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April 14, 2024 - Huckabee Today
27:51
for KING + COUNTRY & Rebecca St. James: "UNSUNG HERO" Details INCREDIBLE Life Journey | Huckabee
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We've got a very fun show, because the entire show revolves around a very special family whose story is told in a new movie called Unsung Hero.
To kick it all off, I want you to welcome Luke and Joel Smallbone, better known as the four-time Grammy-winning duo for King and Country.
I have been so looking forward to having this show, getting you guys on and talking about something that I think is amazing.
You know, your music is...
World-changing.
You've done books, but now a movie based on the story of your family's life.
Pretty exciting.
Is it true, Governor, that this is the first time anyone's taken over the whole show?
First time.
Absolutely.
We've never done this before.
How about that?
We love you guys enough that the entire show is all about you.
You're smiling like you.
He loves that, doesn't he?
I feel a lot of pride in this moment, you know?
Well, you know, there's so much of this that it's fascinating because there was a lot before there was a movie.
That's right, yeah.
The music, then there was a book.
It was about really the life of your mom and her extraordinary influence in your life.
Your dad as well, of course, but we had your mom on a few months back and talked to her about the book.
How did the movie come about?
Yeah, so just to give some context, rewind back, you know, to many, many years ago, seemingly these days, to where we were originally born in Australia.
Hopefully you can still tell.
It is true, you Americans have jacked up.
I thought that was an Alabama accent.
It sure sounded like that.
Though we are from the deep, deep, deep South.
Okay, there we are, yeah.
But it is true, you Americans have jacked up our accent, so thanks for that.
But born in Australia, our dad was a concert promoter back there, and on one particular tour that he brought back, we lost everything that we had as a family.
We lost the house, we lost the car, we lost the life savings, and so dad was looking for a fresh start for his career, for the family, and so he thought it would be a good idea to move his six kids.
And his wife, who was six months pregnant at the time, to Nashville.
And that's exactly what we did.
But soon after we arrived in Nashville, my dad lost the job opportunity that he had here.
And so we were stranded, no friends, no family, sleeping on beds made out of clothes, didn't have any way for our little sister to be born in a hospital.
I weren't always quite sure where the next meal was going to come from, didn't have...
Didn't have a car at the time.
So the list went on and on.
And I've told that story for quite a number of years at our concerts and had a lot of people come up and say, man, Luke, you should write a book.
And the truth is, Joel and I were homeschooled, so we don't read or write very well.
And...
We thought maybe we should make a movie instead.
And look, the heartbeat behind the movie is this.
I believe in the power of family.
I think family is more important today than it ever has been in the history of the world.
But yet we don't value it the same way that we should.
And Mother Teresa says, if you want to change the world, Go home and love your family.
And that's really the hot beat behind the film.
You not only wrote the script to this film, you directed it, and you play the role of your own father, which I find incredibly intriguing, probably more difficult than writing or directing it.
I have dubbed it a very expensive therapy session.
It was interesting.
We've been doing a lot of reflection lately just because we're right on the precipice of it being released into theatres.
And I did not anticipate writing or even co-directing, you know, but as musicians, you kind of have to be all things to all people all the time.
You're the writer, you're the performer, you're the producer, you're the marketing.
And so it just kind of, the way the cookie crumbled...
I just sort of stepped into these roles, incidentally.
But from the beginning, I had always felt inclined to play Dad.
I can't even really explain it.
It was Lou came up with the idea in 2020 and called a producer friend and said, what if we start putting this into development?
It was one of the first conversations I remember saying.
I think it would just be so fascinating.
We know Dad so well.
I'm roughly Dad's age when he moved now.
And so I've always seen this story from Luke and I were five and seven when we moved.
So we've always seen it from a childlike perspective.
But to now experience it, not only in writing, but to literally enact the story and put on my shoulders, you know, all of the strain and the stress and the pride and the insecurity and the protectiveness that he felt over the family and really dive deep into his shoes.
Man, Governor, it has changed.
Change the way I see them.
There's a stake in the ground of empathy that started at the production of the film and will take me, I think, to my grave.
I think one of the most fascinating things is that this film, it's a true story, but it's a film that is inspirational because it's all about faith and it's all about family.
Two things that this country and this world truly needs more of.
So we're gonna take a little break.
And when we come back, we're gonna add your sister and your mom.
We're gonna have quite the conversation.
Oh, I've been in for it.
We brought you guys out here.
We bring them out here.
We'll bring a little bit of civility to the whole process.
That's what we're going to do.
And we are going to continue this very special episode devoted to For King and Country and the brand new movie that is coming out April the 26th called Unsung Hero.
Keith Bilbrey is standing by.
He is our unsung hero.
He'll tell us what's coming up next.
Well, Helen Smallbone and Rebecca St. James joined the conversation for an inside look into the family story of Unsung Hero.
Then later tonight, for King and Country, perform with special guest Amy Grant.
You don't want to miss it.
Go to MikeHuckabee.com and sign up for his free newsletter.
And follow at GovMikeHuckabee on X.
Welcome back.
On this very special edition of the show, we're talking about the inspiring story of the Smallbone family, told in the new film, Unsung Hero.
My next guests are the mother of that family and her daughter, one of the biggest names in contemporary Christian music, nine number one hits, and a Grammy Award to prove it.
Please welcome Helen Smallbone and Rebecca St. James.
Great to have you guys here.
Helen, in so many ways, this is a film about you and your husband, David.
Unsung heroes.
You came here, the world fell apart for you.
You had nothing.
I mean, nothing.
Not a house, not a car, not a job, income.
That's pretty much rock bottom.
Yeah, we lost everything before we left Australia.
We came here hoping for a new opportunity, a new start.
But yeah, you arrive, you've got your suitcases.
We had 16 suitcases.
There were six of us and I was pregnant.
At that point, I had not even been to a doctor.
So it's a real, I mean, you're in a very vulnerable scenario.
Were you feeling abandoned by God?
Did you ever feel like, Lord, why have you forsaken me?
Actually, no.
To tell you the truth, I think when each of us faces a crisis in our lives, it shows us where our foundation is, what's our strength and where does it come from?
And we were very fortunate, both David and I, to grow up in Christian homes.
We had great role modeling from our parents.
We had a strong foundation of faith.
And it was our faith that showed us through.
And I knew that leaving Australia was right.
Had no idea where God was taking us necessarily.
Had hopes, obviously, and dreams.
But our foundation was definitely Him.
And He turned up.
I mean, God promises He'll never leave us or forsake us.
That He's with us to the end of the age.
And we saw it.
That He would provide us with our daily needs.
That He would care for us.
And we just saw miracles.
What are some of the things that you did see?
Because, I mean, you know, you've just described a life of almost homelessness, nothing.
Well, we did have a house, a rental home.
But how did God start providing for your family?
Well, we moved into our rental home.
We had no car.
We had no furniture, no beds.
I had brought sheets, so we made, put their winter clothes, because it was still sort of fairly warm, under the kids and I would roll up the sheets around them and that was, I would use like a sweater or whatever for a pillow.
And that was the kids, they were the beds.
They thought it was grand because they could actually play baseball, well cricket, in the living room, which is like baseball.
They just, I mean, kids are so adaptable.
I mean, they don't...
I think they're looking at parents to see, okay, how are you coping with this?
And when we thought it was a bit of an adventure and whatever, then they followed suit.
That's true.
You have to look back and say, His hand is mighty.
His hand is mighty.
He's given me a verse that I think sums up our life.
And even in this stage with the movie, sums it up even more.
And it's Ephesians 3.20.
And my paraphrase is, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine for His glory and through His strength.
And He's done that.
He's fulfilled that.
He also gave me another promise.
We were touring at one point with Rebecca We were about to tour for 13 months and we were homeschooling.
And so we were all going together.
And I was like, I can just see these kids one day.
I'm going to sit back and say, mum, you just ruined my life.
You know, we don't know anything.
Like we're going to have to go back and do study, you know, like.
And so I went to God and I said, what's my expectation here?
Like, what am I meant to do?
How am I meant to view this?
Because they were working 10 hour days, 12 hour days.
Couldn't ask them to do schoolwork as well.
And he gave me a promise and the promise was I'll teach them what they need to know.
And he's fulfilled that.
I can look at each one of them and he has done that.
Mom and dad were really kind in letting us, you know, steward their story.
I found out something just a couple of days ago that I didn't know.
Because we let them read the script beforehand, you know, to get this sort of blessing on it.
And Dad said to me a couple of days ago, he's like, oh, you know, you told me, Mom.
She was like, oh, no, David never read the script before you went into production.
And we had sent it to him.
He had sort of all but lied and said he had read the script.
I was using the word we.
But I would say, I really respect him for it because he's a big personality.
I'm pretty similar to him.
He's pretty similar to me.
And he knew that if he sort of...
Did read it, that he would interject himself into it and that that wouldn't be the most trusting thing to do.
And so it was very courageous of him to not only let us steward his story, but then even when we screened it with him, it was so fascinating.
We screened it for the whole family and mum, you know, wept at the end and we all got around and started praying and dad went and talked to like the projector guy.
Yeah.
Somehow I'm not surprised by any of that.
But I think it's been a journey for him, you know?
Well, I'm sure it has been for all of you.
Rebecca, you know, a lot of this is about you are sort of the tip of the spear for the family going out and starting a music career.
You must have had some just overwhelming emotion that suddenly you're going to be thrust and almost the family's going to be depending on you.
I don't think I was very aware of any of that at that point.
I think mom hit the nail on the head that it was an adventure for us kids.
We did feel that and that God was taking care of us and mom and dad had it.
So even when I would do auditions for different record labels and stuff, or I'd be singing at a church and record people would come, I didn't feel this weight of, this has to work out, I'm carrying the family, because we were all pitching in.
We were raking lawns and mowing yards and cleaning houses and babysitting.
I was doing a bit of singing, you know?
So it was just, we were all pitching in.
And I think there was a sense of community as a family.
We were praying together and I was not caring at that point.
Yeah.
Well, we have a lot more to talk about.
Unsung Heroes hits the theaters nationwide on April the 26th.
And we have all the links so that you can get your tickets in advance.
If you go to Huckabee.tv, we will connect you directly how to do that.
Our next guest is a five-time Emmy-winning actor, writer, and musician, whom you probably already know from hits like General Hospital, Nashville, and Insomnia.
In Unsung Hero, he plays legendary Christian music star and record executive Eddie DeGarmo, who signed Rebecca St. James to her first major label contract.
Please welcome Jonathan Jackson.
Jonathan, great having you with us.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
Did you have a particular interest?
Because, I mean, a lot of the interest that you have, musician, actor, you presented this script.
What was your first reaction to it?
Well, to be honest, my first reaction was really less about the character and more about the film as a whole.
I was just interested to see, okay, what is this story?
What is this film about?
And I read it on an airplane, and I was in tears.
I was so moved.
And I didn't know what I would, you know, when you read a script, you kind of go, gosh, I hope it's good, but I don't know.
And I just looked over at my wife with tears in my eyes and I said, this is really something.
And then after that, I said, okay, let me look at this character.
Let me see if I can do this.
And then, you know, it just seemed like a lot of fun because Eddie DeGarmo is, you know, kind of an eccentric, interesting character.
That's a good way to put it.
I think that, but he's an amazing and gifted guy that has had such a vast influence on contemporary Christian music.
So you got to meet him in the course of filming the film.
Was it intimidating to meet the guy that you're playing?
It probably should have been.
You know, I've been working as an actor since I was very young.
You know, I was 11 years old when I started on General Hospital.
And I think one of the benefits of starting that young is that you just stay focused on, you know, it's...
So, no, I didn't get nervous.
In fact, Eddie had such a kind of gentle, poetic soul that I felt very comfortable.
And Rebecca, this is also a film in which you portray not yourself, but you have a cameo role as a flight attendant.
Is this from the flight over from Australia?
There I am.
There you are in all your glory.
All five seconds or 10 seconds of me.
Yes.
It was a very hard role.
I really had to focus on, you know, being present to this role.
It's like the Alfred Hitchcock movie, because every film that he ever did, he played this brief cameo role where he walked on and you had to really watch for it.
But that was your moment.
That was my moment.
I have done a bit of acting.
I've had some lead roles and stuff, but it was just fun being on set.
My husband was very involved in this movie as well.
And so it was fun having so many family that were involved and then to, you know, Be on there for a little hot minute.
But a lot of my siblings, actually, I think just about everybody is in the film somewhere.
They call it Easter eggs.
It's like a buried little treasure that you can kind of find throughout the film.
So when you go see it, look for the family members.
Now, the song that you just did goes throughout the film.
It's sort of woven throughout, right?
Yes.
Yeah.
It's a song actually that Luke and I wrote together 13 years ago.
So it's not quite as old as what the movie portrays, but it's a song that says you make everything beautiful in your time.
Like it's a song of redemption.
And really it's a theme of the movie is that there's hope even in the hardest of times in our lives that God can redeem it.
And I use that song to audition for Eddie in an important scene towards the end of the film.
So when you did audition for Eddie and he was taken with you, Did you guys capture that in the film and make it so that we will get to see this moment?
Because that was life changing, not just for you, but for the whole family.
Yeah, it was.
In real life, it was in a church.
I was singing worship songs and he came to see me do it.
And so it's very similar in the film.
And I mean, Jonathan does a wonderful job of capturing Eddie and you bring such humor to the table too.
You just embodied this deep well of mysteriousness that is Eddie de Gamo, but you brought a humor to the table with him and it adds so much to the film.
And Jonathan, tell us about what you hope that those of us who will see this film, and I hope it's every single person who's watching this show and many millions of others, what do you hope people will take away from it?
What did you take away from it?
I think it's very timely, this movie, because so many people in the last, you know, four years in particular have been going through incredible upheaval, moving states, moving jobs, you know, economic trials.
This film shows the power and beauty of family.
And, you know, as the Mother Teresa quote, you know, if you want to change the world, go home and love your family.
I mean, I think that really, I couldn't think of anything more powerful than that.
You know, the other beautiful line that's kind of...
Throughout the movie is, you know, your family is not in the way.
You know, your family is the way.
And I think so often in our society, in our culture, we sort of, we can fall into this idea of worshiping ambition or career, sort of individualism.
And it is the family.
It's the most beautiful thing we have.
And that's what, you know, moved me about the film.
Well, I can't wait for people to see it.
And if you want to keep up with all of Jonathan Jackson's music, books, movies, and more, because he's a creative guy and he's pretty busy, got a lot of stuff going on.
If you want to follow him on social media as well, we have all the links you'll need at Huckabee.tv.
We'll connect you, get you hooked up.
Right now, the unsung hero of our show, that's B. Keith Bilbrey.
He's going to tell us what's coming up.
Well, thank you.
After the break, we'll play a game highlighting some of the most bizarre ordinances in the country.
Leading to the question, is it law or no?
That's next on Huckabee.
Join Huckabee next week for Huck's hero Gary Luttrell and Chef Stacy Lynn Harris.
*outro music* Well, we've got a lot of music going on tonight, but I'll tell you one thing that is still consistent with every show that we do.
We got the greatest team of musicians in America with Trey Corley and the Music City Connection.
Would you give them another big hand?
Well, I'm talking again with Luke and Joel Smallbone, better known as the four-time Grammy-winning duo for King and Country.
Now, guys, you know, there's a lot of music in this film, and some of it has to do with other artists that you've invited in.
Lee Bryce, Michael W. Smith, your sister.
Tell us how that all happened and how it integrates into the film.
Yeah, I think when we realized that we were making a movie, we thought, well, you know, there's a lot of people that do, you know, inspired by soundtracks in what we call music.
We are musicians.
Music is our day job, is what we call.
You know, movies is kind of like the hobby, I guess, in some cases.
It was a four-year hobby.
And it's an expensive hobby and a very stressful one.
The gray hairs show it.
So when it came to the music, we just thought, well, there's some great songs that we grew up with that maybe we could reintroduce some of the all-time great songs that were, you know, written.
And, you know, C.S. Lewis has this great quote where he says, you know, only books worth reading are the ones that are 50 years or, you know, older.
In some cases, it's like songs.
Like if a song is still around, Yeah.
It's been 20 years.
It's a great song.
It's a great song.
And so you take a song like Place in This World is an absolute masterpiece that the lyric of that might be more potent today than it was back when it was released.
So it's that type of thought was what we went into thinking through.
What if we picked this song and took this song and got some of the friends together?
And you guys were thinking about making a phenomenal soundtrack that will also be a great complement to the film.
Well, what's fascinating, we did not spare...
Any expense when it came to time and effort.
I mean, literally more features on this inspired by than any record we've ever done.
You mentioned Lee Bryce, Michael W. Smith, Lecrae, Striper, Amy Grant.
Yeah.
Sleeping at Last, Rebecca St. James, Hilary Scott from Lady A. So that's eight and counting.
And it was just a blast, man.
We got to explore.
There's hip-hop on there.
There's country on there.
There's rock on there.
And so we got to explore a bunch of different lanes in the Inspired By.
Well, I think that's going to be as much fun getting the soundtrack as it will to watch the film.
But, you know, we're going to have a little fun with you guys, okay?
Are you ready for this?
Yeah.
We're going to play a game.
I'm going to read a law.
And you guys are going to tell me whether you think it is a real law or if we just made it up out of thin air.
So you're going to ask the homeschoolers if something's a law.
Now, we are American citizens, though, and so we probably know more about America.
I'll bet you, being naturalized citizens, know more about the Constitution than 95% of American citizens.
Anyway, this game is called...
La or na.
Okay, all of our audience has these paddles.
You spelt no or na.
This is Southern for no.
This is how we say it in the South.
Maybe not how you do it in Australia, but in Arkansas, we would say ya, la, or na.
Okay, so here we go.
And Keith, Trey, everyone's got cards, all our audience does.
Here we go.
In the state of Tennessee, is it a law that you cannot keep ice cream in your back pocket?
Do you think that's a law or a no?
Let's see those paddles.
Keith, I'm looking for yours and Trey's.
Trey says no, most of the band says no.
Actually, it is a no.
Now, ice cream in your back pocket was supposedly an effective method of stealing a horse because the horse would be tempted to follow along the sweetness of the ice cream in your back pocket.
But it never was a law because it was kind of stupid to put ice cream in your back pocket, especially in the summertime.
I mean, I would have questioned Tennessee.
I would have questioned it too.
I want to know who came up with that one because that's really bizarre.
It was a homeschooler.
It was.
Yeah.
Okay, here's our next question.
We're gonna stay in the state of Tennessee.
Is it a law that you cannot pick up roadkill on the way home and fry it for supper?
That is a law.
Is that a law or a no?
I'm with you, that's a law.
I think that's a law.
All right, let's see.
Most everyone here says that is, everyone looking around, almost everybody is saying it's gotta be a law.
That makes a lot of sense, but maybe that's too much common sense.
Yeah, that might be.
Okay, here's the answer.
No!
No!
In Tennessee...
It should be a law.
Here's the deal.
It should be a law, right?
And eat it.
As long as it is a non-protected species.
So if you, you know, let's say if you run over a spotted owl, you can't take that home and eat it.
Okay?
That's where you went?
A spotted owl?
A spotted owl, because it's a protected species.
Now, if you run over an eagle and the judge has you up before him and he says, how did that eagle taste?
You just say, it was a lot like a spotted owl.
I feel like that is quite in between a law and a no.
Well, here's the truth, though.
If you hit a deer...
You can eat it.
You can eat it.
You just have to notify the TWRA of the accident.
And then they will come over and have a new stew with you.
So how about that?
Okay, let's go to number three.
Is roller skating banned in the Capitol building in the state of Tennessee, here in Nashville?
Apparently, they'll tolerate all kinds of nonsense.
That's obscure enough to be a law.
And here's the deal.
I'm just playing the law on averages.
If it's been two no's, it's got to be a law.
Okay, well, look at him, mister.
Look at the audience.
It's almost, I bet it's 95%.
And you know what?
The answer is law.
Yes!
And guess when it came from?
The ledger from July 6, 1870 was when this law passed.
All I can figure is they must have had one special July 4th celebration.
Some grumpy governor was very upset that year.
It was like, we're doing a law!
Look, I want you to know, Joel, I'm an old guy, but I'm not that old.
I wasn't here in 1870. All right, here we go.
Last one.
Aren't you happy to hear that?
Last one.
It's from my home state of Arkansas.
Is it a law that you cannot honk your horn after 9 p.m.
at a drive-through restaurant?
Is that a law or is it a gnaw?
Put your paddles up, please.
By the way, you can tell whether it's a law or gnaw based on the way the governor puts his paddle.
No, you can't.
So it's definitely a law.
It's a law.
I'm switching, I'm switching.
It is a law in Arkansas.
Now here's the fact of this law.
It was created in the 1920s when curb service was somewhat of a fad and you had to honk your horn in order to place your order.
All right, I don't make the law, I just question them.
And remember, it's only a law because somebody was dumb enough To make it a law.
That's why.
So to all of you, thanks for playing Law or No.
That's our show for tonight, folks.
Go to Huckabee.tv for more information on all of tonight's guests and to see an online exclusive performance by For King and Country.
Join Huckabee next week for Huck's hero, Gary Luttrell, Chef Stacy Lynn Harris, and more.
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