Episode 140 - Mike Ryan

Speaker 0 00:00:00 <silence> Raise Rowdy. Speaker 1 00:00:02 Welcome to the Raise Rowdy podcast. I'm your host, Nick, et. And I'm, we are with a guest, Mr. Mike Ryan, today. How we doing? Good, man. And, uh, sub co-host our good buddy, Mr. Matt Burrell. Speaker 0 00:00:13 I'm happy to be here. No, I don't have the beard, the curs on has, but, um, I'm, I'm happy to be here filling issues. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:00:19 You're you're equally good at talking, but not as good at playing guitar. No, Speaker 2 00:00:23 <laugh> Luckily Speaker 1 00:00:24 <laugh>, luckily we don't have Mike for that long, so <laugh>, we don't need to make someone play guitar. Speaker 0 00:00:29 Yeah, for sure. <laugh>. Speaker 1 00:00:30 But thanks for hopping out, man. I know you're in town, uh, playing Whiskey Jam, right? Yes, sir. Yeah. Uh, what else are you getting into this week? Speaker 2 00:00:37 So, I've got a couple rights, uh, just some meetings around town, and we've got the whole band in with us for the show on Thursday. And, um, that's kind of cool. Usually when I come out here, it's just me and my manager. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but, uh, yeah, this time we got the whole gang, so, uh, looking forward to the show. And then from here we go to Georgia for a couple shows, um, and then back home to Texas. Speaker 1 00:01:01 Nice. Where are you at in Georgia, do you know? Speaker 2 00:01:03 So we're in Atlanta. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, Friday and Tifton. Cool. Yeah. Speaker 0 00:01:08 Oh, Tifton. I love Tifton ton, Georgia. Y'all have a lot of fun down there, but, all right. Speaker 2 00:01:13 My man. So I, I don't think we've played there before. Uh, and I, I, we've been to Atlanta several times for business and personal stuff, and so it's always a good time to be around there, but yeah, I don't think we've been to, I don't remember being to Tifton. Yeah. Anyways. Yeah. Tifton, Speaker 0 00:01:30 Tifton, ISS Wild. That's one of those small South Georgia towns. It's like the birthplace of where, like F G L got started. John Langston Muca on it used to be called the Gin. JD Groover actually used to run that place before he moved up here to town. Speaker 2 00:01:41 I should have known that. Speaker 0 00:01:42 It's, it's wild. No, it's like little, little p but a bunch of rowdy college kids that just started their, their fall semester. So they'll be nice and ready for you. Perfect. Speaker 2 00:01:50 Well, they Speaker 1 00:01:50 Got all mom and dad's money ready in the bank account. <laugh> Speaker 2 00:01:53 Ready Speaker 1 00:01:53 To buy some tickets. That's nice. You know, that's nice. Ready? Speaker 2 00:01:55 Buy some Speaker 1 00:01:56 Tickets from all the beer. Yes. Bring all your merch for sure. Uh, I know the Texas scene merch is like a big thing. Like, Speaker 2 00:02:02 Oh man, Speaker 1 00:02:03 It's everyone that goes down there is like, yeah. The people in Texas support on a different level for Speaker 2 00:02:07 Real. No, and and that was one thing I've found early on. I mean, it was kind of building the business. You know, you're, there's not really like a, a roadmap per se. Yeah. You know, you just gotta figure out trial and error, what works, what doesn't. But Merch was one of the things, as soon as I could afford to have a guy, uh, come along just for merch, I mean, they paid for themselves immediately. Yeah. And so it was like, it's a no brainer. Yeah. And to just keep fresh merch. Like, I've always tried to put good quality merch out, like, you know, designs, uh, aside the, uh, the the fit and the comfort of the shirt. I was always first and foremost for me. 'cause I was like, man, we gotta make this somebody's favorite shirt. Yes. I don't want 'em just to buy it and, you know, never wear it. It's like, wear it, you know? So Speaker 1 00:02:54 We're working on that too, man. Like putting stuff on comfort colors. And we have this like, tall text stock shirt that we like, 'cause it's like very breathable. Yeah. So like, it's good summer shirt. And then the, the comfort color shirts are great. Winter shirts, you know, or like, I guess fall here too. Yeah. Um, so you said you're gonna be down in Georgia. What else do you got touring wise going on this year? Speaker 2 00:03:14 So, uh, we're really kind of all over. We, uh, the first part of the year we did a couple of runs out to the West Coast. Um, and this, the second leg of the Long Cut tour has brought us, uh, farther east. We're doing, uh, these shows in Georgia. We've got, um, a show later this year, and with Brantley Gilbert and Pennsylvania, we're going out with Jordan Davis, um, kinda some Midwest shows, uh, co um, for some, I forget where it's a West Virginia or somewhere out there. Uh, it's gonna be, I mean, a, a busy for sure busy touring schedule, uh, but getting to see some places farther and farther away from home. Uh, this year in particular, we really focused on a lot of out-of-state markets that we haven't seen, um, in a while. And, uh, they're, they're working out. We're gonna have to keep on coming out and, and doing that. It's a lot of fun. Speaker 1 00:04:10 It's an interesting thing to see, you know, like the, the market. So you have your hometown, of course, wherever that is, right. <laugh>, yours is Texas. But you have that, and then you have that scene that's built around it. But it's interesting to watch that grow. And so, like, I'm sure you're taking less money when you're going outside of a market for the first time. Sure. But it's with the idea that now you can go get as much money as you would be getting in your bigger markets, in those markets moving forward. Speaker 2 00:04:34 Sure. So, and it's really encouraging some places, um, not all of them, you know, <laugh>, sometimes they ain't that the truth. Yeah. <laugh>. I mean, there's places we've been trying to kick the door in for a long time and just hadn't worked. But then others, like you can see the second time, third time back, you're seeing way more people and just a building kind of buzz around those shows. And it's just really cool, uh, when you can tap into a new market and see it start to work, you know? Yeah. Speaker 1 00:05:00 I remember the first time I heard about your music was actually through, I think Whiskey Jam. Like Ward was like, I've never had Mike Ryan on Whiskey Jam. And like was like actively reaching out with you in post format to try to get you on <laugh> <laugh>. And that was years ago. I think it was like, uh, the close enough for the girls I Date was like, your single at the time, you know? Okay. And, uh, but I remember that and just getting to hear your music and honestly, specifically at that time in my life, I was like, that song really hit home. So it's cool to appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely. Get there. And then also watch your music grow. So you mentioned the tour, so you guys dropped the album mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, why don't you tell us about that? Like, who you did it with, like production wise and Sure. Um, kind of like what the album means to you. So Speaker 2 00:05:44 This one was kind of a, a few years in the making. We had it, uh, just about finished up right when the pandemic happened. And so we had a decision to make. There was, there was still work that we needed to get done in the studio, which became, uh, seemingly impossible at the time for being outta state. Trying to coordinate studio, uh, time with it was just so crazy, so limited. People didn't even really seem all that motivated to do it. They were like, man, it was, we can do what we can do from home. But like, there was just real pressure for people meeting up. Um, so it was like, we had had the album almost done, and then, um, we decided to just wait for a little bit until we could finish it the way that we wanted to, and released a couple of singles to just pass the time. Speaker 2 00:06:39 And then, um, so we ended up putting it out last year. And, uh, that was why, like, I didn't have the title as Long Cut initially. I was just, it was gonna be, well, I hadn't hadn't come up with the title for the record, but once we took longer to do it, uh, that seemed like a more fitting title. 'cause we had to just kind of jump through a few extra hoops and take our time. Not intentionally, but, uh, it just worked out that way. And so it was a lot of fun to record. We ended up doing it with, uh, Bart Butler. He was our producer. Nice. Love Bart. That's awesome. Yeah, man. And Ryan Gore engineered, and I got a lot of the same studio musicians that I've been using for previous records. Um, and this one was, was definitely a more on the collaborative side for me. Speaker 2 00:07:30 I've, um, this year with the Pandemic and all that, I've also got two young boys at the house. And so my, um, my trips up to Nashville during that time weren't as frequent. And so we ended up fielding some, uh, some songs. We just got, Bart came in with a ton of songs that other people had pitched to him, and he was like, brought in some, some real heaters. And, uh, I was privileged to cut several of these songs on the record. Um, still ended up writing about half of 'em, but the other, uh, were more kind of, uh, just pitches and collaborations. And so it was, it was really cool to, to experience that and to, um, to just get involved more with some songwriters that, uh, I've never, I hadn't had the chance to write with, but just been like, very appreciative of known about them for a long time. And they've written a bunch of hits for other people. And to, and to have the opportunity to cut some of these songs was just really cool. And, um, so yeah. Uh, that's the short story long about Bone Cut <laugh> <laugh>. Speaker 1 00:08:40 So I, I've heard that that's kind of like a cheat code is like, if you cut someone's song, then they're like, all right, why don't we start writing together? Speaker 2 00:08:46 Know <laugh>, it definitely helps. Yeah, it definitely helps. And, uh, yeah, so that's this, this album more so than the ones in the past. I've, I kinda leaned on some other songwriters and, and helped them or not. They helped me get this album finished, you know? Yeah. It's really pretty cool. Speaker 1 00:09:04 It's, it's interesting too, because like, the different communities are always different on like, writing and whatever, but in my opinion, there's two things that an artist can do. They can express their own emotion in a song, or they can take a song that is great and make it their own. Right? Sure. So I think that's like one of the things you'll see, like with folks that are like cover artists, you know, which is a lot of how people start, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, are you singing it exactly how Chris Stapleton sang it? Or are you singing a song in your way? 'cause if you're singing it just like Stapleton's singing it, good luck, you know, <laugh>. Exactly. But if you could take that thing and make it your own, and I think that's one of the cool parts about hearing demos and getting to hear songs before they're all the way done, or before they're like, actually cut by an artist is just getting to hear like how the artist kind of took that song and made it their own. Speaker 1 00:09:47 Yeah. Some of 'em are even like, really drastic. Like, um, I, I remember Jade Eagleson cut a song and just the total tempo of it, they changed, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So like, the lyrics and everything were identical. Even the melody was the same, but they just sped it up so much that it became like a honky tonk song. Yeah. And that wasn't how it was written. So it's interesting to, to get to see a little bit more of that shelf life of a song and like from maybe when it gets written. Um, and I, I think that's something that like, as an artist, like you guys get to see all the time, maybe <laugh>, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Uh, from when you wrote a song to when it comes out to being an album cut and, you know, even like you're changing words or things like that as you go, things like that. Right Speaker 2 00:10:27 On. So yeah. Speaker 1 00:10:27 Man. Speaker 2 00:10:28 Yeah. Speaker 3 00:10:28 Louder than life. September 21st through the 24th in Louisville with Food Fighters, green Day, too, old Ed Sevenfold, Godsmack Bizkit, Panera, queen of the Stone Age, Weezer Mega Death Turnstile, and many more. Get your Passes on sale now at louder than life festival.com. Speaker 0 00:10:58 Yeah. What, um, coming from Texas, the Nashville, and Texas, obviously for a long time you had kind of the, the stigma of two very different scenes, but now it's guys from Texas come over here and folks outta Nashville Tour in Texas and Oklahoma and New Mexico and Western Louisiana and all those markets. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, what's it kind of been like to be part of the generation of Texas guys that's coming to Nashville and has a lot of business here and being part of this, this blend that we didn't have 20 years ago? Speaker 2 00:11:23 Man, it's been, uh, it's been really cool for me. Like, so I came up and I definitely was aware of that stigma and the stereotype and, you know, the, the pride that comes from both places. Yeah. And, uh, so coming up, it, I didn't really know what to expect. Um, I signed a publishing deal with Seaga, and so I wrote with them, uh, and, you know, uh, for probably about seven years. But really that was my first, um, first, like, other than a friend or two that I had first kind of step into the co-writing world, I'd written just mainly by myself. And, uh, found out really quickly that there's, uh, a lot of really talented writers, not just at Seagull, but all over town. And it's like, man, you know, again, it, it doesn't work with everyone, but when you can find the chemistry, the, the, the hang and, you know, just the overall personality vibe that you can get with the, the Rider, it's just like you're reaching levels. Speaker 2 00:12:27 You would never on your own reach, you know? And so I found out pretty quick that it was just a, a really good place to be, and I didn't know if it was gonna be like an issue. I, I didn't think it would be, but I, I knew in my heart that this is what I needed to be doing. And so coming back and forth, uh, to Nashville was a, was a really cool thing for me. I found it to be just really productive. It was, uh, we were touring almost every weekend back home, and then one week out of the month I would come up and write. And, um, it was just a really good formula for a long time. And, um, so yeah, being kind of playing both sides of it, I, I guess <laugh>, uh, was, uh, was really cool for me. And, and, you know, I'm privileged to still be able to come to town and, and mix it up and, and write with people that I've met known for a long time. And this, this has just been a really, uh, a really good place for me to be, you know? Yeah. Speaker 0 00:13:26 Lots of, lots of good nights at Red Door <laugh>. Oh Speaker 2 00:13:28 Yeah. For for Speaker 0 00:13:29 Sure. Red Door Losers Baby, right? Speaker 2 00:13:31 Yeah. Midtown, uh, gets plenty of my business when I come to come to town Speaker 0 00:13:36 For sure. And that's what's so cool about it, is you have like, your, your, and you're in the writing room, or you're, you're meeting with so and so, and there's that business side, but so much gets done by having those, those late night hangs Yeah. At the, at the bar. You don't have to get all messed up at the bar, but no, you, you can be there for a few hours and meet, meet this random person that's, that's in Nashville that you've, that you've heard over, that you've kind of known online. And then you, you get that personal connection and Red Door's like a time machine. You walk in there and like, it turns into two, three o'clock real quick. <laugh>. Oh yeah. Speaker 2 00:14:06 That's Wild, man. Like, it, it's, uh, I mean, it's not like Vegas, but kind of, you know, you don't, there's no clocks on the wall. You can't really tell what time it is once the sun goes down, it's like, yeah. It's, uh, time passes quickly in there, <laugh>. It does. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:14:22 So your most recent Single Loser dropped and you dropped the video for that. Yep. Which, uh, we covered over on Razor Rowdy. Um, but man, it's, it's one of the things with your music I, that I love is that you have that sound that sounds like that Texas thing. Right. But also I think you have like, mainstream sensibility, and I think that lives kind of like in your vocal, like your vocal was just so clean that it lives kind of center lane. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it takes almost anything that you're saying and like, like brightens it up to where you could imagine hearing that on national radio. Yeah. Um, so I think that's a super cool thing and something that I, I think that sets you apart from a lot of the other folks that are in that scene. Well, Speaker 2 00:15:03 I appreciate it, man. Uh, you know, so growing up, country music was, uh, by and large what I listened to, uh, for the most part. Um, the radio stations around San Antonio were, or the country music stations were the popular ones, uh, when I had the Choice. But Dad listened to Classic Rock. Um, mom was, I mean, they both listened to a lot of the same stuff, but Eagles, um, were probably one of my favorite bands. Bob Seger, um, loved that Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor were, that was more of my, my Mom's influence. But, um, when I first started seeing it, I mean, boys to Men was hot in the nineties. Oh, yeah. And that was how I feel like I trained myself to sing. And I mean, if you can sing Boyi Men, you <laugh>. And I'm not saying I could like do it just like them, but that's what I tried to emulate, you know? Speaker 2 00:15:58 Yeah, absolutely. And then having, you know, peppering a little bit of Stevie Wonder and Elton John into the mix, and like, I was, uh, very ambitious as a young singer, and I would just listen and try and emulate these artists, and I didn't even realize what I was doing. It just singing was kind of just instilled in me somehow from a young age. And Dad will tell you, to this day, he's like, that was kind of their gauge of how I was doing. If I was like, sick or not feeling well, I wasn't singing <laugh>, but as long as I was feeling good, everything's fine. I'm, I'm, uh, I'm whistling or singing a song. And so, um, I pull from a lot of, a lot of different vocal styles and, um, yeah. I've, I've just always felt most comfortable writing and performing country. But I mean, there's, who's to say, man, I might get in the room with somebody and a song comes out that's just not country at all. It's could be pop or, you know, I feel like that would be the most logical next move. Maybe some rock in the right, in the right, uh, yeah, Speaker 2 00:17:05 Right. Framework. I think that could work as well. But, um, yeah, there's, there's plenty of stuff, uh, influence wise that I can dig on. Um, and if, uh, there's no telling, I mean, I'm, I could put out a wild record at some point. Hell yeah. Speaker 1 00:17:23 I think that's one of the things that's cool too, is just like watching people's sounds change and like watching them try new things, you know? And like the rock things working in town for sure. It really is. Like, you see it a lot. And Speaker 2 00:17:36 In Texas. Speaker 1 00:17:36 And in Texas, I think that's where it lives more than anywhere is in Texas. Speaker 2 00:17:40 I mean, I feel like we've always had just a bit heavier, like, uh, just, you know, like there's, there's been some southern rock influence more so I feel like in a lot of the, the bands coming outta Texas. Yeah. Uh, I, I mean, not taken away from anyone else. And that, that stuff definitely comes out in, uh, other areas of the country too. But that's just, you know, cross Canadian ragweed was one of my favorite bands when I was first like, figuring out how to play guitar and stuff. And, um, they were definitely a little heavier. And electric guitar has always been my favorite. I love acoustic as well, but, um, electric, just with a little, um, a little extra grease, you know? Yeah. You can get it hotter and it just, it feels better. Uh, so Speaker 1 00:18:33 Something about that in the live show for sure. You know, <laugh> mm-hmm. <affirmative> even like we've talked about, like, we've had buddies, we've played some events and I'm like, could you just like play solo electric, you know, <laugh>, Speaker 2 00:18:43 Like, just to Speaker 1 00:18:43 Like change it up, you know, <laugh> and if you're a good enough guitar player, you sure can, you know? Yes. Speaker 2 00:18:48 I've seen a few people do it. Yeah. Well, yeah, I've seen some not so well. Yeah, <laugh>, I tried to take an electric guitar to one of my first open mic gigs, and the sound guy who I'd gotten to know before for about a year was like, Ugh, I don't think you need to do that right now, Mike <laugh>. And I was like, but this new song I just wrote, it's got a cool little guitar riff. He's like, well just wait for the band, man. I think the bringing the electric to the acoustic gig is not the move right now, but Yes. Yeah. And it was definitely right. I was no kind of guitar player back then. <laugh>. Speaker 1 00:19:20 Yeah. That's the thing. It's like, if you are the guy that can play the electric guitar as well as the lead player in the band, then go ahead. You know, <laugh> like, and if not, then probably play the acoustic till you get the band there, <laugh>. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:19:31 Yeah. I mean, I've always kind of hoped to be like the worst guy in the band. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, and I feel like now we've got just a solid group of guys put together. My guitar player could smoke me any day of the week, <laugh>, but we definitely have some songs where we'll trade licks and, and I'll, I'll take some solos and, and do that. I, I really love playing guitar, uh, but I'm definitely not too proud. I, I know that there's a better guy that should be doing all the solos, uh, but it's nice to be able to rip into one every once in a while. Speaker 1 00:20:02 Absolutely. Yeah. And I know we talked about songwriting and you said, you know, you had a pub deal for a bunch of years. Um, any big cuts or anything that like, popped out at you time wise that, you know, that came from that or after that, even just from the songwriting world? Yeah, Speaker 2 00:20:17 So, um, the biggest one is easily, um, last time for everything, uh, was a song Brad Paisley did a couple years back. Yeah, bro, that's a smash man. Love that song, man. Yeah. So that was actually kind of a cool, uh, story, the way that it came in or came up. We, um, had, had been riding that day. I was with Chris <inaudible> and Brenda Anderson and, uh, Smith Quist and all Seagull writers, and we were three Speaker 1 00:20:44 Studs. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:20:45 Kicking around, kicking around some, uh, some ideas and that, that title came up and it was just too interesting to, to pass on. And we, we like framed out kind of a verse chorus thing. And the next, the next day, Brad and Chris, uh, or no, excuse me. Yeah. Brad and Chris and Brent had a, a session together and, uh, they played, uh, Brent and Chris played the, uh, the song for Brad. And he was like, dude, this is great. They finished, I had to go back home, uh, it was like on a Thursday, I guess when we wrote the song Friday, I had to go back home for shows. And then the next Monday I get a call from Chris and he's like, Hey, you remember that song we started, um, the other day? I was like, yeah, yeah, last time for everything. He's like, well, we played it for Brad and he loved it and we finished writing it that night. Speaker 2 00:21:37 And he recorded it the next morning and he's really talking about it for the lead single, for this next record <laugh>. It's like three days later it's like, wow, this is incredible. Like, so I'd, I'd gotten to meet Brad, hang out with him several times. Super cool dude. And, um, we weren't actually in the room writing this one, but we wrote the song, uh, together. And it was just a really cool, I mean, his, his take on it, once he added that electric guitar part, it was like, I mean, it was just like heat. As soon as he played the record or the, it took a, a few days, I feel like for them, maybe a week or two, I don't know, my timeline is off, but, um, for them to send me like the, the first mix. But it was like, dude, man, I was so proud and just so excited and happy and like single aside, I was just proud to have something down like that and for a guy like Brad to be interested. Yeah. But then he went ahead and, and cut it the next day he was fired up about it. And then it was the first single off the so great moonshine and the trunk record. So Speaker 0 00:22:42 That's Sick man. Yeah, I remember that record. 'cause I remember my last college RA because I had a, I had a radio show in college, my last show, we played like all these like reminiscing songs. Yeah. And that was the one of the last songs that we had played. And another, like, there's certain songs that you listen to when you're hanging out with buddies from back home and you're, you're drinking beer, you're smoking cigars and damn good. Goodbye. Oh man. And last time for everything are two of those songs that are like part of that like, so the storytelling and having songs that people can really relate to. Sure. Especially on like a friendship level. Like you seem to crank those out, man, that's awesome. Speaker 2 00:23:14 Well, that's just, I've always tried to write with as much personal experience as I can and without getting too specific on certain things, uh, like, and it's made it easier when you're co-writing. 'cause like they've, the other guys have their stories to tell as well. So it's like you can't get too specific because it doesn't apply to everyone. Yeah. You know, but if you can just get close enough, I've, I can't tell you how many people have come up and said not just that song, but others and like, man, I feel like you wrote this song for me. It's like, this is, you're singing about my life. I was like, well, I'm singing about my life too. <laugh> and my songwriter Buddy's life and you know, tons of other people too, it turns out. So it's really a cool thing to be able to, to get in the, in the room and write something that I believe in. Um, but for when it later turns out, like somebody tells me that that song moves them too, that's like the best compliment as a songwriter I could get. Yeah. Is like something that I've come up with, got somebody through a really tough time or made a really hard time easier or made a really good time better. You know? Yeah. It's just something that they can, uh, a song they can tie to a memory and that just, it makes it better, you know? Yeah. Makes it really cool. Yeah, Speaker 1 00:24:33 Man, that's, I think that's one of the most powerful things with music is is that exactly what you said. And that's great to get to sit down with someone that has songs that mean that to us as well as other folks around us. Thank Speaker 0 00:24:46 You. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, you were talking about the band. So I was, I was on the road, Nikki's been out on the road where we've done our, our rowdy on the road segments. What is on Mike? Rein's Rider. Speaker 2 00:24:57 Okay. So, um, stage towels, couple cases of water. Uh, fruit tray. Fruit Speaker 0 00:25:06 Tray. Okay. Speaker 2 00:25:07 Fruit vegetables, like a deli tray. Yeah. You know, um, I'm glad you're asking 'cause now that I'm gonna think about this some more and some of these things probably don't need to be on it anymore, but <laugh> you might as well add more. Um, you know, we have like, just assorted chips and sodas and stuff. Bottle of tequila, bottle of whiskey, bottle of vodka. Um, I think we're gonna start, we need to add socks to the writer. Speaker 0 00:25:36 That is a good call. Speaker 2 00:25:37 You know, that's one that I've heard and it seems like socks. Like what? But when you get, when you're like spending time out on the road, especially when you're out for weeks at a time, we don't do a lot of those long, long runs. But even if you're out for a week or something, you don't want to carry around a bunch of dirty laundry with you if you have to do laundry. It's like just such a pain in the ass. Yeah. So like socks are an easy thing. You can, if you get 'em, you know, not to be wasteful, you know, uh, you just get 'em and wear 'em and if you don't want to keep 'em, you can throw 'em away because you got 'em another, you know, 12 pack coming on tomorrow's. Right. <laugh>. Yeah. Yeah, dude. Um, but you know, that's just some, some handy things that we, we don't get too crazy. Um, I used to ask for, uh, grape Big League Chew <laugh> just because that grandma grape, that's the best flavor Chew, but ma that was mainly just to see if people were even looking at the rider. Yeah. You know? Yep. If they bring it, it's like nine times outta 10. We didn't get our big League Chew <laugh> and I played the show. I didn't bitch about it, Speaker 2 00:26:45 But uh, whenever somebody did bring it, they always had a big smile on their face and was like, I brought it and was like, alright, thank you. Speaker 0 00:26:52 Got your shoe. Thank you. So great. Speaker 1 00:26:53 Yeah, that's a great question. I love hearing stuff like that. Um, anything crazy that you've had like a club owner or venue owner, like give you or anything that stuck out even a fan maybe, uh, over the years, Speaker 2 00:27:08 Man. So we've had some, uh, we've had some cool gifts though the, probably the coolest, uh, we had. There's a, uh, husband and wife couple that comes out to a lot of our shows and they've been instate outta state. Um, and they don't, they always buy a ticket. They never want any kind of special treatment, but they'll always say hello after. And one time we'd just putting out Flink, you'll miss it. So we had a, uh, my, uh, Wayne, my manager actually had done some digging and got a hold of an old photograph that was of me and my brother, um, from our, uh, ranch. I was probably, I don't know, I was probably six, seven years old. My brother was eight or nine. And, uh, we were painting this chicken coop and my grandmother just had a, had a camera. She had, you know, it was one of those, not a Polaroid, but old film cameras. Speaker 2 00:28:01 And she told us to turn around for a picture and she snapped it. And I mean, I re I remember it, I'd forgotten completely about this moment until, uh, that picture resurfaced and that ended up being the, the album Art, the title, you know, the, the front cover of our album. Yeah. It's the picture of me and my brother. Um, and they added in, you know, like I, to make, make it look like I was painting my name, which I, I wasn't calling myself Mike Ryan at that point, but <laugh>, um, it was just a really cool picture. And, um, <affirmative>. So they had, uh, that was our album Art. And the, the couple that had come out to see us brought me two, uh, like of that, that picture, but on like a really nice final or not vinyl, um, the, the like what painters paint on Canvas. Canvas, yeah, yeah. Canvas. And so it was about, you know, this big by this big and it was that album Art just on Canvas. And she gave me one and she wanted me to give one to my brother, and that's hanging up in my house. That's great. And it was just, you know, super cool. And they, that was their favorite record. And um, I see it every day when I leave 'cause it's right there. And, um, again, sorry I'm long-winded today. <laugh> tell long stories for sure. Speaker 0 00:29:19 Man. I love that. That's what you want from a podcast. Guess. Hey, another thing I wanna ask, there's another like, fun question 'cause it ties into the Texas thing. You have certain things in Texas that have now gone nationwide. Like, like Bucky's is a big thing around the country and the hoopla with that. You've got that Whataburger cup right there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, why is Whataburger better than In and Out? Speaker 2 00:29:39 So I don't want to get in trouble here <laugh>. Um, but I will s on record say that In and Out makes a damn good burger. Yeah, they do. Speaker 0 00:29:47 It's true. They do. Speaker 2 00:29:48 They have some pretty cool options. I will say the fries are not my favorite. They're too thin and they're not crispy enough. It's like a weird texture. I like a thicker fry. I mean, to be honest, Whataburger's fries aren't my favorite fries either. I like big steak fries, you know. Me too. Speaker 2 00:30:06 Uh, but Whataburger does make good fries. It's just when, especially playing as many shows as we do in Texas, 24 hours a day, you can be in the middle of nowhere and just see that big orange beacon, you know? Yes. And we just pull in and it's not so much, uh, it's 'cause it's the best burger. It's just, it's a damn good burger and it's widely available. Um, and it's nice. And I mean, they're using everything fresh. Like all the, the produce and stuff, the lettuce and tomatoes and onions and stuff, it's all like freshly cut, so, uh, and made with Speaker 0 00:30:45 Love. Yes. Speaker 2 00:30:46 So you can't beat that. Speaker 0 00:30:47 Yeah. I love the honey. It's honey butter chicken biscuit. I used to call it the honey booboo biscuit. <laugh> was when, when I first had it with, with when I was on the Roman of Muske on. And they, they, they didn't let me live that down for a while. But, but the honey butter chicken biscuit or getting the, the honey butter on, like Tyler's had the honey butter. You can buy the Whataburger condiments like in the grocery stores and stuff. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> like you can get a whole squeezable thing, a honey butter. Just have that in your fridge. Yeah. At all times. You don't have that with and Out, you have that with Whataburger, Speaker 2 00:31:14 You know, it is a, it, it is a nice little thing. Nice touch. They've added, you know, you can, you can have the comfort, the, the Whataburger sauce is from the comfort of your own home. Yeah. I've actually used that honey butter, um, to, uh, slather, like, to mar not marinate, but at as a binder for like ribs, if you're gonna smoke ribs. Oh Speaker 0 00:31:35 Yeah. That's Speaker 2 00:31:36 A, so you can just put that on and then season it up. Oh, Speaker 0 00:31:40 <laugh>, that sounds good. That Speaker 1 00:31:41 Works. Next time you do those, we're gonna need something that works, <laugh>. You bet. Well, we know you're a busy man and, uh, we thank you for jumping in and, uh, chatting with us. Oh, you bet. Well, dude, of course. We'll, uh, we'll get you back out on the road to wherever you guys are going to next, but thanks so much for coming out here to the luxurious establishment that we have. <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:32:01 Yes, sir. No, thank y'all for having me, man. Been, I feel like it's been a long time coming, so dude, absolutely. We gotta do one of these in person. We'll have to do it again. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:32:08 I'm super thankful to have you out, man. And, uh, can't wait to see you play some music. You Speaker 2 00:32:12 Bet, buddy. Yeah. Thank Speaker 1 00:32:13 You'all. All right guys, thanks so much for listening to the Race Rowdy podcast. Make sure you follow Mike Ryan on his socials. Do you wanna tell him where that is? Speaker 2 00:32:20 So we're on Instagram, uh, Facebook, TikTok, anywhere you wanna find us, uh, Mike Ryan band.com is the best resource to find all of our, uh, our tour dates. If there's any kind of merch, things you're curious about. We've got a nice web store there. And, uh, yeah, anything you wanna know, you can find about on socials, and if you don't see it, holler at me. We Speaker 1 00:32:45 Appreciate it, man. Thank you for coming out. I'm Nikki T Speaker 2 00:32:48 I'm Matt Brill. Speaker 1 00:32:48 And we'll see you in the front row.