Chuck has known Monty Powell and Anna Wilson since the very beginning of his career and he says he owes his career to Monty. He was the person who taught him how to write songs early on. Monty and Anna are now an Americana duo called Troubadour 77 and they have also written a screenplay called North and South that will be out in 2022. Monty also talks about the songwriting process with Keith Urban and we run through some of the songs he's written. Fun fact: Anna got to sing on a song with Keith!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What did you just say, Sean, Oh, we're really man
coming to you from the glasshouse. Cudos and Nashville in
the sea your host. Stretch it out, folks. This is
a big show, guys, this big show. I did not
(00:20):
prep seemmy. I did not prep Abby, which apparently I
never prep you guys. On who the guest is now,
this particular guest guests Monty Pal, Anna Wilson. Monty Pal
is the guy that taught me how to write songs.
(00:41):
Like the very first song I wrote actually was with
Monty and and I think three of us. And that
song I believe didn't Steve Holy cut it lead me
on was it? Yeah? I forgot about that? Talk about it? Um,
So what are you doing? What are you doing? Abby? Oh?
(01:03):
By the way, precursor on this, Abbey does not have
a microphone, and she's very very tired, very very tired.
And I asked her to pull a bunch of clips
of Monty and Anna's work and she says, I just
got it because I was sleeping. But I just got it,
all right, And you have you have permission to yell
because you don't have a microphone. You're really stuck on
(01:25):
her sleeping how was How was the Bobby Bones show
this morning? Was it okay? Is that why you're tired?
Did you just get employee of the month or something? Okay,
she got employee of the park. Oh my god. All right,
So back to our guest, Monty and Anna. I owe everything,
and I'm not This is not a joke. This is
not not just saying because you're sitting here. I literally
(01:47):
owe my career to Monty. I remember being I remember
working at Discovery Cove and going on lunch breaks and
calling Monty saying, Hey, when do you want me to
come back up, get in the studio and sing another song.
So I would fly back and forth from Orlando to Nashville,
(02:08):
and He's like, and he's super busy. I mean, Money
has done this is what really. I was kind of
nervous talking to Money because he produced one of the
most iconic groups ever Money. You can go in Diamond Diamond, Yes, yes, Abby,
they are great. They were back when they had a producer.
(02:33):
That's true, that's true publicists, and I was there publicist.
I was their producer. We met backstage at a Diamond
Rido show in the rain and nineteen and Barwood amphitheater,
which is how everyone mate trying. Yeah backstage at a concert.
(02:54):
By the way, did I tell you did I mentioned
that they're married, right you guys? So Mona Montana is
your nickname? Yeah, Monnie and Anna Montana. They're married for
how long though? Twenty one years in September years. Decades years.
(03:20):
So anyway we go back, we'll go back. That's how
I met Monty because in this town, and a lot
of people that listen to this podcast want to move
to town, want to become an artist, want to be
a songwriter. In this town, there's there's things what they
call um not the record deal, but the development deal.
So development deal is where an artist can basically get
in a studio with a guy like Monty pal and
(03:41):
they'll go and cut three or four sides and they'll
they'll present it to the label and they'll say yes
or no. Basically, Oh, I like what you're doing. You're ready,
You're not ready, blah blah blah. Apparently, apparently during the
development deal with Monty Poal, I was not ready. Okay,
I was not ready. I got I I got dropped
from my development development deal, So I was I was
(04:03):
pretty down. I was crushed, right, and you guys remember
we were we were. I didn't we didn't understand it
at all either to die, either did I. But what
we did, what we did is we went back and
we didn't go We didn't see another record leavel at all.
We standing wednesdays. We had standing Wednesdays to write and
(04:24):
we were just right and right and right and right.
And it took about four years for us to figure
out what my sound was. We went right back to
our CEA Records and we got a record deal on
the spot. It happens, I'm on the spot almost five
years later. There were hits there and it was just
(04:48):
launch your career, which which leads me to this. A
lot of people that you don't know what do you
know what I'm gonna ask you to play? Abby? You do? Okay?
You want to put it all right? Just so you know,
Abby did not have time to properly pull the songs.
And because we don't edit on the show, I'm not
going to edit out the commercials on YouTube if there
is some yet. Monty and Anna, Montana and myself wrote
(05:14):
this song and it was a big hit for me,
and that's right, go ahead, So let's see if you
hit the right one. You see, wanted all my really wanted. Yeah, Sammy,
(05:38):
this is your jam. I cannot believe you're not dancing more. Sorry, yes,
my chance off take it won't make you hid. I
have this picture in my guys and all the time.
(06:02):
It's a great song. It's a great song, great great
We wrote that. Do you remember while we wrote that song.
Originally you came in, Monty pal came into the room.
It was and and I were writing. Monty comes into
the room because I got an idea, and Rascal Flats
needs a song. It's exactly right. We're writing for Chuck,
we're writing for Rascal. In my mind, I was like,
I want a Rascal Flats cut too, So we wrote
(06:24):
it for Rascal Flats and I guess we We did
give it to him and they liked it, but they
passed on it. Yeah, and as they often that's right.
And then after it went on the radio. I remember
Keith Urban calling he heard it on the radio. Monty
was also working with Keith at the time, but there
was no like, oh, this is what I'm doing with Chuck,
you know, you know whatever, And so Keith discovers a
(06:45):
song on his own, and I guess does a little
connoissance finds out and he calls Monty's like, I just
found out he wrote this song. I'll ever wanted. He's like,
this song is amazing. I wish I had it, and
we're like, well, okay, but it was kind of cool.
You know, it was like starting with Rascal Flats, then
Chuck was in the middle, and that you were in
(07:06):
the middle of the Rascal Flats and Keith Urban Sandwich there.
I don't know if that's what Gary was in front. Yeah,
I don't even know. So, I don't even know what
that means. Abby, I don't know why I said it.
He was a little hot about it. He was like,
and I also hear you're writing things for Rascal Flats
(07:28):
and I'm like, oh, being protective of the old school yard,
here are we? Keith, Well, you have to you have
to explain because Monty pal produced the Ranch. Now the
Ranch was Keith Urban's band before he was Keith Urban.
Were there's a theme going on here, money, money, gets
all these started in the beginning, Yeah, get him before
(07:49):
there before they're monetarily satisfying. Yeah, Well, I mean I knew,
you know, I remember I thought that was so cool.
I remember I met Keith Urban a few times with
you and meeting Keith because I was not as signed
artist at the time. So when you're not as signed
artist and you get to be around the signed artists
(08:09):
that are amazing, you kind of get like you want
to see everything you're doing. You're like, well, what's he?
Act like, what's he? What's he doing here? So what
is he doing? A normal setting? And I remember so
many things very very vividly, where we would go to lunch.
We went to lunch out in Leaper's Fork one time
and this guy it was me, you and Keith Urban,
(08:30):
and this guy comes up and he sees Keith Urban
and he uh lays his c D on the table.
Do you remember this? He lays the CD on the
table and he goes, hey, man U, I think you're
gonna like the song on the CD. And Keith is
the sweetest guy, you know, sweetest person, just almost two nice, right.
(08:50):
He got kind of mad a little bit at the guy.
He was like, I cannot take this CD. And the
guy was like, no, you have to take it, and
He's like, no, I'm telling you, I cannot take the
c D because of legal Yeah, my publishers and my
attorneys have said I cannot accept solicited stuff. I can't
listen to it, I can't look at it. It It puts
(09:11):
both of us in a weird position, which is true,
right because if he, let's say, he did listen to
the song and there was a little line in there
that sparked something in keeth mind and it was saying
it was just like forever and ever, amen, right, And
and he writes a song and has forever over and amen,
and that guy is gonna be like, who whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa whoa. Yeah, I gave you a CD. And exactly
(09:37):
are you saying that you can go back if there's
like a big song and you inspired, like even just
a word or a line, you can make money off that? Well,
not really totally. Was going to say, I gotta rethink,
I gotta start cashing and I'm gonna start texting people
right now. I'm like, I can think of two or
three things I've contributed to you can make noise about
it now, whether you actually I'd rather make money, yeah,
(09:59):
and I'll at it slide. Well, Sammy works, so Samy
Sam Sanny. Sammy works at Sony, so she works with
a lot of different Who's the artist you work with
the most? Probably I don't have one that I work
with the most because I work in promotion, so I
work across the board with all of them, everybody. Clearly
she's in politics as well to you well know, But
I mean whoever has an active single, So like, if
(10:20):
you don't have an active single on the chart, then
I'm probably not working with you at that moment. But
if you have an active single, like right now, Marion
does not have an active single, and she's a Sony artist.
She's on the Ryan Herd track, but that's a Ryan
Herd song. So the only time we really work with
Marin is if it has to do with that song
at this moment. That will change as her status on
(10:40):
the chart goes up and down. All those things. They
could combine their names as a married couple to like
Herd heard, Yeah, I think that they like being individual.
I don't know that that will be a combo thing.
I did like their duet though, that was really excellent.
Yes you should still like it because it's still in
the charts still, like yes, yes, things was so fast
(11:00):
you know, I don't know they do if they're still
on the charts or not. I feel the opposite faste.
We mean, we go fast and the charts. Okay, I
will stand by that. Yes, yes, um, it would be
a mistake if we didn't talk about the Atlanta Braves.
Why Monty Palace. So they're very happy, serious guys. Series amazing,
(11:22):
do you guys anybody watch that? I watched the last
little houting anywhere they threw it over to the first
base and the guy did almost like a full split
to win the game. And that's pretty much as much
as I watched. Really, Yeah, yeah, sorry, I mean, not
that anything against the Almi Braves. They're just I don't
I don't know more more pro six ft five guys
doing splits. I would love six five times totally. I
(11:45):
thought it was interesting to see all these grown men
just jumping up and down, you know, like article jumping
the only response if they don't know what else they did.
But it was so cute. I'm like, all these grown
men in these uniforms are just jumping up and down
like their kids on the flight ground. It was the
last time they won the nineties, Okay, so we'll see
I grew up outside Chicago when I went high school
(12:06):
on a subur about side Chicago. So when the Cubs
won five years ago, you would have thought I didn't.
I'm surprised they made it out alive. The celebration was
not just vertical up and down jumping. There was a
lot more going. There are a lot of horizontal at
and every other direction as well. Yeah, um, I want
to go back to I just want to talk about libration.
I want to go back to you writing with Keith
(12:26):
Urban because I think a lot of our listeners would
like to know what that process is like. Because I
was blown away when when you told me the process,
because I was like, oh, clearly, the two of you
are the three of you get into the room and
you sit down and you hash out a song for
six seven hours. That's not the way it is. How
how is it writing with Keith Urban. It's the best
(12:47):
forty five minutes of your life. I'm right here. Oh yes,
they say that's too long. It's over twenty eight years,
twenty eight years everything. It's including everything, even when you
(13:14):
went to the store to buy the wine. Perfect We
wrote very quickly as a as a team and as
a general rule, we didn't really hash out anything. Um
if we felt like that we were working on it
for very long. We generally felt like there was a
better song to be had. And there's an infinite number
of songs always, they're always out there in the air
(13:37):
to be plucked out by songwriters. And so rather than
you know, force creativity to happen on an okay song,
we'd rather just bail go to Wendy's and get chick sandwich,
you know, come back start over on something completely new.
I can't tell you the number of times that in
the morning we would be working on a song, you know,
(13:59):
and Keith got always comes in with some cool guitar riff,
and then I always start tossing out, you know, lyrics,
and by eleven o'clock he's like, money, morning morning, this
is the best song we've ever written. You gotta work
in the Australian accident. That's a terrible as New Zealand
really is where I went. I went with it. Yeah,
(14:21):
that was kind of you. I mean, I feel like
that's what we should do if we do we have,
if we start on a bad podcast, we should be like,
you know what, let's go. I can't afford to get
any fatter. We'll be going every ten minutes, um, because
we will come back from Wendy's on a couple of occasions.
One of the songs, particularly sweet Thing, which was a
big hit for us. He loved it in the morning
(14:44):
and then about twelve thirty in the afternoon, he was like,
this is crap, this crap, this just isn't any good
at all. I said, I don't know if it's about
a girl, I don't know if it's about car. I
just this is no good. And I was like, let's
get some food, you know. So I got him fed,
came back and he wasn't grump anymore. He was not
grumpy anymore. The song never changed, only his blood sugar cheese.
(15:07):
But yeah, he loved it in the morning, he hated
it at noon, and he loved it in the afternoon.
So it's, you know, a lot like we feel about
our bodies. And then it was a song of the year.
So this song of the year. I remember one song
in particular that had you wrote with him, Um, shut
out the Lights, because I remember you you wrote it
(15:28):
with him, and you said, check out the song because
we were working on our project together. You go check
out the song. Keith doesn't want to cut it, and
I we we. I was like, oh, I look, this
is a cool vibe, this cool song. I don't think
we ever got around to cutting it, but he did
end up cutting it, like to record or two records later. Yeah,
a couple of records later. So you never know when
those songs are gonna, you know, come back and pop up,
(15:49):
which is why Anna has brought a CD of a
bunch of old songs we wrote together all those standing wednesdays.
And I'm not even lying, and I have I bet
Chuck doesn't remember this, but I did bring I did
not bring a CD, but well, c god, that'd be antiquation,
my goodness, a thumb drive or whatever it is these days.
(16:11):
But we did talk just a few weeks ago about
an old song which I didn't even write on, but
y'all wrote back to the World Series Curve, which is
always such a great song. And when the baseball season
started really amping up here towards the end, I was like, man,
that song, that's such a great song because it mentions
the World Series in it and stuff, So Chuck, you
(16:31):
might want to think about it. I like, I like
to see there's some These are what you call smart songwriters.
As they do it, and they do it on I'm
literally pitching you a song back to you on air
and back to you. Chuck. I didn't even write it.
He wrote it. Think about in a nutshell. By the way, guys,
(16:52):
this is what it is like to write with Monty.
And we will be very very focused on a certain
subject and then we will just talk about a squirrel
that just ran the limb. That is fantastic. Is not
the pot calling the kettle black Y just wondering been around.
(17:19):
Chuck was basically the the son we never wanted to
look at you. There you go, Oh my god, poor Chuck.
You mom. We like Chuck. Chuck had his own jar
peanut butter in our cupboard because he would always double
tips said none of that. Are you getting your own? Yeah?
(17:41):
He just walked here, just walking. He would be in
the kitchen in his own peanut butter. And I st
left the best thing I ever did as a songwriter,
because Chuck very very very quickly became a very good
and very competent songwriter and this is true from the gate,
and became the quick guest competent guitar player that I've
(18:02):
ever seen. So we're gonna lay gonna lay those two
things out in the mix, even with Keith Urban in
the mix, but going from zero to sixty, Chuck never
even held a guitar, and we literally set him up
with lessons, you know, with a wonderful teacher, and like
two weeks later he came back and is playing like,
you know, everything, everything this about. Yeah, he was actually
(18:27):
really amazing. It hurt, but the best thing that I
ever did as a songwriter was pawn Chuck and Anna
off every Wednesday, because Anna is a phenomenal songwriter and
Chuck was coming into his own and all I ever
had to do was just wait to hear through the
walls the ones that were really good, and then I'd
(18:50):
come kind of easing in with my coffee and go,
you know that sounds pretty good. Yeah, And then he
get writing credit on too. Yeah. Let me sit down
with real quick, yeah yeah, yeah, the menu you sit
on the couch. Yeah, as a songwriter, all right, I
want to get into what you're what you guys have
going on. So Troubador seventies seven, that's correct, that's the
(19:14):
name of your Americana duo. Yeah, we kind of put
it in that large category of genre. Um, it's amazing
because you because you started as a jazz artist and
we and we've actually and and I have a Christmas
song together, that's right, duet coming up to the season
(19:34):
over it's guys. I know it's hard to believe, but
I do sing jazz as well. Yes, all cer you
you have to love like, when do you see this
lot saming with your artist over at Sony when they
do like a press release on a new artist or
is it especially if it's like a guy, they'd be
like country crooner. I'm like that is that a thing?
(19:55):
You actually are a crooner? What does crooner mean? I
have no idea you it's just an old throwback I
think adjective that described you know, the guys who swung
a little bit back in the day Sinatra. They were smooth,
they had as they had a nice tone to their
voice and very genuinely So, yeah, how did you come
(20:19):
up with that name? First of all, well, okay, that's
a great question. Um. So we are huge fans of
the singer songwriters of the seventies, UM in the Laurel
Canyon movement, specifically out in Los Angeles. Guys like you know,
Jackson Brown, the Eagles, Carol King, um uh, Joni Mitchell, yeah,
(20:42):
James Taylor, all those people kind of came through the
door of the Troubadoor. That's how they were discovered. Yes,
the famous club, Dave Weston's Troubadour and off Santa Monica Bullopar,
It's famous club. Yeah, of course, I mean every every
it's amazing. Well, that's how those artists. It was kind
of like back in the day, you know, the l
A's Bluebird so to speak. I mean, you know, that's
(21:05):
what it is to Nashville, the Bluebird to Nashville. If
you're on s A t Exam, you know, the tributor
is to l A as Bluebird is to Naville. Just
a little tribute there. But anyway, Um, but so that
club really fostered our heroes and so um we are tributors,
you know, And so the word really resonated. And then
(21:27):
seven was banner year for hit songs on the Billboard charts.
Everything Landslide to How Deep Is Your Love to you know,
just all the way um, you know, Rhiannon and just
all these fireful It just keeps going. You know and so,
and I was five years old in nineteen seventy seven
(21:47):
singing into my hairbrush to Linda Ronstadt in front of
the mirror, and that's when I realized I want to
be a singer. So that we just kind of blended
those two. I thought seven was a cool you know,
the sevens were cool and it looked good in logo,
so we became Tubador And what's you have another project
that's coming up? We do. We we have been working
(22:07):
on a musical that is, for all intents and purposes done. Uh,
there will be probably some some editing, but the bulk
of it has been written and it's um very much
in the vein of Bruce Springsteen on Broadway. If any
of you guys have ever seen that, it is two
(22:27):
singer songwriters telling their stories. No big props, no big set.
It's all about the words and the songs. And to
reference the Bluebird thing again, you know, as singer songwriters,
we always give these little impromptu intros of our song.
This is a song I wrote with Keith Urban when
one day when we were out, you know, and they
(22:48):
tend to get codified a little bit, but they're still
kind of short and extemporaneous. So what we did was
as we wrote an entire musical that has a story
arc and a full script, So every word is a
decision to have that word. It's not us just on
the fly talking about our songs. It's fully scripted with
(23:10):
with deep explanations of how these songs came to be
and the role that they played in our lives and
our professional lives, in our love life of us getting together.
And it tracks uh Anna coming from the North. She's
from Philadelphia and me from Georgia is just north of Atlanta,
both coming to Nashville. She came from the North, I
(23:32):
came from the South. And the play is called North
and South, a Story of Love not War. Oh. So
here's the thing about Money and Anna Montana. They're the
probably the most I want to make sure I say
this right, artistic, well thought out. Um, you can have
very deep conversations with them and then you can totally
(23:56):
be you know, dumb and dumber and when it's done.
But that's the best thing about you, guys, is I remember.
So this is what you're saying is making complete sense
to me, is that you would take the North and
South and flip it on the words like that, make
love not war, sorry about love? Um, so when do
we know? Do you know where this is gonna be
(24:16):
and when it's gonna happen? Yeah, we we actually sort
of do. Just just very recently. We're going to premier
it this summer uh in southern Utah at Bryce Canyon
National Park. They have a beautiful venue down there called
Evan's Receipts about six fifty people. And then I've played
it before as tribad Or seventy seven, and they invited
(24:37):
us to come and put the show on there this
summer and that'll be it's its first run, and then
of course from there we hope to you know, take
it elsewhere. That's phenomenal. Yeah, we're we're excited about it.
You know. The the profound and prolific nous of Bruce
Springsteen's you know, attempt at what he did and how
(24:59):
he'd it it was really impactful on us. And he
was just this one man show, him and a guitar
and a piano only and I think his wife Patty
came in on two or three songs, but it was
mostly just a one man show. And we're just kind
of like, this is this is not far off from
what we already do, you know, as songwriters, a Bluebird
style type of thing, but it's so much more well
(25:23):
thought out and presented. And the goal is when you
watch Bruce, you know, you can find your story inside
of his, even though you're not a guy from New
Jersey going to be a rock star, because it's all
about the pursuit of dreams and and and your pursuit
of finding true love and and and this and that,
and your role in society, you know, and the backdrop
(25:44):
of what's happening in history. You know. He he, you know,
grew up about to be shipped off to the Vietnam
War at the time, you know, so we sort of
took a lesson from that and said, well, we'd be
a two man show doing a similar thing and sort
of telling our story, which you know so well, you
have to be interesting. Well, you have props and like,
you know, things that look like things that look like
(26:06):
a living room or a thing where you have I
don't really know the answer to that. Probably not the
first place that we're premiering it has uh quite a
large multi dimensional screen behind it, and so we're already
starting to talk about visual elements and things like using
pictures and different photograph and videos. That's a fine line
(26:27):
for a lyric oriented show. I mean, it's like, you know,
you want people to focus right in on where you're
singing into the microphone, where the story is coming from,
and not necessarily behind you. You know, again it works
in Rascal Flats is you know that this big you
can't see me because I'm on a radio show, but
I'm showing you that they're only an inch tall on
stage and then you see the big screen. But these
(26:48):
people are going to be right there, and we really
want them to focus on us, and we really wanted
to be a little bit more of a conversation. But
the notion of having some of these visual elements and
maybe even putting up some lyrics that if you really
read that lyric, you'll you'll get the next level of
what we're talking about, or showing some of the historical
images that we would have about me coming up in
(27:09):
the seventies and North Georgia, those types of things. So
that's that parts because he grew up on a Civil
War battlefield and I grew up near a Revolutionary War
battlefield near Valley for It, and so there's just all
these like war you know, induced you know, themes and
metaphors back room. Yeah, I mean it's kind of interesting, so,
(27:29):
you know, and we're hoping to do what you know,
accomplished the fact that even though it's our story, when
somebody watches it, hopefully they can find it'll be universal
enough though that they can find their story inside of it,
and that's what will make it relatable. So it's an
interesting art to figure it out. So it's it's like
a it's a version of Bluebird. It's a Bluebird, but
(27:51):
way more in depth. It's way more in depth, and
it's scripted and it has an actual story arc. It's
it's not a concert, it is a show, and there's
you know, there's just a different fuel to something where
you feel like you're being led from A to B
to C two D, two E, as opposed to just
great but random songs. And between the two of you guys,
you have twelve number ones? Am I right? Is this
(28:12):
right or wrong? Yeah? It's around a dozen somewhere there.
And I mean, now we pulled some so people can know.
I'm not gonna you have to go through your list,
but we pulled Oh I wanted to to list you
want do you do you? Did you pull some songs
or we Okay, let's let's see what happens. Correct you
(28:32):
if you're wrong? All right? By the way, should we
edit this or not edit? Is this? Keep it all in,
Let's see what happens. All right, Let's see what happens
and the gee three, next, next number one. I know
(29:16):
I told you that song reminds me of getting my
driver's license. Oh, that song reminds me of how old
I Obviously I didn't say it came out when I
got my driver's license. I said it reminded me of
when I got my Let's go with the technical works,
good safe, I think, wouldn't that come out two thousand four? Yeah,
I will. Yeah. And I got my license in two
(29:37):
thousand six, so I feel like I practiced learning how
to drive a car, and then I finally got my
driver's license, and I remember that song playing with all
the windows down. I was like, hell, yeah, I got
a license. I'm on my own. Kind of probably had occurred,
but you know it's kind of probably should like give
me give me a quarter or two. Yes, I think
if anybody's given out money, you and miss how many
(29:58):
number one should be passing for It's My way? Huh?
No is that one? Now? Is that song? And you're
does that song? It is the metody yet here Here's
what I wanted to say. It is like the play
is confessional, but we do try to find these universal themes.
(30:21):
But the really cool part about the play is that
every song in it chronicles all back to the beginning
of both of our careers. So we didn't really write
We wrote one song. I take that back. We wrote
one song that did not exist before the play, but
all of them are just as we kind of grew
up in the industry. So the chronic chronology of the
music through the through the play, not only is it
(30:44):
narrated and does it fit into the you know, supporting
the narration and the and the talkie talk part of it,
but it also is full of world wide number one
smash chronologically true, but we can't fit them all in
that buzzer. I'm sorry, sitting here the whole time going
where's the fucking sound effect? I know we would get
(31:04):
a fucking there all right, You think I didn't have shit,
I've got one for bowling. Yeah, nobody wants that one
that sounds like you left the tin pan? How is
this straight? All right? What are you? What are you?
(31:30):
What are you palling here? All right? Here we go
called what a beautiful day? No, I don't know. I
never to let the feeling show strong and losing your
(31:55):
self control. But I'm just drunk enough legal of my
hell with my friend. Let it fall grate from that,
won't Christ's good? It's a good song right there. That
(32:20):
guy nominated for the Email Awards nominated you. And you
tell the story about who you were against that year?
Oh well, it was against Believe by Ronnie Dunn and
Jesus take the wheel by carry in Wood and h
our little drunk guy at the piano just didn't stand
a chance against Jesus. It's wasn't gonna happen, right, It
(32:44):
was almost a fourth way that year. Yeah, yeah, it
wouldn't happen. Yeah, I wish it should have put that
out after the Jesus here. That's right now. It's still
an honor to be nominated. Yeah, that's true. For nominated?
All right, what else you got? Happy? This is fun?
(33:05):
And when he started talking, I said, you were a
Braves fan even through the rotten years and Martin Luther
Key Sea should it would always be ja And when
we went to dinner, do you want the jeans with you?
(33:27):
That's when A new you were my Comba girl march
to the beat of Deeper. Yeah, this is what year
was this? This is like nineties ago. I was gonna say,
I remember saying this to my grandma too, or something
(33:51):
like that. I'm waiting for early in there. Oh, I
love this song. I remember getting my diapers changed to
do pretty much that one. Almost I didn't know you.
I distinctly remember an in Utero experience and hearing this
song and my mother walked by a speaker. It's so funny.
I remember, Yeah, I don't getting tangling the cord on
(34:11):
this one said boys, Um, that's what means. I know
the dumber people out there. Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't
people VISHO all right? Hit me with another's So many
were coming down by just the other night. Wants the Room?
(34:59):
No that I wanted because I knew you wrote all
these songs. I was like, today's a day, I'm gonna
write Monty and Anna and we're gonna get the days
go by. Yeah. I actually you know what all ever
wanted for us, it was I think I ever wanted
was to this day, maybe the most obvious hit song
that I've ever heard from I mean, I heard you
guys singing it in the room. I came in and
(35:21):
forced myself on you, which I know you came in.
I felt like that y'all were already kind of had
something going, you know. And and when I played it,
when I played it for Dan Dan Huff, who wound
up producing that record, uh with me and Anna, you
don't ever play a song for someone to say this
(35:42):
is the most obvious hit song I've ever heard. But
I was just like, this is the most obvious song
I played for him, and he was like, yeah, yeah,
you're right. I do remember because Stealing Cinderella was my
first single and All Everyone was my second single. When
new artist is coming out, the most important thing is
put your best foot forward, right, I remember Monty like
fighting at the label. You know, we need to put
(36:03):
all everyone it out first. Um, and there might there
that there that might have listened. I you know what,
I still might be on our c if you know,
but you know, we wouldn't be here. You'd be rich
in an asshole, That's right, and we wouldn't we wouldn't
be having this great conversation. That's true, That's very true. Um,
nobody worked out. I mean everything works out. Um, let's
(36:27):
play one more and then um, and then I want
to close it out. Oh, well, you wrote one of
my favorite Tim mcgrawl, so yeah, UM, my best friend.
One of these days, one of these days, one of
these days. Yeah, that was a good one. Yeah. Did
(36:50):
you write that with Tim? No? No, no, I wrote
that with Marcus Hummon and Kip Rhymes. How the hell
do you guys remember every song you wrote with every
person's name every time someone comes, remember the number one,
but the number one. But people just pulled it out there, like,
oh it was a Tuesday. I was wearing a blue
shirt and his name was John And I'm like, what, well,
you know, songs are like Billy Jill said, you know,
(37:10):
songs are like my kids. You know, so you sort
of I guess. I just we want the title check
to your album starting now. Monty didn't find his way
into that one. And that was a great song to
you know, but that was the album starting starting. Oh yeah,
(37:33):
but then I was he walked away. Is this going
to be in the north. See, I don't know. In
his eyes, there's a medley of songs you have to
be worked at. These days you love me. You'll sit
down by yourself and things about the times you students me,
(38:04):
what good friends we might have been, and then you're
going to side a little, maybe even cry. One of
these days you're gonna love me? What did you write
that song about self love? About someone who has you know,
(38:27):
a series of incidets in their life that feel like
that they're about the other person, about the bully, or
about the girl that leaves, and at the end of
it they come to realize that it's really been all
about them in their own self esteem. Um, the whole time?
Did you did you have ye? I mean there is
(38:51):
sometimes I wish we had him, like she was happening
something that was happening over there. But did you did you?
What did you think it was about? You're finding finding
true love or something exactly? Yeah? In these days I'm
(39:13):
Gonna love me? Is the end of this lasting? The lasting?
It turns on that and he realizes that I'd be
sorry calling the council. Council please drive to the glass studio. Um,
well here here, here me give me, give me something
up tempo and then you know Piper tears a square
(39:36):
back top tempo, a bang here secrets on hair. That's
can you find the country Politan? I want you to
hear this country Politan. We talked about the crooner, and
we've got Keith Urban on tape crooning with Anna. Yeah,
(39:56):
and we can chat about something else for a second
if it takes you a minute, but this would be
a really good one to pull up because people don't
really know what it means when a country artist leaves
their vertical and kind of because they don't do that well.
And like mine wrote, are these things with Keith, but
I got to sing with So it's an album that
(40:19):
we did. It was the blending of what I was
celebrating that you got to sing with Keith, but nobody
else celebrated for you. So I was like, all right,
I'll sweet, thank you, thank you. We need that. I
have asked nicely for weeks just saying I know I'm saying. Um.
It's an album called It's under my Name. Anna Wilson
and Country Politan Duets. We did a record a few
(40:40):
years ago where it was the blending of country and
jazz because people always like, what's a jazz singer doing
in a country music town, And I'm like, well, that's
a good question. I write songs with it is. Yeah. So, um,
we did a this album, long story short, Um, I
wanted to pay homage to old time country songs, but
(41:02):
do it in a jazz styling. So I started picking
these old songs, and then I started reaching out to
folks like Ray Price and Connie Smith and Kenny Rogers,
all who are in the Country Music Hall of Fame,
and said, would you duet with me on this song
that you made famous? And they were They said yes,
which was blew my mind, and that was great. I
was like, oh gosh, three of them said yes. Maybe
(41:23):
I should make a whole album. So I thought, well,
we could continue to pick cool songs from that back
in the day, but asked modern day artists to guest
and pay tribute for, like, let's say a Patsy Clin song.
You know, somebody's no longer with us, And so a
long story short, I asked Keith and we we picked
good Time Charlie's Got the Blues, which is a great
old song, and we did a kind of like a
(41:44):
Nora Jones you know, Nora Jones had done some stuff
with Willie Nelson. I said, I kind of want to
do something like a Nora Jones Willie Nelson duet, but
of course, you know, with you and your guitar, and
and then this is what happened. Yeah, at its leap
the time, some called a freight. Some call and want
(42:09):
the plane found. The sunshinely rain. We see this town.
Waste your time. I guess they're right, it's wasting mine.
(42:36):
Some got to win, some got good time. Charlie's gathered blue.
Mm hmm, that's cute. Let the girls sang. Let her say,
(43:21):
you know my heart kids telling me you got a kid.
I thirty three. You clear around to lose you wife.
(43:44):
You play it too long, you lose you lie. I
got my pills to his the best. I can't find
the thing too. It's a little ray. So obviously, Anna
(44:05):
Wilson is one of the best jazz singers you will hear.
She's phenomenal. We haven't we haven't touched on your vocal capabilities.
And podcast two number two, number two no podcast number two. Um,
when I first met you, Anna, she's you know, obviously
(44:28):
we're filming this and you'll be able to see him
some of the stuff that we post on the social
media and stuff. But um, when you look at you,
you you don't think, you don't know what's gonna come
out of your mouth as a singer, and it really
like it really takes you back, and you're like, damn, well,
thanks joke. I mean, a phenomenal singer. And Keith Urban
(44:48):
sounded fantastic. That's one of my favorite Keith Urban vocals
of all time. That's what happens when you know, you
kind of get out of your box and and get
to well, he kept it. He kept this straight, he
kept it straighter. Yeah, and it was it was good.
And actually I thought that was you. That's your guitar
style playing. No, but that's Keith all the all the
other stuff is me. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
(45:11):
Oh No. Monty is a great guitar player to I mean, gosh,
I know all these hidden talents, but he really is
a phenomenal guitar player. And I'm such a lover of
the seventies and that sound, that California country sound, and
that that came out of there, and um, you have
really you have really learned it. On my behalf, because
I want all my records to sound like um, you know,
(45:34):
like it doesn't sound like Jackson Brown for the Sky,
not Teach seventy two. I'm just not interested. No, no,
that's not true. But it is one of my favorites.
I'm excited for you guys. Here's why I can reminisce
with you guys about her history forever um. But here's
what's important. True Todoor seventy seven. You guys can listen
to that album right now on Spotify's Is it Everywhere
(45:56):
or is it just everywhere everywhere? True? True Door seventy seven.
And then you're all the songs that we just listened to,
all the hit songs, uh, and some songs that that
weren't hits I'm assuming are going to be in in
the play that you guys are doing. The screenplay and
that is called North and South. North and South. You're
gonna debut it in Utah, and what do we know
(46:17):
the date on that starting July. We don't know the
exact exact downbeat date, but July, August, September, October somewhere
in there will be set up in the theater down
there and doing it and what's the best way to
continue following your journey? Continue following where it's going to
be next everything? Yeah, trubadoor dot com. Yeah, t r
(46:38):
O U B A d O you are. It's got
an interesting spelling. Yeah. So if you went in doubt,
just google the Troubadour Club in l A and you'll
know how to spell it correct. True dot com Yeah,
Monti pal Anna Wilson. So much love for you, guys.
I'm glad we have circled back and we're together again.
(47:00):
Me too. Shame here it's because, by the way, with guys,
we're writing for the you know, I haven't record deal,
so we're writing again for them. You're gonna trying to
get one of those hits back out on the rating.
It's time. It's time for you to have another hit.
Absolutely absolutely did I ever did to be the one
spinning you all around? And what I'm sorry? Um oh
(47:25):
that was classic. That's sorry. That's here we go, love Country,
talk to
What did you just say, Sean, Oh, we're really man
coming to you from the glasshouse. Cudos and Nashville in
the sea your host. Stretch it out, folks. This is
a big show, guys, this big show. I did not
(00:20):
prep seemmy. I did not prep Abby, which apparently I
never prep you guys. On who the guest is now,
this particular guest guests Monty Pal, Anna Wilson. Monty Pal
is the guy that taught me how to write songs.
(00:41):
Like the very first song I wrote actually was with
Monty and and I think three of us. And that
song I believe didn't Steve Holy cut it lead me
on was it? Yeah? I forgot about that? Talk about it? Um,
So what are you doing? What are you doing? Abby? Oh?
(01:03):
By the way, precursor on this, Abbey does not have
a microphone, and she's very very tired, very very tired.
And I asked her to pull a bunch of clips
of Monty and Anna's work and she says, I just
got it because I was sleeping. But I just got it,
all right, And you have you have permission to yell
because you don't have a microphone. You're really stuck on
(01:25):
her sleeping how was How was the Bobby Bones show
this morning? Was it okay? Is that why you're tired?
Did you just get employee of the month or something? Okay,
she got employee of the park. Oh my god. All right,
So back to our guest, Monty and Anna. I owe everything,
and I'm not This is not a joke. This is
not not just saying because you're sitting here. I literally
(01:47):
owe my career to Monty. I remember being I remember
working at Discovery Cove and going on lunch breaks and
calling Monty saying, Hey, when do you want me to
come back up, get in the studio and sing another song.
So I would fly back and forth from Orlando to Nashville,
(02:08):
and He's like, and he's super busy. I mean, Money
has done this is what really. I was kind of
nervous talking to Money because he produced one of the
most iconic groups ever Money. You can go in Diamond Diamond, Yes, yes, Abby,
they are great. They were back when they had a producer.
(02:33):
That's true, that's true publicists, and I was there publicist.
I was their producer. We met backstage at a Diamond
Rido show in the rain and nineteen and Barwood amphitheater,
which is how everyone mate trying. Yeah backstage at a concert.
(02:54):
By the way, did I tell you did I mentioned
that they're married, right you guys? So Mona Montana is
your nickname? Yeah, Monnie and Anna Montana. They're married for
how long though? Twenty one years in September years. Decades years.
(03:20):
So anyway we go back, we'll go back. That's how
I met Monty because in this town, and a lot
of people that listen to this podcast want to move
to town, want to become an artist, want to be
a songwriter. In this town, there's there's things what they
call um not the record deal, but the development deal.
So development deal is where an artist can basically get
in a studio with a guy like Monty pal and
(03:41):
they'll go and cut three or four sides and they'll
they'll present it to the label and they'll say yes
or no. Basically, Oh, I like what you're doing. You're ready,
You're not ready, blah blah blah. Apparently, apparently during the
development deal with Monty Poal, I was not ready. Okay,
I was not ready. I got I I got dropped
from my development development deal, So I was I was
(04:03):
pretty down. I was crushed, right, and you guys remember
we were we were. I didn't we didn't understand it
at all either to die, either did I. But what
we did, what we did is we went back and
we didn't go We didn't see another record leavel at all.
We standing wednesdays. We had standing Wednesdays to write and
(04:24):
we were just right and right and right and right.
And it took about four years for us to figure
out what my sound was. We went right back to
our CEA Records and we got a record deal on
the spot. It happens, I'm on the spot almost five
years later. There were hits there and it was just
(04:48):
launch your career, which which leads me to this. A
lot of people that you don't know what do you
know what I'm gonna ask you to play? Abby? You do? Okay?
You want to put it all right? Just so you know,
Abby did not have time to properly pull the songs.
And because we don't edit on the show, I'm not
going to edit out the commercials on YouTube if there
is some yet. Monty and Anna, Montana and myself wrote
(05:14):
this song and it was a big hit for me,
and that's right, go ahead, So let's see if you
hit the right one. You see, wanted all my really wanted. Yeah, Sammy,
(05:38):
this is your jam. I cannot believe you're not dancing more. Sorry, yes,
my chance off take it won't make you hid. I
have this picture in my guys and all the time.
(06:02):
It's a great song. It's a great song, great great
We wrote that. Do you remember while we wrote that song.
Originally you came in, Monty pal came into the room.
It was and and I were writing. Monty comes into
the room because I got an idea, and Rascal Flats
needs a song. It's exactly right. We're writing for Chuck,
we're writing for Rascal. In my mind, I was like,
I want a Rascal Flats cut too, So we wrote
(06:24):
it for Rascal Flats and I guess we We did
give it to him and they liked it, but they
passed on it. Yeah, and as they often that's right.
And then after it went on the radio. I remember
Keith Urban calling he heard it on the radio. Monty
was also working with Keith at the time, but there
was no like, oh, this is what I'm doing with Chuck,
you know, you know whatever, And so Keith discovers a
(06:45):
song on his own, and I guess does a little
connoissance finds out and he calls Monty's like, I just
found out he wrote this song. I'll ever wanted. He's like,
this song is amazing. I wish I had it, and
we're like, well, okay, but it was kind of cool.
You know, it was like starting with Rascal Flats, then
Chuck was in the middle, and that you were in
(07:06):
the middle of the Rascal Flats and Keith Urban Sandwich there.
I don't know if that's what Gary was in front. Yeah,
I don't even know. So, I don't even know what
that means. Abby, I don't know why I said it.
He was a little hot about it. He was like,
and I also hear you're writing things for Rascal Flats
(07:28):
and I'm like, oh, being protective of the old school yard,
here are we? Keith, Well, you have to you have
to explain because Monty pal produced the Ranch. Now the
Ranch was Keith Urban's band before he was Keith Urban.
Were there's a theme going on here, money, money, gets
all these started in the beginning, Yeah, get him before
(07:49):
there before they're monetarily satisfying. Yeah, Well, I mean I knew,
you know, I remember I thought that was so cool.
I remember I met Keith Urban a few times with
you and meeting Keith because I was not as signed
artist at the time. So when you're not as signed
artist and you get to be around the signed artists
(08:09):
that are amazing, you kind of get like you want
to see everything you're doing. You're like, well, what's he?
Act like, what's he? What's he doing here? So what
is he doing? A normal setting? And I remember so
many things very very vividly, where we would go to lunch.
We went to lunch out in Leaper's Fork one time
and this guy it was me, you and Keith Urban,
(08:30):
and this guy comes up and he sees Keith Urban
and he uh lays his c D on the table.
Do you remember this? He lays the CD on the
table and he goes, hey, man U, I think you're
gonna like the song on the CD. And Keith is
the sweetest guy, you know, sweetest person, just almost two nice, right.
(08:50):
He got kind of mad a little bit at the guy.
He was like, I cannot take this CD. And the
guy was like, no, you have to take it, and
He's like, no, I'm telling you, I cannot take the
c D because of legal Yeah, my publishers and my
attorneys have said I cannot accept solicited stuff. I can't
listen to it, I can't look at it. It It puts
(09:11):
both of us in a weird position, which is true,
right because if he, let's say, he did listen to
the song and there was a little line in there
that sparked something in keeth mind and it was saying
it was just like forever and ever, amen, right, And
and he writes a song and has forever over and amen,
and that guy is gonna be like, who whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa whoa. Yeah, I gave you a CD. And exactly
(09:37):
are you saying that you can go back if there's
like a big song and you inspired, like even just
a word or a line, you can make money off that? Well,
not really totally. Was going to say, I gotta rethink,
I gotta start cashing and I'm gonna start texting people
right now. I'm like, I can think of two or
three things I've contributed to you can make noise about
it now, whether you actually I'd rather make money, yeah,
(09:59):
and I'll at it slide. Well, Sammy works, so Samy
Sam Sanny. Sammy works at Sony, so she works with
a lot of different Who's the artist you work with
the most? Probably I don't have one that I work
with the most because I work in promotion, so I
work across the board with all of them, everybody. Clearly
she's in politics as well to you well know, But
I mean whoever has an active single, So like, if
(10:20):
you don't have an active single on the chart, then
I'm probably not working with you at that moment. But
if you have an active single, like right now, Marion
does not have an active single, and she's a Sony artist.
She's on the Ryan Herd track, but that's a Ryan
Herd song. So the only time we really work with
Marin is if it has to do with that song
at this moment. That will change as her status on
(10:40):
the chart goes up and down. All those things. They
could combine their names as a married couple to like
Herd heard, Yeah, I think that they like being individual.
I don't know that that will be a combo thing.
I did like their duet though, that was really excellent.
Yes you should still like it because it's still in
the charts still, like yes, yes, things was so fast
(11:00):
you know, I don't know they do if they're still
on the charts or not. I feel the opposite faste.
We mean, we go fast and the charts. Okay, I
will stand by that. Yes, yes, um, it would be
a mistake if we didn't talk about the Atlanta Braves.
Why Monty Palace. So they're very happy, serious guys. Series amazing,
(11:22):
do you guys anybody watch that? I watched the last
little houting anywhere they threw it over to the first
base and the guy did almost like a full split
to win the game. And that's pretty much as much
as I watched. Really, Yeah, yeah, sorry, I mean, not
that anything against the Almi Braves. They're just I don't
I don't know more more pro six ft five guys
doing splits. I would love six five times totally. I
(11:45):
thought it was interesting to see all these grown men
just jumping up and down, you know, like article jumping
the only response if they don't know what else they did.
But it was so cute. I'm like, all these grown
men in these uniforms are just jumping up and down
like their kids on the flight ground. It was the
last time they won the nineties, Okay, so we'll see
I grew up outside Chicago when I went high school
(12:06):
on a subur about side Chicago. So when the Cubs
won five years ago, you would have thought I didn't.
I'm surprised they made it out alive. The celebration was
not just vertical up and down jumping. There was a
lot more going. There are a lot of horizontal at
and every other direction as well. Yeah, um, I want
to go back to I just want to talk about libration.
I want to go back to you writing with Keith
(12:26):
Urban because I think a lot of our listeners would
like to know what that process is like. Because I
was blown away when when you told me the process,
because I was like, oh, clearly, the two of you
are the three of you get into the room and
you sit down and you hash out a song for
six seven hours. That's not the way it is. How
how is it writing with Keith Urban. It's the best
(12:47):
forty five minutes of your life. I'm right here. Oh yes,
they say that's too long. It's over twenty eight years,
twenty eight years everything. It's including everything, even when you
(13:14):
went to the store to buy the wine. Perfect We
wrote very quickly as a as a team and as
a general rule, we didn't really hash out anything. Um
if we felt like that we were working on it
for very long. We generally felt like there was a
better song to be had. And there's an infinite number
of songs always, they're always out there in the air
(13:37):
to be plucked out by songwriters. And so rather than
you know, force creativity to happen on an okay song,
we'd rather just bail go to Wendy's and get chick sandwich,
you know, come back start over on something completely new.
I can't tell you the number of times that in
the morning we would be working on a song, you know,
(13:59):
and Keith got always comes in with some cool guitar riff,
and then I always start tossing out, you know, lyrics,
and by eleven o'clock he's like, money, morning morning, this
is the best song we've ever written. You gotta work
in the Australian accident. That's a terrible as New Zealand
really is where I went. I went with it. Yeah,
(14:21):
that was kind of you. I mean, I feel like
that's what we should do if we do we have,
if we start on a bad podcast, we should be like,
you know what, let's go. I can't afford to get
any fatter. We'll be going every ten minutes, um, because
we will come back from Wendy's on a couple of occasions.
One of the songs, particularly sweet Thing, which was a
big hit for us. He loved it in the morning
(14:44):
and then about twelve thirty in the afternoon, he was like,
this is crap, this crap, this just isn't any good
at all. I said, I don't know if it's about
a girl, I don't know if it's about car. I
just this is no good. And I was like, let's
get some food, you know. So I got him fed,
came back and he wasn't grump anymore. He was not
grumpy anymore. The song never changed, only his blood sugar cheese.
(15:07):
But yeah, he loved it in the morning, he hated
it at noon, and he loved it in the afternoon.
So it's, you know, a lot like we feel about
our bodies. And then it was a song of the year.
So this song of the year. I remember one song
in particular that had you wrote with him, Um, shut
out the Lights, because I remember you you wrote it
(15:28):
with him, and you said, check out the song because
we were working on our project together. You go check
out the song. Keith doesn't want to cut it, and
I we we. I was like, oh, I look, this
is a cool vibe, this cool song. I don't think
we ever got around to cutting it, but he did
end up cutting it, like to record or two records later. Yeah,
a couple of records later. So you never know when
those songs are gonna, you know, come back and pop up,
(15:49):
which is why Anna has brought a CD of a
bunch of old songs we wrote together all those standing wednesdays.
And I'm not even lying, and I have I bet
Chuck doesn't remember this, but I did bring I did
not bring a CD, but well, c god, that'd be antiquation,
my goodness, a thumb drive or whatever it is these days.
(16:11):
But we did talk just a few weeks ago about
an old song which I didn't even write on, but
y'all wrote back to the World Series Curve, which is
always such a great song. And when the baseball season
started really amping up here towards the end, I was like, man,
that song, that's such a great song because it mentions
the World Series in it and stuff, So Chuck, you
(16:31):
might want to think about it. I like, I like
to see there's some These are what you call smart songwriters.
As they do it, and they do it on I'm
literally pitching you a song back to you on air
and back to you. Chuck. I didn't even write it.
He wrote it. Think about in a nutshell. By the way, guys,
(16:52):
this is what it is like to write with Monty.
And we will be very very focused on a certain
subject and then we will just talk about a squirrel
that just ran the limb. That is fantastic. Is not
the pot calling the kettle black Y just wondering been around.
(17:19):
Chuck was basically the the son we never wanted to
look at you. There you go, Oh my god, poor Chuck.
You mom. We like Chuck. Chuck had his own jar
peanut butter in our cupboard because he would always double
tips said none of that. Are you getting your own? Yeah?
(17:41):
He just walked here, just walking. He would be in
the kitchen in his own peanut butter. And I st
left the best thing I ever did as a songwriter,
because Chuck very very very quickly became a very good
and very competent songwriter and this is true from the gate,
and became the quick guest competent guitar player that I've
(18:02):
ever seen. So we're gonna lay gonna lay those two
things out in the mix, even with Keith Urban in
the mix, but going from zero to sixty, Chuck never
even held a guitar, and we literally set him up
with lessons, you know, with a wonderful teacher, and like
two weeks later he came back and is playing like,
you know, everything, everything this about. Yeah, he was actually
(18:27):
really amazing. It hurt, but the best thing that I
ever did as a songwriter was pawn Chuck and Anna
off every Wednesday, because Anna is a phenomenal songwriter and
Chuck was coming into his own and all I ever
had to do was just wait to hear through the
walls the ones that were really good, and then I'd
(18:50):
come kind of easing in with my coffee and go,
you know that sounds pretty good. Yeah, And then he
get writing credit on too. Yeah. Let me sit down
with real quick, yeah yeah, yeah, the menu you sit
on the couch. Yeah, as a songwriter, all right, I
want to get into what you're what you guys have
going on. So Troubador seventies seven, that's correct, that's the
(19:14):
name of your Americana duo. Yeah, we kind of put
it in that large category of genre. Um, it's amazing
because you because you started as a jazz artist and
we and we've actually and and I have a Christmas
song together, that's right, duet coming up to the season
(19:34):
over it's guys. I know it's hard to believe, but
I do sing jazz as well. Yes, all cer you
you have to love like, when do you see this
lot saming with your artist over at Sony when they
do like a press release on a new artist or
is it especially if it's like a guy, they'd be
like country crooner. I'm like that is that a thing?
(19:55):
You actually are a crooner? What does crooner mean? I
have no idea you it's just an old throwback I
think adjective that described you know, the guys who swung
a little bit back in the day Sinatra. They were smooth,
they had as they had a nice tone to their
voice and very genuinely So, yeah, how did you come
(20:19):
up with that name? First of all, well, okay, that's
a great question. Um. So we are huge fans of
the singer songwriters of the seventies, UM in the Laurel
Canyon movement, specifically out in Los Angeles. Guys like you know,
Jackson Brown, the Eagles, Carol King, um uh, Joni Mitchell, yeah,
(20:42):
James Taylor, all those people kind of came through the
door of the Troubadoor. That's how they were discovered. Yes,
the famous club, Dave Weston's Troubadour and off Santa Monica Bullopar,
It's famous club. Yeah, of course, I mean every every
it's amazing. Well, that's how those artists. It was kind
of like back in the day, you know, the l
A's Bluebird so to speak. I mean, you know, that's
(21:05):
what it is to Nashville, the Bluebird to Nashville. If
you're on s A t Exam, you know, the tributor
is to l A as Bluebird is to Naville. Just
a little tribute there. But anyway, Um, but so that
club really fostered our heroes and so um we are tributors,
you know, And so the word really resonated. And then
(21:27):
seven was banner year for hit songs on the Billboard charts.
Everything Landslide to How Deep Is Your Love to you know,
just all the way um, you know, Rhiannon and just
all these fireful It just keeps going. You know and so,
and I was five years old in nineteen seventy seven
(21:47):
singing into my hairbrush to Linda Ronstadt in front of
the mirror, and that's when I realized I want to
be a singer. So that we just kind of blended
those two. I thought seven was a cool you know,
the sevens were cool and it looked good in logo,
so we became Tubador And what's you have another project
that's coming up? We do. We we have been working
(22:07):
on a musical that is, for all intents and purposes done. Uh,
there will be probably some some editing, but the bulk
of it has been written and it's um very much
in the vein of Bruce Springsteen on Broadway. If any
of you guys have ever seen that, it is two
(22:27):
singer songwriters telling their stories. No big props, no big set.
It's all about the words and the songs. And to
reference the Bluebird thing again, you know, as singer songwriters,
we always give these little impromptu intros of our song.
This is a song I wrote with Keith Urban when
one day when we were out, you know, and they
(22:48):
tend to get codified a little bit, but they're still
kind of short and extemporaneous. So what we did was
as we wrote an entire musical that has a story
arc and a full script, So every word is a
decision to have that word. It's not us just on
the fly talking about our songs. It's fully scripted with
(23:10):
with deep explanations of how these songs came to be
and the role that they played in our lives and
our professional lives, in our love life of us getting together.
And it tracks uh Anna coming from the North. She's
from Philadelphia and me from Georgia is just north of Atlanta,
both coming to Nashville. She came from the North, I
(23:32):
came from the South. And the play is called North
and South, a Story of Love not War. Oh. So
here's the thing about Money and Anna Montana. They're the
probably the most I want to make sure I say
this right, artistic, well thought out. Um, you can have
very deep conversations with them and then you can totally
(23:56):
be you know, dumb and dumber and when it's done.
But that's the best thing about you, guys, is I remember.
So this is what you're saying is making complete sense
to me, is that you would take the North and
South and flip it on the words like that, make
love not war, sorry about love? Um, so when do
we know? Do you know where this is gonna be
(24:16):
and when it's gonna happen? Yeah, we we actually sort
of do. Just just very recently. We're going to premier
it this summer uh in southern Utah at Bryce Canyon
National Park. They have a beautiful venue down there called
Evan's Receipts about six fifty people. And then I've played
it before as tribad Or seventy seven, and they invited
(24:37):
us to come and put the show on there this
summer and that'll be it's its first run, and then
of course from there we hope to you know, take
it elsewhere. That's phenomenal. Yeah, we're we're excited about it.
You know. The the profound and prolific nous of Bruce
Springsteen's you know, attempt at what he did and how
(24:59):
he'd it it was really impactful on us. And he
was just this one man show, him and a guitar
and a piano only and I think his wife Patty
came in on two or three songs, but it was
mostly just a one man show. And we're just kind
of like, this is this is not far off from
what we already do, you know, as songwriters, a Bluebird
style type of thing, but it's so much more well
(25:23):
thought out and presented. And the goal is when you
watch Bruce, you know, you can find your story inside
of his, even though you're not a guy from New
Jersey going to be a rock star, because it's all
about the pursuit of dreams and and and your pursuit
of finding true love and and and this and that,
and your role in society, you know, and the backdrop
(25:44):
of what's happening in history. You know. He he, you know,
grew up about to be shipped off to the Vietnam
War at the time, you know, so we sort of
took a lesson from that and said, well, we'd be
a two man show doing a similar thing and sort
of telling our story, which you know so well, you
have to be interesting. Well, you have props and like,
you know, things that look like things that look like
(26:06):
a living room or a thing where you have I
don't really know the answer to that. Probably not the
first place that we're premiering it has uh quite a
large multi dimensional screen behind it, and so we're already
starting to talk about visual elements and things like using
pictures and different photograph and videos. That's a fine line
(26:27):
for a lyric oriented show. I mean, it's like, you know,
you want people to focus right in on where you're
singing into the microphone, where the story is coming from,
and not necessarily behind you. You know, again it works
in Rascal Flats is you know that this big you
can't see me because I'm on a radio show, but
I'm showing you that they're only an inch tall on
stage and then you see the big screen. But these
(26:48):
people are going to be right there, and we really
want them to focus on us, and we really wanted
to be a little bit more of a conversation. But
the notion of having some of these visual elements and
maybe even putting up some lyrics that if you really
read that lyric, you'll you'll get the next level of
what we're talking about, or showing some of the historical
images that we would have about me coming up in
(27:09):
the seventies and North Georgia, those types of things. So
that's that parts because he grew up on a Civil
War battlefield and I grew up near a Revolutionary War
battlefield near Valley for It, and so there's just all
these like war you know, induced you know, themes and
metaphors back room. Yeah, I mean it's kind of interesting, so,
(27:29):
you know, and we're hoping to do what you know,
accomplished the fact that even though it's our story, when
somebody watches it, hopefully they can find it'll be universal
enough though that they can find their story inside of it,
and that's what will make it relatable. So it's an
interesting art to figure it out. So it's it's like
a it's a version of Bluebird. It's a Bluebird, but
(27:51):
way more in depth. It's way more in depth, and
it's scripted and it has an actual story arc. It's
it's not a concert, it is a show, and there's
you know, there's just a different fuel to something where
you feel like you're being led from A to B
to C two D, two E, as opposed to just
great but random songs. And between the two of you guys,
you have twelve number ones? Am I right? Is this
(28:12):
right or wrong? Yeah? It's around a dozen somewhere there.
And I mean, now we pulled some so people can know.
I'm not gonna you have to go through your list,
but we pulled Oh I wanted to to list you
want do you do you? Did you pull some songs
or we Okay, let's let's see what happens. Correct you
(28:32):
if you're wrong? All right? By the way, should we
edit this or not edit? Is this? Keep it all in,
Let's see what happens. All right, Let's see what happens
and the gee three, next, next number one. I know
(29:16):
I told you that song reminds me of getting my
driver's license. Oh, that song reminds me of how old
I Obviously I didn't say it came out when I
got my driver's license. I said it reminded me of
when I got my Let's go with the technical works,
good safe, I think, wouldn't that come out two thousand four? Yeah,
I will. Yeah. And I got my license in two
(29:37):
thousand six, so I feel like I practiced learning how
to drive a car, and then I finally got my
driver's license, and I remember that song playing with all
the windows down. I was like, hell, yeah, I got
a license. I'm on my own. Kind of probably had occurred,
but you know it's kind of probably should like give
me give me a quarter or two. Yes, I think
if anybody's given out money, you and miss how many
(29:58):
number one should be passing for It's My way? Huh?
No is that one? Now? Is that song? And you're
does that song? It is the metody yet here Here's
what I wanted to say. It is like the play
is confessional, but we do try to find these universal themes.
(30:21):
But the really cool part about the play is that
every song in it chronicles all back to the beginning
of both of our careers. So we didn't really write
We wrote one song. I take that back. We wrote
one song that did not exist before the play, but
all of them are just as we kind of grew
up in the industry. So the chronic chronology of the
music through the through the play, not only is it
(30:44):
narrated and does it fit into the you know, supporting
the narration and the and the talkie talk part of it,
but it also is full of world wide number one
smash chronologically true, but we can't fit them all in
that buzzer. I'm sorry, sitting here the whole time going
where's the fucking sound effect? I know we would get
(31:04):
a fucking there all right, You think I didn't have shit,
I've got one for bowling. Yeah, nobody wants that one
that sounds like you left the tin pan? How is
this straight? All right? What are you? What are you?
(31:30):
What are you palling here? All right? Here we go
called what a beautiful day? No, I don't know. I
never to let the feeling show strong and losing your
(31:55):
self control. But I'm just drunk enough legal of my
hell with my friend. Let it fall grate from that,
won't Christ's good? It's a good song right there. That
(32:20):
guy nominated for the Email Awards nominated you. And you
tell the story about who you were against that year?
Oh well, it was against Believe by Ronnie Dunn and
Jesus take the wheel by carry in Wood and h
our little drunk guy at the piano just didn't stand
a chance against Jesus. It's wasn't gonna happen, right, It
(32:44):
was almost a fourth way that year. Yeah, yeah, it
wouldn't happen. Yeah, I wish it should have put that
out after the Jesus here. That's right now. It's still
an honor to be nominated. Yeah, that's true. For nominated?
All right, what else you got? Happy? This is fun?
(33:05):
And when he started talking, I said, you were a
Braves fan even through the rotten years and Martin Luther
Key Sea should it would always be ja And when
we went to dinner, do you want the jeans with you?
(33:27):
That's when A new you were my Comba girl march
to the beat of Deeper. Yeah, this is what year
was this? This is like nineties ago. I was gonna say,
I remember saying this to my grandma too, or something
(33:51):
like that. I'm waiting for early in there. Oh, I
love this song. I remember getting my diapers changed to
do pretty much that one. Almost I didn't know you.
I distinctly remember an in Utero experience and hearing this
song and my mother walked by a speaker. It's so funny.
I remember, Yeah, I don't getting tangling the cord on
(34:11):
this one said boys, Um, that's what means. I know
the dumber people out there. Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't
people VISHO all right? Hit me with another's So many
were coming down by just the other night. Wants the Room?
(34:59):
No that I wanted because I knew you wrote all
these songs. I was like, today's a day, I'm gonna
write Monty and Anna and we're gonna get the days
go by. Yeah. I actually you know what all ever
wanted for us, it was I think I ever wanted
was to this day, maybe the most obvious hit song
that I've ever heard from I mean, I heard you
guys singing it in the room. I came in and
(35:21):
forced myself on you, which I know you came in.
I felt like that y'all were already kind of had
something going, you know. And and when I played it,
when I played it for Dan Dan Huff, who wound
up producing that record, uh with me and Anna, you
don't ever play a song for someone to say this
(35:42):
is the most obvious hit song I've ever heard. But
I was just like, this is the most obvious song
I played for him, and he was like, yeah, yeah,
you're right. I do remember because Stealing Cinderella was my
first single and All Everyone was my second single. When
new artist is coming out, the most important thing is
put your best foot forward, right, I remember Monty like
fighting at the label. You know, we need to put
(36:03):
all everyone it out first. Um, and there might there
that there that might have listened. I you know what,
I still might be on our c if you know,
but you know, we wouldn't be here. You'd be rich
in an asshole, That's right, and we wouldn't we wouldn't
be having this great conversation. That's true, That's very true. Um,
nobody worked out. I mean everything works out. Um, let's
(36:27):
play one more and then um, and then I want
to close it out. Oh, well, you wrote one of
my favorite Tim mcgrawl, so yeah, UM, my best friend.
One of these days, one of these days, one of
these days. Yeah, that was a good one. Yeah. Did
(36:50):
you write that with Tim? No? No, no, I wrote
that with Marcus Hummon and Kip Rhymes. How the hell
do you guys remember every song you wrote with every
person's name every time someone comes, remember the number one,
but the number one. But people just pulled it out there, like,
oh it was a Tuesday. I was wearing a blue
shirt and his name was John And I'm like, what, well,
you know, songs are like Billy Jill said, you know,
(37:10):
songs are like my kids. You know, so you sort
of I guess. I just we want the title check
to your album starting now. Monty didn't find his way
into that one. And that was a great song to
you know, but that was the album starting starting. Oh yeah,
(37:33):
but then I was he walked away. Is this going
to be in the north. See, I don't know. In
his eyes, there's a medley of songs you have to
be worked at. These days you love me. You'll sit
down by yourself and things about the times you students me,
(38:04):
what good friends we might have been, and then you're
going to side a little, maybe even cry. One of
these days you're gonna love me? What did you write
that song about self love? About someone who has you know,
(38:27):
a series of incidets in their life that feel like
that they're about the other person, about the bully, or
about the girl that leaves, and at the end of
it they come to realize that it's really been all
about them in their own self esteem. Um, the whole time?
Did you did you have ye? I mean there is
(38:51):
sometimes I wish we had him, like she was happening
something that was happening over there. But did you did you?
What did you think it was about? You're finding finding
true love or something exactly? Yeah? In these days I'm
(39:13):
Gonna love me? Is the end of this lasting? The lasting?
It turns on that and he realizes that I'd be
sorry calling the council. Council please drive to the glass studio. Um,
well here here, here me give me, give me something
up tempo and then you know Piper tears a square
(39:36):
back top tempo, a bang here secrets on hair. That's
can you find the country Politan? I want you to
hear this country Politan. We talked about the crooner, and
we've got Keith Urban on tape crooning with Anna. Yeah,
(39:56):
and we can chat about something else for a second
if it takes you a minute, but this would be
a really good one to pull up because people don't
really know what it means when a country artist leaves
their vertical and kind of because they don't do that well.
And like mine wrote, are these things with Keith, but
I got to sing with So it's an album that
(40:19):
we did. It was the blending of what I was
celebrating that you got to sing with Keith, but nobody
else celebrated for you. So I was like, all right,
I'll sweet, thank you, thank you. We need that. I
have asked nicely for weeks just saying I know I'm saying. Um.
It's an album called It's under my Name. Anna Wilson
and Country Politan Duets. We did a record a few
(40:40):
years ago where it was the blending of country and
jazz because people always like, what's a jazz singer doing
in a country music town, And I'm like, well, that's
a good question. I write songs with it is. Yeah. So, um,
we did a this album, long story short, Um, I
wanted to pay homage to old time country songs, but
(41:02):
do it in a jazz styling. So I started picking
these old songs, and then I started reaching out to
folks like Ray Price and Connie Smith and Kenny Rogers,
all who are in the Country Music Hall of Fame,
and said, would you duet with me on this song
that you made famous? And they were They said yes,
which was blew my mind, and that was great. I
was like, oh gosh, three of them said yes. Maybe
(41:23):
I should make a whole album. So I thought, well,
we could continue to pick cool songs from that back
in the day, but asked modern day artists to guest
and pay tribute for, like, let's say a Patsy Clin song.
You know, somebody's no longer with us, And so a
long story short, I asked Keith and we we picked
good Time Charlie's Got the Blues, which is a great
old song, and we did a kind of like a
(41:44):
Nora Jones you know, Nora Jones had done some stuff
with Willie Nelson. I said, I kind of want to
do something like a Nora Jones Willie Nelson duet, but
of course, you know, with you and your guitar, and
and then this is what happened. Yeah, at its leap
the time, some called a freight. Some call and want
(42:09):
the plane found. The sunshinely rain. We see this town.
Waste your time. I guess they're right, it's wasting mine.
(42:36):
Some got to win, some got good time. Charlie's gathered blue.
Mm hmm, that's cute. Let the girls sang. Let her say,
(43:21):
you know my heart kids telling me you got a kid.
I thirty three. You clear around to lose you wife.
(43:44):
You play it too long, you lose you lie. I
got my pills to his the best. I can't find
the thing too. It's a little ray. So obviously, Anna
(44:05):
Wilson is one of the best jazz singers you will hear.
She's phenomenal. We haven't we haven't touched on your vocal capabilities.
And podcast two number two, number two no podcast number two. Um,
when I first met you, Anna, she's you know, obviously
(44:28):
we're filming this and you'll be able to see him
some of the stuff that we post on the social
media and stuff. But um, when you look at you,
you you don't think, you don't know what's gonna come
out of your mouth as a singer, and it really
like it really takes you back, and you're like, damn, well,
thanks joke. I mean, a phenomenal singer. And Keith Urban
(44:48):
sounded fantastic. That's one of my favorite Keith Urban vocals
of all time. That's what happens when you know, you
kind of get out of your box and and get
to well, he kept it. He kept this straight, he
kept it straighter. Yeah, and it was it was good.
And actually I thought that was you. That's your guitar
style playing. No, but that's Keith all the all the
other stuff is me. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
(45:11):
Oh No. Monty is a great guitar player to I mean, gosh,
I know all these hidden talents, but he really is
a phenomenal guitar player. And I'm such a lover of
the seventies and that sound, that California country sound, and
that that came out of there, and um, you have
really you have really learned it. On my behalf, because
I want all my records to sound like um, you know,
(45:34):
like it doesn't sound like Jackson Brown for the Sky,
not Teach seventy two. I'm just not interested. No, no,
that's not true. But it is one of my favorites.
I'm excited for you guys. Here's why I can reminisce
with you guys about her history forever um. But here's
what's important. True Todoor seventy seven. You guys can listen
to that album right now on Spotify's Is it Everywhere
(45:56):
or is it just everywhere everywhere? True? True Door seventy seven.
And then you're all the songs that we just listened to,
all the hit songs, uh, and some songs that that
weren't hits I'm assuming are going to be in in
the play that you guys are doing. The screenplay and
that is called North and South. North and South. You're
gonna debut it in Utah, and what do we know
(46:17):
the date on that starting July. We don't know the
exact exact downbeat date, but July, August, September, October somewhere
in there will be set up in the theater down
there and doing it and what's the best way to
continue following your journey? Continue following where it's going to
be next everything? Yeah, trubadoor dot com. Yeah, t r
(46:38):
O U B A d O you are. It's got
an interesting spelling. Yeah. So if you went in doubt,
just google the Troubadour Club in l A and you'll
know how to spell it correct. True dot com Yeah,
Monti pal Anna Wilson. So much love for you, guys.
I'm glad we have circled back and we're together again.
(47:00):
Me too. Shame here it's because, by the way, with guys,
we're writing for the you know, I haven't record deal,
so we're writing again for them. You're gonna trying to
get one of those hits back out on the rating.
It's time. It's time for you to have another hit.
Absolutely absolutely did I ever did to be the one
spinning you all around? And what I'm sorry? Um oh
(47:25):
that was classic. That's sorry. That's here we go, love Country,
talk to
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.