Welcome to another episode of Biscuits and Jam from Southern Living.

I'm Sid Evans, editor-in-chief of Southern Living magazine.

My guest today has been a farmhand, a butcher, and a forklift operator.

But the creative culture of muscle shoals, as well as his passion for songwriting,

propelled him to music's biggest stage. I'm like everybody else that sang in their hairbrush in the mirror and dreamed

of being on the Grammys, but I never really thought that it would happen. John Paul White grew up

on the northern side of the Tennessee

Alabama border. As he began performing in bands in high school, he was soon making

friendships with David Hood, Spooner Oldham, and other Muscle Shoals legends. In 2011,

John Paul's career exploded along with musical partner Joy Williams, together known as the Civil Wars, as they released their debut album Barton Hollow, winning two Grammys.

Since the duo split up in 2014, John Paul has been busy with his own record label, Single Lock, and his most recent album, The Hurting Kind,

which came out last year.

During our discussion, he spoke to me about how times were simpler, but not necessarily

better when he was growing up.

And that exact feeling comes through on his song, The Good Old Days.

In the lyrics, John Paul questions whether the benefit of getting things back to how they

used to be is just wishful thinking.

Before we head down at you, tell me something I don't know.

Oh, I'm so good. good and not the good old days.

Yeah, what's so good and not the good old days.

Today we'll hear about John Paul's various jobs on his family's chicken farm as a teenager.

And it was probably the hardest job I ever had.

...