Jimmy Fortune talks to Everything Nash about the Country Music Cruise, performing with Brothers of the Heart, his 2026 plans for new music, and more.
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Hey guys, it's Gail with Everything Nash
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here with Jimmy Fortune on the Country
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Music Cruise. Thank you for joining us.
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Good to be with you, Gail.
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We were just talking off camerara about
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the country music cruise. How many have
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you done?
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I really don't know. I I probably around
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10, I think, something like that.
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And why do you love it so much?
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Well, it's all I know is the the people
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that come on here, the I always call
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them the heart of America. Uh, and
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everybody's just uh I don't know, they
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want to hear some good country music and
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and uh and this is a place to come to
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hear it cuz man, there's so many great
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artists on here every year.
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Every year. And I The fans are the best.
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They are. I mean, and and we've gotten
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to know a lot of them over the years,
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become like family. I mean, we really
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do. We And we just walk around the ship
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and they'll all stop and tell you, you
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know, just how wonderful you are or
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whatever, you know, or either they won't
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say nothing. So, you know what they mean
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by that, but they're being respectful,
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you know, but no, this seems like
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everybody just enjoys it and um it's
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just a lot of people getting together
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that that have the same heart and the
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same love for country music and and for
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each other and for what this country is
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all about. You know, it's what America I
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always think is America's all about, you
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know, togetherness and and uh and just
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loving on each other. And boy, this is
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they ought to call it the love boat cuz
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by golly, it's it is like a love boat
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out here. And uh not only just with the
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with the people, with the fans, but with
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the artists, too.
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Um everybody genuinely respects one
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another.
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We cheer for one another.
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One one's down, we we'll try to pick
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them up or somebody will try to if I'm
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feeling bad, somebody will try to pick
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me up. And and it's just u it's an
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uplifting thing spiritually, mentally,
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physically, everything. Uh we love it.
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and non-stop music. Like legitimately
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non-stop music, which is as a music fan,
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that's amazing.
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Yeah. I mean, you if you want to hear
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something, if you don't get to hear what
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you want to hear, it's your own fault
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because that's true.
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Because they go all out to make sure
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that the schedules are done and the work
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behind all this is incredible. um you
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know from Star Vista uh to to everyone
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on the ship um to everybody with the CMA
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Country Music Hall of Fame to the Grand
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Opry, you can hear all the stars uh and
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also a lot of new talent. We bring a lot
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of new talent on the on the cruises,
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too. And you hear people that you're
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going to probably hear down the road
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years from now. Your children will hear
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from years from now. They'll carry on a
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tradition. Um, but I feel like this
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country music cruise will go on forever
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and for us to be have been a part of
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this for as long as we have. It's it's
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an honor. It really is. Um, and it's one
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of my favorite things to do every year.
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And people love seeing you. I always
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tell people, you make my husband cry.
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Well, I don't know if that's a good
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thing or bad thing, but I hope it's a
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good thing.
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It's a good thing.
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What a voice. But I have people tell me
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that, you know, you make me cry when you
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when I hear you sing. I said, "Well, I
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don't mean to do that. I you know, but
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uh you know, I feel like God gave me uh
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a talent." And my daddy used to say,
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"Jimmy, it's a good thing you can sing
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and play guitar a little bit because you
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can't do nothing else." So, and I can't
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do anything else. And so, that's why I
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do what I do. But I do feel like it's
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something that God gave me to share with
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the world. And my biggest gift is loving
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on people. And boy, I get to do it on
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this cruise and uh and I love them when
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they come up and love on us, too, cuz it
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makes everything worthwhile.
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Now, you're doing solo stuff, but you're
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also singing with Brothers of the Heart.
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Talk about that.
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Brothers of the Heart with uh Mike
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Rogers, Bradley Walker, and Ben Isacs.
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Uh we started this group about 5 years
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ago now, and we've done our third
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project together. Getting ready to start
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working on some more actually, some new
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things. Teamed up with Bill Gaither um
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some years back. And uh Ben and um Ben
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and Mike and myself and Bradley thought
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we put this thing together and uh
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because we love each other first and
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foremost and respect each other so much
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and um and we just started throwing
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songs out there and then we let the
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Gaither organization hear what we were
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doing and uh they loved it and they
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said, "Hey, let's let's start doing a
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project on you." And it's it's not just
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quartet, but it's a quartet. There's
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trios uh situations in each song.
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There's uh duos, duets, and and there's
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also solo work in in every in their
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songs as well where we feature uh each
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artist. And uh and you just don't get
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any better than, you know, Bradley
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Walker, what a great guy. Uh a big old
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voice. And and Mike Rogers,
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multi-talented, of course, Ben Isaac's,
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he's been with the Isaacs, his family. I
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don't know why he's singing with with
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three beautiful women and he wants to
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sing with three ugly old men,
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but but he he he loves it and we love it
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and we could we do about we can only do
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about 10 shows a year on average because
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we all have our own careers. But it
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gives people uh it's like an event. and
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makes we make an event out of it and
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then people come from all usually sold
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out shows everywhere we go and that's a
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great thing and um it just gives people
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uh something to see us in a little bit
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different light than when they do when
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they come see us as a solo artist but
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it's kind of we we get the best best of
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both worlds
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and you started with the Satler brothers
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and then when the Satler brothers ended
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you went to a solo career and it worked
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which it doesn't always work it worked
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for you
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well um yeah they retired the group
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retired in 2002 and uh I knew that uh
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you know I was about 47 years old at
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that time and I thought I mean I could
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have retired at the time and thought but
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I said you know it was like a good Lord
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speaking to me and said hey man I gave
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you that talent and you if you love
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doing it keep doing it and so I said I
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do love doing it and I said I'm just
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going to start from scratch and um I
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just went with it and it took a while.
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It did take a while. I'm not going to
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say it was easy because it wasn't
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because you got to come through whenever
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you've heard the stories about someone
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leaving a group and they go out and you
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just never hear from them again or they
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just fade off into the sunset. You
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you're right about that sometime and
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that scared me to be honest with you.
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But um I trusted the good Lord above and
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um he took care of me and uh and all all
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he wanted me to do was just do what I do
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and go out and try to uh make people
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cry, put a smile on her face, every once
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in a while hopefully. And uh and so
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that's what I did. I put one foot in
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front of the other and uh I'm still out
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here touring as much as I want to.
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Okay, last question. What is happening
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with you music this year? You're with
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Brothers of the Heart. I know you got
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some solo shows. Fill us in on what 2026
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looks like.
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2026 is going to be I just released a
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new project called Stories of American
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Dreamer. It's uh actually uh Songs of
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American Dreamer is a CD and a DVD,
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which coincides with a book that I just
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released called Stories of an American
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Dreamer, which is about my life before
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the Statler Brothers and when the Stat
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Brothers hired me all the way up until
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now. And so there's a lot in in that
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book, but um I'm kind of promoting that
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right now. And then we're getting ready
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to do some new things with Brothers of
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the Heart, which will be uh we're
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talking about putting together a a
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gospel album and then a Christmas album
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maybe uh coming and then all and
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eventually we're getting together uh for
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an all original album like uh all
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original songs. And so the group will be
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uh kind of recreating itself with its
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original with whatever we feel, you
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know, and I'm looking forward to that
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because uh uh I I love doing other
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people's songs, but I do think that we
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need to um let people know uh just who
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we are and and they already know who we
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are, but uh with with our music can take
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another step forward in creating
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something new.
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Well, we know you're a great songwriter,
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too. So,
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well, thank you for that. I appreciate
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that more than you ever know. Thank you,
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Jimmy Fortune friends.
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Thank you all. God bless you.


