Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:13 What's up everyone? Welcome back to the, in at the Round podcast. Yeah. Matt and Tyler still hanging with you. And we have with us a, what I would call a triple threat. A guy that does a little bit of everything in the music business, especially here in Nashville. He's producing people's songs and records. He's producing his own stuff, he's writing material and he's out on the road doing his thing and putting out great singles. It's our buddy Ross Copley Ross, how you doing? Good,
Speaker 2 00:00:36 Brother. How y'all doing, man? Doing great.
Speaker 1 00:00:38 It's later on in a, on a Wednesday night. We were just saying it, we're recording this around 11:00 PM uh, central time and it's like, it feels like six o'clock. Like you just get used to late nights.
Speaker 2 00:00:49 That's Nashville for you, man. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:00:51 It is. And some people I've heard from a lot from, like, a lot of people mentioned that they're most creative time when they're feeling the most creative. It's sometimes at one or two o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 2 00:00:59 I've had several of those nights. Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:01:01 For real. That's, that's how it is for me. You know, like that one to like 4:00 AM pocket is like my prime time, you know? Definitely,
Speaker 2 00:01:09 Definitely agree with you on that. You know, it just, when the magic happens, man. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:01:13 You know,
Speaker 3 00:01:14 I find that, I find that like nothing's around you to distract you. So like
Speaker 2 00:01:19 That's a good point, man.
Speaker 3 00:01:20 You can just like focus and everything's quiet. Everybody
Speaker 2 00:01:22 Else is asleep. There's phone calls, you don't have to worry about it. Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:01:25 Yeah. You don't have to worry about text. You don't have to worry about like, uh, you know, if your neighbors gonna hear you or anything like that, you know, everybody's asleep. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:01:33 Yeah. You got your own time now you're from North Carolina, which is a big trend. You Carolina boys have been doing a lot in this town for quite some time now.
Speaker 2 00:01:41 Yeah, Carolina, man, it's, it's, uh, I've, I've been seeing a lot of people, man. Just coming from, you know, north, I'm North Carolina, but there's definitely, you know, North Carolina, South Carolina, man, it's, it's been growing pretty, pretty steadily. Yes. Hoping to catch up with him. Georgia fellas, you know,
Speaker 1 00:01:53 <laugh>. Oh, oh yeah. That seems to be the goal of, of people that are, that are down here that are like, we wanna get to the level that the Georgia guys and the j and the Georgia girls are at now. When did you make the jump here? When did you make the move?
Speaker 2 00:02:03 Ah, God, man. Well, I've been coming here for probably about 12 years. Uh, you know, just weeks out of a month. But I think I moved here, I think it was, if I'm not mistaken, I think November of 2013 was when I officially moved here. Oh,
Speaker 3 00:02:16 Nice. I, so,
Speaker 2 00:02:18 Yeah, several years in town now, so, yeah.
Speaker 1 00:02:20 Yeah. You've been here, been here for a minute. What made you wanna make that jump from, from Carolina to Nashville? Well,
Speaker 2 00:02:26 You know, I was, I got mail. I was, like I said, I was coming out here like a week, a month, and then it gotta two weeks a month, then three weeks a month. And while we were on the road, but I was here every week, I was like, well, this is dumb to be staying in hotels. So it just, it made more sense to go ahead and fully move here, you know, the writing and everything. I'd picked up on every, you know, as far as new, new co-writes and, uh, there's just had a lot more reason to be here at that point. So, you know, just packed it up, came home.
Speaker 1 00:02:50 Yeah. What was that trip out here like? Where in Carolina are you from? You from
Speaker 2 00:02:53 Lexington? Uh, Lexington. Lexington. So kind of the triad area. Okay. So Right, right around Charlotte Little, you know, just a little right up 85
Speaker 3 00:03:00 You, uh, west, east North where?
Speaker 2 00:03:02 Kinda like the.in the middle.
Speaker 3 00:03:04 Okay, cool. <laugh>, I'm saying from Charlotte? No, I'm saying from Charlotte.
Speaker 2 00:03:07 Uh, Charlotte, just, uh, up north on 85, so,
Speaker 3 00:03:10 So near like Concord and all that kind of
Speaker 2 00:03:11 Stuff? Yeah, just above it. So I'm, I'm probably like 45 minutes above Charlotte. Cool.
Speaker 1 00:03:14 Alright. That's awesome.
Speaker 3 00:03:15 So, NASCAR country.
Speaker 2 00:03:16 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:03:18 Who's your driver?
Speaker 2 00:03:19 Well, you know, he is retired now, but it was Dale Jr. For a while, man. But, you know, I have to say, man, like I always, you know, I know a lot of people bash on it, but Kyle, you know, Kyle Bush, man, he drives like an old school driver. He does. So it was either, it was either Dale Jr or Kyle Bush, cuz you know, I was always a Dale Senior fan growing up, but, you know, that happened, you know, the, the, I grew up Reality fan. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 00:03:41 So yeah, that's, that that time period that Bacar was, was freaking just balls to the wall race. And now you come to Nashville and I know you can have a good time out in Carolina. You, Carolina boys have a good time at back in your Yes, sir. Back in your hometowns and getting into all kinds of stuff. First night out in Nashville.
Speaker 2 00:03:57 God, I even still remember that one. Man, that's, I, I pretty much think I, I consumed, you know, uh, not by choice, you know. Uh, but I pretty much consumed every bit of Jack Daniels, I think this town had to offer. So <laugh> that was, let's say, the night was great the next morning.
Speaker 1 00:04:15 Horrible. Midtown or downtown?
Speaker 2 00:04:17 Uh, both. Both, yeah. Alright. It was one of those nights,
Speaker 1 00:04:20 One of those nights where you start somewhere and you're like, we're not definitely not gonna end up here. And then, yes,
Speaker 2 00:04:25 It's like a ping pong game. You're just everywhere you could possibly go. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:04:29 That's wild, man. So what were your initial thoughts of Nashville when you moved here? Because obviously 2013 to now city's changed quite a bit. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:04:37 The city's definitely changed. I mean, it's, and for the good, I mean, there's a lot of great things coming, a lot of, you know, a lot of new people and a lot of great talent that's coming into town for sure. Um, you know, I've been, I've been fortunate to, uh, you know, catch up and meet a lot of these new guys coming in and, uh, you know, just, just like, uh, you know, the people I'm doing production stuff for on that side and, and as well as writing. So it's, it's, it's definitely, it's, it's a good change. I just wish the, uh, the roads would hold it a little better. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:05:02 Dude, that's something I, I gotta say, coming from the Northeast, like the Jersey Turnpike, I'm used, I'm used to driving on 10 lanes of highway. Yeah. Like, and, and I'm sure in Carolina there's bigger roads. Yeah. Middle Tennessee just, I don't think ever anticipated this <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:05:14 Two, two roads, one lane, then one way, one direction, one lane. The next, well,
Speaker 3 00:05:18 They say like, you know, Nashville is the biggest, smallest town in America.
Speaker 2 00:05:21 Ab I could absolutely see that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:05:23 Especially the fact that everybody knows everybody Yeah. Too. Which, which is Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:05:26 It's a, it's a, I I tell people all the time, it's a big town or a small town filled with a lot of, you know, just so many people from all over that it just, you know, it, it is, it kind of feels like high school, like, you know, everybody. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's constant. You see, you know, you go to any other city and you walk down the street and you don't know anybody here, you walk down the street and you're like, oh, hey, what's up man? Yeah. <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:05:49 Yeah. It's funny cause like you walk down Broadway and like, if you go between a block Yeah. Usually like, at least two or three people are gonna call out your name or know you. Like, if you walk in a bar, you're gonna know
Speaker 1 00:06:00 Somebody like it. And then in Midtown it didn't even tell you.
Speaker 2 00:06:03 That's, that's my spot, man. Yeah. I love
Speaker 1 00:06:05 Midtown. Where's your, where's your go-to place? Uh,
Speaker 2 00:06:07 Usually losers.
Speaker 1 00:06:08 Losers? Yeah. Okay. You're losers. See? Yeah. I enjoy Red Door a lot. Maybe. Well,
Speaker 2 00:06:12 I've kind of gotten where that's kind of like the, the end, the night spot.
Speaker 1 00:06:15 Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:06:16 It seems, it seems that's kind of starting to be the pattern. I don't
Speaker 3 00:06:18 Ever think I remember
Speaker 1 00:06:19 Red Door, no Red Door's. Usually the point in the night where you, you people say you were there and there's pictures maybe of you there with people, but you don't quite remember how you got there. Or
Speaker 2 00:06:28 It's, it's funny because you would think that the place that a lot of people in their night that they would actually have styrofoam cups, but they give you the big glass.
Speaker 1 00:06:33 Yeah. Like Yeah. <laugh> going out in style. Absolutely. That's now being that you do so many different things. What, what, um, in terms of performing, writing, producing now, what did you, how'd you get your start in music?
Speaker 2 00:06:49 Man? You know, I've, I've always kind of, as far as my start music, I, I was a drummer. Okay. Um, and, and I, I love drums. It's crazy. I, I stopped playing 14 years ago, and now with doing production, I've started, I've picked it back up and I'm like, yeah, hey, I'm hearing myself play drums again. I'm like, wow. I never thought I'd pick that back up, but, uh, yeah. But, you know, it's, it's one of those to where, you know, just, I, I playing drums, I got tired of carrying it around that that's the honest to Gods truth. I got tired of carrying it all around. Hey, dude. And, and everybody, you know, you'd be trying to carry stuff in. I mean, I was in a, a rock band, so we're playing smaller venues, but you're carrying things in and you look at your guys, Hey man, can you gimme a hand?
Speaker 2 00:07:26 They always, every time, but you chose the instrument. Ooh. Ooh. Yeah. And I said, you know what I was saying since I was a kid, what? I'm just angry one day. I'm like, what's the one thing I could do a microphone by? God that's easy to carry. <laugh>. So, so I, uh, you know, and that, I say that jokingly, I mean, I, I've always sank since I was a kid. And, uh, you know, I, I started off and then I, I went to Atlanta, Georgia, was down there for a couple of years, had a great time. Kind of cut my teeth down there. Um, what part of Atlanta? Uh, it was actually in, uh, a club called, uh, wild Bills and Duluth. Okay. So I was at Wild Bills, and then after my stint there, I went to Cowboys in Kennesaw, which is no longer, uh, no longer a venue, which actually neither of 'em are.
Speaker 2 00:08:02 Yeah. But, uh, but, you know, learned, learned a lot in my time there. And then decided at, you know, at my, towards the end of the stint at Cowboys in Kennesaw, I was like, you know what? I'm gonna, it's time for me to do my own thing. So I, uh, I just pretty much, I took some of the guys that I had played with that I, you know, were some of my best and greatest friends. I still love 'em to death to this day. And we, uh, threw things together in back in oh nine, and now we just hardened heavy, just, you know, road dogged is all you. Yes. But, uh, so it's, it's just been, man, it's, it's one of those where there's never always been just one like, oh, this is my only path into it. You know? It's like I said, it started with drums, you know, it got to a point where I was like, man, I just, you know, I felt like singing was kind of always calling my name and country as far as, even though, like I said, I played drums in a rock band. Yeah. Country is always where my voice was adapted to Garth Brooks, huge idol and inspiration of mine. And, uh, you know, now, now as far as time has progressed, you know, it's Keith Urban, those type guys. I mean, there's just so much that's evolved to where I'm like, damn man, these guys are killing it, man. So, yeah. So it's really, it's just, it's progressed into that side of it. So just rocking and rolling. So
Speaker 1 00:09:02 When was the first time you got behind a board and started producing?
Speaker 2 00:09:07 Honestly, and, and it's not to sound negative on things, but I just, I got tired of having demos and stuff done here in town to where it was just, everything sounded the same. And you, you know, you go from a work tape to, you go into a studio and they, they slam it out and they do a killer job with it, but you don't have enough time to listen to it, to go, I would do something different here. And after so much money spent, I, uh, I just got to a point I was like, man, I'm, I'm gonna learn to do this. Yeah. I have a good ear for things, you know, I watched some people and how they did stuff. Um, and I, I run off of logic. Okay. So, so it's, you know, and I, I love that program, but, uh, it's, it's made it to where it's, it's turned everything to, uh, just kind of making it where it's so unique because it's what I hear and what I've learned to do. But I just, like I said, I got, I got tired of just spending so much money Yeah. And time with things to where I was like, Hey, this is, this is a route to go.
Speaker 1 00:10:03 And it's turned into a, to a nice side of, of, for you. Like, it's, it's a business that Absolutely. Absolutely. Like, you're not just producing for yourself. You're producing, like, you're a known, you're a known guy in town.
Speaker 2 00:10:13 Yeah, man. It's, it's, it's amazing because I said I moved out here for the art, the artist side of it, and to do the writing and everything else. And it's just progressed where it's all of it now. And it's, you know, I wake up and I'm going, how did this, how did this come about? Like, it's all three now, and I've got guys coming to me and, you know, well, guys and girls both coming to me and we're, we're tracking stuff. And it makes me feel good from that standpoint to where, you know, I listen to what the artist wants and I, I, I've gotten to where, you know, I really try to take it in because I know the position they're in. And it was the same one that I was where I'm going, I have a vision. I want it to sound like this. And it didn't. So when I have people come to me, I really listen hard to 'em, and I'm like, and it's great when it's done and they go, this is exactly what I envisioned for this song to be. Yeah. And that's always, that's the best feeling in the world.
Speaker 3 00:10:59 Yeah, I was about to say, that is always an amazing feeling.
Speaker 2 00:11:01 Absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:11:02 You might've seen Tyler's smirk there. So me come from radio, my program of choice is Adobe Audition. That's what I was taught. <laugh>. That's what I was going, and again, that's not a music recorded program that's like, yeah. There
Speaker 2 00:11:11 Was no sponsorship. I didn't
Speaker 1 00:11:13 Get logic. No, no, no. But look what Tyler's running on his
Speaker 2 00:11:16 Computer. Absolutely. He
Speaker 1 00:11:17 Is always running Logic. And I'm like, damn man, why aren't an audition? He's like, man, logic is the way, logic is the way,
Speaker 3 00:11:22 Honestly, I've always been a Pro Tools guy. Yeah. The studio that I like grew up in was pro Tools based. I like all, I like flipping through both of 'em actually. Yeah. Because I feel like with the vocal editing and the midi control on Logic is a lot more user friendly than the stuff on, I mean, pro Tools
Speaker 2 00:11:39 Always the command controls. I see. Everybody has to have those. I feel like you have to take a college course, which I know they actually
Speaker 3 00:11:44 Do. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I mean, like, I actually, yeah, I went through college and like, it was one of those things where the professor was like, alright, you gotta learn all these commands. You can't do anything with a mouse. I'm actually unplugging it. And you're just like,
Speaker 2 00:11:55 Wait.
Speaker 3 00:11:55 Well, well, this will be fun, <laugh>. But you even had to figure out how to like, open it up with a mouse. Oh, God. Yeah. Yes. Or without a mouse. So like, yeah, no, it was, it was rough. But it, I mean, the
Speaker 2 00:12:07 Great part is that you can, you know, you can take stems from any of 'em and bring it in. Yeah. You just have to, as far as with, with Pro Tools, you gotta tell 'em, Hey, bounce it down. I run on logic. Right. Otherwise you get just the folder and go, where does this go? Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:12:20 Folders on folders on
Speaker 2 00:12:21 Folders. Oh my God.
Speaker 1 00:12:22 It's, and files on
Speaker 2 00:12:23 Folder. It's like, I don't know where that part goes. I'm just gonna have to figure it out somewhere down the line.
Speaker 1 00:12:26 Right. Yeah. Now we're rewinding back a little bit to the writing. When did you write your first song?
Speaker 2 00:12:31 Uh, first song? Like, let me rephrase this. Let me, let me ask this question. Are we talking first song that was a good song, or the first song
Speaker 1 00:12:38 First time you sat down and were like, let's write a song.
Speaker 2 00:12:42 Uh, 2007.
Speaker 1 00:12:46 Okay. So, nice. What made you want to go in and, and sit down and start, start doing the writing side? You were doing the Drum thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:12:54 It was, it was one of those, you know, I just, I knew with, with making the transition to being a front man, I was like, you know, I, this is part of it. You know, I, I wanna know why the words are on that I'm singing. I wanna know what those words mean. And it's, it's such a, it's such a part of the art overall. When you see something go from a blank canvas, just putting it down. Now I'm gonna go ahead and tell you that first song has not been heard by anybody. Yeah. But it was still, it was a completion start to finish. And that's kind of like any other process, like, you know, with, with production, with playing out on, you know, having a show put together. It's a process. It's not go, you're not starting out great, but you're gonna learn things from every time you do it. And you just constantly keep going. And if you com start it, complete it. Yeah. And if you complete it, it's, you're constantly just keep that in mind and you're gonna get better at everything you do.
Speaker 1 00:13:44 Yeah. What was that first co-writing experience like for you?
Speaker 2 00:13:48 Um, coming
Speaker 1 00:13:48 In, doing the artist thing now,
Speaker 2 00:13:50 The, the co-write experience kind of was overwhelming in the beginning because you have to keep in, keep in consideration and keep in mind that, uh, there's other visions being tossed around. And it's only, it's, it was a little bit overwhelming at first because they kind of, uh, big dogged me. Yeah. And, uh, needed to say it was, I learned real quick. Like, those were the only times I wrote with those people. But, uh, <laugh>, yeah. But it was, um, it was, you know, it was definitely, it was definitely a, a curve ball because you, like I said, you've got different opinions coming into things. And, uh, those, those songs still too, because I, it, it shut me down. Cause I felt like I was a small guy in there, like, Hey, I'm gonna look at these guys and see what they're, what they're going for.
Speaker 2 00:14:28 But it, uh, it had nothing. That was my ideas taken into account. And then I finally got to the point, I'm like, look, these are my strong suits and my strong points started speaking that up. And you're like, dude, hey, here's what I'm good at. And they go, oh, hey. So it's, it's always good. And now the guys I get in the room with, I'm like, look, it's the first time we've been together. Let's just hang. Yeah, let's hang for right now. Let's stop making it business and stop making it suit and tie. Let's have a good time. Get to know one another. We'll, we'll write something as we go. But it's more about making those bonds and connections with people. And that's the best songs that I've had come out, is when you actually know the people and you say, Hey, that's not gonna hurt their feelings. And be like, man, I'm not feeling that. Yeah. And it's, it's just, it's like I said, everything evolves. Start to finish. Complete it.
Speaker 3 00:15:10 Now, whenever you are in a writing room, what, uh, you, you mentioned this, like you said, you know, this is what I'm good at, this Summeral Yeah. Whenever you're writing, what comes first? You melody lyric beat?
Speaker 2 00:15:22 Um, I, I'm honestly like, I, I get just kind of, if somebody's playing something, I kind of start playing off of it as well, or if I have something, but it's, you hear what other guys are doing for me, I'm a melody guy. Like, I hear structure and melody all day long. And, uh, but even still, like I can, as any other writer, you can get kind of trapped in your own way of doing things. It's like a default mode. So I go in and I say, Hey, like, I want, I wanna hear y'all do some different things. And, uh, and it is, it's, I always look at like Bob Ross, you know, doing the paintings to where, you know, you want that, you want that happy tree in there, you know?
Speaker 1 00:15:54 Yes. Oh, you need that happy
Speaker 2 00:15:55 Tree. You've gotta have the Happy Tree with a little, uh, little Was it like Iceland blue or whatever it is that
Speaker 3 00:16:00 Is a, uh, hug Bob
Speaker 1 00:16:01 Ross fan. I'm an avid Bob Ross fan. Yes,
Speaker 2 00:16:03 Sir. Yes, sir. But, uh, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's just, I've always been the, the structure melody, and once we get the idea and the vision of where this, where we're going with it, I mean, I'm, I'm right there all day long. And I've, I mean, not saying that I haven't had the ideas where I've come up. Cause I mean, I've, I've taken several under rights where I'm like, Hey, I, I've got this, the hook here. This is what I'm thinking. And just, but I, if I see the story, it's done. Like, this is what we're going for, and we just, you know, shape it, mold it, however it needs to be. And then of course, like I said, I get my hands on on the production side, and that's where it's like, Hey, yeah, this is, this is Right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:16:39 Do you, do you feel like that, that, what does that feel like where you're, I'm guessing you're producing a lot of the stuff that you're writing, like you're writing, or at least getting demos out there and things like that. What is that like, having total control of the creative process? Really being able to be a mad scientist?
Speaker 2 00:16:53 It's, um, it's great. You know, and I, I told somebody a long time ago, uh, I say a long time ago, you know, Nashville years, a long time ago. It was like two weeks ago. But, uh, you know, I, uh, it's absolutely, yeah. I, I told another, another friend of mine that does production stuff as well, and he was producing his own stuff. And I, I made a comment to him. I was like, look, here's the smartest thing. And I, I keep to my own advice, you know, if you're, if you write something and even your production side of it, you can take it to one level, get it to the best possible level you can. And I like to have somebody else that I trust as a producer come in and I say, Hey, this is where my song is. This is where I hear it.
Speaker 2 00:17:30 Here's my plateau. Make it better. And from the production side, you know, I've got guys that come into me, and you could, you just climb the ladder all day long. But when I've got guys that come to me as far as with, with a work tape, and they tell me their ideas for it, it's, it's different than from my side where I'm the one writing the song because I hear it this way. I want somebody else's vision the same way that artist that comes to me has their ideas that they've got. And then I say, Hey, lemme put my spin on this. Yeah. So it's, you know, it's, it's just that whole, that whole, like I said, it's a ladder game. And I, that's, like I said earlier on, man, like I, that's why I love so much when I know what it's like being in that position, because I'm in that position to where you want that person to hear what you're saying, want it to be. Right. And, and like I said, production wise, for me, it's, it's the best feeling. It's as, it's as great of a feeling to me as a producer when people are like 100% pleased through the roof with what I've done for them than it is to where it's a song that I've written myself.
Speaker 1 00:18:31 Yeah. Yeah. No, and, and you hear that, you know that saying like, put yourself in someone else's shoes. Absolutely. Those other shoes for you are sitting right next, sitting right next.
Speaker 2 00:18:39 No, no kid, man. They're right there. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:18:40 They're right there. Like, you can slip because you,
Speaker 2 00:18:42 I just get on my slippers today, you know,
Speaker 1 00:18:45 <laugh> now talking about 2019. We're midway through the year right now. Absolutely. What were some of your goals coming into this year, and what do you got looking forward
Speaker 2 00:18:52 As far as coming into this year? Man, like we, um, you know, I've got my, my whole new project that I'm doing for, for years, I've gone, you know, under my name Ross Coley. Yes. This new project, it's taken a turn, but the turn for it has been what, what my vision has been all along. And, uh, you know, the, the sound of it, the, the drive behind the music, and it's rebranded under just the name Copley, which is, you know, yeah, I noticed that. Yeah. So, so it's just, everything's under Copley. Um, but it's, it's much more, you know, you go through your years of trying to figure out who you are, what your sound is. And for me, this, this project 2019 coming into it, we're, we're getting everything wrapped up on it right now. And man, it's the best material that I've ever written.
Speaker 2 00:19:34 Awesome. The sound of it is eving I've ever wanted it to be. And I'm just, I'm so stoked for people to hear it and for it to come out and, you know, it's like, it's like having a car with a fresh paint job on it. Yeah. You know, it's like, Hey, this is what it needed to be. Yeah. So, so I'm, I'm stoked on it, but 2019 coming into it, uh, we started off just kind of getting the ball rolling on it, released the first single rush summertime we just put out till summer comes along. Yep. Um, both of them iTunes, Spotify. Yeah. Uh, like said just under Copley, C O P P L E Y <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:20:03 Yeah. Dude, we've been, we, we've been jamming to him here. And, and obviously the guys that I live with, living with Ethan, and, and we hear music all the time, dude. And, and it's cool because with your stuff coming from that rock background, I'm a huge Brantley Gilbert. Yeah. I'm a huge fan of like, that rocking style country. And that's something that you, you bring to the table, but also like that melodic, those hooks are still there of what you get in today's like, overproduced stuff. But it's not a hundred. It's, it's different,
Speaker 2 00:20:28 Man. Dude, I'm a six foot two guy. I, I can't go out and sing pop country. And it's not that I don't respect the hell outta what those guys are doing because it's awesome, but it's just, I can't do that. And it's not never been my style. I appreciate every aspect of music, but for me, having the background that I came from, knowing what I kind of get my drive from, that's always been my goal, is to have that edgy style stuff. And the best way that I've been able to describe it to people when talking to 'em and they go, wow, that's spot on. I said, if you were to think early, Chris Daultry meets Keith Urban, put 'em in a pot, stirum up and put white snake solos on top of it. There you got Copley. That's, that's Copley all day long. So
Speaker 1 00:21:07 Those are some influences right there. Hey,
Speaker 2 00:21:09 Man, I said I got, I got some, some wide, some wide backgrounds.
Speaker 1 00:21:12 Yeah. Now talking about getting into, getting into, into like the real, like countryside of things. What was the first like country song you heard and you were like, I dig country music
Speaker 2 00:21:21 And going down to the sun comes up.
Speaker 1 00:21:23 Oh, that's a heavy Garth Brooks one. Yeah. Like, that's just going balls to the wall. Have you seen Garth Live? I have. How good is that show? Oh my
Speaker 2 00:21:31 God, man, <laugh>. You know, that's, that's been, that's been one of my things and one of my goals that I've always aspired for is to, to meet Garth and actually just have a conversation with him. Yeah. And, and you know, and it's one of those, you know, they always say, you know, oh, if you meet your idols, you know, it might get knocked down. But I, I actually ran into his guitar player one night and we got talking and he was like, man, everything that you, he asked me what my visions were as far as how I perceive Garth to be. And as soon as I told him, I was like, man, I just, what you see was like, well, let me tell you what you see is what you get with him. And that made me feel so good, because I have met people before that are, they are let down. Yes. Because you build such an expectation up, and then it's just like, oh, bummer. But, you know, if, if I could just have a, you know, have the opportunity to just sit down and talk with it, be like, man, you are the reason that I started doing this. This is, this is what got it into it. Now granted, on that other side, my first country concert was Vince Gi
Speaker 1 00:22:23 Ooh. That's
Speaker 2 00:22:24 One of my heroes. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:22:25 Yeah. Vince, Vince Gill and Garth broke. Yeah. See, that's what I get jealous about. I like, I'm, I'm 24 and my era of country beat me. Granted, I grew up on like Yeah, the first Tim McGraw greatest Hits album was in like 99. Don't
Speaker 2 00:22:36 Take the
Speaker 1 00:22:37 Girl. Exactly. Uh, but you got to grow up with like Garth and his prime. Yeah. Vince Gill doing the damn thing. Alan Jackson was kind, Shenandoah, Alabama, Travis, Travis, Travis Trt, who, who was just awesome. Like, oh yeah, you grew up in that era, that nineties golden era of country into the early two thousands. Yeah. I'm jealous of, of guys and girls like you because, and again, I love today's today's country and stuff, and, and coming from the radio background, but that was just such a, a
Speaker 2 00:23:03 Power. 100%.
Speaker 1 00:23:04 That was when country became like a, a nationwide thing.
Speaker 2 00:23:07 Yeah. That's when, man, it, it's, and I, I hate to say this because I am in the modern day side of it, but that's when there were the iconic things because everybody was there. There was a difference to everybody. There was passion behind the music and, and you could tell it in their voices. And sadly, I mean, and you know, listen, I do production, but that's one of the things that I try to keep in a key element, is I want there to be some form of when you hear the music as well as the vocal that you're like, damn. Like that's, there's so much feel behind that. And the guys that I get to play on this stuff, man, is, I mean, I, I couldn't ask for better players. Yeah. You Yeah. But, but that's that in that era. And that's why it pushed me to be in this standpoint where I'm like, Hey, I've honestly always felt that people should go in and record their first record.
Speaker 2 00:23:55 And I know it's dumb to say this, but go in and do your first record. No tuning allowed Auto Tune is a tool, not a crutch. Right. And, and it's one of those where those guys, you hear them sing, I saw Ronnie Dunn play at a club in my hometown, and then the hair stood up on my arms. Listen to that guy. Cuz you can't capture that voice and mic. And I've, I've been in the position too, where I've gone into a vocal studio and the guy sitting there going, well, I can pitch that in. And I, I mean, I probably pissed people off cuz I'm like, Hey, I can hit that. Well, I can pitch it in. I say, I'm, was I not paying you by the hour? Then hit record it. Let's do it again. <laugh>. Yeah. Because I don't, I don't want that.
Speaker 2 00:24:33 And that's what I, I strive for with the artists that I, that I do production for is I do it in a, in a, you know, it's, I, I I don't like ever to ruin somebody's confidence. Cause I mean, I've, I know what that feels like. Yes. And not everybody has thick skin. I've got thick skin, but I still, I know what it feels like to be bummed out with something. So I try my best. I'd say, Hey, look, I know you can hit that. Let's do it again. It's not tape, it's digital buddy. Yeah. So we just, you know, but that era of country, the nineties, early, you know, nineties and before that era, those guys were, you know, taped Right. At the early ages of digital, they had to hit it.
Speaker 1 00:25:09 Yeah. Oh, if you didn't hit it, and you see all the Yeah. You see like old time footage of these guys and girls recording these songs. Absolutely. And they, those sessions would take forever because you had to hit it. But at the end of the day, the product was, was the product. Yeah. When
Speaker 2 00:25:23 You live
Speaker 1 00:25:25 And it was the same.
Speaker 2 00:25:25 They hit that damn note. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:25:27 Yeah. I, uh, I think one of the best examples of that movie form is, uh, the movie Rockstar have either Yes. Either of y'all seen that. Yeah. Whenever he walks in the studio and they just hit record and they're like, all right, cool. Do this. Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:25:41 Great movie.
Speaker 3 00:25:42 Great movie
Speaker 2 00:25:43 Movie. Mark Wahlberg, man. Oh
Speaker 1 00:25:44 Dude, mark Marky,
Speaker 3 00:25:46 Early Marky Mark. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:25:47 Yeah, dude. Oh, he's, he's got that freaking long hair going down and Oh, can
Speaker 2 00:25:51 We talk about Jennifer,
Speaker 1 00:25:52 Jennifer Addison in that movie? Holy shit. God Man, dude. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I remember watching that one. I definitely remember watching that one. Now, for you, uh, when you get in a room and stuff, what is like good songwriting to you? What's like, I'm feeling productive. What's the difference between a good right and a bad? Right.
Speaker 2 00:26:10 Well, man, I, I honestly, I don't ever really feel like there's ever a bad Right. Because you're still being creative no matter what you do. It might be a bad song. Yeah. But it's not a bad Right. Like, you're still doing what you, what you set down to do. Okay. You just might not have been firing on all cylinders that day, but you get together with that same group of guys another day and you might hit the next number one. You just, you never know what, what, what happens when you get into a room. But I, I never look at anything. And I've had so many people go, man, like, you just have such a positive vibe. And that's what I strive for because at the end of the day, we're all human. We all sometimes wake up on the wrong side of the bed, but hey, let's hit her tomorrow.
Speaker 2 00:26:48 Let's, we can see what we can do on that. But, but you know, even when it's the song, if it's a bad song in a write, you just look at it and be like, Hey, what can we do to tweak this? What can we do to make it better? Let's, let's, let's revisit this, set it aside for a couple weeks, whatever. Just get your mind off of it and come back and go, I don't know why we put that line, but that changed the whole direction we were going. So if we change that, we can revamp this whole thing and done right there, <laugh>. Yeah. And there
Speaker 1 00:27:12 And there it is. Absolutely. Um, so
Speaker 3 00:27:15 With being a producer, how many times have you been in a session with somebody and done that where you've like, been like, Hey, like, this is a great song, but this line needs to
Speaker 2 00:27:29 Man. Well, that's what I say. Like, when I, when I set up rights and, and the guys that I'm doing, you know, you kind of, you start developing and building your circle. And I, I, that's another thing as far as 2019, I set out, I was like, I want to expand my circle to a group of guys that I really feel like I have a strong connection with. And, uh, you know, like you mentioned Ethan. Yeah. You know, great, great guy. Hey,
Speaker 1 00:27:49 Hey, great work on that song, by the way. Thank you so much. Great work on warmer than Whiskey.
Speaker 2 00:27:52 I had, I had a great, I had a great, you know, artist to come in and a great song and, and when, when he threw it at me, I was like, yeah, man, we can do this. I
Speaker 1 00:28:01 I got you, bro. Those guitars just going, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:28:03 Like I said, man, the the guys that I've got that play on stuff, you know, it's, I I I want to give, you know, those guys a shout out because they're such great musicians and, uh, the ability to have them play on it, it's, it's also kind of, they understand what I'm going for production wise and they, they, they feel it. And we go in and do, we, we knock it out. You know, Corey Ross Dusty wearing my, my Boy Randy Harper Keys, I get him to come in. You know, those guys, they're, they're just so solid musicians and, and we, we do great work together. Yeah. I have a great team of, of, for my production side and, and I've got other people that I'm, I'm building that side of it too, if people want different things. But, uh, you know, it's, it's just, it's amazing because that song of Ethan's turned out so, so good.
Speaker 2 00:28:51 Yeah. For, for him And, and for me as a producer, hearing that song and seeing all the response that's getting, that makes me feel good. Like I said, my, I'm, I'm as happy on the production side as I am when, when it's a song that I write, when I hear something that I've, I created and, and, and sit there as far as the music side of it going, let's, let's put this stop here, let's do that. And then I see all the response that's getting, I'm going, yeah, dog. Yeah. We, we got this. Yeah. We, we can, we can turn this to a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 1 00:29:22 Yeah. No, and, and for it to be his, his first one here in Nashville too, like to, to start that bar. Yeah. It's, I can't wait to see where you guys go with the next one.
Speaker 2 00:29:31 I, I've already, I already got my wheels turning on, on the next one. Man. I've, I've, you know, it's, it's one of those to where like, he hadn't even said pull the trigger on it, but I've already pulled the trigger, you know, two weeks ago I started going, Hey. Yeah. When I, you know, when he did, when he did bus call and I went out for that, I was like, man. Yeah. Yeah. So, so I, I videoed it and I told him, I was like, Hey man, I, I've already got, I've already got a kickstart on this stuff, so <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:29:55 Whether you like it or not, I got, I got it going. That's awesome. And I, and I know he does love it and appreciate it. Now, that song, like a lot of songs available on Spotify and Apple Music for you Yeah. With the streaming side of things. What are you listening to nowadays? What do you like?
Speaker 2 00:30:07 Man, it's, it's a, a wide variety, but as far as, you know, as far as guys that I know, of course, you know, Ethan, that song, I'm sitting there listening to it going, Hey, let's, let's get my voice some more spins. Cause let's, yeah. I'm, I'm, like I said, I'm as proud of that as if I wrote it myself. Yeah. And I put it out. I'm just like, damn that I did that. Yeah. But, uh, you know, man, like I, I love, I love some, you know, like, you know, hardy stuff that's, that's cool as shit. Yes. Yeah. Uh, you know, Hardy's great Morgan Wallace if that, that cover me up version? He did. Oh God, man. Great. Well, the, the, the video.
Speaker 3 00:30:39 Yeah. I'm a huge Isabel fan and I'll say that I've heard other versions of that. Yeah. Uh, both by big and little people. Yeah. And, um, that's probably one of the closest ones to what Isabel does, that song.
Speaker 2 00:30:53 Absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:30:53 It's very hard to do what
Speaker 2 00:30:55 Is full dude. Absolutely. Hands down what's, what's crazy, and that's another side with the production thing is the video of that cover where it's, you know, live on YouTube that Morgan Wallen put up that video. I think it's more raw and organic. And dude, it sounds so good in that video is like, why didn't you just put that audio out? Yeah. You should have just released that. But hey, you know, that's just, that's just one opinion. Yeah. I, I, I'd dig it. But, uh, you know, Morgan Wild and Hardy, those guys are, are killing it. Uh, Tyler Rich, another guy, man, like, Tyler's such a great dude, but he is so talented. Yeah. And, and love the guy to death, man. And I, I wish him nothing but the best, but he's been
Speaker 1 00:31:31 Doing it a while too. Yeah. Yeah. He's grinding out in Cali and then made the move.
Speaker 2 00:31:34 Oh yeah, man. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, kind of the same, the same transition I did. He was, you know, on the rock side of things and Yeah. You know, rolled the country, kind of bringing what we do into it. So, yeah. So, but, but yeah, man, I mean, it's just honestly like, between that and then, like I said, I, I just kind of bounce around different genres. So are you
Speaker 1 00:31:51 Still big with the rock genre? Like, are there any bands that you're, that you're hearing, I know Rock music's different now.
Speaker 2 00:31:57 Rock music is definitely different now. Um, and I actually was having this conversation today with somebody. I was like, you know, it's, it's, it's hard. But I still have my iconic records that I, they're my go-to when I'm traveling or driving, man. It's like I go to stuff that's, you know, either, you know, Metallica, Pantera. Yeah. Like, oh my God. Like tho those are the records that are just, have you,
Speaker 3 00:32:18 Uh, have you heard this band out in Nashville lately? True villains?
Speaker 2 00:32:21 Yeah. Actually, man, I saw some stuff that they had done, man, that, you know, gray, that,
Speaker 3 00:32:25 That vocal vocal. Both a good friend of mine
Speaker 2 00:32:26 Vocal that vocal vocal man. I watched some, some stuff on Instagram when I saw people posting it out. And they're like, that guy's got some range on him, man. Yeah, he does. Like,
Speaker 3 00:32:34 He's killing, man. He, uh, he's a killer vocalist, but he's also a great dude. Like one of the chillest nicest, most humble dudes you've
Speaker 2 00:32:42 Ever met. That's, that is so great to hear, man.
Speaker 1 00:32:44 Now you talk about the Chill dude thing, and again, people, you were in both genres. Yeah. Yeah. What was the transition of coming from the rock band life
Speaker 2 00:32:52 To, to
Speaker 1 00:32:53 Yeehaw coming into Country Man, and that, and again, that's, that you're coming in at, you're coming into that, you said like 2009, 2000. Well,
Speaker 2 00:33:01 Well, I mean, as far as the transition, I mean, listen, I was doing some solo stuff, you know, but it just by myself doing covers and things Yeah. I, I, I started making that transition probably around 2006, 2005, 2006 time.
Speaker 1 00:33:16 So that was when guys like Alde and Luke, Bryan and Eric Church were coming in. Yeah. And it was starting to shift from,
Speaker 2 00:33:22 From the classic and I love of today. Yeah. And, and I, that's, you know, honestly, like Aldean's Hick Town, when I first heard that, you know, it's what, like, drops c I think is what it actually is. I I think everybody plays at C Sharp if I'm not, no, actually it might be C Sharp that's in, but, um, but yeah, that, you know, that Darren Aaron, Aaron Aaron, Aaron. And I was like, yeah, man,
Speaker 1 00:33:40 You change a couple things. Yeah. That's a metal
Speaker 2 00:33:42 Song. Oh, absolutely. All you gotta do is po mute it, <laugh> ch But, but no, like that, that kind of transition. And I said, I, I, I loved my metal guys that I played with. I mean, we were, it, it was definitely not like radio rock. And we, I mean that's, you know, in North Carolina it was such a metal scene that it was just like, man, like this is what you do. I mean, I was the, I was the drummer when I was in high school. I mean, we, we, we play, we did talent shows and stuff. I mean, not with that lineup, but that one would've been thrown out the door the first moment we got in there. But, but it's, you know, it was guys that I, you know, or actually the guitar player was a year ahead of me in school. But we, we rolled through that and started with the rock side of it, man.
Speaker 2 00:34:20 But it's just whenever I, I kind of got to a point I was seeing our singer and I was like, man, you should, you should sing instead of scream. And he was like, well, I don't wanna do that. You do it. And I was like, well, if I'm gonna do that, why the hell would I not just get out from behind the drum kit and do what you're doing? And it, it just, my mindset went to it. And when Alde, like you said, when all that came out, I was like, dog, I can, I can rock this. Yeah. I, I can get into this style of country. So it just, it kind of all was that, like I said, that transitional period coming up, but the, the actual moment that I told those guys, Hey man, like I'm, I'm, I'm gonna go do my own thing.
Speaker 2 00:34:59 And they kinda looked with like, what, what, and our fans that we had everything else, but it was kind of, yeah, I'm going to sing. Oh, you're gonna sing some metal? No, actually, I'm going to, where my heart's always been and what I've always sang, I'm gonna go into country. I got the most, the highest possible eyebrow raised from all of 'em that you could ever see. Like probably through the underside of a ball cap. Jesus <laugh>. Like, it was just, it was one of those where they were going, huh. I was like, you'll get it. You will understand. Fast forward to today, when this record comes out, they'll get it. Yeah. So That's
Speaker 1 00:35:31 Awesome. You're very proud of this record, dude.
Speaker 2 00:35:33 I'm so proud.
Speaker 1 00:35:34 Do you have a title for the record?
Speaker 2 00:35:36 Not yet.
Speaker 1 00:35:36 Do you're still, that's how fresh it is. Yeah. You're still in the creative process with, with, which has gotta be really cool. That shows how much, like that extra time going into it.
Speaker 2 00:35:46 And I, I'd tell you man, and it's, it's, I have this, this, you guys are gonna be the first ones to actually hear this and the people listening. I, uh, one of the songs, it's one of the ones I'm, I'm the most proud of. It's, it's the kind of the signature of what the sound is that we're really driving for. Um, I was fortunate enough to where, uh, I've got Cassidy Pope on
Speaker 1 00:36:06 It with me. Oh shit. Yeah, dog.
Speaker 2 00:36:08 So, dude, I'm, I'm so, so stoked for people to actually hear this song because it's, it's like you're saying like, it's with what I've been going on, I am proud of it. But it's, it's, we track like baritone guitars. I mean, it's, it's aggressive. But my, my ongoing thing, my buddies that I've let here dog, this is awesome. Yeah. I don't know that it's country. I go, there's a banjo in it. <laugh>. Hey, I'll say this,
Speaker 3 00:36:32 The band I'm out with right now, like, they use baritone a lot.
Speaker 2 00:36:37 Yeah. And they, they are,
Speaker 3 00:36:38 I've heard some stuff that they're releasing here later, and, uh, it's got a lot more baritone. Yep.
Speaker 2 00:36:46 Dude, speaking of asking who I've been listening to, those guys must get on Bloodline Awesome dudes. Yeah. Awesome dudes. It's so talented vocally. Yeah. You know, performance, everything. So proud of those guys. I actually, when I first, like, when I got here to town and moved in with a guy, those guys moved into the house that I ended up moving out of shortly after. Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 00:37:04 Really? Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:37:05 We lived together. Oh, wow. We lived together and then they blow up through the roof, and I'm like, wow.
Speaker 3 00:37:12 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:37:13 Wow, wow. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:37:16 Just two, two rats. It's two Alabama boys down
Speaker 2 00:37:18 Down. It's a small world, so. Absolutely. Yeah. I, I lived with those guys. Um, you know, I don't think they live there anymore either, but I know they still, you know, everything. The, the guy that we lived with, they're all still in connection with it, but man, it was, it, it let's a small world with it. But those guys are phenomenal. You know, they're this
Speaker 1 00:37:36 Yeah. Now through the roof. Yeah. Now, something that you had said, they were like, it doesn't sound country. Right. I hate that. I hate,
Speaker 2 00:37:42 You know, people that, you know, what, what is country? It's, it's, it's the vibe off of it. It's who you are as a person. Yeah. It's your personality. I didn't grow up in the city. I grew up living that lifestyle. Yeah. I didn't grow up on a farm. My grandfather had a farm. Yeah. But I didn't go over there and, you know, shovel horse. Well, you know, that stuff's going on, but it's just, you know, I, my whole lifestyle. Yep.
Speaker 3 00:38:06 It's also really cool, like, um, having people come from different countries mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, you know, different backgrounds like our country Yeah. Compared to like Mexico's country scene. Absolutely. Compared to like, Sweden's country scene compared
Speaker 1 00:38:26 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:38:26 Let's go to Texas still here in the us That country scene to here, that's, that is traditional country. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Cody Johnson. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:38:36 Damn.
Speaker 2 00:38:36 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:38:37 Like, and even somebody that I really like out there is Co Wetzel. Yep. And he's pushing boundaries out there, you know,
Speaker 1 00:38:42 He's stretching that scene out. Yeah. Man.
Speaker 2 00:38:44 But
Speaker 1 00:38:44 I, I hate when people say that, especially being, being in radio like I used to be. Yeah. I used to be like, why aren't we playing this song? Why are we playing this song? My p would be like, well, it's not this, it's not that. I'm like, it's damn good music. Yeah. And look at all the numbers that are on it. People are listening to it. They want to hear it. What the fuck? You know, like, come on.
Speaker 2 00:39:00 Well, here's the deal. Listen to my vocal. Listen to my voice. I'm from North Carolina. I have a Southern accent. Yeah. I sing with a Southern, you know, I'm, I'm not like your, I'm not a very hard southern draw accent, but I say Garth Brooks is my idol and inspiration. I, my songs tell stories. There's a, there's there's points behind every song that I do. And I love twists on songs. Guess where, guess what genre does that best country.
Speaker 1 00:39:24 Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:39:25 That's why I'm in country music. It's storytelling. But it sh it never should be based off of what, you know, if you have snaps in a song or things like that, man, but it's, if you've, if you're, if it is telling a story, who cares what the instrumentation is Clearly what's on radio right now. I mean, you've got traditional guys that would go, that ain't country. So who's to say what it is? Yeah. The fans. That's what's to decide.
Speaker 1 00:39:51 Absolutely. And that, that's where Nashville's so interesting right now, because you've got people that are coming har, that are kind of, um, digging out that inner nineties vibe. Like guys, like guys like Combs, like Shelton's.
Speaker 2 00:40:04 Absolutely. You,
Speaker 1 00:40:04 Those are two
Speaker 2 00:40:05 Guys. Luke and Blake, man, Luke's stuff. Another North Carolina guy.
Speaker 1 00:40:10 Yes. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:40:10 Dude, that guy just breaking records.
Speaker 1 00:40:12 Powerhouse,
Speaker 2 00:40:13 Powerhouse.
Speaker 1 00:40:14 Just making it look, just making it look easy. And I remember when I was doing college radio and Luke came in our studio and we like shotgunned the beer with him and like 20, yeah. 20 14, 20 15. And just, I
Speaker 2 00:40:24 Wanna race him at that.
Speaker 1 00:40:25 Do you think you could beat him? Cuz he's very fast. He's very, very, very fast.
Speaker 2 00:40:30 Well, we haven't shotgunned a beer with me either.
Speaker 1 00:40:32 I haven't shotgunned the beer with you. I think we gotta go get some <laugh>. That'll be our next, our next time, next time we have you on later down the road, we're gonna get a bunch of beers and I'm gonna have to do a Mountain Dew. Uh, but we'll, we're gonna shotgun and, and yeah. And, and do that man. But his but the songs, and it goes back to the writing and the guys Absolutely. And stuff, and
Speaker 2 00:40:51 Absolutely. Luke is, I, I'm so happy to see what he's doing is doing so well because that is a genuine country artist. Yes. In 2019. That is Genuine Country Art and Blake Shelton, you know, with, with God's Country coming out or that, that song, the, that is a country song. Yeah. The production elements. I love the fact that the, the, like the lead instrument, they've got a bell, it runs three notes on, on, on a BA and then the bass hits the fourth. I'm like, that is so genius. Yeah, it's brilliant.
Speaker 3 00:41:25 Uh, we heard one today on, uh, on the radio coming back from town and stuff. That was Blake Shelton that I forgot about, but Neon Light.
Speaker 2 00:41:35 Oh, one chord.
Speaker 3 00:41:37 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:41:37 One chord.
Speaker 3 00:41:40 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:41:41 And he just, do you know how many of those eyebrow raises that I would've gotten if I walked into a write? Or even had people gonna go, we're gonna write a song today. One Chord Who did That is a genius. Yeah. It's so, it's such a genius mood where it's like, no, I, I don't know any other song that's done that
Speaker 3 00:41:59 There's not many. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:42:01 <laugh> No,
Speaker 1 00:42:01 But, but only
Speaker 2 00:42:02 Even,
Speaker 3 00:42:03 Even the songs that have done, it's like variations. Like, you know, like it's in the jazz world and it's like a seven a a sus like, there's like variations of the a but like, it's still just,
Speaker 2 00:42:14 You know. Yeah, yeah. Dude, it's, it's what what do they always say? Like, with, with jazz and stuff, you know, that you're playing 9,000 notes for three people.
Speaker 3 00:42:23 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:42:24 In the country you're playing three chords For 9,000 people, it's three chords. And the Truth brother,
Speaker 1 00:42:30 That's just how it is Now, speaking of songs and stuff, um, before we, before we wrap this up, we always have always end the show with having, having our guests play an original songs. Yeah. So what kind of song you wanna play for us tonight? What do you got?
Speaker 2 00:42:42 Man, I honestly it one that I, I still, you know, I go out when I play it and I, I love the reaction, the response that it gets. Rush, which was the first song that we put out, getting the Wheels turn on it. You know, I, I'd love to play that one until Summer comes along. It's one of those songs to where I'd love to play it, but it doesn't translate just having one guitar. So maybe next time that we do it, yeah. I'll get, I'll get, you know, another guitar and maybe a home to come in here. Yeah. And
Speaker 1 00:43:05 And, and at that point, later on you'll have, you'll have the album More stuff you can share. Absolutely. Now talk about Rush real quick. What went into that?
Speaker 2 00:43:11 That rush was actually, um, my producer, as I said, I like to take songs to get the next level. So the songs that I had written prior to my producer and I got together and we brought another guy in. And, uh, that this, this song kind of came about and it's, it's, as you were talking about with writing, when, you know, taking the line if something's not there, we had actually finished this song and we went in tracked, uh, the, the vocal on it for the demo to see if it was gonna be something to hit the record. And my producer goes, calls me and says, Hey man, um, I think we need to retrack this chorus, but we need to rewrite it. And that was one of those curve balls that I had never been thrown. And I was like, how the hell am I supposed to come up with a different idea when I have this melody already drilled into my head?
Speaker 2 00:43:58 And we went in, man, and here we are now. And it's, it was completely changed. Yeah. Start to finish on the chorus and it's so much better. But it's, it turned out, man, it's, it's really, like I said, it's, it's got the chunks to it and, and the, the vibe of it, it's, it was really kind of the, let's let's tip our toes in the, in the water to see how people are gonna react to this. You know, I always say the nail that sticks out gets hammered and, um, it was different enough compared to what's on radio, but still as commercially sound to fit what's on radio. Yeah. And the initial response, even still to this day, people are loving the song and it's like, okay, this is just a, this is just a taste. Yeah. We're gonna go full force when the album comes out. And, and I'm, I'm excited for it, man. But, but Rush is such a great song. It's a feel good song, you know, like I said, it's one word hook. Yeah. And, and it's just, you know, it kind of repeats and it's great when I've gone out and crowds that haven't heard it and I'm like, Hey, I need your help on this. And they sing that, that melody that comes in with it. And I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1 00:45:04 That's what I want. Yeah. That's who enjoyed that one with,
Speaker 2 00:45:06 Uh, it was Eric Varnell and Jeremiah Jones. Okay. So, uh, great, great dudes, man. Great. Eric, Eric's another. I said, I, I like to, I like to work with somebody from my side of it as an artist. I want somebody to see my vision to where I've produced it as a demo and I wanna take it to them and say, Hey, I haven't put all the bells and whistles on this yet. Yeah. You know, here's what we got. And the songs that Eric had done leading up to that man, it's just phenomenal, phenomenal other producer as well. Um, but, uh, you know, we, we've getting everything rolling with it, the song, you know, it's like I said, iTunes, Spotify, apple music, I guess more so than iTunes now that everybody does.
Speaker 1 00:45:45 It's crazy, isn't it?
Speaker 2 00:45:46 Streaming Yeah. Crazy.
Speaker 1 00:45:47 Yeah. Crazy. Crazy. Where we live in. Absolutely. I've never had more access to music, but there's obviously a downfall with that. You
Speaker 2 00:45:53 Know, how, you know, how hard it is for me to train my brain, not be like, Hey, this song's available on iTunes. I mean, that's literally like, I wanna be like, Hey, you can check me out on MySpace. Yeah. Like, to, to to say, Hey, uh, Spotify and Apple Music. Wait. Yeah. It's just stream. And, and I, I stream stuff myself. I mean, I'm, you know, subscribed to Apple Music. Yeah. But I, you know, not Spotify world, just, I see a lot of the things that come across the line and, you know, I respect it. Hey, but let, let's give the songwriters what they deserve. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:46:20 Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 3 00:46:21 Speaking of, uh, apple Music, if you pull up your Apple music right now, what's probably your most listened to like top three?
Speaker 2 00:46:29 Oh, man. Uh, well, lately it's, uh, probably Damn Luke's song. Truthfully, that beer never broke my heart. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:46:40 Dude is bang. When I, when I'm like, when we're in the car with the boys and it, it's me, Tyler, Ethan, Koda Bear, and we're rolling around, I'm driving a, a freaking Chevy Equinox, so it's nothing sexy. It ain't running around. Big truck suck around. I'm, I'm taking the, I'm picking the kids up and taking them to practice. Good gas, gas
Speaker 2 00:46:56 Mileage off.
Speaker 1 00:46:57 Oh dude, great gas. But we're, we'll pull up to somebody at a red light. We'll have all the windows down and we'll hold the thing cranked all the way up. And you just see four dudes with hats on and beards just head banging. Long day guys.
Speaker 2 00:47:09 Like I said, dude, authentic country in 2019. Dude,
Speaker 3 00:47:12 Dude. And like, every time I hear that song, like, I just wanna rage.
Speaker 2 00:47:16 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:47:16 It just brings down, dude, you
Speaker 2 00:47:17 Know what, you know what it makes me think of? It's like when they, there's a car that they start kind of revamping just a little bit, but they don't change the integrity of what it's supposed to be. That is what Luke has done in his career and why things, in my opinion, have kind of skyrocketed, is he took country music. They didn't change it too far from country music, but they just, Hey, let's make these tweaks to it to make it fit right now. Yeah. They added Bluetooth. Yes. You know what I'm saying? <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:47:44 Yeah, no, absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:47:45 Uh, it's like the new challengers, I, they took the, they took the body and they took the engine that worked and they just made it new. Yeah, absolutely, man. Like, you don't, you know, you can't, you can't reinvent the wheel, right? Yeah. But people, there are so many people that want to hear country music. Yep. And it's, it's, that's, that makes me feel so great to know. Yeah. But give the fans what they want to hear. Let 'em hear some country know and it's, it's, and
Speaker 1 00:48:13 That's, and they, they and they want something they can sing along to melodically. Absolutely. Which is something that Luke brings in
Speaker 2 00:48:17 Absolute. 100%. Yeah, 100%. Like I said, Northern North Carolina guy though. Like
Speaker 1 00:48:21 Southern North Carolina. Yes, sir. State.
Speaker 2 00:48:23 Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:48:23 And he's very proud to be a Carolina boy and most of the guys in his band and his crew Yeah. Are Carolina guys as well. So, yeah. Carolina can, there you go.
Speaker 2 00:48:31 Good 100%. I I, I'll tell you something that's funny and it, it sucks and I, I still to this day, I'm like kicking myself for it. So before Luke started, uh, or let me rephrase that. When Luke first started out, I was already in North Carolina doing, you know, my thing playing shows. I recently went back on Facebook messages from my page and I had turned 'em off cuz it was, I was getting a lot of just spam stuff in
Speaker 1 00:48:57 Random shit. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:48:58 And I just, one night was sitting there scrolling through and I'm like, what, what is in here? And I'm scrolling back and this is like 2012 and I see one message unread and I could show it to you cuz it's still like I have it. I'm like, oh my God. But Luke had sent me a message, was like, Hey man, I see you're playing at this venue. Do you need an opening act? Oh my. And I'm sitting here going, are you and kidding me right now? Like, I I, and as kind of a comment, like, dude, I'm sorry, I sent a message back and was like, dude, I would, that would, hell yeah. I want, when do you wanna do it? <laugh>?
Speaker 2 00:49:36 Course. I didn't get a response at this time, but I mean, hopefully he took that outta context. And Luke, if you listened to this man, like I, I meant, you know, you're great job man. You're killing it <laugh>. And I'm sorry I didn't respond back to that. I should have. But yeah, that one, that one was one of those where I was like, what the hell? How did, how did I miss this? But yeah, it was still in gray with a little blue dot, but way down past the spam and I mean, it just for some reason just hit me and I'm scrolling, I go, what the fuck? What Luke? What the fuck? Yeah. Hey man, it's Luke Combs. I'm just, just starting out doing this one to see if you need an open egg and one. Oh my God. Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 1 00:50:11 That's how, that's how it was when, when I first got taken to him too.
Speaker 2 00:50:14 That's another one of those, you know, I told y'all about Cassidy on this song. This is another one that was one of those, y'all are the first people I've told that to and I'm just like, dude, dude, appreciate
Speaker 1 00:50:22 You opening up with us,
Speaker 2 00:50:23 Dude. Absolutely, man. You guys are great, man, dude.
Speaker 1 00:50:25 And we, oh, I kicked the mic stand here. Sorry, Tyler. Bad radio right there. Um, but um, now where can people find you on the socials?
Speaker 2 00:50:32 Uh, social media is just, uh, Copley Official and Instagram, you know, that's, that's where I do most of things now. You know, Facebook, like I said, it's just kind of, kind of gone down.
Speaker 1 00:50:40 It's got all the bullshit on it. Yeah. We just wanna hang and, you know, I've watched that
Speaker 2 00:50:44 Social, what is it, social media, whatever that movie was they did about
Speaker 1 00:50:47 That Social network. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:50:48 Social network. And they were like, Hey, we're not doing the advertisements.
Speaker 1 00:50:51 Well, when did that change
Speaker 2 00:50:53 <laugh>? I get on there and I, I make a comment about, you know, if we were talking about dog food right now, you get on there and scroll through it and be like, pedigree, I'll send, send,
Speaker 1 00:51:00 Here's the dog food. I'll send you a screenshot when that ad pops up. Be it'll pop up in the next. Exactly.
Speaker 2 00:51:04 But there's just so much, you can't even watch a video that somebody's posted without it giving you the little circle and be like, it'll be back after this ad. You're like, come on man. Yeah. Yeah. I get that enough on YouTube.
Speaker 1 00:51:14 Yeah. I prefer, prefer, I prefer watching the Instagram videos, the real, real funny shit tv.
Speaker 2 00:51:18 Absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:51:19 Oh yeah, dude. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:51:20 But yeah, like I said, Instagram is, is Copley official at Copley Official, c o p p l e y all together. Um, Twitter, you know, I get on there occasionally. It's kinda like MySpace. Now, you know, you they, they've even tried to do you tweet, uh, occasionally. So what if I may, if you had those nights, like my first night in Nashville, I might tweet something, but it may or may not be there in the morning.
Speaker 1 00:51:42 So we've done this the last couple episodes we've had. Um, we've had Tyler look <laugh> what's
Speaker 3 00:51:47 Your, what's your
Speaker 2 00:51:48 Name? Oh, there's, uh, actually that it's still under at Ross Copley because it's, you know, it's verified and, uh, I don't really want to change it and, and go through lose all. Oh my God. Yeah. What,
Speaker 1 00:51:57 What kind of pain in the ass is that with trying to get an account verified? I haven't had to do
Speaker 2 00:52:01 That. I, what's crazy is my Twitter's verified, you know, in Facebook, my, my music page, that one's verified. Facebook owns Instagram.
Speaker 3 00:52:09 Yeah. They also, why the
Speaker 2 00:52:11 Hell can they not verify that one? It would make Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:52:14 Yeah. Yeah. They, and they can't and they can't. Yeah. It's it's the same, it's all in the same, same thing.
Speaker 3 00:52:19 Yeah. Did you, uh, did you post a new song? Because there's probably about 12 in a row of, is it posted and then you're sorry.
Speaker 2 00:52:27 Oh no, I, let's let's see what you got.
Speaker 3 00:52:30 Um,
Speaker 2 00:52:31 Like I said, it, it may be on the nights that I have that are like my first night in Nashville that something gets tweeted.
Speaker 3 00:52:35 Huh. Sometimes I wonder if at Venmo really thought people would leave a serious answer for what they paid for. I mean, either that or happy endings and butt holes on high demand in 2019.
Speaker 2 00:52:47 Like I said, first, you know, the, the,
Speaker 1 00:52:50 I feel that I understand when you like, like the state.
Speaker 2 00:52:54 Let's be real. You go on there and when you open it up, what are people saying?
Speaker 1 00:52:57 Yeah. Like what? Yeah, they're not one. Are they actually, hi,
Speaker 3 00:53:00 You paid me. I have like five or four now. One took a dive, but I have, I had five, like just troll accounts and uh, I really went after Old Town Road the other night and got blocked.
Speaker 2 00:53:12 <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:53:13 Yeah, it's high.
Speaker 3 00:53:13 And I almost went left for it last night again on another account. And I, I was wise and did not do it.
Speaker 1 00:53:19 I always wonder what the hell the big man's doing on his phone. And then randomly he'll just starts smirking and I'm like, oh, he just put something, something,
Speaker 3 00:53:26 Something on it. I just ruined somebody's life. Like, cause like Mackin attest to this. Like, I will roast people like no other. Yeah. If I, if I'm like good friends with you. But like Twitter, like I, I come from Warsaw world and so like, my Twitter and Facebook and Instagram until this year was very like, professional. Like if I need to step into a worship position, like I can, but, uh, <laugh>, so I just had these like little fake control accounts that weren't connected to me at all. It's like random emails and stuff that you can never trace back to me. Like I didn't put my name on there. Like my birthday's not on there.
Speaker 2 00:54:02 Well you know what, my favorite troll account that I hate it kind of slowly disappeared was I used to love and I, I mean I still follow this guy in case anything gets posted out, but it was not Jake Owen.
Speaker 1 00:54:12 Not Jake
Speaker 2 00:54:13 Owen, yeah. Was Cake Bowen at Cake Bowen. Dude, if you even steal, if you go on there and look, and it was a picture of Jake Owen on it. But if you steal, if you go on there and read the stuff that this guy did, it's some of the funniest shit ever. And I loved that site. Yeah. It was so great. Now you got like Wheeler Walker Jr. Who does the stuff. I mean, God
Speaker 3 00:54:31 Favorite, my favorite Twitter one is, uh, white people doing things
Speaker 1 00:54:37 And it's just ran, it's like, like the Broadway uncensored shit that you see. Oh my God. The guy that works on
Speaker 3 00:54:43 Broadway.
Speaker 2 00:54:43 I watched somebody the other night on that one. Somebody sent me a thing and this guy was on the ground like moving. And I'm sitting there going, at what point have you drank enough that you, you revert to being a toddler. Yeah. And you can't even hold yourself at what I wanna know is where are the bouncers? Like they are in clubs that I go play to where they're like, Hey, put X's on their hands or get 'em the hell out. Yeah, yeah. Like these places are just like,
Speaker 1 00:55:06 Hey.
Speaker 3 00:55:07 Yeah. So, so it's actually called Things White folks like, and it's stuff like saying we'll play it by ear, having a drunk culture, your ego.
Speaker 1 00:55:17 Yes. We all
Speaker 3 00:55:17 Have, yeah. Abusing the old filter on Face app. That's a new one saying, I loosened it up for you when someone opens a jar for them that they couldn't like, it's like just these like one liners that like everybody says. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:55:32 My, my favorite thing that it was, it's, I was telling somebody the other day. So being from North Carolina, we, we say y'all a lot. Yes. You know, even the south, everybody in the south says y'all a lot. But I'll never forget my, my high school best friend and I, we go to the beach and we got these, there's these two girls in the hot tub and you know, of course we're over there. We got a beer and we're, you know, sitting around having a good time in the hot tub. And we were like 16 at the time. And these girls, they were a little bit older than us, but they looked and they go, where y'all from? And talking to us and my best friend, of course we got the beer, whatever we selling 'em we're from North Carolina. And they, well, how old are you?
Speaker 2 00:56:04 And they said they're 21, or my buddy was 21. They look at me and I wasn't even thinking I go 16, huh? And they were like, how do y'all know each other? He goes, church. And I'm just like, I'm like, all right, but we get to talking and he goes, well, where are y'all from? And the girl goes, what is the plural of y'all? And without even thinking, my buddy just listen goes all y'all <laugh>. And I'm just sitting there going All you all Yep. All you all y that all that was the best answer you could come up with. I mean, he legitimately like y'all is not, it's not, you know, like you all, it's, that's just one word to us.
Speaker 3 00:56:40 Well, like I was up in New Jersey for summer and their thing was used guys used
Speaker 1 00:56:46 Guys used guys used over there. Hey, call. And
Speaker 3 00:56:49 It doesn't matter if I'm talking about you, I'm talking about a group. Yeah. It's used guys. Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 00:56:54 We, we like to put that s on there for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:56:57 Absolutely. Dude, I'm gonna tell you what man, I ran into these four guys from Boston the other day. Oh
Speaker 1 00:57:00 Dude, what a harsh Jackson.
Speaker 2 00:57:02 Oh my God. I I literally felt like I was surrounded by guys from the movie Ted <laugh>. I mean, it was straight up. I wanted to be like, is it, what are those names with the, with the, you know, the hyphenated at the end of it. Oh, I got you on this one. That was, that was what was in my mind the whole time. But that's literally how everybody tells. I'm like, this is
Speaker 1 00:57:18 Insane. Yeah. No, being from New York and I got family up in New England, I grew up around packing the cat. I have a yard, get a pack
Speaker 2 00:57:25 Of co
Speaker 1 00:57:26 Have a beer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I say awesome in coffee and baseball also,
Speaker 3 00:57:31 In that same year, I did a semester internship up in northeast Connecticut, about 45 minutes out Boston. So you got the Connecticut. Oh yeah. And then you have the Massachusetts that isn't
Speaker 1 00:57:41 Boston. The the mass holes. The mass holes. That's what we call them. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:57:45 Yeah. Well, I, I told those guys when they were sitting around talking, they were like, you know, we just like you get around us assholes that much. I was like, why? I don't really think y'all are assholes. I said, y'all are just direct y'all, y'all say what's on your mind. I said, see, but here's the deal about us guys from the south and anybody from the south. I was like, we're just the same way, but we do it politely. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:58:02 It's
Speaker 2 00:58:03 Very polite. What do you, what do you mean? I was like, if you hear somebody say bless your heart,
Speaker 3 00:58:07 It ain't nice.
Speaker 2 00:58:08 They ain't being nice and ain't Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:58:10 That has not been happening a lot recently when I first moved down here, every, every woman or everybody at a Kroger like, or wherever I was just walking around cussing like I, like I was walking around in New York and I had this old lady saying, bless his heart. Bless your heart. And
Speaker 2 00:58:24 You're like, this is such a sweet old
Speaker 1 00:58:25 Lady. And I'm telling, I'm telling this to Dakota and Dakota's like, they said what? And they're like, dude, that means he did. So I'm like, oh shit. Yeah. Oh shit. Bless your heart. Bless your heart. Well dude, thank you so much. Thank you for having, for coming on and make sure, make sure you guys check him out, Copley official and uh, check out his Twitter for more interesting tweet <laugh> and the music, the music, the music is coming and uh, very excited to hear this. Yeah, man, this one coming out right now, it's Rush by Copley and uh, we've got Tyler, people can check us out where,
Speaker 3 00:58:56 Uh, we have Instagram and Facebook. We're working on Twitter. I will be taking that over. Oh
Speaker 1 00:59:01 Shit.
Speaker 3 00:59:02 <laugh>, uh, in the round podcast on Instagram.
Speaker 2 00:59:04 It's coming back up
Speaker 1 00:59:07 If it's available. We'll, oh yeah, we'll start out right
Speaker 3 00:59:10 There. Oh yeah. So, uh, Instagram on just the round podcast. Facebook in the round, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play,
Speaker 1 00:59:20 Amazon, Amazon speaker, all the, all the, all the places.
Speaker 4 00:59:23 IHeart,
Speaker 1 00:59:24 Pandora, everywhere. All the places where you can listen to podcasts. You can take a listen to us in the
Speaker 3 00:59:28 Round. Our logo is the, uh, skyline in Nashville. Yes. There's some other ones,
Speaker 1 00:59:33 So Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not, we're not the golf podcast. Yeah, yeah. Sorry guys. I wish we weren't, I wish I was good enough at golf to do a podcast on it, but, uh, but anyway, make sure you guys check out, jump on there, review, subscribe, do whatever and make sure you check out our buddy Ross Copley or as he is known in the professional music world. Copley one word. Now without further ado, here's our boy Copley with Rush. You've been listening in the round podcast,
Speaker 5 01:00:02 Sideways at the parking lot, driving burning tires in a girl. You know, you're like Sunday drive on your own curve. Wanna take my time? Ain't no slow down when you side up by side and I can't lie, gimme, pedal down red light, but like I'm jumping play you. It's feeling a needle on a new tattoo when you touch my skin just like you do. You give that high every time, man, I'm hooked on you. I'm hooked on you. Gimme pedal down red, light, front, top, petty free, falling like I'm jumping play pair you. It's like pushing speed two right on the a feeling I'm feeling when gimme front petty play without pair shoes with you. It's like pushing 45 speed and turns right on the line.
