Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:02 Smokes all the good old days
Speaker 0 00:00:06 You have,
Speaker 1 00:00:27 Right? It's called
Speaker 2 00:00:32 Oh. So we are officially podcasting.
Speaker 3 00:00:33 We're officially podcasting.
Speaker 2 00:00:35 Kurt said Hung dong in a podcast. Oh God.
Speaker 3 00:00:38 You also said fart. Fart, fart. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:00:40 <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:00:40 Yeah. All right. We'll have to get Charlie to edit that louder and better.
Speaker 2 00:00:45 Make it louder with a noise on it. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:00:48 Well, dude, welcome
Speaker 3 00:00:49 Man. Thanks for having me on. No doubt. I'm ha thanks for the beer.
Speaker 4 00:00:52 Absolutely. Anytime.
Speaker 2 00:00:54 It's a, it's a good, good day to be here today.
Speaker 3 00:00:55 It's, it's my favorite activity. Yeah. And
Speaker 2 00:00:58 I have a hazy beer. And you guys have regular, delicious beers are
Speaker 3 00:01:02 Both Yeah, man, when I was offered that, I was like, I don't know about that. Mm-hmm. I can, I don't discriminate beers, but it's like, if,
Speaker 2 00:01:09 If you know, an old standby, it's nothing wrong with that dude. It's
Speaker 3 00:01:12 Over reliable. I'm a Budweiser guy. Hell yeah. So that's, that's my thing. But like I said, man, I'll, they all do the same thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:01:18 I would say, like, traditionally I'm a Bush Light fellow. Yeah. You know?
Speaker 3 00:01:22 Yeah. But, uh, what's that? Midwest? Yeah. Kind of. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:01:24 Pittsburgh's kind of Midwest. It's like kind of east kind of Midwest. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 3 00:01:28 Yeah, I guess so. Yeah. It's on the western portion of Pennsylvania though, right?
Speaker 2 00:01:31 Well, you were, you were there, man. You were at, uh, blame My Roots Fest and coming back this year.
Speaker 3 00:01:36 Yeah. Yeah. Man, I'm excited. That's, that's
Speaker 2 00:01:38 Like probably 45 minutes from where I grew up.
Speaker 3 00:01:41 Yeah. Yeah. And that's my third year in a row there. I think that's sick. Dude, that place is so fun. Is
Speaker 4 00:01:46 That in Ohio?
Speaker 3 00:01:46 Yeah, Belmont, Ohio. That's
Speaker 2 00:01:48 The one that we, uh, sold merch out last summer, and then we're coming back this year. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Have
Speaker 4 00:01:52 I played
Speaker 2 00:01:53 That? No. It's, you sure? Yes. Okay. Yeah. You, you, I don't know if you guys ever played, did you ever play a Jamboree in the Hills?
Speaker 4 00:02:01 I don't know, man. It's hard. That's
Speaker 3 00:02:03 What it used to be. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:02:04 Yeah. But it's in the same spot, but just like a little bit smaller. So like, this year, the headliner's, Dirk Bentley. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Ashley's playing it. What's
Speaker 4 00:02:12 The, what's the one in Ohio that has that big chair?
Speaker 2 00:02:14 Country concert. Country concert.
Speaker 3 00:02:15 We're doing that too. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:02:16 Walking.
Speaker 3 00:02:17 Hell yeah.
Speaker 4 00:02:18 I love Country Concert.
Speaker 2 00:02:19 Those are my two festivals, dude. Yeah. Like, uh, we're gonna be selling Ray Rowdy gear at both of those now. Hell yeah, dude. So at Country Concert, we're gonna be in this saloon stage. Okay. Um, I think that's where you're playing.
Speaker 3 00:02:29 I don't know, man. Dude, it's, I just, it's saw the contract come through and I was like, sign it. Let's go
Speaker 2 00:02:33 <laugh>
Speaker 4 00:02:34 Man. That's cool,
Speaker 2 00:02:35 Dude. Yeah. That's one of the first times me and Kurt hung out, was at that festival. Oh, for real. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:02:40 Ohio's a good state man. Great state.
Speaker 4 00:02:41 So good, man.
Speaker 3 00:02:42 It gets a lot of hate. And of course I'm a Browns fan, so it's like, yeah. Cleveland is, you're home there. Interesting. But Yeah. But everywhere else, man, it's just awesome.
Speaker 4 00:02:50 What's the connection to the Browns?
Speaker 3 00:02:53 Uh, well, Tim Couch, you know, growing up in Kentucky Right. He was their quarterback and never got a fair shot. Cause it's the Browns and, uh, I love Baker Mayfield. Don't get me started on what's going on with them. <laugh>. And I just like to drink. That's
Speaker 4 00:03:07 A whole nother podcast. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:03:08 I like to drink. So, I mean, they, you know, they're, they do good at that. Yeah. They're really good at making you do that. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:03:12 What are some, you know, who else is really good? I was gonna ask you what other states are. I'll just tell you like, um, Wisconsin, those people love to drink beer. Yeah. Dude,
Speaker 3 00:03:20 I love the
Speaker 2 00:03:21 Spotted Cow.
Speaker 3 00:03:22 Yeah,
Speaker 4 00:03:22 So good.
Speaker 3 00:03:24 It's awesome, man.
Speaker 2 00:03:24 It's a good beer. Yeah,
Speaker 4 00:03:26 Of course. Kentucky, they like to drink too, but it's a different kind of drinking.
Speaker 3 00:03:29 Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. That's that brown water, man.
Speaker 2 00:03:30 Yeah. That's, uh,
Speaker 3 00:03:31 That's, uh, that would be,
Speaker 2 00:03:32 That's a little aggressive for my blood sometimes, you know? I know exactly how many beers I can drink and still like, be a reasonable adult. Yeah. I have no idea what that brown liquor or how, how much
Speaker 3 00:03:40 I can have. I can't do the mixed stuff. Yeah. Like put ginger ale or anything in it. But if it, if I'm drinking straight bourbon or something like that, I good. I can handle it. But once you get all the sugar from like a Coke or something in there. Yeah. It's like, I'm like, oh, well let's go to Red Door. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:03:56 <laugh>. Yeah. Famous last words. Yeah. <laugh>. Well, it's not the last words, but it's the last ones you remember. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 4 00:04:01 Yeah. Thanks for coming on. And we're gonna leave now. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:04:04 And we're off the red door. Let's go
Speaker 3 00:04:05 To Red Door. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:04:06 <laugh>. Well, uh, man, I was gonna say, like, I was talking to Kurt earlier and I was like, I think I might have partied with Walker more than most other folks, cuz we got to hang out at Blame My Roots Fest last year. Yep. And you guys were down there a day early before your show. Yeah. <laugh>. And that was our like, camper party night. And it was just, uh, so last year it was like B by o b for that part. Yeah. So, of course we byd a lot of B mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, uh, <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:04:30 We provided Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:04:32 We drank our share. Um, that was one of the things that I loved about that festival is they were like, yeah, let's like, have beers before. It wasn't like all business. It was like, oh.
Speaker 3 00:04:41 It was like, it's party time.
Speaker 2 00:04:42 Yeah. It's pleasure. Yeah. The business is pleasure. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:04:44 I love festivals.
Speaker 2 00:04:45 Oh, it's so great.
Speaker 3 00:04:46 The fact that they're back now. The funnel fest wasn't as good last year. It
Speaker 2 00:04:51 Was still fun, but it was rainy.
Speaker 3 00:04:52 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This year's gonna be off the charts.
Speaker 2 00:04:54 Yeah. I'm ready, man. But are you guys gonna be there the whole weekend or,
Speaker 3 00:04:58 I have no idea. Okay. But I really hope we are,
Speaker 2 00:05:01 We're gonna be back in, in full force. Dude. I think we're gonna have like 20 folks again. Hell yeah. Should be fun. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:05:06 Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:05:07 I always like to ask this, um, like what is a, one of your live shows? Like, like how big of a band do you, are you running right now? So
Speaker 3 00:05:14 I got a three piece behind me. I got a bass player, guitar player, and a drummer. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And sometimes I bring out a keyboard player who also does guitar, so he's kind of a utility guy. But, uh, then I've got Kentucky Mike, who's driving and selling merch and my, uh, front of house guy, Michael Weiss. So we got about, we, we got six, seven most of the time. And, uh, but it's a, it's a tight knit crew, you know? I mean, we're for sure. Yeah. We, we got, we we know our, we know our parts. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:05:42 That's great. Um, it's always tough too, especially when you're kind of just starting out mm-hmm. <affirmative> to like, roll with like a huge band and like, be able to be like, yeah, man, 10 dudes or something. <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:05:53 Well, it's like Alan Jackson said, man, I, I always say it's, it is chasing that neon rainbow. This overhead's killing me half the time I play for free. Yeah. You know, and it's like, it's, uh, people see the fun side. We're on stage rocking and rolling out chugging beers and stuff, or backstage hanging out with other artists, but they don't see the business side of it. Right. And it is a, and it is a business. Yeah. It's kind of like the NFL or sports or stuff. They we're the entertainment for the weekend. Yep. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But they don't see all the stuff that goes into it. It's probably good because they'd be like, screw this man. But
Speaker 2 00:06:25 It's, well, that's one of the things, I was actually talking on the phone before people came over and I was talking to one of my friends that's in the industry and they're like, yeah, we're just trying not to lose money right now. Yeah. Like, that's the goal. Yeah. Like, get everybody paid and not lose money and we're winning, you know? Yeah. Yeah. It's a's a strange,
Speaker 4 00:06:40 Especially trying to put gas in a, in a sprinter or
Speaker 3 00:06:43 Whatever, you know? Yeah, man. It's, we, uh, we sold the Sprinter. Did you? Yeah, man, we made money off of it. Everything's
Speaker 2 00:06:49 Yeah, dude. Yeah. Going for crazy prices right now.
Speaker 3 00:06:51 And we bought a 2001 like rv Hell yeah. With, uh, bunks and stuff in it. Oh, that's awesome. And the Sprinter went is worth more than the, than the big rv.
Speaker 2 00:07:01 That's so wild, isn't
Speaker 3 00:07:02 It? It is wild. It is wild. But I was like, hell yeah. <laugh>. That's a good Did in, and then it broke down the other day. I
Speaker 4 00:07:07 Was gonna say, is it broke down? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:07:10 It's still worth it.
Speaker 2 00:07:11 Of course it is. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> dude, having something that you have that you can chill in while, while you're going down the road, that's a blessing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:07:18 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:07:19 I remember before Sam Hunt went to a bus, or not Sam Hunt. Sam Grow. Sam Grow had an rv and they rolled around in for while.
Speaker 3 00:07:25 Yeah. And
Speaker 2 00:07:26 He
Speaker 3 00:07:26 Was like, I love that guy.
Speaker 2 00:07:27 Yeah. He was like, dude, I love the rv. Cuz it was like they went from a van to the rv. Yeah. And now, you know, they've upgraded and got something a little bit bigger, but it's always like, that's like a nice step. And it's one that some people don't do. You go straight from the van maybe to a tour bus mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But that RV can have some value in
Speaker 3 00:07:41 Your rv. That RV man. It's got, it's a, I mean, it's, it's camping. Yeah. Rv you can fit a lot of stuff in those bays, man. Yeah. Lawn chairs and stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:07:49 But, and all the good stories from well back when my day all happened before you're on a bus. At least in, in my experience, you know, like, I remember when I played for Michael Ray, it was like, dude, remember that story at the LaQuinta and blah and blah, blah, blah. I was like, I wasn't there. Cause when I joined they were on a bus. I'm like, <laugh> man, that sounds cool. Let's do that.
Speaker 3 00:08:09 Like, no, I don't remember that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:08:11 They're like, nah, we're got yelled at for that now. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:08:13 True
Speaker 2 00:08:14 Walker's still like in the area of where he can get away with stuff and be a little under the radar. Right. Oh man, you're moving up quick, dude.
Speaker 3 00:08:20 I don't know, man. We're trying to <laugh> man, but, uh, dude,
Speaker 2 00:08:23 This EP is literally my favorite EP of the year. Like, without Thank you, man. Without a doubt.
Speaker 3 00:08:27 I appreciate it, dude. It's so good. I'm proud of what I'm, I'm proud of what it has become. We've been holding onto these songs for a long time. Yeah. But, uh, Russ, I've been holding onto for two years, uh, hometown's Fault, probably a year, year and a half. And I'm, I'm excited to see what it does, man. Dude,
Speaker 2 00:08:42 I love it. It's, I appreciate it. I've been listening to it on repeat and telling as many folks as I can. That's why I wanted to have you on, man. I thank you's. Like, let's talk about this freaking ep.
Speaker 3 00:08:50 I appreciate it. I'm, I'm excited to see what it does, man. It's, it's slowly, you know, kind of climb climbing up there. Yeah. He's doing well. Well,
Speaker 2 00:08:56 Every single one of 'em sounds like a single man. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, they all, they all sound like singles and that's what I love.
Speaker 3 00:09:01 That's what we try to do, man. I mean, it's, it's just because they're all in our show. Yeah. You know, it's not, not, not a single song on there isn't, it isn't in our, in our full live show. So we wanted them to be songs that could stand out. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:09:15 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. I love it, dude. It's, uh, uh, I'm always a fan of eps too, as weird as that sounds. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because like in my world, like you get an EP before you get an album. Yeah. So like, you kind of get to see like, okay, for singles, if you're just dropping singles, it's like you just get like, a little bit, little bit. But with an ep it's like, okay, this is like a statement of where the band is right now. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like where No, I agree. Where the artist sound is right now. I
Speaker 3 00:09:40 Love, I've put, this is my second one. Yeah. And I, I love putting them out and it's just, the singles are fun, but to be able to put out a whole, you know, kind of project. Yeah. It's, it's a fun thing. And like you said, it's not a full album, but it's mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it's the first step to getting there.
Speaker 2 00:09:56 Yeah. And it's a statement piece of like what your sound is sonically mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And like, again, like as you get older, your voice changes too. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it's like, oh dude. A statement of that as well.
Speaker 3 00:10:06 I'll listen back. Some of these old songs are I recorded, man. Of course. I was, I mean, when I first recorded songs, I was 18 years old. Right. And now I'm 23 and my voice is, my boys have dropped now. Yeah. <laugh>. You know what I mean? It's like my voice is just totally different. And I wasn't back. I'm like, oh my God, I was a child.
Speaker 2 00:10:24 Well, you literally were a child. I know.
Speaker 3 00:10:26 18. I was in high school. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:10:27 But, well, it's, it's nuts to, to see how much it's grown. And dude, I, like I said, I got lucky enough to see a few year shows last summer, and I'm so looking forward to, uh, to some more this summer, man. Yeah, man. Watch how the really good time, the live performances grown. Yeah. Um, we were at that, uh, what was it? Touchdowns and tunes in Kentucky last year.
Speaker 3 00:10:46 Yeah. Yeah. Man, man, that was an interesting festival. It was
Speaker 2 00:10:49 Cool. Yeah. It was like, uh, you know, it was a little weird setup. Wasn't extremely well sold, but it was fun. We had a great time at that festival.
Speaker 3 00:10:56 No, I had a blast. Yeah. They had it on the wrong weekend, wasn't it? Labor Day weekend or something like that? Paducah. Kentucky's not the Labor Day, weekend destination point. Yeah. But no, it was, I had a blast. That's where I met a good, some good buddy Cameron Marlow. That's where I met him. He's a good buddy of mine now.
Speaker 2 00:11:11 Yep. Yeah. We were all hanging out together on his bus.
Speaker 3 00:11:13 Yeah. Yeah. No, that, that was a cool, cool little cool little thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:11:17 Great show. And is, how far is that from like, where you grew up?
Speaker 3 00:11:21 Man, that's farther than Nashville is. That's like four hours. Yeah. And where I grew up, Nashville's about three and a half. Cool.
Speaker 2 00:11:27 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:11:27 So, but yeah, we, we'll go over there. There's a, there's a, uh, duck hunting spot in a town called Monkey's Eyebrow. Okay. Uh, over there close to p close to Paducah. Yeah. It's, so there's Paducah and there's Monkey's, eyebrow Bandana, Kentucky, and then Possum Trot, Kentucky, like all in this little triangle. And we'll go duck hunting there every year.
Speaker 2 00:11:48 Man, I want, want t-shirts from all of those places.
Speaker 3 00:11:50 Dude, it's you. You'll, it's like going back in time, man. Yeah. <laugh>. But it's cool. I love it. I love it out there. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:11:56 It's a great country, man. It was a, that was like one of the first festivals I was at where I wasn't like actively working or extremely, extremely drunk, you know? I was like in the middle. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:12:05 Yeah. <laugh> same. Yeah. But man,
Speaker 2 00:12:09 We had a great time there and dude, like I saw, so, you know, as, as you know, we met you guys and well, we, we met before, but we hung out at like, uh, below My Roots. And then when I saw you were also back on that, and then I also saw you were on country concert. Mm-hmm. I was like, all right, we're just gonna be hanging out with Walker Game
Speaker 3 00:12:25 On. Yeah. Man, come on. Come on. Just, I can't drink too much before I go on stage. No, that's <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:12:32 Honestly, like, good advice. Uh, we are gonna probably be not drinking too. And by probably, I mean, I'm not gonna be drinking that much at Country Concert, but like,
Speaker 3 00:12:40 You gotta work. What? Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:12:41 Blame my Roots. It's like all bets are off. You know, <laugh>,
Speaker 3 00:12:44 Everybody's, that's
Speaker 2 00:12:45 Everybody's
Speaker 3 00:12:46 Drunk
Speaker 2 00:12:46 There, man. Yeah, it was great. Yeah. They were like, yeah, buy cases of beer. It feels great. <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:12:51 Yeah. Country Concert. That's the festival that you can buy like a 30 rack of Keystone for like $20 or
Speaker 2 00:12:56 Something. He used to be able to, now they're like 12 packs for 15 bucks. Geez. Still great value. Right?
Speaker 4 00:13:01 But yeah. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:13:02 Yeah, we're gonna have, uh, Hicks tape gear out there too. Shrink. Oh yeah. And, uh, they have those Kanga coolers. Okay. So we're bringing 12 pack Kanga coolers to sell
Speaker 4 00:13:10 What is a Kanga cooler.
Speaker 2 00:13:12 You basically just throw a 12 pack of beer in it mm-hmm. <affirmative> in case in all, and it keeps it cold. So instead of having to like, get ice and have to worry about that, you just throw it in there, pop the thing up and grab a beer out. So instead of like having to like, keep filling up with ice, it just uses the residual cold from the cold beer to keep it so they, they serve it to you in a 12 pack. You know what I mean? So like, you can just throw that sandwich in
Speaker 4 00:13:34 There. Oh, they sell it to you. The beer in a cooler already.
Speaker 2 00:13:37 It's No, it's just in, it's just in cardboard. But we're gonna sell coolers there that you could just literally throw that shit right in. You know, science
Speaker 3 00:13:45 Dude. Yeah,
Speaker 4 00:13:46 You could, you could throw a beer and a cooler though.
Speaker 2 00:13:48 Yeah. But that way you'd have to bring a cooler. This way if you don't have a cooler, you don't have to bring a cooler.
Speaker 3 00:13:53 Oh, fixed it.
Speaker 4 00:13:54 Oh, true. <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:13:55 Yeah. <laugh> beat the system. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:13:57 Got it. Yeah. We're Oh, you don't have a cooler. Lucky enough, we have cooler
Speaker 4 00:14:01 You, Nick. He's still working logistics, his past life
Speaker 3 00:14:04 Sense. The best thing to do with a, and here's, here's your college tip that I learned. The best thing to do with a case of beer is if you have a fridge, which obviously at the festivals you don't, but like, it's your home. Yeah. You need to, like, in the bottom right corner, just cut a square and you can just pull a beer out. Yeah. And it just falls down next. It's like a Vening machine day. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. I'm living in the future over here. Yeah. You know,
Speaker 4 00:14:25 That put a hole in your refrigerator? Is that what you're saying? No. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:14:28 <laugh> just cut a hole in it. Just reach in and grab the beer. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:14:32 The, that's a new a, we need to make like a redneck refrigerator that just has all the dispensers. So how's like a tap on the outside? Yeah. Like a, that has that slot for the beer, you know? Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:14:41 You put your cup on it, like where the water and ice comes out. Yeah. And it's just like, this
Speaker 2 00:14:44 Is Jack Daniels.
Speaker 3 00:14:46 Oh God.
Speaker 2 00:14:49 Well, yeah, you're a Kentucky boy. You don't like that. That technically
Speaker 3 00:14:51 Whiskey. I can't do it, man. Jack, Dan, I'm like the happiest drinker ever. Yeah. But Jack Daniels, I'm just like, it's just takes me to a whole new level.
Speaker 2 00:14:58 Oh
Speaker 3 00:14:58 Yeah. That's not good. And I don't know what it is about it, but, uh, it's just not a bad level. I'm just like, I should probably go home. Yeah. <laugh>, you know, like, this is, I mean, it's a Irish goodbye after Jack Daniels.
Speaker 2 00:15:09 I, I, yeah. I mean, I understand that. That's why, like I said, I, I usually stick to beers because my belly will get extremely full before I get belligerent, you know? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:15:18 <laugh>. And you're like, I can't do it anymore. Yeah. I'm
Speaker 2 00:15:20 Like, that's about all she can get in there, <laugh>. Good advice. Oh, man. Well, so like, tell the people of the podcast world, like your story about how you got into music. So you said you started recording when you were like 18.
Speaker 3 00:15:33 Yeah, man. I mean, I was, I never really did music, you know, I did choir and stuff like that, but yeah, I was, growing up, I was always, you know, I played football Yep. And, uh, basketball and stuff like that, but I never really got into music until I was in high school. When I was like, turned, I think I turned 16 and just kinda looked myself in the mirror. I was like, you are not gonna make it to the nfl <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:15:58 Right.
Speaker 3 00:15:59 I was like, and you're not gonna make it to the, I mean, look at me, you know, like six foot, six foot one. And, uh, but, so I picked up a guitar. I was, and quick, you know, did little shows around honky tonks and restaurants and stuff, central Kentucky and about, took me about two shows to figure out that the girls, like they really
Speaker 2 00:16:18 Guitars better. Really liked
Speaker 3 00:16:19 It. And I was like, well, this is awesome, <laugh>. I can, I can definitely see myself doing this. But, and it just kind of progressed and, uh, you know, that's such a blessed way to get into music. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't know. But, you know, went to college for glorious nine weeks and what happened was, I wrote a song called Simple Town Uhhuh, and we did a fan voted, uh, concert, pre-game concert for the University of Kentucky football team at the home opener. And I played this song called Simple Town, and a radio guy came up to me, and of course, I'm a freshman in college, I just joined a frat. I'm like, having the time of my life. Right. And he was like, Hey, if you record that song, I put it on the radio. And I was like, well, I guess I'm gonna record the song then <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:17:07 And luckily, you know, he stuck to his word and, and it got on the radio and it, I wouldn't be here without that song, but it, it, uh, I definitely was just, I was a bar player, you know? Yeah. Until that song, until I wrote that song. And, uh, after that I was like, all right, this college thing can, can be put on hold, man. But, and I was playing, I was playing gigs all week and not doing my homework too. Right. So, I mean, it, it, I I didn't have the best grades, uh, that I, that I would like to have. But yeah, man, it just, it was a natural, natural thing for me. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:17:40 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then from there, um, man, like I was gonna say, like, I know we talked about like, a lot of people think that you're older and I think even your stage performance, man. Yeah. Like, it, it's really well put together, you know, compared, I appreciate Man, compared, compared to someone else that is your age. But that makes sense. Like, uh, you know, of course like you've had the experience since you're 18 doing that stuff. Yeah. And then, you know, have a few uncles and parents and such that are, that are, have been in the industry that you had Yeah. You could, you could watch growing up. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:18:10 <laugh> man, I'll tell you what, the pe the, the one thing that I, people always ask me, they're like, oh man, you know, when you moved to Nashville, your dad or uncle help you out, you know, meeting people and stuff like that. And I, I'd ask dad when I moved down there, I was like, dad, do you, I mean, do you know anybody that I could talk to and just not get a handout? But like Right. I was green as I was green as as hell. Yeah. I'd never, I'd been to Nashville twice by the time I turned 18. Yeah. My entire life. And he said, son, they're all dead <laugh>. I was like, well, I guess that doesn't help out any out. The one thing that did help me, me out by, you know, having dad, who he was, was I knew how to tour.
Speaker 3 00:18:49 Right. And cuz I just did it all my life. Right. You know, being on the bus and being backstage, seeing how things work and uh, I think that that is definitely an advantage that, uh, I actually have had. Whether it's, you know, it might be a a, a blessing in disguise or a disadvantage cuz I see how everything works and I'm like, oh man, some of this stuff is messed. You know, it's like some of this stuff is messed up. But, uh, no man, that's really, that's, that's the only thing that I'm, that I really got from having, uh, you know, business-wise, having my dad and uncle in the, in, in the business is being able to tour and just knowing Yeah. How to do it, what
Speaker 2 00:19:29 That looks like, what you gotta do to make
Speaker 3 00:19:31 It work. Yeah. But I mean, that's what it's all about. That's what I love to do. I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't able to play shows. That's why was Covid drove me crazy. Yeah, dude. It
Speaker 2 00:19:37 Was terrible. No doubt. Yeah. Everybody went freaking nuts during code. Kurt like picked up podcasting. What an idiot.
Speaker 3 00:19:43 Yeah, man. That's true.
Speaker 2 00:19:44 Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:19:45 Wild. Um, do you have any business advice for any artists that are coming up or any, is there
Speaker 3 00:19:49 Anything tunnel vision? Man, that's my thing. It's like you can, what I've learned, at least you can get mad if one of your bud, you know, not buddies, one of your colleagues gets some tour or something that you're like, damn, I wish I would've gotten that. But it's like, just do your own thing man. You're not gonna, you're not gonna succeed in anything, in my opinion. If you don't do, just be yourself, man. Especially in music cuz it's such a personal thing. But, uh, yeah. Just have tunnel vision. Focus on yourself. Try to hone in on your, not to be all kumbaya, but hone in on your art. Yeah. You know, and, uh, and it, it, most of the time works out. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:20:31 Well that's, if it doesn't work out, you at least gave it your best effort, you know? Yeah. And that's like, and did it the right way. Yeah. And dude, I mean, it's a mix of talent and what people call luck, which is being in the right place at the right time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? Yeah. But that's putting yourself in the right place at the right time.
Speaker 3 00:20:46 Yeah, man. I mean it's, you know, you gotta go out. Our offices are bars in Nashville. Right. <laugh>, you know, that's where you meet people and that's where you connect. I mean, that's where I met him. Yeah. And, uh, and but that's where you connect and get rights and, and everything. You know, it's, and that was a, uh, when I first moved down here, that was a challenge that I had to face cause I wasn't old enough to get into a bar. Right. So I was like going to Tin Roof during the day and just eating Yeah. <laugh>, you know, and just, you know, if somebody walked in that I'd recognize I'd introduce myself and stuff like that. Yeah. But, uh, no man, tunnel vision's my main thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:21:20 I remember like right when I moved to town, like the first like three times I saw you bought me a beer and I was like, dude, you don't gotta do that. I have tendency
Speaker 3 00:21:26 To do that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:21:27 <laugh>. Yeah. I was like, you don't gotta do that. I know you don't have that much money. Like <laugh>,
Speaker 4 00:21:31 I give you the worst habits to pick up.
Speaker 3 00:21:32 Yeah. <laugh>. No man. I like, uh, look, I mean, you know, we go, we go out on the road and then our rider rider, we got beer. So I mean, I'm like, hell, I'll just, you know, I'll give them out. Yeah. But, uh, now I'm, now I'm paying back all the beers I stole from, from Dad <laugh> off the, off the, in high school and stuff with all thery beers. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:21:51 That's how it goes. Yeah. Well you gotta pay 'em back eventually. And it's coming be now, right? Yeah. Yeah. <laugh> man, it's, uh, it's great to get to watch you like Grow and I, you, you'll play a little bit in town. You're actually playing our country concert takeover. Yeah, ma'am. I'm here in a few weeks, which is gonna be freaking amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:22:07 Is that March 22nd?
Speaker 2 00:22:08 Well, we're way past March. It's May. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:22:12 May it's 22nd though, right? Yep. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 00:22:14 Yeah man, I'm excited for that. Uh, talked with Paul and, uh, he's one of the owners of Country Concert in the bar horse family. Yeah, man. And they're coming down. They got a condo rented and they're excited for, for it. Awesome, man. Yeah, man. It's gonna be a good time.
Speaker 3 00:22:26 That'll be fun. Yeah. I love doing those rounds, man. Yeah. Especially when it's with good people and Absolutely. At Live Oak and stuff like that. They always have, they always have good folks around. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:22:34 Low key and fun. Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:22:36 Man, that's, that's it's good
Speaker 4 00:22:37 Sound system. Yes. Good lighting.
Speaker 2 00:22:39 Yes. Yeah. If you guys don't know Rowdy on the Row, that's our writer's round. We do about twice a month down in Nashville, Tennessee at Live Oak on the Ian Street. And they have cheap bush. Like, God bless America. God
Speaker 3 00:22:50 Bless America. They got cheap Budweiser too. That's true. Tear it up, man. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:22:54 Are you a, a Budweiser sponsor or if you have any idea on that? No, I
Speaker 3 00:22:57 Just like Budweiser man
Speaker 2 00:22:59 Organic that that's the way they like,
Speaker 3 00:23:01 It's basically a salad. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, I mean, but no, they'll, they'll send me, uh, like little me or I guess they just saw I was drinking Budweiser and they'll send me like a gift packs, gift pack every, every now and then. But yeah.
Speaker 4 00:23:14 I think that a lot of beer people are, uh, companies I should say are getting into working with country artists. Yeah. Like I know Ashland. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:23:21 She's Bush Light.
Speaker 4 00:23:22 Yeah. Has or Bud Heavy, heavy.
Speaker 2 00:23:23 She was, she was. Now she's Bush Light. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4 00:23:25 <affirmative>. Oh, that's cool.
Speaker 2 00:23:26 Yeah, I think she likes Bush Light more so she's happy cuz it's what she actually drinks. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:23:31 I like, I'll, I love Bud Heavy.
Speaker 2 00:23:33 Yeah, dude, bud, bud Heavy is delicious. It's a little hard to shotgun, you know, if I'm being honest.
Speaker 3 00:23:37 Well dude, you can't shotgun. It's tough. I
Speaker 4 00:23:39 Can't shotgun not with that attitude.
Speaker 2 00:23:40 Yeah. <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:23:41 Well, yeah, <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:23:43 But, uh, yeah, I like to keep my beers that are in my cooler shockable, you know what I mean? Yeah. Because as part of the raise rowdy brand, people want to watch me drink. It's terrible. But it's also awesome.
Speaker 3 00:23:52 Yeah. Well there's worse things that you can do for a living. Yes, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Could be an accountant. That's
Speaker 2 00:23:57 True. Yeah. Yeah. I have a buddy that does that and he had to do my taxes this year.
Speaker 3 00:24:01 Oh yeah. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. That sucks. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:24:04 Um, speaking of something completely different though, I'm interested in how you got linked up with your pub deal, man,
Speaker 3 00:24:11 Man. Oh, it's, so the little backstory is there's
Speaker 4 00:24:16 Some good songwriters you got over there. Yeah. You were friends with.
Speaker 3 00:24:19 It's a good place. But Dallas Day, of course, you know, I grew up in, I mean, nineties country is obviously my favorite for, you know, reasons that everybody can figure out and connect the dots on. Right. But I grew up listening to Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, cuz that was when I was in high school. That's when he was on top of the world. Yep. And, uh, I remember and Dallas wrote all those songs. Dallas Davidson, the head of played again, where my publishing house is. And I remember coming down the stairs, I was maybe a freshman in high school or something like that, and I was like, daddy, you know who Dallas Davidson is? And he was like, yeah, just got done Turkey with him. And I'm like, holy shit. You know, I'm for, I'm like, what? Come on. But he's always been my my right writing hero. And uh, I
Speaker 4 00:25:02 Saw him text you on your Apple Watch.
Speaker 3 00:25:04 Did he text me? Oh yeah, he did text me <laugh>. There you go. We're making new songs. He said, I changed the outro. Cool. Okay. Sweet. I I have no idea what he's talking about, but I guess the outro on the changed. But, uh, when I f when I moved to town, I had a publicist named Vanessa Davis mm-hmm. <affirmative>, who uh, who you know, was just sweet, sweet girl. And she really introduced me to, to a lot of folks. But at that time we had a girl named Julie Griffith working at Played Again. And I just, you know, had started having rights there with some of their writers at the time and, uh, it just kind of naturally developed. And, and one day I got a call from Dallas and said, Hey man, uh, you know, we really like what you're doing and uh, we'd like you to be part of the team. And No, you know, I of course I was 19 or something like that, so I was No, uh, well let's talk to like my lawyers. I was like, yes, <laugh>. You know, but so it was just, but that's what I would've said. Yeah. I was like, you told me right now. Yes, yes. Yeah. But, uh, no man, it naturally happened and we do have a bunch of good folks over there on, on the artist writing side and on the, you know, publishing business side. Right. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:26:19 That's gotta be so inspiring, I feel like.
Speaker 3 00:26:21 Well, just to see what he's, he's been able to do. I mean, he's him, Ben Rhett mm-hmm. The piece Pickers who are my producers, they're uh, they're once in a multi-generation kind of writer and, uh, you just, there's just not a lot of, not a lot of folks that come around like them. And it's uh, it's cool to be able to pick their brains Yeah. And uh, you know, just see what, see what they've been able to accomplish and how they've been able to do it and still how humble they are and how hungry they are Yeah. To get the good songs and, and uh, and work their, work their butts off.
Speaker 2 00:26:54 Yeah. Man, it's, it's crazy to think about how many of those songs from like what you said when you were in high school that were those three guys were on.
Speaker 3 00:27:02 Oh, it's
Speaker 2 00:27:03 At least one of them. Were on each song, you know,
Speaker 3 00:27:05 It's, it's mind boggling.
Speaker 2 00:27:07 Yeah. It's crazy.
Speaker 3 00:27:08 But, and you walk in and play it again and you see the plaques and it's almost, it's almost just, it's surreal. Yeah. It's a whole wall of them.
Speaker 4 00:27:16 Got a lot of work to do, you know, to get up there.
Speaker 2 00:27:18 High standards. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. But that's great man. Cuz then they're striving to do that again. You're striving to get there to match that, you know what I mean? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:27:26 Well, and that's the fact that they had confidence in me as a, a young green, 19 year old, uh, sign me and invest in me. I mean, it's always, it's always going to play. It again, is always gonna have a special place in my heart, man.
Speaker 2 00:27:40 Yeah. Makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. That's great.
Speaker 4 00:27:43 And, uh, it's fun to hear you talk about your love of like the nineties stuff and then, and then the stuff you're listening to high school. Cause I definitely can hear that sound, um, on your ep. To me it sounds like, um, there's definitely like a classic sound to it. Yeah. And you know, like we're talking about some people think you, um, are older or whatever. Yeah. <laugh>. But I think it's, um, part of it is, is your sound I think is, uh, not dated, but it's like a, like a refreshed kind of classic sound. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:28:10 Well, I appreciate it, man. It's, I mean we, you know, when I first moved to town, I learned that my voice didn't really sound good on a pop country track. Yeah. <laugh> and I'm not, I'm not dogging on pop country. Yeah. But it just, I mean, you listen to me talk, you listen to me sing, I'm like, I can't, it doesn't sound good with the snaps. Yeah. And uh, so we knew we had to go with in a d in a different direction and I'm, and I'm happy we did. We're gonna put steel guitar on the next round of songs. Oh yeah. And, uh, I don't know
Speaker 4 00:28:39 Why people, me in business Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:28:40 <laugh>. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:28:41 But, uh, no man, it's, uh,
Speaker 4 00:28:43 You got my number. We're
Speaker 3 00:28:44 Yeah, I got you. I got you. We're uh, no man, we're trying to hone in on a sound and, and I think we've got a good, good start on it. Yeah, man. I'm lucky I'm young. 23 so we can, we got some time to really, really perfect it, so to say. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:28:59 Well man, it's, as I said, like I think this EP is a statement piece for you. I
Speaker 3 00:29:03 Appreciate it, man.
Speaker 2 00:29:03 For real. I love it. Yeah, Russ is, I mean, all the songs on it, like I said, sound like a single. If I still had the radio show <laugh>, I'd be playing all <laugh>. R I P r I p Raised Rowdy Radio. We love you though. <laugh>
Speaker 4 00:29:16 Not really, but
Speaker 2 00:29:17 <laugh> <laugh>. But man, yeah, I think, I think your sound is like, so like the things I talk about that make it work, it's like a distinct voice. Like when I hear you, I know it's your voice, you know what I mean? Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:29:29 Man. No, I
Speaker 2 00:29:30 Appreciate it. It's like, and I think that's a big part of it too. And I, I remember talking to someone and being like, this sounds like my favorite songs by Luke Bryant. You know what I mean? Yeah. Which is great cuz I love Luke Bryant <laugh>. Yeah. You
Speaker 3 00:29:41 Know,
Speaker 2 00:29:42 I still love Luke Bryant, but Yeah. You know, I was like, like has those kind of like, uh, really catchy melodies and man, just great songs,
Speaker 3 00:29:49 Man. That's, I mean, melody wise you could fart in the microphone and if it's a good melody Yeah. They're gonna listen to it. Yeah, man. And, uh, but it's, uh, no man, we've, I've had, I've had a lot of, I, Luke actually wrote one of my songs called Wouldn't Be a Country Boy. And, uh, but we've, we've been blessed to get some really, really strong songs. Some that I've written and some that I haven't written. Yeah. And, uh, that's my mentality on it. It's just I want the best songs and it'ss relatable. If it's because I'm a simple guy, I mean, I see myself as one. If it, if it's relatable to me, it's probably gonna be relatable to most folks out there. Yes. Agree. But, uh, no man, it's, it's, uh, we've been working hard on it.
Speaker 2 00:30:30 Yeah. I love that man. Well dude, uh, appreciate you coming by here. The, uh, the Raise Rowdy con content cave it Kurt's,
Speaker 3 00:30:38 Uh, I love it, man. Kurtz
Speaker 4 00:30:40 Kurt's content. Cavern
Speaker 2 00:30:41 Cavern. That's with All Seas though. Yeah, <laugh>. Wow.
Speaker 3 00:30:45 <laugh>. Oh, like, uh,
Speaker 2 00:30:47 And dude, I can't wait to see you at Freaking Blame My Roots and
Speaker 3 00:30:51 Hey, it's coming up. That's years real Fast
Speaker 2 00:30:54 And Country concert and the country concert writers around at Live Oak
Speaker 3 00:30:57 Man Baggu. Right.
Speaker 2 00:30:58 We're just gonna make you play for us as much as possible.
Speaker 3 00:31:00 That's, Hey, I'm there for it, man. <laugh>, I'm there for it. Well, I appreciate y'all having me on though. Absolutely. It's, y'all always a good time with y'all. Uh, do
Speaker 4 00:31:06 You want to shout your socials out? I'm sure more people follow you than us, but just in case
Speaker 3 00:31:10 We Yeah man. Uh, if y'all wanna follow me, uh, you know, go follow me on Spotify, add me on Apple Music, Amazon music What whatever, whatever you use, I'm on there. Same with social media, just at Walker Montgomery on Twitter, I'm at Walker Montgomery. If you wanna see some funny, somewhat buzzed football tweets, <laugh>, go to my Twitter <laugh>. That's about all it
Speaker 2 00:31:33 Is. And man, I, I'll tell you guys right now, if you go download Rust, his Zep on iTunes, you will not regret it. It's freaking great music and that's the best way to help keep, uh, bud heavies on Walker's plate, you know. Damn right,
Speaker 3 00:31:48 <laugh>. That's what I'm talking about. Hell
Speaker 2 00:31:49 Right. Well we appreciate you guys. Hell, right,
Speaker 3 00:31:52 <laugh>. Hell yeah, dude. Thanks boys. Thanks. Coming over man.
Speaker 2 00:31:55 We appreciate you guys for listening to the podcast. And I'm Nick t.
Speaker 4 00:31:59 I'm Kurt Ozon,
Speaker 2 00:32:00 And we'll see you in the front.
