November 27, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode of Takin’ A Walk Nashville , host Sarah Harralson explores Nashville’s vibrant music scene with country music singer-songwriter Romeo Vaughn, who is making his own music history.. From his early musical influences to finding his place in Music City, Romeo shares his songwriting journey as an independent artist navigating the competitive Nashville songwriting community.
Discover how Romeo Vaughn developed his unique sound, the challenges of breaking into Nashville’s tight-knit music industry, and what it takes to build a sustainable career as a songwriter and performer in the heart of country music. Romeo opens up about his creative process, memorable collaborations, and the stories behind his songwriting journey.
Whether you’re an aspiring musician, a Nashville music fan, or simply love hearing authentic stories from working artists, this musician interview offers insider perspectives on the reality of chasing musical dreams in Tennessee’s capital.
Join singer-songwriter Sarah Harralson and Romeo Vaughn for an inspiring walk through the life of a Nashville artist finding his voice in his son wring journey in one of America’s most iconic music cities.
#songwriting journey
#Romeo Vaughn
#country music
#music interview
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Taking a Walk Nashville. Obviously, when they hear the song
and they look at me, they're not going to be like, oh,
this guy made it. It happened so easy for him.
You know, when they see the video, when they hear
the song, it'll give them home.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Today I have with me Romeo Vaughn, a Mexican American
country artist originally from Santa Rosa, Texas, who blend's country, soul,
and Latin pop and his music. He has been in
Nashville since twenty sixteen and his story is one you
don't want to miss today. Welcome to taking a Walk Nashville.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Romeo, how are you, ken, How are you? Thanks for
having me, of course, thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
For being here. So just to let listeners know a
little bit about your background. You are a US Army veteran,
and thank you so much for your service.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Thanks for you support.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, of course, and I'd like to know were you
a performing musician prior to serving in the Army or
did you get into music perhaps after that?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
No? So yeah, so I did do music before the
Army when I was a kid. I have a cousin
of my name's Jesse Turner. He has a band called signal.
They're a Grammy Award winning band. And so when I
was younger, he took me under his wing and I
I performed with him. And then Ab Kintania, which is
(01:21):
Selena's the late Selena great late Selena died. It was
her brother started a band called the Kumi Kings, and
from there Ab started a band called Big Sequel, which
is like a it was like an upbeat Mexican American,
but it was it was strictly Spanish. It was strictly
Spanish music. And so I was in my teen in
(01:43):
my when I was a teenager, I mean we got
signed a capital in in my and so like we
we were doing the music. I mean I was fifteen
years old and I performed in Monterey, Mexico in front
of ninety four thousand people, you know, so I mean
we weren't the headliners, but I mean we got to
(02:03):
perform on the stage. You know, I was on international television,
you know, back in the I don't know, maybe if
you have no Spanish listeners listening, and if you don't,
it's fine, but we got Savoo hi gante risperto America,
which is the equivalent of like disperto America is Univision's
Good Morning America. Sado Hi Gante is like is the
(02:29):
American Jimmy Fallon Show? Like so I was like on
on doing all that at fourteen fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years old,
performing yeah all over I mean I've been to I've
been to all forty eight states, uh before I was eighteen,
you know, and and performing all over Mexico and South
(02:52):
you know. So yeah, it was. It didn't just start.
I've been doing this for a long, long, long, but
never in my own, never like my own truth. Never.
It was always you know, in somebody else's band or
or a band that I was a part of. It
was never like my truth to my like who who
I am?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Right? Yeah? So you were doing music for as long
as you can remember, right yeah, and then when you
permanently moved to Nashville to continue pursuing your dream of music,
you faced homelessness for sixteen weeks, and eventually you found
support through the VA and the nonprofit organization Matthew twenty five. Yes,
(03:32):
what does this Nashville nonprofit mean to you?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Everything? Like everything. I would not be here talking to
you if it wasn't for God working through Matthew twenty five.
I mean they took me in. I don't know. Let
me tell you the process, say how it's like really cool.
I'm dead out of my car. I'm just like, uh,
I'm under this bridge and I'm just eating like out
of a garbage can and there's ants not my food,
(03:58):
and it's just like ryan to me, and I don't know.
That's why my burgers now, I tell everybody I only
want bed and cheese like a five year old, right.
But because of that experience, so I finally my brother
actually was like Romeo, what are you doing man? Because
my brother's also a veteran, so is my dad. He
(04:20):
was like, you need to call the VA because we weren't.
I didn't tell my brother until the end of my homelessness,
and I didn't tell my parents until after I got
out of Matthew twenty five. They had no idea. So
my brother's like, you need to call the VA. So
I said, okay. So I was like, well, can he
pay my phone bill this month? Like because I'm not
gonna have a phone, and at that time, I have cricket.
(04:41):
You know, it's all we could get. You know, you
got you know beggars can't be choosers. So my brother,
my brother paid the fifty dollars a month for me
because my phone was about to be disconnected like the
next day or something. So my brother paid my phone bill.
And he was super mad at me that I didn't
tell him that I was homeless, right, and so I
called it. I call them and I'm like, I'm homeless,
(05:04):
like I've been out here for four months, like it's bad, like,
you know, And they came. They literally from the time
I called them to the time they picked me up,
it was probably twenty minutes. They were there fast and
in a hurry. They got there. They took me and
(05:25):
they took me to the mental Health Annex and so
from there they showered me, you know, and I got
to shower. Not that I wasn't showering because I have
a friend of mine, his name Swan Hernandez out of Laredo, Texas.
He's a truck driver, so he would lend me his
points once a week so I could go shower at
(05:46):
the Loves off Trinity Lane. But it was always the
struggle to get there. But anyway, so I go to
Matthew twenty five on the Mental health annets. They called
Matthew twenty five. I got. I didn't have anything but
my bangs, and they washed my clothes. They put me
in a bed in a room. They fed me the intake.
(06:11):
They did the whole intake process. They also for while
you're there, you have to do like an intake process,
and then you have to do chores. You can't drink,
you can't do drugs. You have to report, and when
you like, they help you get a job. And thankfully
I ended up gaining a job at our back steakhouse.
While I was there, because I was about to lose
(06:32):
my car. That's what helped me was I was about
to lose my car, but my parents found out that
I was homeless and I hadn't been paying my car.
I don't know if he didn't for me or car
was daddy. So you're like, oh no, I gotta pay
for my car. And I was able to keep my car.
(06:53):
I ended up going to UH to work. I stayed
at Matthew twenty five for as long as I needed to.
I was grateful that I was there, but I didn't
want to be there. I will you know. I didn't
want to be there, and I because The thing about
Matthew twenty five is it could it's the biggest blessing
(07:14):
in the world, but it can also be an achilles
because they do everything for you. So do you take
this too better to your life or do you take
this to be lazy? You know? So all I needed
was the help, and from the time I got there
six weeks later, I was on my own. That's wonderful, Yeah,
(07:36):
because you know there's some people that will be there
for a long time, you know, but it's nothing bad
to anyone. The thing is a lot of the people,
a lot of the men that are there, they're older,
you know, they got they got disabilities, or they got
they don't they can do that they need. But I was,
I'm young, I'm driven, Like what there was the excuse?
(07:58):
You know, it was great. Matthew twenty five means everything
to me. That's why last year for my birthday, you know,
I always tell everybody, like I always give a shout
out to Chuley's, that tex mex restaurant, because they donated
all the food so I could go and feed them
at Matthew twenty five. This year, it was scoreboards when
(08:19):
we went to shoot the music video. Also my parents
last year came to Nashville to be with me for
my birthday because my birthday is August sixteenth, and so
my parents came for my birthday and we were able
to get like fifteen seventy five gallon bags full of clothes,
(08:40):
and for my birthday we went to go donate that
as well. And so Matthew twenty five is everything to me,
and I think I believe it, and I will tell
you that God willing my star rises and the more
my platform allows me to do more, the more I
will do with Matthew twenty five. I think the plane
(09:02):
the easiest way I can say is when I make it,
Matthew twenty five makes it. They will never need anything
ever again.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
I love that, and I love that they were able
to support you through your hard times. And now you're
shining a light on this organization and you feature Matthew
twenty five and the music video for your upcoming single
Big Dreams from a Small Town. Yeah, I just got
to say, Romeo, I haven't seen a music video so
(09:31):
authentic in a long time. You know, you see a
lot of videos now on social media out there that's
all like glitter and glam but this video really gives
listeners a look and to who you are, where you
came from, and it's just so authentic and real and
I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So did you.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Come up with the vision for this music video?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yes, I literally wrote the entire treat. Like the director.
I went to him. His name is Carl and I
love him to death. I went with it in mind.
I have the video in my head years before we
made the video, so I knew, like I even I
(10:15):
remember there was a when I was eating at Matthew
twenty five and I, you know, I don't remember his name,
that there was a guy next to me that was
eating with me. We were eating and I said, before
I die, I'm going to make a video here at
Matthew twenty five. And he and I always like I
had it all in my head and Carl just helped
(10:36):
me bring it to life.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Amazing. Yeah. I hope every Nashville local come out to
support Matthew twenty five and volunteer and help them and
need as well. And I want to touch on your
previously released single over and it's about the struggles you
faced with alcohol addiction. So now that you've overcome homelessness
(10:59):
and your sober Would you say the music you right
now is a lot different than maybe the music you
were writing ten to twelve years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, most definitely. That's a good question for sure,
because the music I was writing back then, I was
drinking and partying, you know. I also struggled with drugs,
you know as well, you know, and so it was
more when I would write songs and stuff, it was
(11:32):
or record songs, and it was more of like like
I'm trying to get a girl, or you know, let's
party and let's do this, and let's do that. And
now it's not like that. I mean, I'm still gonna
make songs like that because nobody wants to hear depressing song, right,
But I think the writing has changed because the man
(11:54):
has changed.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, And I'm sure it's very healing for you to
write out the struggles you have been through and overcome,
for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
You know. Like I actually just wrote a song the
other day called wild Bills Nights, and I just wrote it,
but the second versus those days have come and gone,
but the memories we made I've put in this song.
So it's wild Bills was a bar that we all us.
It's a hometown bar back back in Harninge in Texas,
(12:25):
but missed the wild Bill. The mister Bill. He was
our biology teacher in high school. We all of us
went to the Wild Bills and we just it kind
of Wild Bills kind of you know, gave me that hope.
When I got into country music. It was Wild Bills
where I went because it was a country western saloon.
I'm definitely different now because I'm for when I sober,
(12:48):
you know, and so I'm clean and clear minded, and
I can look back and remember the times that we had.
And I think that's what's going to make the music
great because even when I don't write about like overcoming
struggles or overcoming this, like Wild Bills Nights is such
a great song, you know, because it's it's almost like
(13:08):
nostalgic for like people that because it even says you
have to be there to understand those Wild Bills. Nice,
you know, but in your hometown you have a Wild Bills.
It might not be called Wild Bills, but there's a
Wild Bills, you know. And I think everybody's going to
relate and big dreams from a small town. Everybody's going
to read. Everybody has and being having big dreams. You know,
(13:30):
it's not not everybody wants to be a country music artist.
You know, people want you want to podcast, people want
to be doctors, people want to be lawyers, people want
to be general people want to be ditit managers at publics.
You know, people want it and there's nothing wrong with that.
People have dreams are not all music, but if they
can hear a song like Big Dreams from a small
town and be like, you know what I am from.
(13:52):
I always mentioned Burlington, Colorado because I have some family
there and it's smaller than Santa Rosa. There's a place
called Burlington, colorad Whether you're from Brington, Colorado, or somewhere
in Kansas or somewhere in small town in Utah, and
you're like, man, how could I ever go from this
to you know, being the district manager of water Burger
(14:15):
or whatever the case may be. From a small town.
That doesn't happen to people like me. I'm just going
to be the cashier forever, you know. But they hear
Big Dreams from a small town and they're like, you
know what, yeah, I you know what, I can do this,
you know, and like the song in Big dream that
says whoever said it wasn't easy wasn't telling a lie.
(14:37):
So obviously when they hear the song and they look
at me, they're not going to be like, oh, this
guy made it. It happened so easy for him. You
know when they see the video, when they hear the song,
it'll give them hope. I believe.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I think so too. Yeah, I think your whole message
with the song will give people hope and know that
it's not easy, but you know they can do everything
they can and to overcome their struggles.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, we all have struggles, and I think I think
it's gonna be I think it's great because I mean,
what what would life be if it was just easy?
You know, where like because that's where you know our
faith comes in and our hope comes in, and the
(15:22):
hope that you know, that hope and faith that Jesus
did come and die for us, and that he did
rise again, and that he's coming back and that he's
always with us. I even think about Jesus when because
you know, we're human. Not everybody's going to like my song,
not every reason I like the message. Not everybody's gonna
like the way I dress, the way I look the
(15:43):
way you look, the way you dress. You know, it's
just it is what it is. But I think about
when I think about Christ's them like they killed him
for being perfect? Who am I to think that they
won't judge me? And I think that that how me?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Thank you so much for sharing your message, Romeo, and
I just kind of want to switch gears now to
a fun topic. So you design all of your stage
where I've worked with Nashville celebrity fashion designer Manuel who's
outfitted the likes of Johnny Cash and Elvis. So what
(16:23):
got you into sewing clothes and fashion?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I love Michael Jason. I have an aunt of mine
and my aunt Lisa, we call it Da Lisa. He's
a simstress and so she does like all like the
like the little Girl's cheerleading outfice when I was when
I was younger, my dad took me to McCallen, Texas
(16:50):
to be a to do a talent show and and
then I I won that one. But then my aunt
Lisa Ida Lisa in La Fairy, which is like six
miles down the road from Santa Rosa, they were having
another talent show and I was in it to Michael Jackson,
but I did the other time show I didn't have
(17:11):
the jacket and I needed I wanted the rhyin stone
jacket and the glove, and my Dallist made it for me,
and she and I helped her and and kind of
like really like put me down. And then when I
came to Nashville, it wasn't until like twenty nineteen or
(17:33):
twenty like COVID almost COVID times. I was. I was
at Tin Roof in Cool Springs ten Roof two, and
I was with a friend of mine and this guy said, hey, man,
you got to meet my uncle. So I was like, okay, cool,
I'll go meet him. And I went to meet him
(17:54):
and I never left. And it was a great time,
you know, in my life. But you know, like anything else,
you got to move on and and uh, but I
learned a lot, and I'm very thankful to man well
for teaching you taught me and and I got to
hang out with him a lot, and I got to
see the man that the the star, you know, and uh,
(18:15):
spend a lot of time together. But you know, like
anything else, you know, you got to make your own
path and make your own way. And so I took
what he taught me. I took what my DA taught me,
and and and you know here we are patching stuff up.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Very cool. You are definitely multi talented. And I love
that you designed your own clothes.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
That's so fun.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
It is my last question for you. We are on
taking a walk Nashville, so I'd like to know what
is your favorite place or where is your favorite place
to take away the river?
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I could wow. I go every day. I go every
day two Rivers park Way. I take my dog. You
know Two Rivers Parkways at right the big bridge and stuff. Yeah, yeah,
I've been on that many times. So I have five
thirty daybreaks. So I wake up around I wake up
every morning, like around three three fifteen, two forty five
(19:15):
to three fifteen, I'm up and so I do my
little morning routine and then I try to be at
two Rivers Parkway by five point thirty when daybreaks, and
I'll go run my I'll run the five miles I
can go around, and then I go to the airstrip.
You know that there's an airstrip out there, and I'll
run that and I'll do five I make it five
miles no matter why what way I go I make it.
(19:38):
I make it five miles, and then I come home,
I take a shower and do all the morning stuff again.
And then I take Braxton, my dog, and we go
to Two Rivers Parkway again. And he can't He's a
little Boston terrieropo. But so he can't do five miles,
but he just you know, but and so Two Rivers
(20:01):
Parkway is my favorite place to take a walk in Nashville.
I absolutely love it. I go every day of my life.
They're got a day that goes by. If I'm in Nashville,
I'm there every morning.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I love Yeah, there's so many great places and paths
to take a walk and run in Nashville. Well, Romeo,
thank you so much for being on the show today.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
It was a pleasure and.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
We are looking forward to your new single release, Big
Dreams and a Small Talent available everywhere.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Thank you so much, so much, y'all go hear it.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with singer
songwriter Sarah Harrelson, and check out our other podcasts, Music
Save Me, Comedy Save Me, and Taking a Walk, available
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts,
Taking a Walk Nashville. Obviously, when they hear the song
and they look at me, they're not going to be like, oh,
this guy made it. It happened so easy for him.
You know, when they see the video, when they hear
the song, it'll give them home.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Today I have with me Romeo Vaughn, a Mexican American
country artist originally from Santa Rosa, Texas, who blend's country, soul,
and Latin pop and his music. He has been in
Nashville since twenty sixteen and his story is one you
don't want to miss today. Welcome to taking a Walk Nashville.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Romeo, how are you, ken, How are you? Thanks for
having me, of course, thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
For being here. So just to let listeners know a
little bit about your background. You are a US Army veteran,
and thank you so much for your service.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Thanks for you support.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, of course, and I'd like to know were you
a performing musician prior to serving in the Army or
did you get into music perhaps after that?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
No? So yeah, so I did do music before the
Army when I was a kid. I have a cousin
of my name's Jesse Turner. He has a band called signal.
They're a Grammy Award winning band. And so when I
was younger, he took me under his wing and I
I performed with him. And then Ab Kintania, which is
(01:21):
Selena's the late Selena great late Selena died. It was
her brother started a band called the Kumi Kings, and
from there Ab started a band called Big Sequel, which
is like a it was like an upbeat Mexican American,
but it was it was strictly Spanish. It was strictly
Spanish music. And so I was in my teen in
(01:43):
my when I was a teenager, I mean we got
signed a capital in in my and so like we
we were doing the music. I mean I was fifteen
years old and I performed in Monterey, Mexico in front
of ninety four thousand people, you know, so I mean
we weren't the headliners, but I mean we got to
(02:03):
perform on the stage. You know, I was on international television,
you know, back in the I don't know, maybe if
you have no Spanish listeners listening, and if you don't,
it's fine, but we got Savoo hi gante risperto America,
which is the equivalent of like disperto America is Univision's
Good Morning America. Sado Hi Gante is like is the
(02:29):
American Jimmy Fallon Show? Like so I was like on
on doing all that at fourteen fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years old,
performing yeah all over I mean I've been to I've
been to all forty eight states, uh before I was eighteen,
you know, and and performing all over Mexico and South
(02:52):
you know. So yeah, it was. It didn't just start.
I've been doing this for a long, long, long, but
never in my own, never like my own truth. Never.
It was always you know, in somebody else's band or
or a band that I was a part of. It
was never like my truth to my like who who
I am?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Right? Yeah? So you were doing music for as long
as you can remember, right yeah, and then when you
permanently moved to Nashville to continue pursuing your dream of music,
you faced homelessness for sixteen weeks, and eventually you found
support through the VA and the nonprofit organization Matthew twenty five. Yes,
(03:32):
what does this Nashville nonprofit mean to you?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Everything? Like everything. I would not be here talking to
you if it wasn't for God working through Matthew twenty five.
I mean they took me in. I don't know. Let
me tell you the process, say how it's like really cool.
I'm dead out of my car. I'm just like, uh,
I'm under this bridge and I'm just eating like out
of a garbage can and there's ants not my food,
(03:58):
and it's just like ryan to me, and I don't know.
That's why my burgers now, I tell everybody I only
want bed and cheese like a five year old, right.
But because of that experience, so I finally my brother
actually was like Romeo, what are you doing man? Because
my brother's also a veteran, so is my dad. He
(04:20):
was like, you need to call the VA because we weren't.
I didn't tell my brother until the end of my homelessness,
and I didn't tell my parents until after I got
out of Matthew twenty five. They had no idea. So
my brother's like, you need to call the VA. So
I said, okay. So I was like, well, can he
pay my phone bill this month? Like because I'm not
gonna have a phone, and at that time, I have cricket.
(04:41):
You know, it's all we could get. You know, you
got you know beggars can't be choosers. So my brother,
my brother paid the fifty dollars a month for me
because my phone was about to be disconnected like the
next day or something. So my brother paid my phone bill.
And he was super mad at me that I didn't
tell him that I was homeless, right, and so I
called it. I call them and I'm like, I'm homeless,
(05:04):
like I've been out here for four months, like it's bad, like,
you know, And they came. They literally from the time
I called them to the time they picked me up,
it was probably twenty minutes. They were there fast and
in a hurry. They got there. They took me and
(05:25):
they took me to the mental Health Annex and so
from there they showered me, you know, and I got
to shower. Not that I wasn't showering because I have
a friend of mine, his name Swan Hernandez out of Laredo, Texas.
He's a truck driver, so he would lend me his
points once a week so I could go shower at
(05:46):
the Loves off Trinity Lane. But it was always the
struggle to get there. But anyway, so I go to
Matthew twenty five on the Mental health annets. They called
Matthew twenty five. I got. I didn't have anything but
my bangs, and they washed my clothes. They put me
in a bed in a room. They fed me the intake.
(06:11):
They did the whole intake process. They also for while
you're there, you have to do like an intake process,
and then you have to do chores. You can't drink,
you can't do drugs. You have to report, and when
you like, they help you get a job. And thankfully
I ended up gaining a job at our back steakhouse.
While I was there, because I was about to lose
(06:32):
my car. That's what helped me was I was about
to lose my car, but my parents found out that
I was homeless and I hadn't been paying my car.
I don't know if he didn't for me or car
was daddy. So you're like, oh no, I gotta pay
for my car. And I was able to keep my car.
(06:53):
I ended up going to UH to work. I stayed
at Matthew twenty five for as long as I needed to.
I was grateful that I was there, but I didn't
want to be there. I will you know. I didn't
want to be there, and I because The thing about
Matthew twenty five is it could it's the biggest blessing
(07:14):
in the world, but it can also be an achilles
because they do everything for you. So do you take
this too better to your life or do you take
this to be lazy? You know? So all I needed
was the help, and from the time I got there
six weeks later, I was on my own. That's wonderful, Yeah,
(07:36):
because you know there's some people that will be there
for a long time, you know, but it's nothing bad
to anyone. The thing is a lot of the people,
a lot of the men that are there, they're older,
you know, they got they got disabilities, or they got
they don't they can do that they need. But I was,
I'm young, I'm driven, Like what there was the excuse?
(07:58):
You know, it was great. Matthew twenty five means everything
to me. That's why last year for my birthday, you know,
I always tell everybody, like I always give a shout
out to Chuley's, that tex mex restaurant, because they donated
all the food so I could go and feed them
at Matthew twenty five. This year, it was scoreboards when
(08:19):
we went to shoot the music video. Also my parents
last year came to Nashville to be with me for
my birthday because my birthday is August sixteenth, and so
my parents came for my birthday and we were able
to get like fifteen seventy five gallon bags full of clothes,
(08:40):
and for my birthday we went to go donate that
as well. And so Matthew twenty five is everything to me,
and I think I believe it, and I will tell
you that God willing my star rises and the more
my platform allows me to do more, the more I
will do with Matthew twenty five. I think the plane
(09:02):
the easiest way I can say is when I make it,
Matthew twenty five makes it. They will never need anything
ever again.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
I love that, and I love that they were able
to support you through your hard times. And now you're
shining a light on this organization and you feature Matthew
twenty five and the music video for your upcoming single
Big Dreams from a Small Town. Yeah, I just got
to say, Romeo, I haven't seen a music video so
(09:31):
authentic in a long time. You know, you see a
lot of videos now on social media out there that's
all like glitter and glam but this video really gives
listeners a look and to who you are, where you
came from, and it's just so authentic and real and
I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So did you.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Come up with the vision for this music video?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yes, I literally wrote the entire treat. Like the director.
I went to him. His name is Carl and I
love him to death. I went with it in mind.
I have the video in my head years before we
made the video, so I knew, like I even I
(10:15):
remember there was a when I was eating at Matthew
twenty five and I, you know, I don't remember his name,
that there was a guy next to me that was
eating with me. We were eating and I said, before
I die, I'm going to make a video here at
Matthew twenty five. And he and I always like I
had it all in my head and Carl just helped
(10:36):
me bring it to life.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Amazing. Yeah. I hope every Nashville local come out to
support Matthew twenty five and volunteer and help them and
need as well. And I want to touch on your
previously released single over and it's about the struggles you
faced with alcohol addiction. So now that you've overcome homelessness
(10:59):
and your sober Would you say the music you right
now is a lot different than maybe the music you
were writing ten to twelve years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, most definitely. That's a good question for sure,
because the music I was writing back then, I was
drinking and partying, you know. I also struggled with drugs,
you know as well, you know, and so it was
more when I would write songs and stuff, it was
(11:32):
or record songs, and it was more of like like
I'm trying to get a girl, or you know, let's
party and let's do this, and let's do that. And
now it's not like that. I mean, I'm still gonna
make songs like that because nobody wants to hear depressing song, right,
But I think the writing has changed because the man
(11:54):
has changed.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, And I'm sure it's very healing for you to
write out the struggles you have been through and overcome,
for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
You know. Like I actually just wrote a song the
other day called wild Bills Nights, and I just wrote it,
but the second versus those days have come and gone,
but the memories we made I've put in this song.
So it's wild Bills was a bar that we all us.
It's a hometown bar back back in Harninge in Texas,
(12:25):
but missed the wild Bill. The mister Bill. He was
our biology teacher in high school. We all of us
went to the Wild Bills and we just it kind
of Wild Bills kind of you know, gave me that hope.
When I got into country music. It was Wild Bills
where I went because it was a country western saloon.
I'm definitely different now because I'm for when I sober,
(12:48):
you know, and so I'm clean and clear minded, and
I can look back and remember the times that we had.
And I think that's what's going to make the music
great because even when I don't write about like overcoming
struggles or overcoming this, like Wild Bills Nights is such
a great song, you know, because it's it's almost like
(13:08):
nostalgic for like people that because it even says you
have to be there to understand those Wild Bills. Nice,
you know, but in your hometown you have a Wild Bills.
It might not be called Wild Bills, but there's a
Wild Bills, you know. And I think everybody's going to
relate and big dreams from a small town. Everybody's going
to read. Everybody has and being having big dreams. You know,
(13:30):
it's not not everybody wants to be a country music artist.
You know, people want you want to podcast, people want
to be doctors, people want to be lawyers, people want
to be general people want to be ditit managers at publics.
You know, people want it and there's nothing wrong with that.
People have dreams are not all music, but if they
can hear a song like Big Dreams from a small
town and be like, you know what I am from.
(13:52):
I always mentioned Burlington, Colorado because I have some family
there and it's smaller than Santa Rosa. There's a place
called Burlington, colorad Whether you're from Brington, Colorado, or somewhere
in Kansas or somewhere in small town in Utah, and
you're like, man, how could I ever go from this
to you know, being the district manager of water Burger
(14:15):
or whatever the case may be. From a small town.
That doesn't happen to people like me. I'm just going
to be the cashier forever, you know. But they hear
Big Dreams from a small town and they're like, you
know what, yeah, I you know what, I can do this,
you know, and like the song in Big dream that
says whoever said it wasn't easy wasn't telling a lie.
(14:37):
So obviously when they hear the song and they look
at me, they're not going to be like, oh, this
guy made it. It happened so easy for him. You
know when they see the video, when they hear the song,
it'll give them hope. I believe.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I think so too. Yeah, I think your whole message
with the song will give people hope and know that
it's not easy, but you know they can do everything
they can and to overcome their struggles.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, we all have struggles, and I think I think
it's gonna be I think it's great because I mean,
what what would life be if it was just easy?
You know, where like because that's where you know our
faith comes in and our hope comes in, and the
(15:22):
hope that you know, that hope and faith that Jesus
did come and die for us, and that he did
rise again, and that he's coming back and that he's
always with us. I even think about Jesus when because
you know, we're human. Not everybody's going to like my song,
not every reason I like the message. Not everybody's gonna
like the way I dress, the way I look the
(15:43):
way you look, the way you dress. You know, it's
just it is what it is. But I think about
when I think about Christ's them like they killed him
for being perfect? Who am I to think that they
won't judge me? And I think that that how me?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Thank you so much for sharing your message, Romeo, and
I just kind of want to switch gears now to
a fun topic. So you design all of your stage
where I've worked with Nashville celebrity fashion designer Manuel who's
outfitted the likes of Johnny Cash and Elvis. So what
(16:23):
got you into sewing clothes and fashion?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I love Michael Jason. I have an aunt of mine
and my aunt Lisa, we call it Da Lisa. He's
a simstress and so she does like all like the
like the little Girl's cheerleading outfice when I was when
I was younger, my dad took me to McCallen, Texas
(16:50):
to be a to do a talent show and and
then I I won that one. But then my aunt
Lisa Ida Lisa in La Fairy, which is like six
miles down the road from Santa Rosa, they were having
another talent show and I was in it to Michael Jackson,
but I did the other time show I didn't have
(17:11):
the jacket and I needed I wanted the rhyin stone
jacket and the glove, and my Dallist made it for me,
and she and I helped her and and kind of
like really like put me down. And then when I
came to Nashville, it wasn't until like twenty nineteen or
(17:33):
twenty like COVID almost COVID times. I was. I was
at Tin Roof in Cool Springs ten Roof two, and
I was with a friend of mine and this guy said, hey, man,
you got to meet my uncle. So I was like, okay, cool,
I'll go meet him. And I went to meet him
(17:54):
and I never left. And it was a great time,
you know, in my life. But you know, like anything else,
you got to move on and and uh, but I
learned a lot, and I'm very thankful to man well
for teaching you taught me and and I got to
hang out with him a lot, and I got to
see the man that the the star, you know, and uh,
(18:15):
spend a lot of time together. But you know, like
anything else, you know, you got to make your own
path and make your own way. And so I took
what he taught me. I took what my DA taught me,
and and and you know here we are patching stuff up.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Very cool. You are definitely multi talented. And I love
that you designed your own clothes.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
That's so fun.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
It is my last question for you. We are on
taking a walk Nashville, so I'd like to know what
is your favorite place or where is your favorite place
to take away the river?
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I could wow. I go every day. I go every
day two Rivers park Way. I take my dog. You
know Two Rivers Parkways at right the big bridge and stuff. Yeah, yeah,
I've been on that many times. So I have five
thirty daybreaks. So I wake up around I wake up
every morning, like around three three fifteen, two forty five
(19:15):
to three fifteen, I'm up and so I do my
little morning routine and then I try to be at
two Rivers Parkway by five point thirty when daybreaks, and
I'll go run my I'll run the five miles I
can go around, and then I go to the airstrip.
You know that there's an airstrip out there, and I'll
run that and I'll do five I make it five
miles no matter why what way I go I make it.
(19:38):
I make it five miles, and then I come home,
I take a shower and do all the morning stuff again.
And then I take Braxton, my dog, and we go
to Two Rivers Parkway again. And he can't He's a
little Boston terrieropo. But so he can't do five miles,
but he just you know, but and so Two Rivers
(20:01):
Parkway is my favorite place to take a walk in Nashville.
I absolutely love it. I go every day of my life.
They're got a day that goes by. If I'm in Nashville,
I'm there every morning.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I love Yeah, there's so many great places and paths
to take a walk and run in Nashville. Well, Romeo,
thank you so much for being on the show today.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
It was a pleasure and.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
We are looking forward to your new single release, Big
Dreams and a Small Talent available everywhere.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Thank you so much, so much, y'all go hear it.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with singer
songwriter Sarah Harrelson, and check out our other podcasts, Music
Save Me, Comedy Save Me, and Taking a Walk, available
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts,
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