By Annie Nelson
Country music superstar John Rich has red, white and blue flowing through his veins, which he credits to his family heritage of veterans. You can see his respect and loyalty to the veteran/military community through his music, businesses and life. I had the opportunity to do a Q&A with Rich and thought our readers would enjoy it! Be sure to check out his two hits, “The Man” and “Revelation” now.
Were you taught about patriotism at a young age?
At that point, I was mainly around grandparents—grandfathers who had both fought in WWII. One served in the Pacific, and one served in Europe, in the European theater. I was around both those men quite a bit and got a sense early on of what they had been through. You could even see the toll that the injuries they had suffered had taken.
I remember my grandpa Kimbro. Papaw is what we called him. A bunch of nazis had ambushed Papaw Kimbro, and they killed most of the men in his platoon. He survived it, but he had to jump off of a two-story building to escape these guys. And when he hit the ground, it broke the cartilage in his knees. So, for the rest of his life, his knees were an absolute disaster.
Then, the granddaddy from the other side dealt with all kinds of PTS issues from his service in the Pacific theater. So, growing up around that and watching it firsthand, I had a very good understanding of what had been sacrificed on behalf of the rest of us.
You spoke about your grandfather in your tribute to him with your song, “The Man.”
“The Man” was written about a month after my Papaw Rich passed away. And being around him as much as I was, I knew his story very well. He had lied about his age; he said he was 18 when he was only 17 and got into the U.S. Army. They put him in what would now be known as a special forces unit. He became a tunnel rat in the Pacific. His job was to go into a cave and flush the Japanese out the other side of the cave. He sustained multiple wounds that resulted in Purple Hearts. Upon returning to America, he was hooked on morphine for almost two years. He weaned himself off of that, became a farmer and did other jobs, then died at 80 years old. I wrote the song in memory of him, but in a broader stroke, to remind people of the people that came before them, men like my grandfather, who had done similar things to ensure their freedom. That is the point of the song.
Do you have any other family members who serve? What’s the biggest misconception of veterans to today’s young people?
Yes, I had other family members that served. One was my first cousin, Scott Hafley, who served in the Navy.
Our family was fiercely patriotic across the board. I think a misconception young people have today is that their freedom is inherited and it’s just a given. They will always have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the Constitution will always be there and never be challenged or attacked. But that’s simply not the case.
Young people, when they see a veteran, they should understand that the only reason they even have a life in America is because of that veteran—what he or she was willing to do on behalf of them. They should always be respected. They should always walk up to that veteran and say, ‘Thank you for your sacrifice and your service.’ Shake their hand and show the ultimate respect.
You’re not only a musician, songwriter and entertainer but an entrepreneur and businessman. Do all your business ventures have patriotic flair?
I am an entrepreneur. My background? I have a high school diploma. I grew up in a double-wide trailer in Amarillo, Texas. And that’s it. That’s the extent of my pedigree in education. However, I am an entrepreneur. Throughout my life, when I’ve had what I thought to be a good idea, I would chase that idea down. Most of them did not work, but a few did.
Redneck Riviera is my main business. It’s a honkytonk downtown in Nashville. It has a line of boots and apparel and a whiskey brand that’s now in over 10,000 stores around the U.S., with products available at RedneckRiviera.com. We give a large percentage of our net profits to veterans’ organizations. One is the Folds of Honor, for which Redneck Riviera has generated $1.6 million since 2018. More recent is VFW’s Return the Favor campaign.
The Return the Favor campaign hires professionals to sit down with veterans free of charge to help them fill out the paperwork and navigate the red tape between them and the benefits they earn. We estimate there are currently billions of dollars in unclaimed benefits and money for our veterans. On average, $1 donated recovers over $1,500 to a veteran, which is an incredible statistic. Donations can be made at GiveButter.com/ReturntheFavor.
It was important to me, as a guy without a lot of accolades to my name, education-wise or otherwise, to recognize the veterans and active duty that have given guys like me the ability to chase the American dream. I always remind people that we do not have the right to be happy in America. We have the right to pursue happiness in America.
How do you go about taking on new ventures?
I think if you believe you’ve got a great idea and something that could work, you’ve got to be the first one to [take a] risk. You can’t ask other people to risk something on your idea if you’re not also taking a risk. You must have skin in the game.
As a dad, how are you instilling the love of country in your kids?
I have two sons, Cash (14) and Colt (12). The first thing you see entering my home is an entire corner dedicated to veterans in our family and veterans I have encountered across the United States. My two boys see that every single day, and they understand that they’ve got the right to go pursue happiness, too, only because of the service and sacrifice of men and women prior to them. The [corner includes] USMC caps that Marines have handed me at shows. I don’t mean ball caps; I mean the official USMC covers, which they’re not supposed to do. I’ve got bracelets, I’ve got dog tags. I’ve had parents come up to me and hand me the dog tags of their son or daughter, and I refuse to take them. And then they say, no, you must take them because they were huge fans of your music, and they would love to know that these dog tags wound up in your house.
I take them and always give them my phone number in case they ever want them back. I’ll send them back.
Do you have a message for any vets seeking their own journey as entrepreneurs?
To me, people who have been in the military have some of the greatest skill sets in the world. The first one is being disciplined—discipline and the ability to focus on chaotic situations, which is what business is a lot of the time. My advice would be, if you’ve got an idea for a business or something you want to do again, you must be able to risk your own stuff first, but go out and try to find other people that will join in with you that have skill sets that you do not have. My advice has always been to incentivize those people to come on board with you by giving them participation in the company. You’re better off to not own 100% and win, then you are to own 100% of it and lose.
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