Rascal Flatts‘ Joe Don Rooney says he truly appreciates his new sober friends. Jay DeMarcus and Gary LeVox are quick to joke that they’re not two of them.

Fans will recognize this fast-paced, biting sense of humor between the three men. Well-timed jokes — sometimes at each other’s expense, sometimes at their own — are a Rascal Flatts interview staple.

Often, a journalist struggles to find the line between fact and fiction. For example, take this exchange between Rascal Flatts and Taste of Country Nights host Evan Paul:

Taste of Country: Did you guys have to have a meetup where you had to get everything out on the table and talk?

Rooney: I gotta be honest. It’s today. This is the first time we’ve been together in five years.

ToC: Y’all met up in the parking lot or what?

Rooney: We saw each other in the back alley.

LeVox: Sure did.

Rooney: Like the old days.

DeMarcus: I had a wedding dress on. It got a little tricky.

Rooney: I gave him a big ol’ kiss.

The part about them not sharing the same air in five years seems to be fact. Texts, phone calls and messages through management got the job done through the COVID-19 pandemic, a canceled tour, retirement, Rooney’s recovery journey, speculation about why they called it quits, and now, a reunion tour.

The Life Is a Highway Tour will start next February in Indiana and last into April. Planning has literally just begun for those shows, so it’s understandable why our question about what will come afterward was met with blank stares and silence.

It’s not fair to label 2000s Rascal Flatts as a party band, but they didn’t avoid one, either. Now sober for three years, Rooney says that will change for him.

“It’ll be the H2O Tour for me,” he tells Evan Paul. “Life in general is different. I’ve got my connection with God and I’m so grateful for that.”

The guitarist took a few minutes to talk about how life on the highway will be different for him in 2025, and it sounds like he’s found a support system to help him remain sober without worry.

“I can’t imagine my life without this now. It’s amazing,” he says. Here is that portion of a conversation that can be found in full on a future episode of the Taste of Country Nights: On Demand podcast.

How do you prepare for the temptations of touring?

Rooney: You take five years off. That’s what you do. I’m excited about it. I’m out of practice. I haven’t been playing much music at all. I needed to get away from all of it. I’m a big golfer and I haven’t played much golf at all. I just needed time to really get to the center of myself and really work on myself.

All that said, I just hooked my amp up the other day and I’ve been cranking it up and doing some Flatts stuff again, and it feels really good to play again.

Did you talk to any other artists that have also gone the sober route?

Yes. I’m not gonna say their names, but several. It’s a great community of recovery people in Nashville.

Gary LeVox: Charles Kelley. He’s got a great story, too.

JDR: Yeah, absolutely. Powerful. He’s doing great. I’m so proud of him. It’s a unique road for sure, but it’s one that I’m just grateful for.