In the web comedy series Nashville Dads Club, three local fathers embrace those only-in-Nashville quirks specific to #dadlife in the 615.
And with the early success of two seasons tucked into their jeans, the dad jokes have only just begun. Starring Phillip Cordell, Rashad Rayford, and Dean Shortland, the show cracked two million views and scored a Nashville Film Festival nod with its first season, then followed up with a second helping. Season two is out now poking just as much fun as it preaches hometown love – and with plenty of “it- city” snark, it captures the absurdist beauty of raising kids through Nashville’s boom years.
From on-location scenes at your favorite hangs, to locals-only send ups like hot yogurt, treadmill taverns, and celebrity branded Rite-Aids, anyone who loves our fair city will find something to laugh about – and the show now hopes to mirror its namesake’s growth. Nashville Lifestyles spoke with Cordell and Rayford about the second season, and what makes modern dad-dom so funny.
The Real Deal:
Cordell: Nashville Dads Club is about three actual Nashville dads, doing dad s*** and living that #dadlife here in Music City. That’s the deal. We were looking for a concept that reflected who we were, and it was like, “Let’s write what we know. And let’s put on for our city.”
Big Time City = Big Time Comedy:
Rayford: Phil and I were both born and raised here, and I think the comedy kind of writes itself on that aspect. Especially with Phil’s character always ragging on “the new Nashvillians” who come to town. It’s like, “You guys don’t understand what this is, man! ... And don’t call me a unicorn.”
Cordell: I would say I’m not personally as nativist as the character I play on the show. Seriously, I think the more the merrier, and from a show-writing perspective, it just means there’s more stuff to do every weekend as a dad – so there’s more stuff to write about. Granted, it all takes more time to get to, but the takeaway of the show is not, “We hate transplants.” For Rashad and me growing up here, we always knew this was a special place to be; it just took a while for the rest of the country to see that, too. What Nashville Dad-ing is All About:
Rayford: Everyday it’s like, “OK, I wouldn’t eat the sand...but do what you do!” It’s all those things that play into being a dad that mom is like, “What are you doing with my children?” That’s the show to me, just the craziness that we’re actually raising little people. I know me better than anyone, and I can’t believe I have four children.
Cordell: Have you ever been in that situation where something’s going down and you’re like, “Man, where are the adults?” And then you look around and it’s like, “Oh no, we’re the adults!”
The Most “Dad” of the Dads:
Cordell: Rashad’s got the most kids, so he’s wearing the dad crown just by family size. Dean at times seems incredibly responsible – but then again, he’s not on this call because he’s at an Ayahuasca retreat in Peru, chasing the jaguar. You know what’s unique about our show? It’s not the take you see on social media like, “Remember our dads with the New Balances and the white socks pulled up, so proud of the lawn?” We’re real people, doing real stuff. It just so happens that the stuff we grew up doing and still participate in, I think is still cool. I’ve always kind of thought we are the cool dads, and there’s a lot of guys out there that think that way whether they’re cool or not.
Represent for the Home Team:
Rayford: I just hope [viewers] see themselves in the show whether they’re dads, or even moms, uncles, cousins, or people who are not involved at all. I hope they find it funny, or feel like it reminds them of their dad, or just relate to what dads go through. I think that’s what makes the show successful, that you can watch and go, “Oh yeah, I have to do that all the time.”
Cordell: I think right now we’re living in a very special place at a special time and we have this opportunity to demonstrate that being a dad, being a parent, is a ton of fun. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. And [parenting is] like the highest honor we can have in life. We’re just thrilled to be doing it here in this city that we love. (nashvilledadsclub.com)