Ep. 88: She's Somebody's Daughter and Deer Day in Patoka with Drew Baldridge

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Yo, what's up? You're off in Guy's Country with you boys?
Damn and Reed is well also known as a brother hum.
When we take a weekly drive to the intersection of
country music in the great outdoors, two things go together,
like Illinois and Big Deer, or like Dolly Parton and
Big Here. That's true brought to you. Biden be here

(00:28):
and we're freestyling today.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
I don't know what he's gonna say. He don't know
what I'm gonna say.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Are you going first?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
I guess dang, I gotta get the rhyme.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
I don't have anything here we go, Let's go to Comas.
Show Now, Baby Sponsorman, Show Baby, New Guy Ray down
switched it up and dropped the jin on track. I
hope that you listen to this, keep on coming back.
Cuse the collars, the sponserens a shower baby half time.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
I just want them to keep going. Dude, Ray, what
did you do? Ray Done? Remix? Ray? That was a
hot track. Oh it blew my. I can't wait to
see my face play it one more time. He has
like the dollar Backer.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
You see, it's the same same. So we we thought
we didn't even know. I didn't even did you know no.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Did I literally have chill bom Man?

Speaker 1 (01:35):
What a jam?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Do that?

Speaker 1 (01:38):
That? That? That?

Speaker 2 (01:38):
That? That Ray? How did you do that? Built it
last night?

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Killer? I think you just I think it's your remix
right now. You just promoted from new guy Ray to
remix right. That was nasty? Yeah, funny one.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
He did another one?

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Oh no, I want it? I want it? Did you
play all that?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Did you play that?

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Ray? Gosh, that was nasty bro. What's happening? Remix?

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Ray?

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Come on remix Ray? How about you come on our podcast?
That was sick Bro? He built the track that was
sick Wow?

Speaker 2 (02:43):
That was that?

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Was that?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Blew my mom? Yeah, okay, there's so hot there's some
in there Ray. She Yo.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Drew baldred Ship inspirational dude. This podcast flew by because
a lot of it was him telling his story and
we talked about hunting a little bit at the beginning.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
But he's got one of the best kind of.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
Like Josh phillips Man, just like a like another just grassroots,
had to go do it by himself. Didn't know for
an answer, nothing took nothing to everything. I mean, did
you see in the part there was a part of
the show where I said, labels had to be going
nuts on you humans zero zero. I didn't know that.

(03:30):
I assumed they were beating down the door with numbers
like that. Well, especially now, I mean they will probably now,
you know, with TikTok being what it is. But back then,
TikTok was still you know, the wild rest and nobody knew.
But man, just a convicted dude that that set out
to do something that has never been done in country
radio and freaking did it. And uh yeah, man, he's

(03:53):
just he's a great guy, humble, got a lot of
good things going for him. Is releasing a song. I
don't know if it'll be out by the time this
podcast comes out Friday Friday, so coming out the falling Friday,
but be sure to check it out. Man. It's with
Emily Ann Roberts. He did announce that last week. So, uh, man,

(04:13):
you're gonna love this podcast. It's a it's a really
inspirational story. If if you're thinking about giving up on anything,
listening to this guy, that's right, find you geez yeah,
you'll change your mind. That's awesome. Okay, I'm uh smell something.
Smell something? What if it was like deep? Okay, can

(04:37):
you can you do that? Because I think this was
in Oh, keep it going. I think this was in
lyric for him, will it? Will it keep going? Ray?

Speaker 2 (04:47):
All right?

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Here you go from Fire Department fifty six to the
tune of Yellow Submarine. Well this ain't Yellow submarine, buddy,
but I'll wrap it for you. Ready, Why to chase?
Lay it all on our roots? These to co of boots.
We ruined your Tuesday morning drive where she's too fast,
too fast? Give me a slower one? Can you get

(05:09):
a slower one? In?

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Blame it all on our roots. It's COVID too.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Fast, couldn't keep up. I was like, shit, I can't
read that fast. Okay, we can do it. Ran a
spot all right, Look, all right, it's supposed to be
the tune of Yellow Submarine, but we're gonna do it
to the tune of.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Blame it all on our roots. We needs to cover boots.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
We ruin your Tuesday morning drive. We were going, we
were gonna bore you to tears talking about Dan's deer
and reads big market place dive. We could have a
good show if we just come to know when to
shut up and let our guests speak. But we want
all you take to nowhere better than few at shooting

(05:55):
turkeys and the beig. No, it is friends in local
It sounds like it. Yeah, because we got friends and
places that will take us on hunt nine toad are
gune cases cause this whole shows a front.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
I don't know what happens here.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
We're worse than okay when we would fall on our faces,
but we know people, so we're off to the races. Yeah,
we got friends and places.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
I'm down.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
Okay, it should have just said it's to the tune
of friends in high places instead of Yellow Submarine. Yeah,
that's interesting. Honestly, one of my favorite podcasts I listen,
regardless to who the guest is. Just wish someone would
show y'all how to turkey hunt. Hey, Fire Department fifty six,
Oh you want to show us? Anybody need to show me.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
How it's a good time? Yeah, the turkey go.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
I know, even though it didn't cuss, Maybe should throw
that on there. Uh, if there's there's some things in
my life that I need help.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
With, Hey, and don't be telling our secrets, dud, but turkey,
don't be telling people this is a front to go
on more hunts. Yeah at the hunt?

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, you've see what you know as far as I'm
fifty six, Drew Balders, listen to it, be inspired, go
have a great day, and.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
I'm right we'll catch you next. I gotta get write
a song. See about.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
Today we have the Illinois Kid number one song singing
and Riding Dad and highest charting independent artist ever on
Country Airplay chart Billboard has over one point one billion streams,
that big billion b B and across this platforms.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
We got Drew balderin glad to be here, to day
to be here?

Speaker 1 (07:41):
What's up?

Speaker 2 (07:42):
You do that every week? Way better than that? That
was pretty good. I thought, hey, did you did?

Speaker 1 (07:47):
You did great?

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Except you're like this.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Well, yeah, because I've never done it, I've done good.
Made me feel like I need to bring stage.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
That's leave, get me.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
Out of here.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
He's got to hype the you's got to hype the artist.
If I feel like you could have better, feel good.
I felt you could have been a better supporter right there. Well,
I was just kind of just like rating you're just
kind of standing out like this.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
I was rating your Yeah, your introduction intro, Well, how
did I do? Ray?

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Give him a sound on how he did Wan uhh,
he's looking one dog walking. That's my dog, that's what
he's saying. Yeah, you can only hear it. This was rated.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
You sound really good on there. Hey you got a
voice for radio. You got a face for radio. Man,
I got a face for radio, that's for sure. You
got this morning Well, you got a face for radio.
You're actually a good looking kid.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
Man, Yeah, no doubt. Thanks for hanging out, man.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
Man, thanks so much for having me. This is awesome.
But here were You're that guy in high school that
was just like turning hot chicks down because you were like.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
Man, I only had five girls in my class. Really,
one was my cousin, so so it was like four
four and a.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Half four and a half. It depends where you're from. Yeah,
she's only my third cousins. Yeah, Dan kiss want his cousin.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
I didn't know, and she was not our cousin.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
She was our cousin by married. We had like and
I didn't know. It was way My grandmother was even.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
Came over to like eatpaginn was never there and no
me mom, she was not there.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
The Dan brought this girl over, was like, oh yeah,
I think who's that guy that got that song? Called
that your cousin.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Have you heard that?

Speaker 3 (09:26):
Oh my gosh, man, it just sounds just like this story.
He's a Canadian artist, great great, great Canadian artist. Can
I think of his name. We're gonna figure it out
after this because I'm gona play for it because it
sounds like it's your song that well, here's the truth.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
That's your cousin. She went to my high school, my
growing up with this person, my entire life. Comes over
for dinner and night. Mom's like, now I think we
were related and says her last name and she's like.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
And I was like, Mom's like, big family.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
This is way before the linealogy thing whatever that is,
uh ancestor dot com. She was like, yeah, so and so.
And I was just sitting there like turning my fork
like oh, I was like this, who's your dad again?

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Who's your dad's brother in Mississippi? It didn't work out,
Thank god, we're gonna do. Thank god.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
My mind have accidentally kissed a married my marriage cousin
for sure. Hey, that is one hundred percent of this song.
We're gonna find it.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
We'll find it all right. Jeez.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Hey, Uh, my wife wanted me to ask you before
we got into this whole thing. She saw a picture
of Dolly of a play Playboy.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
Signed and gave it to you.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
That's a story on that.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
So my wife she worked out a really awesome dental
dental office in town called doctor Dennis Wells, and Dolly's
been going.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
There for for years and years and years.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
And my wife just really created this relationship with Dolly.
And uh, I was always like, Katie, you need to
like like get something and have her sign it.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
So we always have it. And for some reason, my
wife chose and I like nineteen seventy.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Five Playboy magazine.

Speaker 3 (11:16):
She found authentic magazine that my wife found online. It's
pretty pretty awesome and it's awesome like it, you know
how uh you know, you I have a we have
a piano at our house and uh it would you
know you set your music on the piano to play
out ours is is Dolly and the Playboy magna. You
sit down, you see this and it has their signature

(11:37):
on it. And it's actually we kept it in a
you know, like the sleeve or whatever, so it stays authentic.
But it's ayeh, it's it's uh, it's pretty cool. It's
something that that we uh we really cherished because it's
pretty awesome.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, it's We got to play Dolly with Dolly at
the rhyme in one time and that was pretty You
made her.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, yeah, she's so super she's awesome, Yeah, super cool.
What you see is what you get, you know, and
that's just who she is. And and but she's been
really nice to my wife. She's I think my wife,
Dolly is one of the first people to find out
that my wife was pregnant with our little boys. A
couple of days afterwards or whatever, my wife was in
there working on Dolly and was nervous, and.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Dolly, I guess, was like, what's going on. She said, well,
I'm pregnant.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
That's pretty good. Did y'all see where she recently?

Speaker 1 (12:23):
They tried to they were going to arrest all this
a statue of her. Okay, so everybody saw this legendary
and she was like, although I'm flattered, I wish we
would focus our attention more towards some of the other tragedies.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
I don't think it's a good time to be like,
be focusing on what I'm gone. Y'all can do that,
and that'll be amazing, But as of right now, that's
crazy that that's that's.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
I mean, I mean, you know, put me up on
that time too till it turns out like that.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Dwayne Wade one.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Like him, didn't He's in there a video of him going, Yeah,
that's amazing.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
I feel like they could get Dolly right though. She's
so yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
Man'd have to just get a couple of things right,
you know who it was a couple of things.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
What's you're mad at.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
The key?

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Try what key you think of this? What?

Speaker 1 (13:23):
That's pretty good?

Speaker 2 (13:24):
I got perfect pitch. Just tell me what it is.
What you're mad?

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Is it?

Speaker 2 (13:28):
You're in the lost kids? Might be boss me or
your neighbors cat. Just tell what you mad?

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Love it? Thanks man?

Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah, be right backing, Like I knew that song already.
It feels so iconic. Did the same thing. He did
the same thing you just did. Finished out.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Yeah he did it on Monday. It's cool.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
I hadn't even thought about mine. So ya go, man, Okay,
I can go, Yeah, I can go.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
I've been thinking about this so over the weekend we
played four shows and uh man, all like headline long
long shows and so like, I'm mad at my voice
right now. It's it's ripping, it's tripping out on me
a little bit. It's hard to I'm hoping by Friday
when we hit back on the road again, it's us.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
Back working like it should be.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
Well, we won't.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
We won't make you sing too much. Then what's your uh,
what's your like remedy?

Speaker 1 (14:24):
What do you do? Man?

Speaker 3 (14:26):
Most of the time, it just takes some times. Yeah, rest,
And we haven't been getting a lot of that. Main
shoot we played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Sunday we were
in northern Wisconsin.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
Dang, that's like a long ways a way.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yeah, and then we had a music video shoot on Monday,
and at music video shoot last till two am, and
then it was like then yesterday was our we were
supposed to write yesterday. I was like, y'all, yeah, I'm
not right in today, like I gotta I gotta rest.
And so right now, huge podcast, I got a huge podcast.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
I got to talk. You probably should have to cancel this.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
I no, no, dude, I'm glad to be here. But
it's just like right now, I'm out at my voice.
But it's it's already gotten so much better since you know, Sunday,
after after singing it's it's it's hard when you're just
singing ninety minutes sets man every night. My problem is
I get too into it. You know, I'm up there
and I'm like, I forget, I gotta watch what I'm doing.
But when the energy is there, I'm like screaming.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
Yeah, yeah, I remember doing that. We used to play
like when I was trying to do the artist thing.
Damn was in my bank. That's the only way I
do it. And he would six minutes, he would lean
over like I'd be singing a song and he would
like play, He'd be playing rhythm and he'd come over.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
He go, you got to chill out, like He's like,
you gotta quit screaming because I was screaming.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
I mean I would. I would yell that. I'd be
singing at the top of my lungs Smith even at
Fort Smith with that guy. I try to give us
Fort Smith Fort Smith, Arkansas, and so it's like a
double room and I'm mad at that guy.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
That's what I storytelling story.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
So we played right like literally we played three weekends
and read was like, I'm missing both. I'm missing the
opener of BO season. I ain't doing this some more Okay,
we just wrote this entire project, like we had written
upwards of twenty songs.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
He had cut six.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
And when he figured out that he was going to
miss opening weekend of both season with me and Dad
and Wayne County, he.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Was like, I never went on the road again.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Is it wow? Because it was like he was like, hey,
we got some stuff this weekend. I was like, oh, well,
you're on your own. He's like what And I was like, yeah,
I'm going to bow openers this weekend.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
He was like do what.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
It was right when we started getting that velvet season
we got like early Velvet. I was like, wait, you
don't do You don't just go play every once in
a while.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
You play every.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Day, every freaking weekend, every weekend, multiple times on weekend.
So we go to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and we had
to be in uh klo Tes the next day, right,
So we were depending on Johnny Floors, john T Floors.
We were depending on the money we got from the
gigs to get us to wherever. You know. So we
get to Fort Smith, we go to play this venue

(16:59):
and and we were under the impression that we had
to play forty five minutes. Right. Well, when we get
there it all the things, all the sheets you know
that they put up for when things, what time things happen.
It has us playing a thirty minute set and I
was like six because we could barely make it to
forty five, you know. So we play thirty minutes and

(17:19):
just full energy thirty minutes, Bam, get off stage. BlackBerry
Smoke goes on after us, and the venue owner comes
to the back of the of the thing. Now, to
keep in mind, I have been big gigging for twenty
years up until this point. This is Reid's first rodeo
and men Reid were always kind of he was like.

(17:42):
I was like, it's like you're the singer or whatever,
but this this is my gig.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
Yeah. Run He's like, no, no, no, this I got it.
I got it. You know this is my gig. You
know this or whatever.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
So the venue owner comes back to me or he's looking.
I see him talking to somebody, and our little guitar
player was like he didn't know what was going on,
you know. So I was like, everything, come over here.
He's like you read and I was like, nah, he
goes Where's Reed? I was like, he's out there meeting
fans like he's supposed to be doing, but I'm pretty
sure I'm the guy you're looking for. He was like,

(18:13):
we all went fifteen minutes short, and I was like, nah,
we went there alloted time on the sheet. I said,
I was under the impression it was forty five minutes.
I talked to the guy he said thirty, and I
was like, and he had the guy that told me
thirty standing next to him like a little he was
like and he's like, uh, well, what I'm gonna have
to dock y'all's pay.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
And I was like, no, you're not.

Speaker 1 (18:36):
And he was like dang.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
He's like, yeah you are.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
And I was like, no, man, we got to have
that money to get to and he's like this, yeas
one of those first shows in it, and I was
like yeah. He was like I thought i'd teach you
all the lesson. I was like, you can teach me
anything you want to after you lay a thousand dollars
my hand, but upuntil then, you can't teach me.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
Brother, what are we talking about here? And so I
get to our guitar player read the guitar player was like, I.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
Mean he was scared.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
He was like, what is happening and so.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
The guy was like, go get him their money whatever.
They got the money. I said, man, we'll pop up
play fifteen minutes after black very smoke if you want
us to to make up for it.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
But like we got to have that money or to
take no gas.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, getting my money. Same way, rig gets window and
he comes back to the van. We got our money,
We're leaving, and the little guitar player I never forget.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
He was like, man, I was ready, dude.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
I was that guy like I was just waiting on
you to make a move. Man. It sounds like I'm
not some big tough guy. I just dude, I've been
that's been happening to me for twenty years. Club owner
has been trying to not pay me for twenty I
can smell it from a mile away mile away. Oh yeah,
and so freaking out of the band. He's like, hey, man,
sure that sure is it? That's your band?

Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, you take care of it. That's amazing, Like you
know what, screw I'm hunting. Yeah, he was like I'm quit.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yeah. He knew the whole time.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
The whole time, he man anything, I'm not man, I.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
Just looked up on my little what you're mad? At
notes and I have one of thst home. Yeah, and
it says Southwest Wife and the movie's not working.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
Oh that's real. Yeah, it was real.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
It was.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
I was excited about finishing the movie last time I
was flying.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
What movie was? Usually start a movie going somewhere and
then finish it on the way back. Uh, what movie
was it? I do hate those thirty minutes after you
finish it and you're still not going to land.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
That's the worst. And you just gotta stand there and stare
there to audio. I don't remember what movie it was.
I don't remember.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
Oh it was. I ended up finishing it the other day.
It was a Maverick, the New Top Gun. Oh sick.
It's good, really so good. It's good, so good, you
should check it out. That's killer, it's killer. All right?

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Where are you from? Where'd you? Where'd you grow up?

Speaker 1 (20:43):
And I grew up in southern Illinois? And did you
not read your sheet a little time? That was?

Speaker 2 (20:48):
That was the question. Bro.

Speaker 1 (20:48):
Let the guy speak you just saying that you should
out for it, says grew up in southern Illinois. I'm
just starting a conversation here.

Speaker 3 (20:56):
It's a little town called Patoka, and so it's like town,
five hundred people, big farm in town.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
Where is that compared to you know where Fairfield is?

Speaker 3 (21:04):
Oh yeah, yeah, everybody from Nashfield goes hunting in Fairfield. Yeah,
that's what I learned. But it's like an hour probably
fifteen twenty minutes north west of Fairfield. Do you guys
go to a town called Mount Vernon when you go
to Fairfield or not?

Speaker 2 (21:20):
No, but I know where that's I know where that's at.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, we're like forty five minutes north of there. So
I mean, being from Illinois, deer hunt is just a
big part of your life, you know, And so that
was it was such a small town, five hundred people.
I was talking about this somebody yesterday and they couldn't
believe it. But it was like, you know, Illinois, you
can't hunt rifle, it's only shotgun.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
It's run and say, it's so flat.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
So we'll like ten day season, twelve fourteen, three day,
three day shotgun.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yeah, you get Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then the first
week of December it goes four days. But most of
the time that that hunt kind of sucks because so
many people come to Illinois to hunt, So you know.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Your first three days Friday Saturday. Shotgun.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
That's hot, that's hot. That's when you want to be
out there.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
So Friday every year is deer Day still to this
day at a school, like really it's a holiday school
you get off school, no way.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah, it's deer Day.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
Yeah, deer Day, and I love that.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
And different kind of D day, right there.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yeah, different kind of D day for sure, especially for
the deer. Yeah, it's definitely deer Day. And so Friday Saturday,
you know, we just hunt for three days straight. Obviously,
you know you bow hunt that starts October first, and
you didn't do that. But shotgun season it's fun too,
because it's like it's still so hard with a shotgun
and they're making stuff that shoot out a little further.
But growing up, it was just like same, yes, the same. Yeah,

(22:37):
I mean it's still slug hunting, but but you know,
you get like an H and R that can go
like one hundred yards or something one hundred.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
And fifty if you're lucky.

Speaker 3 (22:43):
But growing up it'd be like, oh, we're going dove season,
you know, same bird bird gun. You're hunting with your
deer with you know, it's the same thing. You're just
using a slug and so it was. It was a
good way grow up.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
Man. I loved it there, older brother. Yeah, have you.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
Shot a slogan out of it? I don't know if
I ever had.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
Yeah. Oh yeah, blow your shoulder.

Speaker 2 (23:04):
Well it'll take you, it'll take you.

Speaker 1 (23:05):
Yeah. I think you're everywhere we've ever We were just
straight mustloader here. Got you no shotgun season, right, I
don't think there's shotgun season Tennessee.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
Well it's just a primitive weapon.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
So we always just muzzleloader. You can use rifle here.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Oh for about three months. Our rifle season is nuts.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
I remember talking to you about deer hunting and gonna
see and you were like, ah, man.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
I just don't do it.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
Yeah, he just don't. I just go up to I
don't blame him.

Speaker 3 (23:28):
I mean I get it, especially too, because it's like
I don't have ground here, and it was like growing
up we had a farm, so it was like we
had our spots that we picked. And honestly too, it
was it was one of those things where we've had
stands in those trees for fifteen twenty years. Cause by
this point, you know, you know where they're coming out.

(23:49):
You know, like the stands are almost grown into the trees. Yeah, man,
you know those kind of stands. And so it was
like I don't want to go first off here, and
I don't have time to go scout and be like,
year's it at?

Speaker 2 (24:01):
What's this now?

Speaker 3 (24:01):
I just like, okay, deer see, Okay, it's up there.
I'll just go to stand at.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
This week Boom, it's probably been some deer.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
Oh they're moving.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
Okay, let me come up there and try to find
some time to come up there.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
It's also like super special too, to have that place,
you know, like like we've got that same place in
West Tennessee that my daddy's been hunting for literally I
mean I'm thirty eight years or thirty seven years old.
He's been hunting for thirty years. And I mean it's
like we killed our first deer there. We spent our
you know, off days, the weekends up there working and
it's still the exact same right now as it was

(24:35):
back then. They've cut some timber off of it. But
at the same time, it's like when you go down there,
it makes you just feel like a kid again. It
may it takes you back to those I mean the
beginning days of getting in the woods and seeing deer
move and starting to pattern and and kind of figure
it out and find like when you when you fell
in love with it back then, it kind of takes
you back to that every time you get to go
back to one of those farms.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
Yeah, and for me, it was almost as much fun
deer hunting as it is deer camp, you know, Like
we would all all my cousins and my brother and
my nephew, and we go sit in the stand and
we come back and give each other crap who missed.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
And give me a good old deer camp memory. I
don't care if it's deer getting kid, I don't care
if it's something y'all give me one that you remember.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Dear story. I have so many of them. I'm thinking back, Well,
what's fun is? You know, I was the youngest of
all of my cousins and my brother. I was the
baby of everything, and so you.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
Probably saw a lot of deer come through that camp.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
A lot of deer come through that camp, A lot
of deer and a lot of big deer. And we
would do this too sometimes where you know, we like
to stand hunt, but we own so much you know,
handful of ground we would walk to. We do some
driving and stuff, and some people might talk down on driving.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
But I remember this one.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
It was our buddy Andy, and uh I was walking
through and I could see him almost on the other side,
because we walked through this big bottom and come out
and it's on this hill and I could in this
open flat like CRP kind of field, and I could
see him on the other side in his orange and
it was just me and this I don't know, ten
acre CRP patch probably, And uh.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
So you making a lot of noise while you're walking.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Oh yeah, I can't do it right now for my boy,
but like high pitched, you know, hoot.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
And holler and all the things.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yet But also.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
Sometimes I'm like, I'm just gonna be quiet. Maybe I'll
get to shoot. Yeah, maybe I'll get to shoot.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
This mother, you know.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
And I remember walking through there and kind of being quiet,
and then I see the CRP field. I could see
him on the other side, and I was like, man,
it's over, like.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
There ain't nothing in here.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
I'm just gonna start walking to the CRP and I'm
down on this side of this hill coming up and
at the top of the hill, I see the biggest
buck of my entire life, way of my entire life,
and I can after this, I'll show you what it
was on. I'll go through his Facebook or something. It
was years ago.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
And like I pulled, I pulled up on it.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
I couldn't even he was gone over top of the
hill and I and that time, I just hear him. Okay,
I'll hear my buddy Andy shooting and I'm like, there
ain't no way he hit that month. It's so hard
to hit a deer full run so hard and we
got shotguns, you know, trying to roll on my rabbit. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
And all I hear is B B D B beat

(27:15):
you know, big. But he's screaming, boys, screaming at the
top of his lung. And I still get fired up
thinking about how.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
From you at this moment.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
Man, he's he's maybe seventy yards, but he's above a hill.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
He's over the crest.

Speaker 3 (27:28):
He's over the crest. So there was like he he
couldn't see. I mean, he wasn't gonna shoot me or anything,
but he was like seventy yards from me. And I
can still see that that deer in my my.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Like, so you walk upon it and I walk.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
Up on it and it is a stud I mean,
I mean maybe maybe close to two hundred, you know, stud.
And I was just like, oh, man. But also I
remember like being the youngest of the group. When my
nephew started hunting. That was cool because I would take
him and that was like my first like being with
him and watching him shoot his first deer and being

(28:03):
there and then like, you know, making him got the
deer and like, hey, bro, you got to put war
paint on you know, put your war paint on his
face and put it on his and just I've never
had that experience being with somebody and shooting their first deer,
and that was that was cool moment being my nephew
and watching that.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
It's wild how that takes place, how you feel yourself
go from like the guy that being mad at him, yeah,
to see you start transitioning into this person that loves
the camp. And then there's these young guys ours, nephews,
for nephews, for us too, and it'll be our kids eventually,

(28:41):
but it was nephews first, and man, just seeing them
get the figure it out is almost it's almost better
than learning yourself.

Speaker 3 (28:50):
It is you I'm just seeing the I remember him.
I'm like shooting his first deer and almost shaking out
the tree.

Speaker 2 (28:56):
Oh you know.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
That shake down, buddy, Calm down, Calm down, buddy, just
put it on. You know that that was just as
cool doing it yourself as it was watching through his eyes.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
For sure, just like talking about it.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
I've got a three year little girl and we'll read
books and she's like, we got a book called My
First Hunting Story and it's about it's about a daughter
and a daddy going and the daughter and she's already
She's like, can I go?

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Can Are we gonna go do something this year? And
I'm like, I'm like, yeah, we'll go this year. You know,
I won't take a gun.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
I take a bow just in case something happens, but
we'll go sit in a box line and get out
there and let her let her experience a little bit,
you know.

Speaker 2 (29:33):
That go off a little bit of it.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
Yeah, that's what we did with Eliza. I didn't even
take a gun. We just took a bunch of snacks.
There was a food plight. I knew they were hitting
like crazy. We just sat in a blind and I
actually I think God kind of made this happen. He
just put there were two little bucks up there, and
they kind of fought a little bit. They pushed it
all day and there was just I mean, she's eating cheese,
that's watching this like it was a movie. You know.

Speaker 3 (29:55):
Also, I got my little boys two and a half,
and you know right now, it's been really hard last
couple of years to even hunt, and it's been frustrating. Yeah, dude,
there ain't no time with our with our career, and
and so getting up there, Like I was telling my
wife last night, I was like, I want to hunt
this year. She will win when you don't do it,
you know, like you got to be a dad and
come back here do it. And I was like, yeah,

(30:16):
So I'm really excited when he's like I gotta take
I take my son.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
Can we go? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (30:24):
Yeah, he wants to go. I mean I guess I'm gonna.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
I guess I want.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
You say no to him. You tell him, no, I
ain't go, Daddy can't go. Oh, you tell him.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
Yeah. I've kind of found that like in this stage
of life, in this window of life, and and I've
got we've all got young ones.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
It's like it's almost that like.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
The preparation for hunting is the time in the wood
you get, you know what I'm saying, Like, like you
we we do get to do some hunting just because
you know, it's it's part of kind of our job
a little bit. It's not we don't get paid for it,
but but it's it's good to go do it at
times with certain fols and and do the thing. But like,
at least that's what that's the excuse, That's what I believe.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
We had a podcast called God's Country with a deer
a lot of deer around here.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
But but like it's I find myself wanting to get
out there more like now, like in the summer or spring,
trying to just just prep for it, get b it
things ready and and and that that becomes, you know,
just as important as being able to hunt in the fall,
just time away and time in the woods and kind
of set your mind right. Yeah, that brings me to

(31:36):
an interesting thing I wanted to actually do for the
first time.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
I'm here. I don't know about this.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
Experienced something with my wife this morning. I thought, man,
that would make a great segment, and I think that
it would be called things you Don't Say to your wife.
So I don't know what, so think let's think about
it this right, a little, a little riff right here.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
I think it's something like, if you want to be
happy for the rest of you, maybe.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
You should take our advice. Here's a list of things.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
You know you shouldn't ever say. You should never say.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
You try again, I wanna be happy before the resting.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
Then you should probably take our bye. And here's a
list of things.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Here's a list of things that you should never say
to your wife. All right, pretty good, we'll figure it out. Yeah,
let's cook off the rough alright, So I'll go first,
since I came up with it this morning, she says
from the bathroom. Hey, Dan, Now I'm mid cooking eggs,

(32:52):
and I care about my eggs because they gotta be
right because my kids won't eat them if they're not right,
and I need them to eat them.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
So heads right is right? Is whipping on good?

Speaker 1 (33:03):
Mega?

Speaker 2 (33:03):
Whip mega? Like you know, little milk in them? Well,
I got some lactose running around, so I stay away him.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Not. I would if I didn't have my kids with
their stuff, I would.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
So you can't go cheese in them either.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Then I can do a little, but they don't want cheese.
They just want straight egg, cooked, salt, salt, pepper, No pepper,
don't don't dapt no pepper on my stuff. Now, I
like pepper, Boon likes pepper. She don't want it. She
don't want She wants playing eggs. She wants to see
the salt on the plate. Otherwise you didn't do it.
You didn't do it right.

Speaker 2 (33:35):
So well that's also so she can just lick her
finger and eat the salt.

Speaker 1 (33:39):
Anyway, beside the point I'm in. I'm mid egg bacon in.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
The air fry, whipping in the kitchen, and I have
just like cane.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
Now listen, when I wake up in the morning, it
is contacts, rip a piss. Then it's like dog out
the kennel. Put the stuff on the dog. She can
track the dog. Baby needs some dipercle thing, kids need
paw patrol, get breakfast started. I mean it is gold
you got your go mode. Yeah, it ain't no hanging
out right. So I'm mid. She's back there getting ready

(34:08):
for work, and she goes, hey, could you change buck stopper?

Speaker 2 (34:14):
I said no, straight up.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
I was like, no, Is that the thing you shouldn't
say I'm getting to that.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
That is one thing you should never say.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
But also I said, no, I can't like I'm mid this,
I can't do it.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
Okay, fine, man, I just it's she takes the baby,
she goes back at the back.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
She changed it. After she comes back, She's like, I mean,
I gotta go to work, Dan, I don't know what
you want me to do.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
I was like, maybe get up earlier.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, a friendly that is something that you don't say
you got one. I mean, anything comes to mind. There's
plenty of thing comes to mind that you shouldn't say.
Your wife, man, I'm sure there's plenty.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
I me and my wife, we're we're in this thing
where you know, she stay at home mom, which is
super hard job.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
And that's a job, dude, that's a job.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
People may think.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
That's just chilling, No, sir, Now that is a hard
with little kids.

Speaker 2 (35:18):
No, and so a lot of people would rather be working,
yeah for sure.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
And me and so you know, our our biggest thing
right now is just I'm on the road and so
when I come home, I'm tired too. She's tired balancing
that has been so hard. And I've said, you know,
want one or once or twice probably of like, you know, well,

(35:43):
what do you do here?

Speaker 1 (35:45):
Give me the want? Want?

Speaker 2 (35:46):
Wont give me the want? Want won given the get
on it?

Speaker 1 (35:52):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (35:52):
And that what you do all day?

Speaker 1 (35:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (35:53):
What do you do all day?

Speaker 1 (35:55):
Man?

Speaker 3 (35:55):
And that was what do you do all day? Why
didn't you get why didn't you get him taken to
his thing?

Speaker 1 (36:00):
You know?

Speaker 2 (36:01):
And I was like, we're all fighting the same battle.
What do you do all day? Is a good one.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Nothing coming to mind, dude? I know you said this stuff. Yeah,
I mean I probably wish Jordan.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
You need to get Jordan here.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
She got.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
I guarantee you. She got to know a folder full
of folder.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
Okay, so don't say you should get up earlier to
your wife and also don't say, well what do you
do all day? Great examples of what not to say
to your wife?

Speaker 2 (36:29):
Now you can move on. If we think of one,
well we'll go from there. Okay, good segment.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
If we do things to not say things to her?

Speaker 2 (36:41):
Wise, do you do any other type of hunt?

Speaker 1 (36:43):
Do you do?

Speaker 2 (36:44):
Like? Do you you fish?

Speaker 4 (36:45):
You may?

Speaker 2 (36:46):
I try to?

Speaker 1 (36:47):
I love you know.

Speaker 3 (36:48):
My favorite hunting growing up was was was deer hunting,
and then second was probably dove hunting. I really love
dove hunting, probably because my my best friend did a
lot of dove dove season and and I love eating
do just poppers, well not even that, just like wrap
it and bacon and put some barbecue sauce on on

(37:08):
the far and they're so easy to clean, you know.
Like that's the thing that I like. I love hunting
and stuff. And I also like, I'm a big believer.
You shoot something, you better eat it, yeah, you know,
And so sometimes some of that stuff just takes forever.
And in the dove, it's like pull rip it right
out on the grill instantly. And so I loved of hunting.

(37:30):
And then growing up, I have a lot, a lot
of memories coon hunting, really and me and my grandpa
was a big, big coon hunter.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
That's something we never did. We never got into it.
Oh Man had dog dogs, yeah, the way I had dogs.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
And I spent so many memories in the dark in
the woods sitting on a log next to my grandpa
just waiting on a dog to bat you know. And
that was some of my best memories with my grandpa.
And now you know, they're not worth anything, because back
then you would you know, you get twenty third dollars
for a big coon. We go out, you know, you
kill five or six something, you could have fifty or whatever.

(38:06):
And so like I always think my grandpa had this
old bronco that was just like so old corn was
growing in the floorboards, smell it.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
And in the back you'd have our dog named Brownie,
and Brownie would be in the back of the you know,
of the with you if you could pet him, you know,
and it was just it was just some great, great
memories with my grandpa sitting down there and hear the
dog bark and then you know, you just hunt with
twenty two's and you go see him up on tree,
pop them, you know, and they'd follow the ground.

Speaker 2 (38:32):
It was always a fight with the dog and the coon.

Speaker 3 (38:35):
And yeah, that was that was a lot of a
lot of my cold night winter night falls was with
my grandpa.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
So in the fall, yeah, I guess it.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
Would be in the fall.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
Yeah, I mean that's totally different than this, but yeah,
it was. It was a lot of memories and that
a lot of Kyle Hunt too.

Speaker 2 (38:51):
Really, yeah, we didn't do much Kyle Hunt.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
We just kind of shot him when we saw him,
to be honest with you, and hope that it was
in season, but.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
It always was.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
Yeah, yeah, we.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Don't like codes. Let's uh, let's talk about some music.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
Man.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
What is that.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
It's a big thing raining out Yes, it's tang. I
thought it was a Harley out there ribbon. I was like, man,
y'all used to hearing this all the time. I looked
at him happening over there. Yeah, you were really pro
about that.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
I was just like letting it.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Scared me to death, and he was just steady. That
was a little, little little morning shower, dude. Yeah, sounds
like pooring though. Kind of give us just like a
rundown of how it got started for you. Yeah, man,
I moved to Nashville one hundred years ago. One hundred
years ago. I remember you when you were like ten
years old here, bro, Yeah, I moved here a teenager.

Speaker 3 (39:41):
As a teenager, I remember, yeah, I just turned nineteen
when I moved here.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Rusty got you. Yeah, and were you doing the thing
already in Illinois?

Speaker 3 (39:50):
I was, so I started playing bars, I mean I
started singing in church first was where it was. And
I had a buddy that played in my class and
he was a one of the best guitar players still
to this day, and he did have like perfect pitch.
He'd be one of those guys you'd play, wait are
you question me?

Speaker 1 (40:07):
I'm questioning? Yeah, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 3 (40:08):
That was pretty good close, it was like but he
was one of the guys that could play anything with strings,
and like by thirteen he was tri state Banjoe Champ
of Illinois Missouri in Indiana, and he was just like
that good and we would he that's where I learned
to play acoustic guitar, and so like we would play

(40:29):
I call them old folk dances. But we would go
to like the the what is at the Moose Lodge,
you know, when they would have once a month. They
would want old country music and I would sit off
to the side and just watch their hand.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
Bro what would y'all play?

Speaker 1 (40:40):
What songs? Oh? Man?

Speaker 2 (40:41):
And then yo?

Speaker 1 (40:42):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (40:42):
All you know got swing indoors, a jukebox and a
bar stool, like all Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash. I
would always I only had like a couple of songs.
I'd get up and sing because I was still so learned.
I'd get up and sing folsome prison you know, ring
a fire, that kind of stuff. But he would he
would play all that stuff fifteen sixteen, and I would
just sit side stage and watch his hands. And then

(41:03):
I remember we would have bonfires as buddies and friends
would come over, and his dad was there around one
one night and we were singing, uh long.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
Deck, bottle back the leg gold with my hand.

Speaker 3 (41:17):
Yeah, And so he would sing all the harmonies and
he was incredible, and his dad came out. I was like,
you know, you boys can make a lot of money, Drew,
if you learned to play that guitar, play local bars
around here, Like are you serious? It's like we just
played around the fire as friends. And I always loved
singing and doing it, but I was also so involved
in sports, and so I started going to those old
folk dances, started playing, and then we played some of

(41:38):
our first shows just and we called it John and
Drew and we played you know this bar down the
road from us called Slow Joe's and Slow Joe's, and man,
it got to the point where couldn't fit any person
in the ball really, just the two of us. And
we played for four hours, sometimes five six.

Speaker 2 (41:56):
That's awesome.

Speaker 3 (41:57):
People would come up in the request and he could play.
And at that time, I I remember being so blown
away he could play any song wow that anybody requested that,
I would just all right. And then we'd have a
book because it was before like you could really look
stuff up on the internet. So we just have a
book and we flip through and print out lyrics.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
And that's exactly what me and Jamie did. We would
print out court yard charts, yeah, and then lyrics, and
then we would we had a bonder.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
We flipped through, flipped through it, set up there at
two stools, sing all night, and that's where it really started.
The bug started for me. And then I came down
here at eighteen and met with some folks and I
was going to college up up and by home, and
I told my mom was like, look, I don't I
don't want to go to college. And so every every

(42:40):
month I would come down here for a week and
I'd stay at my cousin's house, who was a publisher
in Nashville, and I would I would sleep on his
couch and I would try to go out and meet people,
meet some friends. And then I ended up moving here
at nineteen and did my second year of school online
and that was terrible.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:58):
But then when I moved here at nineteen, and I
was like, I know this is it. I started playing
at Tutsies and Rippy's and went down there and wow,
I know you did that.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
Yeah, I did that for almost two years.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
And I remember my first number one party, I think
it was honey Bee and I was watching Blake Shelton.
I didn't really understand what everybody did. And I saw
this guy get on stage and just talking about songwriters
and it was Rusty, and I was like, man, I
want to be with a.

Speaker 1 (43:22):
Guy like that.

Speaker 3 (43:23):
And it was like two weeks later, I was playing
upstairs of Tutsis and in walked Rusty. You knew second
he walked in. One hundred percent, really, I knew. I
saw him in the back because it wasn't super full,
and I was like, I'm gonna turn it on. I'm
gonna get up on these speakers. I'm gonna freaking crush
this crap.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
Because people think when you're on stage that you can't
see that. That is a strong misconception. Oh, one hundred percent.
You can see everything, unless like.

Speaker 3 (43:48):
Like right now, unless you're playing some big, you know, festival,
and it's ten o'clock at night and all the lights
are in your eyes. You can't see past the fourth
fifth row, but like that you can see everything.

Speaker 2 (43:59):
Yeah, I saw people get knocked out.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
I saw people cheat on each other from the stage. Yeah,
you go to the bathroom. His wife looked up and
it was done with the time. It was crazy, man,
I saw kind of I saw drugs. You can see it,
the old ball done.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
You can see it all from up there.

Speaker 3 (44:14):
And so I remember when when he walked in, he walked,
he hung out at the bar, didn't look at me
one time, and there was a trash can in front
of the stage. He walked up through his beer in
the trash right in front of me, didn't look at me,
and walked right out for real, for real.

Speaker 1 (44:29):
That was it.

Speaker 3 (44:30):
And that was like, Okay, nobody's paying attention to to
what we're doing down here.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
I gotta find a.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
Different way to get So.

Speaker 3 (44:37):
That was like my last that was I quit almost
in two weeks after that. Really, yeah, because you did
what you had left and the we're like, I gotta
figure so I gotta figure something else out. I gotta
keep writing and get And it was correct one hundred percent.
It was correct, you know. So I always tell everybody
that because you can get you can get real locked
in down there, because you start making money. It's the
first time you're making money.

Speaker 2 (44:57):
Good money too, right, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (44:58):
Yeah, got rent, you got got rent, You got to
pay for stuff. I mean at that time it was
I think my rent was only five hundred bucks, but
that was a lot of money for a nineteen year old,
you know, to figure out and come up with sure
and so yeah, so I started playing toties and repe's
and then about two years in I ended up signing
at twenty one or twenty two with Rusty.

Speaker 1 (45:17):
So how did you circle back around to the did
you tell him that story?

Speaker 3 (45:21):
Oh yeah, he still has no idea to today today,
and I've told him that story. But what happened was
I played a Barbara Cloyd workshop at the Bluebird.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
Remember Barber he remember Barbara Floyd.

Speaker 3 (45:32):
And it was a writer's workshop, and they would bring
publishers in and sit and listen to songs, and all
these people it was like fifty people and Bluebird, and
they all had demos and I couldn't afford any demos,
so I just went up on and played the songs
like in front of everybody with those you're supposed to do.

Speaker 1 (45:49):
It like that is all I know. I don't have
any demos.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
And Janine Appleton at the time, which is now Eboch,
she was at underneath Rusty and I didn't even know it,
you know, And I played a song. She's like, hey,
I really I really liked this song. And I remember
that day I had to go back home to Illinois
to play a cover gig and you can't park in
the parking lot at the Bluebird because it's so small,

(46:14):
all of us in there, like fifty. You have to
park down at this church. So I had to leave
early from the workshop. And Barbara was like, hey, Janine,
on your way out, can you take Drew to the church.
And I'm in the car with Jeanine and she was like, hey,
here's my card. I thought your songs were great and
you're a really great artist. Call me when you get
new music. And so like a month I'm thumping songs,

(46:37):
you know. And it's like a month later, I give
her a call and I'm like, hey, I got these songs.
She's like, come in and playing for him. So I
come in and playing for him. So is this at
this it's at this music Yeah, and she goes, I
think you're great. I want you to meet my boss.
And I go in and I walk in the and
it's Rusty. Did you know it was him? I didn't know,
and I walked in. I was like, oh my gosh,

(46:58):
this is crazy. I remember sitting down, He's like, play
me something. I played something, and uh, he was like,
all right, well, not gonna lie you better. I thought
you were gonna be. That was his first word for me.
And I was like, all right, I take that as
a compliment, I guess. And then you know we've been
He's been my publisher for twelve years.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
Janine, she signed me and I was gonna be her
first sign. She left in six months after signing me
and the rest. He's like, hey, I wouldn't I wouldn't
have had you here if I didn't believe any He
kind of took me under his wing. And you know,
for those twelve years, I didn't have a hit for
eleven of them. Yeah, nothing, and he stuck with me
the whole time.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
Man, that's awesome and treated me like his brother and
his best friend. Wow.

Speaker 3 (47:39):
And that's something I always told him. I'm never gonna
as long as you're a publisher, you're gonna be my publisher. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
That's crazy, man, that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
Yeah. Wow, So talk to me about the hit Man.
How does that come about? Yeah? That that's a long
story too. You know.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
I had a record deal after being rusty for a while,
signed an independent, little small label called Cold Root Records.
And it was like twenty fifteen. I signed a deal
and we'd put a couple of singles out. None of
them really worked. They all died in the forties. And
I took a year to write and I wrote this
song called She's Somebody's Daughter during that time, after meeting
my wife's dad and kind of a message to myself,

(48:16):
and we put it up on Spotify and twenty nineteen
and the same time, I remember singing the vocals for
that day, and I remember thinking, this is my song
that changes my life.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
You remember thinking that.

Speaker 3 (48:27):
I remember thinking that, and I went and sang the
vocal on it, and I go out and sit in
my car and I pull up Country air Check and
at the top of Country and for everybody out there,
Country Aircheck kind of tells us it's a big email
blast that tells all artists, songwriters, business people, what's going
on in country music? And at the top of it,
it says to Neil Towns going to radio on a

(48:48):
song called Somebody's Daughter, and I was like, you gotta
be freaking Kidney, this is my favorite song. Mine's called
She's Somebody's Daughter. Hers is called Somebody's Daughter. And I
was like, well, I can't. I can't send that to
radio now.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Don't something like that always happen. It's crazy. It feels
like something like that always happened.

Speaker 3 (49:04):
It's like everybody's, you know, when something happens in the world,
everybody's And it wasn't like her song was totally different
than Mineyeah, you know, but I remember being like, well,
she sent it to radio, now I can't. I just
they put it out on Spotify and just sit there and,
by the grace of God looking back, talk about what
a guy moment, because my label closed in three months
after putting that song up on Spotify. And it's like, well,

(49:26):
we sent another song to radio and the song got
it was called Middle of Nowhere Kids, and it got
to fifty and they closed. Wow, And I was like,
oh my gosh, like what do I do? And it
was always my favorite song. It was kind of upbeat.
Back then, it was up tempo. The label really wanted
to be up sound like the radio. And me and
my wife got married in twenty one and I was like,

(49:48):
she loved that song so much. I said, we'll go
in and make a version where you can dance with
it with your dad. And so I made this, me
and Gordon Mote, amazing piano player, Me and him and
a cello lair went in and we done it like
a couple of takes, just saying it so she could
dance to it with her dad, just for her, just
for her wedding and for our wedding. Yeah, her wedding,

(50:10):
her wedding. Yeah, Yeah, that's that's what I'm making up for.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
What I said, Yeah, that's something you don't tell your wife,
is that it's your wedding, it's my wedding.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
Yeah, it's her wedding. So I remember I making it.

Speaker 3 (50:23):
I made this just for her, and she danced it
with her dad, and I remember hearing it for the
first time and just crying because it hit me so
differently than the upbeat version. It was just like I
felt so much more emotion on it and we were
on our honeymoon, and I remember we were standing in
line to get like ice, you know, flavored ice or

(50:47):
whatever that is. And I said, hey, babe, this my
this line is a quarter mile long. Like I'm gonna
go make a TikTok in the car and it's almost
divorced right then, Oh, you're gonna work while we're on honeymoon.
And I was like, just this, this, this one thing. I said,
I just feel like this song is going to hit
people like So I went and set in this rental
car and I posted it on TikTok and I just said, hey,

(51:08):
if you guys like this, I'll put it out, you know.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
And I woke up.

Speaker 3 (51:11):
We at this time, mind you, I lost my record deal,
I lost my manager, I lost everything. I had four
failed singles. Everything closed for me. It was twenty twenty one.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
This has been through. This is covids. That smells like
the end. It's kep caction for the end for people
who aren't listening. Yeah, and this I've been in Nashville.
I moved in twenty eleven.

Speaker 3 (51:30):
I was in Nashville for ten years this time, and
everybody giving up on me. My publishing switch because this
music got bought out by Sony, so I didn't have
a publishing deal anymore cause Sony, because Rusty went to
Sony and he was trying to figure out how to
get me over there.

Speaker 1 (51:45):
Yeah, along with eight or nine other writers he was
trying to That was a.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
Whole Yeah, that was a whole thing.

Speaker 1 (51:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (51:50):
And so here I am no nothing, and I post
this song and I wake up the next morning. I'll
never forget it. We were in this little condo we
rented out. We were in Hawaii. My uncle had a
time share and he gave me. He gave me the
time that was this present to us. He said, if
you can buy your flights there.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
Big Island, Big Island. Yeah, that's We went to Maui
on my honeymoon. That dude, all that place over there
is paradise. Oh, it's paradise, paradise. And I remember waking
up the next morning.

Speaker 3 (52:15):
I did because I didn't look at anymore because I
was like, I'm already pushing my limits, like coasting this.
So I woke up the next morning I was like,
I'm I hurry up and look at this. Four she
wakes up and dude, I had almost ten.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
Million views oh, ten million.

Speaker 3 (52:26):
Yeah, it was like seven seven something million views in
a day, in a day, and I jumped hundreds of
thousands of followers in a day overnight, and I remember being.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
Like, wake up, cause look at this crap, you know,
and freeing out.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (52:41):
And I was playing people's backyards at this time because
it was the only way I could play. And I
remember landing from our landing from our honeymoon, I went
out and I played twenty backyards in nineteen days, and
just me and my tour manager. We had a sprinter
vand that I owned, and just driving around playing people's backyards,
and all of a sudden, I mean, it just started.

(53:01):
This trend on TikTok called the daughter trend. Some some
girl did the after that that day. The next day
she did a post where it was her said, boys
listening to these lyrics, and she acted out every verse.
She's more than just a pretty face sitting in a
bar jeans in a car, and then the whole chorus
was her growing up with her dad.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
And I watched this.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
And I sobbed, so I just do do edited I
my first duet ever, I was like, hey, guys, look
at this.

Speaker 1 (53:26):
This is amazing.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
Well that video got eight million, and then every girl
around the world started doing this trend.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
So by then you're smoking.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
It's smoking, it's doing numbers I ain't never seen. And
it's like I can't even keep up with how many
videos are being made the table zero what zero labels
called zero what? Yeah, exactly millions, And I was and
I would go meet with them and they're like, yeah,
but like, you know, these TikTok things, we don't know

(53:56):
how real they are.

Speaker 2 (53:57):
Oh, this was so brand new.

Speaker 3 (53:59):
Yeah, I mean it was just like Priscilla Block just
got a deal off her. Bailey's just coming around the
first Yeah, yeah, first Bailey just put his first couple
of videos out. He's getting looked at by labels, but
also think like I'm the guy that had four failed singles.
All these other people are brand new, so they're all
looking at the shiny thing being like, well, we'll take this,

(54:20):
and I can't blame them, bro, where were.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
You, like faith wise in this? Like how dark did
it get? For real? It got dark?

Speaker 1 (54:29):
Man?

Speaker 3 (54:29):
And luckily I had my wife next to me through
all of this, and there would be a lot of
times I don't know what I'm doing i'd just be
a songwriter. So I started reaching out to buddies and
just like, hey man, I'll go out with you on
the road and try to write songs. And yeah, it
got it got real dark. A lot of conversations, a
lot of conversations with God saying, if you want me

(54:51):
to keep doing this.

Speaker 1 (54:52):
Open a door, man, show me a sign, no doubt,
you know.

Speaker 3 (54:55):
And I had several of those conversations, Like when I
lost my deal. I remember full on sitting on a
couch and we were at my wife's she was just
my girlfriend at the time, her apartment. She left and
I was sitting there and I was crying because I
was like, I got this girl, I want to marry.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
I'm broke. I don't know what to do. I can't
do nothing.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
I remember just fulling out loud talking God, if you
want me to do this, I need something right now,
I gotta have I need it literally, and I got
goosebumps and you can see it on me t I
was like, I need something.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
I've been in the bottom of boat said the same thing, yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:33):
And I was.

Speaker 3 (55:34):
It was ten seconds I get a text from a radio.
I mean I'm goosed up. I mean seconds, ten seconds,
I get a text from a radio guy in Saint
Louis that said it, Hey, bro, I just want to
say everything that you put out is amazing. I'm so
sad that you lost your record deal. You keep going,
You're gonna end up having a career in this business.

Speaker 2 (55:56):
Gee.

Speaker 3 (55:57):
And I'm crying, like I'm almost crying right now because
and I years later I told him about that how
important that text was, and he didn't even know it.
But it's weird how God uses people. And in that moment,
and so man, it was it was really really dark,
and it got really hard because you know, at this moment,
fast forward a few years later, I'm still trying to

(56:18):
do this because I heard that from God. Don't give up.
Keep doing this, You're gonna figure it out. And so
here I am, twenty twenty one, playing these backyards songs, ripping,
doing crazy numbers. And then Bailey Zimmerman, my buddy who
grew up twenty minutes from me. You know, I brought
him to nash Nashville. We started writing songs in my
living room, work together, and I'm watching his Hey, you know,

(56:42):
he's called me. Warner wants to me, Universal wants to me,
and I'm like so stoked for him, but on the inside,
I'm also like, why don't they what about me?

Speaker 1 (56:52):
Yeah, you know, and what about totally natural feeling? Yeah,
and now you got a little you got a little
something to back it up, You got some you got
a song that's working freaking yeah.

Speaker 2 (57:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (57:02):
And I would go meet with labels and they'd be like, well,
you know, for us to sign you, we need to
see this dude seven hundred and fifty thousand streams a week,
and I was like, dude, is out four months.

Speaker 1 (57:11):
It's got sixteen million.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
Yeah, dude, like it's.

Speaker 3 (57:14):
A million a week, and they're like, oh my gosh.
And then it would be like the night the Nashville No.
You know, they just not text you back. And the
only thing I think of was like I was damaged goods.
You know, here's an artist's been in town for ten years,
just like you said, you've seen me walking around here
as a scrangy little kid for years years and like, yeah, hey,
this guy's been everybody knows me, Like it never worked,

(57:35):
why would we jump in on this? And so fast
forward two years later, twenty twenty three, this song is
still doing million streams a week and it's still.

Speaker 2 (57:45):
Two years been out.

Speaker 3 (57:46):
Yeah, and it's still crushing on. Every post I do
gets hundreds of thousands, millions of videos made. And here
I am sitting and I'm like, I'm talking to a
radio guy, buddy. He's like, what you got going on?
I was like, man, everybody tells me to give up
on this daughter song. I gotta move on. But I'm
telling you, dude, there's something here and I just need

(58:07):
a record deal. And he was like, well, why do
you need a record deal? And in your mind, it's
to push the single, it's to go to radio's for
the listener. That's what a label does, right, And in
the minds of Nashville, in order to break through that barrier,
you have to have that label help to do it correct.

Speaker 2 (58:24):
Yeah, you have to have label promo staff to go
to radio and to work, and especially right now in
a time where radio is king man still is.

Speaker 1 (58:33):
Yeah. I think that's what I want to make sure
the listener understands. You can't just take a song like
you can't just well anyway you'll show you'll show that. Yeah. Yeah,
well it was just supposed to. Yeah, it's not you.
It is hey, you have to have a label. They
own radio, they have their relationships, all this stuff. I
remember talking to this radio guy and he was like,
you know, everybody at radio, call him, ask him to

(58:56):
play it, start your own staff.

Speaker 3 (59:00):
I was like, are you you think this will work?
And he's like, man, he's like, I'll I'll ride it
with you. His name's Tim Richards and he was in
Phoenix and we just had a really good relationship, and
so I just started calling radio. Everybody had in my phone.
I was like, look, have you heard this song. She's
somebody's daughter like, oh yeah, we love it. And I
was like, I'm thinking I'm gonna do it myself. I

(59:21):
hire my own team. I said, if you have, because
at this time, labels were really making big changes here
in Nashville. They were letting go of some of their
radio folks at radio because they're backing down because right now,
what's happening in our in our business of music is
writers make money at radio. Labels do not. Labels make

(59:42):
money at streaming because they own the master. And so
there's this big thing where labels are like, well, we're
going to put all our chips in this streaming world.
Let's let go of some of our radio people and sure,
we'll take less to radio and more to streaming. And
so I saw all these people letting go of their
radio staff. So I started calling radio peoples, whould hire
who's some of your favorite people? And they gave me

(01:00:03):
lists of names, and I started seeing the same names
pop up. So I just cold I was like, send
me the number, and I just cold call these people
and be like, hey, I got a song.

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
I'll pay you to send it to radio. Come with me,
help me with this.

Speaker 3 (01:00:16):
And and so I just created my own team, hired
it by the streaming money that I was receiving from
daughter every month, and created my own sent my own
song to radio, and was like, Hey, I'm gonna try this.
And everybody's like, bro, you're crazy, what what what are
you getting out of this? My manager's even sitting in
here and we were talking about that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
It never happened before, right, literally had never had never
an independent artist taken a song.

Speaker 3 (01:00:42):
It's for their first number one. So there was Garth
Brooks did it with Pearl on his on his record
label considered after he had he is established, this is established.
There's never been an artist to do it. As their
first number one. Garth Brooks did it, and I think
Tracy Lawrence did it with find Out Who Your Friends Are,
and maybe Kenny Rogers. They all created their own record

(01:01:02):
labels after they had Yeah, success, success in millions and
millions out of the gate never happened.

Speaker 1 (01:01:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
I remember hearing that you were crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:01:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
I remember people saying, I remember he heard this, heard
what he's doing. There's no way it's going to work.

Speaker 1 (01:01:18):
And I remember hearing people say, nah, labels will shoot
that down before it ever has the chance on the
inside to ever go. Yeah. And so the songwriter town,
the songwriters in the town were like rooting our asses.

Speaker 3 (01:01:32):
Everybody was like yeah, yeah, Well that's what was so
cool is that it became I had nobody, mind you
at this time, no manager, no label, no booking agent.
I was running all of it, and I was running
the label. I was we have Yeah. Every Monday, we'd
have calls and I was like, all right, this is

(01:01:52):
our strategy. This is the radio guy we're gonna go
after today. I'll call him. You know, you work on
this guy. I'll work on that guy, and let's try
to figure this out, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:02:00):
And meanwhile, the song is steadily climbing or has not
even entered. Man, it took me.

Speaker 3 (01:02:05):
We sent it August twenty first to radio or August
twenty third and twenty twenty three, and it didn't chart boys,
I mean top fifty till January. Wow, it took me
five months, six months almost to chart to get top fifty.
By chart, I mean top fifties, in the fifty, in
the fifties, and so that's why it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
Shows up on the list. By the way, fifty fifteen
up shows up on the list. I am spending every
dime that comes in probably.

Speaker 3 (01:02:34):
Yeah, everything comes in from streaming. I remember having conversations
with God at three am. I have a little boy.
At this time, he's six months old. He's laying in
the middle of me and my wife, and my wife
is on board one hundred percent. She was like, I
believe in you. I believe this has always been my
favorite song. She goes, but don't tell me how much
money we're spending. Just do what you gotta do. And

(01:02:56):
so I would be up at night knowing this month
I've paid so many people to pull off what I
needed to pull off. I spent my like enough to
put my son through college for a year and I'm
down in the kitchen like pacing every day, probably every night,
scared to death and have to you know, half the

(01:03:18):
people I meet, I know, they're like, dude, it's awesome
what you're doing. But man, that's got to be our
you know. And there's no real person that's in my
shoes in this moment, but there's nobody talked to. I
would talk to Tim Richard's the radio guy, said do this,
and he was with me all through it all. And
I remember my wife coming down and being like, you know, hey,

(01:03:38):
remember why you're doing this. It's the message of this
song is important. Treat people, treat woman right. And I
would just I mean, I'm almost crying now, I'd be like,
you're right, it's not. She's like every person that hears
this song is another person that needs to hear it.
And no matter how far we get, you doing everything

(01:04:00):
that you can to do that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:02):
And uh, that's the support every man needs in his life,
no doubt. Yeah, and the conviction too. And there be
times that she'd come down and you know, she'd be like,
what are we doing?

Speaker 2 (01:04:12):
Like remember what you told me? Yeah, we're still doing that.
We're still doing that. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:04:17):
So I mean it took me five months to get
top fifty, and I remember like just coming up with
plans like Dallas just straight up told me like, we're
never going to play this song, and they have a reason,
and they'd be like, first off, you're not in a major.
We have all these majors calling us every day, right,
And secondly, it's a ballad, you know you're yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
That's what I didn't even think about that. That's another
thing against you.

Speaker 3 (01:04:42):
What's the reason for us to play this? And I
would show up all the numbers and finally, you know
what I learned in this process is radio relies on
testing so much. What they do is they your songs
that we write every day are judged by twelve seconds.
And what they do is they put they send it
out their top forty to four hundred, five hundred people

(01:05:03):
that listen to them as they're called P one P
one listeners. I know nothing about this, and they write
down what think seconds they liked. They you have to
give them the twelve second so what oh, you give
them the hook? Yeah, or they picked the hook. Radio
will pick the hook. Well yeah, So a lot of
these times I would get bad research or whatever. I'm like,

(01:05:24):
what part are you playing? And they'd say, oh, this
part of the second verse, like no, no, no, play
twelve cent. So I would created my own hook, like
started the chorus and so.

Speaker 2 (01:05:33):
What twelve seconds? What were you playing?

Speaker 3 (01:05:35):
It was right, she somebody's dollar, somebody's everything, because that's
what was TikTok. That's what everybody was ripping on TikTok.
So it was in their head and how they judges.
Radio just wants to play familiar stuff. They want people
to love it, but it needs to be you know,
to get in top twenty, all that stuff needs to
be eighty percent familiar, ninety percent familiar because they want

(01:05:56):
they don't want people to turn if they don't know it,
which I get.

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
Yeah, And so I remember thinking.

Speaker 3 (01:06:03):
Telling Dallas, just test it, don't even play it, and
if it tests better than anything you're playing, play it,
and if it doesn't, don't ever play it. And it
took me weeks and weeks and weeks to like get
them to try to test it because they're like, hey,
we got all these other songs that were actually playing.
We want to see how good they're doing. And I
was like, well, if you ever get a spot, you know.

(01:06:24):
Our team was like, if you ever get a spot,
just test it. And finally they put it and test it,
just so everybody knows out there, Dallas is like one
of the stations everybody looks at in.

Speaker 2 (01:06:32):
The before world.

Speaker 3 (01:06:33):
It's a big one. It's top five station. The guy
that runs it is very like important, like a lot
of people respect, influential cat. And so he tested it
and he called the guy on my team back that
week and said, it tested so high.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
It's a fluke. I got a.

Speaker 2 (01:06:50):
Retest, no way.

Speaker 3 (01:06:52):
And then two weeks later he called back. He said,
I haven't played this song one time. It's just it's
my number two song on my whole list. I got
to immediately start playing this in medium. And I was like,
let's go to everybody in the country tell them to test.

Speaker 2 (01:07:06):
It, you know, because when now this guy's doing it,
so why yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:07:10):
And so then we could share that and be like, hey,
this is number two in Dallas, right, you know. And
then it was like, hey, this is number one in Houston.
And it was just like.

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
Did you just see the ball start rolling? I mean,
that's ball right there.

Speaker 3 (01:07:21):
It just started rolling down the hill and here, I
am no nothing, you know, I mean we got we
ended up getting top twenty, and it just once we
got to fifty, it moved, or like thirty top twenty,
it just cooked. Because everybody started testing. It was the
biggest testing song that they had, right, and so everybody
started really paying attention. And I remember being top ten

(01:07:45):
with no label, no manager, no booking agent, and being
like playing backyards, playing backyards.

Speaker 1 (01:07:52):
Look what the frick we're doing?

Speaker 2 (01:07:53):
Y yeah? Sure, you know everybody was like that. Everybody
around town was saying the same thing, and it was
just haters. Ye hate. I remember there's some little hate
rolling around. Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
And then I remember like always going to be, always
going to be if you're doing anything correct, somebody, Yeah,
if you're doing what is on your heart and doing
what you're supposed to be doing something. There were some naysayers,
and then there were some guys. I specifically remember talking
to a radio guy. I won't say who it is,
but it was like, no, we're making it happen. We're
making that happen because this guy deserves this. I remember
exactly who it was. And I was like, well, good

(01:08:24):
for y'all, man, because you know, as a writer. We
don't have any real.

Speaker 3 (01:08:27):
No, but I remember about then top twenty, top fifteen,
the whole town coming around me, Like I had nothing,
but I had the whole community. Even other label reps
were calling me, tell me, hey, bro, come to my office.
Let's let's help you game plan.

Speaker 1 (01:08:41):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (01:08:41):
So let's sit down and radio call me he's like, hey,
we got your back writers saying bro, we're rooting for you.
Everything shifted, like, hey, what you're doing is breaking a
barrier for us.

Speaker 2 (01:08:52):
Sure, and it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:53):
Became it did a monumental moment because now low Cash
had a number one as an independent artist, you know,
and I think Chris Jansen started his own thing, and
all these other artists are starting their own thing, and
people are calling me of like can we send these
songs to radio? And as writers, we need that, we
need songs on radio. For so long it was a

(01:09:13):
barrier that could never be broken. And now I think
it's like, hey, we we did it. It's proven. You
need a hit song, you know, song that's going to
move some mountains, but it can be done. And so
that's what really fired me up was there was nobody,
but by the end we had the whole town grooving
us song from from Labels to Everything, and being like,

(01:09:37):
you know, hey, I remember, because you know it's all
like when you first started talking about is like labels,
you said you labels weren't going to let me in,
you know, they were going to own that. But then
they were like, now let's get let's let's let him
get it, you know, And then I would I had
a guy hired, and you talked to other labels about
who's going for number ones this week, who's going number

(01:09:57):
ones that week? Trying to find your slot, try to
find your slot, like, well, when can I squeeze in
and hopefully tell all the labels, Hey, we're gonna tell
all radio this is our week. Y'all gather around it
cool or are we cool? Is everybody good? Figuring that
out was very like a whole new thing for me
being on those conversations. So, you know, because you're talking

(01:10:18):
to heads.

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
Of yeah, all these labels, they kind of control country
music a little bit.

Speaker 1 (01:10:23):
Yeah yeah, I mean the big wigs. Yeah, and we're
trying to be in that. Can you play something? Can
you give us a little bit of it? Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:10:31):
Yes, a little touch, just so our listener, here's it.

Speaker 1 (01:10:33):
I want to I want you to show me where
the twelve seconds was that you sent them to. Uh,
I know it's nine in the morning.

Speaker 5 (01:10:43):
Yeah, she somebody's dog. She somebody's everything. She's somebody's little girl.
Even if she's blowing up and moved on.

Speaker 2 (01:10:55):
She somebodies. Oo, she soonbodies. And if you don't treaty ride,
hers won't be the only hot jobreak she somebody. He's done. Yeah, man,
let's go get there.

Speaker 1 (01:11:17):
What a beautiful story, man, Yes, and when it was
so when it went, where were you when it went? Man?

Speaker 2 (01:11:23):
This is a crazy story too.

Speaker 1 (01:11:25):
I remember.

Speaker 3 (01:11:28):
A month out I was I mean, I was running
this label, so I was on calls.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
With West Coast. You're probably exhausted. I'm exhausted, and my
wife's exhausted.

Speaker 1 (01:11:39):
But at this time you can see the light. We're
seeing the light. But I remember my wife coming to
me month.

Speaker 2 (01:11:44):
Or two out. You got six month old too.

Speaker 1 (01:11:46):
At this moment. Yeah, Well, I mean it's he's a
little older now. He's about as it took us. Yeah,
full of years, probably a year and a half.

Speaker 3 (01:11:52):
We sent this August twenty first, and it ended up
going number one August twenty sixth, and I remember being
in June or July, and my manager's here now, so
he could probably attest to this. My wife goes into
my calendar all the time and puts Drew off, and
everybody can see it because she was like, she's like Drew.
I remember coming to me a month or two months

(01:12:13):
out and be like, Hey, this week, I'm gonna two
months from now, I'm putting your off that whole week.

Speaker 1 (01:12:19):
I don't know what we're gonna do. We're gonna find something,
we're gonna go, we're.

Speaker 2 (01:12:22):
Going to be doing this. We ain't doing this.

Speaker 3 (01:12:24):
You ain't gonna be on the phone, you ain't gonna
be playing radio shows. It's gonna be Drew off. So
she went in my calendar two months out and put
Drew off. And that was the week we went number one.
Swear on everything, he'sad, I is it. That was the
week we went number one. We were on a beach
together justin Florida, and that was such like a god

(01:12:47):
affirming moment of like, Hey, this is my wife that
believed in all this, and she picked I mean, she
picked the week that I knew that I needed to
be off to enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (01:13:01):
That's sick.

Speaker 3 (01:13:02):
And so we spent just sitting on a beach with
it going number one, sitting on a beach going number one,
and everybody's blowing dude, you did it. Yeah, and I
just celebrated with my wife and it was just like nuts,
that's crazy. That was one of the most craziest parts
of all of it, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:13:18):
Jeez, man, congratulated.

Speaker 1 (01:13:22):
You broke down barriers man for for a lot of
folks that that had no hope, you know, but could go, Okay,
I can still do this.

Speaker 3 (01:13:32):
What I think was so cool in all this is
it felt pretty selfish for a while of like you sure,
here I got this little boy, and I'm spending this
money from my dream and you know, my thing, my thing.
But then when we got top fifteen, top twenty, man,
all the independent artists started reaching out like, hey, bro,

(01:13:52):
I was going to give up.

Speaker 1 (01:13:54):
I saw you. I'm not giving up.

Speaker 3 (01:13:57):
Wow, how many of you know? Then we went nonumber one,
and how many people reached out. I was like, bro,
I want to do that, Like, can can you talk
to me on the phone, tell me how you did it?

Speaker 1 (01:14:06):
Yeah, I'm an open book. Yeah, I'm not going to
hide nothing. To hide.

Speaker 3 (01:14:10):
Let me tell you how we did it. Let me
tell you how I went through. And now I think
back on that and I hope and maybe God has
a plan for this. Is how many independent artists that
we gave him a little fire?

Speaker 2 (01:14:21):
Yeah, now I absolutely has a plan for it.

Speaker 1 (01:14:23):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:14:23):
Now one day we're going to hear their songs. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:14:26):
And that's how he works, right, Like he takes you know,
one thing that you're doing that he's convicted you with,
and it's spreading it like wildfire throughout you know, a
generation of country music and country artists and using it
for your sake, but as well as using it for
their sake. And I mean, arguably that's a country music miracle, dude,

(01:14:46):
absolutely for real to be able to just take a
song fight with these people for a long time to
the point that they eventually rich his country to David life.

Speaker 2 (01:14:56):
Bro it is.

Speaker 3 (01:14:57):
I would tell everybody that on the calls, like, bro,
we're Dave, Yeah, man, you know, we're we're songs the
stone and the guy that helped me run this team
and until this day, which is so cool, I've kept
them on like my staff, and you know, they helped
me work tough people yeah, I still have my little label.
And now this label that I've created is working hard,

(01:15:19):
fought Hallelujah by Jelly, rolling Brandon Lake with country radio,
and so my team is working this song talking about God.
That's how God works to country radio. And we just
broke top forty on Billboard last week. And so it's
just I remember that guy that ran it would always
be like, man, you always talk, because not that he

(01:15:41):
wasn't a believer, but I'd always say, dude, there's something
divine touching this. And every week we wouldn't get an
AD or whatever an ad would happen, and by an ad,
I mean a station would add our song just for
listeners out there. And he'd be like, man, I don't know,
you keep talking there's something divine on this because it
just keeps going. And I don't know how this should
not work, but it is.

Speaker 1 (01:16:01):
I know it.

Speaker 2 (01:16:01):
I know it. Yeah, man, that's incredible. That's so great.

Speaker 1 (01:16:05):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:16:05):
So what's next for you? What you got? What you
got coming up?

Speaker 1 (01:16:08):
So?

Speaker 3 (01:16:08):
I am working on a brand new record and we're
putting out Monday, I spent until two am working on
a music video with another artist who I absolutely love
named Emily and Roberts, and we're putting She's great. We're
putting a due ad out together. I don't know when
this podcast is going to air, but it comes next week.
I think July July twenty fifth.

Speaker 2 (01:16:31):
This one's the next Tuesday.

Speaker 3 (01:16:32):
Okay, so it comes out July twenty fifth. So it's
not out yet. Is that it's out Friday. It's out Friday, Friday.
You'll get it Friday.

Speaker 1 (01:16:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:16:40):
So we just started teasing it and we're revealing who's
actually on it today because we've been saying who's singing
it today?

Speaker 2 (01:16:49):
Is today? Today?

Speaker 1 (01:16:50):
Today? Today? What? Last week?

Speaker 2 (01:16:53):
Last week as people are listening, Yeah, last week.

Speaker 1 (01:16:55):
Because people are listening, this will already be known that
till you guys will do this this is live.

Speaker 2 (01:17:00):
Yeah, sorry about that, but no.

Speaker 3 (01:17:03):
So it'll be out Friday, in y'all's terms, July twenty fifth,
and then after that we're going to be putting out
some songs all year. And one song I'm really fired
up about that I wanted to talk on this on
this podcast about that we're going to put out is
a hunting song for in middle September. It's going to
be all based around hunting. And my you know, talking

(01:17:25):
to my dad about going hunting and.

Speaker 1 (01:17:27):
The way it's coming out in September, it's gonna be
coming out, and said, I'm going to make you play it,
but if it's coming out, yeah, I can't do.

Speaker 3 (01:17:32):
That, No, I can. I'll tell you it's called call
me if you get one. And my dad used to
say that to me all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:17:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:17:39):
And I actually didn't even write this song. Jordan Walker
pitched it to me and said, dude, I don't know
if this hits you. And it was everything that my
dad used to call me and then my grandpa would
do the same and now hope to do it one
day with my little boy.

Speaker 2 (01:17:53):
Sure, And so I think everybody on this you'll you'll
really like it.

Speaker 3 (01:17:58):
So be on the lookout for that hunting song based
off family, which is cool.

Speaker 1 (01:18:02):
Yeah, that's great, that's great. Jeez, that's so awesome.

Speaker 4 (01:18:06):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:18:06):
It's still like seems to me even through that whole
process that like the fire is even intensifying even more after.
It's kind of like that feels like the climax, right,
like like taking a song number one never been done before.
It's kind of like, oh man, I can chill after that,
but it almost seems like you've got like this thing

(01:18:26):
about you. Now that's that's like even more on fire
to keep going.

Speaker 3 (01:18:30):
Man. Yeah, and I think there for so long. I
was in town for thirteen years before number one, and
it starts and you guys know this as songwriters, where
you start feeling like maybe I ain't good enough, maybe
maybe this will never work, maybe maybe my song suck.
And that was the moment when I was like, I'm
not an idiot, like this, what I'm making does matter,

(01:18:54):
and it put me on fire to be.

Speaker 2 (01:18:56):
Like, Okay, you recognize your word.

Speaker 3 (01:18:58):
I recognized it a little, but I also recognized the
kind of songs that I need to be making. And
you know, we put out Tough People, which got top ten,
which was super exciting, and that was another song that
was a big message statement, and it's like God kind
of gave me this second chance and I just want
to be want to honor that. And so the songs
that were putting out, there's a lot of big ideas
is going to be on this record, and hopefully before

(01:19:20):
the end of the year we'll pick another song and
go to radio with it. But right now I'm so
on fire. We've been out on we got since we
went number one. If you would have told me when
I sent this song to radio. Me and I keep
talking about Alex, my manager, sitting over here when we
were decided to take this to radio.

Speaker 1 (01:19:41):
All I wanted was a top forty. That was my dream.

Speaker 3 (01:19:45):
And then now we went number In a year and
a half, we went number one and went out on
toar with Cody Johnson. We're out on tour with Bailey
Zimmerman all summer. I got my first bus, I got
a second top ten. I just like, we're sitting back
and we're like, man, what a dream.

Speaker 1 (01:20:04):
And that's why you're investing what you invested to get
it to go, because that just having number one opens
everything everything.

Speaker 3 (01:20:10):
And I remember getting on the bus and still to
this day we talk about it. We played Bridgestone. I
remember sitting on the stage at Bridgestone in February opening
for Cody Johnson, and I looked at him and I said,
we wouldn't be here.

Speaker 1 (01:20:22):
Without the chance.

Speaker 3 (01:20:24):
No, we would have been here without taking that would
be like, you know what, screw it, We're gonna take
the chance to send daughter to radio. Without that, we're
not standing in the middle of Bridgetone where I used
to play cross the Street at Rippy's trying to get
people to give me five bucks, you know. And so
it's like sometimes for everybody listening, just take the chance.

Speaker 1 (01:20:43):
Come on, man, something on your heart. Go do it.

Speaker 2 (01:20:45):
It's great, it's great. I can't believe it's been an
hour and a half. Sorry, it was incredible.

Speaker 1 (01:20:55):
It just keeps the story that keeps giving to man,
there's so much in there to digest.

Speaker 2 (01:21:00):
Dude. Well, man, we're rooting for you.

Speaker 1 (01:21:03):
Brongratulations and voice on n and man, we're rooting for you.

Speaker 2 (01:21:07):
Thank you, guys, thanks so much for having to deserve it.

Speaker 1 (01:21:09):
Man, you came up gigging and man you got a
you got a deep well to draw from.

Speaker 3 (01:21:15):
Well, thanks boys, and hopefully there's more to come. Let's
get in the writing room.

Speaker 2 (01:21:19):
Let's write up.

Speaker 1 (01:21:20):
I'm do it.

Speaker 2 (01:21:22):
We do a thing. Uh, we do a favorite song?

Speaker 1 (01:21:25):
I love it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:21:26):
Yeah, we kind of talked about this earlier, a little
bit before the camera started rolling. Yeah, what's your what
is it for you?

Speaker 1 (01:21:32):
Man?

Speaker 2 (01:21:33):
Threw Baldridge.

Speaker 1 (01:21:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:21:34):
Growing up, Josh Turner was one of my favorite artists
and uh we uh when I played the Opry for
the first time. I told everybody's story about how Josh
was my favorite artist.

Speaker 1 (01:21:44):
We always used it.

Speaker 2 (01:21:45):
One of my voice changed. I thought it was cool.
I could sing low.

Speaker 3 (01:21:48):
We could never sing as low as Josh Turner, but
I sang your man on the Josh Turner stage, Josh
Turner stage, on that Grand Opry tache.

Speaker 2 (01:21:55):
Might as well be the Joshner. Yeah, he's so good
on there, he's incredible.

Speaker 3 (01:22:00):
But he came out on stage in surprise and sing
this with me, and so it's uh.

Speaker 1 (01:22:08):
There you go.

Speaker 2 (01:22:11):
Oh you're giving us a little intro. Look at that's
about go on man on pro.

Speaker 3 (01:22:16):
All right, baby, locked the door and turned the lights
down a load, and put some music on itself and slow, baby,
we ain't got no place to go. I hope you

(01:22:36):
understand what I've been thinking about.

Speaker 2 (01:22:40):
This all day long. He never felt a feeling quiet
too strong.

Speaker 3 (01:22:49):
I can't believe how much it turns me on.

Speaker 2 (01:22:55):
Just to be on me.

Speaker 5 (01:23:00):
Ain't nobody, even them, nobody.

Speaker 4 (01:23:06):
Way that I love you. We're along now. You don't
know how long I wanted.

Speaker 3 (01:23:18):
To lock the door and turn the lights down, puts
on music.

Speaker 2 (01:23:26):
Cone it's salt and slow, baby, we ain't got no
please to go.

Speaker 3 (01:23:35):
I hope you understink your boss the cosm.

Speaker 2 (01:23:45):
How you playing your whole life right there? Well we
uh we warmed it up a little bit, bro, We
got you a little uh, we got your little gift.
Show might be in your size.

Speaker 1 (01:23:56):
Put out check them out to COVID.

Speaker 2 (01:24:00):
Yeah, look at this. They can put them a nice
they're not. They smell good to you. You smell them
sticky nose in there. Oh man, you can smell them.
These are nice.

Speaker 1 (01:24:08):
Thanks, thanks for coming on. Yeah, dB, we were rooting
for you. We appreciate you coming on. You're awesome. This
was great.

Speaker 2 (01:24:15):
Your song is awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:24:16):
Keep like somebody shout a broadhead through there there. Yeah,
it would be a nice set up target tune in
the I love it. Thanks for listening, Drew Baldridge, Thanks
for having me. Man, He's awesome. Keep keep rolling and
we'll keep h We'll keep supporting.

Speaker 2 (01:24:34):
Check them out. This falls on the on the Road
with where.

Speaker 1 (01:24:37):
I Bailey Zimmerman.

Speaker 2 (01:24:38):
We're hitting the Fall again in September with Cody Johnson.
Here you go music out this Friday. That's right. Appreciate y'all.
Thanks Manus check you out next time.

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Dan Isbell

Reid Isbell

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep. 88: She's Somebody's Daughter and Deer Day in Patoka with Drew Baldridge