We at New South Essays have made it our mission to keep you informed of events that both reflect and impact contemporary Southern culture.
Such a moment occurred last night (July 24, 2026) when Nashville stand-up comedian Brian Bates dropped his long-awaited, highly-anticipated 30-minute special “Worried” on the Nateland YouTube channel. (Oh, and did I mention this momentous occasion in the world of Southern comedy is free?)
In this space we have covered the rise of Brian’s compatriots Nate Bargatze and the cohosts of his now defunct podcast, Nateland. As a public service we alerted you to the unique Southern voice of Dusty Slay and the rise of newcomer Aaron Weber. I think our track record is pretty good. (It’s worth noting here that Nateland minus Nate is still going but with the glow up treatment as the Public Figures Podcast. Check it out!)
So believe me when I tell you “Worried” is worth your time. But, I want you to know one important caveat: I was going to love this special no matter what. It was made for Lance Wallaces.
I have related to Brian since I first encountered him on the Nateland Podcast. He served as the grounding force among the cohosts. He did the research on the weekly topics, culled the comments, and despite all of the tangents, kept the podcast moving toward some sort of cohesive conclusion each week.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I appeared on the Nateland Podcast twice. No, not as a guest. Even better. My comment was read and my name appeared on the screen of the YouTube stream of the episode. My internet fame briefly soared as the words “Lance Wallace” came out of Nate Bargatze’s mouth. We all know that commenting on social media is the height of intellectual expression these days, and I owe my meteoric rise to stardom to Brian Bates.
That inherent conflict of interest out of the way, Brian and I have several other points of commonality. We are Southern white dudes in our mid-50s. To be fair, I’m a couple of years his senior, but I still relate to his jokes and stories about aging.
He is a former journalist. He was in television and I worked in print, but we both plied our craft in the 1990s.
He went to a mid-major Southern college that only occasionally achieves athletic notoriety. He went to Middle Tennessee State, and I, of course, am a product of Troy University.
He is a church-going fellow who not only mines the experience for humor but also performs at church events across the country. I am a churchman myself and love nothing more than finding the unintentionally hilarious among the sacred, though I have never performed comedy in churches (Well, that one time I emceed the chili cookoff, but based on the puzzled looks on folks’ faces, I don’t think I can call my opening monologue “comedy.”)
Part of Nateland’s mission is to shine a light on comedians you can enjoy with the whole family. They work clean, and you can guarantee that their content on the Nateland channel is family friendly and won’t embarrass you if you sit down to watch it with your kids… or your parents.
I have been waiting patiently for Brian to get his turn at a special, and he did not disappoint. I won’t spoil the jokes here, but his relatable fiasco with a driver’s license photo had me in hysterics. My middle son, Harris, turned to me and said, “Dad, didn’t this happen to you, once?”
To be fair, it did happen only once, but I’ve been living with this driver’s license mishap for about 20 years. I may not look “worried” like Brian, but I do appear to be gazing into some other camera or staring into the middle distance like Hollywood’s best leading men do at some point in their feature films.
I loved the special’s opening gag, and it was nice for Nate to introduce his longtime friend. Brian did some fun crowd work, and his best moments were the result of his expressive face. If Nate Bargatze has “big dumb eyes,” Brian has hilariously anxious eyes (Go ahead, Brian, you can use that for the title of your inevitable memoir.)
He also lays down some financial literacy with how it feels to use a credit card to pay for unexpected expenses. That joke alone should go viral among the Dave Ramsey crowd.
One key difference between us is that Brian met his wife relatively late, and they have a four-year-old daughter. I’m in my mid-50s and have three boys. My youngest is 17. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be this age with a little one. Brian finds the relatable humor in being an “old parent,” and evokes sympathy along with laughs.
I will continue to root for Brian as his career ascends. He made a cameo appearance in Bargatze’s summer movie, “The Breadwinner,” and he has a few television credits on IMDB. I hope to see him perform stand-up live some day in the future, and given his expressive facial features, I expect him to get more acting gigs.
The Atlantic once called Nate Bargatze the “the nicest man in stand up.” Truth be told, I think that’s a better description for Brian Bates. I couldn’t be happier to see a kindred spirit nice guy having success.
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