Justin Schools: 'Go Dawgs!', Waffle House Wisdom & Country Music Grind

[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 another episode of Outside the Round with me, Matt Burrell. Today, a very special guest. He was our Razor Rowdy man of the year back in 2024. He's a guy that I remember when he first moved up from deep south Georgia, and a guy that's been doing the artist thing now here and has some. Some new music coming soon. And just one of the best dudes you could know in this great city of Nashville, Tennessee, we got our man Justin Schools. In the morning. [00:00:48] Speaker B: In the morning. [00:00:49] Speaker A: In the morning On a Monday morning of all times. [00:00:52] Speaker B: Still wiping the. The sleep out of my eyes right now. [00:00:54] Speaker A: Yeah, you said you were. You were back in Georgia this weekend. [00:00:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I went back to Carrollton, Georgia. [00:00:59] Speaker A: Okay. I've had good times in Carrollton, man. [00:01:01] Speaker B: Good times in Carrollton. [00:01:02] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:01:03] Speaker B: So we're out in the woods. [00:01:04] Speaker A: We. [00:01:05] Speaker B: My sister's fiance's family, they. They hosted us for the wedding shower and smoked a whole hog on Smoker. That was great. It's the first time I did that, and I'm already planning how I'm gonna go do that here at my house. Yeah. [00:01:19] Speaker A: Hell yeah, dude. That's awesome. And a big Bulldogs win, huh? [00:01:22] Speaker B: Absolutely. Huge win for the dogs. [00:01:25] Speaker A: Were you nervous at all about that game? [00:01:27] Speaker B: Because, you know, this year, I'm nervous every game. Yeah. [00:01:31] Speaker A: And it's. And it's crazy because for. For your. Your what, now you're 24, 25? [00:01:36] Speaker B: 26. [00:01:37] Speaker A: 26. [00:01:37] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm getting up there. [00:01:38] Speaker A: You're getting up there. [00:01:39] Speaker B: Up there. [00:01:40] Speaker A: How old were you when you moved here? [00:01:42] Speaker B: 23. [00:01:43] Speaker A: Maybe 23. So same age? [00:01:45] Speaker B: 22. 23 something. [00:01:46] Speaker A: Okay. I was 23 when I moved here. But I remember meeting you and your manager, Sledge, got a real kick out of this. I'm like, you know how Justin was when I first met him? She's like, no. Was he loud and causing a scene? I'm like, no. He was, like, this quiet dude that I don't think I heard. You knew what your voice sounded like the first, like, few times that I met you, because you got brought up, like, you're a proud member of, like, the fraternity of South Georgia guys. Guys like Brian Fuller and Tyler Chambers. And how did you find your way from your farm? Talk about growing up down in the Valdosta area to making your way up here? [00:02:24] Speaker B: Well, it involved four different colleges. Four? Yeah, man. You know, we had to make the tour Now I started. I started taking college courses while I was still in high school. And so that was college number one that we started at. And once I graduated there, we just kind of went to. We upgraded to the university and did the fraternity thing there for a little bit. [00:02:48] Speaker A: At uga? [00:02:49] Speaker B: No, Vadosta State. [00:02:50] Speaker A: Oh, boy. [00:02:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:51] Speaker A: Okay. [00:02:52] Speaker B: Vados Estate. So Blue Water was, you know, the place to be every night. But yeah, I did that. I think I was at Vados Estate for either a year and a half or two years. Some somewhere in there. Never went to class. Think I went to work instead of going to class, but I was always that guy that had cash in my pocket. So. [00:03:09] Speaker A: Yeah. What were you doing for work in college? [00:03:12] Speaker B: Between. There's a guy back in Ray City, where I'm from, which is like 30 minutes just north of Atosta, he did a bunch of hay and some cattle, so I'd help him with that on the weekends and whatnot. And between that, I worked at a tractor dealership in town too. [00:03:27] Speaker A: Makes a lot of sense. [00:03:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I did a whole lot of that was, you know, a whole lot of tractors involved with stuff. But, you know, I decided to go do that versus go to class. And so I flunked out, so left Vadosta State, downgraded to Georgia Military College in Valdosta. [00:03:46] Speaker A: Georgia Military College. [00:03:48] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Which there was no military involved. It was, you know, a satellite branch in Bados, I think I want to say the main branch of Georgia Military Colleges in Dahlonega or somewhere in there. Somewhere around there. [00:03:59] Speaker A: So there's no military involved. So are there uniforms and. Or. [00:04:04] Speaker B: No, just a JUCO Junior College. [00:04:06] Speaker A: Wow. [00:04:07] Speaker B: So I went there and was actually doing pretty good, you know, ace and everything, all that good stuff. And then Covid came around and everything went online. And I don't know how to work technology. It's not my. Not my thing. I can barely work my cell phone. So that came around. I was like, well, I'm not doing this anymore. And, you know, got out of Georgia Military College and at that time I was playing the bars around town and had a little three piece trio band, which we were not any good. Sometimes I'll have videos pop up my phone. I'm like, God, what were we doing? [00:04:44] Speaker A: And we all have that, man. I have that with what I'm doing. It's like, I want to show people the interviews that I did because the guys from back then were. Are all monsters now, like Combs and Wallen. And I was interviewing them as Redneck Matt. And I was about 20 pounds heavier. Clean shave, buzz cut, dude. I. [00:05:02] Speaker B: He. [00:05:02] Speaker A: Trey Lewis sends me those videos. He's like, look what popped up on my feed. Redneck Matt. [00:05:06] Speaker B: I'm like. [00:05:07] Speaker A: So I get that where it's. But it's where you start, you know? [00:05:10] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. Yeah. I think we called ourselves the. The Interstate Cowboys. [00:05:16] Speaker A: Okay. [00:05:16] Speaker B: In which translated after a few beers, to the Interstate Cowbirds. So that was. Yeah. Just won't talk too much about that. Yeah, that was a good time. [00:05:26] Speaker A: But that was where you first got introduced to being on stage, which is important. [00:05:30] Speaker B: Yeah, that and, you know, I led the worship at our church for years. [00:05:33] Speaker A: Of course you did. [00:05:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:05:35] Speaker A: You know, that's the Georgia way, bro. Exactly. [00:05:37] Speaker B: Exactly. So, you know, we'd play Saturday night and Sunday morning. I'd have to be up at church at 6am so that was always fun. I don't think I had too big of a smile when I first got there to church. [00:05:49] Speaker A: So leading worship, is that just with an acoustic guitar? Is that like, with a band? Because I've never. I've been to like, the. The mega churches. I call them the Rock star church, like, where it's like the way I grew up going to church, it was not that. But when you say leading worship, do you got a band behind you or is it just kind of acoustic? [00:06:06] Speaker B: So we, what we started, it was just like a guy that had a guitar, and then like, my mom sings there, and then there was another lady that sang. And that was. That's how it started. And then it upgraded. They hired like, an actual, like, worship pastor and he brought in a band and they redid the whole, like, gymnasium and put a stage in there. They had some lights. It wasn't anything like you see here. Megachurch. Yeah, I mean, we had a band, so we played. And, you know, I started. I still remember, I think I taught myself how to play guitar when I was in eighth grade. And I had just a little red epiphone guitar. Didn't have any plugins, but I was up there, you know, that's how I, you know, journeyed to learn how to play is I was up there. They had a microphone that they put in front of my guitar. So that's how. That's how that started. But yeah, I did that for years. I mean, up until when Covid came along. And then after that, I. I transferred from Georgia Military College to a music school in Memphis. So I lived in Memphis for a year. Worst year of my life. God, that. That was the worst time ever. Just Memphis as A whole is just not a fun city. [00:07:18] Speaker A: Was that, was that. Did you have the long term plan of getting here to Nashville and Memphis was like the stop along the way? [00:07:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:07:26] Speaker A: Is that the thought process? [00:07:27] Speaker B: So my, my thought process was I try to be like as real as I can be when I think about things or as logical and also try. [00:07:35] Speaker A: To find like shortcuts around practical farmer in you too. It's how farmers think. You got to be practical in your decisions. [00:07:41] Speaker B: Exactly. So I'm thinking, I'm like, all right, how can I get to Nashville and spend the first year without spending a ton of money on rent or whatever? I'm like, oh, well, I'll just go to school. Go to school. I'll live in a dorm for a year and whatever. And I was like, well, I can go to Belmont or I can go to this school in Memphis. And I was like, I'm about to turn 21. I've been doing the fraternity life for, you know, two years or so now. I'm like, I should probably not turn 21 in Nashville. So that was ultimately my like decision. [00:08:13] Speaker A: Factor was a responsible decision. As a 20 year old. [00:08:16] Speaker B: Little did I know I'd be sitting in my dorm room drinking fifths of liquor. Yeah. [00:08:21] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. I mean, that's. I didn't go to a party school and thank God I didn't cuz I. I still found a way for alcohol to be a huge problem in my life and haven't. Haven't had it. Luckily I. I quit before I got here. But it's like sometimes you don't go to the party school and you find you get in even more trouble. [00:08:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:39] Speaker A: Because you just, you find your way with your, with your close group of homies in a dorm room versus like a bar's almost safer than. [00:08:46] Speaker B: Yeah, no, exactly. [00:08:48] Speaker A: Rules dorm room. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Exactly. You know, you can go out and do it with friends, you know, versus like sitting in, you know, I would sit in my truck in the parking lot because we weren't allowed to drink on campus. It was a Christian school too. Yeah. So I ultimately got kicked out of there, but I would, you know, sit in my truck in the parking lot and listen to music and I would just drink Crown apple. [00:09:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:08] Speaker B: Straight in a solo cup. [00:09:10] Speaker A: Yeah. What were, what were the songs you were listening to back then? Do you remember what was on that truck? Christian school playlist. Imagining it was more in the country world and probably a little bit of hip hop. Probably everything. [00:09:20] Speaker B: Yeah. And I was in my Tacoma still and I had a sub in the back, the windows were, you know, 5% all around, blacked out. Nobody could see anything. You know, I'm pretty sure I had a few cigarettes in there. Yeah. And anyways, I don't know what I was listening to. Probably some fireman. My Little Wayne. I'm sure Corey Smith was always in there. [00:09:44] Speaker A: That's 20. That's 2020, right? [00:09:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, 2020. And I listen to older music. I don't. I don't really listen to a lot of the newer music. I still don't. Nowadays, I don't hardly listen to music at all, really. Ride around in silence. Nothing but the scary thought. [00:09:59] Speaker A: Silence. [00:10:00] Speaker B: Yep. People hate it. Sledge. She hates it. [00:10:03] Speaker A: You won't even listen to talk radio, like every now and podcast or anything? [00:10:07] Speaker B: Podcasts put me to sleep. [00:10:09] Speaker A: Really? [00:10:09] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's like I only listen to them when I'm driving long distance, so, you know, then I'm trying to stay awake. Yeah. [00:10:17] Speaker A: You won't listen to like Paul Feinbaum or like SEC talk radio? [00:10:21] Speaker B: No, not really. [00:10:21] Speaker A: I listen to New York sports talk radio. It drives Nikki T. Up a wall to the point where when we're going long distances and stuff, usually he's got a. He's got a car full of people and then I'm Dr. Like ike and. And someone and whoever and I'll. Because I love when people call in and freak out. Especially today after the Giants cluster yesterday. Today's an all time New York sports talk radio. There's people jumping off bridges and it's crazy, but. So you drive in silence? [00:10:49] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Yeah. [00:10:51] Speaker A: Do you write while you're driving? Like, will you get ideas in your head? And are you one of those voice memo guys where you'll just start humming a melody or something? [00:10:57] Speaker B: I'll do that. I do my best thinking when I'm driving or if I'm in the shower. [00:11:01] Speaker A: Really? [00:11:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Yep. So I have, you know, phone memos on standby all the time. So that's what I do. Sometimes I just go drive around at night. Just go do it. [00:11:13] Speaker A: Just like, why not? [00:11:15] Speaker B: Why not? If I'm sitting around the house, I don't have anything going on. I'm just gonna take a drive and you can drive through like the Belmead areas and see the biggest tame deer you'll ever see in your entire life. [00:11:26] Speaker A: Yeah, because nobody's touching them because they can't listen. [00:11:29] Speaker B: Last year I saw the biggest deer I've ever seen in my entire life in Belmeade. This was at like 3, 4 o' clock in the afternoon, you know, sun's setting down, and we're just on this little street through this neighborhood, and it's. It's really wooded in there, and there's huge houses everywhere. But I'm. I get stopped on this road because this deer is walking in front of me. And if there wasn't a car on this other side, it was just us two cars, and this deer's just grazing across, and I'm, like, reaching for my 9 millimeter, like the biggest deer I've ever seen. Non typical. I mean, had. Had horns going everywhere. It was a beautiful thing. [00:12:09] Speaker A: That's wild, man. So how do you get from Memphis to here? What's that transition of going from that college to Nashville? [00:12:16] Speaker B: So I went home for the summer, worked on the. The pecan farm back home. And then. [00:12:22] Speaker A: So it is pecan, not pecan. [00:12:24] Speaker B: You know, I say pecan, but now I say butter pecan ice cream. Oh, I think the proper way. The proper southern way is pecan, but I say pecan because I'm not proper. Yeah. [00:12:38] Speaker A: So you're just in school. [00:12:39] Speaker B: That's right. One on one. [00:12:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Amen. Thank God for that. [00:12:43] Speaker B: Yeah. We don't need to. [00:12:45] Speaker A: So you're working back on the farm. Is that with the. With family and. And friends, just kind of what you grew up doing? [00:12:50] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like extended family. So it's my family. We grew up right here on this one piece of property. My dad's family lives in the city. You know, one stop sign city right up the road. And then my mom's family lives on this one piece of property right here. And then the pecan farm is just kind of everywhere. And so that's kind of like extended family right there. And so, yeah, I worked there all summer. Just pecan farming is. It's like, not super tedious work. It's kind of maintaining. I mean, it's trees. So as long as you keep the right sprays and pesticides on the stuff, I mean, you just kind of maintain the grass and, you know, make sure the irrigation is being upheld and all that good stuff. So just did a lot of that. And I watched a ton of Netflix sitting in the tractor seat. [00:13:41] Speaker A: What were the. What were the shows? [00:13:43] Speaker B: There was one. [00:13:44] Speaker A: It was Tiger kings popping at that time. Or is this a little bit after that? [00:13:47] Speaker B: I think this was a little bit after that. There was one. It was this plane, like, disappeared for years. [00:13:54] Speaker A: Oh, the Malay, the Malaysian Airlines, something like that. [00:13:57] Speaker B: Yeah. But it was like this plane disappeared and all these passengers, like, one day, like, this was like 50 years later or something. The plane, like, reappears. [00:14:05] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:14:06] Speaker B: And it lands. And all these people are like, what is going on? Kind of thing. Yeah. It was crazy. But I watched that whole, whole season in, like, two weeks. [00:14:15] Speaker A: Damn. Yeah. Binging through shows. Binging through shows while working. If you're just. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:14:20] Speaker A: Like, I had. I had a parks and rec, like, grounds and maintenance crew where I was, like, cutting grass at a town park and, like, picking up the trash when I was in, like, early days of college. And we watched. I watched the entire series of Trailer Park Boys that summer. God. [00:14:33] Speaker B: Yeah. That's a lot of episodes. [00:14:34] Speaker A: I know. So I was. I worked a lot of hours. My 10, 50 an hour, you know? [00:14:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:39] Speaker A: You bust your ass, man. [00:14:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:41] Speaker A: So does something click in your mind that summer where you start taking trips up here? [00:14:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I was taking trips up here and just trying to figure out what my living situation was going to be in. And, I mean, all I was doing was coming back home. I was living with my parents. I wasn't spending any money. I was just trying to save up. [00:14:58] Speaker A: Isn't that a beautiful thing? Like, thank God for parents that let kids stay with them for. Yeah, that's how, you know you got a good family, man. [00:15:06] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. So did that. And I was taking trips up here back and forth while I'm trying to figure out who I was going to live with, where I was going to live, and wound up nailing down Brian Fuller. And we lived together for the first year, and that was a heck of a time. And we got a place here in Hermitage, right up the road, actually. [00:15:26] Speaker A: Was that. Was it the spot. Where was that? Albany? [00:15:31] Speaker B: No, it wasn't on Albany. That's where Tyler lived. [00:15:33] Speaker A: That's where Albany. Albany Drive, back in the day. Because I remember during COVID Brian Fuller lived with whales. Tony from Whale Tale Media, and I think Elijah Borders was with them, too. We used to have a lot of fun. [00:15:49] Speaker B: I've heard stories the. [00:15:50] Speaker A: The COVID parties were elite back in the day, bro. This was. This was pre Brian getting married, which. Love you, Katie. His wife Katie. Awesome. She's salt to the earth. And before whales really got. And he was just doing the content stuff at that point. But we had, like, release parties for everybody at that house. Like, Brian's good people and far apart. How far away are you guys from each other, like, growing up? Because he's in Statesboro. Right. [00:16:15] Speaker B: It's like three hours, two and a half, three hours. [00:16:17] Speaker A: The same type of region. [00:16:19] Speaker B: Yeah. You know It's. We all kind of grew up the same way, you know, sitting in. In trees, in the woods and. And just doing probably stuff that we can't talk about on this. [00:16:30] Speaker A: Drinking cold beer and riding dirt roads. [00:16:32] Speaker B: Exactly. You know, just. Just the typical things that country boys do. We. We grew up the same way doing all that and you know, we related a lot about that stuff and you know, talks we had, you know, late night hanging out and just talking about life kind of thing. Yeah. So that was great. Yeah. [00:16:51] Speaker A: So what year was it that you fully got up here was December 21st. Right at. To you start the year fresh in 22. Living here. And what were your thoughts initially? Because I remember you like taking it, taking it. [00:17:05] Speaker B: Eat. [00:17:05] Speaker A: Like when I first met you, you were. I was like, okay. Quiet kid. Has the look of a Georgia boy. Like you had your little flow. Actually, no, I think you were cleaned up in the back probably. Yeah, probably because you were coming out. That was when our Live Oak era was popping. [00:17:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:20] Speaker A: That was when Tuesdays and Sundays at Live Oak were jamming. [00:17:25] Speaker B: It's a place to be. I mean, I remember the first like outside the round that I ever saw had Dylan and Dylan had all the boys. I mean, Tyler, Brian was in. [00:17:35] Speaker A: That was in the round back then. That was pretty pre me and Nikki merging. That was when I was still tour. [00:17:40] Speaker B: Managing for Trey and that. I remember there being a freaking line to get in. Yeah. Outside I'm like, geez, like, you know, I'm glad I know somebody I can just slide in with. [00:17:49] Speaker A: Yeah. That was the whale tail. That was one of the whale tail takeovers because I think Ella played that night too. [00:17:55] Speaker B: Yep. [00:17:55] Speaker A: Because I was running. Hate me if you have to. Was starting to blow up. Those days were wild, man. So you come to town and you just get introduced to that. [00:18:05] Speaker B: Yeah. And you know, you kind of. I kind of got like brought into those guys crew and they're kind of like the older classmen, you know, whereas I'm a little bit younger than they are. But, you know, I got brought into that and they're all like at the point where they're starting to get a little bit of motion. And Dylan had a little bit more. But you know, those guys, they have stuff going on and I'm just kind of like, I have no clue what's going on. Just looking around like, you know what I do with my hands kind of. [00:18:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:33] Speaker B: But you know, it was great. And you know, I learned a lot of stuff pretty quick and met a lot of people pretty quick. And, you know, super thankful for that. [00:18:41] Speaker A: Yeah, man. And I think you. You learn how to be already, like, growing up. I'm sure you were. You've been one of our favorite, like, hangs. Like one of our favorite people to have around us, you know, like, and. But you learn kind of how the game works of going to the bars and not going down the Broadway all the time, but going down for sometimes, you know, like, especially because you moved up here around the same time as the Paxtons and the Connor Sweeney's and the Austin Snells and the Jake Gantz and Mac Eason's and, I mean, the Drew Taylor, like, the list. Logan Millwood, the list goes on and on and on of all the guys that moved up here. Right. When you did. [00:19:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:23] Speaker A: And your boys were playing on Broadway, so you would go see I never. [00:19:27] Speaker B: Monday nights at the Valentine's. [00:19:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, dude. I used to have. Because when I first moved here, I worked at Whiskey Row, so I knew a lot of the guys and girls that were playing on Broadway. So I did a lot of nights out where I was like, oh, mid. Let me go to Broadway and watch the homies play and just see what happens. [00:19:42] Speaker B: Yeah, that. Yeah. And that was a great time. [00:19:46] Speaker A: Yeah. What was it like coming up, like, with that crew? Like, just all you guys, Most of you from the Southeast. [00:19:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:53] Speaker A: Connors, Carolina. A lot of those guys are Georgia guys. Paxton coming from Mississippi, Connor coming from Kentucky. Like, a lot of you guys all kind of got here. But what was it like, kind of going through and learning how to do this thing with your buddies? [00:20:07] Speaker B: Well, it was kind of one of those things where, like, Paxton, he had been doing it for a lot longer than I had. Connor had been doing it for a lot longer than I had. So, like, they had their sets figured out. They had them nailed down. And so, like, it was one of those things where I enjoyed not just going out, you know, getting hammered with the boys, but, like, I enjoyed watching them perform their sets that they, like I said, I've nailed down. [00:20:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:30] Speaker B: So it's a great show. And, like, I learned so much from them, you know, more so than just hanging out and being boys with everybody. Like, I try to learn something from every situation that I wind up in. Yeah. Good or bad, you always learn something. [00:20:44] Speaker A: Yeah, you do. [00:20:45] Speaker B: But, man, it was great. And those boys, you know, mean so much in my life, for sure. I mean, we were. We were all together last night. We had a birthday celebration for like, five or six people in one, but we were together last night. And we're building a fire. And it was. Paxton said it. I think it was like, man, ain't it funny how, you know, used to. We all. Anytime we were all together, we were all at red door or something like that. Now we're, like, Trying to stay as far from town as possible. But, yeah, I mean, it was crazy times. [00:21:16] Speaker A: Yeah. And you and connor Had a little business of building bikes, right? [00:21:21] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:21:21] Speaker A: The back. Dirt bikes and whatever. Anything with a motor that kind of came in through the door. Right. [00:21:26] Speaker B: Yeah, we. You know, Connor. Connor's always. He is great with money. Not to talk about Connor's money, But. [00:21:33] Speaker A: He'S great with, like, he has a super. He has a business sense. [00:21:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, he does that. And I can fix, you know, Almost anything that's within reason, but. So we would just get stuff in. And we would just fix it and turn a profit off of it. We just go buy some beers. [00:21:51] Speaker A: And you'd shoot the. While you're, like, you become. You become brothers. While you're working on stuff together. And just, I'm sure, Got tunes. And you're showing him stuff that you wrote that week. And he's showing you stuff that he wrote that week, and you just. [00:22:03] Speaker B: Yep. [00:22:03] Speaker A: Hanging out, drinking bond. [00:22:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:06] Speaker A: How long did you guys do that for? Because I remember that being A pretty consistent thing there For a minute. Right. [00:22:10] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think it was just like us just having something to do. It was never really, like, a real thing, you know, it just kind of like, we fixed Aaron's bike. Yeah, he had that deal, I guess he still has to deal with kawasaki. And they gave him that little 110 or whatever. And it just sat in the storage unit here in town. And so the carburetor got all gummed up. And had to take it out and had to rejet everything. And, you know, got it running A little bit better Than it did before. But, you know, it's. We. We were just messing around. [00:22:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:42] Speaker B: Boys being boys. [00:22:43] Speaker A: That's awesome, man. And coming from. Where do you come from in south georgia? I always. I've. I. It's funny, because a lot of people Where I'm from Don't know the name statesboro, Georgia. Like, I. I've From. I've traveled around so much more. Than the average person from where I'm from. Or even the average person in nashville, where it's like, you can't tell the history. I know that you can't tell the history of country music without south Georgia. [00:23:08] Speaker B: Right. [00:23:08] Speaker A: Like, you really can't. And the Guys and girls that have come before you. I mean, the. The Luke Bryan's, the Dallas Davidsons, the Swindells, the Curringtons, the Now, like the Dylan Marlows and the Gavin Adcox and the Cole Goodwin's. Like, the list goes on and on and on of people, man. And it's. There's sad country songs in there, but it's. A lot of it is about having a good time with your people. [00:23:37] Speaker B: Like, oh, yeah. [00:23:39] Speaker A: What's it like being part of that. Being kind of part of that lineage of. And growing up listening to that stuff because, like, an FGL song's got to hit a little different for you. [00:23:47] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:23:48] Speaker A: Like you lived it. [00:23:48] Speaker B: Yeah, literally. I mean, that, you know, it makes you proud to be where from, where you're from. I mean, I, I, like you said, I lived everything about those songs that you hear. I mean, I just, you know, it resonates a little bit different for us. [00:24:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Rain is a good thing. Luke Bryan, like, right thing 2000s. Luke Bryan Aldean. Like Thomas Rhett. Like you. Growing up, I. It was like they romanticized that because growing up 30 minutes outside New York City, I didn't experience all those things, but I could figure out what they were talking about. But it had to be so cool. Like being in middle school, being in high school, growing up in that small town environment and having those songs to listen to, it's gonna make you fall in love with it. [00:24:31] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, man. It's. It's like it hits different. You know, people always ask me the one question, like, what's. What's your favorite country music singer? Like, what. Who's. Who do you look up to? And it's always been Luke Bryan. And I tell people, like, you know, I get shit for that all the time. But I'm like, it just. It makes so much sense because I lived that and it just. That's the life that I grew up doing. [00:24:52] Speaker A: All right, top five Luke Bryan songs. [00:24:55] Speaker B: I would say Blood Brothers is top five for sure. [00:24:58] Speaker A: You are a big fan. Those are some deep cuts. [00:25:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Deep cuts. Do I is one of my favorite. I think Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is my number one favorite. And let's see. Sand. I brought to the beach the spring break albums. Those phenomenal. [00:25:19] Speaker A: Those are some of Nikki T's favorite records of all time. Are those Spring break Luke Bryan records? [00:25:24] Speaker B: Yeah. My old Bronco. That's a great song too. I've always been a huge Bronco fan. Just those trucks are great. You can't beat them. And yeah. You know, any song that has a bronco in it, I'm all for it. Yeah. Yeah. [00:25:38] Speaker A: That's awesome, man. Do you feel like you've. Because you've been putting out music now for what, about a year? [00:25:44] Speaker B: Yeah. November will be a year since the first. First song came out. [00:25:48] Speaker A: A year in what. What took so long for you to want to do the artist thing? Like walk me through kind of that path. Because you've been here for a few years now. [00:25:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:57] Speaker A: But it took two or three years of you being here before the first release kind of comes out. [00:26:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I. December will be four years that I've been here. And I came here and I think I put out a song whenever I got here and, you know, everybody does that. But I never really wanted to do the artist thing. It just sounded like too much work. And I love, I love writing songs and putting pen to paper, but I kind of like coming home at the end of the day and relaxing and not having to do anything, you know, spending time with the dog, whatever. And so I was just like, yeah, whatever. You know, I can do this and I can go, you know, if I want to hear myself sing, I'll just sing on a demo, whatever. And I've never been super confident about singing or anything, and I'm just trying to figure that out now. But we signed publishing with Warner Chapel and they. I started singing on more demos and they're like, hey, like, we'll pay for some songs if you want to put some out. I was like, well, if you're paying, I'll play. [00:26:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:59] Speaker B: So, you know, we started doing it and it's been going great. I mean, everything we've done has been natural and pretty, pretty self sufficient, but everything's been going good and it's just been fun. It's. It's a new. It's a new adventure and I love doing new things that are cool and fun and especially when I get free hats every week, you know. You know, can't complain about getting free stuff. We used to go, do you know what the AG Expo is? Yes. So we used to go to the Expo every year and we would just all load up on whatever free stuff we could get. [00:27:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:30] Speaker B: You know, I feel like that's kind of, kind of flips over into this, like, man, I can sing some songs and get free clothes or whatever. But it's, it's been fun and it's, it's new and it's cool and it's just. We're having a good time with it. [00:27:42] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. And I'd say you're. You're doing a great job, especially early on, like, figuring. Figuring it out. Has the process changed now that you're putting out songs that you're writing versus writing for other people? [00:27:55] Speaker B: I would say yes and no. Like, sometimes I try to think harder about things now than I did before. Before I was just like, yeah, this sounds good. Like, you know, I think somebody else could sing this. You know, whatever, we'll write this down. Now I'm like, is that something I would say? Like, is that. Is that gonna make sense? Because I'm a perfectionist, so, like, I have to make sure everything is, you know, right in order and makes perfect sense. And now that it's like something that has my name on it, I'm like, okay, well, now this has got to be, you know, the best that it can possibly be. [00:28:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:29] Speaker B: So that's been a little bit more stressful to deal with, but it's. It's still, you know, it's new and it's fun and it's exciting. Yeah. [00:28:37] Speaker A: When did you. When do you think you figured out the songwriting thing? Because people move here wanting to write songs and. Yeah, it takes a little bit to learn. You got to find the right guys and girls that you like writing with. And you're growing every day, just like anything else. [00:28:50] Speaker B: Yeah, that's the number one thing, is growing every day. I'm still figuring it out. I had some. Somebody ask me. I think I was doing a tick tock live like last week, which is, you know, my absolute favorite thing to do ever. [00:29:05] Speaker A: Hey, I will say real quick, before you get into this, there was a girl that drove eight or nine hours because of one of those tick tock lives, man. It's a way to connect with fans before you're out on the road doing it. Before you can take your thing and play your songs for people you can play to anyone in the world. It's just. Just like fishing, man. You cast out a line, sometimes you get. Sometimes you don't get shit, but you still go fishing anyway. [00:29:29] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:29:29] Speaker A: You know, that's the way you got to look at it. [00:29:31] Speaker B: Seriously. That's exactly right. Yeah. And I do have to remind myself of that constantly. But, yeah, you know, doing that and just trying to get stuff out there and figure it all out. But yeah, it was that girl that drove nine hours is. That was. Blew my mind for sure. I never had that happen. That was awesome. She. She drove down from Iowa and came to watch the 25 minute set that we Played and, you know, took pictures and all that stuff. But it was awesome. She was. She was great. And, you know, we're all really appreciative of that, for sure. [00:30:08] Speaker A: Yeah, man. That's what the building of the fan base looks like. [00:30:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:12] Speaker A: And what have been some wild things that you've seen from. From being online now where you get messages or people listening from random places. Because you're from a very small town. Everybody knows everybody. You went to small, smaller colleges. Everybody kind of knows everybody. You have like your crew here, but have there been folks, like, international that have reached out or like, from random places where you're like, damn, I don't even know where that is. [00:30:38] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, you get a lot of message requests and. And I, like, will have to, like, remind myself to go look and try to like, you know, be as responsive as I can to try to, you know, message people back or comment back and stuff like that, because the algorithm reads that also. But I don't look at my phone a ton, but. But yeah, you go and you see these people reaching out. It's like, hey, you know, I love everything you're doing. Like, you're so great and like, we're rooting for you. All this stuff. And they could be from Montana, they could be from Maine, you know, or even out of the country. I mean, there was somebody from Brazil one time. They're like, hey, we're from South America. And like, you know, we saw your live and just want to say we loved it or whatever. And then you get the ones that are like, hey, do you need a sugar mama? Oh, it's like, absolutely. And then they ask for all your information and then, you know, that's not real. [00:31:27] Speaker A: Used to be the Nigerian prince thing that would get all of our grandparents on email threads back in the day. [00:31:33] Speaker B: Yep. And, you know, I. I will respond to those just in hopes one day it's real. It's like, you know, yeah, I'll take 500 a week. [00:31:41] Speaker A: Well, you've kind of been my sugar mama today because you brought me one of these things. You have one in here for you too. Oh, can you can walk me through this? Let's eat this. Yeah, I've eaten on. I've eaten food on here before, but never one of these. I've never had one of these. [00:31:54] Speaker B: Ah, well, this is one of those things that they get you with in the drive through Hardee's. [00:31:59] Speaker A: What was the deal? They were running on it because I run into drive through deals all the time. My girlfriend gets so Mad at me. [00:32:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So this, you know, it's just an apple pie. They fry them. They're super not healthy. [00:32:11] Speaker A: I'll do, like, the sugar and the cinnamon on, like, the outside of this thing. Oh, my God. [00:32:16] Speaker B: And so, you know, it's one of those. They go. You go through the drive through, and it's like, are you ordering with your mobile app? And I'm like, didn't know you guys had an app at Hardee's. Great news. Anyway, so I say no and put in my order, which is a ham biscuit with an extra piece of ham. And then Today I got Dr. Pepper. I normally get sweet tea. [00:32:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:39] Speaker B: And then they followed up with. Most places will say, do you want to round up for a donation? Yeah, not at Hardee's. They say, hey, two apple pies for $2. I'm like, well, yeah, you got me, for sure. So here we are with some apple pies. [00:32:54] Speaker A: That's awesome. So what do you just fucking. Just eat it? Like an empanada or something? [00:32:58] Speaker B: Just take a bite. [00:33:00] Speaker A: Oh, that is freaking good. [00:33:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I just got straight bread. [00:33:08] Speaker A: I got a little bit of that goodness in there. Yeah, that was the thing that coming from the north to the south, like, I had never been to Hardee's until I moved down here. [00:33:17] Speaker B: Oh, God, man. [00:33:18] Speaker A: We don't have. You guys have. Fast food is a. Is as much in culture as country music, killing deer, going to church, and eating Mexican food on Wednesdays. Like, it is. [00:33:30] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:33:31] Speaker A: It's the south right here, man. [00:33:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:34] Speaker A: Most good. I put it in that song, that Evan Rudin song that woke up. I could smell the hearty biscuit from a mile away. [00:33:41] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Hardee's was like. Like you said, it's like a religion. I mean, it's. Anywhere I go, I get Hardee's. Unless you go up north, then there's not Hardee's. [00:33:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:51] Speaker B: I learned one time, like I said, I get a ham biscuit. I was on the road with Drew Baldrige. I used to do some driving and some TM for him for just a few. [00:34:01] Speaker A: Oh, no way. I didn't know that. [00:34:02] Speaker B: Just a few things, you know, here and there. Love Drew. He's great, and he's having so much success right now, and I'm super proud of him. But we went to a Hardee's. I want to say it was in Illinois, and it was in a truck stop. [00:34:17] Speaker A: So the Love's Hardee's combo. [00:34:20] Speaker B: Hardee's combo. Yep. And we went in there, and I Order this ham biscuit. And I, you know, had. See if I can throw it everywhere. Yeah. I'd been driving pretty late into that night, and so the next morning, I was like, yes. I can't wait to get in here and get this biscuit. And it comes out and it's deli ham. [00:34:44] Speaker A: Oh, no. It's not country. [00:34:45] Speaker B: It's not the country ham. And I just looked at it for, like, five minutes. I was so upset about it, and I just. I was like, where am I? What is wrong with this country? It was awful, too. It was not any good. [00:35:01] Speaker A: That's what I think of. I see. When you were saying a ham biscuit, I was thinking it was deli ham. That's the ham. I know. [00:35:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:07] Speaker A: I'm not. I don't eat the country ham. Ham steaks. I mean, I'm not against it, but it's not something that's. [00:35:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:12] Speaker A: I think of, like, right back home, ham, egg, and cheese is. [00:35:17] Speaker B: We have. [00:35:17] Speaker A: Have you been to New York City before? [00:35:19] Speaker B: Nope. [00:35:20] Speaker A: Well, if you ever do go, I want to be there when you go. First of all. Second of all, the deli experience. And, like, the breakfast sandwiches. We don't have biscuits, but you get them on. You would never. That's what I wanted to bring up with you. We. You just had your first bagel. [00:35:35] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:35:35] Speaker A: You had never had a bagel. That's how Georgia pecan farmer you are. You had never had a damn bagel until what, like a month ago? [00:35:46] Speaker B: Yeah, it was, like, right at a month ago now, I think. Yeah. So I went to. You know, I was just thinking about it one day. I was like, my. My roommate, he'll eat them sometimes. He'll bring him back from home or whatever, and he's from North Carolina, but his grandma gets them from somewhere, and they're supposedly really good. And I never had one. And. And I was thinking about. I was like, I've never. I don't think I've ever had a bagel and, you know, throw up an Instagram story because you have to post every day. And, you know, I'm like, I've never had a bagel. And foam went crazy. [00:36:19] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sure. I was. I was. I think I sent you two or three messages. [00:36:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. The phone was. The whole afternoon, the phone was going crazy. And, you know, first of all, that just makes me want to throw it out the window even more. But people were like, oh, my God, like, how have you not had a bagel? You got to have this. Got to have that and I finally got a recommendation from Alex Klein, great writer here in town. [00:36:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:43] Speaker B: And she was like, you have to go. She was like, take it from me. I'm a Jew. Like, you know, she's like, you got to get this. These are the two places in town, and Benji's was one of them. So I recently went to Benji's one day after the gym and. And was like, today's the day. I was hungry. [00:37:00] Speaker A: Bagel after the gym, too. [00:37:02] Speaker B: After the gym. [00:37:03] Speaker A: Bagels are the northern version of this. [00:37:06] Speaker B: That makes sense. [00:37:07] Speaker A: Not good for you, but delicious. One bagel is equivalent to a half to a full loaf of bread that. [00:37:14] Speaker B: You know, checks out. They're pretty dense. [00:37:16] Speaker A: Yes, they are. To go to Benji's, go to Benji's. [00:37:19] Speaker B: I have no idea what I'm ordering. I don't know anything about bagels other than they're. They look like a donut, and they're dense bread. So anyways, I get in there, and I'm, like, trying to. Before I got in there, I was looking online at the menu to try to figure out, like, make sure I don't look like a, you know, super dumb ass in there trying to order. And I get in there, and this girl's got blue hair that I'm ordering from. [00:37:44] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:37:44] Speaker B: And so I'm like, means you're in. [00:37:45] Speaker A: The right place, brother. [00:37:46] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm like, all right, here we go. And that's, you know, a little bit out of my comfort zone, but it's. I went in there and was like, all right, I'm gonna have. I think it was the music row is what I got. So it's basically like a ham biscuit. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Kind of thing, but ham, egg, and cheese on a bagel? [00:38:03] Speaker B: Yeah, basically. And so I'm like, I'll have that. And she's like, okay, what kind of bagel do you want it on? I was like, what? [00:38:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:38:11] Speaker B: Like, there's different kinds of bagels. [00:38:12] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:38:13] Speaker B: But I was just ordering the sandwich, and I told her. I said I had to break it down. I was like, listen, never had a bagel before. I have no idea. She was like, well, the bagel that I would recommend you get this sandwich on, we don't have anymore. We're out. She was like, so I'll just give you one of these. And it was like, I don't even know what it was. I couldn't tell you. Wasn't great. It was. It was fine. But it wasn't. I was like, you know, and then somebody, I think My roommate Logan, he introduced me to everything bagels. [00:38:43] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, Everything. We put every. Everything. Seasoning up north is like the ranch down here. Like, we put it on everything. [00:38:50] Speaker B: And that was great. [00:38:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:52] Speaker B: Yeah, that was really good. So I'm going to have to go and retry it with the. The everything bagel, I guess it's called. [00:38:58] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. I mean, I had. Growing up. I grew up in suburbia, outside of new. Small county. It is. You would be surprised. Everybody thinks that I'm from like the city City. And it's like, it's small town, like suburb. Like, it's. I know it's definitely not the country, but it's not like Manhattan. So you had a lot of. A lot of stuff. You could walk to, like, neighborhood where it's like. Like being here in Hermitage. Like, you walk down the neighborhood, you go to the Walmart, you go to Nadine's. Like, it's very walkable. And we had nine bagel places within walking distance of my house. We had seven pizzerias. Like, seven. Seven pizza by the slice places, all within walking distance. And they all. There was enough. There were. They. They were all good enough to where they all survived. [00:39:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:40] Speaker A: You know, but it's like, you go into the bagels. We had one. Dude, we had a bakery. It was called Rockland Bakery. And you go in, you put a plastic glove on, and you go into the actual bakery and you pick out your bread. They have it all kind of laid out and they have the bagels coming off the conveyor belt. [00:39:56] Speaker B: Wow. [00:39:56] Speaker A: In the factory. Yeah. And then you take the bagel and you take it to the deli counter and they build you the sandwich with the piece of bread that you just hand picked. [00:40:03] Speaker B: See, where I came. Where I come from, if they have that, all the bread's just getting stolen. [00:40:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, no. Well, these guys. These guys had a hard time. I'm glad they survived. Covet. It's different up there now. Covid did a number. I'm glad I was down here in. In the south during that. But. But, yeah, big but. I used to fly bagels home. It was a big deal. Like, now it's like if you get a bowl of my mother's pasta, it's a big deal. It used to be when I was working on Broadway, if I gave. I didn't give you a bagel. And I worked with you at Whiskey Row. I did. It was taken as like a fence. Like, oh, brutal. Didn't give me a bagel. Well, him. [00:40:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:44] Speaker A: I used to Is I would. I would bring a checked bag strictly for bagels, and I'd bring back like, geez, a couple dozen bagels. Yeah, you put them in the freezer and then you just microwave them. And you got to get butter or cream cheese on it. I wouldn't go for breakfast sandwich right away. [00:40:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel like that was probably a bold move. [00:41:00] Speaker A: Yeah, but you're. You're a ham biscuit guy. [00:41:03] Speaker B: Ham biscuit guy. You know, I saw the ham on there and was like, this was a deli ham. [00:41:08] Speaker A: Or was it at least country? Okay. [00:41:10] Speaker B: It was a good ham. Yeah. Had a little salt on there. [00:41:14] Speaker A: Yeah. You got to get my. My order. The breakfast sandwiches are like spoken in letters back home. So there's like a bobo, a sobo, a hobo. You go to a deli and you say, I'll take a B, C SPK it means bacon, egg and cheese, salt, pepper, ketchup. [00:41:31] Speaker B: Because you gotta move smothered, covered and. [00:41:33] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. I've never thought of it like that. Yes, it is our smothered covered chunks. It is our Waffle House. I never thought of that. That's great that you just pointed that out. [00:41:45] Speaker B: Yep. That's my southern Alphabet. Right. There's a Waffle House. [00:41:49] Speaker A: Do you have a favorite Waffle House here in town? [00:41:51] Speaker B: Honestly, no. I've been to a few. And. Well, when I lived out in Bellevue, I would go at like 2am when I was coming back from town. Yeah, I'd go to the Waffle House right there off the Bellevue. [00:42:03] Speaker A: That's a good one. [00:42:04] Speaker B: That one is good. And I'd just get side of bacon and some coffee and sit there and just kind of listen in to whatever was being said in there. Yeah, that's probably the better one that I've had. [00:42:16] Speaker A: What's the wildest thing you've seen at a Waffle House? And I've never. I never go to Waffle Houses during the day. For me, it's. It's a. If the sun's out, I ain't going to. I want to go when the creatures are out. [00:42:27] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's the time to be there. That's for sure. We had a. There was Waffle House in Ramerton back in Valdosta, which. Ramerton is a city inside of a city. Makes no sense. And the worst policing like you'll ever see. Also, that is the place to get a DUI 100. I've been pulled over there. Yeah. But. Yeah, so Ramerton, there's Waffle House. And if you don't like fights or people getting shot at. Don't go there. Oh, food's great. Yeah, food is immaculate. [00:43:01] Speaker A: I used to go to the Antioch Waffle House, bro. I saw some things. [00:43:06] Speaker B: So, yeah, it's probably really similar when. [00:43:08] Speaker A: You go with an instigator like Trey Lewis hasn't had a drop of alcohol since 2007. He's coming up on the 19 years now that he's been off the sauce, but it's like he still likes to instigate and poke the bear where he won't get involved, but he'll just escalate the situation. [00:43:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:43:25] Speaker A: Damn, man. We're in some random town in middle of Arkansas. Don't be starting stuff. Trey. [00:43:30] Speaker B: Trey's like, hey, man, that guy over there said he'd whoop your ass. [00:43:34] Speaker A: What? [00:43:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, man, I like, I like making fun like that too. [00:43:40] Speaker A: Yeah, man, it's fun to just stir. [00:43:42] Speaker B: If there's stir the sauce, there's nothing going on. You might as well make something go on. [00:43:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:47] Speaker B: You know, dinner and a show. You don't go to Waffle House for nothing. [00:43:50] Speaker A: Internet show. It's like you go to, you go to certain places, you go to. To a Hooters or a Tilted Kilt for the ambulance. You go to Walmart. You go to Waffle House for the ambiance. [00:43:58] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. [00:44:00] Speaker A: You go to Waffle House. You don't go to Huddle House because that's just blasphemy. Yeah, I'm not a Huddle House guy. [00:44:04] Speaker B: Well, in my hometown we had a. [00:44:06] Speaker A: Huddle House versus didn't have a waffle. Wow, that's small. Yeah, that's small. When you have a Huddle House instead of a waffle. That apple pie thing was good, by the way. [00:44:16] Speaker B: Dude, they're. [00:44:17] Speaker A: Feel free. Feel free. Feel free to eat it or. Yours is weird. [00:44:20] Speaker B: Yeah, all. I think all the like filling is down on this end. [00:44:23] Speaker A: Just bit the wrong side. [00:44:25] Speaker B: Just kind of gave me a bad vibe there, but the wrong side. [00:44:27] Speaker A: Well, let's talk about the music because we've gone like 40 something minutes just BSing, which I knew we were going to do, man. So you. So you've had. You've had five songs that have come out, right? I think it's five. Might be. Yeah, five. So you go back to the first one you put out, I Won't, which has been your biggest streaming one. [00:44:47] Speaker B: Yep. [00:44:47] Speaker A: And like when I think of like again that you're singing about the, the, the heartbreak kind of thing, but you're doing it in a fun Way, which to me is like, the most South Georgia thing ever when it comes to music. Let's talk about why that was the first one you wanted to do for your artist career. [00:45:05] Speaker B: That was, like, around the period of time we started writing songs that I was like, these are great songs, and, you know, felt really good about them. And I love the two guys that I wrote that with. Josh Greider and Kyle Schlanger. Great guys. And. And that song would just kind of. We had a group of songs that we picked, and that one just kind of felt like that should be the first song. [00:45:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:30] Speaker B: So that was really the whole thing to it. I mean, it's. It's a fun. It's a fun way to, like, introduce myself. It's. It's like, you know, the old saying is, like, it's like, hey, man, that don't mean I won't do it. Yeah. You know, whatever. And so that was the whole thing. It's like, you know, if the ex walks in this bar, don't mean I'm not gonna talk to her. Yeah. So that just felt like the. The right place to kick things. [00:45:52] Speaker A: You sing the heck out of it live. It's so you and the boys do a great job on that song. [00:45:56] Speaker B: It's so fun to. To play and perform and really just kind of get into. Yeah. [00:46:02] Speaker A: And then, sonically, you keep it kind of in that same type of vein with Gone Girl and hurt like that. [00:46:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, Gone Girl. We wrote that. Max King Cali prance to other members. [00:46:14] Speaker A: Of that crew that are great. We just had. We just did an episode with Cowie on here, and Max I've known forever. Pittsburgh boy. [00:46:20] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah. Oh, Joe Pretzels. [00:46:23] Speaker A: What I like to call Joe Pretzel. Where's he get that name? [00:46:26] Speaker B: Co Wetzel, but Joe Pretzel. Oh, yeah, that's his. That's his. His twin, Slivery. Look alike. Yeah. No, but I love Max. Max and I write together at least three times a month. [00:46:38] Speaker A: Wow. [00:46:38] Speaker B: Where, you know, that's. That's one of the guys that. We always get great songs. [00:46:42] Speaker A: Is it hard rounding up the crew to write with your guys? Especially when you. When you're in that where a lot of you guys have folks booking your calendars now. [00:46:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:51] Speaker A: Or is it. How is it transitioning from let's, let's get together, let's drink some beers, and let's write a song to. Yeah, I got to write with so and so. So and so who you don't know, and you got to reconfigure all the vulnerability with guys that are girls that don't know you. [00:47:06] Speaker B: Yeah, that. And to me, I've always been the kind of guy. My dad's a very business based guy and he's always told me don't do business with family or friends. And so I think about that a lot. And so I love hanging out with my friends and they all have great songs but I don't write with a lot of my friends. [00:47:23] Speaker A: Like really? [00:47:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:25] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:47:25] Speaker B: That's how my mind is wired and I just, I mean there's some of them like Max, Max. And I write all the time but there's just some guys that just don't like. [00:47:34] Speaker A: Have you written with Connor? [00:47:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I've written with all the guys at least a handful. A handful of times. It's not never like a personal thing. It's always just like a. That's how my mind is. Like. Yeah, I love spending time with those boys and when I'm spending time with those guys it's like I don't want to talk about music, just want to be separate. I just want to hang out. Yeah, that, that's, that's just how my mind works. And so I love the dating process of writing. Like with, with different people, you know, a new person every time. I love it. I don't know why, it just kind of, it feels new, exciting and cool. [00:48:07] Speaker A: What have been some of your favorite moments from that? Like people that have become like your, your co workers in a sense that you love writing songs. That's the way to look at it from your eyes of business and family being separate. [00:48:19] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah. You know, that's. You get these people that you, you spend time with in the room and you get to know those people in the room in a sense and some of them you get to know outside of that. But like I, I love knowing those people in the room and just being in that. Like you said earlier, it's a vulnerable moment. So like you know these people in a vulnerable situation and it's just kind of a, kind of a special thing. But it's, it's been great. [00:48:45] Speaker A: So who have some of those guys and girls been? Like the first date moments where you, you end up having more. [00:48:52] Speaker B: Yeah. So I actually had one, I think it was last week. It was. I had one where two brand new people in the room. So three of us had never written with each other. I think the other two had written once before but Whitney Duncan and Brinley Addington. [00:49:07] Speaker A: Oh, Brinley's a boss. [00:49:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Just had Just met him when I walked in to Smackdown. [00:49:13] Speaker A: Oh, gee. [00:49:14] Speaker B: And the. The atmosphere in the room was just perfect. It was great. Those two are amazing people. And, like, I was telling Sledge on the phone, I was like, I feel like Whitney could be my older sister. Like, it was just, like, a great vibe, great time, and, you know, they're two special people, so I'm excited to get back with them here in the near future. [00:49:33] Speaker A: That's awesome. You guys got a good song. [00:49:36] Speaker B: Sure did. [00:49:36] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:49:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:37] Speaker A: Hell, yeah, dude. And then you go to somewhere right now, which gone girl hurt like that somewhere right now you've put out this year. And then given in, which I love that that's a duet with another member of the. The. Not only the Georgia family, but the Razor Audi family with Avery Bielski. [00:49:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:57] Speaker A: What made you want to do that as a duet, and what was kind of the story behind that song? [00:50:02] Speaker B: Well, it's actually. So Avery and I wrote that together with Marty James, and it was the first time that we had ever written. It's one of those things where, you know, you talk about. It's like, yeah, like, we're gonna get dates. We're gonna get dates and somebody else in one. And then nobody responds. Then I'll send dates, and then nobody responds. So it's like, back and forth for so long. And finally I was like, avery, let's plan it right now. Like, we're not walking away until we get something down. So that was the first time we wrote, and we went in and. And I think it was her idea. And I was like, well, let's. Let's run with it. And, you know, if it sounds cool, it sounds cool. And we were like, this kind of sounds like it could be a duet. And so we wrote it that way. And that's how. I mean, I think it took us an hour and a half to write the song. Wow. [00:50:42] Speaker A: It was quick. [00:50:43] Speaker B: It was quick, easy. We went in, sang it in a key that did not work, sang the demo down, and then went back in. We're like, hey, we need to fix this, and got it in the right key. And we're like, hey, this is actually really great. So we. I was like, well, you know, I'm cutting songs right now. You know, you want to be a part of it. I'd love to have you on it. And so here it is. [00:51:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's cool when she's starting out similar where she moved here and was doing the songwriting thing, and I remember having the conversation with. With her with me and Nick. And she was like, yeah, I'm just trying for a pub deal. And Nikki T Looked at her and was like, oh, honey, you're an artist. Like, you're gonna be singing. So it's cool for you two to be doing a song together. And it was special when you guys got to sing it together at. At Odies. [00:51:29] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. We. It's. You know, we've never rehearsed that song. We've just always kind of like, yeah, we'll play it and then we'll see how it goes. [00:51:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:51:37] Speaker B: So it. You know, it's. It's been fun, and it's. It's super special to get to do it with a friend. [00:51:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So now five songs in. Do you feel like you're starting to find your sound of where you're going? [00:51:48] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, Yeah. I think then we've got a pretty good idea of where we're about to head. We're. We're getting songs together right now for another batch. [00:51:57] Speaker A: I'll put me in demo jail, brother. Yeah, send them to me. [00:51:59] Speaker B: I'll have to. We're. We're getting some stuff together that we're super proud of, and we've kind of nailed down a sound that we're chasing after right now that is just. It feels great, feels natural, and it just feels like who I am, so. [00:52:11] Speaker A: And now you have a great champion in your corner. [00:52:14] Speaker B: Oh, God, yes. [00:52:14] Speaker A: In sledge. [00:52:15] Speaker B: Yep. [00:52:16] Speaker A: And she is incredible, and I love that I got to be a part. A small part of the origin story. She makes it sound like I'm a huge part. Yeah. But I mean, I guess in some regards. But you were playing Bama Bash with us. [00:52:30] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:52:31] Speaker A: So I guess kind of tell that night from your point of view. [00:52:35] Speaker B: Well, it was blurry. [00:52:36] Speaker A: Yeah, of course it was. Late night at the floor of AM on the shackle for the lane boys were closing us out. [00:52:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And I don't think I'd worn shoes the entire week or weekend. Yeah. It was me and Connor Hicks. We were on stage, sunglasses on, hats backwards. I think it was Will Shackford. He was. He was like, hey, do y' all know the words to Good directions? And we were like, yeah. Lights on, nobody home. So, you know, we get up there and we're trying to sing it, and I can't remember any of the words. Connor doesn't know the words. And we're just up there mumbling. I'm like, meline showed me a video where I don't have any shoes on. And, like, I'M standing on my tiptoes up there, just, like, raising my foot up and down. [00:53:22] Speaker A: I want to see if I have any video. Keep going. I want to see if I have any from Bam. [00:53:26] Speaker B: Oh, man. Yeah. So we're up there, and we're mumbling through this song, and the girls are in the front row going absolutely buck wild. Yeah, dude, they were loving it. No clue why, but they were eating it up. And so, you know, I'm trying to, you know, holler at all the girls that I can while I'm up there. And so we go side stage after, you know, an attempt at the song, and the next thing I hear and see is you, like, yelling at me and, like, waving me down. I'm like, oh, shit, I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. And you're like, hey, I got somebody you have to meet. And so, you know, you pulled us over there and introduced. He's like, showed me the message where Sledge had messaged you on Instagram or something like that. And, yeah, you introduced us. And, you know, from there, it just kind of went uphill. [00:54:16] Speaker A: Yeah, dude, I have videos from that night. I don't have that exact moment. I have you arm wrestling some random guy. [00:54:22] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. [00:54:24] Speaker A: Which funny story about that. There's the legend of Riley Green breaking a dude's arm. Yeah. At the floor. [00:54:28] Speaker B: That's why I don't wrestle anymore, dude. [00:54:31] Speaker A: That was such a. Such a fun time, like. [00:54:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:36] Speaker A: And my favorite part of that weekend was at the. At the band house. Late night. [00:54:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:43] Speaker A: And we're hanging out. Davis Nicks is in there, and Riley Anderson's in there, and Joe Fortner's in there. And we're just passing the guitar around. [00:54:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:54] Speaker A: And everybody's drinking. Everybody's smoking. Georgia and Kentucky were playing that night. Steven Connor were going at it. [00:55:00] Speaker B: It was. [00:55:01] Speaker A: You guys were jumping into the damn bay and swimming around, and I was like, the New Yorker me. Like, there's got to be sharks in there. Don't freaking do that. The tour manager and he was like, you few heathens, you know, get out of the pool. We're not even the pool. You're in the damn bay. [00:55:17] Speaker B: Yeah, there was definitely sharks in there, for sure. Yeah. I remember watching the game and, like, standing on the table in there. Yeah. You know, hands on my head, like, freaking out because we're losing. I mean, we won by one point. [00:55:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:32] Speaker B: That night. So. [00:55:33] Speaker A: Oh, here's a great one of you boys drinking your. Drinking your. What do you have in your hand? You've got, you've got something else. But you and Connor back in. This was beautiful, like the sunset. Look at this romantic photo just hanging out, man. [00:55:50] Speaker B: Yep. [00:55:51] Speaker A: And that was, that was a little over a year ago, which is what's crazy. Yeah, that was September 12, 2024. And Anna McElroy took that picture. And that was also Landon Smith's 21st birthday. [00:56:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it was. Remember that was the first night I'd met Landon. Yeah. [00:56:05] Speaker A: And he's another guy that's from. He's from McDonough, so a little north of you, but part of that Statesboro. [00:56:12] Speaker B: Oh yeah. [00:56:12] Speaker A: Lineage. [00:56:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:14] Speaker A: And his parents were down there. And remember there was the hurricane in Louisiana and there were all those LSU people there. [00:56:20] Speaker B: Yep. And they were rowdy. [00:56:22] Speaker A: Everybody from Louisiana. I guess that's like the trick is when, when you, when there's a hurricane coming, they just go to the Bama. [00:56:29] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. I mean that's what it seems like. I mean we were talking to some man. Connor were talking to somebody like during the day. And now Connor and I started drinking beer. Halfway from Nashville to down there, all the way down. So the whole weekend was just. Probably shouldn't have talked to anybody but we were talking to somebody and they're like, yeah, well you know, it doesn't rain in the bar kind of thing. And so, you know, we've each written that song a few times but you know, just people were just coming over from, from getting out of the weather and stuff. So yeah, there was some rowdy people in there. It was. [00:57:01] Speaker A: And that was a sad. That was a. We got there Friday and the, our events were that Saturday and Sunday. Yeah, because I remember, I remember college football being on then NFL football being on and it, yeah. It being a hazy Monday getting back, even for a guy like me who don't drink. [00:57:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:16] Speaker A: You know, I was 420 in it. But we were, we were having a. We were having a good, a good time down there. Like. [00:57:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:24] Speaker A: And then Key West. One of the first times I remember like really hanging with you was the Key West Saunders Festival. It had to be what, like three years ago. [00:57:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Because I didn't go last year. It might have been two years ago. I think it was three years ago. It was our first time in that Airbnb. So when me and Nikki T. Were each on the twin beds upstairs, Ike was there. I forget if Jerry was there. One year we brought Jerry and Jerry just lived on the pull out couch downstairs. But I remember having you and I think it was Anna and Cassidy and, And Max and Cali and like, I remember you coming over and playing in that little back porch that we had. [00:58:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:03] Speaker A: You know. [00:58:04] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah, I. I didn't go this past year. [00:58:07] Speaker A: A lot of people didn't. [00:58:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I was at. [00:58:10] Speaker A: We were at a festival. I was in. I was at a festival called Cat Fry, which is where they eat the castrated bowl. Oh, wow. Balls. Yeah, they fry them and they eat them like Rocky Mountain oysters. [00:58:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:20] Speaker A: So I was there working me. We were out there at that festival. [00:58:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:23] Speaker A: And now I don't know if we're going this year. I don't know what we're doing that weekend now. But Key west seemed like it's. It's a fun time down there. [00:58:32] Speaker B: It's a great time. [00:58:32] Speaker A: It's an expensive time. [00:58:34] Speaker B: It's an expensive time. And the. Like I said, I didn't go this past year, but the year Prior, I think 20, 24 year I went and I had just sold a dirt bike that I had and I had like four grand in my pocket and then the next day flew out to Key west for the Songwriters Festival. And I spent every last dime of it down there, every last time of it and had a great time, you know. Yeah. [00:59:01] Speaker A: You played one of our happy hours. [00:59:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:59:03] Speaker A: And you were at Island Dogs a bunch, like during the day. It's just, it's such a fun time of seeing everybody and you have different classes. Like, you're talking about Brinley and it's like Brinley's been going to that thing since back when you and I were in high school, you know, like he's og. OG with like Joey Hyde and Tyler Reeve and Ryan Hurd and like that whole crew. [00:59:24] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. And it's like, you know, it's. God, it's such a crazy time just thinking back about it. [00:59:32] Speaker A: And it's good and it's good networking, but then at the same time you're like, I don't. I could spend maybe that four grand over a two month period going out to Red Door, right? [00:59:42] Speaker B: Yeah. And then you, you know, I. I had at least two dozen oysters with every meal. [00:59:48] Speaker A: Oh, you were balling. [00:59:49] Speaker B: I was balling. I was just absolutely eating, drinking like a king. Wasn't holding anything back. I was like, you know what? I'm here. I rented the fastest scooter on the island. [00:59:59] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, you were scooting? [01:00:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, yeah, Yeah. [01:00:02] Speaker A: I wonder if I have any QS pictures from back in the day. Dude, sorry to be pulling up all These. Damn, they're good. They're good memories, man. Oh, yeah, they're good memories. I love that Mickey T. Always laughs about the pictures that I take when we're down at different things because. Oh, who's that? There's some guy just passed out. You never know what you're gonna find when you go to the old Key west folder. That was when Ike and Nikki T. Used to party hard down in keyword. This year's been. He's been setting it off more. He goes like, a little boozy. Like, let's set this thing off. Set this thing off. That's been like his rally song for this year, you know, like. Like a few years ago, my buddy Tyler, who's out with. Funny enough, he's out with. With Tyler Braden now, he used to be on the Muscadine gig with me, and his song was. If he heard the Mo Bamba, he would just black out. And that was like. That was like five, six. That was like five, six, seven. [01:00:51] Speaker B: Seven. [01:00:51] Speaker A: Seven years ago when I first moved here. But Nikki T's song has been. Set it off this year. [01:00:56] Speaker B: Fair enough. [01:00:57] Speaker A: And he's been setting it off, and. [01:00:59] Speaker B: Sometimes you got to. [01:01:00] Speaker A: Yeah, well, this year. Well, when you have a partner like Surfside, you. [01:01:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, yeah. [01:01:04] Speaker A: They're a party man. [01:01:05] Speaker B: Yeah, you have to. You know, you hear that certain song and you get these. These things are so good. [01:01:10] Speaker A: Yeah, you're gonna crack that open. We're coming up. We're at 11 now. [01:01:14] Speaker B: Oh, we're at 11. [01:01:15] Speaker A: We're at 11 o'. Clock. Just have one. Yeah, you know, just have one. And I made sure to give you the iced tea because you're. What is it about the iced tea? Are you just more of an iced tea guy than a lemonade guy? [01:01:24] Speaker B: Yeah, the lemonade just. It's too acidic. It hurts my stomach. [01:01:27] Speaker A: Okay. [01:01:28] Speaker B: I only drank, like, one. [01:01:30] Speaker A: Or the iced teas. [01:01:31] Speaker B: Iced teas. You're a guy that drank. [01:01:33] Speaker A: Drank lots of tea in your life. [01:01:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. That's about the only thing I keep in my fridge. [01:01:38] Speaker A: You know what's crazy? For a little fun, Insider fact, shout out to the king of depletions, Brandon Berman, their director of corporate partnerships. We were on a little retreat, if you will, up in the great state of New Jersey with them early in September. And we were just kind of hanging out, and he was, like, going through, like, different numbers of where Surfside sold really well. You know where the number one place is that Surfside is sold in the state of Georgia. [01:02:02] Speaker B: Where's that? [01:02:02] Speaker A: Statesboro and the numbers just make sense. And the number one and two bars in the state of Georgia are the Blue room and Dingus McGee's. [01:02:10] Speaker B: Of course they are. Some things just make sense. I get nauseous hearing the name Statesboro. It's just the amount of times that I've been there. [01:02:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:19] Speaker B: Just. [01:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Last time I was there. We almost went this past week for the Gavin. The Gavin show. Cuz we went to his last show at the Blue Room that he had done. It was like two years ago. [01:02:30] Speaker B: I'm sure that was insanity. [01:02:32] Speaker A: And the Blue Room holds a special place in my heart. Cuz when. When Ddid first came out, Trey was playing that place as a cover gig. Trey was playing the Blue Room. The Blue Room and Barrel House in Savannah. He was playing that. I think he was playing each of them like twice a month. So he, him and the guy, him and Terry and McElwain. And they would go and play the four hour cover slot on a Friday. They play like Friday or Saturday after a game down in Statesboro. And Ddid comes out, does what it does. And he had that on the calendar as covered gigs and he had to adjust them to 90 minute sets and play originals. Yeah, that was my first weekend on the road with Trey. It was my first time in Statesboro, was Trey Bonner's first time in Statesboro. Me and Bonner drove down separate. My Chevy Equinox that I had at the time. I was driving an Equinox, bro. My mom car. And so ever since then, it's always held like I had my 20. Would have been 25th birthday, I think. Or no, it'll be 26th birthday. Was in Statesboro. Had a hell of a time, you know, like we would hit that all the time. But yeah, that Gavin show and little Landon Smith opened up acoustic and people were throwing stuff and there were fights breaking out during Landon's acoustic set before Gavin, like. And I remember Nikki T. Looking at me and saying, hey, do we want to go down the pit? Like, no, bro, we're gonna stay here. This is John, he's the sound guy. He's gonna smoke some cigarettes. I'm probably gonna bum one or two off of him. And we're gonna stand right here in front of house and just look out from front of house. We're gonna be. Yeah, we're gonna be out of the splash zone. Ike, you go wherever you want to with your camera. Be careful. Here's a bag to cover your camera. [01:04:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:09] Speaker A: And I. I love Bridwell and Al Chapman. And. And the guys that run that joint, because it is a legacy spot. [01:04:17] Speaker B: Everybody knows what the Blue Room is. Yeah, there's not many people that don't. [01:04:21] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. And for Gavin to put thousands of people outside in the parking lot, and that's where his origin story started, with climbing out on top of that bus and ended up on espn. You probably remember when that happened. Yeah, that was a big deal. That was South Georgia on ESPN on SportsCenter, right? [01:04:36] Speaker B: Yeah. If it wasn't, you know, Vadosta High school football, it was Gavin Adcock, you know, chugging whiskey off the top of a bus. [01:04:43] Speaker A: Yeah, it's crazy, man. Yeah, it was. It was a while. It was a wild time. Have you played shows in Statesboro over the years? Have you gotten to go down there, do shows yet? [01:04:53] Speaker B: I played one at Southern Social. I believe it, like, right after it opened, and that's the only show I've played in state. [01:05:00] Speaker A: It's also funny how in Statesboro, you have so many guys coming up and doing it, but it's like, there's the Southern social crowd, and then there's the Blue Room crowd. [01:05:09] Speaker B: Totally different. [01:05:09] Speaker A: Gavin Adcock, Landon Smith, Blue Room guys. Cole Goodwin, Will Mosley, Southern social guys. It's funny how it's, like, different, you know? Yeah, it is the same kids. It's just two competing venues, you know? [01:05:24] Speaker B: Exactly. [01:05:25] Speaker A: And they're both a lot of fun. I've always been more of a Blue Room guy just from being with Trey and Muscadine. But Social is cool, too. It's just. You guys just love country music. Like, South Georgia, I think, loves country music more than any other section of the United States. I mean that wholeheartedly. [01:05:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I would agree. [01:05:41] Speaker A: Have you had people from South Georgia that are, like, coming up in the scene or even just the state of Georgia that have reached out to you now that you've been here for coming up on four years. [01:05:52] Speaker B: Yeah. I get messages from certain people. One guy that I'm glad. He's actually my roommate. He only lives with me, like, three days out of every month, but Derek Flowers. [01:06:01] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. I got introduced to Derek. That was another part of the Tyler Chambers tree. [01:06:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Yep. He's from Douglas, and Tyler's from Douglas also, which is, like, 45 minutes up the road from us. But Derek's great. Great voice. You know, you'd look at him and be like, he's not gonna sound like that. And he does. He's that guy. So I'm excited to see what Derek does and, you know, hopefully write Some more songs with him. [01:06:24] Speaker A: Yeah. That's awesome. Because it seems like there's different kids coming out of Georgia. Like, the kids that I'm. I've become close with have been like the Ethan Gardeners, the Ben Bates. I don't know if you know crazy Ben. [01:06:38] Speaker B: I don't know. [01:06:38] Speaker A: You and him would drink a lot of cold beer together. You would drink a lot of Surfside iced teas together. Like, you two together would be borderline problem. Great kid. One of Landon's buddies that still. I think he might have just graduated. And then Kate Beecher is another kid from. They're all going to school at Southern and coming up, you know, and it's like Landon is like a slight big brother, like a classmate to them, and it's like they're learning. It's just every now. Every year, there's a new set of guys coming up. Rep in South Georgia. [01:07:11] Speaker B: Yeah, all the time. I mean, it's kind of like us. You know, there's. There's always a class coming through. [01:07:16] Speaker A: Yeah. But it's like the fact that it's like a class. It's like a. If you look at it from, like, a sports perspective, which I always do, because that's how I started with media, was I wanted to be on espn. Like, I used to cover sports in New York. Like, that was what I did before getting into this country music world. And it's like you look at, like, the big high school football programs, and it's like South Georgia is that. And then you go to college in Nashville, and then you start touring and get your record deal, and that's when you're in, like, the major leagues. [01:07:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:43] Speaker A: You know. [01:07:44] Speaker B: Yep. [01:07:44] Speaker A: It's like the ultimate developmental program because there's so many places to play. [01:07:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:50] Speaker A: Like a Mexican restaurant, a barbecue joint, church. [01:07:53] Speaker B: Yep. [01:07:54] Speaker A: Any. [01:07:54] Speaker B: Always somewhere. [01:07:55] Speaker A: There's always somewhere to play. Like, you guys are spoiled in that regard. [01:08:00] Speaker B: You know, it's kind of like. Especially when I was coming up, you know, we still had the Blue Water. We still had Terminal south or the Gin, you know, back in the day. [01:08:09] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. God bless Tifton. Yeah, God bless Tifton. [01:08:12] Speaker B: That was my. Like, once I turned 18, that was my first official concert that I went to was Corey Smith at the Gin. [01:08:19] Speaker A: Oh, dude. That's like the most Georgia thing of all time. Yeah. [01:08:22] Speaker B: You can't beat that. But. But yeah. I mean, in. Those places don't exist anymore, which is unfortunate. And, you know, these kids don't get to experience those places. But, you know, I feel like those two were like the little brothers to the Blue Room kind of thing. [01:08:36] Speaker A: Yeah. But. [01:08:36] Speaker B: But those places are, are kind of getting a little bit fewer and far between now in the Deep south anyways. You know, there's still Blue Room in places like that. And. But the crazy bull that was in Macon. Right. That, that doesn't exist. Yeah. [01:08:50] Speaker A: When Rich passed away. [01:08:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:52] Speaker A: Which I got to go through there a number of times. That was. [01:08:54] Speaker B: That's a place. [01:08:55] Speaker A: My first weekend with Muscatine Bloodline 2019, we did Huntsville, Alabama and then we played at Brag Jam. We were like the closers of Black Jam on the. Of Black Jam. A Brag Jam on the inside stage. [01:09:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:07] Speaker A: And I remember being like, this place is wild. I'm like, this room has seen some stuff. [01:09:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:13] Speaker A: And then Josh Terry's doing his thing at the Hummingbird and Macon. [01:09:16] Speaker B: Oh really? [01:09:17] Speaker A: Where he. He was. I don't know if he's still doing it, but he had Zach Topp in that thing. He had Ashley Cook. He's had like all. I think his first, his first promoted show that he did with the Josh Terry podcast in Macon was with. Was with Trey Lewis. It was one of ours. And it was like a Sigs inside, narrow shotgun bar stage a little bit bigger than this table. It was like. Yeah, it's fun, man. There's just something about those honky tonks, man. [01:09:42] Speaker B: Can't beat them. [01:09:42] Speaker A: There's something about it. So what's something that you wish you would. What's something you would tell that kid that moves out like yourself, like going back four years ago, you're about to hit the four year mark, which congrats on that, man. Like I'm about to. I'm. I'm about to be hitting seven in like a week or two. It's like it's a tough town to stick around it like you have so many ups and downs. It's a place where you drink, you drink a lot of beers, but you have to keep focused and keep dialed in and everything. But what's something that you would tell that. That wide eyed kid that moved up here four years ago and tell younger. [01:10:18] Speaker B: You, you know, take it all in, but know your limits. You know, I've walked that line a lot and sometimes you kind of cross that line a little bit. So just be somebody you would want to have a beer with and know your limits. Yeah. [01:10:33] Speaker A: Amen. Amen. That you enjoying the our. Our rounds at the local and Odys. [01:10:39] Speaker B: I love the local. I spent a lot of time there at the local and me and Davis Loose, we used to go in there. They have their happy hours from 4 to 7 on Monday through Thursday. And then Friday's like 2 to 7 or something like that. But it used to be Dollar Bush light drafts, and we would spend $30 in there. And then they bumped it up because we drank so many of them. They weren't making any money off of it. But. But yeah, I love the local and everything. Sounds good in there. And especially glad to have you at Odyssey's. Yeah, you know, that's. It's such a huge difference. And, you know, no knock to any of the other places, but it's just. It's a better stage, better sound. Like, it's just. It's a better room. [01:11:18] Speaker A: Yeah. And the fact that there's a green room in there and. Yeah, I think it makes it more enjoyable for everybody that attends that's coming out to watch you guys play. [01:11:26] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. You know, you have the sounds not right in your face, you know, knocking you down. And you have to kind of talk of everybody in the corner kind of thing. Think it's all right there. And it's. It's. It's great. Yeah. [01:11:39] Speaker A: That's awesome. So what are we looking at? More music coming out. [01:11:42] Speaker B: You know, we have one more up our sleeve that we're kind of potentially thinking about just randomly dropping this year at some point. We're kind of looking at November, but it's kind of one of those things where it's like. It's a. It's a drinking song. It's fun. I got a really good buddy of mine on the song with me. Don't want to disclose that yet, but. [01:12:04] Speaker A: He'S tell me off the mic. [01:12:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, he's a good buddy. And we're excited about it. And we're. We're gonna film like, a music video kind of thing with it. So it's gonna be really fun and. But it's just gonna be one of those things where we're not gonna, like, advertise it until time. [01:12:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Just see what happens. [01:12:23] Speaker B: Just because it's so fun. Anybody that's heard the song already is like, this is. [01:12:28] Speaker A: I've probably heard you play it at. [01:12:30] Speaker B: Around. You probably have. And I don't do it often, but it's. It's fun. [01:12:34] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:12:35] Speaker A: That's awesome, man. Well, maybe you'll have to get down to Athens and, like, do the music video down at a tailgate. [01:12:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:12:40] Speaker A: If it's that much. [01:12:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah. [01:12:43] Speaker A: Just roll up on A tailgate somewhere. [01:12:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:12:46] Speaker A: Are you scared of Andy as a. [01:12:47] Speaker B: Georgia fan this year? Yeah, I am. You know, I've been a dog through thick and thin. You know, coming up, there's been a lot of heartbreak. [01:12:57] Speaker A: You remember the Mark Richt years, which had its good moments but also had. [01:13:00] Speaker B: A lot of bad moments. I remember them well. So this year, you know, I get a little bit more nervous than I have in the past few years, but you know, I think I am a Gunner Stockton fan. I've been a Gunner Stockton fan. [01:13:12] Speaker A: He looks like a Georgia quarterback. He looks like a rat boy. He looks like he'd be. He just. He looks like. He looks like he's hanging out at Generals when it's the off season. That's. He looks like a quarterback of. And the name Gunner Stock, I mean, yeah, it just. [01:13:27] Speaker B: It rolls off great. It's like, quarterback Gunner Stockton, University of Georgia. That's. Can't. It doesn't get better than that. [01:13:34] Speaker A: And then I asked you about one high level nerdy school. Are you scared of Georgia Tech, the only undefeated school in the state of Georgia right now? [01:13:41] Speaker B: No, I'm not scared of Georgia Tech. Nope. Not at all. I have an uncle who's a Georgia Tech fan and we were kind of giving it to each other back and forth this past weekend. [01:13:50] Speaker A: That game's going to mean a lot. [01:13:52] Speaker B: It is. [01:13:53] Speaker A: If Georgia Tech hold through and you guys hold through, that game's going to mean a lot going in the conference championship week. [01:13:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, it's. It's. That's going to be a big game. It's. It's a really important game. But I feel like, you know, dogs on top. [01:14:07] Speaker A: Okay. [01:14:08] Speaker B: Dogs by a million. [01:14:08] Speaker A: I'm going to have to hold that clip for. Yeah, hold that one. [01:14:13] Speaker B: That might come back to bite me in the ass. But, but hey, Dogs on top. I believe in it. [01:14:18] Speaker A: Hell yeah, dude. Well, hey, I appreciate you so much. Come on. Do we know the title? Can you at least give us the title? The song you're thinking of dropping. [01:14:24] Speaker B: I'll give you an acronym for it. [01:14:27] Speaker A: An acronym? [01:14:28] Speaker B: NDA. [01:14:29] Speaker A: NDA. Yes. I have heard this song. Yep, I have heard it. All right. Awesome, man. Well, y' all be sure to look up our man Justin Schools. It's still Justin Schools Music, right? [01:14:37] Speaker B: Justin Schools Official. [01:14:38] Speaker A: Justin School's Official. Are you ever Justin School's music or was it always beneficial? [01:14:42] Speaker B: I think it was music like way back when, but I think I changed it to official just cuz I'm an official. [01:14:51] Speaker A: All business. That's awesome. Well, hey, man, thanks for coming on hanging out. Thank you for the. Thank you for the apple pie. [01:14:58] Speaker B: Of course. [01:14:59] Speaker A: It was delicious. And y' all be sure to go check out Justin's music. Be on the lookout for more music next year for sure. But possibly a little, little NDA action. Oh, as I'm knocking over Garrett Cole right here and give him a follow jump on the Tick tock live. If you watch this episode, we like to know who's watching. Comment on a Justin Schools Tik Tok live and say that you watch the podcast episode. [01:15:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:26] Speaker A: What's a question? What should I what should I have them feel like we should comment a word. Oh, comment the phrase go dogs. Comment go dogs on the Tik Tok Live. And if you do, that'll be our sign that you watched this episode. [01:15:40] Speaker B: But do it with a question mark like go dogs question mark. That way we know though. [01:15:44] Speaker A: Yeah, CODOG's question mark. [01:15:46] Speaker B: That's and. And I'll respond with something back that I'll only respond to that with secret word. [01:15:52] Speaker A: Be. Be on. Be on a little secret basis with our man Justin Schools. But thank you guys for watching. Like I said, check out Justin's music. I'll be on the lookout for what's coming in 2026. Shout out to our friends from Surfside. No bubbles, no troubles. It ain't a seltzer, it's a surfside. They're taking over the world. Fastest growing can cocktail in the U.S. go see your local drinking watering hole and get a Surfside in your hand. Hot gu tea, the half and half, the green tea, the lemonade, they got it all. And for more on us visit raised rowdy.com for my man Justin Schools, I'm Matt Burrell. This has been outside the route. I ain't never been the kind for st one place for too long I ain't never been the best at sin I love love you to a girl I love Only got a couple tricks up 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. [01:17:01] Speaker B: Yeah.