Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:13 What is up everyone? How we doing? Welcome back to the In the Round podcast. You got Matt and Tyler, you got the pod cats running around. We got Felix sitting right there hanging on some gear in the studio. We've also got the coat of Bears sitting over there taking pictures, the video stuff. And it is Monday. It is awesome. Spring is back, baseball is back. Go Yankees,
Speaker 2 00:00:33 Go Braves. Ah, fuck
Speaker 1 00:00:35 The Braves <laugh>. Fuck the Yankees. But uh, but hey, it's a great time of the year. We very much enjoy this time of year. The sun is shining. It's a lot warmer down here than what I'm used to back home. And uh, great music and the windows are open on Broadway. So you're hearing the music as you're walking down the strip on Music Row down on downtown on Broadway. And one of the voices that you hear pretty frequently on Broadway, especially coming out of a staple of Nashville called the Stage is the young, beautiful, awesome, very talented SJ McDonald. We had a chance to sit down with her for this episode. And, uh, sj she's very talented and uh, it's crazy. She can sing and uh, she's an awesome person. She's an even better writer, which is really hard. Says a lot cuz the girl can really belt out lyrics and uh, can really put on a performance. But she can write a damn good song. Tyler.
Speaker 2 00:01:22 Yeah, she sure can. You know, uh, I met her through you and she's been a great friend to us. She's a cool hangout, you know, here in Nashville. She'll go out every now and then with us and awesome to see her out on writer's rounds all the time. See her Bel Court taps all the time. Also, like he said, the stage, she always puts on a good show and has damn good songs.
Speaker 1 00:01:41 Yeah. And it is a great conversation. A very lighthearted conversation by far, the longest episode that we have put out so far. So without further ado
Speaker 2 00:01:49 And wait for the end because you get a great dad joke battle there between me and
Speaker 1 00:01:54 Her. Oh, of course. Absolutely. So wait till the end. You also hear a great original song called Hot Damn from Miss SJ McDonald. Without further ado, let's go in the round with SJ McDonald Tyler, hit that music brother.
Speaker 1 00:02:16 What is up everyone? Welcome back to the In of the Round podcast. You got Matt Tyler Coda Bears over there filming some stuff and we got the podcast and we've got a great friend with us today. One of the first people I actually met in Nashville, it was back when I was visiting last September. We saw her play at the stage with her buddy Ricky Lee Tanner. And, uh, she was rocking it and really cool. And I was like, I gotta get to know that girl. So then we exchanged Instagrams, we stayed in touch, and then I moved down here about a month later and we've been really good friends ever since. She kicks ass. She's a hell of a songwriter and awesome person. Really funny. And just, they got a, a phenomenal voice. It's Ms. SJ McDonald, sj. How you doing? What
Speaker 3 00:02:54 Is up?
Speaker 1 00:02:55 Doing well?
Speaker 3 00:02:56 Yeah, I'm good too.
Speaker 1 00:02:57 You're good. Yeah. You're having fun. So good
Speaker 4 00:02:59 To be with here with you guys. Like seriously.
Speaker 1 00:03:01 Yeah, no, it is. Uh, it is also April Fool's Day as well, which is Yes,
Speaker 4 00:03:05 It is.
Speaker 1 00:03:06 Which is fun.
Speaker 4 00:03:07 Such a
Speaker 1 00:03:07 Great day. I knew this would happen. The podcast are coming right up, right on schedule. Here's, here comes Mr. Felix.
Speaker 4 00:03:12 They can tell I frigging love cats so much. This has been a great day for me cause I haven't seen my cat in like a month, so it's been nice. <laugh>, you
Speaker 1 00:03:20 Got two, you got two of 'em and cakes looking on. He's getting ready to come out over here too. So how have you been? You're a busy, busy bee. You just go nonstop.
Speaker 4 00:03:29 Yeah, I love, I love going, it just feels good if I like sit. I just think that I'm not doing anything productive and I get really antsy. Yeah. I can't. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:03:40 Are you? Yeah, I'm the same way. Are you saying Yeah, like during college I did 18 credit hours and most of the time I had three, if not four or five jobs. So like, if I ever sit I just feel like I'm not doing enough and I've gotta go find something to do. I've like taken a week off of work and usually about day four I'm like, all right, I'm, I'm ready to get back into life.
Speaker 4 00:04:01 Yeah. I can't even like sit through an hour long class anymore. It's really bad.
Speaker 1 00:04:05 Yeah. How do you do the classes with how much you gig and you're writing all the time and you're playing writer's rounds, which by the way, you kicked ass last night. Thanks. Shout out to the, shout out to the Dirt Road Degenerates and Yes, uh, Nashville Tour stop is, uh, awesome over at Bel Court. Taps. And you played the 10 o'clock round, right?
Speaker 4 00:04:22 Yeah, it was 10 o'clock. I thought it was 11, but I looked a couple hours before and realized it was 10. So I was like, thank God that they posted that <laugh>. It could have been bad. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's a lot to, to, to juggle. I take like 16 hours of classes, um, which is great cuz I'm here for school. That's like my main thing. But then I play Broadway three nights a week, which is super fun. And then play rounds and write, um, it's like you wanna do it all. It's so hard to like not wanna do it all.
Speaker 1 00:04:54 Yeah. While also trying to do your classes stuff and just hustle and
Speaker 4 00:04:58 Yeah. Classes
Speaker 1 00:04:59 And try to have fun. You're, you're a college, you're a college kid. You wanna enjoy that chapter of your life. Yeah. And and you've got a fun group of friends. I've been out with you guys before. Oh, they're awesome. You guys get all lit up on Shirley Temples and stuff. Oh,
Speaker 4 00:05:09 We love Shirley Temples
Speaker 1 00:05:11 Get all lit up on Shirley Temples
Speaker 4 00:05:12 And stuff. They make a mean one down at the stage and a mean one at Belur taps.
Speaker 1 00:05:16 Yes, they do. They have they most certain. They certainly do. Um, so a little bit of background on you. So you are a farm girl from Virginia. It sounds so kind of cliche for know the country singer, but like what's kind of your background in, grew up in Virginia?
Speaker 4 00:05:30 Um, you got it right, you like hit the nail on the head. I'm a walking cliche. Uh, grew up on a farm. My last name is McDonald. E I e i o. Like all that <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:05:41 Like, it
Speaker 4 00:05:42 Never ends. And I've gotten to the point where I joke about it now cuz I actually think it's hilarious. Um, but dude,
Speaker 1 00:05:49 I Did it bother you like growing up as McDonald the farmer? It
Speaker 4 00:05:51 Used to. It used to, I think just cuz kids would use it as a way to like pick on me, but now I sort of pick on myself. It also helps to explain my name. So I explain my name in two ways when people are like, what is your name? Um, it's Sj like the kid from the Blindside and McDonald's. Like the farm people or the, the food chain place. Ooh. But sorry, I'm getting off track. No,
Speaker 1 00:06:15 You're good. You're good. You talk. That's what this is all about.
Speaker 4 00:06:17 Yeah, dude. Yeah, I grew up in Virginia. Um, Virginia is so beautiful. I miss it every day. But I, I feel like I'm where I need to be here of course. But gosh, my, I have an awesome family there and I'm the oldest of five siblings. Wow. Um, they're crazy. We live in a crazy house just cuz they're so much younger than me and like, it's insane. Um, it's weird being here and not being a part of their lives. So that's a weird part about chasing your dreams. Yeah. Like what you guys know is you gotta sacrifice things.
Speaker 2 00:06:49 Yeah. So what part of Virginia are you from?
Speaker 4 00:06:51 I'm from uh, small town called Lexington. It's in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Speaker 2 00:06:55 Cool.
Speaker 4 00:06:56 And yeah, it's like 7,000 people
Speaker 1 00:06:58 Off, off of Route 80 off of 81. 81 off of 81, which is Sweet 81, which is the road that if you're coming down from the Northeast or anywhere, like I like Pennsylvania, any of that area, when you're coming down to Nashville or coming down to Tennessee or anywhere south, you gotta go through like seven hours of Virginia.
Speaker 4 00:07:13 I know. Yeah. That
Speaker 1 00:07:13 Is the big bulk of my drive when I have to go home. It's like a, like a 12, 13 hour drive. Seven of it's
Speaker 2 00:07:20 In Virginia and it's the worst because it's all like, it's kinda like you're one of those things in the old movies where they'd have like a car and it's just like the same scene like going over and over and over again.
Speaker 1 00:07:28 You go past the Shenandoah Valley, you go through the, you go past the caverns, you see the Yeah. Sites when the truck stop, you're battling the big rigs down the
Speaker 4 00:07:34 Road. Oh my gosh. The
Speaker 1 00:07:35 Big roads, they box when they box you in, when there's one on the left, there's one in front of you and then there's one behind
Speaker 4 00:07:39 You. That's like my worst nightmare. It happens. I kid you not, I'm on 81 all the time. 81 is like the worst interstate ever. Yeah. And it's just all box trucks. I remember at one point they were talking about like turning all of those big rigs and putting them on, uh, trains to go in the middle. And I was like, it, it was before I could even drive and I was like, yes, I won't have to deal with them. And now they're still there. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:08:05 They're, they're still gonna be there.
Speaker 4 00:08:06 But I love it getting to do you know that honk thing that you can do?
Speaker 1 00:08:10 Oh, you one of those kids that was always you were, dude,
Speaker 2 00:08:13 I was always in the backseat doing it too. Scaring the hell out of my grandparents <laugh>, <laugh>. Cause they wouldn't know I was doing it. I'd be like, and then <laugh>
Speaker 4 00:08:21 It's the best. And you know, I, I still like interacting with people. I think interacting with people on the interstate is really cool cuz like if someone lets me go in front of them when I have my blinker on, I'll like put on my flashers to say thank you. Or like if I let a, a truck, tractor trailer or whatever go in front of me, he'll like step on his to say thank you. And I think it's so cool. It's like, even though you're sort of dreading that they're there, it's like they're nice. Yeah. Some of them,
Speaker 2 00:08:54 It's always, always fun to go on road trips with friends and like put like weird stuff on the back. Like, oh my gosh, growing up in Alabama, whenever like where I grew up, anywhere you go, like Walmart was like an hour, hour and a half away for us. So like you had to take the interstate cuz it's like literally 60 miles to the nearest Walmart for us. So like I was on the interstate all the time and it's always cool to see like all the people coming down to the beach and stuff. Cause we're really close to the beach. But like, I used to like take papers and like hold up my phone number or something on the side and like do weird stuff like that. That's
Speaker 4 00:09:22 So funny that you mentioned that because one of my favorite memories from high school was being on the, the band bust to a competition. I did marching band and we held up signs that said, what's your favorite color? It was like, honk this for red, honk this for blue. It was awesome.
Speaker 1 00:09:39 That's funny. There was actually a time too, I remember I did an event at Six Flags Great Adventure and it was like an hour drive from the radio station, the Six Flags. And we had, I was just an intern at the time and another girl, a girl that I was interning with, uh, named Jess actually got a phone number from a guy on the, on the interstate. Hello? On the interstate. He saw there was not even that there was an app. It was, we weren't even using an app. Oh. We were just driving. There happened to be traffic and the guy rolled down his window and like threw something out the window and then they got phone numbers. I think they went on like a date or two. That's so
Speaker 4 00:10:08 Crazy.
Speaker 2 00:10:09 I used to have an app on my phone and would scroll your phone number across there and so you just like put it up to the window and your phone number is just kind of scrolling across. Scrolling across.
Speaker 4 00:10:16 Yeah. That's like the stuff that happens in like a movie or a song. Yeah. Yeah. Someone needs to write a song about
Speaker 1 00:10:21 Hey, I know, I know two songwriter happen to be sitting right next to me. Oh shoot, where
Speaker 4 00:10:25 Are they?
Speaker 2 00:10:25 Oh
Speaker 1 00:10:26 Huh. And your cards show yourself. Your car can be kind of easy. I, I love, I love too, when I first saw your car <laugh> and it says she's got all brand, she, she takes care of her branding. Her Virginia Virginia license plate.
Speaker 4 00:10:38 Yeah. We got, yeah, my mom, it was my mom's car before and she has like one of my old stickers from back when I was my, I went by Sarah Jane McDonald and then my license plate says stuff about music and like my car is like my home. I feel like I
Speaker 2 00:10:54 Have, I feel in college that's how it is. You know,
Speaker 4 00:10:56 It really is.
Speaker 2 00:10:58 Like that's the one place they can't touch.
Speaker 4 00:11:00 Exactly. I got stuck in the parking garage down on Broadway last week for like an hour and I was just like, okay, I have an extra pair of shoes and I have a bunch of Nutella. I'm gonna make myself at home in this parking garage. There's so much to my car.
Speaker 2 00:11:15 Yeah. I have the, uh, mini minivan and you could pretty much fit a wardrobe and I've actually taken it camping before. That's awesome. And if you move the two front seats forward, like a regular like twins size mattress, like a blow up mattress will fit in the back. So I would do that. That's awesome. And I have a DV player and it's great. Ah,
Speaker 4 00:11:34 I wish my car was big enough for that. Then I would, I love going on road trips and stuff. Like, I just went to Athens, Georgia two weekends ago to see Ben Rector. Um, he gave me a tortilla from outside of his ooh uh, tour bus. He like opened up the window and just put his hand out and then dropped the tortilla down. It was hilarious. But
Speaker 1 00:11:54 <laugh> the Cats. So as a quick side note on the Ben Rector story, uh, we, we decided to get some, uh, pre-show Bojangles driving up from, uh, the homestead in Spring Hill. And uh, we got some, uh, bow berry biscuits and uh, cake
Speaker 2 00:12:05 Bow Man, we gotta go get Berry Bearberry. Good man.
Speaker 1 00:12:09 And, uh, cake, uh, one of the, uh, podcast cats is climbing and trying to get into the berry biscuits
Speaker 4 00:12:15 Cake is trying to get anything as close to cake as he can get. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:12:17 Yeah, exactly. That's so funny. Yeah. Something interesting you had said about road speaking of like road trips and stuff. You, you've told me that you love being in a car by yourself. Yeah. And just having that time to think and come up with ideas and let's listen to music and things like that.
Speaker 4 00:12:32 Yeah. That's my time. You know, in Nashville we're all so go-go. As you know, both of you know, that's just, you know, constant movement. And I really don't give myself time to think when I'm in Nashville. So when I drive home, I have a seven hour drive and it's so nice to be alone and like listen to the songs I've written, listen to my friends' new songs, listen to podcasts, like in the Round. Hey, um, I listened to the first in the Round when I was driving, um, back for spring break cuz that was the only time I had gotten to listen to. It was cool. So it's like my sacred time to really wind down and it, it helps me to like accept what I'm leaving and what I'm coming to, you know, to remind myself, okay, need to slow down or ooh, gotta kick it back in gear. We're back in Nashville. Or even just plan my time. I'm very much alike. Wanna do this, wanna do this kind of person. Driving is the best though. Seriously.
Speaker 2 00:13:27 I think for me driving, like that's whenever I, there's times where I just listen to music cause I love that, but I'll just turn off a radio and just drive and we'll sit there and have like a lyric that I've had for a while and that's whenever I start experimenting and I have like a bunch of notes on my phone of just me singing in a car mm-hmm. <affirmative> because I can't type and drive Yeah. At the time. So, yeah. You know, driving in a car is a very, especially on the road whenever you can see like going through the Nandos or the Blue Ridge Mountains and stuff like that is very creative time for a lot of people.
Speaker 4 00:14:00 Yeah. I feel like when you go through that beautiful scenery and you see something maybe new, like maybe if you're driving through the West, I've never been through the west, but I hope to, and it's like something about just seeing the natural earth just makes you wanna create something beautiful like that.
Speaker 1 00:14:18 Yeah. Have, are there songs that you've written while being in the car? Like where y'all come up with something?
Speaker 4 00:14:23 Yeah, I wrote a song that I used to play, gosh, like a year and a half ago that I wrote over. I was driving back from Thanksgiving my freshman year of college and it was like the Sunday after Thanksgiving is apparently the worst day to drive on the interstate. Yeah. I've never seen so many wrecks in my life, but I pulled out my phone and started like recording a little voice memo and then got this song about like, people building a life that met, uh, in the middle of interstate traffic. It was a little farfetched I guess, but I liked it. It was like they, um, it was like standstill traffic and they met and then they built a life and it was, I like the song. I need to go back to that.
Speaker 1 00:15:02 There you go. But yeah. Nice. And now are you a, are you a right on the notepad person or are you, you're typing it out in your notes section because I feel like there's so many PE but now with Yeah. The way technology is like, we'll be sitting, I'll be sitting with Tyler and he'll be, and I'll, I'll say something or somebody will say something or we'll be at like Hattie Bs and, and he'll hear something and just start writing it down. Or Ethan will do that, or, or Dave or any of any of the buddies that are songwriters and he'll just hear something. You can jot it down so quick. Now I
Speaker 4 00:15:26 Know I probably have notes from both of you saying stuff that really I've written down every, anything someone says, even if it's the simplest word, it could be like tissue and I would write it down. Um, that's a weird example, but, you know, tissues, we love them. Um, yeah, I, I go back and forth sometimes I'm gonna write and I just pull up my computer and start typing with, and sometimes I have this little, um, booklet that says Your Rawsome and it has a dinosaur on it. And I like to write in that sometimes too. It's a little funky. That's, it's my cute little book.
Speaker 1 00:16:02 Yeah. Cause I've, I've heard stories of people having these journals that they, that they have and that's where a lot of the deep stuff is. Yeah. Like
Speaker 4 00:16:09 Dude, I started keeping a journal this year, the first day of January. Every day I write something about my day. Like sometimes it's what I'm feeling, sometimes it's just what I did. I think it's a really good way to like, bring all of your feelings and thoughts into one and also just remember the things you do. Cuz I think we do so much here that it's easy to forget all those little steps that you do to get up to where you wanna be. Yeah. And so that's cool. And I also get like a lot of song ideas. Like sometimes when I'm in my rights I'll pull out that super personal journal, be like, Hmm, what is a, what are my feelings two weeks ago? Like, can I write about this? You know?
Speaker 1 00:16:47 Yeah. And then when you're in a Right, cuz I've heard that, I've heard some people say that they're, they're lyric people. I've heard some people say they're the melody guy, they're the melody girl or they're the ones that are picking on the guitar. They're the ones that are coming up for the hook. For you, is there a certain thing that you feel like you're stronger with or does it depend on who you're with
Speaker 4 00:17:04 It? Hmm. It does depend I guess. But one of the things I've loved always is melody. I love melodies and just like changing it up and I keep writing these songs that are like, start really low and then end up really high. But I really like that there's so much room for you to play with the melody within there. But then some days it's just like, some days it's hard for me to get lyrics out that I really like and some days lyrics pour out that I'm like, wow, I never thought I could actually think of something like this. You know? So it all, it all depends. Um, just on the mood. A lot of it has to do with who your co-writer is cuz uh, gosh, I've had rights with people that it's all I'm sure. Have you written co-written a lot? Oh yeah. A lot. Yeah. So it's like if you meet someone that you don't really know well or vibe with, then it's just gonna be really
Speaker 2 00:17:56 Bad. Yeah. I always say like, whenever I meet up with somebody that it's our first time writing especially, and I don't know, like I've met the person and I've talked to 'em enough to say, Hey, like, let's write together. Um, whenever you get in a room with somebody like that, usually the, if it's a three hour write, usually the first at least half of that write is just figuring that person out. So like you're talking about stuff and I've had some really good songs come out of that because <affirmative>, you talk and you kind of get deep and personal really quick, real quick with somebody that's a stranger and you realize like, okay, this person's kind of going through something that I'm going through and you write on
Speaker 4 00:18:32 That. Yeah. That's happened to me a lot. I've gotten some of my best songs out of that. Yeah. Just being super vulnerable from the start.
Speaker 2 00:18:38 Yeah. And then there's sometimes that you're like, all right, this person we're not gonna vibe do together because I write stories and they write beats or they like, you know, they're writing a song to a beat where I'm writing my music around my lyrics. I'm a lyric guy. Yeah. You know, I'm very big on what the songs say and I'm very big on storytelling. <affirmative>. Um,
Speaker 4 00:19:02 Yeah. That, like, whenever I co-write one of the things I say to people, cuz I, I meet a lot of people like we all do out, out in Nashville and it's just like we're hanging out at a bar, like let's write. But whenever I, I step into that right. I always tell my co-writers, if it's a first time, like maybe we'll jive, maybe we won't, but I'll still have a respect for you. Like, just because your style doesn't mesh with me or just how we are personally wise, it doesn't mean that I'm gonna think you're a terrible songwriter or person. You know,
Speaker 2 00:19:32 There's also days where like you walk into a room and five minutes before you walk into a room, something you gotta text and something's going on. And now you, I mean you're honoring your right still, but Yeah. Like
Speaker 4 00:19:45 Something sometimes you're just not there.
Speaker 2 00:19:46 Yeah. You're not there mentally because you're somewhere else. And I've walked into those before and you still respect the person because you know it's happened to you before. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, and you don't, I've always, I mean it's the rule for restaurants too, but you know, before I say like I can't really write with that person. I at least give them a second, maybe even a third chance because there might be something off that first time.
Speaker 4 00:20:07 Yeah. I think that's important too, to give second chances. Everyone has a bad day, everyone messes up. Right. Um, gosh, I know I've needed second chances with rights. I've sat there and just been like, nothing has come. You know? And that's really hard too, what I found in Nashville. It's like everyone wants your creative to be on 24 7 or that's like, that's the goal. And it's so hard to do that when you're so busy. It's asking a lot. It is. It's a lot. Like I have friends that will write constantly all week and I'm personally more of a like two to three writes a week type of person. Cuz then it gives me time to like go out and like go bowling with my friends, make some stupid decisions, make some memories. Cuz that's what you get the songs from too. Yeah. Right. Um, and that will hopefully help me from not being like silent in a right.
Speaker 2 00:20:58 <laugh>, the way I cope with it a lot is I get out of town, like I try at least once a month to just get out of Nashville mm-hmm. <affirmative> and get out into the woods or get on a beach or do something where I'm in nature and just pour back into myself. Yeah. Because like I, I love the mountains. I Oh,
Speaker 4 00:21:16 Me
Speaker 2 00:21:16 Too. I go over to the blue ridges in North Carolina. I love like Asheville Black Mountain area. Um,
Speaker 4 00:21:23 There's something about like just going into the woods and like making those, you know, those like stacks of rocks that people make. Yeah. Yeah. I forget what they're called. But doing stuff like that, it just like frees you
Speaker 2 00:21:35 Well like I, I just enjoy being alone with nature a lot. Yeah. You know? Um, and so being in the city, cuz I also come from a very small town where literally my hunting land was a quarter mile from my house. Like I could literally drive a golf cart mm-hmm. <affirmative> to my hunting stand. Yep. And it took me like five minutes. Like I, I had binoculars and I could like see and like, Ooh, there's a deer in the field, let me go get
Speaker 1 00:21:57 The golf cart. Let's go, let's go get it <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:22:00 Yeah. You know, like,
Speaker 4 00:22:01 That's so
Speaker 2 00:22:02 Funny. You know, it was, it was easier for me and I lived out in the countryside mm-hmm. <affirmative> and living the city. Especially with how much you have to hustle here and how people expect you to be on 24 7. Yeah. Um, I found that just taking a weekend or taking a few days just to get out of the city, like revitalizes and re-energizes me a lot. I'm very introverted also. So like, just getting away from people and not having to answer texts or calls or anything like that, it helps a lot with just my sanity.
Speaker 4 00:22:31 Yeah. For me, that's where driving really comes in. Yeah. Driving, like even just driving around this neighborhood and checking out the houses and stuff, I felt like some little sparks coming in my mind cuz I was just like observing what life was like and obviously it's not a nature thing and I would prefer to like drive with my windows down blasting some like Charlie Worsham or something. Yeah. And in the middle of the woods or a parkway. But it's just, that's one of my freeing things too. Yeah. Except for when like we're on traffic.
Speaker 1 00:23:04 Yeah. Which there's in Nashville, which there's a lot of death
Speaker 2 00:23:06 Metal comes out. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:23:07 That's when the death metal comes out. <laugh>. But yeah. So you're coming from the small town Nashville mm-hmm. Is obviously not that. So you No. You first get to town and you're, you're coming and you're going to school here at Belmont. What's that initial jump like coming from Lexington, Virginia? The, the small town farm girl. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> to coming to for you. It's gotta be the big city. It
Speaker 4 00:23:28 Is the big city. I've actually talked to some people and they were like, this is nothing. I was like, this is everything. What are you talking about? Honestly, for some reason I felt pretty calm coming here. Um, of course when my parents like brought me to college, I cried because I, I freaking love them so much. Um, but something about being in a new place just makes me really excited. Even though it's so different from where I spent 18 years, it's, it really like, something just like sparked in me and I was like, let's go. And I started, gosh, I love to go. I figured out I love to go to places alone. Like go sit at Belco taps. I remember the first time I went to Belco taps, I was alone. I just, I just sat and listened and um, I love to go to WildHorse Saloon and Line Dance one night.
Speaker 4 00:24:20 I spent five hours there alone. I'm not even getting you. And it was awesome. Like, you just meet really cool people. But this city, I, I think a lot of it when it comes to figuring out your place in Nashville, um, is the people you surround yourself with. And I think that's what helped me transition as I found a group of people that I loved fairly quickly and they're my best friends in the world. And that really helped me even though I didn't really feel, from what I could tell weird or nervous about moving, just having, making those connections really helped.
Speaker 1 00:24:57 And they're all from different places too. Like that. I dunno if you're talking about the school, like you got your mm-hmm. <affirmative>, your, your crew on Broadway that you pop by and make your rounds too. Like you'll pop over and see us when we're working. Yeah. Or you'll, and then you've got your crew at Belmont and you've got your crew at Bel Court and
Speaker 4 00:25:10 All these bells and things with bees. B bbb. Yeah. Um, yeah. It's just made this city so much more fun. And one of the, this is like what I tell people when they come to town, um, a really great friend who went to Belmont, his name is Graham Spice. He's a phenomenal musician and are just everything he does. He's great. And he gave me this advice like a couple weeks before I went to Belmont and he said, just go there and listen and like be, be like intentional with what you say to people. Go, go listen to their music and pick out parts of a song that you like and talk to them about it. And then that way people will feel like you appreciate them. Cuz that's so important for people to feel appreciated. I think you meet a lot of people in Nashville that are just like me, me, me and I, I want everyone around me to feel like they have a spot and it's not a competition. I want them to feel like we're in this together and I'm like super proud of them and that, that really stuck with me and that helped me to also build those relationships. Not just with friends, but like, people like you guys. Like, I don't, would we be friends if I was just like, Hey Matt, I'm the best thing in the world. Like, let's take over the world or something. I don't know what I'm getting at here. I'm not good with words. Maybe I shouldn't be a songwriter.
Speaker 1 00:26:29 <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:26:31 Um,
Speaker 1 00:26:31 <laugh> that joke. Bad joke.
Speaker 4 00:26:34 No. But anyways, I just think it's relationships make it so much easier
Speaker 1 00:26:39 Going anywhere. Yeah. I feel like this town, and I've said it on previous episodes and we both said it, it's a lot of this town is working with your friends. Yeah. It's just working with your friends. Like, it's so cool. Yeah. No, exactly. When you get to do stuff with your friends and whatnot and something you've gotten to do and you've had a lot going on. The last couple months have been been,
Speaker 4 00:26:56 Whoa.
Speaker 1 00:26:56 Very, very freaking busy. Um, of course something that you've, if you follow SJ long on any of the social media pages, which you definitely should, you're, you're always on, you're always popping up on Instagram. You got stuff going on. You do your, your female covers on Fridays, female cover Fridays, and um, and then of course the the idol stuff. Yeah. Gotta gotta bring that up. Well, I guess we
Speaker 4 00:27:16 Should.
Speaker 1 00:27:16 Yeah. So, oh my. So with that for you, what was, what was that experience like?
Speaker 4 00:27:21 Yeah, so I decided to audition for American Idol and I went to Idaho.
Speaker 1 00:27:27 Why Idaho?
Speaker 4 00:27:29 Honestly, because it was during my fall break so I didn't have to miss class. Those are like the things you do when you, like, when you're trying to do music and you still have to go to class, it's like, oh, guess I'll give up my fall break and go to Idaho. But it was really cool. My parents came and we rode horses in the mountains and Idaho actually looks so similar to Virginia Mountain Wise that I posted a picture and nobody knew I was in Idaho. It was funny. Um, but anyways, so yeah, off track. Um, I decided like I'm a very gut type of person. I was just, I got this opportunity to audition for American Idol and I was like, Hmm, sure, let's do it. Like whatever happens, happens. And it ended up being so much more than I ever expected. I didn't expect them to take me or anything cause I was just like, just sj.
Speaker 4 00:28:17 I'm no big crazy singer that can do runs and stuff. It's just like me telling stories. Yeah. And um, but they, they were really nice to me. It was such a cool experience. And, um, and my audition, my favorite boots, the souls fell off and then Katy Perry gave me a pair of shoes cause I was walking around. Sounded like a horse. It was really funny. I just uploaded a vlog about that and it's, it tells a bit of it. Um, but gosh, it was so weird just being in front of people like that. Um, but I did the audition and I got three yeses, which was like, whew. A lot of pressure. Okay, let's do this. Go to Hollywood Week.
Speaker 1 00:28:58 Um, what song, what song did you sing?
Speaker 4 00:29:00 I sang two songs for my audition. I sang a song called Working Class Woman that I released it back in 2016 with a band called Sweet Fire. We were Sarah J. McDonald in Sweet Fire. We wrote the song together and it's about like being a farmer's daughter, like being a woman but a farmer and just like, I gotta get the job done no matter what. Um, and that, that song really fit my story, which I was like crossing my fingers for. And um, but then I also sang a song by Leanne Rimes called Nothing Better to Do. And that's just a really fun song. So it went okay, I guess <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:29:36 I would say it went okay. You go to, you go to Hollywood and, and you get people, people watching you and stuff. I mean that, that's a, that's a big deal and you should be very proud of that. Thank you. That's that's awesome. It
Speaker 4 00:29:46 Was really cool. Yeah. It was something that I didn't really process, so I, I'm not a person that gets stressed or anxious over things. The days leading up to going to Hollywood Week, like you get flooded with emails and just like information you have to choose a song and making a choice is such a big thing it seems like just on a song. And so going to Hollywood Week was so crazy and I got through it. I wouldn't say without like crying in front of three cameras, <laugh>, it was bad. Um, but other than that I met some of the greatest people and I didn't make it past Hollywood Week, which I'm at peace with where I am. Yeah. I'm like, cuz dude, I'm in college. I have, I'm here to do school. I still have two years.
Speaker 1 00:30:28 You're you're, you're 19 years old. Yeah. Doing all of this.
Speaker 4 00:30:31 Gotta remind myself to just take it step by step. Yeah. Because whatever's meant to be will be, and the words of Florida Georgia line, if it's meant to be <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:30:40 And something like, you know, living in Nashville, a lot of people say this is a 10 year town,
Speaker 4 00:30:45 You know? Yeah, I hear that all
Speaker 2 00:30:46 The time. And you know, that was something after college the first time I had to keep reminding myself like, this isn't something that comes overnight. Like Yeah. No, especially the writers and stuff, you have to really hone a craft and you know, like we talked about earlier, like writing three times a day, five days a week. Like you've, you know, for me it's like sound like you've gotta know what you're doing with it. Yeah. Like you're, you've gotta be up to it.
Speaker 4 00:31:15 It's like working a muscle and building that muscle. Yeah. Yeah. It is just flexing them is writing tries
Speaker 1 00:31:21 And, and you've and you've been flexing the writing trust. That's, I mean, there's, there's a lot that you do. It seems like you, I mean, you, you play your Broadway sets a lot. Love Broadway where you've, you've actually got one that you gotta get to after we get the recording this. Yeah, yeah. And then you're, and you're playing all these rounds, uh, whether it be at Bel Court, whether it be you've got an opportunity to do song set for Jets a couple times. Yeah. Too. Which, what's that?
Speaker 4 00:31:42 Like the song set for jets? At first I was really intimidated cuz it was like all these, oh, amazingly talented women. I was like, um, are my songs good enough to be up here with these people? Like Kayleigh Shore and Savannah Kaiser were on my first round and they were all just so welcoming of me and it's just a really big family. And now that I've started to get to know people, like, you know, we all just cut it up backstage before the show and have a good time. And it's just really cool to do something like that and support other women and just get to sit up on stage and listen to their songs and be in awe and like, why am I on stage with this talented people? You know?
Speaker 1 00:32:21 And I remember the video, I think it was on their YouTube channel of you singing, uh, hot damn Yeah. On their songs, which I love by the way. Whoa. Um, and you and you kick ass. Absolutely. And after you cut after the first chorus or whatever it is, whatever it was in the song, listening to their reactions, they're like, oh damn. They're like, she's got this shit. This girl can sing, she can do this. And that was
Speaker 4 00:32:42 Really cool. I did not expect them to be like that. And the, the fact that they put up the video too was like, wow, that was so cool. It was really cool to share it to like my people back home and to sort of give the suffragettes a little more of a presence somewhere else too. Cuz they're trying to grow too. And I think every step for one woman is a step for us
Speaker 1 00:33:02 All. But yeah, you can, you can hang like you're with them and you're going in kind of intimidated. Yeah. And, and now you've gotten the plate a second time. I'm sure you'll be playing it many more times. Like you're, I have too. Like you're people are starting to take notice of what, what you're doing while you're in college, while you're gigging on Broadway. I mean, you were, you've told me before, you're one of the only people, if not the only person in your class that's playing these, you're playing what, three, four nights a week on Broadway? Is
Speaker 4 00:33:27 It three nights? Sometimes four. I try to keep it at three. I think three is my magic number, but I've, I've haven't really met a lot of other Belmont people that play Broadway. It's a little foreign to the Belmont community.
Speaker 1 00:33:39 So like, so like your Thursday or Friday, like cuz your Thursday night you play at the stage with Ricky Li, who's awesome by the way. Yeah. Such you play with a great group of guys.
Speaker 4 00:33:46 These guys Okay. I need to take a second. Yeah, do
Speaker 1 00:33:48 Yeah. What
Speaker 4 00:33:49 You gotta do them. Um, the guys I play with on Broadway are amazing. They just, um, they treat me like family and they make sure I'm safe, which is a big thing on Broadway. Cause it's scary. Yes. And like, I've been really fortunate to play with bands not only in Nashville but in Virginia that just make me feel welcome. And like, I played with a band for four years with four guys who are like some of my best friends in the world. Um, we called ourselves, I mentioned them earlier, Sarah J. McDonald and Sweet Fire. And it's like, um, I've been so lucky to have people like that around me home and in Nashville. Um, but in anyways, I love all the people I've played with have been awesome.
Speaker 1 00:34:26 Yeah. So on a, on a Friday, like, do you have, do you have classes on Friday?
Speaker 4 00:34:30 Yeah, so, um, I have one class on Friday this semester. Thursday is my busy day, so I,
Speaker 1 00:34:35 Okay, so what's the, what's the Thursday schedule look like in the world of Serge McDonald's
Speaker 4 00:34:38 In the world of me? Ah, gosh. Okay, I'll get up. I have an 8:00 AM class, but Tyler's girlfriend's in it. It's so funny. <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:34:45 I hated 8:00 AM so much.
Speaker 4 00:34:49 Um, yeah, I
Speaker 2 00:34:50 I used every single skip that was possible on 8:00 AM
Speaker 1 00:34:53 So did I maxed out on my Skip? Skip. Oh
Speaker 4 00:34:55 Yeah, you can bet. I have three weeks left of the semester and I have to go to every single class or Yeah, I've skipped a couple. Shh. Don't tell my mom. Um, nah. But I do it 8:00 AM class and an 11 o'clock class, a 2:00 PM class. And then I have Broadway at six and usually I have like an hour and a half between those classes. So sometimes I'll record my female Friday cover for that week or, you know, lots of times it's taking naps. Um,
Speaker 2 00:35:21 Naps are must in college. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:35:22 Always naps are everything. Um, sometimes I'll go up, meet a friend for coffee or have a meeting with someone or maybe even try to finish a little bit of a song. But Fridays are actually my easy day. Friday is my favorite day because the afternoon crowd at the stage is just like really lighthearted. And this, we play on the first floor of the stage on Friday afternoons and it's a big stage and we all just jump around and do weird dances and like, I try to throw my tambourine around like I'm cool and then I drop it and like, it's good. It's a good life. <laugh> <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:35:55 What's your favorite song to cover when you're out on Broadway?
Speaker 4 00:35:57 Oh gosh.
Speaker 1 00:35:58 Because you do, you do quite a bit and your, your range can go quite a little ways. I
Speaker 4 00:36:04 Feel like a human jukebox sometimes, but it's fun. Um, gosh, my favorite song to cover is, uh, right now it's Go Your Own Way. Fleetwood Mac. Okay. It's a little, we sing mostly country, but sometimes I like to do some rock.
Speaker 1 00:36:19 Um, the smile on your face when you guys get a request or you having the, you have time in the set to play Def Leppard. Oh my gosh, you lose your mind. I also
Speaker 4 00:36:27 Love that
Speaker 1 00:36:28 Def Leppard journey, any of that classic rocks if I see Cobert over there smiling when we mention the word journey. Um, but we
Speaker 4 00:36:35 Love, yeah. Oh my gosh, I, I I have any possibility to weasel Def Leppard into our set cuz people are like, oh, what songs do you play best? I'm like, well, let me tell you. Uh, Def Leppard <laugh> Def Leppard and Fleetwood Mac. Def Leppard was mine for my main song for a while. And then Fleetwood Mac has sort of inched this way. Like they're, they're head and head right now. What's
Speaker 1 00:36:59 Fleetwood song?
Speaker 4 00:37:00 Go Your own Way? It's a fun one.
Speaker 1 00:37:02 Yeah. Yeah. So you, so when, when did you start doing Broadway gigs?
Speaker 4 00:37:06 I started Broadway the first week I moved to Nashville. Really? I got really lucky. Holy shit. I was like, uh, I guess I'm here. I met some guys on Facebook, Trevor Barber and Garrett Spear. I don't know if you guys have ever heard of them, but they're great. And um, Trevor gave me my first opportunity. He's like, come on down and let's see how you do. And I'd never done anything like that even though I'd been playing three hour sets with only female songs with my band. Me as a lead for four years now. It was a four hour set with dude and girl songs, but I was like, wow, I actually know a lot of these songs and I love singing harmony. So it was really fun. And so yeah, that first week I started playing every week and then this past September I started playing three nights a week. Um, it was a lot. I didn't expect to like it as much because when I, when I started playing with Ricky Lee Tanner, he was like, these are three nights a week. And I was just like, that's a lot. But it's been really good and it helps to pay for school, which is nice and save for music things and I just really enjoy it. It's such a little family down there as you guys know.
Speaker 1 00:38:13 Yeah. And it keeps you fresh too, doesn't it? Yeah. You're like, again, you were saying you like, you feel like you need to be doing something. Yeah. And that's, that's definitely something being up on a stage for four hours and dealing with a wild crowd. It's been good on a, on a Monday night, a Thursday night or a, or a Friday afternoon. You're, you're certainly doing something. I've
Speaker 4 00:38:30 Met some cool people there too. Like there's
Speaker 1 00:38:32 Yeah,
Speaker 4 00:38:33 There's like just so many cool people and like, there's two ladies that come down after work a lot and they're always like, sj, you have the best jeans. So we always talk about jeans and like, just like, I get to see you guys when I'm down there too. If I hadn't had done Broadway, I would not have met you guys. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:38:48 I wouldn't have if we hadn't popped in. I think it was, yeah, it was a Thursday night. It was of those of nights. One of those nights. And I remember popping in, it was me, Jake, arch Dave, and uh, and um, I think Coda might have been with us too. It might have been the night that I met Koda and we just were popping doing, doing the Broadway thing. And then we were, we met, we were like, this girl can sing and that guy can sing and that I can play. And you guys were freaking awesome. Cool. I remember you going around with a tip bucket. We exchange information and Yeah,
Speaker 4 00:39:14 I follow you on Instagram. Yeah. I remember getting a message from me. You were like, I moved to Nashville. I was like, shoot, you really did <laugh>. He's here and look at you taking
Speaker 2 00:39:22 Over Mean will say it. And you're like, oh, well there's still,
Speaker 1 00:39:25 That's what Taylor said to me. That's what Taylor Phillips said. I remember sitting at losers with him when I was again visiting for that week and him saying, you keep saying you're gonna move it. I'll believe it when I see it, dude. Like, no offense, but people do this all the time. And they're like, I'm gonna move. And then they don't do it. Like, you just gotta pack up and do it.
Speaker 2 00:39:39 And a lot of times they're really drunk in a bar and they're like, I love this city <laugh>. I love hiking 400 to fights the stairs to the rooftop. I wanna move
Speaker 1 00:39:47 Here. I love being on a pedal tavern screaming at the top of my lungs.
Speaker 4 00:39:51 Oh
Speaker 2 00:39:51 My gosh. Oh my gosh. I'm going to do the, uh, wagon pool every weekend on Broadway <laugh>, by
Speaker 1 00:39:56 The way, have you seen, so you've ob you, you're on Broadway enough where you see the different vehicles that go around mm-hmm. <affirmative> with the, the wagons, the pedal taverns. I'm sure one of your favorites has gotta be the the tractor one being a farm girl. I like the tractor one. There's, there's two that popped up that we saw this weekend. Yeah. One Tyler, you say the first one.
Speaker 2 00:40:11 So the first one is called the Music City tub. And it is a big,
Speaker 4 00:40:17 I saw your Snapchat,
Speaker 2 00:40:19 The big glass trailer with two hot tubs in it and a DJ in the middle. Honestly,
Speaker 1 00:40:25 I found out what the rate of what the rate for that is. What is it? It's like, it's like three something. It's like 300 and change for for an hour. For, for like an hour or two. Oh. And you just split that up. But you split that up amongst, amongst like a bachelorette party, like a group of your boys. And it's like, it's not that bad. It's like getting a v i p table at one of the bars downtown.
Speaker 4 00:40:43 I honestly would do it. I thought when I saw you guys post about that, I was like, oh my gosh. But then deep down I was ready for it.
Speaker 1 00:40:50 I am here for it. And I, and then there was another one, a firetruck, somebody converted an old firetruck that's, and there's, and there's a girl dancing in her and the fire and the fireman helmet. It's a bartender, bartender, dancing. And have
Speaker 4 00:41:01 You seen the guy one? I was just about to bring that up. The guy. There's a firetruck D one with dudes where they just like, dudes run around on it with their shirts off. They were parked behind the stage one though.
Speaker 1 00:41:11 I know what Sjs doing for her. 21st birthday <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:41:16 Oh my gosh. Yeah. I'm gonna be everywhere. I can't decide. There's so many choices now when I turn 21, I guess I have like a year to decide, but it's like, I could do that new hot tub thing. I could do the classic pedal tavern or
Speaker 1 00:41:30 You can just go to a bar, you can bar crawl,
Speaker 4 00:41:32 Bar crawl. Um, what else is there that
Speaker 1 00:41:34 You, you get it so much
Speaker 4 00:41:36 Top golf.
Speaker 2 00:41:37 I mean, it's gotta be better than my 21st year. So I was in Nashville, but I was going to a very strict Christian college. So I went to, uh, down in Green Hills, the Carass that's down there. Uhhuh. It was a, what was it? I wanna say it was like an Applebee's or a Chili's or something like that. Like a, a chain. And I got a steak and a glass of wine and I didn't know what I was ordering with wine. And I got the worst possible one ever
Speaker 1 00:42:04 Worst combination to go with this. And I
Speaker 2 00:42:06 Didn't drink again for probably eight or nine months because I was like, alcohol
Speaker 1 00:42:11 Sucks.
Speaker 4 00:42:12 Oh my
Speaker 1 00:42:12 Gosh. Have you since been back to an Applebee's and redeemed yourself? Because I used to get drunk at,
Speaker 2 00:42:17 I mean, Applebee's has the half
Speaker 1 00:42:18 All
Speaker 2 00:42:18 The time, the half off apps and the dollar, whenever they do the dollar lits
Speaker 4 00:42:23 Are everything.
Speaker 1 00:42:24 They save lives. They, they do
Speaker 4 00:42:25 The buffalo wings. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:42:27 That is the best thing for college student. Cause you can go have a whole meal for the price of an appetizer, so you can, I know I get, uh, quesadillas and mozzarella sticks for nine bucks.
Speaker 4 00:42:36 Dude, you're gonna make me hungry. We just had those biscuits and I'm gonna go to,
Speaker 1 00:42:39 Oh, we got more of them. We got plenty of, uh, those are great biscuits. Plenty of BooBerry biscuits. Now talk about your songwriting real quick. Um, yeah. So you have like a certain group of like a circle that you like to write with or is it just meeting different people say out at Bell Court or Yeah, out somewhere where people are like, Hey, let's write.
Speaker 4 00:42:57 I am still in the process of forming my group even though I've written with so many different people over the past. I've been here a year and a half. I'm, I've only found like a couple people that I write with a lot. There's one girl who I love dearly named Mariel Giw Waldi. And we wrote a song called How to Live Without You. And it's about like a grandparent dying. And we've, we've actually we're getting together tomorrow to write and we're, um, she's like the one person I've been writing a lot with. And I, it's just hard, you know, to figure out. There's so many people to write with and I've gotten so many good songs with so many different people. But how do you decide who you're gonna write with every week? You know?
Speaker 1 00:43:37 Yeah. Especially when you're as busy as you are. Like scheduling's gotta be a thing for you for setting up rights. Like that's gotta be, it's a thing a tough, a tough thing for you because not everybody's running around going to classes, playing three nights a week on Broadway while also trying to have a social life while also trying to do this and that. Like, that's a lot, that's a shit ton of stuff you got
Speaker 4 00:43:57 Going on. So I'm a bit of a pain when it comes to <laugh> to booking. I only have certain times that I can write, but it's all, it's all worked out for the better.
Speaker 1 00:44:05 Yeah. But yeah. But if you, but like people take notice of, they wanna write with you because they see, they see like last night when you got great reactions on all three of your, all three of your songs now, the newest one that you would play yesterday. Yeah. Cause usually I'm, I come, I'll, I'll be able to make it out to a lot of your rights and things like that. Or, or when I hear a new one, like I'll usually, like, there's not very many times where I'll hear a new one at a round, like I'll hear from you or, or whatever. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> And you had played one yesterday, you written with Lauren Weintraub? Yeah. Is that how you say her last name? I always Cher. Yeah, that
Speaker 4 00:44:35 Is, that is
Speaker 1 00:44:35 Weintraub. All right.
Speaker 4 00:44:36 It's a cool last name. Yeah. And yeah, we just got together on Saturday and wrote this song. I had an idea about like the words right. Kind of woman. And we wrote a song about like, if you don't want this kind of girl I'm a speak my mind. It was very much about me. It's like, I wear denim and leather and I speak my mind and I'll shoot, if you shoot me straight, I'll shoot right back at you. It's like, I'm not your right kind of woman if you don't want that. And it was like, uh, it was a really good Right. You know, you have those rights where they just feel really good and the song just sort of comes out and it, it's like it needs to be said. And I also love songs about being a woman.
Speaker 1 00:45:10 Yeah, no, of, of course. Of course. As you should. And uh, and how'd you and Lauren get to know each other? Because she's some another just young Awesome. Oh girl,
Speaker 4 00:45:18 She's amazing. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 00:45:19 Do doing her thing here in Nashville. She's, yeah.
Speaker 4 00:45:22 Um, the funny thing is, I'm met her my first class at Belmont. My first class was a music business class with Dan Hodges. I don't know if you know of Dan Hodges' publishing. They had like Kelsey Ballerini's Dibs and a couple other big songs. Dan. Yeah. Um, but yeah, that's the kind of professor you get at Belmont. It's super cool. And Lauren sat behind me in class. And also, speaking of people that I love to write with, one of my favorite people to write with that I have known from the start, his name is Sam Newton, and he was the first person I sat beside in my first class at Belmont. So it was him beside me and then Lauren right behind me. And it was super cool. That's just how we met. And then that girl just started taking over Nashville. Like there was nothing. It was insane. I'm so proud of her.
Speaker 1 00:46:05 Yeah. And and the fact again, that everybody's is just working with your friends. Yeah. And just you guys, everybody going out and supporting everybody, and you got a damn good song outta that one. And then the second song you played was, uh, was the one you were just talking about how to live, how to live sad. And then you, and you wrap it up with hot damn. And the crowd just gets, the crowd just gets, it's a fun song. Gets so heavy that the guy next, that the guy that was next to you last night, who was the, who was the older gentleman? What was his,
Speaker 4 00:46:30 His name was Steve. I, I can't say his last name. He's got Todd.
Speaker 1 00:46:33 You got his information last night? Yeah. Yeah. I can't remember how to say his last name though. He wrote,
Speaker 4 00:46:37 Um, give It to Me Straight by Tim McGraw.
Speaker 1 00:46:40 Yeah. He was, he was so pumped and psyched up that he pulled, he said he pulled out the big guns and then he comes out and plays. He played his Tim McGraw song. He plays the nineties. Tim McGraw cut.
Speaker 4 00:46:48 I was like, bro, I wanted to write with you before, I just want you to know I wanted to write number Won
Speaker 1 00:46:52 What you said his debut album. Yeah. But he looked it up. It was, it was the number two track on that. On that record. Record. He was insane.
Speaker 4 00:46:56 He's a really nice guy. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:46:57 He was, he was really
Speaker 4 00:46:58 Cool. Have phenomenal songs and Yeah, I was like, dude, just to let you know, I wanted to write with you before you even brought out the Big guns. Yeah. Like the first song you played. I could tell.
Speaker 1 00:47:08 That's what's cool about Belco taps and, and the Nashville tour stop with what they do is you never know who's gonna pop in. You really don't. And for you, like you, you play there so much. You probably have been on rounds with so many different people. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:47:20 I didn't even know he was gonna be like, I saw his name on the Yeah. The flyer, but I didn't know like that he had written that song for Tim McGraw. It was so cool. And for him to sit up and like, listen to my friends Kate Cosentino and Lizzie Kates were all like young women and he was super complimentary and he really liked their stuff. That was really nice and cool. He was, he said, I feel like I'm, it's the beauties and the beast up here. I was like, oh my gosh. No. It's more like the three girls and the guy that can write a damn good song.
Speaker 1 00:47:53 Uh, all, all four of you did excellent last night. It was, it was a great round. It was, it was a thanks for coming guys. It was of Oh yeah, of course. If we can, if if there's a chance where I can go out and and see a play, I'll, I'm gonna go and do it now. These guys will do the same. Um, and there was a show, big one you did fairly recently back home. Yeah. In the state of Virginia. We couldn't make it to, but the guy that I'm currently wearing on my ball cap, who's a good friend of mine mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And he gets a little wild and he's awesome. He's mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. Good dude. You've known him for a minute. Um, Mr. Cody Purvis. You guys got to play out, out Jefferson Theater, right?
Speaker 4 00:48:24 Yeah, we did. Cody is one of my favorite voices. He's just got a timeless voice, I think. And it's just amazing.
Speaker 1 00:48:30 What was that show like for you? Going back? My gosh, after being in Nashville, going back and playing a show in Virginia, it
Speaker 4 00:48:35 Was such a cool show because I had just announced like all the American Idol stuff and, um, I hadn't seen my family in like two months. And friends were actually coming out and making the drive. It's about an hour from Lexington to, uh, Charlottesville,
Speaker 1 00:48:51 Which I've learned in the country. An hour is not very far at all. Like no people will make that drive.
Speaker 4 00:48:56 I'll make that drive every day if I have.
Speaker 1 00:48:57 Well, I, I make it almost every day. <laugh>. Yeah, you do live
Speaker 4 00:49:00 Spring Hill. Yeah. But dude, the Jefferson, it's such a great venue and it, it was so good to, you know, I love playing on Broadway. I love playing these covers all the time. But, um, when I get to go there and play my own music to a crowd and like, I saw my aunt, she was singing one of my songs that she had never heard live before, but just through like Instagram and Facebook, she knew the words. It was so cool. And one of my favorite moments of that whole show was, I owe so much of this to my parents that like my mom, she, she spent years just like booking me shows without even telling me. She's like, Hey, you're gonna plan Friday. Okay mom, thank you. Um, I, everything is because of what they did. And when I first got on stage, this whole show since I went to college, I do everything on my own now. And I just sort of like, let mom off the hook. She has four other kids to deal with. Yeah. And I was on stage and I could see my tall dad just standing there smiling and little mom beside him. And it was really cool. They were front in the middle and it was a really full circle moment for me for some reason. There's just a great moment
Speaker 1 00:50:09 And you're still just getting started. That's the big, that's what's cool is you're just, just getting started and all of all of that stuff. Now, do you want, would you like to sing a song for us?
Speaker 4 00:50:20 I want to, but my voice is actually like, I tried to sing earlier today and something is wrong. I think I'm gonna have to go to the doctor.
Speaker 2 00:50:29 It's never fun.
Speaker 4 00:50:31 Like something's popping. I like really wanted to sing too.
Speaker 1 00:50:37 That sucks.
Speaker 4 00:50:38 I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 00:50:41 <laugh>. I tried
Speaker 4 00:50:44 April Falls, boom.
Speaker 1 00:50:46 I tried to keep it together. Him, I lost it. <laugh>
Speaker 4 00:50:50 Was my smile. Giving it away any, I was just trying
Speaker 1 00:50:52 To, so she, she got me earlier before we, before we sat down and started recording. I was like, so what song do you wanna play? And she's like, actually I, I can't do I like something like that. I'm like, oh, well then how are you gonna play tonight? And she's like, oh he's on. She was like, I could see the wheels turning. And then she was like, April Fools. And I was like, goddammit,
Speaker 2 00:51:09 I trust nobody today there. There's no trust for anybody.
Speaker 4 00:51:14 I was like pulling up here thinking, okay, am I gonna answer like the door with a horse voice or just be like, ah, God, you know, like can't talk <laugh>. But uh, I really wanted to get you, but you know, I got mad at the start and that was good enough for me. Worked out good.
Speaker 1 00:51:32 Yeah, it's Code of Bear moves stuff around for the sake of phones with shout out to his phone. You see it in uh, see it. Hashtag on uh, our social media accounts cuz he's very proud of it. Even though I will always be Team iPhone. Oh, me too. I'll be team iPhone to the day that I die. He's actually outnumbered. But uh, he's got this Samsung Galaxy S 10, right? S 10 and he's very proud of it. As soon as it came out, we sat at Sprint and um, for a good while and uh, we sat there with him and he got his new phone and he's all excited. So all the photos that you see will be on that. Shut iPhone's, better Samsung iPhone's better. Oh yeah. All those are better iPhone's. Way better Coda. Right? You guys. <laugh> we know what the thing you're co bear has a voice. He does have a voice. He's alive. Bears can talk. Everybody Bears can talk. So what do you got coming up that people can, uh, in terms of music, you got anything you're looking to put out? What do you got going on?
Speaker 4 00:52:27 I am in the process of recording some music. All right. I'm not gonna say much. Okay. Because it's still, I believe in just letting the music take the process that he needs to take. And, um, but some things are coming along really good that I'm really proud of. It's, it feels good to be proud of something, you know, I've always rushed my other projects, so I'm excited to just really hone in on something I like. And, uh, so check me out on the socials and you can see all that because hopefully something soon will be peering off on the interwebs from Les J.
Speaker 1 00:52:59 Yeah. You said you had a good joke for us. Okay. You said you had a good joke. Tyler's got some jokes too. I got nothing. So I'm just gonna sit back and, uh, let the joke battle ensue and whatnot. Tyler sj, what do you got? You said it might be you, you gave us a warning earlier.
Speaker 4 00:53:15 Yeah. How many jokes do I get?
Speaker 1 00:53:17 One what? Whatever you wanna rattle off, go for it.
Speaker 4 00:53:19 Okay. I have, uh, I'll give you like two or three. All right. You got some good ones too. Tyler. You were giving me them earlier. I was like, dang, I gotta step up. My joke, my joke game. Okay. What's red and bad for your teeth?
Speaker 2 00:53:32 Blood.
Speaker 4 00:53:33 A <laugh>. I can't even say without laughing. Arick.
Speaker 1 00:53:38 Oh God. Oh boy. All right, what do you got? Tom?
Speaker 4 00:53:44 Hit me.
Speaker 2 00:53:46 So my thing is drummer jokes. Um, so what do you call a drummer that just broke up with his girlfriend?
Speaker 4 00:53:57 Um,
Speaker 2 00:53:58 Homeless.
Speaker 1 00:53:59 Oh shit. Oh my God. Shout out to all the drummers.
Speaker 2 00:54:02 Oh, drummers. I love you guys, but we love drummers. Some jokes are easy. This the low bearing fruit.
Speaker 4 00:54:08 Okay. Um, this is one, someone said this to me a couple nights ago and I really liked it. Uh, it's not really whatever, I'm just gonna say it. And the Lord said unto John, come forth and receive eternal life. But John came fifth and won a toaster.
Speaker 1 00:54:25 <laugh>. Oh shit.
Speaker 4 00:54:29 I don't even have a toaster. Like I need one. Come fifth. Just come fifth, man.
Speaker 1 00:54:33 Just fifth
Speaker 2 00:54:34 Man. I wonder what third one though. And what was first? Yeah, first like in that, in that instance like fourth was eternal life. Like what's, what's the first there? You know, like that's gotta be a big prize.
Speaker 4 00:54:45 Maybe it was an iPhone.
Speaker 2 00:54:47 Maybe
Speaker 4 00:54:48 At Koto.
Speaker 1 00:54:49 Yeah, it was an iPhone. You know the, the the top phone? You got another drum joke?
Speaker 2 00:54:55 Yeah. So, um, two drummers walk into a studio. One's a Russian. What's the other?
Speaker 4 00:55:02 Oh,
Speaker 2 00:55:03 A dragon. Oh, <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:55:07 They didn't,
Speaker 4 00:55:09 Okay, I got one last one for you. This is my go-to, but some people can't, some people don't like it, but it's, it's my go-to joke cuz I love bad jokes. Why did the koala fall out of the tree?
Speaker 2 00:55:22 Cause he was dead.
Speaker 4 00:55:24 Yeah. You dang it. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:55:26 I didn't know that.
Speaker 1 00:55:26 And he got, he died. Oh boy. Oh boy. So
Speaker 4 00:55:31 That's my morbid
Speaker 2 00:55:31 Joke. So I'm gonna do this one that I heard on Broadway the other day. This was a toast, but I literally lost it and had to go to the back and re recompose myself. He goes, so raise your glasses. Said boots and butt holes. Two things we probably shouldn't lick, but definitely have
Speaker 1 00:55:50 <laugh>. Oh Lord. And on that note, oh my gosh. And on that note, that's things you hear on Broadway for 500. Um, but, um, but, um, but yeah. So, uh, episode, another great episode in the round, uh, SJS gonna sit down and play for us. She was just kidding. She's got a voice. She's got a great voice. Y'all are about to hear what song you wanna sing for us today.
Speaker 4 00:56:12 I think I'm gonna sing one called Hot. Damn.
Speaker 1 00:56:15 Hot Damn. All right. Hot damn. Now the story behind that real quick.
Speaker 4 00:56:19 Yeah. Broadway. Woo. Um, yeah, I was playing, it was like maybe my fourth or fifth month playing on Broadway and I was sitting down with a friend at the bar right after my set. Some drunk guy came in and smacked me on the arm. He said, damn girl. And I was just like, hello? Like, what? Okay, then I, I mentioned it to my co co-writer the night before. I was just talking, talking about the night, and she was like, let's write this song. And, um, I, this is one of the songs that, uh, the, the words at the end of the chorus are some of my most proud lyrics I've written that I really like, that really defined who I wanna be as an artist. It was a, a big moment for me. So like, shout out to that guy for giving me song idea to make a story out of.
Speaker 2 00:57:05 That's awesome.
Speaker 1 00:57:06 Awesome. All right, sweet. Well thank you SJ for coming on. We'll let you go get that guitar all quick. Up until real quick, quick,
Speaker 2 00:57:12 Where can people find you at? Oh,
Speaker 4 00:57:14 Good
Speaker 1 00:57:14 One. Yeah, the socials. You
Speaker 4 00:57:15 Can find me everywhere at SJ McDonald Music. Awesome. Literally everywhere
Speaker 1 00:57:21 And every Friday. MySpace. Yeah, MySpace.
Speaker 4 00:57:23 Not MySpace
Speaker 1 00:57:24 Too young man should have. I'm too young now. She didn't have a MySpace.
Speaker 4 00:57:27 I should make one just for fun. Can you still do that?
Speaker 2 00:57:29 Yeah, it's totally changed. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:57:31 Tyler had a MySpace. Oh
Speaker 2 00:57:33 Yeah, I had a MySpace
Speaker 1 00:57:34 Tyler's grandpa over here.
Speaker 2 00:57:35 Well, I mean, yeah, but I had, I actually got into my MySpace like a month ago and saw all the old horrible things that I
Speaker 1 00:57:44 As a young, young teenager follow us on in the round on Facebook. We're gonna post the link to, uh, Tyler's, uh, old school MySpace page. Oh, we'll
Speaker 4 00:57:52 See, my
Speaker 1 00:57:53 Gosh. We'll see. Uh, nope. We'll see Bluegrass picking, uh, football playing Alabama as Tyler on our Facebook. I said it, it's gonna be a promise. I know you control the editing and stuff. Oh God. Probably not gonna make it onto the episode, but if it does, look we'll, we'll post that link for y'all. Oh my gosh. So anyway, make sure you guys follow along in the round podcast on Instagram in the round, on Facebook, in the round podcast.com for the weekly roundups and whatnot. Shout out to our webmaster Jacob Albert for all that shout out to the Dakota Bear making us all look pretty in these pictures, these videos, the video performance of, uh, that SJ is gonna be doing of hot damn here in just a sec. Shout to the podcasts for being pretty well tamed today. Oh my
Speaker 2 00:58:33 Gosh. Husband's been on this chase
Speaker 1 00:58:34 Lap like Monday entire time. Other, there's been times where they've been climbing on people and they get in their guitar cases and they knock plugs out, knock out the headphone cables and just cause a ruckus. But today they're being cool and you're petting it like, uh, Don Corone from The Godfather <laugh>. You're just slowly petting. And the day of my daughter's wedding, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 4 00:58:52 No, no, no. This is my cat.
Speaker 1 00:58:53 And then, and with the exception of cake trying to get into the bojangles over here. Yeah, they were very well
Speaker 4 00:58:57 Behaved. So this has been like, thank you. This has been rejuvenating. There you go. Honestly. Well, you're welcome.
Speaker 2 00:59:03 I love
Speaker 4 00:59:03 Cats. They know. Thank you for coming on <laugh>. They know it's in the round baby.
Speaker 1 00:59:07 That's what happens when you come in the round. Okay guys, without further ado, here's SJ McDonald with Hot Dam on in the red.
Speaker 6 00:59:22 I shoulda known by the way that you leaned in and the bourbon on your breath. You be pushing my limits. I shoulda known love. Don't stand behind a bar pouring drinks that you don't want. You were cruising for, cruising you on stress. There's a reason why girls never and should have known by the way that I walked in, that I wouldn't take your shit stress. The alcohol. There's a reason why full grown whiskey on, don't you.
