The Josie Show with special guest Alex Key

Josie chats with Alex Key about his album Outdated, his viral songs, and what's coming next! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Bron bro bro bro Bry around the world on the
world Wide Web. Ladies and Children period is the most
and the other stations are too.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh yeah. Broadcasting live in the Joseph Network Studios in
downtown Madona, Tennessee.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
It's that time of week again.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's time for the Josie Shoe.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Bringing you the most exciting music news and guests from
around the world right here on the Jersey Show.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Please make walking beautiful. It's talented. Hello America's Riady Else,
Leada Business, Josie Acid Genobo.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Josie Show. We
have another great interview for all of you. We have
Alex Key joining us and we're going to talk about
his album Outdated, his viral songs, and so much more.
So make sure you stay tuned to this entire show.
But also real quick before we get there, we want
to talk a little bit about the Josie Music Awards,

(01:33):
which is coming up in just a month. So remember
November one starts our JMA Music Fest and Conference at
the bel Air Mansion there in Nashville. So tickets are
available at jose Music Awards dot com and also the
next day at the Great ol opry House is our

(01:53):
eleventh Annuel Josie Music Awards and tickets are still available
for that at Josie Music Awards dot Com as well,
so please make sure you get your tickets if you
want to attend. And we are just so excited. We
got a full production, beautiful show coming at you. We
had a great meeting with the opry House and so
it's going to be a wonderful, wonderful year again this year.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
So we're just really looking forward to it.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
All right, now, let's bring on this wonderful interview. I
hope you all enjoy it with Alex Key. Please welcome
to the Josie Show. My guest Alex Key.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Hello, Hey, how are you? Oh? I'm doing great. How
have you been?

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Absolutely wonderful? Finally enjoying some dry weather. It's not been
raining like it has been all year, so that's been nice.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Absolutely, there's some positive absolutely and that I love it.
I have been looking forward to getting the chance to
talk to you because it's been a hot minute since
we've caught up with you in your career, but we
have been watching and keeping up and you have been
killing it, let me tell you. So, I'm really excited
to talk to you about everything you got going on.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
All right, thank you very much for that, and I
truly appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
All of course, my plas sure. So let's first start off.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
With for those who may not know, how did you
get into music? When did you realize that this was
something that you wanted to do?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Oh lord, I mean, I've been doing music since I
was really really young. I mean I was singing before
I could talk you, and I guess somewhere around I
think I was ten or eleven, my mom taught me
how to play the drums and then I broke my Yeah,

(03:28):
I was ten at that time, and I broke mam
when I was eleven, And while I had a cast on,
I kind of told myself how to play guitar. And
of course I was in like, you know, marching band
and chorus and all that stuff, and did some musicals
in high school, and you know, somewhere along the way,
I just decided that, you know, I wanted to make
a go of it. And I did landscaping for a

(03:50):
little while out of high school, and that just really
wasn't for me. I enjoyed doing it, I enjoyed being
outside and working, but I don't enjoy doing it for
other people, right, I told I told my mom, so
I think I'm gonna, you know, take a stab at
this thing. And so she she had a lot of
big background in management, and so she said, well, I'll

(04:10):
tell you what, let's do it, and she said, I'll
manage you. And it just kind of went from there.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Absolutely, And you have a great team behind you. Your mama,
she is amazing.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
She she is just so so wonderful with helping you,
you know, keep everything setting on check.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
And you have been independent and you've been doing it yourself,
which I love.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yes, ma'am. It's it's been a it's a constant grind
because you know, like I said, we do have to
do everything ourselves, and you know, we can't. We can't
sit back on you know, Sunday evening and let somebody
else handle stuff, you know, and the rest of the
week it's just stuff. We're always working and always on
the go and that's the only way to do it.

(04:49):
But there's a lot more pride in that.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
I suppose, right, and being independent with you know, all
the success that you've had so far is not a
bad gig, let's you know, And I want to talk
talk about that because you know, for being independent. Your
latest album, which was outdated, debut at number one on
Amazon Music.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
So I mean that is.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Not bad if I do say so myself as an
independent artist.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
So what was your reaction like when when that was happening.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
You know, it's it's hard to describe. You know, you
look at it and I think immediately it doesn't sink
in because you know, like like I said, being independent,
it's it's and it's an unfortunate reality. You're constantly thinking about, like, Okay,
that's great, how do off top this? You know, so
you never really live in the moment. But then you know,

(05:38):
a couple of weeks passed by and you sit back
and you look at it and you're like, man, that's
that's pretty cool. Yeah, it's just a huge blessing to
be able to do that independently. And when you really
stop and think about it, which I don't do very often.
I'm not an arrogant person. I don't you know, I
don't think about my accomplishments. But when I do take
the time to think about, you know, where where we've

(05:59):
come from and where we are now now, it's it's
it's really mind boggling and it's it's really cool.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yes, And you know, with that, you're able to be
really hands on with your music and also your music videos.
Let's talk about your music videos, because the music videos
are just incredible and the production and all that. So
how important is it for you to really have, especially
with those music videos, that creative control, because I'm sure
it's a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
I think it's really important. I mean, I think, you know,
should we ever decide to go with a label, I
think that would that would definitely be one of the
main things, is you know, maintaining creative control over all
aspects because you know, as good as I do, the
music world now is not just a an audio world.
It is a visual world and you have to and

(06:45):
a lot of people don't know how to create visuals
that you know, match the audio and so so being
able to do that and have creative control and know
your vision from start to finish is really really important.
And you know, we do all our own our own
productions as far as the videos go, we do all
that our sales, it's in house. You know, it's just
back to being a lot of work, but it is

(07:07):
rewarding to sit back and say, you know, we did.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
All that, yes, and all the incredible all the videos
are incredible.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
So I hope everyone goes and checks out your YouTube
because literally every single video is just so cool to
watch from start to finish.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
So I hope everyone checks it out. Thanks, You're very welcome.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
And also not on not only that, but on top
of that, many of your songs over the years have
reached viral success as well, you know, with TikTok, you know,
being a.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
Big part of our world nowadays. Right, So yeah, yes,
So what do you equate that to in your opinion?

Speaker 3 (07:39):
You know what, what do you feel, you know, makes
a song really kind of get that kind of oh
you know what I mean that reaction.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
It's hard to say. There's been a couple of songs that,
you know, in my mind, I thought this one's going
to do really well, and people liked it, but it
didn't take off, you know, the way I thought it would.
And then the majority of them that I thought would
do will have And I think it's just above and
of above everything. I think it's being authentic. I think

(08:09):
it's having relatable lyrics, uh you know, a little bit
of a story, but also music that you know, country
fans can say, hey, that's that's the kind of music
I want to hear. And I think just creating something
that maybe is not as plentiful in the music world,
as well as back to the visuals. You know, I
do a lot of skits that kind of lead into

(08:30):
the music, and I think all that combined, you know,
makes people stop and listen. And then as long as
the product's good and it's relatable and and you know,
people enjoy it. I think at some point in the
algorithm it just kind of I don't know exactly how
the algorithm works, but I think they kind of see,
you know, people, people are liking this, We're gonna send

(08:50):
it that a little further, a little further. And yeah,
we've had some some really big videos kind of you know,
just wild and you look down and it's like, after
so many it's like you stop thinking about those are
all people, and like you look at the number, and
when you stop and think about how many people that is,
it's just it's insane. It's like, man, I didn't even

(09:11):
brush my hair for this.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
You know, yeah, right, don't you prepare for this? Come on, now,
that's hilarious.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
I think of like the Labor Day skit in particular,
like really blew Off because it was so funny how
you did it rotated, you know, so it was it was,
it was really good. You know, all of your all
of your videos are just so cool. And you know
what I love about you is you stay true to
yourself and you have that classic country sound that we
all want, we want more of, and you've said, you know,

(09:39):
you want to revive that classic country sound. So what
elements do you make sure to include to stay true
to that mission of yours?

Speaker 2 (09:47):
Well, I think always the pedal steel, thee is the
I mean, anybody that hears a haunting steel automatically thinks
Hank Williams, And I think that is the most necessary
instrumentation in a country song. And right next to that
would be fiddle, yes, And then the telecasters, you know,

(10:07):
the Brent Maason style telecaster, the twain, you know. I
think those are all elements that you know, when you
take them out of a country song, you're you're no
longer left for the country song. So I think, no
matter what, for me, I will always have those elements
in my song because without that, you know, I might
as well start you know, a pop career.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Mm hmmmm.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
And you know I love how you know, honest you
are with your sound, and I think that's why people
are so drawn to you. And like I said, Outdated
has done so so well that album in particular, along
with all of your other albums as well, but without Dated,
you know, people can still you know, they could check
it out. It's available everywhere along with all of your
other albums, but there's also music videos out for that.

(10:53):
Like I like I said, but can you tell us
a little bit about the songs on this album in particular,
tell us a little bit about that songwriting process?

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, that was the most of that album was writty.
Late twenty three. Haunted House, which did really well, was
actually an older song that I revived. I wrote that
song originally probably in twenty sixteen maybe, and yeah, and
I was it was getting there Halloween, and just to

(11:24):
show you how when we put our minds to the
you know, our minds to it were like how fast
we can make things happen? I guess it was like
the last week in September and we're like, man, this
is getting close to spooky season. We should really go
cut that song. So I reworked it like for three
or four days. We went you know, into the studio,
cut it, and filmed the video partly in Nashville at

(11:46):
our house there, partly in Charlotte at our still player's office,
and partly at partly in Wilkesburg, North Carolina, our hometown,
and and made it all look like it was in
one point. And we did all this within like two
to three weeks, and and and it ended up having

(12:06):
you know it released by I think the third week
in October, so it was really cool. It did super
well for us. And then a lot of the other songs,
you know, like Willy Waylen and Mama that was you know,
just kind of one of those that wrote itself. It
was inspired by you know, my upbringing. You know, mall
eraised me on the Classic Country and that's a fun song.

(12:27):
Some really good heartbreak songs on there too, like the
Bed I've Made. That one was a fun one. But
most of those were written in late twenty three or
early twenty four. And I guess because we released in
May of twenty four, I believe on that one.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yes, And I feel like every single song on this
album is relatable, whether you like, you know, a slower song,
you know, one that you could relate to, a crying
song you need if you need that moment, if you
need a like a.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
Boots going but one.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
You have it all on there, and I just I love,
I absolutely love how you really we are able to
bring it around for all generations, you know what I mean.
Everybody can really enjoy the song and the songs on this,
which I think is really cool.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
I'll tell you a neat little tidbit though the cover
of that. I always like to tell people about this.
So my grandma passed in June of twenty three, twenty three,
and a month later my uncle, her son, my mom's brother,
and he passed unfortunately and really really hard time. And

(13:31):
we were sitting around one day talking and my grandpa
he was like, you know, if I could have one
vehicle back from you know, from the years, he said,
it'd be a sixty nine C ten. Yes. The day
after my uncle passed, me and my mom had been
eyeballing a pretty rusted up peace in North Carolina, down

(13:54):
near Shelby area, I believe, and so we we lit
out the day after he passed, and we went and
got that truck. I drove it back. It was drivable.
I drove it back with no headlights hotel lights, no,
I mean no tag like every time you hit a bomb.
Of course, the like rust is hitting the ground, just age.

(14:14):
And so we we surprised my grandpa with it. Boy
he got a surprise, that's for sure. Okay, yeah, oh lord,
I guess it was. We finished it around March of
twenty four, so we knew we were all going to
be together. You know, we've got a very close family.

(14:35):
My aunt and uncle, my mom, me and my grandpa.
We all fixed that that truck up and u and
then we decided, you know, hey, this needs to be
on the cover of the album. So that was that
was really cool to to get to have that be
a part of the project. And we actually used that
truck in the outdated video.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
Yeah wow, So that's how it all came around.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
I love hearing stories like that. So cool, and I
love that you did that.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
First off, what amazing gift, Like, what amazing thing for
your for your grandfa's experience. But then also you were
able to kind of use it in a video and
you know, in a.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Cover that you'll have for the rest of your life.
You know what I mean, you always remember that.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
We made so many good memories, and you know, all
my grandpa's and neighbors and stuff. You know, they were
just all enamored with it. Probably they all still talk about,
you know, how cool it was to see us, you know,
to look over every day and see us doing that.
And because we did it all ourselves, everything, you know,
all the cutting out well and painting, I mean, we
did it one hundred percent of it, and you know,

(15:40):
it's just a really cool experience.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
That is a really cool experience. I love that. I
wish more people did that kind of stuff, you know
what I mean. Video games, we gotta.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
You know, spend time with people and you know, trades
and it's it's it's a cool thing to do and
it's it's fun, and then you have a tangible product
when it's all.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
So exactly exactly. I love that.

Speaker 3 (16:03):
And you know, your music is just I know I
keep saying it, but your music is just so much
fun to listen to. Were there any songs on this
album or any of your other work that almost didn't
make the cut but ended up being like a fan favorite.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
M I'm gonna pull up this album real quick, because yes, yes,
not so good. Let's see, I would say, oddly enough
one that I really didn't think was gonna go on
it at first. Well oddly enough outdated really really because

(16:42):
we were in the middle of this this album. I
mean this was probably January or February recording, and you know,
I started with the chorus. I had written it, and
I was like telling mom about it. I was like,
you know, I think it's a kind of a cool idea.
And so we're we're on the way to Nashville and
I'm like telling her, you know, reading off some lyrics
that I'd written, and she's like, yeah, you need to

(17:04):
you need to finish that. So that one almost didn't
get done in time, uh and ended up you know,
being I guess one of the last songs we recorded
and then ended up being the biggest one. But aside
from that, What a Honky Tonker's Doing Heaven was was
one that almost got It was up for debate because
we're we're Christian. People were very you know, we're spiritual

(17:28):
or religious, and uh, we didn't want to do it's
it's a fun song. You know, we didn't want to
do anything to offend anybody, but you know, I think
about people like Haggard and Jones and those guys, and
you know, none of us know what exactly what heaven's
going to look like when we get there, but I
like to imagine that those guys are, you know, still

(17:49):
you know, living their best life up there, still playing
their country music, still hanging out, and you know, that's
that's what I like to envision. And that's kind of
what that song, you know, was about. And it's just me,
you know, talking to God saying, you know, what do
what do honky tonkers do up there? You know? And
when we get there?

Speaker 1 (18:05):
Right? That's so creative.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
So he was he was up for debate. It was like, well,
we don't want to do anything with anybody, and we
talked to our band about it. They're very you know,
they're people of faith, and they're like, no, the only
thing wrong with that song is that we're not already
playing it.

Speaker 1 (18:19):
And so good answer.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
So it did really well for us, and it's actually
our show opener and the last year.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
Or so so cool. I'm glad.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
I'm glad those were keepers because they're both I can't
imagine without it.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
I can't imagine it without it. That's so cool.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
And you know, I wanted to also ask you, you know,
is there is there any artists out there today that
you would love to collaborate with if you could.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
Oh, there's so many good ones. Oh no, that's a
that's a hard question. Yeah, I think there's some, you know,
on the male end and the female end. There's there's
so many good ones, you know. I think some some
guys like Jake Worthington I really like. I think we've
got a very similar sound. Yes, I've always thought it
would be super cool to do a song with Georgett Jones,

(19:08):
you know. I mean, there's there's just so many great
artists out there, and I wouldn't I wouldn't turn down
a good collaboration with any of them. I think it
would be be something cool to do and something that
we've talked about for a while. It's trying to do
a collaboration for sure.

Speaker 3 (19:25):
Oh man, either of them would be amazing, Let's get it.

Speaker 1 (19:29):
That would be so cool. Yes, oh I love it.

Speaker 3 (19:33):
And then also another thing I wanted to mention, So
February you were able to you were able to perform
in that legendary.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
Circle the grade will operate.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
What was that experience like for you stepping into a
circle that so many of the grades have stood before.
What was what was that experience like for you?

Speaker 2 (19:51):
And that was an interesting night from start to finish.
I said this earlier about you know, the like the
chart position and stuff. It's one of those situations where
it all happens so fast. Yeah, you get there, you
go in for sound check, and then you go backstage
for a little bit. There's so much going on. Then

(20:12):
you go play, then you go backstage, you talk to people,
you mean, and the whole night goes by so fast
that by the time you walk out, you turn around
and look and you're like, holy cow, you know it's done.
The grand ole opry. But what was really neat and
well there was a there was a sad side to
it too. The I guess it was like, right before

(20:35):
we were getting ready to play, I looked over at
my mom and some other people sitting there. I said,
my voice feels like it's going And I hadn't been
over singing. I was like, what's happening? And so I
was like, I'm gonna have to go out to the
to the band for a while and just take some
time to myself. And try, you know, drink some honey
or something and so. But fortunately, you know, I got

(20:58):
through it. That was that was no problem. Did end
up getting sick that week, so I yeah, but like
the worst time you could possibly start getting sick. I
did get through it, thank God. Yes. But what was
really neat is I was very nervous up until the

(21:20):
point that I walked out on stage. When I walked
out on stage and I stood in the circle, all
those nerves just went away. It was like if you've
ever had that feeling where you just you feel like
you're where you're supposed to be and you're there for
a reason. I just kind of had that feeling come
over me, lost all the nerves. We had a great time.

(21:41):
We actually took my band, which was meat. We didn't
play with the opera band because they were so busy.
I think there was like fourteen acts that night, and
we were talking to him ahead of time and they
were like, well, if you want to bring your band,
it would definitely make it easier on our guys. So
of course, our band was just incredibly thrilled to get
to play the opry as well, and it was cool

(22:02):
to give them that experience. And just to be there
with everybody. And you know, you know, me and my
mom are sitting back in the dressing rooms and we
called my grandpa and you know, of course Nana, you know,
she she wasn't with us at that time, but she
was as she was with us. But yeah, and we
talked Papaul right for a while on stage and you know, said,
you know, Nana's Nana's here watching and everything, and so

(22:24):
it was, uh, just a really cool, not to be punny,
but a full circle moment.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
It really was.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
I love that. That's such a great story. I love
hearing first time stories like that. And you know, I
just I'm so excited you got that opportunity, and I
hope you get many more opportunities like that. I could
see it happening just with the tracks that you're going on,
and I just can't wait to see what is next
for you. So, I mean, are are you working on
any new music that you can tell us about her songwriting?

Speaker 1 (22:50):
What is going on in your world as of late?

Speaker 2 (22:53):
I am, Yeah, we're working on the fourth album right now.
We've actually got five or six songs pretty much done
for that album. I it's just been a busy summer.
I don't know where summer has gone. I hear that
gone by so fast. We really intended to have this
album out in the spring of this year, and somehow

(23:14):
it's probably going to be spring of twenty six, gotcha.
And it's just been a combination of things, you know.
We've been doing a lot of shows and of course
being independent, you know again, like we we on our
own tour bus and stuff. And along with that comes
when we get home on Sunday, you know, it's like, okay, well,
let's spend the next week fixing what we broke, you know, right,

(23:36):
I hear you. Yeah, yeah, so you know, spending all
that and trying to get things ready to go for
the next weekend. And so winter is usually really our
downtime and our time to get those albums done. Yeah,
it's hectic, so we've been behind. But yes, long story short,
we are in the process of getting that that for
that done.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
I'm excited it's coming. It's coming.

Speaker 3 (23:58):
Well, you know, the best things happen, you know, with
due time, So I am going to be patient. I
am looking forward to the songs, the new music, the album,
and once all of that is out, you have to
let us know because we'd love to have you back
on to talk all about it.

Speaker 2 (24:12):
Okay, Oh well I would love to do it, and
I sure will as soon as that's close to fruition.
We will be among the first to know perfect.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
Thank you so so much.

Speaker 3 (24:22):
And also before we go, can you please give out
your website and also all your social neworking.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
Sites as well for people to keep up with everything.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Alex Key absolutely yeah. Instagram is alex underscore Key Underscore Music.
I'm believe that's TikTok as well. Facebook is just alex Key.
Look for the blue check mark. There's a lot of
stupid fake accounts, I hear you, and of course you
know hard but Apple and Spotify and all that stuff

(24:52):
just alex Key and look for the cawboy head. Yeah,
my web website is Alexkeymusicgroup dot com. Someone I guess
when things started doing well, they bought Alexki dot com
and now they want ten thousand bucks for the domain.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
You gotta be see. That's when you know you made
it and thank you. Okay, Oh it's a bummer.

Speaker 2 (25:11):
I'll know that I really made it when I can
afford to pay the ten thousand.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
There called goals.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
See, you can do it, my friend, you can do
it absolutely.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
But musgroup dot com you can find out you know,
keep in touch and join the newsletter there and everything.
So yeah, that's pretty.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
Much it perfect.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
Please everyone, make sure you check out everything Alex Key.
Check out his you know, latest album outdated, but along
with all of his other albums that are out now,
and make sure you stay tuned to his Facebook and
everywhere else because new music is coming. So please make
sure you do that. And I want to thank you
so much else for joining me. I really appreciate you well.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
I want to thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
Oh my pleasure. This was so much fun.