Joey Paul

A member of John Morgan’s band, Joey Paul joins this show this week to talk about his Nashville story!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This week on Country on Deck. I coined this thing.
I was like, that's Nashville as fuck.
If I wasn't at your show, I wouldn't be in your band.
I don't know what else to tell you.
That's Nashville as fuck. Discover the stories of rising
country stars Country on Deck with Josh Maddie.

(00:29):
Kick off your boots and settle in country on this.
About to begin. Josh Maddie's here.
Stars on the rise. Voices of hope, Dreams in their
eyes. Singer songwriters, stories on

(00:52):
phone. Hearts are wandered hearts out
of bones when dusty rose, she writes Angelines captures her
journey shares their fights. Country on deck.
We're tuning in well, the new star stories are coming in from

(01:18):
a small town. Dreams they're gonna take you
away Country on deck with just. That day.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Country on Deck,
where I sit down with today's rising country stars and help
you discover the stories behind their music.

(01:40):
I'm your host, Josh Maddie, and I'm back at my desk in
Connecticut with another rising country star on the show this
week. But first, if you missed our
conversation from last week, we sat down to talk to Cody
Bradley, and Cody told us some awesome stories, including the
story about his very first writers round when he first got

(02:03):
to Nashville. My very first writers round in
Nashville, I sat between CameronMarlow and John Morgan and I
don't know how. Much what that's crazy.
That's that's a big first riders.
Room I rode to the riders room with John Morgan and I left with
John Morgan and on the way home I said, man, I think I'm just
going to stay in the army. And as I was get he didn't say

(02:25):
anything. And then as I was getting out he
said all right brother, holla atme tomorrow.
And then he goes also shut up and get better.
And I said all right. I said OK.
You can listen to our entire conversation with Cody Bradley.
That episode is streaming below.This episode on the platform
that you're listening on. And don't forget to hit that

(02:46):
follow button on the platform that you're listening on right
now. We release new conversations
with new rising country stars every single Friday, and we
don't want you to miss one. And if you already subscribed to
the show, first, thank you so much for doing that.
I really appreciate it. And 2nd, consider sharing the
show with a friend so that they can listen every single Friday

(03:08):
just like you do. This week's episode is dropping
on Friday, October 24th, 2025 and it's a big week for us here
at Country on Deck. We are celebrating our 3rd
anniversary, our third birthday of producing the podcast and
it's crazy to think that in December it will be our first

(03:29):
full year of the Writers round at the At the Barn in Groton, CT
Want to thank you for all of your support the last three
years. It's been a crazy ride going
from Connecticut's country podcast to New England's country
podcast all the way to where we are now, Country on deck, always

(03:51):
evolving, always learning, always growing.
And we couldn't have done it with without you and your
support clicking that play button every single week and
listening and following along onour social media platforms,
especially Instagram. So thank you, thank you.
We're excited to celebrate with you this week.

(04:12):
It really is a celebration for for all of us, the community
that we've come together to build.
This week's guest, I met him last month at the Big E in
Massachusetts. He's a member of John Morgan's
band and they were opening up for Cole Swindell on the
mainstage there at the at the Big E Always love going to the

(04:36):
the Big E One of my favorite things to do every single year.
If you're from New England, it might be one of your top things
on on your bucket list as well. John Morgan had just put on an
awesome set and they were switching over to to Colt
Swindell and Cole had just come on the stage.
He was only on the stage for maybe a couple minutes and I'm

(04:58):
looking around and taking everything in and all of a
sudden I, I look to my left and I'm like, is that the guy that
was just on stage with John Morgan playing guitar?
No, there's no way that he's just standing there talking to
these two people. Like, just a regular person not
being mobbed by a crowd of people asking for photos and

(05:21):
autographs. I turned to my better half and
I'm like, is that is that that that's the guy that was on stage
with John Morgan, right? Like, trying to confirm with her
of what she thought. And she's like, yeah, I think it
was. I think it was and I say like,
should I go say hi? Like I don't want to bother him.
I don't want to get him mobbed by all these people once they
discover that it's him as well. After a moment or two, I finally

(05:43):
work up the courage to walk overand I say, Hey, I don't want to
interrupt your conversation, butif you have a moment after you
guys are all wrapped up, I'd love a moment of your time to be
able to chat and, and grab a photo with you.
And he was just so gracious and so nice.
And he said, yeah, absolutely. Just give us a couple minutes.
I'll, I'll be right over. And he came and found me and we

(06:06):
talked and we, and we took the photo and I invited him on the
podcast. I said I'd love putting the
spotlight on the up and comers and, and giving them a platform
and a, and a place to share their story.
And he was like, absolutely, let's do it.
And he kept his word. We were able to connect after
after meeting at the Big E and have him on the show this week.

(06:29):
Really excited this full circle moment to to have him on the
show after that mini conversation at at the Big E
last month. So without further ado on the
show this week, my guest Joey Paul.
Thanks so much for coming on man.
I'm excited to reconnect with you after seeing you play with
John Morgan at the Big E. Thanks man, stoked to be here.

(06:53):
Who were you? I was a little nervous actually
to, to go up and, and chat with you because I, I didn't want to
interrupt your, your conversation.
It looked like maybe you were talking to some family members.
Was that family members? Yeah, all my family's from New
England, and very few of them actually live outside of the
state of Connecticut. So that was my cousin.
That was his first show that he's ever been able to catch,

(07:14):
and he was there with his girlfriend.
So, yeah, no offense to Col. Swindell.
I didn't really pay a lick of attention to his show.
I was too busy catching up with them.
That that's awesome though. It's got to be cool to come out
to a place so far away from Nashville and and have a
connection and be able to talk to somebody, you know, like
that. Yeah, it's, it's great.

(07:36):
And you know, like last year we were on the Nate Smith tour and
we had a stop in Boston, which is very easy stop for most
people that live in Connecticut.Well, at least my family.
Yeah, I had like almost 20 family members come up there and
you know, my immediate family, they they live here in
Tennessee, but they drove up there because they're like
already seeing some family and they're like, well, we'll bring

(07:58):
some more family to the show andwe'll make this whole thing out
of it. So it's, it's just great anytime
we're up north, usually can get get a bunch of them out there
because still not all of them have gotten to come out and see
a show yet. So trying to trying to fix that
you know. Yeah, of course.
Yeah. Was was that your first time at
the Big E? Have you experienced that
before? Yeah, that was our that was our

(08:20):
first time at the Big E Never heard of it before or seen it.
Nothing. Pretty cool.
Awesome. Did did you guys get, I know
you're probably busy getting there on the road and things can
kind of be like maybe last minute sometimes.
Did you have a chance to kind ofexplore?
It all before the set. Not really.
We just pretty much did normal sound check and you know, putts

(08:41):
around and find stumble into catering grab like a vitamin
water or whatever. The usual thing is we were
driving ourselves at that point.So we're all just kind of like
mourning grogginess, feeling lost when you get out of the van
trying to you're on like a desolate land of concrete and
other people's tour buses. So you're just trying to make

(09:03):
your way. So the the giant tour buses I
saw behind the wall, that wasn'tyou guys.
No, none of us, man. We're, we were rocking a rental
sprinter and just kind of roughing it, especially up in
those northern dates, you know, lots of driving in between
shows. So we'd hang out for a little
bit then like we'd leave it likemidnight and still have to like

(09:26):
make it to the next hotel and usually seem like our batting
average for checking in at hotels was like 7:00 AM
typically. So we'd get there 7:00 AM ish,
give or take sleep for like 3 hours if it was like a 10 AM
lobby call for getting to the venue and all that stuff.
So it just depends. But now we're on a, we're on a

(09:46):
bandwagon and we have some drivers and I cannot tell you,
bro, how nice. And it feels like 50% of the
work has just melted away from that change.
Yeah, a long, I'm sure a long car ride where you're
responsible for driving could definitely make things a little
more stressful. Right.

(10:06):
What's it like playing on stage with someone like John Morgan,
who's definitely a star on the rise and then going out into the
crowd and, and kind of not, not a lot of people recognize you.
Is it kind of like a best of both worlds?
Like you get to be on stage and live your dream and then you
also have that sense of privacy.Like I was shocked at how I was
one of the few people that actually like saw you and was

(10:28):
like, Oh my God, he was just on stage with John Morgan.
I'm going to go say hi. The introvert in me is screaming
Absolutely yes. I, I love that I, you know, I
please, you know, no offense to anyone, but my, my introverted
nature is just like take such a precedent over my life.
So it's like lots of alone time,lots of social reclusion.

(10:49):
Not that I don't want to talk topeople.
I'm, I'm always down for a greatconversation.
But yeah, I mean, that night especially, I was wearing my my
staple country metal hat. Shout out to Cody Parks in The
Dirty South. But yeah, like this bright
orange camo. And, you know, only a couple
people seemed to pick me out andyou were one of them.
But no, it it, it's an honor to play with John, but then also to

(11:13):
be able to have my own little lifestyle inside of that.
It's just one of those things where it's like, I don't know,
you, you feel cozy about that fact.
You know, you're like, Oh yes, that's, that's perfect.
I was like, do I want to go say hi?
I want to get this guy mobbed byall the fans here.
No, dude, always feel welcome tosay hello, at least with me.

(11:33):
Some some people might have other boundaries, but I'm I'm
glad you did. And again, my family being from
Connecticut, it's always cool tojust meet more Connecticut
natives because it's not a statethat I lived in except one year
that I couldn't remember I was too young.
But it's a state that I claim. I mean, clearly I don't have a
southern accents right? So.
Besides moving to Nashville, where where else did you live?

(11:55):
Was born and raised in West Tennessee, a little town called
Jackson. And it's the biggest town
technically speaking in between Memphis and Nashville.
But I would say it's it's a great little low key town to
have just your basic amenities and stuff like that, like your
Best Buy. Like it took us years to get a
Best Buy, you know, but we don'teven have like a Sprouts or a

(12:18):
Trader Joe's. So we're not on that kind of
map, you know what I mean? And it's funny because I kind of
judge town progress by like the corporate O sphere of like what
shows up. But yeah, I lived there my whole
life. And honestly, I I picked up
music in middle school. I started playing drums 1st and
then guitar thanks to Guitar Hero.
But yeah, I was like, that's where I lived.

(12:41):
And there's a lot of lot of downtime, lot of boredom.
So guitar was definitely my museand I kind of knew very early on
that I wanted to do music full time.
A lot of people have said GuitarHero to me over the years.
That's. Yeah, unfortunately for Post
Malone, he stole my story. So you were kind of real close

(13:02):
to Nashville, kind of looking atit from a short distance and did
you always have your eye kind ofon that?
Yeah, in the 90s, my uncle, he moved here first.
He lived in Franklin and we'll say he got in while the get in
was good. He lived in like this super 90s
traditional, like cul-de-sac at the top of a long driveway and

(13:25):
stuff like that. I remember when they first moved
down, but him, his wife, and they had two daughters.
So we've been coming up to Franklin for a long time, like
every Thanksgiving since, you know, I could Dang near remember
growing up again back to like that 90s classic, just that that
thing that we had in the 90s as a country, whatever that is.

(13:47):
All the tables were there. Every single neighbor was at my
uncle's house for Thanksgiving. And it was basically this
awesome community potluck of, ofall actual physical neighbors,
you know, so cool. So we had been coming here a lot
and I always thought it was cool, but I, I never was into

(14:09):
country music even in the slightest bit until well past
2010. I played in metal bands, really
just had one band and then turned into another rock band.
And then we turned into a Southern rock band after that.
But yeah, once I got serious with my instrument and stuff
like that and like, I would cometo Guitar Center and get a

(14:30):
little, which I mean, what's Guitar Center?
You think that's a taste of Nashville?
No, it's not. But as a metal head, I was like,
it's so cool. But I actually would come up
here and we would play like metal shows at one of the
different venues here called Rocket Town.
That started off as it's like a nonprofit Christian, like skate
park thingy, but like they wouldbook all the pop punk and all

(14:53):
the metal and metal core bands. So I had, by that time I was
like, yeah, Nashville's is pretty much it.
And then I and then I was a big Paramore fan and they were from
Franklin and my cousin knew the bass player from high school.
And I was just like, heck yeah. How how many people fell asleep
at that Thanksgiving get together?
I always remember at mine there's at least two or three

(15:13):
people that would fall. Asleep to be fair, all these
people could walk home before they could fall asleep, which
imagine the luxury, right? But just case in point in the
90s. But no, definitely droves of
them did. And you know, it was usually
like the chili or something thatthat would do you in.
But I I would go into a a sisterSchubert's bread coma.

(15:33):
That's what I did. So when you were first
discovering country music and and gaining an interest in it,
who were you first listening to?Yeah.
This is like post 2010, so like bro country be damned.
That's the first introduction I really got was my long time
buddy Evan. He's a drummer for Drew Green,

(15:56):
but we had basically been in every band together ever up
until that point. Once the metal stuff went away
and like the Southern rock, things started to kind of fade a
little bit. Or just not play as many shows
he started listening to like Aldean and Florida, Georgia
Line. And then shortly thereafter that
Hardy came out and that like, changed his life.

(16:19):
I'm sure he'll laugh. He hears me say that.
But like, Hardy just had this vibe to him that he really
picked up on. And you know, since we were both
metal players, FGL was using like heavy guitars because the
same guy that that produced FGL is Joey Moy, who literally did
Nickelback. Well, Nickelback Hello is the

(16:40):
reason I picked up drums and decided exactly that's what I
wanted to do in 4th grade. So so it kind of just makes too
much sense. And then once I really got to
listening, I was like, OK, I mean, I don't listen to music
for lyrics that sounds crazy, but I'm just not a lyrics based
guy. I love, I love the arrangement,
I love the other stuff. And like, does it, does it slap?

(17:02):
You know, what does it do? But yeah, FGL Hardy and then
obviously early Morgan Wallin and then a splash of Dan and
Shay. And I'll give them an honorable
mention because Tequila, the music video was super dope.
And literally one of the first major shows I saw was the FGL
yeah, FGL Dan and Shay. And then it was Morgan Wallin

(17:23):
and then Hardy, and he literallyhad like I missed Hardy's set.
It was literally only like 20 minutes and we were just trying
to find parking. So I remember just hearing him
from a distance and then we got there and it was over.
And then Wallin came up for likea 35 minute set and now look at
him. I'm shocked to hear Dan and Shay
lumped into those names. Well, they were they were cool.
I mean, and they were at the they were at that show that I

(17:45):
went to like that was like The One Show.
I kind of have an appreciation, like even as a metal head, like
dude, I'll bump the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack.
I don't really care. Like if it's great music, Sure.
And there was just some undeniable, we'll say like
Backstreet Boy esque nature's tothe like, the harmonies and
great vocals on Dan and Shay, but mostly their first record.

(18:09):
Shay. Shay can really belt it out.
He's got a great, strong voice, yeah.
Yeah, unbelievable. But FGL put on a really cool
show and then Fast forward afterthat, I've gotten to play.
I've been lucky enough to play ashow opening for Hardy at every
single step of his career as hissound has changed.

(18:31):
And that includes, you know, so I, I saw, I heard him for 20
minutes from my car, like while I was trying to park and then
literally going into COVID times, I ended up joining this
country cover band and they werepretty popular back in my
hometown. So, and they're the guy that was

(18:53):
the front man Hunter Jordan. He was a big frat guy up in UT
Martin. And there is this thing called
there. We'll we'll say it's infamous,
but they it's called Slide and Ride Saloon and that little
town, the only thing they have going for them, no offense, is
this little college, this littlerodeo college, the most redneck

(19:14):
bar you can think of with literally, I'm not kidding, a
true professional bull riding ring inside.
In a bar. In a bar.
Crazy. It's West Tennessee manifest, so
you call me up. Let's go get a drink, OK?
We walk in the bar. Dude, we're ordering natty
lights. Whatever.
They got rolling. We look behind us, 10 meters

(19:36):
away. Bulls live inside.
Yeah. But yeah, they ultimately ended
up redoing that bullpen into a stage.
And then they would have, like, Hardy and his very early on was
there. And so it was him, Sean Stemley

(19:56):
and then us. And we were able to open full
band. And you know, and that was like
either right as it dropped or right before his album A Rock.
And so there's been that and then we played with him again at
some point. And then we've had a few shows
with him on the road with John, couple of arena shows, couple

(20:17):
festivals. And then lastly, my buddy that I
went to kindergarten with, you know, he had only been slight.
I feel like slightly keeping up with John's stuff from a
distance, but he's actually a country guy.
But he's like, dude, how dope would it be if you guys played
like Talladega? Like you guys got to you got to
let me know, like I saw Riley Green there last year, blah,

(20:38):
blah, blah. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm
like, dude, yeah, that's that'd be super dope.
You know, definitely wish, you know, I was the book I'm more
hands on with the booking because absolutely, I would
definitely book this for Talladega because I'm just like,
you know, this is very wishful thinking.
Well, you can't make this up, dude.
He literally accidentally manifested us opening for Hardy

(20:59):
at Talladega and Hardy could have picked anybody dude.
And for whatever reason, he picked us.
Wow. Right, I'm blown away, dude.
So really on the Hardy thing, it, it's been so cool during
each one of his album cycles andas he's changed and grown as an
artist, it's that is one of the coolest things I can claim in my

(21:21):
life is like first hand witnessing young Hardy to, you
know, whatever he is now. And it's it's so freaking cool.
Yeah, that's fascinating that your careers have kind of run
parallel to each other like thatto make it real full circle as
he asks you to like join him on stage to be in his band for a
show or something. Hey, he doesn't.

(21:43):
Hey, his guitar players are damngood.
I would never ever in a million years ever, ever try to do that.
But he he doesn't have a bass player, that's all I'm saying.
We're manifesting it right now. Hey, hey.
Hardy, if you're listening, and I'm sure you never would, but if

(22:03):
you're listening, Joey is interested.
I will slap some bass man. This week's episode is powered
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(23:09):
Colchester, Connecticut. Old school, not old fashioned.
The ultimate experience. How'd you get linked up with
with John Morgan? That's a cool connection to have
and and to be a part of his band.
That's really, really awesome. Yeah, dude.
So really my advice to anybody out there that is tuning in to

(23:32):
anything about music and and what it's really like and what
steps should they take to perhaps start or jump start a
career. I didn't go to college.
I I have no musical training. I'm completely self-taught, but
you know, I've listened to musicfor a long time before I ever
started playing it, So I kind ofhad an ear locked in on what I

(23:55):
liked well before I play and start to write.
But yeah, I moved to Nashville with just wanting to do guitar.
But anyways, I I met John spur of the moment, my buddy called
me up and was like, hey, man, what are you doing right now?
And I think I had just gotten off work and this was either
right before COVID hit, like maybe within a couple months, or

(24:16):
maybe it was like right into COVID hitting again a couple
months. But I get this call from my
buddy. He's like, hey, man, what are
you doing? I'm like, dude, nothing, what's
up? He's like, well, we're over here
at this party. And actually Cody Bradley was
there too, and he was like, there's this guy, he's playing
and singing John Mayer songs at the same time as a guitar

(24:38):
player. That's an immediate tick because
you're like, no one just plays and sings John songs at the same
time because the guy's a frickinsavant, you know what I mean?
So I was like, OK, you've got myattention.
So I I rolled over there. There John was playing this
crazy ass, just beat Martin. That's just so sick.

(25:02):
I'm just like bro, this, this guy's got it going on.
So we're all just hanging out. We chat or whatever.
I think I ended up getting his number because I was in like the
Super Nashville networker mode at that time.
It was so fresh. So I would say we probably met
in either 19 or 2020. So we met there a while goes by.
I don't really exchange much text with him or anything like

(25:24):
that. But then this other guy I knew
I'm not going to name names, butended up being super sketchy
down the road. He got me in a right with John.
So it was just the three of us. So I rolled down over there by
his old house, his old place, which was one of those super
modern, like shotgun style Nashville homes.

(25:46):
And so we go there, we write. I just remember walking up to
the bedroom, I, I had my brand new MacBook Pro that was like
freaking 4 grand. Almost dropped it on the
sidewalk for anything. And I'm just like, you know,
don't, don't know what I'm doing.
And again, I'm mostly a guitar player, but I have enough

(26:07):
buddies that are like, well, we like that, you know, we like
your riffs. So like, yes, you can, you can
write with us. I'm like, OK, cool.
I'm just the guitar guy. But anyways, go going to John's
house, meet him, go upstairs. I'm sitting there on his bed.
He's got his little tracks rig set up, little studio, this
other guy with us. And I remember looking to my

(26:28):
right and I just see a Glock tucked in between the headboard
and the mattress. I was like, I fucked with this
guy. Just country boy things.
But yeah, so we we start this song and it goes about as decent
as any first right kind of does or.
So I mean, in my mind, in reality, it probably went way

(26:49):
worse because we didn't end up finishing it or anything like
that. So that was really the only
contact I had with John for a long time.
Was that one, right? And then as that other guy went
and became more sketchy, I was like, well, that song is never
going to get finished or written.
And I think I may be bumped intohim at like 10 roof once, you

(27:10):
know, which was random for me, you know, I like at the time I
would go out, definitely don't go out as much as I used to, but
bumped into him there. He's like, yeah, man, hit me up
sometime, blah, blah. And this was like right as he
was starting to kind of gain some notoriety and some some
success as a as a songwriter. And then by the Rock'n'roll
Cowboy Tour 2022, I was like, oh, man, I was like this.

(27:32):
I was like, this is the only guyI know that is just taking off
right now, you know, and I'm on the outside looking at him like
this guy's skyrocketing. I was like, I'm not going to be
the guy that just texts him out of the blue now seeing his
success and be like, hey man, how's it going?
Remember Me, dude? I'm just not that guy.
And I I don't care about stardomand and all that stuff.

(27:55):
So like, if you have success, it's great.
But for anyone to just assume like we're just going to
reconnect like nothing ever happened.
Like that's not that's not me. I guess I underestimated highly
underestimated or overestimated.I'm not sure the the correct
term here, but Long story short,I was working at Gibson Guitars.

(28:17):
Things were kind of going South there.
They weren't really motivating me for any reason.
No offense to go on record aboutwhatever happened there, but my
buddy hits me up and he's like, dude, you want to go see Hardy
at CMA Fest on the riverfront? I was like, sure.
He's like, OK, yeah, he's playing at like 10:00 AM.
So I'm like, Oh my God, I was like, I got to be up at 9:00 AM

(28:38):
for a freaking show. I was like, you know what
though? Yeah, let's do it.
So we go to CMA Fest, we see Hardy, we catch his show, it's
cool. And then he's my this is my
buddy Mick Swain, who's also another writer in town.
He's from my hometown, so that he was pretty much the reason I
got into writing and meeting allthese people because we would

(29:00):
come up here and catch rounds. But anyways, he's like, John's
playing this stage at, you know,such and such time you want to
go. I was like, yeah, absolutely.
And because I didn't really careabout showing up on time to
Gibson, I was more than willing to stay.
So we stayed. We watched John perform.
He played the I think it was thereverb stage at the time, a

(29:21):
reverb, Maui Jim, whatever in front of the corner of
Bridgestone. And then after the show he's
just hanging out by the rafter gate thingies like the little
barriers. And I just go up to him like,
what's up, dude? And there's like, oh man, what's
up, bro? And just classic, as old as
time, you know, John Fashion, what's up, pal?

(29:41):
And I was like, dude, how much? So we we caught up and he asked
me what I was doing. I was like, well, Covid's over,
bro, so it's time to get back todoing what I moved here to do,
and that's music full time. I was like, I'm working at
Gibson right now, but it's not what I moved here for.
He's like, cool. And he's like, yeah, man.
He's like, I got you. He's like, well, I might hit you

(30:04):
up for some dates this summer. And I knew he was on tour with
Aldine. So I'm just like, OK, sure.
Like I'll play the triangle dude.
I'll, I don't, I don't, it doesn't matter to me at this
point. So I was like, Oh yeah, dude,
you know, and I, I got AI got a little too Nashville, Nashville.
Nice is the term. I was like, yeah, man, like let

(30:25):
me know like guitar or bass, like just trying to put all my
options out there for potentially getting this gig.
Couple weeks went by. I, I ended up getting fired from
Gibson and within the same week of getting fired for from Gibson
due to attendance, I got the call for from John to say like,
hey man, like would you be interested in, in trying out?

(30:48):
And I was like, yeah, one, duh, 2.
I don't have a damn job anymore.So the answer is absolutely
freaking yes. So so yeah, just literally being
at his show. And if that's not Nashville, can
I drop an F bomb on here or is it?
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

(31:08):
I coined this thing. I was like, that's Nashville as
fuck. If I wasn't at your show, I
wouldn't be in your band. I don't know what else to tell
you. That's Nashville as fuck.
Yeah, it sounds like that conversation that you were
afraid to have via text. Like, I don't want to be that
guy that just sends a text out of the blue.
It sounds like that conversationended up happening naturally.
Yeah, and the way John is, and Irespect that because I'm the

(31:32):
same way. It's like, dude, like you don't,
you don't rush things. You just, you let it fall, let
nature take its course. But he's, he's a very genuine
guy, dude. Like it's, he's the, the BS
detector is, is strong, you know, and then same for me.
And, you know, I, I don't need amillion friends and I don't need

(31:53):
to fish for anyone's approval. So the last thing I want is, is
someone fishing for my approval too.
It's like, you know, just be cool.
And unfortunately for anyone that is like that, it's it's
like Nashville. It's like musicians are hyper
attuned to sniffing out desperation.
That can definitely put up a social barrier between people

(32:16):
and stuff like that too. I mean, most people could just
simply say professionalism, right?
But yeah, it's that it's definitely a thing in Nashville.
But I'm so grateful that obviously it happened because I
haven't looked back and, and neither is he.
And he's, he's given me more than enough freedom to kind of
also be my own guitar player too, within the context of the

(32:37):
gig. And and honestly, as a, as a
real creative and a, and a guy who's a riff guy, I just love
coming up with little Knick knacks and and melodies and
stuff like that. It's it's nothing short of a
dream come true. I love how it involved going to
a initially going to a Hardy show as well.
Hey, see, see what I'm saying? It's like unavoidable, dude.

(33:06):
How's it feel to go from workingin the in the Gibson to now
you've been like been on like national television playing with
John, like you've been on Fox and Friends and other nationally
televised like morning shows playing.
That's got to be crazy. It's straight up is dude.
I mean, there's there's I'd be lying if if I could tell you
there's any other answer then itis crazy.

(33:27):
The Gibson thing, like it was cool and I'm a guitar nerd and I
own a lot of Gibson's. Like I think when I started
working at Gibson, I owned 6 Gibson's, 6 or 7 Gibson's.
Shortly thereafter, it kind of turned into a don't meet your
heroes thing because just quality control and stuff that
you don't want to see as a guitar player, you're just like,

(33:48):
that kind of irks me. Like coffee guys.
You don't want to go to a coffeebar.
And it's just like, oh, you're using the oh, you're using the
same syrup as Dutch Bros Like, oh, whatever.
But anyways, to flip from that to what I'm doing now with John,
I mean, it's nothing short of surreal.
And to be fair, like a lot of itstill hasn't quite clicked in

(34:09):
terms of like the TV and stuff like that, because this is just
like what I want to do. And it's the air that I want to
breathe. So as natural as it comes to me
to, to try and just do that stuff, to actually zoom out and
think about the ramifications oflike national TV, because I
don't watch TV at all. I haven't watched TV in over a
decade. It is absolutely crazy.

(34:32):
And and beyond that, the luck and the honor and the pride of
having accomplished that, it is equally crazy and hard to even
put into words. And I'll say this like
statistically, the likelihood ofthat happening and including the
first tour that I got to go on with John was a major arena

(34:54):
tour. Like we played Bridgestone in
2022. OK, well, I moved to town in
2019. And if you discounted the COVID
time from that moment to 2022, it technically, if you do the
math or something like that, it technically only took me like a
year or a year and a half to geton an arena tour in Nashville.

(35:16):
And when I sell it to myself like that, I'm like, Oh my gosh,
that I am unbelievably lucky andI am so fortunate.
But it is crazy, man, to. Yeah, to be frank, it's just
it's just crazy. And if I get to thinking about
it too long, I probably get a little more scared than I did if
I was just had to go back and redo it at the studio, you know,

(35:38):
to rerecord our appearance or something like that.
Do you have a favorite moment being on tour with him?
Shoot, I mean, Bridgestone was so cool because that was like
the moment where my family got to come out and some of my
closest friends who again, like now all of my closest friends,
they, they live in Nashville, dude.

(36:00):
And it's like one of those you build it, they will come kind of
things. I wasn't the first actually to
move our singer from my Southernrock band Delta Suns.
He moved and then I did and thenour guitar player moved and then
the last person to move was our was our drummer.
And so for all of them to be able to come to Bridgestone and
see it, our singer Zach, who's like, dude, I couldn't have been

(36:21):
more damn proud than when you stepped on that stage and you
guys rocked it. And I was like, you know, to me,
that's what it's all about, honestly.
Like, you know, it's about the friends that I've held onto for
years and will for a lifetime and being able to share Even so
much as a smidge of this journeywith them as my closest friends.

(36:45):
Any moment like that is, is my favorite.
And, and again in Boston, we played that venue called
Roadrunner, which is such a sickvenue, by the way.
I don't know if you've ever beenor not, but you got to go.
It's like this modern concrete version.
It kind of reminds me of like ifTony Hawk's Pro Skater was
turned into a venue like the, the main indoor first map that

(37:09):
you go just like, remove the half pipe split.
Like, it's so sick. But yeah, like the crowd goes
silent and in between shows, I just hear my, my niece call out
Uncle Joe, you know? And I heard that.
And I was like, at that moment, my, my journey kind of hit me
like a, a pallet of bricks and you're just like, holy shit,

(37:30):
dude. That's got to be a cool moment.
Yeah, that sounds really cool. It it, it's just unbelievable.
And you know, as a guy who's so busy that there, you know, a lot
of times there doesn't seem likethere's room for sentimentalness
and stuff like that. When it hits me, you know, it
hits hard. But also like the Opry, you
know, I've gotten to play the Opry twice with John.

(37:52):
That's been incredible. I can't necessarily dilute it to
one single moment, but there's, there's for sure a lot of
sentimental moments that I've had with John.
I mean, Talladega was one of them.
And that stuff more so than the TV stuff because, you know, T VS
cool and all that stuff. But it's, it's light makeup
camera action type thing. And it's for sure cool.

(38:14):
But I, I enjoy like the smaller things in life, you know?
But yeah, that that kind of stuff like been my favorite kind
of moments with John. When you're not out out on the
road with John, what's your what's your life like?
Do you have like other projects you're working on or?
I'm not as busy with music as I would like to be outside of

(38:36):
being on the road. This sounds probably crazy to
some people to have a gig, but I'm not actually a full time
musician. It I would say I'm a three
quarter time musician. It definitely definitely eats up
more of my time than not, especially with laundry in
between runs. No, I'm kidding.
That's actually true, though. I hate laundry.

(38:56):
Well, I was just telling John last night I was like, man, it
feels like one load of laundry is just bumping into the the
butt cheeks of the next load of laundry.
Because, you know, we're back for a day or two and it's like,
oh, it's like we got to plan ourwindow.
Because I also live with our ourbass player and our utility BGV
guy, Dave, who also used to be our tour manager.

(39:18):
So, you know, we all three have to strategize how we're going to
do laundry. They've got like timetables and
stuff. So it's real.
Yeah. No life outside of it for me.
I bar back on Broadway. I've I've been on Broadway, but
I've never played Broadway sinceI've moved here.
Like, I may have stepped up for a couple of songs here and there
because like, you know, you meetthe bands and some of them are

(39:40):
super cool and they're like, yeah, you know, the shift is
dead. You know, you want oh, how about
the security guard get up here on stage and and rips, you know,
the only drop that you Fall Out Boy song in his repertoire.
Like hell yeah, brother, It's stuff like that that's cool.
And again, I'm a guy that kind of likes like the little or
stuff in life. So even though I haven't been
slang Broadway with the guitar, that's not necessarily anything

(40:04):
that I moved here to do. And there's definitely a split
brain mindset when it comes to do I do the Broadway thing or do
I do the road stuff like that ordo I even just become a session
guy? Because, you know, while most
guitar players in their lifetimein Nashville will probably do a
fair bit of all three. A lot of Rd. guys come off the
road and they they play at Broadway, you know, keeps the

(40:26):
chops up, continues to the the guitaring, right.
It's fun and you meet some greatpeople down there and some great
players too. A lot of them are dangerous.
So good. But yeah, there's definitely a
split brain thing. But I I bar back now and that's
where I get most of my in town, my regiment, my money and stuff
like that. And honestly, it's kind of good

(40:47):
because I feel like the amount of attention to detail that I
like to commit to something, my brain would just be fried if I
was trying to deliver the same perfectionistic approach to, you
know, a four hour's worth of Broadway songs and any given key
that could change from day-to-day.
And the mindless, the insane scheduling that you have to do

(41:09):
to balance that with the road. I would much rather just save
all my CPU for putting more tasty stuff into into what I
already do for John. But the end goal I think will
just simply be play for John, come off the road, have my own
studio and as I texted you this morning, hey, I'm going to run
up for coffee. I got a Starbucks 5 minutes

(41:30):
away. I hit the mobile app, I go pick
it up. I come right back.
I sit with a guitar in my hands the rest of my day.
That's what a typical off day looks like for me, unless I
managed to make it to the gym which I've been slacking on so.
Well, to steal a line from you, being out on the road with a big
name like John Morgan and then kind of coming back to

(41:50):
Nashville, being that regular guy bar backing I'd, I'd say
that's Nashville as fuck. Yeah, yeah, we're, we're all,
we're all hidden in Plainview. And you know what, it it's funny
because I enjoy that. But, and then there's moments
that I feel like some people might take personally if
they're, if they're trying a little too hard.
But you know, I've had, for example, I've known the, the guy

(42:14):
that plays guitar for Riley Green, Charlie.
I met him a long time ago on a gig that was for my buddy
Mcswain. And we played a little whiskey
Jam during COVID. So like nobody was there, but
you know, we ripped it. And then lo and behold, you
know, he's a, he's a Broadway guy.
And then he ends up getting the,the gig with Riley Green.

(42:35):
We had a good few shows with Riley Green last year and I was
still working security at the beginning of last year.
So both of us were done for the year, but he would come into to
Whiskey Row, where I was doing security at the time, and he'd
be playing and I'd be like, what's up, dude?
And it took him a moment, but I'm basically Incognito, wearing
a security polo and all this other stuff.

(42:56):
And he's like, oh, dude, He's like, what the hell?
I'm like, yeah, man, how you been?
He's like, dude, great. He's like, dude, you got to
check out this new guitar. And you know, so it's funny
because a lot of people just don't click.
And then I have had similar moments where we'll say I'm in
civilian clothes, right? Like I I was walking literally
past one of my my current coworkers to go help my buddy CJ

(43:21):
Solar film a music video downtown.
And we're literally crossing thestreet next to my coworker.
But I had a guitar in my hand and my hair down and was dressed
for a music video, and he had noidea who I was and walked right
past me. Yeah, it's like master of
disguise, you know? I love that about Nashville,
though. You never know who you're going
to bump into and I feel like everybody is everybody is

(43:44):
somebody out there. Well, like a lot of guys that
play the bar too, like you can casually drop stuff on them and
it doesn't click because you're just another bar employee.
But then it's like for the ones that really know what's going
around going on, you know, John is a heavily renowned writer.
So, you know, by playing for himby default, that kind of becomes

(44:07):
attached to me. You know, I am the sidecar,
right? You mention that to somebody and
they go, oh, my God, that guy. What a writer.
Oh, my God. I'm like, yeah, I know.
I'm, I experience it in full force.
I got, you know, and I get to play this stuff too.
It's it's sick. I'm in this band, you know?
Yeah, but but you know, you got to say it sometimes a few times

(44:30):
for people to register like, oh,this guy's not just full of
shit. And it's like, yeah, I'm, I'm
not. But again, I don't take it
personally because I know those guys play 1,000,000 gigs a week
and every bar kind of starts to blend together.
And you know, bartenders, no offense to your career, but you
kind of all get a bartender vibeand it's a thing, you know, on

(44:54):
Broadway. So like you, you, it's its own
ecosystem. So I don't, I don't get offended
for not being quote UN quote recognized or anything out of
the blue by other musicians downthere, even if I say what I do
or anything like that. But it, it, it, I actually,
again, I think I think that's cool, you know, because that's,
and that's natural. It's just little human stuff

(45:16):
that it, it intrigues me. I think it's awesome.
And again, my introverted natureis just like, yes, thank God,
like don't recognize me or anything like that.
It it's good to see that I'm notthe only one that struggles with
laundry though. As we're talking I'm I'm staring
over to my right. I see this big pile of laundry
I've yet to put away. It's like half folded and I

(45:37):
haven't put it away yet. Dude, it's see, it's the room's
not dirty. They're clean clothes.
I promise they're all clean clothes.
They're just scattered everywhere.
I promise it's not a dirty room.You talked earlier about being
in some rights, but obviously your your main thing is the
guitar and and playing instruments and and being in the
band. Well, what's that like for you
being in a right kind of feel a little bit uncomfortable?

(46:00):
Is it kind of foreign to you? What's that like for?
Me it it could be foreign, but Ijust accept very much so up
front and and again, for any musician who's like listening to
any little music podcast or anything to get an inkling, I'm
going to sneak this this nugget of knowledge in there for anyone

(46:20):
like that. But you know, I've just accepted
who I am musically. You know, I'm a metal guy
masquerading in the country scene.
And I know that that means that I, I got to be a little more
tame, right? Like we're not putting
breakdowns in country songs, right?
Except Hardy again, crazy how that name pops up again.
But I just say I'm not a lyrics guy because I literally don't

(46:43):
listen to music for the lyrical content.
Although I can probably tell youwhen a, when a song is, you
know, a heart or a heart wrenching song, like a great
song, like very heartfelt, I can't necessarily tell you, you
know, unless it's very obvious what a great song really is or,
or you know, whatever. But I, I can, I can tell you if

(47:04):
I think lyrics are corny and if that's something that you, you
want to know, I will definitely tell you that.
But I, I accept that on the, thefront end and I just tell people
I'm a guitar guy and I'll just be hanging out.
And I really hope that you like the notes that I pick and, and
that we can make something out of it together.

(47:24):
And the biggest thing is not being afraid to change those
notes just because they think they're not the best notes,
right? Because it's not necessarily in
a right, the sense that it's thewrong notes.
It's, it's just that, you know, we got to get to the cream of
the crop. So what are the better notes?
And I'm not afraid of criticism.And I actually love the

(47:46):
challenge of going into a right with a guitar and simply posing
the question to whoever I'm withand like, OK, what's the vibe?
You know, Like, are we on a beach or, you know, is it got to
be sentimental? Is this a song about our
grandpa? What is this?
And then I love trying to decodewhat's going on in someone's

(48:07):
head and delivering a riff that just seems to magically make
them go that, Oh my gosh, that's, that's it.
And I take a lot of pride in that.
So that's kind of my thing. So I've developed that over time
of just trying to be comfortablewith the fact that I'm only
going to offer that one mission statement.

(48:27):
Like that's my one promise, right?
Like there's no refunds. But that is my one promise.
And if I fail on that, then that's on me.
And I think people really respect that because you're not
selling anything that you are literally not.
And the the flip side of that, the bonus is if you do anything
more than that. And it's all icing on the cake.

(48:49):
Last week we had Cody Bradley onthe show.
You You wrote a song with Codeine.
Yeah, we started a song called Shrapnel a long time ago.
We never finished it, but oh, wow.
And he knows. He knows.
Yeah, we've been in and around afew rights together.
But yeah, like I've, I've also, I've been out of the writing

(49:10):
game for a while now and, and during COVID, I just, you know,
I was not great at reaching out to people or anything like that.
And it was just, we were playingGrand Theft Auto until 7:00 in
the morning during COVID time. So we, we've definitely had our
hands full, you know what I mean?
Just kidding. Grand Theft Auto, like that's

(49:30):
like nostalgic as hell right there.
I haven't thought about that in a while.
Yeah me and my 2 roommates we just played GTA6 online until
the wee hours is crazy. What's next for you?
Do you have more dates with Johnor do you have like future goals
going into next year? What do you think is next for
you? Yeah, this tour goes into like

(49:50):
the middle of December, which issick.
I love a good winter tour. I love that I'm on the road and
wearing hoodies because having to deal with the insane summer
that we've had here in Nashvillethis year, I honestly can't wait
to put a bullet in the sun's head.
Oh geez, so that's dark. Dude, it was like a heat index

(50:15):
of 120, though that shouldn't bea thing because we're not
Arizona or California or New Mexico.
Connecticut felt that way too though.
It was like 90° with a humidity of like 85%.
It was crazy. That is so crazy.
And you know what, having spent a good few summers up in
Connecticut, I think it's horse crap that you guys get all the

(50:37):
snow, all the cold, but then there's no mild summer to to
complement that. It's just straight Hellfire and
it gets swampy up there like it does here in Tennessee.
We have a very kindred spirit kind of humidity and it's not
freaking cool, dude. It's, it's literally not cool at
all. I I I hate it.

(50:59):
What I hate is those, but those between seasons, when I was
younger, we used to have those between seasons like spring and
fall where they were just absolutely perfect.
And now, now it just goes from hottest balls to like cold
winter, like overnight. Yeah, and and again, you guys
get more snow. I mean, in the South, dude, a
snowflake drops. We're we're canceling schools,

(51:21):
OK? We're prepping the plows and
it's not going to be good. You know, it's hilarious.
And then like all the means of like bread and milk and all that
stuff that's real down here. But you guys now you're probably
going to walk to school or like,we got shovels.
It's fine. That to me is just so funny,
too. I just would like a white
Christmas, like a mild white Christmas every year.

(51:43):
That's all I want from Tennessee.
So whoever I got to talk to the mayor or whatever, maybe, you
know, John gets a little bigger.Maybe we can maybe we can
organize that. But yeah, I mean, give us a
little something if it's going to be this cold.
John's got to get a little bigger so we can purchase that
snow making machine. That's right.
Yeah. I mean, one or two of them at

(52:04):
least, right. I mean, just hit my street.
It's fine. I'll settle for that.
OK. But no, I mean, on a real note,
Pass, pass this tour. We'll wrap up in the middle of
December. Yeah.
After that, honestly, the biggest thing for me is just I
need to get my studio up and running to the point where I can
start to take on real clients orstart regularly sending back

(52:27):
demos that are completed and basically giving people the
reason to work with me, right? And starting to develop a
reputation because everyone doesthis in Nashville, right?
Everyone does remote sessions, Everyone's a guitar player.
A lot of, a lot of pet dogs are guitar players too.
It's just that common. So to carve out your own thing

(52:51):
in Nashville is, is huge becausea lot of stuff is just, it's,
it's all country music at the end of the day.
So we're all bowling with bumpers, you know, we're all
staying within some kind of lane.
And that makes everything so similar.
So the biggest thing is being who you are to work with and and
do you enjoy that person? So yeah, the sooner the better.

(53:14):
But that's my next goal is, is to be able to take on clients
and give them back demos and stuff like that and start to
make money that way instead of having to bar back or do any
auxiliary job. And then ultimately it would be
great to just be, you know, I say I'm a guitar guy.
Well, eventually I found out there's a term for that and it's

(53:35):
called a track guy. So track guys are the people
like me who just want to go intoa right and do the music side of
things and let the other people actually come up with the cool
words and the cool like the songitself.
And I'm like, oh, that's me. So I found that.
So yeah, my, my next goal reallygoing into next year is to
develop who I am as a track guy and start to get some money from

(53:59):
that. And it's not going to be crazy,
you know, obviously starting offand I don't expect it to be
either, but I'm very much looking forward to the the
trials of proving myself to all kinds of different people that
want to work with me. And mostly right now, I just
want to work with my friends, you know?
I want music to be, I'm lucky that music still kind of gets to

(54:20):
be like this passionate thing for me and doesn't feel like
I'm, I'm clocking in for nothing, nothing artistically
rewarding in my own right, even though I'm not a full blown
artist by any means. Well, Joey, I'm excited to have
you on this week. I'm glad we connected at the Big
E and, and had that little mini conversation and you were able

(54:42):
to come on the the podcast and we were able to Share your story
with people. There's a lot of fun being able
to reconnect and and chat with you man.
Yeah, dude, and I would love to do this at any point going into
the future. Again, dude, this has been
awesome. You have some great questions
and it was super cool to meet you at the Big E and definitely
glad we got to do this. This is awesome.

(55:04):
I'm I'm manifesting that Hardy thing for you.
Well, hey, you do that and you'll find a way to get you a
lifetime backstage pass for thatif that happens.
OK, you have my words. Hey, Hardy.
Well, thanks, Joey. I appreciate it man.
Of course, man, Thank you. That's going to do it for this

(55:27):
week's episode. Thank you so much to Joey for
coming on the show and making some time for us.
Absolutely a blast talking with him and helping share his story
with you. Go support him.
You can find out more information about Joey Paul on
our Instagram account at Countryon Deck.
You can find his Instagram by heading to ours and and go give

(55:50):
him a follow, maybe even see himplay at a future John Morgan
show. It's strange saying this because
I don't like to take a break andtime away from from the show.
But the next couple of weeks we will not have a new episode
coming out on on Friday like we always promise.

(56:12):
But we will be putting out a reposted episode the next couple
of Fridays for you. So if you missed an episode or
two, maybe it might be the episode that you missed and you
can TuneIn and listen to that story.
So I'll be on the lookout for that.
We'll be posting those those episodes on the 31st Happy

(56:34):
Halloween and November 7th. I believe it's Friday, November
7th, the week after. I will try to enjoy my vacation
and not stress about how we don't have new episodes coming
out. So enjoy the next couple of
weeks, join us for those reposted episodes.
And I will be back very, very soon, bringing you more stories

(56:56):
with rising country stars. Until then, though, I'm Josh
Maddie and this is Country on Deck.
Thanks so much for listening. Happy birthday.
Happy birthday to Country on Deck.
Off your boots and settle them Country on this.

(57:22):
About to begin. Josh Maddie's here.
Stars on the rise. Voices of hope, Dreams in their
eyes. Singer songwriters, stories on
phone. Hearts that wander.
Hearts out of bones does he roseto rise St. lines capture their

(57:50):
journey. Shares their fights.
Country on deck. We're tuning in.
Well, the new star stories are coming in from a small town.
Dreams they're gonna take you away.
Country on deck with drunk man. Thank you so much for listening

(58:18):
to the Country on Deck with JoshMaddie.
Josh is back at his desk every Thursday talking with a new
country artist, so make sure youhit that follow button whenever
you're listening so you don't miss an interview.
Follow Country on Deck on socialmedia.
All social media links can be found by going to LINKTR Period.
EE slash country on deck.