Latest / Kustom Conversations / The Hick-Hop Trailblazer That Made It Happen | Cowboy Troy Interview | EP. 04

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The Hick-Hop Trailblazer That Made It Happen | Cowboy Troy Interview | EP. 04 · Kustom Conversations

• 0:01
  Casi Joy: Every story is different.
• 0:03
  Casi Joy: Every episode is custom.
• 0:05
  Casi Joy: Get ready to pull back the curtain on your favorite artists, athletes, and entertainers.
• 0:09
  Casi Joy: I'm your host, Cassie Joy, and this is Custom Conversations.
• 0:20
  Casi Joy: My guest today was blending country and hip hop long before Nashville quite knew what to do with it.
• 0:26
  Casi Joy: From the music mafia and Big and Rich to his breakout hit I Play Chicken with the Train, he spent more than 20 years doing his own thing.
• 0:36
  Casi Joy: Cowboy Troy, welcome to Custom Conversations.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad to be here.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:42
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 0:42
  Casi Joy: I'm really good.
• 0:44
  Casi Joy: How are you?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: So far, so good.
• 0:46
  Casi Joy: And you're coming coming to us live from Dallas, right?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 0:50
  Casi Joy: What are you doing out there?
• 0:51
  Casi Joy: You're from Texas, right?
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm at home.
• 0:55
  Casi Joy: Oh, nice.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:56
  Casi Joy: Very cool.
• 0:57
  Casi Joy: Getting a little break from the road.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Back out.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh coming up uh next week, we're gonna be in Las Vegas.
• 1:06
  Casi Joy: Wow.
• 1:07
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 1:07
  Casi Joy: What a fun place to be.
• 1:09
  Casi Joy: Okay, so with this podcast, we like to really dive deep on our guests.
• 1:15
  Casi Joy: And so I'm gonna take it back to your early days.
• 1:19
  Casi Joy: Okay.
• 1:19
  Casi Joy: Um so starting at the beginning, you grew up in Texas and attended UT for psychology.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: So when I was in undergrad, I thought that it was gonna be cool for me to go on.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: I started out as a business major and then I realized it was a little bit more difficult than I thought at that time.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Between class and my social schedule, I realized I was probably better suited to being the social butterfly that I was and hang out, and I decided to switch to psychology and ended up graduating back in May of 1993.
• 1:55
  Casi Joy: Wow.
• 1:56
  Casi Joy: So thinking about who you would become in the music industry, when I saw psychology, that was a pretty shocking find.
• 2:05
  Casi Joy: Um, but super cool.
• 2:07
  Casi Joy: So, what do you use any skills today still with your psychology degree in this industry?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I tend to find myself using it to figure out how would songs that I write and my performances, how would that relate to my listener?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: I ended up going back to grad school and ended up getting an MBA in marketing.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I figured, okay, how am I going to write these songs?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then once I get these songs written and prepared, how do I make them marketable for public consumption?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it it's worked out.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh just a knucklehead trying to survive in the music business.
• 2:44
  Casi Joy: Well, it's working.
• 2:47
  Casi Joy: So with your communic your music career, it seems like it all kind of started your freshman year of college in a contest.
• 2:58
  Casi Joy: Correct?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:59
  Casi Joy: So talk about that.
• 3:00
  Casi Joy: What was that contest?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it was between me and my two roommates at the time, and you know, we were getting ready to go home for Christmas break, fall semester, and uh, you know, we had been watching Yo MTV Raps.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, at that time it was on all the time, and we were always watching.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Probably should have been studying more, but we had a lot of fun with it.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And right before we went home for the uh winter break, the the uh edict was dropped that hey, we're gonna have this contest, and whoever, you know, comes up with the best rap, because we were all sitting around, man, I can do that.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you guys were like, no, I can do that, no, I can do that.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: So we said, All right, let's have a contest to see who could write the best rap.
• 3:44
  Casi Joy: Okay, so it's like freestyle or like you were writing originals?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: We were writing originals.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: We wanted to see who could come up with the best original rap.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so we come back after Christmas and I'm like, all right, let's settle it.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see what's going on.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, I spent a lot of time on mine, and uh the other guys said that yeah, you won.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I just kind of kept that.
• 4:07
  Casi Joy: They were like, oh, he's serious.
• 4:09
  Casi Joy: Dang.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I knew early on that I wanted to do something like that because when I was 13, my dad took me to my first concert, and uh when I and it was uh the headliner was Midnight Star, and then you had Shalomar and Climax, and Houdini was the rap group that was opening this.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And at that time, I was listening to a lot of Houdini, run DMC, and Cats Like That and LL Cool J.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so this was summer, I guess it was 1984.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: My dad took me to the Dallas County Convention Center.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're hanging out, and I'm watching the show, and I was like, I want to do that.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that you know, that light bulb goes off in my head.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And as I got older, I decided, you know what?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I really like listening to Charlie Daniels and Jerry Reed and Roger Miller.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think it'd be kind of cool to kind of do that.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so as I continued to write and progress with what I was doing, I got the idea, I was like, why don't I have musicians play traditional country instruments, but I'll give a rap vocal delivery.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, if you listen to Charlie Daniels stuff like Devil Went Down to Georgia and Uneasy Rider and all those, those were recitations.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you had Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jimmy Dean, uh Roger Miller, Jerry Reed, those guys had songs that were recitations, and those that weren't recitations had this kind of sing-song-y kind of delivery where they were speaking, you know, and it was like, all right, this is cool.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think I could do that.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And they always had some humor to them, and you know, for the most part.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, you know, I think that'd be kind of a cool way to approach it.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I just kept at it and kept focusing on it, and eventually, you know, it came out to I play chicken with the train.
• 5:58
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 5:59
  Casi Joy: Well, so before all of that success, it seems that after your contest that you dominated, apparently, um, you end up singing or rapping over techno, coming up showing up to these um like frat parties and clubs in a cowboy hat, big old belt buckle, and boots, right?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was kind of funny.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was kind of funny how that worked out.
• 6:26
  Casi Joy: Yeah, what were people thinking when you were showing up, you know, kind of going against the grain?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: They would think that I was either really brave or really crazy, and they just kind of left me alone, you know.
• 6:35
  Casi Joy: You're like, it's both.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Duh.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: But no, we you know, you you hang out at these frat parties.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was DJing frat parties for a while, and uh, you know, and I'd show up wearing that, and then I'd go to your techno clubs or your rap clubs, rock and roll clubs, wherever I could get in, country bars, and I'd have the hat and the buckle on wherever I went, and it just kind of became that signature kind of appearance, that wardrobe, that uniform that people saw me with.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it just kind of worked out that way.
• 7:05
  Casi Joy: That's so cool.
• 7:07
  Casi Joy: So John Rich seems to be a really big part of your story.
• 7:12
  Casi Joy: And when I was researching, I found a weird fact that I had no idea about, but you met him in 1993, I think, while he was a part of Lone Star.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I was here.
• 7:25
  Casi Joy: I had no idea he was in Lone Star.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he was the bass player for the first couple of albums and co-wrote about half of the songs that they had on those two albums, the first two albums.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:36
  Casi Joy: That is so cool.
• 7:37
  Casi Joy: So, yeah, how'd you guys meet?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: He was playing, they were playing in a bar I was hanging out in.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: We were uh I was hanging out and borrowed money here in Dallas, and they were coming through and they were doing week-long stands when they'd come through towns like that.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so back then they were known as Texas C because all five guys in the band were from Texas, but they all met in Tennessee, so they got the name Texas C.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, cool.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then after that, after the uh record, you know, label came in and they got a record deal, they became known as Lone Star.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I was hanging out in in borrowed money, and John was there playing, and he and I, you know, kind of met and was like, hey man, we agreed on a lot of stuff, and we're just sitting there and jabbering and laughing and having a good time.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, he was asking me about you know like, what do you do?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, I mean, you know, it's like I rap, but I do it over country instruments, and he's like, huh?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm you know, I could let I let him hear a little bit of it, and he thought it was kind of wow, that's kind of crazy.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: We exchanged information.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we exchanged information over the over that time and stayed friends ever since.
• 8:46
  Casi Joy: Yeah, you guys, it seems like you still have such a close relationship.
• 8:50
  Casi Joy: Um so you joined the music mafia short after that, uh, shortly after, out in Nashville.
• 9:00
  Casi Joy: You would drive from Texas, right?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, with that.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:05
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 9:05
  Casi Joy: Explain to people that don't know what the music mafia was.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so met John in '93, and then in 99 he introduced me to Big Kenny.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then he's like, hey man, you need to come to Nashville and check this thing out.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing uh we're doing this thing called Music Mafia, it's meets every Tuesday night.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I was still working a regular job at the time, and then uh I would sit there and I would drive or fly on you know weekends off to get to Nashville and hang out, and then eventually when they were doing it on Tuesdays, if I would have to schedule days off where I could actually go and be there for the Tuesday and then come back on Wednesday.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it just became one of those things that eventually I just showed up to as many as I could, and I guess you know my appearances there uh kind of stuck out a little bit and eventually uh got to be part of it full time.
• 9:56
  Casi Joy: When did these little, you know, Tuesday nights end up like were you did you guys ever notice, like, oh my gosh, the industry is like actually paying attention to these Tuesday nights?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was it was pretty cool.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh after a while you start noticing that most people would show up and it would be like record label people, you know, AR folks.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: They'd show up and they're hanging out in the crowd listening and they're watching and they're seeing uh all the people that were performing.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was just not just singers and songwriters and rappers and you know, RB singers.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: It would be uh, you know, painters, you know, and you know, people doing interpretive dance and just all kinds of cool stuff that would be around.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And people started taking note, and then people started getting record deals.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Big and Rich got a record deal with Warner, Gretchen got a record deal with Sony, uh James Brown.
• 10:50
  Casi Joy: Gretchen was a part of it.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, everybody, you know, I ended up getting a record deal just by proxy, just by hanging out with Big and Rich, and then I got my own solo deal.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was kind of a cool thing.
• 11:02
  Casi Joy: Yeah, in in 2004, um, this is before the record deal, I think, you're working at Footlocker, and you get a call from John Rich to join him on the Tim McGraw tour.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's correct.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was interestingly enough, it was the spring, I think, of 2004, and uh I was assistant store manager at Foot Locker, and I was on my lunch break, and you know, because you know, my phone was buzzing in my pocket.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: We weren't allowed to, you know, answer the calls while we're you know working.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I went on my lunch break and and I went out and sat in the car and I checked messages, and it came to find out it was John, and he and Kenny were riding on a way to a radio, uh a radio uh station visit to promote the new album that they were about to release or something like that.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and I'm like, hey man, what's going on?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I got your message.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: I was I was working, and uh John was like, Yeah, man, we uh, you know, we're you know, the the album is gonna be releasing.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: You like you remember the rap you did?
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it made the album, and uh we're on our way to go play some songs at this radio station, and uh we're going on tour with McGraw, and I'm like, man, that's awesome! That's really cool.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm thinking, Yeah, great for you.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, in my head, I'm thinking, well, that means when they come through Dallas, I'll go over to Starplex.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: At the time it was called Starplex Now, I think it's like Dosecchi's Pavilion or something like that.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, I figured I'd go over to the amphitheater and go see the guys when they come through town.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, that's awesome.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then they were like, No, man, you don't understand.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: We want you to go with us.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, huh?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, yeah, we want you to go, yeah, we want you to go on tour with us.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, man, that's really cool.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: So eventually wound up going on tour.
• 12:54
  Casi Joy: And that just seems like it totally changed your life.
• 12:58
  Casi Joy: It did.
• 12:58
  Casi Joy: Um, when when you first started walking on stage with Big and Rich, what how was the crowd response at that time?
• 13:06
  Casi Joy: Because this is before Chicken with the Train, right?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: So somewhere in 2004, where we were opening, you know, Horse of a Different Color was out uh for Big and Rich, and I was on the song uh Roland The Ballad of Big and Rich.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: And they would bring me out to perform Roland the Ballad of Big and Rich with them.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so the first show was July 11th, I believe it was.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that was in 2004, and we were in Virginia Beach, Virginia, opening for McGraw.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the guys were getting ready to go out on stage, and I'm kind of waiting in the wings, waiting on my opportunity to go out and perform.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I knew, and it was kind of nerve-wracking for me because I was thinking in my head, okay, if you mess up, you're back at this, you're back at the mall.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, don't mess it up.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: You've been training for this ever since you were in college and practicing and rehearsing and all this and that.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: So don't mess it up.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, all right, this is how it's gonna work.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do the best I can.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, get dressed, and I've got my Western shirt on and all this other stuff.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: But unbeknownst to them, you know, I had a surprise underneath my shirt.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: So John introduces me, and he and Kenny are on stage, and he's like, Welcome, six foot and five inch, 260-pound black rapping cowboy from Dallas, Texas, Cowboy Troy.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I walk out, and I used to want to be a pro wrestler.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I walk out like I'm a pro wrestler, even though I wasn't.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to be younger.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm walking out, you know, and I'm kind of giving the you know, the meme mug to everybody, like, yeah, what's up?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, kind of throw the fist in the air, and everybody's looking and they're surprised.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so they bring me out, and I'm walking out there, and uh the band is vamping, and they're playing, you know, some music behind me.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: And as I'm walking out there, I'm standing between John and Kenny, and I start unbuttoning my shirt.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: And as I'm unbuttoning my shirt, the spotlight zooms in.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and then I open it up, and they don't see until I open it up, and I'm wearing this Superman shirt underneath.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: So the spotlight catches the Superman logo.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can hear this roar start from the back of the lawn at this amphitheater, and it just comes flooding back in.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, so that's kind of cool.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: So we go into the bit, I do the performance with them, and the crowd is going bananas, John and Kenny are over the moon.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still kind of like, I can't believe we did this, you know.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't from the 17,000 people.
• 15:52
  Casi Joy: Oh my gosh, so loud crap.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: My previous, my previous to that point show that I had done, the last one I had done as a solo act, I was the opener for the two opening acts.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: I got paid$25 for that.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: This was at a place called the Inferno Lounge that is no longer even around in Dallas.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: They were they still have the lights on when I was on.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: The barbacks were still stocking the bar.
• 16:24
  Casi Joy: Oof, those hurt.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: I was there, and then I go from a handful of people watching me, and then the the barbacks and the bartenders working to being in front of 17,000 people just a mere year and a half later.
• 16:42
  Casi Joy: And ripping your shirt off when it goes well.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, and I was like, wow, okay, all right, I think I can do this.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then I had just, and so interestingly enough, that whole first year, I would take my I had my Foot Locker jersey with my name tag on it, hanging in the closet on the bus to remind me, you do anything dumb, you don't take it seriously, whatever, you're going back to the mall.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I wasn't above doing that.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I just didn't want to if I didn't have to.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: And to this day, I still, in in some closet around here in the house, I still have that shirt with the name tag on it.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: And every now and again I'll kind of find myself rooting around looking for a shirt or a jacket or something.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, ugh, there it is.
• 17:32
  Casi Joy: Yeah, just to be like, here's how far we came.
• 17:35
  Casi Joy: Yep.
• 17:35
  Casi Joy: Do not forget.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:38
  Casi Joy: So speaking of that Superman shirt, I hope this isn't crazy.
• 17:45
  Casi Joy: I think I saw a newspaper clipping that your dad still had where you are in a Superman shirt.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 17:55
  Casi Joy: Were you Yeah?
• 17:56
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 17:56
  Casi Joy: Was it the same?
• 17:57
  Casi Joy: What's what's your deal with Superman?
• 17:59
  Casi Joy: Was that like a was it a special thing for you to wear that shirt for your first like big thing?
• 18:04
  Casi Joy: Because the the newspaper clipping was like, you know, Troy is um, you know, doing blending hip hop with country music, and um he calls it hip hop.
• 18:14
  Casi Joy: And you had said that your dad still had these newspaper clippings.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: I I had gone over to his house, you know, I guess it was probably it's been a few months now.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I I'd gone over there during a you know, just a regular visit.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, what's going on?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: How you doing, Dad?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, Hey, I found these clippings.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you figured you might want them, and it was that newspaper clipping from the Dallas Morning News.
• 18:35
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, and it was from 2004, he still had it in a box.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: So he's like, figured you might want it, you know, maybe you want it for your your boys for the you know, for his for his grandsons.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I I took it home and I was like, Yeah, I remember that.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: I remember that.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: It got to the point where I realized I had to buy more than one shirt because I couldn't wear the same one every night because you're just pouring sweat.
• 19:01
  Casi Joy: It's a sweaty industry.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I ended up getting more shirts to recycle them and circulate them and you know, you know, put them out there and you know, rotate them out.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: But it was funny because after that first night in Virginia Beach, Virginia, you know, John and Kenny are like, man, that was awesome.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, whatever you did today, do that tomorrow.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, and the next night, by the way.
• 19:26
  Casi Joy: Like, I'm gonna need more shirts.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: So he took that shirt off and let it air out for that week and then went to the mall and got some more shirts so I could rotate them out.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
• 19:36
  Casi Joy: Oh my gosh.
• 19:37
  Casi Joy: Did that ever become uh like a part of your merch line at all?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, I mean I would have had to license it from Superman, from Warner Brothers, uh, because I believe Warner Brothers had the the rights.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think that the I think Warner Brothers pictures had the rights to Superman.
• 19:51
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 19:51
  Casi Joy: And you didn't want to try to pay for those.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: No, but I mean it's like, hey, it's a shirt I'm wearing on stage, and you know, whoever takes the pictures can take the pictures.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: So growing up, I, you know, collected comic books.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: I used to love to watch superhero movies.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: I still watch superhero movies today because I take my kids.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and they're they're 19 now, the the triplets are 19 now, but I'll still go to the movies, you know, because that was our thing when they were growing up.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: I would take them to the movies to see all the superhero movies or the cartoons that they wanted to see.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: So growing up, I was a uh comic book collector and used to watch you know Christopher Reeves when he was Superman, and all those, you know, Superman one and two and three were the ones.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: I stopped after three, but Superman one and two are my two favorite out of that franchise.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, I've seen the most recent Superman.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that was a good one, but growing up, that was the that was the thing.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, when I was a kid, I'd watch Superman movies with my sister.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we'd sit up and watch it, you know, we were kids, and it was like, oh yeah, Superman, get it.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're a little kid, you're watching the movie, right?
• 20:56
  Casi Joy: So like you got it, man, and that kind of thing.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of how the thing became around.
• 21:03
  Casi Joy: That's so cool that you were able to like somehow, maybe even accidentally, you know, because it ended up taking off, but like just to bring that into your music career.
• 21:10
  Casi Joy: That's so cool to just have a little personal, little underlying connection there.
• 21:15
  Casi Joy: So your first major label album, which you had been releasing music beforehand, but your first major label album, Locomotive, um, was in 2005 and it reached number two on Billboard's Country Album Chart, which had your breakout hit I Play Chicken with the Train, which put you on the map.
• 21:38
  Casi Joy: Before we dive in to that, I have to tell you that yesterday I was like, I wonder if there's a music video to this song, because I obviously know the song, and I went to go um check it out on YouTube, and I've got a five month old daughter, um, and I put that on the TV and her head whipped around so fast.
• 21:58
  Casi Joy: And I like when before Your episode comes out, I will be putting this on social media because it's hilarious.
• 22:04
  Casi Joy: She is just like, can't believe it.
• 22:07
  Casi Joy: Her mouth is on the floor.
• 22:08
  Casi Joy: I mean, it was the cutest thing.
• 22:10
  Casi Joy: So she is a very big fan.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 22:14
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 22:15
  Casi Joy: Um, so when that song comes out, you're really uh pushing the boundaries of country music.
• 22:23
  Casi Joy: Um, and kind of did the entire time.
• 22:26
  Casi Joy: Um, what did it feel like when people or when it when people really started to get it?
• 22:32
  Casi Joy: Like when you see it climbing up the charts, you're like, it's working.
• 22:35
  Casi Joy: Like, what did that feel like?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it was it was gratifying, you know.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: The interesting thing about it is the whole thing behind writing the song, you know, it started during that McGraw tour.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we were in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that day, and we had some time off, and the buses were parked near the basketball arena down by LSU.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're sitting there waiting, middle of the afternoon.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: And back then, John and Kenny had a trailer, and in the trailer, they had this four-wheeler.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you use it to ride around the grounds or ride around wherever you are to get whatever you need.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, sitting there riding the four-wheeler, we were parked next to some train tracks that day.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: And John decided he was tooling around on this four-wheeler, and uh, you know, and after a while, you know, he's close to these train tracks, and he's he gets this idea, say comes back, gets on the bus, and at that time, the super cool songwriter named Angie Aparo, this dude is super, he's an awesome singer, great writer, great artist.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: And he and John are buddies.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: And Angie was hanging out with us during that run.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the two of them come up with this, you know, dunun dun.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, John's got this dun dun dun dun dun dun kind of.
• 24:09
  Casi Joy: Yeah, it's a rocking intro.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's like ding ding dun dun ding ding dun dun.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: And he starts, you know, I play chicken with the train, play chicken with the train, train.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, okay, so let's see, how are we going to do that?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, that's something you can write a rap to.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Yeah, it's kind of like we're challenging the music industry and radio and TV and like people saying that rap and country don't mix and all of that kind of thing.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Yeah, it's like we're we're playing chicken with the train.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: The industry is the train, and I'm the one playing chicken with the train.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and it's kind of like, is that a light at the end of the tunnel allowing me to make it through, or is that the 515 coming to meet me head on?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we'll find out.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: So we wrote it, and you know, all of those lines in that, in those raps were talking about stuff that I had experienced, was talking about, well, you know, is this gonna work?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and you know, Tim McGraw said he liked the change because that happened because the first time we got to play, no, it was no, it was the CMA Awards in November of 2004.
• 25:32
  Casi Joy: And we got Yeah, you mentioned the CMAs in the lyrics.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, we got to actually be on the CMAs that year.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: And before we went out to perform Roland, the Ballad of Big and Rich, Tim McGraw, who had had us out on tour all year, walks into the room.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: And he walks into the dressing room.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm kind of nervous.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, man, this is TV.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm getting ready to go on TV, national TV.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness gracious, what am I gonna do?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: And John and Kenny are like there, we're all high-fiving hanging out.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Tim walks in, and he, you know, it's like, man, you know, and the and the guys are like, Yeah, this is cool.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh, country music's kind of changing a little bit.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: And Tim McGraw goes, you know, Tim's like, I like the change.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's that's pretty cool.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: I like it.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's cool.
• 26:21
  Casi Joy: To get a green light from one of the grades.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then it stuck, and then we just kept running on, and then after the tour with McGraw, the next year we went out with Brooks and Dunn.
• 26:31
  Casi Joy: Oh, so cool.
• 26:32
  Casi Joy: Um you had an interview from 2005 where your attitude towards resistance was this really cool quote that I feel like I need to print out and put on my fridge.
• 26:47
  Casi Joy: I'd rather figure out how to go around the wall than spend all my energy fighting through it.
• 26:54
  Casi Joy: Do you still operate that way today?
• 26:57
  Casi Joy: Uh yeah.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I would like to say that I do.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you're gonna have obstacles in, you know, and I try and teach this to my kids and tell them it's like it's not gonna always be easy.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh there's gonna be some difficulty.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, at the end of the day, you have to realize, you know, life isn't just gonna be beer commercials and game shows.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: There are gonna be some, you know, difficult times that you're gonna have to sit there and figure it out.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if I stand there and there's a wall in front of me, okay, well, first you can say, how thick is the wall?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, is it really thick or is it thin?
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's a thick wall, I could sit there and be mad at the wall all I want to, or I can go around the wall, or if I need to try and tunnel under the wall, I have to figure out is there a way under it, around it, what am I gonna do?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, or is it over it?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Do I climb over it?
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's all kinds of things that you can look at.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if there is a barricade, some sort of professional barricade that you can't deal with and you can't figure out how to deal with it, find another path.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's why you have GPS.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: There's there's multiple, there's multiple routes to get to your destination.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to go that one route.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's all kinds of ways that you can get there.
• 28:18
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 28:18
  Casi Joy: Sometimes it's the one that takes twice as long, but it's a beautiful journey.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:23
  Casi Joy: You gotta love the scenic route sometimes.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen that movie before.
• 28:28
  Casi Joy: So when you hear country music today that's got like 808 and beats dropping and pop drums and people rapping, are you does that like annoy you now and you're like, you guys gave me so much hell for this back in the day?
• 28:44
  Casi Joy: Or are you glad that it, you know, has finally like your way has caught up to the rest of everyone's caught on finally?
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think of it as a bit of vindication, you know, because you know, big and rich and myself, I mean, we had been doing this for a long time.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: We were doing this long, long, long time before uh anybody else was really thinking about it.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we drew upon influences from Charlie Daniels and Jerry Reid and those gentlemen like that and Johnny Cash.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: But when you think about it, you know, nobody else was really doing that.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so the fact that they're doing it now, you know, it is a bit of vindication, like, hey, this is pretty cool.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't want to sit there and say, I told you so, but you can kind of give them the look, like, hmm, imagine, you know, hey, I enjoy it.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: I try to encourage uh the newer and the younger acts that have been coming up, you know, and and say, hey, you know, it's it's it's cool.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: There is a way that will help you a little more.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I would like to lean heavy on uh the instrumentation, you know, because that helps a lot.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that first major album, you know, locomotive, two words.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: Spelled out locomotive, kind of a play on chicken with the train, but locomotive spelled out two words, crazy intentions, crazy motives on how I'm gonna be able to get into the music business, especially from a country music perspective.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at it, all my major stuff, it was from a country music perspective.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so I had to have crazy intentions, I suppose, but there was a way to get it out there, and you just had to make sure that people uh, you know, understood that not only am I serious about what I do, but I have an understanding of country music in general.
• 30:35
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 30:36
  Casi Joy: So let's move to something else that I found that was really crazy about you was that you hosted Nashville Star in 2006 when Chris Young was on it and won that season.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was co-host for two seasons.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was season four and season five, so that was oh seven, oh eight, I think it was.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: And we made I made an appearance on I made an appearance with the guys on the season, I think, that Chris won.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's right.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay yeah, but but yeah, it was cool.
• 31:16
  Casi Joy: And then um, and I think I saw you were also on the season where uh a little baby 18-year-old Casey Musgraves was on there.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 31:26
  Casi Joy: Do you remember her being on there?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: I remember it.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: I remember it.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: It w it's been a while, but yeah, yeah.
• 31:31
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 31:32
  Casi Joy: I first off, I didn't know that that either of them were on that show.
• 31:36
  Casi Joy: Um, and then of course we get Miranda Lambert from Nashville Star as well.
• 31:40
  Casi Joy: Um did you see something in either Chris Young or Casey Musgraves at the time where you were like, they're gonna make it regardless of like what happens in this show?
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that Chris had a clearer path uh just watching him because Chris, you know, had been singing around the bars for a while.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Casey's always had you know a good you know voice and great on stage persona.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: It took a a detour for her because she changed some things in terms of her presentation that eventually got her to where she is now to winning Grammys and things of that nature and you know, stardom that she's achieved now.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: But uh it took her a bit with with the detour, but she's gotten to where she needs to be.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I mean it it's I I thought that Chris had a clearer path, but uh, you know, they both kind of got to where they needed to be uh regardless.
• 32:35
  Casi Joy: Yeah, both paths, uh neither one of them sucked.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, exactly.
• 32:43
  Casi Joy: Was there anything that you saw behind the scenes of a reality singing competition that would surprise people?
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't know that it would surprise people.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it it comes with a lot of rehearsal.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um because you're as the contestants every week, so two seasons, it was eight weeks each season, and that's 16 weeks.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: And you start noticing, yeah, as I think about it, they would they would have these songs.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, here's what you gotta do.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is your song that you're singing, and you're gonna do it live on camera for everybody.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: That is what the person at home sees.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: But then it's like everybody's gotta rehearse.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you got to rehearse, but okay, what do you do if you're not feeling well?
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do if your voice isn't up to park that particular week?
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: How are you gonna handle that?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, then you have uh the all sing where all the contestants that are remaining, you know, they might sing a song each week or something like that.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you have those, and everybody's got their parts.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: And what if it's a song that, you know, maybe if you if you came up playing in the bars and clubs, you're accustomed to singing all these different songs.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: But what if there's a song that they introduce and they say, okay, we want you to sing this, but it's not something you're very familiar with.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, that throws a wrench into everything.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're if you're not comfortable, if you're not ready to sing that, or if it's a song that you're familiar with, and it may not be your favorite song, but the producers of the show say, Hey, we want you to sing this one.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, Oh, okay, great.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, awesome.
• 34:27
  Casi Joy: Okay, yeah.
• 34:28
  Casi Joy: Yeah, I was um I was on the voice a few years back, and there's so much stuff that people don't understand about what goes on.
• 34:35
  Casi Joy: And like you said, rehearsal time and like the amount of time used to rehearse, even just the blind auditions, are a month long before you do them.
• 34:48
  Casi Joy: It's a month of preparation.
• 34:50
  Casi Joy: And so, I mean, sometimes by the time that you're getting ready to actually sing when it matters, your voice is toast because you've been singing this 90-second song a thousand times.
• 35:01
  Casi Joy: Um, and then like when you go and record um for for all the streaming platforms, you have to do that sometimes at two in the morning after you've just done it on live TV.
• 35:13
  Casi Joy: And so, like, sometimes those recordings are like, that is not what I meant to sound like.
• 35:17
  Casi Joy: I was delirious.
• 35:19
  Casi Joy: Uh-huh.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: When you're sleepy, you're worn out.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: What do you as a contestant?
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do before you go into the audition?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: Here's one for you.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do when you're sitting there and you've got this one song that you know that you can mail?
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: But the judges are sitting there like, I've heard that song 300 times today.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: Please don't sing that song.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: What else do you have before you even go in?
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: How do you handle that?
• 35:43
  Casi Joy: That happened, that happened to me one time.
• 35:46
  Casi Joy: And you just gotta pivot and hope to God that a better song uh comes to mind real quick.
• 35:52
  Casi Joy: And actually, the the time that I finally got through on the voice, that happened.
• 35:56
  Casi Joy: They said, like, we don't understand what genre you are, pick a different song.
• 36:00
  Casi Joy: And I think I like panicked and went into before he cheats, like everyone and their brother does.
• 36:06
  Casi Joy: Um and then they called me back in and said, Okay.
• 36:09
  Casi Joy: And I think I had sang an Adele song right before that, and then blue before that.
• 36:14
  Casi Joy: So I'm yodeling and then Adele, and they're like, We don't understand what else you got.
• 36:19
  Casi Joy: And I just word vomited Carrie Underwood and it came out and and it worked out.
• 36:23
  Casi Joy: Thank you, Carrie.
• 36:24
  Casi Joy: Uh-huh.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 36:27
  Casi Joy: So, how do you how do you feel about singing competitions?
• 36:30
  Casi Joy: I feel like it's it's gotten to be, I don't know if it's gotten more popular now or less popular now.
• 36:36
  Casi Joy: Like it's all over the place, but it's almost like almost gotten oversaturated of like anyone in Nashville, you could ask, like, which show have you been on?
• 36:46
  Casi Joy: But how do you feel about it as far as like success for people or up, is it a good path to go on?
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think singing competition shows are great for the artists, especially if they have an opportunity to get on one.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because being on a singing competition show allows those artists who make it to the final rounds or make it to the next two or the third week before the finale, those who make it out, it allows those artists to basically fast track their notoriety.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because heretofore, up to that point, you know, in the 90s and early 2000s, you get in a van and trailer and you're going around town.
• 37:27
  Casi Joy: Yeah, and you're relying on a street team and flyers on telephone poles.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: And stickers and and you're you're in a van and you're playing a circuit, you know, and it's kind of like you're making a loop, you know, kind of a hub and spoke where you start out at home and then you go out and then you come back, and then you go out to another town and come back, and you just rotate around.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: You did a lot of that.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: There were a lot of artists that do that and still do it.
• 37:51
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but you know, being on a singing competition show, that allows you to get out there a whole lot quicker, and it allows you to uh reach a whole lot larger audience.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: For me, being uh you know, with video and and and you know, CMT did wonders for you know, even though it they only played, you know, they played chicken and hick chick.
• 38:16
  Casi Joy: And they picked you up pretty quickly.
• 38:18
  Casi Joy: I mean, they really supported you from the beginning, which is so.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: CMT did great for my career.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh being on Leno and Good Morning America did great.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: Radio was slow to adopt, but TV was helpful.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, people at radio uh occasionally there would be some Maverick stations that would play the music when they knew they weren't supposed to, but they'd play it anyway.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: There'd be some Maverick overnight playing it somewhere.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, hey, I got a couple spins in this market, you know.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm telling you, being on television helps because you reach a whole lot of folks faster, especially if it's not TV.
• 38:54
  Casi Joy: And especially if, I mean, a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that like the show is going to do stuff for you, which it does in a way, but you have to be willing to do the work immediately when you get off the show and like use that exposure that it gave you.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, your music is your calling card.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: Your music allows people to say, okay, I do or do not care to listen to this particular person.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: Those that who care that do those who care to listen to the person can go out and they can start looking for how to find their music online.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then from there, hey, are they coming to my town?
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: Are they coming to my cete?
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how is it gonna be that I can get to play or get to listen to that person play live?
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: Can I get a t-shirt?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: Can I get a bumper sticker?
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: All of those things.
• 39:44
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's great then.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: But you gotta be willing to put in the muscle.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: Put muscle behind the hustle is what it is.
• 39:51
  Casi Joy: Absolutely.
• 39:52
  Casi Joy: Put that on a sticker.
• 39:55
  Casi Joy: Okay, let's move on to some other random things that I found about you, which you kind of already touched on earlier, but I saw that you are a huge fan of the WWE.
• 40:08
  unknown: Yeah.
• 40:09
  Casi Joy: And that you even appeared, um, I can't remember how, but you were somehow involved with RAW some years ago, right?
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: So Nashville Star was on USA Network.
• 40:19
  Casi Joy: Okay.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: And USA Network was owned by NBC.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think they still are, owned by NBC.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: And WWE, you know, would be on before they went national broadcasts, they would they would have we were on the USA network, so we'd go and somehow or another the network folks talked to WWE folks, and hey, can we get Troy on?
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's how it worked.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think they said, can we get Troy on and maybe help promote the TV show?
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because we were at the time going on, I think an hour before, if I'm not mistaken, I think we were on an hour before American Idol on a different network.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we would go on and they were trying to figure out a way to get us um, you know, more viewers.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: And somehow or another, the network said, okay, uh, have him come to uh Beaumont, Texas, and uh he can you know appear on Raw.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like Yeah.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I was living in Nashville at the time and caught a flight to Houston and from Houston over to Beaumont.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was the Ford Center, the arena down there where they were gonna be, and uh got to meet you know the wrestlers and all the folks, and got to meet, you know, Mr.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: McMahon and all these other people.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, wow, I'm used to all these guys that I'm not used to watching on Phoebe, and now I'm in the same room.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and I thought that was cool.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I, you know, I was like, Yeah, man, I used to want to be a wrestler when I was a kid.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then I when I got in my 30s, I was like, yeah, I want to do it, but then I realized, man, you know what, those steel chairs that ain't for me.
• 42:04
  Casi Joy: So my knees hurt.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just getting hit upside the head with a steel chair is not something I want to do, but I enjoy it.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoy watching.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: And uh then there was kind of a brief dust up, I guess, between me and the edge, where he called me some kind of oddball name.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_00: He mispronounced my name or something intentionally to kind of to kind of set me off.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, hey man, that's not cool.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_00: And the camera's right there.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, you know what?
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is cool, this is really cool, but I ain't that dumb.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: I ain't trying to get into the ring with the edge.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, yeah, man, whatever.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I kind of walked off, yeah.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can see that, you know, kind of thing.
• 42:45
  Casi Joy: So yeah, speaking of getting in the ring, you know, Jelly Roll just did that thing where like he did like a full match, I'm pretty sure.
• 42:53
  Casi Joy: Um, would you ever do something like that if they called?
• 42:55
  Casi Joy: Like, would that be wouldn't that be like your dream come true?
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, in my younger days I would, but yeah.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I you know at this particular age I think I'd consider maybe refereeing or something like that.
• 43:09
  Casi Joy: But hey, there you go.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm not I'm not trying to jump in and come off the top rope and all that stuff.
• 43:15
  Casi Joy: You're not trying to like, you know, onto the the sound, the tables.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll be the guy that distracts the other guy so that my my guy can win.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, hey, what did you say?
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't like what you said, and then all of a sudden the other guy's getting knocked out, and it's like my guy wins, you know.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'd distract, but I'm not jumping in.
• 43:33
  Casi Joy: There you go.
• 43:34
  Casi Joy: All right.
• 43:35
  Casi Joy: Well, hopefully we'll see that someday soon.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: That'd be funny.
• 43:41
  Casi Joy: So let's move on to another one of these fun facts about you.
• 43:45
  Casi Joy: Um, can you explain or verify if this is true that you became country music's musical ambassador for pork?
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: So 2017.
• 44:02
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: I had a song uh I co-wrote with uh Sean Gasway and another buddy, and uh it was called Pork Chop.
• 44:15
  Casi Joy: Pork chop.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so we write the song.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh man, this is cool.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: And we get it out there and people start digging the song.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I forget how it got to, I think I sent it around to some some folks, and then it's like, man, it'd be kind of cool if we sent it to uh the folks over at the National Pork Board.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think Big Kenny tagged them on something in a post or reached out to somebody, and then somebody came up to me somewhere, and I got an email address, and I said, Well, here's the song.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the person I sent the email to was on the pork board for their state, and then they contacted national over in Des Moines, Iowa, and eventually I went to Des Moines and we shot a video for pork chop, and they used it as the national what is it, the national theme song for the month of Porktober.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: Porktober 2017.
• 45:27
  Casi Joy: Oh my gosh, that is the coolest thing.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty cool, and and since then, after Pork Chop uh put out a song called Bacon that they used in 2020.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh after bacon, I think in 2021 or 22 released Hamright.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because it because, hey, do you want do you want something to eat for dinner?
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: Hamright I do.
• 45:55
  Casi Joy: Hamright I do.
• 45:57
  Casi Joy: Oh my gosh.
• 45:58
  Casi Joy: Please say there are shirts for that.
• 46:01
  Casi Joy: And if not, send them to production immediately.
• 46:05
  Casi Joy: Yeah, right.
• 46:06
  Casi Joy: Hamright.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hamright, yeah.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_00: Pork chop.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's it's it's funny.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: Pork chop, bacon, and ham right.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: Those are my three pork-related songs.
• 46:17
  Casi Joy: Oh my gosh.
• 46:18
  Casi Joy: So, in relation to that, you also have um Hick Kitchen, where you do a lot.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Hick Hop Kitchen.
• 46:27
  Casi Joy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 46:28
  Casi Joy: Um, where you do a lot of cooking.
• 46:30
  Casi Joy: I saw some on YouTube, and I feel like when you just look at it quickly or Google it, it's like, oh yeah, Cowboy Troy cooks, you know, uh pork or or whatever.
• 46:42
  Casi Joy: But if you go down the rabbit hole, which I am a private investigator, self-reclaimed, you are cooking some like really intricate dishes that some of them I couldn't even pronounce.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_00: I tried.
• 46:54
  Casi Joy: Where where did your love of cooking come from?
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, growing up as a kid, I was always in the kitchen when mom was cooking, so I was always watching what she was doing.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: But I really started getting into it, I guess, when the kids were smaller to help out around the house and you know, just kind of make things easier around the house by cooking.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then I guess during 2020, there were no shows and there was nothing to do.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I uh I was living in East Texas at the time, and a buddy of mine out in East Texas, out in Tyler, had the Crazy Cajun, and it was a restaurant, Crazy Cajun, Kitchen and Market.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I went out there and I was looking for some work because I didn't have anything to do.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I went out there and I started out in the kitchen to cook.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that, I was running front of house when they started allowing people to come back into the restaurants.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: I was running the front of house as uh the manager.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: And even during that time, during the shutdown, um I was also working as a floor manager and a DJ at the club they owned next door.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was like 2020 was an odd ball, it was bizarro world in 2020.
• 48:09
  Casi Joy: Yeah, can relate.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was bizarro world, but I managed to do a lot of things.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so while I was homebound for the most part, where there was nothing going on, I started paying attention to different things that I liked to cook or wanted to cook or wanted to learn how to cook.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the internet has full, you know, information of all these different recipes and stuff.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I would go and I would work on figuring out how am I going to learn how to cook this dish or that dish.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I would just kind of say, All right, boys, what do you want today?
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it's like is I remember one day I asked my son, I said, Hey man, so what do you want?
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: We've got Asian food, Cajun food, Mexican food, or Italian food that I can cook.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe some French food, but I'm not all that great at that.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or some German.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: I know a little bit of German.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: No, but you know, he said, he said, Asian or Cajun?
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: I go, yeah.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: He said, I want both.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I found myself making some Creole-inspired Asian food.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, no, I was making both dishes.
• 49:22
  Casi Joy: Oh, nice.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_00: I learned how to do that, so I'm like, it it felt like when you work at your restaurant, won't you just make this?
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_00: I want this, and then the other boys will want this and that and the other.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm like, goodness gracious boys.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, what did I do?
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm making jambalaya in one dish, chicken fried rice on another dish, burgers on another dish.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the kids were excited because they got to eat whatever they wanted.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I was cooking at the city.
• 49:48
  Casi Joy: Yeah, they just they get the menu and just tell dad what to do.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm I was cooking at home because I mean it was it was so difficult for them.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_00: We couldn't go anywhere at the time.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was just one of those things.
• 50:00
  Casi Joy: So with all of that cooking, let's say you're kidnapped, you can only save your own life if the kidnapper loves your dish that you cook them.
• 50:15
  Casi Joy: What are you cooking?
• 50:18
  Casi Joy: Oh, that was a quick one.
• 50:20
  Casi Joy: Like you knew that was your life-saving dish.
• 50:23
  Casi Joy: What makes yours so special?
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, it's it's hard for people to not like spaghetti cake, you know.
• 50:31
  Casi Joy: Spaghetti cake.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 50:34
  Casi Joy: You can't argue.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: You got pasta, you got meat, you got your sauce, and you got a lot of cheese.
• 50:40
  Casi Joy: Several cheeses.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, several.
• 50:43
  Casi Joy: Okay.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_00: So it's either that or you're making a dish of macaroni, baked macaroni and cheese, or chicken fajitas.
• 50:52
  Casi Joy: Oh man, if I was your kidnapper, I would those would I would save your life.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's like with chicken.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_00: So the last time I made a good batch of chicken fajitas, you know, back at the time I was still living in East Texas, and I had I didn't have a smoker or anything like that.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_00: I had this kettle Weber grill that I got at Walmart.
• 51:15
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I would take my cast iron skillet.
• 51:20
  Casi Joy: See, that's the start.
• 51:21
  Casi Joy: It's cast iron, baby.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_00: I put the cast iron skillet on the grill, and I'm cooking the chicken in the cast iron.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_00: And as I'm doing that, I'm putting wood chips in there and the charcoal, and I'm covering it so that the smoke comes and gets into the chicken as it cooks.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then I take all my, you know, chopped vegetables, the peppers and onions and all that after the chicken is cooked, then you put it in the same skillet and let the smoke get back on that, and you're doing that.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then you just, you know, heat up your tortillas and you season the meat properly.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_00: I season in layers because I learned from trial and error that if you put too much seasoning at the beginning of the preparation of the meal, it the flavor is cooked out by the end.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you do your initial seasoning of the meats or your vegetables, you know, your salt, pepper, garlic, and any other kind of famous fancy vegetables you want or seasonings you want to put in there, any paprika, smoked paprika, you want uh cayenne pepper to spice it up where it's super hot, all the stuff.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_00: You season it.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then the meat season and it's cooked.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_00: Season the vegetables.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now everything is done, then you add some more seasoning over the top of that as the smoke gets in there and all that.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, whatever you're cooking, if you're gonna make a bacon-wrapped meatloaf, are you gonna do anything like that?
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta season it in layers.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: I could do a meatloaf too, by the way.
• 52:50
  Casi Joy: That's that is what I would probably say for mine, is I do a I put four different types of cheeses stuffed into a meatloaf and smoke it.
• 52:58
  Casi Joy: And so that's either that or my chili would hopefully save my life.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so go back to your meatloaf with the cheese.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: You put the cheese, you blend it obviously in with the meat.
• 53:10
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 53:11
  Casi Joy: Do you use no, it's in it's in its own just little he it, there's just a little cheese strip on the inside.
• 53:16
  Casi Joy: I should blend it in.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, so it's almost like a roulade where it's like a roll almost.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_00: So you put okay, I'm thinking, huh, here's something.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_00: You take now.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's a cooking show.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_00: So now you take the shredded cheese.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_00: You take with the meatloaf, you get your your organic ground beef or your bison or whatever, or elk, because I've done that before.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, the ground meat, you put it all together, you put your your seasoned breadcrumbs.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_00: Seasoned breadcrumbs because it adds extra flavor.
• 53:49
  unknown: Yeah.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_00: Put your seasoned breadcrumbs in with that, your egg, and then you put your shredded cheese, your parmesan, because it's a hard cheese, and it'll stand up, and you'll know it.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_00: It'll stand up with the texture and the heat.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, uh, what other cheese do you use?
• 54:06
  Casi Joy: Um, usually, I think, I don't know, kind of whatever's on sale at the time, but like a cheddar, a pepper jack, um, probably Munster and Gouda or something.
• 54:15
  Casi Joy: I don't know.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Munster and Gouda, soft cheeses, and they blend in very well.
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_00: And smoked gouda is really good.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_00: But then you said um cheddar.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good one.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_00: Cheddar's a great one.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think cheddar is one of my favorites.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um if now, I guess, side note, which cheddar do you prefer?
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: Are you at California, Wisconsin, Vermont?
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that is the Vermont stuff the white one that's like just Vermont, aged Vermont white cheddar, Oregon has a good cheddar, California's a good cheddar in Wisconsin.
• 54:50
  Casi Joy: I want the stuff that makes your mouth tingle that it's so sharp.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_00: Aged Vermont white cheddar.
• 54:55
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so yeah, that's it.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if you put any of that in there, yeah, you're gonna have a great tasting uh meatloaf.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I would mix in shredded Parmesan, not the spaghetti confetti powdered kind of.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_00: Although you can use a spaghetti confetti for that.
• 55:12
  Casi Joy: I don't like that kind.
• 55:13
  Casi Joy: It's not the same.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, no, but you blend it in with the breadcrumbs because the seasoned breadcrumbs, and then you put the spaghetti confetti in there, it adds to that, and then you're mixing it up, and then you could probably put some shredded uh Parmesan in there as well.
• 55:28
  Casi Joy: Okay, we need to have you back.
• 55:30
  Casi Joy: Next time you're in Kansas City, we need to do an in-person thing and find a really beautiful ball or kitchen.
• 55:36
  Casi Joy: And we're doing either a cook-off or just a gentle, friendly cooking show.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_00: Hey.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_00: I like friendly cooking shows because I mean because competition means you're running around and rushing.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't want to.
• 55:49
  Casi Joy: Oh, yeah, I can't be I can't be rushing.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to rush.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you're gonna make if you're gonna make a good jambalaya, that's 90 minutes start to finish.
• 55:56
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 55:57
  Casi Joy: Maybe we could be on the same team.
• 55:59
  Casi Joy: Perfect.
• 56:00
  Casi Joy: All right, let's go to um Country Stampede.
• 56:03
  Casi Joy: You've been the MC for Country Stampede for a couple years now.
• 56:10
  Casi Joy: And I think you're coming back this summer too, right?
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's the word, yeah.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_00: So far 2021.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I was the MC for that, and then 25 and 26 so far.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then fingers crossed, get everything squared away.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_00: 27.
• 56:26
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 56:27
  Casi Joy: Um, I think I heard it's gonna be the last weekend in June.
• 56:31
  Casi Joy: Um, who's been your favorite artist that you've gotten to introduce so far?
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's a that's a great question, actually.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um there have been a lot.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and it's and it's very different than previous years of hosting because interestingly enough, when you're MSing festivals, a lot of the newer acts prefer to have what they refer to a soft open or a soft introduction as opposed to a ladies and gentlemen, make welcome to the stage, Miranda Lambert.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that you know is different compared to you know, the next voice that you hear will be that of Ms.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_00: Miranda Lambert, you know.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_00: So um I've enjoyed uh working with Rascal Flats, Miranda Lambert, Tracy Lawrence, it's really cool.
• 57:25
  Casi Joy: He was so good last year.
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, really cool.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, over the years it's been some really cool ones.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: I've enjoyed it.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's a lot of fun.
• 57:34
  Casi Joy: Yeah, you get to see a ton of artists side stage and kind of what they're like before going on stage.
• 57:41
  Casi Joy: Have you seen any really weird pre-show like rituals like right before like the the big artist's about to walk on stage?
• 57:49
  Casi Joy: Anything weird?
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, nothing, nothing crazy.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's you know, I I look at it when I see other artists and how they prepare to go on mentally, it's a routine.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, in the big and rich camp, we have a routine, so I'm not surprised by other people's routines.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_00: Ours is pretty straightforward, you know.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_00: So seeing other artists do it, uh it's like, oh, that's a routine.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_00: All right, got it.
• 58:14
  Casi Joy: Yeah, I opened for this is the most random matchup ever, but years ago I was playing a festival in Canada and I opened for Buck Cherry.
• 58:22
  Casi Joy: And wow, um, I know it was so random, but such a cool show.
• 58:30
  Casi Joy: And he um right before he went on stage, he was just sprinting back and forth behind the stage and making these crazy like helicopter like jet plane landing sounds.
• 58:42
  Casi Joy: And I was like, man, I'm gonna do that someday.
• 58:45
  Casi Joy: It was so cool.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, probably we've all got our routines, probably trying to warm up physically and warm up his voice because although I've never seen them live, I heard he's gotta range.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I've heard I've heard, for example, Joe Elliott from Def Leopard.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_00: I heard that he back in the 80s would go out and would wow and would scream at the top of his lungs to get his voice to where he'd get used to that.
• 59:13
  Casi Joy: Yeah, I mean, the first time you do it can't be on the microphone.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_00: No, no.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_00: Interestingly enough, Sebastian Bach, if you've ever heard him sing.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_00: So Sebastian, he's gone out with us and done some shows over the years.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've had some interesting, interesting folks.
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I got to meet Sebastian through John, and John had him on his Gone Country TV show on CMT years ago.
• 59:41
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we got to know Sebastian.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_00: And Sebastian before his shows likes to warm up with Italian opera scales.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_00: And this is about an hour and a half to two hours before the show.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_00: He's warming up his vocals.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how he's able to, to this day, still sing and hit all of his notes.
• 1:00:04
  Casi Joy: Man.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_00: So he's serious about his singing.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if you if you go see Sebastian Bach, he is warmed up before, two hours before the show, his vocals.
• 1:00:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's like all the Italian opera scales.
• 1:00:19
  Casi Joy: That's so cool.
• 1:00:20
  Casi Joy: Dedication.
• 1:00:21
  Casi Joy: I love to hear about people's pre-show stuff.
• 1:00:23
  Casi Joy: And like just I love to YouTube other like singers' warm-ups and stuff.
• 1:00:27
  Casi Joy: It's so cool.
• 1:00:28
  Casi Joy: Um, okay, so you've got um your latest single you released last year, is called Getting Started.
• 1:00:35
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 1:00:36
  Casi Joy: Super fun.
• 1:00:37
  Casi Joy: I can already like it's it seems like it like was birthed in the country like line dancing clubs, and it's just begging for a dance.
• 1:00:48
  Casi Joy: And so I went to your TikTok.
• 1:00:51
  Casi Joy: I was like, I'm gonna see Cowboy Troy just line dancing his little booty off.
• 1:00:56
  Casi Joy: Where where is your line dancing, sir?
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't do line dances.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_00: I try and create I try and create music for them.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_00: I like to be dancing dance.
• 1:01:05
  Casi Joy: And you sure do.
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to be the soundtrack of your favorite line dance.
• 1:01:08
  Casi Joy: But you won't be a part of it.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, if I wanted to do aerobics, I'd be over at Planet Fitness, you know.
• 1:01:17
  Casi Joy: But I've seen some videos of you kind of getting down a little bit, not necessarily line dancing, but you know, getting after it.
• 1:01:24
  Casi Joy: You are a pretty good dancer, just freestyling.
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:01:28
  Casi Joy: And I saw that some years ago you performed I Play Chicken with the Train on Dancing with the Stars.
• 1:01:36
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 1:01:37
  Casi Joy: Which I am a huge fan.
• 1:01:38
  Casi Joy: It's it's going on right now.
• 1:01:41
  Casi Joy: If they ever called, would you be one of the stars?
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I thought about it back years ago, shortly after I performed on D.
• 1:01:50
  Casi Joy: Yeah, you've seen behind the scenes.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_00: I I would back then, I actually went for an interview and talked with the producers back then.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_00: They decided to go with uh uh someone else who was more known.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think that was the year Bill Ingball went in.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_00: And was was there.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_00: But they talked to me and obviously Bill, and uh and I don't know who else they talked to, but uh out of the country space, they went with Bill.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, he's obviously much more known and and funnier.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_00: His jokes are way funnier than anything I could come up with.
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I mean, um, I think that's how it worked out.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, uh, you know, I interviewed once.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now at this particular point, I don't know that they would want to, you know, reach back or and say, hey, why don't you be on?
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'd consider it.
• 1:02:40
  Casi Joy: That would be so cool.
• 1:02:41
  Casi Joy: I would be I would be voting for you with all 10 of my votes every week.
• 1:02:48
  Casi Joy: So with that with that being released, um your uh getting started uh single, getting released in 2025, what's it like being in today's music industry versus when you started?
• 1:03:03
  Casi Joy: Because a lot of things have changed.
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's it's really cool these days.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, having ownership of your music and the ability to say where it goes and how it gets there is awesome.
• 1:03:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, working on new material and you know, I've got the follow-up to getting started is already in the can and been recorded, and you know, waiting to get that put out.
• 1:03:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got some collaborations that are on the horizon, so you know it's kind of cool.
• 1:03:33
  SPEAKER_00: One has already kind of been announced, and another one is still kind of uh waiting for that announcement, but uh it's kind of cool that it's there.
• 1:03:41
  Casi Joy: That's awesome.
• 1:03:43
  Casi Joy: You've been like so busy with releasing music just like consistently this whole time, I feel like.
• 1:03:49
  Casi Joy: Um, but 20 years ago, people were trying to figure out what category to even put you in.
• 1:03:57
  Casi Joy: And now you've kind of created your own category and and it's caught on, and other artists are doing kind of something similar.
• 1:04:04
  Casi Joy: And now the genre lines they're so blurry that they're not really even there anymore.
• 1:04:10
  Casi Joy: I mean, we've you've got like Big X the plug on the Opry stage, and it's just kind of like the rules are gone now, which you know it's you can love it or hate it.
• 1:04:21
  Casi Joy: It's it's I think it's really cool just to see how broad this um this genre genre can go.
• 1:04:29
  Casi Joy: Um is there any part of you that wishes that you arrived in this version of country music where it's kind of a little bit more anything goes, or are you happy to kind of been you were kind of a pioneer of pushing boundaries?
• 1:04:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm glad that I I wound up where I was because had I not been there, this current reality I don't think would be anywhere like it is now.
• 1:04:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think that you know, between myself and Big and Rich and the stuff that we did, you know, 20 plus years ago, uh, you know, paved the way for a lot of a lot.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, a lot of people.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_00: Even with I mean, I wouldn't even have to call names.
• 1:05:14
  SPEAKER_00: You would just be able to write them down and say, oh yeah, this person, that person, this person, that person, you know, did something similar to what Big and Rich or Cowboy Troy did.
• 1:05:22
  Casi Joy: Exactly, yeah.
• 1:05:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it took guts to stick with it that whole time, too.
• 1:05:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're crazy.
• 1:05:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's kind of like, you know, I I used to sit back and talk to my friends about how going into the industry, I would rather say I wish I hadn't have done that, than to be, you know, 65, 70 years old saying, I wish I would have at least tried.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I took that mentality going into it.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_00: And there were some times that people really weren't excited about it.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when I was before I got to go on national tours, I was hanging out in bars and clubs here in Dallas.
• 1:06:07
  SPEAKER_00: And there were times where I had friends that took it upon themselves to bring me on stage because they knew what I was doing.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Mark Justice for sure.
• 1:06:20
  SPEAKER_00: There's a guy here in the area, and Mark Justice and the Law.
• 1:06:25
  SPEAKER_00: That was the name of the band.
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_00: Mark Justice, a personal friend.
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_00: Mark would bring me on stage and put me in front of all these people.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_00: Marty Hedden, another guy, bring me on stage, put me in front of all these people.
• 1:06:41
  SPEAKER_00: But Mark was the first in the Dallas area that would do that.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_00: But Mark Justice would bring me on.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, yeah, man, get out there, love what you do.
• 1:06:48
  SPEAKER_00: And because he knew what I was doing.
• 1:06:50
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 1:06:51
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, he still, you know, lives in town.
• 1:06:55
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, but he took a chance, even when there were people at the club that didn't like the idea, it's like, man, why do you keep bringing this dude on stage, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever.
• 1:07:06
  SPEAKER_00: And uh eventually, uh I guess it was that first or second trip.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was may have been the second or third trip to Vegas for the ACM Awards.
• 1:07:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it was, I guess we had gotten a nomination for I Play Chicken with the Train Vocal Event nomination.
• 1:07:30
  SPEAKER_00: That was like 2006, I guess.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm there hanging out, minding my own beeswax, you know, we're down there in the seats, you know.
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't win, but we got nominated, so it was a cool time anyway.
• 1:07:44
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm sitting there, and interestingly enough, as I, you know, during the commercial break, they let you walk around and say hi to people.
• 1:07:52
  SPEAKER_00: So commercial break comes on, and I'm walking around on the floor level, and I see one of the club managers.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_00: He was always polite to me, but I knew he didn't really prefer my style of entertainment.
• 1:08:09
  SPEAKER_00: And he saw me coming, I saw him, and he saw me.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess he thought that I was gonna say, I told you so.
• 1:08:20
  SPEAKER_00: But when I and I could see him bristling up, I could see him bristling up.
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I walked over to him, I stuck my hand out, and I said, Hey man, how you doing?
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_00: Good to see you.
• 1:08:31
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to say thank you for giving me the chance to get on stage and practice my craft.
• 1:08:39
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that you weren't really a fan of my style of music, but I appreciate you not throwing me out.
• 1:08:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for giving me a chance and letting me practice.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_00: And his shoulders kind of dropped a little bit.
• 1:08:53
  SPEAKER_00: He he was no longer expecting the you know the confrontation or anything, but he's like, You're welcome, man.
• 1:09:00
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Thank you, and shook his hand and I walked off, went back to my seat.
• 1:09:04
  Casi Joy: That's so special to see to have a full circle moment like that.
• 1:09:07
  Casi Joy: It was really cool.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was really cool, it was a really cool opportunity because I mean it's like uh it's one of those things where you tell people, I mean, I'll say win with grace and lose with dignity.
• 1:09:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there are many times that you have the opportunity to uh show someone up if you know when you win.
• 1:09:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I've said in in my song Chasin Money, I've said, you know, the hind quarter you kick on the way to the top is the same one you kiss when you take the flop.
• 1:09:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's like you really gotta have that, you know, you gotta be chill about it.
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want to sit there and kind of give the you know all the rah-rah too much when you win, and you don't want to go, you know, kicking stuff over when you lose.
• 1:10:04
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta have a middle ground, you gotta keep your mental faculties about you and just you know, keep your head on on you know, on the straight and narrow.
• 1:10:13
  Casi Joy: Man, well, Cowboy Choi, this has been such an inspiring conversation.
• 1:10:19
  Casi Joy: I feel like I feel like half of this, over half of this episode are quotes that should be put on a t-shirt or something or a motivational sign.
• 1:10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe when maybe you can go and edit edit the interview down and you can kind of put those little excerpts out there.
• 1:10:36
  Casi Joy: Yeah, and just I'll put I'll put a really beautiful echo on your voice when you're saying it.
• 1:10:40
  Casi Joy: So you're like a yoga instructor.
• 1:10:43
  Casi Joy: But tell the people where they can find you on social media so they can follow you and stay up to date with your next single that's gonna be coming out soon.
• 1:10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you can find me on Instagram at CowboyTroy Global.
• 1:10:55
  SPEAKER_00: You can find me on Facebook at CowboyTroy.
• 1:10:58
  SPEAKER_00: You can find me on TikTok at Cowboy Troy and the number three.
• 1:11:04
  Casi Joy: Line dance is coming.
• 1:11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And you can find me on X if you're ever on Twitter or X.
• 1:11:08
  SPEAKER_00: You can find me at Cowboy Troy.
• 1:11:10
  Casi Joy: All right.
• 1:11:11
  Casi Joy: Well, sounds good.
• 1:11:12
  Casi Joy: And then we will see you at Country Stampede.
• 1:11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:11:16
  Casi Joy: Doing the TikToks.
• 1:11:17
  Casi Joy: I'm gonna get you doing some line dancing TikToks.
• 1:11:20
  Casi Joy: Country Stampede.
• 1:11:23
  Casi Joy: All right, well, thank you so much for joining us.
• 1:11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, and have a great day.
• 1:11:27
  Casi Joy: Thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of Custom Conversations.
• 1:11:32
  Casi Joy: Be sure to follow us everywhere on the social platforms, share us with your friends, like, star, review, and don't forget to get your tickets for country stampede at ticketsmarter.com.