From FedEx Cab to Nashville Stage: Atlus on grit, grief, and songs that stick

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello, everybody, and uh welcome back to another
episode of the Inner HarborCast.
Of course, I'm Skip Clark.
I'll be your host.
Uh today I've got somebody whosestory is as real as the song he
writes, from driving trucks toracking up over a billion
streams.
Uh, his name's Alice.
He's become one of the mosttalked-about new voices in

(00:20):
Nashville via Colorado.
We'll talk about that here in abit.
Signed with BBR Music Group, BMGNashville.
Uh, his debut Stony Creeksingle, Devil Ain't Done, is
out.
It's already making waves, andhis upcoming EP, Second Hand
Smoke, drops on the 10th ofOctober.
It's like just a couple of daysaway.
Uh, we're talking uhperseverance, real life

(00:42):
struggles, and the music that'sconnecting with fans everywhere.
It's time to dive in.
Atlas, what is up, man?
How are you doing?
See, that's the best intro I'veever gotten.
Really?
Well, I need you to don't goeverywhere with AI.
Just you know, but it's allgood.
But uh, let's talk about you alittle bit.
Um, man, so how long have youbeen doing music?

(01:03):
Let's start right from thebeginning.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05):
Yeah, I I mean, uh, I'll say four years old is where
I started to pick it up.
Really bad though.
I was terrorizing anyone I wasin a car with.
I was just singing the same partfor two hours terribly.
I think around 12, I've startedfinding like Gary from you know
Rascal Flight, Gary Lavoxy.
Yeah, there was um it was Gary,Mark Chestnut, Mark Wills, and

(01:26):
Phil Vassar.
I really loved Phil Vassar.
I love Mark Wills too.
Yeah, they were all great.
Everyone you just mentioned.
I loved all like that.
That was that was who I waslistening to when I was like 12.
Oh wow.
And I really wanted to be Gary,so I tried to sing every note
just like him.
Good luck.
I got to the point I almost hadit.
I was so close.
I probably wasn't close becauseI'm 12 and I just thought, you
know, I thought, but like Iremember I had it, and I was

(01:49):
like, I am Gary, and thenpuberty hit, and you were no
longer Gary.
I could never hit those highnotes ever again.

SPEAKER_00 (01:56):
I had to was there a particular Rascal flats song
that you were singing to beGary?

SPEAKER_01 (02:01):
Uh, what hurts the most?
That hurts.
I thought that was that one thatone hurt as a song.
That was a breakup song, and Iwatched the video and I was
like, oh, it tore me apart.
Dude, you were how old at thatpoint?
And it tore you apart.
I know.
I always love the sad stuff.
Yeah, I'm not gonna lie.
I like to get emotional.

SPEAKER_00 (02:20):
And we saw that uh before we went out with the
podcast.
Uh we had you in the Wolf Studioand uh we were listening to some
of the music and and the songsoff of that EP.
Um, every single one of thosesix songs that were available to
us, we listened to what, howmany four, four, four, four, all
four are hits.
I'm just I'm just gonna tell youright off the bat from somebody

(02:40):
that's been doing this a longtime, and I've had others in the
radio station go, What is that?
Oh my god, he's so good.
But uh yeah.
Did you?
I mean, do you think you're thatgood?
I don't know.
I don't want to say, I don'tknow.

SPEAKER_01 (02:53):
I think I have a good project.
I'm excited about it.
Yeah, I think you got an awesomeproject.
I think it's I think it's dope.
I don't know if it's like ohit's dope.

SPEAKER_00 (03:00):
There's no there's no doubt, there's no doubt.
All right, but you've had uh alot of success independently
over a billion streams, over abillion streams.
It's crazy.
And what convinced you that itwas the right time to sign with
a major label?

SPEAKER_01 (03:14):
I think when the ZP started coming together, like
these songs are really special,but also I think it was timing,
you know.
Like I had met him with a lot oflabels beforehand, yeah.
And I just when I met with youknow BBR and you know, John
Loba, Katie, and Joe Jamie.

SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
Just did you get invited to Loba's wedding?

SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
You know, he he knows so many people.
I don't think anyone can getinvited.
I think I read no kidding.
That'd be like an arena, arenawedding.

SPEAKER_00 (03:41):
I was reading about the wedding, and I think he had
on his guest list over 700.
Yeah, so yeah, a lot of artists,a lot of writers, you know,
everybody, everybody along theway.
But let's Devil uh Ain't Done isthe single uh marks your debut
with Stony Creek Records.
Uh, what has that transitionfrom independent artist to a
label artist been like for you?

SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
I'm gonna say it's been amazing because I was
always scared of signing, butit's been an incredible
experience for me because Ithink when you're independent,
for me, it was like my music andyou've heard it, it's very
personal, it's very emotional.
Very, yeah, it's just about mylife.
And forever it's like you writeall these songs, you put them
out, and you have a moment, andthey're all personal to me.

(04:23):
This career's personal to me,and then you meet labels and
they're like, It's business, andit's like well, it's business to
them, yeah, but it's personalfor me, but it's personal to me,
and it's personal to BVR, youknow.

SPEAKER_00 (04:32):
I think that's where and it's personal to the
listeners of the radio stationsbecause they're gonna be able to
connect with these songs, youknow.
You you said you have one inthere about addiction, and
immediately it was hard tolisten to, yeah, but it was so
good because we all know thatthat's a tough subject on both

(04:56):
sides, and that's what the songwas about.
So it's just how we connect.

SPEAKER_01 (05:00):
You you you so many people know people who are
struggling with addiction, andso many people are also uh
feeling the effects of lovingsomeone with addiction, and it's
a it's a two-sided coin that noone wins.
Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 (05:14):
And that's uh one of the songs on the EP.
So we when that drops on the10th of October, make sure if
you're watching this, make sureyou get it.
If you want to cry, if you wantto get it, but you don't want to
cry.
If you touch the hearts oflisteners, you've got a fan, and
it's always one fan at a time,it just grows from there, you

(05:35):
know.
Just yeah, and I can't believeyou're sitting here next to me.
Atlas is right next to us herein the Wolf Studio.
He goes from driving an18-wheeler to writing songs and
now signed with the label.
It's it's crazy.
I don't know how I got here.
Sometimes I gotta pinch myself.

SPEAKER_01 (05:50):
Yeah, so where are you from originally?
So I'm from Colorado, uh,outskirts Colorado, Commerce
City.
Okay, all right.
Good smelling place by theKarina Dog Food Factory.
I can only imagine.
Really get the whiff in there.
I've never seen a star in mylife with all the industrial
around me.
Really?

SPEAKER_00 (06:06):
Do you see the mountains at least from where
you are?

SPEAKER_01 (06:08):
You would see through the billows of smoke,
you know.

SPEAKER_00 (06:11):
Really?

SPEAKER_01 (06:11):
But if you drive like five minutes, I mean the
snow-capped mountains in Denver,Colorado's gotta be absolutely
beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
It's a it's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 (06:18):
It's gotta be taking a good drive up there is always
a good way to just clear yourmind.

SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
Now, you worked, like I said, as a commercial
truck driver um to support yourfamily while making music.
Um, what do you think that grindtaught you about discipline and
perseverance?

SPEAKER_01 (06:35):
I think it you know, it's funny because I think a lot
of my a lot of any grind or anywork ethic I have is from my mom
because she worked two jobs herwhole life to support us.
So when I started, when Ifinally got to get out of high
school and started working, Ijust wanted to work a lot
because I just was following inher footsteps.
It's funny because I was workingtwo jobs, truck driver to pay

(06:57):
the bills and another truckingjob, and everything went to
studio time.
Because when I finally wanted tomake the music, if you want to
make it that quality, you gottaspend money and putting
everything I could into thatstudio and making the songs.
And truck driving was perfectbecause I got to pretend I was a
songwriter, like FedEx waspaying me to drive, but like but

(07:19):
you had to stop and take abreak, and during that break,
yeah.
Well, five hours that way, fivehours this way.
I would just that's a lot oftime, I would write the entire
time.
Yeah, so I was like, they'repaying me to be a songwriter and
a truck driver.
Thank you, FedEx.
Shout out to FedEx, yeah.
Shout out to FedEx, school ofFedEx, music school of FedEx.

SPEAKER_00 (07:36):
You know the funny I don't know if I should mention
this or not, and we can alwayscut it out if you don't want me
to mention it, but you alsodrove for UPS.

SPEAKER_01 (07:44):
I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (07:45):
I mean so you're like going, I mean, you had the
competition.

SPEAKER_01 (07:48):
Just couldn't tell.
I just couldn't.
So no.
When I had to pick one though,FedEx?

SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
They treated me so good.
You gotta love that.
So, you know, when we listenedto your music a little while
ago, it sounds like you'repulling uh country pop and even
hip hop elements together.
Uh, what music did you grow uplistening to and who shaped the
songwriting style?
You already mentioned Mark Willsand others like that, so is that
that's where it all this one's along answer.

SPEAKER_01 (08:11):
I'll say started with country with okay, the
okay, you know, Mark Wills,Rascal Flats, and then I
discovered the fray, and Ireally got into the fray.
They were awesome.
The first bat band I heard aboutthat could sell out Red Rocks
from Colorado.

SPEAKER_00 (08:26):
It's on my bucket list, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
See our bucket list, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (08:30):
Dude, here's the deal.
You let us know.
I'll talk to your label.
You let us know when you hit RedRocks, and you're gonna be
headlining.
I think you need the staff needsto go out there and watch your
show.
Y'all are on the list.
Y'all are on the list.
Don't know how we'll get thereyet, but we'll be there.

SPEAKER_01 (08:44):
So but um it started with the Frey because the Frey
was the first band that waslike, Oh, you can do it from
Colorado, you don't have to bein LA or this place.
Like, I'm watching the Frey doit right now, and then it was
like One Republic, which wasanother band was another group
from Colorado, Ryan Tedter,legend.
Then I got into like a littlebit of hip-hop because I love

(09:06):
what I love about hip-hop iseverything is very like
autobiography type.
Like a rapper is always rapabout his life specifically, and
what I love and what I like inmusic, what I really want to do
with my sound is like marry thetwo.
The uh the very personal part ofhip-hop, but the story song
writing of country.
Because I think being able tobecause I think country is the

(09:29):
best writing in terms just wordfor word, the way everything's
rewritten and made sure there'sso many meanings, but hip-hop
also does that at that samelevel, but more very about
storytelling, storytelling aboutthe person, yeah, in a different
way.

SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
Yeah, exactly.
In uh three words, how would youdescribe the Atlas sound?

SPEAKER_01 (09:50):
It's tough.
I don't know, I don't know.
Uh different, it's freakingawesome.

SPEAKER_00 (09:56):
See, there we go.
That's what we're gonna say.
That's how you can do it's allright.
Uh so let's go back.
Devil ain't done being thesingle, it's coming out to
radio.
Can't wait to get that on theair.
I I just know our listeners aregonna love that.
Uh you sing about self-doubt andperseverance.
Uh, was there a particularmoment in that story that parked

(10:17):
or sparked?
Can't talk because I'm likestarstruck.
Sparked.

SPEAKER_01 (10:22):
I think it was like things.
So the way I grew up, it waslike I grew up super poor,
single parent household, thingsalways going wrong, and things
for the first time my lifereally started going right.
And I just remember I was havinga conversation with some with
the writers in the room, some ofmy friends, and they were just
we're just like, you ever wonderif if it's all gonna go away and

(10:42):
you gotta look over thatshoulder and just but like just
because things are going good,the devil ain't done.
You gotta stay ahead of it andyou gotta just keep working and
you know don't get toocomfortable, which I think is
how do you keep the devil atbay?

SPEAKER_00 (10:54):
You just you just you just do just keep working,
just don't look, don't even lookat him.

SPEAKER_01 (10:58):
Don't look back, don't look at him, just keep
moving ahead.
Um just don't have any freetime.
It was the idle hands.

SPEAKER_00 (11:04):
Who the guys who the guys that helped you with the
production on this?

SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
It was uh David and uh David Garcia, uh Andrew
Bayless and Jeff Warburton.
And how did they help bring thatto a new level?
Oh, I mean, David Garcia justdrums are bigger than life.
Bayliss has produced my wholeproject that's got the whole EP,
and he's he's incredible too.
He had like Dead Man Walkingwith Jelly Rolling, yeah, some

(11:29):
coets, old Kobe.
I mean, they're both justlegends, and then Jeff Warburton
just as a songwriter, SeanMendez.
I mean, just so many oh mygoodness.
Yeah, there's oh yeah, his hishis like melodies, like I just
love to watch them work.
Like when he comes up with themelody and starts like spew, I'm
like, whoa, that what kind ofreaction you getting?

SPEAKER_00 (11:51):
Devil ain't done.

SPEAKER_01 (11:52):
It's really good right now.
I mean, people are loving it.
I love seeing like when I get toshow, like you guys and
everyone, like just the reactionin person, just like whoa, like
it's nothing better than that.
The balanced little dance, youknow.
I'm always doing doing one ofthese, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (12:06):
Except when you're driving FedEx, so the truck was
it was it a tandem or no, justdon't don't tell anybody that um
quickly though, driving forFedEx was it a tandem, the two
trailers, or you just did theone?

SPEAKER_01 (12:20):
I did two sometimes.
I don't really I never didthree.
I was supposed to there were Idon't like those because they
blow all over the highway.
And so we had a run, it was fromuh Denver to Wampsutter,
Wyoming.
I have no idea, and it getssuper windy, and in the winter
it's icy.
So, and like you come back withempty once.
Yeah, it's got to go all overthe road everywhere.

(12:42):
So I if it got too bad, I wouldjust blow over and be like, I'm
staying the night.
No, yeah, good move.
I'd be unhooking it and saying,Oh, you come and get it.
I'm done.
You would drive them past threesemis that flipped over, and
you'd be like, I think that's agood sign.
I need to stop.
That's crazy, dude.
All the time.
I saw them flipped over all thetime.

SPEAKER_00 (12:59):
That's that did anything like that ever happen
to you as a driver.

SPEAKER_01 (13:03):
No, I got lucky.

SPEAKER_00 (13:04):
I was driving slow, I drive painfully slow,
especially when it's windy.
Yeah, I can see that aroundhere, it's not too much of a
problem, but maybe in theMidwest it would be crazy.
Uh secondhand smoke is in thename of the um the EP that's
coming out.
Um what uh are there particularsongs that you're most excited
for the fans to hear off ofthat?

(13:24):
Now I uh we heard four out ofthe six, but I was excited to
hear each and every one of them.

SPEAKER_01 (13:29):
But I'll say just the EP title, Second Hand Smoke.
Yeah, I just think is a really,really cool song.
About tell us.
It's uh it's it's funny becausepeople always talk so negative
about cigarettes and secondhandsmoke and the effect it has on
people.
But literally, secondhand smokeis like such had such a positive

(13:49):
impact in my life, which I knowsounds weird, but it's like my
mom is working two full-timejobs, raising three kids.
You know, she was paying a housemortgage, car payment, like
she's doing it all by herself.
And like we made it hard on her,you know.
I'm telling you, my sister.
I'm telling you, she was tryingto break a world record on how

(14:09):
many boys she could date withactive warrants before turning
18.
My brother was friends with apyro down the street, they're
burning down a forest in theback of our trailer bar.

SPEAKER_00 (14:22):
That's a part of growing up.
I mean, you know, we always sayskip happens, so that's that's
like part of it.
Skip happens, it does, it's youknow, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (14:29):
I'm on that lottery plate, she didn't have a lot of
minutes, but the very few thatshe did pack of cigarettes, our
front porch, that was her mentalhealth, and that's the that's
the glue the house together, andthat's what that song was about.
That song's about there's somany things in life and so many
struggles, and so many thingsthat are bigger than second hand
smoke, that it was the least ofmy worries.

(14:50):
Now you never smoked.
I didn't, no.

SPEAKER_00 (14:52):
Okay, I was trying to be but you would go because
mom smokes so much that you knowpeople don't realize it.
But you walk into a place aftermaybe hanging out with your mom,
it's like, wow, I smelled likesmoke.

SPEAKER_01 (15:03):
It's like dude, I might not have smoked, but I
yeah, I smelled like smoke.

SPEAKER_00 (15:06):
The kids let me know.
I love what you did here though,with the secondhand smoke,
having you know, title track offthe uh the EP and then other
songs on that EP, and you youneed to check this out.
Uh, so emotional, and it grabsyour heart, and it's every
single song in that EP.
Mark my words, Skip Clark issaying right now that every one
of those songs is gonna go tothe top of the chart.
Oh my, you're saying that?

(15:28):
Well, I said it.
He said it, he said it.
Um I'm I'll dude.

SPEAKER_01 (15:31):
We'll keep in touch.

SPEAKER_00 (15:32):
We're gonna keep in touch because we've got to put a
betting line on it.
Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 (15:36):
I'm gonna throw five bucks against me.

SPEAKER_00 (15:38):
I'm just kidding, I'm just uh I don't have five
bucks, but all right, no, no,that would definitely do
something like that.
But um, you know, what is onething that you're hoping people
take away from your music is youenter this new chapter in your
life.
I mean, you're still young,you're in your low 30s.
Uh, you've got these songs whichare phenomenal, uh, back to

(15:59):
back.
And this is a whole new chapterfor you.
This is I know, I know you'vebeen doing music for a little
bit and you went to truckdriving to pay for certain
things.
I I totally get that, but nowyou're not doing that.
This is a whole new chapter.
You got a major label behindyou.

SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
Isn't it crazy?

SPEAKER_00 (16:14):
Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
You tell me I was just driving trucks, I thought
I'd be a truck driver my wholelife.
My mom was like, Hey, your plan,your plan A can be music, but be
happy with your plan B.
Be ready to be plan B for therest of your life.

SPEAKER_00 (16:26):
Everybody should have a backup plan, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (16:28):
Which is why I was like, I was happy being a truck
driver, and it made to why Ididn't have to rush it.
I got to like get there when Igot there.
It wasn't like a I have to bethere now, and it slowly
happened for me.

SPEAKER_00 (16:38):
So, um, has Jelly Roll reached out to you to
collaborate yet?

SPEAKER_01 (16:42):
Uh, not yet to collaborate, but he has helped
me in a lot of ways, which isthe cool story.
You were telling us that hecalled you.

SPEAKER_00 (16:47):
I tell everybody the story, that was really cool.

SPEAKER_01 (16:50):
So, like, I'm on my grind, I'm putting out covers,
I'm putting out originals, andone song finally goes.
And I remember it's like at 2a.m.
I'm I'm sleeping on my bed.
I wake up to like a message onmy phone on Instagram, and it's
like jelly roll messaged you,which is really funny because at
first I thought it was a dream.
I went right back to bed andlike for two days I didn't even

(17:13):
look at my phone.
And then that thought popped inmy head, and I was like, wait,
let me look at that.
And I look at it and I'm like,jelly roll did message me.
And I left him on bed for twodays.
I was so I was so mad at myself,and I was like, it's like call
me, Bubba.
So I sent him a number and thenI waited, you know.
And I remember, you know, youdon't have me calls, you get
scam calls all the time.
Yeah, yeah, you don't know whatto do.

(17:34):
I'm looking up the air code forNashville or Tennessee 615.
I'm like, all right, looking fora 615 number, and then I'm
driving, I'm at work, and thenlike I see that 615 number.
I pull over, hit lunch, pick upthe phone.
I hear, how you doing, Bubba?

SPEAKER_02 (17:50):
And I was like, oh my god, your jelly roll.

SPEAKER_01 (17:52):
I would have dropped the phone, fallen out of the
truck or something.
I was so nervous.
I was so starstruck, eventhrough the phone.
And I remember I was like, Look,one jelly, I love you.
But two, I got a heart out in 30minutes.
I'm on my lunch break.
And you could it was kind of itwas and then he was like, He's
like, What do you mean yourlunch break?
What are you doing?
I was like, Well, I'm drivingtrucks for a living.
I started talking, he's like,He's like, son, you got a you

(18:14):
got a gold record.
What are you doing drivingtrucks?
And I was like, Well, you know,and I just started talking.
He's like, he's like, Well,who's your team?
And I was like, Well, I got twoof my best friends from high
school, they film it when we putit up online, and he was like,
He's like, That's all you gotright now?
And I was like, Yeah, and he'slike, Bubba, I need to introduce
you to people.
So he flies me out to Nashville,puts me up in like the nicest

(18:35):
hotel I've ever been in, takesme around town, introduces me to
my manager, and that's kind ofhow my whole dude work started.

SPEAKER_00 (18:42):
So wow, that's an oh wow story.

SPEAKER_01 (18:45):
It's uh it's one of those, and the crazy thing is
now I'm with his label, and thatwasn't even Stony Creek, yeah.
You know, oh dude, so and thenBB, and then like signing with
BBR, that's who Jelly signed to.
And Jelly didn't even likeintroduce me to BBR, just
happened naturally, and I thinksee that's that's a good thing,
too.

SPEAKER_00 (19:01):
That you didn't, I mean, as good as as it would be
having somebody pull somestrings for you.
Yeah, you did this on your own,they went after you on their
own.
So they they know there'ssomething there, they know it's
just now you have you do havethat relationship with jelly
roll, and now I think maybe nextyear if jelly roll comes through
on a summer tour, I have thefeeling you're gonna be on board

(19:22):
with him.
I would love to do that.
I'm just saying, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 (19:24):
Obviously, Bubba, you don't have to, but I would
love to.
No pressure, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (19:28):
I get you know, I think he's he he's that type of
person that would maybe go afterso you know, you're a label
mate.
Why not?
Why not?
It's one thing you know, itbenefits the label, it benefits
you.
It's a win for everybodyinvolved.

SPEAKER_01 (19:42):
So and Jelly, like he puts on one of the greatest
shows.
Have you been to his bar?

SPEAKER_00 (19:47):
I have been to his bar, yeah.
A little special.
Uh, I take you to like what howmany was there, four or five
floors in that?
Six floors.
Oh, there's there's a goodamount of I've been I've been
one time.

SPEAKER_01 (19:57):
I'm not much of a go out and drink a bunch, but no, I
get you.
But like I've done it once, butthat's that's cool, it's cool.

SPEAKER_00 (20:03):
So, um, Atlas, what is success look like to you now?
The awards, tours, personalmilestones.
I mean, do you see any of thathappening?

SPEAKER_01 (20:14):
It's it's um I see it all happening.
It's funny because I always haveto change it because I feel like
what I thought was gonna besuccess is I've hit a lot of
milestones already.
Even the idea of like havinglike a platinum record or or
being able to retire my mom,which I think was a big thing
for me.
You did that.
Yeah, when I yeah, when I cameto Nashville, I was missing her,

(20:35):
and I just I was like, look,mom, money's coming in on the
song, and I was like, quit yourjob, move to Nashville, live
with me.
And like I gave her the key tomy house.
It's the best moment of my life.
That was my biggest milestone,and that's kind of like that's
like that was my biggest so nowI gotta like think about, I
gotta re-figure out what I wantnow, but I do know selling out

(20:56):
Red Rocks would be big becauseJelly actually let me perform,
he had me as a special guest athis show and sold out red rocks.
Wow, and like and it was such anincredible moment that he shared
with me.
He didn't have to do it, but hedid because he's just such a
kind, sweet human.
He believes in you, he believeshe would not have called you in
the first place if he did notbelieve in you.
He does believe in me, yes, andbut it's it's cool.

(21:18):
So if you like go there, you getto like if you sell it out, or
if you play there, you get towrite on the wall inside.
You did, and I didn't, because Ididn't feel like I deserved it
because it because like I didn'tsell a ticket, that was Jelly's
moment, yeah.
And I want to be able to signthat wall when I do it.
I get it now.
I think it's you know, totallyand totally so red rocks is
definitely a big one.

(21:38):
Radio, just being on radio ispretty cool.
I mean, I spent so a lot of my Ispent a lot of my life just
singing along to my favoritesongs on it.

SPEAKER_00 (21:46):
Yeah, and you were doing that in the other room
when we were playing the EP.
You were singing along, it wasgreat.
It's great, it's great.
And this is radio, this is whatthey call a radio tour where you
go around to uh your label takesyou to various radio stations,
and you get to meet the PDs andthe managers and shake hands and
they get you know, I thinkthat's one of the best things

(22:06):
that that an artist can do is toget out there and actually meet
those that are going to beplaying your music.
And one thing, yeah, I alwayslook at it as being a programmer
and then the managers here aswell is if it wasn't for the
artists, we wouldn't be doingwhat we're doing.
And it works both ways.
That's why it's the great musicthat makes us a great radio

(22:27):
station.
It's a great radio station thatmakes you a great artist.
So it works both ways, and Ilove that.
It's giving to I feel like mostof it give.

SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
No, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 (22:39):
Dude, I don't know.
What you do is phenomenal.
Uh, just a few fun rapid firequestions.
I wrote down favorite truck stopmeal from your trucking days.

SPEAKER_01 (22:49):
All right.
Well, I would, you know what?
There is this there's a there'sa one, there's a burrito called
the bomb.
It's just this burrito, and Ishouldn't be eating it.
It always makes me feel likecrap.
It's called the bomb, it's greenpackage, it's got beans, beef,
and cheese.

SPEAKER_00 (23:03):
You're all alone in the truck, it's not gonna make a
difference.

SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
I know, but I'll insane.
The problem is I eat one when Ilook when I go to stay the
night, and then I'll wake up andI'll eat another one.
I'm like, Oh, dude.
I could, but the bomb, that islike that burrito.
And do you remember where thatwas?
I mean, when some gas stationsjust have them, but oh really
have it.

SPEAKER_00 (23:22):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (23:22):
Flying J.

SPEAKER_00 (23:23):
I mean, the flying J.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (23:24):
I'm a big diet soda guy, so I've never walked out of
a gas station without a withouta Coke Zero.

SPEAKER_00 (23:29):
I can only assume that Red Rocks is the answer to
this one.
Dream venue or festival.
You've loved you'd love to play,but you've already played Red
Rocks.

SPEAKER_01 (23:36):
But I already said Red Rocks, but maybe maybe two
would be uh Madison SquareGarden, just because that's the
gardenic.
That's an iconic one.
Cool.
First album you ever bought.
First album I ever bought.
Oh, Phil Vassar Greatest Hits.
No wow.
That was uh was it Six PackSummer?

SPEAKER_00 (23:55):
Was that on that?
No, I don't.
It had to be.
I know that like it was thefirst time I realized not only
did he have the songs I washearing on the radio, but he
wrote so many other hits, and Iwas like, and that's a lot of
people don't realize that theseartists they they've written so
many other songs that it's notthe stuff that you're hearing on
the radio, but they're involvedwith other artists.
Yeah, no, they're songs for it,you know.

(24:16):
Old Dominion's known for that.
These guys are all songwriters,you know.
It's like, wow, oh, they wroteStapleton.

SPEAKER_01 (24:22):
Oh my god, songwriter for so long before he
had his big song.

SPEAKER_00 (24:25):
So maybe I already know the answer to this, but uh,
if you weren't making music,what would you be doing?
Yeah, you got it.

SPEAKER_02 (24:34):
Driving trucks, man.

SPEAKER_00 (24:35):
I was that's what I was gonna be doing.

SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
All right, because I mean I had fun doing it.
Yeah, that's I miss itsometimes.

SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
He had some nice rigs because if you worked for a
company like UPS or FedEx, Imean they have the nice rigs,
and you're not driving, youknow.

SPEAKER_01 (24:46):
Nowadays they're even they're even nicer because
they're all automatic.
You don't have to like miss agear because when you first
start driving clutch, yeah.
You have to double clutch it,eating two speed rear end, and
then sometimes you're justhitting you're hitting like a
gear wrong.
When I first started, it was astruggle to figure out how to
not do that.
It took about a year.

SPEAKER_00 (25:04):
That's crazy.
One word to describe 2025 sofar.

SPEAKER_01 (25:08):
One word, just make just unbelievable, make believe.
Like, I can't believe it'shappening.
It's happening, pinch myselftype.
Keep pinching yourself, it'shappening.

SPEAKER_00 (25:17):
It's happening.

SPEAKER_01 (25:18):
It's like waking up and just being grateful and
excited to be able to do thisfor a living.
We've already I've retired mymom, so everything from here is
just whatever happens isexciting.

SPEAKER_00 (25:28):
We talked about this before, but doing what we do
here, we meet a lot of artists.
They come through, they playtheir music, they're all good,
they're excellent.
Yeah, just a little bit more.
I mean, it's like I don't know,and and it's like you just want
to go, is this a dream?
Is this real?
Is it?
I mean, the music was cranked.
Um, Diane hit it on through thespeaker in the other room.

(25:50):
And it's like the girls in theoffice are like, Wow, you know,
it's just it's crazy.
I'll tell you, if you make thoseladies happy, then you know
they're hard to make happy.
Yeah, they know good music.
Oh, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 (26:03):
And they're over here laughing.
They tell it to me straight, iswhat you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 (26:06):
Yeah, yeah, they would.
Believe me, and and Becky is mysister-in-law, and I know she
would tell you how she feels ifshe thought you sucked, she'd
say you know, broke the guitar.
She would have, she would haveseen.
Yeah, that's one she confiscatedfrom somebody.
Yep.
Uh I know, but uh Atlas, I wantto say thank you so much.
God bless you, my friend.
Um, you're on the road, andyou're doing the thing, you're

(26:28):
doing the speed limit, man.
If not a little bit more on thatroad to success.
If you ask Diane, I'm going twounder and I drive like a
grandma.
Well, no, what because you alsohave a license that you need to
protect.
Am I correct?
No, because you gave it up.

SPEAKER_01 (26:43):
I drive every car like it's a semi, so I probably
drive a little too slow.

SPEAKER_00 (26:46):
Yeah, to work on it then.
So, I mean, I I took a trip herenot too long ago and I had a
grand wagoneer.
I don't know if you've seenthose, and and it's just like
this thing was the biggestvehicle I had ever driven in my
life.
I drive a Colorado, yeah.
So, you know, it's yeah, thisthing was crazy.
So, anyways, I don't know why Itold you that.

SPEAKER_01 (27:04):
No, I'm glad you told me.
I just didn't, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (27:06):
I just thought it'd be something.
Something just can't be held inuseful.
That was the most useful thingI've ever heard.
All right, so uh, thank you forbeing here.
If our viewers and listenerswant to find out more about
Atlas, uh, it's Atlas Music,where do they go?
They go anywhere on socials,look up Atlas.

SPEAKER_01 (27:21):
TikTok, Instagram.
You might have to do Atlasunderscore music.
Okay.
Spotify, Apple, Atlas.
And it's not Atlas.
U S not A S.
A.
T.
L.
U.
S.
I apologize for spelling it thewrong way.

SPEAKER_00 (27:33):
He's not the man with the statue holding the the
world, right?
Isn't there that we were talkingabout that earlier?

unknown (27:39):
But uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (27:40):
I would have I I would have spelled it with an A.
You know, really?
I just feel like no, I like itbeing different.
Someone already had that.

SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
I guess they did.
Oh my god, change that to you.
I love it.
I love it.
Alice, uh, thank you.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Thank you for taking the time.
Thank you to your label for youknow thinking of us and bringing
you by.
It just means so much to us.
And uh so much that you had us.
This radio tours just wow, youknow, even in your Polaroid,

(28:08):
your purple Polaroid camera.
And hand me that camera for aminute, isn't it cute?

SPEAKER_01 (28:14):
Isn't it adorable?

SPEAKER_00 (28:15):
So I want everybody to see this is the camera he
brought to take our picture.
This is one of those littlePolaroids, which I think is a
good idea because it's kind ofinstantaneous if it has film in
it.

SPEAKER_01 (28:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (28:27):
Oh, it does now, right?
I'm sure it will soon.
So I don't know.
I guess so.
Anyways, we'll we'll figure thatout afterwards.
Uh Atlas, everybody, make sureyou check them out online.
Uh October 10th, the EP's gonnabe out.
The album's coming out uhwhenever down the road.

SPEAKER_01 (28:42):
1010 EP album.
I don't think we got down thealbum.

SPEAKER_00 (28:45):
Yeah, I didn't think you did, but it'll be it's ready
to go, almost ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 (28:49):
Almost ready.

SPEAKER_00 (28:50):
Almost ready.

SPEAKER_01 (28:50):
We're getting there.
We gotta make sure we don't dateyet.
Do it wrong.
Yeah, we gotta get the musicjust right.
No date yet.
No date yet, no date yet.
Just just just the EP, 1010.
Tell Uncle Skippy if you want.
I would tell you, I would, Iwould tell you if we had one.
Okay, I'm just saying.
I would, I would.
I promise you.

SPEAKER_00 (29:06):
Atlas, you're awesome, brother.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Thanks for watching, everybody.
Bye.