Ward Guenther

Speaker 1 00:00:14 What's going on everybody? Welcome back to another edition of the In The Round podcast. Uh, today, a very special episode. Um, a guy that I've looked up to for a long time, and I'm lucky enough to call a good buddy here in Nashville, Tennessee. You know him from Whiskey Jam, you know him from Apple Music Country. Uh, it's our good buddy, Mr. Ward Gunther Ward. How you doing, dude? Speaker 2 00:00:32 I'm good, man. Thanks for having me out. It feels like I'm in a, a Speaker 0 00:00:36 A Speaker 2 00:00:36 A celebrity location. You know, I've seen this, these couches and these microphones so many times. I'm like, I'm finally in the place where all my, all these people come and do it, man. Yeah, Speaker 1 00:00:44 We've had a lot made it. Yeah. We've had a lot of, a lot of the, um, homies as far back as like guys like Joey Hyde that Yeah. That you've known forever. Oh yeah. Guys like Grady Smith that are, that are, that we've known for a while that have just gotten into town. Right. And mixed it up, man. But how's, uh, 2023 going for you so Speaker 2 00:00:59 Far? 20 three's good so far. Um, we had a real, I feel like a small slow season window. The way that the holidays worked out this year, January, or New Year's Day Eve ish, was right before like a Monday night for Whiskey Jam. And so I was like, man, do we, do we have it? People will probably still be in town, they'll probably be hungover, who knows? Um, and we ended up having it and was a, a good crowd. Kind of small, but the next one was back to just bonkers. So, yeah. Um, our, our short season is, is real tiny. Speaker 1 00:01:26 Yeah. That's like, I figure it's in between like Thanksgiving, which Thanksgiving Whiskey Jam is one of my favorites cuz like when it falls, when it's like on that, on, on that Thursday. Yeah. And you used to break out the Turkey hat? Yeah, the Turkey Head was one of my favorites Speaker 2 00:01:39 When Speaker 1 00:01:39 I first moved to town. Man, Speaker 2 00:01:40 That was a special, um, time. I feel like in the Whiskey Jam moment we were busy enough to where we could have people in the bar pretty much any night of the week. And around Thanksgiving it was unique because a lot of people went home. You know, so many people live in Nashville from other places and they'd go home obviously on Thanksgiving for the bigger, the bigger family holidays. I took it into the opportunity to invite in locals and it's like, Hey man, who lives here? Who wants to come play? And uh, I think like the peak of that was when Ernest was still kind of writing songs and hadn't quite gotten into the artist's place yet, but he was, he came out and played on just the locals only night and playing some of his songs. He's written like a, I remember distinctly him singing, you Can't Drink All Day if, you know, start in the Morning. Speaker 2 00:02:26 Yeah. For Jake Owen and the Crowd, not that big crowd, but it's all just kind of cheering along. I'm like, man, that's just it. You know, those Thanksgiving nights taking advantage of the people that live in, in Nashville to come and just have fun playing music and you have a, a small little cozy crowd and you get moments like that. And, uh, we stopped doing Thanksgiving after the the Pandemic cuz after we broke that streak, you know, we were, we were trying to never miss a Monday, never miss a whatever. Yeah. Like if it snows still have the show after the Pandemic. I was like, you know what, let's focus on quality over quantity. We don't have to do every single one. When you Speaker 1 00:03:02 Talk about The Pandemic, I think Grow It. Oh, you guys found a way to really grow Whiskey Jam during that around the world by doing Risky Jam where you guys did the, the Instagram Live things, bro. Yeah, I haven't ever watching that stuff during quarantine and the amount of people that were jumping in on that, whether it's the artists that were hopping on playing a song with as good of quality as he could have had on an Instagram live. Yeah. But all the folks that got introduced to Whiskey Jam and made it part made it part of their music ex intake experience and all that stuff. Like Speaker 2 00:03:31 Yeah. It's a wild, uh, segment in my, my phone or my, uh, picture book to look back through. You know, I'll be scrolling, looking for stuff every now and then. And you pass through the, the risky jam moment, those few months where we were stuck at home and we were doing everything on Instagram Live and we had access to artists that it would be difficult to get John Party and Ashley McBride on the same Whiskey Jam night, but getting 'em to tune in from their home. It's like, have a bottle of wine and sing some songs and tell some stories. We got access to guys like Taylor Lewan or Brad Paisley, people who would never make it out to winners on a Monday. They were happy to participate because it was just such a, uh, a special moment. We needed that connection and we didn't know how bad it was without it until we had gone a few weeks and it was like, uhoh, what do we do? Speaker 2 00:04:20 Yeah. Um, I remember that first night after everything shut down, the first Monday I texted my manager. I was like, man, I, what do I do? I feel weird. I feel like it's helpless out here. And he goes, just get on there and see what happens. We didn't have a lineup or anything, so I just turned it on and we never go live. And so, you know, when you see something on Instagram Live that nobody ever goes, it's like so-and-so is going live for the first time ever. Um, we had a bunch of great people pop in and it was so, it was as organic and natural as the early whiskey jams where we didn't have a lineup and you just invited your buddies out. Yeah. And it's like, you know, in the early nights of the Kit Moores and the Brett Eldridges popping up to sing a song before they were doing what they were doing now, um, similar kind of stuff on those whiskey jams. It's like, man, just have a Hannah Dasher and a Joey Hyde and a Brian Beaver and a Brett Tyler popup and sing some songs. And, um, I don't know, it was, it was really natural, really fun, really felt good. One of the the proudest things that I, we've, one of the things that I'm most proud of from that time. Yeah, Speaker 1 00:05:24 I see. I remember. So, um, I moved to town in, in the fall of 2018 mm-hmm. <affirmative> and I remember I came down and visited my buddies, um, my buddies, Dave Hangley, Jake Arch guys from up in the Jersey area that used to milk me once a week after they moved here. Dude, you gotta move here dude. You gotta move here. So I came down to visit him and my first whiskey jam was the night that Show Up Drunk came out for Ryan Nelson. Oh, wow. So my first experience was watching that night of, is Speaker 2 00:05:49 That the night he broke his thumb? I think on Speaker 1 00:05:51 The base. I think so. He was doing something crazy. Yeah. I just remember seeing this guy and thinking it was like as close to Joaquin Phoenix portraying Johnny Cash. Cause it was when he had just cut his hair. Yeah. He had his blazer on and he's just purebred Ryan Nelson just getting after it. And I remember being like, holy shit, this is, this is Nashville right here. Like this. Like, I was like, oh yeah, I don't have this shit in New York. I, I work in country radio, but I don't have this right experience up here. Like, this is just insane. And to see. And now it's, it's been, it's been cool to like kind of watch that all grow from where it was in 2018 to now being able to do my own event here in town and like mm-hmm. <affirmative>. It's, it's been, I mean you're, I I refer to you as The Godfather. That's what I'll refer to you as as far as putting events in town. You know, Speaker 2 00:06:36 It's funny man, cuz like, I mean, I appreciate the, the compliment. Um, I, I don't know. It's, it's funny thinking about it like that, like a Godfather in charge that is a over a a thing because there wasn't ever really a thing. Speaker 1 00:06:52 That's what I'm saying. Who was who, like what was going on in the days of Early Whiskey gym? What Free Speaker 2 00:06:58 Weeknight events. The things that we were initially compared to, and that we kind of, if, if you could say modeled after, uh, would be Music Mafia, which was John Rich or Big and Rich Wilson, um, who, uh, who were the guys that were doing that. Cowboy Troy was a part of it who was a handful of artists, um, that every Tuesday at Mercy Lounge they had Music Mafia and it was this big collective of your musicians and singers and songwriters and they would get together and they had this huge jam and they were really, really all incredibly talented. Um, Speaker 1 00:07:31 Was it just the same people though, or did they mix it up? Speaker 2 00:07:34 Yeah, so they did it like 70 something weeks. That was what we had heard. 72 weeks was their run. And it was incredible because then you watched, like in that moment it was so popular in town, you watched these artists take off and so you'd have Gretchen Wilson go hit the road and do her thing and she was singing songs that John Rich had written for her. And Big and Rich got their takeoff and it was like one by one, they all took flight and the Music Mafia thing kind of disappeared or disintegrated because the, the group was gone. And I don't know if I took, if that registered to me initially in, as we were planning it, because initially it was me and Josh or my buddy Josh Hogue and I started it and we were just flying by the seat of our pants, kind of figuring it out as we go. So I don't think there was any strategy. I didn't see that and say, we don't wanna do what they did. It just naturally worked out that whether it was our attention spans or our trying to get as many people as possible involved that wanted to play appease everybody, help our friends out. Um, we changed the lineup so regularly. You had a couple guys that would play a lot, um, the Jonathan Singleton's and Channing Wilson's and, uh, Chris Gilda's in the early days. Like you had a lot of guys, Speaker 1 00:08:48 The guys that were hanging out at Tin Roof, right? Like the guys that were just in the scene that Speaker 2 00:08:52 Yeah. And our buddies that we were riding with, honestly. Yeah, you had a few of those kind of sprinkled in there. So you'd see 'em a couple times a month, but for the most part it was changing constantly. And pretty early on I recognized like, okay, that's a, that's a feature that makes us really different. You know, having different people in every time getting all of their quote unquote fan bases at the time, their social groups knowing about what Whiskey Jam is. It really spread the word fast, even just to small groups, um, a little bit at a time. So yeah, I mean at that point Billy Block was doing the Rock Block, which was a major deal. I mean, he was on, he had TV shows. Yeah. Uh, so that was, um, that was huge. There was, there were things around town. I remember going to Daniel Tchen who produced, um, Auer for Casey Musgraves, one of the better producers and songwriters of our age. Speaker 2 00:09:43 Had an event at 12th and Porter that was, but it was more of a signup writer's night. I remember going early on and had the signup sheet and I had signed up. He's like, what do you sound like? And I'm like, Ooh, Dave Matthews, you know, like never got called to play <laugh>, just what they wanted. But I saw so much great music there and I don't know if I was inspired by not getting to play. Um, that made us like get into start Whiskey jam up and like, I'll, if I can't play there, I'll make my own place. There were a few things around town. I can't say it was like I wanted to be like somebody or somebody else. It was mainly just, I wanted to play music with my friends and have fun. Cuz we, uh, we had all played enough writers nights that even you had invite your friends out too, that were ended up just them being six guys at a table in the back. And when you're done, you're like, okay, we gotta get outta here. You know, it was more embarrassing than it was showcasing your sound and your songs. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:10:36 What was Demian like back then? Speaker 2 00:10:38 Man Demian was Speaker 1 00:10:39 That when Shoney's was across the street and there was like the grass parking lot and all those things, Speaker 2 00:10:43 Man, I don't know if Shoney's was still open, but that parking lot was still there. I mean, for quite a while where 1505 is now, it was a, a flat lot and you'd have, um, people, it was great. You could park there all night and you could leave your car overnight, which is huge. Which was massive at the time. Um, you would had people getting picking up, uh, tour Bus Dropoffs there. Um, but yeah, Damon Breen was 10 Roof the anchor as it always has been. Dan McGinnis down on the end, they had their own separate music scenes. Dan McGinnis had like a kind of rock scene and a, a songwriter scene. I didn't spend much time there because I was spent every moment of my life free at the 10 Roof. Um, when I wasn't bartending at Tin Roof, two in Cool Springs, I was hanging out on Demian and it was a different scene, man. Speaker 2 00:11:30 They had a little coffee shop next door called Caffeine that had writer's nights. They had a little bar in the middle, uh, for a while. It was called Two Doors Down at one point. Then it turned into Closing Bell, um, before it became like south. I don't know where it was. The place that South is, um, was called Closing Bell. We used to have little gigs up there. It was a lot of cover gigs in that scene at the time. You know what you what we're used to cover gigs now in the downtown area were way different. It was a couple guys in a guitar sitting in the corner at these massive bars, you know. Yeah. Even what I was doing on Monday nights 15 years ago was playing like a three man cover gig with David Nail and the owner of Tin Roof's wife. Speaker 2 00:12:14 Um, I don't know, it was, it was a different scene. That was an important moment in my life. I realized when the owner, when we got fired from that gig, that was my first lesson in like, Hey, it's not personal. It doesn't matter if you get fired from gigs from here on out because the owner just fired his wife <laugh>. And so it just didn't work out for, for the Monday night feel. Um, but yeah, it was a, it's wild to drive down there now. And see that's the exit I take and I drive by 10 Roof and I drive by Live Oak and I drive by doghouse and two bits and everything and I see it on my way to Whiskey Jam. I'm like, man, how things have changed. And you'll have, even in the time that we've existed, it's changed a lot. I used to drive by those bars and go, there's not too many how many people in there, you know, like hope they're all at, I hope they're all at winners. I get to winners, I'm like, yeah, there's the crowd. And then now it's like, oh man, that place is busy and that place is busy and they're busy and I get to winners and we're busy. It's like there is enough people to go around at this point. Speaker 1 00:13:09 The whole scene can thrive on any given night. Right. We Speaker 2 00:13:12 Used to be fighting for the same 500 social beings that would be out in Nashville on a Monday night. And now there are enough places that 500, like several pods of 500 can be in different parts of town. Speaker 1 00:13:25 It's wild. Yeah. Yeah. And a bar in East can be packed and downtown can still be busy on any given night, which is just wild. When did you guys get into doing the merchandising? Like, what was the first Whiskey Jam shirt or the first Whiskey Jam hat? Because that to me is a staple of Nashville too, at least since I've been here. Yeah. Whiskey Jam, merch. I mean, I've got the shirt on right here. I mean, you can't go around Midtown or Easter, even downtown and not see a whiskey jam hat in a group of people. Speaker 2 00:13:48 I feel like it's been, we've done a good job of keeping it kind of, kind of underground while it's still accessible. You can get online and order whatever we've got, but there it's, I don't know, it's not the most organized. It's hard to find certain things, but if you go to the show, it's like, this is the only physical place in the world that you can get these things. And so it's a, it's this, um, not a rite of passage, but it's a, a moment where you're like, that's cool. You know, I'm, I'm doing something cool. It's not like going to Heart Rock Cafe in the city that you're visiting. It's like, I got the one from Milwaukee or whatever. It's like, man, you are at the only place that's exists. It represents something. It's not just a, I don't know, a a lifestyle brand or a status symbol. It's like you have been to something cool. And so you wearing that, people would know like, oh man, he he's been to this show. He believes in what that it means. Um, first Speaker 1 00:14:38 Artist he got wearing a whiskey jam shirt or Speaker 2 00:14:40 A hat. Well, I'm thinking about the, I was thinking about the first stuff we made. Um, we, I I kind of, how do I say this the wrong way? <laugh>, I, I made a design based on a Billy Joel shirt that I really liked. I'd seen these vintage Billy Joel shirts on eBay and they were $300. And I'm like, man, I can't afford a $300 bill Billy Joel shirt. Maybe I should make one that looks like it. That just says Whiskey Jam instead. So we did, and that was the first one. It was honestly, so I could have that cool shirt and save the, um, the eBay fee, whatever. And from there I was like, let's do something more. That's ours. You know, I don't wanna steal people's designs or uh, whatever. So I, we made the red t-shirt that has the Tri-Star that it, in the early days, like, it was crazy. Speaker 2 00:15:26 Like overnight we sold just so many of 'em. I was selling 'em at, out of a Tupperware container behind the bar at Tin Roof when I was bartending at this point in time. No shit. Oh yeah. It was, that's awesome. That was, that was also a, a big part of it. I feel like it was so underground at that point in the early days. Like if you had one, you had to know somebody. Yeah. You had to know, like where did you get that old board sell him out of his freaking trunk of his car? You know, I was getting hats made in my neighborhood. We lived in East Na uh, east Nashville. I would buy blank hats from, uh, bulk providers online. I would get patches made from a custom patch maker and then I would take 'em to my neighbor and say, could you sew these on? Speaker 2 00:16:04 So it was a like four piece process. Um, you know, just putting these things together to do something cuz we didn't know how to, we weren't at a level where we could like get a big hat maker to do stuff for us. Yeah. Kind of bootstrapping our way up and, um, it's, it's evolved from there. I'm trying to think the first, the first celebrity that, that had won, I really have to think is Dirks, you know, he's been such a supporter through the years of Whiskey Jam of me, of our, um, of our stuff. Uh, it's really, uh, it's been, uh, that that was where it all started, you know, and watching him wear it on national championship performances for football. Yeah. And on, uh, TV appearances, it was like, well, this is awesome. And from there you get to the modern day where half the time I see Jason Aldean in the picture, he's got on one of our hats. It's just like, it kinda spreads and we, we've grown it really small and slow and tried to keep it natural where it's not like we're flooding Speaker 1 00:17:07 The market. Well, as art, as artists are coming up, wanting to, like the artists that have come through and the different classes Yeah. That have come up through Whiskey Jam have repped it because they were, that was the cool thing to do when they were in town, when they were coming up in town. Right. And now it's like they're playing stadiums and, and shit. And Speaker 2 00:17:24 I feel like it has a point in an artist's life. Like we see these artists come across our stage at a certain point in their career and, um, it's a special moment for them. I've, I've talked to several who are like, man, I really wanna get one of those hats about, I don't wanna wear it until I play here. You know, it's like, it's a, it's a, a milestone for them. They wanna reward themselves with a, you know, saying they're in the family. Um, and then when they outgrow that, I mean, I totally get it. Uh, they'll outgrow it and get to the next level and they're wearing designer stuff or whatever. But then you get the occasional really cool kind of crossover moment like we're seeing at Bailey Zimmerman right now. Oh Speaker 1 00:17:59 Dude. He's all about Speaker 2 00:18:00 It. Yeah. And a few, like a year ago, just over a year ago, he was playing Whiskey Jam and get, just getting started, just getting comfortable on stage. And so we were like, dude, you're, you're, you're great. You're growing. You're getting better every single time. Things are going well. Come by and and hang out any anytime. So he's popped in the office a few times. We always load him up with stuff. And at this point, like it happened so fast that it's like he went to that next level and his, his repping us. So it's a natural kind of Speaker 1 00:18:26 Yeah. Impression. You talk about like, artists and, and playing Whiskey Jam. One of my favorite stories, and I want you to tell it for everybody is the, the Luke Combs playing Whiskey Jam. Oh, I think, Speaker 2 00:18:37 Yeah. How it came about, how, Speaker 1 00:18:38 How Luke came about playing Whiskey Jam back in the tin tin roof days. Speaker 2 00:18:42 It's so crazy man. And it goes back even further than the, the better or the well-known story cuz he was emailing me. I've checked my emails a few times, just searching it. He was emailing me from App State back in like 2013. Wow. And so he was aware of Whiskey Jam early, early on and hit us up through like an early submission form just saying he wanted to play. Then by the time we got to going back and forth, it was in 2015, um, he was talking about moving to, he had visited a few times and really enjoyed Whiskey Jam and Revival and whatever. And before I actually met him in person, I was bartending at Whiskey Jam or I was bartending at 10 Roof one night and talking to somebody right here and Luke was over there. And, uh, how did that happen? No, I might be getting my story mixed up. Speaker 2 00:19:30 Hang on a second. Um, I'll start back with the submission. Um, so he had sent in on like one of our earlier more kind of primitive submission forms. I didn't see it, I didn't know to pay attention. I couldn't check out music. Well, fast forward a few years, he had been kind of coming back and forth to visit and was at Tin Roof one night. I didn't know it. He was standing probably where you were. I was working with somebody right here and they were asking me like, oh, hey, are you warded? Does Whiskey Jam? I said, yeah. They're like, well, I wanna play there, how can I get in touch with you? And um, I just gave him my email. I was like, it's [email protected]. And Luke overheard it and he was like, I'm just, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm still shy. He didn't come up and introduce himself. Speaker 2 00:20:07 He just wrote it down. And the next day emailed me pretending to be that guy. I was like, Hey, we talked last night at, um, at 10 Roof and I've been coming to visit. I love revival. I love Whiskey Jam. Love to play your show. I was like, dude, heck yeah. Let's, let's make it happen. And so it was as simple as that. He got in, um, was still kind of a little shy guy on his first few times playing, but that one dude happened so fast. Just, uh, those first few performances after uh, he got to town, it was like, okay, 15, 16, 17. And he's gone. Speaker 1 00:20:39 And he was so involved in the community too. Like he was the guy front row watching Oh yeah. Watching the Muscadine Boys, watching Laney Wilson. Watching people that were all coming in that class. Speaker 2 00:20:48 Like man. And it's like, it continues to happen. I, I have, one of my favorite pictures is that I just happened to take out of the crowd, um, on a random night and Luke is standing there front and center with his white Columbia shirt on, just staring at the microphone. He was out there to support his friends. Yeah. And I still see it every, every show every week, um, looking out at a crowd of artists not sitting there with their arms crossed judging, but they're watching and supporting and they are, um, taking notes and they're seeing artists that they may not know that they want to, you know, it's like, this guy's pretty awesome. We sound a lot alike. We should get to be friends. We might write some music together. You never know. Um, I, that's one of the things I love the most about it. And yeah. He was, uh, one of the biggest supporters in that world. Speaker 1 00:21:36 Yeah. And you guys got to do something really cool with him last year going around to Yeah. Like what, what is that experience like? Cuz you've done Time on the road too, backing up to your days with, with David and Right. Going out and you've done being out on the road as, as a musician, doing, doing the artist thing, all that. But to do it now with like your baby Whiskey jam going out to stadium shows with arguably one of the biggest artists in the world. Yeah. Let alone just country music. Yeah. And to have Whiskey Gym represented there and now with artists that are doing big things this year. You had 'em on the ComeUp last year. It's very, what was that whole experience like? Speaker 2 00:22:08 It's very interesting to see that all unfold because it came outta, it came outta thin air man. I'd gone to Memphis to see Luke in concert at the Pyramid, um, LA what year was it? 2021. Like November. We had played the 10 roof on Beal Street, like a hundred yards away from the FedEx Forum like three or four years earlier. It was really wild to be there. I'm going, man, how fast things change. So I was like, I gotta, I gotta see this show close to my hometown. I grew up in Memphis. Um, we went, we're sitting in the sky box and Kathy came up and was like, Hey man, glad you guys came. Uh, we had this idea, what'd you think about Whiskey Jam going on the road, opening up for Luke? Like a tailgate party? And I was like, duh. You know, I had always thought in my mind, we talked about like the, the five year 10 year dreams and goals. Um, I was like, we should link up with somebody who's doing stadiums. How cool would it be like to, on the Kenny Chesney stadium shows we're in the parking lot, like set up a van or set up a bus and turns into a stage and it's whiskey jam pre-party. That was in my mind. That's all I thought. Yeah. Bring Speaker 1 00:23:20 The outdoor show from the parking lot to the rest of the country. Correct. Speaker 2 00:23:24 But all I could think about was people who are currently touring stadiums and Kenny's about the only person there, I didn't think the guys that you're dealing with and that you've been there side by side in the trenches with riding the sprinters across the country. They're gonna be in stadiums one day too. And so the timing, uh, was had just kind of been going along alongside us the whole time. Like of course he's going into stadiums next year. And so right then I was like, that's incredible man. What an opportunity. And Luke of all people in the universe is so good about keeping his teams close and the people that he came up with around him, uh, if it works, you know, don't change it. Yeah. And so he kind of gave us free reign creatively, had his input. We, we went back and forth on like, how do you wanna do this? Speaker 2 00:24:09 How do you wanna curate it? And he was like, I kind of wanna stay hands off because Whiskey Jam works. So what's your, whatever you're thinking, whatever you're kinda leaning, run it by us and we'll, we'll, we'll see what, what happens. And yeah, just last year alone, that first show, Bailey Zimmerman opened up for Megan Morone and then Heath Sanders played and it was an incredible Yeah. Um, snowy May Day in, uh, in Denver and these artists, you could see it that day. Like you, you saw Bailey Zimmerman sign autographs for a full hour after his set because it was that magic moment. People didn't know why or what was going on. They're like, we gotta go meet this kid. This is, this is what we're, we're here for. And from there you have, uh, the rest of the shows that year we're really cool all over the, all over the place. Speaker 2 00:25:00 Uh, where all did we go? Seattle with Frank Ray and Calista Clark and Noah Hicks and, uh, Atlanta. Atlanta got rained out. It kind of stinks cuz it was the last show we got like dumped on. But Ella Langley, um, who's gonna be a big deal this year Yes. Yeah. Was on stage when the thunderstorm hit, um, Cory Kent, Dalton Dover, uh, got rained out too. It's like kind of crazy man. Um, that we still are able to attract artists like that and that it happens. Um, so yeah, that, that whole concept opened up a new window in our world as Whiskey Jam. Like, okay, we, we, we, we are what we are on Writer's Night Style Mondays and Thursdays, but that audience exists in other places. Yeah. They want, there's people in other cities in all corners of America that want to see the talent of tomorrow, today. Speaker 2 00:25:52 Yeah. And they wanna be on the cutting edge. They wanna be on the, uh, the first kid on the block to tell their friends. It's a, I feel like it's a product we have benefited from the streaming revolution because there's a lot of people now that that's their, that's their style of music. Hey, what kind of music do you like? I like new music, you know, and you have access to it before anybody else. I don't think people were like that back in the old days, like waiting for the newest, most obscure artists to put out records at the store. It's like you get to go through an Easter egg hunt in these, Speaker 1 00:26:23 You get, you get to have, you get to hop on the country risers playlist on Apple Music. Yeah, exactly. And find out, Speaker 2 00:26:29 Oh dude, and I was popping up. Right. And that's, that's Speaker 1 00:26:31 Gotta be cool too, to have that involvement of doing the wi doing Whiskey Jam, like curating the live event thing. Yeah. But also having the platforms that you are able to do with Apple Music Country Speaker 2 00:26:40 Do. It's such a perfect extension. When they approached me about that, they didn't quite have their, the the plan fully fleshed out, but they're like, listen, we want to, we're gonna get into country music. We want to hit a lot of different, um, you know, tiers of it. They had, uh, the today's country kind of idea fleshed out, obviously wanna work with the Stars, but you have to consider the stars of tomorrow. And so they're like, when we were looking into Nashville and who might have contact with those people, it was obviously Whiskey Jam and you. Um, and so that just, I mean, it worked out perfectly. They have an incredible team, um, behind the scenes there. And they never get the credit. They never seek the credit. They never want the credit. Um, but music lovers, music appreciators and understanders that are behind everything that happens at Apple, that might not happen at other, at every other place. Speaker 2 00:27:36 I don't, I mean, I'm not, this is not a throwing arrows at anybody, but the fact that it is so human and truly like, curated, as corny as that word is, it's, it's careful, um, at Apple. And they, they care for the artist and they care for the song. And it's like, man, that's exactly what we do at Whiskey Jam. I want everybody to feel comfortable. I want everybody to feel appreciated and at home and, uh, in the audience and in the crowd. I mean, and on the stage and in the audience. Um, it works out well because I get to treat the, the two microphones the same, you know, the microphone and the bar on a Monday night is not much different than the one in the studio every afternoon. It's like, Hey, what's up? Welcome. Like, hope you have fun. I hope this is, yeah. Speaker 2 00:28:21 I hope this is the first time you're hearing this song because I know that this is going to be an amazing moment in your life. Yeah. You know, imagine hearing Channing Wilson for the first time. Oh, dude. <laugh>, Dave Finley played a couple weeks ago and Dave's been a part of some really magic moments at Whiskey Jam and he's still kind of making his name and doing his thing. And his had an incredible, uh, explosion on YouTube. But that night a lot of people saw him for the first time. And that's like, that's a huge reward. Um, getting to introduce strangers to talent that, you know, is amazing. That has existed for a long time. It's like it's been here all along, man. Speaker 1 00:28:55 Yeah. And there's so many different styles of music within Nashville and I feel like you guys have done a really good job of having like what you guys did with the network, with, um, yeah. With, uh, with Hubert's, uh, crew down there. Yeah. Um, I thought that was really cool, mixing it up. And I, Speaker 2 00:29:08 I don't know how it happened, how it first started that we were, Speaker 1 00:29:10 Cause I got to know all those guys when I worked security at Whiskey Row, I got to know Colton and Jonathan. Oh wow. And, um, Trevor and like all those guys, and they would sit in with Skylar Anderson Yeah. In like 20 18, 20 19, and they would just go on these jams. And I was like, oh shit, this is cool. And then to see them do what they do and to see you guys go outside of country music and have literally anything and everything style wise, Speaker 2 00:29:33 I feel like that was an important thing to us. I don't know how early that started that we were welcoming anybody that, any kind of artist, as long as it was, you know, ob objective or whatever, I forget this. We, we were welcoming all, all kind of styles because from the beginning it was never Ward and Josh's whiskey jam. It was never our personal taste of music on display. It was like, these are our friends. These are some folks that play cool stuff. Let's see what vibe comes up. We attracted a lot of people. We had a lot of folks in the early days be like, Hey man, can I come sing a song on stage? And it's like, you get these amazing moments of, um, I think about like Priscilla Renee, who is now known as Money Long, who is nominated for ba uh, Grammy for best new artist, who's this incredible r and b uh, artist, but had a, was in town doing some stuff for Nashville, uh, songwriting in Nashville for like Carrie Underwood. Speaker 2 00:30:28 She wrote, um, something Bad for Carrie and Miranda, oh No Shit. And just kind of wandered up one night at Whiskey Jam. She's like, Hey, this is a dope event, you know, can I get up and sing a song? I was like, yeah, whatever. Sure. Yeah. Like, you look completely different from everybody that's played tonight. You sound like you got some soul, some style. Then she gets up there and she's like, I don't, I don't have a guitar. I was like, okay, um, well I'll play guitar. What do you wanna play? She's like, let's play California King Bed. I was like, it's, there's more of like an original music show. She goes, oh, I wrote it. You know, she wrote Rihanna's California King Bed. And I was like, that is the magic stuff, man. Like, yes. If you're at a show and somebody comes up, if they're being polite, if it's, I mean, we've had some people come up recently that were like, you're gonna be regret when you didn't let me up on your stage. Speaker 2 00:31:17 It's like, you kind of gauge it, but moments like that where it's like, man, let's do it. I say it a lot far be it from me to keep somebody from getting on a whiskey jam stage if it's their dream, if it's their goal, um, doing it, you know, politely in the right way. But that's how we've seen some of our coolest artists. You know, if I turn something on, I go, I don't know of what this, what this even falls under. But it's so different and so unique that it's probably special. And man, a beautiful part about what we do, how we get our submissions, how we see artists and the artist level that we deal with. You get a lot of submissions that are like YouTube videos or home recordings or kind of not, not the best punk production that you've ever heard. They come in and do it live and it's like, holy moly, these guys are amazing. You can't, you can't capture the live sound of some of these young bands No. On a, on a, you know, a home, uh, laptop at this point. They need, they need bigger studios. They need more time to develop and Speaker 1 00:32:18 Especially if it's an artist just kind of like trying to track something or do an acoustic, but then they, they make their, they make those connections with some badass buddies that are like crazy good musicians too. Yeah. Like the band element of like, I remember watching the Ray Rowdy takeover a few years ago and, and, um, Kenton Bryant played Uhhuh and Jonathan Singleton was up there playing guitar in Kenton's Band. And it's like, that's, yeah. It's just cool. You never know what's Speaker 2 00:32:40 Gonna happen. You've seen a lot of people, I mean, we've been pretty, um, strict on having bands play. Like, if you're gonna play, please try to put a band together. Yeah. You know, just for the dynamic of the bar to keep the volume up, it's loud in there. People are talking. You wanna get, um, get as much sound outta your music as you can. Um, a lot of these artists are kind of like, uh, well I'll lemme see if I can find a bass player. And you've seen this, this really cool collaboration, a lot of organic kind of groups finding themselves. And somebody will play bass with somebody and the next time that it's like they attract one of their drummer friends and you build these bands out and I mean, before you know it, you get a guy like Grady Saxon who has played with more people at Whiskey Jam than probably anybody else. And not saying Whiskey Jam was a, a part of that, um, the studios, but like that network that he was building in that scene at the time evolves into something much bigger. Yeah. Where you're making music with the right people of the friends that you were able to expose yourself with or to, um, at these, at these shows through the years. Speaker 1 00:33:41 Yeah. Now how do you b I'm sure you gotta ask this question. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, how do you balance all the stuff you're doing while also having, being, being a dad and having, having the kids having a great wife, like Yeah. Doing what you do. How do you keep it all together? Speaker 2 00:33:55 It is tempting to do, to, to say yes to everything. Um, and we have tried to for a long, long time, like take on everything we possibly can, build the build stuff on to what we're doing. Um, but it's gotten to the point now as my kids are ranging from six to 11, there's four of 'em, there's a lot of important things that I need to be doing that are not building, you know, whiskey Jam. Who knows what's gonna happen tomorrow. I want to have, uh, spent my time well here. Um, I wake up early. It's changed a lot since I stopped bartending because in the, for for a moment there I was writing songs in the daytime a little bit. I was raising the family, I was bartending at night and then hosting Whiskey Jam, um, once a week at that point. Uh, I was able to stop bartending when we started doing two, but I'd be up till four, five in the morning. Speaker 2 00:34:52 Um, and then trying to balance the family life, it's been rough. It's been a, it took me a long time to grow up and to balance myself and to know what to say yes and no to. And I think we're in a whole new season of that right now. Like quality versus quantity of life really, you know, of, of responsibility. Um, the Apple Show is very important to me. Takes a lot of my day up Whiskey Jamma is obviously very important to me. Takes a lot of my day up, but there's things that we can't do anymore that we don't have time for it. I don't, um, I'm not passionate about. And I mean, I'm, I'm really lucky that I get to, I can choose what is, uh, what I am fulfilled by versus, um, having to take on every little thing. Um, I'm still, I'm still guilty of it though. Speaker 2 00:35:40 Like, if something, if a great idea comes up, we're trying to do something in about a month that's like, we can make it happen. Um, but yeah, the plate is still incredibly full. Oh yeah. This year alone, like with the Old Dominion Tour starting, has added another element that we never thought before. It's like, okay, on you kind of had leveled out, now we're gonna add in a couple weekends a month out on the road, on a tour bus gone for three days. You still gotta juggle everything else. It's like, you know, this will be a, this will be a learning year too. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:36:09 Are any of the little ones are, I guess now they're becoming, they're not as little anymore. I didn't think any of the kids really taking a liking of the music thing and like got new experiences. I remember the anniversary, the, um, the show at, uh, the Ryman. Yeah. You had your daughter out there, your your daughter's out there. Speaker 2 00:36:24 Atlanta. We, we tried to expose them to what they, what they're able to see Whiskey jam wise. They obviously can't come to the, the, the 21 and Up show, but if there's things they can come see great. They like music. We've had guitars hanging on the wall and sitting in stands around our house forever. Um, maybe I need to start hiding 'em, make it less accessible, you know, making it more of a secret. If they have to dig under my bed to find it, maybe then it'll be like a treasure. Um, none of them have really, uh, been that interested, which is funny. If I had seen a guitar when I was seven years old, it would've lost my mind. I mean, I remember seeing like a guitar case at my uncle's house one time. I was like, what is this magic that's appeared? Um, they haven't really kinda, uh, been drawn towards it, which is I'm fine with that. I didn't start playing music by Choice until I was like 17. And then it just kind of took over. So, who knows, man. Yeah. Might be coming around the band. Yeah. I might regret ever having all those guitars laying around, just like tempting them into doing it. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:37:27 Um, so where in Mississippi did you grow up? In Memphis or northern Mississippi or? Speaker 2 00:37:31 I was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Um, I lived there till I was two, or Mississippi till I was two. Moved to Memphis. So all I remember is, is Memphis. Okay. And, um, yeah, a nice southern upbringing. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:37:45 Yeah. I was gonna say, I've had good times and we're actually going to Mississippi, I think next week we're playing a shows in Oxford and Starkville. Okay. And then we've done shows down in Hattiesburg and done stuff out in Memphis. And I like Mississippi a lot. That was where I was introduced to the delicacy of Chicken Gizzards. Oh, Speaker 2 00:38:01 Nice. Was the state Speaker 1 00:38:02 Of Mississippi one. Gary and Charlie from Musk and on tricks me we're like, man, you gotta try the Gizzards. It's a delicacy. Oh wow. Yankee. Yankee, boy, you gotta have the gizzards, man. You're with us. You gotta, Speaker 2 00:38:10 It is a cultural, it is a unique cultural place. I miss it. I was thinking about today, I was like, I haven't been to Louisiana in seven years. I haven't been to Mississippi in seven years. Um, and we used to go all the time. We used to go every six weeks down to my dad's family's in Mississippi and the Delta, my mom's family's in the, um, south Louisiana. So it was like really intense, unique cultures. Yeah. But really, um, intensely southern. It was well educated. It was a very like, uh, a cool cultural thing to be exposed to as a kid. Um, I don't get back there much. I have a few friends back in Memphis, uh, which is a great place to grow up. I think it's kind of doing cool things right now as far as, um, you know, evolving like Nashville is, there's parts in Memphis that people are like, oh, you'd never go Speaker 1 00:38:59 Down there. Yeah. I got a Memphis question for you. Yeah. What's the better barbecue Central or Rendezvous Speaker 2 00:39:03 Man? Oh gosh. <laugh>. Speaker 1 00:39:04 Because I've heard people, I've heard people argue over this before. Speaker 2 00:39:07 Oh, for sure. Uh, I Speaker 1 00:39:08 Like Central better. Speaker 2 00:39:09 So we grew up on Poplar Avenue, like five minutes from the original Corky. This was the Speaker 1 00:39:16 Original cor Speaker 2 00:39:16 Okay. That was before they started shipping, uh, ribs around the world before they had locations everywhere. Um, and that was our, that was our go-to. So it was like, that's what I knew, that's what I thought was good proximity. Yeah. Wet ribs from Corky were it the butter rolls that had like this buttery, crispy crust on the bottom. That's what I thought was the greatest. Then later on in life, I discovered the dry ribs at Rendezvous and I was like, this might be better. You know, I ha I hate to say it, but I, I, for me, I liked the flavor of the dry ribs better. And then it wasn't until I was on radio tour with David Nail and he was obsessed with barbecue. We were crisscrossed the country. We would be in a Speaker 1 00:39:51 Sounds sounds about right. Speaker 2 00:39:52 Everywhere, man. Like anywhere there was that we were playing, we would seek out barbecue. And whether it was like country outside of Knoxville or Missouri or whatever it might be. Um, there was always something. And when we got to Memphis, he was like, we gotta do central barbecue. It's the best barbecue in the world. I was like, how, you know that I've lived here my whole life. Never been. And there's tons of places in Memphis that I never tried the barbecue at, but we went and it was immediately a game changer because they're not bound to one type of sauce. You have like the Carolina sauce, you have the Memphis sauce, you have the maple and the tomato and all the different types. Yeah. Um, and the, I don't know, it was just the, the atmosphere at the original central. I was like, this is, this is now a very special one. So it's got its own spot. I think my pull pork at central wet ribs, Coys dry at Rendezvous. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:40:41 The dry ribs are nice cuz there's less cleanup. And then Are you a Fixins guy too? Like are you a Big Mac and cheese? Oh Speaker 2 00:40:46 Yeah. All Speaker 1 00:40:47 Mac and beans, cheese and greens. He's maclan over there. He's from Selma, Alabama. Uh, he loves his fried okra. That's his thing I taken. Oh yeah. Have you been to Uncle Buds here in Nashville? Speaker 2 00:40:54 No. Or here, where did I Speaker 1 00:40:56 Have Speaker 2 00:40:56 Something Speaker 1 00:40:57 Recently? Donald Donaldson is, they have a place called Uncle Buds. It's, yeah, all you can eat catfish and fried chicken and like, they just bring out rounds of hush puppies. Yeah, yeah. Like very, which again, coming from New York, I was like, what is this black magic? Like what is this? What is this thing I've never seen before? And this like fried okra and all that stuff. I never experienced Speaker 2 00:41:14 It. Oh yeah. Growing up there was a, a fried chicken restaurant down the street called PO Folks. It's so funny. Like that was a, they could call a place Poe folks. Speaker 1 00:41:22 That's where just some poboy comes from. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:41:23 Home food, home cooking. And that was, yeah, I ate my weight in in fried okra up there. Speaker 1 00:41:29 Yeah. And, and it's, and then you've gotten to see Nashville like change a lot too. And like places come and go over the years, Speaker 2 00:41:36 Unbelievable Speaker 1 00:41:36 Change. And like a place like Arnold's that recently closed. You talk about Nashville cuisine that's no longer here, man. The Hermitage, the Hermitage Cafe, which when I was working on Broadway was a staple. Oh yeah. It's been gone now for I think like a year or two. Yeah. Which is still crazy. Speaker 2 00:41:51 It's where we're sitting now, you know, was nothing we would've been sitting on, on nowhere. This Speaker 1 00:41:57 Part of the Vision Street was just open parking lot. You Speaker 2 00:42:00 Had the, the best Western next door. Uh, I used to play rounds down in the, the Hall of Fame lounge. That was my first place ever played. Really? Yeah. And this stuff didn't exist across the street. Probably did exist where Pie Wagon was and stuff, but, um, it's, it's really crazy. And I say it, I I'm gonna regret not doing it. Um, I should drive around town now, like today and just take a 20 minute drive and videotape the whole thing and be like, and here's this and here's that and here's this and here's that. Because I'd love to have that video from 20 years ago. Um, you know, we, we'd be blown away to see the change and the progress in just the area. I don't know, I can't remember what the gulch was like. I used to go down to the Station Inn on Sunday nights and watch the Bluegrass there. And I remember parking around back in a parking lot where, uh, the W Hotel is, or no, where the Thompson Hotel is now. But if you see pictures of that area back then, there was nothing. There was no, uh, apartments. There were no stores. Speaker 1 00:43:02 No, no batch threat parties, no wings, nothing Speaker 2 00:43:05 Like, nothing. Speaker 1 00:43:06 Which, which by the way, the, we, we spent a lot of time out with, uh, we call him Uncle Bob with Kid Rock this summer. Oh, nice. That kid Rock cut, bro. The Nashville, what was it? The Nashville I knew. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:43:16 Man, dude, Speaker 1 00:43:16 I fucking love that song. Speaker 2 00:43:18 <laugh> my, my lone cut, my Lone claim to fame. Oh, Speaker 1 00:43:21 Hey, you got the Ryan Nelson ones. You got a lot. Yeah. You've been writing for years. You, as Speaker 2 00:43:25 Far as like big major artists that you know have, uh, notoriety, Speaker 1 00:43:32 How'd you find out about that? About Bob and that song? Speaker 2 00:43:35 This was the, one of the wildest stories of my Nashville time. Like I, we had just had the twins, um, 2016, we were up all night and just adjusting, adjusting to life with twins was wild because we had two older kids. We had a two year old, a five year old, and newborn twins. And it was like, okay, two and five would've been hard enough. It was a wild juggle. And I got sick in like January right after they were born. And I was still bartending. I was still kind of social, uh, very social, could be, could go out and whatever. People used to call me. I like, Hey man, come out. And um, somebody hit me up on a Sunday afternoon, was like, Hey dude, you have to get down to Winters right now. And I said, dude, I'm sick. Can't do it. It feels like the flu, something not happening. Speaker 2 00:44:20 They were like, um, kid Rock is in the bar singing your song, just like walking around the tables, drinking beer, singing, uh, about Michelob Ultra. He said, if you don't get down here right now, he's not gonna cut your song. I was like, what are you, what are you talking about? What the most preposterous statement just came outta your mouth? How is that even possible? What night of the week was this? It was a Sunday afternoon. Oh geez. And so he was just down there hanging out with, um, like my buddy EJ Burnes and Tyler Reeve and I, I can't remember, I never can keep it straight. Who introduced the song to him and like, Hey man, if you, you ought to hear our buddy. He's got a song that says kind of like, Nashville's changing and we don't, we don't like it. And they let him hear it and he just fell in love with it. Speaker 2 00:45:06 And so that happened and I was like, listen man, if y'all are messing with me, uh, that's not cool, but bottom line, I can't get outta the house. I'm too sick. And so time went on. That kind of legend, uh, was, was funny to me, but I, I did an event in 2019 and Bob's fiddle player, uh, fiddling Tim or something? Yeah, I think it's Tim. Um, Tim was playing at this show and I was like, uh, he's, he was talking about living next door to Bob. He's like, yeah man, we're um, we got, we're out on the farm together, whatever. Um, he's got a new place down at, um, white House, wherever it was. Um, and I said, have you ever heard him singing a song about Nashville? And he was like, yeah. I was like, no, really? He goes, what is what the one about Michelob Altra? Speaker 2 00:46:00 And I was like, yeah. And he goes, oh my gosh, in the highlighted hair. He goes, we drive around the farm singing that thing all the time. I was like, you're not kidding. You couldn't have invented this. You know, he couldn't have just pulled these outta thin air. And so, uh, I knew it was real. I was like, that's so wild. How did he hear about it? How does he know? How does he care? And he must really like it. And so then fast forward to 2020, um, it was, he was getting ready to, for his 50th birthday, he was gonna do a, a huge four something like a rock album, a rap album, and a country album and a 50th day tour. It was gonna be his 50th year, just celebration. Kobe got in the way of that. But he was still put all this stuff together, man. Speaker 2 00:46:43 They called him up. It's like, Hey, Bob wants to, um, show you your song. I was like, what? And his manager, uh, had me out to their place and brought me into this massive studio. This huge studios incredible. Like the, the the rock wall stuff. Crazy. Yeah. It's insane. Um, but the most insane part was when he was like, check it out, hits play. And it starts yelling. It was like, what is this behind my, I, I didn't feel betrayed, but I was like, without me knowing you went out and got these world class musicians and played this song and rewrote some of the words and made this like really cool moment. And, uh, it existed. And I'll through the years after, after the Pandemic, it kind of, things changed and they, they reached out and last year and was like, Hey man, we had to change some things around because of the way those album structures worked, but this is one that Bob would not give up. You know, this one was gonna be on the album. And lo and behold, there was on Bad Reputation. It's, um, when I check every now and then, it's the least performing <laugh>, Speaker 1 00:47:53 You know, Speaker 2 00:47:54 It's one of the least listened to. But, um, I'm very proud of it. Speaker 1 00:47:57 Yeah. You think back 20, so you've been in town for, what, 20 years now? Speaker 2 00:48:00 20 years. This coming summer. Yeah. So Speaker 1 00:48:02 20 years ago, you, you tell your, you find out Oh yeah. That you have a song on a kid. Rock record. Speaker 2 00:48:07 Yeah. It's insane. Holy shit. My buddies that are super fans, um, still are like, dude, how is this possible? You know? And it's, it blows my mind. I'll text him every now and they'll be like, Hey man, happy birthday. He's like, thanks dude. <laugh>. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:48:19 Yeah. And you've gotten to me. I mean, just all kinds of different people through just being like what you do here in town. The, whether it's, I Speaker 2 00:48:26 Mean, between, between Whiskey Jam and Bartending at Tin Roof. Speaker 1 00:48:30 Oh, bartending at Tin Roof. Dude, you talk about networking opportunity. Speaker 2 00:48:33 That was, that's one of the biggest things that I miss about growing up. You know, it's, that was my humbling introduction to so many people. And it was so important because me pouring your drinks, me doing something, me serving you just creates this dynamic. And if it, even if I come to you like saying, Hey, I know who you are. Like I'd love to meet you, whatever, really? But I'm still in that like, humble servant position and dude that allowed me to meet so many people just getting credit cards. Be like, wait, you're Mike from Mike and the Moon Pies, you know, you should come play Whiskey Jam sometime. It, it ingratiates you to them immediately. Cuz it's like, man, he's not, um, somes executive or you whatever, Speaker 1 00:49:18 Somebody in this, you're not going outta way to germ. It's just conversations with the bartender. Speaker 2 00:49:22 And I'm not like, yeah. I'm not like a show promoter or something that's, no, I'm, I'm the bartender that hustles, uh, nonstop, man. I met so many great people, had so many amazing moments. I made so many friends, even outside of the networking and hustling moments, just being there, you know, being the place that Lee Bryce would come over and get, uh, quesadilla when all his kids were born. You know, like he'd take a little break from the hospital and come over and, uh, take a shot of Yager with me and, and take uh, lunch back to his wife. Geez, that's wild. The nights, I mean, the countless nights that I spent with Chris Young and Shaa Mooney, um, cuz they lived next door at Rhythm at the time. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:49:58 Tin Roof after Hours, I know was a, yeah. Was a rite of passage. I'm Speaker 2 00:50:01 Sure it still is. Dude. Like, it, it's changed a lot through the years. I saw Post recently, it was like New Year, same regulars. And I looked through, I was like, I don't know any of 'em, man. <laugh>, you know? Yeah. Maybe, maybe one guy was familiar. It's changed and you don't expect it to, to say the same through the years, but yeah, like those, those kind of, the, the, the peaks and valleys, you have these wild eras where it's like every Thursday night the vanity crowd would come out and it would be busy, busy, busy, make a bunch of money. But then you had these seasons where it was like nobody came out on Tuesday nights and you had to call your friends and say, come into the bar. And you had these magic moments where, um, the celebrities and the people that lived in, in the, in the area, they felt comfortable in those valleys. Speaker 2 00:50:42 You know, like, I can go to a bar and be myself and sit up and like, watch basketball and eat a whole pizza and nobody's gonna be asking for my autograph or whatever. And I think, man, that that's one thing that I hope will continue to exist in Nashville. It was such an important part of my upbringing and of the Tin Roof culture that, that established so many artists being comfortable being out. Uh, you, you lose that in the downtown scene now. There's not a, a place where even as, as safe and VIP as it might be, you emerge from there and there's the like, yeah. It's just not cool. Um, I think it's so important to have comfortable, safe places that allow artists and it's like, it's not so they can have a place to go drink or whatever. Like, they need a place to be social with their friends. And because Speaker 1 00:51:31 If you don't, if you don't have that social place or you don't have that opportunity, yeah. You can get into a real dark spot and you can, you can spiral real quick. Speaker 2 00:51:37 Yeah. And so Tin Roof is, is has been very important to so many artists and, and me, um, through the years, I, I don't get there hardly ever anymore, which is a shame. I used to stop by on my way home from Whiskey Jam. Like, oh, stop in for one. But you do that a couple times, it's like, that's not the greatest Speaker 1 00:51:54 <laugh> No, no. Well, makes Carpool hard. So you probably remember right, when Revival was getting started, Speaker 2 00:51:58 Revival was huge Speaker 1 00:51:59 Because to me that's, that's as, as someone who does Tuesday nights on m now at Live Oak, it's like, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> if it weren't for revival, like Revival kind of kicked Revival Walks so that in the round Right, we do. And with Ray and Nicky t and what he does and revival Speaker 2 00:52:16 All this stuff, rev was such a cool thing, and I think it's almost, in my mind, it is a cooler more, um, authentic thing than Whiskey Jam. It was always so committed to its, it had tenets, you know, it had commandments basically like Speaker 1 00:52:31 Church Pew Speaker 2 00:52:32 Man. I know. And you lived by it. And they attracted a different level of artist than we were able to attract because no matter how fun and dynamic Whiskey Jam is it, there are some people like, I mean, I remember early on Ashley Monroe and, um, Holly Williams would come and, and hang, and I'm like, you guys gotta play sometime. And they're like, we're not playing this room. Nobody's gonna listen to us. This is too much. Some people like the challenge, but if you're an artist and you have your thing figured out, there's no need to try to battle a, a bustling crowd to, to listen to your art and your heart. Yeah. Um, so what Revival Head, what they lacked in the bustling crowd, they had a, they made up for in really appreciative audience, however big or small it might be, and really, um, committed artists sharing just the songs, you know, and the ones that, that meant something. It was really well done. Uh, as far as the curation from the, from even from the early days. Uh, and throughout, um, the guys that were doing that from Rob Snyder and Chris Canterbury and Vinny and, um, who's, who did it at the very beginning, um, Speaker 1 00:53:43 I thought Rob and those guys, there was somebody at the very beginning, Speaker 2 00:53:45 Channing was involved. There was somebody at the very beginning, I can't remember. He, it was a, a misunderstanding one night. And he, he, they parted ways, but it was always very artistically like focused. Yeah. Which I respected. And yeah, man, I met so many great artists there. If the rule on Tuesdays, um, when I was bartending at Tin Roof, when revival was going on, if they got me out from behind the bar, I would go introduce myself and get 'em on Whiskey Jam. That was just like a, you know, you give it a look, you're making drinks, you're like, that sounds good, dude. And you lean around, you're like, who is this guy? Girl, whatever. And then if it's like Dad gamut, you gotta go back there and look at him. It's like, this is great. You know, I met so many artists playing that show that then you get to come down to Whiskey Jam and throw on the full band and have a totally different experience. Yep. But, um, they've had some of the best and the allegiance they have from guys like Brent Cobb and Adam Hood just goes to show, and I mean, Luke coming back and doing my, Speaker 1 00:54:41 I was gonna say my first revival. Yeah. Cause I moved October, 2018. It was the night where they, as they, as they referred to it, the, the 300 pound club, all three of 'em were on the pews. When she got the best of me was number Speaker 2 00:54:52 One. Oh, Speaker 1 00:54:52 Wow. Yeah. It was Channing, Rob and Luke. Yeah. Luke and his and his Crocs. A black t-shirt with a Miller Light just singing his ass off. And they, the three of them just up there together, chanting and Rob with their guitars. And I was like, holy shit, I'm in Nashville. Unreal. I live like three days earlier. And I was like, all right. Oh wow. I've, I've been, I'm in the right place. Speaker 2 00:55:09 I think that's really important for people to have in those early days. I mean, you just gotta be, you gotta get out and see everything you can and find and have those moments because they happen all the time. I mean, I see it, I I, I had so much, so many in my early days, I, I kind of miss 'em now, but they served their purpose. You know, you need to get out and see those magical moments bump into the stars at the on a, on a Broadway, on a weekend night, you know, uh, what you said, working down at Whiskey Road, you see so much crazy stuff come and go. Yeah, Speaker 1 00:55:38 Dude, it's all kinds of stuff. Speaker 2 00:55:40 Just be out and immerse yourself in it because it's so important in that, in you're laying your Nashville Foundation. Those are the stories that you're gonna go and keep telling forever. And, uh, they're out there, you know, whether you're in the, the current Red Door social crowd that is Yeah. That's dude so ubiquitous right now. Well, Speaker 1 00:55:57 How long has Red Door been there and what was it like back in in Speaker 2 00:56:00 The day? Red Door's been a thing, Speaker 1 00:56:02 Been Speaker 2 00:56:02 A thing? It's been a thing forever. I mean, I, I've been going there not as much as Tin Roof, but occasionally for 20 years. And you get, uh, it is a little bit different crowd. I remember it always being kind of more Chicago. We like with the old style and the cups were always on. Speaker 1 00:56:17 You can get a shot of Mil Alert there and I get that. Oh really? You up for my young song? Everybody, I don't drink anymore. But yeah, my young songwriter buddy. I'm like, okay, you're, you're out with me for the first time. I'm gonna buy you a drink. Right. Here's a shot. Oh, it's this magical thing called my Lord that they only have in Chicago. And this is the Chicago bar. Yeah. And they shoot it and they never Right. <laugh>, they usually walk away from away for, Speaker 2 00:56:35 Um, now Red Door's been, uh, like a songwriter kind of divey bar for a long time. But it's since Midtown has become kind of this sacred area, uh, this protected zone, I think the things that have been there so long have, have become even more sacred and protected. So you have a lot of people spending a lot of time at Red Door because it feels like, it feels old, you know, the floor feels old, the bar looks old, the, the, you see the renovations, but you also see the things that have been there for the whole time. Um, and you wanna be a part of that history. You know, you can't really tap into Old Nashville and the things that built this city, if you're only hanging out and the newest of the new places and, and things that have no history and no soul. It's like you're, you're so attached to, it's, it's a good thing to get in those places and attach yourself to the roots. And, you know, Bobby's Idle Hour, great example, although it's changed locations a few times, the still Speaker 1 00:57:33 A vibe when you go in this new spot. The Speaker 2 00:57:35 Roots of that place, I mean, runs so deep in, in the True Music Row area. Um, I think, I hope those places are gonna be around for a while. I think some of 'em might be a little bit of an endangered species, but as, as things change, man, the importance of those places from the Tin Roof, from Bobby's, from Red Door to even places, Speaker 1 00:57:57 Losers, even places on Broadway where you have that little stretch of, from fifth to like midway through fourth where you have legends and Yeah. Tootsie's and, um, you've got like Robs Roberts and Layla's bro. Yeah. You can go in get, get in the Fry baloney sandwich at like two in the morning at Yeah. Rob at Layla's or Roberts is a right Speaker 2 00:58:14 Question. Keep something sacred. Uh, we hear it and see it all the time in town here. The, the people coming through and buying stuff up and the Nashville Staples kind of changing hands and it being depressing and people getting upset that they can't go to their favorite restaurants to go to their favorite, uh, venue that they haven't been to in 15 years. You know, it's like some of that is just what it is. You know, Arnold's perfect example. She was wanting to sell it. They're gonna reopen it somewhere else. Yeah. It was one of the promised real estate spots in that area. It's like Speaker 1 00:58:45 You cash out and go, you just got somewhere else. Yeah. You Speaker 2 00:58:47 Can't protect that from happening. It'd be like if you had a salo, like a legit saloon downtown. Progress comes along and things, things change. People you can't live forever. But, um, I do think it's important to, to save some of that sacred soul part portion of, uh, of the town. I'm glad Whiskey Jam is a kind of baked into the ear, the the last part of the, uh, the two thousands there. You know, it Speaker 1 00:59:12 Really, it really is. Now a few questions wrapping up here. Your first time meeting Ryan Nelson and your favorite Ryan Nelson story. Cuz Ryan's like a fixture of what we do within the round. He's kinda like a fixture of Whiskey Jam too. Oh yeah. We joke around. He's been out, we've done touring with Ryan where he is come out and opened for Trey and he'll go through different nights where some nights he's Randy Nelson, some nights he's Ronnie Nelson. Yeah. Some nights he's Ricky Nelson. He's like a dirt track driver. Like he's oh man. Like you get Ryan Nelson. It's, you have some wild time. I've Speaker 2 00:59:40 Had some fun experiences with Ryan man. Uh, I cannot really pin down when I met him. It must have been through Jordan Fletcher. Um, and I don't know how, I don't know how those guys crossed my path, and I'm so glad they did because they become such great friends. Um, Ryan and I have spent a weekend at a, a house in the mountains in Georgia, you know, drinking and writing songs and sitting in the hot tub. Um, he's been out to my house in one of my old houses or where we used to live in Hendersonville. Um, hanging out one night, just building a fire and oh, dude, right. Speaker 1 01:00:18 Singing Brian Nelson fire so Speaker 2 01:00:20 He can, he can do a, he can build a good fire. Um, singing songs for, for me and Jordan and my brother-in-law. It was just really cool things that don't really happen that often for me, I don't get out with, uh, they don't have that, I don't have that many close friends these days with our family, so it's great to have cool moments like that. Um, Speaker 1 01:00:42 You all right? You all right? Sweet boy. <laugh>. All right. Usually he's drinking beer. He is just drinking water today. Um, well, he might have it. Oh, you good? All right, cool. He's probably coughing in. He's got a Copenhagen in. So that's a, that's a challenge right there. That's a skill. But, um, but yeah, that, it's, it's been cool to get to know like Ryan and watch him. Like I said, he was my first Whiskey Jam memory was watching a guy like Ryan Nelson. Remember you, I think I remember you saying it too, that like, if Whiskey Jam had a face like Ryan, a guy like Ryan Nelson, he's gotta have one of the higher play records of Speaker 2 01:01:12 Over the years. Oh, for sure. He's played there more than most other people. Uh, it was, when they first got to town, I, I started doing something with him and Jordan Fletcher and Joe Fortner a few years ago in the anniversary Speaker 1 01:01:23 Show. Yeah. They had the frat house, the three Speaker 2 01:01:25 Of them. I was like, back, I think I want, I want you guys to play our anniversary show every year, you know, just so we can see the progression through the years as things are going. Cuz at that point in time, um, they were all kind of on the cusp, on the verge doing cool stuff. And it was great to see, you know, like, and it really did. They were writing great songs. They were hitting the road, the things that Ryan has done out with, you know, going out with Jelly Roll and Jordan getting his deals in place. It's like, Speaker 1 01:01:53 You All right, sweet boy, you good? Yeah, I'm rolling. You sure? You can, we can, you can pause if you want. Speaker 3 01:01:59 Let me get it out real quick. <laugh>. Speaker 1 01:02:02 He's all good. Speaker 3 01:02:06 Should be good. Speaker 1 01:02:07 All right. There you go. Roll Tide. <laugh>. Your thing Speaker 3 01:02:10 Is, you can't hear that in the mic. Speaker 2 01:02:12 Oh, you're good. That's good. Um, uh, uh, uh, uh, yeah, so I had those guys were playing the first three spots at, at the anniversary show through the years. This will be the first year, um, that they, that I don't think they will. I was like, I just don't wanna do it. You don't wanna do it forever to when it gets like, whatever awkward or like is any kinda competition. But it was really important to me to kind of bring them around and watch that, uh, progress in the first few years in Nashville and what, what all can happen with guys that are that fun, that different, that um, committed to to doing it. Speaker 1 01:02:45 Yeah. And guys that are just part of the scene at that time, like doing the rounds after. Cause they were doing revival too. Oh yeah. They were doing stuff at Frisky Frogs, or Oh my gosh, frogs. Yeah. Playing at, playing Blue Bar, playing. Um, where was, what was, uh, Randy McFadden's? The, the, um, threesome Thursdays Oh man. Which was, they used to do twosome or threesome Thursdays. Speaker 2 01:03:06 Every, every time, every kind of era has their schedule. You know, like when I moved to town, I had the same deal. It was like Monday nights I'd be in line at the Bluebird Cafe Tuesday. We'd go to, um, what's it called, uh, Douglas Corner Wednesday. We'd go Speaker 1 01:03:23 To another, another Speaker 2 01:03:24 Spot, Eskimo Joe's. And like every night you had the place you'd hit up and it just kind of, it evolves through the years. And, um, yeah. Those, those are the ones everybody finds their, those guys have found their places to be. I'm, I'm glad that In The Round exists as a Speaker 1 01:03:38 Thanks man in Speaker 2 01:03:39 That world now too. I don't Speaker 1 01:03:40 Know how you do two nights a week every week. Yeah. I don't know how the hell you Speaker 2 01:03:44 Do it. It's a lot, man. Sometimes I wish I was, uh, I had picked something that's much more cut and dry, you know, nine to five or like working at Lowe's has always been very appealing. But, but Speaker 1 01:03:55 Dude, I appreciate what you're like, like if you hadn't done that, the scene wouldn't be like, and I mean that honestly, it wouldn't be what it is right now without you doing, without you busting your ass. And guys, guys like, like Rob down at, um, down a tin roof with Revival. Yeah. And like, it really has paved the way for to wear every night of the week now for the most part. You have original music in Midtown. Speaker 2 01:04:15 It's, it's, it's a labor of love, man. It's cool. Uh, it is, it is hard work. It is stressful. It is frustrating through the years. I mean, nothing changes. I, I'm still to the, the night before I get texts Okay. Regularly where it's like, Hey man, I can't make it tomorrow. It's like, am I still scrambling to fill spots the night before? I guess so, but I've never left a whiskey jam event. Not un you know, unfulfilled, unsatisfied unrefreshed. I've never not gotten the spirit. And I think when that happens, that happened with my former partner, Josh Hogue. He was, I was like, dude, this is amazing. You, you see what's going on around here. 2015, uh, was when we split up. And um, I was like, this is, every night is incredible. Like, we're watching magic happen. And he goes, man, I just don't, I don't like it. I don't like it. It makes me uncomfortable being here. And he was social reasons, you know, like he didn't like crowds as much as I did. Yeah. He didn't feed off that energy. He did go and do a young thing, man. Yeah. Like that was, that was the time he had for it. Um, but oh shoot, where was I going with that? Um, Speaker 1 01:05:19 Labor of love. The passion. Oh, Speaker 2 01:05:21 Yeah. But, but it, um, sorry. Despite his kind of, what am I saying? I got it. I just gotta re reset myself. Sorry. I got lost. Um, when, when he kinda exited, I was like, okay, I need to fully embrace this. You know? And I, I see this for something different than, um, than I think a lot of the world does. And I wanna make everybody get the most out of it. So I'm there. I mean, I pride myself on being there. I think it's awesome when people haven't been for a long time and they're like, oh my gosh, you're still here. You know? And it's never like a, oh man, Ward's still here. It's like, wow, you still come out on Monday nights and like wrap cables and fix speakers and turn the lights on and off and set the cameras up like, but Speaker 1 01:06:10 While doing photos if you need to, yeah man, I'll Speaker 2 01:06:12 Take Speaker 1 01:06:12 Whatever you've gotta Speaker 2 01:06:13 Do. I'll take pictures. And it's just to kind of facilitate the vibe and to make, again, make everybody appreciate it. Because I know what you can get outta that show. I know. If it looks right, if it feels right, if the, if the crowd is there, if everybody's got enough drinks, that it can be one of the most magical things in, in music in Nashville. Yeah. And I wanna share that. And I'm, as long as that's able to continue, uh, as long as other people are picking up on it, I hope it, uh, we're able to keep doing it. Speaker 1 01:06:40 Amen. Man. I appreciate you guys letting me do a takeover. Oh dude, it's gonna be, for me, it's the most like full circle thing that's happened to me in Nashville. Cuz again, my, like the, when I came to visit, like my first night visiting in town was Ryan Nelson singing Show Up drunk the night it came out. Like it's, it's gonna be massive now to do it. I've got family coming down from New York Oh wow. That are, that are so, and it's there. So it's my, my like aunts. I've got like aunts and uncles from, from Jersey that have never been down here, that are coming to visit for the first time since I moved down here. Yeah. And they're coming down and they're coming to Whiskey Jam and I'm like, and they've been asking me like, what are you, I'm, I'm not even like telling 'em, like giving them an expectation what to spend. Like just, you're gonna take in a lot of music cuz you don't get music like that on a Monday night anywhere else in the world. Right. Besides Nashville, Tennessee. And the lineup that we've got too, like super stoked and off the charts we got, we got Trey Lewis, Ella Langley, John Morgan, Josh Ross, Tyler Halverson, Austin Snell Fair, and Rachel's and SJ McDonald Nuts, which is a mix of, I think all of them have played, I don't think we're, I don't think we're popping any cherries. Everybody's Speaker 2 01:07:43 Played before. A couple of 'em might have played the same night, but all of them at once is, it's probably too much <laugh>. No, it's, that's gonna be one that's like lying down the street before the, before the first person. Speaker 1 01:07:53 That's what I'm, that's what I'm hoping Speaker 2 01:07:54 A hundred thousand percent Speaker 1 01:07:55 Is that it's just, it's just packed. And you'll have the, the upstairs hopefully it's, hopefully it's not like pouring rain or snow and knock on Right. Speaker 2 01:08:02 Knock on wood Speaker 1 01:08:02 Because it is a Jan. That's the risk you run into with January shows. Yeah. And then not having the upstairs deck. It'll be good. Yeah. Oh, I'm very excited. It'll be killing. I Yeah. And we're actually doing the, um, the night before mm-hmm. <affirmative> if you're available. We're doing, um, at the, at my, my family got like a, like an Airbnb thing. Oh cool. And they're doing a pasta dinner for everybody that's playing Oh, nice. In the crew. So if you the fa want to come by, get some New York style Penn vodka, chicken Parmesan. Oh dang. The, we were talking about barbecue earlier. Yeah. My family's got that, that Italian stuff on lock, so Oh, that sounds awesome. So that, that Sunday night, we'll we'll have, have some watch some, uh, chill out and get everybody hanging out and eating pasta. Pasta faul together will be Speaker 2 01:08:46 Good as it should be. Speaker 1 01:08:47 Yeah. Sunday dinner, a family Speaker 2 01:08:49 Thing, Speaker 1 01:08:49 Sun. Yeah, exactly man. And, and that's the thing too, is that to be a part of the get, to be a part of the jam fam it, it means a lot for real to be doing a takeover. And Speaker 2 01:08:57 Dude, I'm, I'm so excited we wouldn't be anything without people, uh, collaborating and contributing through the years. It's uh, that's been one of the big things that's kept us alive and growing, you know? Oh yeah. Other people's input and, and tastes and that. This will be one of those nights where I can get to sit back and go, dang, this is, I'm enjoying this as much as anybody else. Speaker 1 01:09:16 Yeah. We're gonna have a, we're gonna have a good time For sure. And and to be a part of January is a big thing too, cuz the following week is Perfect Time. The anniversary show, which it is the best. That's of the year. I love the indoor shows. The outdoor shows are great too. Yeah. But for me, there's something about being in a crammed asses to elbows, winners that just feels right. It's gonna, it's like this is Whiskey Jam to me is just when it's the epicenter of the scene. Yeah. On a Monday night. I, Speaker 2 01:09:41 Uh, I hope we, you've set the bar so high on yours. I'm like, I hope we can <laugh>. I hope Speaker 1 01:09:45 It's good. No, you're kidding me. The anniversary show's gonna be, Speaker 2 01:09:46 Anniversary's gonna be great, man. We got some good friends on that one. Yeah. Um, the, it's, it's funny to look back at the flyers through the years on those anniversary shows. It's like, dang man. Some of 'em, in my mind I was like, it was the all stars of all time and it's like, it really was just like your friends that you thought were making great music at the time and you had it built up in your head to be this, this amazing event. And it was, and I think it's like that, that kind of love of it and the confidence in it spreads to the people who are watching on whatever socials and saying like, this looks like this guy really cares. You know, they, they really excited about this event must be something we're seeing. So. Speaker 1 01:10:22 Amen. Well, um, appreciate you coming on and hey, that dude, I know you gotta get down to get down to winners to do the damn thing Thursday, Thursday night. Yeah. It's about that time. Um, really appreciate you. Um, everybody can find you. What it's at Ward Gunther? Yeah. At Whiskey Jam. Speaker 2 01:10:36 Yep. Speaker 1 01:10:36 All this stuff on Speaker 2 01:10:37 Apple Whiskey Jam and Ward Gunther. The Apple Show easiest way is just to say, Hey Siri, play Apple Music Country. If you go on your app, um, hit the music app. There's a radio button at the bottom in the middle and I'm on every day at three o'clock in the afternoon Central live from right down the street. So, um, awesome. Love to get to know you. Speaker 1 01:10:57 Awesome. And then plug the Old Dominion thing again real quick. Friends. Yes. We'll Speaker 2 01:11:01 Hit the road in North America all across, uh, America and Canada this year. Opening up for Old Dominion in their arena tour. Uh, no bad vibes. We're bringing Frank Ray, Cassie Ashton and Grayland James on, on the US dates. We've got Sean Austin and Steven Lee Olson in Canada along with Frank. It's gonna be crazy. I've, I've, it starts next week and I'm like, I have no idea what to expect to assume. It's just a wild nuke frontier for us, man. Awesome Speaker 1 01:11:29 Man. Well guys, um, honestly this was, this was a blast dude. Really appreciate you coming and hanging. Um, guys, thanks for watching another edition of the In The Round podcast. Make sure you get that subscribe button, that like button. Tell your mama and them be sure if you're here in Nashville, of course, be at Whiskey Jam on Monday and Thursday nights. If you're coming to visit Nashville, bring come to Whiskey Jam. Bring your friends to Whiskey Jam and be sure to check out our boy Ward Gunther on Apple Music Country. Shout out to the sponsors Whale Tale Media, Saxon Studios, um, our friend Mitch Wallace with the Digital Marketing Agency and our friends at Pickle Jar Live. Uh, use promo code I t r at Signup Pickle Jar live at the world's biggest tip jar over Sweet boy. Behind the camera, my man Ward over here. You'll have a great rest of your day and, uh, appreciate you listening. This has been the In The Round Podcast.