Jeffrey Steele Defies Hollywood With Incredible Tribute to Charlie Kirk

[00:00] As somebody who grew up uh with cowboys

[00:02] all around me and ranchers, I I am

[00:04] steeped in it, steeped in the culture,

[00:06] and I love it. And uh I'm so I'm really

[00:08] excited about this next guest, Jeffrey

[00:10] Steel. He's a Hall of Fame songwriter.

[00:13] Uh he's written hits like Cowboy and Me

[00:16] uh by Tim McGrath, Rascal Flat, What's

[00:18] Flats, What Hurts the Most, and My Wish.

[00:21] Um Montgomery Gentry, My Town, and Hell

[00:24] Yeah. Uh it's so I mean this guy has uh

[00:28] done some absolute bangers, some huge

[00:30] huge hits. And he released a song called

[00:33] A Voice. Uh and it mentions Charlie. It

[00:36] was a beautiful tribute to Charlie. And

[00:38] when he released it, I got this song

[00:40] sent to me by about I'm not kidding

[00:42] maybe 15, maybe 20 people, uh saying we

[00:45] should have him on. So I'm going to play

[00:46] his song and we'll welcome Jeffrey

[00:48] Steel. 385.

[00:51] We're the coal miners, the firefighters,

[00:54] the Charlie Kirk choir, all lighting our

[00:57] lighters. Finally waking up. Yeah, we've

[00:59] had enough of the liars

[01:03] setting the world on fire.

[01:10] >> So, Jeffrey Steel, Hall of Fame

[01:12] songwriter, uh, welcome to the Charlie

[01:14] Kirk show. It's good to have you.

[01:15] >> What an honor to be here. Thank you for

[01:17] having me.

[01:18] Well, it's an honor that you chose to

[01:20] honor uh Charlie in that way. And to

[01:23] just tell us, it felt like the right

[01:25] time to do this interview because we

[01:27] just had our All-American halftime show

[01:30] and millions tuned in. We're still

[01:32] working on a final number, 40, 50

[01:34] million people watch that thing. We had

[01:36] obviously a bunch of country acts and

[01:38] Kid Rock even did uh Tell You Can't. So,

[01:41] it felt like the right time to do this.

[01:42] Tell us what inspired you to to do this

[01:44] song and and this tribute to Charlie.

[01:48] >> Well, I mean, the message of the song

[01:50] speaks to what you're just talking

[01:51] about, the numbers you're talking about.

[01:53] People do feel unspoken for and and we

[01:56] just saw it with these numbers that

[01:58] you've got. Um, the song was written

[02:01] about me wanting to try to make a point

[02:05] of talking about the people that are

[02:08] unspoken for and the people that are are

[02:10] always neglected in this society. And

[02:13] after Charlie was assassinated, I went

[02:15] after the song was written, I went to a

[02:18] hometown vigil in Franklin, Tennessee,

[02:20] my hometown. And I showed up with a

[02:22] bunch of friends. And there were 5,000

[02:24] people in the town square overflowing

[02:27] with people just praying and singing.

[02:29] >> There was no statues coming down. There

[02:31] was no flags being lit. There was nobody

[02:33] cussing and screaming and fighting. It

[02:35] was just people praying for a better

[02:37] outcome and and a representation of who

[02:40] Charlie really was. And and I just as a

[02:43] songwriter, I was just standing there

[02:44] watching all of that happen. I was like,

[02:47] man, I've got to put this in the song.

[02:48] It's a Charlie Kirk choir out here. And

[02:51] and and I just felt like it had to go in

[02:53] the song.

[02:55] >> And I got thrown at me for that.

[02:58] >> Did I was going to say, what's the

[03:00] reaction been um from your release of

[03:03] this? Because you're really well known

[03:05] in that community. I mean, if people in

[03:07] the at home don't know who you are,

[03:09] everybody in Nashville knows who you

[03:11] are. So, it's a big deal.

[03:14] >> And a lot of a lot of people um heard

[03:17] the song and the first reaction was,

[03:18] well, we can we can help you with this

[03:21] song, but you're going to have to change

[03:22] a couple of the lines. And I was like, I

[03:25] wonder which ones they want me to

[03:26] change. And

[03:28] >> I I said, no, I can't I can't do that

[03:30] because that that's that's my job as a

[03:31] songwriter. I write what I see. I write

[03:33] the truth and I try to represent that

[03:35] the best I can. And I I I just figured I

[03:38] could work this song on my own,

[03:39] grassroots if I couldn't get the help

[03:41] from the industry that was kind of

[03:43] frowning upon what I wrote about. So, I

[03:46] just figured I'd try to go for it myself

[03:48] with the help of some people like John

[03:49] Rich uh and others. Uh uh I I got a few

[03:53] platforms where I could launch this

[03:54] thing and get it heard and with

[03:56] accompanying, you know, accompanying

[03:58] video and next thing I know I'm I'm off

[04:01] to the races. uh uh with a hit song on

[04:03] my hands because people want to hear it.

[04:06] >> People do feel like they're not spoken

[04:07] for and they do need a voice.

[04:09] >> Thank you. Thank you for your courage.

[04:11] And I I think you know Blake's probably

[04:13] going to have some thoughts on this too,

[04:14] but you know when we went to about when

[04:16] we went set about doing the halftime

[04:18] show, we we hit some serious push back

[04:22] from venues, from not really artists. A

[04:26] lot of the artists were really excited

[04:27] to be a part of it, but then their

[04:29] agents and their managers would get

[04:30] involved and they'd be looking at dollar

[04:32] signs and then there was some sort of

[04:34] hesitancy.

[04:35] >> Explain that piece of the industry that

[04:37] people maybe don't understand. You know,

[04:40] why would there be reticence to use the

[04:41] name Charlie Kirk in a song? Why would

[04:43] there be reticence to be a part of

[04:44] something like the halftime show? And

[04:46] when we push through and we get 40 to 50

[04:48] million eyeballs on it, does that change

[04:50] things?

[04:52] Charlie taught us that strong

[04:54] communities are built through mutual

[04:56] understanding. Tik Tok believes in those

[04:59] same values, places where people can

[05:01] share what they know and invite others

[05:03] to join in the conversation. Like a

[05:05] father sharing his meaningful life

[05:07] advice with the world. Or a teacher

[05:09] explaining math in ways that make it

[05:11] click. Someone sharing their favorite

[05:13] books with millions of others. Different

[05:14] worlds connected by curiosity. Because

[05:17] learning doesn't belong to one person or

[05:19] one classroom. It belongs to everyone

[05:22] willing to listen and share.

[05:28] >> Yeah. I I feel like, you know, they're

[05:31] they're pushing a narrative as hard as

[05:34] they can and it started a few years ago

[05:36] with the national anthem and taking a

[05:38] knee and and the public the public

[05:40] immediately showed what they thought

[05:42] about that. And you've you've got

[05:44] basically a a a country that that so

[05:47] many people are wa everybody in the

[05:48] world's watching this game, but but the

[05:51] American audience is so vast and what

[05:54] they what they want to see on that field

[05:57] is a representation of what they feel

[05:59] America is. And I I I keep I think that

[06:02] every year this thing gets crazier, more

[06:04] outlandish, more sex driven, less less

[06:07] morality, less less about faith, less

[06:10] about country. And I just think there

[06:12] there's quite a few hundred million

[06:14] Americans out there that have just said

[06:16] enough. We've had enough. And and that

[06:18] that was the reason to try to be a voice

[06:20] for those voices that are just being

[06:22] completely silenced by by the music

[06:25] industry. Uh um for me to try to get

[06:27] this song out. I can give you a great

[06:28] example. Um, the week after I released

[06:31] this song, Bruce Springsteen comes out

[06:33] with an anthem about Minneapolis and

[06:36] it's an anti-Trump and it's an anti-ICE

[06:39] lyric and it's immediately embraced and

[06:42] and and wrapped around and and it goes

[06:44] to number one where my song I they won't

[06:46] even they tell me it's too rightwing.

[06:48] They can't play it on the radio. And

[06:50] that's what we're up against as a

[06:52] conservative uh uh uh uh a music

[06:55] listener. You can't find the music

[06:57] unless I find a way I have to creep and

[07:00] crawl to find a way to get it out there

[07:02] to the public that really wants to hear

[07:04] it. And and the main thing is Andrew,

[07:05] everywhere I've gone playing this song

[07:08] live before I released it, everywhere I

[07:10] went and played the song live, people

[07:11] are on their feet. They're just

[07:13] immediately on their feet cheering and

[07:15] and I knew that I knew that I was

[07:17] hitting a nerve. And so so to have them

[07:19] push back at me uh and not and not help

[07:22] me promote it was it was a tough thing

[07:24] for a guy that's been around for 45

[07:25] years is a tough thing, but but you

[07:27] know, you just have to find ways and and

[07:29] you know, people want to hear it, so you

[07:31] keep pushing for the truth. That's all

[07:32] you can do.

[07:34] >> Blake is our resident huge massive

[07:37] country fan. Any thoughts, Blake?

[07:39] >> I mean, I I'm very glad. No, I'm I am

[07:43] very glad about about the reaction. And

[07:45] it's just, you were saying, Andrew, like

[07:47] you grew up around ranchers. I grew

[07:48] around a lot of ranchers, too. It just

[07:50] did it did not

[07:51] >> I didn't, you know, like Charlie, I was

[07:53] not born with the country gene in my

[07:55] brain. Uh, but I'm very I'm very glad

[07:59] that you've uh shown that love for

[08:01] Charlie Jeffrey. I'm very glad your song

[08:02] is is a hit for that reason. And I'm I'm

[08:05] glad the All-American Halftime Show was

[08:06] a hit. If people want to hear country

[08:08] music, they should hear country music.

[08:10] >> I just like go put on rock music

[08:12] instead.

[08:13] >> Absolutely. And I think I think to to

[08:15] put it down to to to to put down the

[08:17] halftime show and to like to put down

[08:19] somebody's work. I mean, this is

[08:22] America. It's it's free speech. We

[08:23] should be able to get it all out there.

[08:25] Either we get all of it out there or we

[08:26] get none of it out there. And that the

[08:28] one thing that Charlie was was a voice

[08:30] for for everybody. He was a voice for

[08:33] everybody that felt like they didn't

[08:34] have a voice. That was his whole mission

[08:36] to to bring what he knew and just try to

[08:39] bring some common sense to everything he

[08:41] spoke about and let people have a

[08:43] microphone and have a voice to speak

[08:45] their minds. And that's really was the

[08:47] basis of the song. So there was no way I

[08:49] couldn't include that in the song. I had

[08:51] to speak to him and what he did for for

[08:53] young Americans.

[08:54] >> Good. Good for you, Jeffrey. Um, so how

[08:57] do people get the song? How do they

[08:59] support you? 30 seconds left, Jeffrey.

[09:02] >> Okay. through all the traditional means,

[09:03] whether it's iTunes, Spotify, all the

[09:05] streaming services, you can go to

[09:06] jefferssteel.com and that will link you

[09:09] right to it. That's probably the easiest

[09:10] way. But, uh, and look for me. I'll be

[09:13] around all around the country playing

[09:14] this song. Um, but it's available all

[09:17] your normal streaming, Spotify, Pandora,

[09:20] all of them, anywhere, iTunes, and

[09:23] jeeoff steel.com.

[09:24] >> A voice. Be a voice.

[09:27] >> Yeah. Amen. God bless you. I mean,

[09:29] you're a legend in the space. And uh

[09:31] thank you for honoring our friend in the

[09:33] way that you have and for standing firm,

[09:35] keeping his name in there. God bless

[09:36] you, Jeffrey.

[09:37] >> Thank you. Thank you for giving me a

[09:38] minute. I appreciate you guys.