Dadville with Dave Barnes and Jon McLaughlin

In this episode of Dadville, Dave Barnes and Jon McLaughlin welcome back close friend and musical powerhouse Justin Rosolino. The guys kick off with behind-the-scenes audio chaos and memories of meeting in Muncie, Indiana—where Justin initially mistook Jon McLaughlin for a jazz-fusion guitar icon. Justin opens up about his journey from performing R&B at the Apollo Theater as a kid and touring with...

Danny Wuerffel's résumé reads like a movie that would be too perfect to believe. He won four straight SEC titles at Florida, a national championship, and the 1996 Heisman Trophy. He's in the College Football Hall of Fame, and there's a road named after him. In this episode of Dadville, Dave and Jon ask what it's like to live that and then decide what comes next. Danny's website: https://www.dannyw...

Welcome back to Dadville! In this episode, we’re balancing a little benevolent self-promotion with essential dad business. First up, we share our upcoming Christmas tour dates—from Jon’s live debut in Hoover, Alabama to Dave’s return to the Schermerhorn in Nashville. Next, 44-year-old Jon details wielding a new $10 drywall saw to carve out a 6-foot hole in his wall, fix a leaking PVC pipe with IKE...

In this episode of Dadville, we sat down with counselor and family friend Will Mooney to talk about what it actually takes to show up well for our kids. We dive deep into the core truth that "more is caught than taught"—our children mirror our emotional health far more than our verbal lectures. Will opens up about his journey into counseling, helping us unpack shadow selves, old personal baggage,...

This week, we sit down with our good friend Robert Cunningham—pastor, writer, speaker, and founder of Christ for Kentucky. We kick things off with a crucial parenting debate: can YouTube piano tutorials replace traditional music lessons? Then, Robert gets honest about making a massive career pivot away from a comfortable pastorship with four kids and zero financial safety net to launch his own min...

We’re catching up on the back-to-school flow and having some honest, vulnerable talks about our 40s. We laugh about the exact ways we are becoming our dads, from driving like grandmas to stockpiling ten of everything in the garage. We also reflect on what we’d tell our younger 25-year-old selves (hint: relax!) and why we need to stop focusing so much on the worries "just out of frame". Finally, we...

Today, we sat down with entrepreneur and author Jordan Raynor, and honestly, we had so much fun reminiscing about Jordan's freshman year at Florida State that we practically skipped our own intro. Once we got past the twenty years of nostalgia, Jordan totally reframed how we look at our daily grind. We talked about why our Monday-through-Friday work has intrinsic value to God—meaning Dave's songwr...

Welcome back to Dadville! Today, we’re sitting down with our incredibly learned friend, Ian Morgan Cron. We usually try to keep things light and funny, but Ian brought some serious "strings on the bridge" energy to this one. As an author, psychotherapist, former priest, and Dove Award-winning songwriter, he’s basically a vocational tossed salad. We dive deep into his complicated childhood with an...

We’ve officially lost control of the microphones. Welcome to a special episode of Dadville—or as our daughters Zanna and Liv have rebranded it, Kidville. We thought we were the consummate podcasters, but the girls immediately put us in the hot seat to expose our deepest, most embarrassing secrets. We're talking about Dave pre-unwrapping a pocketful of Jolly Ranchers during church hymns so they don...

In this episode, the fellas welcome financial expert Rachel Cruze to discuss the intersection of money, mindset, and family. As the daughter of Dave Ramsey, Cruze shares insights on growing up with a "money guy" and how she has carved her own path through best-selling books and speaking. Rachel talks about how money is less about math and more about behaviour, focusing on intentional parenting thr...

In this episode, the fellas sit down with Charlie Worsham, the CMA’s reigning Musician of the Year and a true "multihyphenate" talent. Charlie shares his incredible trajectory, from winning national banjo titles at age 12 to playing in the bands of legends like Vince Gill. He dives deep into his "13-year-old self rule," a mental practice that helps him maintain gratitude for his career, even on th...

In this episode, the fellas interview Tyler Staton, lead pastor of Bridgetown Church and author of Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools. Tyler shares his journey from a middle-school prayer revival in Nashville to navigating faith in New York and Portland. He offers a profound look at contemplative prayer, which he defines as sitting "naked and unashamed" before God to settle the inner "snow glob...

Musician Eric Hutchinson makes history on Dadville by doing the impossible: arriving early. From the massive independent success of his album Sounds Like This to the "soul-crushing" reality of playing early college gigs next to loud smoothie machines, Hutchinson joins Dave Barnes and Jon McLaughlin for a deep dive into a career built outside the typical "big machine" path. Now a New York City dad,...

In this episode of Dadville, the fellas dive into the chaos of summer parenting. Jon shares the "play-by-play" heartbreak of his daughter’s first sleep away camp experience, and Dave recounts a childhood "life of crime" involving a camp nurse and a missing stitch. But it’s not all jokes—the guys get vulnerable about aging in the music industry. They discuss what success meant at 30 versus what it...

In this episode of Dadville, we sat down with Lee C. Camp, a professor of theology and ethics who has spent over two decades helping people wrestle with what it means to live a life worth living. While he is the host of the nationally syndicated show No Small Endeavor, Lee got remarkably vulnerable about his own "spiral" into depression at age 47 and the "unresolved crap" he had to address within...

We are thrilled to welcome back three-time guest Jon Acuff. As a New York Times bestselling author, Jon has built a career helping people stop overthinking and finally get unstuck. In this episode, we tackle the "architecture of enough" and the transition to empty nesting. Jon shares insights from his new book, Procrastination Proof, explaining how procrastination is often a failed "solution" for...

We sat down with 4-time Grammy winner Sara Watkins to solve a problem every professional faces: How do you maintain a 30-year career without burning out or losing your creative edge? From founding Nickel Creek at age eight to touring with icons like Jackson Browne, Sara has mastered the "communal dance" of longevity. In this session, we tackle the high-stakes pressure of performance anxiety. Sara...

Welcome to a special video edition of Dadville! We’re kicking things off with Dave’s high-energy celebration of Arsenal’s Premier League victory and a deep dive into why sports culture feels like family. Then, we pivot to the "frontal assault" of summer parenting. As school rhythms fade, we share our best survival "tips and tricks" to keep the chaos at bay. Discover the power of tangible bucket li...

Today we’re hanging out with the legendary Anjelah Johnson-Reyes. You’ve seen her viral "Nail Salon" bit and her iconic characters from Mad TV, but in this episode, we get into the nuts and bolts of her career and life as a mom. Anjelah shares her fascinating process for building a comedy hour, from recording every set to "cut the fat" to the daunting anxiety of starting a project from scratch. We...

Today, we’re hanging out with our friend Erin Napier, who is busy saving Laurel, Mississippi, one 25,000-square-foot hotel at a time. We dive into the "unfortunate" (that’s code for ugly) projects and the heart behind her latest restoration, The Heirloom, which survived a "devastating" fire just weeks before opening. Erin spills the tea on her first year as a homeschooling mom—turns out it only ta...

Welcome to Momville! In this episode, we’re hanging out with the legendary Lori McKenna, a three-time Grammy winner who somehow balanced raising five kids with a world-class songwriting career. We dive into her "internal rhythm" of 74 BPM and the hilarious reality of her early days showing up to open mics with a minivan and actual peanut butter on her guitar. Lori gets real about her 30-year marri...

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS HERE! The legendary Sissy Goff and David Thomas join us this week. Things get off to a wild start when host Dave realizes that a woman who changed his life decades ago is actually David’s sister. Once the shock wears off, the group discusses the duo’s new book about raising capable kids in a world that feels increasingly fragile. They explore why today’s kids are hesitant to do...

This episode features a "PowerPod" collaboration between the fellas and the creators of the 3% podcast, Jamie and Blake. The conversation explores radical honesty, specifically the "3% concept"—the practice of sharing the final, shame-filled layer of truth that individuals typically withhold from even their closest friends. The participants discuss the transition from childhood "proximity friendsh...

The fellas are back with our dear friend Ben Rector. It’s a classic dad-session—think driveway-wine-in-camping-chairs vibes. Ben drops some hilarious truth bombs, like his daughter's most accurate description of what he's like. He also breaks down his quest to look less like an accountant with his new robust beard and a legendary sock shootout method to find the perfect pair. But it’s not all oatm...

How quickly could you get a horse to downtown Boston? Well, today's guest McKittrick Simmons posed that very question to Dave and it really framed their 20+ friendship in a new way. After meeting his new friend, Jon McLaughlin, McKittrick breaks down the "neutron bomb" of intentional friendship and why "no theologians allowed" Bible studies are the secret to growth. Whether navigating the "beta te...