New Dad John Rich: I Wish I Would’ve Settled Down Sooner

John Rich of country duo Big & Rich certainly has a sense of humor. He named his son Cash Rich when he was born on Sunday, and tells me he hopes the boy will be a “little country singer.”

What’s life like for little Cash?

His dad John, who also hosted CMT’s Gone Country, and sang in Lonestar, married mom Joan in 2008, and they’re very much in love.

“I got married to a good old Texas girl,” John tells me. “I waited a long time to do it. I got married right before I turned 35, and we took our honeymoon and went all through Paris and Venice and Italy and all down through there. She’s a great girl, and it was about time I did it. I think I waited too long. I wish I would’ve done it sooner.”

What does he love most about being married?

“That you have somebody who is the counterweight to who you are,” he says. “Anyone who knows me knows I go a hundred miles an hour in the direction I’m going in, and it’s great to have somebody who’s just kind of sitting still that keeps you in check. I think, honestly, I don’t make a very good single person. I think I would run myself into the ground, really, at some point.”

For now, John is spending a lot of time ensconced in his Tennessee mansion with his wife and the new baby.

What’s his favorite thing about his home?

“Probably that it has a gun range in the basement,” he laughs. “Well, I grew up in Texas, and our second amendment rights are one of the first things that our Founding Fathers put together. To be able to go somewhere and practice your shooting legally in your own home is a pretty outrageous thing. That’s fun. There’s a big concert hall in there, too. We get to have big parties and play live music, and all that. I’m just a country boy.”

Soon, little Cash can look forward to visiting dad’s favorite vacation spot, the Rocky Mountains.

“I’m a mountain guy,” John tells me. “I like to catch trout, climb the hills and ride horses. Do the whole thing. I’m an old-school country guy.”

Welcome to the world, Cash.