June 3, 2025 • 28 mins
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are you a songwriter? Are you looking to turn your
songwriting passion into a full time gig gig? Whether you
are just at the start of your songwriting journey or
a seasoned industry professional, this show is made for you.
You We will welcome to the Songwriter Show, bringing together songwriting, news,
interviews and communitating.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now welcome your houst Sronto.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Welcome to the Songwriter Show. I'm your host, Sorontos, a
solo music artist and songwriter who's always believed in the
power of words. Here on the Songwriter Show for you.
Every single Tuesday evening, we bring you behind the scenes
with some of today's most inspiring songwriters, give you a
glimpse into the stories that shape their songs. Tonight, I'm
so happy to have on the show Bill Sibley. He
(00:47):
started playing in his fifties and started writing at almost sixty.
Selected Texas Temperature Songwriter of the Year, and been selected
to represent Texas in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis
twenty twenty and twenty twenty for.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
And now welcome this week's special guest guest.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Welcome to show Bill.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
How are you just wonderful glad to be here?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, We're glad to have you. So you got an
interesting story, I guess. The first thing is are you
from Texas?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I was born in walks at Kasty.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Where is that at? I've never heard of that.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It's about thirty miles south of Dallas, Okay.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
I think we all know Dallas, Okay. And what's your
main instrument?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Phil, I play guitar and harmonica. I play at the
same time a lot of times, but I playing with
different bands on harmonica a.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Lot, okay. And tell us a little bit about how
do you get started writing a song? Do you always
start your guitar harmonica? Do you hummi melody? How does
it work for you?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well? A lot of times it just kind of comes in.
Sometimes it's harm sometimes it's our guitar, and sometimes it's
the words come or a phrase. A lot of times
I get, you know, since I started writing, I feel,
you know, I start feeling like I need to write
(02:11):
a song. It's just kind of start getting anxiety almost,
you know, and so I just start writing down words
that come to my mind or phrases. Then almost, you know,
three or four days later, a song will pop out,
you know, and to just start come out and it
just kind of flows out. I think I have to
(02:31):
start the When I do the writing down words and
thinking of phrases, I think I kind of get the
juices going, you know, creative juices going or something.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
All right, what was the reason you started playing the guitar.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I had a heart attack at forty seven. I was
a contractor, and when I got about fifty, I wanted
to do something just kind of relax, and I start
picked up the guitar and I started just kind of
play need looking at learning on the internet, you know,
with the tabs, and then I'd look up and it'd
(03:08):
be two hours later. And then I've started playing around
with different ones, and I've got a weird voice. But
I decided one day, I thought I'd try to write
a song. And I wrote a song. And my whole life,
I'd always felt like i'd been met someone, right, you know,
(03:29):
And as soon as I wrote my first song, it's like,
oh that's what it was.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, that's cool, man. Yeah. I can definitely relate to
looking at the clock and you're like, what, I've been
here two three hours? Like I know about you man.
For me, time flies when i'm creating, whether i'm writing
one of my books, whether I'm writing lyrics making music,
I love it. It's just I get lost in it,
to be honest with you.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, and that's the way I do. Like when I'm writing,
when a song comes, it's like, I mean, it's like
my everything is going good inside of me. Even though
a lot of my songs are painful, but it's just
it's it's like an experience that I was meant to
do it. You know, this is you know, and it's wonderful.
(04:17):
It's a wonderful thing.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Bill tell Us who inspires you? Can you give us
a list of you know, one or two or three people.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
One of my favorite songs is I know this sounds weird,
but it's story Starry Night, Don McClain and you know,
of course John John Prine and Willie Eilson and stuff
like that. Even though I'm more of a blues Americana
kind of guy, you know, music, it's just really good
lyrics that means something, you know, I don't I don't
(04:46):
write songs. When I write a song, I don't think
I'll ever play it out when I'm writing it, you know,
And that way I can write it from from the
heart and more. I'm really so every one of the
songs I have are coming from inside, you know, and
because I never when I don't, I don't think about
(05:09):
playing it, so I don't have any pressure on me
to put any snappy stuff to it or any day.
I just right the way I feel.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Okay, Well, that's what music's all about, right, It's all
about what you feel.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
How often do you try to write a song? You
try to write daily weekly.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
When I first started writing, I was writing quite a bit.
But now sometimes, you know, you get into the recording
studio and you get in to playing out a lot
and stuff like that, and it gets to be where
I don't But then sometimes I start getting this kind
of hate and inside and that I feel like I
(05:49):
have to and then I start just writing the words down,
like I said, and then a song will come out. Yeah,
you know, I get delonging it for I get you said.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Is there a mistake that you made that you wish
you hadn't in terms of your music.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
I can't really think of any. There's some songs that
I recorded that it wasn't real happy with the music.
You know, Sometimes you can feel the pressure of you know,
when you have really good musicians and I have really
good musicians. Sometimes you can feel the pressure of not
(06:29):
doing it the way that you wanted it. Yeah, and
even though because I knew I'm not a great musician
or anything, I don't you know, I have it in
my head what it's supposed to sound like, you know. Yeah,
sometimes it didn't get there. But it's okay as long
as it's out you know, as long as it's out there,
(06:51):
you know.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
There there's always two different goals of music, right one
is putting out what you love and what you feel
is I think at the end day, all of us,
if we all recorded our stuff in a professional studio
with top of the line producers, and there's no question
it's going to sound better. And I think, hopefully I
can tell you from my personal journey. Sometimes you can
(07:12):
hire people to play drums or to help you with
the guitar lick. Eventually then you learn how to do
everything yourself. But at the end of the day, there's
no question that if you have a probe doing every
single part of your song, it's going to sound better.
And you just have to find this comfort where you're like, look,
I'm doing this for myself. Yeah, I don't have the
answer to that. You know, I mean, I personally don't
(07:33):
think any of my shit sounds good, and I know
it sounds a lot better now than it did like
ten years ago. But all I do is just try
to keep going and moving forward and trying to get better.
And I think that's all any of us can do.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, and you know, a lot of my songs, I
think almost all my songs have a message to you know,
they have a meaning to them and a message sometimes
and sometimes that mess if you put too much in
it as far as the music goes, the message can
(08:06):
get lost.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Yeah, Harry Bill, tell us about this song that we're
gonna hear. What inspired this one?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I was thinking back about the last day of my drinking,
and I was at the end, and I've been finding
alcoholism and drug addiction for so many years and I
hated it so bad. But I was walked out of
a little small Texas town in the middle of the
day and everybody came out and uh, well, everybody in
(08:36):
the town came out to the street and it had
one of those brick red brick roads. It's a small
town and people were standing on the sidewalk front of
the bank and different things, and they were watching me
walk out, and it was the most humiliating thing that
I had ever And that's when I decided I wasn't
(08:59):
gonna live like that anymore.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's when that the last drink I'd ever had, you know,
And then I got into recovery and found out there
is a solution. You know, there's a lot of people
that were in my situation. They just don't believe that
they can get out, but you can't get out. That's
what that sounds about.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, you know, I'm glad you found your way, so
to speak, and tell you what. Let's take a listen
and then we'll come back and talk tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Okay, all right, okay, awesome.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Everybody check this out.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Rude leads had his can.
Speaker 6 (09:54):
I wonder why y'awn.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
Kick a man?
Speaker 6 (09:58):
Well he's down?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Which didn't take whether us.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
She's so, you know, this life is not ended. She'll
put on hold.
Speaker 6 (10:13):
And no, rayon, hain't it about to drinking.
Speaker 7 (10:29):
Time?
Speaker 5 (10:30):
Said I went wrong?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Dreams I had for the whiskey, y'all losses didn't gone.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
From the outside looking in.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
This must seem insane, you know, mystery don't like coming.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
She needs someone to blame and her has to be
Oh yeah, now some kind of reason. Oh lie, now.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
You know this what doll it vains?
Speaker 6 (11:19):
Yes, it's all well, how sweet smell of rain?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
M yeah, strying it at the cross roads.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
We're not s Lord, give you him now.
Speaker 6 (12:37):
Because I can do my best.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
You don't will you know what se shd have? But
you got nothing to do?
Speaker 7 (12:49):
Sit that has to be.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Oh yeah, now some kind of reason.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Hold on now.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
You know this one dollarge thing.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
When you been e us this long? Well, this smell
of rain.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So Bill, do you have any plans anything in the
works for the fans later this year and a new
music tour and anything you want to do.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, I'm doing a few festivals. I'm doing a blue
festival in Gainesville and then I'm doing a festival in
uh Granberry And I've got some different radio spots. I'm
doing some Texas music cafe I'm doing. I've got an album,
new album coming out this we're working on it right now. Also,
(14:06):
this would be my third one. I have them on
Spotify and all the streaming online streaming stuff.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
So tell us your favorite song about Texas.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Oh, it's a new song that I've got. It's it's
called Drifter's Song. It's some old words, but it's a
new thing, new music that I'm putting out, and it's
about the Brass River and one of the South where
the words are just like a river surely meant to flow,
(14:41):
Loneliness is love and nowhere to Go?
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Is there a favorite person you have to follow on
social media?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I kind of like any of the really great songwriters
and stuff like that. I like to listen to new songwriting,
you know, people that I look at a lot of
the songs and people that can really that are really
good songwriters. And there's not any particular person I just like.
(15:09):
I like to listen to good lyrics. I'm more of
a lyrics person, you know, sure. And I've got kind
of a weird voice, so you know, I don't have
any range at all, so you know, if that's why
I'm kind of more of lyrics and blues. I have
(15:30):
a blues voice.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I did, yeah, sor Ry Man, Hey, we're all unique.
Do you have a superpower you want to share with us?
Speaker 2 (15:38):
I enjoy I could be looking out playing in front
of eight hundred people or something, and and if I
play a song, and then I've got a couple of
them that kind of move people. And to look out
and see somebody whife a tear away from their eyes.
It's remote. Most that means more to me than anything
(16:01):
in the world, to see that my songs meant something
to somebody, you know. I think that's sometimes I feel
bad when I make people cry, and so I have
a song called The Gift that a lot of times
it makes people cry, but it's just, you know, it's
just the way it is, you know, But I hate
(16:23):
to make them sad.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
But sure, Bill, is there a piece of advice you
wish you'd ignore it when you were starting out that
someone gave you?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Well, being self taught like that, I think everything is
for a reason, you know, the failures, you know, I don't.
I don't take things personal.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
One day recovery that taught me is you know, don't
take it. Don't take myself so, you know, so seriously,
and so you know, I try to. I try to
stay pretty bad on that because people all have their
own agendas, you know. It's another bird. Yeah, I hear you.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Is there a band that you would love to cham with?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I'm not really I like to play. I play harmonica
with different people, and I'm not a great guitar player,
so and I do all original music. So the band
that that I have that played the take some music cafe.
I love playing with them. You know, it's just at
my age, you know, it's not it's not about you know,
(17:34):
the popularity or you know, the the dancing and stuff
like that. It's more about the music, you know. So
I think if I had one, it'd be the Stones.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Well I was, I was just gonna say I was
gonna pick one for you. I was gonna say Bob Dylan. Yeah,
you know, with your harmonica and your voice and his voice,
that's kind of the vibe I'm getting.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, Yeah, I love bm Dylan, I like I like
Tom Petty. I mean I listen to all kinds of
rages of music, you know, I like all kind of love.
Willie Neilson.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
You know, I'm not a country Oh yeah, I could
hear you with Willie too. Man, you guys cranking out
a duet. Yeah, I'm not.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I'm not a country. Mine's not country at all. But
but uh uh, but I love his writing. You know,
he's just a phenomenal songwriter.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, are there certain things you do not like to
do well.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I've gotten now that I've gotten older, Like when I
do play with the band. That's one of the reasons
I don't like because I don't want to play harmonica
for three hours, you know. But as far as that's
basically it, I'm not really a big band. I'm person.
(18:56):
I'm more enjoyed, you know, do it so swath type
of thing like that. I don't really want to play
in a band. I do sometimes, but they don't really
you know. It's not one of my favorite thing.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Okay, is there like a favorite job you had?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
You know? As far as music, I like listening rooms
and I like doing the Texas Music Cafe. In the
music room, there's a place and walks hatche that I
enjoyed because it's really innimate. And of course there was
Uncle Calvin's in Dallas, which is a big listening room.
(19:36):
It's where people are actually hearing your songs, you know,
and I just I love that because you can get
that interaction with the crowd and things. I like smaller
listening rooms than I do big things.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Bill, I got one final question for you tonight. Where
can the fans listen to your stuff. Stream it and
check you out.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I'm on Spotify, Apple, iTunes, any of the YouTube music.
We've got some videos on YouTube and uh with the
full band, a taxi music cafe and uh, I'm on
all the listening you know online services and uh they
(20:19):
play my songs in Europe so and uh Australia and
Canada and things like that you have. But I'm real
grateful for the people to play my music because it's
a real honor to be you know, start this late
and be able to do that. Yeah, you can find
it and I've also got a page on Facebook and
(20:43):
stuff too.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
All right, Bill, I want to thank you so much
for being on the show with us tonight, and.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I do I appreciate what you do. This is just
really really nice thing, you know, to talk to people
about songwriting, because I really enjoy it and good and
I appreciate you doing this as well.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
You're welcome, and to all the fans tonight, thank you
for spending a little bit of your precious time with
the two of us and tuning in to The Songwriter Show.
Thank you so much. To all the listeners, we hope
this episode has inspired you to explore your own stories
through music. My name is Torontos and as always, it's
been a pleasure having you with me tonight. Join me
every single Tuesday evening to hear more stories from incredible
(21:26):
artists from all over the world. Until then, keep creating,
keep sharing, because every single story deserves to be told.
I love you all, Have a great night. I was
running ever seems to end Jason shadows round every bed
we sing a sod a race.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
I couldn't win, couldn't stop from them. But where I've been,
I was running down my way good road. Jason Ever
had the pad to the man and I couldn't slow down.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
But the faster I was delt.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
You know I was loosing.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
Bround one hit his ball, rags did news hit me?
Speaker 4 (22:15):
Hid he was going and it told me about couldn't
run from the page, no basic goal I had broke
at my heart.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
I quit the chase.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
And that phrase.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
The day I started, long face.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
My face and sweet release, Yeah it was over the
day I started.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
I f.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
I won.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
Now church or ask me to run?
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Do you're good up? Gat sans it with the table
faces the game you said, and you're such a.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
Full sun thing.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Look you just don't know what try to fill the
whole money. But you're stuck. Well, they're going on ring
did you hit you hard?
Speaker 6 (23:27):
They're gonna turn.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
You can't run from the page. Nobody's to go like
that's m in your heart.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
Quat chase.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
And not the phrase.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
They stop.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
I want face.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
About face.
Speaker 6 (23:53):
And sweet Release.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Yeah, I'm so over, but they stop.
Speaker 6 (24:01):
I want Now we're.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Sitting here and playing this. We had no damn mother,
just sleep ben to She said, no chat just counting
that both made it wont we were understand?
Speaker 7 (24:16):
Oh yeah, we quit the change, We quit the.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Ras and.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Then we scott.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
Today we scott.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
We want grad we want without fees. We found face
and Sweet Release.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
Yeah, so good day we suffered.
Speaker 7 (24:44):
Yeah, I started riding.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
I start the fight, not das fight the day I stopped.
(25:14):
I want.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Thank you for listening to The Songwriter Show. To keep
the momental going, head over to www Dot songwriter show
dot com and joined our free music community of artists, songwriters,
and producers.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
That's www.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Dot songwriter Show dot com.
Speaker 7 (26:00):
Any anything you many A man and and.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
L hanging.
Speaker 7 (27:51):
Hang hang hang hang usloy
Are you a songwriter? Are you looking to turn your
songwriting passion into a full time gig gig? Whether you
are just at the start of your songwriting journey or
a seasoned industry professional, this show is made for you.
You We will welcome to the Songwriter Show, bringing together songwriting, news,
interviews and communitating.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now welcome your houst Sronto.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Welcome to the Songwriter Show. I'm your host, Sorontos, a
solo music artist and songwriter who's always believed in the
power of words. Here on the Songwriter Show for you.
Every single Tuesday evening, we bring you behind the scenes
with some of today's most inspiring songwriters, give you a
glimpse into the stories that shape their songs. Tonight, I'm
so happy to have on the show Bill Sibley. He
(00:47):
started playing in his fifties and started writing at almost sixty.
Selected Texas Temperature Songwriter of the Year, and been selected
to represent Texas in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis
twenty twenty and twenty twenty for.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
And now welcome this week's special guest guest.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Welcome to show Bill.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
How are you just wonderful glad to be here?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, We're glad to have you. So you got an
interesting story, I guess. The first thing is are you
from Texas?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I was born in walks at Kasty.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Where is that at? I've never heard of that.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It's about thirty miles south of Dallas, Okay.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
I think we all know Dallas, Okay. And what's your
main instrument?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Phil, I play guitar and harmonica. I play at the
same time a lot of times, but I playing with
different bands on harmonica a.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Lot, okay. And tell us a little bit about how
do you get started writing a song? Do you always
start your guitar harmonica? Do you hummi melody? How does
it work for you?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well? A lot of times it just kind of comes in.
Sometimes it's harm sometimes it's our guitar, and sometimes it's
the words come or a phrase. A lot of times
I get, you know, since I started writing, I feel,
you know, I start feeling like I need to write
(02:11):
a song. It's just kind of start getting anxiety almost,
you know, and so I just start writing down words
that come to my mind or phrases. Then almost, you know,
three or four days later, a song will pop out,
you know, and to just start come out and it
just kind of flows out. I think I have to
(02:31):
start the When I do the writing down words and
thinking of phrases, I think I kind of get the
juices going, you know, creative juices going or something.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
All right, what was the reason you started playing the guitar.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I had a heart attack at forty seven. I was
a contractor, and when I got about fifty, I wanted
to do something just kind of relax, and I start
picked up the guitar and I started just kind of
play need looking at learning on the internet, you know,
with the tabs, and then I'd look up and it'd
(03:08):
be two hours later. And then I've started playing around
with different ones, and I've got a weird voice. But
I decided one day, I thought I'd try to write
a song. And I wrote a song. And my whole life,
I'd always felt like i'd been met someone, right, you know,
(03:29):
And as soon as I wrote my first song, it's like,
oh that's what it was.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, that's cool, man. Yeah. I can definitely relate to
looking at the clock and you're like, what, I've been
here two three hours? Like I know about you man.
For me, time flies when i'm creating, whether i'm writing
one of my books, whether I'm writing lyrics making music,
I love it. It's just I get lost in it,
to be honest with you.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Yeah, and that's the way I do. Like when I'm writing,
when a song comes, it's like, I mean, it's like
my everything is going good inside of me. Even though
a lot of my songs are painful, but it's just
it's it's like an experience that I was meant to
do it. You know, this is you know, and it's wonderful.
(04:17):
It's a wonderful thing.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Bill tell Us who inspires you? Can you give us
a list of you know, one or two or three people.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
One of my favorite songs is I know this sounds weird,
but it's story Starry Night, Don McClain and you know,
of course John John Prine and Willie Eilson and stuff
like that. Even though I'm more of a blues Americana
kind of guy, you know, music, it's just really good
lyrics that means something, you know, I don't I don't
(04:46):
write songs. When I write a song, I don't think
I'll ever play it out when I'm writing it, you know,
And that way I can write it from from the
heart and more. I'm really so every one of the
songs I have are coming from inside, you know, and
because I never when I don't, I don't think about
(05:09):
playing it, so I don't have any pressure on me
to put any snappy stuff to it or any day.
I just right the way I feel.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Okay, Well, that's what music's all about, right, It's all
about what you feel.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
How often do you try to write a song? You
try to write daily weekly.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
When I first started writing, I was writing quite a bit.
But now sometimes, you know, you get into the recording
studio and you get in to playing out a lot
and stuff like that, and it gets to be where
I don't But then sometimes I start getting this kind
of hate and inside and that I feel like I
(05:49):
have to and then I start just writing the words down,
like I said, and then a song will come out. Yeah,
you know, I get delonging it for I get you said.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Is there a mistake that you made that you wish
you hadn't in terms of your music.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
I can't really think of any. There's some songs that
I recorded that it wasn't real happy with the music.
You know, Sometimes you can feel the pressure of you know,
when you have really good musicians and I have really
good musicians. Sometimes you can feel the pressure of not
(06:29):
doing it the way that you wanted it. Yeah, and
even though because I knew I'm not a great musician
or anything, I don't you know, I have it in
my head what it's supposed to sound like, you know. Yeah,
sometimes it didn't get there. But it's okay as long
as it's out you know, as long as it's out there,
(06:51):
you know.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
There there's always two different goals of music, right one
is putting out what you love and what you feel
is I think at the end day, all of us,
if we all recorded our stuff in a professional studio
with top of the line producers, and there's no question
it's going to sound better. And I think, hopefully I
can tell you from my personal journey. Sometimes you can
(07:12):
hire people to play drums or to help you with
the guitar lick. Eventually then you learn how to do
everything yourself. But at the end of the day, there's
no question that if you have a probe doing every
single part of your song, it's going to sound better.
And you just have to find this comfort where you're like, look,
I'm doing this for myself. Yeah, I don't have the
answer to that. You know, I mean, I personally don't
(07:33):
think any of my shit sounds good, and I know
it sounds a lot better now than it did like
ten years ago. But all I do is just try
to keep going and moving forward and trying to get better.
And I think that's all any of us can do.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, and you know, a lot of my songs, I
think almost all my songs have a message to you know,
they have a meaning to them and a message sometimes
and sometimes that mess if you put too much in
it as far as the music goes, the message can
(08:06):
get lost.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Yeah, Harry Bill, tell us about this song that we're
gonna hear. What inspired this one?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I was thinking back about the last day of my drinking,
and I was at the end, and I've been finding
alcoholism and drug addiction for so many years and I
hated it so bad. But I was walked out of
a little small Texas town in the middle of the
day and everybody came out and uh, well, everybody in
(08:36):
the town came out to the street and it had
one of those brick red brick roads. It's a small
town and people were standing on the sidewalk front of
the bank and different things, and they were watching me
walk out, and it was the most humiliating thing that
I had ever And that's when I decided I wasn't
(08:59):
gonna live like that anymore.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
That's when that the last drink I'd ever had, you know,
And then I got into recovery and found out there
is a solution. You know, there's a lot of people
that were in my situation. They just don't believe that
they can get out, but you can't get out. That's
what that sounds about.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, you know, I'm glad you found your way, so
to speak, and tell you what. Let's take a listen
and then we'll come back and talk tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Okay, all right, okay, awesome.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Everybody check this out.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Rude leads had his can.
Speaker 6 (09:54):
I wonder why y'awn.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
Kick a man?
Speaker 6 (09:58):
Well he's down?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Which didn't take whether us.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
She's so, you know, this life is not ended. She'll
put on hold.
Speaker 6 (10:13):
And no, rayon, hain't it about to drinking.
Speaker 7 (10:29):
Time?
Speaker 5 (10:30):
Said I went wrong?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Dreams I had for the whiskey, y'all losses didn't gone.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
From the outside looking in.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
This must seem insane, you know, mystery don't like coming.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
She needs someone to blame and her has to be
Oh yeah, now some kind of reason. Oh lie, now.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
You know this what doll it vains?
Speaker 6 (11:19):
Yes, it's all well, how sweet smell of rain?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
M yeah, strying it at the cross roads.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
We're not s Lord, give you him now.
Speaker 6 (12:37):
Because I can do my best.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
You don't will you know what se shd have? But
you got nothing to do?
Speaker 7 (12:49):
Sit that has to be.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Oh yeah, now some kind of reason.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Hold on now.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
You know this one dollarge thing.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
When you been e us this long? Well, this smell
of rain.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So Bill, do you have any plans anything in the
works for the fans later this year and a new
music tour and anything you want to do.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, I'm doing a few festivals. I'm doing a blue
festival in Gainesville and then I'm doing a festival in
uh Granberry And I've got some different radio spots. I'm
doing some Texas music cafe I'm doing. I've got an album,
new album coming out this we're working on it right now. Also,
(14:06):
this would be my third one. I have them on
Spotify and all the streaming online streaming stuff.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
So tell us your favorite song about Texas.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Oh, it's a new song that I've got. It's it's
called Drifter's Song. It's some old words, but it's a
new thing, new music that I'm putting out, and it's
about the Brass River and one of the South where
the words are just like a river surely meant to flow,
(14:41):
Loneliness is love and nowhere to Go?
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Is there a favorite person you have to follow on
social media?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I kind of like any of the really great songwriters
and stuff like that. I like to listen to new songwriting,
you know, people that I look at a lot of
the songs and people that can really that are really
good songwriters. And there's not any particular person I just like.
(15:09):
I like to listen to good lyrics. I'm more of
a lyrics person, you know, sure. And I've got kind
of a weird voice, so you know, I don't have
any range at all, so you know, if that's why
I'm kind of more of lyrics and blues. I have
(15:30):
a blues voice.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I did, yeah, sor Ry Man, Hey, we're all unique.
Do you have a superpower you want to share with us?
Speaker 2 (15:38):
I enjoy I could be looking out playing in front
of eight hundred people or something, and and if I
play a song, and then I've got a couple of
them that kind of move people. And to look out
and see somebody whife a tear away from their eyes.
It's remote. Most that means more to me than anything
(16:01):
in the world, to see that my songs meant something
to somebody, you know. I think that's sometimes I feel
bad when I make people cry, and so I have
a song called The Gift that a lot of times
it makes people cry, but it's just, you know, it's
just the way it is, you know, But I hate
(16:23):
to make them sad.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
But sure, Bill, is there a piece of advice you
wish you'd ignore it when you were starting out that
someone gave you?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Well, being self taught like that, I think everything is
for a reason, you know, the failures, you know, I don't.
I don't take things personal.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
One day recovery that taught me is you know, don't
take it. Don't take myself so, you know, so seriously,
and so you know, I try to. I try to
stay pretty bad on that because people all have their
own agendas, you know. It's another bird. Yeah, I hear you.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Is there a band that you would love to cham with?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I'm not really I like to play. I play harmonica
with different people, and I'm not a great guitar player,
so and I do all original music. So the band
that that I have that played the take some music cafe.
I love playing with them. You know, it's just at
my age, you know, it's not it's not about you know,
(17:34):
the popularity or you know, the the dancing and stuff
like that. It's more about the music, you know. So
I think if I had one, it'd be the Stones.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Well I was, I was just gonna say I was
gonna pick one for you. I was gonna say Bob Dylan. Yeah,
you know, with your harmonica and your voice and his voice,
that's kind of the vibe I'm getting.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, Yeah, I love bm Dylan, I like I like
Tom Petty. I mean I listen to all kinds of
rages of music, you know, I like all kind of love.
Willie Neilson.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
You know, I'm not a country Oh yeah, I could
hear you with Willie too. Man, you guys cranking out
a duet. Yeah, I'm not.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I'm not a country. Mine's not country at all. But
but uh uh, but I love his writing. You know,
he's just a phenomenal songwriter.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, are there certain things you do not like to
do well.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I've gotten now that I've gotten older, Like when I
do play with the band. That's one of the reasons
I don't like because I don't want to play harmonica
for three hours, you know. But as far as that's
basically it, I'm not really a big band. I'm person.
(18:56):
I'm more enjoyed, you know, do it so swath type
of thing like that. I don't really want to play
in a band. I do sometimes, but they don't really
you know. It's not one of my favorite thing.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Okay, is there like a favorite job you had?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
You know? As far as music, I like listening rooms
and I like doing the Texas Music Cafe. In the
music room, there's a place and walks hatche that I
enjoyed because it's really innimate. And of course there was
Uncle Calvin's in Dallas, which is a big listening room.
(19:36):
It's where people are actually hearing your songs, you know,
and I just I love that because you can get
that interaction with the crowd and things. I like smaller
listening rooms than I do big things.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Bill, I got one final question for you tonight. Where
can the fans listen to your stuff. Stream it and
check you out.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I'm on Spotify, Apple, iTunes, any of the YouTube music.
We've got some videos on YouTube and uh with the
full band, a taxi music cafe and uh, I'm on
all the listening you know online services and uh they
(20:19):
play my songs in Europe so and uh Australia and
Canada and things like that you have. But I'm real
grateful for the people to play my music because it's
a real honor to be you know, start this late
and be able to do that. Yeah, you can find
it and I've also got a page on Facebook and
(20:43):
stuff too.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
All right, Bill, I want to thank you so much
for being on the show with us tonight, and.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I do I appreciate what you do. This is just
really really nice thing, you know, to talk to people
about songwriting, because I really enjoy it and good and
I appreciate you doing this as well.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
You're welcome, and to all the fans tonight, thank you
for spending a little bit of your precious time with
the two of us and tuning in to The Songwriter Show.
Thank you so much. To all the listeners, we hope
this episode has inspired you to explore your own stories
through music. My name is Torontos and as always, it's
been a pleasure having you with me tonight. Join me
every single Tuesday evening to hear more stories from incredible
(21:26):
artists from all over the world. Until then, keep creating,
keep sharing, because every single story deserves to be told.
I love you all, Have a great night. I was
running ever seems to end Jason shadows round every bed
we sing a sod a race.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
I couldn't win, couldn't stop from them. But where I've been,
I was running down my way good road. Jason Ever
had the pad to the man and I couldn't slow down.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
But the faster I was delt.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
You know I was loosing.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
Bround one hit his ball, rags did news hit me?
Speaker 4 (22:15):
Hid he was going and it told me about couldn't
run from the page, no basic goal I had broke
at my heart.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
I quit the chase.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
And that phrase.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
The day I started, long face.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
My face and sweet release, Yeah it was over the
day I started.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
I f.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
I won.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
Now church or ask me to run?
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Do you're good up? Gat sans it with the table
faces the game you said, and you're such a.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
Full sun thing.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Look you just don't know what try to fill the
whole money. But you're stuck. Well, they're going on ring
did you hit you hard?
Speaker 6 (23:27):
They're gonna turn.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
You can't run from the page. Nobody's to go like
that's m in your heart.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
Quat chase.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
And not the phrase.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
They stop.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
I want face.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
About face.
Speaker 6 (23:53):
And sweet Release.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Yeah, I'm so over, but they stop.
Speaker 6 (24:01):
I want Now we're.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Sitting here and playing this. We had no damn mother,
just sleep ben to She said, no chat just counting
that both made it wont we were understand?
Speaker 7 (24:16):
Oh yeah, we quit the change, We quit the.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Ras and.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Then we scott.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
Today we scott.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
We want grad we want without fees. We found face
and Sweet Release.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
Yeah, so good day we suffered.
Speaker 7 (24:44):
Yeah, I started riding.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
I start the fight, not das fight the day I stopped.
(25:14):
I want.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Thank you for listening to The Songwriter Show. To keep
the momental going, head over to www Dot songwriter show
dot com and joined our free music community of artists, songwriters,
and producers.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
That's www.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Dot songwriter Show dot com.
Speaker 7 (26:00):
Any anything you many A man and and.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
L hanging.
Speaker 7 (27:51):
Hang hang hang hang usloy
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