Alli Walker

[00:00:15] Speaker A: This is Outside the round with Matt Verill, a Razor outdoor podcast. What is going on, everybody? Welcome back to outside the round. It's your boy, Matt Burrill. And today, a very special guest, another one of our friends from north of the border, a proud member of the Razor Outdy family. We've got our girl, Miss Ali Walker, with us. Allie, how you doing on this rainy Friday morning? [00:00:41] Speaker B: I'm doing so good. It's Friday. It is Friday. [00:00:44] Speaker A: Yeah. What have you been up to this week? [00:00:46] Speaker B: Oh, my God. I don't even know. I filmed a TV show. [00:00:49] Speaker A: You filmed a freaking TV show? [00:00:51] Speaker B: Yes. I'm the host of a new car restoration TV show that I can't say the name yet, but I've always wanted to host something, and it's actually so on brand because I get to kind of be music in it, too, myself, which is nice. And there's, like, truck restorations, and I love big trucks, and it's really cool. [00:01:15] Speaker A: No shit. I did not know you were a car girl. [00:01:18] Speaker B: I'm a truck girl. [00:01:18] Speaker A: I'm a truck girl. [00:01:19] Speaker B: Dodge Ram girl. [00:01:20] Speaker A: Dodge Ram girl. [00:01:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:21] Speaker A: Okay. [00:01:21] Speaker B: Always loved trucks. My dad always had a dodge Ram. He said everything else was a piece of junk. [00:01:27] Speaker A: Spoken like a true Ram guy, by the way, I got to say, spoken like a true Ram guy. [00:01:31] Speaker B: So I just wrote a song. I like big trucks. [00:01:35] Speaker A: Hey. [00:01:35] Speaker B: And I'm recording it next week. [00:01:38] Speaker A: Awesome. [00:01:38] Speaker B: And so we kind of played that into this TV show, too. [00:01:42] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. That's awesome. We'll definitely be on the lookout for that. So you've been in the States now. How long has this trip been? It's been a pretty long one, right? [00:01:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a month. It's the most I've been away every day. I'll have a breakfast meeting or a podcast in the morning and then write a song during the day and record something at night or have a meeting at night. And it's so busy, but, like, everything I've been waiting for my whole life. [00:02:05] Speaker A: We love that. That's freaking awesome. So when did you make your first trip down here? [00:02:10] Speaker B: Like twelve years ago. [00:02:11] Speaker A: Twelve years ago? [00:02:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Oh, shit. [00:02:13] Speaker B: Long time ago. [00:02:14] Speaker A: How old were you back then, 1919. Making your first trip down here? [00:02:18] Speaker B: 19 or 20. Yeah, I had a fake ID. Because you're legal in Canada? Yes, 19. [00:02:24] Speaker A: Yes. See, I used to work as a bouncer downtown, so I would run into that all the time with Canadians that were not 21, that were like, I can drink in Toronto, why can't I drink here? [00:02:34] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:02:35] Speaker A: Sorry, guys. Sorry, guys. [00:02:37] Speaker B: That's so good. [00:02:38] Speaker A: So what was that first trip like for you? [00:02:41] Speaker B: It was good. I was so green. I really didn't start singing till high school, so I had a lot to learn. My husband knew one person in Nashville, and he's like, hey, will you take Allie under your wing? And he's like, I don't have time, but I know someone that might, and his name's Danny Dupal and he was in a country band called Emerson Drive. [00:03:03] Speaker A: Oh, emerson drive. Yes. Talk about a throwback. Canadian Legends. [00:03:08] Speaker B: That was like their big hit. And they were getting off the road and he just started producing. So he had, like, a little studio in his bedroom and was doing demos, and he honestly took me under his wing and was getting me to write with amazing Canadian songwriters that really I shouldn't have been in the room yet. But the best piece of advice he gave me on that trip, or another trip, was you only get one first impression. So I kind of stopped coming to Nashville after a little bit because I just needed a lot of development, and I didn't want to do that in the eyes of Nashville, because then ten years later, they're going to think I'm still that girl. So I'm glad that now I'm back. I've been coming back and forth for like, ten years, but now I'm back and this is my first impression, which is nice. [00:03:56] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'd say you've been killing it. And getting to see you at places like Whiskey Jam at our events that we do at Live Oak, when you break out, you call it the little kidney bean, that little electric bagpipe. There's certain moments where, especially with acoustic shows like the writers rounds that we do, where there's moments where the room just erupts and it's like either the lyrics of a song, the voice with you, it was that plus an instrument that you never freaking see. And that's been one of my highlights of this year as far as rounds go. When you played Our Friends Giving Night and you broke that out and the whole room was like, holy shit, this is awesome. [00:04:37] Speaker B: Well, I grew up playing the bagpipes, and I always wanted to put it in my country music. But how do you put bagpipes in country music? Tastefully. And like my last trip to Nashville, actually, we wrote this song. I walked into the writer's room and the writer was just chatting and getting to know me, and she found out that I played the bagpipes, and she was like, we need to write a bagpipe song. [00:05:01] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:01] Speaker B: And I was like, okay, but how? And she was like, let's make it like a drink and seashanty song. And she literally whipped out the chorus on the spot, and then we just rolled with it. And that's been, like, my number one so far, life changing song, which is pretty cool. And then I get to perform with the electric bagpipe because you can't play the real bagpipe at the same time. [00:05:24] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a little difficult. [00:05:25] Speaker B: A little difficult to blow. And they don't go in tune with every key. So I have a little electric one and it can change keys, and I just have to hit it once. I don't have to blow into it or hit it all the time. So it's great. And it gets the crowd going because they're like, what the fuck is that? [00:05:40] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. And for me, growing up in New York, I had neighbors that were Irish firefighters that would play the bagpipes or the big marching drums in all the different parades. And I always joke with people, and my Southern friends would always give me shit for it because when I was tour managing, I'd be on the Aux in the van and I'd be playing like, Dropkick Murphy's or Flocking Molly. And they'd be like, they're in that bagpipe show. I'm like, the bagpipe is the Northern person's fiddle. Like, I love the bag. It makes me want to run through a wall. It brings me back to being a little kid at the parades of my grandfather. I love it. So the fact that you're incorporating that into country music and it's fucking working. Even if it wasn't like a huge hit, I'd still be like, fuck, yeah. This is cool. But to see it do what it's done for you, it's been awesome. [00:06:24] Speaker B: It's been good. And there's so much noise now and competition that you got to do something to stick out. And I didn't mean to do it purposefully. But it's definitely been nice where people might not remember me because I'm just another blonde country girl, but they can say, oh, is that that girl with the bagpipe? So it's kind of cool. [00:06:43] Speaker A: Yeah. So coming up in the Canadian scene, that's a scene that we are very much trying to champion with Ray's Rowdy. I think we're doing a pretty good job. We've had a lot of Canadians on the pods lately. We just did that big event with. [00:06:58] Speaker B: Show for Canadian Sawyer. [00:07:00] Speaker A: That night was freaking crazy, especially all those crazy folks that were in town from Prince Edward Island. We had a drunk guy come up and we thank him. I don't know his name. He bought like 14 hats and like four shirts. And I was like, they must be trying to get rid of all their American dollars before they leave the country. Yeah, possibly. But there's something about the Canadian country scene, especially the way that folks back home embrace Canadian born artists. Like embrace you guys and girls that are doing it back home. And the festival scene, like Boots and Hearts that's up there and the stampede and different things that go, yeah, I've never been out of the country, but I think Canada is going to be the first place I go. My girlfriend's like, no, we're going to go to Europe or something for your first time out of the country. But I'm like, I think I got to go to Canada and I got to go to Boots and Hearts or I got to go see Allie or see Owen or see Josh or see James or Jade or Ben or somebody north of the border. [00:07:57] Speaker B: Boots and Hearts would be a good place to start. [00:07:59] Speaker A: That's what I've heard. I've heard that it's a spectacle and bring this there. Yes. And bringing the energy because we go to a lot of festivals here in the states and Boots and Hearts is one that people, even American born artists like Nate Smith talks about his experience at Boots and Hearts. Bailey Zimmerman talks about that. Morgan and Hardy had emotional moments at that show. It's just such like a landmark kind of festival. But what's it like coming up in the Canadian scene? How is it like for somebody like myself who's never been there? [00:08:30] Speaker B: I think it's pretty cool that no one realizes that Canada has their whole own music scene and it's a great place to be able to start and build those connections and do shows. I played Boots and Hearts this year and it was on the side stage and it's just through knowing people within the small Canadian country music community, it's pretty cool to have a whole other career in Canada. And some people stay just in Canada and tour the whole thing and can make a whole life out of it. It's pretty cool. [00:09:02] Speaker A: Yeah. It reminds me of like Texas. There's artists that will just stay in Texas will tour the surrounding states like Oklahoma, Arkansas, go to New Mexico or do the western thing. And it feels like Canada is like that. Particularly like Ontario, like eastern Canada, huge country market and I didn't realize how many American artists go up there and tour too. Tyler Hubbard just finished the great tour with our boy Owen Riegling. Chase Rice has a big tour coming up, like FGL he's tour up there. Morgan had a huge part of his tour that went up there. You guys get a good taste of the American stuff but also support your local folks that come up. Like guys like Bret Kissel, Dallas Smith that have been doing it for a very long time. [00:09:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I love how much you know. [00:09:45] Speaker A: About yeah, I mean, because that's, again, something like we don't discriminate on where the country music comes from. If it's good freaking music, we're going to listen to it and we're going to talk about it. And it just seems like right now is the moment for Canadian country, especially here in Nashville. [00:10:02] Speaker B: There's so many of us down here. [00:10:03] Speaker A: We put together a whole freaking night of like 16 Canadian countries and there were people that weren't available there's even more than what was there that night. It seems like you guys and girls are all like tight knit and pretty close as well, which is a huge thing. [00:10:16] Speaker B: Yeah. I feel like we definitely support each other and especially when it comes to coming out to rounds or going to each other's shows, we're there for each other for sure. [00:10:24] Speaker A: Yeah. That's awesome. I see you got a Braves jersey on. Are you in the baseball? It's a cool looking jersey. It's like vintage. How'd you get that? [00:10:32] Speaker B: Is this terrible that I can say that I really just got it because there was an A on mean? [00:10:36] Speaker A: No, not at all. I mean, the A is a very popular thing. [00:10:39] Speaker B: This is from brother G who is so cool. He's Nashville based and he sources vintage clothes. [00:10:46] Speaker A: Oh no shit. I got to get his info from you because we like vintage stuff. [00:10:50] Speaker B: So cool. And he had a whole styling appointment for me in his house and he looked at my Instagram and my vibe and pulled all of these cool things and I left with a bunch of amazing vintage clothes. [00:11:03] Speaker A: Yeah, because that Braves jersey is sick. That's like old school. Like Hank Aaron. [00:11:07] Speaker B: Yeah. There's even like pit stains in it from someone else. [00:11:09] Speaker A: Oh, so it's a worn like that's a game worn jersey. Are you a big sports girl? [00:11:16] Speaker B: I grew up hockey, like Canadian, obviously hockey. Going to hockey games every week for boyfriends. I played hockey. [00:11:22] Speaker A: Oh, really? [00:11:23] Speaker B: Yeah, but I don't watch a lot of sports online unless it's playoff. I just want the teams to want to be there and fight to the death. So I like playoff sports. [00:11:35] Speaker A: So what was your hockey team growing up? Who'd you root for? You a Maple Leafs? [00:11:40] Speaker B: Yeah, basically Maple Leafs. But my husband's from Vancouver so now I'm a fan. [00:11:46] Speaker A: Yeah, and I hear like Vancouver, you can count Montreal too. But I know French Canada is a whole different quebec is a whole different world. [00:11:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. [00:11:56] Speaker A: But people talk about like Toronto and Vancouver are like the two cities if you're going up to Canada that you got to see. And they're very different cities, very different. What's it like for you going out? How does Western Canada compare to Eastern Canada? [00:12:09] Speaker B: Well, I've never lived in Vancouver, but I actually live right now in Kelowna, BC, which is like 5 hours from Vancouver. It's like desert meets beautiful lakes meets mountains. It's so pretty and it's wine country, so it's like rolling hills of vineyards. It's so beautiful. And I lived in Toronto for Ontario for like twelve years. And I love Toronto. I love Toronto so much. I think that's the only place that I've ever felt like home for some reason because I love big cities. Okay, so Toronto is I think Toronto is a great city, especially to go out and have fun and be young, live in your 20s. [00:12:47] Speaker A: So it's kind of like how Nashville is here in the States. Is that where Canadian country kind of lives is more so in Ontario. That's where the CCMAs will be and things like that. [00:12:56] Speaker B: It's between Calgary and Toronto, but all the labels and music industry people are mostly in Toronto. [00:13:02] Speaker A: Okay. [00:13:03] Speaker B: Yeah. So when I just moved from Toronto like a year ago to go to BC, British Columbia, and I literally have been in Toronto like every weekend for shows. And it costs a lot of money to travel within Canada. So I'm traveling. [00:13:17] Speaker A: It's a lot of money to do anything in Canada right now. I'm seeing because between folks like yourself wearing our stuff, owen wearing our stuff, jade wearing our stuff, josh, Ben, everybody. Because we ship out online orders with our Raise Rag merch, which, by the way, go to Razorag.com. You can find all the merch. There you go. Wearing the hat. We love it. We've been shipping a lot of orders to Canada. And just the shipping to ship something to fucking Canada. [00:13:42] Speaker B: I know. [00:13:42] Speaker A: It's like an extra 25, 30 American dollars. [00:13:45] Speaker B: I know. [00:13:45] Speaker A: It is crazy up there right now. Yeah. [00:13:48] Speaker B: Because I have my own music merch and I'm about to transition to an actual merch company that's going to do it for me because I can't be at home sending these merch packages and then also paying like $25 to send $125 hat. The shipping is just crazy from within Canada, too. [00:14:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:08] Speaker B: Is this feeding back? Is that okay? [00:14:10] Speaker A: It's okay. Yeah, it'll be all right. We'll edit it. Well, that's the chair. [00:14:14] Speaker B: That's the chair. [00:14:15] Speaker A: That's the chair. [00:14:15] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:14:16] Speaker A: That's the chair. We have the WD 40. So these chairs, we bring them out to all the festivals. [00:14:20] Speaker B: You got a WD 40? [00:14:21] Speaker A: We do have the WD 40. We get a lot of use out of these chairs because we bring them to all the festivals and all the concerts that we go to because we tailgate a lot. [00:14:28] Speaker B: So they're rusty. [00:14:29] Speaker A: Oh, they're rusty. We've gone through. And we love no, you're good if it's in there, it's part of the show. Did you grow up going to a lot of concerts and stuff? [00:14:38] Speaker B: Well, I'm from Prince Edward Island, which is a very small island. [00:14:41] Speaker A: Oh, so you're from where those folks were all from? That came out to our Liberty Night. Okay. Those were your people. [00:14:49] Speaker B: I didn't know them, but they came out to me and they're like, yeah, we saw you were playing here and came out. It's like amazing. And they also came to Whiskey Jam when I played there. [00:14:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:56] Speaker B: So cool. They were just visiting and saw that. [00:14:57] Speaker A: I was playing Prince Edward Island. That's why then has the song that saltwater cowboy? Saltwater Cowboy. So it's like beachy out there. [00:15:05] Speaker B: It's an island. And even if you're in the middle of the island, you're ten to 15 minutes from a beach at all points because it's so small and thin that there's a beach everywhere. But you know what? It's so cold in the winter that I say if you're going to come, come in the summer, obviously, because we have like two months of beautiful weather. There's white sand beaches. There's red sand beaches. Everything's greener, everything's bluer. Everything's so beautiful. It's like a best kept secret in Canada. But other than now, having a huge festival called Cavendish Beach Music Festival. [00:15:44] Speaker A: I've heard about that that's something Sawyer's talked about. [00:15:48] Speaker B: Basically. He is Cavendish. [00:15:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, I know he's a huge part of that festival. In that scene, he was telling us. [00:15:53] Speaker B: That all the volunteers were Country Liberty T shirts. Like, he's huge at this festival. But we didn't have a lot of festivals growing up at all. So we always had to take the bridge or take the ferry over to Halifax or Moncton. Like, my first concerts were Averlevine and 741, and I think I saw Rolling Stones in Halifax. [00:16:12] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:16:13] Speaker B: Gretchen Wilson. Alan Jackson. [00:16:15] Speaker A: Old school Gretchen. Old school Gretchen Wilson. She was ahead of her freaking time. Because right now is like the era Nikki T, and I call it the Bad Bitches. The girls that you want to drink a beer with that are wild, that are fun, that you see at Red Door, that you see that you would see at the bars here in Nashville. And Gretchen was so ahead of her time. And her shows back in the day had to be electric. [00:16:36] Speaker B: Oh, my God, I loved her, I think. Who did she open for? It was Brooks and Dunn. Alan Jackson and her. [00:16:42] Speaker A: Wow. [00:16:43] Speaker B: Yeah. One of my first concerts. [00:16:45] Speaker A: That's a hell of a first show. [00:16:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:46] Speaker A: See, my first show was Tim McGraw. That's where I grew up. I was in third grade. I remember going to school the next day and just being so tired. My mom and my aunt, my grandparents, they were like, we're bringing you out on the school night. You're getting in the minivan. We stayed the whole freaking show, encore and all. But then growing up so it sounds like you grew up with listening to some rock stuff, too. If you were going to see the Stones and like all of us 2000s kids, you went and saw your average Levine, your pop punk, your some forty. [00:17:11] Speaker B: S. Two thousand s. Well, I was a 90s kid. [00:17:14] Speaker A: Well, 90s kid. Yeah. [00:17:15] Speaker B: But you're ten. Yeah, when I'm ten. [00:17:19] Speaker A: I'm guessing by the math of your first trip here, you're 31 333. Okay. You remember music being on MTV and you remember yes. [00:17:29] Speaker B: So we had much music. [00:17:31] Speaker A: Much music. [00:17:31] Speaker B: Much music. And it was like the Canadian MTV. We also had MTV, but much music was literally everyone's childhood in the in Canada. All the big artists came and performed outside. It was this big building in Toronto, like, basically a landmark. And that's how I discovered the average Levines in some 41 Our Lady Peace. And basically that shaped my musical influences. But then I discovered CMT and Taylor Swift and listening to country music. And no one really listened to country music growing up, though. My babysitter just always had country music on. I think that seeped into my veins. [00:18:10] Speaker A: Yeah, that'll happen because Canada is big with rock, too, and a lot of people forget that. And I always talk about because I've had Chief on the podcast before. [00:18:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:18] Speaker A: And he is like one of the godfathers of what we call it butt rock on our like, nothing but rock. Like when the rock stations were that so it's like Nickelback. It's like Nickelback three Days Grace, hinder default theory of a dead man. All those big rock bands that were in Canada. And that was around that same time period, like the early to mid two. [00:18:41] Speaker B: Thousand s. And my husband was a rock drummer for many years and he toured with all those people. [00:18:46] Speaker A: Oh, really? [00:18:47] Speaker B: So when I met him, he introduced me to even more rock. Which is cool. [00:18:51] Speaker A: Yeah. And then that crosses over in the country because the guys that were producing that came down here and helped build Florida Georgia Line and Morgan Wallen and Hardy and even Jake Owens Barefoot Blue, Jean Knight record and all that came from. And then you see guys like Dallas Smith that were in default then have these big solo country careers. There's such a bridge of Canadian rock into modern country music all over the world. [00:19:15] Speaker B: Speaking of that, my new stuff is rockin'really. Yeah. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Fuck yes. [00:19:20] Speaker B: I'm bringing back all of my influences into one thing. [00:19:25] Speaker A: I love that. [00:19:25] Speaker B: It's like avril rock country. Gretchen Wilson literally in one thing. [00:19:30] Speaker A: I love that. [00:19:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:31] Speaker A: Because now's the time to do crossovers and you can take chances on your music. Now is as good a time as any to go out there and make the music you want to make. There's no more like of this cookie cutter shit that you had the last 1015 years. Now is the time to do that. And that's fucking awesome. [00:19:48] Speaker B: Exactly. And there are so many times where I'm like, oh, I'm writing this song for radio, or I need this to fit in a box. And I'm like, well, who am I? I love country. I love rock. What are my influences? What do I want to talk about? Who am I as a person? And I love being a tomboy. I love dressing like a tomboy. I am a little rough around the edges. So I think the best thing and even the best advice I give any artist is you have to find who you are and stick with that and stop trying to be somebody else. Because it's so much harder trying to be somebody. [00:20:19] Speaker A: It really it really is. That's kind of something that we invited raise rowdy. Like our big logo is the freaking the raccoon that wear on our shirt where it's like we're nice and fun and stuff like that. But you back us into a corner. We'll jump at you like the raccoon and elf. Like Budy the Elf when he goes try to hug the raccoon and it jumps out. And we also love digging through and finding new music. Like, raccoons dig through to find their food and stuff. [00:20:41] Speaker B: Nice. Oh, my God. [00:20:43] Speaker A: Which the real reason we have it. One of our longtime buddies had a pet raccoon. So Nikki T back in the day was like, okay, I'll make a raccoon shirt for you. And then it's just become like our kind of logo. But it's like the authenticity. You can tell when somebody's faking it and not doing real shit. Especially in today's day and age. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. [00:21:01] Speaker A: Especially in today's day and age. And with social media and everything, too. And your followers are people that can relate to you. [00:21:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Even like, playing the bagpipes. That's me. And that's what's changed. The following has gotten bigger because of me being myself. [00:21:18] Speaker A: Yeah. And what would you say is your biggest social platform? The one that where you get the most done? [00:21:23] Speaker B: It was TikTok. And it is TikTok. And I love TikTok fans and audience because they actually go and click the link and stream your music, where beforehand I found Instagram to be very picture heavy, and they might comment, but for them to leave the platform was harder than I find TikTok is. But nowadays I've been posting on reels and I don't know if I'm in the algorithm properly, but Instagram has been favoring reels for me and blowing them up, like every single thing I post. [00:21:56] Speaker A: Really? [00:21:56] Speaker B: I don't know if it's just because I was hammering the reels because that's what they tell you to do. [00:22:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:01] Speaker B: So I was like, okay, well, I'll do it. And then it worked. [00:22:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Does it get exhausted in the social media stuff? Because I feel like it's a balance. [00:22:08] Speaker B: It's a balance. And when I'm at home and I have all the time in the world, I'll post every single day or a few times a day, but even this last month, where I have like a million things a day, I can understand that. When artists get signed or get busy or on the road, it's so hard to think about social media. But you have to remember there's a whole huge audience on there that you're not seeing on the road that wants to see your content. So you have to constantly think of creative things, even to promote music. Like, I've got a new song coming out. [00:22:38] Speaker A: I know. [00:22:39] Speaker B: And it's like, how do you promote? You have to think of a whole release schedule of content. [00:22:44] Speaker A: Yeah. What's the new song called again? Because it's hung up. And it is out right now when this podcast drops, because we're dropping this today of shout out to Brad for helping us set that up. You got a great team, like, working with you, too, by the way. That's something that we recognize because we work with a lot of different folks. You've got some folks that really believe in you and have your back. [00:23:03] Speaker B: Well, which is hard. I didn't for a really long time. [00:23:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:06] Speaker B: It was just me and my husband for 1314 years. And it sucks feeling alone and just slugging it out and hoping someone is going to pay attention and then I met my manager like three or four months ago and everything's changed because having someone else advocate for you other than you knocking on everybody's door yourself and saying, hey, I'm good. Please. It's a lot better. [00:23:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And having somebody that's down here yes. Helps a lot when you're abroad. It makes it very difficult to break through in Nashville because there's art, like the fact that there's artists that are huge in Canada and huge in the country scene and winning awards like our boy Jade Eagleson. And then in Nashville or in America, they don't have that buz. But the music speaks for itself, but people just don't know because there's that division within the two scenes. Like having a champion here in town is so fucking important. [00:24:05] Speaker B: And I have been toying with the idea of moving to Nashville for a decade and this was the push I needed. And I got my one visa immigration working thing last week, so I can be in the country for three years. [00:24:22] Speaker A: We're very happy about it. Yes. [00:24:24] Speaker B: So I'm moving in the new year. So yay. Fuck. [00:24:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:27] Speaker B: I know. I'm so excited. [00:24:27] Speaker A: Do you have a spot in town that you really have? [00:24:31] Speaker B: I'll be homeless. I'll probably be living in my manager's basement until I can figure out that's. [00:24:35] Speaker A: What a lot of people remember. I got my start working with Muscadine Bloodline. That's how I got my start in being in the touring stuff where I was on the roadside merch for them. And when they first moved to town from Alabama, they were living at their manager's house and they were sharing. It was them and then it was Riley Green living in the manager's house. That's what you have to do. [00:24:56] Speaker B: We are getting to know each other real well, I'm sure, because it's so new still that I'm getting to know his family. I'm like integrating with each other so deeply that it's so good because a manager is like it's such a close relationship and you hear of things going sour all the time, but learning communication right off the bat by living together for a month is pretty cool. [00:25:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Have you had the culture shock yet of the south versus Canada? But it sounds like you grew up in small town Canada, so it sounds like it shouldn't be. [00:25:28] Speaker B: Yeah. No. Having come down here for so of, I knew it was up, but I definitely miss Tim Horton's coffee. [00:25:36] Speaker A: Oh, the Timmy. What are they? The Timmy's mint. [00:25:38] Speaker B: Timbits. [00:25:38] Speaker A: Timbits. Timbits. [00:25:39] Speaker B: Which are like the insides of the donuts. [00:25:41] Speaker A: Like the munch. Like munchkins at Dunkin'Donuts. That's what we call them. Yeah. We grew up with Dunkin'Donuts and it's like the same kind of thing, but they call them munchkins. But it's like the donut holes. Yeah. [00:25:49] Speaker B: The middle of the donut. [00:25:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:50] Speaker B: And Caesar's. So not the Caesar salad. Caesar drinks and it's like a Bloody Mary. Do you know what a Caesar. [00:25:56] Speaker A: Is. I do not. [00:25:57] Speaker B: It's like a Bloody Mary, but instead of straight tomato juice, it's clamato juice. [00:26:04] Speaker A: What is what's a clamato? [00:26:07] Speaker B: It's literally clams in, like, tomato juice. It's not fishy. [00:26:12] Speaker A: That sounds like some island shit. That sounds like some sounds like some Ali Walker, Ben Chase shit. [00:26:18] Speaker B: I'm telling you, all of Canada drinks Caesars. [00:26:22] Speaker A: Really? [00:26:22] Speaker B: They're the hangover drink. So there's Worcestershire shire sauce in it. Hot sauce. You put, like, pickle juice, an extreme bean. [00:26:30] Speaker A: Is there alcohol in it? [00:26:31] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, vodka. I do tequila. [00:26:33] Speaker A: I'd have to go, so I don't drink anymore, so I got to try this. But without the alcohol. [00:26:37] Speaker B: Yeah, it tastes just as good without the alcohol. [00:26:41] Speaker A: That's going to be on my list of things to do when I get up there. I'm going to cross the border and be like, get me a Caesar. [00:26:47] Speaker B: Yeah, you have to have a Caesar. And it's got like celery salt on the rim. And then sometimes you go to restaurants and there's like little burgers on the top or lobster tails, like they dress. It so crazy. It's unreal. [00:26:58] Speaker A: It's another world. [00:27:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Caesars are a Canadian staple for a hangover. [00:27:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm going to have to check that out. I grew up watching Trailer Park Boys. That's like kind of Canadian, right? [00:27:07] Speaker B: That's on the east coast. [00:27:08] Speaker A: Yeah. How accurate is that to like, the trailer parks in Canada? [00:27:13] Speaker B: I don't know. I don't frequent the trailer parks in Canada. But I'm sure it was a big. [00:27:18] Speaker A: Show though, right, in Canada. [00:27:20] Speaker B: Because I know my dad watched it. [00:27:21] Speaker A: Because it crossed over to the States. And if it's like, crossing over into other countries, I feel like that and Letter Kenny are like, what I think of with Canada. [00:27:28] Speaker B: Schitt's Creek. [00:27:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Schitt's Creek. Another one? People forget about Schitt's Creek being a Canadian show. [00:27:32] Speaker B: There's some good Canadian shows. A lot of shows film in Canada. [00:27:35] Speaker A: Like, what else is filmed up? [00:27:38] Speaker B: Like, if you actually look at any TV shows, I'm sure most of them are filmed in Canada. So Toronto has a huge film scene. [00:27:44] Speaker A: Really? [00:27:44] Speaker B: I actually started doing background for TV shows. Like, I was in suits, like five episodes of Suits. [00:27:50] Speaker A: You were in suits? [00:27:51] Speaker B: Like background? But you were I had a few little featured background. Yeah, there's I was on a ton of shows. I don't even remember them anymore because that's just like I was getting into modeling and acting and background was just like, why would you know at Tim Hortons when I can just do background stuff? [00:28:08] Speaker A: Oh, you working at Tim Hortons? No, but I was going to say you were working at Timmy's. I feel like that's a Canadian staple, too. Working at Timmy's? Yeah. [00:28:16] Speaker B: No, I didn't work at Tim's, but it's like if you're getting paid minimum wage, I'd rather be on set with. [00:28:22] Speaker A: The people from Suits than doing something productive. [00:28:26] Speaker B: Yeah, it was really cool just to be like, on set. I feel like all these things prepared me for the stuff I'm doing now. [00:28:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:33] Speaker B: Which is pretty cool. [00:28:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Like doing a damn TV show. [00:28:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:37] Speaker A: Which is freaking awesome. And the fact that it's filmed in this area, too, it just times out, like, the timing is just seeming to be perfect for you with what you've got going on, what you're trying to do. [00:28:49] Speaker B: Yes. [00:28:49] Speaker A: And this seems like it's been such a big year for you, too. [00:28:52] Speaker B: It's been a big month. Well, yeah. The best year ever. Even, like, the spotify rap that just came out, I don't really like sharing that kind of stuff, but I don't. [00:29:00] Speaker A: Either when it comes to the list. I'm looing it as a listener, but I'll listen to some stuff. But a lot of it's, like, listening to my friends. I've never shared the spotify rap thing before, but this year a lot of growth. [00:29:13] Speaker B: Yeah, like three times the amount of last year. Actually, I have my spotify wrapped from, like, four or five years ago when I first started putting music out, and it said 236 streams for the whole year. So it's really cool to have that picture to now. [00:29:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Now, if you want your spotify for artists, you probably have more than that at one time. [00:29:33] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Like listening people listening right now at the same time. Yeah, it's pretty cool. I mean, that's all you can hope for is growth. And I'm such a vision board, goal oriented person. I've got this excel sheet that has, like, a 30 year plan. Ten year plan, five year plan. [00:29:53] Speaker A: Okay. So you're really in it. [00:29:55] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, if you're doing this for a living, you got to have goals and try and reach them and then also appreciate once you get them. Because I was finding I was maybe achieving some things, but just moving on to the next thing and writing it down and getting to turn it from clear to green is like a nice little check mark where it's like, oh, I maybe would have passed over that and not appreciated it. [00:30:21] Speaker A: Yeah. So what's a 30 year goal look like for Ali Walker? 30 years. That's a lot. See, I'm different by then. Well, no, but you said you had, like, a 30 what are some long term things that you want? We'll retire at some point. Yes. [00:30:34] Speaker B: What are some I want a house in Malibu or the OC. I want a house in Toronto. I want a house in Vancouver. [00:30:41] Speaker A: Okay. So real estate. Tycoon Alleyway. [00:30:43] Speaker B: Real estate. [00:30:43] Speaker A: Okay. [00:30:44] Speaker B: And I've always wanted to be on a TV show. I'm the host of a TV show now, but acting in a TV show, like, branching off. In 30 years, I'm going to have toured like crazy and probably never want to be on the road again. So I want to maybe transition to acting or something. [00:30:58] Speaker A: Yeah. How'd you get your start doing shows? What does the starter gig look like when you're having 200 something streams a year? Were you playing bar gigs? Were you, like, playing parties? How'd you kind of get your start. [00:31:11] Speaker B: To well, I was really green, so then when I met my husband, he was like, you need to start performing, because he had been touring his whole life. And he's like, you have to be on stage and things go wrong, and you have to learn how to figure that out or talk to the crowd for five minutes while they figure out your mic. So I had a cover band, and I really did not enjoy a single minute of it. And we were playing, like, at the bars there. You play Thursday, Friday, Saturday, so it's 345 minutes, sets till whatever, 03:00. And then we had a whole trailer of gear. We would bring in a whole set up, like run in ears, had a big board, really learned how to do a proper show, and would get home at like four or 05:00 a.m and then have to do it. Again the next day but also work during the day and just playing at bars or people, they're not paying attention to you, or they're just like hammered or you never get to play your original music. It sucks. But I learned a lot how to perform, how to talk to a crowd, even, like, learning how to sing in different genres, rock, and how to sing Carrie Underwood on stage, where really, I should not be singing Carrie Underwood. It all was a learning experience, and I learned from every show, but I didn't love it. So I played weddings, corporate events, bars, and the last cover gig I did was at a Legion. Legion is like a veterans hall. [00:32:32] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, we have those here. [00:32:34] Speaker B: And it was like a Thanksgiving Day, and there was literally 290 year olds in the crowd. And that's it. And I got the drummer take a picture of me from the back to a crowd of absolutely nobody in this Legion basement. And I'm like, this is the last time I ever do this type of gig or cover gig again. And I want to be able to show that before and after, know, when I'm playing to a big that's that's. [00:33:02] Speaker A: Freaking like, in Nashville, there's people like Wagon Wheels, a very requested bit. What was, like, the quintessential cover song in the Canadian scene? [00:33:13] Speaker B: Sweet Caroline. And don't stop believing. [00:33:15] Speaker A: Okay, so it's the classic rock. [00:33:17] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:33:18] Speaker A: Sweet Caroline. You get a bunch of drunk people, they're paying attention just for that one. It's like that here, too. It's like that here, too. And that's like a big song up in New England, too. So I'm from New York. My dad's originally from Maine, so Maine's. [00:33:33] Speaker B: Like, kind of like, basically coast Canada. [00:33:35] Speaker A: Yeah, you can see the signs switch to kilometers at a certain point in Maine. [00:33:39] Speaker B: Really? [00:33:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah. You cross over from New Hampshire and there's like Moose Crossing signs, and then it says like, Montreal and it says Toronto in kilometers, like how far they are from Maine. So I've never been to Canada, but I've seen the signs for Canadian cities and kilometers. [00:33:55] Speaker B: That's cool. [00:33:56] Speaker A: That's like kind of there. [00:33:57] Speaker B: Honestly. I give it up to the guys who play Broadway here, though. [00:34:01] Speaker A: Oh yeah? There's guys and girls that'll do doubles or triples. I know they start out morning shift at 1 Bar and then they go to another bar, and then they go to another bar and they'll do 12 hours. [00:34:11] Speaker B: It must be lucrative. [00:34:12] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I have friends who had good touring gigs and then got off the road to just play Broadway. Like bass players, guitar players, drummers. They're like, I want to sleep in my own bed. [00:34:23] Speaker B: Right. [00:34:24] Speaker A: I want to have a family. I don't want to be on the road. I can make more playing at Whiskey Row, playing at Aldeen's, playing at Tootsie's than I can going on tour, opening for somebody with a band. [00:34:35] Speaker B: I've been running into that because I'm trying to build a Nashville band and I can understand that. Why wouldn't you do that? Rather than being and maybe making less and being on the road and never being home. I mean, it's fun being on tour, though. [00:34:48] Speaker A: Oh, I loved it. I loved being on tour. I probably did over 400 shows over the last four years, like, where I was just going with artists and traveling in a band or traveling in a band. Why? And luckily I got to experience the bus thing a little bit, which was very nice because I didn't have to drive. But what you got to do is you got to find guys and girls that believe in you and see the vision. And we're like, we want to be with Allie Walker from when she's opening for someone or playing at a tin roof in St. Louis or in freaking Delray Beach, Florida, to when it's her name on the Marquee sign at the Ryman at Red Rocks. Like somebody who's all in and believes in you just the way that your management team does. [00:35:27] Speaker B: It's true. [00:35:28] Speaker A: It's so important to have that. And that'll come, especially with you getting to be here more. You'll find guys and girls that are like, we really believe in this girl. [00:35:38] Speaker B: It's hard to find eager. They're really good players. Even like, the look matters and having stage presence on stage. But also you're with these people for so long that they have to have good hang, not be a weirdo. Doesn't get hammered and sloppy, which you can get hammered but not sloppy. Yes, there's a fine mean. It's going to be an interesting transition because I've never really toured. Like, I've only done local gigs in Ontario. It's almost like Texas. You can play so many gigs. So I've never been on a bus, been on a van, but I have tours booked for 2024, and I'm about to get a taste of it all. [00:36:20] Speaker A: Six. Where are you going? Is it mostly back home in Canada stuff, or do we have some stuff. [00:36:24] Speaker B: Here in the States? Nothing is released or confirmed but Texas. [00:36:30] Speaker A: Oh, fuck yes. Yeah, I love Texas. I love Texas because it's a different world. And it's like, I'm sure like the difference between Ontario and Calgary where it is that western kind of thing. And the crowds like you're used to at like a rock show or a cover show or any of that stuff. The crowd's up in the front in Texas, what they'll do at these dance halls, and it weirded me out at first because I was like, what the fuck is going on? They have like the dance floor. No drinks allowed on the dance floor. Dance floor is just for dancing. So you'll have wow. You'll see, like, guys will sell out shows in Texas and everybody will be packed like sardines on the side. And then the moment you start playing, they'll get out in the dance floor and they'll start twirling. The guys will start twirling the girls around the dance floor. And then they're dancing. And then you'll stop playing that song and then they'll walk off. And then you'll start playing the next song and they'll walk back on. [00:37:23] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:37:24] Speaker A: You'll have that. Yeah, like you'll have that especially when you're playing Whiskey's Gone. People are going to lose their fucking minds when you break out that fucking little kidney bean thing. Texas is great. And what's great about Texas, too, because I used to do the merch selling thing. They buy so much. Yeah, they buy. We would always pack an extra box of stuff whenever we'd go to Texas or one of the surrounding states because that scene they love trucker hats, they love buying shirts. They love and they like being early on artists like we are with Raise Ready, like we are with yourself and a lot of our Canadian friends, where we're like, we're getting to see you guys when you first get into Nashville and first really start to ramp up. They love supporting artists early on. So there's a people that are going to want to have an Ally Walker shirt to show in a few years when people are like, oh, fuck, how long have you had that Allie Walker shirt? We saw her here when there were a hundred people and it was our first time in Texas. There's people that live for that goal. [00:38:28] Speaker B: That's the goal. [00:38:29] Speaker A: Yeah, but people are passionate and you'll get ride or dies out there. Nice. Those ride or dies. [00:38:34] Speaker B: My top market is Houston, I think. [00:38:37] Speaker A: Really? [00:38:37] Speaker B: On my spotify's and stuff. [00:38:38] Speaker A: Yeah. And Houston's. Great. There's a venue out there called the Armadillo Palace that Willie Nelson was actually integral in building. And that's a cool dance hall thing. And I've done an indoor show there, done an outdoor show there. And have you been to a Buc EE's yet? [00:38:51] Speaker B: No. [00:38:52] Speaker A: Okay, so that's going to be a big thing. And you've probably seen it on Instagram or have you heard of Buc EE's? [00:38:58] Speaker B: Yes, I have. [00:38:59] Speaker A: So Buc EE's is nuts because it's a Texas based thing that's now all over the Southeast. Like all of out here in Tennessee too. Yeah, it's the size of a Walmart, but it's a gas station that has like 200 pumps and truckers aren't allowed to go there. So bathrooms super clean. You've got like 50, 60 stalls. [00:39:17] Speaker B: Why no truckers? [00:39:19] Speaker A: Because they don't want it to get dirty. Like a loves you go into a Loves or a pilot, you don't know what you're going to get sometimes. [00:39:29] Speaker B: Oh, really? [00:39:30] Speaker A: Yeah, like loves Pilot, Petro, Ta, Flying J, any of those. They get a little dicey. You get a little dicey. Truck stops in America are a different thing. [00:39:38] Speaker B: I'm going to keep that in mind for when I'm on the road. [00:39:41] Speaker A: When you're in have like you can get everything from a tree stand to a pair of jeans to fishing stuff to nice decorative signs to a really good barbecue sandwich. They have a whole wall of jerky. It is a one of a kind place. [00:39:58] Speaker B: You can live off of Buckies. [00:40:00] Speaker A: Oh yeah. Some people get sick of it because I've probably been to Buckies like 50, 60 times just from being on the road so much. And then the first few times you're like, we got to stop at Buckies. [00:40:09] Speaker B: We got to stop at Bucky's. [00:40:10] Speaker A: And they're open all the time. They're 24 hours, which is great. But then there's people that will get sick of it. [00:40:15] Speaker B: But that's going to be sponsored by Buckies. [00:40:17] Speaker A: No, Buckies. They're very big about the logo, too. If you try to imitate like, say we did a Buckies logo and we put like a raccoon in it, we'd have papers sent to us right away. Oh, they'll sue you. They're very protective of their fucking beaver. [00:40:32] Speaker B: The logo is a know that I know. [00:40:35] Speaker A: Yes. Oh, yeah. When you go to Bucky's, I'm interested to hear how your first Bucky's experience goes because it is next level. So Hung Up comes out today when we're releasing this. Tell us about that song a little bit. What went into that? [00:40:50] Speaker B: Well, I came to Nashville earlier this year to write, and I was writing with Kelly Archer and Dave Cohen. I was writing with Kelly Archer for the first time. Kelly huge. [00:41:01] Speaker A: Great writer. [00:41:02] Speaker B: Yeah, great writer. She's Canadian, but she's American, basically and has so many great hits here. So I was already nervous kind of going into this write. And I had already done a lot of writing sessions already for this trip. And I only have so many fresh ideas in my can of ideas. And I was like, oh, I have no ideas left. So I was having a shower that morning and I was just like, think brain, think. And I was like, okay, hung up. What if there was two meanings? Because I love songs that have two meanings. So I was like, what if it's like I ain't hung up on you, but also I'm going to hang up on you. So that's what I brought into the room. And if you listen to the song, the syncopation of the chorus is so interesting, the way the lyrics hit. And it took a long time to write with them because we wanted to flush it out and make it really good. And Dave was making a demo right on the spot. Normally writing sessions like it's 3 hours and you got to go to the next one or people have somewhere to be, but they flushed it out for like 6 hours with me. [00:42:06] Speaker A: Wow. [00:42:07] Speaker B: Yeah, and we did like a really great demo and then he sent it to me that night and I literally listened to it a thousand times over the next few weeks. And that to me is a sign that I am obsessed with a song. So then I came right back down and recorded that song and the whiskey is gone in the same few days. And it's like the first introduction of this next wave of music where it's like more rock centric a little heavier and little badass bitch country. [00:42:38] Speaker A: Hell yeah. I love when an artist gets to go into that next chapter. [00:42:44] Speaker B: Well, my last album I wrote and recorded like two or three years ago. But you're still promoting it because I put every single song out as a single. So by the time I was at my last single, I was like, I'm like a different person. Yeah, and you still need to promote it. And it was still very personal and it resonated, but vocally I got better, production changed, even looks changed. So it's nice to go into this new phase where it's like, I just wrote my next few songs like this week, but I'll be able to put them out in January, February, March, because we're just doing things so much faster now where it's like I can stay excited about the songs because they're so fresh. [00:43:24] Speaker A: Awesome. That's what you want. You want to be excited about the stuff and you want your fans to get excited. And right now it just seems like there's a perfect storm. Like the rocket ship is just fucking going right now on the Ally Walker train. [00:43:36] Speaker B: Well, I hope so. [00:43:37] Speaker A: Oh, it is, because there's buz going on and we're so excited that you got that visa through and that you've got new music coming out and that you've got trips coming up and that you'll be back down here in a much more semi permanent kind of role over the next few years as your career progresses. We can't wait to have you play more razor out of events. [00:43:58] Speaker B: Yay. [00:43:59] Speaker A: Can't wait to check in with you maybe a while from now. And you could talk about you can give us a bucky's review. [00:44:05] Speaker B: Tell us about I'll have gone on tour. I'll have new music out. I'll be a permanent resident here. You're getting me at this really transition time, which is cool. But there's so many things on the books that it would be great to come back and chat. [00:44:19] Speaker A: Let's do it. And we'll be in the new studio by then, which we're very fucking excited about. This room's been great and it gets the job done. But our next phase, like, having like a raised rowdy headquarters is going to be really cool. So we'll definitely have you in for that. [00:44:31] Speaker B: We're very congrats on everything. [00:44:33] Speaker A: Thank you, guys. [00:44:34] Speaker B: You're killing it. [00:44:34] Speaker A: It's been a crazy year. And we're planning on a lot more things coming up next year, too, where next year is going to be. We're hoping to triple what we're doing next year. So it's going to be a lot. [00:44:45] Speaker B: Well, the merch is great. Podcast great. I've always wanted to do your round, and I got two rounds. [00:44:49] Speaker A: You got two in the span of a few days. Yeah. That's just perfect. That's exactly what you want. And you got to be a part of one of our first big Canadian events. We're looking forward to doing more of those because we love Canadian country. We really do. And we love all of our Canadian friends, like yourself. So where do people go to find you on all the socials and everything? [00:45:09] Speaker B: Well, you know what? It was Allywalker CA. And then I was like, okay, I need to be American now. So I had to get Alliewalker.com. And it was a lot of money, really, to get Aliwalker.com because I had built up my SEO or whatever as I got press that it actually upped my own domain to thousands of dollars. But I needed to buy it because I didn't want anybody else to buy it. So I paid like $4,500 just to own Ally Walker. [00:45:39] Speaker A: No shit. All right, so you all be sure to visit that shit because she has put the investment in. We got merch and stuff on there right now, too. [00:45:46] Speaker B: Yeah, merch. New merch coming. Amazon exclusive. Merch coming with the hung up. And I actually just got Allie Walker on Instagram, too, which is so hard to get. Yeah, they probably got that like 15 years ago when they got Instagram, it was some little 14 year old. And I convinced them to give it to me. [00:46:05] Speaker A: Wow. [00:46:05] Speaker B: So it's still Ali Walker music. But I own Ali Walker, which is cool. [00:46:09] Speaker A: Let's go. That's awesome. [00:46:11] Speaker B: This is such petty first world problems things. [00:46:13] Speaker A: No, but it's what you fucking need to do. It's how it works. It's what you need to do, especially in your career. And we can't wait to see you on TV doing that show. Yeah, it'll be so excited for April and April. All right, perfect. Awesome. Well, y'all be sure to check out our girl, ali Walker hung up is out now, along with a bunch of other great songs that she has been putting out. And be on lookout. New music coming. She's going to be hosting a TV show that we can't reveal all the details of yet, but it's going to be coming soon, so y'all stay tuned for that and be sure to give her a follow, check out all the music and we love Ali. Happy to have you as a part of our raised rowdy family. [00:46:50] Speaker B: Thank you so much. I'm pumped to do lots more with you guys. [00:46:53] Speaker A: Yes, we're pumped to have you. Gets us very excited. Well, y'all be sure to check out our girl Allie, as always, shout out to our friends, whaletail media, saxman studios, our boy Mitch Wallace with the digital marketing agency. You guys want to find out more, visit raisedrowdy.com for our girl Allie. I'm Matt Burrill. This has been outside the round.