Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:13 What is up everybody? We're switching things up this week. It's Tyler here and Matt, and we got Dakota Bar and the podcasts over here, and we have a special guest. We met him at Nashville Tour. Stop. It's a great, uh, riders around here in Nashville that happens every Sunday night. His name is Steve Berger. He, uh, is a great guy. He's been in Nashville since the late eighties. Matt, what else do you have to say?
Speaker 2 00:00:35 He's a Nashville og. He's a cool ass dude. Uh, definitely somebody different from the previous guests that we've had on here. And what I love about going to a writer's round, like the national tour stop over at Bel Court taps, is that you never know what you're gonna get. It's like a box of chocolates. You never know who you're gonna see what you're gonna hear. Yeah. And we went to watch some, some younger artists. Andes was
Speaker 1 00:00:57 There. That's who we went and watched.
Speaker 2 00:00:58 Yep. SJ was playing there. We got to see some, some young up and coming songwriters and we saw this guy Steve Groberger sitting at the end of, he was in the last stool. He was the last guy on the round. And then he's like, oh, these kids, I gotta pull out the Tim McGraw cup. And we're like, oh shit. Yeah, this guy's got a Tim McGraw cut and he pulls out, give it to me straight off the, uh, not a moment too soon record. Uh, that featured the big hit Indian Outlaw from back in the nineties. Uh, and man, he was cool and he was cool enough to come on with us.
Speaker 1 00:01:25 Oh yeah. He's a great dude. Um, he's a lawyer here in town, you know, he lives a regular life and stuff, but he is an amazing writer. Um, I haven't heard anything of was yet that I'm just like not in love with, so.
Speaker 2 00:01:37 No. And speaking of stuff that at the end of the episode, as you know, we always do a song of the week and, uh, this week's song was, uh, Steve Berger with Yes, it Does. Yes it did. Yes it does. Which was, which is an awesome song. Yeah. And he had played it over at Bel Court as well. And, uh, well do this part like we normally do. Uh, we're about to get ready to go in. Tyler, hit where the, what is up everyone, welcome back to the In of the Round podcast. You got Matt Tyler, the whole crew here, and we got a special guest with us for this episode, episode nine here on In the Round. And, uh, it's a guy that I would refer to as a Nashville og cuz you've been here for a hot minute. It's Mr. Steve Berger. Steve, how you doing? Doing
Speaker 3 00:02:28 Great, man.
Speaker 2 00:02:28 Happy Monday.
Speaker 3 00:02:30 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:02:30 Now, what's a typical weekend for you look like as a writer? Because I'm sure you're playing gigs and doing all kinds of different
Speaker 3 00:02:36 Things. Well, I actually don't get to play out as much as I want to. Um, I've got a five year old and an eight year old boy at home. Uh, so my weekend's usually collapsed or chasing them around. But, uh, you know, I, I do as much music as I can.
Speaker 2 00:02:53 Okay. Okay. So you've been here for a hot minute. You've been here for what year? Did, what year did you get inside the city limits of Nashville,
Speaker 3 00:02:59 Tennessee? I moved here in 1988. Damn. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:03:03 88. That's seven years before I was even born. <laugh>. I'm not trying to be that guy. Thank you for making me feel, I'm not trying
Speaker 3 00:03:09 To be that guy. You're that guy now. <laugh>. You are that asshole. I know it All right. No. Um,
Speaker 2 00:03:16 So what was Nashville like 1988? What brought you here? Where'd you come from?
Speaker 3 00:03:20 It was completely different. I'm, I'm originally from Kansas City and, uh, I had act, I had quit college after two years and went on the road with rock bands for a couple of years.
Speaker 2 00:03:30 Any, any, uh, any, any stories? No.
Speaker 3 00:03:32 Okay. Nobody, nobody. You've heard of plenty of stories, but Okay. Not, not that I probably wanna share. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:03:39 But <laugh> <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:03:41 Um, but I had a blast. But I, I, I actually woke up one morning in a hotel. I was like 21. And I was playing with guys that were like 10 years older than me who had no skills other than that. Yeah. And they were getting too old to be doing that. And I thought, man, that's me in 10 years and that's, that ain't gonna work. So I, I wound up, uh, enrolling at MTSU to get a music business degree. Okay. Moved to Nashville and hated country music at the time. Was, uh, planning on getting my degree and scooting off to la. Um, but while I was there, the two years I was finishing up college, I learned about country music and learned, uh, to appreciate a lot of it and the songwriting and, and the craft of it. And I never left.
Speaker 2 00:04:35 So, for you being a, being a rocker, going into country music at the time in 88, I'm trying to think of that was, that was right before, that was like right as Garth was getting started and that realm, cause that's how people date country music. They do like a BG and an ag. Before Garth, after Garth was
Speaker 3 00:04:51 Time on, I've actually got a Garth's story.
Speaker 2 00:04:53 <laugh> No shit. Really?
Speaker 3 00:04:55 Yeah. But, uh, I, I, yeah. As I was, it was actually, I think Garth was probably 90 when he first came out. So
Speaker 2 00:05:06 Try to think who was, who was big in town in
Speaker 3 00:05:09 1988? Yeah. Well, I didn't know anybody. Okay. I didn't know the artist. I didn't know the, I I really didn't know the genre. I, you know, it was, uh, you know, twang and heehaw, you know, before that to me. Um, but I started listening to the radio as I, as I started to hear some things, you know, well, that's pretty cool. And, uh, I just started making lists of the people that, or if I heard a song, it's like, oh, that's, that's kind of cool. And I'd write it down. And, uh, I had a buddy of mine that he was big into country music. That was all he did. And I'd sit down with him and go, okay, who, who sings this? Who sings this? And the first list, I sat down with him, I like 20 songs on it, but there were only four artists. It was, uh, George Strait, who I love to this day. Uh, Randy, Travis Conway, Twitty, and Foster, and Lloyd.
Speaker 2 00:06:06 Now Foster and Lloyd's the only one that I haven't heard of. And that might, that's my, that's me being a damn Yankee from New York, maybe not knowing
Speaker 3 00:06:11 Anymore. Well, you need to check them out. They, they, they kind of bridged that gap for me. They were, um, Rodney Foster, uh, who went on to a solo career, uh, in the nineties, uh, in Bill Lloyd. And, uh, just, it, it's, it was a nice mix of pop and country. Uh, had a lot of roots, like Everly Brothers kind of thing going on. Okay. Uh, but really cool stuff and really good songs.
Speaker 1 00:06:39 So I just looked it up. Uh, Keith Whitley was really big that year. Okay. 1988.
Speaker 2 00:06:46 So, so that was that, that era of Yeah. Country music. So for you now, when you say rock, are you coming? So we've, we've all seen recently, um, myself, Dakota Bear and Tyler over here, we watched, have you watched that Motley Crew document or movie? The, uh, I have not. The dirt. I have. So for us that's what, that's what's fresh in our minds of like that late eighties, early nineties, like rock and roll life. So were you like the Hairband Rock and roll, or,
Speaker 3 00:07:09 I was kind of like right before the Hairband. It was, it was the Night Ranger. Uh
Speaker 2 00:07:13 Oh, okay.
Speaker 3 00:07:14 That, that era. Uh, I mean, my hair was down to here. Okay. And, uh, you know, had the two earrings, the big dangly things. And
Speaker 2 00:07:23 So to get from that to, to Keith Whitley and I love, I love both Yeah. Both styles of music like that to your transition into Nashville, that must have been a process for you.
Speaker 3 00:07:32 Well, it was, you know, I was in college. Yeah. So there were still plenty of, you know, friends that were total rockers Yeah. And, and all that. But, you know, as you kind of get into the music circles, you know, countries, what's done here. Yeah. I mean, there's always, since I moved here, there's always been, you know, pockets of, of rock bands or, you know, whatever else is going on. But it's country music. I mean, that's, that's what this town lives on. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:08:00 So what did Broadway look like in 1988? Uh, or was that a place you stayed away from? Cause I know
Speaker 3 00:08:05 At one point was that Yeah, I really didn't go down there. Um, the, the one thing I remember is, is Demian there at the head of Music Row, when I first moved to town, it was all tourist shops. They had a, um, a wax museum. They had a car museum. Um, Barbara Mandrell had a big store. Um, cuz I went one, one day, I took one of my friends from school and I said, we're going up there and we're doing everything there. Yeah. You know, all the tourist things. And I mean, you know, we spent ridiculous amount of money for college kids. Yeah. You know, and most of it was kind of hokey and, but hey, I did it. You know. But it was the biggest change I've seen in, in Nashville is when I, when I moved here, music Row really was music Row. It was small houses, it was publishing companies and record labels all kind of intertwined. And the community was just real tight knit. Yeah. And in the nineties, after Garth hit, don't let me skip the story of
Speaker 2 00:09:10 Garth. Oh, I wanna hear that story.
Speaker 3 00:09:11 But, you know, when Garth and Vince Gill and Reba and all, everything just exploded. It started turning corporate. And I remember, I think ASCAP was the first one to tear down the house and build the big building. And just one by one it, it started, it, it just, um, it lost, it lost something, I mean, for me. Yeah. You know, that, um, that community started pulling apart and now it's like most of the record labels aren't even on the row
Speaker 2 00:09:42 Anymore. No. They're all scattered throughout
Speaker 3 00:09:45 The Yeah. Downtown or midtown and
Speaker 1 00:09:47 Even out in Brentwood and stuff like that. Yeah. So whenever you said the head of Theum, you're talking about where like tailgate and
Speaker 3 00:09:54 Where the naked statue is?
Speaker 1 00:09:55 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like,
Speaker 2 00:09:56 There's a na there's a naked statue, or maybe I just haven't looked at it closely.
Speaker 1 00:10:00 Yeah. There's like eight or nine naked people in the middle of the circle right there. Where Damian, before you get like, the roundabout? Yeah, roundabout. Oh, the
Speaker 2 00:10:07 Circle. Yeah, the statue. Oh,
Speaker 3 00:10:08 The circle. The big ugly naked lizard people looking thing.
Speaker 2 00:10:12 Oh, those people. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:10:13 So, but you're talking about like where like that I
Speaker 3 00:10:16 Call on, on down towards the interstate where all the bars are now. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:10:19 Yeah. That's what I'm talking
Speaker 3 00:10:20 About. That used to be just tourist shop after tourist shop. Ah.
Speaker 2 00:10:23 And now it's bar after bar after bar.
Speaker 3 00:10:25 Wow. Yeah. And then condo after condo. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:10:28 Yeah. Which for you, the population growth, I mean, was Nashville crazy? A small, was was it considered like a small town, a small city at that point,
Speaker 3 00:10:36 Or? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, I came from Kansas City and it, it was much smaller than Kansas City at the time. And I mean, it's just exponential growth. I, I saw a picture the other day of the Nashville skyline from 2011 to now. Yeah. And it's like three times the, all these skyscrapers
Speaker 2 00:10:58 And stuff. And they're, and they're building more and more. There's constant cranes everywhere.
Speaker 3 00:11:01 Yeah. I mean, when I moved here, the Batman building wasn't here. You know, you were
Speaker 2 00:11:05 Here before the Batman building.
Speaker 3 00:11:06 Yeah. The LNC Tower was like the tallest building down there. Now you can't even freaking see it.
Speaker 1 00:11:11 <laugh>. Yeah. And like, I know I moved here in 2013 and to me, coming from a really small town in Alabama that, you know, had six streets and didn't have a post office anymore in a little tiny school, you know, like, it still had that very small town vibe for me in 2013. You know, I felt like I could transition here a lot easier than saying, going to like Atlanta or going to, you know, Charlotte or DC or, you know, any of those like major bigger cities. Yeah. New York, la Yeah. Like Nashville to me still felt like it was a smaller thing and the musicians still kind of all knew of each other. Like, there wasn't no like, oh, do you know this guy? No, I've never heard of him. Like, a lot of times it's like, once you like made a thing, like people started talking about you, like everybody knew it was still a very tight-knit community.
Speaker 2 00:12:02 Yeah. It ain't that now <laugh>. It's,
Speaker 3 00:12:04 It's,
Speaker 2 00:12:04 No, yeah. No, it's, it's a lot. So you said you're from Kansas City, so I gotta ask the, uh, the B word down here. Barbecue. Kansas City's one of the staples. It,
Speaker 3 00:12:13 It is. You've lived in the mother church.
Speaker 2 00:12:14 Yeah. You've lived in Tennessee for a while. Yeah. Will you admit that Tennessee maybe does barbecue better than Kansas City?
Speaker 3 00:12:21 Uh, no.
Speaker 2 00:12:22 No. <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:12:24 Tennessee does barbecue. Very different from, from Kansas City. It's, it's more pork down here. Kansas City's mostly beef. Okay. Uh, even their pork barbecue is different than pork barbecue down here. So they're, they're kind of apples and oranges to me. Um, there's some barbecue places down here I love Yeah. But when I go to Kansas City, there's places I have to go.
Speaker 2 00:12:46 There's places you have. Okay. There's like, you have to,
Speaker 1 00:12:48 So what's some of the ones you love around here?
Speaker 3 00:12:51 Um, strouds down in, uh, Franklin is probably my favorite. We
Speaker 2 00:12:56 Might have to go check that out.
Speaker 3 00:12:57 Oh, they're good.
Speaker 1 00:12:58 Yeah. I haven't had that one yet. It's off,
Speaker 3 00:12:59 It's off of, uh, Franklin Road, I think. Okay. And it's, uh, it's awesome. All right. It's
Speaker 2 00:13:04 Awesome. Yeah. We'll, we'll have to check that one out. And then Kansas City for barbecue, if we ever find a way to Kansas City, where's our mo spot that we gotta go to that Steve is like, he can't go to Kansas City
Speaker 3 00:13:14 And not run the list. There's Brian's barbecue, uh, which has the best beef you will ever put in your mouth. All right. I
Speaker 2 00:13:23 Mean, I'm gonna hold you
Speaker 3 00:13:24 Through that. Yeah. Okay. It's, it's, uh, it was for years and they've got a, I think, I think there's two, two stores now, but the original one was like in the hood. And, you
Speaker 2 00:13:37 Know, sometimes that's where the best places are, is just,
Speaker 3 00:13:39 That's always where the best places are. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:13:41 Mean for Nashville with hot chicken, you know, it's Princes and Boltons. Yeah. They're both places that I wouldn't go after night.
Speaker 3 00:13:47 Yeah. And this, that's, that's where this kind of place was. Okay. And their, their sauce is like a vinegar base. Okay. And they had used to have these big giant glass bottles of it, like sitting in the window fermenting and, you know, doing their thing. And you walk through the line and the guy didn't have a glove and he's grabbing big chunks of meat, you know. But it was awesome.
Speaker 2 00:14:08 But it was just that good.
Speaker 3 00:14:09 Yeah. Yeah. What, what,
Speaker 2 00:14:11 What would you recommend ordering there?
Speaker 3 00:14:13 Uh, just a beef sandwich, man.
Speaker 2 00:14:14 Uh, just a beef sandwich. Now is that considered beef brisket or is that just beef? Is Kansas City beef it's own?
Speaker 3 00:14:19 It is. It is a brisket. Okay. But it's, yeah.
Speaker 2 00:14:22 You don't say brisket, just say, give me the beef.
Speaker 3 00:14:24 Nah.
Speaker 2 00:14:25 Okay. Yeah. If we ever end up in Kansas City, we gotta go. Oh, you got to, gotta go check it out. For sure. Now the songwriting stuff. So you, did you come, so when did you start being like, so you were out on the road doing the, doing the rock stuff. Yeah. Come back, do the music business thing. When was it, Hey, I wanna do this writing thing, I can get behind this. I want to do this.
Speaker 3 00:14:43 It actually, I had played with it a little bit, uh, but really sucked at it. Um, and, uh, actually, uh, towards the end of, uh, college, I guess I had graduated and, uh, my girlfriend at the time started fooling around with one of my very good friends. And, uh, songwriting became my catharsis through that, my way of dealing with it. Okay. Um, and, uh, and I just kept doing it. Uh, it was, yeah. So, I mean, you know, broken Heart Got Me, right. And
Speaker 2 00:15:20 That's, that's one of the, one of the big three of country music, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:15:23 Yeah. And for me, you know, that's the same way how I got started, you know, was just as a way of being able to express, you know, what I was feeling and stuff. Hey,
Speaker 3 00:15:33 You just gotta vent. You gotta vent it. You
Speaker 1 00:15:34 Know, like I grew up an only child in a very small town where there was not many more people to talk to. Um, especially like on a deep level of what you, you know, a lot of times you're write on about that stuff. And, uh, so writing was my only place to go to where I could, you know, say, Hey, I need to say this, but I have nobody to talk to. Right. But I can write it.
Speaker 3 00:15:56 You know, the, the thing thing for me, uh, back then when I was first starting to write, I mean there, there's, to me, there's two parts to being a good writer. There's, you know, the art side, which I think kind of, you either have it or you don't. And then there's the craft of, you know, how do I construct this, you know, rhyme schemes, you know, just coherent thought patterns, you know, that kind of stuff. I think you can just learn the mechanics of over time. But back then I didn't really have that much to say. And it's one of the things that blows me away of like, hanging out at Bell Court and there's all these 20 year olds up there. Yeah. They're writing some damn good songs. Yeah. And I'm like, I didn't have Jack Shit to say when I was 20. Yeah. And now 53, I've got a lot to say. I just don't have the time to say it. Yeah. You know?
Speaker 2 00:16:58 Yeah. How is that for you, balance statement? You were saying you've got, you've got the, the boys, you got the kids at home and stuff, and you're, and you're, you're doing that and you're,
Speaker 3 00:17:06 Well, I've got that. And something I, I don't think you guys know, cuz we haven't, you know, really chatted much. Uh, I'm a lawyer.
Speaker 2 00:17:14 You're a lawyer, so you're working as a,
Speaker 1 00:17:16 I saw that, oh, they did a little bit of research before the episode and I did see that.
Speaker 2 00:17:20 So you worked as a, so you, so you work as a lawyer, your father, and you're still doing the music thing. Yeah. That's a lot. Yeah. That's, that's hustle. Like to be, to be keeping up with all that. Well,
Speaker 3 00:17:31 It's, you do what you gotta do. That's
Speaker 2 00:17:33 The mentality it seems like, of this town.
Speaker 3 00:17:35 Well, and it's, you know, I, that's what you gotta do. Yeah. I mean, I went through, I wrote full-time for seven years, starved to death, most of it, and did some production and played, you know, here and there and had the Tim McGraw thing, uh, was lucky enough to have a song on his first huge album. Yeah. Um, which was amazing. But, uh, and then nothing else happened, you know, for me as a writer at that time. And, uh, I got tired of being broke and turned my, I first turned myself into an accountant. Uh, I didn't have any training. I just was good with numbers and Yeah. Faking my way through it, I guess. But, uh, and got wound up getting hired by, uh, Baumer Entertainment, which was owned by Anne Murray, the Canadian singer from the seventies that I'm sure you don't know who she is. Um, you can look her up later. Okay. Uh, <laugh>, she was actually huge in the seventies. Oh, I'm sure. Um, and, uh, I got hired as an accountant and then got promoted to Director of Finance and Business Affairs and I was handling all their licensing and legal work. So I started going to law school at night to figure out what in the hell I was doing. And lo and behold I became a lawyer.
Speaker 2 00:18:56 Damn. That I had no idea. Yeah. That, that's, that's really, that's really cool and interesting to hear and stuff. So those, you said for about seven years you were, you were writing and that was your, your occupation? Yeah. What was that seven year stretch? What timetable?
Speaker 3 00:19:09 Uh, 90 to, yeah. Well probably 90, 91 to 98.
Speaker 2 00:19:18 So that's a big era for country music. That's the stuff that Yeah. That we, that we had grown up on. And what was so cool about, and I had, again, we, when we saw you at Bel Court taps, we had, we had no idea. We, we just kind of popped in there, knew some people that were on the round and then we heard you pull out the pull out and you're like, oh, I gotta pull out the big guns for all these kids. All these kids are playing this Cause they were
Speaker 3 00:19:39 Kicking my ass.
Speaker 2 00:19:39 Yeah, yeah. You're gonna, you're gonna make me pull out the Tim McGraw cut and then you started playing Give it to me straight. And it was, and it was awesome. Yeah. And it was cool cuz Tim McGraw's actually the guy that I grew up listening to, like my grandmother Ford wins 99 Ford WinStar. I was listening to the first Greatest Hits album of Tim McGraw, which, which had Indian Outlaw on it and had a lot of, had a lot of, um, the big hits from, from that era. Yeah. And to hear that I was like, holy shit. Of course this is Nashville. You walk in, you have no, I you, and you just pull it out. And it's, it's also what was that process like of just being, being in that nineties country scene? I mean, that's the era of the big hair, the big personalities. Yeah. The, the, you had the white Yoakum doing his thing. You have Travis tr you have Ush, and I fate it. It
Speaker 3 00:20:25 Was, it was, it was amazing. Um, the, just the whole environment Yeah. In Nashville at that time. Um, you know, that, that song was just a gift from the heavens. Um, rode with a buddy of mine, rece Wilson, uh, who's not in town anymore, but he had, and he went on and had a bunch of number ones and, and hell of a writer. Um, but we actually wrote that song in 45 minutes. Wow. That's it. That's it. And, uh, I had, I had the idea of, you know, give it to me straight talking about George
Speaker 2 00:21:01 St Yeah. I saw that straight. So that Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:21:03 Okay. You know, and so it was an idea of, okay, a guy's sitting in a bar broken-hearted, and all he wants to hear is George Strait songs. And, uh, so we sat down and, you know, we actually made a list of every George Strait song we could think about, you know, or think of and constructed the chorus basically out of that. And, uh, you know, and then built the verses. And, and it was one of those that just came too easy. And, and we knew we had something.
Speaker 2 00:21:33 Where were you guys when you wrote it?
Speaker 3 00:21:35 Uh, at, at Reese's apartment. You
Speaker 2 00:21:37 Were just in the apartment Yeah. Just hanging out.
Speaker 3 00:21:39 Yeah. And I mean, we finished it and we're both like, oh shit, this is good <laugh>. You know. And, uh, my, my wife at the time, uh, two wives ago, uh, <laugh>, uh, was my, was my publisher. Yeah. And, uh, you know, we, I went, I went, said, you gotta hear this. And she flipped out and Reece was writing for, uh, James Stroud's company, ham Steam. He went and played it for them. And, and we had demoed within a week. Um, and they were pitching it everywhere. And, uh, Reece actually happened to, to know Byron Gallimore, who was co-producing Tim's album at the time. And he liked it, you know, he thought it was a cool song and played it for Tim. And Tim called, uh, sing Reese's publisher and said, Hey, I wanna put this on hold. And they said, no <laugh>, Tim had had one album out before.
Speaker 3 00:22:39 I think he had one single off of it that, you know, didn't do anything. Yeah. And they were like, no, we're not putting it on hold for you cuz we know this is a great song. And they were chasing everybody with it. From Garth to Tracy Bird was real hot at the time. Clint Black, although he only cut his own stuff, um, you know, they were hitting everybody and nothing ever materialized. And Tim was calling every week asking them to hold that song for 'em. And they kept saying no. And, uh, it got to where Tim was recording his album and we hadn't gotten it cut. And they cut it and thank God they did. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it was, uh, it was a trip cuz I, I was broke as I've ever been in my life at that time when they were recording it and I was this close to selling my publishing. I, we had the cut. We were waiting for the album to come out and I was, I was just, I had an offer and I was literally about to accept it to sell my publishing for 10 grand.
Speaker 2 00:23:46 Wow.
Speaker 3 00:23:47 And, uh, my, my co-writer, Reese, God will love him to this day. He, uh, he told me, he said, Steve, I know you're hurting, but if you can hang on, hang on. Cuz if this, if if he pops, you're gonna hate yourself. Yeah. And, uh, I listened to him and Hung on, and Indian Outlaw came out and just exploded the first single off of that album. And the album was released. We were number one album on the Billboard album chart. Not just country, but
Speaker 2 00:24:24 Just all genre. All
Speaker 3 00:24:26 Genre. Wow. For 26 weeks.
Speaker 2 00:24:29 That doesn't that's Yeah, that doesn't happen.
Speaker 3 00:24:31 Crazy. Crazy. It's almost
Speaker 2 00:24:33 Half a year.
Speaker 3 00:24:34 That is a half a year. Yeah, that is
Speaker 2 00:24:35 Exactly, yeah. Exactly. A half a year
Speaker 3 00:24:38 Number one album in the country. And, uh, you know, we sold, uh, over 6 million copies of that album. And we weren't a single. We were, they told us at one point we were gonna be the third single, and then we got bumped and we were gonna be the fourth single, and then we were gonna be the fifth single, and then we were gonna be the sixth. But they didn't go six. And, uh, you know, it would've been great cause they made a lot more money. Um, but
Speaker 2 00:25:04 How, how does that work? Because again, I'm, I don't understand all this, I don't have a music business degree. I'm, I'm a radio guy that moved down here and just doesn't, doesn't know what happens. The song, so your song's on the record, the big, the singles that are off the record or what people are hearing on the radio, they're like, oh, I like that. They're gonna go out, they're gonna buy the record. How does that come back to you and whatnot in a music
Speaker 3 00:25:24 Business sense? Well, back in that day Yeah. It's self changed. Cause nobody buys records anymore.
Speaker 2 00:25:28 That's very true. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:25:30 Um, but, you know, you, you licensed your song to the, to the label in this case Curb. And, and they had to pay, you know, a royalty rate, a mechanical royalty for each album that was sold, each physical copy that was sold, they were, I think at that time it was like nine and a quarter cents, something like that for each song. And it got divided between the publishers. Um, you know, but I mean, four and a half cents times 6 million doesn't suck. Yeah. <laugh>, you know, for 45 minutes work. And then, but if you're single, you know, and you're getting the radio air play, you're getting money from ASCAP and bmi that is for performance money. And, you know, back then, you know, a, a single, a number one single, which all of his were going, number one would've been worth another probably quarter million dollars. Uh, which would've been great, you know? Yeah. But I found out actually years ago, years later, and I don't know if it's true, if it, if it's not, it probably should be. Um, but that the reason we got bumped and didn't get released as a single was that Mike Curb who owned, you know, curb Records, uh, didn't wanna put out a single promoting another labels act.
Speaker 2 00:26:48 Oh,
Speaker 3 00:26:49 Okay. And, uh, you know, I don't know if that's true or not. Uh, I'll, I'll accept it. Yeah. <laugh>, they also, while they were recording it, were trying to get George straight in into seeing one line of the bridge.
Speaker 2 00:27:01 Oh. And that would've been, which,
Speaker 3 00:27:03 Which would've guaranteed a single,
Speaker 2 00:27:05 Guaranteed a single. And, and quite a bit more probably a classic at that because
Speaker 3 00:27:08 The, the bridge of the song is there ain't one country singer that ain't good for bad heartache, but for me, there's nothing smoother than a good stiff shot of straight. And they were gonna have George sing that first line. Yeah. And, but it didn't happen. And, you know, life goes on.
Speaker 2 00:27:22 Now, how old are you when, uh, when, when you guys write that one?
Speaker 3 00:27:26 Uh, that would've been 94. So I was 28.
Speaker 2 00:27:29 You were 28. Yeah. So you were well into the songwriting, you were well into writing. Was I
Speaker 3 00:27:34 Still wasn't that good to be honest. I mean, I, that was, um, that was way above where I was. I mean, it really was. That's why I say it was just a, a gift from the Gods. Reece was a great writer back then. Um, you know, but, uh, um, yeah, it just, it was a gift. That one was a gift from, from the atmosphere, from God, whatever you want to call it, <laugh>. I'm happy it came my way.
Speaker 1 00:28:02 Um, I had a professor in college, and I think I've said this on the podcast before, but he said, you know, a lot of times whenever you get in a room with another writer, you know, the words are there, they're in the, you know, air and stuff. And then our job as a writer is to kind of pull 'em out and put 'em to paper, put 'em to a medium that, you know, that we can express over and over again to somebody else. And he goes, you know, sometimes the words are great and sometimes lightning strikes and all the words line up and stuff like that happens. Yeah. And he's like, and sometimes it's not, but don't ever let go of the ones that weren't because they're gonna lead to the lightning strike.
Speaker 3 00:28:37 Yeah, they do. And, and you know, it's, it's funny too, cuz I've been doing on my music page, on, on Facebook, I play a little 20 minute concert every Wednesday night, and I, uh, have gone back and dug out some of my old songs that I thought were crap back then. You know? And, and I think mainly because I didn't have the ability to communicate them well, and I've played some on the, you know, my show and get great response out of them now. Yeah. Because now years later I have experienced that. Yeah. You
Speaker 2 00:29:14 Know, it's something, there's something to be said for probably living through
Speaker 3 00:29:18 Yeah. It's just the perspective of that life gives you, I guess. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:29:22 Yeah. So now, I mean, country music's very different today than it was in in the nineties and, and 88 when you were first coming, coming into town and things like that. What are your thoughts on like all the collaboration, like the collaborations of styles that are out there now to, to what you're, what somebody like, say the, the, the big term that people use that bro country, which I found out through Tyler actually means bro, is in terms of Broadway as opposed, as opposed to like frat brother. Interesting. And so he had explained it to me was basically it was a trend of what Broadway was doing at the time. Not exactly the the frat brother thing, but from that style to say what guys like Stapleton where there's more soul coming through, but then you also have that nineties country feel with, with a guy like Luke Combs. Like how, what are
Speaker 3 00:30:06 Your thoughts on this? Yeah. I mean, you know, music's always going to evolve it and, you know, and you're not always gonna like it. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:30:14 Absolutely. Abso that's why there's so many different styles out there. There's something,
Speaker 3 00:30:17 But I mean, even, you know, even now I like everything from classical to jazz, to rock to country, to Christian, to, you know, I like good music. Um, you know, I I love George Strait and I love Nirvana. Yeah. I mean,
Speaker 2 00:30:34 Two complete opposites that were popular at the same
Speaker 3 00:30:36 Time, you know, but I have an appreciation for both of them. You know, they're, they're both were exceptional at what they did. Yeah. You know, and, uh, you know, it, it, yeah. There's a lot of stuff I don't like out there, you know, I, I'd love to see some more women getting things going,
Speaker 2 00:30:56 Especially from what we see, what we're seeing at the, at those writers jobs. Oh my God. Yes. And you're, you're out in Midtown, especially a place like Belur Taps. Yeah. One of those places where one of our guests that we had on a couple episodes ago, we had sj uh, McDonald on Yeah. And Sjs kicking ass right now. And you see what like, who
Speaker 3 00:31:11 I'm writing with in uh Oh, you another week or so? Yeah. Oh, awesome.
Speaker 2 00:31:14 Yeah. That ass can't wait to see what comes down to that
Speaker 3 00:31:16 One. She Yeah. Yeah. It's like she, she's what, 20?
Speaker 2 00:31:18 She turns 20. Today's actually her birthday.
Speaker 3 00:31:20 That's right. That's right. Yeah. Um, but I mean, and that voice, oh my God, the girl can sing her
Speaker 2 00:31:26 And there's, and there's so many girls and just young acts in general Yeah. That are, that are really, they're really leaving a mark on this town.
Speaker 3 00:31:34 Yeah. And it's, it's, you know, I know at some point they're going to, you know, start funneling in, you know, and it, it's, there's always been that, I mean, you know, country music's generally male heavy,
Speaker 2 00:31:47 It's male heavy and a lot of that having come from that radio background is the demographics of radio. Yeah. Country radio is, is female 18 to 34, 25 to 54. If you're looking at like a Nash icon or something, you're looking to get soccer moms listening. Right. That's, you go to a country show, it's a nine to one ratio.
Speaker 3 00:32:04 But I think now in the, in this, you know, in this new world where nobody's buying anything Yeah. You know, I think there's room for a lot of different things.
Speaker 2 00:32:12 Absolutely. It's very big experimentation is Yeah. Is huge of different
Speaker 3 00:32:15 Styles. And it's, to me, it's very reminiscent what I'm starting to see. Cuz I, I'm happy to see that some of the more traditional acts are starting to make some marks and, you know, um, even in a maybe contemporary package, you know, Luke Combs to me,
Speaker 2 00:32:33 He's pretty true. He's 90, very nineties. Yes. Very much.
Speaker 3 00:32:36 I mean, you know, that's my sweet spot. Yeah. It's like, all right. And you
Speaker 1 00:32:39 Got like the Midland coming
Speaker 2 00:32:40 Out. Yeah. And then Midland, who's Tim, Tim McGrath's taken under his wing big time and had to go out on the road. And that, that style, that electric rodeo sound,
Speaker 3 00:32:48 But it's all very reminiscent to me of what pop music was doing in the seventies where you had, you know, the Almond Brothers and Jim Croci and all, you know, all these different styles, you know, John Denver and, you know, but it all worked cuz it was just damn good music and people liked it.
Speaker 2 00:33:08 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:33:09 So,
Speaker 2 00:33:10 Yeah, no, for sure. And um, so now for you as a, as a writer today, um, what's, is there a different mindset for you being where you are now and seeing what's going on in the world around you? And not only in Nashville, but your personal life to what you were doing as a and when your occu main occupation was? I'm Steve, the songwriter. Right, right. I'm, I'm here in town in the nineties to Steve.
Speaker 3 00:33:32 Yeah. It's, it's my attitude. I, and I quit writing for about probably 10 years. Um, I just, when I, you know, got into law school and practicing law and it just was very consuming and just
Speaker 2 00:33:46 A lot for sure.
Speaker 3 00:33:47 Yeah. Just kind of put the music aside for a few years and, uh, um, I don't know, probably four or five years ago, um, actually met a small publisher here in Nashville, Melissa Belia, who's also a good writer. And, uh, we met on, uh, LinkedIn and she sent me a message and we just started kind of chatting back and forth and she just kind of encouraged me to get back into it. And, uh, I realized that, you know, I enjoy music. It makes me happy to sit down and play Yeah. And write a song and, and, uh, even to go out and perform. It's always fun. And, uh, but it's very freeing now. Back when I was trying to do it for a living, it was like, I gotta get this done. I gotta do something that people are gonna like, and you're chasing the tail of, uh, you know, what you think people, you know, want you to write. And at this point in my life, it's just extremely freeing to not give a damn what happens with it. You know, I, I don't, I'm not writing to please anybody but me. Um, you know, I hope something happens with some of it. Yeah. You know, that'd be awesome. But if it doesn't, not gonna change what I ate for dinner.
Speaker 2 00:35:06 Yeah. And the love and your passion is you get, you're, you're able to do what you love. Yeah. No matter what you're able to do what you love. Yeah. Because you're, you're putting the pen to paper or typing into it. Now are you, are you still a pen to paper guy when you're writing? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. You're old school.
Speaker 3 00:35:20 Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, uh, I've tried a few times doing the,
Speaker 2 00:35:25 The notes section on the iPhone and things
Speaker 3 00:35:26 Like that. Well, no, I can't see good enough to use my iPhone. Oh, really? Okay. But I, I'd sit there with my Mac Yeah. But it's just not the same to me.
Speaker 1 00:35:34 Yeah. I'm the same way. I still have notebooks upstairs and I have one in my car that I keep there and I keep pens all around. Yeah. And I put pen to paper. I don't like going an iPhone. I mean, I will, but a lot of times when I'm like, okay, this is an idea that like, I want to actually finish. Yeah. Like, there's a lot of times I'll get an iPhone and I'll type out an idea and it'll be maybe four lines and I'll be done with it. But then once I'm like, all right, I actually wanna put this to paper, that's whenever I'm actually like going through and working with Ryan schemes. Yeah. And, you know, doing everything like that.
Speaker 3 00:36:04 Well that's, I the only thing I use my iPhone for. I've got a little voice recorder on it. And if I'm driving down the road and I, you know, think of a little phrase or something Yeah, I'll, I'll hit that and sing it into it and then come back to it later.
Speaker 2 00:36:17 Yeah. I mean the, that's some,
Speaker 3 00:36:19 Yeah. I'm still pretty low tech <laugh>. No,
Speaker 2 00:36:21 No, no. But, but, but even today, like, I've seen people that, in the writers books, they're not even writing lines, they're drawing doodles. Like they're, they're, they're, there's some kind of like artistry thing where they're, where just clicks where there's something about, or somebody will have a stylist and because they don't have the pen and paper and they're still physically writing it out Yeah. In their phone instead of typing it. Like, there's gotta be some kind of creative thing with that where people, people just enjoy and just enjoy the pen to paper aspect. And,
Speaker 1 00:36:48 You know, at least we have pen and paper. At least we're not writing down songs on a rock and chisel <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:36:54 Yeah. Oh yeah. No, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 00:36:55 Absolutely. No, that was back when I started <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:36:58 <laugh>. So for you, what is, what does good music sound like? Who are you listening to nowadays?
Speaker 3 00:37:03 Um,
Speaker 2 00:37:03 Whether it be classic from back in the day, or, or, you
Speaker 3 00:37:06 Know, it, it's, it's very, it's, it's pretty varied. Um, I'm mostly, lately I'm listening to songwriters. Um, I'm not huge on, uh, you know, a lot of the, uh, label acts. Ed Sheeran, I love, I've really been digging him lately. Went and saw him last year in concert. Killed me. Yeah. You know, got one guy on stage just kicking ass. Yeah. I mean, um, you know, it, it's just very varied. I, I go through phases sometimes. I just won't listen to anything. Really. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:37:45 So what are you listening to? Are you just not, are you just
Speaker 3 00:37:47 Sometimes it's talk radio. Sometimes it's just quiet.
Speaker 2 00:37:53 See, I could never do that. And they, Tyler knows that he, he gives me grief. I, I feel like I have to talk to fill a void. It might just be the Northeastern in me where Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:38:01 Just the quietness. My son's like that. He, uh, yeah. My eight year old, there's not, uh, yeah. Silence is not golden in his, some
Speaker 1 00:38:09 Days you'll just hear me, Matt sh
Speaker 2 00:38:12 <laugh>. I'll get that, I'll get that. And Cody co do that to me too. He'll, he'll let me know when, um, when I've exceeded my, um, like last,
Speaker 1 00:38:20 Last night out
Speaker 2 00:38:20 For talking
Speaker 1 00:38:21 You, last night we were watching a movie or TV or something and you were standing in front of the TV talking and I was like, Matt, move, sit down. Shh.
Speaker 3 00:38:29 <laugh>. Dakota's not really quiet. He just can't get a word in
Speaker 2 00:38:32 <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:38:33 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:38:35 <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:38:36 Yeah. Abso, absolutely. So for you today, what kind of, what kind of song now how often are you writing today? Because you're a busy guy, you got a lot going on. Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:38:44 It, it varies. Um, I'll go for a few months where I'm writing every week. Um, then, you know, I'll take a, you know, a month off and come back. And it's really, right now is more a product of, uh, one time. Um, but two, um, the people that I'm running into. Um, cuz I, you know, I asked, uh, saw a guy last night at Bel Court and said, Hey man, I want to get together and write. Um, I love to co-write. I think I've written maybe three songs by myself. I'm quite capable of it. Yeah. I just like that, you know, that back and forth. Um, I've written songs with somebody where I really did write a song by myself. It was just, there was somebody else in the room. Yeah. You know, but, uh, how,
Speaker 2 00:39:34 How often does that happen?
Speaker 3 00:39:36 Not much anymore. Um, cuz I, I'm, you know, I I I'm relatively selective, you know, about who I wanna write with. I have to appreciate what they're doing. Yeah. Um, you know, to, to want to sit down and, uh, you know, most of the time, you know, it's, it's a good, good mix.
Speaker 2 00:39:59 Okay. Okay. Cool. Well that's, that's something with the co-writing thing that I, I didn't know there was so much co-writing going on. Yeah. Until I got down here. I didn't realize how much this town can, how much this town like, thrives on it and when different minds get in the same room kind of thing.
Speaker 3 00:40:15 Yeah. But it, it's, when you find that person that you can click with, it's awesome. Cuz I can throw out just the world's worst idea that can trigger something brilliant in you, you know? And, and it's, it's cool.
Speaker 2 00:40:27 Yeah. Now are you more a word guy or are you more like a melody guy? Or is it a little bit, little bit everything?
Speaker 3 00:40:32 I'm both, um, I, I always, my process is usually chorus out. You know, I'll write the chorus first. Um, and most of the time just in my creative process, the words kind of dictate the music to me. You know, it just kind of all, oh, okay. That's what this should sound like. And, uh, you know, but I'll usually write the chorus and then, then go to the verses. Sometimes, you know, it, it varies, but, uh, uh, like on my way over here, I thought of a first verse really? Uh, yeah. Of a song that I don't have the chorus for yet. Oh, awesome. But, uh, you know, it, uh, yeah, it, it, most of the time I, I write the chorus, you know, I start with the hook, write that chorus and then build the verses around it.
Speaker 2 00:41:20 Okay. That thought you were about to say something, Tyler <laugh>. Oh, no,
Speaker 3 00:41:24 No.
Speaker 1 00:41:25 I mean that, that to me personally is my writing process. Okay. Is backwards. What I do, I always start kind of from the top. I'm a lyric guy, so, um, and a lot of what I want to do with writing is tell a story. Yeah. So I start at the beginning and go, you know, um, but yeah, that's, that's a very different way, you know, I've wrote with people that write like that and a lot of times, you know what you're writing about. So it does help. But, um, a lot of times I've wrote about that it's been more around the hook and not telling a story, you know what I mean? Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:42:00 Okay. Now speaking of story Yeah. You, you were about to jump in. Say,
Speaker 3 00:42:04 Oh, I was just about to say, you know, I mean the, you know, that sweet spot you're looking for is there though, where you're doing both? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 00:42:11 Speaking of story that you said you had a Garth story.
Speaker 3 00:42:14 Oh yeah. Alright, so this is, I think it was 1990. It was either 89 or 90. Um, and I was, um, working the country radio seminar.
Speaker 2 00:42:27 Oh, CRS awesome. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:42:30 And Garth was there his first single, much too young to feel this damn old was just getting ready to come out. And, uh, it was a buddy of mine, his name was Dy Teeter that, uh, he and I played music all through, uh, college at MTSU together. We had a little trio. Nice. And, uh, but he was there too. And we were walking down and he was from Guthrie, Oklahoma, which is where Garth is from. Yeah. And we were walking down the hall, uh, at the, uh, I think that, I think that was at the convention center. I don't think that was out at Opryland. It may have been Opryland, but anyway, uh, hotel. And, uh, but anyway, we're walking down the hall just talking, and all of a sudden we hear from behind us, Teeter Teeter, and we turn around out Dy Teeter was a twin, so, I mean, he was a pretty recognizable guy.
Speaker 3 00:43:23 Yeah. You know, to anybody that had known him. And here comes this cowboy running down the hall towards us. And, uh, he came up, Hey man, it's Garth, you know, and we sat, so, you know, he told us he'd gotten signed and was, you know, had his first single coming out and gave us these little buttons that said, there were, I remember it, I don't think I have it anymore, but it, little red, you know, stick pin that said much too young to feel this damn old. He was handing out, trying to Wow. Trying to get going. And, uh, we talked to him, I don't know, probably 15, 20 minutes. Really sweet guy. And, uh, he told us he was doing a lunch show, uh, that day and said, y'all ought to come. Okay. Well yeah, we'll come check it out. So off he goes.
Speaker 3 00:44:13 Well, DY didn't even remember him from high school. <laugh>, they went to high school together and he really? Yeah. He was like, he, he didn't really remember him, but, uh, uh, anyway, so we went, uh, and the, the buzz around the country radio seminar was that he was basically a Clint Black copy and wasn't gonna happen. And uh, so we went to his lunch show and they come out and it, they're on a stage and the lighting was just like a, you know, washes, you know, there was no light show. And they came out and the energy that came off that stage was unbelievable. You had all these, you know, radio people typically jaded. Yes. You know? Yeah. Were screaming by the third song. It was amazing to watch. And, uh, yeah, it was just really cool to, to witness that. Yeah. Um, and the, the neat thing too to me, and, uh, it just didn't passing, you know, around Music Row or whatever for the next probably three, four years, you'd see, you know, I'd see Garth every now and then somewhere. And, uh, and that's, that was the only conversation I've ever had with a man was that 15 minutes in the hallway, but for like three or four years, whenever I'd see him, Hey Steve, how you doing?
Speaker 2 00:45:43 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:45:44 And it's like,
Speaker 2 00:45:45 He remembers
Speaker 3 00:45:45 He had a gift.
Speaker 2 00:45:46 Yeah. Oh, he's, I can tell you he still does to this day. So
Speaker 3 00:45:49 Yeah. Absolute gift to remember names and faces. Yeah. I'm great with faces. I'm horrible with names.
Speaker 2 00:45:56 Yeah. Same. Same here. Same here. Absolutely. I got to, I got to have an experience, uh, two experiences with Garth Brooks. One where I got to interview him at Yankee Stadium. Oh, cool. Which was called, especially growing up a Yankees fan. And then the next one was two years later at the Prudential Center where the New Jersey Devils play. And he remembered who I was and I'm like, I'm those little, at the time I was an intern when I first met him. How the hell do you remember me? Of all people, you're a New York City talking all these huge big names. Then there's, there's this little intern guy, but he's just the nice, like the nicest dude, I feel.
Speaker 3 00:46:27 That's, and he always knew Garth always knew who put him there. Yeah. Uh, I was working the, uh, CMA awards the year he won the Horizon Award. And uh, I remember after the show, you know, everybody scatters to their parties and stuff. And my girlfriend at the time came back, the one that got me into songwriting a little later, uh, <laugh>, she, she came backstage after the show and we were talking to some people and then we, we decided to cut through the auditorium to get over to the Opera Land Hotel for that party. And we came out on Stage Place is completely empty except for Garth Brooks and about 20 fans. And he's standing down there talking to him, signing autographs. Yeah. You know, and it's like, he gets it. Yeah. He gets it. He always did. You know, at some point I think he went a little crazy, but, you
Speaker 2 00:47:23 Know. Yeah. No, but to see how
Speaker 3 00:47:25 Could you
Speaker 2 00:47:25 Not Yeah. But to see what he's even doing now. Like over the weekend he had two sold out shows. Yeah. In Gainesville, Florida. Like, he's still doing, like he's playing. There's a whole generation, like, I never thought I would get to see being born in 95. I never thought I'd get to see a Garth Brooks concert cuz when he stopped was I think around like 2000, 2001, somewhere in that range. And nobody knew if he'd ever, if he'd ever come back. And then he came back. And,
Speaker 3 00:47:49 You know, the cool thing back, back in the day though with Garth was that he, he basically put on a rock show. Yeah. Oh yeah. He put on a kiss show Yes. Playing country music.
Speaker 2 00:47:59 Yeah. No, and he's quoted as saying that, that that's the, that's where he, where he got a lot of his influence for what the live show should sound, should sound like. And then for him it was straight. And George Jones, those were the two people and Marle Haggard and all that. But his show is unlike, and, you know, it's, it is like going to that rock thing. Yeah. Which for you is that something, what, when you look back on it, nineties country where that was that big of a game changer, you
Speaker 3 00:48:23 Know? Yeah. And it, it, to me, the, and you know, growing up with listening to The Beatles and, you know, all that stuff, I want life, I want larger than life stars. Yeah. You know, and its those that wind up being that are the ones that just, you know, make a huge impact. And, uh, you know, I guess that's get back to your earlier comment about what's good, the bro country and all that. Yeah. Yeah. You know, so much of it is life-sized to me. And, uh, I don't know, you know, I I I want larger than life.
Speaker 2 00:49:04 You want personalities. I
Speaker 3 00:49:06 Do. Yeah. I do. You know,
Speaker 2 00:49:08 You want that showmanship and things
Speaker 3 00:49:09 Like that. And sometimes, sometimes it's just, you know, that, that you're, excuse me, you're just a remarkably down to earth person. Yeah. But I still want, you know, when you walk on stage, I, I don't wanna see you just stand there looking like, you know, the next guy standing in the bar down on Broadway. Yeah. You know, I want something a little more. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:49:29 Which is something that I think Garth brought. Oh, Garth, Garth brought men some, and then people modeled their live shows after what was coming through, because Tim's always had a pretty good show. That was my first concert, actually, that was Oh yeah. Seven years old. It was the Tim McGraw and the, I think it was Dance Hall doctors, it was when he was doing the tour and he was playing almost every night. And he was, he didn't have an opener and he played for kinda like what Eric Church recently did Yeah. Where it was almost every night. And he played like a two and a half, three hour set and just go, like, that was like in his prime, that early two thousands era. And people don't always put on shows like that, but for like a l that again, that larger than life figure. Like Yeah. That's something. Yeah. That seemed really cool that, was there ever a part of you that wanted to do the artist thing or was for you? Was it always the writing
Speaker 3 00:50:17 Thing? Yeah. No, I, I actually grew up, uh, wanting to be Paul McCartney.
Speaker 2 00:50:21 Okay. So Big Beatles guy.
Speaker 3 00:50:23 Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, I was devastated to grow up and realize they didn't need another one. Yeah. <laugh> <laugh>. But, uh, yeah, I mean, I, I wanted that, um, you know, I had had, you know, designs on that and, and actually when I came to Nashville, uh, I, the guy I mentioned before, DY Teeter that knew, knew Garth, uh, and Rece Wilson, the co-writer on the Tim McGraw song is also from Guthrie, Oklahoma, and ran around with Garth as a, as a kid. And, uh, rece asked Dy and I to sing with him at the Bluebird when he first came to town. And we sang background harmonies. And, uh, there was a guy in the audience that came up at to us afterwards, uh, that said, Hey, I'm wanting to put together a group and I want you two to, you know, be part of it.
Speaker 3 00:51:18 And so we started this trio and, uh, we had, it was one of those things where none of us by ourself was exceptional, but the blend of the three voices was just amazing. I mean, it just worked. Yeah. And, uh, we worked on that for about a year. And, uh, Fred Foster, uh, who had produced the Gatlin Brothers and, uh, had done a whole bunch of stuff over the years, but uh, was talking about producing us and everything was starting to line up. Yeah. And, and, uh, I, uh, had a friend of mine out in Los Angeles who had, he'd worked with Poco and Genesis and Patty LaBelle and Julie, I mean, all kinds of people. Yeah. And, uh, he was gonna manage us and, uh, the, our lead Singer was one, he had an alcohol problem. Um, but he was one of those guys that if he had 50 choices in front of him and only one was bad every time.
Speaker 3 00:52:20 Yeah. That's the one he's going for. <laugh> and, uh, the me bringing the manager in, I put our band together and all these things was pulling control away from him. I wasn't doing it intentionally. I didn't give a crap, you know, I was just trying to make music. And, uh, but yeah, I remember we had a, a lunch scheduled one day for the three of us and I showed up and, uh, DY was working for Glen Campbell at the time, his publishing company. And I remember walking in their office and they were both sitting on the other side of the desk like, okay, this is gonna be interesting. And, uh, you know, like, Hey guys. And Lead Singer says, uh, well Steve, I'm glad we were getting together today cuz I don't like the way things are going and I've decided I'm leaving. What do you think of that? Leans across the desk at me, Tim <laugh>. I said, I think you're an idiot. Yeah, let's go to lunch. <laugh>. Yeah. But that was the end of it. It was over, what was the name of the group? Silverado.
Speaker 2 00:53:26 Silverado.
Speaker 3 00:53:27 Silverado. Yeah. Damn. But it was, and it was one of those things, you know, yeah. We could have gone and got another singer, but it wouldn't have been that. Right.
Speaker 2 00:53:36 It wouldn't have been that dynamic.
Speaker 3 00:53:37 Yeah. I mean, you know, pull Don Henley outta the Eagles, it just ain't the same.
Speaker 2 00:53:41 Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. For sure. Um,
Speaker 3 00:53:46 Although Glen Fry's kid does a pretty damn good
Speaker 2 00:53:48 Job. He does
Speaker 3 00:53:48 <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:53:49 He does a, a pretty damn good job. That's for sure. Now, man, thanks so much for coming in, hanging out
Speaker 3 00:53:56 With us anytime.
Speaker 2 00:53:57 Um, it's so cool. Again, just this is what happens when you come to Nashville. You just, you pop in somewhere and you meet really cool people and it's like Ald says,
Speaker 3 00:54:05 And then you meet me. No,
Speaker 2 00:54:06 No, but see <laugh> dude, that was one of the coolest experiences I've had going to Bel Court tap seriously. Was is when, when you get to just meet people, you don't, you never know what, who you're gonna see. Yeah. You never know what you're gonna hear. Um, whether it's all different styles and things like that. And we were very lucky to get to enjoy you on that. Uh, I believe it was the Sunday night. It was, it was the national, it was the national tour stop. It was, which shout out to those guys, the, the boys from the Dirt Road Degenerates and, um, they're awesome. The crew at URT Town,
Speaker 3 00:54:33 Honestly are two of the nicest guys I've met in this town, period.
Speaker 2 00:54:36 How'd you meet those boys real quick?
Speaker 3 00:54:38 At, at Bell Court? Uh, I was, I was doing a round, I got invited by somebody to do a round with them and it was on, I guess their, uh, the Degenerates show. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, just, just met 'em, you know, just heard 'em and Yeah. Met 'em and nice guys and they seem to be attracting just the nicest and best talent,
Speaker 2 00:55:03 Best talent and there's just so much, there's positive energy. Yeah. Like, you walk in there, there's good vibes.
Speaker 3 00:55:07 Well, I mean, who else can pack a room on a Sunday night?
Speaker 2 00:55:11 Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:55:12 I mean, especially Easter Sunday.
Speaker 2 00:55:13 Especially even Easter Sunday last night,
Speaker 3 00:55:15 11 o'clock or 1120 last night, there were still 65 people in that bar.
Speaker 1 00:55:20 Right. Which for that bar is, you know, a lot of
Speaker 2 00:55:23 People. Yeah. That's, that's not a big room man. But that's, that's people cuz they know they're gonna hear great music. Yeah. And they love the community. That's
Speaker 1 00:55:29 Good. Just for the people that don't know what Bel Court taps is. I mean, it's basically a house that's now a bar, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Like, it's not much bigger than, you know, a normal, a small house. Right? Yes. Right. Yeah. You know, like, you walk in there and you hope there's not, you know, more than 60 or 70 people there or else you can't get to the bar. Yeah. So,
Speaker 2 00:55:49 Yeah. Now is there something you'd like to play for us today? Is there certain song you'd,
Speaker 3 00:55:54 There's about 20 I'd like to play for.
Speaker 2 00:55:56 That's 20. You'd like to play <laugh>. Well, if you can narrow it down to just one. What would you like to play for us today, Mr. Steve?
Speaker 3 00:56:01 Uh, well I've got a, uh, probably my favorite song I've ever written.
Speaker 2 00:56:05 Really? That's a big statement. What's it called? It's
Speaker 3 00:56:07 Called Yes, it did. Yes it does. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:56:09 All right. When did that one, uh, pop to
Speaker 3 00:56:10 You? I actually wrote it in the mid nineties around the same time I did the, uh, uh, Tim McGraw song. Um, but it's just one that just, it's one of those that always to me, should have got cut, never did, for whatever reason. And, uh, it just, uh, it meant a lot to me when I wrote It still means Yeah. You know, quite a bit. It, it was about, it's about the one that got away
Speaker 2 00:56:37 And was that a solo right? Or was that a co-write? It
Speaker 3 00:56:39 Was a co-write. Okay. Um, and his name's, I'm blanking on his name right now, but, uh,
Speaker 2 00:56:46 It was back in the day, huh?
Speaker 3 00:56:47 Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Many beers ago.
Speaker 2 00:56:50 Many beers ago. There you go. Now where can people go to find you, find out where you're playing, things like that?
Speaker 3 00:56:55 Yeah, I have, uh, uh, Facebook page. It's called Steve's Music Room. Awesome. Because nobody can spell Bra Burger <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:57:02 Um, how do we spell it by the way?
Speaker 3 00:57:04 It's G r a u b e r g e r
Speaker 1 00:57:07 Gruberg. So real quick, I followed that page some time ago, not knowing
Speaker 3 00:57:13 Who Oh, did you really?
Speaker 1 00:57:14 We were, and I watched a couple of them and had kind of forgotten about it. Cause my Wednesday nights get busy now. Yeah. And then I saw you and I was like, wait, I know this guy from somewhere <laugh> Jesus. And then the next week it popped up and I was like, oh, this is the guy does a Bell court. Oh, that's site. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:57:30 That's awesome. Um, so I have that, that's where most of my activity is, uh, is on my Facebook page. I've got a website, uh, tn songwriter.com. Okay. Can't believe I got that, but I did. Uh, and I just got it a couple of months ago. It's not like something I got back in the day. Um, and, uh, yeah, so that, that's the main place. I also have an album that I cut, uh, about a year and a half ago. Uh, it's called Songwriter. Okay. It's on, on iTunes, uh, Amazon, Spotify, everywhere. But, uh, um, I don't think it's on SoundCloud, but other than that Okay.
Speaker 2 00:58:08 <laugh>. All right. Well, so you guys, thank you so much Steve for Pleasure. For coming on and hanging out with us. Make sure you check out Steve's music room. I'm gonna pull it up. I'm gonna pull it up right when we get done with this and watch some of the videos. Cool. I'm gonna set him for Wednesday nights. I'm usually not working. So
Speaker 3 00:58:23 Yeah, Wednesday night, seven 30. Uh Okay. Central time. Central time. Um, yeah, I do, I do a 20 minute concert. Awesome. Most of the time it's my music. Uh, every once in a while I'll throw a cover night in. Yeah. Do some old Beatles or, or whatever
Speaker 2 00:58:37 The power of Facebook Live though. Right. It's amazing. Isn't it amazing? It's,
Speaker 3 00:58:40 It's, I've, I've got, I've started it, I don't know, a little over a year ago, and I've got like 7,500 fans on the page all over the world.
Speaker 2 00:58:49 Yeah, that's what's so cool. And it's just cool. It's such a connector
Speaker 3 00:58:52 To people. Yeah. But I mean, I've got South Africa and, and the UK and, you know, Australia and Japan and Mexico and it's just, it's just cool.
Speaker 2 00:59:03 The reach is incredible
Speaker 3 00:59:04 And it's, I've got, you know, probably 15, 20 that are always on there every week. Your diehards. Yes. While I'm live and they're chatting and we talk and you know, it's just a ton of fun and it, my 20 minute concert usually turns into 30 plus. Of course. Hey, what the heck?
Speaker 2 00:59:18 But, but there's the community that comes with that in the comment section and people are sharing it and it's, it's cool. And it's, and
Speaker 3 00:59:24 It's just a ton of fun. It it, it's nice to get that instant feedback.
Speaker 2 00:59:30 Yes. Oh, absolutely. For sure. Well, thank you so much for coming on and hanging out. Thank you. Make sure you guys, if you enjoyed this one and I'm, I don't know why you wouldn't, this was an awesome one. Very cool conversation. You are, without a doubt the guy that's been in Nashville the longest that we've had on, um, and a guy that lived through,
Speaker 3 00:59:47 So I'm the oldest guy. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:59:48 I didn't wanna say it. I was only that guy at the start of the episode. I didn't wanna be that guy at the end, but, um, but seriously, thank you for, for taking the time outta your busy schedule and Thank you coming on and hanging out with us and talk about the nineties country scene. That's, that's what shapes what we have today. By
Speaker 3 01:00:02 The way, it's the first podcast I've ever done.
Speaker 2 01:00:04 Hey, high five. Awesome. Awesome. Very much so. Thank you. Very grateful we got to do that. Well, Steve's about to pick up that guitar and start playing. Make sure you guys follow along. Always in the round podcast on Instagram, in the round, on Facebook, in the round podcast, on YouTube. And um, you can always, uh, catch a Spotify Apple, uh, podcast and uh, Google Play. I'm looking to having a stare down with Tyler right now.
Speaker 1 01:00:28 I'm doing that Also just saying if you really wanna follow some great social media, just a wandering Tyler. W a n d e r i n g. And what's your,
Speaker 2 01:00:38 Just Matt Baril? I think I have three Ls
Speaker 1 01:00:40 Yeah. On Instagram. If you wanna keep up with our personal lives and stuff, that way you can uh, we always post what we're doing and stuff. Yeah. Not always on the, in the round page, but we always do on our personal page.
Speaker 2 01:00:51 Lot. Lots of shenanigans. We had a, we had a guys' trip to Florida that I'll tell you about <laugh>. We had some, we had some good times. But, uh, anyway, without further ado, Steve is gonna take over and uh, play us. What was the name of the song again? Yes,
Speaker 3 01:01:03 It did. Yes it does.
Speaker 2 01:01:05 Yes it did. Yes it does.
Speaker 3 01:01:06 Dave Palon. That was my Dave
Speaker 2 01:01:08 Davidson's song. There it is. A Steve Berger, Dave Palon original. Yes it did. Yes. I'm still <inaudible>. Yes. Yes it did. Yes it did. Yes. Yes it did. Yes it does. Here it is on in the Round podcast
Speaker 3 01:01:31 If you're wanting and if it hurt to hear you say goodbye. Yes it did. Yes it does. And if the picture of you leaving made me break right down and cry Yes it did. Yes it does. I don't know if it matters after all that we've been through, but if by chance you want to know my heartbeat for you. Yes, it did. Yes it does. What it is is what it was then. And now you are the only one. I can't give you a cuz what we had, man, too much. Yes it did. Yes it does. If you're wanting and if your memory kept me up at night Yes it did. Yes it does. And if my futures look done certain without you by my side. Yes it did. Yes it does. You know I used to love you and I know I always will cause of moment that you love me. My whole world stood Yes it did. Yes it does. What it is is what it was then. And now you are the only one. I can't give you a cause what we had meant too much. Yes, it did. Yes it does.
Speaker 3 01:04:06 Yes it did. Yes, it does.
