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The Conversation Podcast with Roxanne Grace
The Conversation Podcast with Roxanne Grace
GLADDEN | The Conversation Ep. 50
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GLADDEN opens up about his new song “Good In My Soul,” diving into the heart behind the lyrics and what it means to him personally. In this episode, he vulnerably shares about a season where his faith became lukewarm, how he found freedom, and the renewed passion that’s now igniting his life and music. He also offers honest and practical advice on marriage, drawn from his own journey.
Hosted by Roxanne Grace, The Conversation is an interview show discussing music, faith and issues of the day with influencers, artists, entertainers and more.
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Hey, what's up guys? I'm Roxanne Grace, the host of The Conversation. Today, we are talking to none other than Gladden. You don't want to miss it. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation. Today's guest is Gladden, an artist from South Carolina who's been turning heads with his genre of blending sound, mixing pop, hip-hop, and face-filled lyrics that are joyful, they're honest, and they're family-friendly. You're gonna get to know Gladden a whole lot better by the end of this episode. And uh, we're gonna chat about one of his newest releases, Good in My Soul, and the meaning behind it. He's gonna share his best marriage advice, and Gladden is gonna get very vulnerable, sharing how he fell into a season of being lukewarm for Jesus, but also how he broke free from that and has a fresh fire in his bones. And we're gonna chat about how getting closer to Jesus is a lot more simple than you may think. So without further ado, here is the man himself. Here's Gladden.
SPEAKER_00Hello, how's it going?
SPEAKER_03What's up, my brother? How are you?
SPEAKER_00I'm good. It's so good to be here. It's an honor to get to join you today.
SPEAKER_03Um, we always start the podcast with a series of personality questions. And we know that our listeners and our viewers already feel like they know Gladden. But we guarantee you, if you are listening or watching right now, you're gonna leave this episode feeling like you really know Gladden. Sorry, Gladden, no pressure.
SPEAKER_00No pressure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no pressure. Okay, we're gonna so as I ask you these questions, don't think too hard about them. Just answer with whatever comes to your mind. And if you're listening right now or watching right now, just know that we do not prep him at all. These are these are just we're just going with it. All right, first question what is your favorite color?
SPEAKER_00My favorite color is green. Low-key, I'm a Green Bay Packers fan, so uh I've liked them ever since Brett Favre back in the day was their quarterback and kept up with them when I was a little kid, and so um green has stuck with me.
SPEAKER_03Okay, what is your favorite movie?
SPEAKER_00My favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life. I know it's a Christmas movie, but it's my all-time favorite uh year-round. I will say it's hard for me to watch it every year, so my wife gives me a hard time about that, but I uh I do love that movie and the theme behind it and just the life uh examples of what we go through in life and how to get through that. It's a really cool movie, and so um, but yeah, my wife gives me a hard time because I can't watch that uh every single day of the year, and it's my favorite movie, but um I I have to take a break uh probably every other year I can watch it. So um it's it's one of my favorites. I can do a Jimmy uh Jimmy Stewart impression later if we if we need that, but uh we'll hold off on that for now.
SPEAKER_03So don't hold back, we want to hear it. Can you really do one?
SPEAKER_00Uh I probably shouldn't, but uh one line that sticks with him, Mary, when he's calling his wife, Mary, it's such a good movie.
SPEAKER_03So that was pretty good. Yeah, that was you sounded just like him. That was very good. Now we're gonna have to go watch the movie to to remember what he sounds like. That's that to my memory, that sounds very good. What is something, Gladden, that you were into as a kid that still shows up today?
SPEAKER_00Uh probably would say sports. So I I played sports from I had a golf club in my hand when I was one year old, used it as a little cane to walk around and learn how to walk with the golf club. Um, thanks to my dad getting me exposed to all kinds of sports at a young age. And I played um every sport growing up, and then uh by uh college, I ended up playing college baseball and uh did that for a few years. So um sports. That's that's something that stuck with me from a young age and music, but other than music, sports.
SPEAKER_03Okay, another question for you, Will. What is something that people misunderstand about you at first?
SPEAKER_00Going back to uh my sports reference earlier, I do think that people um know that I love sports and I played sports. They may think I have like more of a jock mindset and don't really think deeply about things. Uh, but uh my lyrics and my songs actually my lyrics do uh go way deeper than surface level. And I I try to have single double meanings behind lines and the rhymes and the the way that the melodies go that uh represent something specific um in each song. And so I think very deeply. So that's that's a funny little example, but I do think people and I kind of slur my words and uh don't talk proper, but I actually uh am very good at grammar and I uh like just sentence structure and all that. For some reason in school, that stuck with me, and uh the way I talk does not exemplify that at all.
SPEAKER_03So okay. Well, this is very good to know because now when we text you, we're gonna be really careful.
SPEAKER_00Look for commas and no, I don't judge other people, but you can judge me. Um when I write back, you can judge my grammar and say, that's wrong. You didn't put a uh period there, and I I put a lot of uh informal things in my songs as well, so uh more conversational so that it relates instead of well your style is is more like chill and informal, right?
SPEAKER_03So um, but you know, now that we know that about you, we're gonna we're gonna be looking for it for sure, Gladi. We're gonna be looking for I shouldn't have said it. Yeah, you should have said it. You shouldn't have said it. Okay. Next question. We know that you hear the voice of God, we all do in so many different ways. But if you could hear the audible voice of God right now, today, what question would you ask him?
SPEAKER_00Wow. Um, I would say that uh I I would ask God uh if I was in his will, if I was truly in his will. So going back to uh Gladden, my artist's name, that's actually my last name for those of you you who don't know. Um my first name is Will. William, but I go by Will or Willie G, whatever. So uh Will has been a big aspect in my life. Um, just the meaning behind it, uh, of boldness and um also staying in God's will for my life. So that would be what I would ask him is um, am I in your will currently? Uh I do believe that I am, uh, but I just would love uh audibly to hear that from him would be amazing of yes, you are completely in my will, or no, there are a few things you need to set straight in your life to be fully in my will. So um that that's my short, long answer.
SPEAKER_03That is a fantastic answer. That's I think a question that uh most of us would ask him for sure. That was beautiful. That great answer. Great answer. Okay, yay! We finished the first part of our personality questions, but we're gonna move on. We want to talk about your wifey, your beautiful, amazing wifey. We know that you have a beautiful, amazing wife. Her name is Rachel, and most of the world should know this because you put out a song about her called Wonder Woman, and uh, you guys are also gonna be celebrating 10 years soon. So tell us a little bit about marriage and and Rachel.
SPEAKER_00She is amazing. Um, she's very patient, like I always say, uh, dealing with me and my creative, crazy, all over the place brain. Um, she is a rock, she is very uh solid. And um I I think that that her um the way that we work together is perfect. I know that that's in God's will. Um, but she is uh very sound and steady-minded and uh very plan-oriented while I'm the free spirit all over the place, uh the dreamer. And uh but she is awesome. I uh used to make songs about girls I had crushes on, and they were very cheesy, and it actually uh caused me to stop making songs like that for the longest time. And we've we were married for a few years, and finally she was like, Where are my songs? Like you haven't made any songs for me in a long time, and um, like I've written them for for her, but never released them. And I said, Ah, I'll maybe make one at some point. I just think they're cheesy. And um finally I heard God say, just make them, just start making songs about like I make songs about God and about life and everything, but why would I not make them about her? And so um I have a few out there now, uh, but like you mentioned, Wonder Woman uh was the most recent, and it uh just talks about how she's Wonder Woman. Um you as well for Lance, like just the way that uh strong women can the Proverbs 31 woman can um hold your family together, and the things that you do that go unnoticed and do go noticed that are just amazing. So um she definitely um all the stuff that she does for me for Brody, our son, and uh also she is a full-time teacher on top of all that, and so just Wonder Woman. That that's simply what she is, and so that's a fun song um that uh has that rapish fun feel, but also has a lot of deep meaning about uh what she means to me. So really cool song.
SPEAKER_03It is a great song, and you know what? We just learned something about Rachel. I know I did, I had no idea that she was a full-time teacher as well.
SPEAKER_00She really is a Wonder Woman, she is, yeah, and she's upstairs right now with Brody. Uh, I switched with the studio to come down here. Uh, anyway, so she's upstairs uh hanging out with Brody right now. Um, and she'll go back to school in the morning.
SPEAKER_03So wow, Rachel the Wonder Woman. Okay, we have a question about the both of you. Who apologizes first between the two of you?
SPEAKER_00It's like the newlywed game, right? I would say um I apologize first, but I am also the one that started the fight, most likely.
SPEAKER_03Good answer. That was a very humble, good husband type of answer. Okay, here's another question. What is something that the marriage has taught you about yourself?
SPEAKER_00Marriage has taught me that I am very selfish. Um, I I learned quickly into our marriage that I am very selfish. Um and also uh I learned that I was very immature coming into marriage. And so selfish and immature, I uh I do think that throughout the years that has I've grown in maturity, and Rachel, I feel like was very mature coming into our marriage, but uh the selfishness is something you have to battle day in and day out. Um, both of us have to put down our pride, and I mean it any conversation could turn into a fight if you decide that you're gonna hold on to what you said and disagree until uh putting that down. Uh it's a tough thing to do, but yeah, selfishness and immaturity coming in that I've learned. But I've also learned that the closer we get to God, the closer we get together. And um, that helps to break both of those, to break the selfishness and to break the immaturity.
SPEAKER_03Okay, you guys are coming on 10 years of marriage. Wow, congratulations! That's that's amazing. What a thing to shout from the mountaintops. Uh, what would be your best marriage advice?
SPEAKER_00I would say always tell your spouse that you love them. Um, but loving is an action word. And I I feel like people say that all the time, but it truly is. Uh, if I say I love you to Rachel every single day, okay, but if if I don't show that, it means nothing. So um verbalizing that, but also showing that, whether it's little things like flowers or her favorite candies or drink or whatever, or big things of sacrificing and doing things uh to show to take a part of her load off as Wonder Woman. She does so much, and I'm still learning at 10 years in marriage that yeah, love is an action word. That's what I would say to people for marriage advice.
SPEAKER_03That is so good, and that is for us ladies as well. Love is an action word from both sides. That was fantastic advice. Good job, good husband answers, but we know it's genuine. You really mean it from your heart, but these are just amazing answers. We're taking a break from the conversation from OceanhouseMusic.com distribution 30 second spotlight. Today's spotlight is on a song titled Good in My Soul by Gladden. Here's a little taste. Okay, let's talk about your music. We want to talk about your your brand new release that you just released through Dream, Good in My Soul. And you probably I thought you know this because I've already told you that you are one of my personal favorite artists. And so my three top songs from you that I love. First of all, obviously, I love the song that you know, I for those that don't know that are listening or watching, I had the opportunity to do a song with Gladden. It was Gladden, myself, and Ozzy. Great song. You gotta check it out. But my my top favorite has been your song Hunt Me Down. I love that song, truly love that song. But uh your new release topped it. I don't know. That's my new favorite, Gladden. It's so good. And the song is called Good in My Soul. And if you're listening right now, you gotta go check it out. It is amazing. What a powerful song! Can you share a little bit about the heart behind Good in My Soul?
SPEAKER_00Definitely. Uh, yeah, so it is uh, as it says in the title, the good in my soul. So searching my soul, I wanted to let listeners know what is coming from within within me that's good. It's um there's a lot of things in the world that we call good uh that aren't actually good. They just make us feel good in the moment or just things that pass away. But the true good in your soul, uh what what your soul, your mind, your body thrives with is uh the love of Jesus. And uh I feel like this song, uh looking back in my life, uh, this song is a true reflection of what God has done and the good he's brought in my life. Um so quick story. My story, uh my testimony, if you will. I I grew up, my parents, they uh raised me right in a godly home. Uh we went to church every Sunday, every Wednesday, Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday. Rachel and I laugh at this because this is less of the culture now. But back then, uh it was you were in church like it felt like every day, which is a great thing, but at the same time, you also have to go out and live uh for Jesus in the world. And so um there's there's a fine balance of that. Anyways, so my parents they raised me in a Christian home. Uh, I actually truly accepted Jesus at a young age, at six years old. Um, and I at that point I was on fire for him. I was telling everyone. I I had no fear of going and telling people at the grocery store, at school, uh, family members, friends, strangers. And um God was using me at that young age. And uh throughout my high school years, into college years, I think I slowly that fire got dimmer and dimmer, and I allowed the world to creep in. Um, and I would say at a certain point, I looked back and realized that I I was lukewarm. And uh that in the Bible, Jesus says that if you're lukewarm, you're pretty much spit out of the mouth of God. And so um that was a wake-up call for me. And uh doing uh doing life lukewarm was not it, and uh my soul, my body, my mind, everything I could tell that it was not the same as it was when I was just truly on fire for God at a young age. Just sounds crazier. Like I was more mature when I was six or seven, eight than I am in my twenties, and so God used that realization to uh bring me back to Him. Sadly, it's it was a slower process than it should have been, but I uh just began being more intentional about uh who I hung out with, what I did, uh what I listened to, what I uh you know, just just my actions. Uh and uh after that, God uh since then God has continued. It's a daily process, just like marriage. It's uh it's a daily process, your walk with Jesus as a sinful, uh sin-prone human to put down the flesh and take on Christ.
SPEAKER_03That is good. That is really, really powerful. What a powerful, relatable testimony. At what point did that take place? I mean, when was it where you feel like your cut your eyes were kind of open? You're like, wow, I I've become kind of apathetic in my walk with the Lord. When was that?
SPEAKER_00Honestly, I think it was it was before Rachel and I began dating, but then I realized that I hadn't fully put off the lukewarmness after we were married. And so uh it I would say so uh going back to us getting married, we uh Rachel um in her past had also become lukewarm, and it wasn't until we both stopped that and started pursuing God, and then we found each other, and so uh we had met before, but we we actually like found each other online, started talking again, and then dating, engaged, married. So that that's another thing I would say to people who are looking for a significant other. Uh I would say it was I looked my whole life looking for my wife, blah, blah, blah. And and it wasn't until I fully said, God, you have this. I'm gonna focus on you, and I'm gonna focus on your will for my life, what I need to be doing. And it people always say, like, God aligns you, and then you're like you're on your path of life, and then God brings your significant other on their path of life, and it just works. And um, yeah, so tangent there, but uh, yeah, I would say I realized it and started making steps toward um ridding myself of being lukewarm, of um just washed out Christianity, whatever you want to call it. Just I'm a Christian, but I'm not fully living that way. Um, and then once we were married, I still realized I had sin in my life. I had areas of sin that need to go. And so I'll like I said, it's a daily process, but um I would say that was when uh my life started shifting back in the right direction.
SPEAKER_03And so for somebody watching or listening right now, what advice would you give, or you know, how would you explain seeking the Lord afresh, you know, trying to realign yourself and to just keep your eyes on him in a fresh new way? How would you how would you say the best way to go about that would be?
SPEAKER_00It's really simple, and we make it so hard, but read your Bible, pray, listen to Christian music. That that is literally, and I would say also surround yourself. You you don't want to exclude the world completely from you and just not have any friends who are not. Christians, but I would say um the biggest things to get closer to God, He's there. We aren't. So all we have to do is read our Bible and pray.
SPEAKER_03Gladden has his preacher hat on today, and we are here for it, sir. Super, super cool. What great advice. You know, and the Bible says in Jeremiah that if we search for him or seek for him with all of our heart, we're gonna find him. And what a beautiful, fresh season, and what a great thing to do here in 2026 to find yourself in a fresh season of seeking after the Lord, just like Gladden is talking about. And he and he says it's so simple. Just get back in the practice of meeting with God, reading your Bible, spending time with him, praying and worshiping. And so, yes, it is simple. And you are right, we overcomplicate it. It's so simple. You know, when you hang out with Rachel, you're not you don't overcomplicate it, you're like, I'm gonna hang out with Rachel. So we need to go and hang out with God. That's right. And if you're listening right now and you have not streamed and saved his brand new song, you need to go do it immediately because it's so good. It's called Good in My Soul. And of course, you can find it everywhere that you stream great music. What can we expect from you in the near future, sir?
SPEAKER_00You can expect a lot of new music. And uh, I would say uh I don't want to say a number of songs, but it's gonna be a lot of songs this year. Um, pretty maybe similar to the amount I put out last year, maybe a little more, a little less, but somewhere in there.
SPEAKER_03See, what did we tell you guys? We told you that you're gonna know Gladden a whole lot more by the end of this, and we definitely feel like we know you a whole lot better. Gladden, you are awesome. Where can people follow you on social media and find out more about everything that you are doing?
SPEAKER_00Uh, social media, pretty much all platforms is at Gladden Originals. Uh, or you can go to gladdenoriginals.com and that has everything in one place on my website. So, yeah, check it out and listen to it if you want to, and make sure to listen to the lyrics. Thank you so much for having me on, Roxanne. This is thank you.
SPEAKER_03You are awesome.
SPEAKER_00Everyone, make sure to go listen to all of her episodes because there is so much good in there.
SPEAKER_03Ah, amen. Thank you so much. Truly, Gladden. It has been an honor. I know, I know your day is also jam-packed. So thank you for taking time out to have this conversation today. Well, it's all the time that we have with Gladden today. We hope that this conversation blessed you as much as it blessed us. I want to lead you in prayer. If you do not know Jesus as your Lord, if you do not know him personally and you want to make him Lord over your life, well, great news for you because today is the day of salvation for you. Or maybe you may say, Roxanne, I completely relate to what Gladon was talking about in today's conversation. And I've been lukewarm, but I want to freshly invite Jesus to be Lord over all the areas of my life. Well, great. We're gonna pray together here. And again, there's no such thing as a magic prayer. The Bible shows us that people look at the way we look, but God is looking at our heart. So he's looking at your heart. Invite him from your heart to be Lord of your life. And you can pray something like this Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner in need of a savior. Thank you for sending Jesus to be that savior. Thank you that Jesus died and he was buried and he rose again three days later and is now alive. I make a choice to turn off that path away from you and to turn and follow you as my Lord. Jesus be my Lord, lead me, help me to live for you. In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen and amen. If you just prayed that with me, we want to hear from you. Email us at dreamtheconversation at gmail.com and thank you again for tuning in today. Maybe you're listening over radio on K-Wave at 1110 a.m. or maybe you're listening over podcasts, and we also want to remind you uh to subscribe to our podcast. You can find the conversation with Roxanne Grace pretty much anywhere you stream great podcasts, including iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and again anywhere that you stream your podcast. Until next week, stay blessed in him.