How I Met Kid Rock
I was in Nashville antiquing with my buddy Hunter on August 7th, 2021. I met Hunter through my YouTube videos, he was amongst the first to reach out to me and say he liked my GTA 5 Dukes of Hazzard Skits. We ended up becoming pretty good friends, and throughout that period he scored a job working for Kid Rock.
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Me and Hunter were headed to get some food after antiquing for an hour or so, when he tricked me and pulled up to Kid Rock's House. We were greeted by Rock's fiancé, Audrey. Eventually, Bob pulled up and got out of his truck and said "Hey Derek!" He approached me, I shook his hand. We walked inside his studio building and talked for a while. I told him about the Traveler trip I was doing, showed him some of my videos including my fan-made music video for his song, Midnight Train to Memphis. He loved it.
ChunkeyMonkey40 (19) with Kid Rock in Nashville on August 7th, 2021
Kid Rock's General Lee during his hoodslide competition
He gave me a tour of his property, and showed me his car collection including his General Lee. Kid Rock's General Lee was originally a Bo's General Lee, meaning it was built by John Schneider (Bo Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard). Bob took me up to the top of the mountain he lives on, where he's building a replica of the White House that overlooks the Nashville skyline.
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We made our way down to the camo double wide trailer he currently is living in, sat on the back deck and ate while jamming out to some of his new unreleased music.
After a few hours, he had to get going because he had a show to do in Sturgis that weekend, so we made our way to the airport, and as he was about to get on the plane he asked me if I wanted a picture. I said "Hell yes" so we took a few, and he was on his way. That's how I met Kid Rock.
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Overall, Kid Rock is just a regular ass dude who makes music. He's cool as hell, and I can definitely say I'm proud to say he's been a role model to me. It was so crazy to just be hanging out with him on his back deck, talking about life, music, video, and everything. It's cool to now call him a friend, that's thanks to my friends Hunter and Audrey.
Me and Kid Rock in Nashville
How I Became a Massive Kid Rock Fan
Growing up, pretty much anytime music would be playing, there would be a pretty good chance it was Kid Rock. His music was like a religion in the family. My Mom, Uncle Bryan, and basically all of their friends I was around listened to his music. Whether I was out on the boat with my family or on a road trip, the Rock N Roll Jesus album was on. I became a huge fan. My Uncle Bryan got me some Made in Detroit shirts and Mom's friend Jennifer got me the Kid Rock Bobblehead you'll see in a lot of my videos.
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Living in Michigan, it seemed like almost everyone would end up going to a Kid Rock Concert at some point or another. I begged my mom to take me to one of them but she told me I wasn't old enough to go (understandably lol) until I was 15 and he was inaugurating the Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit. After seeing that first concert, it was game on. I had to see more concerts. I've been to 7+ Kid Rock shows, and that number will grow until he's done playing shows haha.
ChunkeyMonkey40 (15) standing in front of Kid Rock's Made in Detroit Bar & Grill, that closed in 2020
Incorporating Kid Rock into my Videos
After having been a big Kid Rock fan for so many years, I started incorporating him into my videos in 2017. I made a character in the video game, Grand Theft Auto 5, look like him then began making fan shorts in some of my gaming videos. The first one I did was for the song, Intro. I titled the video "Kid Rock Goes to Los Santos". After I finished the video, I posted a teaser on my Instagram, which was reposted by Kid Rock just moments after I posted it. It was the first time I really realized how powerful social media was. I could get in touch with not only the people I look up to, but to connect with people who are interested in what I am.
I did a couple roleplay videos with Kid Rock in GTA 5, like "Leroy's Thumphouse" when they gave us the ability to open Nightclubs in the game. It was fun, but much like what happened with Dukes of Hazzard... people became more interested in seeing Kid Rock related videos, and less GTA 5 stuff. So, I started making reaction videos to his new music, vlogging concerts & other events he's at, and even began making videos discussing the latest updates on new music and more from Kid Rock.
The first time I got to "meet" Kid Rock was in a livestream on Instagram with him and his fiancé, Audrey. I honestly got super star struck and was fanboying like crazy LMAO. But at 16 years old, it's not everyday you get to talk to someone who's been a role model to you for a long time at 2am.
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The livestream was screen recorded, and I uploaded it to my YouTube video. If you want to see the cringe video of me getting super star-struck, then this is the video for you haha.