Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Come on.
This is Outside the Round with Matt
[00:00:17] Speaker B: Burrill for Rage Rowdy Podcast.
[00:00:20] Speaker A: What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Outside the Round. Today, a long time friend of the family, a guy who I have not seen in a long while.
He's here to talk about his story of redemption, sobriety, and this brand new project that's coming out, Odin on a Dream. It's my brother, the pride of Louisiana, Brian Martin.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Yes, sir.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Bubba, it is so good. Long overdue to have you in here. How you been, my guy, man?
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Better than ever, man. You know, I don't. Like I said, I don't think I even remember the old me that you knew, but, you know, it's been just so awesome and I'm just finally feel at peace and happy and, you know, I don't think I could ever find that on the other side of the bottle, man.
[00:01:03] Speaker A: So, dude, I know the feeling, man. Congratulations on hitting the one year mark.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: That first 365 days, to me, I mean, every step, it's that one day at a time mentality. I fortunately, God, God willing, will hit 11 years in May of next year, which is crazy, man. I mean, you talk about like your life before and now where you're at over 365 days later, man.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Yeah, man, it's. It's crazy, man. It's like.
I don't know, man. I've. I went six years sober, you know, from alcohol at one time in my life. But it was, I still was, you know, doing pain pills and everything because I had a bad back from working on the rigs or whatever. So it's like, this is my first time completely stone cold sober, man. And it's, you know, I'm not as. I'm not as good at putting my words together as I was when I was popping Adderalls, but talking a million miles a minute.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: Ain't that the truth.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: But you know, it's like one of those things where it's like for once in my life, it's like, man, you know, what was I running from? You know, I look back on all them years and I think, God, I missed so much. You know, I missed a lot. And it's like now every. Every feeling, every emotion, everything is. I soak it in. It's like, you know, it's not as hurtful as I thought it was. You know, it's like, okay, this. This feels good to hurt in a good way, you know, it feels good to hurt in a growing way, you
[00:02:32] Speaker A: know, and to be mentally present in addition to physically present. Because when you're going through that stuff and when you're. You're crutching onto a bottle or a pill bottle or smoking something or doing snorting shit, whatever, it's like, you're not. You might physically be there, you might be at the event, you might be at the show, but you're not mentally there. You're on another damn planet, man. Now you're getting to celebrate this new project coming out. We ride triple platinum.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Yeah, man.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: Triple freaking platinum. Brian.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: That's crazy, dude. I could have never saw it coming, man. It was. It's one of those deals where it's like, I look at that now, maybe that's what really got me was, you know, I wrote that song in spite, like, oh, you know what they tell me? I can't get a booking agent because I just came to town. You remember how it was. I remember I was struggling, man, and I just went home and wrote that song. And literally when I wrote it, I told my drummer I was writing with Vern. I said, I'll show them, you know, and it. And it happened. And I think that.
That feeling of, like, me being able to go, oh, shoot, when I want to turn it on, I can turn it on.
Then I. Because for so long, I had stayed in this little zone of, like, after I wrote Oilfield, dad, back when I was in Oilfield, it took me seven years to overcome a 1 million stream song, you know? And then as soon as I. As soon as I wrote We Ride, I said, what if I can never turn that back on ever again? What happens then? You know? And I think, you know, Trey. Me and Trey Lewis talked about it too. He's like, you know, I think he understands that too. Like, once you have a big hit like that, it's like, oh, man, now. Now it's really like, you start doubting yourself. Can I ever. Can I ever do this again, brother?
[00:04:15] Speaker A: And you have followed it up consistently, Ben. I mean, you talk about outlaw shit, you talk about wolves cry. I mean, the catalog that you have released while you were not fully with it, and now the fact that you're locked in, you're dialed in. You got this new project.
You got a piece of land. I want to talk about Leaper for Tennessee. I've never been out to Leapers Fork, but I've always hear just the best, man. But you should be really proud, man, to have made it through. I mean, memory to drown More than the shine Beauty in the struggle yeah, man. Going for Bro, I mean, dude, you've got, like, you. You were in that place mentally, of we ride like, I'm a show. These I'm a show. Yeah, yeah, I'm a show. This town I am worth giving a damn about. And you followed it up with song after song after song. The people around the world are listening to. Brother.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: It's been. You know, it's. It's been crazy because, like, I. I think about it, I've been this. This album. This new album is like.
You know, it's like, man, during the most manic crate, you know, the crazy time right before you get sober.
[00:05:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: You're like, this is. This is probably the most confused I'm ever going to be. And you don't know it, but you do know it in a way when you're writing this song. And so the album is so up and down. It's like you don't know which way it's going to.
And, you know, ODing on a dream was, you know, it was one of those songs where I was, like, making excuses for. It ain't the pills that keep me in a hurry. And I'm saying all this stuff in the song. And I was pretty much. Because, like, my label had called and said, hey, man, you're gonna die. I was like, well, y' all are running me this hard. How am I supposed to keep up with it? You know, I can't. I can't afford a bus. I can't. I'm driving everywhere. Ten hours of this place, eight hours to the next, you know, taking a shower in a.
Pretty much in a bathroom sink. You know, I'm like, what am I supposed to do here? And I was doing all the driving, and it was like. And I wrote that song, and I remember saying it was me and Ben Roberts. And I mean, not Ben Roberts. It was me. Odin on Dream was me and Ben Chapman.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Oh, dude.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: And, yeah, we sit down, and I remember telling him, I'm like, dude. And Carrie Barlow.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:06:29] Speaker A: And I love Ben Chapman. You talk about another guy that's just been grinding like, he gets it. He speaks the language. And he's had his stuff where he's. He's got. He's turned on crutches to do it. So for you to write that song with Ben and Carrie, man.
[00:06:43] Speaker B: Yeah, man.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: It was perfect people to be writing with.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: We might have all been leaning on something that day.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: But, you know, it was like one of those deals where I went in there and I said, look, man, I said, label was coming at Me, I said, y' all wrote a song called Oding on a Dream. And he's like, no, we're about to. And I said. I said. The way I excused it is, I said. I told the label, I ain't.
It ain't the drugs, it ain't. It ain't the alcohol. It ain't none of this stuff. I'm ODing on a dream. Like, this old six string is driving me crazy. But I also thought about it. Like, I went from swinging a hammer to now I'm full on in this, I'm told. Morgan Wild and getting kicked off toward.
I wrote Complex and Tug of War the day after they pulled me off the Morgan Walling tour. And I was. I wasn't even on the list. I went. I showed up to Warner and they had. They had replaced my name on the list. You know, that little screen on the outside of the door?
I was like, man, I was like, I'm here now. We're gonna write. Write something, you know? And so they. They let me in, but I wasn't even supposed to be in there. And I came in there and I had a couple lines of Complex and
[00:07:48] Speaker A: What a song, by the way, Brother, that song hits in such a different way, man. And the play on words with it and the folks that you wrote it with. And you talk about that. That manic, crazy circus of just before getting clean. Yeah, man, that's a song. I can tell you were in a place, brother.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: Place, man. It was like I showed up there and I was like, Tug of War was, you know, kind of like the commercial way of saying it. And then when we finished saying that, I was like, I can't remember Heath. Heath Warren, Legend. Well, he was like, love Heath. He was like, man, I gotta get out of here. I was like, man, it only took us 20 minutes to write that song. Let's write another one.
So I was like, you know, I'm always pushing. I was always pushing to write a song. And I said, I got this one called Complex.
And I just said, I never learned to crawl My daddy made me walk My mama made me sing Before I could even talk I'm always on the edge Got no safe place to fall I had to find a crutch so I turned alcohol and we just took it from there. And I just told him. I was like, man, this is what I'm feeling.
And, you know, it's one of those deals where, like, looking back on it now, this album is one of those albums. It's like, I'm so Ready to get it behind me, you know what I mean? Like, I want the fans to enjoy it, but at the same time, I'm like, you know, this. That's the last part of me that they'll ever get like that. You know, it's like I'm already working on a new project with Shooter, you know, and it's like, you know, I look at that and I think these songs are literally for the people that are in that spot. Like, and if they ain't in that spot and they get to that spot and they listen to these songs at the right time, it's going to help them through, you know, whatever. Whatever it is they're going through. And I. That's really all I can hope for, is that it helps somebody turn a leaf, like I did. But, you know, when you. When it comes to ODing on a drain and stuff like that, like, I look back on it and I go, man, I wasn't taking no accountability, you know, for. For the shit I was.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: It was just a train running on the tracks, brother. Because I remember being at Red Door and being at Losers and being at Live Oak with you. I remember. I remember being around you, man. I remember. I remember worrying about you. Do.
[00:09:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:57] Speaker A: I. I remember being like, how is this man going to get home?
[00:10:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Like, I remember being like, man, this. Like, he's like, like, what's. What's going. Like, just because I had first met you at the Blue Water Polarized Golf.
[00:10:11] Speaker B: I remember that. Yeah. Megan got us 2022.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: You remember who was on that round with you?
[00:10:16] Speaker B: Ella and Trey Lewis. And Trey Lewis.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: Yeah. It was Ella Langley, Trey Lewis and Brian Martin playing at Old Hickory Country Club after the Blue Otter Golf.
Blue Water polarized golf.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: Invitation for Raleigh Green's birthday.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: Yeah. In 2022. Yeah. I want to say that was. I don't even think we ride had come out yet.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: No, that was. That was like the. The year after I got to town, man. Yeah. I was still living in Airbnbs at that time, man. I was still trying to.
[00:10:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:42] Speaker B: I was still hanging outside stage at the local. Trying to get people to write with me because, like, I'd always wrote by myself before I came to town. I was like, nobody would write with me.
I was like. And then, you know, I write a song, and the word got around like, Scott Shine White got me in the door, you know, and.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: Great guy.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Next thing you know, you know, I'm. I write with Ben Roberts, who's now my manager. Yeah. You know, it's like but it's like, dude, I just remember, like, nobody.
But I look at it now and I'm like, who would want to write with that guy? He's. He's literally drunk on a bar stool, you know, and lost, man. I don't think I could. I don't think I've ever been that lost in my life. I just went through a divorce and was unsure if I was gonna make it in this town. I had everybody telling me, you know,
[00:11:29] Speaker A: it's overwhelming, man, when you, when you have. I think it's. There's two sides to it where it's like, if you just come in and get started here, that's a pro. But then you don't know how to play a show.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Your path was you were rigging, doing this blue collar thing on that Texas, Louisiana border in your small town, fighting to get on stage at the Texas Club and Live Oaks in Monroe, Louisiana, and Cowboys and Lafayette and. Yeah, Lafayette and all those places. And then it's like you, you think you know what you're doing and then you come up here and it's like, oh, it's.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: Yeah, it's crazy.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: So it's like, I don't know if it's better to come in with like a clean slate and like wide eyed, bushy tailed, or come in with that experience that like guys like yourself, guys like Muscadine bloodline, guys like Trey Lewis came in with.
[00:12:18] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it's kind of like, you know, you kind of had that chip on your shoulder.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Big time.
[00:12:23] Speaker B: Like, you know, you don't really know how the industry works, but you had outside industry, you know. Yeah. Texas country music industry and all this stuff. And you come into town and you don't really know how it works. And you're like, I really don't care how it works. I just want to get in. And then after, after you start realizing how it works, it just starts turning the resentments and going crazy and you get jaded quick. Oh, quick.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: And that'll lead you to the bottle because you're like, man, F this, F that. I'm just gonna sit here and drink. I'm just gonna. I'm gonna go out because I have to. But I don't want to feel anything when I go out. Which leads you to popping pills and drinking whiskey you shouldn't be drinking.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: It's like, I'm so sure I have social anxiety, man. Like just sitting here.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: And talking like you're my friend. But I still have that, that anxiety of like, man, how do I. How do I string words together? You know? How do I. You know? Because behind a guitar and in a room, I'm at home, but sitting here with nothing in my hands. Like, I'm like. I'm like Ricky Bobby, dude. Like, what do I do?
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: It's like, I get that. But, you know, it's just. It's. It's like, man, I wasn't never, never made to be a speech maker or somebody, a public speaker. And then I always, always thought that, like, it was so rough in front of 10 people, playing in honky tonks and stuff in Louisiana and stuff.
So when I got up here and things started taking off, I was like, man, I can't go out there on that stage. Like, all these people are seeing my vulnerabilities. And, like, I'm. Every time I would sing a song that I had wrote, it would take me back to that place when I wrote it. And I would just be in this ball of emotions on stage. And then I'd grab for a drink to numb it. And then by the time I drank. Drank enough, it was all just coming out of him and I was just spilling it so much. And I gave so much of myself away. But at the same time, it's like I gave too much of myself away. Like, I. I didn't leave nothing. Nothing for, you know, the guessing, you know, like, they called me the mystery man, but there was no mystery about who I was, man. I was an open booking book.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: Yeah. What were the songs like early on when you were rounds and you were playing like, say, like the Music Row freak show or one of my rounds over at. Over at Live Oak. What were some songs that would open
[00:14:41] Speaker B: you up like, that, like, Addiction, you know, I had that song, Addiction.
[00:14:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: And I had, you know, like, you know, these addiction. And I would try to write these. Like, everybody's like, man, you gotta come up with these. These songs are so sad. Dude, you got. You gotta write some better, some more upbeat stuff. And so I got lost in writing, like, We Ride and Everyone's an Outlaw. And it's like I took on this other Persona to just, like, put that guy away.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: It's almost like you became like a WWE wrestler. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's like you're amplifying. You found a thing that folks on the Internet were approving of.
[00:15:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: And loving. And you just started pouring gasoline on that fire.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: And that was through the bottle and the pills.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: Yeah, dude, it was. It's crazy because it's like, you know, the Version of me, that Rose, my. My girl, you know, she has brought out of me is.
You know, it takes a lot to get me to come even close to town. Yeah. Like, coming here is like one of those things where it's like, man, I haven't drove this way in forever. Unless, you know, one of the kids has a soccer game or something.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: But it's like, you know, I just. You know, I don't. I don't miss it. You know, I don't miss.
I don't miss that guy at all. And I'm. And I'm. I'm literally out there, you know, building chicken coops and.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:59] Speaker B: And loving life, man.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: Yeah. That leads into this. This next chapter and having a spot in beautiful Leapers Fork.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:16:07] Speaker A: Tennessee, brother. What led you to end up over there and kind of tell me the story because we're all in town. Have you lived, like. Did you live in the city limits of Nashville?
[00:16:16] Speaker B: No, I couldn't, man. It's a. I've always. I lived in Clarksville for just a short period of time. I rented a house up there, and then I've always had to have, like, rural. I mean, you know, it's had. It's always got to be like a cornfield or. Or just a bunch of woods somewhere. You know, I can't be. I can't be in town for long and. But no, man, she.
So my house burnt down in Hampshire. I had a place out in Hampshire, Tennessee.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: I don't even know where that is.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: It's just south of, you know, where Hohenwald is.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: Oh, wow. So you're down in, like, tornado. Tornado Alley. That's where I hear the tornadoes. Always our hole in wall. Get down.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: Yeah, unincorporated.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: You gotta pay somebody to come haul your body off.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: Is that off 65 or 24?
[00:16:58] Speaker B: I think it's 24.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: 24. Okay. So going down towards Chattanooga. Yeah.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: And so it's like. No, I had a place down there, and, you know, my. My guitar player was living there, and I was in LA with my girl because she's a movie director. You know, she directed Father Stew and.
[00:17:14] Speaker A: Oh, no.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Look at you. Good for you, Brian. Hell, yeah.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: And, you know. Yeah. So she.
She. I was out there with her, and we just had our baby. You know, we had. We had a new baby.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:26] Speaker B: And I got a call four days after baby was born. Like, man, you ain't gonna believe this. You know, he. My. My guitar player from Mississippi, he goes, I was burning some Amazon boxes, and the house. Gosh, I was like, oh.
I was like, damn. But, you know, it was in that moment, I was like, I was so grateful for my. My child. And I was like, did you get any guitars out? You know, he's like, yeah, I got some of them out. He said, I didn't get them all out. I said. And then I didn't even think about it. And then next thing I knew, I called him back. You get my deer head out? He's like, no, I didn't get that. Did you get my opera thing? You know, I was thinking about, like, all the stuff I had, like my. My Opry debut sign and all that stuff, you know, and.
And I just remember, like, for a moment just stopping and going, well, you. You're okay, you know, I said, your camper's okay outside, so you still got a place to stay, you know, but it's like, you know, it's one of those things where, you know, she. We started looking for another place after that, and she found this place out in Leapers Fork. And it's just a beautiful house, man.
I came from a single wide trailer, like, you know, five years ago or whatever. And it's like, I'm thinking, man, I never would a million years think I'm. I'd be living in something like this and have a 25 acre farm with some goats and a donkey and, you know, just living the best life, man, I got. I literally, you know, wake up every day grateful and thankful that whatever, because there's no reason why I shouldn't be dead, man. Because, you know, I just wasn't.
I was just a, you know, a crazy guy, man. I was running away from myself for so long that I didn't ever imagine in a million years that I could actually wake up and be at peace and actually know what happiness means, man. And that's where I'm at now. And I think that's why this record is like one of those things where it's like, none of this pertains to where I'm at now. So it's like, let's get it on out and let's get.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: You've always been an authentic storyteller. Like, when we first came across your music, you were s. You were singing songs like addicted and putting out. And then you get to town and then you start getting some of that jadedness. And then we ride and wolves cry and all those songs start coming. The outlaw Brian Martin era.
And now to close the chapter, the final chapter of that book of your life, you got to tell that Story, bro.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. Well, you know, it's. It's. It's like I said the other day, it's like, you know, today I'm in my blue jeans and pants because it's cold outside, but it's like I wore a pair. I think the first time I wore a pair of shorts and a pair of tennis shoes was. Was after I met her. And I was like, really?
[00:20:07] Speaker A: You would never.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: No, I'm just not a shorts and tennis shoes kind of guy, man.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: And I remember that's so on brand.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: So she. She's like. She's like. The other day, she had doordashed me some shoes, and they got there, and she had just picked them on doordash, whatever. And. Because my other shoes, you know, I done wore them out out there shoveling goat in them. And they were P6000, some Nike P6000 or something. They were all shiny and. And I was like, man, these are the dad shoes I've ever seen.
But, you know, I was sitting there thinking to myself, I was like, never in a million years could I walk comfortably like this, not give a. What nobody thinks. Yeah. You know, it's like I'm at that place where it's just like, I'm happy. And, you know, protecting that piece is easier than anything I've ever had in my life. It's like I'm actually in a place where I'm like, you know, I don't have to. All I gotta do is not drink. All I gotta do is not do drugs. All I gotta do is, you know, get up on that stage, do what I came to do, get off that stage and go home and be at home. And, you know, I don't have to do the whole running around networking thing anymore. You know, you got.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: You got your guys and girls you like to write songs with. You got two beautiful people at home.
[00:21:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Like, you're at peace, buddy. I'm so freaking proud of you.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:21:27] Speaker A: And happy for you. Because like I said earlier, like, I've gone through the sobriety journey, you know, and it's. It's difficult now. Was that.
Are you cool talking about that a little bit more?
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, you talking about the.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: Like, did you. Did you end up going through, like, the step program? Did you just kind of quit cold turkey or how you do it?
[00:21:47] Speaker B: She. So I did, man. I went to rehab. We all know about the rehab.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I went to rehab and I got out and I was 160 days clean, and I just fell off. You know, I was like, and then this, that last time, you know, that I met Rose in, you know, January of 2025. Yeah, man. The time is slipping.
[00:22:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: You know, but it's like, you know, I remember just thinking to myself, like, this girl, she just, like, took my breath away, man. And it's like one of those things where I couldn't. I couldn't think about music anymore. Like, I don't. I don't know. It's the first time. It's the first thing that's ever just came into my life. Just, like, they overly.
You know, I was consumed by it, you know, and I was like, okay. It's like, you know, my kids, you know, all these things that I felt like for a long time, the only time I would, you know, I've said this on Trace Lawrence podcast, but it's like, I feel, like, so bad because my other four kids, they saw a guy that was coming up trying to make it, but at the same time, working and coming home every day, and it felt like sometimes the only time I would ever say anything was when I was in a bathroom or something trying to write a song. And I'd say, y' all be quiet. I'm trying to write a song. Y' all be quiet. I'm trying to record a song.
And I just think about it, and I'm like, man, you know, I've written 10 songs since I met Rose, and I used to write 10 a week.
You know me. I was crazy.
[00:23:20] Speaker A: Oh, dude.
[00:23:21] Speaker B: Yeah, a lot. And it's just like, something's really gotta move me to get me out of arm's reach.
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:30] Speaker B: For me to go into or say, hey, hey, baby, you going to bed? I'm just gonna go try to write a song, you know, and it. You know, it's just like, I'm finally at that place where I'm like, you know, writing some real deep stuff. And I'm also thinking about, like, how not commercial this stuff is.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: Well, Brad, I don't think you've ever been commercial, brother. I think what ended up happening, and obviously, you've got a triple platinum song. You've got songs with hundreds of millions of. Of streams. You've got. You've got over 3 million monthly listeners as we're recording this right now, which is a huge feat. And that shit is not easy for everybody watching at home. It is not easy.
And I think that it was. It's your. Your voice is so distinct, and you're so, like, uniquely to where it's like, the moment you open your Mouth. Or the moment that you hear one of your songs, you know, it's a Brian Martin song.
[00:24:21] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: Whether that's a slow, deep song like Beauty in the Struggle.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: Or that's one of your. One of your hits, which in my eyes are all hits.
[00:24:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:30] Speaker A: I listen to your music regularly. I have for a long time, but I think it's just like, I don't even think of you as like a commercial artist. I think of you as a guy who's really freaking good at what he does.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: And that the world has gotten their eyes and ears on.
[00:24:44] Speaker B: Yeah, man, it's been crazy. You know, you've never tried to be
[00:24:47] Speaker A: anything other than yourself. Now I think the. The side of you where it was like the. The we ride and wolves and outlaw.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:56] Speaker A: That was one side of you. Yeah. I think you just amplified it.
[00:24:59] Speaker B: Just amplified it, man.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: That's all it was, man.
[00:25:01] Speaker B: It was great.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: You know, Jekyll and Hyde type. Yeah.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: You know, because I mean, there was that so side of me. I mean, it's like, you know, that. That kid, that insecure kid that had a chip on his shoulder, you know, my. My dad, you know, was real hard on me. And I always felt like I had to be so tough, man. And it's like, you know, now I've learned, like, you know, it's okay. It's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to be soft.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: Millions of people out there.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: That grew up and are growing up in that exact same situation, man.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:31] Speaker A: There's people that relate to all of your songs. You write songs for the blue collar guy or girl out there that has some. Yeah, that's what you do. That to me is what makes a Brian Martin fan is for if you've been through any kind of struggle in your life and you want to feel empowered, you crank up some of those hard rocking songs, but you want to dive into those emotions and get into some. Some real. And I think that's what this record's gonna be for a lot of, man.
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Like. Yeah.
Complex and civil war. That's everybody's struggle, you know, I think, I think that anybody can relate to some part of that, you know, And I think, you know, I got a song in there called Home Sweet Living Hell. You know, it's like going through a real rough relationship. And I got a song in there called Real, man that me and Ben Roberts, you know, he had told me, he said, man, you get a bus and, you know, you ain't gotta drive no more. I think they were just scared of my driving, to be honest with you.
You ain't gotta drive no more. We'll sit on the back of the bus and we'll write some songs. And I got the bus, and I remember they were just all getting in on the bus, going straight to the bunks.
And I was like, I'm still adderalled out of my mind. I'm like, man, I'm up. I'm done with the show. I'm here to write. That's where I get my most joy, is sitting down and writing a song.
And so they get on the bus, and he says, man, I'm gonna take a shower. And I sit down, sit there on my notes. I'm just pissed, you know, I'm like, I'm gonna write a couple of these lines. And I wound up writing two songs while he was in the shower. And he got back and I had these notes, and I said.
He went. He had his earbuds in. He was going back to the dunk. And I said, what are you doing? I said, he's like, I'm talking to my wife. I'm gonna go lay down, man. I'm tired. I'm like, let's write. I got these two songs. If you want in on them, if you want me to put your name on them, you know?
And I started saying the words to him, and that was Take it from me and.
And.
And Real Man. Cuz, like, I just had a conversation, you know? And it was like, my ex had always said, like, a real man comes home every night. A real man does this. A real man. And I was like thinking to myself, like, I. We came. Came up from nothing. Like, now I got her and. And the kids in a big, nice house, you know, I've done everything I can to.
To step it up from where we came from. Nothing, you know? And it's like, you know, roaches and a single wide trailer. That was it. And I'm thinking to myself, like, a real man can't make a living at the house. You know, A real man, you know, gives up everything for his family and does everything he can to get. And then when you get to that spot where you're like, none of it's appreciated, you know, it's like, it hits you in a spot where it's like, maybe. Maybe for once, I'm not the problem. Yeah. And it's like, but there is a lot of problems with me, but maybe I'm not the problem in this, you know, so. So it's like, I let Go of a lot of shit in this album, man, where it's just like, you know, talking about the things I'm gonna have to pass down to my kids to kind of prevent them from going down this rabbit hole of a life.
[00:28:41] Speaker A: That was a line in Complex that really stood out to me. Yeah.
[00:28:44] Speaker B: It's like, I don't want. Yeah, I don't want to pass this down to my kids.
[00:28:47] Speaker A: No, man, you want. You want that to stop with you in the line.
I noticed you got. We got Chase Matthew on here as well.
Old dogs and.
[00:28:56] Speaker B: Old dogs.
[00:28:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah, man. You know, I went in there to write, and Chase, you know, Chase, good friend, man, he went in there to write and we started writing this song, and I think. Wasn't he on that one, too? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: He. Yeah, he got. He got Heath Warren on there.
You got Martinez. Yeah, Martin.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So it's like, I go in there and it's like, you know, it's just a fun song, man. I think that's one of the funnest songs on there. And, yeah, Chase was in there and. And I'm sitting there thinking to myself, like, man, like, how's this gonna go? You know, because, like, me and Chase are two different worlds. Like, we get along just fine. We come from the same neck of the woods, but we have two different kinds of music, you know?
[00:29:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:40] Speaker B: And. But it's just.
It mixed beautifully, man. I mean, it was like, you know, ain't nothing but a hound dog, baby. You know, it's no use in trying to change, you know, Just howling at the moon is what I like to do, you know? And we threw them little lines in there. Like, you know, it says, I'll be home at dawn. Cause at night we ride, you know? And it's like. I think it's one of those deals where there's a couple of those fun songs in there. And, you know, it kind of helps kind of take away from the deeper stuff, like Home Sweet Living Hell doing.
But I got a couple songs. They're like, if Loving Me Was Easy. It's like a slow love song. And, you know, I think it's really just one of those albums. Just like, man, I.
I can't tell you how lost I was in the process of it. And it's like, you know. You know how it is. You go in there, we'll cut a song, and it takes a year for somebody to put it on a record. And it's like, oh, man, this now. Now this is coming out. My demons don't sleep. You don't want to relive those songs or you don't want to go back down that.
That.
You know, that. That road of, like, going on podcasts and telling people about where you were when you wrote them, you know, but it's like, you know, it's just one of those things where it's like, finally in my life, you know, I'm in a place where it's like, if I don't ever sell another ticket, you know, if I don't ever sell another record, you know, like, I'm at peace, you know, it's like I love. I'd love to sell more records because, you know, them chickens get need feeding and the kids need feeding and all that stuff. But it's like, moving forward from here, I think people are going to really see a different, different side of me. And I think that this is one of those last chapters of my life that I'm like, what's it going to be like after this?
[00:31:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:23] Speaker B: And, you know, it's like kind of like ripped the band aid off, like, okay, here. Here it comes, Here comes. Here comes the last record like this.
And how are people going to accept what's coming out with Shooter? Because I got, you know, some things I'm working on.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: That excites me a lot. You and Shooter working together is music to my ears.
[00:31:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:41] Speaker A: That has me very excited because you talk about a guy that's been through. Been through some ups and downs and seen some shit in his life. You and Shooter collaborating? Yeah, man, has me very excited, dude.
[00:31:51] Speaker B: It's. It's one of those things where.
And I take 10 dips during that.
[00:31:56] Speaker A: There you go. You spent time on an oil rig, brother.
[00:31:58] Speaker B: But now it's like, man, I went in there, I got this one song that I wrote, and it's called Long Hard Lesson Learned.
Because I was, like, so busy with trying to crunch the numbers on everything, you know, it's like when you can manage a career, then you get up here and you realize that it's so big that you can't manage everything.
It really drives somebody crazy because I was, like, trying to keep track of every little.
[00:32:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:27] Speaker B: Thing, man. And, you know, I wrote this song and it says.
It says, I'm. I'm a long time coming, two decade overnighter. And it says, and I found out that smoke just wasn't worth the fire so I pulled gasoline on a dream Just to watch it burn it says, because every scar I earned Came from a long hard lesson learned. You know, it says now it's two days back to Tennessee from where I am right now and where they want me to be but there ain't nothing left between the fame and the theft and the crooks that every turn because every scar I earned came from a long hard lesson learned and you know, that song was just like I was missing shows. I was, you know, during that time and people were like. And a lot of it, the venue canceled because tickets wouldn't sell, you know, and the tickets wasn't selling. And they never told the fans that. So the fans are all mad at me, you know, and I was just sitting there thinking, you know, that second part of that song, it says, I'm a back psa, backwoods raised backslider.
I've been known to drink like Jones and I'm a hell of a fighter, it says. And yes, true, I miss a show or two but there's no need to be concerned because every scar I earned came from a long hard lesson learned. Yeah. You know, it's just that's. That. That's still that grit that's left in me and it's like I still got something to say.
[00:33:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:45] Speaker B: But then you. You dive into a song I wrote called Things I Can't say in a Song, and it's just like this. It's like Jekyll and Hyde, he's talking about where it's like Things I can't say in a song. I feel like I never belong There's a little boy inside scared and alone says lost in a long way from home Looking for some peace of mind before it's gone Things I can't say in a song, you know.
[00:34:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:09] Speaker B: And it's like Things I can't make sense of with a pen Will I ever be okay again?
Should I be hurting or should I just pretend it's all alright? The things I've seen in this life they won't matter in the end Things I can't make sense of with a pen, you know, it's just like this deep dive into me and it's like me being brutally honest with everybody about like the thoughts inside my head.
[00:34:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:33] Speaker B: And it's like, you know, he said, even if I had the time Could I ever make it round this trauma and sin and the broken part and scars within he says and that one part of me that I'll never let you see where it all begins and it said, you know, it says things I can't tell this old guitar I never meant to make it this far
[00:34:53] Speaker A: yeah, you know no, you Would you would have been happy just playing gigs back in Louisiana, bro?
[00:34:58] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like, thank you know, it says, never meant to make it this far I'm broken and I'm a mess I never wanted to be a damn star Says I wish I'd never bought it at all Wish I could burn everyone on my wall, you know, that'd be a good start. Things I can't tell this whole guitar. And, you know, that song is just so deep and so meaningful. But it was one of those turning points where, like, when Rose.
When I got pulled off that stage in New York, and, man, it was just like, one of the hardest days of my life that, you know, for. For purposes of not, you know, putting all my family drama out there, I'm not gonna mention it. But, like, I had Rose and I had, you know, all this stuff, you know, to look forward to, but there was just this one thing that was hanging. Hanging on me, man. And, you know, it's like I said. I just. You know, there was some things happened, you know, back home. And I remember Rose telling me, like, you can't do this. Like, you can't drink no more. Like, I was worried death about you. And I remember her telling me, like, if you don't. Because she didn't have a problem with me drinking. You know, like, she's like, I don't have a problem with you drinking as long as you keep it under control. But that night, I. I went was, you know, putting a damn insaneness out, you know, and just had a mental breakdown. And I remember her telling me, like, I'm leaving if you don't stop drinking.
And for the first time in my life, everything else, it's like, you know that big, loud noise that's outside your head?
[00:36:30] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:36:30] Speaker B: It just all went.
And it was like.
It just went quiet. All that noise just went quiet when she said that. And I realized everything I had was right in front of me. Everything I had to lose was right in front of me. And so I went and got this date tattooed on me, and I had the tattoo.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I got my sober date on me, too.
[00:36:53] Speaker B: I said.
And I told him. I said, let me write the. Let me write the sober part on there, because they had the date.
And I wrote the sober on my. On myself. And I said, because if I write it, I'm gonna live it. Yeah. And that's just the way I am. And, man, I'm talking about cold turkey. Not. Not another drink, not another sip. And I make her a drink every night.
I'm the bartender, the half. But, you know, it's like. It's like this, man. It's like I wake up every day, and it's like I get so surprised at how much more in love I fall with her. And in love, I follow with myself, with. With being able to actually look around and go, man, I've.
All the other shit don't matter. Like, this is what matters. Like, yeah, the validation from the world, what people think about me. None of that shit matters. Like, what. What she sees in me is all that matters.
[00:37:47] Speaker A: It reminds me of.
I don't know how well you know. You know, bg how well, if you've.
Yeah.
[00:37:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: I think you guys have toured together.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: Yeah, we tried to get. Yeah.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: So he had the first song on his new. On his new album is called Addiction, and it's about his. His wife Amber and his little kids.
[00:38:04] Speaker B: Really.
[00:38:05] Speaker A: The addiction. The addiction that keeps him clean, you know? That's very much you, man. Yeah, dude.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: Because it's like, I told her. I think it was the other day, I told her. I said, you know, I said, this is a crazy analogy, but I said, you're.
I said, you're. Like, if I would have took Adderall one step further and I would have been on meth, I was like, you're my meth.
Like, you're the highest step I could have went in my addiction, and that's what I'm consumed by. And I said. I said, selfishly, you know, I'm yours in every way. Like, you know, it's like, you know, I can't. You know, I can't tell you, like, the difference between the thought process of the old me and the thought process of the new me is just like, dude, I wake up and I'm literally scanning the room to think about, like, man, I bet she wants me to hang that painting that she's had sitting in that corner for a while. You know, I bet she wants me to go outside and rake the leaves or something. You know, it's like I'm. I'm always thinking of different ways I can give back to her.
[00:39:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Because of what she's given me. And it's. Dude, I mean, I ain't all the outlaw no more, dude. I mean, I'm just not like. You know, I say that a million times, but I was sitting on the porch and I was looking at them shorts and them shoes, and I said, what the hell is going on here? Yeah, you know, this is. This is different, man.
[00:39:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:30] Speaker B: And, you know, it's. It's crazy, man, because it's like the most fulfilled I've ever been in my life. I miss my kids back in Louisiana and stuff, y'. All. I get to see them every now and then, and. But I know that the version that she's. She's given me, and I know that when my kids come up to me and tell me they're proud of me, that. That changed my life, man. You know, because I was like, you know, for once, my kids may not get to see me very often, but when they do see me, they see me. Yeah, they see. They see their dad. They don't see a man that's.
That's confused and struggling and running around in circles and.
[00:40:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:09] Speaker B: Trying to, you know, because, I mean, I take all that time that I. That I took away from them in that mindset, and I think about it, like, in one day, I feel like I give them more than I ever gave them in my life, because I'm just there. I'm present, man.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: How old are all the kids?
[00:40:26] Speaker B: My oldest daughter is 17.
[00:40:28] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:40:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:29] Speaker A: How old are you, Brian?
[00:40:31] Speaker B: 38.
[00:40:31] Speaker A: You're 38.
[00:40:32] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:40:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: How old are you?
[00:40:33] Speaker A: I'm 31.
So we would. So we. So we must have met. So you moved up here then at what, 33.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: I was 30.
[00:40:44] Speaker A: Would have been 20. 33. 34.
[00:40:46] Speaker B: 34.
[00:40:46] Speaker A: 34. Yeah, she moved up here at 34. So you got a 17 year old?
[00:40:50] Speaker B: Yeah, 17.
[00:40:51] Speaker A: God bless you, having a 17 year old. And it's. And it's a girl.
[00:40:54] Speaker B: Yeah, she was born on my birthday. Yeah. And then.
And then I got a 15 year old.
I have a.
My. I got two boys, two girls back in Louisiana. And I got my. My youngest boy here, Pascal. But Yeah, man, Jeremiah's 15.
Kaylee's 17.
Bradley Joe is 11. Finn B, 12, I think, and then Reed is eight. And, man, it's just.
Dude, it's been.
It's been great, man. It's like there's just so much that I think that they're gonna, you know, I'm at that place where now it's like when I get them to come in for Thanksgiving or whatever, we do, whatever we work out, you know, they don't have to deal with the drama of, like, you know, me and their mama or whatever.
[00:41:42] Speaker A: What version of dad are they gonna get?
[00:41:44] Speaker B: Yeah, they don't have to deal with it. They just know, like, hey, you know, I'm. I'm trying to get better at playing video games, but I'm not no good. But you Know, I'm not. No sweat, you know. Yeah.
But now it's.
No, man. It's just. And like I said, I got. Rose has a son, you know, that she had in another relationship. And he's. He's nine. And Lars and Pascal, man, he's just. He's one of those.
It's the first time in my life that I, you know, used to be. When I was on the rigs, I was home for two weeks, and then I'd be gone for two weeks.
[00:42:21] Speaker A: On, on again, off again. Yep.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like blow in, blow out. I'm like, I've like, become, you know, Mr. Dad, you know, Like, I'm like, let me take the baby so you can, you know, go write on your script or do whatever you want to do. And it's like, I never. I never could imagine myself being so settled down, man. And it's like, you know, it's a great feeling. I wish I'd. You know, I wish I would have been able to be more present, you know, with my other kids in some way.
[00:42:50] Speaker A: But now you get to be.
[00:42:51] Speaker B: But now I get to be.
[00:42:52] Speaker A: Now you get to be, brother. Now you get to be. And that's the only thing that matters, man.
[00:42:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:57] Speaker A: And. And the universe, the Lord, everything, it. You go through challenges in life.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:02] Speaker A: And then there's big blessings on the other side when you make it through those challenges. There's big blessings. And look at where you're at today, brother.
[00:43:09] Speaker B: I'm. I'm happier than you can get, man.
[00:43:11] Speaker A: It's freaking awesome, man.
And I wanted to point out we have two outside cuts on this record as well, right? We have. Yes, Sir, Last Train to Heaven and then Demons Don't Sleep.
[00:43:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:21] Speaker A: Two very special songs. So let's talk about Last Train to Heaven.
[00:43:24] Speaker B: First Train to Heaven. Man, I got pissed off at Ben because he was seeing me. Like, man, we. We was writing on the bus. Like, I think we wrote eight songs between Georgia and Tennessee and.
[00:43:37] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: I was like, that's not a long
[00:43:39] Speaker A: time to be right.
[00:43:41] Speaker B: And, you know, he was. I think, you know, he was like, he's probably tired of me going, let's write a song. Let's write a song. You know, I'm Cotton Mouth and just sitting back here, you know, and it's like, we wrote some of the best songs I've ever written on that trip. And I. You know, it's. What's so crazy is, like, I look at those days and I think, man, you know, the only thing I am grateful for is when, you know, when I was going through the hardest time of my life. I got some really great songs out of it. And it's like. But now I've got all that compiled where nobody's ever. Nobody. I've got over 3,000 songs, you know, in my phone.
You know what I mean? It's like, you know, I'm thinking to myself, like, I don't have to. I can dip back in there and grab a song out and go, you know, here you go. I don't have to go back into that life. I've got so much.
[00:44:32] Speaker A: Brantley Gilbert was clean when he put out Bottoms Up.
[00:44:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:34] Speaker A: You know, he always says that his show, he's like, I. I don't drink anymore. I found out I'm allergic to it. I break out in handcuffs.
[00:44:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:40] Speaker A: Still Willie Nelson fan, but I'm a businessman.
Y' all gotta drink out there. Yeah, y' all drink out there. I won't be drinking up.
[00:44:47] Speaker B: Yeah, y' all drink out there to make me feel comfortable up here.
[00:44:49] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:44:50] Speaker B: That's. Dude, that's what's so crazy. It's like, I tell Rose, like, when I'm fixing. Fixing her a drink every night, you know, and she's. I said, you know, how's it feel to be able to just have that one drink? You know, I mean, maybe that's a song in itself, but, like. Yeah, it's like.
And she's like, I've just always been that way, you know, And I'm just, like, thinking to myself, like, you know, it's so crazy. I can fix her a drink, hand it to her, and know that, like, she's able to just be. You know, I've never seen her buzzed, man. It's like, man, how do you put a drink in somebody's hand and not get drunk?
[00:45:24] Speaker A: Just sipping for the enjoyment of it.
[00:45:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
How do you do that?
[00:45:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:29] Speaker B: But that. That's what shows me I don't need one.
[00:45:30] Speaker A: Because 100. Same brother. Same. My. My. My girlfriend drinks. I'm sponsored by. By Surfside. By vodka and iced tea and lemonade in a can, which. Surfside. Yeah, Shout out Surfside. But, Lord willing, I never have one.
[00:45:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: You know, and that's totally okay.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: Yeah, it's okay. It's. Yeah. But it's like, you know, I'm at that place where it's like, man, you know, here I am, like, on the other side of the bottle pouring her a drink and not having one desire to take a drink, you know, and I never thought I'd Be there. Have you.
[00:46:00] Speaker A: Have you written that one yet? Other side of the Bottle?
[00:46:03] Speaker B: Not yet. Not yet.
[00:46:03] Speaker A: I was gonna say there's a title.
[00:46:06] Speaker B: We need to write that.
[00:46:07] Speaker A: Ben Roberts looking at you.
[00:46:08] Speaker B: Yeah, man.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: Hey, write that down, man.
[00:46:11] Speaker B: He already has.
But, you know, it's like.
You know, it's one of those things. We were on that podcast not long ago with in the Blind, I think it was.
[00:46:21] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:46:21] Speaker B: And I had said something, and they. They all looked at Ben and said, if you wasn't here, we. We would have pinned that with him.
But, no, it's.
You know. Yeah, man. I'm just. You know, like I said, I can't say enough how. How grateful I am to be on this side of my. My thoughts are still coming to me every day, you know. You know how it is. Like, that first year of sobriety, you're like, everything. The whirlwind is just now coming to a head, and you're like, man, I don't know what's coming next, but we were texting.
[00:46:51] Speaker A: Yeah, we were texting you didn't.
[00:46:54] Speaker B: You.
[00:46:54] Speaker A: You knew. You found out it was me on the other side of the phone.
[00:46:57] Speaker B: I didn't. Yeah.
[00:46:58] Speaker A: You didn't have my number because I'd given you from years ago.
[00:47:02] Speaker B: Yeah. I was like, man, I just realized this was you. I thought it was just some random podcast.
[00:47:10] Speaker A: Yeah, man.
[00:47:11] Speaker B: I was like, man, I could have been on this podcast two or three
[00:47:14] Speaker A: times by now, but we're all here. So what made you want to cut, Aside from it being a. A Ben Roberts, Jason Nicks, Jason Ganson. Oh, did you want to cut back?
[00:47:25] Speaker B: Yeah, back to that. So he was seeing me go through all this, and I was so mad because he got off the.
You know, got off the bus, and so I got to go do some writing, since we come back with this song, and he pitches it to me, and I'm listening to it. I'm like, you wrote this song about me, didn't you? And he's like, I mean, it was. It was heavily inspired by you. And I was. He's like, I could throw you in there as a writer if you want to. I was like, no, I said, just kind of pissed me off that you couldn't. You couldn't write that song with me. Like, why didn't you pull me into the right. So he's like, man, I don't think. And now, looking back on it, we talk about it, he's like, you wouldn't. In a place where you would have ever wrote that song. You Know, but. But when I heard it, it broke me, you know.
[00:48:09] Speaker A: What were. What specific lines?
[00:48:11] Speaker B: Dude, it's just like it says, you know, I can't afford the ticket, but even if I could, Lord knows I give it to some sinner who deserves it. You know, it says, you know, all this. All these lines in there about, like, you know, I'll be back. I'll be still here trying to. Trying to beat the devil, you know, and I'll catch the last train to heaven. Because in that. In that mode, I was in a fight mode, you know, Fight or flight, I was in a fight mode. I was fighting everything that everybody was against me. Everybody was, you know, and he was seeing all this stuff, you know, and it's like. And he told me, he's like, man, he said, you're one of the most generous people I know, but you're also one of the most visceral, you know, like, spiteful. Like, you got you, like, out of spite. I'm gonna go. I'm just gonna burn this. This whole town now. You know, it's like. And I think that that's something too. That, like, when I. When I heard that song, I was like, I gotta record it. And then, you know, looking back on it now, it's like, man, you know, it's so crazy to me how you're. Someone from the outside looking in, can write from that perspective. And, you know, it's like, I've never been able to do that. And so I admire it. I admire the fact that they can sit down and write a song inspired by somebody else's living.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:28] Speaker B: But I'm still not at that place, and I still. I don't know how to do that. So I admire that kind of writing. It's like, Demons Don't Sleep. It's like, you know, Casey Tindall, and
[00:49:37] Speaker A: she sings that the hell out of that, too. What a perfect feature on there. Shout out to our girl. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've loved Casey.
[00:49:43] Speaker B: Yeah, She's a great writer. We. Me and her wrote a song about my uncle. You know, my uncle was murdered, you know, over drugs by my aunt, you know, and.
And she had this title and nobody wanted to write it. And it was called the Wrong Pipe. And I immediately, in my.
[00:50:04] Speaker A: In my.
[00:50:05] Speaker B: In my crazy mental state that I was in, I was like, oh, I got. I got something we gotta write. I know what the Wrong Pipe means. I was like, why don't we write one about the night that my uncle got murdered over method. I went down the wrong pipe and we wrote this song, and it was like, you know, it says, it's hard to believe that they sent this picture just last fall. It looks so happy. Like, you never believe that this. You know, it's just like, it's murder's tale. It's like, you know, there was bleach. You know, the knife was clean. Like, everything. Like, when they showed up, I pretty much told the whole story. But there was, like, this, you know, the chorus was like, one leads to another Two headstones don't make it right. It says, now one's a box of ashes and the other serving life. It says, those pills got hard to swallow she reached for a light the night it all went down the wrong pipe. Wow. It's like, you know, you can. You can only write that kind of song with it.
It's like. But, you know, it's like, you know, this song, Demons Don't Sleep, man, is like. I felt like somebody was reading my mail, man. Like, yeah, everything.
Bones that won't stay in the grave reminded me of my uncle, you know, all those. I felt like I was haunted by that, you know, I just like, you know, I watch so many murder documentaries today, and I don't know why, but it's just like, I do know why, but now I don't know why, because it's like, I've been through it in my real life, so it's like, why am I watching.
[00:51:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:51:35] Speaker B: Watching this shit, you know, it's not because I'm thinking about killing away. It's just like I'm trying to understand the person that could do something like this, you know? And, you know, it's just like I said, man, it's just one of those songs that really resonated with me. And, you know, where I'm at now, it's just like I can finally say my demons do sleep, you know, it feels so good to be on the other side of it and.
[00:52:00] Speaker A: Absolutely, man. I want to get into talking about. Talking about Nick Gibbons.
[00:52:04] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:52:05] Speaker A: He's the guy that's been with you for a long time. Been through a lot of this with you, and it had to be special to have him produce this project.
[00:52:14] Speaker B: Yeah, man.
[00:52:15] Speaker A: Addition to the work. So talk about how you first got linked up with him. And, man, he all created some great together.
[00:52:20] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, we've. Well, you know, he was. He was there at Average Joe's When I first got the Average Joe's, Noah Gordon was there. And then, you know, I recorded a couple songs I haven't got to release Them yet. But with Noah and, you know, I feel like Noah does such a great job vocally, you know, And Nick was just. He came in to Average Joe's, and I was like, he's like, man, whatever you wanted, whatever record, kind of record you want to make, let's. Let's do it. And I. And for the first time, I felt like I had that, you know, control to be able to walk in there and go, okay, this is what kind of record I want to make. And honestly, man, you know, he may take a long time, but he does a great job. You know, it's like he. He's like, I don't want you to hear it and say, I got it. Right? I don't. So it's like, I'll walk in there and I'll hear the musicians, you know, play the song, and then I won't hear it for six months, and I'll be like, oh, shoot. I wish I. You know, I wish I'd have heard this. I would have added a fiddle or something. But he's like, oh, no, it's perfect the way, you know. Yeah, but it's just been great, man. Nick's a good dude. He's. He's. He's solid, man. It's just one of those things where, you know, you bet you be with somebody for so long, and it's like, yeah, you know, we had a couple ups and downs. And it's like one of the things about him is, you know, he's always stayed, you know, Nick, man. And then it's just been one of those deals where it's like, there's a lot of times when I think about it, like, man, how many times I come in that. That studio and say, we had a tradition where I had to. I had a drink before I walked into a booth. So I'd walk in there, and he'd have, like five or six bottles in there. I was like, I'm gonna try this one today, you know, And I'd pour it and I'.
And he'd always catch me when I was in the booth, and I'd put a dip in. He's like, you got a dip in?
[00:54:01] Speaker A: Take it out.
[00:54:02] Speaker B: We're trying to cut vocals. I'm like, how can you tell?
He's like, I can tell everything, you know, but it's. You know, he's a good friend, man. And he's been. Been with me for a long time. I think that this shooter project that I'm working on now is just something that's like, you know, for me that, like, I gotta. I wanted to kind of just like, you know, for one.
For. For the career that I've had. I wanted to just see what I would sound like, you know, collaborating with. With Shooter and just see. And just kind of get into a different realm. And then, because I'm not real.
Not real smart when it comes to that stuff, like, I'm not. I don't know what to tell you anything about a studio. All I know how to do is sit down and write a song.
[00:54:44] Speaker A: You know how to write a song, you know how to sing it.
[00:54:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's it. But, you know, it's just. It's been great, man. And Nick's been with me through it all, and I think we got a lot more projects to come, you know, but this Shooter thing is, you know, it's one of those deals where it's like, you know what this is. This is for me, you know, for a moment, because I just really want to talk about some shit and record some shit that, like, you know, I feel after doing We Ride and all these songs with Nick, he's seen every version of me and every side of me, but at the same time, you know, it's that feeling of vulnerability of like, you know, let me. Let me go to a fresh set of ears for a second. Let. And just pour it out, you know, and let me see what happens. But I think it's going to be great, man. I think that moving forward, you know, we're going to have a lot of. A lot of real deep cuts and deep records. And I'm really hoping that as a songwriter, I can.
You know, me personally, that's where my heart's at. And so it's like I'm trying. I'm trying to dial the entertainer part back just to where it's like, you know, and I know that I'm going to lose a lot of fans, or I might lose a lot of fans by doing so, but, you know, I got to find where it started again, you know, And I think that's the biggest part of me that really. That void that needs feeling again is that songwriter, you know, and the road took it away from me for a little while. And it's like I want to be able to sit down, be happy and write a song, because I. Because I've never been able to be happy.
[00:56:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you. Do you think you'll end up. I know you have. You have a show at Texas Club coming up in November.
[00:56:21] Speaker B: Well, yeah, I don't know. I Don't know if it's coming up or not. I ain't seen a. I was just
[00:56:25] Speaker A: going off the events that I saw on Spotify, so.
[00:56:29] Speaker B: Maybe. Maybe.
[00:56:31] Speaker A: But do we have, like, a timetable of. Or is it that you want to kind of take a little break from the road?
[00:56:36] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. Next. Next year, I'm taking a break.
[00:56:40] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: It's like, you know, I don't know for how long or for what extent, but, yeah, it's going to be a. It's going to be a big break.
[00:56:47] Speaker A: Because you had. What were you averaging as far as shows a year, do you think? I mean, you guys were gone every damn weekend.
[00:56:52] Speaker B: Oh, man, it was. It was crazy. Like, 2024.
In 2023 was really, really cranking. It's like, 2025 still pretty. I was doing. But I think we did, like, 160 dates or 168 dates on. In 2024.
[00:57:11] Speaker A: Yeah. There's only 365 days a year.
[00:57:14] Speaker B: And it's like. But in between that, I was doing radio and everything. It's like, man, I got burned out quick. Yeah. When I was out there with Morgan out, I was like, I saw Morgan, and the only time I got to say what's up? Was when we was passing on golf carts in the hallway, you know?
[00:57:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:31] Speaker B: And I thought to myself, like, man, I don't want to. I don't want to get to that point. Like, I. I want to be normal. I want to walk around. I want to. I want to walk through Nashville Airport, and nobody ever looked me look a different way, man. It's like, yeah, nobody knows me, and it's, you know, as far as, like, when they see me. And I like that.
[00:57:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:48] Speaker B: I like to be just me going to the grocery store, walking around and, you know, and it's been really just one of those deals where it's like.
I think now as a writer, I want to be able to write a song in a good place without having to reach for a bottle and get to a bad place. Because I think that's what held me back for so long was. I look back on them songs I was talking to Tracy about the other day. I was like, man, I wasn't even that bad off when I wrote some of the saddest shit I've ever wrote. But I wound up walking into it. Like, it felt like every time I'd write it, I'd walk into it, and I was like, man, now it's like, you know what I'm gonna write, what I'm writing what I'm feeling right now.
And, you know, once it's out of me, it's. It's behind me, and it's like, moving forward. I want to be able to do that for myself, but I want to be able to write for other artists and be like, hey, dude, you want. You want a hip hop. Like, back when I used to write for, like, Bubba Sparks and them, you know, like, hey, man, you want a hip hop song about nothing?
[00:58:49] Speaker A: I got you, D.
You don't mind being in the songwriter role?
[00:58:53] Speaker B: Yeah, no, it's. No, I don't mind at all. It's like. It's like I've always said, like, and we ain't wrote this. We need to. I said, man, if it was up to me, I'd hide behind the curtain, let the song do the hurt, you know? And that's really how I feel, is like, if it was up to me, that's what I'd be doing.
[00:59:08] Speaker A: Well, anytime you want to come play a writers round, you want to be a part of our race route.
[00:59:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:59:12] Speaker A: Songwriting community. We would love to have.
There's. There's these. There's all these young kids move into town.
[00:59:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:59:19] Speaker A: That need. That they need to. Need to hear it from the horse's mouth of guys and girls that have gone through the road and been through some shit and seen that side of it, you know, man, with you not getting up to town as often, are there, like, young artists that you've kind of gotten your ears and eyes on, man, Folks that you've seen kind of coming up in the past year now that you've got the head of Clarity?
[00:59:41] Speaker B: Well, I've got. You know, what's crazy is, like, I've seen. I've seen a few, man. It's like we went to the Heart of the Beast premiere, and I can't, man. Now I can't. Now I'm. Feels so stupid. But he. He opened up for the premiere with Jamie Johnson. I can't remember what his name is, but he's got a. A real good rasp about his voice, man. I can't. Dang, I can't remember his name.
[01:00:06] Speaker A: If you want. If you want to look him up, because. Yeah, because to me, it's like you're. Like I said, what. What makes you so different as an artist, Brian, is your voice. Like, as soon as we know. As soon as your mouth, you know, it's a Brian Martin song. But also in the songwriting and storytelling and everything like that.
[01:00:21] Speaker B: Who's that? Who's somebody that's really doing really good right now. It's a. Oh, there's a lot of them. It's. Yeah, I know. I can't. I want. I keep wanting to say it's like, Wyatt or something.
[01:00:32] Speaker A: Wyatt Flores.
[01:00:32] Speaker B: No, I like Wyatt.
[01:00:34] Speaker A: Wyatt's a great dude.
[01:00:35] Speaker B: I love him, too. Yeah, I like his stuff, man. I like his. His cover, that one song. What was that?
[01:00:40] Speaker A: At the Fray.
[01:00:42] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that was great. That was great, man.
[01:00:44] Speaker A: But he put that out after his grandpa died.
[01:00:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Really.
[01:00:47] Speaker A: Which was. So that came from a real man.
[01:00:49] Speaker B: Real deep.
[01:00:50] Speaker A: Real deep place. Yeah.
[01:00:51] Speaker B: I can't remember the guy's name, and I ain't got no service in here. But now, man, it's. You know who you are, if you opened up for the Heart of the Beach. But I heard him, and he's got a real raspy tone to him. And I've been looking at these guys, you know, that's just got a lot of success from Tick Tock and Instagram. Stephen Wilson, Jr. Oh, Steven West Jr. Is awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[01:01:12] Speaker A: He was part of Heart of. Heart of the Beast. He was someone that played there.
Blake Whiten.
[01:01:18] Speaker B: Blake White.
[01:01:19] Speaker A: Blake is a hell of a guy, man. Yeah, yeah, he's a hell of a guy. And he's somebody. He's a young kid. Yeah, he just turned 20.
[01:01:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, he's. He's got Carolina boy. He's South Carolina. He's got a different voice, man. It's like. It sounds like you've been smoking palm malls for 20 years.
[01:01:35] Speaker A: It's that gravel.
[01:01:36] Speaker B: It's that grit. It's got that grit to him.
[01:01:38] Speaker A: There's. There's a lot of young guys and girls coming up that have that grit. There's another girl I want to put you on. Her name's Jade Joyce.
[01:01:43] Speaker B: Okay.
[01:01:44] Speaker A: She's unbelievable. Yeah, I'll play you some of her stuff when we get done with this.
Cuz there's. There's so many, like, kids that want to come up. What's a piece of advice you give to somebody moving up right now? Like, having seen the. That and been down the. The. The hallways and the roads and. And the. Driven alongside the cliffs that you were. You were on, man? Like, what would you tell a young songwriter? Artists coming to town, man.
[01:02:12] Speaker B: I. I guess, you know, it's something I would wish I could tell myself. First of all, sign your own checks, you know, but, you know, I just saw that Dane Cook documentary, man. Yeah.
[01:02:25] Speaker A: I was like, wow, it's pretty eye opening.
[01:02:26] Speaker B: Yeah, it is wild. But you know? No, it's a. I think I would just tell them, you know, don't get too caught up in it. You know, if you have a little bit of success and there's momentum, don't let it get. Don't let it start unraveling so fast that you don't appreciate the little moments. And the thing. Because I think that's what happened to me, man, was just like, everything was coming so fast. I didn't have time to take one thing in before the next big thing was happening. I was like.
And something that I worked my whole life to get to, but then not having that time to soak it in and take it in, I didn't appreciate it as much. And it also. It felt to me like it wasn't fulfilling the void that I thought it was going to. And it was kind of a letdown because I was like, man, I worked my whole life to get here, and it's like, I'm playing the Opry, and I just drank a bottle of Jack backstage and smoked the joint, and I'm going out there just to get on the stage, you know, to be able to do this. And I'm not able to actually soak it in because I'm so nervous, because I'm so messed up. Like, take a moment, soak it in, and try to do as much of it as you can sober, you know, like, we're all gonna have. It's fun, man. But at the same time, like, there's moments like that I wish I could go back and just be like, dude, yeah, it's gonna suck. You're gonna be nervous. Go out there and just let it suck.
Let the nervousness suck. But also enjoy the part about that feeling inside of you that makes you think, I don't deserve to be here.
[01:03:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:03:56] Speaker B: But, you know, it's like, that was my biggest thing, was I just didn't feel like I deserved to be.
[01:04:01] Speaker A: It's that imposter syndrome.
[01:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah, that imposter syndrome.
[01:04:03] Speaker A: Motherfucker.
[01:04:04] Speaker B: It's a motherfucker.
[01:04:05] Speaker A: It is.
[01:04:05] Speaker B: It's like, yeah, it is, dog. Go out there and just, you know, try your best to let yourself soak it in and just be like, okay, I understand. I may not be deserving as some of the legends that went down in history that stood in this circle at this moment, but one day I could be, you know, one day I could. I could be, you know, all these things, and I still have a problem.
[01:04:28] Speaker A: Well, I think you are, Brian. You're somebody that folks look up to. And you're someone that. You've been doing this long enough now to where there are kids coming up that are. That. Some of their introductory into country music were Brian Martin songs.
[01:04:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:04:42] Speaker A: Like, there's. There's a kid right now getting ready to move here that decided they wanted to do this when they heard We Ride or they heard Beauty in the Struggle. Like, you're at that point where, like, your music is. Is making a difference to the young guys and girls that are coming up. Hey, like, you're inspired. You're inspiring people.
[01:04:59] Speaker B: Brother, if I'm inspiring you, remember this. Kids stay off drugs.
Yeah. And, you know, and like I said, my biggest thing is just, you know, get up here and enjoy it, man. Like, you know, it's gonna be a show for a minute. You know, when you first get thrown into it with. And you're out there, it's gonna be a show. And all I can say is, like, I hope that people can get to this stage where I'm at now to where they can look back on it and go, hey, look, I did it. You know, I. I faked it till I made it, you know, kind of thing. I did it, but at the same time, like, I wouldn't change anything other than, you know, just not being able to soak it in and remember, you know, And a lot of that is attributed to the drugs and alcohol and, you know, but I wouldn't be where I'm at, and I wouldn't be the man I am, and I wouldn't have what I have waiting on me at home if I hadn't went through it. So.
[01:05:56] Speaker A: Amen to that. Amen to that, man. And what do you hope people take away from OD and On a Dream?
[01:06:01] Speaker B: Well, I just hope they take.
I hope they. They hear it and they really understand that, like, you know, if you're. If you're listening to one of these songs and, you know, you're. And you go through the whole album or whatever, and you're, like, going up and down on this roller coaster, and you relate to every. Every part of it. I hope that, you know, that there's something on the other side of it. If you're listening to it and you can only relate to one or two songs on there. I hope you notice, like, I'm. You know, there's two sides to. You know, there really is.
And I just hope that people understand that, like, it's okay to not be okay. And, you know, when it comes to music, you know, if you get inspiration from these songs and they help you keep going. And that's all that matters to me, man, is like, you know, keep putting one foot in front of the other and, you know, for a long time I thought I was just going to be remembered as the drunk, you know, and.
And now I know that, like, no matter what the news says, no matter what anybody else says, I know what I am at home and. And I'm just grateful for it. So it don't matter. You don't matter what nobody else thinks.
[01:07:05] Speaker A: Amen, brother. I'm proud of you. I'm glad we were finally able to do yeah.
Podcast together.
And I'm so stoked. Everybody out there go listen to ODN on a Dream, the brand new project, my brother, Brian Martin. It's available everywhere when this episode comes out. And dude, thank you so much for sharing your story opening up on here and let's get together. Do you still. Do you smoke cigars at all or you don't even do that anymore, man,
[01:07:31] Speaker B: you know, I could smoke a cigar.
[01:07:33] Speaker A: Okay, we could do that. So we'll get together, smoke a cigar real soon.
Shout out to our friends from Surfside. No bubbles means no troubles. It's up there behind me. And for more on us, visit Razor.com for my man, Brian Martin. I'm at brill. This has been outside the ra
[01:07:50] Speaker B: I
[01:07:50] Speaker A: never been the kind for st one place for too long I ain't never been the best at sin I love you to a girl I love only got a couple tricks up my sleeve they usually just make em 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 of money for show I'm just a two trick pony.
