SJ McDonald Round 2: 'Friendship & Growth, Tales from Broadway & Finding Your Sound

[00:00:15] Speaker A: This is outside the round with Matt Barrill. A raise rally podcast. Well, SJ MacDonald, my little sister, my first friend in the city of Nashville. I always brag to people because you're somebody that a lot of folks know in town. Like, everybody's like, oh, I love SJ. I'm like, well, SJ was my first friend that I met before I even moved here. Before I moved here. How the hell you been doing? [00:00:37] Speaker B: I've been good. It's been like, you know, herding cats and dogs for, like, trying to hurt a family or your friends. It's like my life trying to hurt my brain. [00:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:00:47] Speaker B: It's like, I don't know. Things have been crazy. [00:00:50] Speaker A: Yeah, we've been trying to do this for a while. [00:00:52] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, well, we always said that once we would do an updated podcast when I signed a publishing deal. Yeah, I signed that publishing deal seven months ago. [00:01:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes, sir. [00:01:04] Speaker B: That's a good day. [00:01:04] Speaker A: Yeah, we had you on April 1 of 2019. It was April Fool's day. [00:01:08] Speaker B: Yep. That was a big day. [00:01:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:01:10] Speaker B: You remember. That was the day we went out after the podcast. For those who don't know, after the podcast, we went to Hattie B's in West Nashville. We were eating with Koda, and this guy had, like, a diabetic episode, and his car rammed into your car. [00:01:28] Speaker A: Yes. [00:01:29] Speaker B: Your new car. [00:01:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:01:30] Speaker B: And then while that was being taken care of, we went next door to get, like, ice cream. What's that little ice cream, Bobby? [00:01:36] Speaker A: Was it Bob? Is it something dip? It's something dipping. Dairy dip. [00:01:40] Speaker B: Dairy dip. [00:01:42] Speaker A: Bobby's dairy something something dairy. That's on West End. [00:01:46] Speaker B: If anybody's listening that owns that, we're sorry. [00:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah, we love your ice cream, Bobby. It's like something. Bobby's dairy something. But, yeah, I forgot about that. And then I had to go work on Broadway after that. [00:01:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that grind, baby. [00:02:00] Speaker A: I had to go and bounce after. I'm like, what do I do with my car? My shift starts in an hour. You're like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. What do you do? Like, it was just. [00:02:06] Speaker B: I'm like, still little SJ at that point. It was 2019. I was about to turn 20, and I was two years or a year and a half into, like, being in the big city. And that stuff kind of stuff doesn't happen in small town Rockridge county, Virginia. And I remember being like, oh, my God, what's going on? But then ice cream. It's fine. And everybody's fine. [00:02:28] Speaker A: Yeah. I think Tyler was with us, too. I think Boudreau was with us. It was me, you, boudreau, and dakota. [00:02:33] Speaker B: Yep. [00:02:34] Speaker A: Cause dakota was with us, too. Oh, the good old days. And I remember. Cause at the end of the episodes, back then, we used to have the guests play a song. We had no idea what we were doing. We were figuring it all out. [00:02:44] Speaker B: I think y'all did great. [00:02:46] Speaker A: We did very solid what we had. And I remember you being like, yeah, I don't have a voice. Like, yeah, I can't sing. And before April fool's day. Oh, like, you played an April fool's joke. You're like, yeah, I can't play at the end of it. And we had dakota there to video. [00:02:58] Speaker B: That was the first and last time I was ever funny. [00:03:01] Speaker A: You're very funny. You're hilarious. You're always funny. [00:03:05] Speaker B: Thank you. My old guitar player, I love him to death. I will not name him, but many of you know him. He was like. He came up to me after a gig once. He was like, SJ, you're lucky you're cute. [00:03:17] Speaker A: You're lucky you get away with all this shit. Cause you're so. You're just like a door. Like, SJ can do no wrong. It's like, no, she can. [00:03:26] Speaker B: I can. I'm a human. Don't say that. [00:03:28] Speaker A: Are you still doing the downtown stuff? [00:03:30] Speaker B: I'm on downtown playing AJ's. Like, at this point, like, once every two months. [00:03:35] Speaker A: You're down to once every two months. [00:03:37] Speaker B: Yeah. It's wild. I went from three shows a week for, like, five years. [00:03:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:42] Speaker B: To, oh, my gosh. I haven't been to Broadway. I can't remember what it's like parking down there. I can't remember what Broadway looks like. [00:03:50] Speaker A: I remember walking you to your car. [00:03:52] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:03:52] Speaker A: After gigs at the stage. [00:03:53] Speaker B: I would like to say thank you to everybody who ever walked me to my car down there. Cause, like, it's scary for a girl. And I carried a knife, you know? I don't know what to do with that thing. [00:04:01] Speaker A: No, not at all. Yeah. Cause you would. It would. The first time we had met, washing on the second. Oh, it was the rooftop. Rooftop of the stage. You playing with Ricky Lee. And that was September of 2018. And then I moved down a month later. [00:04:20] Speaker B: A month later. [00:04:21] Speaker A: And your shifts, you would have the day shift on Friday? [00:04:24] Speaker B: Yes. So I play six to ten Monday, six to ten Thursday, and then two to six Friday. [00:04:29] Speaker A: And that would end my shift. My day shift at whiskey row would ideally end depending on when the night guys would show up. Cause there was always chaos over there. I would get off my shift and come down and watch your shift and order you a Shirley Temple. [00:04:45] Speaker B: Yes. I still drink those. [00:04:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:47] Speaker B: I'm still the Shirley girl. [00:04:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And watch you do your thing. [00:04:50] Speaker B: Yeah. It's funny. Like, the people down there saw me grow up, and I bet they expected, when I turn 21, I go, like, wild and drink, and I'm still like, please give me a Shirley temple with a splash of Red Bull and a little bit of pineapple. [00:05:02] Speaker A: Yeah. And the white cup. And the big cup. [00:05:04] Speaker B: The big, white cup. So everybody knows I'm a baby. I'm trying to hold onto that forever. [00:05:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Cause how old are you now? [00:05:11] Speaker B: 25. [00:05:12] Speaker A: 25. Don't say, ugh. [00:05:13] Speaker B: No, 25. [00:05:14] Speaker A: You're fucking young. [00:05:15] Speaker B: I am happy. My prefrontal cortex has finally developed. [00:05:19] Speaker A: What's a prefrontal cortex? [00:05:20] Speaker B: I don't know. We'll have to google it. But I just know that it's a thing that they say about 25 year olds where it's like, you turn 25, your prefrontal, or frontal cortex. I'm not sure which one fully develops. So that's when you start, like, really thinking like an adult. So I'm ready for the next chapter. I do still feel. I still feel 21. That's the kind of life I want to live. I still want to stay young at heart. But I'm not gonna lie. I am already like, oh, my gosh. SJ, put on your sunscreen. We want to look good in our forties. [00:05:50] Speaker A: That's funny. [00:05:51] Speaker B: That's why y'all can see I'm pasty. [00:05:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And right now, it's festival season, and I love seeing you go out on the road and do your thing, like. Cause I remember you being downtown for, like you said, that's where you kind of grew up and learned how to really do this thing in honor craft. And you'd go back for shows in Virginia or North Carolina, like, back in the day, but now you're going all over the country with your own band in your own. In a van. Right? [00:06:17] Speaker B: In a van. I'm picking up vans in parking lots, and I've never even met the guy I rent my vans from. [00:06:23] Speaker A: But the van's always there, right? [00:06:24] Speaker B: Van's always there, and it runs great. [00:06:26] Speaker A: Knock on wood. [00:06:27] Speaker B: Knock on wooden. But, yeah, it's pretty wild. Like, I forget what year I really decided to fully go on the road. 2023 was my big year. I think all the years up until then, I was, like, on the road once, twice a month. Still doing Broadway pretty heavy. Cause the money was steady, and I didn't know how to get on the road. And then in 2023, I was like, I'm tired of waiting for something to happen. I'm just gonna start looking at little towns all across the US, see who I have friends at, and try to get to those people because they'll bring friends, and that'll start a little bit of a following. And then last year, I did, like, 22 states all on my own. Like, I don't even know how, but I did it. And this year, I'm still doing a lot, but it's different. Like, I'm being more selective of, like, where do I need to play? Where are my fans at the. Where have I got my foot in the door that I could, like, reach for a bigger venue. [00:07:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:24] Speaker B: And, like, it's been working, especially in Wisconsin. [00:07:27] Speaker A: I fucking love Wisconsin. [00:07:29] Speaker B: Me too. I'm going there tonight. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Country thunder. [00:07:33] Speaker B: I love Wisconsin. [00:07:34] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:34] Speaker B: Just good people and, like, Matt, people have been showing up in Wisconsin for me from all over the state. Like, there's this one little town called Cashton. It's like 30, 40 minutes outside of La Crosse. Some of my best friends got me there three years ago, and I've played there every year. And this past time I was there, I sold out of merch. We put the bar, like, over capacity, and people were showing up from, like, five, six, 7 hours away. I couldn't believe it. I was like, okay, it's finally working. How do I show Nashville? [00:08:04] Speaker A: Well, honestly, it's like, you could have all the buzz in the world here, but if, like, having fans and ticket and being able to sell tickets and sell merch and do shows out of the city. Cause there's so many people that come to mind that are, like, they're happening right now, and they're happening, like, in town, that's like a little bubble. [00:08:22] Speaker B: It is. [00:08:22] Speaker A: There's so much more to be said for going to a small town in Wisconsin and packing out a venue. [00:08:29] Speaker B: Yeah, well, these are the places where, like, nobody's coming to these little towns, and those are where my favorite kind of people are. So it's been a great way to find just really cool people and loyal fans who I know will stick with me through it and you know as well as anybody else just how important touring is. Yeah, firsthand with Muscadine and Trey and. [00:08:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Was Trey your first? [00:08:52] Speaker A: Trey was my first tour manager, Muscadine. I was just selling t shirts, but Trey was like, yeah, it was like an explosion where. And we went to. I mean, I went to small, really small towns, mostly in the southeast and, like, the midwest too, with, like, with muscadine and then with Trey, I went all over the damn place. But yeah, you're from a super small town. Like, as small as small town as it. As it kind of gets. And growing up on a farm and. And having a bunch of brothers and sisters. [00:09:20] Speaker B: And actually, Matt has been to that small town. Funny segue. Not segue. Funny story. Matt came through Virginia on his way back home over Covid. [00:09:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:31] Speaker B: And I was still, like, really freaked out about COVID And so, like, we kept our 6ft away from each other and I put his ass on the back of my dad's flatbed truck. [00:09:39] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:09:40] Speaker B: You remember that? And Matt just stood on the back and held on. And he sort of looked like, I don't know, sort of like mufasa at the edge of that cliff on Lion King. [00:09:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:50] Speaker B: But without, you know, holding up a baby, just driving his ass around the farm. I'll never forget. [00:09:56] Speaker A: That was awesome. [00:09:57] Speaker B: And your mom sent Penne pasta. [00:09:59] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, we had a whole tray of penne vodka for you. Yeah, a whole tray. My mom always asks, how's SJ doing? I love, like, you are a Barill family favorite. Thank you, my sister. [00:10:09] Speaker B: You're a McDonald family favorite. [00:10:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I love your 7th. How are they all doing? [00:10:13] Speaker B: Everybody's good. Everybody's grown up. [00:10:14] Speaker A: How old are the little sisters now? [00:10:16] Speaker B: 13. They're twins. And then I have a 16 year old brother and 21 year old brother. [00:10:21] Speaker A: Oh, your brother's 21? [00:10:22] Speaker B: Wow. He and my dad are like, starting a shop for him to do diesel mechanics. [00:10:27] Speaker A: That's right. Because he was going to. He was doing that. That's right. [00:10:29] Speaker B: Pretty wild. And things are changing, especially now since I signed a pub deal and more doors are opening and I can't go home as much. And now I'm sort of struggling with, like, I want to go home and visit them. All of my family except for me are within two and a half hours of home. [00:10:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:48] Speaker B: There are only like, two blood relatives that don't live in that county or three blood relatives that don't live in that county. And I'm like, I'm the bird that flew so far from the coop. [00:10:59] Speaker A: That's how I feel, too. [00:11:00] Speaker B: Yeah. You know it. And everybody's growing up and I know a lot of people who have siblings, but not many people have siblings with such an age gap. And it's really interesting to me being an adult and having younger siblings back home who just, like, they're just like, oh, it's just SJ. Like, she's just doing whatever. I don't know. And they'll call me, and they'll be like, when are you coming home? Or, we want nieces and nephews. I'm like, you're 13. Don't say that to me. I'm writing songs. Those are your nieces and nephews. Cherish them. [00:11:35] Speaker A: That's funny. I can picture them saying that. [00:11:38] Speaker B: Oh, you know? [00:11:39] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:11:41] Speaker B: To all my siblings, I love you. If you're listening, please don't be mad at me. [00:11:44] Speaker A: Shout out to the McDonald's. [00:11:44] Speaker B: Shut up. Good lord. [00:11:47] Speaker A: How's the publishing deal been going? [00:11:48] Speaker B: It's been really great. I signed with major Bob music in January 1. My family got to come down for the signing, and I love Major Bob. It was, like, such a crazy way that the story happened. I met my publisher playing a writer's round at e three steakhouse on 21st Avenue in Nashville. [00:12:06] Speaker A: Of all the places for someone to pop into a round. [00:12:09] Speaker B: Yeah. So Jake Hill, now, Jake Slayton, he was putting on those rounds. [00:12:14] Speaker A: That's right. [00:12:15] Speaker B: Yep, yep. He was putting on those rounds where you, like, get a free glass of wine and free steak. Honestly, I was just there for the steak. And then my best friend, Caroline, who is also a publisher, she had a coffee meeting with Graham Kofman, who is now my publisher. And she was like, graham, just come to this round. All my friends are playing. And Graham had been following my stuff for a while, and we hadn't met. [00:12:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:37] Speaker B: And we hit it off that night. And I kid you not, Matt. When I met Graham, I was like, holy. Oh, my gosh. I feel like this guy could be my publisher. And the bartender gave me a Shirley temple with a little embellishment, a plastic star with sparkles on it in the drink. [00:12:53] Speaker A: Wow. [00:12:54] Speaker B: I saved it, and we'll get back to the star. But that was January of 2023. Met Graham, and I started sending songs and just inviting him to rounds. And then Ben Williams, who also writes at major Bob, he wrote a bunch of Megan Maroney songs. Oh, yeah, yeah, we know. We love Ben. And I ran into him at a party, and he's like, what's going on? And I was like, honestly, I met major Bob, and I love him. And he was like, hold up. Let me call them right now. And he called them, and I had a meeting the next day. [00:13:27] Speaker A: Wow. [00:13:28] Speaker B: So thank you, Ben. [00:13:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:30] Speaker B: And I was in the meeting for, like, two and a half hours, and then about a month later, we were in Key west. [00:13:37] Speaker A: Yep. [00:13:37] Speaker B: And I had a good feeling. I was like. I finally felt for myself that it was gonna happen. Cause years past, I never felt it. I'm a big gut person. I felt it in 2022 when my best friend, Mia Mantilla, got her publishing deal offer. It was a hard pill to swallow that I didn't feel that it would happen for me, but I knew it was gonna happen for her. And something about that spring of 2023, I was like, it's my time. I feel it. And lo and behold, we are in Key west, and Graham is sitting in front of me, and Ben Williams is sitting in front of me, and they're like, major Bob's gonna offer you publishing deal. And of course I cry. And then all my best friends are outside, and you're there. Run over to the race. Rowdy round. And I'm crying to you in the streets of. [00:14:20] Speaker A: I was like, SJ, what happened? Are you okay? I just. I got. I got an offer. [00:14:25] Speaker B: I just had a life changing thing. It's fine, but, yeah, that's been amazing. And then I officially signed in January. Cause lawyer land takes forever. I never realized it. [00:14:34] Speaker A: They call it long form for a reason. [00:14:36] Speaker B: Long form, yes. But I'm there, and I'm so proud to be the first girl that they signed a major Bob. [00:14:42] Speaker A: Really? [00:14:42] Speaker B: In five years. [00:14:43] Speaker A: Wow. [00:14:44] Speaker B: And right after me, they signed some more girls. So I'm glad to see some more country females out there kicking ass. And it's been really great. Like, it has been hard for me to turn over my calendar. Cause I'm a control freak. I've been running everything for years, and I still run everything except for publishing. But Graham and I have worked out a good system, and he's been working his tail off for me. The whole team has. [00:15:07] Speaker A: Yeah. How often are you. How many times a week are you writing now? [00:15:10] Speaker B: Actually, probably too much. And it's not my publisher's fault. It's mine. But let's see. The past two days, I've done doubles because I was only in town for, like, three days this week. Yeah. [00:15:22] Speaker A: Balancing now is the artist thing's growing. It's like finding the time to write while especially the artist thing that you're doing is going out on the road and going to these small towns and growing your brand and getting your songs out there. So it's balancing that it was probably a little bit easier when you were just in town. [00:15:38] Speaker B: Oh, it was like January to mid April. I was writing five days a week, no problem. Like, it felt like a groundhog day to me. I was like, oh, my gosh. Nothing's changing. I'm just writing songs. And then it started picking up in the summer, and then I decided I was like, oh, I need to start thinking about my next round of songs, so I gotta start writing for me, like, hardcore this summer. And so I'm trying to fit it all in between going on the road. And I. Yesterday, one of my publishers looked at me and she was like, sis, you're booked up. I was like, yeah, but it's fun. Like, I'm getting great songs and having so much fun. But I will say I do rot sometimes. Like, one Sunday a month, I'm rotting, like, just in my bed, watching Netflix, ordering Thai food. Cause it's so crazy. [00:16:26] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. What are you watching on Netflix these days? [00:16:28] Speaker B: Well, I just watched the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader thing. [00:16:31] Speaker A: Okay, how was that? [00:16:33] Speaker B: It was good. I am now on Dallas Cowboy cheerleader TikTok with all the drama from the girls and, like, makeup routines and who's new on the team. I never thought I'd be into it, but I was sort of like, they got you girlhood. [00:16:49] Speaker A: Yeah, that's funny. [00:16:51] Speaker B: But, yeah, that was my rot show this week. Cause I. Let's see, what did I even do last weekend? I was somewhere playing somewhere. No, I was in Nashville this past weekend. [00:17:02] Speaker A: Oh, nice. [00:17:02] Speaker B: And I still needed a rot day. I rotted a little bit on Sunday. Someday, whatever. [00:17:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I was in Ohio this past weekend. [00:17:10] Speaker B: What were you doing out there? [00:17:11] Speaker A: Festival. We were at country concert. We broke our record. We sold an absurd amount of merchandise, which was great. [00:17:19] Speaker B: That's something that I'm learning about because I'm running all my merch, and I finally got t shirts. I don't know how to keep up with it and, like, how to keep my inventory and my store. [00:17:31] Speaker A: Using shop are using Shopify or what are you using the player using? [00:17:34] Speaker B: Square straight through Banzougle for my online. [00:17:37] Speaker A: Banzoo? [00:17:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Do you know what it's a. It's a website builder made just for musicians. [00:17:47] Speaker A: So does that like, the pos on it, too? Like, when you're at the shows where you can, like, sell off of it at the shows? [00:17:52] Speaker B: I've only been doing cash and memo because I haven't gotten far enough. [00:17:56] Speaker A: Okay, well, if you need help, I'm happy to help with that. We use, like, when I was with Muscadine, it was square, then at venue, where. Then with Trey, it was. It was square than at venue. Now it's Shopify. With all of our age, rowdy stuff, because you can keep your inventory in there, then you keep your stock, and then if you're like, say, giving somebody a shirt, you can mark your artist comp. [00:18:17] Speaker B: I've used Shopify once. I had an internship for one month once. That. [00:18:22] Speaker A: Was that the one at. No. Cause Seagull was more than a month, right? [00:18:25] Speaker B: Yeah, Seagull. I was a writer intern in 21 for, like, eight months. [00:18:28] Speaker A: That was longer. [00:18:29] Speaker B: Right before the pandemic, I was an intern at New West Records. [00:18:32] Speaker A: I think I remember you telling me about this. [00:18:34] Speaker B: Yes. It was like Americana. I didn't know what I was doing. I don't think there was enough going on for me to even do stuff. But I answered Shopify requests and did customer service, so I think it helped me in my career. [00:18:50] Speaker A: There you go. [00:18:51] Speaker B: But then the pandemic hit, and I didn't know what to do, so I just never emailed them, and they never emailed me. And it's fine. [00:18:58] Speaker A: Yeah, it all worked out. It all worked out. [00:19:00] Speaker B: Sorry. Genewest records. How are y'all? [00:19:03] Speaker A: I think both of us, because we've known each other since 2018. Like, the pandemic, it was weird, but we got through it, and I think both of us are in solid places. [00:19:13] Speaker B: I think. So, you know, the pandemic was really good time for me to just buckle down on writing. I moved back to Virginia to the farm for four months and lived like, I was 17 again, just at my parents place. But I would write songs every day on Zoom. And, like, even I went to Nashville for one week in the middle of the pandemic to record. And then I came back and, like, quarantined within the house. [00:19:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:37] Speaker B: And to stay out of the house, I would set my computer up on the front porch and write songs on Zoom. On the front porch, even when it was. [00:19:43] Speaker A: And what better setting the right country music than on the family farm? [00:19:47] Speaker B: It was awesome. I would get up and write a song at 10:00 a.m. eastern time and then go into the field and work with my dad after. And I'm not saying I was, like, a good worker. I was definitely, like, running tethers in defenses, but I had a lot of fun writing songs and then trying to work. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. [00:20:06] Speaker B: But, yeah, it feels like forever ago. [00:20:08] Speaker A: It does. I feel like. I feel like I personally have lived, like, three or four different lives. [00:20:14] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:20:15] Speaker A: In Nashville, I feel like I'm on, like, four, maybe five, I think. [00:20:20] Speaker B: Well, because you've had so many shifts, like working with Muscadine and Trey and natural bouncing. [00:20:25] Speaker A: Was bouncing downtown at Whiskey Row with something. [00:20:27] Speaker B: Yep. [00:20:28] Speaker A: Feel like I was a different person then. [00:20:29] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I was definitely a different person when I was following you around whiskey Road, looking at all the hot guys, you're like, Matt, sneak me in. And I was always so nervous. [00:20:40] Speaker A: Yeah, you love some of my coworkers. [00:20:43] Speaker B: Oh, they had some lookers at whiskey row. Whiskey row is great with hiring. They know what they're doing. But Matt would, you know, get me. [00:20:53] Speaker A: In, especially for, like, the. Right. When they were doing the writers rounds there, it was, like, for that, and then it was like having you just kind of hang outside. Like, we had the little side. That little side door, and, like, there. [00:21:04] Speaker B: Was that one guy that liked cigars, and I smoked a cigar. [00:21:07] Speaker A: James with. With the blue eyes. James with the blue eyes. [00:21:10] Speaker B: James, I hope you're doing. [00:21:11] Speaker A: He's a UFC fighter. Oh, he's an MMA fighter. Yeah. [00:21:14] Speaker B: Wow. [00:21:14] Speaker A: He does. He was doing that. He's a bit older. [00:21:16] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:21:17] Speaker A: Yeah, he used to get me, like, cuban cigars or alleged cuban cigars. [00:21:21] Speaker B: Like, I had a chocolate flavored cigar. [00:21:23] Speaker A: That's right. Yeah, that's right. [00:21:25] Speaker B: That was a first and a last for lsjdehenhezen. I get to say I did it, just like, I get to say I crowd surfed once. [00:21:32] Speaker A: Where'd you crowd surf? [00:21:35] Speaker B: Exit 111 festival in Manchester in 2019. They had, like, guns n roses, Leonard Skynyrd. Of course, not the original members, but they also had the cadillac three. I saw, like, skillet, too. [00:21:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:50] Speaker B: And I went to Lamb of God. If you guys take a listen to my music, you'll know I'm the furthest thing from Lamb of God, but I still went. And then everybody was crowd surfing, and I just got up there, and I've never felt so alive and so violated at the same time. [00:22:06] Speaker A: Who'd you go to that with? Because I remember you going to that. [00:22:09] Speaker B: I went, um. A girl I went to Belmont with that I haven't seen forever, and some hometown friends happened to show up. Oh, there were, like, four people from my hometown that I knew. Like, I bought the ticket on a whim. I think I was sitting at belcourt taps when I bought the ticket. [00:22:25] Speaker A: Yeah, rip to that place. [00:22:27] Speaker B: I know that was, like, my spot. [00:22:30] Speaker A: That's a place that I tell people, like, they were like, where did you go when you first moved to town? I'm like, well, I would work on Broadway, go watch my friends, or my friend SJ play on Broadway. And then I would go to belcourt taps to watch you and lauren Weintraub and Kendall Inskeep. [00:22:46] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:22:47] Speaker A: I'm trying to think of who else. Josiah. [00:22:49] Speaker B: Yep. [00:22:50] Speaker A: I remember the round. It was like it was like, you, lauren, josiah and Kendall, I think all together or you be. Cause you. Cause it would be the Sunday night nashville tour stop. [00:23:00] Speaker B: Yep. And, like, it's so funny. Belcourt Taps was one of those places when I first moved to town, I would die to get into that bar. And then I was practically living there and playing so much. And it's like, goes to show how much things can change and how important networking is. [00:23:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:18] Speaker B: And just showing up is. [00:23:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:20] Speaker B: And some of my favorite memories are in that bar. Like, yeah. [00:23:24] Speaker A: Cause that was a bar where if you were under 21, like, for you Belmont folks, that was a huge. [00:23:29] Speaker B: Yeah, go hang out and have my Shirley Temples. And I'll have y'all know I never drank in that bar underage. Cause I am the oldest of five children. I'm a rule follower. So if anybody thinks I was bad in that bar, I was not. [00:23:42] Speaker A: And then the sound guy that passed away, oh, Ben. Ben. [00:23:46] Speaker B: Ben was, like, so funny and, like, sort of he was harsh. [00:23:50] Speaker A: He'd always have a funny comment, or he'd look at you and be like, damn, this guy sucks. I'd be like, ben, what do you think of this dude? He'd be like, he's trash, but he was just the funnest fucking vibe because he was I know he helped out with whiskey jam stuff at winners for a while, but he was like a staple at bell court. Taps in the back, in that back corner in that little bar. [00:24:10] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I can see him now. [00:24:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:12] Speaker B: And I think he was the one that taped on the monitors at Belcourt. No wagon wheel. Yeah, I think that's what they said. [00:24:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:19] Speaker B: But, yeah. Oh, sweet Ben. We miss him. [00:24:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:23] Speaker A: I had I had last time I saw him, I was just hanging out at smokers Abbey with Nikki T and Kurt, the cigar lounge we go to. And he was just he was there and just sat there and smoked cigars with us for, like, 4 hours. And we just sat there and bullshitted. [00:24:35] Speaker B: Fame was such a vibe. Like, that was a big loss for the community. [00:24:38] Speaker A: Yeah, it was. [00:24:39] Speaker B: It was another big change. [00:24:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, lots of lots of changes. How has downtown changed now that you're not you're not down there as much. [00:24:47] Speaker B: As you were not down there as much. I played this past weekend and my mindset this weekend was like, let's just have fun. [00:24:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:53] Speaker B: And I had so much fun. But the money's changed a lot because there's so many bars that it's all spread out, and there's, like, each bar has at least two stages, and there's been so much added since the fifth and Broadway thing open, laney's open, Morgan's open, bon Jovi's. Garth. Like, everything. So the money is different. It used to be, like, so lucrative, honestly, and I feel like I'm really out of it. There's a whole new crop of people in. Broadway was never the end goal. The Broadway was a means to an end. [00:25:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:32] Speaker B: And I'm so thankful that I got a gig down there because it paid for college. [00:25:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:37] Speaker B: Like, it funded. It funded my life for six and a half years. It made it so that I was. I didn't have to call back and ask mom and dad for money. They had too many kids for me to do that, and Broadway gave me that. And now I wasn't living high on the hog, but, like, I had an old car that was paid off, so I didn't have a car payment, so that was an extra, like, $200 in my pocket. That wouldn't have been every month. And I was living on campus, excuse me, at Belmont. So that was cheaper than paying rent everywhere else. So I wish that I had realized how made I had it those days, financially. [00:26:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that, like, people have this stigma of, like, I can't play on Broadway. I'll get stuck down there. But I think it's. You learn your. You have to go and play shows somewhere and get your reps in, and you were very solid in 2018, 2019 when you were down there, but to where you are now and how you've evolved as an artist, as a performer, knowing what to say on stage, knowing. [00:26:38] Speaker B: How to read a crowd, I found myself on Broadway. Honestly, I think it is so important for someone to gig that much, because it just means that when those bigger opportunities show up, you're ready. Like, I do not ever want to walk into any situation that I have to get on a stage, and I'm not ready. And Broadway gave me that. It gave me the days when nobody gave a crap, and I had to learn how to reel them back in. It gave me the days where I was down, but everybody was freaking out and thought that I was Carrie Underwood, and so it helped me go on. Broadway's been great, but I will say, I think that I didn't get stuck down there, because I started Broadway when I was 18, and so I couldn't stay and get drunk, honestly. [00:27:23] Speaker A: Yeah. It was get in play, get out. [00:27:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, I remember they would radio across to everybody at the stage on Broadway. SJ's here. Everybody just be aware. Like, one, it was cool that they were super aware. So it was like, especially, nobody f's with SJ when she's on Broadway. [00:27:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:43] Speaker B: And then two, it's like, don't serve her drinks. Obviously, I never asked. Never in a million years. I know plenty of people that did some things. [00:27:51] Speaker A: Yes. [00:27:52] Speaker B: But I never did because that gig was important to me. But it pushed me to learn how to perform, and being underage pushed me to go out and find something other than Broadway, like Belcourt taps. Honestly, so many important relationships that I have now. I met in belcore taps. [00:28:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:10] Speaker B: Like, I met Chris Rudiger at Belcourt Taps. And look at him. He's running 615 house. And, like you mentioned Lauren Weintraub. She's had some huge songs. And, like, I met some of my best friends there. [00:28:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:21] Speaker B: Had great memories, too. [00:28:23] Speaker A: Yeah. And then you were on some of my first. My first nights at Live Oak. [00:28:26] Speaker B: Yep. Which is about to come. [00:28:28] Speaker A: Which is about to come to an end. And we're moving over to losers full time wild, which is gonna be. It's gonna be cool. We've enjoyed being over there. And it's funny, like, we were originally, like, winners. Okay, stuff's gone on there before. But then losers, what's it gonna be, like moving over there while winners is getting redone, which, the new winners is gonna be fucking insane. [00:28:46] Speaker B: I had no idea that they were even doing that. [00:28:48] Speaker A: Gonna be massive. And they're like. And I think they're, like, rushing to get it done because, like, old dominions is about to be done too. [00:28:54] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. [00:28:55] Speaker A: So you've got two new bars. You've got two new. And then co Edsel bought Dog hat. Dogwood. [00:29:01] Speaker B: Really? [00:29:02] Speaker A: So it's gonna be co ed Cotzel. Losers. Losers live. And then OD's old dominions bar. [00:29:08] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:29:08] Speaker A: All on Division street. [00:29:09] Speaker B: So many bars. Maybe I should learn how to drink. Just kidding. [00:29:13] Speaker A: I think you know how to know. Just because you don't do it excessively doesn't mean you don't know how to. [00:29:19] Speaker B: True. I can have, like, one green tea at red Door. [00:29:23] Speaker A: You could have a surfside. I think you're gonna like those, personally. I really do. I think you're going to like those. [00:29:28] Speaker B: I told Matt when he put those out. I was like, I don't know if I'm going to drink them. He's like, bring them on the road. [00:29:32] Speaker A: I think. I think you will at least try one. [00:29:34] Speaker B: Well, my boys will in the band will like it. [00:29:36] Speaker A: I want you to try one. If you don't like it, you pass it over, but I think you'll like. [00:29:39] Speaker B: It right now if you want to. [00:29:40] Speaker A: I have it in the fridge. Yeah? Yeah, let's do it. [00:29:43] Speaker B: We can. We can do a little ASMr with Serp side. Hi, my name is SJ McDonald and welcome to ASMR with SJ, aka Spicy Jalapeno. Today we have surfside. [00:30:00] Speaker A: Try that. [00:30:01] Speaker B: I love asmr. [00:30:02] Speaker A: I had. I had a guest on earlier, Don Lewis and Don, we were here at like 930 in the morning and he started cracking those open and he loved them. [00:30:11] Speaker B: Surfside. Iced tea and vodka. [00:30:13] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. [00:30:13] Speaker B: Okay. [00:30:15] Speaker A: Yeah. It tastes like iced tea from what I've been told. Like just like straight iced tea. Like you can't even tell the vodka's in it from what everybody who's tried it. [00:30:22] Speaker B: Okay. I like that. That's my favorite. [00:30:24] Speaker A: It's not carbonated. Yeah, see, it tastes like iced tea. [00:30:30] Speaker B: That's nice. [00:30:31] Speaker A: That's why I said, take the four pack. [00:30:33] Speaker B: You're okay. I take. [00:30:34] Speaker A: I was gonna say that's. [00:30:35] Speaker B: I can't drink all this cuz it would make me drunk. And I have van call right after this. [00:30:38] Speaker A: But, yeah, I'm saying take it with you. You know, like, take it. Take it with you. It's nice. [00:30:42] Speaker B: Shut out surfside. What's the calories on these things? [00:30:45] Speaker A: Like, I think, like 100. I can't read 100. I think it says on the bottom. Hundred calories, three carbs. They make a lemonade and they make a half iced tea, half lemonade. That's great. They make a peach tea. You could. You can pour it out and pour it. Put it on ice like you would a cup of tea. [00:31:00] Speaker B: This is great. And I've got to be honest to. You. Want to know a secret? [00:31:04] Speaker A: What? [00:31:04] Speaker B: I don't even like iced tea. I don't like sweet tea. [00:31:07] Speaker A: Really? [00:31:08] Speaker B: Yeah. My entire family loves it. I grew up on a farm. Ranching. Farming, whatever. [00:31:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:13] Speaker B: Never like. [00:31:14] Speaker A: What's your soft drink of choice? I know you like your Shirley Temple shit. [00:31:17] Speaker B: Doctor Pepper. [00:31:19] Speaker A: I was gonna say coke, but Doctor pepper. [00:31:21] Speaker B: Doctor Pepper. [00:31:23] Speaker A: All the flavors. [00:31:24] Speaker B: This is good. Yeah. I'm surprised I haven't filled this bucky's cup with. [00:31:28] Speaker A: That's a massive cup. [00:31:30] Speaker B: Well, I was thinking you know, when I saw that the Bucky Stanley came out, I was like, that's my kind of basic. [00:31:36] Speaker A: Yes. [00:31:37] Speaker B: Yeah, basic, but a little trashy. [00:31:39] Speaker A: Yeah. So is bug. So on the route today, I guess you have to go west first. You have to go on 40 west. [00:31:46] Speaker B: There's no buckies. [00:31:47] Speaker A: There's no bucky because there's the bucky's. If you go on 65 now, there's one just over the border in Kentucky. [00:31:53] Speaker B: Oh, maybe I would. [00:31:55] Speaker A: If you're taking 65 north and you're going up through like Illinois and stuff. Depends if you're going 60. [00:31:59] Speaker B: I'm going through Illinois, but I don't. [00:32:02] Speaker A: Know, 24 through Illinois, like Paducah. [00:32:04] Speaker B: I go wherever the gps. [00:32:05] Speaker A: Wherever the gps tells you. Like Michael Scott in that episode where he ends up in the lake. [00:32:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Hopefully that doesn't happen. We are going to a place like Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for Country Thunder. So I'm good with directions, but on the road it's definitely different. [00:32:21] Speaker A: Who drives? [00:32:22] Speaker B: I drive a lot. I feel really obligated to drive because I'm the reason we're going to play these shows. But some of my friends get on me for not letting people drive so I can restore. So I'm trying to be better about accepting help. [00:32:35] Speaker A: Well, now you have the surfsides, so now you can have somebody drive and you can enjoy a surfside. [00:32:40] Speaker B: You're Lil Roady. [00:32:41] Speaker A: Yeah, little roadie. [00:32:42] Speaker B: Guys, I did this podcast with Brill right before. Like, I can't drive. [00:32:45] Speaker A: You made me drink the sponsored stuff since he's sober and couldn't. So I can't drive. Yeah, blame it on me. [00:32:51] Speaker B: Good. I love blaming men. [00:32:53] Speaker A: Who do you have out in the. Out in the band right now? [00:32:56] Speaker B: The band has changed a lot over the past year, but I have a guy named Sean Bellamy on bass. [00:33:02] Speaker A: Love Sean. [00:33:03] Speaker B: You know Sean? [00:33:03] Speaker A: Yeah. So Sean was on one of those early episodes of in the round back in the day when they had their band Shelton Road, and they used to play at Whiskey Row every Monday night. Yeah, they were like our closing band. And they would mess with us, me and Tyler, both. Tyler would run sound and I do security with little J and a few other people and they would end. It would close out the shift by playing killing in the name of. So then as we're trying to. As we're trying to get people out of the bar, fuck you, I won't do what you tell me. And I'm like, God damn it, boys. [00:33:35] Speaker B: That sounds like them. [00:33:36] Speaker A: It was like Sean and like five or six other dudes with beards that were, like, just. They looked like the seven dwarves, almost. Where they were just a wild little bunch. And they would all. They would all change instruments, and one would end up on, like, they'd all rotate like, it was crazy. [00:33:49] Speaker B: That's Broadway for. [00:33:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I've known Shawn for a long time. Really good dude. [00:33:53] Speaker B: Well, my old drummer found Shawn at a random filling gig, and he texted me. He was like, I found your bass player. [00:33:59] Speaker A: He's such a good dude. Like, that's the kind of people that you want out with you. [00:34:03] Speaker B: And he's like, he charted all my songs, and I didn't even ask him to. He's got a specific pedal board for my show. So Shawn's been amazing, and I've got this new guitar player named Gareth Bell. He's like a bluegrass, harmony singing, nineties telly picking son of a gun. [00:34:18] Speaker A: Sounds like the perfect guitar player for the SJ McDonald. [00:34:22] Speaker B: And he's an international harvester fan. Like, he grew up sort of farming, and he knows about tractors. So when I brought the band back home to Virginia a few weeks ago. [00:34:31] Speaker A: He must have been freaking out. [00:34:32] Speaker B: My brother took him on a tour of all the tractors. And my drummer. I'm sort of between a bunch of drummers because I haven't been able to find someone that's, like, super steady. But mainly I'm using a guy named Jake Burton that used to play at AJ's a lot with a girl named Amanda daughtry back, like, in 2015, 2016. And he was one of those players that I just kept running into on Broadway, and then he ended up being, like, most available, and he fit the band good. So he's been super reliable. Great timekeeper, super fun. He's down when I ask him to do a drum solo. [00:35:10] Speaker A: Oh, awesome. [00:35:10] Speaker B: It's like, I love when they have, like, solos, you know, in Boston prison one, I think it's sick when a chick sings Folsom prison, and I love that song. And I have a song called locked up that's coming out later this year that mentions it. [00:35:26] Speaker A: Yes, I've known that one for years. [00:35:27] Speaker B: Yes. That's an old one, honestly. [00:35:29] Speaker A: Throw away every key. [00:35:30] Speaker B: So the song mentions Johnny cash, and so I'm like, of course I'm gonna put Johnny cash in the set. And so it's fun singing it as a girl, and then it gives me a chance to have guitar solo, bass solo, even though people are opinionated on that, and, like, a place for the drums to just go crazy, and it gets the crowd going, I know Broadway people are like, oh, everybody does it. And I'm like, well, but not everybody outside of Nashville sees a bandit. [00:35:53] Speaker A: They do it cause it works. [00:35:55] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's fun. Like, that's the kind of music that, like, spans over generations. [00:36:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:01] Speaker B: Johnny Cash is timeless. [00:36:02] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:03] Speaker B: We need a little cash. [00:36:04] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. [00:36:07] Speaker B: Yeah, that's the bandaid. They're good guys. They help out with driving a lot, and they're fun. That's a big part for me, since we're playing such intimate kinds of shows. We're not doing festivals where or opening gigs where there's thousands of people and you can't interact with everybody. We're doing like, 100, 200, 300 people shows, and you can, if you want, you can interact with anybody. And it's really important for me to have a band that kind and fun to hang out with because people want to talk to them too after the shows. [00:36:39] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:39] Speaker B: Like, the show, even though I like to think it's all about me, it's not all about me. They see them, Gareth, doing crazy licks on the guitar and, like, sean singing. [00:36:48] Speaker A: Really high harmony and interacting with them, being very vibrant on stage, like, yeah, that's what you want. [00:36:54] Speaker B: Exactly. Like Trey's band, Terry. [00:36:57] Speaker A: Oh, dude, those. Those days were wild. Yes, they were. They were wild days and wild and wild times. BDT. He's something throwback. Do you still, um. What was the thing that used to do an airdrop to me and Broadway? Yes. Do you still bean people? [00:37:16] Speaker B: Yes, I bean people. [00:37:17] Speaker A: You still do? [00:37:19] Speaker B: Yes. I'm not as consistent with it, but for context of those who don't know what that is, I'm obsessed with beans. Like, beans just love it. And there's this meme that I found in college of a animated bean, green bean with legs and arms and googly eyes that says, you freaking moron, you just got beaned. Send this to your friends to totally bean them. And I was like, that's amazing. Let me make it my thing. And I named my phone bean machine. [00:37:47] Speaker A: Yes. [00:37:48] Speaker B: It's still named Bean Machine. [00:37:49] Speaker A: To this day. [00:37:52] Speaker B: My phone's named Bean Machine so much that it shows up on Zoom as bean machine. And when I had my first interviews with Seagal music to be an intern writer in 2021, my name came up as Bean Machine. [00:38:05] Speaker A: I was like, what is bean machine? That's awesome. [00:38:08] Speaker B: Hey, JD. Bean machine coming at ya. [00:38:10] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:38:11] Speaker B: But, yeah, so I would, like, sit in the cafeteria at Belmont and just randomly bean people and, like, look around the cafeteria to see people going like. [00:38:20] Speaker A: You would do it to me while I was watching you at the stage. Sometimes if you had a second, like, in between a song or whatever, or, like, if we were out somewhere, everybody be. People be looking at their phones, and then you. I'd look over at you, and you just smile, and I'd be like, she's out here just beaning. Everybody bean in everybody on Broadway. [00:38:36] Speaker B: Did you know that my obsession with beans turned to a song? [00:38:40] Speaker A: Really? [00:38:41] Speaker B: I have a song called beans, but I haven't really done anything with it. But it goes like, beans, beans, who's gonna spill the beans? I was on a writer's retreat with Mary Heather Hickman, mia Mantia, Brittany Moore, Stephanie Joyce, and Kelly Johnson, and we had split up into groups of three to write. And I had an epiphany in the bathroom. I was like, I want to write a song called beans. I love Beansen. How can I do it? And the beans, beans. Who's gonna spill the beans? Came up in my brain, and I was like, guys, I got it. Let's write beans. Well, slowly, everybody on the retreat trickles in. So it ends up being six of us writing a song called beans. [00:39:24] Speaker A: Six way called beans. That's awesome. [00:39:29] Speaker B: Six way called beans. And the song is about, like, small town. These kids get knocked up, and who's gonna spill the beans? Who's gonna let the town know he's gotta get married? This girl who's gonna spill the beans that, like, she's laid on her period, and she's not just craving cornbread. Cause she likes cornbread, and it even has a key change. [00:39:49] Speaker A: Wow. [00:39:51] Speaker B: I've always wanted to do something with it, but so many people have been like, ah, that song is, like, too unserious. And I'm like, well, listen to goodbye, Earl. [00:39:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it's fun. Yeah. [00:40:00] Speaker B: Well, see, I feel like beans will have a place on a project one day. But I love beans. I love eating them. I love writing about them, and I love beaning people. [00:40:09] Speaker A: Yes. [00:40:10] Speaker B: And that just doesn't sound right when you say it. Beaning people, beating people. [00:40:15] Speaker A: You'll have to do it at the festival this weekend. [00:40:17] Speaker B: Oh, that's a great idea. [00:40:18] Speaker A: At Country Thunder, people will just have their phones open and be like, what is the bean machine? And you can, like, say it on stage at some point and be like, if you got bean miss I am the bean machine. It is I. I am the bean. Yeah. It is I. Oh, gosh. Yeah. [00:40:34] Speaker B: I'm so glad you brought that up. [00:40:35] Speaker A: Yes. Cause I was gonna say, I remember that I remember you came down to a bar in Spring Hill. [00:40:42] Speaker B: Oh, well, yep. Sure. Did. [00:40:44] Speaker A: That one random night. [00:40:45] Speaker B: Yep. Sure. [00:40:46] Speaker A: Froggy and Jeff Rose, which, by the way, the guy froggy, we did a. When we were down in Key west this year, one of our events was at a bar called Froggy's, and it's the same guy. So I met the owner of that bar. He still lives in Spring Hill, but he opened the bar in Key west and also named it Froggy's. [00:41:03] Speaker B: That's so funny. So I remember following y'all around, and I was, like, lucky enough to just skate my way into the bar. [00:41:11] Speaker A: Beard competition. [00:41:13] Speaker B: Beard. [00:41:14] Speaker A: The beard guys. The beard competition. I got a photo of you and Santa. [00:41:18] Speaker B: Matt and I have had so much fun over the years. Okay. One thing I love to do is I'll try anything, like being the bean machine and, like, crowd surfing. I want to do that stuff. Well, my friend. Was it Peter? It was a guy, Mike. [00:41:35] Speaker A: It was Mike that worked at whiskey row. [00:41:38] Speaker B: He was a part of it, basically. There was this Christmas beard competition. [00:41:43] Speaker A: Yeah, beard. The beard. I don't know. I don't know if anybody can see. [00:41:47] Speaker B: It, but zoom in. [00:41:48] Speaker A: Zoom in on. [00:41:49] Speaker B: Yeah, blow it up. So Matt came with me to this beard competition. There's me with Santa, if you can see that on the camera. And there were people with guys with beards and mustaches that went, like, over their heads and around their heads, and it was craziness. And my friends are always like, why are you doing these things? And I'm like, why not? [00:42:08] Speaker A: That was June 26, my brother and sister's birthday of 2019. And then there's you with the damn kazoo. You used to keep a party kazoo. You used to keep a kazoo in your bag. [00:42:19] Speaker B: I had a kazoo moment. I haven't in a while. I always. [00:42:22] Speaker A: I love the bit, like, random little things are fun. [00:42:25] Speaker B: They're so fun. [00:42:26] Speaker A: They're so much fun. [00:42:27] Speaker B: Having this Bucky's cup is fun. And talking with my mini mic. Yeah, so fun. I. I need to do another mini mic update. [00:42:33] Speaker A: I have so many, like, it's funny. Like, like the baby SJ videos that I have, like, because you look. Click on, like, somebody's face. This was the last podcast. Dakota took that. [00:42:43] Speaker B: I still have that shirt. [00:42:44] Speaker A: The fam. The family. The family photo. [00:42:47] Speaker B: That's precious. That's why Matt and I took a picture on Santa's lap once. [00:42:51] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, in the fucking mall. [00:42:53] Speaker B: Yep. In the mall. Like, I just love stuff like that. Yeah, it's so fun. [00:42:57] Speaker A: It's fun, and it keeps it. It keeps it going, and it's just. [00:42:59] Speaker B: I don't ever want to go through life serious. [00:43:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:02] Speaker B: Because it's like, it's too short. I just want to laugh and. Yeah, it really pisses off people when we're like, for instance, playing pickleball. Everybody. Everybody's obsessed with pickleball right now. I got a paddle. I'm playing. I don't give a crap if I win or lose. I just want to hit the ball. [00:43:17] Speaker A: See, I've still never played pickleball. [00:43:18] Speaker B: It's super fun, but people get heated. [00:43:21] Speaker A: Why? [00:43:21] Speaker B: Because it's competitive, and I don't know, but my mindset is always like, haha, durka durr. It's fine. The only thing I take serious is music. [00:43:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Your work. [00:43:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Everything else, I'm like, whatever. It's just a pickleball. I'm just gonna hit it. And if it goes out or in, whatever. [00:43:38] Speaker A: Who's in your pickleball crew? Who do you play pickleball with? [00:43:40] Speaker B: I play with, like, trent, wayne, me and Mantia. [00:43:42] Speaker A: Oh, chase McDaniel, the boys and girls club. [00:43:44] Speaker B: The boys and girls club are big in the pickleball. And so, yeah, we played, like, I was there for 3 hours on Tuesday night, and we played Sunday night, too. [00:43:54] Speaker A: Where are you playing pickleball at? [00:43:55] Speaker B: Richland park. Oh, over in west nashville. It's really fun. And I didn't realize there were so many rules, though. Like, I started playing with this friend of a friend, and he was, like, so nice. He was like, oh, SJ, just, by the way, you're not supposed to do that. And he had to do that, like, ten times. Cause I didn't know just here to hit the ball. But pickleball is. [00:44:17] Speaker A: I thought it was, like, tennis. It was, like, a lazier tennis. [00:44:19] Speaker B: It is lazier tennis. [00:44:21] Speaker A: That's what I always think of it. [00:44:22] Speaker B: But in the Tennessee heat, it don't feel lazy. [00:44:25] Speaker A: Oh, no. Did you ever come and play kickball with us? [00:44:27] Speaker B: No. [00:44:28] Speaker A: You never came to play kickball game. Big regret. [00:44:30] Speaker B: Big regret. [00:44:31] Speaker A: Kickball games were wild. Those were heated. Me and Ryan Nelson would go at it. That was back when it was sigs in the outfield, and Ryan and I. I one time kicked a home run wall smoking a cigarette. [00:44:42] Speaker B: Of course you did. [00:44:43] Speaker A: Also, I haven't had to. I've. I went through my first festival of not having a cigarette. [00:44:48] Speaker B: Hell, yeah. [00:44:49] Speaker A: We're off the cigs, which is a big deal. You know what? I was. I was like a pack and a half? Yeah, I was a fucking chimney. [00:44:56] Speaker B: When did that start? [00:44:57] Speaker A: The cigarettes? [00:44:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:58] Speaker A: Before I moved here and then I moved here and I was like, oh, shit. Cigarettes. Tobacco is half the price in the south as it is in the north. Now I can buy double the cigarettes. Yay. $$5.05 more burl instead of ten. Yay. [00:45:12] Speaker B: And here's SJ over here being like, when are you gonna quit? I'm such a mom about that stuff. [00:45:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, you were on me about that for a long time. [00:45:19] Speaker B: I'll be on anybody about stuff like that, honestly. Cause I think it is rooted in that I am. So I protect my voice so much. I'm so worried about ruining my voice that especially when I'm around musicians and I see them, like, smoking six and, like, drinking too much, or I'm like, bro, take care of you. [00:45:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:40] Speaker B: This talent. [00:45:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:42] Speaker B: You have this speaking voice. [00:45:44] Speaker A: I know. [00:45:44] Speaker B: Oh, that is great for radio and podcast. Protect that. [00:45:47] Speaker A: We with. With some. With the Tailgate and tall boys festivals, they've got me emceeing, which is cool. But hosting at a bar in town or doing this or being in a radio studio, very different. I'm up there for three to five minutes at a time. There's no monitors, really. So you don't. You don't really hear yourself talking over 20 to 30,000 people. My voice went by. My voice just started. It just went away. Yeah. So I was trying to figure out how to get it back, and I ended up ordering, like, this vocal spray stuff. That's been great. But somebody had told me, one of the ladies in catering would told me, you got to get some olive oil. Or. No, it wasn't her. It was Andrew Sever. It was heavy Andrew. He was playing with Taylor Holder, and he was like, bro, when I do my cover gigs, like, I drink olive oil. Like a shot of olive oil. What do you mean? And he was like, bro, olive oil. So I mentioned to the catering lady, and then she went and acquired me olive oil. Yeah. Fucking bottle of olive oil. Just for me. Yeah. [00:46:52] Speaker B: How much did you drink? [00:46:53] Speaker A: Too much. Too much. I did it, dude. I started runs. It got my voice back. [00:46:58] Speaker B: Oh, well, at least. But nothing else. It didn't have any satisfaction. [00:47:00] Speaker A: It's not something I'd recognize. It's not something I'd recommend. I wouldn't want to do it all the time. But it was just funny because I'm like, backstage, like, with these artists, and they're like, is that a. Is that a bottle of olive oil? And it's like they're holding, like, their beers or their red solo cups with their. They're holding their drinks, and I'm sitting here with a bottle. Olive oil. [00:47:23] Speaker B: You know, that's a sleigh health slay. [00:47:26] Speaker A: I'm like, this is. This is adding to my New York, my New Yorker bit guinea shit, where I'm sitting here wielding around a bottle of olive oil, taking shots, saying, yeah, it's helping my voice. [00:47:36] Speaker B: Who is this guy? [00:47:38] Speaker A: Especially in Iowa and Illinois, I'm like a unicorn out there. They can barely understand what I'm saying. What the fuck is up? Clinton, Iowa? Who's feeling drunk tonight? Bringing people on stage to shotgun beers? That's, like, what we were doing. They gave nikki t a t shirt cannon. So he's up there shooting t shirts. [00:47:58] Speaker B: That sounds like a dream. [00:48:00] Speaker A: Very raised rowdy. Yeah. So we have one more of those. But I've learned that, like, yeah, I've got to watch my. Watch my voice. [00:48:06] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And I've been told that I need to speak higher. Like, I speak, like, to speak down here like a guy, raspy ish. But I need to be up here like a lady because it's actually more palatable and, like, better for your voice. But I don't want to do that. [00:48:19] Speaker A: No, you should talk like you talk. [00:48:21] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:48:21] Speaker A: I don't think that's a. That's a problem. [00:48:23] Speaker B: If my voice starts to go, oh, you gotta go up higher, and I have to speak up higher. [00:48:29] Speaker A: Okay. [00:48:29] Speaker B: Just. It helps it. It's airier. Something about it. [00:48:32] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:48:32] Speaker B: I took vocal lessons when I was, like, a teenager, and it really helped me learn how to take care of it. [00:48:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:38] Speaker B: And that's one of the big things I took from it. And warming up and not eating food before you sing, but I'm always hungry. [00:48:44] Speaker A: So it doesn't work. What's a vocal warm up like? What does that sound like you could do? [00:48:50] Speaker B: Mommy made me mash my. M and Ms. Mommy made me mash my. [00:48:54] Speaker A: Oh, they just go up. [00:48:55] Speaker B: Yep. And. Or you could do like. [00:49:01] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I can't do it. I can't do it. I could go like, oh, I just. I just can't. Yeah. Like, I'm dying over here. But, yeah, I've been off the cigs now for a while, and it's been great. Not. Not because I haven't been buying cigs in a long time. And part of that is being with Aaron and being around Charlotte. I'm like, I can't bring myself to be around this little adorable, soon to be six year old girl and smell like cigs. [00:49:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:36] Speaker A: Like, she's she. And what I like, too, is I'm still on the nicotine. [00:49:40] Speaker B: Are you a zinner? [00:49:43] Speaker A: I definitely am, but these are a thing. They sent these to me. I'm trying to get them to work with us. We'll see if they do. Zemo Zimmer. Look at the milligram dosage. They're eights. Zin goes up to six, so it's a higher dosage. [00:49:56] Speaker B: Oh, good Lord. [00:49:56] Speaker A: Yeah. And they're, like, thicker, and they make them in, like, fruit flavors and all this different shit, like, the blueberry ones. Really good. But by having this in, it's like, I'm not sitting here spitting out Copenhagen. [00:50:06] Speaker B: Yeah, that's bad. [00:50:07] Speaker A: I'm not smoking cigs. It's like it's friendly to people around me. Now, is something bad gonna come out of this in the next 2030 years? Probably. [00:50:14] Speaker B: Something bad comes out of everything. Something bad's gonna come out of Doctor Pepper. Everybody knows I love Doctor pepper. [00:50:19] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, you're fucked. [00:50:20] Speaker B: Oh, it's fine. Like, I love doctor Pepper so much that, like, the thing about me is I can't finish one. Like, I just want a little taste of a doctor pepper. So I've been buying those little ones that all the little baby can. [00:50:34] Speaker A: You can get those in multiple, too. Like, you can get a case of little minis. [00:50:37] Speaker B: I'll drink, like, honestly, three quarters of a baby can a day. That's all I want. [00:50:43] Speaker A: You'll be good then. [00:50:44] Speaker B: I. It's just, like, a little craving. I just want a little sweet treat. [00:50:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:48] Speaker B: And then I'll drink my bucky's water. I'm trying. [00:50:50] Speaker A: What's on your. Do you have a writer yet for shows? [00:50:54] Speaker B: No. People have started to ask me, and I'm just like, Doctor Pepper, honestly. Okay. What I would have on my rider would be Doctor pepper. [00:51:04] Speaker A: The mini cans, like, those little ones you were talking about. Yeah. [00:51:07] Speaker B: I would say a singular mini can. Go into your own personal pantry and pull that shit out and give that to me. Don't waste anymore. That's the thing about writers. I feel like I'm gonna be wasteful. [00:51:19] Speaker A: Well, I feel like there's stuff that. Where it could help you. The ones that I. The ones that were always very big with us with the trew, it was obviously the. For the band, they would literally go through a handle of fireball a night. So that was a necessity. That's just what they do. Your guys probably aren't doing that, but, like, some kind of form of, like, a case of beer or something. [00:51:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Or, like, a cheese tray or. Actually, I really like grapes. Sometimes I eat grapes before I go into the studio, like, while I'm recording vocals. I've asked some people about it, and they're like, I've never heard that. And I just stumbled upon it one day because I was hungry and I brought grapes to the studio, but it feels like it coats my voice for me. I've heard that with lay's potato chips. [00:52:00] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah, I've heard that, too. [00:52:01] Speaker B: I've tried that before, but I love grapes like that, so. [00:52:03] Speaker A: Yes. Okay, so a bundle of grapes. [00:52:05] Speaker B: I would ask for grapes, doctor. Pepper. I. Salami. [00:52:09] Speaker A: Salami. [00:52:09] Speaker B: I love salami. And pickles. [00:52:13] Speaker A: And pickles. I think. I think a case of water would be good. [00:52:16] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:52:17] Speaker A: That's a practical thing. [00:52:17] Speaker B: Hydrate or diet. [00:52:18] Speaker A: Because the water is good. Because then that water. Whatever you don't drink there goes into the van. [00:52:22] Speaker B: Goes in the van. [00:52:23] Speaker A: You don't have to buy waters at Bucky's or Circle K or wherever you're stopping. Zachary. [00:52:27] Speaker B: We have been lucky this year. We've played a lot of shows where we're the last people on the lineup are close to the end, and they just give us all the snacks. Oh, like, excuse me. I lived off of some snacks for, like, a month. I just, like, kept them stocked up. [00:52:40] Speaker A: What kind of snacks? Just, like, the little bags of chips, like, granola bars. [00:52:43] Speaker B: Granola bars. Bags of chips. Like apple crisps, dot pretzels, chex mix, which isn't the healthiest, but. So when I'm on the road, I've been trying to chew my food better. Take it really slow. [00:52:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:59] Speaker B: So that it'll digest quicker. [00:53:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:53:01] Speaker B: And I'm healthier. [00:53:03] Speaker A: Yeah. What do you get when you stop at, like, a loves or a bucky's? Like, what's your go to? Aside from, like, the buc ee's merchandise? [00:53:09] Speaker B: Aside from the Bucky's merchandise. I do dasani water. I know that is a hot topic. People think Dasani's crap, but I think they're wrong. I love Dasani. I get those pickles in the little bag that you can just bag of. [00:53:25] Speaker A: You get the bagged pickle? [00:53:26] Speaker B: Yes. I love pickles. [00:53:28] Speaker A: The bagged pickle. Bagged pickles loves. [00:53:30] Speaker B: Yeah. And then if they have a. There's nothing weird about it, maybe. [00:53:36] Speaker A: I just would never think about getting that. I mean, I've seen people get the hard boiled eggs from there. I'm like, that's more risky than the bagged pickle. [00:53:42] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I like to just get a hot dog, but no bun. Just like get the tray for the hot dog and stick a dog in there. And I've been on gushers lately. [00:53:54] Speaker A: Gushers? Gushers. Okay. [00:53:57] Speaker B: But I'm trying to stay healthy out there. But the, you know, everybody that's been on the road knows it's hard. Like, if you want a salad, you gotta pray there's a chick fil a and it ain't sundae. Cause they got good salads. [00:54:09] Speaker A: Yeah, Chipotle is a good heck, too. [00:54:10] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:54:11] Speaker A: Cuz you can just do rice and beans and chicken. Yes. [00:54:15] Speaker B: That's smart. [00:54:16] Speaker A: Chipotle was. I would. I probably had Chipotle. Combination of Chipotle or chick fil a. Like every weekend when I was out with muscadine, then with Trey. It wasn't. That wasn't Chipotle. Bonner used to want Chipotle all the time, but we wouldn't stop because he'd be out voted. [00:54:30] Speaker B: Oh, poor Bonner. I would vote with you, Bonner. [00:54:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:33] Speaker B: If you're watching and listening, I love you. [00:54:35] Speaker A: Bonner is a. Is an SJ superfan. [00:54:37] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I wear my Trey Bonner hat all the time. [00:54:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I wear the shirt all the time. [00:54:41] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like good merch. I don't even have a hat yet and I'm wearing his hat every week. [00:54:46] Speaker A: Astray. Bonner, like, Bonner, why do you have merchandise? He's like, why not? [00:54:49] Speaker B: Why not? [00:54:50] Speaker A: Why not? Why not, brill? Why not? [00:54:53] Speaker B: I'm with you, Trey Bonner. [00:54:56] Speaker A: I love Bonner. [00:54:57] Speaker B: He came with me to do some content for my last release, right hand man. It was just so fun because I've always loved him. He's just a sweetheart and he's fun to be around and he's so good at making content and videography very good. And I had a lot of fun just rolling with him and hanging out. We legit just drove around like the rich parts of Nashville and found little, little areas to like hop out and sing a verse chorus of and then ran away and hope we didn't get the cops called on us. Just, you know, normal things. [00:55:27] Speaker A: Funny. Yeah. Cuz he's done stuff with, with Rome Ramirez, who used to be in sublime with Rome. [00:55:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:55:33] Speaker A: So he's like. [00:55:34] Speaker B: He's talked about that. [00:55:34] Speaker A: Bonner's had like some viral moments from that, obviously, all the DDId stuff like Bonner's. [00:55:39] Speaker B: He's done some for Joe Hadell. [00:55:41] Speaker A: Joe Hadell. Yeah. Bonner and I have had some wild times together. There were some days where I thought either Bonner or I was gonna die. Oh, God, we lived, you know, like. [00:55:50] Speaker B: You know, even my mom loves Trey Bonner. [00:55:52] Speaker A: Everybody does. [00:55:53] Speaker B: She met him once, and she was like, I love him. Bring him. [00:55:56] Speaker A: He's just the. He's a cartoon character. He's. And that's what I try to surround myself with. And Nick and I talk about that with raised rowdy. It's like we just want to surround ourselves with good people who have personalities and, like, cartoon characters, you know, like. Like Kurt, who goes on, literally, cartoon character. Rock star. [00:56:14] Speaker B: Yep. [00:56:14] Speaker A: Amazing instrument. [00:56:15] Speaker B: He's all these instruments. [00:56:16] Speaker A: Amazing human. One of the best musicians in town. Funny dude. [00:56:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:20] Speaker A: Loves what he loves. And fun guy to have a cigar with. [00:56:23] Speaker B: Like, he's like Dobro. Jesus. [00:56:25] Speaker A: Is that what people do, bro? Jesus? I haven't heard that. [00:56:28] Speaker B: I feel like, I don't know if. [00:56:30] Speaker A: That'S Kurt or Dobro Chris, or maybe. [00:56:33] Speaker B: That'S what they call Josh Mutheny. [00:56:35] Speaker A: Josh Methaney. I don't know. But Kurt's very good on the dobro. He does have long hair. [00:56:38] Speaker B: He looks like Jesus. [00:56:39] Speaker A: He does. He does. [00:56:41] Speaker B: Jesus. We gotta figure that out. [00:56:43] Speaker A: Figure that out. But, yeah, then, like, Sam, who runs our rock stuff, he's just, like, the world's biggest limp bizkit fan. [00:56:48] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:56:49] Speaker A: He sent us. He sent me a picture. Sent me a Nicki selfie one time, and he had a black eye, and I was like, what happened? He's like, oh. Me and my friends went to get drinks at Chili's and just decided to fight each other in the parking lot after. I was like, sam, what are you doing? Cartoon character. [00:57:02] Speaker B: Wow. [00:57:02] Speaker A: Brian Frazier. Yes. Brian Frazier. Cartoon character. [00:57:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:08] Speaker A: Mark or eat. Eli Locke. [00:57:09] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:57:09] Speaker A: Characters. [00:57:10] Speaker B: Cartoon characters. [00:57:11] Speaker A: You and. You and me. Cartoon characters. [00:57:13] Speaker B: Characters. I'm the, like, nervous mom. [00:57:18] Speaker A: I wouldn't say nervous mom. I'd say you're the. You're the fun, silly girl that everybody wants to be around. [00:57:23] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:57:24] Speaker A: I'd say so. And it hasn't. No, you're. Yeah. I don't think of you as, like, the. The over cautious, nervous type at all. I really don't. [00:57:31] Speaker B: I think that I've turned into that a little bit bit. Not gonna lie. I think that I've gotten, like, over cautious, nervous on the road because I had that big wreck a couple years ago. [00:57:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:41] Speaker B: And that, like, started a bunch of anxiety for me on the road, and I never had anxiety. [00:57:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:46] Speaker B: In the car. Well, that's actually a little bit of a lie. I would. Every time I got in the car, I would have the thought of, like, that I could possibly get hit today. Like, that's such a bad thought to have. [00:57:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:59] Speaker B: I. But I guess I'm so much of a realist that I was like, just remember that that could happen anytime you're in a vehicle. And then it did happen. Like, my biggest fear came true, and I had this huge wreck that, by the grace of God, I walked away from. But that definitely started more anxiety. [00:58:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Which makes sense. [00:58:15] Speaker B: But other than that, like, I wouldn't. [00:58:17] Speaker A: Think of you as that. Like, when I think of over cautious and, like, anxious and nervous, I think of, like, buzz kill. And you are the furthest thing from. [00:58:23] Speaker B: Well, thank you. No, we ain't killing no buzzes. We are making sure our people are taking care. [00:58:29] Speaker A: Yes. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. There's. Between responsibility and being there, being responsible and being nervous, I feel like the. [00:58:34] Speaker B: Need to be responsible came. Comes to me so much because I'm the oldest of so many kids. [00:58:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:41] Speaker B: Like, the need to take care. I love to take care. Like, acts of service for my friends. Let me do something for you, for my family. Yeah, let me, like, make your bed for you when you have a busy day. Let me drive the van. Cause I know you're tired and you had a late gig the night before. That's where I get. That's where I feel like I need to be. [00:59:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:01] Speaker B: So. But when it does come to drive in the van, I do need to let other people drive. [00:59:08] Speaker A: Just kick back, kick your feet up. Eat a pickle out of a bag, drink a surfside, you'll be good to go. So what's up as far as the music right now? [00:59:16] Speaker B: Yeah. So I am stocking up songs to record a new project for next year. This year, I've just, like, really started taking social media and the marketing and everything even more serious. I've always been serious about it, but now I'm just watching what all my friends are doing and what's working and trying to figure out what works for me. [00:59:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:36] Speaker B: And really, when it comes to the songs, I don't know if you knew this, but I've struggled so much writing my own story. I got so comfortable just helping other people write their stories. [00:59:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And you've had. You've had some awesome cuts here lately. [00:59:50] Speaker B: I've gotten so, so lucky. Like, there's so many songs that I've been a part of for my girlfriends that tell their story that blow up on TikTok, that, like, get them these cool opportunities, and I focused on that and just, like, writing good songs, and I was like, huh? I have things to say about myself. [01:00:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:09] Speaker B: Like, that's why I put out right hand man in May, because it's a song about how I grew up following my dad around on the farm, and it's so special to me, and it's the first song I've had that's, like, really, really connecting with people. It's not just, like, a fun, good song. It's a fun, good song that is me. [01:00:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:26] Speaker B: Showcases it. So that's the past year, I've really just been, like, grinding that out and learning that, like, oh. Even though my stories. I may not have all these stories about, like, tragedy in my life and this trauma in my life, but I have these really cool experiences that I can pull from. And people want to hear that too. [01:00:47] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. [01:00:48] Speaker B: I think I somehow got into my head for a while that people don't want to hear the good stories, like, how right hand man is a good story. Happy. Because, like, you know, did you hear the thing that up until the pandemic, the number one song every year was always a happy song, and then it turned a sad song every year. I don't know if that number is still how it is. [01:01:06] Speaker A: Makes a lot of sense. [01:01:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Life changed, and so I was like, how do these happy, reminiscent. This specific song, happy, reminiscent, how does that fit in? And how do people respond to it? And I don't know. Through that, I've just been trying to learn to let go. [01:01:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:01:23] Speaker B: And write what comes to the heart, because I have a style. I have certain things that are just things that I've developed over the years. Styles of melodies and kinds of words that are just a part of SJ MacDonald. [01:01:37] Speaker A: Yes. [01:01:38] Speaker B: And so I'm like, well, let's just dive in fully. And I've been writing some of my favorite songs I've ever written. [01:01:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. My favorite stuff going, like, your early stuff that I remember. Yeah. Like, I remember hearing hot damn. [01:01:50] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [01:01:51] Speaker A: Fuck, yeah. And you probably. You probably sit there and are like, I don't even know if you play that song anymore. Not much, because I was gonna say, you have so much else. And for you, you probably feel like that was me when I was a kid. Now I'm evolved as a writer and as an artist, and I've got other songs to sing, like rosemary and things that are more worried. The final evolution of you, which is still getting to. [01:02:11] Speaker B: That's a really good way to put it. I have been the past few years in the evolution of SJ MacDonald. [01:02:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:17] Speaker B: And I'm, like, reaching where I want to be for this chapter. And I know there's always going to be another chapter to get to, but hot damn was like, the angsty. I was 18 writing those songs. [01:02:28] Speaker A: I remember you playing that at rounds and just the vocal runs of that and just people looking around the room being like, the fuck is this girl? That's my friend SJ. [01:02:37] Speaker B: I was the hot damn girl for a while. [01:02:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:39] Speaker B: Like, my guitar strap still says hot damn because I'm so cheap. I haven't bought a new leather guitar strap. And my best friend, my freshman year roommate Willow and her mom got me that guitar strap. And it's so special to me. But I still have hot damn on my strap. [01:02:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:53] Speaker B: But that was definitely an era. And I found over the few years after hot damn that, like, the more I really chased what was on my heart, it wasn't that, like, hardcore rockin. It's a mixture of, like, the grit and the. [01:03:08] Speaker A: It's important to recognize that. Cuz I'm gonna look at, like, some of these. I remember a lot of these early ones. [01:03:12] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [01:03:13] Speaker A: I remember Rouge. Stop sending me love songs. Give me back my heart. Yeah. And I feel like 20. Like 2021. You put out some stuff and then 23, like you said, like, with. With Rosemary, with who hurt you? With break a cowboy, hummingbird, right hand man. That just came out. Like, you're evolved again. You're saying what you really want to say. [01:03:37] Speaker B: It's a very clear. All of my songs I've put out, you can very clearly see that I've changed. And I've been growing up through songs. And I used to have some worries about it being like, oh, all my songs are so all over the board. They're so different. But I'm like, I'm listening to Led Zeppelin records that have, like, the rock and stuff and then acoustic. [01:03:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:03:58] Speaker B: Duetting acoustic kind of music. And I'm like, you know what? I'm an artist. [01:04:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:02] Speaker B: If people get it, they get it. If they don't, that's okay. [01:04:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:05] Speaker B: Like, and I've been finding myself through the music and, like, who hurt you in particular? I think that pulls in a lot of, like, the sass of hot damn. [01:04:14] Speaker A: Yes. [01:04:15] Speaker B: But then the classic, like, nineties, two thousands feeling that fits my voice best, like, I naturally lean towards and locked up that is coming out later this year. That like, really gets back into my, like, grit. Straight up grit. I'm so excited for that song, but I was thinking, like, why can't I take all of these different versions of me and put them into the songs? Like, that's what you're supposed to do. [01:04:42] Speaker A: Yes. [01:04:43] Speaker B: I'm not just one, like, flavor of a person. [01:04:47] Speaker A: No. [01:04:47] Speaker B: There's so many different sides. [01:04:49] Speaker A: A lot of flavors of SJ. Mcdonaldh. [01:04:51] Speaker B: We got beans, dude. [01:04:52] Speaker A: Yes, he got beans. [01:04:54] Speaker B: From beans to, like, broken hearted. [01:04:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:57] Speaker B: Old throwback. That song. How to live. [01:05:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Something else where I think the. Where I think you've jumped in, like, the evolution stuff. You have found. You have, like, your. Your homies from Belmont. You have, like, the boys and girls club and, like, the extensions of that. And then you have found, like, the other folks that love traditional. [01:05:15] Speaker B: Yes. [01:05:16] Speaker A: I'm talking, like, your may estes, your Ethan Phillips, your Justin Dukes. Like, the guys. [01:05:21] Speaker B: Those are my people. [01:05:22] Speaker A: And you're able to have all those. Of course there's gonna be different flavors. [01:05:26] Speaker B: Exactly. And I think that's what's gonna keep it interesting. And, like, it's okay if not everybody loves every song. I don't love every song. All my favorite artists put out. [01:05:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:05:35] Speaker B: It's only human to have opinions. But, like, as long as the music pertains to me and where I'm at in my life, that's the best that I can offer. [01:05:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:05:44] Speaker B: And it's up to the fans to decide whether or not what they do with it, honestly. [01:05:49] Speaker A: Yeah. How'd you end up meeting Ethan and Justin and all those guys? [01:05:52] Speaker B: So I met Ethan. [01:05:54] Speaker A: That's a fun crew. [01:05:55] Speaker B: Yeah, I like those guys a lot. [01:05:56] Speaker A: They are like, when you think of, like, a country music singer, you think of Ethan Phillips, Justin Dukes, Davis, Luce. Like, that. That world. [01:06:04] Speaker B: I met Ethan Phillips first because I was playing around at Live Oak and my friends Mac Martin were playing. [01:06:11] Speaker A: Oh, I fucking love them, too. I love Ross and McKenzie. [01:06:14] Speaker B: Badass. And they had met Ethan at some round, and they were begging him to stay to hear my song, the milkman. [01:06:21] Speaker A: Oh, yes, that's another one. That is an SJ favorite that I hope makes it out in the world one day. [01:06:27] Speaker B: I don't know what that one will do. [01:06:28] Speaker A: I love it. [01:06:29] Speaker B: But for those who don't know it, it's a song about, you know, realizing your daddy might not be your daddy might be the milkman. That ain't all the milkman does. [01:06:38] Speaker A: No. [01:06:38] Speaker B: So they begged Ethan to stay, to listen to the milkman, and then. And he loved it. And introduced himself after and we started becoming friends of writing. And I wrote with Ethan a lot on Zoom during the pandemic because I met him right before the pandemic. And then he ended up living with Justin Dukes. And we met through that and that met Justin through Ethan. And then we started writing songs together. And do you remember that song Justin put out called no tell Motel? Yes, at the no tell motel. I wrote it with them and I remember them coming to me and be like, SJ, we have this title and we want to write it with you. And I'm like, I'm your girl. Come on, boys. It was so fun. And it's just anything in Nashville is a big web. Everyone's connected through everyone. And then you start writing with someone and they're writing with someone else and they're like, oh, you would really like them. Here's some songs we've written. Oh, shit, that's really good. Let's write. So that's how Ethan happened. And another group of girls that I'm writing so much with and that I honestly look up to so much are the good old gals, which is may Estes, Autumn McIntyre and Marty Dodson. [01:07:45] Speaker A: Yes. [01:07:46] Speaker B: And we call ourselves the good old gals because the first song we ever wrote is one called good old Boys that May Estes has been playing out a lot. And it's like a really harsh, honestly harsh song about a hard truth for a lot of women. And I'll leave it at that and let the song speak for itself. But I started writing with those girls and we do not shy away from any topic. Yeah, we write fun, hard stuff, everything. And some other people that I love writing with. You know, this girl, Brittany Moore, she's been, like, my day one. [01:08:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:08:21] Speaker B: We do not shy away from hard stuff. Her, Stephanie Joyce, Tori Tuyen. And I write a lot of. [01:08:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:08:27] Speaker B: Like, I've developed, like, curated this group accidentally of just great friends that I trust with my songs and ideas and they trust me with theirs. And that's the dream. [01:08:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:08:39] Speaker B: Like, I feel so lucky every day to be able to write songs with them and, like, writing with Ethan. It's so funny. If only you could be in a writer's room with Ethan and I, because we'll just look at each other and go, no. Pitch out a line. He'll say, nah, okay, we're gonna make ourselves better. You know, there's no yes man. And in those relationships, it's. I know you can do better. I know I can do better. Let's push. [01:09:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:09:03] Speaker B: And write quality songs. [01:09:05] Speaker A: 100%. [01:09:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Cause that's the stuff that holds up. I don't want my footprint in the music industry to be just, like, chasing trends, chasing random songs, pop, country songs that, like, aren't fully me. I wanna, like, push myself every day and create something that's timeless. [01:09:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:09:22] Speaker B: And I feel like I'm on the way, and I'm really excited for the next batch of songs. Cause they really feel like me. [01:09:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:09:30] Speaker B: Like fully me. I'm finally really reeling that in. [01:09:33] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. [01:09:34] Speaker B: And, you know, I mentioned the freak prefrontal cortex developing. That's what I feel is happening with my music. The music is developing just like my brain connected. [01:09:44] Speaker A: Yeah. For sure. [01:09:45] Speaker B: Yeah. So I'm really sad. [01:09:47] Speaker A: What's something that you would tell the 1819 year old girl that moved out here from Lexington, Virginia years ago? Like, from what's something that you wish you kind of knew back? Something you would tell that girl going to play her first gig at the stage? [01:10:02] Speaker B: A lot of things. Oh, first gig at the stage. [01:10:04] Speaker A: Well, around that time period, like, from where you are now, is being at 25 with your cortex growing and all that. [01:10:09] Speaker B: Yes. Well, funny thing I would say at the beginning for my first gig ever in Nashville, take off a little bit of that makeup and stop trying to push your boobs up. That's not going to make you look older. I would tell myself to invest in your friends more. You know, it's so easy in this town to be like, I want that huge. Right. If I write with this person, I'm gonna write better songs. And I really believe the truth of the matter is you write your best songs with your best friends. [01:10:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:10:37] Speaker B: So just, I wish I would have, like, really honed in on that earlier, but obviously it did take me time to find all these people I love writing with. I didn't really start writing with the majority of the people I love to write with until, like, three or four years into Nashville. [01:10:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:10:55] Speaker B: I would also tell that girl, do not rush the music, because even though I am proud of the songs that are out because they show different versions of me and me growing, I think I went a little too quick and I just wanted to prove myself so bad, and I obviously didn't know myself and my sound, and that's what made it, made it such different sounds every time I released a song. And now I'm finally honing in on it, and there's a common thread connecting everything, but I didn't have that for a long time because I rushed it. [01:11:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:11:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:11:28] Speaker A: That's all. But hey, I love where you're at right now. [01:11:30] Speaker B: Thank you. Me, too. I'm proud of myself. I'm not afraid to say I'm proud of myself. [01:11:34] Speaker A: Yeah, you should be. [01:11:36] Speaker B: I'm proud of myself and all of my friends. Like, you know, they say that people are going to come up in, like, classes, my class, especially with the boys and girls club. [01:11:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:11:44] Speaker B: Which is for those who don't know, it's like Mia Mantia, Chase McDaniel, Trent Wayne, Matt Mulhair, Mitch Crego, Schmitty. Did I already say Chase McDaniel? Chase McDaniel, the songwriter. But we're all, like, coming up and everybody signing their first deals together and just, like, pulling each other into bigger rooms to help each other and spending time together and going through it together, the same struggles. [01:12:08] Speaker A: High tides raise all ships. [01:12:10] Speaker B: Yes. [01:12:10] Speaker A: And the tides are rising for you and your homies right now, which is awesome to watch. [01:12:15] Speaker B: Really exciting to see. It really has. [01:12:17] Speaker A: That's awesome, sis. So you got country thunder this weekend? Do we have. Do we have, like, where I can look this up? Is it on? [01:12:25] Speaker B: Dude, I got all my stuff on. Like, I'm on it. So if you just go to sjmcdonald.com, all my shows will show up. [01:12:33] Speaker A: I want to see where you're going. How many of these shows are in Wisconsin? Because it sounds like Wisconsin's the honey hole for you right now. [01:12:38] Speaker B: Wisconsin. I love Wisconsin. I have three shows there this weekend. Wow. I've got some private stuff coming up, but. [01:12:45] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah. So two days at country Thunder. Lacrosse national anthem at the damn Cheyenne frontier days. [01:12:53] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Wait, do we have time to talk about. [01:12:55] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. We have time to talk about whatever you want. [01:12:57] Speaker B: Because the crazy thing with that is that I applied to sing the national anthem in Colorado at the Greeley Stampede and then in Wyoming at the Cheyenne frontier days. Back in January, I didn't have anything on the books for the summer, and I was like, I need to find something. I want to get into the rodeo world. Because I grew up a four h kid and a farmer's daughter. [01:13:19] Speaker A: Cattle rodeo is on brand, for sure. Yes. [01:13:22] Speaker B: I never got to be a part of the rodeo, but this is my way to be a part of it. I didn't think I'd actually get the things. And so there was a voting contest, public contest for the Greeley Stampede, and all of my friends and fans pulled together, and I won that and got to sing in Colorado last month. [01:13:40] Speaker A: How was that? [01:13:41] Speaker B: It was really cool. I flew in for 30 hours. It was wild. And then next week, I'm going to Cheyenne, which is, if you don't know, rodeo, this is the daddy of them all, is what they call it. It's the largest outdoor rodeo in the world. And I'm singing the anthem on the same night Lainey Wilson's playing. So you bet you're behind. We got tickets. [01:14:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:14:01] Speaker B: And I'm just really excited to be a part of the rodeo and hopefully meet some new people through it and get my foot into that world. [01:14:12] Speaker A: I'm sure you will. [01:14:13] Speaker B: I hope so. [01:14:13] Speaker A: They're gonna love you out there, and you're. And even more so, you're gonna love it out. Oh, yeah. Have you been to Wyoming yet? [01:14:19] Speaker B: No, and I'm. There's a band called CW 20 hands high that is letting me open for them at the out outlaw saloon in Cheyenne after. [01:14:29] Speaker A: Oh, then Turkey, Texas. That is the Tyler. That's where Tyler Halverson stays in Texas. That's his. His neck of the woods. [01:14:36] Speaker B: I'm staying out there, playing out there, and I got a show in London. [01:14:39] Speaker A: I was gonna say, what the fuck? You goin to fucking England? So how does that happen? [01:14:44] Speaker B: I have a cousin in France that wanted me to come sing at his big birthday party, and I was like, that's a two and a half hour train ride to London. I have fans in London. That's one of my top places on Spotify. And so I found this random venue. Lexi Hayden actually was playing the venue the night I reached out to them, and so I texted her to ask about it, and she was like, highly recommended it. So, yeah, I'm going to London. So if anybody's listening in London, please come to Dukes of Highgate on August. August 29. I will be there. [01:15:18] Speaker A: And then farm fest in Covington, Virginia. Just sounds like the most SJ McDonald ever. [01:15:24] Speaker B: It is. I'm really excited. They're gonna have tractor rides, and my whole family will be there. Yeah. [01:15:29] Speaker A: So cool. And then Eddie's attic. That's cool. Is that ahead? Is that. What are you doing down at it? [01:15:33] Speaker B: Actually, in the fall, I am co billing three shows with Madison Hughes. [01:15:38] Speaker A: Oh, sick. [01:15:40] Speaker B: Madison has had big sisters success with some cover songs and her original music on TikTok. And she's got this, like, sultry, just sort of Bonnie Raitt swampy kind of voice. Her low range is insane. And I've started to help, you know, write some songs for a project. And she was posting online that she wanted to book a tour. And I was like, hey, if you need help, let me know, and she was like, let's just do it together. So she's booked all these shows. I've been trying, and it's not been working. I've been trying to contribute, but she booked three shows for us in November to, like, co headline, and I'm really looking forward to it. There's a lot of things that aren't announced yet that are coming up, but my whole fall is pretty booked up. [01:16:26] Speaker A: That's awesome. [01:16:27] Speaker B: Really amazing, because it's just me running this. And I will say some things have slipped through the cracks. Like, the turkey, Texas gig showed up yesterday because, wow. I forgot to send a text response to the booker a month ago. I had the text drafted. [01:16:42] Speaker A: It happens. [01:16:43] Speaker B: Hat in the press. Send. [01:16:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:16:44] Speaker B: So I realized that this week, and I was like, hey, I'm so sorry this is last minute, but if you happen to need someone, I'm still going down to Texas playing a private gig in Amarillo. And luckily enough, they were like, we'll put you on as an opener. And I was like, that's all I need. I just want to go meet people. [01:17:01] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I'm so fucking proud of you, sis. Like, I remember when you, like you said, you were grinding and pulling doubles, triples. You were just. You were writing songs when you could, and you were playing downtown and figuring life out as a 19, 2021 year old kid. And now to see you out on the. Doing this, booking yourself and through your friends and through your network and getting fans going fucking international pretty well, getting music coming. No, it's awesome. [01:17:30] Speaker B: Pretty well. [01:17:30] Speaker A: It's great. No, I love the evolution of how this is going, and. And it's only gonna keep. It's only gonna keep going up. [01:17:36] Speaker B: That's the hope. [01:17:36] Speaker A: You're just getting it started. Wait till. Wait till things. Wait till people start coming in and pouring gasoline on the fire that you're creating for yourself. [01:17:43] Speaker B: Hey, I'm ready. [01:17:44] Speaker A: It's coming. [01:17:44] Speaker B: I got the fire already. It's stacked up in a little teepee, just waiting for a little gasoline and a match. Come on. I haven't got the kindling. Come on. [01:17:52] Speaker A: Somebody comes to Nashville. Where's the first place you're taking them? [01:17:55] Speaker B: Ooh, the local on a Monday night? Denim daddy, Sam bakes and Will Jones. I love those boys. [01:18:02] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great show. [01:18:03] Speaker B: That's the place. [01:18:03] Speaker A: That's a great show. Then where's your favorite food spot nowadays? [01:18:06] Speaker B: Uncle Bud's catfish. [01:18:07] Speaker A: Oh, you're still an Uncle Buds girl. Okay. [01:18:09] Speaker B: I haven't been in a while, but I still, I don't eat anywhere except for, like, when people want recommendations. I say uncle buds because I eat at home to save money. [01:18:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:18:19] Speaker B: In Chipotle. [01:18:20] Speaker A: Yes. We gotta take nikki t to Uncle Buds. He's still never been and it's not far from here. [01:18:24] Speaker B: It's not. [01:18:25] Speaker A: It's in this area. We'll have to go and take Nikki T. I took Mc away into Uncle Bud's one time and he lost his mind. He was like, man, this Uncle Bud's right here. [01:18:36] Speaker B: It feels just like home for me. [01:18:37] Speaker A: Man, look at, look at this fried okra. He just loves fried okra, man. Look at all the okra. Oh, gosh, that's awesome. But, sis, I appreciate you coming on and doing this. [01:18:46] Speaker B: It's been a long time coming. [01:18:47] Speaker A: It's been five years in the making. [01:18:48] Speaker B: I know. If anybody can't tell, we've known each other for a while and we know each other real good and we've had a lot of fun over the years. [01:18:55] Speaker A: And we have a lot more fun to go. [01:18:56] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I'm really excited to see what happens the next five to ten years in this town with our friends, with the music. I feel like country music is shifting back to a more classic and raw kind of thing. Yeah, I'm just really excited and really hopeful and glad to be a part of it. [01:19:14] Speaker A: Yeah, well, you're gonna be a huge part of it, sis. You already are. You're putting your, putting your footprint right in there. [01:19:18] Speaker B: So dang right. They don't have a choice. Sticking my foot out. [01:19:22] Speaker A: Hell yeah. Where do people go to find you on all the socials and stuff? [01:19:25] Speaker B: SJ McDonald music. And that's s for spicy, J for Jalapeno, McDonald for. But I'm loving it. [01:19:34] Speaker A: Yes. Hell yeah. We always sure to follow our girl SJB on the lookout for some new music coming. And if you are in any of these places, visit our website, sjmcdonald.com and check out all the dates if you're in London, if you're watching this one, thank you for watching this international. That would be wow to go and check out SJ McDonald when she is coming to your country across the pond. [01:19:55] Speaker B: So over the beans. [01:19:57] Speaker A: And I can't wait for that Instagram story. I can't wait for that. Mini mic update. Mini mike update. Beans in London. Well, safe travels to Wisconsin. Appreciate the hell out of you, sis. [01:20:11] Speaker B: Thanks for having me. [01:20:12] Speaker A: Of course. And you'll be sure to follow along. Raise rowdy. Visit our website, raise rowdy. Find us on any of the social medias and. Yeah, and Surfside. Shout out to Surfside. For someone who doesn't drink a whole lot, SJ hasn't been enjoying it. She's still been taking steps out of it. Yeah, it's good. So check out our friends from Surfside. My girl SJ. I'm Matt Brill. This has been outside the round? I never been the kind for stair one place for too long? Never been the best? It said I love you to a girl I love? Only got a couple tricks on my sleeve? They usually just make them leave? So if you know me? If you really know me? You know I'm just a two trick pony? But maybe the drinking and the lack of money for show? I'm just a two trick pony?