#344 - Wendy Moten on Breaking Her Elbow on The Voice + What Blake Shelton Told Her That He’s Never Said to A Contestant Before + Going on Tour with Vince Gill

Wendy Moten launched her recording career in 1992 when she landed a huge global hit with “Come In Out Of the Rain”. She was just on The Voice where she turned all four judges’ chairs on her blind audition and ended up in second place overall – unprecedented for an artist in her 50s. She sits down to talk to Bobby about how in an odd way, she has fallen into every new chapter of her music career. Wendy talks about the nice things Blake Shelton said to her on the Voice. Her friendship with Vince Gill that involves touring with him and him producing her album. Wendy also talks about making her Opry debut and her first big break when she was starting out. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's interesting because Wendy broke her wrist actually on the Voice,
which is crazy, like felt and I don't watch the Voice.
I guess I still have an a leadiance to American
Idol or I just felt like it was the enemy,
even though they weren't at all already at the same time,
just the two singing shows. Um, but I remember seeing
this on the internet, but she talks about it. But
she's on the show. She's on this right here. It's

(00:24):
a really good interview. So Wendy Moten, I'm breaking her
wrist on the Voice. What Blake Shelton told her that
he's never said to a contestant before. But it's about
so much more than the voice. I think that's kind
of the hook of like, wow, okay, I'll hear that.
But it's her story of you know, having a hit
back in the day, coming back where she grew up,
you know, Vince Gill taking her kind of under his wing.

(00:47):
I mean, even it's been the background singing stuff. That's
really cool that she was singing for some major major artists,
going I'll get my shot, like I'm doing it right now,
but I'm gonna get my shot to do my own thing.
Just a really great episode, but most just enjoyed the
time I spent with her. Um here's a clip by
the way of Joe Lene. This is from the Voice
when she was on the show. Jully Jolly, Jully, Jolly Please.

(01:15):
Born and raised in Memphis. Obviously, when you're born and
raised Memphis, you're just around so many different kinds of music,
from soul, blues, country, I mean, just such a great
place to grow up if music is your thing. But
she's performed in Nashville for the last twenty five years.
But I just can't wait for you to hear her story.
You know, she's toured with Faith and Tim and Martina
and you know, Vince Gill and it's just it's super cool.

(01:36):
I mean, even her story of being told him gonna
make you a star like a person, and that's always tricky.
It's like, I'm gonna make you the next so and so,
and I don't want to ruin her story. But they
were telling her you're gonna be the next place. She's like, really, okay,
and you never actually are. Nobody ever actually is the
next so and so. But loved it, love the time
with her, and I hope you enjoy this follow her
at Wendy moten emot e n and here is episode

(01:58):
three forty four of the be Cast. Wendy, how are you.
I'm doing pretty good. Well, open up the water. I
saw you. You know. The thing is, I have to
use this hand because it's still broken. How did you
break your hand? I fell over Blake's monitor on the
voice and I became, oh, yeah, that's how you broke
it when you fell. Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah, I'm famous. Yeah,

(02:22):
I saw that. So wait, and I do want to
obviously get to a lot of other things. But since
we brought that up, tell me what happened there. Okay,
so you're in the top five and then you do
a song with your coach Blake. I'm team Blake and
Blake likes monitors, and that's okay. But I knew I
had to make my mark, so I was thinking, was

(02:43):
at the end of this song making my mark? And
I fell over those monitors and I stayed down, but
I looked over to my right. I'm like, oh, that's
what a break looks like. It actually yeah, but I
had a tight turtleneck thing on and it kept it
all together. I think it might have come out of
my scanners. But and then I I broke a piece
in here and fractured my wrist, and but I didn't cry,

(03:08):
and it wasn't much pain. I got up. You sure
it wasn't adrenaline that there wasn't much pain because it
didn't hurt bad. Later, No, and it was dislocated twice,
and I still didn't cry. I was like, Okay. I realized,
I think I may have a high tolerance for pain.
I've never been entering before. And then, uh, you know,
they pulled me back. They were like, can you come

(03:30):
back to the show because the show was still airing
in his life. I was like yeah, and my hand
was arms just hanging and I looked over at Kelly
Clarkson and John Legend and they literally they were mortified.
They were just like because they were looking at my arm.
So I really wanted my family to know that I
was okay, because they're all the way in Tennessee. My
brother lives in Vegas. He was about to jump in

(03:51):
a car and drive to Los Angeles and his wife
was like, she's back, She's back on He's like back
where And then I was like, yeah, I'm I'm bruised
but I'm all right, And that was really to let
my family know I was I wasn't dead. So all
that was on a live show that was alive. Oh yeah,
oh yeah, see, I would think that one I don't
have a high pain tolerance. I would have cried and

(04:12):
I wouldn't have gotten back up and gone on. I
would have just went home. I'll just cried and one home.
I don't believe it, do I just think you would
have just kept going. I don't know. Well, I don't
have the talent to even start, so I'll keep going.
But let me play a couple of clips here. This
is love is a painful thing. This is I believe
the newest song that's right right? Well, that's a song
that um uh, you know I didn't I didn't get
this guy permission to release it? Is that right? Then?

(04:35):
Don't play? I demanded. You know, I sang a lot
for a lot of people, and I knew that people
would be releasing things that I recorded five years ago.
Three because happening now that you have some some legitimate shine,
people are trying to take advantage of releasing everything. Um well,
curse us for having that. Okay, here, can I play

(04:57):
something from the voice performance. Oh yeah, here's Joe Lean
Julie Julie, Julie Jullie. I binging up, please stop, take
my man. So I was I guess the last time
that I had seen you in something? It was I
was flipping through and I saw vents and you're in

(05:20):
the little court. Is it a tour with events that
I saw you on that? Because he has you like opening?
Is that right? Yeah? So what's happening is I toured
with Vince I've been touring with Vince Gil when he's
not with the Eagles since twenty sixteen. And you know,
I've been blessed as singing many different genres. And you know,
I toured with Faith Hill Tim McGraw for fifteen years
on their big arena tours, and then you know, Vince

(05:42):
Gill called sixteen and I was just like trying to
keep a gig. I toured with Martina McBride fourteen and
twenty sixteen and we became best friends. And when Vince
called in twenty sixteen, I was like, oh man, I
gotta learn how the same country music for real, And
you know, because I didn't want him to use another
singer for like the pop stuff, I won't go rest
high to sound just like the record. So I was like, okay,

(06:05):
I'd always do research in a way. So with Vince Gill,
I studied the women of country music in the sixties
and the seventies, learned how they move their mouths and
how they sing and you know, and I learned that.
I figured, if I can learn that technique and sing
his songs and sonically sound like all his records, always
have a gig and he will never row anyone else ever.

(06:25):
And that's what's happened. But now that I've been on
the voice and I am rehashing my solo career, he
gave me this opportunity to feature me and his concerts,
which is great. I think it's thirty city tour. Yeah,
that's what I thought. When you started saying you learned
to sing the songs. That sounded like someone who was
learning to sing with Vents. But I saw you playing

(06:47):
alongside and opening for Vents, because that's how that transition
has happened. That's got to be really cool for events
to to take someone that he admires and who's been
helping him and is able to go now have your
own spot on the stage. I think it gonna be
great for events as well. And I assume that relationship
is still really strong. Oh, it's really strong. I was
with him yesterday. He had a little session. He wanted
me on. And when he first met me, because I

(07:09):
had a solo career in the nineties during the Whitney
Houston era, sill to be the next Whitney Houston. You
know that's a set up for failure. But I kept
going anyway, and um, events when you found me, knew
I had a big recording history in the past and
work with a lot of great artists, so you know.
And I had mastered his sound. And he always felt

(07:31):
like you need to be heard. That was his whole thing,
as you need to be heard. So here's an opportunity,
and he's giving it to me. Here is from step
by step step. And if I'm about to play something
and someone has put it out without your approval, you

(07:54):
say stop and I will not play that song because
I'm here for you. Yes, thank you. Here is come
On in out of the Rain from nine three ish, right,
this was the biggest song. So did you grow up

(08:23):
here in Tennessee? I grew up I was born to
raise in Memphis, Tennessee. So I'm right across the river.
I'm from Arkansas, and where I grew up, there was
a lot of country music. There's a lot of R
and B um and it was a mixture. And I
grew up in the nineties, but you were getting music

(08:45):
from everywhere where I lived. But then digital music was
also starting to be a thing, so you would take
it in as well. And I would assume growing up
in Memphis you had those same you know, sort of inspirations,
you know, the R and B. But also there's a
big country music world. There's the old there's a kind
of the rockabilly stuff there too. Like what was music
like for you as a child, well, as a child

(09:05):
growing up in Memphis, you know, music was everywhere. But
my love for music came from watching TV and memorizing
theme songs. Perry Mason, you know, Alfred Hiscock, those they
were so sophisticated and they that's where my ear training started.
And we're watching Perry Mason as a kid, and I
still do. That's what I put my makeup onto. But

(09:25):
now we're adults and I can see black and white
Perry masony solving the cases and there's a new version
on HBO now too. I don't know if you knew that,
I know, but I still won't Richard, I mean Raymond,
So I used to watch all that, all that Nick
and Night. But as a kid, I was like, this
is the most boring show ever. I loved it. I mean,
I don't know. It was the music. That's where my

(09:47):
love and music came from. All the music was everywhere
in Memphis. Uh, television is where my music came from.
And you know, before we had like, you know, thousands
of channels. You know, I grew up watching He Hall
and Soul Train and you know a Carl Burnett and
Flip Wilson and Night Special Laurence Well, all those songs

(10:07):
and sounds they got in me. And Flip Wilson was awesome.
So just like one of the most underappreciated UM talents personalities.
And when people start to go back through the history,
because I'm just a massive late night television fanatic and
big TV, Flip Wilson has always left off the list.
And he was he was the best. He was the best.

(10:30):
So TV kind of molds you. When did you start
to feel like this singing I'm actually pretty good at it,
and I kind of want to do it, and not
as a career, but as a kid who was starting
to be a singing public places. Well, in Memphis they
had this smaller thing theme part called liberty Land, and
you know, you had our prey Land in Nashville. So

(10:52):
the idea was, once you get into liberty Land and
you learn, you know how to do those twenty minutes shows,
and you learn how to be a professional, you're time,
you know, you're consistent, then the goal is you go
to liberty Land and you you know, you don't have
the audition because you're already learning how what that is.
And um so by the time I was ready to
go to our prey Land, they shut it down. But

(11:13):
I did liberty Land for three summers. It was great
because I couldn't believe that a teenager I was getting
paid this kind of money to perform. I had to
be sixteen, seventeen years old and I did it for
three summers. Did you there's real formative you know you're
you're a kid, just young adult that you developed a
lot because you were able to get in reps and

(11:35):
practice in front of people. Absolutely, And I have to
mention that my perform My high school was a performing
arts high school, so that was this was like a
fame school, and it was a full program, and it
was hard to get in, and so I sang classical music.
That's what I was studying in sight reading was classical music.
And my instructor, Dr. Lula Hesman was like, if you

(11:55):
can master even the basics of classical music, you can
sing in a genre that you want. So I believed her,
and and that's how I've been able to stay in
the game so long across genres. But getting that foundation
in the early days, I realized I can just I
can get paid to saying until I can figure out
what I really want to do in life. And then
just started like that, which was still saying when you

(12:17):
figured it out, it was still it was still singing.
I thought I was going to be a lawyer. I did.
I wonder whenever you're a teenager and you're performing and
people at libertalane and like, wow, that's great. Were you
already at that age? Uh? And you will probably humble.
I'm gonna ask you not to. Were you already at
that age a little better than everybody else? Yeah? I was?

(12:37):
I but for me. I didn't really realize that I
knew I was unique because all I remember my whole
life is going to rehearsals for things. But in Memphis,
every time I turned around, it was a brilliant singer.
So I really didn't think I had anything new to
offer or unique. Not until I got a lot older.
It might be late twenties, did I feel like I

(12:59):
was unique? Really? Oh? Yeah? Oh do you think it's
because and having spent a decent amount of time Memphis myself,
it's a very musical town, and you gotta it's like
Nashville in a way where you gotta be really good
just to exist, not to thrive. You gotta be really
good to eat right to exist, and so it's a
tough town. So you start to think, wow, I am
really good, or I thought, but everybody else is just

(13:19):
as good exactly. So when did like the first big
break happen for you when someone said, hey, we think
if you sing for us, we can make some money. Yeah? Um,
I was, you know, in a top forty band in
Memphis called m v P. And we used to go
to Little Rock too. We used to play Captain Bilbos
and Memphis Incasions, wharf in a little rock and um,

(13:42):
you know, I would sing the songs. We were a
cover band, and we stayed current every week, rehearsals, choreography
and um that that gave me the groundwork to perfect
my craft. I still didn't know I loved it at
that time. How old were you then? I had to
be about twenty three. And are you making enough money
with m v P to pay the bills? Oh? Yeah?
And I was living with my parents. Everybody had moved

(14:02):
out at the six siblings. I was the only one
there and I had to hold upstairs. It was like
and all I had to do was pay the cable bill.
So you're twenty three and you're singing and you're making
good money. But are you still somewhere in like your
heart and soul trying to figure out still what you
want to do even though you're doing it. I thought
at the moment, I'm want to make the money until

(14:23):
I can figure out what I'm doing because I still
don't think I have a gift. I don't think I'm
that unique. Um, then I get a record deal, you know,
like eight years old? How does that come about? There?
You just I mean it's like boom, I got a
record deal. Happens always, but there's a five year gap
there or you're doing what before someone says, hey, I
like you, let's sign you playing with this band and

(14:46):
you know, just you know, that was with a different band,
and we played like hotels, Marriott hotels three weeks at
a time and you drive to the next one. So
that was great because you weren't paying really paying rent
or anything. You were just moving from hotel to hotel.
So that was per effect. And then I got a
this guy happened to sing a jingle in the studio
in Memphis, and this guy named Jack Williams was stopping

(15:07):
by to look at a different band. He was in
town to pick to pick a band and get them signed,
and he stopped by the studio. I was singing a
jingle and um, he was like who is that girl?
And I was like, her name is Wendy? Well, what
does she like with the band? He's like, I don't know,
I just hired for sessions. And he also had a
band that can can she sit in? I want to
hear her? And from a jingle from Yes, I heard

(15:31):
of me sing a jingle and then it was like, hey,
tomorrow the band is playing, can you come and sit in?
I was like, of course at that time when in Houston,
saving on My Love for You, that record was out
and Aretha Franklin, Who, Zoom and Who and all that,
that vibe was the nineties, and I was like, okay, yeah,
I can come sit in. He's like, I can get
your record deal. And I was like whatever, man, because
I'm not thinking about that at all and not seventeen,

(15:55):
and it's like, you know, I didn't even have a
desire to be a recording artists either, so that was
kind of problematic. But I was like, I'll go with
it and see what happens. And he came in there
and I say a little Whitney songs and I read
the Franklin and he was like, I can get your
record deal. I said okay, and um he did it.
Three weeks later, he was back in Memphis and he

(16:17):
had songs that he wanted me to demo up. I
didn't sign a thing because I was like, I like it,
but I don't love it enough. Yeah, and he was like,
no problem, you don't have to, so I can produce
what we need and get it, you know, get your
record deal. Uh, then we'll sign a job to just
come in and hear somebody singing the jingle and go,
I can get you a deal. Like what was this connection?
His connection was to the studio he was friends. He

(16:39):
actually flew into Memphis to watch a band that he
was trying to get signed at Warner Brothers, and he
just stopped to say hello. So the timing to the stadio,
he was stopping by the talk to somebody in that studio,
and you happen to be singing in that studies. Remember
the jingle you were singing, I do not, I do not.
But however, that guy's his name was Nico Lare. The

(17:00):
studio was Cotton Rolls Studios. He ended up producing that
first record except for a couple of songs, so it
actually worked out for him and he was actually a
good producer. He could produced Coming out of the Rain,
which was one of the biggest records I've ever had
for my career, and it was you know, cross generous
and cross you know borders. When you are a new

(17:22):
artist and you're in your late twenties at this point,
what do they tell you as far as what their
expectations were for you? Well, the great thing is Dick
Williams who found me, had been head of promotions and
marketing and Want of Brothers that on the West Coast
for years. So he had relationships for forty years with
people and he was had retired from that and wanted

(17:43):
to become a manager and act signed so and he
taught me the business. He you know, we had a
bidding war because if you could sound like Whitney Houston
back in that in the nineties, he pretty much got
picked up pretty easy. Um, he had all kinds of
non much about promotions and marketing. So you know, we
had a bidding war going on between Electra Warner Brothers

(18:06):
and E M. I. So he took me to E M. I.
That was the time when you know, you could create that.
Now it's hard to do that, I think, but um,
he was able to do that. And he chose E M. I.
And we went there and and you know, for my
you know, my perspective, I thought, you know, I was
to Clive Davis, know, Whitney was to Clive Davis, was

(18:27):
I was to Charles Coppelman who ran all that Christmas
em I all that. And it was like that for
a while, and I was, uh, you know this voice
and who reminded them of the great Whitney Houston, and
they were making preparations to to create that, but they
also were kind of confused on how to do that
because you can't make a copy. Copies never work. Did

(18:48):
you feel like at this time, though, that you did
they instill a confidence in you and not of a performer?
But you said you never felt that special thing until later.
But did having these folks from a big record label
that are spending their money on you, did that give
you a new confidence? No? It did not. All I

(19:10):
did was you know, still I was still don't know
what I wanted to do in life. So also I'll
just write this out until it ends, until I can
figure it out. And of course I always want to
do my best, so the idea is always could do
my best, and you know, they believed in me, and
but I did what I need to do. I went everywhere,
I did every interview, I did any everything that had
to do. I was Michael Bolton's opening act for a

(19:31):
few weeks when he was playing arenas, and I was
easy to work with. Radio love me. I did everything
I need to do, But I still feel like there's
something else for me to do out there. I'll just
do this till I can see it. Why did you
always just think that there's something because it just seems
like you're you're good at it, you like doing it.

(19:51):
But there's there's always like a low voice going, We're
just gonna do this until the real thing comes along. Yes,
when did that voice stop saying we're just gonna do
this until and that we started to say, oh, this
is we're supposed to be doing. Um. It probably happened
when I decided to go on the voice. So it
was that long you really saying it's so and I
mean this is in the most loving way. It's so

(20:13):
annoying that you're so good at something and you're like,
I don't know, maybe something else Because here I am
struggling at everything. I'm not good at anything, and I'm
everything I get. I'm like, yep, this is it. But
here you are so talented you're singing. How long until
that relationship fizzles? With m I that record label that
lasted from ninety two into ninety eight, So I had

(20:34):
released like three records. Yeah, but I didn't know what
to do with me because I crossed a lot of
genres and I love singing so many different things, and
all they wanted was me to be Whitney and it
was like, I already know that's not a good formula. Formula.
So you know, the third record, they put me with
M I R S. Miles Copeland because I did this

(20:55):
alternative record called Life Let You Make It, and you know,
it was six They don't want to do a black
girl singing alterns of music. They were like, hip hop
was born and rap was born, and I want to
go over here and put acoustic guitars on things. And
they were like, Okay, we're gonna put you with I. R. S.
And you know, so by the that third project, that's

(21:17):
when you know we just won our separate ways. You know.
I think when I first heard you and heard of you,
you put out the cover album and you did some
classic song. Uh, what was the motivation behind that? Sixteen
I toured with Martina McBride and I at that point,

(21:40):
I knew that I wanted to be a recording artist again.
So I have a two year tour. I decided, because
I don't have any support, no management, no agent, I'm
gonna save half of my salary and I'm going to,
uh have enough money to do a real project, and
I'll be able to afford anyone. I didn't know what gender,
but it was gonna be R and B or country

(22:02):
or jazz. I didn't know, but I was going to
have a budget for it. And this is out. You're
saving money while with Martina mcbrowns. Yes, yes, I opened
up an account just for that. I was like, I'm
ready to be a solo artist, so I'm probably gonna
have to pay for it myself. Okay, no problem, save
my money and skills finds me. And you know, with him,

(22:22):
my work ethic, you know, consistency, all that you know,
and then you know years a few, you know, working
with him for a couple of years, I had this idea.
I said, he was singing together again sound check and
I started ad living around it and I sang it
in my phone. I said, that's it. It's what Ray
Charles did the country. That's it, but traditional country songs.

(22:45):
So I told Paul Franklin about it, you know, we
were having lunch. I was like, I got an idea
for this project, and he's like, you need to talk
to Vins about it. He's been wanting to produce something
like that. And I'm thinking, okay, well, when should I
talk to him because we didn't know each other that well,
not yet, and he was like, just anytime, just bringing
up up. So I said, yeah, I talked to fans.
I was like, Paul Franklin said, I could talk to
you about this. I have this concept for a project.

(23:06):
He said, I think it's brilliant. I'll help you with it.
Um coming over to the house and I'll help you
choose songs. Okay, great, when can you do it? Months?
And he was like, I'm think I'm free like four
months later. Literally, I said okay, I'm inking it in
and sure enough he was there and we started going
through songs at his house and after about like four
hours because also Paul Franklin had said he may want

(23:29):
to produce it, so after four hours I felt like
he was committed, you know that. I thought he maybe
he gave me like one hour and after four hours
of listening listen, I said, are you gonna produce this
thing or what? Just like that, because I had my
mind was like how am I gonna ask him? I
was like, are you gonna produce this thing or what?
And he was like yeah, I'll produce you and you
won't even have to pay me. I was like, I
can't afford you so great, I'm sure I can't. It's

(23:53):
you know, you bring up the ratio. My grandma listened
to the modern sounds, I mean so much that I've
listened to it ten thousand times to where when I
grew up, I thought that was just what country music was,
not a fresh kind of side swipe at what it is.
And I love that record so much, and it was
Andy Griffer the gospel music is when I grew up on.

(24:15):
Ray Charles often mentioned that record specifically, Um, you know
old Johnny Cash stuff being from Arkansas. But it's interesting
now that you say that, I can kind of feel
how they run alongside each other. I'll play a couple
of clips here. Play Ode to Billy Joe, This is
Bobby Gentry song, okaych and now Villa John mccallista, Damhatchan.

(24:48):
I mean, it's a newer version of what Ray Charles
did long long ago. Loved and respect the country music,
but he's like, I am country. This is how I
do me and how the country has done through me.
But like, this is what you did here I love it,
but I never until you said that, And right when
you did, I was like, oh, now I get it
even more. I first I just liked it, but now

(25:08):
I kind of understand, like what you were going for creatively.
Let me play Faithless Love. This is Linda Ronstad Glen Campbell. Right,
he put himself on it. It's just me if he
never turns up. See, so you made this record. If

(25:35):
it's plays guitar on it too, all right, he picks
the band, he sets everything, so you record is completely
How do you feel about it when it's completed, not
before anyone's heard it? And so how do you feel
about it when it's done? I feel like, for the
first time in a long time, a real artist, because
he said, um, I'm not going to tell you how
to sing anything. I want you to interpret it anyway

(25:56):
you want to. And um, that will the now. The
four or five hours we spent choosing songs, we didn't
use any of those songs. The day of the session,
he went on his phone. He started searching and he
was like, okay, let's do that one. Okay. I hadn't
heard you know, going away party or driving nails in

(26:16):
my coffin or you know, walk through this world with me.
I knew that one because growing up as a kid,
you know, driving to you know Oprey Land, you know,
our church will bring a whole busload of kids. And
I remember stopping in a gas station and that came
over the jukeboxes. Yeah, the George Jones and that song

(26:38):
like always stuck with me. It stopped me in my tracks.
So when he chose that one, I was like absolutely.
He was like, I don't want to tell you how
to sing anything. And then the guys in the band,
you know, you got Paul Franklin and like these icons
Richard Bennett and John Jarvis and you know Fred Eltring
him on drums, and you know, you got the A team.

(27:01):
And I'm like, I'm not going to be the weakest link.
So I'm just gonna jump in. I'm gonna leave steft
doubt like out of the window. And I was like,
you know, can you play it at least once more
so I can make some notes since these are songs
I've never heard before, and uh, but I made them
my own. He was thrilled. The guys were like, you're
owning this stuff. So I got, you know, accolades from them.

(27:22):
I said, this must have been what Ella Fitzgerald must
have felt like in the wrong with the Cats, because
they truly respected her as a musician, and it's like empowered. Yeah,
I mean that's when you say that. I can also
picture Elphitgerald piano like just the scene, right. I've seen
it either on YouTube a hundred times or seeing people
recreate that for television movie, and it just seems like

(27:44):
in that situation, she feels very empowered, and she's also
empowering other folks at the same time. So you make
the record, you're feeling it. You're starting a little bit
to feel you. Yes, they've felt me a hundred I
was so thrilled. And then COVID hit and shut everything down.
So then here you are a lot of people in

(28:07):
similar but not the same right, nobody lives the same
two paths, and you're thinking to yourself, what when COVID
shut everything down? I was thinking, um, what am I
gonna do? Because you know, I envisioned playing everywhere and
it shut everybody off, and nobody knew what to do,

(28:28):
you know, with this major shutdown, and I did a
little bitty things. Had an independent guy trying to get
some airplay. You know, we were all stuck in our homes. Um.
I did get a chance to do a release at
Third Lensley, you know, with the guys that played on
the record, and I'm thinking I'm on my way, but
shut everything down, but I kept it, just kept shutting down.

(28:50):
But I didn't give up. You know, I was like, well,
I'll just do okay, I'll just get a little independent promotion.
At least there'll be some nuggets out there that someone
was released. And you know, I had a couple people
write some stories. But I still didn't want to give
up because it was the best music I ever heard
had in my career since my first project. So I
was very proud of it. But what it did because

(29:11):
Vince was like, man, I'm sorry I couldn't get you signed.
I'm sorry that this didn't happen. I said, Vince, what
you did do for me was give me the right
material to play the grand ol Opry. It's that the
right voicing there, It's believable. It's you know, it fits
that narrative there. And I love the music so much.
That's why when I go to the Opry, I'm always

(29:32):
like listen. I watched soul Train and he y'all. So
I love them both and you know, try to master
them both in my own way. And um, so he
gave me the right material because I had to been
produced by anyone else who loves it, but they're not
really in it. An element would be missing in some way.
It's just like no different than jazz or blues. You

(29:53):
get the wrong thing and there it's the wrong thing.
But he gave me the tools I needed, and also
the credibility that you deserve. Two allow people that maybe
didn't know to go, yeah, we want to actually give
her a shot, like like, okay, we're here. She's really good,
but we don't know. But Vince knows, and you know.
And that's that's big, the fact that Vince Gill vouches

(30:14):
for you, not just by saying it, but by working
with you, by taking you out, by you know, giving
you all these these places to shine, and you go.
And did you play the Opery before you went on
the voice which happened? Oh yeah, I played the Opery
in nineteen first first time. The first time it was
April twentie. I'll never forget and I you know, look,

(30:37):
I've been in a business thirty five years. I said,
in order for this to really stick, I need Vince
Gill to introduce me because I don't have time to
try to build relationships at the operating You're not even
a country artist per se, you know. So I was like, Vince,
I need to introduce me, so need to be available,
which state works for you? And I need you to
play with me because then that seals the deal. And

(31:00):
you know, he was like absolutely. So he did an
amazing introduction and we played together some of the songs
off the record, and that helped my relationships at the
Opery and you know, and they've been calling me all
these different times. They put me on a Bonnaroo on
their stage. In so I played Bonnaroo two on the
Opery stage and um, you know, he opened that door

(31:23):
for me. And then after they invited me like four
or five or six times, I found it was like
Vince listen, Um, are they doing this to make you happy?
He was like, I got nothing to do with it.
They'd love you, they feel like you're part of the family.
But I needed to know because it was something new
when I developed my own relationships. Did you feel like
because you know, you you know, how you grew up.

(31:45):
Did you feel like when you made this record you
had kind of experienced all the music in a way
that made you meaning you had done uh, you know
when they signed to you and they were trying to
make you Whitney, you know, if that's that's R and B.
If you know you're trying to do a little alternative thing,
if you're doing the country thing, like I feel like

(32:05):
that's the kind of music because me, like, I've worked
in pop, hip hop, i did sports, I've um but
I grew up in a small rural town in Arkansas
and country music was a big part of it. When
I moved here, everyone for years like he ain't country,
he ain't country now for a different reason, I didn't
have cowboy how a bell buckle, And I also admitted

(32:26):
that I had all these influences outside of what traditionally
was supposed to be shared. You've made all these all
this music now, did you feel like that was the
full three sixty like I've now been in all the
areas that shaped me. No, Because I've been uh eclectic
type artist my whole life. I've been blessed. It just

(32:47):
keep crossing genres, opportunities will come. I didn't really think
about it. Opportunities will come, I would take them, I
would learn. The idea was to grow like I became
like at they when I got away from E M.
I s when Julio Places picked me up and wanted
me to be his duet partner. And I had to
sing in four languages. I only speak one, but it's
singing four languages. And I became his duet partner for

(33:09):
over fifteen years. And you know it's well for him.
It's a lot because he Julio, you know, you fire
people fast. But um, you know, I'm I love history.
So I got a chance to see a lot of
history and go to all the museums, the music, you
know that whole traveling the private planes and islands and

(33:30):
making crazy money. Again another situation to like can figure
out what I'm doing. I'll stay here and learn from
one of the greatest artists in music history. And that's
what I did. And I thought I maybe stay a year.
I didn't think it could be fifteen years. But I
was learning so much, and he, you know, in his mind,
felt like, you know, I one of the greatest singers

(33:51):
in the world, but out of was learning from him,
like I learned from Vince and all these other people
that I've recorded with, but Julio, I've learned the most
about how to be a great communicator. I felt whenever
I was here, I constantly had answered the question. It's
been like, you're not country, and I would just after
a while, I had just stop even paying attention to them.

(34:12):
But I was like, if you knew where I come
from and what I was raised on, and how much
more I know than you, I didn't say this that
then you wouldn't now that it's not an issue because
I feel like I've I've proven myself time and time again.
But do you feel like now you have to do
that a bit and go I'm country whether you believe
it or not. I've been a strange cookie my whole life,
meaning I've always done unconventional things because you know, conventional

(34:36):
singing and trying to have a conventional record career it
just didn't work out. So I've always been pretty eclectic,
and so my friends and people who know me know
me for crossing the genre. So finally I got a
name or you know, Linda ron Stat, That's who I am.
She's saying numerous genres that's what I do. I'll put
all that in my show. And I tried to at

(34:57):
my theory because I'm always doing research. I try right,
had my theory at the Country Music Hall of Fame
Museum UM when they do this musician spotlight series, and
I'm like, I'm gonna try out my theory. So I
started off with six traditional country songs, just acoustic guitar
with them, and that was I got Tom Booga back

(35:17):
to do that for me, and then I went into
the nineties. This is what it sounds like. If you
sound like with in Houston, you can get a record deal.
So I saying yes a little bit, I'll always love you.
Then I saying come in out of the rain. And
then I mixed in some Genus E and some Paul Simon,
and I ended the show with Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender.
That's who I am. And I finally realize for me,

(35:40):
it's about the songs, not about my artistry, my gift.
It's about the songs, and I want to sing the
songs I should never be forgotten, classics and you know,
throw in some originals, so crossing genres sing doing a
country record. My friends are like we're not surprised. I
did a jazz record, like from the thirties. Um, I
just like singing. I'm like making at all makes it

(36:02):
at all? Your first night at the Opery super cool.
I mean I remember my first performance there. I it
was just I couldn't see the people because I don't
know that I was so nervous. Think it was just
overwhelmed because it was my first time. My second time,
I loved it even more. The second time. It's better
because I actually had myself. I guess I was calm,
but your first time, like what are the emotions going

(36:23):
through you before you walk out there? Well, I knew,
you know, the history of the Grand O Opery, and
I knew the history of the circle, and I just
told myself, you gotta look at this like barkiche literally
like don't think about the magnitude of what's really going on. Yeah,
just stay lose and you know, don't look down at

(36:46):
the circle and all that you know. Just and then
when I got home and I succeeded that night, and
Vince was happy and the you know, the staff was happy.
Um I wept in my bed because my parents weren't alive.
But that something like that could happen in this part
of my career, you know, not having that support, you

(37:08):
know that you usually have. You got a record coming out,
you gotta label, you gotta with none of that. Uh.
Vince Gill put in his heart to open that door
for me, and so I went in, you know, with
all the courage that I had, with the love of
the openness, and um just deliver. And then I went
home and I wept about it, and I thought about

(37:29):
how amazing, what a crazy, amazing opportunity that was. So
you go and it's time in your life you're gonna
try the voice? How did how did that happen to
where someone said it to you? You see it on
the internet like what was your first lettle may try

(37:49):
the voice? Since we couldn't get any traction with the record,
events produced so beautifully um covid hit shut everything down,
and I had a you know, conversation with myself, like
what are you gonna do when everything opens back up?
Because those big tours you had, the stadium tours, they're
not gonna be there and they may change everyone who knows.

(38:13):
So I was really serious about Okay, I'm ready to
be a solo artist. Again. So I'm gonna put those
things in place, and then you know, the Voice sends
out these emails like every hour comes to the Voice,
you know, to everyone, the undreds of millions of people.
And then I said, okay, you know what I'm gonna
I'm gonna do a video. I didn't even tell. Okay,
my fiance, we've been together twenty six years. He tours

(38:34):
with you know, Billy Joel Crosses, doesn't ask Melissa Etheris.
So we're like two professional musicians and we support each other.
So David, Um, I was like, I'm not even gonna
tell David because I know the first thing he's gonna
say is what are you doing? And I gotta teach
you anything why I wasted your time? But I knew
I needed television in order to stay in this game.
I'm gonna have to get some TV. So I said,

(38:55):
I'm gonna send this video and I'm not gonna tell anyone,
no one, and and um I did. And I was like,
they're either going to reject me because I got too
much experience, or they're gonna let me on. And if
they do that, then I know that this road I
want to go on, this path will be over if
I can handle it. So I decided to leave my
ego at the house. They said, yes, we want you

(39:16):
to come to l A. So I decided, I'm gonna
leave my ego at the house and everything I've ever
learned and all the great artists I work with them
are going to clean slate because it's reality TV. And
you know, my generation is about you don't tell anybody anything,
you don't share anything, and whatever you do, don't talk
about yourself. And today's world, you have to talk about
yourself every second. What did you sing in your audition

(39:39):
the blind audition was? I made it, you know, a
hard song, which was the shocka com version of we
Can Work It Out, which is a Beatles song, and
she got work it out yea. So she she had
a version of her Arrangement one and was released. It's
hard to sing, but it's a brilliant version of that,

(40:00):
and I know, I knew they had never heard of it.
So I that was my song and the goal was
to make it seem like I'm not breathing because it's
very high to sing and it's hard to sing, and
that I got full control because that's my that's my technique.
Is having vocal control and if I could, you know,
blow these coaches away, then I'll get on that show.
And I had a nightmare, you know that no one

(40:22):
would turn around. That was my nightmare. No, that's all
I was like, I gotta kill it and you know,
enslay these coaches and everyone. So in the event they say, hey,
you don't fit what we're doing this year, I won't
be devastated. I know that I slayed it and I
just didn't fit it. So you go, you sing how
long until somebody turned and who was at first? Or

(40:42):
do you remember remember without if you hadn't seen it back,
what you ever remembered? I haven't watched okay, good, but
this is coming from member. Okay, I get I started
to sing. I'm singing like three lines four lines in
Blake blocks John Legend because I figured I'm older, I'm classic.

(41:03):
I'm gonna sing only classic songs. They're gonna have to
kick me off the show because I don't know anything new.
And he but he blocks you on Legend like early
in the game, he's the only one to turn around.
And but that helped Mike strategy. I had, like strategy,
like Blake chooses me then that's gonna be good. It's
gonna build my Nashville brand. Okay, perfect John Legend, Okay,

(41:24):
I'll going to you know uh R and b World
and you know Kelly could be stupid Diva Arianta, I
can do some. They asked music or something. She lets
me do something. So I had a plan. I was
just hoping someone would turn around, and Blake did it.
So when Blake turned around and then he blocked you
on Legend. Finally when y'all legend turned around, it was

(41:45):
too late and all the others. So okay, Blake turns
around in the song and then they ask you after
talking to you, you tell them who you are, where
you come from, what you're doing. Um that's when um,
John s, what who are you going to choose? And

(42:07):
I said, I have to go with Blake because he
chose me first too, so something inside of him inspired him.
So I had to go with the person it chose
me first. So it's you and Blake, and I vaguely
remember this now full disclosure. I work. I've been working
on me like an idle for four years, so you
were like the enemy, not used, but the show. So
I was always like, I have attention to that show.

(42:27):
I'd say, what I mean, I don't know, but I
do remember did Blake and if this is not you
forgive me, But did Blake say to you that he
he's never wanted anyone to win more? He said, yes,
Why do you think that is? Because they the four
coaches are at the top of their genres. They're just

(42:50):
at the top. So they could recognize my body of work,
they could recognize that my technique, they can recognize everything
that takes like I'm them. I'm just not famous. And
they understood the quality. And they knew that I had
put in a lot of work. So you know, he
knew I had a long history after week after week
or and I kept staying in there with all these

(43:10):
younger kids, and you know some were amateurs, but you know,
my headspace was right in my personality all that, and uh,
he knew my history by then that I've been in
it for so long and never stopped. That did something
for him, never gave up, you know, And and I
wasn't giving up even after I broke my elbow. I
just kept going. They finished second finished finalists. I'm the voice,

(43:35):
they are the voices. It's three but they're sweet and
they work hard too. You finished, you don't win, but
you're close. I'm there all the way. The last three
weeks I had two broken arms. Nobody could tell. So
are you if you put the weight in one hand

(43:55):
or the other? Are you more excited about the exposure,
because that's what that is. Yes, you know, I don't
think it's twisted on anyone now that you don't leave
that show with the big record deal and an automatic
setup for for the future. But you do leave that
show with notoriety, with um a lot of fans that
can now follow you through the rest of your career.

(44:17):
So are you more excited about that? Or are you
more excited that you didn't win the show. I have
to say that I didn't know I would even make
it that far because I strategically went in knowing I
was only gonna sing a style of music and it
didn't include what's happening currently. So I didn't even think
I would last as long as I did. But I also,

(44:40):
you know, told myself every week, just concentrate on the
challenge of the week. You know, I don't want to,
you know, think too ahead of myself. Uh So I
would I didn't even think I would make it that far,
but I started getting you know, every week. You know,
now you were in the finals. Okay, um, you know,
I don't know, man, I it overwhelm me thinking about it.

(45:01):
I didn't think I would last, but then when I
got in top five, I was like, I want to win.
Let's stop two. Yeah, the terms like I don't I
don't care what the contract says. I don't care, but
I'm not used to get in second place. But but
you know, the exposure was what I was doing any way,
because I know the music business game, and here I
am in my fifties, you know, saying I still have value.

(45:25):
And I was able to prove that week after week,
a million people watching, and and with that that I
got to expose our need and the fuel I need
to keep going. But keep doing, keep going, singing the
songs I want to sing, keep going, doing it the
way I want to do it, and not be worried
about not fitting a mold. Like great producer Paul Whirley
was like, there should be a Wendy Moten genre. That's

(45:48):
how he felt about me, Like like, uh, Wilson, I mean,
like Willie Nelson has its own genre. So with that
in my mind, that was my goal. And I said,
if I could handle the is, I can create that,
and so that was the goal. So when I stayed
all the way to the end, even though I was injured,
I had what I needed, you know, and girl named

(46:11):
Tom they are great kids and they're talented, and you know,
a lot of people probably felt like I had too
much experience, you know what I mean, and give them
a shot, and I'm okay with it. I got what
I needed, which was the exposure and the fuel I
need to get booked and to do gigs and continue
to have a music career. Is there a different fulfillment
for you? And I'm sure it's different, But I guess

(46:32):
you know, what's the difference in the fulfillment between being
front and center and doing your own thing Wendy then
singing a much bigger show about being in the background
of a Tim and Faith or a Martina, Like, what's
the difference and how it makes you feel? Well? Because
I was a recording artist first, I knew what it

(46:52):
was like to be out front, so I could be
a lot more sympathetic two changes or mood twings or whatever,
because this is a lot. It's a lot so and
a lot of times, you know, if they're stressed over
something has nothing to do with you at all. They
got a lot going on. So that helped me, you know,
be more sympathetic in getting what they need. And I
had already had a conversation with myself with which is,

(47:14):
if you're gonna be a background singer, two you can
figure out what you're doing, then that's what you need
to do. And so I remember Martina when she h
John McBride told her because she did this motown record,
so she needed three background singers. John McBride, whoever recorded
with several times a blackbird, it was like, you need
to get Wendy Molten. Okay. So she had never heard
of me. She found me, sang on the record. I said,

(47:37):
you need to go on the road. Let me know.
Went on the road with her. She got to know me.
She was like with something, something was different about you.
I didn't know what it was. And she did her
research and then she was like, you're like a Whitney Houston.
I don't even want you behind me, but I'm like, listen,
I need your money to pay for my dreams right now.
Until I can figure it out. And she was like, okay, deal,

(48:00):
because I said, I'm here for you. So the whole
goal if I'm singing background, is really to be a
part of that artist's dreams and there's no battle. Now.
When I was ready to be a solo artist, save
my money, Vince Gill came into my life. He wanted
to produce me, so I knew I would have uh,
the quality would be there. And had I not done

(48:21):
that project with Vince, I probably wouldn't have done the
voice because I hadn't been able to be real creative.
But doing the voice and choosing those songs, I knew
how to deliver. Here's my awkward question, and again I'm
gonna ask you not to be humble. Um, if I
had someone singing and singing, it's not my forte. I

(48:42):
do comedy and I do some singing, but as comedy, right,
So so no that I'm just gonna use me as
an example. But if I had someone singing behind me
and they were far superior of a singer than me,
it wouldn't make me feel uncomfortable. Um, and you've sing
with so many people and not even to mention it.
But was that ever a factor, And did you ever
have to kind of pull back a little bit because

(49:03):
of that? No, I never pulled back. But I also
I looked at it like this, I was getting paid
for self control. You know. If I said yes to
the gig and I said no too many. But if
I say yes to the gig, I'm there to learn
something too. I'm there to learn something till I can
figure out what I want to do. I still don't know,
but I still need to make a living. And my
goal was to just be a support you know, um,

(49:27):
and you know, not even talk about what I did.
I never even talked about my past. If I'm there
the same backgrounds, it's not important that I'm a lead singer.
Is there a difference. I know there's difference. Teach me
the difference and how you perform even vocally as a
background singer versus a you're you're at your stage, are

(49:48):
you singing differently? Oh? Yeah, you're listening more and you
want to become For me, I wanted to become a
part of that person's d n A. That's why when
I got the gig with Vince, I checked out who
he who was singing with him before, and it was
the great voice of Don Sears. She passed away, and
he started looking for that special blend that they had.

(50:09):
And what you become is you breathe when they breathe.
You hold the notes as long as they do. And
I had already had that with Julio Iglesias. He's very
particular and he used to always say, you don't look
like you signed with him. Had to be board inline classical,
and had crazy control and he wouldn't even give me
monitors to hear, so it didn't matter if it was
sixty thou people or twenty thousand people. He was like,

(50:31):
a great singer doesn't need to hear yet he's got
four in the front and four and I was like, okay.
So it made my ears really great because I was
trying to get what's coming back from the house and
you listen more. So, if I'm going to decide to
work with an artist, the idea is to have that blend,
the tonality that match their's and so I breathe with them.

(50:53):
I create have that you know that thing, and it
takes work, and it takes making a choice to do that,
and I've chosen. I said yes to the gig, so
I'll get to my stuff. And when I get to
my stuff, I'm very particular, so I understand them. I
don't get all bent out of shade what I would
do it this way? Or how come they doing it
this way? So I don't ask those questions. That's how

(51:14):
they wanted, just what they're gonna get. And you know,
everybody knew I was ultimately professional and I worked hard
at that. I do that on purpose, you know, and
because I wanted. When I'm the boss, you know, I
just did some sold out shows in Memphis, and when
I'm the boss, you know, I expect a certain thing too.

(51:39):
One of my friends who I was having dinner with,
I'm sure Texas you right after we had dinner. I
was having dinner with them, um, maybe last week or so.
His names Scott and pretty prominent fella in the opery world.
And um, that's not even why I like him. But
we're sitting we didn't talk anything about work or music,
and uh, we were just talking about some friends and

(51:59):
he had mentioned he do you know Wendy Mortin. I
was like, I know she is, and he was like, man,
I think you know, you guys would really enjoy spending
some time together That's literally how we came together in
the same way that I've had people vouched for me
and has set had set up things for me, and
it's turned. Most things that turned sometimes they don't know
they're really wonderful relationships. And somebody like Scott or Vince

(52:22):
vouched for you. I was like, what heck, I want
to bring over the house and let's talk about this.
So how what's that? How do you know Scott at all?
I have to tell you that my first performance at
the Opry after the Voice was February twelve, and I
met Scott that night and we were just talking. I
didn't even know who he was, but you know, I
like to talk to people. I'm personable, and we were

(52:44):
just talking and we just hit it off so well.
And then he just finally was like, here's my card
and me give me the one with the cell phone.
I'm like, oh my gosh. I read the card. I'm like,
good gosh, a mighty. Why do you think he's sent
you to me? Well? I asked about you. Okay, thanks
to my good friend Katie cap over here, she was like, listen,

(53:04):
you need Bobby Bones and I was like, oh my gosh.
And so I was talking to me. We were talking
so long, thirty minutes together. I was like, and by
the way, um, how can I reach Bobby Bones. It
was like that, and he was like, Hey, I'm gonna
have lunch with it. And it was just like that,
And of course I was trying to get to you.
Then I saw you you interview when you interview everyone

(53:26):
but you you just recently interviewed my friend Sarah Bugs
then and you know Adam Sean Phil So it was
like you know all the stars as you do. So
it was just one of those like things. And I
think he liked me enough to say, hey, I'll mention
you you know what, because I'm sure they're I'm gonna
not be humful for a second. There are ten thousand

(53:47):
people that come to him and say, hey, can you
but he doesn't. And then one I'm telling you, and
in the history of our relationship, because Scott's a big deal,
in the history of our relationship, he has not said, hey,
please look, take a look at this artist. And he
didn't even say take a look at this artist. He said,
I think you would really enjoy Wendy who she is,
what she's doing, what she's done, and I said, Okay,

(54:09):
you know I'm gonna you vouch for someone. And then
I started to research you and I'm just a big
fan and I, like I said, I had known the
album that you did. I just didn't know everything about.
I didn't know um why you did it. I didn't
know if you're still doing it. I would see pop
up at the operation sometimes you know you didn't pop
up over there. So with all of that, like what
when you leave here today, like, what is the goal

(54:31):
for the next couple of years for you in this space? Well,
this space going on the voice being under microscope every week?
I said, if I could do that, then the goal
when I sing, I foundly found how James Taylor and A. Wretha,
how they touched people and people keep coming back to

(54:52):
shows over and over. Now I figured out how to
do that for myself. And I said, when I figured
it out, how to deliver every time the voice was
presented to me, to check out my theory in front
of me some people, and once if I could succeed
on that, I'm able to handle that kind of pressure.
Then the goal was to just get on a pop

(55:13):
symphony circuit globally performing our centers and sing classic songs
and originals and you know, covers, and the opera gives
me that opportunity to sing the songs I grew up
listening to as a kid. I mean, never in my
not in my imagination anywhere did I think I would

(55:33):
be on the Grand Old ore Prey singing traditional country songs.
How is that possible? How did I make my he
hall dreams? How did someone you are using a jingle
in a studio? You know? I mean, it's just to me,
that's the same that there are two kind of things
happening here at the same time. My favorite thing though,
that that has been parallel to this entire conversation between us,
as you never knew what you wanted to do. You're

(55:54):
always just waiting for the next thing. You're like, I'm
gonna do this until we figure it out. But it
seems like like that's that's who you are, Like there
are no restrictions on what you think you can do,
and there are no restrictions on what you may do
because you don't even know what all the options are yet.
And like I respect that, I admire that. So when
you say to Scott, and I don't know, you said,

(56:14):
if I want to meet him. I want to talk
to him. Why Why did you want to talk to me?
What could I have lent to? What? Because you were
doing things so wonderfully at a level that you don't
really need my help. But why? Because of who you
are and you know, people listen to you, and I
feel like you are another part of you know, my

(56:37):
journey here. If if you felt like, hey, I will
have her on the show and find out who she
is and get people to know who she is. More that,
if you did that, then that means I really am
on the right path. You know, you could easily pass
me up to why what is she doing? I don't know.
I've never heard of it. I think, I'm sure. But
the fact that he mentioned it to you and you

(56:58):
entertained it for half a second. He got me on
your show today lets me know that I'm on the
right path. You're still every Monday night, Every Monday night.
I'm a time jumper. I've been a time jumper for
three years. Vince brought me to the time jumpers, and
I'm sure half of them was like, why this the
only girl we could find in Nashville? The same country music? Really,

(57:20):
but half the team felt like I was their future
because they knew I love the music. But um, when
Vince was gonna go to the Eagles, I think he
felt I don't know what he felt. I hadn't talked
to me about it, but he brought me there and
I used to sit in and the band said when
Vince would go out of town sometimes, um, you know,
they would take breaks and sometimes they would lose the

(57:41):
audience a little bit because you know, Vince not there.
We came to to see events and the time dumpers
of course because they're extraordinary and like some of the
most amazing musicians. Um. But they said when you would
come to sit in, people wouldn't leave, they'd stay. And
I'm like, okay, so now I know my value there.
And so every Monday night, you know, we've been selling out.

(58:02):
And what I learned from Julio eglaisis is how to
be a great communicator through song. So my goal is
always to make the room go quiet. And that's what
I'm good at, making the wrong go quiet. What people
are listening. This poet I met from like Cambridge or whatever,
he was there Monday night. He was like, you have
this thing that you make people come in, make you

(58:25):
draw them in, and you make us lean forward. So
I know that's my strength. As long as I got
a great song that has a great story. How are
you as singing in the morning? I mean, you know
I can do it. I can do it. I can
still do that. Well, I'm gonna ask you because in
the next couple of weeks, why don't you come and
perform on the radio show. I will do it. Let

(58:49):
me know when, what, how what I will do it.
I think it would be awesome. I think I'd be
honored to have you all. And I've just enjoyed this
last hour we've been for an hour. Are basically so good.
I think you have just a great story, but an
even better kind of outlook and an even better um present,

(59:11):
meaning you're always in the present, but you're always like
you know what, this is great, Let's see what else happened? Right? Like?
I like that because I'm not like that. I'm I'm
I'm a neurotic. I'm a head case. Okay, yeah, I'm
a head case. That's why you're genius. That's why you know.
I don't that just I don't know if that's true
any of that, but I yeah, I think it would
be an amazing um, an amazing thing from the rest

(59:34):
of my audience to hear you perform, which we obviously
can't do here. And so I think it'd be cool.
Thank you. I would love it. Thank you. So Okay,
well what do you do? This is a personalish question.
What do you do? Like when you leave here, We're
gonna have dinner and I'm probably gonna go with Katie
and get some content because she's she's a sergeant. We
need content. Oh, it's like, okay, do that. I just

(59:56):
got back from Memphis, Tennessee had two sold out shows
place called the Holleran, and yesterday I got a proclamation
on the house floor. I saw that. Yeah, what the
state of Tennessee like named you or call it's what
do they say about you? You know I could I
was on a fog, to be honest. I was just
standing there and they were all watching. But everybody stayed
in their seats, and you know, they they just talk

(01:00:18):
about what you've done, how you contribute to our state.
And I don't know about like getting a day like
in Memphis. April two is Wendy Moten Day. The county
and the city and the mayor and everybody was there. Okay,
I get a key. Okay, I get a key. Yesterday
in Nashville, just being on the Chambers floor. You know,
they got this big, huge thing and they were like, listen,

(01:00:40):
you're gonna get the real thing in a couple of weeks.
So I didn't even get a chance to even read
to see what's on the thing. But I don't know
if they gave me a I don't think they gave
me a day or the key, but just some type
of proclamation and then you've been invited to the floor.
That was big. And my family they all drove in
from Memphis, and uh so, you know, I got a
couple of gigs coming up the Lincoln Center and may

(01:01:01):
um don't want the New York Pops and three kids
and shows like that Berland. So I'm live is my
strength and the ideas I want to, you know, heal
people through songs like I've heard from my favorite artist
my whole life and all that is amazing. I just
really just want to know what you're gonna for dinners.
I'm starving right, Oh my gosh, I'm not great too.

(01:01:21):
Probably some quirkies barbecue up right in the street. It's Memphis.
It's Memphis barbecue. Yeah, it's kind of it's a I
agree dry up, do you know under yes, yes, yes absolutely.
I'm from Arkansas, so it's all Memphis. That's true. But
I'm saying, even though it's Memphis, it's still the guys
down the street. They don't only do it up like

(01:01:42):
when you drive two hours to the left. You know,
well that's true too, but I'm just saying that's what
I'm probably gonna eat. Okay, that's what I had two
nights ago. So I'm like, may don't know what I'm
just saying. You know, you know it's Memphis barbecue. Well, okay,
look we've we've said it all here. You guys follow
Wendy at Wendy Moten m o t eat in on
in to Graham. And here's the thing I'm gonna say,
not do. Do not listen to Love is a painful thing.

(01:02:04):
Do not do not because that's not just it doesn't
even exist in my mind anymore. The demo I did
like five years ago for somebody, if anybody listens to it,
it's bad luck. We're gonna say that, do not listen
to that song. And then but do listen to Wendy
when she's on the show in a couple of weeks
performing and there we have read asked you get one question?

(01:02:25):
We ask we these are our video guys. He's been
the one doing all the video changes here. He gets
one question at the end of every interview. Read what
would you like to ask? All right, let's see with
I guess someone as um trained as you and who's
just done it for many years and has such a
big and powerful voice, what do you do to keep
your voice intact? Because I feel like my voice goes

(01:02:46):
out just from talking. So like, I'm sure, um, you've
had to battle different situations like that. So just what's
some technique it's dying right now. Actually that's the next question. Well,
what I do is um, I like to drink hot
tea apple apple cider tea before I perform and warmed
everything up and it's really sweet and full of sugar

(01:03:09):
and um. You know, my workaholic, so I don't get
us much sleep, but when I have downtime, I'll stay
in bed two days just watching TV. So my downtime
I'm gonna watch like this whole last five five days,
I hadn't gotten any sleep at all, and I probably
won't get any sleep till next week. And that's okay,
But um, you know I should two vocal exercises. But

(01:03:30):
I got a gift and as long as I do
just a little, you know I'll be able to sing. Okay,
But um, I don't. I don't do much. I have
horrible you know, I don't even know what you call
it because I don't do it. Um. I used to give,
but I take care of it, you know what. I
don't drink too much. I don't smoke. You know, I
made choices like it's I'll make my living, so you

(01:03:51):
know you can choose. But again, so I just like
you don't. I don't have a glass of wine. I
don't milk for hours. So basically, get a little bit
of rest, do what you want on your off off days.
Just make whatever makes you happy. And my apples side
or tea is what I drink. Okay, awesome, I've always
heard tea works really well. But sometimes it's like you
forget that sleep and just drinking water and like a

(01:04:14):
lot of water, Yes, you forget about sleep and drink watery,
that's trouble, but honestly supportive things you can do like
literally anything. Yeah, Wendy, thank you. Oh my god. We'll
see you soon. I hope you've enjoyed this as much
as I have been amazing. I'm telling you the fact
that you have me on your show right now is
so huge. It's like, right apart of like this whole

(01:04:36):
idea when I said yes to the boys, here I
am on your show. I think you're giving me a
little too much credit, but I will accept it. It's
like I'm not asking Katie, but I will accept it,
all right, Wendy and follow at Wendy m O T
e in and you will here from her again soon
performing on my show. And that is it.