August 13, 2025 • 31 mins
In this powerful episode of “Music Saved Me,” host Lynn Hoffman dives deep into Romeo Vaughn’s personal battle with PTSD and how music became his sanctuary. Romeo shares his raw and honest journey through the struggles of trauma and emotional turmoil. He reveals how music not only provided an outlet for his pain but also became a lifeline that helped him heal and rebuild his sense of self. Through heartfelt stories and moving melodies, Romeo illustrates the transformative power of music as a tool for recovery, resilience, and hope. This episode is a testament to the healing potential of art and the strength found in vulnerability.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Music Saved Me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Len Hoffman. Welcome to the Music Save Me podcast.
So glad to have you here.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
If you like this podcast, thank you so much. And
also you might want to check out our new companion
podcast called Comedy Save Me, which I also host, where
we explored the amazing power of laughter.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
When the weight of the world grows heavy, some turn
to friends, others to faith. But for Romeo Vaughn, it's
always been music that casts a lifeline. Rising from the
borderlands of Texas to the stages of Nashville. Romeo doesn't
just write songs, he crafts survival stories in melody. In
this episode of Music Saved Me, we talk with Romeo
(00:42):
about the pivotal moments where lyrics became life, Buoy's music
became medicine, and stories found their song. So get ready
to discover how for Romeo Vaughn every note was a
step towards hope, and how those songs might just save
you too. Romeo, Welcome to me Music Saved Me.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Thank you, Hi, welcome, Thank you for having me. I
appreciate it so much.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I am so glad you're here. Are you comfortable, yep?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Super comfortable?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
All right?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, strap in because we're going to take a quick
break so we can pay some bills, and as soon as.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
We come back, we're going to get into it.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Sound good, Let's do it, Yes, let's do it right, Romeo,
Sit tight, We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Music saved me, Romeo.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I've read that through your music that you want to
give hope and inspiration to all children who come from
humble beginnings. And you know, think that the whole world
is in the deck is stacked against him, which I
think is just such a beautiful sentiment. Can you share
a moment when music truly saved you or helped you
through a tough time in your life?
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Yeah, you know, I mean there's a music has saved
me through it all. But I remember, you know, being
from a small town where I'm from in Santa Rosa, Texas,
I always had this dream, right, And remember a family
member of mine specifically told me, like Romeo, that doesn't
happen to people like us. You know, look at where
(02:09):
we come from, look at what you are, look at
how you look. It doesn't happen. It's just not It
just doesn't happen. And so when that day I went
to school and there was my cousin was performing. My
cousin it has a Spanish Tuhano band and he was
(02:29):
performing for Remember I don't know if you remember Missus
Bush drug Free Week or whatever.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Oh back in the day, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
So if you were doing the drug Free Week and
my cousin was performing and sat and I had There
was a barber and her name was Lady Diane, and
she said, Romeo, if you because he was trying to
get the kids involved, and he said, She said, if
you go, I'll give you free haircuts for a year,
(02:57):
and I said, no, I can't do it because I
so before I'm a singer, I'm a dancer. So I
went up there and I danced to Michael Jackson and well,
I had just tried out for the football team and
I did make it. But when I went up to dance,
so my cousin had no idea that I danced like
(03:18):
the way I dance because I wouldn't really tell anyone.
But when I went to perform with on stage for
the free haircuts, it actually got me into this music
business because my cousin, he's a Grammy Award winning artist.
He took me on tour with him, and it kind
of saved me from like the streets and stuff like
(03:40):
you know what teenagers get involved in. Sometimes the music
allowed me to not be in the streets, not getting
the gangs and not And I went on tour with him,
and that was a part of my life where it
saved me from like you know, juvenile hall and stuff
that all my friends kind of were doing at the
(04:01):
time when it was a cool thing to be a
bad kid. And so music really got me on that
road away from that. So that was the first time
music saved me for sure.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
How have songs served as a form of therapy or
self reflection for you personally?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Well? For me, songs like they we all have our
moments where we cry or we're sad and we feel
helpless and hopeless, and so you know, instead of going
out and driving fast and where I could possibly hurt
someone or myself or just going for a bad ride
(04:42):
or going or just you know, sometimes we take it
out on people. We're not supposed to take it out on,
you know, because hurt people hurt people. And so I
write and I write, and I write it down and
I let it out and my binder where I write
my songs, they're like you know when you wet paper
and they're like all mushy. Well every page is all
(05:04):
musty because I'm just crying as I write soside, you know.
But yeah, it helps me. It just really and I
leave the room. I don't really write with like I
don't go into like writes and co write with people.
I don't do that. I do write a lot with
a friend of mine, but he doesn't live in Tennessee.
(05:27):
So I write and I send it to him and
he sends it back. But usually when I write by myself,
it's just it helps me because I don't want to
hurt anyone. And we've all been in a position where
we say something or do something and then you're like
there you go with that long test message like hey man,
I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that react on you
(05:47):
like that. I just you know, I'm going through like
a hard time and I hope you can forgive me.
So to avoid that, I write, and it really it's
a therapy. And I don't really like go to like
like the therapy stuff like because I don't know, I'm
just not going to tell a complete stranger like where
I'm going. So I just like, because I can't give
the therapist hope, but I can give I know that
(06:08):
there's somebody out there somewhere in the middle of Burlington,
Colorado that's probably going through the same thing that I'm
going through, and if they hear it, you know, I'll
just give them hope.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Wow, where do I just have to know where you
where this came from? Where you realize that that would
that would be the end result of giving someone else
hope by writing down your own issues to get through.
I mean that's pretty forward thinking.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
I heard Michael Jackson when he would play songs I'm
gonna start cry. But when you would play songs like
when he would write songs down like the Earth Song,
when he wrote down they Don't Care about Us, when
he wrote when he wrote down Stranger and Moscow, when
(07:02):
he would when I would hear those because we all
love the thrillers and the Billy Jeans and the smooth Criminals,
but you go into those deep cuts where where Michael
really poured it hard out and like that, it just
gave me hope. It let me know, like, hey, you're
not alone. There's Michael Jackson, the absolute biggest superstar in
(07:22):
the world and he's lonely and she's and she's getting
through it. I can get through it. And I think
that's kind of what made me want to like be
some kind of hope. Obviously on a smaller scale, well come.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
On, but it's a beautiful sentiment, it really is. And
you know, off the wall, she's out of my life
like some of those earlier things too.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Really yeah, you know that she's out of my life,
you know, just like those like and if you even
his upbeat sons, like like I want to be starting something,
you know, like you know the way he like just
does it. I don't know man in the mirror, I mean,
(08:10):
you know, like just it's just when I heard because
I've always been intrigued in like who wrote this? You know? Yeah,
yeah and so and like Michael Jackson's biggest song, Thriller,
he didn't write it, you know, it was robbed tim fraud.
But but you hear his his deep cuts and where
he's he's feeling alone, but he's also giving you hope.
(08:33):
And it's just like I just want to be that hope,
you know. And I that's where that's where my foundation
of like wanting to give hope and stuff is. I
credited all of it to Michael for sure. Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Wow, that's so incredible that you know you even knew
that at such a early time in your life.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Yeah, because when I was younger, I'm from a small
town and Mexican an American, and so boys don't cry.
Are you a man or a mouse? You know? Yeah? Whatever,
you don't. You're not depressed. Go out there, cut the grass.
You know, what do you? What are you depressed about?
You're seven eight years old. You don't have no build,
you don't have nothing. But they don't know. Hey, man, Like,
(09:16):
I mean, look at me. I've been like this my
whole life. Like maybe not like the hat, but I've
always dressed different. I've always like I had long hair,
you know, I I you know, so I've always just
been different. So I was never like everyone else. So
I always felt alone until I music just allowed me
to just express myself and just you know.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yes, yes, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Speaking of that, growing up with your Mexican American background
and now thriving in Nashville, the home right Country, were
there musical experiences that you had or maybe hardships that
sort of changed your path at all on that.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
Journey like outside of music.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Well just maybe something.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Musical experiences are hardships, like breaking through that genre for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
So when I first through the town in twenty sixteen,
I was homeless for sixteen weeks. It'd in my car.
I lived under a bridge, the Jefferson Bridge, which you
can't live there no more, and they scooted everybody out.
But I lived under Jefferson Bridge, and I us see
I have a garbage can. I remember at at the
(10:30):
TA and it's not there no more because they tore
it down for a parking lot for the new Nissan Stadium.
But I was there and I remember watching. So it's
a truck stock and I there was a chili a
Philly cheese steak restaurant in the shop and the store
(10:51):
or whatever, and I would remember that watching the truck drivers.
They'd come out, they would come out with their with
their leftover plates, and some would take it with them
and some would throw it away. Well, I would wait
till they threw it away, and I would just wait
(11:12):
till they walked away, and I'd run over there and
I grab it from the trash and I'd go back
and I'd be like and I would just eat it
now and all because I believe in this. I believe
that I was supposed to be here. And you know,
the Bible says, though I walk through the valley of
the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, and
(11:33):
the Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want
And I believed it and I still believe it, and
that's what made me just keep going, because you know,
somebody told me one time, who's your favorite country singer
of all time? And I said, Keith Whitley is my
favorite country singer. And they said, do you want to
be the next Keith Whitley? And I said, no, I
want to be the first Romeo var.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
And great answer and wow, And but.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
I understand and I understood that, and understand now that
I had to go through it. I had to, you know,
I always I my dad always, you know, you know,
stand your truth, and fight for what you believe in.
Stand there for what you believe in, whether you're right
or wrong, and if you're wrong, be prepare to pay
(12:22):
the consequences. And so I believed in this, and I
believe in it so much, and I always just told me,
you know, because in that time, I was alone. But
I believe in the music. I believe in the hope
that I could give somebody, somebody out there if I
(12:43):
just got through this, Just get through this, and your
story will be full. And you know, the hardest walks,
you know, the hardest walk you can make is the
walk that you make alone. But that's the walk that
builds character. And I always and you know, the hardest
clients lead to the greatest views. And so I just
(13:06):
stayed firm, I stayed strong, And it was always about
the music. I didn't care what I was going through.
Music was going to get me out of there. Music
was gonna get me. And so I went to this
place after that. And I because I always had this
mindset and it has like I was like, the lion
(13:27):
is the king of the jungle. It's not the fastest,
that's the cheetah. It's not the biggest, that's the elephant.
But the reason why the lion is the king of
the jungle because the mindset, there's nobody hungrier than the lion.
So I always said that to myself, do you stay hungry,
(13:47):
stay hungry? You want to kill an alligator? Feed them? It
does nothing. So be like I always told my dad,
he was like, why are you still there? You're struggling,
And I'm like, Dad, listen, you don't understand. He's like,
my dad's a realist. He's not a dreamer. He's like,
I understand this music, Romeo, but come on, sound like
you're you know, you're you're Nicola diving me the dead here.
(14:11):
I said, Dad, you got to understand.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
That.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I that the wolf on top of the hill is
never as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill. I
always got to remain the wolf climbing the hills. And
after I was homeless, I went to this place called
uh they found me on I went to the VA
because I'm a veteran, and the VA put me in
(14:35):
this place called Matthew twenty five and it's a homeless
program for vets and stuff like that, and they they
help you overcome homelessness. And so I went there and
they got me out of the bridge and they put
me in made twenty five and I started writing songs,
(14:56):
and I started, uh, just seeing the bigger picture. I
was no longer eating food with ants on it and
you know, like a hot meal, you know, and which
is why now I don't like lettuce, tomatoes or anything
like that. It's like also when I order a cheeseburger
is meat and cheese, Romeo, You're just.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Wow, You're such a special person. It's like you were
instilled in your DNA something that even your father had
to learn from you. But he gave you those tools
to be.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Strong to begin with as a realist, which is is
pretty incredible. And your journey has just been I mean,
forget about just getting into a different musical genre than
your heritage, which seems so outlandish but not these days, right,
But to be a vet and to be homeless and
part of a population out there that needs so much,
(15:50):
to have the strength that you had and you and
you really did. You pulled yourself out of it, and
it's it's pretty incredible.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Well, you know, I didn't pull myself out of it.
The Lord never left me. But you know, it's very hard.
It was hard, you know, it was hard looking back
and thinking about it. It was hard. But my dad always
said this, and it's a good good thing that you
brought that up. My dad always said, when you leave
(16:18):
my house, you will have every key that you need
to open the doors in life. Now it's up to
you to take the time to find the key, You're
gonna you're gonna get frustrated, and you're gonna want to
knock the knock the door down. And but if you
just take the time to find the right key, you
(16:41):
open whatever door you want. And So when I was
homeless and I was in out of the garbage can,
sleeping outside and getting rained don and you know, getting
mugged and watching cryings the normal people shouldn't be watching,
I remember that if I just take the time and
find the key, I'll get out of it. And I did, Yes,
(17:04):
you did.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
And uh, writing a song called big Dreams from a
small town that reflects sort of your own journey and
the challenges that you've just described and faced.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Is that Is that correct in saying that?
Speaker 4 (17:18):
Yeah, so, I'm from a small town of Santa Rosa,
Texas in the Rio Grand Valley, deep deep deep South Texas,
like the very tip of Texas, Mexico is twelve minutes
from my parents' house. There was twenty seven seniors in
my graduating class. I was top, saying, I don't want
to brag or anything, but you brag, you deserve it
all you want. But yeah, so I got big genes
(17:42):
from that small town you know. And so I wrote
a song with my friend, with my friend Brandon, and
he had the idea of like that. He came up
with like the melody and stuff like that, and you know, I,
you know, I added, you know, we started writing back
and forth. Then it's where it came from, Santa Rosa, Texas.
I mean, it's it's my hometown. And I wanted to
(18:03):
be like Mike but not Jordan's giving. And so that's
where I you know, big dream from a small town.
I got big dreams. I got big, big dreams. But
here's the thing. The dream is not. I mean, who
doesn't want to play a sold out stadium? Of course
(18:25):
that's all good, but the dream is. I was in Jonesboro, Arkansas,
not long ago. I got a random DM in my
Instagram and I opened it and I had I had this.
I had wrote released this song a long time ago
called Gone. Nobody ever heard it, Goddy, but this one
(18:46):
person did and he said, I know you don't know
me from Adam, but I just wanted to tell you
that two weeks ago I was constant lay on suicide
and I came across your song Gone, and it let
(19:08):
me know when the song you're going through was what
I'm going through right now, and hearing your song, I
told myself, if Romeo can survive, I can too. So
I just want to thank you for saving my life.
That's the dream. That's all I want to do. That's
all you want to do, and I want to bring
(19:29):
and I just you know. We shot the video for
Big Dreams from a small town. So the place that
took me in was called Matthew twenty five. Last year
for my birthday, I had shout out to the restaurant
Chew East. They donated all the food so I could
go and feed Matthew twenty five. And I, with God's help,
(19:55):
I was able to get like fifteen seventy five gallon
bags full of clothes and we went to donate to
Matthew twenty five. And this year we went back and
shot the music video for Big Dreams at Matthew twenty five.
One of my greatest friends, his name is Ryan Mason.
He works at a place called Scoreboards here in Nashville.
(20:15):
He's a GM and they they donated food so I
could feed Matthew twenty five in the video. And so
it's the dream to just give hope and we were,
and I was able there, and you know, I told them, look,
I know, looking at me, you don't. You probably would
never believe me. But I was where you are. It
(20:36):
wasn't long ago. And I prayed over them and we
fed them, and we talked and we laughed and we cried,
and two of the men came up to me and
helped me live out my dream. They said, Romeo, you're
just you gave us so much hope. That's my dream.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
There's nothing better than that. Being your profession, I can
see it. I mean, you're wearing your heart on your sleeve.
You know it brings tears to your eyes just describing it.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
We'll be right back with more of the Music Save
Me Podcast. Welcome back to the Music Saved Me Podcast.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I have to say thank you so much for your service,
not only to our country, but to the people that
you're helping with your music. And it seems like this
is what you were really put on this earth to do.
And I can hear it and feel it from you
even through the zoom call.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I can really feel it.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Do you think music is one of the reasons that
you have been able to cope with the pressures of
the industry itself, which I'm sure is a whole new
world for you to be in, or maybe even just
self doubt or personal setbacks in your life. And I
know we touched a bit on this already.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
You know, music has been everything. Music saved me so
many times. For instance, a lot of times I feel
sad and I'm down and oh my god, maybe I
can't do this, maybe I can't make it or whatever.
I pop in a sugar Land song here, mom and dad,
I'll send money. I'm sorry, I'm like, I love it. So,
(22:15):
you know, music just it's all around, just you know,
all around, just really really helped. Like it just saved
my soul. I mean, I can't imagine my life without music,
even like even if I'm not telling my story or
I'm not out there, you know, putting songs or writing songs.
(22:38):
Just the fact that I can. I'll pop in like
uh and where I'm from in Texas, where I'm from,
but the nine five six cut where I'm from in
the Valley of Texas. You know, we go from Keith Whitley,
George straight to Usher, Ludacris and oh, you know, so
(22:58):
like I'll be home sad and I'll pop in a
you know, a George Strait song or Into song, or
or a La Mothe song, Keith Whitley song, and and
I just it's like I feel like a tesla for energy.
Just check. You know.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
It's an amazing we we are run on on electricity,
but we don't plug in. So I'm guessing maybe one
of those plugin sources, just as you said that is
it's got to be the music and the arts that
we plug into that that juices us up.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
It's always yes, you know, or I hear. I do
listen to a lot of like worship music a lot, uh,
you know, shout out to Brandon Lake and and uh,
but uh, you know, I love all the I love
the music that that brings me closer to God. And
(23:52):
and and I read my Bible a lot, and you know,
the Bible the one thing that I always when I
think like maybe I can't do this or maybe it's
too hard. I'm a Mexican American, and and I don't
look like everybody, even the Mexican artists that are out
there now. They're wearing the cowboy hats and they're wearing
(24:12):
the boots and the wranglers. You know, I'm not that
you know. And don't get me wrong, it's wrong from
my dad was My dad was a rodeo cowboy. And
the reason why I don't wear a lot of that
stuff is because growing up my dad put he put
this in a flat top for a snapwranger and some
justin boots, and my whole life, my whole life was
like that.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
No, but your music is really incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I mean your your voice, Oh my god, like like butta,
I mean you so much and then you're unexpected. Uh
this is you know, country music with a twist and
faith and rock. I mean you do the guitar solos
that are completely not normal, like I shouldn't se normal,
but they're not expected.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
I'm glad that you noticed that because I tell my
producer all the time, like we have to do this,
like the guitar has to be And a lot of
people don't understand how much I love Michael Jackson. And
when Michael Jackson put it and did it, when Van
Halen came in and yes, that's right.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Go wa gosh, you're thinking like run dmc met zero
Smith days you know that's pretty good.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Yeah, So I try to do that. I try to
just stink outside the box. You know, no pun intended, but.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
It's great. It's a great way to think.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
I just have to be because here's the thing. There's
seven billion people on earth. There's only one you, one me,
ever was, ever, is ever will be like the Heavenly
Father designed us perfectly. God don't make mistakes now here.
(25:59):
And the reason why I try so hard in this
and to do this music and to do it right,
and because I believe in my heart of hearts, and
I'll take my glasses off and tell you, I believe
that our gift, our talent, your talent, my talent, everybody's
(26:20):
talent is God's gift to us. But what we do
with it is our gift that to God. And the
one thing that keeps me going is in Matthew six
thirty three, the Red Letters, Jesus says, first the Kingdom
of Heaven, and all things will be added on to you.
(26:45):
I believe that, I really do.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
I feel like I want to just end on that
note because it's so powerful. But I have one more
question that might I believe, be even more powerful. Yeah,
and thank you for that. I know everybody needs to
hear faith. Everyone has to have faith, and everyone has
to have a belief.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
I believe that because if you don't stand for something,
you'll fall for anything.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I'm making a T shirt right now, Romeo. That is
so amazing.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
But my last question to wrap things up with you,
if you could share one message besides the beautiful one
you just shared. And all of them throughout this conversation
have been so enlightening. But if anyone's out there struggling
right now, what would it be that you could share
for that one message? And what song of yours would
(27:37):
you want them to hear to help them through it.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I want them to hear not only big dreams from
a Samon town, but I have a song out there
and it's called Over. The song talks about a breakup,
but if you hear, if you see the video, hear
the song. It's about a guy who's struggling with his
(28:02):
own cell. So I played two parts. I played good
met and bad Me. And because I overcame, I overcame.
This road wasn't easy, this industry, this town is not easy.
And I you know, I'm actually one year sober on
the twenty sixth of July.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Congratulations, that's huge.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
And so you know, overcoming that addiction and stuff. And
if you hear this song over it says, this is
where we start or where we end. But I'm not
getting over you again. And so the biggest hope that
I can give anyone out there is you don't have
(28:46):
to believe in God. But even if you don't, he
loves you. There's hope. But you have to love. Learn
to love yourself, learn to forgive yourself. You are not
your mistake, you are not your failures. Every day that
you wake up is another opportunity to be better than
(29:06):
you were yesterday. And I'm gonna say this, and I
don't know if I have enough time, but I'm gonna
say this. If somebody gave you twenty five thousand, seven
hundred dollars every day for the rest of your life,
you only have twenty four hours to spend them. You
can't roll them over. You have to spend them. Wouldn't
(29:31):
you do the best to spend that twenty five thousand,
seven hundred dollars in those twenty four hour You would
do your best to spend that money. Well, in life,
we get twenty five thousand, seven hundred seconds. We can't
roll them over, we can't take them to the next day.
All we get in twenty four hours, so do your
(29:53):
best to spend them. And it's not always going to
be easy. It's not always gonna be but you know what,
when it rains life, it rains and it storms, but
instead of hiding, learn to dance in the rain. Makes
better effects, you know. And just there's hope. He just
(30:14):
loves you. And if I could tell you anything the Bible,
it says in first Crenthess, it says, then firm in
your faith, be on guard, be courageous, be strong, and
do everything with love.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Romiovon, You're amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I can't wrap you up into one word to describe
who you are and what you are, but you mean
a lot to a lot of people, and now you
mean a lot to me. So thank you for coming
on music save Me and sharing your entire self with us.
I could talk to you for hours, but I really
appreciate you stopping buy and good luck with everything, and again,
(30:58):
thank you for your service, not only, like I said,
not just to this country, but to everyone that you
continue to help.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
With your music and your words, they mean a lot
and I know they're helping.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Thank you so much for having me and letting me
tell my story and getting it out there and helping me.
You're a part of the journey, and thank y'all so
much and I hope to talk to you soon
Music Saved Me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Len Hoffman. Welcome to the Music Save Me podcast.
So glad to have you here.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
If you like this podcast, thank you so much. And
also you might want to check out our new companion
podcast called Comedy Save Me, which I also host, where
we explored the amazing power of laughter.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
When the weight of the world grows heavy, some turn
to friends, others to faith. But for Romeo Vaughn, it's
always been music that casts a lifeline. Rising from the
borderlands of Texas to the stages of Nashville. Romeo doesn't
just write songs, he crafts survival stories in melody. In
this episode of Music Saved Me, we talk with Romeo
(00:42):
about the pivotal moments where lyrics became life, Buoy's music
became medicine, and stories found their song. So get ready
to discover how for Romeo Vaughn every note was a
step towards hope, and how those songs might just save
you too. Romeo, Welcome to me Music Saved Me.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Thank you, Hi, welcome, Thank you for having me. I
appreciate it so much.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I am so glad you're here. Are you comfortable, yep?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Super comfortable?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
All right?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, strap in because we're going to take a quick
break so we can pay some bills, and as soon as.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
We come back, we're going to get into it.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Sound good, Let's do it, Yes, let's do it right, Romeo,
Sit tight, We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Music saved me, Romeo.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I've read that through your music that you want to
give hope and inspiration to all children who come from
humble beginnings. And you know, think that the whole world
is in the deck is stacked against him, which I
think is just such a beautiful sentiment. Can you share
a moment when music truly saved you or helped you
through a tough time in your life?
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Yeah, you know, I mean there's a music has saved
me through it all. But I remember, you know, being
from a small town where I'm from in Santa Rosa, Texas,
I always had this dream, right, And remember a family
member of mine specifically told me, like Romeo, that doesn't
happen to people like us. You know, look at where
(02:09):
we come from, look at what you are, look at
how you look. It doesn't happen. It's just not It
just doesn't happen. And so when that day I went
to school and there was my cousin was performing. My
cousin it has a Spanish Tuhano band and he was
(02:29):
performing for Remember I don't know if you remember Missus
Bush drug Free Week or whatever.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Oh back in the day, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
So if you were doing the drug Free Week and
my cousin was performing and sat and I had There
was a barber and her name was Lady Diane, and
she said, Romeo, if you because he was trying to
get the kids involved, and he said, She said, if
you go, I'll give you free haircuts for a year,
(02:57):
and I said, no, I can't do it because I
so before I'm a singer, I'm a dancer. So I
went up there and I danced to Michael Jackson and well,
I had just tried out for the football team and
I did make it. But when I went up to dance,
so my cousin had no idea that I danced like
(03:18):
the way I dance because I wouldn't really tell anyone.
But when I went to perform with on stage for
the free haircuts, it actually got me into this music
business because my cousin, he's a Grammy Award winning artist.
He took me on tour with him, and it kind
of saved me from like the streets and stuff like
(03:40):
you know what teenagers get involved in. Sometimes the music
allowed me to not be in the streets, not getting
the gangs and not And I went on tour with him,
and that was a part of my life where it
saved me from like you know, juvenile hall and stuff
that all my friends kind of were doing at the
(04:01):
time when it was a cool thing to be a
bad kid. And so music really got me on that
road away from that. So that was the first time
music saved me for sure.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
How have songs served as a form of therapy or
self reflection for you personally?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Well? For me, songs like they we all have our
moments where we cry or we're sad and we feel
helpless and hopeless, and so you know, instead of going
out and driving fast and where I could possibly hurt
someone or myself or just going for a bad ride
(04:42):
or going or just you know, sometimes we take it
out on people. We're not supposed to take it out on,
you know, because hurt people hurt people. And so I
write and I write, and I write it down and
I let it out and my binder where I write
my songs, they're like you know when you wet paper
and they're like all mushy. Well every page is all
(05:04):
musty because I'm just crying as I write soside, you know.
But yeah, it helps me. It just really and I
leave the room. I don't really write with like I
don't go into like writes and co write with people.
I don't do that. I do write a lot with
a friend of mine, but he doesn't live in Tennessee.
(05:27):
So I write and I send it to him and
he sends it back. But usually when I write by myself,
it's just it helps me because I don't want to
hurt anyone. And we've all been in a position where
we say something or do something and then you're like
there you go with that long test message like hey man,
I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that react on you
(05:47):
like that. I just you know, I'm going through like
a hard time and I hope you can forgive me.
So to avoid that, I write, and it really it's
a therapy. And I don't really like go to like
like the therapy stuff like because I don't know, I'm
just not going to tell a complete stranger like where
I'm going. So I just like, because I can't give
the therapist hope, but I can give I know that
(06:08):
there's somebody out there somewhere in the middle of Burlington,
Colorado that's probably going through the same thing that I'm
going through, and if they hear it, you know, I'll
just give them hope.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Wow, where do I just have to know where you
where this came from? Where you realize that that would
that would be the end result of giving someone else
hope by writing down your own issues to get through.
I mean that's pretty forward thinking.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
I heard Michael Jackson when he would play songs I'm
gonna start cry. But when you would play songs like
when he would write songs down like the Earth Song,
when he wrote down they Don't Care about Us, when
he wrote when he wrote down Stranger and Moscow, when
(07:02):
he would when I would hear those because we all
love the thrillers and the Billy Jeans and the smooth Criminals,
but you go into those deep cuts where where Michael
really poured it hard out and like that, it just
gave me hope. It let me know, like, hey, you're
not alone. There's Michael Jackson, the absolute biggest superstar in
(07:22):
the world and he's lonely and she's and she's getting
through it. I can get through it. And I think
that's kind of what made me want to like be
some kind of hope. Obviously on a smaller scale, well come.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
On, but it's a beautiful sentiment, it really is. And
you know, off the wall, she's out of my life
like some of those earlier things too.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Really yeah, you know that she's out of my life,
you know, just like those like and if you even
his upbeat sons, like like I want to be starting something,
you know, like you know the way he like just
does it. I don't know man in the mirror, I mean,
(08:10):
you know, like just it's just when I heard because
I've always been intrigued in like who wrote this? You know? Yeah,
yeah and so and like Michael Jackson's biggest song, Thriller,
he didn't write it, you know, it was robbed tim fraud.
But but you hear his his deep cuts and where
he's he's feeling alone, but he's also giving you hope.
(08:33):
And it's just like I just want to be that hope,
you know. And I that's where that's where my foundation
of like wanting to give hope and stuff is. I
credited all of it to Michael for sure. Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Wow, that's so incredible that you know you even knew
that at such a early time in your life.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Yeah, because when I was younger, I'm from a small
town and Mexican an American, and so boys don't cry.
Are you a man or a mouse? You know? Yeah? Whatever,
you don't. You're not depressed. Go out there, cut the grass.
You know, what do you? What are you depressed about?
You're seven eight years old. You don't have no build,
you don't have nothing. But they don't know. Hey, man, Like,
(09:16):
I mean, look at me. I've been like this my
whole life. Like maybe not like the hat, but I've
always dressed different. I've always like I had long hair,
you know, I I you know, so I've always just
been different. So I was never like everyone else. So
I always felt alone until I music just allowed me
to just express myself and just you know.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yes, yes, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Speaking of that, growing up with your Mexican American background
and now thriving in Nashville, the home right Country, were
there musical experiences that you had or maybe hardships that
sort of changed your path at all on that.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
Journey like outside of music.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Well just maybe something.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Musical experiences are hardships, like breaking through that genre for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
So when I first through the town in twenty sixteen,
I was homeless for sixteen weeks. It'd in my car.
I lived under a bridge, the Jefferson Bridge, which you
can't live there no more, and they scooted everybody out.
But I lived under Jefferson Bridge, and I us see
I have a garbage can. I remember at at the
(10:30):
TA and it's not there no more because they tore
it down for a parking lot for the new Nissan Stadium.
But I was there and I remember watching. So it's
a truck stock and I there was a chili a
Philly cheese steak restaurant in the shop and the store
(10:51):
or whatever, and I would remember that watching the truck drivers.
They'd come out, they would come out with their with
their leftover plates, and some would take it with them
and some would throw it away. Well, I would wait
till they threw it away, and I would just wait
(11:12):
till they walked away, and I'd run over there and
I grab it from the trash and I'd go back
and I'd be like and I would just eat it
now and all because I believe in this. I believe
that I was supposed to be here. And you know,
the Bible says, though I walk through the valley of
the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, and
(11:33):
the Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want
And I believed it and I still believe it, and
that's what made me just keep going, because you know,
somebody told me one time, who's your favorite country singer
of all time? And I said, Keith Whitley is my
favorite country singer. And they said, do you want to
be the next Keith Whitley? And I said, no, I
want to be the first Romeo var.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
And great answer and wow, And but.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
I understand and I understood that, and understand now that
I had to go through it. I had to, you know,
I always I my dad always, you know, you know,
stand your truth, and fight for what you believe in.
Stand there for what you believe in, whether you're right
or wrong, and if you're wrong, be prepare to pay
(12:22):
the consequences. And so I believed in this, and I
believe in it so much, and I always just told me,
you know, because in that time, I was alone. But
I believe in the music. I believe in the hope
that I could give somebody, somebody out there if I
(12:43):
just got through this, Just get through this, and your
story will be full. And you know, the hardest walks,
you know, the hardest walk you can make is the
walk that you make alone. But that's the walk that
builds character. And I always and you know, the hardest
clients lead to the greatest views. And so I just
(13:06):
stayed firm, I stayed strong, And it was always about
the music. I didn't care what I was going through.
Music was going to get me out of there. Music
was gonna get me. And so I went to this
place after that. And I because I always had this
mindset and it has like I was like, the lion
(13:27):
is the king of the jungle. It's not the fastest,
that's the cheetah. It's not the biggest, that's the elephant.
But the reason why the lion is the king of
the jungle because the mindset, there's nobody hungrier than the lion.
So I always said that to myself, do you stay hungry,
(13:47):
stay hungry? You want to kill an alligator? Feed them? It
does nothing. So be like I always told my dad,
he was like, why are you still there? You're struggling,
And I'm like, Dad, listen, you don't understand. He's like,
my dad's a realist. He's not a dreamer. He's like,
I understand this music, Romeo, but come on, sound like
you're you know, you're you're Nicola diving me the dead here.
(14:11):
I said, Dad, you got to understand.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
That.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I that the wolf on top of the hill is
never as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill. I
always got to remain the wolf climbing the hills. And
after I was homeless, I went to this place called
uh they found me on I went to the VA
because I'm a veteran, and the VA put me in
(14:35):
this place called Matthew twenty five and it's a homeless
program for vets and stuff like that, and they they
help you overcome homelessness. And so I went there and
they got me out of the bridge and they put
me in made twenty five and I started writing songs,
(14:56):
and I started, uh, just seeing the bigger picture. I
was no longer eating food with ants on it and
you know, like a hot meal, you know, and which
is why now I don't like lettuce, tomatoes or anything
like that. It's like also when I order a cheeseburger
is meat and cheese, Romeo, You're just.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Wow, You're such a special person. It's like you were
instilled in your DNA something that even your father had
to learn from you. But he gave you those tools
to be.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Strong to begin with as a realist, which is is
pretty incredible. And your journey has just been I mean,
forget about just getting into a different musical genre than
your heritage, which seems so outlandish but not these days, right,
But to be a vet and to be homeless and
part of a population out there that needs so much,
(15:50):
to have the strength that you had and you and
you really did. You pulled yourself out of it, and
it's it's pretty incredible.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Well, you know, I didn't pull myself out of it.
The Lord never left me. But you know, it's very hard.
It was hard, you know, it was hard looking back
and thinking about it. It was hard. But my dad always
said this, and it's a good good thing that you
brought that up. My dad always said, when you leave
(16:18):
my house, you will have every key that you need
to open the doors in life. Now it's up to
you to take the time to find the key, You're
gonna you're gonna get frustrated, and you're gonna want to
knock the knock the door down. And but if you
just take the time to find the right key, you
(16:41):
open whatever door you want. And So when I was
homeless and I was in out of the garbage can,
sleeping outside and getting rained don and you know, getting
mugged and watching cryings the normal people shouldn't be watching,
I remember that if I just take the time and
find the key, I'll get out of it. And I did, Yes,
(17:04):
you did.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
And uh, writing a song called big Dreams from a
small town that reflects sort of your own journey and
the challenges that you've just described and faced.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Is that Is that correct in saying that?
Speaker 4 (17:18):
Yeah, so, I'm from a small town of Santa Rosa,
Texas in the Rio Grand Valley, deep deep deep South Texas,
like the very tip of Texas, Mexico is twelve minutes
from my parents' house. There was twenty seven seniors in
my graduating class. I was top, saying, I don't want
to brag or anything, but you brag, you deserve it
all you want. But yeah, so I got big genes
(17:42):
from that small town you know. And so I wrote
a song with my friend, with my friend Brandon, and
he had the idea of like that. He came up
with like the melody and stuff like that, and you know, I,
you know, I added, you know, we started writing back
and forth. Then it's where it came from, Santa Rosa, Texas.
I mean, it's it's my hometown. And I wanted to
(18:03):
be like Mike but not Jordan's giving. And so that's
where I you know, big dream from a small town.
I got big dreams. I got big, big dreams. But
here's the thing. The dream is not. I mean, who
doesn't want to play a sold out stadium? Of course
(18:25):
that's all good, but the dream is. I was in Jonesboro, Arkansas,
not long ago. I got a random DM in my
Instagram and I opened it and I had I had this.
I had wrote released this song a long time ago
called Gone. Nobody ever heard it, Goddy, but this one
(18:46):
person did and he said, I know you don't know
me from Adam, but I just wanted to tell you
that two weeks ago I was constant lay on suicide
and I came across your song Gone, and it let
(19:08):
me know when the song you're going through was what
I'm going through right now, and hearing your song, I
told myself, if Romeo can survive, I can too. So
I just want to thank you for saving my life.
That's the dream. That's all I want to do. That's
all you want to do, and I want to bring
(19:29):
and I just you know. We shot the video for
Big Dreams from a small town. So the place that
took me in was called Matthew twenty five. Last year
for my birthday, I had shout out to the restaurant
Chew East. They donated all the food so I could
go and feed Matthew twenty five. And I, with God's help,
(19:55):
I was able to get like fifteen seventy five gallon
bags full of clothes and we went to donate to
Matthew twenty five. And this year we went back and
shot the music video for Big Dreams at Matthew twenty five.
One of my greatest friends, his name is Ryan Mason.
He works at a place called Scoreboards here in Nashville.
(20:15):
He's a GM and they they donated food so I
could feed Matthew twenty five in the video. And so
it's the dream to just give hope and we were,
and I was able there, and you know, I told them, look,
I know, looking at me, you don't. You probably would
never believe me. But I was where you are. It
(20:36):
wasn't long ago. And I prayed over them and we
fed them, and we talked and we laughed and we cried,
and two of the men came up to me and
helped me live out my dream. They said, Romeo, you're
just you gave us so much hope. That's my dream.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
There's nothing better than that. Being your profession, I can
see it. I mean, you're wearing your heart on your sleeve.
You know it brings tears to your eyes just describing it.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
We'll be right back with more of the Music Save
Me Podcast. Welcome back to the Music Saved Me Podcast.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I have to say thank you so much for your service,
not only to our country, but to the people that
you're helping with your music. And it seems like this
is what you were really put on this earth to do.
And I can hear it and feel it from you
even through the zoom call.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I can really feel it.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Do you think music is one of the reasons that
you have been able to cope with the pressures of
the industry itself, which I'm sure is a whole new
world for you to be in, or maybe even just
self doubt or personal setbacks in your life. And I
know we touched a bit on this already.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
You know, music has been everything. Music saved me so
many times. For instance, a lot of times I feel
sad and I'm down and oh my god, maybe I
can't do this, maybe I can't make it or whatever.
I pop in a sugar Land song here, mom and dad,
I'll send money. I'm sorry, I'm like, I love it. So,
(22:15):
you know, music just it's all around, just you know,
all around, just really really helped. Like it just saved
my soul. I mean, I can't imagine my life without music,
even like even if I'm not telling my story or
I'm not out there, you know, putting songs or writing songs.
(22:38):
Just the fact that I can. I'll pop in like
uh and where I'm from in Texas, where I'm from,
but the nine five six cut where I'm from in
the Valley of Texas. You know, we go from Keith Whitley,
George straight to Usher, Ludacris and oh, you know, so
(22:58):
like I'll be home sad and I'll pop in a
you know, a George Strait song or Into song, or
or a La Mothe song, Keith Whitley song, and and
I just it's like I feel like a tesla for energy.
Just check. You know.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
It's an amazing we we are run on on electricity,
but we don't plug in. So I'm guessing maybe one
of those plugin sources, just as you said that is
it's got to be the music and the arts that
we plug into that that juices us up.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
It's always yes, you know, or I hear. I do
listen to a lot of like worship music a lot, uh,
you know, shout out to Brandon Lake and and uh,
but uh, you know, I love all the I love
the music that that brings me closer to God. And
(23:52):
and and I read my Bible a lot, and you know,
the Bible the one thing that I always when I
think like maybe I can't do this or maybe it's
too hard. I'm a Mexican American, and and I don't
look like everybody, even the Mexican artists that are out
there now. They're wearing the cowboy hats and they're wearing
(24:12):
the boots and the wranglers. You know, I'm not that
you know. And don't get me wrong, it's wrong from
my dad was My dad was a rodeo cowboy. And
the reason why I don't wear a lot of that
stuff is because growing up my dad put he put
this in a flat top for a snapwranger and some
justin boots, and my whole life, my whole life was
like that.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
No, but your music is really incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I mean your your voice, Oh my god, like like butta,
I mean you so much and then you're unexpected. Uh
this is you know, country music with a twist and
faith and rock. I mean you do the guitar solos
that are completely not normal, like I shouldn't se normal,
but they're not expected.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
I'm glad that you noticed that because I tell my
producer all the time, like we have to do this,
like the guitar has to be And a lot of
people don't understand how much I love Michael Jackson. And
when Michael Jackson put it and did it, when Van
Halen came in and yes, that's right.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Go wa gosh, you're thinking like run dmc met zero
Smith days you know that's pretty good.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Yeah, So I try to do that. I try to
just stink outside the box. You know, no pun intended, but.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
It's great. It's a great way to think.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
I just have to be because here's the thing. There's
seven billion people on earth. There's only one you, one me,
ever was, ever, is ever will be like the Heavenly
Father designed us perfectly. God don't make mistakes now here.
(25:59):
And the reason why I try so hard in this
and to do this music and to do it right,
and because I believe in my heart of hearts, and
I'll take my glasses off and tell you, I believe
that our gift, our talent, your talent, my talent, everybody's
(26:20):
talent is God's gift to us. But what we do
with it is our gift that to God. And the
one thing that keeps me going is in Matthew six
thirty three, the Red Letters, Jesus says, first the Kingdom
of Heaven, and all things will be added on to you.
(26:45):
I believe that, I really do.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
I feel like I want to just end on that
note because it's so powerful. But I have one more
question that might I believe, be even more powerful. Yeah,
and thank you for that. I know everybody needs to
hear faith. Everyone has to have faith, and everyone has
to have a belief.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
I believe that because if you don't stand for something,
you'll fall for anything.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I'm making a T shirt right now, Romeo. That is
so amazing.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
But my last question to wrap things up with you,
if you could share one message besides the beautiful one
you just shared. And all of them throughout this conversation
have been so enlightening. But if anyone's out there struggling
right now, what would it be that you could share
for that one message? And what song of yours would
(27:37):
you want them to hear to help them through it.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I want them to hear not only big dreams from
a Samon town, but I have a song out there
and it's called Over. The song talks about a breakup,
but if you hear, if you see the video, hear
the song. It's about a guy who's struggling with his
(28:02):
own cell. So I played two parts. I played good
met and bad Me. And because I overcame, I overcame.
This road wasn't easy, this industry, this town is not easy.
And I you know, I'm actually one year sober on
the twenty sixth of July.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Congratulations, that's huge.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
And so you know, overcoming that addiction and stuff. And
if you hear this song over it says, this is
where we start or where we end. But I'm not
getting over you again. And so the biggest hope that
I can give anyone out there is you don't have
(28:46):
to believe in God. But even if you don't, he
loves you. There's hope. But you have to love. Learn
to love yourself, learn to forgive yourself. You are not
your mistake, you are not your failures. Every day that
you wake up is another opportunity to be better than
(29:06):
you were yesterday. And I'm gonna say this, and I
don't know if I have enough time, but I'm gonna
say this. If somebody gave you twenty five thousand, seven
hundred dollars every day for the rest of your life,
you only have twenty four hours to spend them. You
can't roll them over. You have to spend them. Wouldn't
(29:31):
you do the best to spend that twenty five thousand,
seven hundred dollars in those twenty four hour You would
do your best to spend that money. Well, in life,
we get twenty five thousand, seven hundred seconds. We can't
roll them over, we can't take them to the next day.
All we get in twenty four hours, so do your
(29:53):
best to spend them. And it's not always going to
be easy. It's not always gonna be but you know what,
when it rains life, it rains and it storms, but
instead of hiding, learn to dance in the rain. Makes
better effects, you know. And just there's hope. He just
(30:14):
loves you. And if I could tell you anything the Bible,
it says in first Crenthess, it says, then firm in
your faith, be on guard, be courageous, be strong, and
do everything with love.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Romiovon, You're amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I can't wrap you up into one word to describe
who you are and what you are, but you mean
a lot to a lot of people, and now you
mean a lot to me. So thank you for coming
on music save Me and sharing your entire self with us.
I could talk to you for hours, but I really
appreciate you stopping buy and good luck with everything, and again,
(30:58):
thank you for your service, not only, like I said,
not just to this country, but to everyone that you
continue to help.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
With your music and your words, they mean a lot
and I know they're helping.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Thank you so much for having me and letting me
tell my story and getting it out there and helping me.
You're a part of the journey, and thank y'all so
much and I hope to talk to you soon
Host
Lynn Hoffman
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