Warren Zyders
Appearances
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah. I think, I mean, I know I just talked about them, but it is my parents. And I still have my one best friend from high school, actually from fifth, sixth grade, who I just saw recently, who I don't get to see a lot because we're both, I'm traveling everywhere. But I try to see him as much as I can when I can. And him and I've stayed in contact and he's been my homie since fifth, sixth grade.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And just kind of having that normalcy when I see him and just going down memory lane and just knowing that he's been with me since day one and wants nothing from me. And it's just a dude that knows me as the guy that he went to school with and became friends playing lacrosse and stuff. So yeah. But it really is my parents, man. My parents, I didn't come from a family with money.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Being from Hershey, people that know that area, they think of doctors, lawyers, and all that kind of stuff. My parents worked tooth and nail for everything. And there was times where I was old enough to realize that there were some not so easy times in the house, but I was old enough to understand that. So for me, it's like my parents raised me in a Christian household.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
My parents raised me around my grandparents, who I'm also very close with, Christians, very supportive of what I do. My grandparents have a hard time comprehending sometimes what I do because it is a tough thing to understand. But I think for me, the best decision I made to keep ego in check or making sure that success doesn't go to my head, it has been the family dynamic that I do have because
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I trust my parents with my finances. My parents have been my ride or dies, never missed the lacrosse game, were there for all my travel games with me all year round, 365 days a year for summer tournaments, showcases, trying out for college, all that kind of stuff. They were always with me. And it only made sense that they would come on this journey with me.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And the thing about my parents was, is they didn't force themselves onto me. It was my decision to do that. Because the music industry, man, is a scary place, man, because you don't really know who you can trust. I believe that. It is a very scary place. And I feel bad for other younger artists. They don't have good people in their corners or...
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
At the end of the day, you don't know where your money's going. You don't know how it's being spent. And you're going to wake up one day and realize you might not have enough. You might realize you just toured for a whole year and might not have a lot to show for it. But that was the right thing to do. That's what the industry does. That's what we should do because everybody else does it.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And that is one of the biggest... amounts of BS you're going to hear. And what we do is that this is how it's done. This is how we need to do it, which is a whole load of BS. You do not have to do that way. I brought my family in and we stirred the pot in Nashville and we're like, yeah, we're not going to do it that way. We're going to do it our way. This is a business.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
We're going to go out and do it how we see fit. And I'm going to go out there and I'm going to go do me, whether you love it or hate it. And either you're going to get on board, you're going to want to be part of the team, you're going to want to buy into it or you're not. And honestly, my parents did a really good job in my household, my entire life of balancing love and tough love.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And my dad was one of the first ones every morning to say, I love you and shoot me a I love you. He was one of my, he's honestly still my first text probably I get every day, just checking in on me and making sure I'm good. And I think that he instilled a lot of confidence in me at a young age. And it was good confidence in the fact that it wasn't just like, oh, you can do anything you want.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's like, no, you can do what you want, but you got to go work for it. So yeah, they definitely have done a good job of keeping the ego in check, but
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
his mother was his business manager. And all you would hear through town was, oh yeah, we don't like her. We don't like her. And I could never figure out why. And it was like, why is everyone saying they don't like her? And the reason why they don't like her is because she's the one with the money and she's the one that's going ahead and saying, yeah, it's not going to work for me.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Or she's the one that's going ahead and saying, no, I'm not going to give you money for this because this makes no sense. Why are we spending money on this when the money should be going here or we're already spending money on?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
They didn't like her because she was the one that was keeping the money under wraps saying, yeah, you're not just going to take my son's money and go spend it however you feel like it. because that's what the music industry does is, oh, this is what this costs. And this is what it's going to cost. There's like, it's like, where's the negotiations? Don't ask questions. This is just how it's done.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yes. And it drives me nuts. So now having my mom work for me these last two years, I see why now. I see why now she wasn't liked because she's going to stand you up and she's going to be like, yeah, no, no, we're going to talk about this and we're going to figure out where the money's going and why it needs to go there. Not just here's money. Here's 10 grand. Here's 20 grand. Here's 30 grand.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Like, That's what the town does. You reach out. This is what we need. This is what it costs. Oh, easy peasy. Here's the money. And the artist is none the wiser until they get their checks and balances at the end of the year. And they're like, why did you spend this much money on this shit?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So let's think about this. I was in really good shape prior to like signing a record deal. And then when I signed the record deal and through that, going through that process of meeting with all these record labels and publishing companies and bookings, you're eating, you're eating, you're out late, you're drinking, you're this, you're off your regimen. It's a whole shit show.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So I probably was about 215, 220 at my heaviest.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I was a big boy. I was, man. And I was drinking beer left and right. I was, oh man, I was, yeah. I was never out of control at whatsoever. I've never been a seriously heavy drinker, but it was just like, I just... It adds up. It does. It does.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And then I was dating someone at the time that didn't mind me being a little bit bigger because, you know, the women, you know, they looked past it, you know, now that you can.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Come on. You guys are supposed to be pushing me forward. Yeah. So yeah, I was a big boy. And it's been a process back and forth, losing weight and stuff like that. And what's funny is looking back, I was talking to my content guy, before coming on here this past weekend, I was like, dude, what's so funny is that you and I thought I looked so good when I was weighing 185.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And you're like, you're in that moment, you're like, man, I look good. And now I'm like looking at these new photos and like what I look like now, I'm like, this is night and day. You're like 170 pounds right now? Yeah, I'm like, this is night and day. And I was like, and there's even like a... There's always one step further. You know what I mean?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And that's what makes working out and eating and all that kind of stuff fun and the bulking and the cutting and all of it. And that's why I love it because it's one more thing for me to add into my regimen. And I love doing it. I do. So I'm thankful for you sending me that. And I've stayed actually pretty much regimen on similar to that diet. So it's worked.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Texas has been good. We had two shows this past weekend here in Texas. Last night was my first time playing at that amphitheater. Great turnout of a crowd. Every show is different. But I will say this much. Last night, the way the venue is set up, you can't have a video wall, which is something new that we've added to my show and everything.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah. I mean, the before photos are absolutely, I mean, I remember saying to my family, I'm like, why did no one tell me I was fat? I was like, why did no one tell me? And they're like, we tried it. I'm like, no, you didn't. I'm like, no, you didn't. So yeah. Yeah. I'm like, next time just hit me over the head and say, get, get your shit together.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So it was after that breakup that I kind of was like, yeah, this has got to, this has got to change. So it's been an ongoing process and whatnot, but I think that what really kind of kicked it into the gear was a photo shoot I had coming and I was just like, you know what, man, it's time to really kick it up a notch. And I want to see how far I can push myself.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And honestly, even when I played lacrosse and stuff and was in college, I was in great shape, but I never, never looked like this. Like was never this diced. You're diced right now. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty, pretty, pretty diced. I think that if I got down to like If I hit 165 for like a photo shoot, I think that I would be super, super diced.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's tough. It's actually prioritizing. One thing that I've realized too on this recent cut and recent just kind of like diet change and workout regimen is I've actually prioritized the rest days. I was working out six days a week.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And I've realized that actually having a rest day and allowing my body to truly rest and recover and focusing on compound lifts and overload and all that stuff, it's actually helped me maintain. And it's worked out in my favor. I was like, I can't remember the last time I've taken two days off from the gym. And I was just like...
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
taken two days off and it was just like, okay, now when I got back to the gym, I was like, I feel rested. I feel ready to go. And whether there's two days incorporated with light cardio or a walk or, um, you know, a sauna or an ice bath, it's like still something semi-physical, but, um,
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
for me it is tough it's it's kind of sticking it's tracking your calories and trying to stay within that ballpark and trying to space your meals out the best you can and everything depending on a given day or what time you're waking up what time you're going to bed um so i've stayed pretty regiment with that diet you gave me and that updated one you had given me um
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And it's just been trying to, the nice thing is, is even if I don't get a workout in, I'm working out for an hour and a half on stage, running around and moving and shaking and sweating and running on stage. Do you track your steps? I want to. I would be so curious. I would be so curious too. Everyone keeps telling me I need to get like something.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So that was definitely something I missed for specifically the Ride the Lightning moment with all the lightning and stuff behind me. But But nonetheless, it was a great show. It was honestly a great reset for me and my team. We've been burning the wick at both ends. And yesterday was just a beautiful day out. We had been in New York for two days. We were in Minnesota past weekend.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So I, cause I don't keep my phone on me on stage, but just get some sort of a tracker just to see like how many calories burned. from a show performance. I would love to know that, to be like, oh, wow, I'm burning a lot more than I thought.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So normally we're having catering at these venues and stuff like that for my team and everything. So my tour manager will advance to the venue like, hey, have the chef make him a steak or have the chef make him a baked sweet potato or diced up sweet potatoes. So normally in the morning, I'm normally doing what you're saying. I'll eat about four eggs. So the venue will make those for me.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I'll do my egg whites. I'll do my blueberries. I'll do my half a bagel. And then my coffee. And then lunch is normally... about two eight ounce patties, and then there's no more cheese on them. And then I'll normally scrape the cheese off and just put honey over them and sweet potatoes. And then dinner is normally either another burger or a steak. I cut off all the fat.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
eat the steak and other baked sweet potato. And then post-show I'll eat like nonfat Greek yogurt with some honey and some blueberries and have a little sweet treat at the end of the night. But what I've found is, honestly for me is I have found eating the right meals and eating like, I'm eating almost like four meals.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And that's not even including like the banana and dates that I eat with sea salt and honey before I go work out and whatnot. But it's like, I've found that eating more meals, but the right stuff has actually helped me maintain and like kept me on track. Like everyone thinks like, oh, if I just eat a smoothie in the morning and I fast and then I, I'm like, no, I need the fuel.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I'm like, if I'm going to be working out and going on stage at night and performing, I'm like, I need the calories. I'm burning them off. Like, I need to hit my protein intake. And people are always afraid of carbs too, but if it's the right carbs, like the right carbs ratio for building muscle and the maintenance and everything.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I've taken your diet, I've added a few more things, but it's worked for me. I've maintained this level of weight where I wake up in the morning sometimes and I weigh 167 pounds in the morning on an empty stomach. And that's when I look the most diced.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah. And that's another thing too, plenty of water. Plenty of water, hydration, electrolytes, all that stuff. Yeah. Especially, like you said, sweating my ass off on stage in the summer, just absolutely drenched. So yeah, plenty of calories being burned, especially summer festivals.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So it's been a lot of cold weather, doom and gloom, cloudy. So having the sun out yesterday was awesome. So we spent some time in the water, in the cowboy pool at the venue. I saw that. Yeah, it was just kind of nice. We got a nice workout outside and hung out, played some cornhole, did the thing. So it was really good for team bonding and just to kind of reset, I think, just kind of regroup.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah, typically. But for example, last night, the way my schedule had worked out with the time I woke up and everything fluctuating, I ended up skipping my pre-show meal because I was like, I'm not going up there feeling bloated.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Because by the time the schedule worked out, I was like, I don't like to eat too close to showtime because I don't want all that food sitting in my stomach while I'm up there trying to sing and all that stuff. But for me, it's normally a steak as well. And it's baked sweet potato. It's been the thing, honestly, for this tour. It's normally my go-to pre-show meal. Do you ever eat cold potatoes?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I have, but I mean, man, since doing this diet, like I have fallen in love with sweet potatoes. Yeah, I like sweet potatoes. They're just so good.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Would you eat a sweet potato after warming it up and then making an apple?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It is so good. I'll have to try it out. The only thing that I've tried to get on board with it, man, I wish I could. I've tried the avocado. You don't eat avocado? I've tried it over and over again, man. It's just one of those things. Just one of those things I couldn't get on board. Do you like guacamole? No, I don't. That's sad. I know, I know. But hey, people can't come at me. I've tried it.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I've tried it numerous times. I've tried to get on board. I love avocado.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I know. It was funny when you DM'd me and you're like, yo man, I'm from Palmyra. And I remember the DM still. And- I remember telling my dad, me and like, hey, two of us got out of that, two of us got out of that area and made it out for ourselves. But yeah, it's a small world and it is pretty cool. I guess, wow, that's crazy. Two years ago already, man. Wow. Time flies.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah. I'll say this, you know, music was always something that I absolutely loved. It was, I always say my love for music began in the church. That's kind of where, you know, I found that I liked to sing, singing in church and stuff like that during praise and worship. And I just recently talked about this, but my first concert I ever went to was a Jeremy Camp and Toby Mack concert with my dad.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And that was a moment and a memory I'll never forget. But, you know, growing up, my mom always loved musicals and stuff. So Grease, we watched Grease a million times. You know, The Sound of Music. My sister and I, Disney Channel, you're watching High School Musical. Good old Troy Bolton, star basketball player. Got the girl in the end because he could sing and everything.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
My daughter's obsessed with the High School Musical right now. It's like, where are we watching that? Yep. So good watch. It's a good watch. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I just always loved music. I grew up loving playing guitar hero and stuff. And I just loved, I was always singing something. It didn't matter. It didn't matter if it was Christian music or if it was rock and roll or if it was,
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So classic country, Justin Bieber, you name it. I was singing something in the car. I was singing something at practice on lacrosse field. I was singing something humming a tune during a game. Like I was just always, always, you know, had a song stuck in my head that I was singing. And I picked up a guitar in, I want to say sixth grade. And I was like, you know, I want to, I want to take lessons.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I want to learn. I want to do this thing just kind of as a, as a side hobby. And yeah, I sucked at taking the time to practice and my mom caught on. I mean, she'd come home from work and she'd be like, did you practice? I'd be like, yeah, I practiced. I mean, while I'm playing Xbox with my friends and whatnot, or I just got back home from practice playing lacrosse.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I do. And it's all about how the room's set up as well. And a lot of people like to play outside. And I like festival season. But for me, I love an arena. Because the way I describe it is that... When you're playing outside and the fans are cheering and everything, the sound's going everywhere. There's nothing to capture that sound.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And I was like, I really don't feel like practicing. I'll practice when... when it gets closer to go actually do my practice and it would come up and then my teacher would be like, you didn't practice at you. I'm like, no, don't tell my mom. So she ended up stopped doing lessons. And whenever I wanted to, I just go pick it up and I'd watch YouTube videos and stuff.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
If there was a song I liked, I would go figure out and watch a tutorial on YouTube, figure out how to play it. And that's kind of how I self-taught myself how to play. All that being said, as you previously stated, was I came from a family of no musical background. My parents didn't play instruments. My parents didn't sing. None of that. No one in my family was like, you have a gift.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
You should pursue this. But there was always this underlying tone of music just in my life. Me and my family, it was a ritual where it always... sit down at the end of the night and we would watch American Idol. And we'd always watch The Voice together and everything.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Is my life, looking back, like when you ask me a question like this and I have time to reflect on interviews and whatnot and think about it, it just shows to me that I always say the good Lord was just kind of pushing this towards me my entire life. And I was so hell bent and focused on lacrosse and sports my whole life because that's all I knew. And that's what my family background was.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And my dad was a star baseball player, tried out for the majors and everything. He was just a really talented, gifted baseball player. So It was just kind of without, you know, being said that athletics were pushed onto me and it was something that it wasn't forced, but I loved it and I committed myself to it. So all that being said, when it comes to the musical thing,
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
There was a time where I was really turned off from the music because there was a video that surfaced all over social media when I was in middle school. And I was trying to impress these two ladies that I had a crush on and they put it on YouTube without me knowing. And it got out to the whole school before I did puberty and everything. And to put it lightly,
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I went through a pretty harsh bullying all through middle school. And then when I got to high school, day one of tryouts for my freshman year of lacrosse, they played the video over the intercom, the audio through the school during tryouts. People are brutal. They are. It's just tough. High school is tough.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And, you know, I don't say, I don't use the word bullying as like a woe is me and like feel bad for me. I actually reflect on it and say, you know, again, it's another thing as athletes, adversity. We're all going to face adversity at some point in our life, whether it's an athletic world or whatever it is. But athletics have you have a better understanding and how to deal with it and
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Honestly, man, hindsight, I wouldn't go back and change a thing. And I dealt with it for four years. I had upperclassmen trying to get under my skin. I had upperclassmen trying to get to me because I was talented. I did work for it. I was gifted and it wasn't just given to me. I worked my tail off for it.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So when you're playing in an arena, I describe it as the sound is trapped inside in the giant arena. So you can just... It's a vibe thing and I can feel the energy within the room. It's not going anywhere. It's hovering around you that entire show. So we just played, like I said, past weekend in Minnesota, which was my largest headlining show to date on one of my tours of 6,500 plus people.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So whether you're insecure that I'm coming for your position, that I'm going to take your spot as a senior, you should be nervous. So lo and behold, try to get under my skin any way you can.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yes and no. I think that I had people in my life saying, I was known for the guy that would pick up the guitar around the bonfire and sing and mess around. And they're like, hey, oh, Warren sings. He can sing and he can carry a tune. It wasn't anything like, your voice is one in a million. You need to pursue this.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And like, I never, like the way I sound now, like that was through searching and developing and refining and practicing. And, you know, just like practicing, just like running, just like working out, you're going through the process, you're refining your craft, you're getting better at it.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Completely different.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
A hundred percent.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah. And just in that short period of time, because what you're hearing right there is the first crack at the bat, like the first surfacing of like, okay, stuff's going viral on social media.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Now I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to go buy some SM7s and I'm going to go ahead and buy some recording equipment and watch YouTube videos on how to record and get a free software and press record and soundproof the room and buy stuff off Amazon and do all this kind of stuff. And then I'm going to go ahead and play the guitar and sing into a microphone.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
no idea how to mix, no idea how to master, none of this. Like just go out and do it. And that's what you're hearing. Those are all raw, unedited one takes of just me doing this with a guitar. That's what that was. So to your statement of how different it is, is now taken to the fact of three years of touring, playing, God knows how many shows, 350, 400 shows.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
That's like going to the gym 400 times. You know what I mean? Like that's going on 400 runs of development of... perfecting your craft, getting better at it. And I say, you know, you talked about earlier about these people that have been doing it or born into an ultra marathon running family or born into it. I went ahead and I say, baptized by fire, man, I was thrown in the water.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And it was like, either you're going to sink or you're going to swim, baby, like figure it out. And
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
sure enough here we are having a conversation and i've said i figured it out and still figuring it out but it's just a it's a it's a um ongoing process and you're only going to get better yeah the way i like think about it is like you set the conditions to put yourself in this position in life to have the opportunity and then when the opportunity is finally there
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah. When the iron's hot, when the iron's hot, man. And I think that like, I think of like the conversation we're having right now. And you think of like Arnold being like, there was no plan B for me. Like this was, there was plan A and this is what I was going to do. Once I set this, the way I am is like, I describe this, how do I put this? My ADHD brain. I did well in school.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I was never really known for applying myself. I did well. I did the thing. I'm the kind of person that you give me something, and if I love it and I apply myself to it, I'm going all in. Gave me the diet. This is what I do now. I now identify with this. This is what I'm doing. I'm not drinking. I'm doing this. I'm cutting this. I'm eating this food. I'm texting you. What do I need to get?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
What am I doing? Here's my progress photos. When I find something that I love, I go all in. And that's what happened with me for this was I was having success. I was dabbling. Go ahead, get some recording equipment, record. People liked it. And from that point on, when that acoustic covers... Some of those songs were coming out. I had been going to Nashville, met my manager for the first time.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Um, and it was absolutely insane, ginormous GA floor. Um, and it just felt like people were on top of me. So that was an awesome experience. And then just a few weeks ago, played the Houston rodeo in front of 65,000 people.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And when he said to me, you have a gift, this is something you need to pursue. When I had that one person just say, I believe in you. And it was just like, you can do this. Gave me all the confidence in the world to believe in myself. Brought him home with me, senior year of college. First job was my manager. You're telling my parents I'm dropping out of college. And he was like, okay, because-
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
At that point, my brain flipped a switch and I'm like, I'm committed. This is what I'm doing. I don't care what anyone else says. I love my parents. I appreciate your opinion. It's valid. Don't want to hear it. I'd already checked out at that point. So I came home. He tells him that parents aren't convinced. They say, no, I go ahead and reach out to my advisor, say I'm dropping out.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Didn't even tell him. I was like, I'm dropping out. After I'd done that, I went downstairs. I was like, mom and dad, I don't know how this deals with payments or whatever. I know, you know, loans or whatever, but I just want to let you know, like I dropped out. And I talked to my manager, Charlie. I was like, I'm going to go down and see him next week. So I need you guys to book me a flight.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And I'm going to go stay with him for two weeks. And that's what I was doing. I was going for about a six month period where I was going down and I was staying with him for a week to two weeks at his place with his family and And it was, we're going to go right here. We're going to go right here. We're going to go meet with these people. We're going to go to the studio.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
21. Yeah, I was 21. I turned 21 during COVID, so I couldn't even go out and celebrate with friends. So it was just like, it was such a weird point of life. I went from just now turning 21, being able to legally drink and couldn't even go out and drink with your friends to celebrate your 21st, to social media success, to I had to grow up really quick. Like it was just like a boom. Like-
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And it wasn't anything worth having in life is hard, but like, it just came innately natural to me the way my family raised me and the sports background. And to face all the pressures of like, was it nerve wracking? A hundred percent. You go from being in your bedroom to then now this record label reached out, this record label reached out without, we're going to go fly to LA.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
We're going to go to New York. We're going to go meet with these people. And now we're going to go meet with these publishers. We're going to go do this. And my parents, are just like freaking out of like, how do you go from telling us you're dropping out four months ago to now we're going to meet with record labels. And cause you have offers on the table.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And I'm like, told you, I told you it's going to work out. So I think I got emotional the other day talking about this. Um, but like I said, my dad's my best friend and you know, the, One of the moments I remember the most was when I called my dad up for the first time and I was in Nashville and they hadn't known yet, but we had just got a call. I was in the car with my manager for my first offer.
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And you're in, call it in the round where you're in the middle of the, uh, of the stadium on a stage that's spinning around and playing my hit song, pray a little poison in front of 65,000 people and hear them saying that it's It's very intoxicating. It's hard to describe that energy.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I remember calling my dad being like, I told you it was going to work out, man. And I just got my first offer for my record deal. And I just remember him breaking down on the phone and just sobbing. I'm just like, you could feel like his proudness and you could feel like the relief of a father of just being like, he's gonna be okay. Like he just did what he said he was gonna go do.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
But that's when the work begins, because like you said, Yeah, you can tinker in it and you can do this and you can have social media success. But I've seen people sign record deals and I've seen them go nowhere. I've seen people have social media success and it goes nowhere. It's what do you do with the continuous opportunities put in front of you?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's going ahead and playing in front of 700 people from my first sold-out show three years ago to then now fast-forwarding, sitting in front of you, playing on a tour that's got 6,000, 5,000, 7,000, 8,000 people, and then going and playing in front of 65,000 people three weeks ago. Yeah.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
At the end of the day, to wrap up the story, God is good and God has played the absolute master role in all of this. The gift was from him, the voice, the hand on my shoulder, the guidance, all of those things that just, it was just innately always there, part of my life, I think. And just the floodgates opened and the opportunities arose and I just took action.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
But if I had to say anything, put me in an arena any day of the week where I can just feel that energy, I'll pick an arena.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I think the biggest thing for me was, we're talking sixth grade when that video came out and you go through that and you go through high school and everything and then you get out of high school. The biggest reflection of it all is insecurities. People at the end of the day are going to go try to attack you for anything you can. Like I said, I don't lack confidence.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I think that the confidence comes from a good place because it's a self-belief and you can have confidence if you're a person that's going to go out and do it. If you're going to go out and do the thing, no one can believe in you unless you believe in yourself first. And I think that there is that thing I bet it all on myself and it's worked out.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So it's like when you have, man, I've heard this before. It's like, I heard it on another podcast or in the motivational speech.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's like, well, when I can look back here and I can show you the proof is in the pudding of all these things I just did, well, of course I'm going to be confident because now you're going to go ahead and look at me being like, well, yeah, he's done all these things that he said he's going to do. So I believe he's going to do the next thing too.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So I think for me, yeah, those were the tough time in middle school and high school. But after I got out of that, man, I took a guitar with me to college, even when I went to go play lacrosse in college. the dudes even on the lacrosse team in college didn't like it when I had the guitar out because the chicks liked it. Oh, he's a lacrosse player. He's a good looking dude. He can sing.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And of course it got me a good looking soccer player in college. So it works out. But I just think that for me, there's always been, I would say this, like My manager said, he's like, I have never seen a guy or an artist have so much hate comments early on in his career than you have. And I think that that's just part of my story, man. I mean, there's people that show up to my shows with...
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I joke around with the guys. There's guys that show up to my shows and they're fans. They're fans. Don't get me wrong, but they're there. And there's this sentiment of where men feel like they can't show emotion or they feel like they can't show that they're enjoying themselves. And I'll bust their balls right on stage.
The Nick Bare Podcast
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they have a different perspective because it's like, dude, I'm up here and I'm looking, like I'm performing. And it's like, I need you to, I'm not saying you have to jump up and down and go all out, but you got to give me something, man.
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You got to give me a read because it's like when I'm up there and I'm scanning and I see, it's hard for us to not hyper-focus and hyper-analyze because I see that dude or I see that dude over here. And I'll go ahead and bust their balls. And you know, in a flattering way, being like, yo man, like dog, you came to the show. Like it's okay to have fun, man.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And it normally gets them to crack a smile. And then they're like, okay, like they're relaxed then. But like, there's just like, I feel like, I don't know if it's a masculinity thing or whatever, but it's just like, Maybe it's just somehow some people are more observant and like, that's okay.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
But it's just like, for me, when I'm up there and I'm jumping up and down and I'm singing my ass off and I'm giving you my all, I'm like, dog, you need to at least give me 10%. Like, I'm like, come on, man. Like, it's a transaction. Like, I'm giving you everything that I got. Like, I need you to just show me like, just show me a little bit that you're enjoying yourself.
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Like, I'm not telling you to go get the moon and the stars from me. Just show me a little bit. So I'm glad I'm not alone. I actually don't know. I don't know if I heard that from Thomas, but that's actually funny.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It is, man. And it's even that way in the US too, you know, like a Thursday show is going to be different than a Saturday because you notice people are coming to the show Thursday and they're like, I got to work tomorrow, it's Friday. You know what I mean? Friday and Saturday are going to be different because people are like, oh, it's the weekend. They let loose. You know what I mean?
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So those shows are going to be different now. Depending on the market, it's also another thing. There's so many different factors. It's like I could have a show Thursday night in my hometown in Hershey, and you know those people are going to show up. Have you played in Hershey? I haven't yet. Oh, man. I'm going to the Giants Center in the fall. I think that...
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
When it comes to Europe, Europe was a very observational crowd. They were very reserved. And that's just kind of their respectful way of showing like, I'm here, I'm listening to the music. And then at the end of the song, it was very much so like a golf clap, like they enjoyed it. To me, first time where I'm like, this is weird.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
it is shit I'm like guys you're gonna have to give me a little bit more than that and you know I'd poke fun and whatever and I'd even like address the you know the fact like hey guys I know you guys are more of a reserved crowd like I know it's kind of how you guys do things over here but like
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it's okay to let loose y'all like it's okay like this is a rock show this is not your your traditional country show where i'm going to stand in front of the microphone for an hour and a half play my guitar thank you guys i'm warren ziders catch you later no i'm going to run around i'm going to sing my ass off i'm going to give you a performance of a lifetime and i need you guys to give me something in return um to help continue to fuel that fire to get me through that hour and a half because it can't
The Nick Bare Podcast
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Can't just be give, give, give, give, give. It's like, you got to give some back so that I have some fuel to keep going. So yeah, it was interesting. And then you got to the UK and they're like headbanging and they're losing their ever living mind. How do I put this in relation to sound and stuff like that? 120 decibels is where you start to have hearing loss.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
There was crowds over in the UK that were hitting 115, like just screaming, manically, singing songs, screaming in between songs, just Is your head ringing on stage? Well, that's what the in-ears are for. But like I've taken, I've cracked ears before just to experience it. And then your ear starts ringing and you got suction that shit right back up. Cause it's just like, it's a lot.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So what do you, what do you hear on stage? Man, it is. So we wear in-ears and what you hear on stage is you're hearing the on stage mix. And then there's a front of house mix, what the crowd's hearing. On stage, we have a monitor engineer that's controlling my vocal and the guitars and the drums and everything. And we have our own mixes individualized to each of the players of whatever.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
what we want. So it's like what works best for me is going to be different for what works best for my bass player or my guitar player because we all have our own nuances and we all have our own individual ears on what we prefer to hear throughout the duration of a show and what's going to give us the best performance. So, but for me, what I have is we call them crowd mics.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So there's microphones on stage that you put out towards the crowd that go into our mixes. So I'll have my monitor engineer funnel those crowd mics in so that I can feel the show because it can be very disconnecting when you don't have those because you're just, you're suctioned off and you're playing in
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I have a tendency too, which is probably not good for my ear health, but for my eardrums, but I have a tendency to pull an ear throughout the show. And you'll see that a lot with performers where you'll see them reach for their ears. They'll pull it out. You'll see it hanging because you want to feel that energy. You want to be able to hear it. You want to be able to, you know,
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pull from it and use it for your performance because it can feel very lonely on that stage when you're up there and you can't feel the energy because you're so in your head. It probably feels very disconnected.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
First headlining show would have been March 28th of three years ago. So we're over 25.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
There was, so the way we did this- my team and I, we talked about this and we're a firm believer in, yes, it may feel like I've skipped steps because I have just with the trajectory and everything and the success that, you know, my fans have allowed me to have and the way they've bought in so rapidly and fast. But We went ahead and I signed the record deal.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
What people don't realize is I spent a whole, almost a whole year, probably about nine months of no touring, nothing. And it was signed record deal. Now we're going to go ahead and now we're going to go ahead and get you into these rooms. Right, right, right, right. Studio, studio, studio. Keep putting out good music.
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It's a lot, man. My manager described this best to me when it's a drug you can't buy. I believe that. And there's a reason why, you know, you look at the days of back in rock and roll with people getting, you know, people having drug and alcohol issues is because you're trying to go. Hence why we're here talking about working out and everything.
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figuring out what's the next thing to release and then when through that duration we're going through artist development we're developing me we're figuring out what i want to say in these rights i'm perfecting on the craft we're still posting on social media and um When it came down to it, we're like, okay, how do we want to approach this?
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Okay, so 717 Tapes, my first project was primarily acoustic. So it's like, okay, how do we want to present the art? Let's go on an acoustic tour. Let's just keep this simple. Let's go ahead and put 15 dates up. I love acoustic tours. Yeah, they're cool. They're intimate. It's cool. It's raw.
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And so we're like, okay, we're going to put an acoustic tour up and we're going to go take you and a guitar player. We're going to go put you in a van and we're going to go see how these sell. We put my tour up, my first tour, 15 dates, and it damn near sold out on the on sale. And then after tickets officially went on sale, it was less than 24 hours, whole tour sold out.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So my first show ever playing was in State College, Pennsylvania at Champs. And it was 800 people showed up for my first ever show. My first time playing in front of people. That's awesome. 800 people. So it was like, go big or go home. So, and I describing, oh man, I'm like reliving it. Describing that moment. no one knew if I could do it. Like no one knew.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I had three days of rehearsals with a guitar player. We went ahead into a rehearsal space and it was like, I had gotten, I had actually taken guitar lessons. I hadn't taken guitar lessons in years. We went ahead and hired someone and I was like, hey, can you teach me how to play some of my own songs? Because I'm like, I'm not playing some of these songs on the records now. So...
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
We got a guitar player to come teach me lessons. I'm taking lessons. We did three days of rehearsals, back to back to back. And it was just like running the set, top to bottom. Let's just, let's build the set out. Feels like what, figure out what works. And I remember it was people from my record label. It was my booking. It was my manager. It was my mom and dad.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
They were out of the, they were there selling my merch night one. And they were like, everyone's looking at each other like, we don't even know if he can do this. Like, can he get on a stage and perform and play in front of this many people? And my heart, man, was thumping. And what's funny is, is anything that could go wrong went wrong, but the fans were none the wiser.
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It's like you find healthy things to go ahead and put the energy into.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So get on stage, guitar's out of tune, get on stage, feedback from the wedges, this or that, microphones not wanting to, like, you know what I mean? Like all these things that, You can't learn unless you go through it. Right. And this is my first show. And I'm like just flying by the seat of my pants. And then it's like, hey, you got to go up there and perform.
The Nick Bare Podcast
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And you've never done this before, but go up there and remember all your lyrics and the chords and everything. So I get up there. We do the thing. People are going nuts. It is an absolute just riot. And I just, I'm soaking it all up. I get off a stage. And it was in that moment, man, where I was like, yeah, this is what I was put on this earth to do. I was like, you were not lying.
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because it can be, it can be very difficult to have that switch off and on because I'll say this much, I don't get nervous a lot going on stage, but when I played the Houston Rodeo, I was in an SUV, they're about to drive me out to stage and you're in this SUV and it was me and my tour manager and my content guy, my creative director,
The Nick Bare Podcast
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That is a drug you cannot buy. And I am all in. This is something that I love to do. And it feels like from that point forward, it was like the rest was history. I was like, this is going to be an absolute blast to go out here and do this. And see fan singer songs and just see how much they just soak it all up. And my guitar player at the time, he came up to me after the show and was like,
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's like, I really think you're full of shit. Like there is no way that that was your first time ever stepping on a stage and performing and the way you handled all of the things that went wrong. It was like, you've been doing this for 10 years. He's like, I am absolutely blown away. And again, good Lord, sports background, dealing with things on the fly and you just got to go.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
You know what I mean? There's no stopping the show. There's no, you know, hold on, give me a timeout. Like, they don't know that. They bought the ticket. They're there to see this thing. And this is their escape. Like, my issues are my issues. I got to figure this out. We'll figure it out. We'll get through it. But you guys are going to have the time of your life.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So yes, it was a crazy experience.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So, man, when was that video? That video was... I actually just got one of those memories that pop up on your phone. I just got one of those. It was five years ago, just a few days ago. It was like a week ago. It was like five years ago. So for me posting that video on TikTok, about a year had gone on of me posting, but it was very, how do I put this? lackadaisical posting.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
There was no schedule to it. There was no rhyme or reason. There was no, this is what I'm doing because this worked last time and I'm fully committed to it. It was just like, hey, I want to record a video today. I'm going to go ahead and sing. People have been digging my videos. I'm going to put it up.
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120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It was through that year of posting those covers and stuff, viral post, post, post, post, post, post, post, another viral moment. It wasn't until
The Nick Bare Podcast
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through that year towards that end where there was one that went like to the moon and people were like okay we've had enough of your covers like we love your covers this is awesome what's the original music sound like and then they want original music and I'm like I'm not claiming to be a writer I never said that I was a writer I never said I was an artist never said I wanted to be an artist and
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So I always actually give the credit to my fans. I say my followers turned into fans and I would say my fans pushed me in the direction to pursuing this because what people misunderstand is that if you actually just pay attention and listen, the answer is right in front of you.
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And I think that I just listened to my fans and I took their word of advice and I was like, okay, I'm going to try out and figure out how to write. So I wrote my first song on the run, Childhood Bedroom. recorded it, put it out. And that's about the time where my manager got in contact with me and brought me to Nashville.
The Nick Bare Podcast
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You don't just go to Nashville your first time and write your first hit song, Ride the Lightning. My story is so just one in a million because I come to Nashville, second song I wrote in my life is Ride the Lightning. And
The Nick Bare Podcast
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After writing it, my manager's like, yeah, it's okay, but we should probably write 100 more before we figure out what the next song to release is because he wanted to really develop the artistry. I go home, I play the song for my friends, and they're like, you should put this out. I'm like, right, I think so. Tease it on social media. Boom.
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And I was like shaking because you can hear the screams and the fireworks. You can feel it too. Yeah. You can just, it's like going through the tunnel at UT, going under that tunnel and fans screaming for you to come out and play. And I could just hear it all. And it was just like, I'm about to go play the largest show of my career to date and haven't even been touring for three years yet.
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And then my manager's like, okay, yeah, we should probably put it out. I'm like, tried to tell you. Did you co-write that song? Yeah. I wrote that with Eric Pasley and Rob Crosby. And Eric's a phenomenal writer. And he's done the artist thing for years too. And I think he's kind of taken a beat on it and whatnot. I'm sure you've probably heard some of his songs.
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What's this one song that I really love? If she don't love you, she's just lonely. Okay. Yeah. And he's written, his big hit song was Barefoot Blue Jean Knight with Jake Owen. Yep. Yep. So, yep. It was a co-write. It was on Zoom. I was in Nashville and it was on Zoom because we were still in- Oh, no way. The COVID.
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So I'm in my manager's guest bedroom on a Zoom call for my first co-write and I'm nervous as shit. And I'm like, I don't know how to really write. I just wrote one song and now I'm here. So- And I was very vulnerable with them and I told them that. And they were just like, hey man, no worries. You're going to learn. You just got to do it. You'll learn and perfect the craft.
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And it's again, whether it's the singing 300 plus shows, it's the writing and it's the writing and it's the writing. They're all muscles that just need to be worked on and perfected and continue to grow and you get better at it.
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I have a, I always quote my manager on this. We talked about this. We always say happy, never satisfied mindset. Because I'm a firm believer in what you're saying. The second you're satisfied or the we made it moment, what's there else to go out there and achieve?
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It's like, yeah, I'm doing something that most people just played Jimmy Fallon, just played the Today Show, played Kimmel, played the Houston Rodeo, and not even three years of touring. I've done so many things that people have not and will never touch. Yeah. And that is just a harsh reality. But again, it's part of it.
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But it's just like, for me, I've had people come up to me and ask me that exact question in VIP meet and greets and stuff like that. Being like, so how do you feel? When did you know you made it? And I look at them and I go, I don't really feel like I have made it. And they're like, what do you mean? I'm like, I am 100% grateful for where I'm at right now in my career. But I was like,
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I'm going to go play in front of 65,000 people. And I got to go out there and I got to go make a statement and I got to go show them why I I don't deserve to be here. I earned this. You know, there's nothing in my opinion that's deserved in this life. We go out and earn it. We work for it. So, and I just needed that sense of normalcy.
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if I was to believe that I made it, I would not be reaching for the next room size. I would not be reaching for what is the next album cycle going to look like? Where's the content go from this? How do we grow my brand? How do we branch out from just the music and really showcasing the working out lifestyle and what I'm interested as a person or Do I want to have my own tequila brand one day?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Do I want to dabble in clothing and stuff? You know what I mean? Like if I felt like I made it, you're putting a restrictor on yourself. It's just like, whether you care to admit it or not, it's like that, you know, I just, it's like, I'm trying to think, oh man, there's so many things that I'm blanking on my quotes right now.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And just, there's so many things that I listened to and whatnot, but it's like, um, It's a part of it. And I don't know that if there is a we made it moment down the road, but for speaking right now, I think you can have a we made it moment when you go ahead and set a goal out and you achieve that goal, but you have to have your next we made it moment. Maybe that's a better way of putting it.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Because speaking things into existence and then doing the work to get there, I wish I had the napkin and I wish my manager would have saved it. But three years ago, you talk about the self-confidence thing and whatnot and believing in yourself and self-belief and just going out and taking that application of the athlete's mindset and applying it to all facets of your life.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I spoke everything into existence when I walk into a room. Before Poison was number one or even close to number one, I'd walk into a room and be like, hey, here's my first number one song. And these radio people would look at me like I'm crazy. I'm like, no, it's my first number one song.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
After you listen to it, after you see the streaming numbers, after you see the live show, after you see the tour, after you see everything I'm talking about and doing out here, outside of this room, you'll be like, Got it. Makes sense. So comes to fruition, my largest song to date, triple platinum song, first number one.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I was in a bar with my manager and this was like shortly after I had signed and stuff like that. And I had just recently kind of been in town. We wrote on a napkin and I said arenas in 2026. And he's like, you think you'll be in arenas in 2026? I'm like, he's like, it's 2022 right now. I'm like, put me down. Arenas in 2026. He's like, that's a fast come up, man.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So I went ahead and said to my boy up front, my tour manager was like, put nickel back on, put nickel. I just, I need something that's comforting. Put it on. 10 seconds later, I'm being driven out. I'm hopping on a stage and it's go time. But having that sense of normalcy and a comfort song coming on just to get me hyped up for that moment was awesome.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Four years, we're going, we're playing, we're headlining the Giant Center and we're headlining arenas in Canada in 25. Will the Giant Center be the first arena? The Giant Center will be the first hometown arena. We're playing some arenas actually in Canada on the fall tour coming up. So we're going to Canada and we're my second, we are skipping so many room sizes.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I went in Canada last spring and we went to Canada for the first time, sold out tour, playing 1,500, 2,000, 2,500 cap rooms. Now we're going to Canada playing six, seven, eight, 9,000 cap rooms. which is a huge jump a year later. So it's, again, it's just continuing to put the work in. And you said it best though. It's that applicable thing that you can apply to anything in your life.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's like the golden key. It's like, if you can take that and apply it to anything in your life, you're going to find success.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah, it's my favorite. This week before, I knew it because I knew it was coming on here. I was like, the reporter says to him, he's like, you happy? He's like, what's there to be happy about? Job's not done. He's like, well, you're up 2-0. He's like, job's not finished. I don't think so. I just love, my gosh, man.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Love it. I'm so glad you brought that up. Yes, Kobe is 100%, man. You said it best. That's the best way to put it. do, you're going into it knowing, people are like, why are you so confident? And it's like, I'm doing all the things. This provides me confidence because I have results that show up time and time again, that I show up for myself and that I have things to back it up.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
There was another one too, man. There's so many good ones, but the, who was it? It was like just after Kobe had lost the championship or what was it? And he was on, no, no, what was it? Oh, he's on the court and a guy shows up and he's still working out. He's in a dead sweat and everything.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
The guy comes up to him and he's like, after the game and whatnot, he was like, dude, why are we working out for so long? He's like, because I want to make sure you knew that you would never outwork me. Meanwhile, he'd already been there working out for two, three hours.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's that mentality of like, and that's kind of like what I carry with me because I feel like no one else is so outspoken about the motivational background and the sports background and talking about it this way because that's how I think of it. I'm like, you will not outwork me.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
But yeah, it is a drug you cannot buy anywhere. It is.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I will do this seven days a week to make sure that everything that I've said and spoken into existence and spoken out there, that it will come to fruition.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's almost like when you say it and you believe the words you're saying, there's something in your brain. If you have that inside of you and that killer inside of you and that monster that needs to wake up, like you're telling your brain, you're gonna do it. There's no other if, ands or buts, like it's gonna happen. And it's just like, it rewires your brain.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
It's going to be different for everybody. And for me, man, I can come off and I can be on cloud nine and I can be like, that was a great show. But the thing that people don't see about me is that that athletic background and that killer instinct inside of me is never turned off. So I haven't shared this yet, but I played the Houston Rodeo and I came off the stage.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And when you do that time and time again, it becomes easier and it becomes more innately a part of you when you continuously get the results because you kept telling yourself, I'm going to do it. I'm going to check the next box. I'm going to check the next box.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I'm glad you brought that up. I think that that question right there is God trying to speak to me. And I mean that.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
in the most pure way and just such a beautiful way, because I actually had, I've had numerous fans bring up to me in these past couple of days in VIPs and my mean greets about asking if I would do like a little gospel album or like a church album or, you know, a Christian music thing. And I think that that,
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I think I've been praying to God a lot and I've gone, going through this diet in these last couple of months have been so beneficial for me for being a, you know, young, you know, young dude, mid twenties. I'm just kind of trying to figure out all of this. What do I want to get out of this?
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
You know, going through a breakup, going through some betrayal, going through some of crazy stuff on the record and whatnot. And I think that that is definitely something that I would highly entertain. And the first one that comes to mind is, my favorite hymnal, How Great Thou Art. That is just a song that has always spoken so much life into me.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And yeah, I definitely think it's something on my list of things to do. That'd be super cool. Yeah. It'd be very cool to... To record and listen to. Well, if you were at the Ryman, you heard how great thou art at the Ryman then. Yeah. Which was a spiritual awakening in my opinion. That was such an awesome moment to share with the fans and the crowd. That was an incredible show. It was.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
That was such an awesome, awesome show. But that right there in itself is another great example of... talking about speaking into existence, right? Like the Ryman, I had never stepped foot in the Ryman. I had been invited to the Ryman so many times to tour it and visit it and go with friends and let's go check it out. And I said to him, I will not step foot in that venue until I headline it.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I didn't step into it. I think you said that actually at the show. Yeah, I didn't step into it until that day to soundcheck and get ready for the show. So I've done that a couple of times with a lot of venues and a lot of things. And I think that that's, it just gives you that much more confidence, man, when you keep saying those things and you keep doing that and you stick to your word.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And the Grand Ole Opry was the same way for me. I didn't step foot into the Opry until I'd stepped foot into that circle for my Opry debut. So you get confidence by continuously doing it and showing up for yourself and continuously showing confidence That it's working. Like I continuously get the results. So yeah. Yes. I could totally see some religious music for sure in the future.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Maybe around Christmas time. We'll see.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And I was so hell bent on myself about like, what did I do wrong? Or this moment was weird or this threw me off. And it's like coming off the field and playing a game. And you're like, I dropped that pass or I should have had this, or I should have had that. but that's what's going to make you better.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And that's what's going to... And it's that balance where it's like, hey, that was an awesome experience and that was incredible. And sometimes we're our worst critics, but I beat myself up so many nights because I'm just like, this could have been better or I messed up this or I missed this note or I did this because...
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
I am chasing my own form of perfection and I want to go out there and I want to impress the fans and I want to impress myself. I want to be proud of myself at the end of the day. So it was an awesome experience to go out there and do that. But coming off that stage, I was like, you know what? There's things we need to work on. There's things we need to fix.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
the crowd would have never noticed, but it's things that I noticed. And it's like, next time I come back, it'll be even better. So it all depends on the given night because there's just so many unseen things that fans will never pick up on. But we, as people on the stage notice, and it's just that athletic background that I have, that I've very tough on myself.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yes and no. I think it's important to have good people around you. And obviously you want people to be supportive of you and everything. And you don't want yes men around you. You want people to shoot you straight. And I am definitely one of those straight shooters on my team. And it's like, I've had my guys on stage be like, that was a great show. And I go up to them like, yeah, it was good.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Could have been better. And I was like, there was this and there was this. And I didn't like this about this. And they're like- but it's, I'm playing with guys on stage that didn't play sports. And that's the weird thing about what I do too, is that love my dudes on stage and they're amazing musicians, but I'm the only one on stage that comes from a sports background.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
So it's hard for them to kind of grasp the concept of getting absolutely reamed out by your coach because you dropped a pass or because they're trying to make you better. You know, they're in their head of like, that was so cool. Like we played an awesome show and I'm like, no, we did play an awesome show, but this needs to be worked on and this wasn't cool and this is this.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And so it can be sometimes hard to find that communication barrier with them and whatnot. And some of these guys have been with me for three years and sometimes they still have a hard time processing who I am as a person and my character. But yeah, it can be hard sometimes because I do, man, I do beat myself up and it's because I do care so much about what I do.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And there's people out there that go out and do the thing and don't think twice about it. And that's their game and that's what they do. I'm up there night after night giving it my all and I'm not going out and drinking. I'm not going out and partying. I'm getting on the bus. I'm showering up, having a snack, watching a movie, going over content, figuring out what we're doing for the night.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
What are we doing tomorrow? So yeah, very disciplined, I guess is a good way of putting it.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
Yeah. I think the first one that comes to my mind is my dad, who you just met. My best friend, both my parents gave up their careers to come work for me full-time over a year ago. And now they live in Nashville and my parents are the most qualified people for the positions I put them in. I come from a family of entrepreneurs and business backgrounds and everything.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
There's no two more people I trust than those two right there who want nothing from me at the end of the day. They just want me to be successful and want the best for me.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
My parents right out the gate are the two people that I would go to and are not afraid to share their opinion and tell me, hey, you could probably cut back on some of the language on stage some nights because you do have younger kids there and you want to be a good example and you know, some nights you're on stage and you're up there for an hour and a half and it's a blur.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
You get off and you're like, you snap out of it. But it's just like, oh, I didn't even realize I said that. Or I didn't even realize I said that that many times. So it's, it's, I would say my parents, I think I have a good management team around me. I just had a conversation with my head booking agent who was at one of my shows and shared his opinion.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And before he could even finish his sentence, I was like, I already know what you're going to say. And I'm completely in agreeance with you of knowing what you're about to say to me. So it's like you said, you can count them on your hand.
The Nick Bare Podcast
120: Warren Zeiders: Collegiate Athlete to Country Music Star
And I think that that's important to have that small knit group that's going to come to you and shoot you straight and kind of give you not necessarily what you want to hear, but you need to hear it.