Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Br Brn Bray Bray Bray Bray by Talk Right Rook
still around the world on the World Wide Web.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ladies and Children period is the most.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
The other stations are Oh Yeah broadcasting live in the
JOSEYH Network Studios in downtown Madnah, Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It's that time of week again.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It's time for the Jersey Shoe, bringing you the most
exciting music, moves and guests from.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Around the world.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Right here on the Jersey Show.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Please make welcome beautiful, talented, hell love it America's Riddy
Elsli Business Josie assent he Osle.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
Hello, everyone, I'm Josie and we are back with another
Josie Show. I have two more incredible special guests joining
me today. We have Tony Mantor and Morgan Alexander, two
incredible special guests. I can't wait to share both of
these interviews with all of you. So let's just jump
right into it.
Speaker 6 (01:30):
Here you go.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
Here is the very first one. My first guest, Tony Mantor, Hey,
how's it going.
Speaker 6 (01:35):
Oh, it's going so well. Thank you so much for
joining me.
Speaker 7 (01:38):
Oh thanks for having me.
Speaker 6 (01:40):
Oh my pleasure.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
So I am very interested to talk to you about
different things but of course I want to talk a
little bit about your podcasts first, because I just seen
just a couple of weeks ago you mentioned that your
podcasts made number one in music for Almost Live Nashville,
number one in mental health for Why Not Me, So congratulations.
Speaker 7 (01:56):
First off, Oh thanks, I appreciate that.
Speaker 6 (02:00):
Very welcome.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
So first I want to talk a little bit about
Why Not Me, which focuses on people's stories of autism,
mental health, and the justice system. Can you share what
the inspiration was in starting this podcast? Tell us a
little bit about it.
Speaker 7 (02:12):
Well, it's kind of interesting. When COVID hit, I didn't
have a whole lot to do here in Nashville. Music
has been shut down, shows have been shut down, so
my friends that I use on my sessions here in Nashville,
we decided to do a CD that I'd been putting
off for years because I was a singer songwriter before
(02:32):
I moved to Nashville and cut into production. So we
did that and this song came along called why Not Me,
and it was about not giving up on your dreams,
keep going no matter what, and that was what I
put out on my social media all the time. So
I recorded it and then my promoters in New York, Nashville, La, London,
(02:54):
they all heard it and they said, oh, you've got
to release this. And I said, well, I'm not going
to get back on this stage. I'm not going to
get back traveling. I'm just doing it for enjoyment. And
so they talked me into doing it and I did,
and at the time I decided to do a video
with it. I gave respect to our first responders, so
(03:15):
that happened, and then, like any record, it goes six, eight,
nine months. And when it was over, I said, oh,
that was fun, and I figured that'd be it. And
then this lady calls me. She says, I love your song.
Can you do something for us like that? And she
was a speech therapist for autistic children. Oh nice, yeah,
so I told her. I said, well, I really don't
(03:35):
know anything about autism, so I don't know if i'd
be a good fit, but I'll gladly re record the
song in a more adult contemporary style and I renamed
it to Almost Live Nashville on YouTube, and then I
got people within the Nashville community to send me pictures,
(03:56):
video clips of autistic people and special needs that I felt.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Fit the video.
Speaker 7 (04:03):
On the song and from there I was doing a
podcast in New York on the business, because mine was
about the music business. I decided, you know, after they
they wanted me to redo the contract to another ten
or fifteen shows, I decided that, you know, I would
try my own luck at it and see how I
(04:24):
could do. And I created why Not Me the world
at that time, and it was autism awareness, acceptance, and understanding.
It just kept growing and growing. Because I thought it
would last me five six months, it'd be over, you know,
and it just kept growing and growing. And then last
year I did a special for Autism Awareness Month and
(04:45):
I had this group of people that work with serious
mental illness on the mental health side, and they asked
me if I'd considered doing something for them, and I did,
and I heard all these stories and I said, oh,
I've got to expand this. So I expanded it and
changed and rebranded to why Not Me Embracing Autism and
(05:05):
Mental health worldwide. That's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
I love that because there's so many different diigmas and
misconceptions when it comes to those who have autism and
also mental health. Because I'm very open with sharing that
IBOCD and anxiety and depression. So I know firsthand that
there is such a stigma around mental illness. Yeah, So
what are some misconceptions that you feel people have when
it comes to autism maybe mental illness, and what would
(05:30):
you like people to know?
Speaker 7 (05:31):
Well, you know, when it comes to autism, yea, they
have to understand that the brain is wired a little
differently and they take and process things differently. Doesn't mean
it's wrong, it just means it's different. So with the
neurodiverse is forced into a world that was set up
for neurotypical you know, so people like you and me
(05:55):
that go out and we don't have these issues, that's
what the world was set up for. And people that
have to deal with with autism and all the things
that go along with it, they have to deal with
things that wasn't set up for them. So we have
to learn how to understand autism so that we understand
that there's a spectrum. You know, there's some that have
(06:16):
very hard times in the world, and there's some that
can motivate themselves and get themselves out there and really
blend in quite well. Now, when it comes to mental health,
especially serious mental illness, it is completely misunderstood because when
you get into serious mental illness, it is a brain
(06:36):
issue that is kind of like dementia, and they'll see things,
they'll say things that you don't understand. You go, what's
wrong with them? And what happens is I found that
in the past, before I started talking with people that
deal with this on a daily basis, I found that
(06:57):
if somebody did something bad, like they shot somebody or
something like that happened and it made the news, my
first response was put them in jail on for a
way the key. Well, now because I've learned more about
serious mental illness and i understand how it afflicts people,
that's not my first response. My first response is I
(07:18):
want to know did the system fail them? Because lots
of times, if you dig deep enough, you'll find that
they were begging for help, They were trying to get help,
but because of the way the system is set up,
they didn't get it, and then ultimately their brains take
over and they do bad things. Totally misunderstood.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
It really is, it really is, And I think that
psychologist therapy all that needs to be a little bit
easier to maintain so people can go and get help
and not feel bad about it, or maybe financially they
feel that they can't you know what I mean.
Speaker 7 (07:52):
It needs to be more what I'm doing this month
for mental health awareness months. People want to listen. I
have got the first three episodes are with a with
a charity called NSSC, and I've got six or seven
people on and they're talking about serious mental illness and
some of the issues they run up with. And then
after that I'm running Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays episodes and
(08:17):
I've got sitting senators, legislators, former senators, former US Health
of representatives, and they're talking about how they try and
legislate and create bills to help people.
Speaker 6 (08:29):
Interesting.
Speaker 7 (08:30):
I was really taken aback that that people wanted to
come on that had such high high stature and talk
about this with me. So it's really great episodes. Oh
it's wonderful.
Speaker 6 (08:41):
I'm really looking forward to that. That's phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
I love what you do in bringing awareness to autism,
mental health, you know, mental illnesses. It really is appreciated
because I think even still people to this day, you know,
when I tell someone you know, I have OCD, they
automatically think, oh, you know, you clean a lot they
don't necessarily understand the part in the brain where it's
the constant worry, you know, the constant thinking. So I
think it's wonderful that you really do shine a light
(09:05):
on all of these different, these different things. So please
make sure you check out Why Not Me? Everybody check
out the podcast. You're gonna love it just as much
as I have been enjoying all of the episodes. Another
podcast which is doing very incredibly well for you is
Almost Live Nashville, which of course I was so thrilled
to be a part of, and I know it's gonna
be an incoming episode.
Speaker 6 (09:23):
Yes, so tell us a little bit about that. Because
you're a.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Singer, songwriter, pianist, music producer, so of course the natural
step Almost Live Nashville. So tell us a little bit
about this podcast.
Speaker 7 (09:34):
Sure. Well, when I first started Why Not Me, everybody
was really surprised that I picked autism instead of entertainment,
and I said, well, you know, it just kind of
fell that way and it felt natural. So I wanted
to get onto so that I could understand podcasting a
little bit better, because because it's more than just recording
(09:55):
and putting something up there, you know, you've got to
take and brand it, and you've got to this many
things you got to do so that people know that
you're out there doing it, you know, promotion wise and everything,
you know, pr and all that. So I wanted to
get that under my belt a little bit. So a
year later I announced Almost Live Nashville. And what I
(10:16):
do instead of trying to overdo it, I do a
couple of episodes a month, and then sometimes people that
really need to be out there, I'll do three or four,
but I try and keep it at least a couple
of months. And I've been so so just blessed to
have good luck with it. And I've had great people
that I've known, or people that said, hey, you got
(10:38):
to have this person. I mean, I just had George
Thurgerd come on yesterday, you know. You know. So I've
had some really great names and great people that have
told stories. I had a guy that came on from
England that he actually did all the strings orchestration on
the Long and Winding Road for the Beatles. So, I mean,
I've had chances to talk with so many people that
(11:00):
have such great stories. It's just been wonderful, you know,
to be able to talk with friends and meet new
friends and and just tell their stories and do something
a little more lighthearted.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
It's such a great podcast. And you were definitely right
for the job because of all the things that you
have done within the music industry. You know, like I
mentioned a little bit earlier, Please take us back a
little bit. You know, your first love for music and producing,
When did that begin? I mean, please share that with
me a little bit about how this got all started.
Speaker 7 (11:29):
Well, I'm gonna date myself a little bit here, but
I was Ronnie mcdow's first keyboard.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Player, gotcha, Oh wonderful?
Speaker 7 (11:37):
We love roy, Yeah, And how that happened is I
was down here. I came to Nashville with some friends
of mine that were country and I was more on
the pop side, and they were pitching. They were pitching
their music, you know, as songwriters. So I wound up
playing on a session, demo session with some of the
best players in Nashville time because the piano player got
(11:58):
sick or couldn't chow up, so I want wound up
doing it. And then a friend of Ronnie's manager came
in and he knew everybody but me, so he came
over and talked with me, and then he goes, how
would you like to go out with Ronnie McDowell. He's
looking for a keyboard player and a background singer, you know.
And so I wound up. I wound up going and
talking to to his manager, Slim Williamson, and it was
(12:20):
in the Neil Columbia building, you know, And I wound
up going out with him, and then I went went
back to UH. I didn't want to be a side musician,
so I went back to doing my own thing, recording,
putting records out. And then I was working with with
Bob Millsap and Gary Paxton and for people that might
want to know who they are. Gary Paxton was the
(12:41):
lead singer the argyles Ali you put a bunch of
hits like that, and Bob Millsap published the song You
Needed Me that Anne Murray cut, and he produced other
fairly well known people. So they were producing me and
pitching me and doing all that, and then Bob came
up to me one time. He says, you know, you
understand music, You understand a good song, you understand how
(13:03):
the players work. He goes, we're getting ready to retire.
Why don't you get off the road and come down
here and do what we do. So I had to
decide if I wanted to get off the stage and
forget about the singer song right apart. And I decided
to do that because I thought that, you know, maybe
I can have some longevity on on the production side,
(13:23):
not knowing what the music side would would give me.
So I did that. I moved here in Nashville, and
I've been fortunate enough to produce people like Mila Mason,
Debbie Campbell, Glenn Campbell's daughter, Bobby Wilson of Jackie Wilson's son,
Donnie Mo's The Happy Days, you know. I mean, the
list goes on, and I've just been very fortunate to
(13:43):
be around and produce and work with some great people.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Oh you really have, And I'm sure you have stories
for days. Have you ever thought about like a memoir
or something that you could like share all of your
stories behind the scenes.
Speaker 7 (13:55):
You know, I thought about that, but you know, I
don't think about them us. I'm talking to people about them.
It's like the other day, a friend and I were
talking about music row how it used to be and
how it's changed over the years, and we were talking
about how you used to go from old billing to
old building and you could go into one and to
be a producer. The next one would be an independent label,
(14:17):
the next one would be a publisher. And how it's
all changed. And we've got started talking about stories and
I'm going, whoa man, I forgot about that, I forgot
about this, you know, And it's just it's pretty amazing
how how much you forget right. You know.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
What's funny is, as you've been doing this for so long,
so you've seen the industry evolve and change, you know,
throughout the years, I'm sure, which is very interesting.
Speaker 7 (14:39):
Yeah, it went from from two inch tape to a
DATS then then to to you know, qbase and all
those type of of recording sessions. You know, so it
has changed a lot. The one thing that is good
is the quality is high. But the one thing that's
that sometimes they miss is sometimes if you go back
(15:04):
to the fifties, the sixties and the seventies and you
listen to some of the music, you'll hear things that
weren't just quite perfect, but that imperfection made it perfect
to the listener, and it's what made the song great.
Whereas today they can go back in, they can auto tune.
They can do all this stuff and they can make
(15:26):
everything perfect, but sometimes it's that imperfection that makes the
music perfect.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
Yeah, sometimes it gives a character, you know what I.
Speaker 7 (15:34):
Mean, Yes, exactly.
Speaker 6 (15:35):
Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
It's a lot different, you know, and just so many different,
so many different things within the industry has changed, and
it is absolutely and you know for those out there,
you know nowadays that are really grinding and maybe there's
you know, a future producer out there, maybe that might
be listening that wants to do this. You know, some
young boy or young girl maybe wanting to get into
singing songwriting. What kind of advice would you give to them,
(15:59):
Because you've been in this industry long enough that I'm
sure that you have some some advice up your sleeve
for sure.
Speaker 7 (16:04):
Well, just never give up. I mean, if you believe
in yourself and you believe that you can do it,
you've just got to keep going, keep and you'll get
knocked down, get back up, get knocked down, get back up.
But when you get knocked down, learn why you get
knocked down, so that way the next time you get
knocked down is for a different reason than the first one.
(16:27):
And if you get knocked down enough, which you're going
to get knocked down in this business. Then eventually you
start learning from from those things and you start start
shifting a little bit to the left to the right.
You learn what to do, what not to do, and
then you just keep plugging away. But the thing is
is just just keep going because because if you it's
(16:48):
kind of like, I give this analogy. I knew if
I had a friend of mine one time he bought
this used car and it kept breaking down on him,
and he kept fixing it, and he kept and he
kept fixing it, and then finally he got to that
one last time that it broke down and he goes,
you know, I can't take this anymore. He got rid
(17:08):
of it, he sold it, and I'm going, man, you
was one step from having the perfect carr. You know,
there was what else could go wrong. You'd fixed everything,
So he gave up on it when the next step
could have been great. And that's what you have to
learn in music. You don't give up on anything because
you never know what's around that next corner. You never
(17:29):
know who's watching you, and whoever's watching you when you
get around that next corner might be the person that
might help you.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
Oh yes, Oh, such great advice. I'm so glad that
you said all this. Oh yes, because you never know
who might be listening to us right now. We got
a lot of independent artists out there that could really
heed that advice for sure. Oh that's wonderful. And for
those out there that want to connect with you after
the show, I'm sure they will. Where can my listeners
go to find you right now? On social media websites.
Speaker 7 (17:56):
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok x, it's all Tony Mantor at Tony Mantor.
You can find me at Tonymantor dot com. You can
find my independent label as Plateau Music dot com.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Perfect Perfect.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
And that's pretty much. I'm pretty available, I mean pretty
much easy for people to get a hold of me.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
You're very out there, which I love because people can
connect with you whatever site they may be on X
or Facebook, whatnot.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
So please make sure you go and check them out.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
And then of course they can check out your podcast
on places like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, everywhere.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
Exactly, exactly, perfect perfect.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
I appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Thank you so much for talking to me, talking to
me today, and please come back anytime anytime you have
something that you'd like to promote.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
I had a blast talking to you. I'd love to
have you back.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (18:43):
Thanks, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Oh, thank you, Tony Mantor.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
We are going to keep on rolling here because we
have Morgan Alexander now.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
So I hope you enjoyed this interview. This was another
really good one and let's do it. Here we go.
Please Welcome to the Josie Show. My guest Morgan Alexander.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Hi, Hi, how are you doing today?
Speaker 6 (19:04):
I'm doing wonderful.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
Thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
I'm very excited to be here.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Oh.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
I have been looking forward to talking to you. So
I was checking out the music catalog. You have some
great albums, EPs and singles out there, So let's start
off with like your latest which is single titled look
at the Stars. Can you share your inspiration behind this
one because it's a great song for someone who is
missing someone from Afar.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Tell me about it.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
The song look at the Stars came to me after
my dad passed and my dad, he and I did
not know each other for the probably the first thirty
years of my life, and then one day my mom
sent me a text message. She lives out in Oregon
and I'm here in Tennessee and Nashville, and she sends
me a text message and she says, Hey, I'm going
(19:48):
to have lunch with your father, and I was just
kind of like, this is so casual for a text message.
And shortly after I got to meet him for the
first time, and then shortly after he got to witness
his grandchildren, and we got to spend a lot of
good quality time, him visiting here, us going out there.
(20:09):
I got to meet my ninety three year old grandmother
at the time, who was really she was the because
nobody on my mother's side of the family's sings or
does music. And I found out that my grandmother used
to sing for troops up in Washington at one of
the bases during the World War Two, and you know,
(20:31):
she'd talk about that and how you know that was
just kind of what she did. And found out later
that my dad was a drummer in a band, and
so all the musicality came from my dad watching his journey,
and so the song came as just a way to
just be like, you know, hey, I'm gonna you're gonna
be missed, and if I need you, I can just
look at the stars, you know, because that's where you'll be.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Yes, it's such a great song. I'm very relatable for
those who have lost a loved one. My husband lost
his father as well and related to this song very
much so. And it's just such a great song out
there for people to check out. And that's available on
all of the streaming sites now right where you can.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Find music absolutely, whether it's you know, the Spotify's or
the iTunes or the amazons, it's all.
Speaker 6 (21:14):
There, perfect, perfect.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
And the single that you actually released before, which was
titled day Off, which we all wish for some days, it's.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
Another very relatable song.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
I got to ask you about your songwriting. You have
such great music. How does songwriting work for you? You
know what usually comes first, like the lyrics, melody?
Speaker 6 (21:31):
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
It always varies, that's the truth. When it comes to music.
I lean more towards starting with a musical idea from
a piano or guitar, whether I'm strumming it or playing it,
and then the rhythmic element kind of takes hold, and
you know, then the words kind of fall into place generally,
and it's kind of based around for me finding the
(21:55):
inner emotion that I have at the moment and kind
of translating that into the feel the emotion of the music,
and then letting the words kind of translate itself that way.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
That's kind of how music approaches when I'm songwriting.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Yes, and you've been making music for so so long.
How do you feel your music has really evolved over
the years.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Well, I can tell you that from my first time
ever in a studio in Nashville, I remember thinking myself,
Holy cow, this is a really cool experience. This, you know,
getting to play with, you know, some talented musicians that
I had just met shortly after I came to town,
and you know, kind of collaborated over in East Nashville.
(22:38):
Michael Vecchio was the producer of my first EP and record,
and we just kind of sat in a tiny little
studio and cranked out a bunch of songs and more
than I had thought I was going to do. And
when I look back at it now, to answer your question,
I see the growth. From a vocalist standpoint, how I
(23:00):
approach a music line in the song, whether it's you know,
the melody line is a certain way. And my background
as far as what I've always learned stems from radio.
For instance, I worked in country radio coming out of
college and was a DJ, and so I paid a
lot of attention to the way that so songs were structured,
(23:21):
you know, hits from everybody from Garth to Kenny Chesney
to the you know the Chicks, everybody you could possibly
think of that was on the country radio in the
nineties and the two thousands.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
I learned a lot from them.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Oh yeah, absolutely, those were great years.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
Yes, I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
And I love how radio really kind of helped you,
you know, and really went into the music. The music's
you know, part of your life as well, which I
find really really cool. And you've shared the spotlight with
so many personal favorites of mine, like Little Big Town
and Colin Ray, Eleventh Theft, John Michael Montgomery, just to
name a few. So what are those experiences like for
you being able to show with such artists that we
(24:01):
know and love.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I think going back to the first time I got
to be around, you know, a national artist, you know,
the Big Timers, was a Little Big Town. It was
kind of also around the time when Luke Bryan was
just getting started. He had written a big hit for
Billy Currington at the time, and and I was working
(24:23):
in this this this honky tonk in Portland, Oregon that
also doubled as like a really really big truck stop.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
It was quite quite the scene. And I was doing music.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
There for the dancers, and in between the live local
band sets, I would do music from a DJ standpoint,
and I would sing with the bands from time to time.
And the the radio station came in and they were
looking for an opener, and the venue was like, well,
why don't we ask Morgan to do it?
Speaker 4 (24:53):
And I was like awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
So I not only got to I'm sitting back in
this little hallway in a little place called Jubits and
you know, the four of them from Little Big Town
or just you know, Jimmy's back there and Karen and.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
Everywhere, and there's just so nice.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
It was just like my first introduction to being around
people that I had already you know, idolized in some way,
you know, musically speaking. Loved the way the little Big
time was and I got to sing not only a
few songs, but I started with the national anthem for
the night. And they came up to me afterwards and
they were like that was incredible.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
That was a really good job.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
And you know, whether they were just being kind and whatnot,
that's one thing, but they really lifted somebody up who
at the.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
Time really wasn't doing music.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Like music wasn't the outlet for me at the time,
and music actually kind of took a hiatus between college
years and kind of mid twenties where I just wasn't
doing music, not even karaoke.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
I wouldn't even go do it.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
And I just I had just kind of had a
life experience that kind of pushed me away. And I
remember the first time coming to Nashville and going to
the Bluebird Cafe and I was on vacation, I had
a plane ticket to go home. I was just I
was in town to help somebody move from Oregon to
Nashville to be closer to the family, and I had
planned on going back home. And I went to the
(26:19):
Bluebird and somebody had heard me sing during the open
mic portion that they have usually on Monday nights. Yeah,
and they asked me if I lived there, if I
lived in Nashville, and I said I do not, and
they said, well you should. And that was kind of
the one thing where I was like, all right, here
I am, and I'm going to completely flit my life,
(26:42):
you know, at the age of thirty is where I
was at that time, and I started life over. I
literally from scratch, started life over and found my way
into bartending jobs, and then eventually songwriter nights evolved and found.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
People to play music with.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
This is kind of where the performance like what I
got from Little Big Town, what I got performing you know,
with Colin Ray for the first time, you know, being
around people that I had literally ingrained myself in their music.
I could, you know, sing every song and all the parts.
And here I was, you know, standing with them, and
I think fortunately my radio background gave me the pause
(27:23):
and the calm to not be so giddy around them.
I felt like I felt like I was just supposed
to be in the room, you know what I mean.
And they always everybody's always treated me really good. I
think that's what's one of the better things about the
country music community especially, is the ability for artists to
take other artists that maybe aren't at the same level
(27:45):
and still make them feel like they know they're on
the right journey exactly.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
It's such a great push as well for someone who
was just starting out and a little big town. They
just seem like people who you really want to be around,
and I'm glad that they are exactly what I imagine
they are.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
I love that, you know, I want to ask, because
there's still an artist out there today that you would
love to share the stage with at.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Some point, I got to, briefly, for just like thirty seconds,
share it with Blake. Blake has always been an entertaining
artist inspiration for me. You know, like if I could
go back to it, I probably would also say Garth
because Garth is also the kind of the as a performer.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
I looked at the performances.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
I got to see from Garth and I said, that's
exactly how you do it. You know, you own the
stage because you own who you are, and you bring
the audience right there on the stage with you.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
And that's just kind of how I've always done it.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
So when I get into these situations thinking about, you know,
how do I want to do music, I look at
the people that have inspired me.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
Like how Blake.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
You know, he kind of just has you know, a
fun way about him that whatever's going on, you know what,
it's any more fun than what's happening right now with me.
So that's why I think I would love to. I mean,
there's so many artists over time if I could sing with,
you know, people like Marty Stewart and Ricky Skaggs who
(29:17):
you know, if you sit down and you talk to
Riggy Skaggs about bluegrass, that's one thing, but he loves
to talk about jazz music and the same thing he
as bluegrass, and so that's kind of fun. You really
get to learn a lot from the people that have
done it in this community.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
You really do.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
I'm just sitting and listening to the stories. I'm sure
you have a bunch of stories, which I think is
so wonderful. Just such a great community, it really is.
And you yourself. You have a full schedule for May
that is that is out now that listeners can check out,
you know, at your website. So can you give out
your website for us so people can go and see
a Morgan Alexander show.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Very easy.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
It's just Morgan Alexander music dot com. Or you could
just google Morgan Alexander music and you'll find pretty much
every social media site and videos on YouTube, all the
stuff where you could find the schedule everything.
Speaker 6 (30:07):
Check them out.
Speaker 5 (30:08):
Everybody go out and see see Morgan. And you know,
I did get the chance to see some live performances
on YouTube. You have a lot of content on YouTube.
Everyone make sure you go and check that out as well.
But you really do have a great connection with the audience,
and I think that's what a lot of people look
for in an entertainer. So you could tell that you
really love what you do, and that's what you know
makes the audience feel good as well.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
So it's really important, Josie, not only to make sure
that people who spend their hard earn money to come
to Nashville to.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Just kind of experience it.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
And I would hate for them to ever walk into
any of the venues that I do get to play
and have them have any taste of inexperience where they're like, well,
I never would want to come there again, or last
time I was there, that band wasn't very nice or
very good. And you hear stories like that sometimes where
you know, you know, band members will do something and
(31:00):
you'll hear like, oh, you know that I didn't like
so and so or like this place because of it,
and you think about, you know, you're affecting as an
artist in Nashville, Tennessee, playing the circuit, so to speak.
Your responsibility is to really be there for the people
that are working the venues, the bartenders, the servers, everybody
(31:22):
that is impacted by the fact that people who are
there spending their hard money earned money is translating to
the business for people that need jobs and aren't musicians
like everybody else.
Speaker 5 (31:34):
Yeah, it's so important and you definitely do a great
job with that, and I really do hope everyone checks
out that may schedule. And I want to talk about
McFly and the Ride radio show that I've just seen.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
How did that get starting?
Speaker 5 (31:46):
Can you tell us a little bit about it for
our listeners who want to check it out and listen in.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Well, it's a real fun show, very like the Josie
Show of by the way, I am digging into my
brains so much that I'm going to ride a hit
that one day I can be on the Josie Awards
stage with you guys. I think that's such a great
thing that it's kind of the way that you guys
are able to not only showcase but give back to
(32:12):
the people who are really putting in such an effort.
So hats off to the Josie Awards is well, I
wanted to say that. But with McFly and the ride,
it got started because the two guys that I do
the show with, Marty McFly and Stu James. When I
first through that, after I came to Nashville, I got
asked to work at the local one O three three
(32:34):
and one four five and ninety five five FM over
here off of Music Circle, and you know, we're doing
nash FMS and sports radio and all the stuff. And
Marty was the guy that hired me to do the
kind of weekends. And I remember the first weekend I
worked in Nashville radio I was doing. It was the
weekend my daughter was born, and so you know, we
(32:58):
I just come to the hospital and getting my first
a Sunday afternoon in Nashville. And years later, nearly ten
years later or so, Marty and Stewde they've had a
long running show that we're starting to turn nationally now
and they asked me to come onto the show and
be their musical side man, where I provide music for
(33:18):
the show and commentary and content and all that kind
of fun stuff. So it's a lot of fun again.
The McFly and the Ride show you can find through
my social media's or just by googling McFly and the
Ride super easy.
Speaker 5 (33:31):
Please check it out, everyone and listen in. You have
so many things that you're working on and that you're doing.
I love that you have your hands in a little
bit of everything. You just really love the entertainment industry.
I could tell as a whole. You just love meeting
new people.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
It's one of my favorite things to do is to
create and to get to do it.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
At the fourteen year old Morgan would not believe that
I get to do what I get to do now.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
And I think a lot of people that are in
this feel this way.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Whether you know they're singing on big stadium stages or
they're singing a little corner of ours. You know, we
all have to take a pause and say, can you
believe that we actually get to do this, you know,
for a living.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
So that's a lot of fun to say.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Yes, I'll absolutly you're doing it, my friend, you really are.
I'm very excited to see what is next and coming
up for you in the future. And everyone could please
make sure you check out the website, but also social
networking sites, you're all over the place.
Speaker 6 (34:27):
Just type in Morgan Alexander, you pop up. It's super easy.
Morganellen Alexander music.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
And I really got some great fun questions for you
if you don't mind, sure, just a couple of little
quick fun questions for you.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
I love my fun questions.
Speaker 5 (34:38):
So performing. On topic of performing, you perform quite a bit.
Have you ever had any embarrassing on stage moments or
maybe an on stage mishap that you can recall?
Speaker 2 (34:48):
And I think every once in a while, my biggest
mishap is I forget that the fly on my pants
happens to have fallen down, and I'll halfway through the show,
I'll look down. I'll be like, well, it's been there
the whole time, and I'm just I didn't know I
was I didn't know as a farmer because the barn
door had been opened the whole time.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
Yeah, so embarrassing, absolutely, it's how you recover. It's how
you recover it happens. That is so funny.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
And then what is a career highlight that you look
back on in your career? We think, wow, like I
did that, you know one of those moments that surprised
even you.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
I think it was singing on the Rhyman stage.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
They had me over for a community day, which was
an amazing experience to be a part of. But singing
in that room, the auditorium that is, the Rymann Auditorium,
is like any other I mean you could stand on
the stage and play your guitar or just sing some
notes and it feels.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Like you are in the mecca of music. Just whatever
that feeling is.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
I've never been able to feel it anywhere else.
Speaker 6 (35:50):
Yes, the history as well.
Speaker 5 (35:51):
I did a tour there once and it just it
just has such a feeling about it. It really does.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
And it's so quainet Like when you get back stage,
do you think like wow, this you know, everything's kind
of just tight, and you know there's not a lot
of movement around, so you know that the artists that
are back there together, they're just you know, they're they're
they're all hanging out and that's got to be a cool.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
Experience as well.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
Such a cool experience. What a cool experience for you
as well? Wow, I love it.
Speaker 5 (36:16):
I love the Mother's Church. And the last fun question
I have for you, which is probably a question you've
never had in.
Speaker 6 (36:21):
Your lifetime, it may never have again.
Speaker 7 (36:23):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
So, if you could be any animal in the wild,
or maybe not even in the wild, what animal do
you think best personality wise suits you.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
What would you be?
Speaker 4 (36:32):
That's that's a really good question.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
But I you know, we all have like the spirit
animals of the world, and mine was a falcon. I
did like a test at one point, and I was like,
you know, that seems all right. So I think I
would be a falcon because I like the concept of
being able to just soar and fly and see everything,
(36:56):
but also be feared a little bit, like don't come
messing around with me, because I'll get you exactly, but
also probably you know, very just steadfast, and you know
the kind of bird that you you know, you people
literally raise falcons to like hang out with them. I
(37:17):
mean the kind the kind of animal that you're like, yeah,
you can hang out with me for a long time.
I would do a bear, but my wife gets to
be the bear. She's the spirit of animal.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
Of a bear.
Speaker 6 (37:28):
So we love Sarah.
Speaker 5 (37:30):
Yes, oh yes, that's amazing, And thank you so so
much for joining me today on the Josie Show.
Speaker 6 (37:35):
And please come back anytime, Okay, I had a blast.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Talking to you for I would love to and just
one quick drop if you do make it to the
Grand Ole Opry this summer, there are a couple of
dates in my calendar that we'll be popping up. Will
be Perflaying performing the Opry Plaza stage and you definitely
got to see.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
That before the show.
Speaker 6 (37:54):
Yes, everyone check that out. Oh, I'm so excited.
Speaker 5 (37:57):
The Opry Plaza stage is amazing and you we've played
that before, so it's so cool.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
It's always an honor to be a part of anything
that has to do with the Grand Ole Opry.
Speaker 6 (38:06):
Oh for sure.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
Absolutely, and more to come as well as you mentioned,
so make sure you stay tuned what is next for
Morgan Alexander.
Speaker 6 (38:14):
Thank you so much, my friend. I appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (38:17):
Thanks Josie, I want to thank both of my special guests,
Tony Mantor and Morgan Alexander for joining me, and thank
you all so much for tuning in to the Josie
Show today and my next interview will be June third.
We have Alana, Ma Creadie and Cooper Riley, so stay
tuned for that and thank you all so much for
(38:37):
joining me, and I hope you have a great rest
of your day.
Speaker 7 (38:40):
Bye,
Br Brn Bray Bray Bray Bray by Talk Right Rook
still around the world on the World Wide Web.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ladies and Children period is the most.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
The other stations are Oh Yeah broadcasting live in the
JOSEYH Network Studios in downtown Madnah, Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It's that time of week again.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It's time for the Jersey Shoe, bringing you the most
exciting music, moves and guests from.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Around the world.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Right here on the Jersey Show.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Please make welcome beautiful, talented, hell love it America's Riddy
Elsli Business Josie assent he Osle.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
Hello, everyone, I'm Josie and we are back with another
Josie Show. I have two more incredible special guests joining
me today. We have Tony Mantor and Morgan Alexander, two
incredible special guests. I can't wait to share both of
these interviews with all of you. So let's just jump
right into it.
Speaker 6 (01:30):
Here you go.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
Here is the very first one. My first guest, Tony Mantor, Hey,
how's it going.
Speaker 6 (01:35):
Oh, it's going so well. Thank you so much for
joining me.
Speaker 7 (01:38):
Oh thanks for having me.
Speaker 6 (01:40):
Oh my pleasure.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
So I am very interested to talk to you about
different things but of course I want to talk a
little bit about your podcasts first, because I just seen
just a couple of weeks ago you mentioned that your
podcasts made number one in music for Almost Live Nashville,
number one in mental health for Why Not Me, So congratulations.
Speaker 7 (01:56):
First off, Oh thanks, I appreciate that.
Speaker 6 (02:00):
Very welcome.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
So first I want to talk a little bit about
Why Not Me, which focuses on people's stories of autism,
mental health, and the justice system. Can you share what
the inspiration was in starting this podcast? Tell us a
little bit about it.
Speaker 7 (02:12):
Well, it's kind of interesting. When COVID hit, I didn't
have a whole lot to do here in Nashville. Music
has been shut down, shows have been shut down, so
my friends that I use on my sessions here in Nashville,
we decided to do a CD that I'd been putting
off for years because I was a singer songwriter before
(02:32):
I moved to Nashville and cut into production. So we
did that and this song came along called why Not Me,
and it was about not giving up on your dreams,
keep going no matter what, and that was what I
put out on my social media all the time. So
I recorded it and then my promoters in New York, Nashville, La, London,
(02:54):
they all heard it and they said, oh, you've got
to release this. And I said, well, I'm not going
to get back on this stage. I'm not going to
get back traveling. I'm just doing it for enjoyment. And
so they talked me into doing it and I did,
and at the time I decided to do a video
with it. I gave respect to our first responders, so
(03:15):
that happened, and then, like any record, it goes six, eight,
nine months. And when it was over, I said, oh,
that was fun, and I figured that'd be it. And
then this lady calls me. She says, I love your song.
Can you do something for us like that? And she
was a speech therapist for autistic children. Oh nice, yeah,
so I told her. I said, well, I really don't
(03:35):
know anything about autism, so I don't know if i'd
be a good fit, but I'll gladly re record the
song in a more adult contemporary style and I renamed
it to Almost Live Nashville on YouTube, and then I
got people within the Nashville community to send me pictures,
(03:56):
video clips of autistic people and special needs that I felt.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Fit the video.
Speaker 7 (04:03):
On the song and from there I was doing a
podcast in New York on the business, because mine was
about the music business. I decided, you know, after they
they wanted me to redo the contract to another ten
or fifteen shows, I decided that, you know, I would
try my own luck at it and see how I
(04:24):
could do. And I created why Not Me the world
at that time, and it was autism awareness, acceptance, and understanding.
It just kept growing and growing. Because I thought it
would last me five six months, it'd be over, you know,
and it just kept growing and growing. And then last
year I did a special for Autism Awareness Month and
(04:45):
I had this group of people that work with serious
mental illness on the mental health side, and they asked
me if I'd considered doing something for them, and I did,
and I heard all these stories and I said, oh,
I've got to expand this. So I expanded it and
changed and rebranded to why Not Me Embracing Autism and
(05:05):
Mental health worldwide. That's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
I love that because there's so many different diigmas and
misconceptions when it comes to those who have autism and
also mental health. Because I'm very open with sharing that
IBOCD and anxiety and depression. So I know firsthand that
there is such a stigma around mental illness. Yeah, So
what are some misconceptions that you feel people have when
it comes to autism maybe mental illness, and what would
(05:30):
you like people to know?
Speaker 7 (05:31):
Well, you know, when it comes to autism, yea, they
have to understand that the brain is wired a little
differently and they take and process things differently. Doesn't mean
it's wrong, it just means it's different. So with the
neurodiverse is forced into a world that was set up
for neurotypical you know, so people like you and me
(05:55):
that go out and we don't have these issues, that's
what the world was set up for. And people that
have to deal with with autism and all the things
that go along with it, they have to deal with
things that wasn't set up for them. So we have
to learn how to understand autism so that we understand
that there's a spectrum. You know, there's some that have
(06:16):
very hard times in the world, and there's some that
can motivate themselves and get themselves out there and really
blend in quite well. Now, when it comes to mental health,
especially serious mental illness, it is completely misunderstood because when
you get into serious mental illness, it is a brain
(06:36):
issue that is kind of like dementia, and they'll see things,
they'll say things that you don't understand. You go, what's
wrong with them? And what happens is I found that
in the past, before I started talking with people that
deal with this on a daily basis, I found that
(06:57):
if somebody did something bad, like they shot somebody or
something like that happened and it made the news, my
first response was put them in jail on for a
way the key. Well, now because I've learned more about
serious mental illness and i understand how it afflicts people,
that's not my first response. My first response is I
(07:18):
want to know did the system fail them? Because lots
of times, if you dig deep enough, you'll find that
they were begging for help, They were trying to get help,
but because of the way the system is set up,
they didn't get it, and then ultimately their brains take
over and they do bad things. Totally misunderstood.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
It really is, it really is, And I think that
psychologist therapy all that needs to be a little bit
easier to maintain so people can go and get help
and not feel bad about it, or maybe financially they
feel that they can't you know what I mean.
Speaker 7 (07:52):
It needs to be more what I'm doing this month
for mental health awareness months. People want to listen. I
have got the first three episodes are with a with
a charity called NSSC, and I've got six or seven
people on and they're talking about serious mental illness and
some of the issues they run up with. And then
after that I'm running Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays episodes and
(08:17):
I've got sitting senators, legislators, former senators, former US Health
of representatives, and they're talking about how they try and
legislate and create bills to help people.
Speaker 6 (08:29):
Interesting.
Speaker 7 (08:30):
I was really taken aback that that people wanted to
come on that had such high high stature and talk
about this with me. So it's really great episodes. Oh
it's wonderful.
Speaker 6 (08:41):
I'm really looking forward to that. That's phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
I love what you do in bringing awareness to autism,
mental health, you know, mental illnesses. It really is appreciated
because I think even still people to this day, you know,
when I tell someone you know, I have OCD, they
automatically think, oh, you know, you clean a lot they
don't necessarily understand the part in the brain where it's
the constant worry, you know, the constant thinking. So I
think it's wonderful that you really do shine a light
(09:05):
on all of these different, these different things. So please
make sure you check out Why Not Me? Everybody check
out the podcast. You're gonna love it just as much
as I have been enjoying all of the episodes. Another
podcast which is doing very incredibly well for you is
Almost Live Nashville, which of course I was so thrilled
to be a part of, and I know it's gonna
be an incoming episode.
Speaker 6 (09:23):
Yes, so tell us a little bit about that. Because
you're a.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Singer, songwriter, pianist, music producer, so of course the natural
step Almost Live Nashville. So tell us a little bit
about this podcast.
Speaker 7 (09:34):
Sure. Well, when I first started Why Not Me, everybody
was really surprised that I picked autism instead of entertainment,
and I said, well, you know, it just kind of
fell that way and it felt natural. So I wanted
to get onto so that I could understand podcasting a
little bit better, because because it's more than just recording
(09:55):
and putting something up there, you know, you've got to
take and brand it, and you've got to this many
things you got to do so that people know that
you're out there doing it, you know, promotion wise and everything,
you know, pr and all that. So I wanted to
get that under my belt a little bit. So a
year later I announced Almost Live Nashville. And what I
(10:16):
do instead of trying to overdo it, I do a
couple of episodes a month, and then sometimes people that
really need to be out there, I'll do three or four,
but I try and keep it at least a couple
of months. And I've been so so just blessed to
have good luck with it. And I've had great people
that I've known, or people that said, hey, you got
(10:38):
to have this person. I mean, I just had George
Thurgerd come on yesterday, you know. You know. So I've
had some really great names and great people that have
told stories. I had a guy that came on from
England that he actually did all the strings orchestration on
the Long and Winding Road for the Beatles. So, I mean,
I've had chances to talk with so many people that
(11:00):
have such great stories. It's just been wonderful, you know,
to be able to talk with friends and meet new
friends and and just tell their stories and do something
a little more lighthearted.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
It's such a great podcast. And you were definitely right
for the job because of all the things that you
have done within the music industry. You know, like I
mentioned a little bit earlier, Please take us back a
little bit. You know, your first love for music and producing,
When did that begin? I mean, please share that with
me a little bit about how this got all started.
Speaker 7 (11:29):
Well, I'm gonna date myself a little bit here, but
I was Ronnie mcdow's first keyboard.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Player, gotcha, Oh wonderful?
Speaker 7 (11:37):
We love roy, Yeah, And how that happened is I
was down here. I came to Nashville with some friends
of mine that were country and I was more on
the pop side, and they were pitching. They were pitching
their music, you know, as songwriters. So I wound up
playing on a session, demo session with some of the
best players in Nashville time because the piano player got
(11:58):
sick or couldn't chow up, so I want wound up
doing it. And then a friend of Ronnie's manager came
in and he knew everybody but me, so he came
over and talked with me, and then he goes, how
would you like to go out with Ronnie McDowell. He's
looking for a keyboard player and a background singer, you know.
And so I wound up. I wound up going and
talking to to his manager, Slim Williamson, and it was
(12:20):
in the Neil Columbia building, you know, And I wound
up going out with him, and then I went went
back to UH. I didn't want to be a side musician,
so I went back to doing my own thing, recording,
putting records out. And then I was working with with
Bob Millsap and Gary Paxton and for people that might
want to know who they are. Gary Paxton was the
(12:41):
lead singer the argyles Ali you put a bunch of
hits like that, and Bob Millsap published the song You
Needed Me that Anne Murray cut, and he produced other
fairly well known people. So they were producing me and
pitching me and doing all that, and then Bob came
up to me one time. He says, you know, you
understand music, You understand a good song, you understand how
(13:03):
the players work. He goes, we're getting ready to retire.
Why don't you get off the road and come down
here and do what we do. So I had to
decide if I wanted to get off the stage and
forget about the singer song right apart. And I decided
to do that because I thought that, you know, maybe
I can have some longevity on on the production side,
(13:23):
not knowing what the music side would would give me.
So I did that. I moved here in Nashville, and
I've been fortunate enough to produce people like Mila Mason,
Debbie Campbell, Glenn Campbell's daughter, Bobby Wilson of Jackie Wilson's son,
Donnie Mo's The Happy Days, you know. I mean, the
list goes on, and I've just been very fortunate to
(13:43):
be around and produce and work with some great people.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Oh you really have, And I'm sure you have stories
for days. Have you ever thought about like a memoir
or something that you could like share all of your
stories behind the scenes.
Speaker 7 (13:55):
You know, I thought about that, but you know, I
don't think about them us. I'm talking to people about them.
It's like the other day, a friend and I were
talking about music row how it used to be and
how it's changed over the years, and we were talking
about how you used to go from old billing to
old building and you could go into one and to
be a producer. The next one would be an independent label,
(14:17):
the next one would be a publisher. And how it's
all changed. And we've got started talking about stories and
I'm going, whoa man, I forgot about that, I forgot
about this, you know, And it's just it's pretty amazing
how how much you forget right. You know.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
What's funny is, as you've been doing this for so long,
so you've seen the industry evolve and change, you know,
throughout the years, I'm sure, which is very interesting.
Speaker 7 (14:39):
Yeah, it went from from two inch tape to a
DATS then then to to you know, qbase and all
those type of of recording sessions. You know, so it
has changed a lot. The one thing that is good
is the quality is high. But the one thing that's
that sometimes they miss is sometimes if you go back
(15:04):
to the fifties, the sixties and the seventies and you
listen to some of the music, you'll hear things that
weren't just quite perfect, but that imperfection made it perfect
to the listener, and it's what made the song great.
Whereas today they can go back in, they can auto tune.
They can do all this stuff and they can make
(15:26):
everything perfect, but sometimes it's that imperfection that makes the
music perfect.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
Yeah, sometimes it gives a character, you know what I.
Speaker 7 (15:34):
Mean, Yes, exactly.
Speaker 6 (15:35):
Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
It's a lot different, you know, and just so many different,
so many different things within the industry has changed, and
it is absolutely and you know for those out there,
you know nowadays that are really grinding and maybe there's
you know, a future producer out there, maybe that might
be listening that wants to do this. You know, some
young boy or young girl maybe wanting to get into
singing songwriting. What kind of advice would you give to them,
(15:59):
Because you've been in this industry long enough that I'm
sure that you have some some advice up your sleeve
for sure.
Speaker 7 (16:04):
Well, just never give up. I mean, if you believe
in yourself and you believe that you can do it,
you've just got to keep going, keep and you'll get
knocked down, get back up, get knocked down, get back up.
But when you get knocked down, learn why you get
knocked down, so that way the next time you get
knocked down is for a different reason than the first one.
(16:27):
And if you get knocked down enough, which you're going
to get knocked down in this business. Then eventually you
start learning from from those things and you start start
shifting a little bit to the left to the right.
You learn what to do, what not to do, and
then you just keep plugging away. But the thing is
is just just keep going because because if you it's
(16:48):
kind of like, I give this analogy. I knew if
I had a friend of mine one time he bought
this used car and it kept breaking down on him,
and he kept fixing it, and he kept and he
kept fixing it, and then finally he got to that
one last time that it broke down and he goes,
you know, I can't take this anymore. He got rid
(17:08):
of it, he sold it, and I'm going, man, you
was one step from having the perfect carr. You know,
there was what else could go wrong. You'd fixed everything,
So he gave up on it when the next step
could have been great. And that's what you have to
learn in music. You don't give up on anything because
you never know what's around that next corner. You never
(17:29):
know who's watching you, and whoever's watching you when you
get around that next corner might be the person that
might help you.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
Oh yes, Oh, such great advice. I'm so glad that
you said all this. Oh yes, because you never know
who might be listening to us right now. We got
a lot of independent artists out there that could really
heed that advice for sure. Oh that's wonderful. And for
those out there that want to connect with you after
the show, I'm sure they will. Where can my listeners
go to find you right now? On social media websites.
Speaker 7 (17:56):
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok x, it's all Tony Mantor at Tony Mantor.
You can find me at Tonymantor dot com. You can
find my independent label as Plateau Music dot com.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Perfect Perfect.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
And that's pretty much. I'm pretty available, I mean pretty
much easy for people to get a hold of me.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
You're very out there, which I love because people can
connect with you whatever site they may be on X
or Facebook, whatnot.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
So please make sure you go and check them out.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
And then of course they can check out your podcast
on places like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, everywhere.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
Exactly, exactly, perfect perfect.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
I appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Thank you so much for talking to me, talking to
me today, and please come back anytime anytime you have
something that you'd like to promote.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
I had a blast talking to you. I'd love to
have you back.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (18:43):
Thanks, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Oh, thank you, Tony Mantor.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
We are going to keep on rolling here because we
have Morgan Alexander now.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
So I hope you enjoyed this interview. This was another
really good one and let's do it. Here we go.
Please Welcome to the Josie Show. My guest Morgan Alexander.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Hi, Hi, how are you doing today?
Speaker 6 (19:04):
I'm doing wonderful.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
Thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
I'm very excited to be here.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Oh.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
I have been looking forward to talking to you. So
I was checking out the music catalog. You have some
great albums, EPs and singles out there, So let's start
off with like your latest which is single titled look
at the Stars. Can you share your inspiration behind this
one because it's a great song for someone who is
missing someone from Afar.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Tell me about it.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
The song look at the Stars came to me after
my dad passed and my dad, he and I did
not know each other for the probably the first thirty
years of my life, and then one day my mom
sent me a text message. She lives out in Oregon
and I'm here in Tennessee and Nashville, and she sends
me a text message and she says, Hey, I'm going
(19:48):
to have lunch with your father, and I was just
kind of like, this is so casual for a text message.
And shortly after I got to meet him for the
first time, and then shortly after he got to witness
his grandchildren, and we got to spend a lot of
good quality time, him visiting here, us going out there.
(20:09):
I got to meet my ninety three year old grandmother
at the time, who was really she was the because
nobody on my mother's side of the family's sings or
does music. And I found out that my grandmother used
to sing for troops up in Washington at one of
the bases during the World War Two, and you know,
(20:31):
she'd talk about that and how you know that was
just kind of what she did. And found out later
that my dad was a drummer in a band, and
so all the musicality came from my dad watching his journey,
and so the song came as just a way to
just be like, you know, hey, I'm gonna you're gonna
be missed, and if I need you, I can just
look at the stars, you know, because that's where you'll be.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Yes, it's such a great song. I'm very relatable for
those who have lost a loved one. My husband lost
his father as well and related to this song very
much so. And it's just such a great song out
there for people to check out. And that's available on
all of the streaming sites now right where you can.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Find music absolutely, whether it's you know, the Spotify's or
the iTunes or the amazons, it's all.
Speaker 6 (21:14):
There, perfect, perfect.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
And the single that you actually released before, which was
titled day Off, which we all wish for some days, it's.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
Another very relatable song.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
I got to ask you about your songwriting. You have
such great music. How does songwriting work for you? You
know what usually comes first, like the lyrics, melody?
Speaker 6 (21:31):
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (21:32):
It always varies, that's the truth. When it comes to music.
I lean more towards starting with a musical idea from
a piano or guitar, whether I'm strumming it or playing it,
and then the rhythmic element kind of takes hold, and
you know, then the words kind of fall into place generally,
and it's kind of based around for me finding the
(21:55):
inner emotion that I have at the moment and kind
of translating that into the feel the emotion of the music,
and then letting the words kind of translate itself that way.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
That's kind of how music approaches when I'm songwriting.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Yes, and you've been making music for so so long.
How do you feel your music has really evolved over
the years.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Well, I can tell you that from my first time
ever in a studio in Nashville, I remember thinking myself,
Holy cow, this is a really cool experience. This, you know,
getting to play with, you know, some talented musicians that
I had just met shortly after I came to town,
and you know, kind of collaborated over in East Nashville.
(22:38):
Michael Vecchio was the producer of my first EP and record,
and we just kind of sat in a tiny little
studio and cranked out a bunch of songs and more
than I had thought I was going to do. And
when I look back at it now, to answer your question,
I see the growth. From a vocalist standpoint, how I
(23:00):
approach a music line in the song, whether it's you know,
the melody line is a certain way. And my background
as far as what I've always learned stems from radio.
For instance, I worked in country radio coming out of
college and was a DJ, and so I paid a
lot of attention to the way that so songs were structured,
(23:21):
you know, hits from everybody from Garth to Kenny Chesney
to the you know the Chicks, everybody you could possibly
think of that was on the country radio in the
nineties and the two thousands.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
I learned a lot from them.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Oh yeah, absolutely, those were great years.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
Yes, I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
And I love how radio really kind of helped you,
you know, and really went into the music. The music's
you know, part of your life as well, which I
find really really cool. And you've shared the spotlight with
so many personal favorites of mine, like Little Big Town
and Colin Ray, Eleventh Theft, John Michael Montgomery, just to
name a few. So what are those experiences like for
you being able to show with such artists that we
(24:01):
know and love.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I think going back to the first time I got
to be around, you know, a national artist, you know,
the Big Timers, was a Little Big Town. It was
kind of also around the time when Luke Bryan was
just getting started. He had written a big hit for
Billy Currington at the time, and and I was working
(24:23):
in this this this honky tonk in Portland, Oregon that
also doubled as like a really really big truck stop.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
It was quite quite the scene. And I was doing music.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
There for the dancers, and in between the live local
band sets, I would do music from a DJ standpoint,
and I would sing with the bands from time to time.
And the the radio station came in and they were
looking for an opener, and the venue was like, well,
why don't we ask Morgan to do it?
Speaker 4 (24:53):
And I was like awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
So I not only got to I'm sitting back in
this little hallway in a little place called Jubits and
you know, the four of them from Little Big Town
or just you know, Jimmy's back there and Karen and.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
Everywhere, and there's just so nice.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
It was just like my first introduction to being around
people that I had already you know, idolized in some way,
you know, musically speaking. Loved the way the little Big
time was and I got to sing not only a
few songs, but I started with the national anthem for
the night. And they came up to me afterwards and
they were like that was incredible.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
That was a really good job.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
And you know, whether they were just being kind and whatnot,
that's one thing, but they really lifted somebody up who
at the.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
Time really wasn't doing music.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Like music wasn't the outlet for me at the time,
and music actually kind of took a hiatus between college
years and kind of mid twenties where I just wasn't
doing music, not even karaoke.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
I wouldn't even go do it.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
And I just I had just kind of had a
life experience that kind of pushed me away. And I
remember the first time coming to Nashville and going to
the Bluebird Cafe and I was on vacation, I had
a plane ticket to go home. I was just I
was in town to help somebody move from Oregon to
Nashville to be closer to the family, and I had
planned on going back home. And I went to the
(26:19):
Bluebird and somebody had heard me sing during the open
mic portion that they have usually on Monday nights. Yeah,
and they asked me if I lived there, if I
lived in Nashville, and I said I do not, and
they said, well you should. And that was kind of
the one thing where I was like, all right, here
I am, and I'm going to completely flit my life,
(26:42):
you know, at the age of thirty is where I
was at that time, and I started life over. I
literally from scratch, started life over and found my way
into bartending jobs, and then eventually songwriter nights evolved and found.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
People to play music with.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
This is kind of where the performance like what I
got from Little Big Town, what I got performing you know,
with Colin Ray for the first time, you know, being
around people that I had literally ingrained myself in their music.
I could, you know, sing every song and all the parts.
And here I was, you know, standing with them, and
I think fortunately my radio background gave me the pause
(27:23):
and the calm to not be so giddy around them.
I felt like I felt like I was just supposed
to be in the room, you know what I mean.
And they always everybody's always treated me really good. I
think that's what's one of the better things about the
country music community especially, is the ability for artists to
take other artists that maybe aren't at the same level
(27:45):
and still make them feel like they know they're on
the right journey exactly.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
It's such a great push as well for someone who
was just starting out and a little big town. They
just seem like people who you really want to be around,
and I'm glad that they are exactly what I imagine
they are.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
I love that, you know, I want to ask, because
there's still an artist out there today that you would
love to share the stage with at.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Some point, I got to, briefly, for just like thirty seconds,
share it with Blake. Blake has always been an entertaining
artist inspiration for me. You know, like if I could
go back to it, I probably would also say Garth
because Garth is also the kind of the as a performer.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
I looked at the performances.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
I got to see from Garth and I said, that's
exactly how you do it. You know, you own the
stage because you own who you are, and you bring
the audience right there on the stage with you.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
And that's just kind of how I've always done it.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
So when I get into these situations thinking about, you know,
how do I want to do music, I look at
the people that have inspired me.
Speaker 4 (28:53):
Like how Blake.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
You know, he kind of just has you know, a
fun way about him that whatever's going on, you know what,
it's any more fun than what's happening right now with me.
So that's why I think I would love to. I mean,
there's so many artists over time if I could sing with,
you know, people like Marty Stewart and Ricky Skaggs who
(29:17):
you know, if you sit down and you talk to
Riggy Skaggs about bluegrass, that's one thing, but he loves
to talk about jazz music and the same thing he
as bluegrass, and so that's kind of fun. You really
get to learn a lot from the people that have
done it in this community.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
You really do.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
I'm just sitting and listening to the stories. I'm sure
you have a bunch of stories, which I think is
so wonderful. Just such a great community, it really is.
And you yourself. You have a full schedule for May
that is that is out now that listeners can check out,
you know, at your website. So can you give out
your website for us so people can go and see
a Morgan Alexander show.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Very easy.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
It's just Morgan Alexander music dot com. Or you could
just google Morgan Alexander music and you'll find pretty much
every social media site and videos on YouTube, all the
stuff where you could find the schedule everything.
Speaker 6 (30:07):
Check them out.
Speaker 5 (30:08):
Everybody go out and see see Morgan. And you know,
I did get the chance to see some live performances
on YouTube. You have a lot of content on YouTube.
Everyone make sure you go and check that out as well.
But you really do have a great connection with the audience,
and I think that's what a lot of people look
for in an entertainer. So you could tell that you
really love what you do, and that's what you know
makes the audience feel good as well.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
So it's really important, Josie, not only to make sure
that people who spend their hard earn money to come
to Nashville to.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Just kind of experience it.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
And I would hate for them to ever walk into
any of the venues that I do get to play
and have them have any taste of inexperience where they're like, well,
I never would want to come there again, or last
time I was there, that band wasn't very nice or
very good. And you hear stories like that sometimes where
you know, you know, band members will do something and
(31:00):
you'll hear like, oh, you know that I didn't like
so and so or like this place because of it,
and you think about, you know, you're affecting as an
artist in Nashville, Tennessee, playing the circuit, so to speak.
Your responsibility is to really be there for the people
that are working the venues, the bartenders, the servers, everybody
(31:22):
that is impacted by the fact that people who are
there spending their hard money earned money is translating to
the business for people that need jobs and aren't musicians
like everybody else.
Speaker 5 (31:34):
Yeah, it's so important and you definitely do a great
job with that, and I really do hope everyone checks
out that may schedule. And I want to talk about
McFly and the Ride radio show that I've just seen.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
How did that get starting?
Speaker 5 (31:46):
Can you tell us a little bit about it for
our listeners who want to check it out and listen in.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Well, it's a real fun show, very like the Josie
Show of by the way, I am digging into my
brains so much that I'm going to ride a hit
that one day I can be on the Josie Awards
stage with you guys. I think that's such a great
thing that it's kind of the way that you guys
are able to not only showcase but give back to
(32:12):
the people who are really putting in such an effort.
So hats off to the Josie Awards is well, I
wanted to say that. But with McFly and the ride,
it got started because the two guys that I do
the show with, Marty McFly and Stu James. When I
first through that, after I came to Nashville, I got
asked to work at the local one O three three
(32:34):
and one four five and ninety five five FM over
here off of Music Circle, and you know, we're doing
nash FMS and sports radio and all the stuff. And
Marty was the guy that hired me to do the
kind of weekends. And I remember the first weekend I
worked in Nashville radio I was doing. It was the
weekend my daughter was born, and so you know, we
(32:58):
I just come to the hospital and getting my first
a Sunday afternoon in Nashville. And years later, nearly ten
years later or so, Marty and Stewde they've had a
long running show that we're starting to turn nationally now
and they asked me to come onto the show and
be their musical side man, where I provide music for
(33:18):
the show and commentary and content and all that kind
of fun stuff. So it's a lot of fun again.
The McFly and the Ride show you can find through
my social media's or just by googling McFly and the
Ride super easy.
Speaker 5 (33:31):
Please check it out, everyone and listen in. You have
so many things that you're working on and that you're doing.
I love that you have your hands in a little
bit of everything. You just really love the entertainment industry.
I could tell as a whole. You just love meeting
new people.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
It's one of my favorite things to do is to
create and to get to do it.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
At the fourteen year old Morgan would not believe that
I get to do what I get to do now.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
And I think a lot of people that are in
this feel this way.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Whether you know they're singing on big stadium stages or
they're singing a little corner of ours. You know, we
all have to take a pause and say, can you
believe that we actually get to do this, you know,
for a living.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
So that's a lot of fun to say.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Yes, I'll absolutly you're doing it, my friend, you really are.
I'm very excited to see what is next and coming
up for you in the future. And everyone could please
make sure you check out the website, but also social
networking sites, you're all over the place.
Speaker 6 (34:27):
Just type in Morgan Alexander, you pop up. It's super easy.
Morganellen Alexander music.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
And I really got some great fun questions for you
if you don't mind, sure, just a couple of little
quick fun questions for you.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
I love my fun questions.
Speaker 5 (34:38):
So performing. On topic of performing, you perform quite a bit.
Have you ever had any embarrassing on stage moments or
maybe an on stage mishap that you can recall?
Speaker 2 (34:48):
And I think every once in a while, my biggest
mishap is I forget that the fly on my pants
happens to have fallen down, and I'll halfway through the show,
I'll look down. I'll be like, well, it's been there
the whole time, and I'm just I didn't know I
was I didn't know as a farmer because the barn
door had been opened the whole time.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
Yeah, so embarrassing, absolutely, it's how you recover. It's how
you recover it happens. That is so funny.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
And then what is a career highlight that you look
back on in your career? We think, wow, like I
did that, you know one of those moments that surprised
even you.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
I think it was singing on the Rhyman stage.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
They had me over for a community day, which was
an amazing experience to be a part of. But singing
in that room, the auditorium that is, the Rymann Auditorium,
is like any other I mean you could stand on
the stage and play your guitar or just sing some
notes and it feels.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Like you are in the mecca of music. Just whatever
that feeling is.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
I've never been able to feel it anywhere else.
Speaker 6 (35:50):
Yes, the history as well.
Speaker 5 (35:51):
I did a tour there once and it just it
just has such a feeling about it. It really does.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
And it's so quainet Like when you get back stage,
do you think like wow, this you know, everything's kind
of just tight, and you know there's not a lot
of movement around, so you know that the artists that
are back there together, they're just you know, they're they're
they're all hanging out and that's got to be a cool.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
Experience as well.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
Such a cool experience. What a cool experience for you
as well? Wow, I love it.
Speaker 5 (36:16):
I love the Mother's Church. And the last fun question
I have for you, which is probably a question you've
never had in.
Speaker 6 (36:21):
Your lifetime, it may never have again.
Speaker 7 (36:23):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
So, if you could be any animal in the wild,
or maybe not even in the wild, what animal do
you think best personality wise suits you.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
What would you be?
Speaker 4 (36:32):
That's that's a really good question.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
But I you know, we all have like the spirit
animals of the world, and mine was a falcon. I
did like a test at one point, and I was like,
you know, that seems all right. So I think I
would be a falcon because I like the concept of
being able to just soar and fly and see everything,
(36:56):
but also be feared a little bit, like don't come
messing around with me, because I'll get you exactly, but
also probably you know, very just steadfast, and you know
the kind of bird that you you know, you people
literally raise falcons to like hang out with them. I
(37:17):
mean the kind the kind of animal that you're like, yeah,
you can hang out with me for a long time.
I would do a bear, but my wife gets to
be the bear. She's the spirit of animal.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
Of a bear.
Speaker 6 (37:28):
So we love Sarah.
Speaker 5 (37:30):
Yes, oh yes, that's amazing, And thank you so so
much for joining me today on the Josie Show.
Speaker 6 (37:35):
And please come back anytime, Okay, I had a blast.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Talking to you for I would love to and just
one quick drop if you do make it to the
Grand Ole Opry this summer, there are a couple of
dates in my calendar that we'll be popping up. Will
be Perflaying performing the Opry Plaza stage and you definitely
got to see.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
That before the show.
Speaker 6 (37:54):
Yes, everyone check that out. Oh, I'm so excited.
Speaker 5 (37:57):
The Opry Plaza stage is amazing and you we've played
that before, so it's so cool.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
It's always an honor to be a part of anything
that has to do with the Grand Ole Opry.
Speaker 6 (38:06):
Oh for sure.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
Absolutely, and more to come as well as you mentioned,
so make sure you stay tuned what is next for
Morgan Alexander.
Speaker 6 (38:14):
Thank you so much, my friend. I appreciate you.
Speaker 5 (38:17):
Thanks Josie, I want to thank both of my special guests,
Tony Mantor and Morgan Alexander for joining me, and thank
you all so much for tuning in to the Josie
Show today and my next interview will be June third.
We have Alana, Ma Creadie and Cooper Riley, so stay
tuned for that and thank you all so much for
(38:37):
joining me, and I hope you have a great rest
of your day.
Speaker 7 (38:40):
Bye,
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