 Today, our children need men and women of faith who will love, encourage, and protect them. Nicknamed Smiling Bob, singer-songwriter Bobby Marquez is reaching crowds far and wide on radio, television, and tours across the United States, Australia, and Ireland, earning Grammy nominations, CMA, a Texas award, and many top 10 on music charts. While on the road one evening, he received a call from his wife that would test his faith. At the age of 40, Bobby was told a secret. He was adopted. This is his story. This is today's Nashville. This is faith. Bobby, I am so excited to sit down with you. What a beautiful day in Nashville. It is. It's beautiful. Well, thank you for inviting me here. Oh, you're welcome. Absolutely. Thank you for coming out. I saw on social media that I follow you and you were all over the place. You just got in last night from a tour. I did. I had my tip of the hat tour. We toured up to Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and it's just a great tour, you know, to get up there and meet new fans and stuff, but yeah, it was a lot of driving. How long were you on the road for? I was on the road for probably two weeks, about a good two weeks. Yeah. Are you glad to be back? I'm glad to be back for at least for a little while while I go back out in a few more weeks. We'll head back out. So tell me about you. Yeah. You know, absolutely. I grew up in a small little town, a little town called Freer, Texas, that's F-R-E-E-R, which is south of San Antonio, Texas. I grew up there my whole life. I was born and raised in Texas. You know, I didn't really get into music to probably, I was probably about 13 years old, and I got a good story for you too. So I had a cousin of mine who we used to, I used to go with her all the time, and we just, you know, throw the football around, play baseball, stuff like that. He had this little Martin Marquise guitar, I mean it was just like one of the small little ones you can get, you know, for a couple dollars or whatever. And I went to his house and we were going to play some baseball one evening, and he had this little guitar and he was sitting there trying to play it, okay? And he's sitting there, sitting there, he was getting really angry and getting mad, you know? And I said, what's wrong? He goes, I can't play this thing, and I'm just going to throw it away. And I said, I was like, really? You're going to throw it away? He said, yeah. He actually went and he got the guitar, and he went and threw in the trash can. And I was like, okay, this is kind of weird. So when I left his house, I said, his name was Mark. And I said, Mark, I said, do you mind if I take the guitar, I keep it? He says, I don't care. You do whatever you want with it. I said, okay. So when I went and I grabbed the guitar, I took it home. And I just started playing, like, to all the songs that were on the radio, and I didn't even know how to play the acoustic guitar, okay? So I had this little chord booklet, you know, that I had for my brother, because my brother played a little bit of guitar. And so I would get that little sheet and I would sit there and I'd play it, you know, and just kind of learn. I would sit there by the radio and just play everything from guys from Johnny Cash to George Jones and everything. You just sit there and try to learn how to play the guitar. And then one day, my mom walked in and she goes, what are you doing? And I said, I was just playing guitar and she was asking me where I got the guitar, you know, and I told her. And she's like, oh my God, you sing? And I said, no, I don't. I don't sing at all. And she's like, well, no, you sound good because I heard you. And I was like, no, I don't sing. So that's how it all kind of started. Now, how old were you? I was 13 years old, 13 years old when that happened. And at that point, I just started writing songs and stuff, you know, just sitting there in my bed, even though they were bad, they were probably horrible. I just got to started writing songs and until my mom told me, she said one day, and then all of a sudden I got, I was like, oh, I don't know if I want to do this. She said, why don't you come out to all the family reunions and come out and play with the family? I was like, oh, no, no, no, no, I don't know if that's going to happen in front of everybody. Yeah, in front of everybody. So I did that. I finally got the nerve up to do it. And I did it. And all of a sudden I was like, you know, people were pat me in the back going, God, you sound great. And I was like, hey, this is kind of cool. You know, I'm looking around going, wow, this is neat. And then I just kind of started playing from there, you know. So tell me about the guitar though, were you playing with the same guitar or did you get a new one? No, I actually, I had the guitar for many, many years and I still have it. You do? I still have it today. But that was a guitar that I had wrote like about 10, 15 songs, my first song that I wrote. You still have your songs? I do. Yes. Yes, I do. Yeah, so I mean, you know, I don't know, it was just quite an experience because at that point I just fell in love with music, you know, and growing up in high school when I got into high school, well, I guess my whole life, I was always a baseball player. I loved playing baseball since I was in the Pee Wee League, the Little League, to senior league all the way to high school. Wended up winning the state championship in high school. And I was really good. I was really good baseball player and I had a lot of offers to go play major league baseball. What position? I kind of played everything. I played like catcher, pitcher, second base, outfield, pretty much like everything. But I had a lot of offers come in, you know, when I got out of high school. And so I had to choose because really baseball was actually really my first love. And it just came natural to me more than singing did. I don't know, after all those years, I had to sit there before I went to college. I had to pick and choose. I mean, was I going to play baseball or was I going to turn my music into a career? And that was really hard. I had to sit down and my mom was a very religious lady. I mean, growing up, I mean, we were always at church every Wednesday and Sunday, you know, Bible studies. She was a devout Baptist. You know, we grew up Southern Baptist. But she was always a devout Christian and she always taught us, you know, what was right, what was wrong. I don't know. I just, you know, I started singing too in the choir, you know, at church. And I just kind of fell in love with the music thing more than I did baseball after a while, you know. And so I had to pick and choose and I chose music. And at that point when I was in college, where'd you go to school? I went to UTSA. The University of Texas at San Antonio is where I went, you know. I started a band. I got a band together called it was Bobby Marquez and the out of the shoot band was where I had actually was it was actually the hired hands was the first band. And then my second band was the out of the shoot band. And I just kind of started playing, you know, and we would do all kinds of parties and weddings and just all kinds of stuff. And then, you know, I just kind of made it into a career until all of a sudden, everybody's telling me, why don't you go to Nashville? You know, how old were you then? Oh, gosh, I was probably. I don't know, maybe 22, 21, 21, 22 years old when that happened. I just had to I went out there and just started playing and and and then, you know, getting more and more shows and and then all of a sudden it was like everybody kept saying, hey, look, you know, why don't you go to Nashville? And I was like, well, yeah, you know, I guess we could probably, but I was scared to death because I didn't know anybody. I hadn't been out of the state of Texas my whole life. I mean, I was in the small little town of 3,000 people and I had never been anywhere else, you know, so it was quite a quite an adventure for me. But when I came to Nashville, how'd you get here? Oh, gosh, OK, it's a it's a funny it's a funny story because I had this little Corsica, it was a Corsica Chevrolet and my dad had got it for me and it was a used car and I was I was driving that, you know, when I was in college and stuff and that that's what got me here. But the funny story was I got all the way to California. I got all the way to Jackson, Tennessee and it broke down. I broke down on there. Forget I had to stay at a hotel that night and I was like, this is not going good. I'm like here I am coming to Nashville and I've already broken down. I don't have hardly any money. I'm staying with a friend of mine who was a drummer up here in Nashville and we're living on the bad side of town, you know, just to try to be a singer and a musician. And I'm like, wow, this is this is crazy. But, you know, it all worked out after a while. And, you know, until I started meeting more songwriters and friends and stuff and started trying to get more to the business, you know. Well, I tell you, Nashville is the place to be and but when you got here and we're going to talk about this when we come back, your life changed dramatically in the music. And then you're finding out who you really were. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And we're going to talk about it when we get back. Bobby, you were talking earlier that your mom was very dedicated to the church and you were in church every Sunday, every Wednesday. You took a leap of faith, moved to Nashville. How did your faith at that point pull you into Nashville and starting your music career? It's funny because I always carried a Bible with me all my whole life. My mom had given it to me and she had written all kinds of little things in it, you know, just for me to read every day. And when I got to Nashville, gosh, like I said, I didn't know anybody. I mean, there was nobody. The only person I knew was the drummer that I moved in with. So I came basically here not knowing anybody. But after a while, once I started meeting people and everything, you know. But I'll never forget it because there was one night where I was having a hard time, you know, trying to meet people. And I just, I just sat there by my bed and I just prayed and I said, I said, God, if this is what you want me to do, show me the way. Because I didn't know if this was, if I chose the wrong path, if it was baseball that I should have gone with or if it was music that I should have gone with. And I'll never forget that night. I just said, God, just show me the way. And all of a sudden it was like the doors just went wide open. And I started meeting people. I started doing songwriters nights with different songwriters and just meeting, you know, different musicians. And then all of a sudden one night I was playing the Bluebird Cafe and I had a cousin of mine who was a big rep over at CSAC. You know, they do all the licensing for music. And he became my manager. And he had set up this little showcase thing for me at the Bluebird Cafe. I'll never forget it. And so I had a couple of my guys from Texas that had played with me in my band. They came up and backed me. And that night changed my whole life. I had a guy from Arista Records had come up to me and offered me a record deal that night right after that. And I thought, this can't be true. You know, I just kept thinking, this can't be true. This is not real. And sure enough, I mean, the next few weeks my manager had called him. And all of a sudden I was in the studio recording with the great Jerry Crutchfield who produced everybody from Tanya Tucker to Shenandoah to Lee Greenwood, everybody. And I'm sitting there and I'm going, gosh, this can't be happening. You know what I'm saying? He's good. It was just like, God had just opened up the doors. And everything was going so fast. And I was in the studio recording some of my own songs. And we got to the point to where I had recorded six sides with Arista Records. And then all of a sudden it was like everything just kind of stopped. And they ended up not wanting to put a record out on me. They didn't want to finish the rest of the album. All we needed was four songs to finish it. And they just kind of sat there. And then all of a sudden it just kind of died. And all of a sudden they didn't put the record out. And I was just sitting there going, wow, everything started so fast. And now everything's kind of starting to curve. What were you thinking? I didn't know what to do because, you know, like I said, I prayed, you know, God, is this what you want me to do? And all of a sudden everything was so easy. And then all of a sudden now it's hard. And I didn't know what to do. I was just kind of like, wow, is this the way things go? Is this what? But, you know, I was kind of happy that it didn't because I think God knew, even though he opened the door, I think he knew that I wasn't ready and prepared. I think I was a little bit too young and immature to handle everything. I don't think I could have gone on the road for 300 dates the way everything was handling like that. I think I needed to kind of mature a little bit. And I think God knew that I needed to kind of mature a little bit. So I think he just kind of put the halt on everything right then and there and just said, you know what? This is going a little bit too fast for you. Let's end it now. And he did. And then later I got another opportunity. You know, after a couple more years, I ended up signing with Sony Music Nashville and we had a showcase and everything. And they ended up signing me. And I was like, wow, we're back. You know, this is good, right? This is good. And I'm prepared this time. I'm all ready. So it took a couple years. Yeah, a couple years, you know, and I'm all ready, you know, now, you know, because I had written a bunch of songs and got in in the music business a little bit more. And I feel like I was ready as a person to go ahead and start doing this. And then all of a sudden I go the next day and I'm looking through the paper, through the Tennessee and and Sony Nashville merged with RCA Records. And they got rid of everybody on Sony Nashville, including me. And so I was like, here we go again. I was like, wow, this is this is everything opened up. And then all of a sudden here's the whole house again. So I didn't know what to do. Did you question God? I did. You know, I did because when I left to come to Nashville, I had actually, I could feel that God wanted me here. And I didn't know why I didn't know how what I was going to do. I don't know if I was going to be a songwriter. I didn't know if it was going to be me being a singer or if it was going to be eventually lead to something maybe later in my life. I don't know. I mean, but I just knew I needed to be here. But when that happened again, I was like, okay, God, I'm like, this is not funny anymore. I'm like, here we go. Two record deals and now nothing again, right? And at that point in Nashville, I mean, Nashville's Nashville is very cutthroat. So at that point, it's like, you know, once you have a record deal, and then it just kind of seemed like nobody wants you anymore. And the music business is kind of like you're an outcast, like, well, you know, and so it kind of took another year or two before, you know, I started to think about giving up. I did. Yeah. I mean, I was actually, I was mad and wanted to give up and, you know, but I didn't. I just kept persevering and kept writing more songs, getting in with more songwriters until I met a great songwriter by the name of Karen Staley. She's probably one of my best friends to this day. She's written a lot of songs. I mean, she's written like Keeper of the Stars for Tracy Bird. Take me as in for Faith Hill. And I'll never forget it because my wife, Jennifer, had met her at a party, at a music real party. And my wife had asked her, you know, hey, would you like to write with my husband? And she was like, yeah, sure, I'd love to, you know. And my wife had come home and gave me her phone number and I'm like, she's not going to write with me because there was a lot of hit songwriters, you know, that I met that were just kind of like they tell you, here's my business card and then you try to call them and they wouldn't return your phone calls. And that's the way Nashville is a lot like that, you know. But I called. She answered the phone and she said, oh yeah, I talked to your wife, you know. And she was, I'd love to get together, you know, let's go have lunch, you know. And we went and had lunch and we kind of talked about some different things. We went back to my place and that's when I wrote a song called That's Life, which was about me growing up in a small town in Texas and being raised by my grandmother. And all of a sudden, you know, that song led to some other stuff. But I'll never forget it because that day that we were writing that song, she had another song that she was going to wanted me to hear. And it was a song called She's Not From Texas, which I had on my first album. And she had a demo and she said, this song is going to be perfect for you. I just know it is, you know. And I'm like, okay, okay. She was about, I want you to hear it, you know. We're in the middle of writing That's Life, right? You know. And she goes, okay. And so she went and she played it to me and everything. And I was like, wow, okay. And I could hear, I could hear me singing this song. I was like, okay, yeah, that does sound like me. So I picked up my guitar, started kind of singing a little bit. She goes, it's you. I'm telling you, it's you. And she said, well, you should record it. You know, we'll go in and do a demo on it. And I'm like, were you pitching it to anybody else? She said, yeah, yeah. She goes, I've got it pitched to a few other people. And I'm like, well, who's won in the song? She said, well, Tracy Bird wants a song. You know, he wants to record it. And I'm like, well, Karen, it's okay. You don't have to give it to me. I'm nobody at this point. Okay, I'm not going to make you any money. Let Tracy record it. She's like, no. She goes, if it fits you and it's going to help you, this is what a great person she is. She said, if it's going to help you in your career, she goes, let's go into the studio and record it. And I said, okay. And so we went into the studio, recorded the demo. And again, here it goes again. My whole life changed again from one song, because I had the demo and I got it back. I had some DJs in Texas that was asking for some songs. And I was like, well, and I didn't want them to play it. I just wanted them to listen to the song. And so a couple of DJs had listened to the song and they were like, this is a great song. You need to put this hat on Texas radio. And I'm like, yeah, but it's just a demo. It's not the master quality yet. And so they ended up putting it out on Texas radio. And by the time you knew it, it went into the top. 30, then it went to the top 20. Then it got into the top 10 on the Texas music chart. And by the time you knew it, almost a whole state of Texas was playing the song and I'm sitting there going. Isn't God amazing? I mean, I was just like, wow. And it just opened up my whole career into the whole music thing. And we're going to talk about what else happened in your life that just totally shocked you. Yes. Yes. And we're going to talk about it when we get back. Bobby, when God opened those doors this time, he kept those doors open, didn't he? He definitely did. You know, the song had shot up into the top 10 and it reached up to number seven on the Texas charts. Like I said, a whole state of Texas was playing it. And all of a sudden it was like, what's going on? I mean, because I wasn't even prepared. I didn't even have an album. Right. I just had the demo out there. So now I got all these radio stations asking me, where's the album? And I'm like, I don't have one. What am I going to do? I don't have any money to spend for an album. So I just kind of let it be. I just kind of let it be. I just let the song write out. And it opened up more shows for me. It opened up just all kinds of stuff in the music business for me. And eventually it opened up for me to open up my own label and open up my own publishing company. And I just kind of did everything together. You know. And I was just kind of following God's path of what He wanted me to do. And all of a sudden He led me to put the album out. And we put the album out. And more doors started opening. And it just led to another thing. And it just kept going from there. From there, not too long ago, something happened in your life that just took you back a few steps. Tell me about it. Yeah. I was on tour. And I was coming back home. I was about halfway home. And my wife calls me and tells me, Bobby, you need to come home as fast as you can. And I'm like, why? You know, something wrong? And she says, no. You just need to come home. And I'm like, well, why? You know, what's happening? And she tells me on the phone, she says, well, I've had this woman call me and she's claiming to be your mother. And at that point, I just kind of went, hmm, I knew. I knew right away that I was adopted. I knew it my whole life. Did you were you told? Or did you just kind of have that feeling? I had that feeling. I had that feeling. And there's a lot of people that have been adopted. They tell me the same thing that they just had that feeling their whole life. Did you ever question it? Do you ever question your mother, dad? I did. I had asked when I was young. I was probably like eight years old, nine years old. I had a bunch of kids at school. They tease me about it because they would always tell me, you don't look anything like your brother. You know, you don't look anything like your sisters. And I'm like, I'll never forget it because I went and asked my mom. I said, mom, I said, everybody's saying, you know, that I don't look anything like my brothers and sisters. Am I adopted? My mom goes, no, no, no, no, you're not adopted, honey. No, no, no, no, you're mine. You know, so I just kind of let it be. But I knew deep down inside it, you could feel it that it didn't feel right. There was something there that you could just feel. Not that I didn't love my parents that raised me, but you could just feel it. You know, there's a blood thing there that you can feel that it just doesn't feel right. So I knew when my wife got that phone call and she told me that, I told her on the phone, I said, I'm adopted, ain't I? And she goes, you just need to come home. So I came home. I called my so-to-be mom and got on the phone with her and she was claiming to be my real mom. And then we kept talking on the phone for a few more weeks, you know, and just try to get to know each other better. And then I called my parents too, you know, and told them what was happening. Because the whole thing was, is everybody was trying to keep it a secret, you know? They didn't want to ruin what I had going here in Nashville, you know, and they didn't want that to interfere with my life, you know, from going forward. So that's why a lot of it, they didn't want to tell me. But there were still a lot of other secrets that were going in there. I was 40 years old when I found out. How did, did you feel betrayed from your parents? Or did you, were you upset? Were you? Yeah, I mean, I felt, I felt betrayed. I felt I was upset because I didn't understand why they, why they couldn't tell me a lot earlier. You know, instead of here, I am a 40 years old. And, you know, I'm already a grown man. And now it's hard to go back and try to, you know, rehash a lot of things. And so I was upset. I mean, it took me a long time. You know, to, to get over it, you know, had to go to a couple of counseling things too, you know, just to try to try to figure some things out, you know, but it was a big shock. It was really a big shock to me. But I'll never forget it because even still today, you know, they still won't tell me who my dad is, you know. And at this point, I really don't, I don't, I don't, it doesn't, I don't, it doesn't bother me to a point to work because I'll never forget it. I was, I was crying one night because I couldn't understand why they couldn't tell me who my dad was. And I was bawling, crying, bawling, crying. And all of a sudden, I heard this voice and I could hear it loud and clear. It said, Bobby, you're going to be okay because you don't need to know who your father is. I'm your father. And, and I knew it was God talking to me. And he said, he said, you know, I'm your father. And, and so at that point, I just kind of, you know, I moved on from there, you know, and that's powerful. It was, and it was, and a lot of people, a lot of people, when I say that, they're just kind of like, oh, you're hearing things. No, I heard that voice loud and clear and I could hear it loud and clear. And, but I just got all my thoughts and all my feelings together and just kept pushing more towards the music and do what I'm doing, which it's led to more things here. So I couldn't have chosen my path any better than what God has chosen it for me, you know. Well, what's next for you? You know, I had just come out with the, with the, with the, my latest album, you know, here a year and a half ago, which led to a lot of things. I wrote a song called Speak Love. Speak Love, I was going to say, tell me about that. Speak Love was, it was, Speak Love was another song that I wrote with the great Karen Staley. And it was, when COVID happened, you know, everything was going on with COVID. I was like, what is going on? I got on Facebook, you know, and I was looking at social media and everybody was arguing and friends that had been friends for years, for 25 years, they were all arguing and ruining friendships over just little things that, well, gosh, you know, you don't drink that Dr. Pepper, you don't drink that Coke, you know, and, and it was just kind of like, it was just really, it was crazy. It was ridiculous. You know, I went and got my Bible and I opened up my Bible because I was like, what's going on in this world? And I was reading it and then I saw one of the verses and it was, God was saying that love was probably the biggest thing that he had given mankind. And I was like, wow, if we just spoke a lot more love to one another, this world would be a happier place. And then I just kind of went, oh, that's a song. So I started writing the song, you know, I got about halfway, you know, and I couldn't finish it. So I called Karen Staley up and I played her some of the song and she said, wow, this is going to be a great song, Bobby. She goes, yeah, we need to finish this one. And so we ended up finishing it, the impact that it's given a lot of people. I haven't had a song like that that has been this big impactful like this. Well, I think you're going to be writing many, many songs and I can't wait to see what God is going to, where he's going to take you and how many people that you're going to change their lives. Bobby, thank you so much. Oh, thank you so much for having me, yeah. You know, and I said, I can't wait for God to lead me in another direction and see where it takes me. I think it's going to be a great place. I think it is too. My friend, are you struggling with your identity and you don't know who you are? Let Jesus whisper in your ear, you belong to him. This is today's Nashville. This is faith.