Latest / Happy Hour with Deb / Robert Bacon on Building a Career in Country Music & Having the Right Team Ep109

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Robert Bacon on Building a Career in Country Music & Having the Right Team Ep109 · Happy Hour with Deb

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's there's no I and team.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: And that that'd be what I'd tell these young kids coming here too.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta have the right team.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, right.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, do writers rounds.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, do all of that.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: But also you gotta have the right team of people.
• 0:25
  unknown: Hey, this is Deb.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's Happy Hour with Deb, and today I've got my old dear friend Robert Beacons with me today.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's good to see you.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: You too.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's good.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, always.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: We're just talking.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a little minute.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I've seen you since September.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: September, yeah, or October.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh on a panel speaking, and thank you so much for coming.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it was CRS.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: CRS is the last time I shot you.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Didn't you come?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Wasn't I speaking at something?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for coming.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Just support me.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: I really I have so much appreciated.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: It was a fun event.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was a really fun event.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good that's a good venue.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: That is an incredible venue.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: And um it felt really good.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: I've got some more stuff coming up for speaking and stuff.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: So, how's life?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: What's been going on since our last like official interview at the CRS?
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Just busy.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh uh my last single just released um in November is Crazy Over You.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: No, actually, it released in this no, excuse me.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: The Christmas Record released middle of December.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Do you always release a Christmas album?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: I try to.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, because that's I mean, that's a whole year worth of writing right there.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: So the Christmas record came out um first week of December, and then Crazy Over You, which is out now at radio, it came out uh first week of January, and then my next single comes out in a week, and it's Walker Chevrolet.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you have another one coming out in a week.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: In a week, yeah.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then the full record, uh Drink and Thinkin', the full album comes out.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: I love that Drink and Thinkin' is such a great full album comes out, I think, the first week of March.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Holy smokes.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: And then we've got we're on the books for three or four more this year.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Holy smokes.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Four more records this year, yeah.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: So you've just been writing, recording, writing, recording, traveling.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's been my focus.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Holy smokes, that's so impressive.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Getting as much material out there as I can on Spotify, on YouTube, and you know, getting ready to, you know, for my set.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: Play.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, just doing that.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Are you scheduled to play?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, not CRS.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm playing at CRS.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's so I'm so happy.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: What day are you playing?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm not sure the date yet.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: Trevor Perkins, my publicist, is actually he rented a room which is right next to um Big Loud's room.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I they're doing uh a featured artist all three days, and I'm doing one of those days.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: That is incredible.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: So, first time I've ever played CRS, it's gonna be fun.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's really funny for the viewers who don't know what the CRS, it's the country radio seminar.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: So they essentially get these incredible artists and press and lock us in the Omni.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's interviews and great music and great fun.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I love it.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: I had so ridiculous much fun last year.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like almost like, how could this be a job fun?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then a week ago, I just played the Daryl Singletary uh Benefit concert.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, I saw out at the palace.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: That was fun.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: We sold out.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: It was a sold-out event.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so I opened up for that, and it was just it was just incredibly great.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is my fourth year, third or fourth year doing that.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: That is amazing.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: But you're really you're hustling out there.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there I could be doing a lot more, but I've kind of been taking it a little slower lately.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: The December break and the snow and ice that we got was nice because you can't do anything.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: How long were you out of power for?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: We didn't, we weren't out of power, but we it was just it was fun because you can't get out, you can't do anything.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Can't do anything.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Did you?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I love it.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: We need that little break, that reset.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know a lot of people.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Mitch lost power for like I don't know, 13 days or something.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: I know a lot of my friends had power, they were like two, three weeks without power.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that is crazy.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm so happy that you have that mindset that you're gonna switch it into like let me take a break.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, good for you.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: Because you know, we're heading marching.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, everybody here was going nuts, but my wife's from Michigan, and they get 20 inches of snow all the time.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right they totally do, they can't even get out there back.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: We got a ton in Philadelphia and then uh we got like two feet of snow, and then it iced over and it hasn't gotten any warmer, so it's still there.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: Still there.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, please we need a slow rain, like 50 degree day just to melt everything because it was crazy.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy you got to just chill though.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's fun.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: I I like it.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: I I would I mean, those days are just fun because there's just nothing, nobody can get out.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, did you do the old food shopping$400 worth of grocery store?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody did, right?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody did, everybody went nuts.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: My Uber driver yesterday told me she stayed in one of the hotels for almost two weeks.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I had several friends that did that.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: But luckily, we have a grocery store in our neighborhood, so it's like two blocks to walk through the store.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: You can kind of walk to it.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just easy to walk to the store, you know.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, nice.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: How's it working with the other artists that you help out?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: We are uh we're we're I mean, we're doing a lot.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: We're doing a lot.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to a show tomorrow night out at the palace because Jordan Moore, who is on our label, he's performing out there a battle of the bands.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: So we're going out to uh uh support him.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's great.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's the inspiration behind the music that's that's being written now?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: All my stuff.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: So we are so this this country records coming out.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: Then behind that, I've got um another Christmas record.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: I've got another country.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: How long does it take to get a Christmas album together?
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: Man, it took it probably took I mean, we started in March of last year writing it, and we released it in December.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: But that's every day.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's sometimes that's sometimes that's three co-writes a day, sometimes that's and then you gotta funnel through what you're gonna release.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we've got a lot of good people coming out, and then I'm also so I'm doing the country record this year, another country record this year, a Christmas record this year, and then we're doing Robert Bacon and Friends Christmas, which is gonna have about 35, 40 artists on there.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: That is the book.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right, think about that because if each artist is putting that out on their social media, holy smoke.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: You can do you can do writers rounds with that, you can rent the Franklin Theater with that, you can do tour with that.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: There's so many things.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: So many things.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just it's it's it's so amazing.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Is this a collaboration of your favorites or just people that you know or no?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's we're writing our own, it's all original material being written, and it's people that like Becca Bowen, Kirsty Krauss, I mean Justin Love, big people that we work with all the time.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: So the snow gave you a break.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Do you ever just take like a week off?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: What do you do for you?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you like I just I need a day?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: We we used to go out of town a lot, we go to Florida a lot, but we haven't traveled lately a lot lately, but we're going too soon.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think you need you definitely need a break so you can sure.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody does.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, amen.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I kind of was like that when we got the snow too, because then I knew like Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, like there was nothing anybody could do.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, this is kind of nice just to be at home.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't lose any power, thank God.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if anybody left on the East Coast, but it was really just a really nice break.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you'll have to be sure and come by um uh Perkins Publicities booth at the when you you know when you at the Omni when you go to the book.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, I totally will.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you know, Big Loud's always got that first room.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: We're in the second room.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, yeah, Big Loud does have.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: We actually have an artist that's touring right now that is on the show a bunch of times.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: Our label is actually um gonna have, you know, we're gonna have stuff in there too.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that's awesome.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's such an exciting week, though, isn't it?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: I love the CRs.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think everybody needs to go to that.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: I do too.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: I people tell me all the time it's not for artists.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it it kind of is.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Doing interviews, you're doing you're you're meeting label heads, you're meeting radio people.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's always artists downstairs.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's a crazy party every night.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: There is every night.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, it's it's worth the the we shot a lot of interviews last year.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you did?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: We did.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: We shot a lot of interviews.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: I interviewed with you.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yep.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yep.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: So what do you tell to the like 17-year-old that wants to grab a guitar and come to Nashville?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Man, you know, they uh the biggest thing is just finding the right crowd of people that that are going to support your music and and you as an individual artist, because there's so many people out there that will just they'll just take you for everything you got.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: They'll tell you where there's fish, there's sharks.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: They'll tell you, you know, you're the greatest, and you may not be, or you may be, you know.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they'll tell you things and it's just not true.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: They'll I mean you just gotta find the right people.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: How do you go about doing that?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you're an artist and you're coming here, is it a gut feeling?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Is it do a lot of research?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: I've been blessed because my producer is also our worship leader at church.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no, yeah, and he's big musician, big producer, and and that's what really was the key to my success.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: Because I, you know, I would do projects, I would, you know, they would never get finished, or you know, because you're trying the producers are always looking for the next big thing.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you may not be that next big thing, right?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: So they may never finish your project, they may never it's just yeah, I've heard some some pretty awful stories.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think when you're young, um, you know, I coach a lot of artists.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it's very difficult for them to recover.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: One, financially, yeah, right?
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's a huge financial.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's why I moved back.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: I thought this is my third time living here.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because, you know, you give up, you you know, nothing's happening, why am I here?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: Right, you know, kind of thing.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh many people have done that, many artists have done that.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: Many people have done that.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: What brought you back?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: My wife, actually, because I had a lot of friends here, and you know, we luckily she found a very, very nice place for us to live.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: And it keeps your mind off of when you have a nice place to live, we live in a a really nice community, and when there's always events going on, we sponsor some of the events there and some of the music events, and uh when you have things to keep your mind off of, uh those challenging moments, it makes it easier to get through it.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I hear the younger artists talk about this all the time.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: That it's really you just I mean, they need to just but here's another thing you you you gotta be present to win.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: You can't be in the gotta be in it to win it.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: You you can't be in another state and think it's gonna work for you because it's not.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: I've heard that so many times that if you want to make it here you can't.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because you gotta get out and you gotta like mingle and talk to people and go to all these events.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but to meet the right people.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then when you when you meet good people that can get you where you want to go, that's where you need to stay.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of people will find certain things and they'll find somebody that'll like Michael Seth, that'll work with them, but then when they don't you when they when somebody promises them something better, uh they don't stay with where they should have stayed, and then it takes them years to get back to that point.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Michael has great artists, yeah.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: They really incredible but you guys have some incredible talent.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's amazing, but I think it's so you know, we were talking about the power of one person changing, you know, and and how to get into that room because where there's an opportunity, there's an opportunity to be taken advantage of.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's so.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: But just because somebody else offers you something bigger, like Sony or whatever, doesn't mean that's the next that's the next best thing.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's a it's really about the people in your group.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we've talked about this before, you and I have on different podcasts that you've had me on, you know.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's getting in the right.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's getting in the right and then you gotta stay there no matter how hard it gets.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right, exactly.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that's the you know, the lightning in a bottle moments if you come here in June and then you sign a record, you know, deal in December, and like that's few and far between.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Do you tell them?
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Do you would you tell your artists like play as much as you can, get anywhere you can get something?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, writers rounds.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: I I I was doing those, you know, four or five times a month.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, but I haven't done any this year yet.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: I was one, I was at one of Michael's went, yeah, and it was great.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: And they had been on the show that day, so it was a really powerful kind of thing, you know.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: How do they start out?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what do you tell your artists that are you know working with you guys?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like play everywhere, do every like do writers' rounds as much as you can.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: Even if you're not out touring, you still should get out as much as you can to keep your chops up, right?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: Do writers' rounds because people notice you doing that.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: Even if it's at Live Oak or if it's at distillery, wherever it's at, do it.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Do you still do it?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't done any this year yet.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of writers, but at last year I did a lot.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think people love writers' rounds.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think you're listening to incredible talent up there.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Without having to buy a ticket.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you might hear a song that a year later is a number one.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't a number one in the case?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: You just never know, right?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's amazing.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: I love the concept of that.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: That you know, you get, and it's pure music.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to buy a ticket, you're not forced to buy swag, you don't, you know, you go and you have a good drink and you get to see this incredible talent.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I love do you guys like advertise it out like advertises it all the time.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: So does Olam Wallace.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: I work with him, he does a round two at Live Oak, and I work with him too.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: We write with Live Oak is a great spot.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's a great spot.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: I played there when it was Doghouse.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's only been revamped in the last two years, right?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: Two years, yeah, I think two years.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's crazy.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: So where's the where does the inspiration come for Christmas?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you're pumping out a Christmas album, like you know, it's so funny when you talk about Christmas.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: When I first started doing Christmas, a lot of my friends would say, You're stupid, you know, you're not.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I think there's nothing better than Country Christmas.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: And then all of a sudden, I started getting all these songs and movies and winning, you know, the year at the Josie Awards, or winning Best Performance of the Year at the Holiday Film and Music Awards.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: That's so amazing.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: Now they all want to be a part of it because where it's at is film TV in sync.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: That's where it's at.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Because that's a different license agreement for every song.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Every every master.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, so and you may not get a lot of money up front, but it's more about building your your your resume.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then people start knowing you and they want to write with you and and they want to be a part of what you're doing.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because that's a I mean, for a year-long project, that's hard.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: How many songs are on an album?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: So the Christmas record that came out in December is there's 15 on it.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: 15 on it, yeah.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, and you were still pumping out other music.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: That is that's that's you are work, sir.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm involved with with Jason Wyatt and Ben Calhoun and Corey Barker on that stuff.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: And Corey's amazing.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: He he is amazing.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody knows Corey.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would love to meet him.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: He, I think he's got over 1,200, you know, cuts on Hallmark on different Hallmark, different, you know, areas of Christmas.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because that's really where you're gonna see the rewards, all the music in these shows.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's funny because um even when you go into stores, you hear the music, you know, that was written in that.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and too, I don't re-release other Christmas stuff.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: I release my own.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: Because, you know, that's there's and yours is amazing.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: There's so much potential with releasing your own, because then you can get it in a movie, you can get it on film, TV, and sync.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, right you can't do that if you're re-releasing somebody else's music.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: So do you once that's written and you wrap up in December is when you release it, how long do you have to promote?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's a short window to promote.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can promote.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: Here's the thing about Christmas it's so forgiving, and it's every year.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Every year you can count on it.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: Every year you can promote that.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: And you can put a different single out off that record every year.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: That that's why I told all my friends that were like kind of coming down on me for doing Christmas.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, and then now they all want to be part of it.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, right, you know, why would I not do that?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right, because you can count it to come every year, it's not gonna stop.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: People kind of look at me as the Christmas artist, and it's like you're not the Christmas song.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm doing country too, but okay, that's fine.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like you're part mayor of Nashville here, too.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows you.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you can also do a Christmas tour as well.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: So so you can play all throughout the year, and then now you can because I'm busier in November, December, and November, December than any time of the year.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: Because of, you know, different parades I sing in, different.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Right, and promotion just to do the podcast and stuff to get it out there is a lot.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's incredible.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: What's the inspiration on the new music coming out?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: Man, just heartfelt, good, you know, storytelling, you know, country music.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Are you did you write alone or did you No, I had I have co-writers on everything.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's crazy over you is like that too.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: Have you heard it?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: I have, yes.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: What'd you think of it?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I loved it.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was great.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: I loved it.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's amazing.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's at radio now too, and then Walker comes out in a week.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: And next, oh, next week.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Next week.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: He smokes.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: I you're like a machine.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know about that.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's crazy.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: Just a lot of work.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Are you excited for the CRS?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Are you interviewing or are you just going with your own label?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: All of it.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: Well, the label will be there.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: The label will be present in that room as well.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: Then I think I'm doing interviews.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Trevor has me doing interviews with people, and then I'm performing.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you're on our list for interviews.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: I hope so.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Which makes my heart so happy.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: I hope so, yeah.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, totally.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get you in there, don't worry.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like we students.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: Tell Trevor and Carissa, they'll be I'm sure they'll want me in there.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: And how's their baby doing?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: Chrissa's doing great.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the baby is a George.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: She's got a great husband, too.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Dylan's a great guy.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: She's a great guy.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna write soon.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, are they?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's a great guy, too.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: And the baby must be getting because that baby was born almost a year ago, right?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: I think so.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think I'm not sure.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure how to do it.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Clarissa is an amazing person to work with.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, she is.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: She's a good one.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: We love her.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: We love to work with her.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: She's amazing.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: So that's incredible.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: How's family life treating you?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's good.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's always got challenges, but always every day.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Every day.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's exactly right.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I love to come to Nashville and and talk to artists because God is always at the center.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's what we're doing at our at our label in our our franchise group for Sonic.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: He's our CEO.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's going to be good if he's our CEO and we're giving, you know, we're giving part of the money back to him or whatever our board, because we have a board, whatever they decide it needs to go to.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because that's that's unbelievable.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: Man, I just Oh, I need to be able to sip of water for this one because it's gonna be a good idea.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: I just wanna, you know, I just want to keep getting I want the label to be successful.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: I want my family to be successful, be a better husband.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: And you know do you have children?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: You have stepchildren.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: We have a we have an 18-year-old, uh huh.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: We have an 18-year-old wants to be in the industry or no?
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: She wants to be in the music, right?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: She's very talented.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, she plays all kinds of instruments.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but really what I want to see is that I just don't want to see anybody suffer.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's why we're we're we created a board for our sonic restaurants and for the music industry so that the board can make decisions, biblical decisions, based on helping people that need it.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing, and making God our CEO and giving the money back to him however he sees fit.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: Right, and and just doing the right thing.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really good recommendation for artists, too.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like he gave you this talent for a reason.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, you know, it's your job to spread it.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it but it's a business.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, and Michael Seth's great for that because he knows how to he knows how to get the right people and and how to take care of it, and so he kind of runs that side, and then we have a board that runs the Sonic side.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's but is also on the board for the label.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: That is cra I can't imagine how many hours a week you work.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well, but it didn't happen overnight.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I know.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: We're still working through it.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no plan B is what the artists that come from like there you can't have a plan B because in life, in marriages, in music, in everything, you can't have one foot in and one foot out.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: You have to go all in.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: If if that's it, you need to go all in and make sure.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: It is the same way with marriages too.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: You need to be fully in it and fully present in it.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, raising kids and yeah, is your daughter a high school student?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: She's in college.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: She goes to Columbia State, yeah.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: Co congratulations.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: How'd that feel?
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like drop off your baby.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: She's she's she's working through it, she's doing well.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad to hear that.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: She plays the bass, she she's she's just very, very talented when it comes to music.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that's good.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: Really hoping that we can do something with her there too.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's a family business.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: You got to keep it going for sure.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Family business, for sure.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's a family business.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: And which, you know, I can tell you, I don't know a lot of artists that do what you do that run the business side of it too, with the label and and and still pump out incredible music.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: Well, all the credit goes to God, all the credit goes to my wife for supporting me through the hard times, and most of the a lot of the credit too goes to my talented co-writers.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's it.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, people don't realize it takes a lot of people.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: It takes a whole team.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: It takes a whole team.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: There's no eye in team.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: No, and you know, it's really funny.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think people realize that even with the podcast, they're like, You have a media team?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, well, how do you think it gets seen?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's the only way it gets seen.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: You have to, it's there's no eye in team.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, absolutely.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: That that'd be what I'd tell these young kids coming here too.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta have the right team.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, right, yes, do writers rounds, yes, do all of that, but also.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: So you got to have the right team.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's the struggle.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do they know which team is the right team?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like that's a struggle.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's a trial and error, right?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: It took me 15 years.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, they say this is a 10-year town.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't a 10-year town for me.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: It took a lot longer.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I hear that all the time that it's a 10-year town.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: But you also never had a plan B.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: This was just what you were going to do.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's so beautiful because that's the thing.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: It gets I hear a lot of amazing stories, of course, but then I hear a lot of like putting your faith in somebody else's hands and and trusting it to be a process.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really that's it's hard.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: This is a rough thing.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think people realize for all of you that are watching, these people work from sunup to sundown.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: What did I say to you this morning?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: You're the only person I can text at 6 30 in the morning.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yo, like that's it.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're awake all the time.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm a 5 a.m.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: guy, you know, and I try to go to bed early, but sometimes I don't.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know, sometimes it's midnight.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta get you gotta.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: But I get that from the business world.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, a lot of problems that some of these artists have is they know how to be an artist, but they don't know how to they don't know how to run it as a business.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: They don't have people skills.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: That's a big deal.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: I work with a lot of artists on that.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: How to get into bigger rooms, yeah, how to know you gotta have people skills, you gotta know how to talk to people, and you gotta run it as a business, and you gotta have tenacity.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta have tenacity.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Beautiful word, right?
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you have to stand up for yourself.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like if it doesn't feel right, it's not right.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's exactly what it is.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if it's your gut is telling you it's wrong, it's totally wrong.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: But I think they they really struggle with that.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I can imagine, you know, because you everybody comes here with a dream.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: And well, too, and you and what I've had to learn the hard way is not talking about what I'm doing, because people will steal that idea.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: And they'll take what you, you know.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody's always got a sales pitch and they always want something to do with it.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they say that about life.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: If it's something like that, you've got to be so careful with talking about what you do.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I've I've I've had to struggle and fight through that.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm sure.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: You get excited, you want everybody to know, but that's not always the best thing.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Because everybody here is here doing the same thing.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: That is really something.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's a powerful message to tell.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody's here.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right, and they're all trying to be the next.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: What's your thought on young artists that come in as a and following trends and not really being their true authentic self?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I mean, it's that's a hard question because everybody does it different.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody does it different.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I I don't really know how to answer that, honestly.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, because I see, you know, I think you get to know when you s when you start to do what I do, and you get to know people on an outside level, besides a podcast, you really see the authenticity of people and how you as an artist not only want to grow yourself, you want to grow everybody.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: Which is you know incredible.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what's so good about label heads because when you're like Addison Malik, you know, she's amazing.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Addison's great.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: She's amazing.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: When you put her out there, people like her that are younger, it sets the stage for all the other artists on the label.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: She's gonna do big things.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_02: She is.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: She's great.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: She is.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Is she in Texas right now?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: Did I hear?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think they're on the road.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't talked to them.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think Michael said that they texted me earlier this morning, but I haven't talked to him yet.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because that's just I don't think people realize that that you guys put on miles and miles and miles and miles and miles.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of work.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: Radio tours are tough.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: They're tough.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: They are, especially when they're not from where you're from.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is she she's from Texas, isn't she?
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, she is.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: We love our I'm from Texas.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: We love our Texas.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's fun playing in Texas.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Texas is a whole different, a whole different place.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can be a millionaire playing out there.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: And never have to touch Nashville.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: But the problem with that is, you know, Nashville's kind of against Texas, Texas kind of against Nashville, you know, because they like competing, you know.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's gonna be Nashville's gonna be the music mecca because people are pulling out of LA and excuse me, in Chicago.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, within the next five years, every major thing will be done here in Nashville, which, you know, is is crazy.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: I love that that we're collabing country and hip hop.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like I think it's such a I mean music's music.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Music's music, you're right.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's all good.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't hurt to meet new new new people in different genres.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, I agree, and I think it's great.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: I do mean either.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's great.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think it brings in another form of audience.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it's such a cool town.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this is such a great and so different from the LA's and the New Yorks.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think I brought a fly with me from Philadelphia.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's great.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think he was on the he was on the plane with me.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: So let me tell you about Freedom Brew.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's our new, I can send you home with some beer.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: So this is veteran-owned and operated.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: So really nice guy, Alan.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: He quit his day job and decided to go all in in this to help veterans and help with some suicide prevention.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think Clay Travis lives in our subdivision, and he actually did a beer or two like this, kind of like this.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, he's brand new.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Alan's kind of brand new in this market, so um, you know, I work with uh trauma and addiction.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I love it, yeah.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I do.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but a little therapy, and I've kind of gotten into some coaching um with some artists, and also I'm coming, I teamed up with a nonprofit down here to help give artists support.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, because they come and they where do you start?
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you go?
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: How do you think?
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm actually trying to launch a brand as well, as far as a beer and a like a like a like a whiskey package.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: I would love to get involved in that.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, let me hook you up with you.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, please.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll hook you up with Alan.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: He's great, he's the nicest guy.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: That's good for your brand.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: It is so good for the brand.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it fits so well.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: The beer's good, I'll send you home with some beer.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and it's such a, you know, he's out there hustling, he's doing the grind, you know.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost like in every other thing you do.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's out there doing it.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'd love to get involved with him.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: I will absolutely connect you with him.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: You will love him.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: He's a great guy.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: He is a really good guy.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's coming up besides the two?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: You got two new singles coming out?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then the album is released.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: So Crazy Overuse at Radio Now, Walker Chevrolet comes out in two weeks.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um I can't wait to hear it.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and um, then um the the Drink and Thinking full record comes out in March, and then we've got four more on the plate for this show.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Drink and Thinkin', where'd that name come from?
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I didn't write that song, but I got lucky because some friends of mine got that to me back in 2000 and I released it the first time, didn't do so well, but then I re-released it like four years ago, and we did a video down at uh Redneck Riviera, yeah, which is on YouTube, and it did it's it's just blown up since.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: That is so great.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what a great feeling to re-release a song and it do so well.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Is that what you're expecting for everything?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I know social media has a lot, a huge play in this industry.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: It does.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: Do you handle your own?
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: I do my uh my wife does my Instagram, but uh CDX Nashville, who does my distribution stuff, they're gonna be doing my social media soon.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's kind of good to take that off your I don't do mine, it's handled.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: I just haven't had time to to really focus on it's a full-time damn job.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: All that my Facebook is not in good shape because I haven't really done much with it, but my Instagram is top-notch where it used to be.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you guys are all over Instagram.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: But I gotta get, I gotta get um, you know, CDX who does my distribution, I gotta get them to do that soon.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean it's its own world.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's like yeah, it's like having a separate uh degree outside of what you really do.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, yeah.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: Ever get like what's the greatest compliment you've ever gotten on your music?
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I've gotten a lot.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's it's mainly been on drinking thinking and out of the blue and all the Christmas stuff.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: People just love the production, they love what my producer does, they love the writing.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've got a lot of that.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm sure.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and the other thing too was when I went in, you know, Home Ark and a lot of these Christmas networks, they're they're not looking for country, they're looking for pop kind of thing.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: So I had to literally sing different than I normally do.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I had people tell me, Oh, that don't sound like you.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, Yeah, I know, because I had to learn how to sing differently because the music is so different.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's not country.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think countries come a little more back into the Christmas thing?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've noticed that.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think so, yes.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, even Targets, you know, all over the country have released, you know, country attire for I guess right headed into tour season.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like everybody's a little country right now.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: Which is so great.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: It makes my heart so happy because I don't think there's anything like country music and the artists behind it.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think people Well, you're definitely telling a story.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: Crazy over you is like that.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know?
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think it's just such a co it's such an amazing shift, you know, to see now that everything, even it like in Philadelphia, there's not a lot of country, but it's but they're selling country stuff and the music is being played on radios, which is amazing.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think because it's the it's the most feel-good music in the entire world.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, absolutely, yes.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: All right, I'm gonna have to ask you this, but I know you're gonna say yes.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: You'll come back.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: And you'll hang out with me.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, every time you want me to.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: You've become such a good friend.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you so much.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so happy for you.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: I know that everything you touch is going to turn to gold.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: I hope so.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: It totally will.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: God willing.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: God willing.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: It will.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I thank you for your expertise in knowing this because so many people don't realize that this is business.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we got to get the word out too to these younger acts, you know.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's so many snakes out there.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: We gotta get the word out to these guys, you know.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was talking to Mitch earlier that, you know, like I get reached out to by like a doorman who's representing uh like, and I'm like, only in Nashville.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the craziest town, you know?
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just it's so funny.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: None of them, the ones who are truly in just the craft are the ones that are successful.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's hard, but I think they're so young and they're so hungry that they'll just, you know.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: I was that way.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: Been there, been there.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if it sounds too good to be true, yeah, it's huge.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: But you gotta be here to do it.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: You have to be here to do it.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: You can't come, go home, you know, come for the weekend, go home because there's so many things that are just sporadic that come up.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, can you come to this?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, can you be at this?
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you should be here because certain people are gonna be here, you know?
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: I can tell you, Michael's the master of that.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I know.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he works at like nobody.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: We were honored to go.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: We felt honored.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, we will definitely go.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: We felt honored to go, but I think you're right, you need to be here to be a hundred percent in it.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, as hard as that is, you still have to be here.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's hard, yeah.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, my friend, it was wonderful.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thanks for having me on.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: Always serve.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can co-host with me one day and hang out with me.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to have you.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I'll see you at the CRS for sure.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be fun this year.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: We'll go have a drink together.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: It will be really fun.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited you're gonna be there.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: My wife will be there, she's helping out.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: So great.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: She's welcome to come on the show when you come.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Have you heard from my assistant yet?
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get into you because I know he's we're booking right now.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Have you like reached out there?
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we woke up one day to like 40 emails of like schedule, schedule, schedule, schedule.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm last year was my first year there.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, get my my solid, like my love people in there first, you know, because it's it's so wonderful to have people like you on the show who are so into this and so we just gotta educate people.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: Totally, we just gotta educate them.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_02: Totally.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I started.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, let me teach you how to get into a bigger room, let me show you what you need to do to network.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: And it is a big part, but they also shouldn't be scared of the smaller rooms, too, because that's where it starts.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you know, a lot of them don't even know you could be in line at Starbucks.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure you're acting professionally, right?
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you have no idea.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's your brand.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's your brand.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's your brand.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's totally your brand.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: I so get it.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you, my friend.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: I was it was an honor to see you.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much, you too.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: All right, thanks.