Latest / Takin’ A Walk Nashville / Grammy Winner Steve Wariner Talks "Holes in the Floor of Heaven," Dave Mustaine, Blake Shelton and his New Art Exhibit.

Transcript

Grammy Winner Steve Wariner Talks "Holes in the Floor of Heaven," Dave Mustaine, Blake Shelton and his New Art Exhibit. · Takin’ A Walk Nashville

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Taking a Walk Nashville.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Hey listeners, it's Sarah Harrelson, your host of Taking a
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Walk Nashville. Happy July everyone. I have such a special
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: guest on today's episode.
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: I took a drive.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Down to Franklin, Tennessee, and took a walk into Steve
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Warner's art studio in his home. So special. He invited
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: me in to see his works of art and we
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: talked about his music career and his current art exhibit.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: It's at mont Haven Art and Cultural Center in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: The exhibit Flip Side Paintings by Steve Warner. It runs
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: through July twenty sixth, so definitely check it out if
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: you are in Nashville or Hendersonville. We talk about his
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: sixty works of art spanning thirty years, as well as
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: his music career. I got to see the art exhibit
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: And it's incredible.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: He is such a genuine songwriter and musician. So I
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: hope you will join us for our conversation today.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Taking a Walk Nashville with your host, singer
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: songwriter Sarah Harrelson.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Hi, everyone, this is Sarah Harrelson, your host of the
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Taking a Walk Nashville podcast and listeners. Today, I am
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: sitting here with musical artist and songwriter Steve Warner in
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: his art studio and Franklin, Tennessee.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: So cool.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Apparently this is the first time you've had anyone in here.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Correct, that is true. It actually feels kind of odd,
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: and I love it that you're here. I don't mean
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: it that way, but it feels odd because I'm always
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: alone in here. I'm always painting. Even my life care
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: and she stays out there pretty much because I would
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: usually have odd smells or some kind of linseed oil
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: or something. But yeah, I'm always alone. So it feels
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: great to have comedy today. Thank you very.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Ellie, Thank you for having us and for listeners. To
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: give you some background, you may know Steve as a
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Grammy winning multi instrumentalist known for his hits, Holes on
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: the Floor of Heaven and What I Didn't Do. But
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: did you guys know that he is also a different
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: type of artists.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Steve has spent most of his life.
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  Speaker 2: Simultaneously pursuing his passion of painting. In July Mont Haven
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  Speaker 2: Arts and Cultural Center in Hendersonville, Tennessee, they will be
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: shining a spotlight on Warner's visual artworks and the flip
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  Speaker 2: side paintings by Steve Warner. This exhibit will run through
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  Speaker 2: June twenty first through July twenty sixth, so please check
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: it out if you're in town. It features sixty works
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: from Steve spanning thirty years. I can't wait to check
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: it out tomorrow.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: Oh cool, Thank you for having me.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: Glad you're here. And the talking about art is so fun.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: It's very different for me because I usually jump right
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: in talking about the music stuff, you know, I never
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: discuss art. So it's really a breath of fresh in
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: a way. So yeah, I'm grateful.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: I'm really excited to talk about your visual art, the
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: works and this art exhibit. It features oil, acrylic, watercolor.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: And mixed media.
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  Speaker 2: As I mentioned, it features sixty work spanning thirty years.
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  Speaker 2: So when you look back at a canvas you painted
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: nearly three decades ago versus one you painted more recently
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  Speaker 2: like this one, can you see a shift in your
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: emotional landscape?
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: Totally? Most definitely, Sarah, you can. As a matter of fact,
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: I was going to take this down. I'll bet that
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: it's this is a work in progress. So if anyone
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: is seeing this it's a behind us is a large
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  Speaker 4: oil painting, but it's a landscape. But no, I can
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: see a difference too, And I can when I see
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: my work, you know. For example, I'm looking at a
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: piece across there. To me, that's a that is Smoky
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: Mountains for me, and it takes me back to play
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: in the days when I would play over there. It's
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: been a while since I played there, but well, actually
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: we just played BlackBerry Farm not long ago, eight months
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: ago or so. But yeah, these all I can see
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  Speaker 4: the styles change, and I can see the different moods
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  Speaker 4: and they take you back, you know. I can see
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: some of them are kind of wacky, like that one
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  Speaker 4: up there, it's kind of weird. But but the styles
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: are all over the place, and I think that's a
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  Speaker 4: lot like my music. I love all kinds of music, bluegrass, classical, country,
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  Speaker 4: you know, I like just about every kind of music,
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  Speaker 4: and I listened to it all the time, you know,
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  Speaker 4: different styles. So I really think it's a reflection my heart,
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: is a real reflection of my musical taste. You know.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's beautiful.
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  Speaker 2: And there's a lot of musicians that can't draw or
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: paint well, and you.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: Know, vice versa. But this gift also seems to run
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: in your family.
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  Speaker 2: Your brother David's a professional illustrator as well.
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  Speaker 4: Correct he is. Yeah, he's done a lot of cool
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  Speaker 4: stuff magazines and probably some things that we've all seen
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: before in magazine. And you don't realize that he's done
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: some ads and things for some big time magazines through
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  Speaker 4: the years. But I always joked about David. I always
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: said he's the number one, he's the black sheep of
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: our family. But I said, also, he's the real artist.
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  Speaker 4: I've always chasing him, you know. So he's really a
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  Speaker 4: brilliant artist. He went to school, he went to Indiana University,
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: hair in School of Music at IU. You know. So
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  Speaker 4: he's a real deal artist. And I love his work
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  Speaker 4: and I've learned so much from him. Very cool.
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  Speaker 2: You definitely have a talented family. And I want to
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  Speaker 2: talk about one of the works and your exhibit, one
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: of your watercolors, Happy New Year Dad. It captures a
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: deeply personal family memory of your father's band on stage.
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  Speaker 2: What was it like translating that memory into art?
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  Speaker 4: Well, that that to me, that's one of my favorite
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  Speaker 4: things I've done. It's a watercolor and I did It's
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  Speaker 4: a real washy, loose, free style. When you see it,
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  Speaker 4: it's not overdone. It's one of those quick fast paintings
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  Speaker 4: that happened, and I just left it kind of as
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: it is, as it happened. But for me, it represents
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: my childhood, my musical childhood with my dad, because he
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: would practice his band. They would practice one for a
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: long time. They would practice one night a week at
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: our house, and my dad had a regular job, but
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: they would set up in our living room and play music.
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: And I just love that. I just I knew at
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: that point that I needed and wanted to learn how
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: to play guitar. And I was nine ten years old
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: learning how to play guitar and bass. And my dad
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: was a real patient man, a real patient teacher, and
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  Speaker 4: I love that. And around that same period, it's when
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: there was a photograph taken of my dad and his
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  Speaker 4: band playing New Year's at American Legion of in Indiana,
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  Speaker 4: and that old black and white photo is what I
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: used is reference for that painting, and so it's kind
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: of my interpretation of that. And my dad has a
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: little New Year's Eve had on and playing probably playing
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: old Lang's Eye, and you knows have to But to me,
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  Speaker 4: that really takes me back to those days when I
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: was a kid. My dad was smart too. He always
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: had a tape recorder, so I was around tape taping
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: music at an early age because he I remember him,
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: you know, reeling tape and what. He never had great equipment.
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: It was always probably a cheap tape recorder, but it
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: was he always had one, and he had steel guitars
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  Speaker 4: laying around and lap steals and so it's just a
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  Speaker 4: cool upbringing, you know. And I thought every family was
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: like that for a long time.
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  Speaker 2: That's so special to translate that into art. And I
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  Speaker 2: saw that you did refer to that water color as washy.
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  Speaker 3: What is What does that mean?
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  Speaker 4: Well, that means for me, that means you are lots
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  Speaker 4: of water. You know, in the world of watercolors, you know,
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: they always talk about lots of water, lots of water.
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: And then careful with your bead. They call it the bead.
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: When it's if you painting on an angle, gravity will
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: make it come down and where it just kind of stops,
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: they call that a bead. And so you're always watching that.
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  Speaker 4: But for me, washing is when I use I've used
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: these big Japanese brushes and then big spaces. I'll just
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  Speaker 4: I'm haphazardly probably would be the right word. I'll i'll
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: just start mixing colors. Let me back up. First of all,
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: when I start a watercolo, I have everything laid out,
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  Speaker 4: kind of like you're going into surgery almost. I have
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  Speaker 4: all my utensils laid out, and then I dive in
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  Speaker 4: and then I start just a loose wash, you know, washes.
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  Speaker 4: Then okay, let me add this color. And it's all
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: before it dries, because it's the minute it's on the paper,
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: it's going to be dry very soon. So you work quickly.
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  Speaker 4: And then I have little spritzes that I spray it with,
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  Speaker 4: and I have a blow dryer and stuff that I
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: can if I want it to dry quickly, I can,
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  Speaker 4: so I can go with another layer. But I know
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: I'm rambling on with your ants. But the watching stuff
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  Speaker 4: is just where you go fast and it's and then
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  Speaker 4: you go, oh, look what that did. I like to
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: call those happy little accidents, you know, and then you go, well,
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  Speaker 4: that's really nice how that happened. Let's see if I
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  Speaker 4: can make that happen again on this side or whatever. So,
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: but watercolors for me, are beautiful because you never know
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: what you get. It might just kind of slap it
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  Speaker 4: on and you go, oh that's cool. I love that.
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  Speaker 4: So it just happens, you know.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's very cool to learn about. You've had such
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: a successful career in music, so appreciate it.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: When you become inspired.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: How do you decide if you're picking up a guitar
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: or picking up a paintbra.
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: That is a great question right there. I think it's
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: the mood. It's probably the mood that I'm in. And
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: lately it's been more on the art side. I'm certainly
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: with this show, you know, I've been my brain has
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: been more directed toward working on the show, working on
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: the art show. But and then last month I ran
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: down to San Antonio and I flew down and did
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: a show in San Antonio. So I just switched about
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: a week out. I just and I hate to do
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: it because I love painting. Almost every morning I come
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: out in pain. But I just had to shut down.
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: When I have a show or when I do the
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: opera or something, I just shut down and then I
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: work on that because I want to stay away from
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: here and just focus. And then I'm in that building
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: over there across the way. I go to my studio
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: and drag out some of my guitars and start working
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: on music or writing writing songs too. I'll have writers
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: come out and we'll ride out here. So I just
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: shift gears, try to shift gears and be in that mode.
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: But some days I wake up and I go, you know,
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: today's I just feel like playing today. I need to
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: work on a couple of songs. I got a couple
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: songs I'm in the middle of right now actually, and
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: so I'm rossas hear my son from LA. We're going
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: to work on a couple things while he's here, and
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: so I'm shifting gears all the time. Then I'll come
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: back to the art. I'm back and forward. So it's
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: really a nice way to do it because it's a
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: nice release, you know, and it's it's it's the same
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: creative outlet, you know. I mean, there are different outlets,
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: but it's still creative, you know. So it really is
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: fulfilling that way.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: And you can put a lot of your musical memories
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: into art.
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  Speaker 4: As well totally. And a lot of times, as you know,
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: you play shows, you go out on the road, and
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: sometimes I'll carry my life will be with me and go,
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: oh my gosh, look at that over there. I got
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: to paint that, you know. But I'm doing music shows. Well,
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: I may be out out west or whatever while or
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: somewhere and then I just, oh, I gotta I'll take
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: I have a camp. I usually sometimes I take my
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: big camera with big lenses and I'll take you know,
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: I can reach real far and take some cool pictures
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: and then use those. I don't plane air paint much,
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: you know, where you're in the field painting. Normally, I'll
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: take pictures and come home and do it. But but
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: I do it every way. And sometimes I'll paint as
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: I sit there sometimes or mostly i'll do I don't
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: do that as much, but mainly I'll take pictures and
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: or I remember it. A lot of times, I just
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: remember this painting behind you. I'm doing that Arizona type picture.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: That's totally memory. I didn't didn't look at anything for that,
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: but so I don't know. I'm all over the place
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: with that. We are, you know, trying to trying to
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: come up with something creative.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: Do you listen to music while you paint?
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: Most definitely always.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: We're usually listening to it.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: I love it. That's great. I'll probably be listening to you.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna go listen to your music, but I'm going
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: I listened to a lot of classic country. I'll listen
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: to country, but I do listen to classical music too.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: I'll listen to a lot of piano music, this classical stuff.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: You know, it just varies. Sometimes one of my favorites.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: I'll listen to Gladys Knight sometimes, and then I'll listen
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: to Michael McDonald. The other day, I was I drop names,
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: but I've had we played together, Michael McDonald and I
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: played together not long ago, and and with Steve and so,
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: you know, immediately I started listening to when I next day,
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: I'm painting Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald, you know, and so
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: Toto and stuff. So but I'm all over the place.
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: But a lot of times, I just occasionally I'll just
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: go back and listen to old fifties or sixties country,
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: some like Fair and Young or Bob Bloom And I
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: worked with Bob. I played in this band as a kid.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: So I listened to just different people's opry, folks from
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: the sixties, you know. I just love all the old country.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love it, and steps away from your art
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: studio as your recording studio, and you've had a lot
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: of people come in and out recording music in that
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: studio over the past few decades.
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: I have. That's correct. I like to brag that, and
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: it's true. Jerry Reid recorded his last two projects with
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: Gordon Kennedy produced those albums. He did two projects and
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: we brought players out here and Jerry, it's funny you
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: have an elevator in the corner of the right corner.
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: Wh's a funny story, Karen. Actually, when we built that
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: building in two thousand and one, we actually had the
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: elevator before we even had the foot board for the building.
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: We've found an elevator. We built the plans around our lift.
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: But Jerry would always go, I'm going to take the
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: Jerry Read elevator up, and so we'd always go steps
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: and Jerry, every time we go to lunch, he come
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: back and say, I'm going in the Jerry Read elevator.
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: He would just all he loved riding that elevator. And
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: so when he passed away, I had a sign made
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: that says the Jerry Reader. Yeah, so that is the
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: Jerry read elevator.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: That's so cool.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: I love that he was the best.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: I have a fun question for you.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: So, if you had to pick one musical artist you
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: have worked with who you think would make the most
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: interesting subject for a painted portrait, he would you pay?
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: Oh, Blake Shelton probabably cool. I just worked with him recently.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: We wrote a song together on this new album, and
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: he is the craziest. I've known him forever, and I've
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: known him since the Mulled days when he had a
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: real way down here here. But so I've known him
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: since the mid eighties, but when he first came out.
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: But Jesu is funny, you know he would be. That
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: would be a day that you would never forget. If
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: I brought him my hair and said, hey, sit well.
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: First of all, you could probably never get him to
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: sit still that long. Yeah, But but Garth would be
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: good too. Garth would be fun to do.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: Well, now you have to do a painting of Boake.
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: I know, see, now, I gotta do it. I don't
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: know that he would ever agree to do it, or
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: sit still long enough. He'd probably go Warner, I gotta
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: get out of here.
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: You know, you would have to take a picture.
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: You would now I could take pictures and do it.
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: That's probably what I'd have to do.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more of the Taking a
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Walk Nashville Podcast. Welcome back to Taking a Walk Nashville.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Well, transitioning into music, you've earned fourteen number one hits.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: You are one of only five guitar players in the
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: world to receive a certain guitar player ward.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: By chet Atkins.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: When you think back to the start of your career, Steve,
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: who would you say guided you along the way?
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: Was it Dottie West who.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: Was a man? What? You're really good? That's great stuff.
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: That's a great question. Uh, I would first, I would
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: say my father probably, that's only because he I was
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: really inspired by his record collection he had. He we
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: didn't have tons of money, I know, we didn't later
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: realized we did not, but with a house full of kids.
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: But he always occasionally would buy albums. And when he
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: bought albums, they were always great albums. His taste, you know,
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: George Jones. And when later when Merle Haggard came around,
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: he was buying, you know, and he would buy Merle
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: Travis Records. Chad Adkins a lot of guitar players. He
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: was a musician, so he was looking at it from
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: that angle, and a songwriter. He wrote, he could really
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: write songs. And but I was always inspired, you know.
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: I remember Johnny Cash Records and Hank Williams Senior, Loving Brothers,
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: and you know, just totally inspired by all of his
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: music and his taste was impeccable. So I was, you know,
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: taught the right way. I think so. But other than that,
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: I would say certainly number one Dotty West. I worked
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: with her for three years, and she was like my
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: big sister. She was. They asked me if I have
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: masked where I went to school. I say, the Dotty
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: West Conservatory of Music. I went on the road with her,
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: and that's where I graduated with her. I went three
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: years on the road with her and learned a ton.
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: And then Chad Atkins. I worked with Bob Luhman after
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: her for a couple of years. He was a great entertainer.
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: I can't even begin to emphasize how much I learned
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: just about working a crowd, be it work doing a show,
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: being a showman, or trying to entertain. He was just
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: a consummate pro and was brilliant and he recorded my
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: first cuts I ever had as a writer. He cut
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: and Johnny Cash produced those four tracks, and I was
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: in the studio with Johnny Cash and require played on
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: those records in nineteen seventy six out of house of Cash,
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: and so being around these people was so inspiring and
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: I learned so much. After Bob Luman, I've worked with
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: Chad Atkins. He signed me to RCA, and then about
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: a year into working with him, he asked me to
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: come on the road and tour with him, at which
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: I did and played bass in the band. And while
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: we were trying to make a hit record and kept
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: working at it, and finally when I got my first
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: top ten hit, he fired me from the band. So
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: broke my heart, oh my goodness, and gave me the
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: blues and broke my heart. He called me and we
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: had it was a song called Your Memory, and it
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: was top ten, then went to seven, and he called
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: me in his office and goes, hey, Warner, you got
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: your first top ten And I go, yes, sir, you know, yeah,
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: how about that? And he goes, that's really great. You're fire,
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: Oh my goodness. But if you go to get fired,
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: I mean, come on, you know, but he was to
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: doing it. I love to get me out on the road,
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: get my own band, which I did and.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: It all worked out for the best.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: And then in nineteen ninety eight year song Holes on
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: the Floor of Heaven it was released. I want to
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: know where did the inspiration from this song came from.
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: I wrote that song with Billy Kersh and he came
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: to our house. We were sitting in that living room
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: right there, and Billy, we were just sitting having coffee
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: one morning and we were thinking about what to write.
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: And here's how smart I am that day. Let's write
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: something real up tempo, real rocking up tempo song. And
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: Billy said, yeah, that sounds great. He was a piano player.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: He is a piano player, a great player. And he goes, yeah,
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: that sounds great. And Karen happened to be in the
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: kitchen and she heard us, and she never we normally
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: would write elsewhere. We were just sitting having coffee, and
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: she actually overheard and she goes, hey, you guys should write.
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: You guys never have done a story song, have you?
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: And that's all she said. She just said, you should
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: do a story song. You'd never done that. We'd written
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: a lot of songs at that point, and so Billy
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: just immediately Billy said, well, I heard a phrase recently
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: that I thought was so interesting, and I go, what
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: is it? And he said, there's holes in the floor
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: of heaven. I go, oh, my gosh, Oh my gosh,
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: you know. And so we just went from there and
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: we started making this not their grandmother passing away, you know,
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: and the story of how it unfolded, and the analogy
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: of you know, the rain, you know, and so forth,
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: and so it just we worked on it. The last
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: verse was the hard as it came around, and we
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: knew while we were writing it. We knew that I mean,
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: I had a feeling and I never try to judge
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: ever while I'm writing a song. Sometimes you have a
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: feeling you go, this is good, this could be really good,
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: and then sometimes you think then it's not. You know,
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: later you go, well I was wrong about that one.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: But this one I kept thinking, this is I this
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: is good. And we even called Karen up to it
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: was now her sewing room, and we brought I brought
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: her up there and we played it for her and
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: she said, oh my gosh, and that's all she said,
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: and we go, oh, let's don't jinxy get out of here,
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: you know. So we we struggled with the last verse,
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: and then I think he came back the next day
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: or a couple of days later, and we finished the
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: last verse. We just went at it all day long,
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: and then he came back a couple days later. We
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: finished it, and then my manager at the time, his
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: mother was in town from Florida, and if we'd just
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: written it a couple of days prior, she was at
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: our office. We had an office downtown on the Square
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: at Franklin, and his mother was sitting there, an elderly lady,
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: and I said, miss Bevan, can I play a song
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: we wrote a couple of days ago. And she goes, yeah,
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: so I'd like to hear that, And I played holes
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: In for Heaven. She could have been the first person
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: that ever heard it other than Karen probably, but and
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: so when it finished, she had a little tear in
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: her eye and she goes, that's really beautiful. I don't
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: ever want to hear that thing again. Oh my goodness,
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: And I go, we have was a good song, I
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: think so. And so I played it for Capitol Records
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: and they go, oh, yeah, we'll have this out next week,
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: and when can you get it recorded? And I go,
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: I mad, he already did it. I'd already gone in
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: and recorded. Wow, it's the first song in my whole
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: career that I had taken in on my own dime
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: between labels. I went in on my own dime and
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: recorded that. I've never done that ever, except for that one.
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: Song you just knew.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Well, thank goodness to your wife Karen for to speak
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: that day.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: And tomorrow's her birthday, perfe.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: So I gotta tell her that so such a unique
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: concept of timeless song that I always tear up when
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: I hear it.
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: I appreciate that. Yeah, that's that's someone called it. Who
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: was it? Some one of the musicians or somebody said
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: that's an industrial strength here jerker in there.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: It really is.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: In addition to that song, you've also read other songs
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: for other country artists, such as Where the Black Top
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Ends by Keith Urban, Nothing but the Tailights by Clint Black.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: But country is not the only genre that you've been
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: involved in.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: Metal icons a my say, I knew regga deeth, yep.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Dave Mustaine, he invited you to perform steel guitar on
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: the band's Dystopia album in twenty fifteen. Were you surprised
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: to get that invite in that they wanted steal guitar
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: on a metal song?
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: Well, see you still get Am I a stell guitar player.
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: I own two steal guitars. I do have steel guitars.
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: Know why that happened? I'd been I played with Dave.
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: I played his daughter recorded an album and I played.
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: He asked me. Dave called and asked play on his
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: daughter's record. I go, yeah, man, I'd love to so,
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: and was great, he's a great singer. And so I
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: played on it. And then we went to lunch one
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: day and Dave said, oh, let me back up. He
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: called later. He called and he said, hey, I got
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: a question for you. Who can I I want steel
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: guitar on this record, a couple of songs on my album.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: I go on your album and he goes, steal guitar,
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: and he goes, I know, I know, And I go, well,
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: I know some really good steel guitar players. And I said, yeah,
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: let me get some names. And I immediately I was
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: thinking Tommy White or you know, Paul Franklin, And there's
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: several you know, they're just wonderful Mike Johnson, Bruce Bouten,
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: that are real deal, incredible steel guitar players. There are
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: my pals, you know. But so he goes, well, I
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: I heard you play steel, and I go, I own
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: some steel guitars. I don't really play by I do
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: play a little bit, and I love it. I look
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: at myself somewhat as a steel player, but not on
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: nearer those guys. But so he says, well, I want you,
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: and I go, oh, okay, I go, are you sure
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: about this? And so he goes, yep, I want you.
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: We'll be cutting tomorrow down at Jack's try. Whatever it was,
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: I forget the studio was called, and so I loaded
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: up my m and steel and drove my pickup down
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: there and we cut a couple of songs. I think
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: two on that. I think the album is called Dystopia,
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: I think is the name of the record. And there
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: I was on a they mustaye the Megadeath Records.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: Did you find it challenging recording it?
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: I did. I did because it's totally not It wasn't anything.
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: He wanted me to emulate some lines that he had played.
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: He's a really good guitar player and so he wanted
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: me to play these lines that he played. So it
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: took me my moment because it's out of my I
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: liked it because it got me out of my wheelhouse.
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: You know. It's like art. I want to try anything, pottery.
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: I'll try whatever I want to try, whatever's the next
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: new thing that's challenging, I'll try it, and if I fail,
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: I fail, it's all right, But I don't want to
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: do it with Dave Mustains sitting there, you know, And
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: there I was with my steel. He was right to Siami,
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: an engineer, and so I was trying to copy off
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: his licks and I did, you know, And then he wanted, oh,
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: try this, and I was just doing whatever he wanted
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: and trying to trying to add add my two cents
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: in there. So it turned out pretty cool. Metal is
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: not my thing typically, although I like him a lot.
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: He's a dear friend, and I admire his skill because
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: he's really a good player. But I find it fine.
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: When I say that to people that I played on
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: their records, they go say, what, But I mean, I've
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: been lucky. I played with Mark Knopfler, I played with
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: the you know, really a lot of cool people you
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: know bluegrass bands. You know Mark O'Connor and Ricky Skagg's events.
• 26:51
  Speaker 4: We did. We want to grab me for that new
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: National Cats. You know. I've been lucky to get to
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: play on a lot of cool projects, you know, with
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: different artists just as a player, you know, so that's
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: always fun. And chet Adkins of course played on a
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: lot of his records, and he was always kind of
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: asked me to play on stuff. You know, he at
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: least I want you on this. Get over here? You
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: what I did? I was on his Christmas album once
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: he called me to come to his house. So it's
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: called East Tennessee Christmas. This album. It's beautiful album. And
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: I'm saying he wanted me to sing I'll be home
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: for Christmas or uh, yeah, I'll be home for Christmas.
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: That's right. Which the arrangement was just gorgeous, you know,
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: strings and stuff. So it's always uh you know a Trea,
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: you know, something different.
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: Very cool. And you were born on Christmas?
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: So do you like playing on Christmas music?
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: I do love Christmas music, I gotta admit. Uh. People say,
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: how is it being born on Christmas? They go, you
• 27:48
  Speaker 4: don't want to find out it's not it's not pretty,
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: you know so, but no, it's a it's a there
• 27:55
  Speaker 4: were a house full of kids. I didn't know any different,
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: you know, really, that's uh I did, though, I would
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: learn about the fourth grade. Oh, that's what a birthday
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: party is like. I never knew of that, what a
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: birthday party looked like. So you don't have a birthday
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: party on Christmas Day. That will not have.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: Well, you're doing Christmas in July by celebrating the exhibit.
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: There you go. I like that. We actually did a
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: We actually I've recorded a Christmas album, my first Christmas.
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: Brown Banister produced it, and it was it's I've really
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: love this. Of all the records I've ever done, and
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: I've done thirty five albums or whatever it is, it's
• 28:35
  Speaker 4: the only one that I'll actually put on and to
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: listen to the others. Yeah, it's okay, I'm good, but
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: that one I'll put on and listen to it every Christmas.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: Only because Brown Banister and you know the strings we
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: went to Ireland recorded with the Chieftains and they're on
• 28:52
  Speaker 4: that record, and Nancy Griffith's on there and more O'Connor
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: and O'Connell excuse me, and I really love that album
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: a lot, and it's a for me, it's quintessential Christmas
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: because it's old style like strings and really big arrangements
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: and stuff. And we when we cut it, it was
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: in the middle of July and we had just to
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: make it festive and feel like Christmas. We hung up
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: Christmas decorations in July at the Bennett House in Franklin,
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: and we had a Christmas dinner with turkey, un dressing
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: and stuff. So all the players couldn't believe it, you know,
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: they were like, oh, we're having a Christmas dinner, but
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: it made sense. Yeah, you have to do it.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, you have to get in the Christmas spirit
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: espectually because most Christmas songs are recorded in the summer.
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: Totally. Hey, you're right, very cool.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: We've done a little a little bit of everything. It's
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: been so fun speaking well.
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: Thanks. I appreciate that. Yeah, it's fun. You are really Uh.
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: I like your deep diving. Man, it's you. It's not
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: your typical stuff. I love that. Thank you for caring
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: and doing that. That's great. It's good stuff.
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: I love getting in the road of everything. Your art
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: exhibit Flip Side paintings by Steve Warner. It's open now
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: until July twenty sixth at mont Haven Arts and Cultural
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: Center in Hendersonville. This art museum is housed in one
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: of Tennessee's Antebellum mansions. They have featured ceramic art from
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: Picasso to evening gowns of Princess Diana and now paintings
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: from Steve Warner.
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: I say that again, what no, no, Sorry, that's sounding funny. Picasso,
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: Warner what.
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: I love it.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: This place is cool because it also is an art
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: school and it provides healing arts to underserved children, families,
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: and veterans.
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: So I hope people will go check it out. Check
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: out the exhibit. Steve. I have one last question for you.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Today we are on taking a walk Nashville, So I
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: want to know what's the most memorable walk you have
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: taken in Nashville.
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I love this show. I love your stuff.
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: The most memorable you know what? Uh, it would probably
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: be years ago I went on a walk. Chad Atkins
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: used to walk a lot around his when he moved
• 31:12
  Speaker 4: to his building on seventeen, he moved out of the
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: RCA building and he moved into his beautiful big Victorian.
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: What was his offices? And he would he got into
• 31:24
  Speaker 4: a real health thing where he would walk a lot.
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: And so we went on a walk one day, and
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: that would probably be the one I would say. Is
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: I remember walking up seventy Avenue. We walked down by
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: ray Stevens office, who was Chet's buddy. By the way,
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: Let's go see what Raymond's doing, you know, But he
• 31:39
  Speaker 4: wasn't there, but just walking down Music Road back in
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: the back in the day with ched Atkins. You know,
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: it was pretty pretty cool. I'd love to go back
• 31:48
  Speaker 4: and do it again. I'll tell you that much if
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: I could, you know, so maybe painting of it, you
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: know what, Man, I like that idea. That'd be nice.
• 31:57
  Speaker 4: Wasn't they a music city or record? Say? Yeah, I'm
• 32:01
  Speaker 4: already thinking of the title. What the premise would be?
• 32:04
  Speaker 4: I love that.
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: That's a perfect answer, Steve It. Thank you for opening
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: your art.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: Studio and home to us today. Everyone should go check
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: out your art exhibit and here Hendersonville for the month
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: of July.
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: Thank you again.
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: Thanks Sarah, You're great, Thank you.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with Sarah Harrelson.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: Please check out our other shows produced by Buzznight Media
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Productions Comedy Save Me and Music Save Me hosted by
• 32:34
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• 32:38
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