Colton Dawson: Guitars, Grit, and a Traditional Country Revival

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. Come on. [00:00:15] Speaker B: This is Outside the Round with Matt Burrill for Rage Rowdy Podcast. [00:00:20] Speaker A: What's going on, guys? Welcome back to Outside the Round with me, Matt Brill. Today, a very special guest, a guy who's become like a little brother to me, who's been taking social media by storm, taking Nashville by storm. He doesn't even live here yet. He's 18 years old. He's from the great state of Arizona. He doesn't even have music out yet. But I'm telling you, this kid is the real deal. We got my boy Colton Dawson on the podcast, bro. We've been waiting to. Waiting to have you on this thing and glad it worked out. How you been doing, my brother? [00:00:50] Speaker B: Been doing as good as ever. Just been hanging out and vacationing. [00:00:54] Speaker A: Yeah, it seems like life as an 18 year old is pretty damn good right now. You said you haven't been home since. Home, home in Arizona since what, like May I? [00:01:03] Speaker B: Yeah, like May, May, Late May. I've been home and it's been, it's been the greatest thing ever. I've been in Florida and Alabama and Tennessee everywhere, but. [00:01:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Hey, sit up on that, sit up on that microphone for me. Raise that, raise that thing up if you need to because you're a tall dude. You're tall, lanky man, man. Tall, lanky boy. But yeah, like, and you, you've talked about how like Alabama is a spot where you've got family. You've been coming out here to Tennessee for a little while. Like, it's got to be cool to get to bounce all around as such a youngin. [00:01:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean my grandpa, he. He basically gave me his suv. So I've just been zipping around. [00:01:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I saw that, man, that traverse. [00:01:42] Speaker B: Man, you're cruising around, it's not, it's not my, my everyday vehicle, but for when I'm out here, it's just what, I can just zip around wherever I want to go. [00:01:52] Speaker A: Yeah, man, that's awesome. What's it. So you started doing music? Kind of Take me back. You. You've played like over looks like around like 200 gigs. Yeah, like in small restaurants and stuff. Like kind of take me back to when. When this all kind of started for you back in Arizona. [00:02:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, so I guess I kind of started playing guitar when I was like maybe 10 years old and I was like all into the blues. Like I grew up on country, but I started playing the blues and, and when I was probably 13, my dad was trying to get me into playing like country lead. [00:02:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:32] Speaker B: Guitar and, man, I was just so into the blues and Steve Ray Vaughan and all that stuff, so. But I started playing country lead, and we started. We started playing gigs, and I never sang until I was 14. I never sang a single lyric. [00:02:52] Speaker A: I wouldn't know that. Like, hearing you. Hearing you and being lucky enough to have watched you perform a few times now, like, the vocal is. Is there, brother? [00:03:02] Speaker B: Well, I. I didn't start singing until I was, like, 14. [00:03:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Which is crazy. You've only been doing it for four years. [00:03:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, so I guess the way that came about was we were. We were. We had a little family get together, and I'd been playing guitar, and. And my dad was like, I'll give you 100 bucks if you sing Pride and Joy by Steve Ray Vaughan. Yeah, I know, right? [00:03:24] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:03:25] Speaker B: I know. Quite the curveball. And my grandpa was over there in the corner. He's like, I'll throw another 50 in. So I was like, 14 years old, and this is 150 bucks. It's like, that's serious. That's cash now. [00:03:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:38] Speaker B: But when I was 14, that was like, all I. All I owned. So anyway, like, 45 minutes later, everybody. I'm still just trying it. I would. I would start and I'd start playing, and I would just go to sing, and nothing would come out. I could not do it. I could not sing because I never sang at all, let alone in front of anybody, you know? So, you know, 45 minutes later, everybody's like, all right. They're not even interested anymore. They're like, is he gonna sing or is he gonna. So then I did it. There's a video out there somewhere. It's pretty rough, but. Yeah. So then I got 150 bucks. And then I was kind of. I was kind of hooked on it and started working my way up. I. I started busking in Arizona. And then me and my dad started playing gigs. And we did over 450 gigs in three years. [00:04:31] Speaker A: Over 450? [00:04:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:33] Speaker A: Just every restaurant, bar. Elk's Lodge. [00:04:38] Speaker B: Yes, Elk's Lodge. We literally played Elks Lodge. [00:04:42] Speaker A: Those are. I mean, that's wherever there's people and they'll allow you to come in and play. [00:04:46] Speaker B: 100. [00:04:47] Speaker A: That's how you get your reps. Oh, yeah. [00:04:49] Speaker B: I mean, it was such a good. Well, the first. The first part. The first thing is about it is playing with my dad. [00:04:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:56] Speaker B: Which was like a dream because for three years, we never got in an argument because he was like my boss and my business Partner. So we never got, you know, it was just the greatest three years ever. And we played everywhere, five, six nights a week, all throughout high school. So it was, you know, stay out late, play in. In, you know, the bars or restaurants, sleep in class, do it over again. [00:05:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:31] Speaker B: So, yeah, I was. It was great. [00:05:33] Speaker A: Yeah, man. And it seems like there's. People always talk about, like, the Southeast as a hotbed for country music, but out west, you guys have a lot of it because it is country and western and you're. Arizona is as southwestern as it gets, man. So, like, what was it of this scene out there? Like, it seems like people love original music and love covers and seemed like there were a lot of opportunities for you out there. [00:05:56] Speaker B: Yeah, honestly, the scene, you know, it. It's. It's so much more. I mean, so much more than you would even think. There's so many, like, honky tonks and bars out there that everybody's playing at. And I knew, like, everybody from back home, like, I knew there's this music scene. Everybody's, like, intertwined. Everybody supports each other. So I knew, you know, a lot of talent out there, and it's just. It's not, you know, obviously not anywhere near as big as Nashville. [00:06:30] Speaker A: No, no. Where is. Nowhere is. Yeah. [00:06:33] Speaker B: But it was kind of this cool music scene, and. And it was really cool to be a part of that. [00:06:39] Speaker A: Yeah, you're like everybody's little brother coming up, and everybody, I'm sure, looked out for you and was like, hey, you got to let my buddy Colton play. [00:06:47] Speaker B: Well, it was. It was really cool. I think the first band I ever. First band I ever played with, ever, is a band called Western Fusion out in Arizona. And we. Me and my dad had played some kind of gig, and afterwards we got invited down to a bar called Distillery. You know Distillery in Nashville? [00:07:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:08] Speaker B: They got, like, three of them in. In Arizona. [00:07:10] Speaker A: Oh. So it's the same owners, same people, same thing. Wow. [00:07:13] Speaker B: So we played those. But anyway, my dad was friends with the bass player, Dave Snodgrass, and he's like, bring him up. So I was like, 16, maybe. I got up there, and it was really fun. Those were the first band that ever kind of got me up. And, yeah, it was. I mean, I've had a lot of really fun, cool experiences that I've just been grateful to be a part of. [00:07:45] Speaker A: The biggest one. I'm so lucky I got to be there for it. Oh, yeah. Was up in Bloomington, Illinois, ironically enough. A festival that is very near and dear to our hearts. That I. I get to be one of the voices of tailgates and tall boys up there in Bloomington, Illinois. And I knew you were. I had seen you earlier that week saying you had said you were going to be up there. I thought you were just up there hanging out. And then we're there that day, and you're like, man, I'm nervous. I'm like, what are you nervous for? You're here hanging out. Like, we're having fun. Come hang with us at the tent. Come hang backstage. Do all that. You're like, no, I'm gonna be on stage. I'm like, what do you mean? And then you get up there, and Hardy brings you out to play in front of 2530,000 people. [00:08:28] Speaker B: Insane. [00:08:29] Speaker A: What was that moment like for you? Because it was pouring rain that night. It was wild like that. The energy that night was absurd. [00:08:39] Speaker B: That was probably the craziest moment of my entire life. I mean, like, the whole. That went by so fast. I mean, I was up there, and I was gone. Like, I. A lot of people say that they kind of black out on stage. I don't. I didn't black out, but I was damn near close. I mean, that was so insane to be a part of and. Yeah. I mean, and then to have you guys there was like. [00:09:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:09] Speaker B: It made it feel like it was just a race. Roddy Run, you know? [00:09:11] Speaker A: Yeah. And Cole Good wouldn't be in there as well. He was on the side stage earlier that day. Like, you got to see a lot of your homies, too, which was cool. [00:09:18] Speaker B: Well, he. He played the date. [00:09:21] Speaker A: Oh, it was the day after. [00:09:23] Speaker B: Yes. [00:09:24] Speaker A: I thought he was on the same day. Or was he on Sunday? [00:09:26] Speaker B: It was the day. [00:09:27] Speaker A: It was the day before or day before Friday. Okay. Because you were there Saturday. [00:09:30] Speaker B: Saturday. [00:09:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:32] Speaker B: No, but that. That was crazy. Hardy actually ended up. I posted a video on Instagram there. I had. I had posted a video before this. This lady was. She said, I wasn't playing guitar, which, you know, my guitar was, like, out of frame. So I can see why there could be speculations of me faking it, but I wasn't. [00:09:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:58] Speaker B: So I made a quick, like, response videos, and I played a Berks and Dunn song, and I put her comment on the. On the video or whatever. And so one day, I was. You know, two weeks after I posted the video, I was just sitting there at a birthday party, and Hardy had commented on it, and he reached out and he's like, yo, you live in az. And I was like. Or she said, do you live in Nashville yet? And I was like, I don't. First of all, I was like, what. How is Hardy dming me right now? It felt really surreal. But so we started talking, had a zoom meeting, and then one day I was in Guitar center in Nashville and he was like, you want to do some cool stuff next week? And I was like, abs, yeah, absolutely. I mean, what are we talking about? Like, you want to ride up on my bus and go to Illinois next week, next weekend? I think it was that he's actually said this weekend. I mean this was. This was like. [00:10:55] Speaker A: It all happened so fast. Very fast. [00:10:58] Speaker B: So. And then he. I got on his bus, we went and it was. It was crazy. It's kind of weird to be your first tour bus you've ever been on. Is that nice of a bus. You know, I mean that his bus is. Is. Is incredible. [00:11:19] Speaker A: Yeah. And his crew and the guys that he has around him and Tracker and like, they're some of the best in the business. [00:11:26] Speaker B: 100 I they. Everybody on that crew was incredible, incredibly nice and just so gracious with their time and everything. I mean that was just. That was an experience that I'll never forget. I mean that was. That was awesome. For sure. [00:11:45] Speaker A: Yeah, man. And it's the first of many big moments that are going to be coming for you. Like the fact that you don't even have music out yet and all this is happening and it's from people seeing you playing videos with your phone sitting like this. You just recording yourself, playing guitar and singing, man. Like, it's wild. [00:12:05] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm working on some. Some stuff right now. I need to get music out because, you know, I'll play for a restaurant or bar or even it's something like that in Illinois. It's like when you get off stage and you don't have music out, they look you up and they're like. [00:12:26] Speaker A: They'Re just saving tick tock videos so they can go back and listen to you. [00:12:29] Speaker B: He must work a day job or something. I don't know. [00:12:31] Speaker A: You're like, no, I'm just a kid. Yeah, well, now you're a man. You're. You're legally an adult. You're. You are 18. [00:12:36] Speaker B: I am an adult. But a lot of people, A lot of people don't realize how much goes into making music and releasing music, especially. [00:12:44] Speaker A: When you're not here full time. [00:12:47] Speaker B: That. And also it's very expensive. [00:12:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:50] Speaker B: You know, I mean some of the, some of the, some of the expenses are. Are so. Especially for like an 18 year old kid. [00:13:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:00] Speaker B: You know, I feel like when you do the music thing, a lot of people think you're like 35. And sometimes it's like, like, why don't you have music out yet? Well, I just also want it to be when I want to be patient, you know? [00:13:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Because your sound has developed even since I met you. It had to be, what? Last year? [00:13:19] Speaker B: I think last year was around. [00:13:20] Speaker A: It was around this time last year. It was like the late summer because it was before we had moved over to Duck Blind and when we were still doing our events next door at Losers. And that was. Your sound has evolved since then. Like, it's. You want to make sure, like, when you put that first track out or that first project out, you want it to be a reflection of what you want. [00:13:40] Speaker B: 100%. And that's why, you know, I had opportunities to record stuff in Arizona when I was 16. And I was like. I was like, dad, please, let's. Let's go in. I want to record some songs. I want to put some songs out on Spotify and, like, have my name out there. And he always kind of told me, he said, just wait, just wait. Because when you're 16, you know, your voice isn't matured. You're. I don't think the male voice matures until you're like 35. [00:14:12] Speaker A: Honestly, mine, like, I have this. People always tell me I have this great radio voice and I. Yeah, I have this, like, you do gravelly voice. Like when I'm. I'm built to be on a microphone and I'm very grateful for all those compliments and grateful that I have that. But I didn't have this voice four or five years ago, you know, Like, I. I had it, but it wasn't quite where it is now. Took a lot of cigarettes and back in my whiskey days when I used to boost. But like, it's. Yeah, you mature and you also mature as a person, as a songwriter. Like, the songs that you were writing at 15, 14, 16 have to be so different than what you're cranking out now, man. [00:14:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Unbelievable. The difference. Well, you know, here's the thing. I was so. When I was 16, I was so new to every. And it feels like. It feels like the last two years have been like 40 years. [00:15:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:03] Speaker B: I can't even imagine what 10 years feels like, but it's. It's been by fast. But it also feels like from the time I was 16, you know, it feels like it's been a long time since then. [00:15:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:16] Speaker B: But you Know, I always wanted to record songs, and my dad was like, you need to. You need to wait because. And he was right. Because you don't want to have a bunch of stuff out there on Spotify that sounds like, you know, you haven't hit puberty yet. [00:15:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:34] Speaker B: You know, you don't want to be. Because, you know, you don't want to establish your sound until. Until you got it. Until you really feel comfortable what you're. [00:15:43] Speaker A: Doing, till you know what you want to say, too. [00:15:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:45] Speaker A: That's a huge thing, and I feel like you're at that point. [00:15:48] Speaker B: Well, songwriting, too, is a big thing. I, I. First song I ever wrote was myself. The first song I ever wrote myself was. I wrote it in math class, and. [00:16:01] Speaker A: Hell, yeah, I love it. [00:16:02] Speaker B: I had a. I. I don't know. I guess I was trying to drown out the. The lesson in math. [00:16:07] Speaker A: What was the song? [00:16:09] Speaker B: It's a song. So there's a song about my grandmother that passed away, and it's called when I see you again. And I ended up playing that. I played that song for my, let's see, junior year talent show at the school, and that was my first song I ever wrote. And it was. It was. It was funny because it was in math class, but just kind of wrote down a bunch of lyrics. I really never done anything like that before. So I wrote down a bunch of lyrics, got home, played on the guitar, and then it was. It's really cool. I started to fall in love with that process. [00:16:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:50] Speaker B: You know, just. I'd never thought about writing my own songs, and it's just so cool. You can. And that's how I'm. That's how I'm still in love with this process of songwriting, because you can just. Out of nowhere, like, this song has never been sang before, and you just made it. [00:17:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:11] Speaker B: And that's what's crazy about Nashville, is that I. Somebody told me some crazy number that's like, I don't even know what the number is of songs that are written every day in Nashville, but it's crazy number. Yeah, it's. It's. It's crazy. I mean, just the fact that you can just make something that's never been heard before, it still blows my mind. It still blows my mind. [00:17:34] Speaker A: Yeah. This has never existed. [00:17:36] Speaker B: It's never existed. [00:17:38] Speaker A: I thought of it. [00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:39] Speaker A: Or me and a group of buddies thought of it. [00:17:42] Speaker B: Unbelievable. I don't understand. And that's why it's such a. Like, I thank God every single night for music and. And songwriting and Everything. And I think everybody should, because it is such a blessing to just have this as a. You know, for most people, writing songs is like therapy. [00:18:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:02] Speaker B: You know, and, you know, some of the best songs come out when people are down, you know, so it's just such a crazy process, you know? [00:18:13] Speaker A: Yeah, man. It really. It really is. Talk about your relationship with God because you're. You're somebody that I know is a believer and comes from. Comes from a family background of faith and all of that. [00:18:24] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I think that that's. It's such an important part for artists to keep. That is like the number one priority. Obviously, music is. Is the number two, but honestly, keeping that at the front, it's just. It's a big part for me. It's a big thing for me because all the stuff that I've been able to do so far has just been at the base of it is music. And that's just a blessing, you know, that. That in it of itself, you know, it's. It's. It's. It's just awesome. I mean, there's not much to say. It's just such a. Such a blessing. The whole music thing is. [00:19:09] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's like, there's all. There's a. There's a plan out there, and you're just following your plan. And these doors are being opened for a reason. [00:19:17] Speaker B: Yeah. That's why you just kind of have to. A lot of times I'll be like, what am I even doing? Like, what, what, what. What are we even doing? And it's. It's. You just gotta, like, trust the plan. You just gotta trust that he knows where you're gonna be at before you know where you're gonna be at. [00:19:36] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Amen to that. Man, talk about how supportive your family's been through all of this. I mean, your dad being the one that got you to sing for the first time and you getting to do all those gigs with him. Talk of having a strong family background of. Of parents and. And family around you that have seen you from when you first picked up the guitar to your dad staying out late with you and playing these gigs. [00:20:02] Speaker B: Well, it. That. That. That was. Having the support of my family was. Was a huge part. [00:20:10] Speaker A: And you still have it now, it seems like today. [00:20:12] Speaker B: Absolutely. I mean, my mom and, you know, I don't even keep track of the numbers like she does with TikTok and Instagram and stuff. When I'll post a video or if I'll hit a certain followers, she'll screenshot the pictures of it. And she has screenshots from way back to when I hit like 500 followers on TikTok or something. Yeah, like when I hit 10,000 followers on TikTok, she made me a cake. Wow. Said congrats on 10K. I was like, what? I didn't even know I hit 10k yet. Yeah, I mean, she knows, she keeps track of those numbers and she's, you know, she, she's a big, you know, she, she's very into the TikTok and social media side of it because, you know, she watches those videos all the time. I mean, all those views are probably from my mom, to be honest with you. I mean, she, she just keeps track of it and she's so proud of. Of that side of it. And. [00:21:19] Speaker A: Well, it's. [00:21:20] Speaker B: Because it's really cool. [00:21:21] Speaker A: That's what you have out right now. Wait till you have songs out. And yeah, she can check the Spotify numbers and the Apple music. [00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah, she's gonna be all over that. She's gonna be all over. [00:21:30] Speaker A: When did it really start clicking? Like, do you remember the first video where you're like, oh, snap, this is, this is happening. [00:21:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, let's see the first video. [00:21:43] Speaker A: Where it was just where, where it started going viral or you started getting like, obviously the Hardy DMs crazy. But where you start getting. [00:21:50] Speaker B: The first, the first time that I ever got into the, you know, oh, crap, I can start filming Tik Toks and posting them was back when I was 16. And so my probably as far as newer country is in the last like decade of people that have come out. My favorite artist ever is Randall King. [00:22:16] Speaker A: Yeah, dude, I love Randall. What a great dude. Yeah, I love that guy. [00:22:21] Speaker B: I mean, so this is, this is a funny story. So When I was 16, I went to a. My first Randall King concert with my sister. We drove down there in Tucson and I was 16 and I was the biggest, biggest Randall King fan ever. And I still am. I love me some Randall King. And I was. We got there way early. We were, we wanted to be the first ones up there. [00:22:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:49] Speaker B: So we were dead center. This was like an 800 people cap room. We were, me and my sister run up. We're dead center. I mean, the stage was from me to you. [00:23:01] Speaker A: Wow. [00:23:02] Speaker B: So we were, we were right there. And so he came out on stage. He was singing all the songs. And this was interesting because his set list, he. He was doing all the old songs. It was just kind of this one off thing, I guess he was doing all the old songs. And so he was doing songs from his first self titled album and stuff. [00:23:22] Speaker A: Mirror, mirror on the wall. I mean, even all the good stuff. [00:23:26] Speaker B: So I was. I was sitting there like that, just like starstruck, because I'd never really been to many concerts like that. And so I'm just sitting there loving every bit of this, and I'm singing all this stuff to the top of my lungs. My dad, we had gigs the rest of the week and he's like, don't go to the concert and yell and lose your voice. I sang my heart out that front row, me and my sister, she's also a major Randall King fan. And we sang every song. And then all of a sudden he comes up and he pulls. He like puts the mic in front of me, like right in my face during. During a song called Break it, which is like way. That's like OG Randall Kane. [00:24:11] Speaker A: And that's that honky tonk sound, man, I love that track. [00:24:15] Speaker B: So I start singing the chorus again. I think there's a video out there somewhere. But I start singing it. And then a few songs later, he pulls me up on stage and I was. I mean, I was 16. And you know, even with. With the Illinois thing with the 25,000 people, something about that first time ever being singing in front of that many people and how loud it was, is an 800 cap room was insane. I've never had a full. I mean, that was the most adrenaline I've ever had in my life. I feel like I could run a mile, you know? Yeah, well, I guess I could run a mile anytime. But that. That experience, that adrenaline was crazy. [00:25:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:03] Speaker B: So I sang Neon Moon. [00:25:06] Speaker A: Hell yeah. [00:25:07] Speaker B: And then, you know, I kind of got home after all that was done. I went backstage. I got to meet Randall and everything. And what was interesting is that when I got off stage and I went straight back to the green room, I was crying my. I was bawling my eyes out. And I was 16. [00:25:27] Speaker A: So. [00:25:28] Speaker B: I mean, I say I was 16. I was like two years ago, but I was crying my eyes out because it was so crazy that my. I just. I was just like, overcome with like, emotion, I guess. [00:25:41] Speaker A: Like, you were in the front row. That is your guy. Randall King is your guy. [00:25:45] Speaker B: My dude. So just. And then I just got up there and even in the video, I was just like, holy crap, what's going on? [00:25:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:54] Speaker B: You know, and so I went backstage and he hung out. We ate some chips and salsa. Which is. Which is that. That experience was crazy. [00:26:06] Speaker A: Have you Kept in touch with Randall over the years since then. [00:26:09] Speaker B: Well, yeah. So the. The night I got home the next morning, I posted that video. My. My neighbor Eric, he's a big Randall King fan. He's actually the one who got me on Randall King. [00:26:21] Speaker A: Wow. Shout out Eric. [00:26:22] Speaker B: Shout out Eric. Wherever Eric's listening from. But he actually turned me on to Randall King. And then when I got home, he was freaking out. He's like, we need to. We need to post this on TikTok. So sure enough, I think I posted the video on TikTok, and then. And then Randall, his. His team reached out and I sent them the video, and he posted it on his page. So then I started having these numbers come, and I'd never been. I'd never post anything like that on TikTok, and no singing videos or anything on TikTok. So that kind of blew up. A lady from that was at the concert, posted a video from the crowd, and it got like a million views or something. [00:27:06] Speaker A: Wow. [00:27:07] Speaker B: And so that was my first time ever seeing numbers on a. On a TikTok video. [00:27:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:13] Speaker B: I'd never, you know, thought that that was possible for me to do. [00:27:18] Speaker A: Yeah. The adrenaline of being front row, belting every word to being on stage and being a part of the show just has to be so surreal, man. [00:27:27] Speaker B: That was. Yeah, that's what I was saying. I. I mean, I went backstage and I was bawling my eyes out. Yeah. [00:27:32] Speaker A: Because what do you do with that adrenaline? [00:27:34] Speaker B: What do you do with it? [00:27:34] Speaker A: Like, your body doesn't know how. Your mind and your body, especially at 16, you don't know how to process that stuff. [00:27:40] Speaker B: Exactly. And, you know, I don't know. It was just crazy. And then I posted that video, and then I started posting covers. I think my first cover ever, Eric, was like, one of the ones that was like, you need to start posting videos. So we set up a tripod in his living room, and we started filming a TikTok, and I posted it. And obviously from that momentum. That was from the Randall King show. I think that momentum lasted for about a week. And then, you know how it is in TikTok. It's just comes in waves. The momentum does. [00:28:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:19] Speaker B: But that was, like, the first video that I had posted of singing and all kind of started. I was instantly hooked after that Randall King show. [00:28:31] Speaker A: I was hooked hook, line, and sinker, baby. [00:28:34] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right. I was hooked on. I was hooked on the music thing. I was like, this is what I want to do. [00:28:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:40] Speaker B: I don't want to do anything else other than this, however, I have to get back to playing on a stage like that. I want to do it. [00:28:47] Speaker A: Yeah, man. Well, you're making strides for it. Talk about the style of music that you do because you're. You're the latest face in this kind of revival of what I like to call cold beer country, what Nikki T. Likes to call cold beer country, where it's. That something you hear in a honky tonk. It goes way back to the. To the 70s, the 80s, and of course, the 90s. Like, the solid country gold stuff. Like, you look up to guys like Zach Top and who's another west coast guy, being from Washington, you know, look at. Like, you have buddies like Cole Goodwin that are in that. In that lane. What's it like being so young, being part of this revival of traditional country music? [00:29:26] Speaker B: Well, it's such a cool thing to be a part of, and I. I think that, you know, it's called traditional country music, but I just. I just think that a lot of people have been starved from real country music. [00:29:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:39] Speaker B: And it's. It's. It's weird to say real country music because it's just country music. [00:29:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:44] Speaker B: You know, and a lot of people haven't heard that sound. And obviously, one of the first guys to really make that sound known again was Zachary. And, you know, he's just having a guy come out first like that, that's a triple threat. Singer, songwriter, and guitar player. [00:30:04] Speaker A: Yeah, he rips is. [00:30:06] Speaker B: Yeah. Unbelievable. So that's honestly been a really good push for the traditional stuff, because before that, even just a few years ago, people, they. They're just starved from. From country music. And I was always raised on the old stuff. I mean, my mom and dad. That's all that was ever played. That's all was ever played. Going to school, going back from school in the kitchen, I actually. I guess. I know this is crazy, but I think. Remember the ipods? [00:30:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:48] Speaker B: Like, not. Not the ipod touch, but the ipods that play music. [00:30:52] Speaker A: The Ihomes? [00:30:53] Speaker B: No, the ipod. [00:30:54] Speaker A: It was like a little square, like. [00:30:57] Speaker B: The ipod shuffle or the little machine that you put it in there and then it plays music. [00:31:02] Speaker A: Yeah, the Ihomes. Yeah. [00:31:04] Speaker B: I think my dad. I remember my. We had one of those, and my dad used to play all kinds of stuff on that. But I grew up on George Strait and Keith Whitley and Merle and Vern Goss and all that, which is the same stuff that Zach grew up on. So it's just a really cool thing that all those Names are being brought up again, even with all these. These TikToks that people are making with these old songs. [00:31:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:34] Speaker B: And it's really cool to see those old songs still be relevant because that's. That's. That's country music. I mean, I don't care what nobody says, that's country music. [00:31:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:45] Speaker B: And you can't argue that it's not. And I think that a lot of people have been starved from that. So that being said, that's all I've ever known. It's all I've ever wanted to do was. Was play country music. [00:32:00] Speaker A: So how do you get so damn good on guitar? Because you. You move those fingers really freaking fast. I've never been a guitar player, like, so I. I don't. I'm not. I'm not a musician. I've never been one. But it seems like it just comes so easy. But I'm sure there's been a lot of practice that's gone into it. [00:32:18] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I don't know. It's kind of weird. I think, honestly, where a lot of that came from. Was playing with my dad, and I played a lot of lead guitar and played while he was singing and probably played too many notes, but he's always telling me, stop playing so many notes. And I was just like. I mean, because I just wanted to do. Do all the. Play all the notes. [00:32:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:49] Speaker B: And I. I kind of learned that. That even though. Even if you have all those chops, which I don't, and there's so many guitar players. When I. When I first came to town, I saw some guitar players that made me just want to quit. First time I ever. For one of the first bars I ever went to, which is the only one that I can get into, which is my spot, is the local. [00:33:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:12] Speaker B: And anybody's watching. If you've never been to the local. Oh, it's a special place on a Monday night. [00:33:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:22] Speaker B: Will Jones and Sam Banks. [00:33:23] Speaker A: Oh, dude. Love those two guys too, man. They're unbelievable. [00:33:27] Speaker B: Unreal. The first time, it was Cole Goodwin. That Cole Goodwin was like, you need to come down to the local and watch Will Jones. And I'd already known who Will Jones was from. I guess I'd heard some of his songs. But I went down there, and it was Will and Sam, and they're doing, like, duel and Tellies. And I remember that first day. First day I went down there with Cole. I sat there at a table like this and watched them, and I was like, oh, my gosh. I have so much work to do. [00:33:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:58] Speaker B: I mean, most insane band. Because all these guys come off the road, and then they do this little local. [00:34:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Diamond Trio, I think, is what they call that. Yeah. [00:34:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Will Jones and the Denim Daddies. [00:34:12] Speaker A: Oh, well, Jones. That's the new name of it. [00:34:13] Speaker B: Okay. [00:34:13] Speaker A: That's. Yeah. [00:34:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:14] Speaker A: Because they've had multiple iterations, and those two have been in town for a long time, doing it at a very high level for a long time. [00:34:22] Speaker B: And there's another. There's another. There's another guy. He's 20 years old. His name's Nate Gregory. [00:34:29] Speaker A: Oh, I don't know Nate. [00:34:30] Speaker B: Ever heard Nate? [00:34:30] Speaker A: That's a new. It's a new one. [00:34:32] Speaker B: Yeah. So one day I was sitting in there, and Will was like, hey, get up here, Nate. And it was. It was. And Jody. You know, Jody Bartula. [00:34:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:42] Speaker B: Cody Johnson's player, he was there, and he was playing fiddle with them. And Will was like, get up here, Nate. And Nate walks on up there, and he's 20 years old, and he absolutely. I mean, unbelievable. Ripped. I was like, why am I even playing guitar anymore? I was like, I came to Nashville. Everybody was like, you're. When you get out to Nashville, there's a lot of people that are good. And I was like, yeah, I know that. I know that. But when I got here and saw it in person, I was like. [00:35:18] Speaker A: And they make it look so effortless. [00:35:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So I walked up to him after is like, dude, what's your name? Like, who are you? You're insane. I've never seen anything like that before. He said he's 20. He's 20 years old. So he's two years older than me. And he's been playing for, like, 10 or 12 years. [00:35:38] Speaker A: Wow. [00:35:39] Speaker B: Same amount of time, but he makes me look that he's been. He makes me look like I just started walking. So a lot of people say there's so many people that are light years. I mean, lifetimes better at guitar. No matter how good you think you are, there's always somebody that's way better than you. That's why you have to. You always just have to take that as inspiration. [00:36:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Just keep working, man. What's it been like writing songs with other people? Because you've gotten to do that a little bit. Like, we watched our buddy Ashton Jones the other night. [00:36:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:13] Speaker A: What's it been like? Yeah, dude, he killed it, man. I love what that kid does as well. Dude. And such a nice guy. Such a nice guy. But what's it been like, kind of Finding. Building your, your crew and finding friends out here when you do make these trips out to Nashville. [00:36:27] Speaker B: Well, the, the, the cool part about Nashville is everything. Everything. Everybody knows each other. [00:36:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:34] Speaker B: You know, so the first one of the first calls ever I got from Nashville was from a guy named Roger Springer. And Roger has become like a dad for me in town. I mean, he just kind of keeps me out of the, out of the trenches. And so how that started, I covered a western swing song from Jake Worthington. Jake Worthington, released on his last or his first self titled album, I guess the one that was just out. And I, I just covered that song and Roger Springer wrote it. I knew who Roger was and I knew that he wrote it with Jake, so I, I tagged him in it when I, whenever I posted the song and I get a DM from him and he was like, hey, big fan of what you're doing. I love the video. And I was like, yes. And so he was like, you got time for a quick phone call? And I was like, absolutely. So he called me up and he was like, anytime you're in Nashville, I don't know where you're at in life, but anytime you're in Nashville, you're always welcome in my room, my songwriting room. So me and my dad flew out to Nashville the first time I ever came out here. We flew out and we went to his house and we just kind of hung out and I played him some songs and we just really hit it off. And then next time I was in town, I booked two days with him to write songs. And the first day was with Tim Menzie, and the second day was with Robert Arthur. And I realized real quick that I didn't really know how to write songs. You know, I knew how to put lyrics to a melody. But there's so much more to writing songs than just putting lyrics down. [00:38:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:41] Speaker B: I mean, Roger, I've had the opportunities to write with him a lot more since then, but he taught me how to. Well, it still is teaching me. I'm still learning every single time I get in the room how to put a song together. And I'd be sitting there in the room and I'd bring up an idea and he'd kind of shut it down. And I had never really written with anybody that like, really wanted the song to be perfect. I mean, he knows what's right and what's wrong when, when it comes to the songwriting process. So when you, when you're in a room like that, you have to kind of sit there and go all right. You know, you can't get butt hurt when. When you throw out an idea and it gets shut down, because that's what the whole songwriting thing is about. So from the get go, I learned, all right. I'm not here to try to impress nobody bringing up lines or anything. I'm here to learn how to write songs. [00:39:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:46] Speaker B: And that's what I want to do. So some of the advice that Roger has given me and some of the tips and tricks, it comes out whenever I'm writing with other people. So I'm like, oh. And a lot of times when I'm writing a song, I'm like, what would Roger do here? What would Roger say? And yeah, back in the 90s, he had a few number ones for Clay Walker and Mark Chestnut. So he's. He's, you know, done all the. He's written all the. The real old country stuff. The real stuff. [00:40:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:24] Speaker B: And so having him right with me is perfect because that's all I want to do is. Is. Is right. Real traditional country music. [00:40:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And. And those guys have been waiting for someone to come along and put out songs like that, because there's. There's a difference between a songwriter and an artist, but you need both for this thing to work. [00:40:48] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's why you. There's so many. There's so many people that are. That are like that. They're just incredibly talented. You know, he writes with. With a very small circle of people, and they're all just incredibly talented. And. And one of the guys that I looked up to was Jake Worthington. [00:41:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:10] Speaker B: And that's how I kind of found out, you know, co writing and stuff is you kind of all get together in a room and write a song, which I didn't really. I was still kind of learning about all, you know, the process of writing songs. [00:41:27] Speaker A: Yeah. It's different when you're thousands of miles away, bro. [00:41:30] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. I mean, I just didn't really realize what it was like until I got here and started riding. And. Yeah, I'm actually riding with Roger tomorrow, the next three days. [00:41:47] Speaker A: Awesome. [00:41:47] Speaker B: Me and Roger and Kenny Whitmire. [00:41:49] Speaker A: Oh, dude. [00:41:50] Speaker B: Kenny dang Whitmore. [00:41:51] Speaker A: Love kdw. Kenny dang Whitmire, man. Yes. I love that kid so much. I remember when he first started coming to town, man. [00:41:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:59] Speaker A: And when he first moved here, he's. [00:42:01] Speaker B: Like one of my best friends. [00:42:02] Speaker A: Yeah. I remember when he was your age, when he was like 18, 19 years old, first came up to town, and we would have him Play. And he'd always be the youngest guy in the room. And now he's like a grizzled, seasoned vet. Man, that kid is good. [00:42:15] Speaker B: So I'll tell you the. This. The way I met Kenny. So I was scrolling on TikTok or whatever this was back in probably 20, 23 or whatever. And I saw one of his videos. It was the first acoustic video he posted a Blue Collar. [00:42:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:34] Speaker B: And I was like, whoa, I'm liking this. I really like this sound. And I'd commented on it or whatever. And. And then throughout that year, whatever, back and forth, he had commented on my videos, I'd comment on his videos. We just kind of support each other. [00:42:49] Speaker A: Internet friends. [00:42:50] Speaker B: Yeah. And then I was flying back from Nashville back to Phoenix, and I walked up to. This was like, late at night. It's probably 10 or 11 o' clock at night in the airport. I walk back, walk up to the gate that I was flying out of, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he's like, colton. I was like, kenny, what up? I was like, it's like we knew each other already. [00:43:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:15] Speaker B: But he's like, what's up? And then we. We were on the same flight back to Phoenix. He was playing a show in Scottsdale with. With Austin Snell. [00:43:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:29] Speaker B: And so, yeah, we just kind of talked and he invited me out to the show, and I had a. I had a gig that night, but. So I couldn't make the show. But next time I was in town, we got together and I think we. I think we. My first right with him, it was with me and Kenny and Cole, and we sat in the room for, like, three hours and just goofed off. We didn't even write. We didn't even write a dang lyric. But that is so fun. [00:43:57] Speaker A: But that's also very important because that's. Those are those. That's that family, man. Yeah. That's that country music family. That's that brotherhood. [00:44:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:04] Speaker A: Those are buddies you're gonna have for the rest of your life. [00:44:06] Speaker B: 100. And that's why it's so important to have friends in town that are of that caliber of musician, because it kind of keeps you. Keeps you on your toes, keeps you leveling up. I mean, he's an incredible guitar player. [00:44:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:30] Speaker B: Incredible singer. So when you're around that. And like, for example, Cole. When you're around Cole and you're on Kenny. Those are like my two big brothers. And it's like, I got it. It's really cool to keep them in mind as inspiration because you're like, all right, I want to keep. I want to keep leveling up, you know? [00:44:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:53] Speaker B: And it's kind of like a. It's like a brotherhood. It's like a family. [00:44:57] Speaker A: Yeah, man. It's like watching your big brother playing football or basketball or something and seeing what they're doing in their senior year, and you're. You're a freshman or a sophomore watching. You're like, I want to be that good when I'm there. [00:45:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:08] Speaker A: You know, and it's. [00:45:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:09] Speaker A: You have guys that you look up to. Send them a rich man. Like, you have your guys. [00:45:14] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. It's really cool that it. And it's a blessing that I've been able to make these friends in town and stuff, and it's just. It's just awesome to just be able to get together and pick and sing and just play country music or write country music or whatever, and, man, it's just. It's awesome. And. And a lot of those. A lot of those relationships come from, like, the writers rounds, too. [00:45:41] Speaker A: Yeah, man. That's right. You meet everybody. [00:45:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:44] Speaker A: At an event, whether it's with us, whether it's a whiskey jam downtown, whether it's grindhouse over at 6th and Peabody, whether it's one of. Whether it's why not Wednesday or one of the events that's over at Live Oak. You know, it's. That community is built. I made all my friends. All my. My whole story comes from me, and I don't even drink. It comes from me being in the bars. [00:46:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:04] Speaker A: Every connection that I have. Me working in Raise Rowdy with Nikki T. Like, none of that happens if I'm not out at those rounds, just watching people and getting to know people and networking. But networking is really just hanging out. [00:46:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:19] Speaker A: It's hanging out, listening to country music with people. Like, what's better than that? We have the best. We have the best, like, the best networking in the world. We get to go out to bars and listen to people play. Like, yeah, that's the coolest thing in the world. [00:46:32] Speaker B: It's great. It's. It's so. It's so cool. I'm. I love. I love that aspect of it, of just going out. And, you know, I'm. I. Which is crazy. I still can't legally get into a bar for another three years. Yesterday. Yesterday, I was. I was hanging with Cole, and we were trying to figure out something to do. We wanted to go to Duck Blind, I think. And they were. Cole and Kenny were like, all right, let's. Let's just go to Duck Blind. I was like, I can't. I can't get in, guys. And they're like, oh, my gosh. What are we gonna do with this kid? [00:47:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, you're like, we go to the local. [00:47:09] Speaker B: Yeah, we can go to the local. And that's, I think, what we. We were gonna do. But it's just. It's crazy. Whole other three years before I can get into a bar. [00:47:18] Speaker A: Yeah. But you can always come in and play. [00:47:20] Speaker B: Yeah. That's how I got into bars back home. [00:47:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:24] Speaker B: Is. Is playing in them. And then I became, you know, came friends with the bouncers or friends with the owners. [00:47:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:32] Speaker B: And it's like, don't be able to get in. [00:47:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And you're. And you're sitting there drinking a cup of water. You're not causing problems. [00:47:38] Speaker B: I don't. I don't drink, so I don't. I have no interest in trying to sneak a beer from the bar. None of that. I just. All I ever wanted to do in the bars was just be there and listen to the music. [00:47:50] Speaker A: Yeah. And find other people to create music with. [00:47:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:53] Speaker A: Like, be a part of that scene. Man. What do you like doing when you're not doing music stuff? [00:47:58] Speaker B: Oh, man. Which is so. It's so funny because a lot of times. [00:48:02] Speaker A: Nashville allergies. [00:48:04] Speaker B: Oh, I know. A lot of times I'll. I'll try to take a week and just relax. So, like. All right, I'm not gonna do anything. I'm not even gonna think about music. I'm just gonna relax. [00:48:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:16] Speaker B: I can't do it. I just can't. Like, last week I was in Florida, and all week I was out there, spend time with family, and I just. I can't. It won't get off my mind. I just can't stop thinking about music. And I always think about, you know, this and that and what's the next move and how do we get this done and how. What if. What if this doesn't work? Are we going to do this? Are we going to do that? How do we get the numbers up? We as in me? I mean, I don't have it. I don't have a team yet. It's just. I'm just trying to figure this all out by myself. I have a few people that. That really have my back and have been supportive, but I don't even have, like, a manager or, you know, I'm just getting all that stuff. So I'm always thinking about, all right, what's the next move, how do we get stuff done? So back to that question. I can't really stop thinking about whatever. Whenever I'm not doing music, I'm just. [00:49:16] Speaker A: You like to fish? Do you like to golf? Like, what are, what are, what are our hobbies outside of this music? [00:49:22] Speaker B: Well, I mean, yeah, all that. And then also I'm a big, big car guy, big truck guy. I used to ride dirt bikes. [00:49:32] Speaker A: Okay, a lot. [00:49:34] Speaker B: And my mom was so against that. But I had a friend, a few friends back home that had ridden dirt bikes and stuff and they were like, you gotta get a bike. So when I was 16, I finally convinced my mom to get me a bike. My first bike was a YZ85. And I was probably too old for that, but I obviously didn't want to get into something crazy for my first bike. But I ended up getting that bike and started riding with my friends. My mom was, she was, it worried her sick. Whenever I was out riding, I was never, I didn't ever race. I was never like fast crazy. [00:50:20] Speaker A: I was just messing around with friends. [00:50:21] Speaker B: Messing around, building jumps and you know, doing stupid stuff. Got the cops called so many times whether we're riding in neighborhoods. One time me and my buddies were riding all over, we had mini bikes and dirt bikes and go karts and all this kind of stuff. And we were riding around this, this neighborhood and we had a whole Facebook forum created about us because we were just, I was zipping through this neighborhood on this two stroke, you know, all through the friggin neighborhood. Yeah, just causing a lot of, of noise and, and a lot of people, a lot of people get mad about that kind of stuff when, when, when people are riding dirt bikes, which is funny because a lot of people will be like, all these kids are in there on their phones and they're, they don't even play outside anymore. Like we used to play outside. And then I get out and I'm playing outside and they're calling the cops on me. [00:51:17] Speaker A: It's like, dude, what are you doing? [00:51:19] Speaker B: What can I do? I can't sit. I'm not gonna sit inside. I'm never been an iPad kid. I'm not gonna sit there on an iPad. I don't want to sit there inside. I want to go do something. So I was out riding dirt bikes and then we would ride, come back, work on them, ride again. And then it kind of leveled up to bigger things like trucks and stuff when I was able to get license, my license. And then back, back home there's a big Community. And they do truck meets. And again it's like, so we a. [00:51:52] Speaker A: Ford guy, a Chevy guy, or I'm. [00:51:54] Speaker B: A big Chevy guy. [00:51:55] Speaker A: Big Chevy guy. [00:51:56] Speaker B: I got it. I got an old Square body and 82 is my daily. And it's, it's. It was always my dream truck. And so that's like, that's like my, My ultimate baby. I mean, I love that truck. And so it kind of. All that kind of stuff leveled up to the trucks and then, then we were working on our trucks and, and making them louder. And then I've gotten the cops called several times with. With noise complaints about like my truck. Straight piped. [00:52:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:29] Speaker B: So every single time I wake up in the morning when I was going to school every morning, starting the truck at 6:30 that. I mean it just, it's. It's just unnecessarily loud. But I love it. [00:52:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:41] Speaker B: And who doesn't love a straight pipe? 350. [00:52:44] Speaker A: Oh, man. It's. That's. That gets your blood pumping. Literally gets the motor running. Quite literally. [00:52:50] Speaker B: Old small block Chevy can't go wrong. [00:52:53] Speaker A: That's awesome. So do you see yourself collecting trucks as you get older? [00:52:57] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:52:57] Speaker A: Collecting trucks and guitars? [00:53:00] Speaker B: Yes. [00:53:00] Speaker A: Those would be those two things. [00:53:02] Speaker B: I got way too many guitars. [00:53:05] Speaker A: How many guitars are we up to now? [00:53:07] Speaker B: I think we're in the low 20s. [00:53:09] Speaker A: Wow. [00:53:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is not. Honestly that many. [00:53:13] Speaker A: No, you could fit a lot more. You could fill a whole room with probably what, like 30 or 40? [00:53:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:17] Speaker A: 50 of them. [00:53:18] Speaker B: No, I'm working on it. I'm working on it. I do buy a lot of guitars. [00:53:24] Speaker A: Have you bought. Have you thought about buying one on this trip? [00:53:27] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. I wasn't. I was shopping yesterday. [00:53:31] Speaker A: Where do you, where do you go? You go to like anywhere. The Groon guitars or the Carters or any of those. [00:53:38] Speaker B: I mean, I'll just go in there and I don't need anything. But when do you ever really need a new guitar? [00:53:45] Speaker A: I guess if your old one breaks. [00:53:46] Speaker B: But it seems like they don't break, you know, unless it literally breaks. [00:53:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:53:51] Speaker B: Just. They don't just go out. [00:53:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:53:53] Speaker B: So you. I don't ever need a guitar. [00:53:55] Speaker A: What's your favorite guitar? Like, what's your guitar, baby? [00:53:58] Speaker B: My favorite guitar ever is. Are you familiar with. With Eastman? [00:54:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:05] Speaker B: So everybody out in town is playing Gibsons and Martins and Taylors and stuff. But I found an Eastman and it's, it's. I have like five of them now. [00:54:20] Speaker A: Wow. [00:54:20] Speaker B: But the, the second one I bought ever was the one that I Play for all the stuff. That's the one I played out in Illinois in the pouring rain My tried and true Took it like a champ and, yeah, I've had cracks repaired and stuff like that, but it's. It's just a great guitar. [00:54:41] Speaker A: What is it that's different from one of the other ones? [00:54:44] Speaker B: I don't know. That's the thing that just feels right. That's it. That's. What's so weird is that you can ask, hey, what. What model Gibson should I get? Or what model Taylor, what model Martin should I get? And I can tell you a model, and you can go play five of the same exact model. Say it's a J45. You can play five J45s and every single one of them will sound different. It's not like. It's not like this is the. This is a. This is the best mic. [00:55:17] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. [00:55:18] Speaker B: SM is SM7B or something. Yeah. So this is the best mic you could buy. Five of these mics. And they probably all sound pretty similar. [00:55:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:26] Speaker B: Or they probably sound the same. Guitars are not the same way. They all sound different. And something about this guitar that I. That I've been playing is just. It's. It's amazing. I. I really want to get an Eastman discount code. [00:55:39] Speaker A: Eastman. [00:55:40] Speaker B: Eastman. Eastman guitars. I think they're made in China. I think I could make the trip over. [00:55:49] Speaker A: Yeah, you will. [00:55:51] Speaker B: I could make the trip over. It'd be worth it. Yeah, I. I mean, I. I'm a big Eastman guy. [00:55:57] Speaker A: That's awesome. I'm excited to see you play it. It's been awesome to watch you play them so far, but to see you. See you play more of them in the future, and we're stoked to have you on around next week too, man. [00:56:07] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I'm looking forward to that. [00:56:09] Speaker A: That's gonna be fun, man. It's gonna be a good time. So what are. Like, what now? It's crazy that we're already in August. Like, this year has just fl blown by. And as you get older. I'm 30, and I feel. I feel old talking to a guy like you. Like, we had Rocco in here the other day. I felt I was like, you were born in 2010. Like, I'm a freaking old man born in 2010. Yeah, he's 15, dog. He's 15. He's only three years younger than you. [00:56:32] Speaker B: Three years old. [00:56:32] Speaker A: Yeah. You were born in 2007. [00:56:34] Speaker B: 2006. [00:56:35] Speaker A: You were. You were. So you'll be turning 19 this year. When's your birthday? [00:56:38] Speaker B: Night in October. October, yeah. Rocco. Rocco's incredible. Yeah, I'm a big Rocco fan. Yeah. [00:56:44] Speaker A: As the years go on, you're going to realize that time goes faster and faster as you get older. [00:56:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:49] Speaker A: So you're gonna, you'll have that hitting. But what do we have? [00:56:52] Speaker B: Lessons learned. [00:56:53] Speaker A: Yes, lessons learned from the wise 30 year old degenerate over here, man. For real. What, what are the big goals for you the rest of this year? Because it seems like this year's just been a, been a fever dream for you. Like just good stuff just happening and like more eyes and ears on you than ever before without any music out, which still blows my mind, you know. [00:57:16] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I guess I'm. I'm trying to make the move to Tennessee. [00:57:20] Speaker A: Oh, hell yeah. [00:57:23] Speaker B: I'm. I'm looking at a few places in, in Spring Hill. [00:57:26] Speaker A: Dude, that's so cool that you say that. That's the first place. That's the first place I lived when I moved here. [00:57:31] Speaker B: Really? [00:57:31] Speaker A: I lived there the first year, pretty much. The first year that I was in town, I was commuting to and from Broadway every day because I had that security. [00:57:39] Speaker B: How's that drive? Is it, is it pretty rough? [00:57:41] Speaker A: I'll tell you what, I'll tell you're from far away too. I grew up in New York, which is about a 14 hour drive from here. Yeah. So I. Exactly. So 14 hours to get to New York. New York City metro area from Nashville. Yeah. About 14 hours for being an hour south of town is way closer than being 14 hours away. Now, I can't even imagine. You're what, probably 17, 18, 25. Yeah. So you're 25. Being an hour south of town is a lot closer than 25 hours away from Down Dog. So it's like Spring Hill. I love that area so much. It's a great spot. You've got great hangout. You have everything you need. And it's affordable. It's so much more affordable. I was living in a, I was living in a spare bedroom in an apartment for 450amonth, bro. It was great. [00:58:32] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, and they kind of got everything you need. [00:58:35] Speaker A: Yeah, they got, they got Walmart, they got Home Depot, they got plenty of restaurants. Froggy and Jeff Rose. That restaurant bar that's over there is freaking awesome. Is it good? Yeah, dude, it's very good. [00:58:45] Speaker B: They got a longhorn. [00:58:46] Speaker A: They do got a longhorn. They got all of it, man. They got. Everything that you could need is in Spring Hill, Columbia, like that area. [00:58:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:53] Speaker A: And it's Nice, because when you come up to write songs in. In the city, it's like, you get that separation of church and state. You get that separation of work and time to decompress by being a little bit out of town. Well, I would highly recommend it. [00:59:07] Speaker B: I honestly, I want to be away from the middle of the city. [00:59:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:13] Speaker B: I don't. I mean, I just want to be. I want to be out there where I can just decompress. [00:59:20] Speaker A: Yeah, man. Spring Hill is great for that. Spring Hill is great for that. Columbia is great for that. Mount Juliet and Lebanon, which is out this way east of town. Those are great. [00:59:29] Speaker B: I've never been out here. [00:59:30] Speaker A: Oh, dude. This is a great section of town. I've been. I've been a proud hermitage resident for coming up on three years now. I love living out here north of town, up near Kentucky's great. Like, White house is freaking awesome. Portland's great Cross plains. That whole area, anywhere within an hour radius of town is awesome. [00:59:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:59:52] Speaker A: In any direction. [00:59:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:59:53] Speaker A: But I think Spring Hill be awesome for you. [00:59:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Highly recommend that it's closer to where my family's at. All my family's in is. Is in Alabama and. [01:00:02] Speaker A: Perfect, bro. Yeah. Do it. I say Spring Hill's the move. [01:00:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:06] Speaker A: Big. Big brother to little brother. Spring Hill. Spring Hills, the move. You got everything you need? [01:00:10] Speaker B: When I get the place, you can come visit, bro. [01:00:12] Speaker A: I would love that, man. I'll take you to some of my old. Some of my old spots down there, man, because I. I like Spring Hill a lot, and there's so many guys that live down there. Like Aldean, I know is out that way. Like, a lot of the bigger artists live. Want to live a little bit outside of town, you know? [01:00:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't want to live. I don't even. [01:00:28] Speaker A: You don't drink? [01:00:29] Speaker B: I don't. Yeah. I don't. I have no idea. [01:00:31] Speaker A: You're not even old enough to go to the damn bars. [01:00:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't want to go to the bars. I don't even want to be near Broadway. Yeah, I just. I don't know. I've just. I'm not really into the. What is it? The metro? Is that what it's called, the Metro loop? Like the. [01:00:46] Speaker A: So that's down downtown is where Broadway. [01:00:49] Speaker B: Downtown. [01:00:49] Speaker A: Midtown's where losers is at. [01:00:51] Speaker B: Yeah. See, I just. I like going up there and listening to music, but I just. I don't want to be. [01:00:56] Speaker A: Yeah. And then if you wanted bargains, there's bars down there that do the music. Like the Gigs that you do in Arizona. You have that right there. [01:01:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:05] Speaker A: Like Spring Hill. Franklin's great. That's in between where downtown, where, where the city would be and where you would be. Like, there's great. Everything you need is literally down there. [01:01:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:15] Speaker A: It's so much more affordable. It's a great place to start, bro. [01:01:18] Speaker B: I think it's gonna be cool. [01:01:19] Speaker A: You don't need to be paying $2500 to live in the city. Like, that's stupid. [01:01:24] Speaker B: No. [01:01:24] Speaker A: When you first get here now, eventually, when, when you turn 21, life might change a little bit. You want to inch a little bit closer. Like, I went from Spring Hill, which was an hour away, like 50 minutes away, to Laverne. That was like 40 minutes away. Then I was in Antioch. That was like 30 minutes away. Now I'm like 20 minutes away. And I found my sweet spot being. [01:01:43] Speaker B: So are you, are you at like, what direction are you outside of town? Are you south? [01:01:47] Speaker A: I'm five minutes from here. [01:01:48] Speaker B: Okay. [01:01:49] Speaker A: I'm right. I'm out, I'm out east of town. So you take I 40. And I like it because I'm near the airport. Like, I don't have to sit in traffic to get to the airport because I'm on the airport side of, of the city. And getting into town, I mean, it takes me 20, about 20 minutes to get home from the bar when we do our events and stuff. [01:02:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:06] Speaker A: So I like, I like it, man. You got a lot of options. Like, it's, it's all gonna work out. But. Yeah. I always tell people too. It's like, if you're in Alabama or Georgia or Mississippi or even like Kentucky, like where you're one of the border states, you can kind of get away with really delaying a move or just coming here when you need to. [01:02:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:25] Speaker A: When you're 25 hour drive away, if you want to play the game, you got to be on the field. The field is here, man. [01:02:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:32] Speaker A: Think of the great connections that you've made just in your visits here and now all the songs that you could write with those guys if you were here full time. [01:02:39] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, which is, which is. I hear things like that and it's like, all right, it's time to make the move. Because I, I really want to be, you know, I want to be close to all this stuff. I want to be. Want to be in a place where it feels like I'm living in, you know, Tennessee. I don't want it to feel like I'm living in la. [01:03:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:03:00] Speaker B: I I just, I just don't. I'm not into that and I don't really want to be. I'd like to be. I don't want to hear horns and sirens when I'm trying to. [01:03:09] Speaker A: Spring Hill is for you, dog. Yeah, you'll like. [01:03:12] Speaker B: I don't, I don't mind the drive, you know? [01:03:15] Speaker A: Yeah, man, it's. And think of all the driving that you've had to do with gigs over the years and if you've taken the. Have you taken a road trip out here yet or have you only flown? [01:03:24] Speaker B: I've never done the road trip. [01:03:25] Speaker A: I guess if you move, you'd be taking the road trip. [01:03:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, but I Back, Back home I played. I played gigs all over the place. I drove with me and my dad. We drive. We drive however long for a gig. Yeah, we drive out, out to the west side. We drive up north to Flagstaff. We drive to wherever, you know, we play wherever. So I'm. I'm cool with the drive. [01:03:48] Speaker A: Yeah, man. [01:03:49] Speaker B: Also, I don't really go into town very much. [01:03:50] Speaker A: No, dude. And you will as you need to and all that stuff. And if you're, if you're playing at the local or playing one of our things or playing whiskey jam or any of that stuff. What, what kind of food do you like eating? I've never gotten to talk to you about food before. [01:04:03] Speaker B: Oh, shoot, man. Food. [01:04:05] Speaker A: Like what? Like mom or dad do. Do a lot of the cooking. [01:04:09] Speaker B: Well, I, I really do miss that. Growing up with, with five, four siblings, there was always a home cooked meal. [01:04:17] Speaker A: What was. What would be like the go to of the home cooked meals that mom or dad is whipping up? [01:04:24] Speaker B: My mom makes a mean beef stroganoff. Is what. [01:04:29] Speaker A: Oh, dude. Yeah, that's good. That's good stuff right there. [01:04:32] Speaker B: And my dad, oh, man, he's got a lot of different recipes. What's my favorite? [01:04:39] Speaker A: It can even be a couple favorites. You just list them out. [01:04:41] Speaker B: All right. Okay. So he makes a. Probably my favorite is. It's. It's an Asiago bagel almost, but with like barbecue chicken in the middle. [01:04:53] Speaker A: You're talking barbecue on a bagel. [01:04:55] Speaker B: It's like barbecue on a. Well, it's not. It's not. [01:04:58] Speaker A: It's like a roll. [01:04:59] Speaker B: It's not. It's an Asiago. It doesn't have a hole in the middle, but it's like the bagel without the hole. [01:05:04] Speaker A: I don't know what it's called, but it's just. It's just pure deliciousness. [01:05:08] Speaker B: It's Heavenly. [01:05:09] Speaker A: That sounds good. [01:05:10] Speaker B: Yeah. There's so many good ones that I can't think of. [01:05:14] Speaker A: What do you. If you're like a rat, are you a. Oh, potatoes guy? Next. Oh, ribs. [01:05:19] Speaker B: Ribs. [01:05:20] Speaker A: Okay. [01:05:21] Speaker B: I can. I can. I was out eating with. With my. With my buddy Ryan and his. And his girlfriend Katie, and I ordered a big rack of ribs. I. I was wearing a white shirt. [01:05:33] Speaker A: Oh. [01:05:34] Speaker B: Oh. It's just mistakes. I can. I. I'm such a messy. I mean, I'll just. I don't know. I'm sitting there with my elbows on the table like an animal, just devouring some ribs. [01:05:45] Speaker A: I love ribs. I do too, man. I. I used to. My family used to get a kick out of it because I. I was a big fan of ribs when I was a little. When I was a young. When I was a young. And. And I'd be like 10 years old or 8 years old and ordering the adult portion of ribs, and I'd eat them all. I'll do full slab or nothing. Go one speed. Full speed. Full slab or nothing. [01:06:06] Speaker B: Yeah, well, full. A lot of people don't realize full slab of ribs is expensive. [01:06:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah. [01:06:12] Speaker B: The price, we're talking like 35 bucks. [01:06:14] Speaker A: Yeah, man. But it's good. [01:06:16] Speaker B: It's worth it. [01:06:17] Speaker A: It is worth it. And then you get the sides with it. [01:06:19] Speaker B: What's your. What's your, like. What's your food of choice? [01:06:22] Speaker A: I mean, I love the Italian food. That's just growing up. Like, my mom makes pasta, and it is unbelievable. My dad was always good on the grill and stuff, too, so. But I mean, barbecue. I loved barbecue a lot. And then I moved down here, and I ate so much of it. Martin's. I had Edley's yesterday. That was really good. The brisket and stuff over there. I got kind of barbecued out. Mexican food I like a lot, which I know for you coming from Arizona, you're coming. Yeah. And it's like a different style of Mexican food. Like, you're the southern Mexican food. Food. But I didn't realize how many Mexican restaurants would be down here, so I like that too. I've gotten into Asian food a lot lately. [01:06:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:07:00] Speaker A: I've gotten into sushi a lot, dog. [01:07:02] Speaker B: Oh, man. [01:07:03] Speaker A: I found myself at Publix. I'm getting groceries. I'm like, oh, I'll take the little. I'll take the sushi from. From the Publix or the Kroger. [01:07:09] Speaker B: Sushi. [01:07:10] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. Sushi's good stuff. [01:07:11] Speaker B: I was just down at the beach, and they got Some good restaurants down there. [01:07:16] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [01:07:16] Speaker B: Now I was eating sushi and. Have you ever had escargot? [01:07:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:07:21] Speaker B: Fried. Fried snails. [01:07:22] Speaker A: I haven't had it. I haven't had it fried. [01:07:24] Speaker B: I think maybe they're not fried, but. [01:07:26] Speaker A: They'Re just like steamed or whatever, something like that. [01:07:28] Speaker B: They got parmesan on them. Oh my gosh. [01:07:33] Speaker A: Making you hungry over here. [01:07:35] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's good stuff. [01:07:37] Speaker A: Yeah. There's good breakfast places around here too. [01:07:39] Speaker B: Is there. [01:07:39] Speaker A: There's a lot of that. [01:07:40] Speaker B: Waffle House waffle. [01:07:42] Speaker A: See, to me, I have to go to Waffle House when it's dark outside. To me, Waffle House has to be a late night thing. That might have been. When I was touring back in the day, that was what we would do with Muscadine with Trey as I did the Muscadine gig and I did the Trey gig. The Muscadine gig was. You go to Waffle House after the show. Yeah, it was a big. We were, we. I've been to probably Waffle Houses in 25 or 30 different states last year. [01:08:05] Speaker B: Yeah, last week I had one. One of the best life experiences ever. I went, I had to my buddies in town and it was 3am and we, we drove to Waffle House. We got some to go orders and we ate it on the beach. Oh, like 3:30 in the morning. [01:08:21] Speaker A: That's a game changer. [01:08:23] Speaker B: Oh, it was just something about. And I think that we were probably the only people ever. We're probably the only people in the world eating waffles on the beach at that moment. I'm sure it's been done before, but eating Waffle House on the beach at. [01:08:37] Speaker A: 3:30 in the morning, hearing those waves crash. [01:08:39] Speaker B: Oh man. Oh man. The stars. Yeah, that, that was, that was unbelievable. [01:08:45] Speaker A: What's your Waffle House order? [01:08:47] Speaker B: It changes up every time. [01:08:48] Speaker A: So what was, what was the beach Waffle House order? [01:08:51] Speaker B: I think I All star special. [01:08:53] Speaker A: Okay. Go with what you know. [01:08:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:55] Speaker A: Do you do anything fancy with the hash browns? [01:08:57] Speaker B: Plain hash browns? [01:08:59] Speaker A: You just get them loaded up with ketchup though. Okay. You're a big ketchup guy. [01:09:02] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I like some hash browns with my ketchup. You know. [01:09:07] Speaker A: Ketchup is. [01:09:08] Speaker B: How do you like your eggs? [01:09:10] Speaker A: I like them scrambled. [01:09:11] Speaker B: Scrambled. [01:09:12] Speaker A: Scrambled guy. Yeah, I'm boring. [01:09:14] Speaker B: No, you got to get fried. [01:09:16] Speaker A: You like them fried like with the, with the, with the yolk. [01:09:20] Speaker B: Over medium or over easy usually. [01:09:22] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, there's some good breakfast spots around here on this. If not on this trip, we'll have to off the show. You. There's, like. There's a place called Nadine's that's around here. Unbelievable. [01:09:32] Speaker B: I'm not usually up for breakfast, to be honest. [01:09:34] Speaker A: Well, they do. Luckily, they serve breakfast till like, one or two in the afternoon because this is a musician's town. [01:09:40] Speaker B: I might not be able to make that. [01:09:42] Speaker A: Really? I mean, sleeping late. [01:09:43] Speaker B: I. My grandpa gives me so much crap because I'm always sleeping in. Like, he's like, you're sleeping the day away. And I'm like, well, it's. [01:09:51] Speaker A: You're playing gigs. You're used to working at night. [01:09:53] Speaker B: Exactly. If I'm out late, I'm gonna sleep in. You know, I should be. I should be a lot better than at that. But there's so many mornings that I woke, I just couldn't wait. I didn't wake up for school really. I mean, my. I have. I. Honestly, my attendance. My attendance for high school was awful. So bad. I mean, my mom was calling in to the school every. I'd, like, I had so many absences. It was crazy just because I'd be out late or I'd have to get to a gig early and then, you know, it's just, I, I. My attendance was so bad. I mean, it happens, dude, it was rough. And then also remember that the first time I ever played the Raise Rowdy round, I skipped school for that. [01:10:39] Speaker A: Yeah, you did. I remember saying that on the microphone. [01:10:41] Speaker B: Yeah, that was, that was, that was so fun. Was there. I was here for, like, one day or something. [01:10:47] Speaker A: Yeah, you were only. Yeah. Ryan had hit me up. I think it was. Ryan and Erica had had hit me up. We're like, hey, we got this kid. Do we got any room to put him on my. Yeah, let's throw him on. Yeah, that was worked out. [01:10:58] Speaker B: That was weird. I've never, I'd never done anything like that. [01:11:01] Speaker A: Was that your first time playing in Nashville? [01:11:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, that was my first time ever. I think maybe in Nashville. Yeah, it was really cool. Yeah, man, I love what you guys are doing. [01:11:13] Speaker A: Well, if it weren't for guys and girls like yourself that do songwriting and our musicians, like, we just love music. And it's funny, you were talking about being. Being front row at that Randall King show. One of our big sayings with Raised Rowdy, Nikki T. And his friends came up with this back in 2017. Was just front row or don't go. Like, we just love. I, on average, was going to probably like 30 or 40 concerts a year when I, before I moved here, you know, like, we just love the music. So the fact that we get to put on events for and have artists and songwriters that we believe in and that we think the music's really cool and show that to other people is awesome, man. We just love being a part of it because Nikki and I don't know how to play guitar. We don't know. [01:11:57] Speaker B: How did you get. How did you get started? I was just thinking about this, like, the other day. How did you get, like, how did this. How did. Raise rowdy. [01:12:03] Speaker A: So Nikki T. There was a festival in Ohio. It's called Country Concert. It's in Fort Laramie, Ohio. You would love it there. It's a BYOB festival. It's in a field in Ohio. It's been going on for. It'll be their. This. This was their 44th year. It's been going since 1981. Same family's been putting it on. They're on their second generation right now. Shout out to Paul and Scott Barhorst. Hardy actually has played it a number of times. Like, it's a big, big festival. And nick went in 2012 on a Bachelor party trip with his friends and fell in love with it and just kept on going. And the festival would call because it's. It's. It's also a camping festival. There's no hotels for, like, 20 or 30 miles, so it's thousands of people camping either in campers. We. We tent camp. When we. We go. We put. We build like, a little. We have a ball. We have an abs. Shout out to the friends of Wiener Hill. We were on a hill, and it's called Wiener Hill. We grilled a bunch of hot dogs, and we give them back to people that were walking up the hill. Like, we went through probably, like 500 glizzies in a few days. It was awesome. Just handing them out to people. It was great. But the owners of the festival would refer to Nick and his friends as the Rowdies. So Nick started a Twitter account called the Rowdy Gentleman of Leisure and would exclusively tweet at the festival saying, hey, you should have. This is back in 2015, 2016. He's like, you should have this guy from Alabama, Riley Green. You should have this girl, Ashley McBride. You should check out this girl, Lainey Wilson. You should check out this guy, Luke. No, to have. He was saying, hey, festival, you should book these guys. [01:13:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:13:43] Speaker A: Like 10 years. 10 years ago, you know, and it turned from rowdy gentlemen of leisure to raise rowdy. And Nick was just chasing shows. Like, he would go with his Friends, they drive from Pittsburgh into Ohio or Chicago and go watch the Cadillac Three. Three nights in a row in three different cities. You know? Like, they. Yeah, it's just. Just a community of people that love music, and that's how Nick started it. And then he started the blog and would do the podcast with people at club shows in. In the green rooms on a really shitty little record. Nothing like this setup that we have today. So that's how Raised Rowdy started, and Nick and I became friends on the Internet. I worked in radio up in New York, but before I moved down here in Jersey. Did you. [01:14:23] Speaker B: Did you like the early morning radio voices? First time I ever heard your voice is like, this man needs a mic. [01:14:29] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, that's what I. That's. I moved down here wanting to be on the radio because that's what I did in New Jersey. You know, I had a. I had a college radio show. Our. Our. The college radio show. We called it Redneck Radio. And it was back when I drank, and I was a very cringy, different person, but I had a lot of fun. And what was cool about that was I'd find artists that were very young, and I'd get them on my radio show. Like, I had. I got to do a phone interview with Luke combs in, like, 2014. I got to do a. I got to interview Morgan Wallen backstage at Jenks Club in 2016. Like, I got to see all those guys before they were the guys, you know? [01:15:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:07] Speaker A: Like, when they were starting out. And while I'm doing that, Nick is going to their shows and doing something similar in Pittsburgh. So it worked out well. We became buddies over the Internet and. And met during COVID and we've been like brothers ever since. You know, it's cool. But the radio voice. The last station I worked for was magic 98.3. So the moniker, it would be like today's hits, Yesterday's favorites. Magic 98.3, you know? [01:15:30] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. [01:15:31] Speaker A: Yeah. And it was like a soccer mom station, so it was like adult contemporary. So it was like Bruno Mars to Taylor Swift to Stevie Nicks. A lot of Bon Jovi, New Jersey, they love Bon Jovi and they love Bruce Springsteen. So be. Here's the Boss on Magic 98.3. Here's. Whatever. Here's. Yeah, like, talking over, giving away tickets. Like, Disney on Ice is coming back to the Prudential Center. Could be caller number nine and win your family four pack of tickets. You know, it'd be like. Like that. [01:15:59] Speaker B: So do you ever. You Ever get up on, like, for example, emceeing the. The tall tailgates and tall boys? [01:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:16:06] Speaker B: Do you ever get up there and just either stutter or black? A lot of times when I'm trying to talk, I'll just. I'll like, lose my train of thought. [01:16:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:16:15] Speaker B: Like, you know, which I just did just now. [01:16:19] Speaker A: I don't even know what I. Honestly, it's just like you watching people play guitar. I've gotten to watch other people in radio and watch other people and like, hosting events and stuff. Like, I've learned a lot from Ward from Whiskey Jam. I filled in and covered for him a couple times. You know where, like, I learned how to host events by watching. How does Ward do it? Big Rob Snyder, who used to run around called Revival, that was really prevalent in town. I'd watch. How does Big Rob do it? How does this person do it? How does, like, you pick up on watching other people? But also, I find it easier to Talk in front of 30, 000 people at a festival, sometimes more than I do finding it being comfortable talking in front of a bar of 20 people. Yeah, you know, like, because when you're in a room with 20 people, every set of eyes, those. Those 20 pairs of eyes are looking directly at you. Yeah, you're. And you can see their faces as you're talking to them. You're at a festival with 30, 000. You might see the. [01:17:22] Speaker B: You can't see anything. [01:17:23] Speaker A: You see the front row or don't go. People. You know, like I always call it. I. I love my. My people in the pit. Like, the VIP folks are great. They're super fans. They're paying a lot of money to be there. And like, that's. That's a fun little section that. To the right side at tailgate and tall boys. Tailgates and tall boys. Those people that are in the pit and are there the whole weekend in the ga. Right up in the front. Those are my dudes. Like, I love the. The guys and girls that are in there. So I'll see them and I'll interact with them. Somebody's holding up a sign. I'll read it, make a little bit out of it, you know? [01:17:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I just. I don't. I don't understand how you don't get up there and. [01:18:01] Speaker A: Well, I don't know how you can just rip on guitar and come up with badass country lyrics and sing solid country gold, you know, like, everybody has their things that they're really good at, and that's what makes us all special and makes us all. Yeah, that's unique as individuals, you know, it's. [01:18:14] Speaker B: It's honestly so incredible. Well, I appreciate that, everybody. I mean, I love, I love the raised rowdy stuff. [01:18:21] Speaker A: I mean, we love you, man. You're like a little brother. You're a family man. [01:18:25] Speaker B: Well, thank you. [01:18:26] Speaker A: You're a guy. We love you. We. We love watching you grow. And I cannot wait for that first song to come out. I cannot wait to send it to all my homies back home in New York. I cannot wait. [01:18:37] Speaker B: Getting ready to cut a. An album right now. Really? [01:18:40] Speaker A: We're going full speed now. [01:18:42] Speaker B: See, a lot of people say that and then, and then like a year later they're like, where's the album? You know, cuz the. These things take a lot of time. [01:18:51] Speaker A: Yeah. So. [01:18:53] Speaker B: But right now I'm. I want, I want to go cut a real country record, you know? [01:18:59] Speaker A: Do we know what the first song could be off of that? Because you're gonna drop a single first. [01:19:03] Speaker B: Oh yeah. I'll probably drop like two or three singles. [01:19:05] Speaker A: Do we know. [01:19:06] Speaker B: Listen, I don't know how all this stuff works. I'm just saying this. It's probably a lot easier, harder done than said. [01:19:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:19:13] Speaker B: I guess is what I'm trying to say. It's. I'm still learning about how all this stuff works, but that's kind of plan is I want to. I want to put music out pretty soon. I'm working on it. [01:19:24] Speaker A: That's awesome. [01:19:24] Speaker B: I'm just writing songs right now. [01:19:26] Speaker A: Hey man, you gotta have some ammo before you go shoot. You got, you got to have that bait and tackle before you cast the line. [01:19:31] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, and the, the tick tock is such a big part of it. [01:19:35] Speaker A: Yeah, man. [01:19:36] Speaker B: You have to be. I mean, that's really the best promoting tool right now is tick tock. [01:19:40] Speaker A: It is, man. And you're. And you're blessed to have that be such a big tool in your belt. Like such a. It's a, It's a weapon, honestly. Like you, you're able to cast. You're throwing darts at the dartboard and tick tock's that board. And sometimes you get a bullseye. You know, you've been lucky to get a few of them or even just around the bullseye, hitting the numbers that you need to hit. Like you're, you're right there, you know, it's. It's. You got a very bright future ahead of you and it's. I give you a lot of credit being as young as you Are. And devoting the time and energy and all that into it that you're doing. It's so many 18 year old kids would just be off. But you're like, I want to do this. Ever since that moment at that Randall King show, you're like, how do I get here? All right, this is what I got to do. Let's get to work. [01:20:26] Speaker B: It's. It. Well, for. I appreciate that. I appreciate the. All this. The support from. From the whole raised rowdy team. It's just, it's. It's. Everybody's got their dream and their aspiration or whatever and you know, I think it kind of determines how hard you want to work. [01:20:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:20:45] Speaker B: It all boils down to that. Like whether it was you starting with radio shows or with Nikki T. Over at concerts, like that. Everything starts from something that's just like a small spark, you know? [01:20:58] Speaker A: Yeah, man. [01:20:59] Speaker B: And so everybody. Whether there's a lot of people that, that. Which is so weird how everything works with artists breaking out, is that you got guys that were doing this, whether they were playing college football and then they just broke out or they were working construction and then they had something break out or if they're just put all their focus into doing the country music thing. There's so many different approaches and different stories. [01:21:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:21:32] Speaker B: Of. [01:21:32] Speaker A: It's wild. [01:21:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:21:34] Speaker A: It's a crazy world we live in, man, where stuff can just happen, you. [01:21:37] Speaker B: Know, it's, it's, it's crazy. [01:21:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:21:41] Speaker B: Just. Especially with, with the social media stuff. You can post anything and overnight you can have 20 million people see it. [01:21:48] Speaker A: And people from all over the world. [01:21:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:21:50] Speaker A: Like the reach that. That gives you. We've never had that in human existence before. [01:21:55] Speaker B: It's. It's. It's a good and bad thing. You know, it's definitely good. It's good. There's a lot of benefits. There's also a lot of, A lot of things that are. That are rough with it because the numbers can get your head. Get in your head. You can like compare yourself to other people. [01:22:11] Speaker A: That's why you need. I was talking about this on a podcast the other day. Like I. I equate. I've said it before, I equate it to like being a workhorse, like being a. Being run around the track and you're a horse or a greyhound or whatever. [01:22:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:22:24] Speaker A: And those horses wear blinders. You know, they. They don't, they don't have an op. They don't have the chance to look at the other horses that they're running with. They're just focused. You got to put your blinders up, and you got to just be the best version of Colton Dawson. You can be. Can't look at what this guy or this girl's doing. Why are they getting this opportunity and not me? [01:22:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:22:43] Speaker A: Your story. Just like you talked about. There's the plan, the man upstairs. Like, your path is your path, and that's not. No reason. You don't get complacent, and you can see that a trend is working or, oh, they shot a video this way. What if I did that? That's. That's good. That's identifying. But comparing it can be tough, man. [01:23:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:23:03] Speaker A: So tough. It's tough with us, too. [01:23:05] Speaker B: You know, there's a. It's a. It's a game. [01:23:07] Speaker A: Yeah, it is. [01:23:09] Speaker B: It's all about how you play it. I think that. That if you kind of keep. Like, that's what I'm saying. You keep in your own lane. [01:23:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:23:18] Speaker B: And you don't compare yourself to everybody else. It's. It's. Because when you compare yourself to somebody else, it's like, you know, it can either be a good thing where it's like, I got a lot of work to do. Like, that first time when I came into town and went to some of the bars and the ones I could get into and saw some of the talent in there, I was like, all right, I got. I got a lot of work to do. [01:23:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:23:44] Speaker B: But. Or it can be one of those things where you start feeling like you're not. You're not as good as you think you are. And that can like, really. I mean, it can. It can honestly fuel you to be better. Is having those people that you're watching that are always gonna be better than you. And it's just like, all right, I need to. I need get my head down and start doing it. [01:24:09] Speaker A: Yeah, man. And it's. It's tough to not, because I. I grew up a big sports fan, and that's the original media that I wanted to be in. I wanted to be on espn. That's what I wanted to do with my life. And then I fell in love with country music and everything, and it's been an awesome path to go down. But you. You got to look at it like sports. When people compare athletes to athletes, like, you'll hear like, oh, this guy got drafted. He's projecting to be like this or that. A lot of people try to do that with artists, Whether it's, like, an artist that's painting or an artist that obviously you see It. A lot of music, you know, it's like everybody's different. Like, it's so tough to compare art because everybody. You're the, like, as a creative, like your art is your songs and it's your. The music that you're going to be putting out one day. And it's the way that you play guitar, like, that's the way that you do it. There's no right or wrong way to do it. It's all art. [01:25:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:25:01] Speaker A: It's all creative. [01:25:01] Speaker B: And people on social media are so quick to just, you know, whether it's. Whether it's rating songs on a page or whatever, you know. Yeah, I know. It's kind of popular right now where they'll. Somebody will put out a project or single and they'll rate it and everybody will just, you know, either go after that artist. And at some point people got to realize like, that is what that artist thinks is their best. I don't think any artist releases something that they think is crap because why would they even spend the time. [01:25:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:25:40] Speaker B: So I think that, you know, whether it's. I saw, you know, Jake Owen. [01:25:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:25:47] Speaker B: He. He had his last single that he released. I thought it was a dang banger. [01:25:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:25:52] Speaker B: I loved it. And I guess one of the. One of the pages rated it low. And it's like. It's almost like that's just one person's opinion. But Jake is like pouring his heart out into this record. [01:26:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:26:07] Speaker B: And I know it's going to be dang. I know it's going to be dang good. But it's. It's. It's something where that. He's put a lot of effort and he dumped his entire heart into it. So that's why when you get somebody that rates it low, it's. It's like a punch in the gut, you know? [01:26:23] Speaker A: Yeah, man. That's why we've always done a thing where Nick and I, we don't talk about stuff that we don't like because why spread that negative energy? [01:26:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:26:34] Speaker A: I say I. I hate this song. [01:26:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:26:37] Speaker A: When I can put. I'm gonna write. I'm gonna write a better article. I'm gonna have a better podcast. I'm gonna give a better stage introduction if it's someone that I. That I care about and it's music that I believe in, you know, that's why with us, it's like the stuff that we're talking about is stuff that we. We love. Why. Why spend time. There's different flavors of ice cream, you know, we don't all go for the, the Black Cherry or the Rocky Road. You know, there's a different flavor for everyone. I'm not gonna say, hey man, screw you. You're. You don't like this flavor of ice cream. You know, you're a poser. You don't like this flavor. How can you not like this flavor? You don't have to hate on it. You can just be, take that extra energy and be extra positive about it. [01:27:19] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, that's why, like, they'll, they'll, you'll have songs that are just rated as like a number. And it just, I just, I don't, I don't think it really does anything for anybody. [01:27:31] Speaker A: What it will do though, is sometimes, believe it or not, there are people that pay for bad ratings. Because then people will go and check it out and be like, is it really that bad? [01:27:40] Speaker B: Oh, really? [01:27:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Sometimes it'll drive the algorithm and sometimes rating something so low, people will go and click on it and they'll be like, oh, this is actually pretty good. [01:27:50] Speaker B: Well, and you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's cool because. Well, like, like I was going back to social media stuff. [01:27:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:27:58] Speaker B: Like they'll have a video of Morgan Wallen throwing a football backstage or something. And it's just, it'll just. Everybody just goes crazy. [01:28:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:28:11] Speaker B: Over seeing, you know, an artist do like a regular thing. And it's, it kind of puts a spotlight on, on the artist or whether it'll be that or Zach Bryan and his like, relationship or whatever. I don't really ever pay attention to that kind of stuff. But it's all just drama for clicks. [01:28:28] Speaker A: Yeah. It's cuz we're. Country music's more in the pop culture than it's ever been. And I think we still have some time left before that bubble pops, like where we're gonna be the thing. You know, it's like you look back at LA in the 80s with like guns N Roses and Motley Crue and White Snake and all those bands, and LA was like the spot to be. We are that right now. Country music is that Morgan Wallen is Guns N Roses. That's like the world we're living in right now. And luckily it creates eyes and more eyes and ears for us than ever before, you know? [01:28:59] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, just to be able to go out and sell out two nights in a row at a stadium. Yeah. [01:29:04] Speaker A: And there's more. It used to be only Garth or Kenny could do that. Now Wallen can do it. Luke can do it. Zach can do it. Kenny can still do it. Like, they're still. [01:29:16] Speaker B: It's crazy. [01:29:17] Speaker A: Yeah, man. It's the. The audience and it's worldwide, man. Like, you'll see it when you start putting music out and you see where people are listening from, because you can. I'm sure your mom can see it in the analytics or you can see it in the analytics of Tick Tock, where the viewers are coming from, but it really. It really depicts it well on the Spotify, like, the listening. Like, where the listens come from. You're gonna have listeners in Australia. You're gonna have listeners in freaking Cambodia. You're gonna have listeners in Ireland and Scotland and England. Like, yeah, the world. If it's a country song, the world is gonna check it out right now, which is really. [01:29:51] Speaker B: A lot of people can. If it's just a good song. [01:29:53] Speaker A: Oh, people can relate to it. [01:29:55] Speaker B: People can just relate to it. [01:29:56] Speaker A: Music is the universal language. It's the great. It's supposed to be the great uniter. It's supposed to bring us all together. [01:30:02] Speaker B: That's. That's what I love. I. I love. You know, you can go to a country concert and see all kinds of people. [01:30:09] Speaker A: Oh, bro. [01:30:09] Speaker B: But they're just there to listen to the music, whether it's that or anywhere. I mean, music is just a great. Country music especially, which is just a great tool for. I mean, even some of the people that I've met through music that have just become some of my best friends. Yeah, it's. It's like, irreplaceable. [01:30:32] Speaker A: Yeah, man. It's what. It's all. That's what it's all about, dude. Well, man, I appreciate you. I appreciate one. You. You're always wearing our stuff. Thank you for that. [01:30:41] Speaker B: Always. [01:30:41] Speaker A: You don't have to do that. I got some freshies for you over there because I know how to. The sweat. You sweat through hats and stuff, so. Got some. Got some freshies for you. But thank you for being such a good member of our family, our community, and thank you for letting me have the opportunity to be your first podcast. [01:30:59] Speaker B: I know. I honestly, I mean, I've never been on a podcast. Try to. I try to talk about things that might not be so. [01:31:06] Speaker A: Oh, no, dude, you did great. This was a lot of fun, man. And it'll be the first of many that you're gonna do. Like, because you've got so much the. The road, you're just. You're just getting onto the highway and you've Got a badass truck with a very fast engine in it. No, it's about. [01:31:23] Speaker B: No, it ain't that. [01:31:24] Speaker A: No, I'm talking about. I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the real 82 Chevy square body back home. I'm talking about in the. In the medic, in the metaphorical sense of. Yeah, like your career, your life. You've got a lot of great opportunity in front of you. The Lord has blessed you very well. You've got a great family and support system. You've got great co writers and family here in Nashville and friends and dude, like, sky's the limit. Seriously, like, I'm so excited to look back on this one day and say I had colton on in 2025 when he was 18 years old right before he put out his first batch of songs and look back on where. Look back in years to come of. Of where you're gonna be, dude, because seriously, like, sky's the limit. You're so wise beyond your years and good at what you do. And I'm just. I'm just happy to call you a friend. Seriously, dude, thanks. Appreciate. Appreciate the hell out of you. Appreciate the heck out of you. And people can find you at Colton Dawson Music. [01:32:21] Speaker B: Colton Dawson music is right. [01:32:23] Speaker A: And the music will be coming. It's coming. [01:32:26] Speaker B: Yeah. Hopefully. Hopefully soon. I don't want to say that. And then have people. [01:32:30] Speaker A: No, no. Well, not sue, but I'm just saying they can get. They can give you the follow on socials and they'll find out when it's coming out and all of that. [01:32:38] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I'll definitely keep. Keep everybody up to date on. On what's coming. But yeah, I'm really excited to. To get some stuff out and I just want. I just want to play music. [01:32:49] Speaker A: I know, man. [01:32:50] Speaker B: That's all I want to do. [01:32:51] Speaker A: Well, you're gonna have that opportunity. You're really good at what you do. And I'm also excited for the. The idea and the plan of you getting out here full time. It's going to be huge, man. This city is going to be better having you in it. I mean that, like, it's good, man. So it's good stuff. Y' all be sure to look up our man Colton Dawson. Colton Dawson music. Get on the train now. Seriously, I've. I've said it before, but get on the train now. The kid is doing some very impressive things. Not even. Not even old enough to get in the bars that he's playing in. And he's absolutely crushing it. So y' all be sure to look up Colton. For more on us, visit raz.com Shout out to our friends from Surfside. Vodka, lemonade, vodka iced tea, vodka green tea. No bubbles, no troubles. It is in fact, sunshine in a can. So check out our good homies from Surfside and my man Colton. I'm Matt Brill. This has been outside the ramp? I never been the kind for stare one place for too long? I never been the best at sin? I love you too. To a girl I love? Only got a couple tricks on my sleeve? They usually just make them leave? So if you know me? If you really know me? You know I'm just a two trick pony? But maybe the drinking and the lack of money for show? I'm just a two trick pony? Yeah.