We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kurt Van Meter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Kurt with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Work is a blessing. It is not a curse. Once we wrap our minds around the gift of work, it no longer becomes a “have to” but a “get to”. We, as humans, are made to work. It is in our DNA. When God created Adam and Eve, he gave them the task of working in the garden. Taking care of your garden is a nice way of keeping the consistency of effort in tact. One doesn’t just plant tomatoes and they become fully grown. It starts with a seed, then you have to water it, care for it, consistently pay attention to its growth, and then it becomes something we can eat. What we focus on grows.
Work can also be looked at in relation to using a treadmill. There will be times in your work life you need to crank it to 10, but this pace can’t last very long. It is for short intervals. Ideally, we are solidly at 5 or maybe even a 6. That way, we are still moving, but there is still energy left in our tank. Too often, we think we always have to be working at the pace of 10 and it is impossible. The important piece is to keep moving. Some times you will have to push hard and crank it to 10, most of the time you will be at a 5 or 6, and even some times a 1 or 2 when our mind and our body needs to rest.
Like my touring schedule. I just recently did 5 shows in 3 days. I was pushing at level 10 for three days, but on the 4th day, I was solidly at a 1 while sleeping in my chair watching television.
Work is a blessing. When you work, ,you bless God, you honor God by using the gifts he gave you. It’s like when you buy your child an awesome gift for Christmas, and you see your child using the gift and loving the gift. It is the same way with God. God gave me the gift of singing and performing, when I am using those gifts it blesses him.
Consistency is key. And monitor your “pace” so you don’t burn out. It’s ok to slow down, it’s ok to push hard, just remember, it is a moving target of exertion. Compliment yourself when you did something good or healthy.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am currently a nationally touring country music artist. When I am not touring and performing, I am a Private Investigator. Having 15 years of Law Enforcement experience as a Patrol Officer and a Patrol Deputy, I find it very natural to continue on my investigative pathways.
I was a Police Officer for 15 years. In 2009, 9 years into my Law Enforcement career, I was in a really bad shooting while on duty. It is by the grace of God I am still alive. In the after math of the shooting I started playing guitar. I was in my early 30’s. I could slightly strum the G,C and D chord, but the transitions between keys was very slow. However, there was something about playing the chords repeatedly which allowed me to be able to rest my brain at night, which allowed me to finally fall asleep.
I quickly started experiencing success in country music. My first big show was performing with Chris Young. Then Easton Corbin, Josh Thompson. The next year I opened for David Allan Coe and Montgomery Gentry at The Roseland Theater in Portland, Oregon.
This random success started to happen while I was still a patrol Officer. This new found success in a career I never knew I could be a part of created a perfect storm of lust for performing, complacency in my police career and resentment over the seemingly extreme nature in which the administration of the police department was critiquing my work. As a Police Officer, I definitely had the “spot light” on me from the admin. As a Police Officer, you DO NOT want the spot light on you.
The reason you don’t want the spot light on you is because doing investigative work means there are many different ways and styles to accomplish the same goal. When investigating crimes, or criminal activity, one may choose to work an informant and have them help make a case, or, some may enjoy doing traffic enforcement looking for DUII’s and others do nothing…….and get promoted to Sgt. This is what I struggled with.
The idea the Officers out doing the work were the ones getting critiqued by the ones sitting in the nice air conditioned or heated office, didn’t seem right to me. And I started bucking they system. Telling the Sgt.’s and some Lieutenants what I really thought about how they chose to work, and I ended up getting fired for insubordination.
I earned it. I had a yelling match with a Sergeant, told him to “Go Fuck Yourself”, and walked out. I knew it was over, and I was kind of relieved. I had just lost the smoke. The edge any successful person needs to have was gone for me. I wanted to be on stage. Writing music. However, Police work was paying me over $90,000/year and music was paying me zero, so it is very difficult to just walk away from that. Also, I had child support payments and the normal bills every other adult has to deal with.
I was fired. I had no income. I quickly filed for unemployment and started praying. My prayers were answered when I was asked to play the “Bi Mart Country Music Festival” with Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Gary Allan, Montgomery Gentry and Sara Evans the next summer. I had recorded a version of “Turn the Page”, originally by Bob Segar. Eric Church heard my version of the song and added it to his Spotify channel. My version of the song exploded and to date has over 5.5 million streams and downloads in over 100 countries.
Since 2013, I have been doing music full time, with multiple side hustles to pay the bills. In 2023, I was blessed to get to work with Cole Houser who plays the character “Rip” on the television show “Yellowstone”. I became Cole’s favorite country music artist and was able to fly all over the country doing shows with him. I was also able to perform for President Trump in South Florida.
In the first two weekends of September 2025, I will be performing with Billy Bob Thornton and The Box Masters at “Hunters Hot Springs” in Springdale, Montana. There will also be actors from “Yellowstone” in attendance. Jake Ream, Jen Landon who plays “Teeter”, Ian Bohen and others. I am very excited to be performing at this new venue.
My latest album, “Echoes of the Outlaws” is doing very well. One of the songs off the album, called “Cowboy Grit”, was licensed by the “Professional Bull Riders Association” and used in their international ad campaign, of which I wrote all of the music for with my producer, Gabriel Wilson.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
“Keep Getting Up”. This isn’t a skill just for music, this is a skill for life. Life is hard. It is messy. Nobody has it all figured out. Anybody who says they do are lying to you, stay away from them. You are going to get knocked down, you have to get up. You have to get out of bed in the morning. You have to keep moving, even when you are exhausted. You have to keep getting up.
“Be Thankful”. We so frequently focus on what we don’t have, I do to, but when I remind myself to be grateful and thank God for all of the good things he has already given me, the need to get more doesn’t cause a tightness in my chest from anxiety.
“You are going to be ok, this too shall pass”. This truth has kept me grounded in many ways. First, if you are going through something difficult, “this too shall pass”. It is but a chapter in your story of life so just know it isn’t going to last forever. When you are killing it and everything is going your way, and you are the first call for all the cool shows…..”this too shall pass”. Enjoy the ride, but know there will be a slow down. Don’t let this stress you out. It is party of the journey. And trust, YOU ARE GOING TO BE OK. Take a deep breath. Be Thankful and keep getting up.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Wow, this is an amazing question. First, I would get out my phone and start recording videos for my 3 boys every day, so when I was gone, and they wanted to hear my voice, they would have something to turn to. I would start to “edit” my life, in a drastic way. I would likely sell all the stuff I don’t need or use anymore. You know the stuff sitting in the garage that hasn’t been touch for months. I would also start putting all the money I could into accounts for my children to provide them some sort of financial support when I am no longer physically on this earth. I would invest in experiences, not things. I would not worry about 99% of the garbage I worry about now. I would laugh more, worry less.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kurtvanmeter.com
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