The Josie Show with Waylon Hanel

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Br br bro bro bro Bro around the world on
the world Wide Web.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ladies and Gentleman period is the.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Most The other stations are tuning in too.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh yeah. Broadcasting live from the Josey Network Studios in
downtown Madonna, Tennessee. It's that time of week again. It's
time for the Josie Shoe, bringing you the most exciting music,

(00:46):
moves and guests from around the world right here on
the Jersey Show. Please make walking beautiful. It's Hannity, Hello,
d America's Business Josie assent genos Les, Hello.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
Everyone, and welcome to the Josie Show. I'm Josie Pasentino Boone.
My special guest today is Whalen Handle. I'm really looking
forward to chatting with him before we get started. Just
announced we will be honoring Vince Gil with the Country
Icon Award as a twelfth annual Josie Music Award, So
we're really looking forward to that and he will be

(01:31):
performing as well. So check out more information about the
Josie Music Awards at Josie Music Awards dot com.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
All right, let's get right into it.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Hi, Whalen, how are you doing today?

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:43):
I'm doing wonderful. Thank you so much for joining me.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Absolutely, thank you very much for having me on. It's
a it's a really big pleasure to be a part
of your Guys' Award show. And I mean that from
the bottom of my heart.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Oh that's so sweet.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
That was actually the first question that I wanted to
ask you, because congratulations are in order on your Josie
ad nominations, well deserved. What was your reaction when you
first found that bit of info out?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
You know, it's it's pretty amazing. You know, I always
go into everything with, you know, no expectation, and with
that being said, I just like to put out, you know,
to me, good quality music, things that mean a lot
to me in my heart. And you know, I'm pretty
tried and true to everything I do, and it's really

(02:28):
cool to be able to see that other people are
doing the same thing and getting recognized by that, and
it just it means so much to me to, you know,
once in a while be nominated and it just it
just means a lot, man, it really does.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Oh.

Speaker 4 (02:42):
Yes, absolutely, well deserved, like I said, and we look
forward to seeing you this year for sure. And you know,
I wanted to talk about something that you just recently released,
which is incredibly You released a new music video for
when Whalen came to Nashville and what would have been
Waylon jennings eighty ninth birthday. Can you tell us about
this song, what it was like filming the music video?

Speaker 3 (03:04):
Tell me all about it.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Absolutely so. This song first and foremost, I love to
give credit where credits due, and this song would not
be possible at all without the songwriters. Three gentlemen wrote it.
It is Billy don Burns, mac Vickery and Earl Clark
and anybody in Nashville that knows, you know, the underground
outlaw songwriters back in the day, those were the main guys.

(03:28):
You know. Billy don Burns still alive today doing well,
and you know a good friend of mine. I actually
just spoke to him on the phone the other day
and we were talking about this music video. He called
that he would call me the day that we release.
In said, hey, Bud, I hope that you're doing well.
I can't wait to watch it. And he called to
his either left or right we were on the phone,
I don't know, and he goes, hey, Linda, come here,

(03:49):
I like someone or to I want you to meet
somebody it was Richie Albright's wife, Whalen Jennings, drummer for
decades and decades, he was hanging out with his wife
and it was just so cool to be able to
meet her on the phone and talk to Billy again.
And he's doing well. You know, this music video means
a lot to me because not only being named after

(04:10):
Whalon Jennings, but him being my biggest musical influence for
two reasons. One, to me, he's some of the he's
the best singer in country music, I mean to me,
hands down. And two, it's what he stood for, along
with his music, being creative in your own way, not
being afraid to do it your own way and take risks,

(04:30):
and not being afraid of nothing. You know, there's a
lot of people in this business that try to take
advantage of you, and it's really cool to be able
to have a good team on your side and a
good head on your shoulders to know the material you
want to put out and the music you want to write.
And that's why I respect Whalen so much, and that's
the reason we did this music video.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Oh Well said absolutely.

Speaker 4 (04:52):
And you, you like Whalon, have a great team behind
you and you know what's really wonderful about Billy don Burns,
which you just mentioned, He actually contributed a rare archive
photo for the video. How meaningful was it to have
that direct connection to Whalen's legacy.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
I mean, that's insane.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
It is insane. Insane is the exact word for it.
I got sent this picture of Billy don Burns and
Whalon Jennings out the hood of Whalen's nineteen seventies I
don't know the exact year Cadillac, and they Whalen Jennings
was smoking a cigarette on or you know, of course
he was, and Billy was sitting there as a young kid,

(05:30):
right next to him, and it was one of the
first times they met, from what I was told. And
if that picture could talk, and if those guys, if
I could just hear their voices in that timeframe it was,
it would have been a sight to see and hear.
And that right there just sums up the whole video.
You know, Billy Whalen Jennings meant so much to him,

(05:51):
He meant so much to me, and Billy means a
lot to me as well. And I didn't I couldn't
think of a better way than to put a photo
of them and two together with a quote from Whale
and one of my favorites ever, and just have them
at the very end of the video. It was very
special to me, and I'll be honest, I got teared
up and I felt one hit in my cheek when

(06:12):
I saw the end of that video.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
Right, I completely understand.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
It is a great video, and that part really just
added like an extra like layer to it, you know
what I mean?

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Absolutely yeah.

Speaker 4 (06:21):
And it's like I said, it's an incredible music video.
And I hope everyone checks it out. It's available on YouTube,
It's available everywhere now, it should be right, Absolutely yeah,
the song and of course the music video, So make
sure you guys all check it out. And I want
to talk about this because Whalen came to Nashville. When
Whaling came to Nashville was a part of your third
studio album. How do you feel that you've grown and

(06:43):
evolved since your very first album?

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Definitely more than I thought. I was actually listening to
my old songs. When I say old, it feels weird
saying old, but it was only you know, four or
five years ago, and I started and I started singing
when I was nineteen years old doing it professional and
you know, making this my full blown career, and I
wouldn't change it for the world. You know, listening to

(07:06):
your old recordings, it might be a little that word
cringey at sometimes, but that's what's cool about this whole experience.
You can actually hear yourself grow, if that makes sense.
You can actually hear the improvement in your voice and
the and the confidence in your voice. And the only
reason I would say that I'm confident is being able

(07:28):
to speak with people like you about my music, and
that right there just puts the icing on the cake.
And I can't I just can't believe that I'm able
to do this career. I can't believe I'm able to
talk with you, attend this award show, you know, go
to Nashville and be a part of CMA Fest and fanfare.
I just it really makes my heart just start beating

(07:50):
one hundred miles an hour faster than what it already is. Right.

Speaker 4 (07:53):
Well, you'd yes, you've had such a great adventure already,
and you know, speak of CMA Fest. That was your
first time actually being a part of cmafes, wasn't it
this year?

Speaker 2 (08:02):
It was it was it was a lot more crowded
than I thought it would be. I'm not gonna yeah
it was.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
It was.

Speaker 4 (08:08):
The media room was full. But it was so nice
running into you, It really was.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, it was nice running into you too. I mean,
you know, out of all the vendors and all of
the you know, all the boots with radio stations, podcast,
television programs. Yeah, and when I saw Josie, I went, oh,
my gosh, here we go. It's nice to see if
it's a nice to see a familiar face in this
huge complex.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
I hear you. Absolutely, that is so sweet. Yeah, it was.
It was such a such a fun time.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
And you know, going back to your album because it's
so good. I really want people to check it out.
You wrote thinking about Drinking and my Name on this album.
Can you share the writing inspiration behind these two tracks
because they are so good?

Speaker 2 (08:53):
Well, thank you very much. My Name was written by
me and a gentleman named Ethan Wing. We were down
on the south side of Music Row and it was
the first time we've ever met, and the only time
that we've ever met so far, the first time our
paths crossed and we got putting a little room together
with a sofa and a mini fridge with nothing in it.

(09:13):
And I might as well point that out because it
just stuck with me. And we were told to try
and write a song in two hours, and you know,
we didn't know each other from Adam, so we didn't
really have anything to go off of. And we started
talking about you know, what's your name? What's my name?
And that kind of stuck for some reason, and we
came up with that title and like, what is what

(09:34):
could that mean? And so we decided to not on purpose,
we kind of take a darker route, and you know,
see where this song could go. And we're talking about,
you know, a businessman who is in control of somebody's
life and you know he damn near owns him because
they signed the dotted line on whatever job it was. Yeah,

(09:55):
it could be you know anything, and at the very
end of the song you'll figure it out. But something
pretty bad happens to him and yeah, you might not
be famous, but he damn sure knows your name. You know.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
Yes, it's so interesting. What a concepts I'm telling you,
that's well written.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Seriously, well, thank you very much. It was a lot
of fun.

Speaker 4 (10:17):
Yes, Oh, I'm sure it's it's just such such great songs.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
Please check out the album.

Speaker 4 (10:22):
Like I said, it's available everywhere on all of the platforms.
But you know, you've already opened up for incredible artists
I read like Trace Atkins, Travis Tritt, Ashle McBride, Joy mc.

Speaker 3 (10:32):
I mean, list goes on and on.

Speaker 4 (10:35):
What are experiences like this for you when you're able
to open up a show for artists who we all
know and love.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
You know, Uh, it's unreal. Unreal is the perfect word
to describe it. Insane is another word to describe it.
Like you said earlier, I just I'm very blessed. I'm
very blessed that I have, you know, a team behind me,
my mom, my dad, Jason and Marissa down in Nashville,
and all my fans in northern Michigan. I mean those

(11:01):
people travel all the way to Tennessee sometimes to see me,
you know, and I have, you know, people that listen
to my music everywhere. But being able to open up
for artists like that that have been been on the
road in the buses, in the vans with trailers behind
them like I'm doing now, it's really cool to not

(11:21):
just watch them play and have that opportunity, but learn
from them. You know, they were we all started in
the exact same spot. You know, somebody who might have
been a little nervous or anxious and just wants to
get on stage and show their stuff. And the biggest
thing that I could you know, to me, the biggest

(11:41):
thing that I could say about it, is what Trace
Adkins said to me the first time I opened for him.
He came out of the dressing room into the catered
dinner room that we were having backstage, and he came
up to me. He said, my name's Trace Adkins. What's
your name? I said, I know your name. My name
is Waylan. You know, it's just he's so recognizable. And

(12:02):
he gave me a huge shout out on stage. And
mind you, this is the first time I've ever opened
up for any national act. It was just me on stage,
no band, no background vocals, no tracks getting played through
a computer. It was me and my acoustic guitar and
I still have that guitar. And it was only original
material that I could do for forty five minutes, and

(12:23):
I was and I was able to do that. And
when Trace came on stage, he took a literal whole
five minutes and said, I want to give a big
shout out to WAYL and Handle for opening up the show.
And a little side note, he goes, I remember being
that young and nervous. I guarantee you couldn't have drove
a railroad spike through his butt. He was so puckered up,

(12:44):
I guarantee, and he was right. But it was so
cool for him to be able to relate to me,
you know what I mean, and me relate to him.
It was so cool. I have so much respect for
him and all the others that I've opened for. I
can't wait to do it again. I can't wait to
just shake their hand and say thank.

Speaker 4 (13:02):
You, yes, and I know you will. What a great
experience and what a guy. I mean, Tray Adkins first
off introducing himself, you know what I mean, like so
humble and then down to earth, but also you know,
giving you your flowers, showing love and respect to the
artist that's opening for him.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
I mean, that's amazing.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
That will stick with me for the rest of my life.
And I'm not joking because that in that moment right there,
he wasn't Trace Adkins the singer. He was Trace Adkins
period and that that's what if. That right there is
just what set me back for the rest of my
life in this business because everybody is just one person,

(13:39):
and just one person might be able to sing, one
person might be able to shred on the guitar or
a drum kit, or build buildings and be a carpenter
and a bricklayer and a plumber. Everybody has their own talent.
Nobody's better than anybody. And that right there is what
Trace opened up in my eyes and just confirm, you know,

(14:01):
everybody can do something that they are great at. And
Trace just happens to be a great singer, actor, guitar player,
and a great guy wearing a cowboy hat.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yes he is. We're in the puble hat. Yes, that's amazing.

Speaker 4 (14:14):
And I want to before we go, I want to
make sure everyone goes and follows you. So can you
please give out your social media and also your website
for everybody?

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Absolutely? So. All my social media handles are the same.
It's wail and handle music. It's w A y l
O N last name handle h a n E l music,
the same way you've spelled it since you were in
elementary school. Yes, and that's for Instagram. TikTok and Facebook,
and if you want to find me at shows, see
my new music releases, or potentially by merch because we're

(14:43):
going to be having an online merch store soon. You
can find that all on my website. It's waylanhandle dot
com w A Y l o N dot com and
you guys can find all the good stuff there.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
Yes, check it out everyone, because I love that you
already mentioned it.

Speaker 3 (14:59):
New music is com so stay tuned. I like that.

Speaker 4 (15:02):
What a great way to end. Thank you so much,
Whylan for joining me. I really appreciate you taking time
to chat with me.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
Thank you for taking time out of your day to
talk to me as well. I can't wait to see
you in September.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yes see in September.

Speaker 4 (15:13):
Thank you all so much for tuning into the Josie
Show today, and a big thank you to Waylan Handle
for chatting with me. And my next show is August
third with Mackenzie Phipps and Celeste Marie Wilson, two special.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
Guests on one show.

Speaker 4 (15:27):
I am so excited, So make sure you stay tuned
at Josie Sshow dot com because we got a lot
of really great interviews coming at you all right. Thank
you all so much for tuning in, and we will
see you all next time.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
Bye bye,