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You can't manufacture the feeling of being in a small crowd and connecting on every single level to the very last person in the very last row in the back. I think when you evolve into a headlining act and things get bigger, the intimacy and some of that energy gets lost a little bit.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
I think the 360 deals are what stands out to me, first and foremost. I never would have dreamed that record labels would be taking a piece of touring, merchandise, and everything else. The world has changed so dramatically from when we first started.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts
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We were just hoping 'Prayin' for Daylight' wasn't a complete flop. Selling a million records wasn't even in our wildest thoughts.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
When you first start out in the music business and hope that you have a couple hits, the ultimate payoff is to be standing in front of all those people who are singing it back to you at the top of their lungs. And you know by the way they're singing it back that it's affected their life in some way. That's the ultimate reward as an artist for me.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
I guess, somewhere along the line, when we first came out, somebody thought it was a crime to be young and not wear a cowboy hat and sing country music.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
Are there people's music that I don't like? Sure, there are.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
We write songs that hit different people at different ages where they live.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
I'm surprised at the loyalty of the country music fan. People that started out with us at 'Prayin' for Daylight' still come to multiple shows a year.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts
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We live in the Bible Belt. I was born and raised in church. That's something that was really, really important to me, to build that foundation with our kids so they at least went to church.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
I draw inspiration from everywhere, whether it's country, R&B, gospel.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
I grew up in the church and loved contemporary Christian music. I go back to the early days of when it first started with the likes of Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. Those people that really pioneered are heroes of mine.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
It's no secret that anybody who knows the music business knows that the numbers are substantially different in Christian music than they are in country music.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
Christian music was such a huge foundation for me, even as a kid, and I grew to love Christian music not only because of the musicianship, which I thought was extraordinary, but because of the message in it. It was such a huge building block of who I was and who I would become.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
It's always a wonderful time to be able to settle down by the fire, enjoy the Christmas tree and the decorations, and just spend time with the ones you love and surround yourself with the people that you don't get to see enough throughout the year.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts
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It's hard to get to the point where you feel motivated and energized to go back in and create new music when you feel like you've just drained yourself by pouring everything you have into the previous project. It would be nice sometimes to take a longer break in between projects.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
I think the thing that keeps us motivated is challenging ourselves to see if we can be better than we've been before and seeing if we can stumble upon a magic that wasn't there before - whether it's a song, a performance, or a track that lights us up the way the first few records did.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
When you get new people around you, the excitement is new because they have different take on your music. They play it in a different way, and that's always exciting to be around. It elevates everybody onstage.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
The lines have definitely blurred between country and pop music.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
We've always prided ourselves on the fact that we're a band that the whole family can enjoy together.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
Typically, every 14 to 16 months, we're putting a new album out. To be honest, I wish it was slower.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts
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I want to be a part of bringing more visibility to the Christian music genre and give it some platforms that it may not have had before. I feel like, as blessed as we've been with Rascal Flatts, I might be able, through some of my own connections and avenues, to give them some visibility in arenas they've never had before.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
We were so influenced not only by country music but by the rock bands of the '80s. Our focus was to bring in something different. Country music already had a George Strait and Alabama. We wanted to put some pop music in our show.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
I remember as a little kid watching the Opry from the nosebleeds, so to stand onstage and be invited to be a member was really, really cool.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts -
It's no secret that my favorite part of the process is making records; if I'm not making them with Flatts, then I'm out producing them on other folks.
Jay DeMarcus Rascal Flatts