Bill Gaither himself . Today we're talking to the one and only Wes Hampton . We're talking about his life , his family , his ministry , his career as an artist and even as an author .

Rhett 1:53

We can't wait to dive into this conversation , but before we do , we always want to take a moment and say thank you so much to every single one of you who have taken the time to rate and review the podcast on all your favorite podcast platforms . It means so much to Justin and I . But more than that , it truly is the best way we can serve those who aren't on this journey yet . Now , if you're new to the podcast , we want to say welcome . Could you do us a favor ? We sure would love it if you would follow us on Instagram or Facebook . You can find us there at Armchair Authentic that's at Armchair Authentic . Or you can even go over to X and find us at Armchair Off Pod , that's Armchair Off A-U-T-H-P-O-D .

Rhett 2:41

Now , before we dive into the conversation , I want to remind you of one more thing , and that is , if this podcast is encouraging you in any way , could you do us a huge favor . Could you take a moment right now or after the episode and take out your phone , copy the link from your favorite podcast platform and send it to a friend man ? That would mean so much to us . Thank you All right , friends , we could not be more excited about the conversation we're about to have . So , without further ado , let's jump into our conversation with the one and only Wes Hampton .

Justin 3:20

You guys , ready , here we go . Hey , Wes Hampton , we have you in the studio with us today and we are just so pumped to have you . So thanks for being on Armchair Authentic .

Wes Hampton 3:31

Hey , thank you , it's finally happened .

Justin 3:33

It's finally happened .

Wes Hampton 3:34

It's come . This has finally happened .

Musical Reflections

Wes Hampton 3:36

I don't know Whenever I look forward to things like this . I guess it's . Maybe it's just me being pessimistic , but I think something's going to happen to where someone's going to get sick , or you know something's going to go wrong to where it won't happen . So it's actually happening . I'm so excited .

Justin 3:51

Yeah , we are too . We've been having this even before I reached out to you . We have had this on the calendar , the one you don't know it exists . When me and Rhett had our wishlist of . Here's some connections . This is such a relationally connected podcast . Who do we want to have on this ? And you were right there and we were able . 30 , you know , plus , by the time you're here , 40 episodes into it .

Wes Hampton 4:15

We have the one and only .

Justin 4:17

Wes Hampton , so we finally worked it out .

Wes Hampton 4:19

I am so honored . It's called perseverance for us . You would find me interesting enough to even do this . Well , we'll see how interesting this conversation goes .

Rhett 4:26

I'm kidding , we know you're hey , no , you're completely interesting . There's so much in your story that we're really excited to dive into . Obviously , your success speaks for itself and we can touch on those , but I think what I'm really excited today , wes , is jumping into your story . In fact , before we even hit record , I have to mention this Justin and I were talking about our days back at UAB and it dawned on me like you went to UAB for those who are listening that doesn't know what that is that's University of Alabama at Birmingham . There was a season you were there on scholarship singing and there was a season Justin and I were there and I was on scholarship singing as well as Justin and we kind of like passed each other . So we know a lot of the same people through that organization .

Rhett 5:09

And we were kind of having a little bit of fun before this started . So I thought that was kind of cool that , like man Justin , we had some big shoes to fill man , we didn't realize the shoes we had to fill . I mean , I'm telling you we're talking about the Gaither Vocal Band Grammy award winner here and you and I had to fill these shoes moving , so I don't know what that says about how desperate UAB was just to find people to fill it . I don't know Cause you're amazing and so I feel really honored .

Rhett 5:30

I'm going to spin this story in a way Wes , that's going to work to my benefit . Yeah , that's right .

Justin 5:35

They brought us in to replace Wes Hampton . Yeah , that's what it was , okay .

Wes Hampton 5:40

Okay , yeah , so that's a story .

Justin 5:42

Okay , because I'm a really big deal , but it is true . I do love that connection that we are all UAB Blazers and we share that connection .

Rhett 5:53

I know we know you live in Nashville now , but you did have time in Birmingham .

Wes Hampton 5:57

And so is .

Rhett 5:58

Birmingham home for you ? Was it home for you , or are you from somewhere else ? And then you ended up moving there .

Wes Hampton 6:01

So originally , I grew up in a place called Brownsville , tennessee .

Justin 6:05

Okay .

Wes Hampton 6:06

And if you don't know where that is , you know where Jackson Tennessee probably is . We were really close to Jackson , about 25 minutes from Jackson and about an hour from Memphis . So when people ask where I'm from originally , that's what I typically say I'm from Memphis because I was born in Memphis . I lived in Memphis the first few years of my life and then we moved to Brownsville and then I went to Nashville to school where I met my wife and went to a Nazarene school called Trevecca .

Justin 6:35

Yes .

Wes Hampton 6:36

And went there two years and we got married . So Andrea was already in her junior year , my freshman year . So we met . I think it's maybe the second or third day at school .

Justin 6:48

Wow .

Wes Hampton 6:49

Started dating within a couple weeks . Engaged for a year , dated for a year , engaged a year , and then we're married in 98 . So we moved to Birmingham right after that and then I went to UAB again where we kind of passed each other be again where we kind of passed each other . And I will say there is a big difference in going to a small Christian liberal arts school and then going to the University of Alabama at Birmingham .

Wes Hampton 7:16

I will just say that and maybe appreciate even more Trevecca , because , I mean , trevecca is just an amazing school .

Justin 7:22

It is .

Wes Hampton 7:24

Trevecca , because Trevecca is just an amazing school . It is , and I'm not knocking UAB at all , but just the one-on-oneness of . Trevecca , compared to UAB , being more of a number , there was a really big difference in that dynamic between student and teacher . Yeah it really was , so I really appreciated Trevecca's question .

Rhett 7:42

Well , a lot of times at UAB were fun . There were also a lot of , I would say , slightly traumatic and stressful moments as young adults growing up in a very how should I say moment where UAB it felt like we might as well have been a school in New York , as hard as they were training their vocalists .

Justin 8:00

It was like Juilliard yeah , I'd never been to the military .

Rhett 8:04

I'd never been to the military , but I have been to UAB's vocal school and I will tell you and I even told the guy that was directing it at the time when I was transitioning I was like man , can I just be honest with you ? I could not stand you as a student . I'm sure there's a lot of life principles you were trying to teach me , but uh , yeah , no , well , that's kind of funny , rhett , because he pulled me to the outside hallway one day and said he couldn't stand me oh wow , oh , there you go .

Justin 8:28

So that's kind of a common thread , that we both have that secret . Well , yeah , you know he can stand me either , guys . So there you go . We're the three musketeers .

Wes Hampton 8:34

Yes , he didn't like any of us . I called him Sergeant Reynolds .

Rhett 8:38

We Well I wasn't going to go there , but Sergeant , Reynolds no I will I love it , let's go . Then there it is . I remember one of our first times .

Justin 8:49

you and I were eating lunch together and we opened up about this and we thought we were going to have a passing comment about our time at UAB . And then we started realizing that wait . We feel the same way about this individual and it became like this therapy session , with each other getting our stuff out .

Wes Hampton 9:06

Yeah , I mean , when you think about it , it's not . I think it really was slightly traumatizing . It really was At least for me , it really was Because this guy just wasn't . He just wasn't pleasant , he wasn't nice .

Rhett 9:21

I mean , I've heard of things where people got locked out of the room when they're like a minute late , but I never saw it . And then , but I when I finally saw it , and you know , it .

Justin 9:28

It happened , I was . I tried to open that door . It didn't open . Oh man , justin got slammed .

Rhett 9:33

Then you had to come in and sing a solo in front of like 50 people , I think or whatever it was . So yep yeah , oh yeah I mean , you know that when I did share with him how much I couldn't stand him at that point . I was trying to just be very coercionally kind . Some people like Rhett , you were that honest with somebody I'm like , yeah , I kind of was .

Rhett 9:49

But I'm so glad you were but you know , he , it was almost like a badge of honor for him , and so it's like man . Hey , thank you . That's kind of what I lived , live for around here and he took his security in that .

Justin 10:01

You know , there you go , so but we didn't find hey Wes , we did find a commonality . Today we all at least had the same vocal teacher who we loved .

Wes Hampton 10:09

Yeah , yes .

Justin 10:15

Oh she , she was great , dr Mathis Rachel .

Wes Hampton 10:15

She was great . What a great lady I heard she passed away several years ago . But she was , she was , she was tough on me in a good way .

Rhett 10:22

Yeah , I agree .

Wes Hampton 10:23

Because I felt like she respected me . Yeah , and that's the thing I just want to feel respected . Yeah , you could be as a teacher , you could be hard on me , you can push me to be better . Just do it in a way that is respectful . That's all I ask . I think that's all anybody really wants . Yeah , it's just show people with respect . Yeah , I mean treat people with respect , show people respect that's so good .

Rhett 10:43

Well , I mean , I , looking back , I'm always trying to say you know , there's so much that we can learn from every experience that we have , and it's obviously , um , you know , had an impact on our lives , um , to where we are , the men that we are today because of it , you know . And so , no villains in our story times , but we have no villains , but we've learned a lot and try to become better leaders . For that , and and for sure , obviously you've gone on to do that in some pretty spectacular

Life Before Music and Marriage

Rhett 11:11

ways .

Rhett 11:11

Now , I think , an interesting fact that most people might not know . I didn't know . You said you were a pre-med major . Is that correct ? Yes , I was pre-med .

Wes Hampton 11:19

So my two years in Nashville I was hardcore . Pre-med I my two years in Nashville I was hardcore pre-med .

Wes Hampton 11:24

I took biology one and two , chemistry one and two , physics , calculus , all the really fun classes and it really worked my tail off . I'm one of those people that I really have to study hard . I just can't sit there in class and it just absorbs . I think it's partly because I am a little ADD . It's very difficult for me to absorb stuff .

Wes Hampton 11:47

So , long story short I was pre-med major , went to UAB to continue that course and I was sitting . It was this was toward the beginning of my junior year as UAB sitting in class anatomy and physiology class and it was as clear as I'd ever heard God talk to me . I didn't hear an audible voice , but it was so in my spirit . It was so strong , saying don't do this , don't do this , and I was so uneasy . I was a little anxious , almost kind of panicky , thinking what is this that I'm feeling , that I'm hearing , and looking back on it , it was God , it was the Holy Spirit , saying I have something else for you . I don't want you to go down this medical career path . And to me , I already decided that that's what I was going to do . Going back just a few seconds to my childhood , especially my teenage years , my dream was to be in the Gaither Vocal Band .

Justin 12:47

No way .

Wes Hampton 12:48

I remember having a conversation about a year before all this happened with the vocal band , so this was back in 2004 . I had a conversation with my boss there at Brook Hills where I was working . He said if you could do anything in the world , what would you do ? And I said , oh , I sing with the gate the vocal band but that's not going to happen . Wow .

Justin 13:09

That's what I said , my goodness .

Wes Hampton 13:11

So , go , going back to my school days , yeah , uh , that's what God was doing . He was saying hey , I don't want you to go down this career path , I've got something else . So , um , I don't know if you want to get into it now , we can get into this later . But there was a lot of stress in my life at that point in time . This was back in 1999 . And , honestly , I just wanted to be done with school . So I changed majors , I did psychology . I don't know why . I found it interesting . I thought , okay , what can I do ? That's not going to be too difficult . Honestly , I mean , that's the honest answer . My wife is a marriage and family therapist . She was a psychology major , got her master's . Her father is also a retired therapist now , so that was kind of I was pretty familiar with that . So I thought I'll do a major in psychology .

Justin 13:58

I will do a minor in music because I do like music .

Wes Hampton 13:59

So that was a whole connection for us is I had that music minor . Was the whole connection for us is I had that music minor . So I was getting the you know , the chamber singers in the concert choir in the opera , which I despise , by the way .

Rhett 14:10

No offense to all the opera lovers we have here , but that's so . I love your honesty , man , because we had our fair share , that's what they put down your throat in college is opera , opera , opera , and it's like we're fighting . We don't want to become an opera singer , we just want to learn how to sing .

Justin 14:23

But come on man .

Wes Hampton 14:24

Don't make me somebody . I'm not . Yeah the technique . Teach me the correct techniques so I know what . I'm doing , and then I can do what I want to do .

Justin 14:29

Yeah , absolutely , and so you were married in 98 . Is that ?

Wes Hampton 14:34

right .

Justin 14:34

And then you're moving .

Wes Hampton 14:36

I was 20 years old when I was married . Isn't that crazy that .

Justin 14:40

Cause I got married in 2000 and we're the same age .

Rhett 14:43

And so , yeah , it was 22 . You guys are young , bucks , man . We are 47 . We are this 47 year old , right ?

Justin 14:49

here Gotcha by a year and so well it is . It's kind of like when we're talking about it's like 98 , you get married , then you're still in school , so you've still got to .

Wes Hampton 15:10

I guess , what a couple of years left . Yeah , and people lied . They said , well , once you get married , school's going to be easier because you won't be distracted by blah , blah , blah , blah , blah . And I thought that is a lie from you know where . Because those last two years of school being married was extremely difficult . Because , you know , andrea gets home from work , she's in there watching TV . I'm here in the TV playing , I'm in the office , you know , studying my tail off just trying to pass these classes . I thought this is just awful . She's in there having fun and I have to sit here and study .

Justin 15:32

Isn't that interesting , because I'm married in 2000 . I still , at that point , I come in as you step out of UAB , so two years which there's a story there for another time . Rhett's the one who got me to major in music . Finally , you're welcome , cause I was in psychology .

Wes Hampton 15:49

So funny , no way I was .

Justin 15:51

I was in . I was in psychology because to major in music I couldn't lead at the church that I was at at the time . It would have gotten in the way of rehearsal , so I would just never major in music . But in 2000 , I finally had my Wednesday nights open and so it allowed me to go to major in music . But anyway , I was told the opposite . I was told do not go to school and be married at the same time . Like that's not a good idea . Wait and get married until you're out of college . And I didn't take that advice . I got married .

Rhett 16:37

I was ready to weather it and those two years for me , my grades shot up easiest years of school in my life ever . Isn't ? It're like , man , I had to like work really , really hard just to like you know I don't know for me it was a c . I'm not going to put that on you , but like I had to work really hard to try to pass any class very difficult for me so it's , I can relate .

Wes Hampton 16:56

I had a couple really easy years of school , but those are like the preschool , kindergarten years you know you have to make crafts and eat snacks and now , hey , man , man , that's my kind of class , I can nap . Man , bring the crayons and the crafts .

Justin 17:07

Well , what I would say to that too is what I'm going through at life in that time is a lot of dreams , a lot of excitement . Home , life's good . You know , usually when we're going through tough stuff it's because you're actually encountering something . Can you talk about life ? You get married , you move to Birmingham , what's going on with family ?

Wes Hampton 17:26

What's kind of setting up this difficult season that you alluded to as far as school , so , to make an extremely long story very short , I grew up in a Christian home , again in that small town , tennessee

Family Struggles and Recovery

Wes Hampton 17:38

. My dad was a very successful dentist . He did very well financially . So he was , you know , he provided a nice home for us . We were not spoiled , but we were never lacking for anything . But so we had this kind of perfect family picture . You know , we had three boys . I was in the middle of three boys . Mom stayed at home , Dad worked all day .

Wes Hampton 18:03

Well , what I didn't know is that they were both struggling with addiction . They both were closet alcoholics , very high-functioning alcoholics you think of alcoholics at least most people do as a drunk on the street , as homeless , and they were not like that . They were highly functioning . Dad would work 12-hour days . They would also take prescription drugs I think hydrocodone was kind of their drug of choice and it all stemmed from as most addictive behavior does stems of some type of trauma as a child and I think that's kind of the kind of stereotypical box to kind of put somebody in , but it really does A lot . Of . A lot of this stuff stems from childhood . So they had a lot of painful things that they had never dealt with and that's how they medicated , that's how they dealt with that pain was to medicate it , to numb it through alcohol or drugs . And dad would just get energized when he took hydrocodone . I can't take the stuff because I don't like feeling out of control , but to me , to him , it felt like he was in control . So , very long story short , they're doing this .

Wes Hampton 19:14

As I'm growing up , I'm clueless . I get married , you know , go to college , get married . My older brother calls me out of nowhere and says hey , wes , dad's driving to somewhere , I can't remember where , he said , and I want to tell you about their addiction . And I thought what in the world , why are you doing this ? This was a year after we were married , so this was in 1999 .

Wes Hampton 19:37

We hold a three-day-long intervention . It was just miserable , it was absolutely horrible . At the end of that intervention they both decided that they did not need treatment . They could kick it on their own . That was devastating .

Wes Hampton 19:50

Andrea and I prayed about it and we set up some boundaries and said listen , we love you , but we can't watch you destroy your lives or the lives of us or anyone else . And until you get the treatment that you need , we can't have a relationship with you . We're just not going to be brought into this . That was one of the most difficult decisions in my life , setting those boundaries , because at the time , we would have friends of my parents write us anonymous letters , phone calls , saying you need to honor your mother and father .

Wes Hampton 20:23

How could you do this ? You're you're killing your parents . You know all this shameful language , so we were dealing with this . Also , my , my father , was also bipolar , so there were there were some death threats made um this . Without getting into that the depths of it , it was just a very , very difficult time for us and Andrew and I went and saw a therapist and we decided from then on we're not going to let this destroy our marriage , we're not going to let this affect our marriage negatively . We're going to talk about it and deal with this . And that's what we did and those were valuable , valuable moments for us the time we had therapy .

Wes Hampton 21:04

I'm such an advocate for therapy and not necessarily even quote unquote a Christian therapist that's like saying I go to a Christian doctor .

Justin 21:12

Well , no .

Wes Hampton 21:13

I mean , I do believe in biblical principles . I do believe that . So that's what we did Went to a therapist who believed in the biblical principles . Yes , so I just think that's really important for people to hear that getting therapy is not something to be ashamed of . I think it's . I see it as a doctor for your mind . You go to a doctor for your body , so why not go to a doctor for your mind ?

Justin 21:40

So that's what we did .

Wes Hampton 21:41

So that was all weighing on me while I was at UAB and I just wanted to finish school . Yeah , so I finished school , went to work at the Church of Brook Hills there in Birmingham . Yes , I started out making $50 every two weeks as an intern for the worship ministry .

Justin 22:00

Yeah , humble beginning .

Wes Hampton 22:02

Working at Banana Republic up at the summit , working at Sears , sears , carpet , I mean , I had all different types of jobs . I was just trying to help pay the bills and I would tell you that was a very , very , very valuable time for me as far as learning the value of money . I remember if , if , andrew and I did go out to eat , which was not a common occurrence . Yeah , I remember thinking , okay , we just ate this meal and that cost me four hours .

Wes Hampton 22:31

Oh , yeah , right , welcome to adult I became I became the biggest tightwad on the planet and that has stuck with me to this day .

Justin 22:41

Oh , yes , those early days are so great because you , you know summer is once again it's their paths . Are so funny with Andrea and summer because summer to being a licensed therapist . But way before those years she would . When I was still in school , she had actually finished and she was taking up a lot of shifts , working at a place called Tony Roma's , and she was a waitress there yes . One of the best . I still miss that place . Potato soup baby .

Wes Hampton 23:07

Oh yeah , she'd hook us up Potato soup , and then the bread , that garlic .

Justin 23:12

Oh man , well , we got the hookup man . Yeah , we'd get , there .

Rhett 23:16

We're the lame guys walking in at nine o'clock when it's closing .

Justin 23:20

She would just bring out the soup we would go after me and rent would practice like for our band . We would go there and wait until she closed , so we would just you know , we'd eat the free food Once again .

Rhett 23:30

that common theme but West .

Justin 23:33

What was cool during that season , I can remember . We'd be short on rent all the time and we'd have one more day till it's due and just God was just always so faithful because she would get that perfect tip amount . We would go deposit it at Wells Fargo as fast as we could probably Wachovia back then and get it deposited and we would barely make the rent by maybe like $30 . So when you're saying that , I mean I'm with you , I can , I can just track those days of of just valuing every cent you had because it just didn't go far .

Wes Hampton 24:08

But don't you looking back ? Don't you kind of , don't you kind of have a fondness for that ?

Rhett 24:14

I kind of .

Wes Hampton 24:15

I kind of have a fondness for not that we're still not on a budget , cause we are . We have four boys . I mean , you know it's kids are expensive and they become more and more expensive . But I remember being on such a tight budget that when we would go to Dairy Queen to get a blizzard that was a big treat .

Justin 24:31

Oh yeah , it was .

Wes Hampton 24:32

That was a big deal .

Justin 24:32

Seriously , it really was .

Wes Hampton 24:34

I mean , I thought , we're going to spend $9 on ice cream .

Rhett 24:38

That's a lot , and I might even get candy in at this time .

Justin 24:41

Yeah , that's right .

Justin 24:42

Well , it's true , Wes , because I can remember me in the summer when we were in college together , we would scrounge up enough money and we would go to Burger King and get one of the value Whopper juniors that you could get and we would split our little sandwich because we had nothing . So but there is such a fondness to those early days and to even hear , even hear the story of the early on with marriage with you guys . But my goodness , yeah , you're having to face even another level of difficulty . But what your family's going through at that point . So what happens past that ? You've confronted them we confronted them .

Wes Hampton 25:17

It was a series of about 10 years , it was . It was just not fun . And I'm not saying everybody's going through something . Yeah , my story is not any different than anybody else's . Honestly , we're all going . We're either coming out of something in the middle of something or we're about to go into something . Those are the three things . That's everybody's story . So a series of about 10 years . At the end of the 10 years , my parents finally get treatment and they're both in a great place today , thank the Lord .

Rhett 25:46

Praise the Lord . I was going to ask you .

Wes Hampton 25:49

We're so grateful . Mom has been clean for gosh I don't know a long time . She's so happy she's remarried . I'm married to a great guy . They live actually here in the Brentwood area , okay , and it was kind of ironic . So they went to different treatment facilities . Dad met a woman and they decided they were going to be together . So he and mom were divorced after 36 years of marriage . Wow , that was another thing I had to get over . That was just not a fun time .

Justin 26:20

Goodness .

Wes Hampton 26:21

That's something I never thought would happen to my parents ever , but they did they did . That's something I never thought would happen to my parents ever , but they did . You know they did . That's just the way life goes sometimes . Yes , life does not go the way you're going to . Most of the time does not go the way you plan it . You know , if I had my plans , I'd be a doctor and my parents would still be married .

Justin 26:37

But who ?

Wes Hampton 26:37

knows where I'd be , who I'd be married to . I just I'm so thankful for all those , for every moment , the difficult and the wonderful moments . It all shapes who we are . It all is a testimony of God's goodness and his faithfulness , despite how difficult those moments were . You know those were extremely difficult times for us , but we're through it . We're through it and we're so thankful again that God has brought us where we are today . I'm just so thankful that he knows best and man , his timing is just absolutely perfect . You hear it all the time , but it really is . His timing is so perfect .

Wes Hampton 27:17

Just for me , auditioning for the vocal band I've been there at Brook Hills for seven years I felt like I was in a hamster wheel . You know they pay me for the time . They pay me well to do what I did , but I just didn't find fulfillment in what I was doing and I remember thinking God , there's got to be something . This can't be it . I don't feel like you've called me to do this and he calls people to do that . I mean , I'm not saying it wasn't a negative thing at all . I just thought there's something in my , in my spirit saying this is not , this is not right . Yet , even though this is a good job , I enjoy it , I enjoy the people .

Wes Hampton 27:55

And lo and behold , 70 years of doing that , god , out of the blue , gave me the opportunity to audition for the vocal band . I thought this is not , I thought this is not happening , this is not happening . And all of a sudden , all these things in my mind are going off and I'm thinking , oh , that day at UAB when I decided to change majors , that really was God . Because , if I'm being honest , those seven years I doubted , thinking that probably wasn't God . I just , I just misread , I'm an idiot . That's what I thought . And for God to say there you go , yeah . And even if that wasn't it , during the audition process , I remember thinking , ok , even if this vocal band thing is not it , the seven weeks I'm auditioning , god's got something for me and I'm excited about it .

Justin 28:44

Yes .

Wes Hampton 28:45

And at the end of that seven weeks actually the end of six weeks Bill called the church and for those of you who don't know , bill stutters a lot . He'll say if you can get away this weekend , I'll make it worth your while .

Justin 29:03

And I thought what does that mean ?

Wes Hampton 29:05

And I found out it was the last Billy Graham crusade . That that was my audition , my final audition .

Plane Encounter and Audition Process

Wes Hampton 29:11

So he flew me to New York city on his at the time he had a private plane . He doesn't anymore . He sold it .

Rhett 29:17

Hey , can I put a pin on that ? Justin and I've been on that plane . We have a little side note for real , yeah for real Now . He didn't know we were on it but we have been on his plane , so I just for those who are just listening , just for a moment . Uh , hates interrupt your story , but I have to mention that .

Justin 29:35

Yeah , this is good .

Rhett 29:38

So I had a buddy of mine who worked at the airport and he was at one of the FBOs there . It used to be called AMR Combs and he would always call me and tell me and he's a pilot , now he's an executive pilot , flies for billionaire . I can't tell you who it is , but at the end of the day he used to work there in his early twenties . He would always call me up and go hey , so-and-so is coming into town , you want to be here , you . And so the Gaither Vocal Band was actually doing like a reunion at the Civic Center , the BJCC , and so everybody was there . We weren't there and he's like hey , dude , you know Bill and Gloria Gaither's airplane's here , you want to come and check it out .

Justin 30:14

We're like heck , yeah , holy cow , and so we came . It was . Hey , bill , if you're great plane man , the magazines you had on there were wonderful . They were awesome . Yeah , it was , they were amazing . We took some great pictures .

Rhett 30:31

Everything was only up and up , if anybody wants to know . Yeah , yeah , the water's got a good personal life . Yeah , no , it's top class . So my friend brought us on the plane and we took pictures and everything and so yeah , it was so fun , it was fun hey , wes , it wasn't just me , and it wasn't just me and no , it was actually me ret and summer yeah , and the picture exists somewhere today and back .

Justin 30:46

It's crazy . I look back at that picture I'm like , who is that ?

Rhett 30:49

I had a butt cut . Remember the butt cut was really popular down the middle , here , down to here . Oh , like an idiot we were .

Justin 30:55

We were told he's coming yeah , and he's pulling into the lot we jump off the plane . We make it to the door as he's walking in , and so he takes pictures with me , rhett and Summer . And that picture Rhett is still . It was it's got . I mean it was for the longest time on Summer's mom's bookshelf .

Rhett 31:12

And what Wes doesn't know is I actually said hey , bill , there's a guy by the name of Wes . You don't know him yet , but you will at some point .

Justin 31:18

I remember that I'm . I remember that I didn't do that . I said listen , if you call him at Brook Hills , he's used to making $50 . I'll offer him $100 .

Wes Hampton 31:28

That will be worth his while .

Justin 31:30

Let me tell you when I started out making .

Wes Hampton 31:31

It wasn't much more than that , oh .

Justin 31:33

I'm sure man no , hey , but Wes seriously . I love that story , how you're talking about Bill Codd . He made it worth your while . We didn't mean to interrupt your story , but my goodness , there's so many points that you're getting to there . I mean first of all when you say seven weeks of auditioning . Yeah , I want to go back to that like beforehand .

Justin 31:51

I think a lot of listeners are thinking well , because I mean arguably one of the most recognized gospel groups of all time , and you are in that . So people are listening to this , thinking what did that process even look like ? Because this was a dream of yours , and now this is the Super Bowl being presented to you . What's the process even look like .

Rhett 32:14

In addition to that . I want to hear that , but like you were saying that it would never be possible . But then , all of a sudden you find yourself auditioning , so some people might be listening like how did you even get the opportunity to audition ? Was this like American Idol style ? And then into that process .

Wes Hampton 32:33

Well , so that was a question I don't get it so much anymore , but that was a question I got all the time , especially my first 10 years or so with the group was how did you audition ? How do you audition ? How did that all happen ? And honestly I say you're not going to like my answer .

Rhett 32:43

But hey , armchair , authentic family . It's Rhett here . You know , justin and I talk a lot about community passion and doing what you love , and that's why we're excited to share one of our absolute favorites Yellowhammer

The Yellowhammer Coffee Audition Journey

Rhett 32:57

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Justin 32:57

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Rhett 33:19

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Justin 33:35

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Rhett 33:43

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Justin 34:03

Yeah , grab your cup and become part of the hashtag YellHamFam . And remember , tell them Rhett and Justin from Armchair Authentic sent you .

Wes Hampton 34:13

That was a question I got all the time , especially my first 10 years or so with the group was how did you audition ? How do you audition ? How did that all happen ? And honestly I say you're not going to like my answer , but it was God and they just kind of rolled their eyes and I say , well , I was minding my own business .

Wes Hampton 34:32

And basically the short story is we had Andrea's family , had a friend named Karen . Ok , Karen and Jean was a couple Karen and Jean Baddower that they both have passed now , but Jean was one of the Bill's product guys on the road . Ok , Karen was one of my mother-in-law and father-in-law's best friends . They go back to Indiana years and years In fact . A little side note my father-in-law , Mark Andrea's dad , used to be Bill Gaither's music minister about 45 years ago . No kidding , yeah , 45 years ago .

Wes Hampton 35:11

So he knew Bill , he knew Gloria , he knew George , he knew George , he knew Bill's parents , all that my father-in-law didn't keep in contact with Bill all those years . He's one of those guys that doesn't like to just to get people's business and say I know such and such .

Wes Hampton 35:28

He's not one of those guys . So anyway , long story short , karen knew that the guy singing in 10 at the time , david Phelps , was on his way out and she knew that I loved the vocal band . She knew that I sang . She didn't know what part I sang . So she tells my mother-in-law , rosetta , Rosetta . She asks Rosetta , hey , rosetta , what part does Wes sing ? And she goes I think he's tenor . So she goes okay . Karen goes okay , good , because he's looking for a tenor . I think he's tenor , so she goes okay . Karen goes okay , good , cause he's looking for a tenor . So long story short . Again , they tell Andrea Andrea calls me there at church and I had just prayed that morning at church . God , I feel like you're doing something . Please give me some sense of direction . That's all I'm asking .

Justin 36:11

There you go .

Wes Hampton 36:13

That same morning I get the call that same morning , wow , and Karen says if you give me some stuff that you have recorded which we had at Brookhills I had been part of a couple of recordings that they had done Get that to me , I will get it to Suzanne . Karen was best friends with Suzanne , bill and Gloria's oldest daughter that's a good thing we have all these connections , yeah , relational , yeah , it's oldest

Rhett 36:36

daughter , that's a .

Wes Hampton 36:36

God thing , how are these connections ? Yeah , relational . How are these connections ? Yeah , it's totally relational . Again , I feel like this is just falling out of the sky . This is something I didn't pursue . It pursued me . Yeah , so we get stuff to Karen , she gets to Suzanne , suzanne gets to Bill . Bill listens to it , he likes it , he has Abraham belonged here , the trench coats .

Justin 36:54

Oh yeah , cool , cool man .

Wes Hampton 36:57

So she called Bill , calls Guy . Has Guy contact me ? Andrew and I sang at a lot of weddings back in the day and again for newlyweds we do a wedding . We get 250 bucks . Sometimes we get 500 bucks for singing at a wedding Jack pot it was amazing . Yeah , and it was cash . Yeah , so it , and it was cash .

Justin 37:15

So it wasn't you know . It wasn't . You know . This portion of the podcast will not be talked about Sponsored by gov .

Wes Hampton 37:23

So hey , irs , you're listening right now . I didn't pay taxes on that . Anyway , we're singing at a wedding , I get a call from Guy . I ignore it because I didn't know who it was from . I end up checking the voicemail freak out once I realize who it is that leads to the first audition . I go to Guy's house in Columbia , tennessee , where he still lives , and his wife , angie's there . She's precious and seven kids come pouring out of the house all boys Wow and so I audition at Guy's house , I just talk with him .

Wes Hampton 37:58

At the time the baritone was Marshall Hall , who is now my best friend . He's no longer in the group , but Marshall shows up and I'm freaking out because I think I have almost the whole Gaither vocal band here with me . Now my dream has come true . Even if I don't , even if I don't get this job , my dream has come true you just sing with a gay .

Rhett 38:12

You just sing with them , yeah .

Wes Hampton 38:14

Yeah , and God's going , here you go .

Justin 38:16

There you go .

Wes Hampton 38:16

Sing with them and Marsh comes , we sing for about two hours solid and I'm such a fan that I I know more songs than Marshall knows , and he just keeps he just keeps . At the time we had CDs , cds on tracks , on CDs .

Rhett 38:32

So those kids , those are the little record player things that are what's a CD ?

Wes Hampton 38:36

Yeah , exactly , so he just keeps playing all these tracks .

Justin 38:42

You know this one . Yeah , I know that one , I know that one , I know that one , I know that one .

Wes Hampton 38:45

So I walk away from that auditioning telling Andrea I said listen , I know I'm probably not knowing is this ? I can blend better than anybody and I know more than anybody auditioning . I just know that I'm extremely confident in that and I'm not an arrogant person at all . I'm just incredibly grateful that I've paid to do this . I'm fooling people .

Justin 39:18

But I told my wife those two things I'm confident .

Wes Hampton 39:20

So I said , hey , we'll just see what happens . And so this whole audition process , I would get a call there at church . Hey , it's Bill .

Justin 39:28

Yeah , I know , I know , I know Bill .

Wes Hampton 39:32

Hey , can you ? So basically they would send me a vocal band track and everyone would be on that track except for the tenor . So I would go to Airwave Studio that , mark Phillips owned yes . And I would go to .

Justin 39:46

Airwave .

Wes Hampton 39:47

And I remember I recorded there is a River . I can't remember what other songs I recorded , but I would go in and record the tenor part , and then Mark and a guy named Joel Bouchelon .

Justin 40:01

Yes , I love Joel . Yes , joel was the sound engineer . Yes , brilliant , brilliant musician , oh man .

Wes Hampton 40:05

Yes , so Joel would send that on to Indiana and Bill evidently liked what he heard , so he decides to meet with me in Nashville . So we drive all the way to Nashville at a studio there and Russ Taff is sitting there . Oh man , An unbelievable piano player named Anthony Berger . He has passed since . They're all there watching me sing , listen to me sing , and I meet Bill for the first time in person and I just think , oh my gosh , the legend right there right there in front of me and that just continues on for seven weeks , basically me going back and forth to Nashville recording stuff .

Justin 40:50

In fact , the last thing I recorded it had to be sent to Bill on a Gaither cruise in the middle of the ocean . That's how persistent Bill is . Yeah , that's not right . So they're listening to me sing on the Gaither cruise .

Wes Hampton 40:56

They're listening to me sing in Bill's room .

Rhett 40:58

Wow .

Wes Hampton 40:58

So again , the very last of that , I get a call , sing at the Billy Graham Crusade and a week later I get a call from Bill inviting me , and that was in May of 2005 . So here we are in November of 2024 , and I'm still with the group .

Rhett 41:12

Well , correct me if I'm wrong , but you're the longest standing member outside of Bill , is that correct ?

Wes Hampton 41:17

Yeah , I think before that , guy was the longest consecutive number of years . He was 14 years , I think . Mark Lowry was next in line with , I think , 16 .

Justin 41:28

Yeah , you've got the record .

Wes Hampton 41:29

Cumulative , but now I'm 19 and a half years .

Justin 41:32

That's crazy , god Wes . That's amazing .

Rhett 41:35

Well and a half years . That's crazy , god Wes , that's amazing . Well , here's what I'm hearing . I'm hearing , obviously , god , the relationship opened the door , but you were ready . You know , if you're young and you're listening to this , or whoever you are , if you're , it's all about preparation . You were prepared and you were ready when the door opened .

Wes Hampton 41:49

Let me say this one thing is I think this is really important . I had been discontent a long time being at Eberkills . I had tried to push a solo career . It just was not happening . I would offer to go sing at churches for free . You're just calling churches . Hey , can I just come to your concert ? No one would respond to me , no one . And I got discouraged and I realized God was telling me hey , I don't want you to do this right now . This is not the right season , it's not the right time . As soon as I became content and where God had placed me , that's when he opened the door to the next thing .

Wes Hampton 42:23

That's huge , so good . If you're younger and you're listening to this and you're discontent , maybe God is saying to you hey , I've got you in this place for this particular moment in time because I'm trying to teach you something or I'm trying to grow you in some area , whatever it is . You need to ask yourself and ask God what is it you're trying to teach me ? So I learned contentment through that process and then that's when the audition process happened for me .

Rhett 42:48

I wrote down the word . You were secure in who you were . That's what I've heard in that statement . So you were prepared , you're ready , you were secure , but you were at a place of . What I'm hearing now from this perspective is that you were operating in a place of humility where you were trying to maybe force if you will or you know , do your part and try to open up doors on your own . It seemed like God was like hey , if you'll just be content and secure with where you are and be faithful with that , I'll open the door . I got ways to get you into the room and in front of the people you need to be in front of . You didn't stop being prepared .

Rhett 43:21

You continue to be faithful and you were to the local church and in your faith and in your walk with the Lord , and God opened that when he needed to open it at the right time , rather than you .

Everyone Is a Compromise

Rhett 43:31

We were talking about this earlier just in the conversation you know , birthing an Ishmael , an Isaac blessing or an Ishmael blessing , and you got the Isaac blessing from the promise of the Lord . And for those , we don't have time to dive into the theology of that .

Justin 43:46

But the biblical side of that is , abraham was promised a son by God and it was not going the timing the way that Abraham thought it should , so he interpreted to force it to happen and has a child named Ishmael . And force it to happen and has a child named Ishmael , and that is not the promise God had . But we were talking about that because we heard a message one time and it was in a time that I was praying about some stuff and I was telling Rhett this morning , years ago , I could have forced some things , and I heard this message and the message was titled uh , do not birth an Ishmael . And it was everything you just said you would try to go force these deals , something that people would pay you for , obviously . Now you're offering your services for free and there's not the God favor on it to happen .

Wes Hampton 44:28

You're exactly right . And I remember , even when we were driving to Guy's for that initial audition , I remember telling Andrea so clearly I said I can't do what David Phelps does . I can't hold out those super high notes like David can . I can't do , I can't sing tenor for this group because I'm I haven't been , I've never been a horribly secure person . I mean a terribly secure person . I just haven't . I've always doubted myself , doubted , doubted myself , doubted my abilities . And Andrea said she goes , you let Bill decide that . Wow . And I thought oh , yeah .

Wes Hampton 45:01

Okay , yeah , I will . I will let Bill decide that , I'll let , and I'll let God decide that . You know , cause I didn't think I was good enough . I just didn't think I was good enough . I knew that God , god , had gifted me to sing . But I also believe sometimes giftings are on different levels . You know , sometimes he gives us the ability to play guitar , just not like Chris Griffin plays guitar .

Justin 45:22

Yeah , phenomenal .

Rhett 45:26

If you're listening around the country .

Wes Hampton 45:27

Chris Griffin is an amazing musician band called active Congress .

Rhett 45:32

We might not have to get Chris on here at some point just to play guitar .

Wes Hampton 45:35

That's right , It'll make you sick . What a freak of a player man when you're talking about contentment .

Rhett 45:40

I don't know man , it's just resonating . There's something powerful in the humility and contentment and the security of just knowing that , hey , god's got me . You know , I don't have to force this , I'm just going to be who I am , be the best to my ability . Whether it's gifting or it's just , I'm happy with where I am and if , if God blesses that great . If not , like I'm just , it's all good . And it's amazing what you were saying , like in that school of contentment . All of a sudden now it's like I don't know . I don't want to put words in your story . I'm speaking from my perspective of my own story . But every time I was in seasons of contentment it was like where God can look at me and go okay , now I trust you . Like he didn't need that to be somebody , like I was enough for you in this season and because I can trust you with that , well , I'm going to bless you with more .

Justin 46:23

Your contented side is a side to go to the advanced stage , and until you get there you're not ready for it .

Rhett 46:29

Yeah .

Justin 46:30

For you to hear that advice from your wife to say let Bill decide , but there's a West Hampton touch that a David Phelps doesn't have .

Wes Hampton 46:42

One thing that Bill has said that has stuck with me and is so true I don't care how good you are at what you do , how confident you are at what you do , you are a compromise . Everyone is a compromise in some way , and when it comes to singers , every singer is a compromise . There's one singer that does something a lot better than you can , and I could do something a lot better than another singer . So if you get one string from me , well , I'm probably going to lose something that you had before . And that's something I thought was really interesting is Bill saying everyone is a compromise . Also , the second thing is we can't limit God . We can't say God can't use me because I'm ABCD , you can't try to put limits on God . Well , I guess you can try to put limits on God , but you can't because , again , I never dreamed that I would do this , ever . In fact , as I said earlier , I remember saying the words well , that's just not going to happen . Vocal myth is not going to happen , so I'm going to be a doctor .

Wes Hampton 47:36

I remember saying the words well , that's just not going to happen . Vocal band is not going to happen , so I'm going to be a doctor . So we just can't limit God , because he can do whatever .

Justin 47:46

The song that .

Wes Hampton 47:46

I sing off with the vocal band . Little is much when God is in it . If we offer what little we have , he can do whatever he wants to with what we offer and he can multiply it , just like the fish and the bread . He could take this little bitty offering and just explode it . So I just want to encourage someone out there that might feel like they might not matter or they're insignificant . That's just a lie .

Justin 48:13

That's really good . Man , that statement though everyone is a compromise , yeah .

Wes Hampton 48:19

That's really good .

Justin 48:20

And that statement , though everyone is a compromise . Yeah , that's so good , because that doesn't sound like this positive statement , but it is yeah , because you cannot be all things to all people , and we try to be yeah , and for Bill to set you free by saying that , basically saying , wes , you don't have all the goods , but neither does this person that you think does , and neither do I ?

Wes Hampton 48:43

He said you know as great as David is , he goes . He's a compromise in a lot of areas . We're all compromises , we just are .

Justin 48:49

I love that statement . It's really good .

Wes Hampton 48:51

It is . It's just a healthy . I think it's a healthy way , it's a healthy perspective to have in our lives is , you know , no one has it all together , no one can be all things to everybody . That's just impossible and it is absolutely exhausting .

Justin 49:04

I'm seeing Rhett , episode 40 . Everyone is a compromise A conversation with Wes Hampton . I love it . Yeah , I love it .

Rhett 49:14

I'm serious , bro yeah .

Justin 49:17

And then we'll give credit to Bill Gaither when they listen .

Rhett 49:21

I'm telling you that we normally name the conversations after we you know . Look at the content and everything .

Justin 49:26

Yeah , absolutely . That's an amazing statement , man . I bet that set you free .

Wes Hampton 49:32

Oh it did because Bill knew the pressure , because when I first joined the group it was very difficult . I would have a lot of Phelps fans that I think meant well but were very hurtful . It was very , very hurtful to me the things they would say . This is when social media was just starting to explode , so I would get on there like an idiot and read people's comments . You know , this new guy sucks , or this new guy is half the singer of Phelps , or this new guy can't do this . You know I miss David . I wish David would come back . I read all that stuff and something that I heard of all people Samuel L Jackson say and it has stuck with me . He said in an interview . He said if you read the good and believe all the good about you , then you have to believe all the bad . He said you just can't put value in what people think , especially these anonymous trolls and clowns online that are posting what they think is the truth .

Wes Hampton 50:28

The truth is always somewhere in the middle .

Justin 50:30

So what was it that finally got you ? You said it took a while . You're seeing the comments online . How long did it take you to begin taking that advice ? As we know , you can have the best advice given , but sometimes it's a seed and it takes a few years to plan in and really take root . What was that process ? Like you saw the comments , you began to finally believe in who you were At some point . What happens there ?

Wes Hampton 50:55

It was a couple of years process , but I thought I'm going to win over all these David fans . I'm going to win them

Finding Identity Through Authenticity

Wes Hampton 51:04

over . So what I started doing was , every time I did an interview , every time I wrote something online about that , I would say listen , I think David Phelps is an unbelievable singer . There will never be anyone like him . But God has not called me to be David Phelps . He's called me to be Wes Hampton and to do what I do best . And what I do best is not what David does best .

Wes Hampton 51:31

And that really disarmed a lot of people because they realized , oh , he's not here to replace David , he's not here to be David , he's here to be him . Oh , he's not here to replace David , he's not here to be David , he's here to be him . Oh , okay . And once they realized that , they started to embrace me because they knew I wasn't here to . I'm not going to out sing him , I'm going to do what I do best . So that's what I did , and that's again something that Bill helped me really discover was hey , I think you do this really well , let's go this Avenue Stop . I mean , when we need some power notes , you can still do those , but we're not going to make you back into this corner . If you've got to be the powerhouse high singer of your song , we're not going to do that . David did that and he was great at it . I do this .

Wes Hampton 52:18

And I think that applies to everyone . You just can't . You can't try to be something that you're not .

Justin 52:22

Well , and you're 19 years into this . What an amazing longevity streak loyalty , faithfulness , continuing to build your skills , staying relevant . You were doing this from different places . As you said earlier , you moved to Birmingham . You went to school when you and Andrea were married . You're in Birmingham now and then for the longest time you were in Birmingham and then , in the earlier part of the episode you talked about here , I am from my studio in Brentwood , so you've moved to Nashville . What does that look like ? What brought on some of the moving around ? Was it something that helps you be better positioned for the different tours that you guys have , for the career that you have right now ? What was that ?

Wes Hampton 53:03

Good question . We felt like our roots were just loosening all in Birmingham . We just felt and it was no one did anything wrong , no one did anything bad , no one offended us . We just felt like relationships . We were just kind of entering different seasons and relationships with friends , we even with church , you know , we just felt like God's kind of he's . I feel like he's he's pulling us away from here . I don't know what that means , but I feel like he's pulling us away here . And there was also the practical side of it of man . Yeah , I can only imagine off the plane at two o'clock Sunday morning and then having to drive to Birmingham completely exhausted and having to pull over on I-65 because I need to take a 30 minute nap , because I'm starting to fall asleep . So there was just a lot of variables .

Wes Hampton 54:12

Yeah , it's very glamorous .

Justin 54:13

But , I will say .

Wes Hampton 54:14

the thing that really was God telling us was this we decided to just talk to the realtor that helped us build and sell our house where we live . We used to live in Highland Lakes , there , right off 280 , great neighborhood . Our realtor lived in that neighborhood . We talked to her hey , terry , we're thinking about listing our house . What do you think we could get for it ? She goes well , let me come by tomorrow and I'll take a look at it and see . So she came by , looked at it . When we built the house we had an unfinished basement . Well , the 10 years we were there , we saved enough to afford to actually build out the basement . So that's what we did .

Wes Hampton 54:52

So Terry came to our house . She saw the basement . The basement blew her away . She couldn't believe it . So , long story short , she goes . I think you could get this much for it . We went oh , okay , awesome , she goes and she goes . I think you could get a bidding word going for this house . So I think you could even ask this much over for it and still get it . So we decide we're going to list it with her . A couple of days go by and she goes hey , can I bring my husband by to see your house . She bought that house what ? She brings her husband to the house to look at it . She wants to buy our house before we even list it . And I say , well , terry , I think we could get a bidding war going for this house .

Justin 55:34

Yeah , that's what I would say I was about to say you better .

Wes Hampton 55:37

So we were able to get significantly more out of what she told us , we could sell the house for . And she paid the full price plus the extra , without even listing the house .

Rhett 55:49

Thanks for the advice .

Justin 55:50

Terry .

Rhett 55:51

Yeah , another .

Wes Hampton 55:52

And Terry's awesome . We've been in the house to even look at it and see what she's done . And I mean Terry and David are just , oh , I love them so much so they're still living in our Birmingham house , which we , if I'm being honest , I very , very much miss that house Because the cost of living here even in Murfreesboro , where we live , the cost of living here is way higher than Birmingham . So we got significantly less house for significantly more money .

Justin 56:18

Yes , welcome to Nashville . Yeah , welcome to Nashville . Yeah , yeah , so Especially that area .

Rhett 56:24

But you know you don't have that six hours anymore of travel . You've got your rest . You've got your sleep . I'm telling you what I mean . Come on , we've been doing a lot of recording recently , yeah .

Wes Hampton 56:32

And to think I have you know again , as I said , we are in Murfreesboro , so we're about 25 minutes with light traffic from Nashville . We record a lot in Franklin , so we're about 25 minutes from Franklin as well . So to think I've got a 25-minute drive to go to work Okay , let's go . Okay , that's great . I can go there and sing and come home that night for dinner .

Rhett 56:53

Speaking of dinner , I hear you like to cook Is this a thing .

Justin 56:57

This is something about Wes . People don't know Red .

Rhett 57:01

I did not know . I'm looking online . I'm like I'm sorry . Yes , it's true , I told him . I said Justin , I don't know if I can get through this without maybe cracking a little smile or laughing a little bit , cause the brother can cook . You know a lot of great recipes , recipes but the brother's written a book called Wesupies .

Justin 57:18

And I love it , man . It's the play on words W-E-S Wessupies . And he's not just written one , no , he's got several , he's got multiple books of Wessupies .

Rhett 57:30

I mean like artist cook , like come on man , this is awesome .

Justin 57:43

Well , and let me say this first , because I want , I do want you to talk about the food , because that is , that's a , that's a passion of yours , and I mean it started as hobby but now it's actually turning into an . There's an entrepreneurial side of you with this , but I at least have to give a shout out because to this day , you know , rhett , I'm a cake lover , I am a chocolate . You name it Candy chocolate .

Wes Hampton 58:01

I love sugar cake lover . I am a chocolate . You name it candy chocolate .

Justin 58:03

I love yeah sugar , sugar in general , I'm just an addict . Well , wes made a sugar crusted chocolate chip bunt cake for me one time and I ate that , I ate that west still to this day , one of the greatest cakes I've ever had . And April 20th is my birthday .

Wes Hampton 58:25

Just a reminder Um but no .

Justin 58:26

Hey , so for our listening audience here Wes he is a phenomenal uh , just even on this cake the baker , but he loves not just food to eat , Right , but he loves making it . He loves cooking . He has his cookbooks that he's released . What got you into this ? Yeah , man .

Wes Hampton 58:45

So when I was at UAB , I would come home in the afternoons when I'm still working part-time Andrea's working at Brook Hills and I turn on the TV and Food Network is on . Food TV is on . This is the days where they actually showed cooking . It wasn't all these game shows , all that mess and I hate that stuff . They were actually cooking instructional . Martha stewart was on there .

Wes Hampton 59:06

Alton brown yes , oh yeah , bobby jada , all these and I remember sitting there and an hour and a half had gone by and I had been watching cooking shows for an hour and a half because it was so relaxing

The Joy of Cooking and Music

Wes Hampton 59:19

. So andrea did all the cooking . When we were married I didn't cook at all . I grew up my mother was a been watching cooking shows for an hour and a half because it was so relaxing . So Andrea did all the cooking . When we were married . I didn't cook at all . I grew up my mother was a wonderful cook still is , and I'm going to watch her cook some but I just had no interest in it . So I started kind of pushing her slowly out of the kitchen is what happened . And when she realized what was happening , she goes okay , you want to cook , I'll let you cook .

Justin 59:38

And she hasn't looked back . That's awesome .

Wes Hampton 59:41

So it became a hobby of mine and I just I absolutely destroyed a lot of meals , but the best cooking instruction I got was screwing up stuff and realizing I will never do that again , or that or that or that or that . And then just reading as much as I could , watching online YouTube , just as much cooking stuff as I could possibly absorb , and it just became this obsession , this hobby of mine . And , as you said , I've written several cookbooks and the interesting thing is when COVID hit , I wrote another cookbook just because we weren't out singing . No one was and that became a very significant and large part of my income .

Wes Hampton 1:00:25

Amazing During those 18 months of COVID that helped pay our mortgage during COVID .

Rhett 1:00:30

Wow .

Wes Hampton 1:00:30

That silly cookbook .

Rhett 1:00:32

Oh , that's a blessing .

Wes Hampton 1:00:34

And people don't really , as you know , buy music anymore . They stream everything , they just subscribe , yeah . So I had to figure out a way . Okay , how can I support my family , how can I support myself by another means besides music , because music , you just can't make much money anymore doing music . So that's what I did . So now I sell the cookbooks at concerts .

Justin 1:00:54

No royalties , everything goes to me .

Wes Hampton 1:00:55

I'm just at the cost of printing . So yeah , it's become this thing that's kind of taken off by accident and yeah , I'm always collecting , always looking for new ideas , and it brings me joy , it brings me joy to do something .

Justin 1:01:08

That's the key .

Wes Hampton 1:01:09

And when someone enjoys it , there's nothing . It gives me so much fulfillment knowing that someone's enjoying it . So I make these chocolate chip punt cakes . Justin , I've made no exagger exaggeration . I bet I've made 800 of these cakes easily , because I make . I make them every Christmas for the Gayther tour in fact today today I went to the grocery store and I bought four boxes of Duncan Hines yellow cake mix because I'm going to make a cake for the bus for tomorrow .

Justin 1:01:36

I was going to gonna ask oh you they they love it , that's why you're there 19 years they're like we know the secret now . Bill's like , here's my impersonation , the guy he can sing , but I like the way he makes that cake , those bun cakes he can bake oh man , but that's that's so cool too

Justin 1:01:55

because , yeah I would imagine too , just the influence that you have , that you've blessed so many people with your music . There's a lot of fans out there who probably look at that as well and say , man , I'm going to get that gift for my family at Christmas . Not just the food , but they're looking at the cookbooks , I'm going to get this for my family . So it's amazing how it's music and I don't know .

Wes Hampton 1:02:16

It's just something that's unique , and I've got to give credit to my father-in-law , because he's the one that said you've created all these recipes , why don't you just compile a cookbook and start selling it at concerts ? I thought that is brilliant , so that's what I did .

Rhett 1:02:29

So if you had your go-to dinner and you had to , you know , I know everybody says , if you were going to cook a meal for the president , whoever you know , like , if somebody's coming over and you're like showing out , this is my best meal , this is what I'm going to prepare , what would that be ? Talk me through that one .

Wes Hampton 1:02:44

I'm a fan of simplicity , so I would do something like so let me start with dessert , which is the best part . I would do something either like a creme brulee , because a creme brulee is incredibly simple . Most people think it's a complicated thing to make because restaurants charge so much for it , but it's super easy . I would do either a vanilla bean creme brulee or I would do my chocolate chip Bundt cake , honestly with some Blue Bell natural vanilla bean ice cream , so that would be dessert .

Wes Hampton 1:03:11

And honestly for dinner . Super simple my favorite thing to make besides homemade pasta . Homemade pasta is a lot of work , labor intensive . My favorite thing to make is homemade pizza . I have an indoor electric pizza oven and I have an outdoor gas . That's how serious .

Justin 1:03:28

I am .

Wes Hampton 1:03:30

And I make my own . I make everything . I make my dough , but my dough proofs for a week in the refrigerator , so I do a starter . I let that proof for about five in the refrigerator . So I do a starter . I let that proof for about five , six days and then I add everything else to it , make my dough balls , let them proof the day I'm going to make them , and it's just , it's awesome . I absolutely love it . I love experimenting with depending on the different temperatures and the different times , you get different styles of pizza . So you know , the ones that are super , super high temperature , quick cooking , are going to be the Neapolitan style pizzas , which could be my favorite . I also love New York style , which is much lower temperature much longer cook time .

Wes Hampton 1:04:09

You get that crispy , you hold the piece out and it does that .

Rhett 1:04:12

Yeah , I wish people could see . I know we don't do video right now , that's for specific reasons , but I wish people could see . I know we don't do video right now , that's for specific reasons , but I wish people could see your eyes .

Justin 1:04:21

You're just lit up .

Wes Hampton 1:04:24

You're just like a kid at a candy store a kid at Christmas .

Rhett 1:04:26

Man , you were that way with music , but I don't know , man , this cooking is like boom man .

Justin 1:04:30

That's why I want him cooking for me , because he does it with joy and he does it with love . If you found found a way to mass produce the Bundt cake . I'm telling you that every store had those in the refrigerator section or something . I would be grabbing those . There's a market out there .

Wes Hampton 1:04:46

We've actually looked at doing that , but it's quite complicated . But you know what that could be once the next chapter of the vocal band . Whenever this ends , bill's 88 years old , soon to be 89 in March who knows how much longer he's going to do it . I don't know . He's going to do it till the day he dies .

Rhett 1:05:02

He will , literally , he really will you need to get him to trademark gaither vocal bunt cake and then you do an infomercial I love it at the gaither vocal hey , you need to get your gaither vocal bunt cake you know , that is good . No , seriously that is good plays with the band like you do that , and put that up on the screen and get them to trademark that and you can give them a little royalty over time , you know whatever that's right Like you can mass produce that baby every concert .

Justin 1:05:26

Well , and then we're already planning to see that his Bundt Cank Company , or his cooking company , will be one of our sponsors of Armchair .

Wes Hampton 1:05:34

Authentic . Yeah , you got it , man . You got it For sure . Well , and Wes ?

Justin 1:05:38

surely 19 years , you're the tenured member , other than Bill Gaither At some point . Why don't you just take it over ?

Wes Hampton 1:05:46

Oh man , you know .

Justin 1:05:50

I don't know if I want that responsibility .

Wes Hampton 1:05:54

I bet that's a weight beyond weights right there . Well , you just think about y'all actually do understand what we do as far as just the overhead , the cost of what it requires . Bill has three buses . He's paying for two that are paid for , obviously , because he's Bill Gaither , he's very , very smart with his money , aka tight , and so he pays everything for cash . So we have two pay-for buses and then there's another bus with us for Majestic Productions who does all of our audio video stuff . Okay , so he has the cost of maintaining two buses and you can count on a dollar per mile per bus every weekend is what it's going to cost . So terribly expensive . I just to think about heading all this up is just overwhelming to me .

Justin 1:06:42

Yeah , that's a lot .

Wes Hampton 1:06:44

I can't fathom and I just think , oh man , once Bill's gone , I don't know if I'm going to do this anymore , because I can't .

Wes Hampton 1:06:51

He's the mastermind behind it , Guys this is something , honestly , I pray about every day . Okay , because had I been a doctor , that would have been a way more stable career I would have an idea of . Okay , this is what my income is going to be this year . Doing what I do now , my income fluctuates year to year drastically . It's crazy how much my income can vary just depending on how many concerts we do , because we are all contract singers . None of us are on salary . So I go out sing this weekend two concerts . I get a check for two concerts , yeah , and then I get to take out medical insurance , pay taxes on that you know , just all the stuff , yeah yes , so that that's how it goes .

Wes Hampton 1:07:36

So when ?

Justin 1:07:36

the life of the 1099er .

Wes Hampton 1:07:39

Yeah , exactly , it truly is Feaster of Hammon for us , the summers we don't travel much . So the summers that first year with the vocal band , when summer came , we thought , oh okay . We should have put back a little bit more , but we learned .

Rhett 1:07:53

And that's why , as great creatives , you marry a great woman , that is a marriage and family therapist . Yes , are you marrying ?

Wes Hampton 1:08:00

a doctor . That's right , that's a doctor , and who's , yeah , who also with with you guys too .

Justin 1:08:07

I mean a lot of homeschooling and I mean y'all have been so intentional with your , your boys which they are , I mean talk about just a cut above . Your boys are amazing and yours are too .

Justin 1:08:19

Thank you , yeah , thank you , and so yeah , from time to time my boys and and wes's boys , they would , they were , they were gamers for a season online still are that . They would jump online and I would run downstairs and and they were playing with the hamptons and I mean it was . I would yell at wes and andrea from the other room . I loved .

Wes Hampton 1:08:37

I loved it yes how old are your boys ?

Wes Hampton 1:08:40

so barrett , our oldest , is 20 . He's going to be 21 in february . He's a junior at trebecca or alma mater . And then barrett , barrett , then hudson is 18 . He is a freshman at trebecca . Barrett is going to do music , music , business , commercial music , and then hudson is doing sport management . Oh , oh , come on , for now I know , I know . And then Cardin and Sutton are , let me see , respectively almost 16 , almost 15 . They are both sophomores in high school . They go to a private Christian school here in Murfreesboro and we move Setty up because he and Barrett are kind of just really as far as school smarts go , it just comes easily , it comes naturally for them . So we moved Seti up to Cardin's grade level and Cardin did not like that at the time .

Justin 1:09:33

I bet he didn't .

Wes Hampton 1:09:34

He did not like that at all .

Justin 1:09:37

So now we have two sophomores in high school .

Wes Hampton 1:09:39

Yeah , so that's what happens . People say are they twins ? No , they're not twins , they're a year apart , but we just have one , that's so . One is ADD and dyslexic .

Rhett 1:09:48

Oh , wow .

Wes Hampton 1:09:49

The other is bored out of his mind because school is too easy , so you move them .

Justin 1:09:54

I mean it was a perfect plan and now they just get to be great , great friends OK so even with your youngest now being that age and you've been a part of Gaither Vocal Band so long . Obviously , your solo career to the cooking we've talked about . What are you dreaming about right now ? What do you see on the horizon , potentially for West Hampton or the Hamptons , west Hampton ?

Wes Hampton 1:10:17

or the Hamptons ? That's a great question and , if I'm being honest , it looks pretty unknown right now and my knee-jerk reaction to that would be anxiety , fear , worry , all that and those things have crept up because , again , my boss is almost 89 . What's next ? Will the group continue on after Bill ? I don't know . We've talked about the group continuing on after Bill is gone , but will enough people come to the concerts to make it a viable thing ? Will it ? Will it , you know , make enough money to support what it is ?

Wes Hampton 1:11:04

So I have another avenue I'm going down that I can't talk about right now . So I'm really praying about that right now . It's kind of a long process , so it could be something that's completely non-music related in the future . It could be something that's completely non-music related in the future , or it could be to where God really expands my solo ministry and enables the vocal band to continue on . So those are things that are a daily prayer for me . Just , lord , give me , please give me wisdom , give me discernment , help me to make the right decisions . Just like I prayed with the vocal band , all that process was happening .

Wes Hampton 1:11:43

I remember praying God , would you continue to open up doors ? If I'm being honest , lord , I want this . You know that I want this more than anything . But if this is not right , would you please just shut the door now . I don't want to get further down this road and they get more excited , more invested than it not happened . So that's what I'm praying about right now is Lord , if this other avenue is not the right thing , just shut the doors now . But if it is the right thing , help them to continue to open . So as of now , the door is continuing to open and I'm just honestly kind of excited and a little anxious if I'm being honest a little anxious , but I'm also excited because God is gosh .

Wes Hampton 1:12:27

He's been so faithful and he has led us down the right path so far and I trust he's going to continue to do that . So it might be simplistic to think that that God's got it and he's going to guide us , but that's the honest truth . That's what I believe .

Justin 1:12:46

And I think that's kind of where he wants us to be .

Faith, Family, and Music Journeys

Justin 1:12:49

We believe you and it goes with the conversation , again , we were having this morning . There is such a parallel there of just you said it earlier God , you know , he might put this desiring your heart , but it's not always laid out detail by detail , so it takes a bit of faith to actually see it to come to pass . So I appreciate your vulnerability and giving us that answer , and also we want to go ahead and get on the books uh , part two once you start getting some of that clarity so that we can hear what that is , that you're going to announce , and we'll be praying for you during that part too .

Wes Hampton 1:13:25

Thank you guys .

Rhett 1:13:25

Oh , man , such an honor to have you on the podcast today and I was going to say it if Justin didn't . But your vulnerability and your authenticity speaks to your genuineness of the man that you are and I appreciate your willingness to shed some light on the grit , the grind , just the backstory of just a man who is in pursuit and on a process , on a journey of walking with the Lord . You know , in Christian circles we call it anointing .

Rhett 1:13:55

It's just like this grace gift that's on your life . So when you're standing and you're singing , you're not singing from a performance , although many people might look at it as a performance , but you're actually singing from a deeper place of all the things you've experienced , that you opened up and you're willing to share today , and so it comes as a testament of God's faithfulness in your life , and that's why it's so powerful and that's why people are so drawn to it . And so I want to encourage people . You know some you know I speak to the stereotype . You know some of the younger generation . They hear the word Gaither Vocal Band and they may tune it out , thinking oh , that's just an older type of music if you're younger . But I'd encourage you to go listen to some of these songs because you will . You'll be so surprised at how dynamic and how powerful they are and how God can speak to you in and through it , especially the songs that you've recorded , man , and the stuff that I've seen you do . So thank you for your faithfulness .

Wes Hampton 1:14:45

Thank you for your genuineness . Thank you , guys .

Rhett 1:14:47

Thank you for opening your heart on stage , being vulnerable to share your story and to love God like you do . Man , so you're an inspiration , encouragement . And I have a 16-year-old . You're like at 20 , 18 , 16 , 15 , and I think I'm struggling over here as a parent trying to figure things out . So we might be having some side conversations , and go look , man , you're doing some things right . Can you help a brother ?

Wes Hampton 1:15:07

out . Hey , it takes a village , it really does .

Rhett 1:15:09

No , my son's amazing . So kudos to you for raising four boys man , you and Andrea .

Wes Hampton 1:15:14

Boe , we're trying , justin . You know , I mean it's kind of just with boys , especially teenage boys . Sometimes it's just a day-to-day thing . You think , oh Lord , you're going to have to help us . You're going to have to help us right now because I don't know what to do .

Justin 1:15:31

We are still learning in this process . Hey , what's funny is I had to get on to the kids I won't say which one . If you're listening , guys , I won't call you out If you're listening guys , I won't call you out , so you got it easy with the four . You can generalize that I can't .

Rhett 1:15:40

My son's like . Dad , you're calling me out on the podcast . What's going on ?

Justin 1:15:44

Well , wes , the other night I had to go in there and get on to one of the kiddos and you know the time you have to get in there and you are firm , like you're lifting your voice , and I kind of felt bad . You mean , you're actually a good dad . Oh my gosh , I kind of felt bad . I'm going in there to summer also thinking , oh gosh , I need to apologize to her . She just heard me raise my voice because I thought she might be like that was a little much . And I went in there and she came behind me like , almost like a boxing trainer does , she starts massaging my shoulder . She said , all right , all right , you're doing a good job , doing a good job . I want you to get back out there . You got the strength going .

Rhett 1:16:24

She did the imaginary water bottle , like she spit it in my mouth and I spit it out .

Justin 1:16:27

She's like together Come on , come on , come on . And it was like Mickey on Rocky . She was like and that I am not mad at you , by the way , I'm so attracted to you , the way that you went and took care of that and I got your back and you get my back because I'm going in there next , and it was so cool . So that's the first thing that hit my mind when you're talking about you and Andrea . I'm like , yes , you're trying to raise your kiddos and you're just surviving some days . You're ready to kill them . You're ready to kill them , you're ready to love them , you're ready to do it all .

Rhett 1:16:58

It's the wonderful circle of life , it's a lot like God with us , isn't it , God sometimes like ?

Justin 1:17:03

how do I put up with these kids ?

Rhett 1:17:04

Oh my gosh , you're stressing out over what's next .

Justin 1:17:10

Have you not seen what I've done for you ? He's like I told you when you were younger .

Wes Hampton 1:17:14

You're going to the Gaither vocal band you just shut up .

Rhett 1:17:16

Yes , I'm preaching to myself too in this man . This is so good .

Justin 1:17:18

Here is the deal with Wes your music , I mean it really is . It's amazing , it's cutting edge . The group that you're with has been able to transcend all barriers , from older to younger . When I was 15 , surrender my life to Christ , it was , I mean , we're talking old days of . It was like Michael English , I mean . The album with it starts with satisfied , well , satisfied .

Wes Hampton 1:17:41

Some classic Spawn .

Justin 1:17:42

M1 . And me and Rhett were so into that and so for you to be part of something that's like , I mean , it's transcending so much time and there's people who , if you've not listened to them , get on board and check them out and check out what's going on with Wes . So we want to make sure , when this conversation ends , how can you guys continue on your journey to get to know Wes Hampton more ? So , wes , where can people find you ? As far as online websites , socials , anything that you- want to give for the listening audience .

Wes Hampton 1:18:14

Yes , so my website is just my name weshamptoncom . You can find all of the concert information on there where we're going to be on tour the vocal band and for solo .

Fitness Routine and Healthy Lifestyle

Wes Hampton 1:18:23

I'm on , I think , all the socials . Pretty much my handle is either Westhampton or WesthamptonOfficial . So just make sure too . There are sadly a lot of fraudulent accounts out there , so make sure it has a little blue verified check next to it . That means it is the legit one . And also just use common sense . If they have 50 followers , it's probably not me .

Justin 1:18:45

So I have people at the time . Is this you ?

Wes Hampton 1:18:47

It's got five followers .

Justin 1:18:48

No , no no , I didn't , I didn't ask , I'm not , I'm not killed up with my followers , but I'm not that small . Yeah , that's right . Have an inheritance of $2 million for you . Okay , I got one line .

Rhett 1:18:58

Yeah , I got a question for you man , before you go , so people can't see you . Obviously , they'll look at you online . Bro , you're fit I mean , I don't know how else to say it , but you're fit . There's something you're doing , something to take care of your health and healthy . I mean 46 and 46 , baby .

Rhett 1:19:13

I think the kids call it fit . I don't know , that's what I'm trying to , be cool , but anyway . So what's your routine , man ? I mean , you know , obviously you're on the road . That's pretty draining and exhausting . You've got to be up to a certain level of fitness and ability to carry not only carry those notes , but carry and take care of your family .

Wes Hampton 1:19:28

I will say this . I'm not being facetious when I say this Bill Gaither has been an inspiration to us guys . He walks 10,000 steps every day . That 10,000 steps every day . That man has energy through the roof because he doesn't stop moving . He does rest , but he doesn't . He believes in vacationing , he believes in resting , but he also believes in not stopping , and I think that's something that has really benefited him through the years . That's why he is who he is , why he's doing what he's still doing at almost 89 years old and keeping up with us young guys . It helps on the road because reggie , adam and todd both we all , we all like how we feel when we're physically active , when we go . Our thing is every day on the road . We go find a planet fitness and we go work out together .

Rhett 1:20:15

Did y'all hear that planet fitness ?

Wes Hampton 1:20:17

that's right planet .

Rhett 1:20:18

Did y'all hear that all the ga vocal band , everybody Gaither vocal band fan right now is going ? Okay , what city are they going to ? Where's the Planet Fitness ?

Justin 1:20:26

And the clientele of Planet Fitness just boosted .

Wes Hampton 1:20:30

Yeah , if you want to find the Gaither vocal band when we're in your town , go to the Planet Fitness . That day we will be there , that's great . So we go there and we do our thing . I am a creature of habit . I love routine . Again , I think it's just my personality . I'm kind of that easygoing , but I like a routine . I don't like much change For the disc personality people . I'm an SI , Okay , and then my friend he was a high D called me a stupid idiot .

Wes Hampton 1:20:59

He said SI stupid idiot and then my friend , he was a stupid idiot . He said that's a high D for you . That's called solid inspiration .

Rhett 1:21:07

That's exactly right .

Wes Hampton 1:21:08

That's exactly right , so I have the same routine every day . I get up , I take the boys to school . The first thing I do in the morning which I think this is very important , it really is either get some type of electrolyte mix I mean , there's all sorts of kinds , I'm not going to say one's better than the other or , if you don't even want to buy that , get about 16 ounces of water and about an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and mix that up and drink it . It won't taste like salt water , It'll have maybe a tiny bit of saltiness to it , but just guzzle that . That helps get your brain going . The electrolytes help connect all the stuff in your brain and it really hydrates you . So that's the first thing I do . I don't do coffee . Take the boys to school , come back and I either do on my Tuesdays , Thursdays or cardio days . So I'll go and I'm not out there running or jogging because my joints can't take it anymore . I'm 46 . But I will get an incline treadmill on 15 , the high setting .

Wes Hampton 1:22:02

Let's go At three miles an hour and I'll do it for an hour . Wow and by the end of that , by the end of that . I'm sweating , my heart rate's up and I burned some calories , so I do that .

Justin 1:22:13

That's amazing .

Wes Hampton 1:22:14

At least two days a week . Mondays , wednesdays and Fridays are all resistance days for me . So one day is , you know , chest to back , One day is buys and tries and one day is shoulders .

Justin 1:22:28

And then if .

Rhett 1:22:28

I'm feeling really adventurous . I might touch legs , but I like doing legs . Nobody likes leg day . I hate leg day , I know .

Wes Hampton 1:22:32

I know I'm just , I'm being honest with you guys , I should work legs more , but I hate it , it's not fun , so I don't do it . Yeah , uh , so that that's really what I do is just . The biggest change I've seen was consistency , because when I got in the group vocal band , when I got in there in 2005 , I wasn't this , you know super overweight guy , but but I was out of shape and I felt bad you know what I'm saying just when you go through the period you're eating bad food all the time and exercise you just feel blah , you have no energy , energy and I just I love feeling energized .

Wes Hampton 1:23:01

I love feeling like , just emotionally , I'm on top of things . Physically I'm on top of things . So that's really my inspiration . And I'm not an over-spiritualized person , but I do believe in also being a good steward being a steward of my voice , of my time , of my finances and of my body and relationships . And I believe that God wants us to be good stewards of all the things he's given us . And he's given me a healthy body , so I'm going to try to take as good care of it as I can . So , honestly , that's my inspiration .

Rhett 1:23:32

Well , thank you for sharing that . So here's what I'm inspired and this is what I think he's going to do next . You ready for it ? I'm ready . He's going to create either a YouTube channel video of workouts and his routine , or a book of health and how to eat healthy along with working out . And here's the discipline and all of that going with it , and then your reward is the gave their vocal butt cake . All right .

Wes Hampton 1:23:57

Yeah , I don't know , man , but all of that is huge .

Rhett 1:23:59

It's very important and I love how practical you made that in a way that seems very doable .

Wes Hampton 1:24:03

Yeah , I think most people don't do it because they think you've got to spend hours in the gym , and it's just not true . I spend an hour max per day . Some days it's less than that , but I thought I could take an hour out of my body . So that's what I do , and then Sundays again . I rest on Sundays . I eat what I want to on Sundays . Some people might disagree on having a cheat day because it's an unhealthy relationship with food , but whatever it works for me , we'll just rename it .

Justin 1:24:28

It might not be a cheat day , it's a enjoy .

Rhett 1:24:31

It's a day of blessing .

Justin 1:24:32

It's a day of blessing .

Wes Hampton 1:24:35

I just know I'm an all or nothing type of guy , so I'm not going to have just a bite of ice cream after dinner one night . That's just not how I do it . I'm going to have a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's on Sunday is what I'm going to do .

Rhett 1:24:46

Yeah , we just bought a whole cheesecake from Costco or whatever . My wife's like we don't need a whole cheesecake . I'm like I know we don't need it , but I want it . I'm so hungry and I know you could make one and bake one and make one , so good I know it's probably so good . Now , costco is great , though they're pretty good though man it's pretty darn good and the pumpkin pies that are coming out now with oh come on , let's go .

Justin 1:25:06

I mean , I've eaten homemade versus Costco .

Wes Hampton 1:25:08

I can't really tell the difference that much and you can get a 24-inch pumpkin pie for $5 . Yeah , all or nothing coming up on the next episode of armchair . Authentic is already creating another polarization here . Did you hear how he set it up ?

Justin 1:25:27

oh man , either hot dog or cheddar dog you have to have one way , one of the other voted for hot dog .

Rhett 1:25:32

Rep votes for cheddar dog , but it changed your life . I made one for you the other day .

Justin 1:25:36

You made me one and you're like and I thought you know the policies are all right on this hot dog , I could , they're okay I don't completely think it's all that compared to this .

Rhett 1:25:47

I mean , do we even want to talk about what's in a hot dog ? I don't even think the people that make hot dogs know what's in a hot dog ?

Justin 1:25:52

no we don't want to know what's in the sausage factory we like the , we like the sausage factory to ship it out .

Rhett 1:25:58

But but we don't want to see it get made . I don't want to know . No , I don't want to know .

Justin 1:26:03

We're really looking forward to that episode . But in the meantime , if you enjoyed this episode , would you do something for me ? Would you take out your phone , Would you copy the link and send it to a friend ? We would really appreciate that . Thank you Well , until next time . We hope you have a fantastic week . See you soon .