Aaron Watson: A Horse Named Texas, Going for Broke & 25 Songs Deep

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:12] Speaker B: Come on. This is Outside the round with Matt Burrill for Rage Rowdy podcast. What's going on, guys and girls? It's Matt Burrill. This is Outside the Round today, a very special guest. One of my favorite dudes in the world of country music. He's not up here very often. He's a Texas cat and he's got a brand new record, Horse named Texas. It's the one, the only Aaron frickin Watson. [00:00:36] Speaker A: Dude, thanks for having me, brother. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Dude, thank you for coming all the way out here to Old Hickory area. I know I've got you spread all over this week with a being released week. [00:00:45] Speaker A: Yeah, no, thanks for having me, dude. Big fan of what y' all do love, how much y'. All, y' all love Colton Dawson. And man, I'm just, I'm excited to be here. [00:00:56] Speaker B: Yeah, man, we're super excited to have you and so excited for this record, bro. 25 damn songs. Yeah, you got a lot to say. You've always had a lot to say. But 25 songs, that's a lot, man. [00:01:06] Speaker A: My wife says I never shut up. So, you know, we, I'm excited about this record. It's, it's, it's been a long time coming and, and really Friday, when it comes out starts day one of the next five years. We've got this five year plan. I've got five. I've got four other music projects already started. [00:01:32] Speaker B: Wow. [00:01:32] Speaker A: Right now, yeah, I've got another record almost finished and it's the sequel to Horse Named Texas. But, but for now, we're talking about the old horse name Texas. Man, I'm just, you know, with the last couple years ups and downs of vocal cord surgery, it kind of delayed some things. But I'm, I'm back up and running at 100% and the good doctor, Dr. Simpson got me squared away. And, you know, probably not yelling at my boys during baseball games is going to be a really good thing. As much as I'm sad that my coaching baseball game days are done for now, until there's grandkids or something down the road, hopefully that's a long way down the road. [00:02:16] Speaker B: I think you got some time on. [00:02:17] Speaker A: Yeah, but that's, I mean, that's probably people like, how do you think you hurt your voice? I was like screaming at little idiots, not hustling down the first baseline. That's, that's probably how I, I heard my voice. But, man, I'm, I'm so excited about so many of these songs. I mean, I just had a ton of fun writing them and yeah, it's, it's gonna be fun. [00:02:41] Speaker B: Yeah, dude. And you're a guy that's been doing it for, for so long, man. And you've been saying here recently that you feel the best that you've ever felt. And this chapter that, where the Horse Name Texas is really kind of kicking off, you talk about those other projects that you've got in the tank right now that you've been working on and ready to get out there, and if we're up to you, they'd probably be coming out next week, you know. Yeah, it's awesome. But talk about looking back. I mean, I mean, your first project came out, what, like it was over 20 years ago, right? 99. So coming up on 30 years, dude, [00:03:13] Speaker A: it was a pretty. 99. It was a pretty rough record, but was the best I could do, you know, And I, I've kind of, you know, I've told, you know, my son Jake, I've said, dude, go listen to my early stuff. They're not well crafted songs. My, the playing's not great, my singing's not great. I go, I was kind of, you know, handcuffed with what I could afford to record and also just experience and I didn't have someone. Like, I've told my son, I'm like, dude, you're bringing me songs. And I'm like, hey, these are some great ideas, but we've got to make these better. I didn't, I didn't necessarily always have that, so I had to kind of learn the hard way. And it's kind of like I was talking with Colton about, about Roger. I'm like, man, to be able to have an og. [00:04:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:06] Speaker A: A guy who has written hits for everyone. A guy who used to hang out with Vern Gon all the time. I was like, man, to be able to have that resource is such a blessing. But yeah, man, I'm telling you, like, I'm calling my shot, man. We're, we're fixing to shake it up pretty good over the next five years. So all these cats now are wearing cowboy hats and singing my kind of music. So the, the professor's fixing a clock [00:04:34] Speaker B: in there we go. Let's go. Take him to school, baby. Clock in. Get. Get them those credits. Let'. That's awesome. And you talk about that shift and that's something that Roger said on here when I, when I was fortunate enough to have him on the podcast. He was talking about how there were a lot of guys and girls that kind of left town and didn't think that it would come back around to the traditional 90s sound. That cold beer country. [00:04:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:57] Speaker B: And it's. It's back. [00:04:59] Speaker A: It's back. And I tell a lot of these kids, though, too. Like, I don't really care about the trend. And I tell a lot of these kids. I don't want to hear. There's. I was like. When all of a sudden I start hearing. Every kid's trying to do Keith Whitley. I don't want to hear Keith Whitley. If I want to hear Keith Whitley, I'll go listen to Keith Whitley. I want to hear, who are you? [00:05:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:21] Speaker A: What is your style? It's okay to have that. That influence, but, like, you know. You know, obviously, you know, Zach Topp is killing it. Right. And that's because he. You know, I've always felt like when I first started kind of checking him out, you know, on social media, gosh, it could have been in 2019 or 2020, when he looked like he was 12, you know, when he was playing more bluegrass stuff. But then every now and then, some video would come across and he'd be singing, like, a country song. And I was like, God, this guy's got a. A. Like a. It's. It's. You know, it's somewhere in between. Everybody wants to talk about Alan Jackson. I'm like, that's. [00:06:11] Speaker B: It's not. [00:06:12] Speaker A: That's not. It's not Zach. It's somewhere in between Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley. Yes. It's got that bluegrass background. He. He gets up there in that bluegrass register, and he's doing. He's just doing what he does and doing it better than anybody else. And, you know, if I take the time to buy your record on vinyl, it's got to be good. And I've. I've got his stuff on vinyl. And. And of course, when, you know, when he was his. You know, he's not signed to a major. [00:06:44] Speaker B: No. [00:06:45] Speaker A: And it's like. Because. So he's had a. He's had a lot to do with that shift. And it's funny, now everybody's wearing cowboy hats and, you know, and I. I think I heard for the first 20 something years of my career, you know, because when I was a young buck, we're coming out of the 90s, and Nashville wanted nothing to do with we. They called us a hat act in that we. Oh, we're not. We're not signing hat acts anymore. So that was always the deal. And I was like, well, I'm not gonna lose my hat. No, you Know, and. And the thing with me is I write what I want to write. I don't. I don't care what the. You know, there's a lot of these outlaw media platforms. They've all got their opinions, and I'm like, you know, sometimes you're so outlaw that you don't care what the outlaws think. You don't have to be chugging whiskey to be an outlaw. You, You. You. You forge your own path. You make the music. I mean, that's the deal. I do not. I'll hear, you know, I'll hear a mainstream country song that isn't Honky Tonk, and I'll love the heck out of it, because I can. Because, you know, like, I tell everybody you're not my mom. I can like whatever I want to like. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:00] Speaker A: You know? Now, of course, the old stuff, that's the stuff that gets me, you know, that. That's the stuff I love. That's what comes out of me when I write. [00:08:09] Speaker B: What made you fall in love with country music from the start? Talk about that old stuff. And you being a Texas guy, country music is so ingrained in this great state of Texas and the rodeo scene and just that whole world. But what was the. What, what. What was the hook that really pulled you in, man? [00:08:26] Speaker A: So dad, you know, my dad being a West Texas boy, talking about watching Whan develop into who he. Into the outlaw whing, Not Waylon. You know, some of Whelan's early records were kind of folky. [00:08:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:45] Speaker A: You know, when it was Greg, was it the Kimbros that Waylon always sang with? Kimbroughs. The Kimberly's. The Kimberly's, yeah. You know, when he's singing with the Kimberly's, it's cool stuff, but that's. That's not the Waylon that became the outlaw, you know? And it's like listening to those records with my dad, and you can go through and start to. I. I once like Waylon, one of his first big hits, and I think it's Anita, you're dreaming, which is a cool song, but it's not like Whalen. Right. But when you. When you start listening to, I think, his album Tulsa, and the Taker album, man, something about that one. Tulsa starts getting that don't let the sun set on you in Tulsa, dude. It starts getting that whaling thing, and you start seeing it start to happen. And so just always having dad playing, whing Willie Nelson live at Panther Hall. Willie's got his hair slicked back and he's wearing a suit and Johnny Bush is on the drums. Johnny Bush on the drums for Willie. And just, I don't know, it's just always dad always had that stuff plan. My dad's a disabled veteran, so to make extra money, he was a. He had a little custodial business. So, you know, me and dad, you know, cleaning toilets, his little battery powered radio playing old country music songs. You know, it's just like. It was always. It's just. It's kind of the soundtrack, the soundtrack of my life. And so I've always been like, I'm very much like, it's about the song to me. And like sometimes I, you know, I like rock and roll too. And. And I, I based so much of my career based upon a live show. [00:10:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:50] Speaker A: You can't have an album just with slow, sad songs and waltzes. That's great for a record, but you've got to be able to have upbeat stuff, stuff that rocks, shuffles. You gotta have all those songs to entertain folks for hours and hours. [00:11:10] Speaker B: Texas, you need the music that the guys and girls are gonna dance to, because if not, you'll just be looking at people on the side of those railings on the dance floor. I learned that my first time touring in Texas. [00:11:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:22] Speaker B: Wait a second. This ain't the Southeast. This ain't the Northeast. This ain't the Midwest. Like, if they don't like the song, they don't dance. [00:11:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:28] Speaker B: Stand on the side. [00:11:29] Speaker A: They stand on the side. You're. Dude, you're totally right. So, you know, that had a lot to do with, with my music. Like, you can go back and listen to my old records and be like, okay, this, There's a lot of twin fiddle, a lot of, A lot of swing. And you can, you can hear that and be like, okay. I bet that was the era of his career where he's playing all the little dive, honky tonks and dance halls because we were making music. And then, you know, for a while I kind of got bored with that. I. I wanted to make some different sounding records. Probably started listening to some different stuff, but it's just whatever I'm feeling, you know, it's like, what, what am I listening to at the time? Time. What, what, what inspires me? I mean, you know, you know, if it was up to me, I would, I would make Guy Clark records because Guy Clark is one of my heroes. I mean, I, it would just be Guy Clark, right? [00:12:29] Speaker B: Yeah. There's songwriters and then there's Guy Clark. [00:12:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:31] Speaker B: Different categories. He's. [00:12:33] Speaker A: He's my, He's My hero. And that those are the songs that, like, you know, when it's. It's been years ago, but we were. We had some success. We were having a little success at radio, and everyone was like, man, we need a really upbeat radio hit now. I was trying to write that because it's a challenge. Like, I. I tell kids, dude, if. Follow your heart, if what comes out of your heart sounds like a pop song, then you be you, you know, And. And that's. I was like, that. That's. Music is so subjective. And now what you. What I. What I listen to in my truck is not, you know, I may not be listening to that song, but you have to be you. And, you know, and it's. It's. I've talked to Jake about what is a great singer. [00:13:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:27] Speaker A: What's a great singer? Because people say, oh, man, he's such a great singer. And I'm like, well, he's a great singer for that genre of music. But if you ask Keith Whitley to sing a Soundgarden song, he's probably not going to pull it off like Chris Cornell. Right. And, you know, you ask Chris Cornell to sing Miami, Miami. I. Now I'm. I have no doubt that both of those artists are such great vocalists. They could do their own version of it. [00:13:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:59] Speaker A: But it's their own version. [00:14:01] Speaker B: Yeah. And there's something about that distinct sound in someone's voice. [00:14:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:14:05] Speaker B: As soon as you hear a guy or a girl singing, you have that in your voice. Aaron, where it's like, you know, it's an Aaron Watson song. You know, it's a Keith Whitley song. [00:14:12] Speaker A: Oh, you know, it's those Cornell bunch guys. And that's where. And it also. It takes time to develop that. If you go back and you listen to old George Jones records, he's trying to sound like Hank. [00:14:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:25] Speaker A: And there's a lot of that. Kind of more like more nasally, like he's singing in a higher register or something. Versus once he finally got into the step. Right up. Come on. Once he became, you know, once. It's kind. It's kind of like once he started getting near his 40s, his. That man voice started coming in and he started figuring out who he was. And so, you know, it's just like, you got to give yourself some time. I mean, some kids come out of the chute. I mean, like, we were talking about Colton earlier. Boy, sounds 40 already. Yeah. You know, and doesn't even. Not even shaven yet. [00:15:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:09] Speaker A: You know, so. And we've. We've talked about a lot of those things. So it's just like, it's, it's just fun. It's fun seeing all these new kids come out there. It's fun seeing, you know, this, a lot of the traditional stuff come around. But I'm, it's, it's funny to see a lot of folks that were wearing zip up boots and skinny jeans, suddenly they look like they walk out of a boot barn. [00:15:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:39] Speaker A: Which I don't have a problem with it. I mean, I think it's cool. I mean, it's, I caught so much slack for so many years for being independent and being, you know, singing cowboy songs. I caught so much, you know, flack, slack, whatever the word is for that. It's neat to see it coming around. And it's like I've told some of these young kids, I'm like, listen, at some point there's going to be, you know, if, if the new fad turns pop. I said, I better not see you chase that trend. Yeah. Because that's the most important thing is you stay true to who you are. [00:16:20] Speaker B: And you've done that for almost 30 years now. Dude, you've been the same guy just doing Texas country music, just. [00:16:27] Speaker A: Oh, no. One trick pony over here. [00:16:30] Speaker B: Yeah, but there's not, I mean, like you said, it's about being authentic and being who you are as an artist. [00:16:35] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, it's, you know, I think if you focus on who you are. And for me, I like to write so much. Like writing is everything to me. I mean, I woke up early this morning and I'm working on a new song. And when you love to write, there's. Your DNA is going to be all over that, all over the music. You know, it's, it's like so, you know, it's, it's not about a moment. It's about a collection of moments which turns into a career. [00:17:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:11] Speaker A: And that's where I've, I'm like, I told my son, I've told Colton, tell all these young bucks. I'm like, you're gonna have a hard time keeping up with this old man over the next five years. I was like, I'm gonna have the biggest moments of my career. I said, my house has paid off, my kids are grown. You know, I can be irresponsible. [00:17:29] Speaker B: You can do whatever the hell you want. [00:17:30] Speaker A: Exactly. It's, it's, it's, it's like, it's, it's actually, I'm very encouraged by it. Like, I'm like, oh, I'm not, I'm not killing myself to get back home because I always. Family's always been a priority. Those kids, I love my kids more than anything in the world and I'd give it all up for them in a second. So, you know, we, we passed on so many great opportunities back in the day because I was like, I just can't. I'm. I'm playing these shows. I can't. I just can't commit to doing a six month radio tour. Like, I have to see, like. Because when kids are at a certain age, you can be gone a week and when you come home, you're like, they've grown, they've changed. [00:18:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:22] Speaker A: So. But now, now they're all like, dudes. You know, my daughter, she acts like she's 40, so. But I get, I still get to spend so much great time with them, but also they're watching me now, which kind of lights a fire under me. Like, I want them. I've always told them, like, work hard and whatever you do, just work hard and give it your best. And that's always been me talking. Now they're to the age where they can watch me, you know, put my money where my mouth is. And, you know, I've already told my wife, I was like, we're. I'm going for broke, you know, and she's like, well, what does that mean? I go, well, that means I'm putting all my heart, all my soul, all my money into country music over the next five years. So what that means is if it doesn't turn out well, we're gonna be broke, you know? And she's like, well, can we, can we, can we dial that back and maybe just leave a little bit left? I'm like, no, girl gotta be all in. That's not a good saying. Going for broke. You feel it? Yeah. If I came in here and said, you know, I'm. I'm not gonna go for broke, but I'm gonna leave a nice nest, comfortable little nest egg. So if, you know, no, that, that doesn't hit the same, you got to go for bro. [00:19:43] Speaker B: And that's the independent mindset too, man. And I mean, having like, looking back at the underdog, that doing what it did and really kicking the door down to make it known to people. You don't have to play the game if it's not right. You can own your stuff. [00:19:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:58] Speaker B: You can bet on yourself, and you're the boss. You're the CEO of your business. [00:20:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:02] Speaker B: You know, you go for it. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Absolutely. And that was a really fun. You know, when the album before Underdog came out, it was called Real Good Time. When we put that record out and my manager at the time called me and was like, dude, I can't remember if it charted at number nine or it made. It was our first top ten record. They were like, dude, you have a top ten album on Country Billboard. And I was like, how? How? And we. That's when we started thinking, well, if we accidentally charted one top 10, if we had some strategy, maybe we could get us a number one. And, you know, no one, I mean, no one thought we could do it. And so it was awesome to make that record with Keith Stegall. [00:20:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Legend. [00:20:57] Speaker A: Legend. And then to literally create this just like. It was like this, this battle plan of just full on blitz in Nashville, Tennessee, with Texas music. And for me, it wasn't really about me. It's. It was more about this, this music scene that I've. I'm so lucky to be a part of. And. And you could go back and watch old interviews. It gave me a great platform to say, hey, if you like what I'm doing. There are so many talented artists in this music scene, making this kind of country music. And so that was fun to be able to kind of wave that Texas flag. Such an honor. Yeah. Because there's so many great artists there that, I mean, it just blows me away. So that was a. That was a fun moment. [00:22:01] Speaker B: Yeah, it had to be, man. Yeah. Before I got into doing Raised Rowdy full time, I used to sell hats and T shirts for the Muscadine Bloodline guys. [00:22:09] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:22:09] Speaker B: They're fiercely independent as well. And I was with them back when they were in the van, like before they got their bus and just that. That independent grind. And like, you'd. They're putting all of it in, you know, and taking care of their guys and great guys to work for. Shout Out. Gary and Charlie, they're so good. [00:22:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:26] Speaker B: But there are other guys that have. Again, they're like, we're going to do this ourselves. We're going to do it our way. And years of grinding. Look at what they're doing now. [00:22:35] Speaker A: I mean, they've got their own sound, their own style. They've built this solid touring business, making great records. I mean, and they're, they're, they're making. What I like about them is when an artist can be unpredictable. [00:22:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:55] Speaker A: And throw a song at you that you're like, whoa. I like that because I don't like it when you can put your Thumb on someone. I like the fact that those guys, man, they'll play something just funky. I got to. I got to play a show with them, and I think it was in. Maybe in Arizona. And I've connected with them over the years. Someone, one time, one of them was wearing one of my T shirts and tagged me on it, and I messaged him. I was like, man, I. I stumbled onto Yalls music a while back. It's great stuff, and so it's really cool. And here, see, they're starting families, and there they have families, and just knowing that, man, they're balancing that with their music, because 20 years from now, you're. You're not gonna. If the only thing you have to hold on to is we won. We won some country music award or we had a number one hit. That's just. There's no weight in that. There's no weight in that. The weight is with your family. That's where your true legacy is. I mean, I. I remember I. I played a little acoustic show with a sweet lady that was like country music vocalist of the year. And I. Maybe 79 or 80, and there was. There weren't really anybody there. There wasn't a whole lot of people there to see her. [00:24:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:33] Speaker A: And I thought to myself, man, life is short, because once upon a time, she was winning one of the biggest awards there was. [00:24:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:43] Speaker A: So it's like, you know, focus on the right things. You know, I would. I wouldn't trade getting to be there for my son's baseball games or my daughter's ballets. I wouldn't give those memories up. I mean, I. If they said, hey, you could have this award or have those moments. I'm like, oh, give me those moments. [00:25:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:10] Speaker A: Because, I mean, I've won some awards. I don't put them on the wall. They just. I don't even know where they are. [00:25:17] Speaker B: They're somewhere in the house somewhere. Yeah. [00:25:19] Speaker A: My wife may have taken them to Goodwill. I don't know. But not that I'm not thankful for those awards. I'm just not going to measure myself by. By those kind of things. Because if you do, then you set this. This unrealistic bar of, like, well, if I'm not winning awards, I'm not good. No, you should challenge yourself. It's like I told Colton. I said, man, your new record sounds so good. He's got big hopes and dreams for it, as he should. I said, but what would you do if it doesn't do what you hope it'll do? I go spend an evening, being disappointed. Wake up the next day and get back to work and make a better record. Like, get over it. Yeah. And because it's about writing, just. Just chasing. Just chasing that song. Trying to write the best song you've ever written every day. [00:26:17] Speaker B: Yeah, [00:26:20] Speaker A: it's. I wrote a song called Leaving. It's one of the best songs I've ever written. And I'll never push it to radio, but I believe it's one of the best songs I've ever written. And it's something that I was going through at the time, and it's. It's therapeutic. But, like, man, just chasing after a. Just a good old country song. Yeah. It's addictive. [00:26:47] Speaker B: Yeah, man. It's like a hunt. [00:26:48] Speaker A: Oh, it's like a hunt. [00:26:49] Speaker B: It's like a hunt. You're out there looking for that elk. [00:26:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:53] Speaker B: Like, you're. You're spending. You're spending a whole day. You're spending weeks or months or even years at a time looking for that song. [00:26:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:00] Speaker B: Big 12 pointer. [00:27:01] Speaker A: Oh, dude. And then once you get it. And that's the thing. Like, that's a great thing. Like, talking about hunting, like, man, I was after this monster buck all fall, and I just could not get the stars to align. I was trying to shoot him with a bow. I mean, if I had taken a rifle, I could have shot him a couple of times, but I was like, this guy deserves. He deserves the bow. Just so amazing. And I could never get the stars to align, and it's disappointing. But guess what? I'm already thinking about next fall. I'm like, I'm gonna get him and even bigger. Yeah, he's gonna be even bigger. I'm gonna get him. [00:27:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:39] Speaker A: But it's just that challenge. The challenge is just. But it's. And it's satisfying when you have to work hard for something and you make it happen. That's such a satisfying. Such a satisfying feeling. So I love it. [00:27:51] Speaker B: Yeah, man. And talking about chasing those songs, I mean, you got 25 out on horse Name Texas, and then you got another 15 coming for this deluxe. [00:28:01] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know when the deluxe is coming, but I got a whole lot of songs that I got to get off my hard drive. But it's. It's about. It's about the fans. [00:28:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:12] Speaker A: You know, there are so many artists that I'm a fan of, and I get frustrated with them. I'm like, you haven't put out an album in four years. Write some songs. [00:28:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:23] Speaker A: Feed the. Feed us. [00:28:24] Speaker B: Feed your people. [00:28:25] Speaker A: Feed Your people. And that's really what it's about. It's about feeding, feeding the fans, feeding my clientele that. You know what? These are my. These are my customers and they want [00:28:39] Speaker B: music and they've been riding with you for a long time, man. And you're gonna have the horse named Tour. [00:28:44] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [00:28:45] Speaker B: Which is, I'm sure gotta be exciting because you're a guy who's built your career really off of being on the road and playing honky tonks. [00:28:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:52] Speaker B: Theaters and clubs and dude, I love it. Dude. There's nothing like being like that consistent. Just go and go and go. And you've like you said these next five years like you're going for broke. [00:29:03] Speaker A: I'm going for, bro. [00:29:04] Speaker B: You're giving these people the biggest Aaron Watson shows they've had. [00:29:09] Speaker A: I'm gonna be putting out more music. I've got all. I've even got these little side. A couple. I got. I got a side project that I'm working on that it's. It's going to be so fun, but it's just going to be a project that I'm. I'm doing not as a joke, but as an outlet for me to write more music. And some of these songs are funny. [00:29:35] Speaker B: Okay. [00:29:36] Speaker A: And some of them, it's like got kind of old school, 60, 70ish vibe. But it's just going to be music that we're using to like raise money for good things. Like we've been thinking about St. Jude's and then music cares.org and just ways to give back. And for me, I thoroughly enjoy writing a song. So it. I find myself to be most productive when I have all these different irons in the fire because it keeps the pencil sharp, you know, it keeps that pencil sharp and keeps me writing. But Horse Name Texas is chapter one. And man, it's like, you know, it's like it's. My career came up short, been bucked off, had my heart stomped in the dirt. But I got back up, got back on time and time again after all these years. I've learned a winner's just a loser who keeps on losing till the day they finally win. [00:30:37] Speaker B: Amen. [00:30:37] Speaker A: And it's just about getting after it, you know? And it's like it's. It's just that song wrote itself because it's like saddled up my dreams on a horse named Texas. Hit those honky tonkin trails like those outlaw boys. And so it's just. It's exciting to. It's really exciting to be this far into my career and to be more fired up than I have I have ever been. And I think it's because I have a greater appreciation for how fortunate I am to get to do this for a living. [00:31:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:14] Speaker A: Like, you know, I was in the studio last week and I was just like going to the studio. For me, it's like a vacation. Like, it's like, it's a. It's a resort experience for me. Like, I would rather go into the studio than go on vacation somewhere. Because for me, that is the vacation I've worked so hard to have finally earned this opportunity to get to make music, to be just in that room, getting to do what I love. So I'm looking forward to going for broke. [00:31:53] Speaker B: That's awesome, man. And you talk about having so many irons on the fire. A thing that you've started kind of fairly recently. It seemed like it started back in the spring. The spring or the summertime. You always tag us in in these tailgate talks. Oh, yeah, these tailgate talks, which started with you hanging on the gun range eating popcorn. [00:32:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:09] Speaker B: Talk about how you've seen that, that grow and, and getting to. Getting to know a lot of the young bucks through commentary. [00:32:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It's hilarious. You know, it's. So I, I dialed off of them for just a smidge and I've got some coming up this next week, but I've been gone so much that there's no tailgate. [00:32:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:29] Speaker A: And it's been cold outside and I'm like, I'm not gonna sit on the tailgate and make a stupid video. [00:32:34] Speaker B: It's a seasonal thing. [00:32:35] Speaker A: It's a seasonal thing, but it's the first one that I did. Literally, it was just kind of by accident. It wasn't scripted. I was at the ranch. Nothing to eat at the ranch. I had to sight in a couple of rifles. So I go to the back. I've got this little like redneck gun range. That's like 100 yard gun range where I was getting these rifles sighted in. And I backed my truck up to some shade and put the camp, put the. Mounted the camera and I had made popcorn because that's all we had at the house. And I was like, I'm starving, I need to get something. And so I was being stupid and I threw the popcorn at it. And you know, and, and that's what's wild is since I've taken over my social media, it's, it's. It's taken off and I'm fixing to go. We're fixing to Turn it up a notch. I got some. And it's. I'm just having fun with it. [00:33:37] Speaker B: Yeah, man, that's what it's there for. [00:33:39] Speaker A: And it's. It's interesting too. Like, you know, I had a little fun with the, you know, and I love. I love Braxton, Keith and. And Gavin. [00:33:51] Speaker B: I love both those guys. [00:33:52] Speaker A: They're. They're just, you know, they both, you know, they're both just great dudes. And. And, you know, Gavin cracks me up. I. I had a couple of best friends that, you know, share very similar DNA with him. And so, you know, my boys, like, both of those artists and are always like, you know, dad, dude, watch this video of Gavin. And, you know, we're watching. I'm just going, you know, just cracks me up. [00:34:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:26] Speaker A: So it kind of started with kind of just messing with those two. Two boys. And, you know, I. I don't remember what it was. Something, you know, I think somebody was throwing stuff. You know, it's like, I do not condone throwing bottles at artists on stage. Duh. [00:34:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:50] Speaker A: But for a guy who has 3,000 shows under his belt, I have played places that literally have chicken wire. [00:34:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:35:00] Speaker A: So with that being said, do exist. [00:35:01] Speaker B: That's not just in the Toby Keith music video, those honky tonks. Oh, they do damn sure exists even to this day. [00:35:07] Speaker A: Not my favorite. Not my favorite places to play. So it's just one of those things where it's like, you know, giving the telling these young bucks, like, here's the deal. You're playing rowdy music in a bar where people are getting drunk. It's. It is going to happen. So keep your eyes open. Can you catch a football? Can you catch it? I've caught a few. I've caught a few. And it's. It's not my favorite thing. And I've, you know, I remember one time I. We were playing this Mardi Gras thing, and this chick on the front row, she has some beads and she does, like, almost slingshots these beads at me. And, man, I'm telling you, it hit me just right and just split my lip. And it. I mean, she smoked me point blank with it. And my mouth is bleeding. [00:36:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:16] Speaker A: And I was like, oh, well, keep playing, Keep playing. Just. Wow. I mean. I mean, I don't know. My heroes. Nolan Ryan. Remember that time? I think it was Bo Jackson hit one up the middle, hit Nolan Ryan in the lip. Busted his lip open. And Nolan went on to pitch the rest of the game. [00:36:37] Speaker B: I mean, heard him taking, beating the out of Robin's biggest mistake of his career. [00:36:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Have you seen the commentary on that where I think actually, yeah, Bo Jackson and Frank Thomas are like, you know, don't take your helmet off. Charge him. Push him off the back of the mound. And it's like I found out later on, you can see Robin, he gets hit and he starts running down the first baseline. And it's like it occurs to him, like, oh, crud. I have to charge the mound. Because they were told that if they got hit and they didn't charge, they were going to get fined. So you can see it all happen. But, yeah, he shouldn't have ran up to daddy. [00:37:24] Speaker B: No, no, no one should be. Should have been charging. [00:37:27] Speaker A: And I love Robin Vetura, dude. In all his. In all of his interviews, he just is like, what was I thinking? [00:37:32] Speaker B: Yeah, bad idea. [00:37:35] Speaker A: Yeah, bad idea. But you get hit with a 100 mile an hour fastball, I'm sure there's some, there's some emotions. [00:37:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:43] Speaker A: Running into that, but, yeah, you know, you just gotta roll with the punches. [00:37:47] Speaker B: Yeah, man. And I mean, those. There are certain rowdier shows where, like, you know, like, Gavin's a perfect example. Like, I remember seeing him early on down in his college town of Statesboro, Georgia, and it was wild, man. We've known Gavin from the jump. We've been lucky enough. Similar like how we talked about with Colton. Like, Gavin's another one of those guys that the last four or five years we've gotten to just watch go level to level. Level. And Treaty Oak Revival same way. [00:38:11] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Yeah. [00:38:11] Speaker B: Beers are flying, man. [00:38:13] Speaker A: Beers are flying. It's crazy. You know, I'm up there talking about Jesus, so I try to keep them dialed back a little bit. Talking about Jesus will lower the amount of bottles flying the projectiles. The project will lower the p. Yeah. Tall Gavin talking about Jesus will lower the percentage of projectiles at your show. But. Oh, yeah, dude, I love Gavin's music. He. He's. He's created something pretty cool. [00:38:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:46] Speaker A: I mean, it's. It's rowdy as I'll get out, but at the same time, like, his records are pretty unique. Yeah, they're. They're catchy, good songs. So it's. It's, you know, if his songs weren't good, if his songs weren't good, he would just be another rowdy singer. And there's a lot of those. [00:39:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:08] Speaker A: I mean, he's got the music to back it up. And that's, that's when it, that's when it works. [00:39:12] Speaker B: He does, man. And there's other folks that you've gotten to kind of mentor or mention through the tailgate talks. Talk about like the Time Myers of the world. The Hudson West. [00:39:20] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:39:21] Speaker B: More Texas cats. [00:39:22] Speaker A: Yeah. It's cool to see what they've done. I, I took Ty out for a few shows before he blew up and saw how good he was and you know, hearing all about Hudson, you know, being from West Texas, so that's really cool. And you know, I tell a lot of these young cats, I'm like, hey, you know, I hope you understand how fortunate you are to be in this position. I mean, it's awesome to see the, to be able to go viral has took them 10 years. It would have taken an artist 10 years to achieve what they've achieved in a short amount of time. [00:40:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:07] Speaker A: And. And it has nothing to do with whether they have earned it or deserve it. I hate the word deserve. [00:40:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:13] Speaker A: I don't really know that we deserve anything. I don't know that I deserve what I have. And, but it's, but what you can do is you can, you can work hard and, and, and, and you can earn it. You can earn that, that opportunity by getting out there and playing good shows. So it's cool to see what those kids have done. I know my son Jake's friends with, with all of them and guys in their bands. So I mean, they're all, you know, once you're a dad and you've got high school boys, they're all just little punks to me. You know, I was like, which takes one to no one. I mean, I still, I don't think I've ever grown up. So, I mean, I am a little more mature than them. [00:40:59] Speaker B: Just a little bit. [00:41:00] Speaker A: Just a little. [00:41:01] Speaker B: Just a little. [00:41:01] Speaker A: Not much. But it's, it's cool to see what those, what those kids have done and. God. Oh God. We had one. It. The, the. The weirdest one was. Made a couple videos. Just having fun about Zach Brian. And then having him like make a few comments on some of my posts was weird because I'm like, you're like one of the biggest artists in the world. [00:41:34] Speaker B: You're selling out stadiums in Europe. You're doing like Beatles level. [00:41:37] Speaker A: Yeah. And you just sold your catalog for like $200 million. Like, you don't follow me. So why are you looking me up and checking out random posts? Like, one time you said something like, hey, Aaron, where are the bodies at? [00:41:59] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:42:01] Speaker A: And so I said, I think I said, hey, Zach, come to my ranch. And I'll show you, you know, just having fun with it. [00:42:10] Speaker B: Yeah, man. [00:42:11] Speaker A: But, you know, I've dialed off of him. I think he's going through some stuff and, you know, looks like he's maybe kind of getting his stuff together. [00:42:22] Speaker B: Yeah, no, definitely. For sure. You talk about love and songwriting, and I gotta ask you about the Buffalo Gap ranch house that you've gotten of getting up in the morning. Walk me through kind of the process. Like, some people wake up, put on the pot of coffee, scramble a few eggs. It sounds like you're picking up the guitar and you're. You're writing. [00:42:40] Speaker A: I built this. This ranch house just for songwriting. It was. It's always been my dream. It sits on the edge of this canyon and there's a big bluff behind it. [00:42:53] Speaker B: Oh, nice. [00:42:54] Speaker A: It has the best views. And it's literally my favorite thing. Like, you know, I will. If I get up early and. But if I wake up at 4 o' clock in the morning, I don't go back to bed. If I wake up in the morning at 4, which I do a lot. I'm already wired. And, dude, I go make me some good old instant coffee and go sit down either on the back porch or I'll fire up the fireplace. And I just work on songs. I don't. I'm. My mind is fresh. The. The house is quiet. You know, My little dog, my wife's dog, but she's really my dog. She likes me more. [00:43:41] Speaker B: What's her name? [00:43:42] Speaker A: Bandy. [00:43:43] Speaker B: Bandy. That's a great dog name. [00:43:45] Speaker A: God, she is. It's. I swore I'd never have one of those kind of dogs. [00:43:52] Speaker B: What kind of dog is it? [00:43:53] Speaker A: I don't even. It's. [00:43:55] Speaker B: Can it fit in a purse? [00:43:57] Speaker A: If it was a big purse. [00:43:58] Speaker B: Okay. [00:44:00] Speaker A: It's a miniature golden doodle. [00:44:05] Speaker B: My parents had the same dog. [00:44:07] Speaker A: And I'm just. I'm not gonna lie. Best dog ever. [00:44:10] Speaker B: Great dogs. [00:44:11] Speaker A: I. I hate to say that. Yeah, I'm a. I'm a. A Labrador retriever kind of guy. That's a dog. [00:44:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:19] Speaker A: And then this little thing shows up. [00:44:21] Speaker B: Little puffball. [00:44:22] Speaker A: Puffball. It looks like a little Ewok. [00:44:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:25] Speaker A: It's the cutest thing that God ever made. And it doesn't shed. And I mean. And when I work on my songs, she has to be there. She's got to be with me. And she'll sit on the couch right behind me or right next to me, and she's dialed in on me, which. That's the way to my heart. Pay attention to my songs. And you've got me. So awesome. Yeah. I've told my wife you need to act more like Bandy. [00:44:50] Speaker B: Has Bandy come on tour with you yet? [00:44:52] Speaker A: No, she. I don't know that the. The. The wife will let the dog come out on tour with me, but it's pretty bad when I'm like, I've been gone for a couple weeks, and it's pretty bad that I'm like, man, I miss my dog. [00:45:10] Speaker B: I miss my little. I miss my little miniature golden doodle. My little puff ball. Sit. [00:45:15] Speaker A: I miss my puffball. [00:45:17] Speaker B: They're smart dogs, too. [00:45:19] Speaker A: They're. They. They. It's. It's. It's unbelievable. Like, I hate to say that they have, you know, created this perfect little dog. They don't shed. They're smart like a lab. I mean, she's. I mean, it's not like some little dingy, dumb little dog that follows you around. I mean, dude, she. She let her out in the backyard one day, and, you know, she comes to the door and she's got a rabbit, and. And she was eating it. I was like, you know, she. I think she believes that, you know, she's part coyote or something. I was like, well, you are a dog. You caught a rabbit. Yeah, I'll give you that one. [00:45:58] Speaker B: There you go. There you go, Bandy. [00:46:00] Speaker A: A little more legit. There's a little red blood in your. I was like, that's. That's vicious looking. [00:46:06] Speaker B: Yeah. There's the retriever coming out. [00:46:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:46:08] Speaker B: So that's awesome. That's awesome. And talking about West Texas, a place that I've really fallen in love with over the past few years, because the music scene is Lubbock, Texas. [00:46:17] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:46:18] Speaker B: And talk about kind of your history with out there, like, places like Cooks and the Blue Light and just the music scene. And not only the music scene, but the songwriting scene that exists in a place like Lubbock, Texas. [00:46:30] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I mean, you start talking about, like, Buddy Holly. I mean, when you. When you realize that a West Texas boy influenced the Beatles, the. The first demo the Beatles ever covered or cut was a Buddy Holly song. [00:46:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:54] Speaker A: When you realize that, like, I'm pretty sure. I mean, it's Buddy Holly and the Crickets. The Crickets, the Beatles. When you realize the impact that. That Buddy had on that. On that band that would go on to influence all other bands. You know, talking about Joe Ealy and, you know, Mac Davis, you know, Happiness Is Love Book, Texas in my rear view mirror. You know, I mean, just so many great Artists coming out of that town. You know, Waylon being right there in Littlefield. There's an old man I was friends with, Robert Reed, and he had. He had. He has cerebral palsy. And he, I guess, lived down the street from Buddy and Buddy and Waylon would come down and get him and take him to the garage and he'd watch him practice. Wow. Imagine that. [00:48:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:12] Speaker A: And so it's just, you know, it's kind of one of those deals where you're like, man, like, that was very inspiring for me to know that, you know, people from my neck of the woods could get out there and do it. And they're all pretty cool artists, too. [00:48:29] Speaker B: And live music just thrives in Lubbock, man. [00:48:32] Speaker A: It just thrives. I mean, I've played them all. [00:48:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:35] Speaker A: I've. The ones I started at aren't even around anymore. You know, Bash Rip Rocks. Oh, that place was horrible. I hated Bash Rip Rocks, to be honest with you. But like, the old Midnight Rodeo that was. There was. Oh, it was. It was. It was rough. The library Blue Light is a cool place. I've. They. They've done that, right. [00:49:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:06] Speaker A: Where it's a good. It's a good music room. And then Cooks is that places. [00:49:13] Speaker B: The best outdoor venue. One of the coolest outdoor venues I ever go to. Yeah. [00:49:17] Speaker A: I mean, ever. [00:49:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:19] Speaker A: I mean, how many millions of dollars worth of those vintage signs are out there? Yeah. So, I mean, I love. I love that part of Texas. I. I love the Panhandle. I don't know why. I mean, it's like people always talk about how friendly Texans are, but West Texas takes it up a notch. Like, people go out of their way. [00:49:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:49] Speaker A: To help others. It's just a. It's. It's a great place. So. Yeah. I mean, Lubbock was. We played Lubbock non stop back in the day. And. Yeah. Actually, I got a show coming up at Cooks. [00:50:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:08] Speaker A: April or May or something. I don't know. [00:50:10] Speaker B: That'll be. That'll be special, man. [00:50:11] Speaker A: That'll be fun. It's always good to go back. [00:50:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:14] Speaker A: See, all my old buddies, now their kids are coming out. It's weird. [00:50:19] Speaker B: And now hit them with all that new music too, man. [00:50:21] Speaker A: It's gonna be so fun. [00:50:22] Speaker B: Talk about this new show that we're gonna get to see, man. [00:50:26] Speaker A: We are adding new songs from Horse Name Texas. We're bringing back a lot of old stuff. [00:50:36] Speaker B: Hell, yeah. [00:50:37] Speaker A: Yeah. And play the old stuff, man. Let's go. It's fired up. And we're doing. Starting to do like real cool medleys and stuff where just making the show just this like, you know, once upon a time. You know, when kids are getting started, you know, you finish a song and you're like, you stop, you get a drink of water and you're like, what are we gonna play next? You know, you have a little bit of a set list, but when you can finally have this set that people look down and they're like, holy cow, he's already been playing for 90 minutes. Just that rapid fire. Knowing your moments, when to talk, knowing your moments when did the jam. It's. It's fun. So that's. I was working on the new set last night at the Airbnb, so I'm, I'm. And it makes it fun for us. Yeah, it gets, it gets things exciting again and, and seeing fans excited about new music, that, that, that's one thing that never gets old. Like, hearing yourself on the radio is pretty cool. But not as cool is writing a song on your back porch and then months later you have all these people singing those words back to you. That still trips me out because I'll go, man, that's wild. Like, I remember I rewrote that second line so many times to get it to what it is now. And now they all know. Just, it's, it's, it's such a cool thing. It's one of those deals where I'm like, man, I feel so lucky. Feel so lucky. I get to write songs and get to single to people singing them back to me. I mean, it's, it spoils me. It spoils me rotten. [00:52:32] Speaker B: Yeah, man, that's awesome. When you, When I hear going over a 90 minute set, that gets me excited too. Yeah, because we're, we're the front row or don't go kind of people. We get access to go stand on the side of the stage. But it's like there's something about being in the pit and watching a show and then go past that 90 minute mark, man. [00:52:48] Speaker A: Oh, dude, I like be. I, I don't like being on the side. Like, I want to be in front. I want to feel the subs. [00:52:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I want to feel the subs. I want to feel the show. [00:52:56] Speaker A: Yeah, you can't, you can't. Like side stage is just like. Well, first of all, the speakers are pointed the diff the wrong direction. [00:53:08] Speaker B: Yeah. And everybody's most, Almost everybody's on ears, so you're not even hearing it. [00:53:11] Speaker A: Feels weird. [00:53:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:13] Speaker A: Oh, I'm. Dude, I'm the same way. Dude. I'm the same way where I just get excited and I'm like, just. You know, I remember several years back, we were in Switzerland, and we got to play two nights with Amylou Harris. Wow. And now the first night, I was set side stage because Shania was there, and she asked me to sit down next to her. [00:53:42] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah, that's. [00:53:43] Speaker A: That's when you do as you're told, [00:53:45] Speaker B: you make an exception. [00:53:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I. I was kind of her wine boy. I went and got her wine. [00:53:50] Speaker B: Add that to the resume. Yeah, it was wine boy. [00:53:53] Speaker A: I was pretty good. Wayne's this guy. That's me. And. But I remember the second night, I went out and watched Emmy Lou play out front, and I was just like, God. I mean, just. It just blew me away. And just seeing the whole thing. It's like, you don't watch a movie from the side. You want front and center. You want to see the whole screen. So. Yeah, I love concerts, man. It's. I love it. [00:54:27] Speaker B: Yes. You probably enjoy playing festivals then, because then you get to see all the other people. [00:54:31] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:54:32] Speaker B: I know. They're a little chaotic on the back end. I did some tour managing back in the day, too, so I know how that can kind of go. But there's. That's got to be fun. Oh, dude, I've done so many over the years. [00:54:41] Speaker A: Oh, done so many. You get to see so many great artists. I mean. I mean, got to see Don Williams once. Wow. That was pretty special. You know, I remember getting to be right up front watching Rodney Crowell, you know, and it's like, nothing against the, like, mainstream artists, but they were playing on the bigger stages, and I was like, yeah, I don't see that, dude. I'm going to see Don Williams. [00:55:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:15] Speaker A: You know, and it's just. It's the stuff that you like. This is stuff that I like. And. And I'm always. Dude, I'm always just gonna. I'm gonna always favor the songwriter. I'm always gonna. That is my guy. [00:55:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:30] Speaker A: Or my girl. The. The songwriter for me is. Is king or Queen. I mean, that's the thing that really in. Gets me infatuated when I hear some legendary song, and I'm like, that's the person that wrote that song. Like, that just. To me, that's the art. Yeah. Like, it's an inch. It's a whole other interesting thing. But my mom's an art teacher, and there are all different forms of artists, but for me, the kind of artists that I really look up to is the ones that write their music because that's what inspires me, you know, Like I'm, you know, I've said it before. I would rather sing my songs in a coffee shop than someone else's. [00:56:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:24] Speaker A: In a sold out stadium. And I stand by that. I mean, you know, that's. And talk is cheap. But we've, We've had some very successful records. And I just didn't sign a record deal. So I've, I'm. You know, we've, We've. I've put my money where my mouth is. [00:56:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, you always have, dude. [00:56:43] Speaker A: You know, doesn't always. I mean, I still. I either put my money where my mouth is or my boot, you know, But I'm consistent with it. Yeah, man, they're nice boots. [00:56:55] Speaker B: At least I'm sure they are. Talk to me about old houses. It's one of my favorite songs on the record, man. And it takes me to a place, man. [00:57:04] Speaker A: So I was back home in Amarillo. I actually took a little two day vacation. My wife and kids were. They were up in New Mexico coming back from church camp. And I wasn't going to drive all the way up there just to get there for six hours and drive all the way back. So I decided to get in my truck and drive to Amarillo. And I spent a lot of time. There's a great state park there, the Palo Duro Canyon. It's beautiful. And I grew up in that park. So I was like, I'm gonna go down there, take my guitar, I'm gonna work on songs. Just go eat at my favorite. My favorite barbecue place in the world is right there on 34th in Georgia, Doug's barbecue. And I was like, I'm gonna eat barbecue and write songs down in Palodura Canyon for two days. And I decided to drive by the house I grew up in. And there were a bunch of trucks out front. Some type of something. Something remodeling, some remodeling business. And the screen door was propped open and they were like pulling out carpet and all kinds of stuff. So I went up to the door and I kind of knocked. And the head guy came out and he's like, can I help you? And I was like, hey, is anyone living in this house? And he was like, no, we're. We're remodeling it. And I said, well, I grew up in this house. I said, you think I could just walk around? And he said, well, how do you. How do I know you grew up in this house? And I was like, first of all, like, why would anybody just randomly walk up to some little shack of a house? [00:58:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:59] Speaker A: You know. And I said, well, I don't know if it's still there. I said, but my bedroom dad turned this single car garage into my bedroom when my sister was born. And I said, along the top ceiling there's some cabinets and there's the closet and there's a little built in desk. I said, my dad built everything with three quarter inch plywood and two by fours. And he was like, that's a fact because we have had to tear out a few things. And I said, in the top left cabinet above, up near the ceiling, I said, the day we moved, I got up there and I put, Aaron Watson was here. And he goes, well, now I'm interested. And we went up there and we opened it up and it's still there. And he's like, man, go around, look around. Craziest thing. They were removing the original backsplash in the kitchen that when that house was built in the late 40s, was there and there when I was there had the same oven. Wow. And they gave me the. A bunch of pieces of the original backsplash. The old, One of the old elm. Elm. Elm trees had died and they had gone back there and pulled up the roots and the roots were huge and it almost turned into some type of cork wood. And I loaded them up in the back of my truck. So I have them. I went, my mom has a real fancy little garden flower bed and she uses them as decoration. But that house, I wrote that song, I started writing that song that day at the Canyon because it's like what, you know, it's like what made that, that little house special. It wasn't really the house. It's, you know, you know, it takes years and years to make those memories, you know? You know, it, you know, it takes years and years to grow them big old trees. It's like that house. It's, it's, it's not the actual house. It's the years and the memories. [01:01:22] Speaker B: Yeah. It's the family. [01:01:23] Speaker A: It's the family, the foundation, everything. [01:01:26] Speaker B: All that, man, it's, it's what made you. [01:01:28] Speaker A: You. Yeah. [01:01:28] Speaker B: Was what happened in that little shack [01:01:30] Speaker A: in that little house. [01:01:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:32] Speaker A: You know, and so it was wild. They pulled up some of the carpet and seeing the old hardwood floors under that carpet, I was like, man, like I looked, there's a big picture window and I was looking at where dad, where our TV used to be. And I was like, man, how many thousands of hours did I Sit right there with a pillow on my belly watching baseball games or cartoons. Yeah. That right there is where I got my first Atari, my first Nintendo. Like, right there's where the Christmas tree was like me and sitting Indian style right there, opening those gifts. And that's really. That turned out to be such a special song, man. That one. That one's kind of gets me emotional because my mom and dad are in a. They're at. They're. They're at a very fragile, you know, age where their health is up and down, and I know that my days are numbered with them. So singing that it just. Oh, man. But it was. I kind of wrote that for them. Yeah. [01:02:46] Speaker B: Yeah. There's a lot of that nostalgia feeling in there, man. Like, gone fishing with the loved ones. [01:02:51] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, man. [01:02:52] Speaker B: There's another one Pontiac. So tell me, mama. Like, there's so many where you're taking people back to a special place in time, which is what I love about this record so much. Dude. [01:03:02] Speaker A: Dude. And then you're. Dude. And then there's some real good honky tonkers coming out, too. Like, there's one called Drinking and Driving. [01:03:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:09] Speaker A: And you see that title and you're like, what? And the whole thing is, it's got that old school country twist where it goes, well, I've been drinking and driving you crazy. [01:03:20] Speaker B: Hell, yeah. [01:03:21] Speaker A: Yeah. I sent it to the Midland boys and I said, what do y' all think of this? And they're like, dang it, why didn't we write that one? [01:03:28] Speaker B: Sorry, Mark. [01:03:29] Speaker A: Sorry, Mark. Sorry, boys. I love those guys. You know, I may have been the first one to take them out. [01:03:37] Speaker B: Really? [01:03:37] Speaker A: On tour back in the day. Wow. Yeah. They went and opened up a bunch of shows for us, and I love those guys are. They're great. They are great dudes. Yeah. [01:03:47] Speaker B: You've. I'm sure, seen a lot of guys and girls come up as open. You got to watch them as kicking off nights where you're headlining. [01:03:55] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's. It's pretty wild. You know, people always say, you know, does it. Is it weird when someone open for you and then they make it big? I was like, no, I don't want to. I don't want to be them. Like, I. I guess if I wanted to be them, I'd have moved to this town and begged for a record deal. [01:04:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:17] Speaker A: Like, I. I don't want to be them. Like, I'm happy for them, but that's like. I don't know if the. The concrete has just cured, but, like, I'm so at home playing rodeos and festivals and honky tonks and dance halls and, and, and it could be a festival with a hundred thousand people. I'm fine. But something about a stadium kind of just makes me go, yeah, I don't know what it is, just not now. I'll do it. I'll put on my big boy pants and let's go kick them in the teeth. [01:04:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:54] Speaker A: You know, it's, it's not rocket science, but like it's the places where I feel most at home, where I feel like I get really settled in and, and have a ton of fun. But yeah, there's been a lot open for me. You know, Luke Bryan opened shows for me. [01:05:09] Speaker B: Wow. [01:05:09] Speaker A: Opened a couple shows for me. [01:05:11] Speaker B: Was that out, was that out in Texas or. [01:05:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Wow. I've got a T shirt for some little festival thing we had and, and you know, we put his name real little at the bottom of it and the deal was is he was supposed to take me out with him cuz he had a big following in the Southeast. So. [01:05:34] Speaker B: Yeah, that. [01:05:34] Speaker A: Call me up. [01:05:35] Speaker B: That model of. Call him up, Luke, for sure. [01:05:39] Speaker A: You still, you said I'm taking me out for two shows and I, you [01:05:42] Speaker B: know, I hear it talk coming. [01:05:44] Speaker A: Yeah. With inflation, bro, this is going to cost you. [01:05:47] Speaker B: Because that model of the Southeast in Texas, that takes me back again my days with Muscadine. [01:05:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:05:53] Speaker B: My first trip to Texas was. We got to. We did Billy Bob's. Got the headline. Billy Bob's. It's like 2019. But we would go out and do shows with Co Wetzel in Texas and then Co would come out east and do shows in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi with us. [01:06:07] Speaker A: Dude. The first show I ever played with Company, he. We were talking about this. We were on the same flight. I think we were flying back from like Cincinnati or something and showed up at like go. I mean we got the airport like 5 o' clock in the morning. I don't think co had gone to bed. Yeah. And we're sitting on the plane and I remember he and one of his guys were like, they asked me what, what I wanted to drink and I was like, I just have coffee. And they're like, coffee, come on. I go six o' clock in the morning. That's what people drink in the morning. Yeah, coffee. [01:06:56] Speaker B: Black coffee. [01:06:57] Speaker A: Black coffee. Okay. But me and CO were talking and I had forgotten about this. He, he goes, dude, one of the first shows we ever played together, he said, was a deal for a cowboy church in East Texas. I Thought that was funny. [01:07:18] Speaker B: Cowboy church. That was the. Probably the CO in the convicts days. [01:07:22] Speaker A: Yeah. And I was like, so you got CO&A honky tonk guy for your church. [01:07:26] Speaker B: That's Texas though. [01:07:27] Speaker A: That's Texas right there. [01:07:28] Speaker B: Texas. It's country music and it's rock and roll. [01:07:31] Speaker A: Yeah. And. And then I remember the show he played with CO one time. It was when he was first starting to blow up and. And of course I've always loved his stuff. He's. I mean, you hear some of those songs and they're just. [01:07:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:45] Speaker A: Sound like it's arena big. You know, those melodies. He writes great songs and. But he was getting pretty rowdy and there had been rumors of him getting pretty, pretty rowdy up on stage. So we were playing a show in Lubbock actually, and I'd sold a lot of tickets and a lot of families are there and I was like, I'd heard that if you ask him to, like, you can't control him. You know, he's a go getter and. But I remember being like, hey man, you know, lots of young little kids out there today, so, you know, go out there and kick them in the butt. But maybe, you know, we don't have to pg 13. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe we just limit it to a couple F bombs. Not like, you know, dude, he put on a great show and I just, you know, it. I love those. It's the American dream to see artists. You know, I've. I have everything I could ever dream of. There's. If all of a sudden I started selling out stable stadiums. There was nothing that I would change about my life or my lifestyle. [01:09:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:07] Speaker A: So I have everything I could ever dream of. So I mean, I'm just, man, I'm. I'm the American dream too. Independent artists. Got to have a couple number one records. Had some getting to sell, you know. You know. You know, it's like, like in the song, you know, Never sold out, but every now and then I might sell out a couple of shows. [01:09:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:32] Speaker A: You know, it's just like I'm so lucky to be where I met. So to see these other artists, especially the Texas artists. I'm biased. [01:09:41] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, as you should be. [01:09:43] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, and, and these are guys that like, you know, when you're playing places and you've shared stages with artists, it's really cool to see them go on and do big things and to just. I don't know, it's just I. I enjoy that side of it. [01:10:02] Speaker B: Yeah. One, one last thing about Horse name Texas. You talk about it as like being a self portrait of your. Of your career and the journey. [01:10:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:10:11] Speaker B: Tell me a little bit more about what makes it feel that way for you. [01:10:14] Speaker A: Oh, man, it's like that song's about the journey, about where I met, where I'm going, you know, it's like, how's it go from those shine frontier days to that grand old opera stage? I rode right smack down the middle of the streets on Music Row. I never traded in my boots and jeans. Still playing that dance hall down in green. I never sold out. But every now and then I still sell out a couple of shows. Still playing that country gold. Still got a long ways to go on a horse named Texas. And the bridge really kind of sums up like, why am I doing this? Yeah, why? Why what? What's. What's the point? Because 50 years from now, who's going to remember? And that's the truth. That is the truth. And I've said this to so many people. When Paul McCartney did a song with Kanye. Read the comments. Who's the old guy? I mean, if I play a Merle Haggard song, sometimes kids come up to him and be like, did you write that song? And I'm like, no, that's Working Man Blues or Silver Wings. [01:11:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:11:28] Speaker A: You know, like, no, kid. But it's like, why am I doing this? And the bridge goes, if I choke or wind up broke, God knows I do it all over again. If I write one song that saves a life, wouldn't that be worth it in the end? And that's why I do it. Country music fans have literally been putting. They put diesel on the bus and diapers on my babies. They're helping me pay for college tuition. They're helping me put food on the table, and they support me. So what I owe them is the best I've got, the best songs I can write. Sometimes just a good time. Sometimes they need a song when they're going through some hard stuff. It's. I mean, I'm a country music fan and I've leaned on music through good times and bad. You know, I mean, I can remember, you know, girlfriend broke up with me and, you know, high school, and I'm sitting there listening to sad country songs, you know, so. And then different songs for different occasions. But that's really what it's about. It's when I talk about my five year plan, then I do plan on shaking things up, but I tell people I will succeed because my goals are goals that I'm in control of. Yeah, I Can't control what the mainstream does. But if my goal is to put out the best songs I've ever written over the next five years, to put on the best shows that I've ever played over the next five years, that. That's something that I can control. I can't say that I'm going to sell more tickets or sell or have more streams than any other country artist. I can't make those. Those accusations. But I can say I'm going to push myself to work harder than any other country artists over the next five years. [01:13:46] Speaker B: Amen. [01:13:47] Speaker A: That's something I can control. [01:13:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:13:49] Speaker A: And so that's what I tell all the young bucks out there. Like, focus on the things that you can control. Make. Write the best song you can write. If it's a hit, then it's a hit. If it's not a hit, you're not going to lose any sleep at night because you gave everything that you had to make that the best song. And it takes a little bit of luck. [01:14:11] Speaker B: And then you're going to get up the next day and write another. [01:14:13] Speaker A: Write another hit. [01:14:14] Speaker B: Amen. [01:14:15] Speaker A: I mean, just start collecting those songs. Write those songs. I mean, that's the deal. Like, how lucky am I that, like, what'd you do today? I got up and I wrote songs. Yeah, like that. That's. If you go back to me when I was Colton's age and my son Jake's age and tell me, like, someday, dude, you're gonna have a ranch and a big house. You're gonna be able to help buy your mom and daddy a house. You're gonna be able to wake up in the morning and write songs and then go play shows. A tour bus. [01:14:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:14:57] Speaker A: I get. I get me a steak from Texas Roadhouse every night. Just pretty. I'm pretty swanky. [01:15:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:04] Speaker A: I'm pretty bougie, you know. I'm pretty bougie. You know, it's like, you know, I'm pretty lucky to be where I'm at, so. Yeah, it's going to be fun. You know, Horse name Texas is. That's chapter one of the next five years. [01:15:20] Speaker B: I can't read. I can't wait to read the whole damn book, brother. And you have me ready to run through this wall, right? [01:15:26] Speaker A: Let's go. [01:15:27] Speaker B: I'm fired the heck up right now. [01:15:31] Speaker A: Worse name Texas. [01:15:32] Speaker B: And I gotta get out to. We gotta get out. Nikki T. And I gotta come out and document some of this, some of the shows for Raised Rowdy. [01:15:39] Speaker A: Like, absolutely. [01:15:39] Speaker B: I want to come out. I want to Be up in the pit. And I want to be feeling, dude, the Aaron watson. [01:15:43] Speaker A: And we'll bring you to a honky tonk. Let's do it, man. I mean, dude, let's get you to, like. We don't want to find. We want to bring you to, like, the next time we're just playing a straight up. Just go back in time. Honky tonk. [01:15:59] Speaker B: I'm thinking, like the. The tumbleweed and still water. Or I'm thinking mavericks down there. Or I'm thinking cowboys in San Antonio or any of those placemen. That's what I'm thinking. Any. [01:16:11] Speaker A: Yeah, shout out to one of those. Let's go. Those are. [01:16:13] Speaker B: Those are my Cody, Joe's and Charlotte. Those joints. [01:16:17] Speaker A: Those are the. Those. Those are. Dude, there's a reason why they called me the honky tonk kid back in the day. Like, that's. That's. Th. That Th. That's my stomping grounds. That's where I belong. [01:16:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Green hall is like the one that I haven't been to, though, so I feel like I got to get out there for that. [01:16:34] Speaker A: We got to get you. Green hall. [01:16:35] Speaker B: That's like the one place I've got the tour with a bunch of different people selling hats and t shirts and tour managing. But I've never been out there, dude. [01:16:41] Speaker A: It's one of my favorite places. [01:16:43] Speaker B: Off to mark the calendar and get out there. See you, man. [01:16:45] Speaker A: Come on, buddy. [01:16:46] Speaker B: Let's go ahead, man. Thank you so much for coming on here, taking the time. It's an absolute pleasure. And you're somebody that we've been talking about with raised rowdy forever. And thank you so much for making country damn music and giving us something to hang out to Drink cold beers, too, and get down to, man. [01:17:04] Speaker A: Like, seriously, it's been neat to see what you've done with your brand. Hey, congrats to you on all your. [01:17:09] Speaker B: Dude, we're trying, man. We're trying. [01:17:11] Speaker A: Keep cracking that whip, bro. Let's go, sir. [01:17:13] Speaker B: We're hustle. Well, y' all be sure to go check out horse name, Texas. The record. It is badass. 25 new songs from our man Aaron Watson deluxe Coming later this year. And get out there to see horse name tour. They're going to be going all over the damn place. And yeah, for more on our man Aaron Watson. Be on the lookout for more tailgate talks as well. I can't wait to see what season two is gonna come for the tailgate talks. Shout out to our good friends from surfside. No bubbles, no troubles. Iced tea, lemonade, iced tea, vodka in a can. Y' all be sure to go and check them out and promote us visit raise your eye.com my man Aaron Watson. I'm Matt Bureau. This has been outside the round [01:17:56] Speaker A: I [01:17:56] Speaker B: ain't never been a kind for stay one place for too long? [01:18:02] Speaker A: I ain't never been the best at s I love you to a girl I love? [01:18:08] Speaker B: Only got a couple tricks on my sleeve? [01:18:11] Speaker A: They usually just make them leave? So if you know me? If you really know me? You know I'm just a two trick pony? But maybe the drinking and the lack [01:18:24] Speaker B: of money for show? I'm just a two trick on it.