November 7, 2025 • 51 mins
Josh Mattei, takes one more Friday away from the podcast. Please enjoy this reposted episode featuring a conversation he previously had with Josh Ward!
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(00:00):
This week on Country on Deck. There's a reason this record's
special. It took everything that I had to
put it together. It took everything that I had to
write the songs. It took everything that I had to
come back. And we're finally getting to see
(00:22):
it. Discover the stories of rising
country stars Country on Deck with Josh Maddie.
Kick off your boots and settle him country on this.
(00:45):
About to begin. Josh Maddie's here stars on the
rise, voices of hope, dreams in their eyes, singer songwriters
stories on phone. Hearts are wandered hearts that
(01:05):
are bone dirty roads, she writes.
Angelines captures her journey shares their fights country on
this we're tuning in well the new star stories are coming in
(01:27):
from a small town dreams they'regoing to take you away country
on date with. Hello and welcome to another
episode of Country on Deck whereI sit down with today's rising
country stars and help you discover the stories behind
(01:48):
their music. I'm your host, Josh Maddie, and
we're taking a fall vacation. I really hate taking weeks off,
but I'm going to try to enjoy it.
And I hope you enjoy these reposted episodes, a couple of
episodes from the past that we're really excited to share a
second time. Excited to put the spotlight on
(02:09):
these artists once again. Artists that we've talked to in
in the past. Don't forget our writers round
is coming up at the Barn in Groton, CT on November 12th
starting at 7:00. It's a free event, no cover
charge. All about community, all about
celebrating songwriters and their music.
(02:30):
Nick Bossy on this lineup. Isabel Spears.
Alex Medeiros. Raquel.
Raquel Hawkins. It's going to be a really,
really great night of original music.
We're doing it just like they dodown in Nashville, so consider
coming out and spending the night with us on November 12th.
It's a Wednesday again at 7 in Grotten at the Barn.
(02:52):
In the meantime, sit back and enjoy this reposted episode of
Country on Deck. This week's episode is powered
by The Barn, a modern day Grange, Great drinks, live
music, Barn ct.com. What you making?
Check out their DIY trucker hatsat a future event throughout New
(03:16):
England, the Ledgeard Farmers Market.
Get fresh with us Tree Trails Adventures Mystic and Ariel
Adventure Park in Mystic, CT with five courses to challenge
every experience level. Soapy Noble Car Wash A noble
wash with royal service improving your car wash
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standards one wash at a time. Check out their brand new
location in Groton, CT also in Groton.
Min Cha Bubble Tea shop Our bubble tea is made from the best
quality tea. Jpo Productions, LLC book DJ JPO
for your future entertainment needs and Joe's Barber Lounge in
(03:58):
Colchester, Connecticut. Old school, not old fashioned.
The ultimate experience on this week's episode.
This guy is an absolute superstar out in Texas and he's
had quite the musical journey. When you think of this guy, you
think of him as country music, traditional country music and
(04:20):
rodeo. And he's got a brand new album
coming out. It's four years in the making.
It's a new chapter for for this guy.
I'm so happy to to have him on the show and help share his
story and help you learn a little bit more about him.
The new album coming out January17th.
Same old cowboy, different rodeo. 3 songs already released
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so far. Dancing with the Devil, that
title track, Same old cowboy, different rodeo.
And loving where it's going on the show this week.
Josh Ward. Josh, thanks so much for for
coming on man. You bet man, thanks for having
us. Absolutely.
It's the this week. It's the Josh and Josh show,
Yeah. Yeah, the the double J.
(05:10):
Of course, I'm, I'm sure you're,you're well aware of this.
Earlier in the week it was veteran's day.
We celebrated veteran's day. What does a day like that mean
to you? Means the world man.
Those boys and girls are over there fighting for what we love
the most. That's our country.
Without them we wouldn't get to lay our head down on a pillow at
night with with these that we get to.
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Has anyone in your your family served?
Yeah, I've got a couple cousins that served I, I never got to
serve myself. Lots of buddies, though.
Lots of friends that have serveddifferent branches in the
military. You know, some of those came
home, some of them didn't. So that's that's why it is very,
very important to me. Veteran's Day, any, any time
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that we can celebrate our military is big to me.
Music. You've been doing music like
your entire life, since you werea little kid, right?
When you were in church? Oh yeah, my grandmother had me
in church choir at a very young age.
My grandpas and uncles, they listen to Merle Haggard and
George Jones and Straight and all those guys.
And, you know, my memo was firstFirst Baptist Church, Sunday
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prayer meetings and everything else.
So I was very, very influenced by music.
A lot of, lot of different music, too.
You know, I was a sponge when I was, I was a kid, man.
I just loved it. You know, radio always had to be
on, you know, if I was in car. Yeah.
It's been a big part of my life for a long time.
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When did you discover that you wanted to pursue it
professionally? As a kid growing up, I mean, I
always wanted to always wanted to have that opportunity.
You know, every kid dreams aboutputting in a band together and
getting out on the road and going and playing the big shows.
But I guess is in my early 20s, I mean, I was, I was still
(07:02):
rodeoing and stuff and my hauling partners, my buddies
that I rodeoed with, they were some of my first audience.
And it was I, I got told a lot that I sucked.
You know, my, my, my buddies helped me through the fire, you
know, So they made me get better.
They made me want to strive to learn and, and get better at
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playing guitar and all that. But yeah, man, I'd sit behind
any bucket shooter on a tailgateof a pickup truckery on a
bonfire and play the play a songto anybody who'd listen.
Heck, man, somehow that turned into somehow that turned into
making a living at it, which I wouldn't trade anything for all
the amount of money in the worldif you'd told me to do things
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different, man. I mean, I've, I've lived a
pretty good life of seeing the world rodeoing and oilfield and
music's taking me down that samepath.
So I did Pretty Dang good if youask me.
Man, those must have been some tough first performances with an
audience like that. Yeah, they were.
Your buddies are always tough onyou.
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But man, it you know what I'm I'm, I'm thankful that I had
every experience when it comes to music.
You know, I've had the I've had the hey, man, you need to go
back to the drawing board or heyman, you're a natural.
So I mean, all of those things made me who I am today as a
singer, having those buddies that holds your feet to the
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fire. And then you you realize that
you graduated up to a different caliber of musician than those
musicians that are around you are holding you accountable to
be disciplined as a musician. So yeah, man, it's a, it's a,
it's a lot, but we come out all right.
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You're a big celebrity out in Texas.
You're a big deal out there. Oh, shoot, man.
I wouldn't say a big celebrity. I always tell people I'm one of
the most normal guys you'll evermeet.
I just have a really cool job title.
But no, man, I mean, we've we'restapled down here in Texas.
I mean, we've been doing it forever.
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Texas is home base and you know,you got greats like Cody Johnson
and Jake Worthington, Braxton and all these guys.
And I mean, Texas is a, Texas isa big old state and it's got a
lot of talent in it. You know, it has for very many
years going all the way back to the Houston days and the George
Strait days and all that stuff. I mean, Texas has put out some,
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some pretty heavy hitter musicians and I'm, I'm proud to
be part of that group. What's it like?
You said Texas is your home base.
What's it like living in Texas and then making trips to
Nashville rather than like beinglocated full-fledged in
Nashville? It must be a little different.
Well, I mean it, it is, but, butI love it.
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I go up there and, and write my songs and, and, you know, visit
with, with our people and I, I come on back home.
I love everybody up there. I mean, they've been so great to
me, the writers and people I've met a long way from Nashville.
And it's a very interesting town, man.
It's got a lot of history, especially if you start getting
out past Nashville, you get intoFranklin, you know, you get into
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all these Civil War stuff. And I'm a big history buff too.
So I mean, I like all that stuff.
But man, traveling back and forth, that's, that's pretty
much what I'm going to continue to do.
I mean, I'm, I'm looking at a pretty good view right now on
the front porch, so. It must come with some pretty
fun Rd. stories going back and forth.
(10:36):
Oh, you know, they are. I mean, you spend that much time
on the road, you see a lot of weird stuff.
I made it fun on the road. You know, I try to, we stick
with the business and we're all about business and making sure
we can make the best music ever night.
But you know, you got to break it up every once in awhile.
You got to get out there. You got it.
You still got to have fun doing what you doing what you love for
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a living. And I had a old fella one time
tell me that if you find your job that you absolutely love,
you'll never work another day inyour life.
So I've tried to live by that, you know, do do what I love, do
what I want to do. And keeps me pretty Dang happy.
You also live by the mantra All grit, no quit.
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Where did that come from? All grit, no quit man.
That's that's something I've lived by for a long time, just
digging down deep within yourself, you know, finding
yourself and, and, and trusting,trusting in yourself.
Get knocked down, get up, dust it off, get up, do it again.
Eventually it's going to work. I promise you.
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I just man, I've, I've never been one to back up or lay down,
no matter what it is, whatever kind of music that I write, how
I play my shows, you know, I'm not saying I'm some outlaw
because I'm not. I just have a certain way of
doing things and that all grit, no quit that goes into
everything that I've ever done with it, rodeoing or working
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cows or working on pickup or or playing my show.
I go out at full force and I expect nothing different from
the people that I surround myself with.
Do you have any real life examples where you've kind of
had to put that quote or mantra into play?
Yeah, a few times. A few times here lately, I've
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had to tell myself, hey, come on, let's get it.
Live by what you live by what you preach.
And three years ago, August had a pretty Dang bad horse
accident. It put me down for several
months. And truth be told, even after a
year and a half, almost two years, it still wasn't right.
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But I was outperforming. I had a horse step on me at my
place and by the time I got to the hospital I'd almost bled
out, bleeding internally, didn'tknow it, waited around, finished
up chores and said Dang I betterget to the hospital.
So they got in there, they opened me up and cut 1 foot of
small intestine out and then putme back together.
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And two months later I was back on a horse.
And about that same time I got back to playing music, playing
shows. I knew that if I took off any
more than what I had to, that that my band and my crew would
suffer. That's not that's not something
that I take lightly. My band and my crew, they're my
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family and everybody's got to eat.
So when you got to pull yourselfup by your bootstraps and go,
hey, it stings a little bit, butwe can make it through a 90
minute show, so let's do it. I lived on, you know, the canned
oxygen. We'd my, my stage manager would
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wrap them in black gas tape. That way they're not seen from
the crowd. And I would sing a song, go back
there and take a puff of a couple of puffs off that fresh
air can and get back at it. But we are, I'm proud to say
that we are back at it full force.
I'm healthier than I've ever been, you know, looking at life
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a lot different. There's been quite a few times
I've had some close calls like that.
But that one, that one really opened me up to, Hey, you're not
18 anymore. You're not invincible.
So let's, let's slow down, kind of look at the look at the finer
things in life and, and, and live a little, you know, live a
little longer, I guess. That, that accident definitely
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showcased how tough you are because your doctors compared
that accident to a really bad car accident and you were
already like, right away, like how do I get out of this bed
and, and get back to work? Yeah, I mean, it was, I was, I
was asking the next morning, youknow, whenever I come to, you
know, how long is it like when, when we getting back to work and
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I was telling my tour manager atthe time, hey, man, I'm going to
dust this off. We'll be back at it next week.
Keep the fires on. Unfortunately, it it didn't work
out that way, which I don't sit very well either.
So I'm it, it I was steadily chomping at the bit to to get
back to normal, get back to whatmy life was all about.
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And you know, that was sitting on the back of the horse being
able to ride again and getting back to playing music, writing
music, putting records out. COVID got us on this, this
record that we just released. It set us back a while.
And then we had the the horse wreck in August and it set us
back another small patch. And that's the way it is, man.
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I mean, just to live by the all grit, no quit and to try to put
out the best music that we can. I mean, this, this new record
coming out, it's going to be, it's going to be something else.
After you healed up from the therodeo accident, one of your
nurses came to see you in concert.
Yeah, Miss Dan, she, she was my nurse that walked with me all
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the time. And that was the big deal.
You know, you got to get out of bed and you're going to go for a
walk. Sometimes a stubborn man will
push his limits. And you know, this little old
nurse, no bigger than, you know,maybe 5 foot, she come in there
and said, hey, we're going to walk today.
And I said, I don't, I don't think so.
Well, they will get you out of bed and they will make you walk.
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And we became very good friends and and my short stay there.
And I told her, you know, every time that she would walk in, it
was during COVID and all you seen was the mask, but she seen
their eyes and you can tell thatthey were tired.
Just a lot going on at that time.
And we had a lot of talks. You know, what it was like rodeo
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and what it was like being a horseman, what it's like being
an entertainer. You know, what's it like being a
nurse? What's it like?
You know, all these things. And I promised her the day that
I left, I said, next time that you see me, it won't look like
this. Sure enough, she came to my
second show back with which was the Conroe Cajun Catfish
Festival. I, I rounded the edge of the bus
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there and I, I literally, I seenher eyes and I knew exactly who
it was because I never got to see her face.
That was a pretty big moment forme.
I mean, it was, it was one of those deals that that person
took care of me. They cared for me long enough
to, long enough to get me all patched up and back to normal.
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And, you know, I just, I just give them a little bit back.
And that was with the show. That must have been pretty cool
to see each other in in a different way.
Like she saw you in your elementperforming and then you were
able to see her kind of finally relaxing out of work and just
kind of being her. Yeah, yeah, it was, it was very
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different and but it it's one ofthose things that a lot of times
those nurses never get to see the outcome.
Definitely, yeah. And, you know, they, they work
on you, they put you back together and, you know, away you
go and they that it's just another face.
You know, they just did a job. Just like we were talking about
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our military buddies earlier. My buddies tell me all the time
and thank them. Hey, man, thank you for your
service. They said we just went and did a
job. And that's the same way that
these nurses think. But when one of them actually
gets to see the reward of a healthy patient, somebody that
pulled through something that death was looking him in the
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eye, and we bounced back from it.
I thank the good Lord every day that I had nurses like her
around me, doctors like that, that that put me back together.
Yeah, it's it's real special. Your your son.
He's following in your rodeo footsteps.
Yeah, he's he, he's on the otherside of things.
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He's on the team roping side. You know, he's he's doing pretty
good and got him two good horsesgoing down the road.
And you know, I'm awful proud ofhim.
He's he stepped up. He's become a a great young man.
I'm hearing from from multiple people, you know, his bosses
that he worked for and he's guiding these days and stuff,
(19:12):
bird hunting and all. And just to hear that you did a
good job raising him, that's pretty special to me.
But yeah, he's he team ropes. He's on the head and the
hillside. He's better at it than I ever
was. Has he ever had any interest in
music? I'll shoot.
Yeah, man, he's a he is what I would call the natural.
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Not just because he's my kid, but he picked up the guitar and
I showed him three chords and that was it.
And I left him alone, truth be told.
He and I fought like cage Badgers over over what chords
write chord and how to play a song correctly and stuff like
that. But I turned him loose.
I said you figure it out on yourown.
And he has become a exceptionally well guitar player
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and writing some songs, him and some some guys down here,
younger artist, younger artist, writer, they've teamed up.
They've started writing songs together and all that.
He told me a long time ago, he said, Dad, I don't want to have
to do this like you did. You did this for a living.
I don't know if it's the living that I want.
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I told him I said I'm I'm perfectly fine with that.
That way you follow your own path.
You, you carve out whatever you want to.
And musician, being a singer-songwriter might not be,
you know, the path he wants to go down.
He might want to go rope. He might want to be a fireman.
I had to make my own way. So it's kind of one of those
(20:40):
things I want to give him the opportunity to to do his,
although being supportive at thesame time.
These these kids, I mean, they get a lot of pressure put on
them, especially rodeo. And all that I could do is just
like I told him, I could be yourcheerleader back here.
One that one that cheers you on.You know, I can't go out there
and do it for you. But same way with music, I mean,
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play your guitar, play your rig,practice your craft, get better.
Truth be told, that's just me and dad.
One-on-one, I guess. I I interviewed Matt Mason a
couple weeks back and he has a song with his daughter.
That'd be pretty cool if you guys had a song together one
day. Yeah, one of these days we might
(21:22):
collaborate on something. I did write one on this record
about him. It's called Walking in My Boots.
It's funny, you know, like how how these songs get written.
You know, that's not one that I left home with in my head that
I'm just going to go right. It was during the the middle of
the the pandemic stuff and I couldn't fly because my license
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had expired. Well, you couldn't go to the dot
and get your license back. So I took the bus to Nashville
to go right. On my way up there, I called
Jason, asked him. I said, hey, man, you know, did
you get your boots ordered? We're sponsored by Finolio Boots
there in Fort Worth in the Kona.And he said, yes, Sir.
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I said, well, what time did you get?
He said I had to get a 12. I was like, Dang, so you're big
enough to be walking in my bootsnow, You know, just kind of
small talk and get in the writing room with White Mccovey
and Carson Chamberlain and thought, man, what do you want
to write about? You know, we're just throwing
things up against the wall. And I told them that story.
And they were like, there's yoursong.
(22:27):
It just, it came out walking in my boots, doing what I do
everywhere I've been is where he's headed to.
Just like, that's what the song's about, really becoming a
young man. But yeah, it's on the, it's on
the new record. And I think, I think any, any
daddy that's got a son will relate to the song some way,
(22:47):
somehow. Yeah.
I mean, the day that he and I collaborate on something,
that'll be a cool day, I promiseyou that.
I really enjoyed watching the the video that the Opry put out.
It was a a tour that you went onbefore you had your Opry debut.
That was a lot of fun watching you take that tour and you were
like lighting up like a little kid looking at all the monuments
(23:09):
and names on the walls of some of your idols.
Man, I mean, that's as a kid, you know, going back to growing
up around music or whatever, as a kid, I mean, you grew up
watching Austin City Limits in the Grand Ole Opry.
For my chance to, to even be, you know, mentioned in that
(23:30):
realm was huge to me. It's something that that I
worked hard for all of my career, all, all of my life,
I've dreamed about it. And to get to go backstage and
walk in Little Jimmy Dickens dressing room and Porter
Wagoner's dressing room and seeing stuff that I had only
seen in a book, our own TV, and I'm getting to walk the halls
(23:55):
was one of the coolest things I've ever done.
To get to step in the circle. I mean, I was nervous during
sound check. I made them cover it up with a
rug because I didn't want to step in that circle until I sang
to that audience. I noticed that.
I thought that was neat. Mark Wills told me that night.
Buddy of mine. God, such a talented individual.
(24:19):
He was there that night and kindof, you know, introducing me
around and and which the the members of the Opry, they do.
And Mark told me, he said, listen, he said don't, don't
rush it. Love it a little.
Stay there for as long as you can.
Soak it all in before you just go up and sink.
(24:43):
And I'm telling you right now, I'm lying If I'm dying, I'm
dying if I'm lying. There's a force within that
circle that you feel energy. I don't know if it's the nerves.
I don't know what it is, but it's Dang near spiritual.
And we had a great crowd. My debut Opry, Opry debut, you
(25:06):
know, heck, half of Texas showedup.
Friends, family, all it, it, it was a, it was a, a dream come
true to get to play the Opry. You know, was, was one of the
big dreams. And now the next on the list is
playing the rhyming and going and playing Red Rocks in
Colorado. Everybody has red rocks on their
list. Well, that seems like that's a
(25:28):
special place if you've never been my man, that's I got to
stand on the deck a few years ago on stage and look up, you
know, just being a, being a, being a tourist, stopping in
just to see what it was about. And man, it's just amazing.
It's it's, it's huge. I thought the the song choice a
(25:50):
cowboy can. I thought that was a fitting
song choice for your Opry debut too.
Yeah, why not? If you're going to ride for a
brand, you know, stick with it, You're going, you're going to
talk to everybody about being a cowboy and pulling yourself up
by your bootstraps and all that kind of stuff.
Like sing the song for. I love how you compare and
(26:11):
contrast like everyday life to rodeo life in in that song.
Well, it's, it's, it's one of those things that I've, I've
lived pretty hard and fast all my life, even from a very young
age, you know, I've learned thatnobody is going to give you
anything in this life. Buckles, participation awards,
(26:37):
all those kind of deals, you gotto earn them.
Yeah, I, I kind of revert back to the rodeo or the cowboy way.
And you know, that's just grit that's bear down.
Get a gut full of gravel and go get it.
If you want it bad enough, you can have it, but you don't have
to work for it. That's kind of where that that
(26:57):
motto and all of that stems from.
Go to work earning, you know, work hard for everything that
you got. So what's the story?
Did you attend ski school at Music Fest or no?
No, I did not. So, oh man, I can tell everybody
I got my old knees. I don't.
(27:18):
I don't know if I could set a set of skis and much less a
snowboard. I mean, I think it would be
really cool to do it. But myself at this age now, and
I'm not sounding like an old man, I'm just being smart.
Yeah. I don't need any Torrey CLS or,
you know, hip hopped out of socket or, you know, I've, I've
had all that stuff before ridingbucking horses.
(27:40):
So I don't, I don't want to go do it, you know, like that.
But it's it's always fun to go up there to Steamboat.
I mean, you get to hang out withyour pals and and all that, but
no ski school for me. I mean, no snowmobile.
Yeah, I'll, I'll do that. Maybe even the dog sled.
(28:03):
The dog sled look really cool. Horses in the Backcountry, you
can't beat. You can't ever beat that.
I've got buddies, band members and close friends of mine.
They're like, come on, dude, it's easy now.
Now I know better. I'll be like Chevy Chase in that
movie. Where where where he greased up
(28:23):
that old disk and shot down there.
That's that's that's what I'd ride.
I'd ride a inner tube probably. Let the dogs do all the work
you. Know I mean that I think that'd
just be a beautiful setting behind some some sled dogs and
going through the Backcountry. Hey, man, you're, you're seeing
stuff that nobody, nobody's seen.
You, you mentioned Cody Johnson a little bit while back, you
(28:47):
made a trip to the East Coast onhis tour, right?
Oh yeah, Went West and went E that gum man.
I think that year we were, we did a lot of dates with them.
I got to do some pretty, pretty cool stuff with Kojo.
You know, I got to play the the Troubadour there in California.
That's where Guns and Roses got their start.
(29:08):
And Elton John when he first came to the states, that's,
that's one of the biggest clubs he'd played, you know, so that
was a feather in my hat. And thanks to Cody for dragging
me around. You know, we went up and played
Cal Poly up through there and wehad a lot of good times on the
road. I've I've cut, cut a Cody
Johnson song and had some reallygood success with it in my on on
(29:29):
one of my records and hell, we still play it today.
Broken heart. But yeah, Cody and his family
are, are some great folks. They really are very giving
person and yeah, I'm I'm proud to call him friend.
How close to New England did youguys get on that tour?
New England. Let's say we were Norfolk.
(29:51):
That was that was the last placethat I remember being E Far
East. Man, that's it's been a minute.
Have you ever been to any of theNew England states before?
No, I haven't. I'm hoping this year that we
can, that we can venture out further that way.
(30:13):
It's kind of weird, but you know, I'm getting to this whole
social media game kind of late, which, you know, it's in my
truth, never. Too late because you could blow
up in like 5 seconds. You could, and then they'd say
you're an overnight success, right?
That's true. That's true.
That's a good point. But yeah, man, I mean, if the
(30:36):
heck, if it was up to me, I'd still have a flip phone, you
know? But I'm just that old school.
I mean, I'm not, I'm not illiterate by any means, but
it's like it, it's just a lot for me to keep up with.
And I'm pretty Dang simple. But I have been dabbling in the
videography stuff. It's been fun.
(30:57):
I've got to be me, you know whatI'm saying?
They're like, don't act, don't, don't put on this front of what
you got to be. Be you.
And you know, at first you're nervous because you you know
that you've you've worked so hard on the brand and you won't.
You want yourself portrayed as this, this good person.
And I just, I get nervous when when videos are in other
(31:21):
people's hands, you know, but weall should.
It's fun. It's really fun.
We get to interact with each other, get the, we get the fans
involved, which is fun. But yeah, I'm hoping with that
we stretch our wings out a little further east, get up here
and see you guys. I mean, if I knew that I had a
(31:42):
string of a string of clubs up there that would accept us in,
we'd probably be gone in a heartbeat.
So it's just, it's just buildingthat following up there, man.
And we've reached out to the West Coast, not got as far as
you guys, but on the east side. But heck, we've covered every
part in between, I can tell you that.
But we'd love to come up there. Really would would love to come
(32:04):
up there and and grow our fan base and just spread country
music around everywhere that we can.
When you do it, make sure it's in the summer because I'm on a
night like tonight, I'm startingto freeze my butt off.
I'm I? I was wishing I was in Texas.
It gets a little little chilly up there on you guys a little
sooner than than we do down. Here.
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it's it.
(32:26):
It was 81 when I pulled up and the temps dropped a little bit.
Means it's evening time. It's actually peaceful to set
out on the back porch and not sweat your butt off, you know?
That sounds nice. Yes, Sir.
Did you really find your song Whiskey and Whitley on Myspace?
Yes, Sir, I sure did. It was it was Buddy Owens,
(32:49):
Myspace. Oh wow.
Yeah, that was the only clean version that I could find of
that song. I I heard, I heard Kevin Denny
do it. It was like on a YouTube deal.
It was at this bar and it just, it wasn't good audio, hearing
beer bottles in the back clinking and people talking and
stuff. And I'm like, man, I really like
(33:10):
the lyrics of this song. I just, I can't hear it good
enough to know what it is. And I started digging and stuff
and ran across Buddy Owns Myspace Whiskey and Whitley, and
it was Kevin Denny doing the demo.
And I was like, wow, that was the Best Song that I had heard
(33:30):
ever. And man, it's, it's crazy how
things work. That was, I mean, that was my
space days. You know, that was what early
2000s, right? And literally I, I was paddling
around with two of my buddies, former singer-songwriter Jodie
(33:50):
Booth and John Slaughter. They, they both had Texas
careers. And we, we were coming back from
an acoustic show. We used to do a little trio show
and all right, man, we're going to write 1 called Whiskey and
Whitley. And I was like, I'm in the back
seat of the van and I'm like, Nope, can't do, it's already
been done. So I had to pop their bubble,
right? Let them listen to it.
(34:11):
And that was kind of a funny part of that story.
Fast forward years, few years, Iguess.
I was in Nashville up there writing.
I was writing with a guy named David Chamberlain.
He wrote, am I blue? What's going on in your world?
A lot of George Strait hits, man.
We just, we, we couldn't get nothing done that night.
(34:33):
You know, it, it wasn't, it wasn't working.
And David's a great rider, though.
My buddy said, hey, Singletary is playing in town, Darrell
Singletary. And shoot, I couldn't close my
guitar case up fast enough. And we jumped in the truck and
went down there. It's cold and it was cold.
It was freezing outside and walkin and about the time Darrell
(34:57):
said, I'm going to I'm going to do a few more songs.
I'm going to let my buddy KD close it out.
Well, come to find out, Kevin Denny was there in the crowd.
And I I asked the gentleman, youknow, that he was there with.
I said, you think if I bought Kevin a beer that he'd sing
whiskey and Whitley, the guy waslike, yeah, I bet you would.
(35:19):
You know, he kind of looked at me and you know, I went up there
and made the request and that ended up being Buddy Owens.
We we got talking and they were like hey man, you should cut
that song. And I about fell out.
You know, I mean Kevin gave me this blessing on the song as
well and I came home and I cut it.
(35:41):
That proved to me Broken Heart and Whiskey and Whitley are the
2 songs that proved to me that country music is not dead.
Country music is still being played on the radio and it will
still sell. Those two songs right there, if
you ask me, is what put me on the map.
(36:03):
Don't change the recipe, you know what I'm saying?
So I've been, I've been country as long as I can remember.
And it just took those couple ofsongs to kind of push it of what
you really are, what you're really about.
And now, you know, you, you lookback on those records there and
(36:23):
look at what we have now. We're still pounding out the
same message. Good country ballads, sad
heartbreak songs, rocking beer joint, you know, beer clinking
anthems. That's what's selling right now.
Everybody's doing really well doing this.
Zach Top, Braxton, Keith, you name it, country is cool.
(36:45):
My buddy actually, me and Terry McBride wrote a song with me,
Terry and Bryce Long. It's on his new record.
It's called cool to be country again.
I mean, heck, you can't get no better than that.
I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm proud to be country and right country
music. But man, right now is a good a
good spot for all of us to be in.
(37:07):
Hey, I thought you said you wereslow to the social media thing.
Myspace put you on the map, man.Well, yeah, I get it.
I'm good enough at chicken pecking around on that on that
keyboard. You know, I'm a I'm a one finger
warrior. If if I can't voice text, it
(37:28):
more likely I'm not returning that e-mail.
Oh man, I'm a big voice texter too, but it always gets it
wrong. Oh, I know it.
I know it. I, I can send some stuff and I'm
my buddies will be like, what are you talking about?
And I'm like, well, I guess it just didn't pick up on my
country. Country slang.
Yeah. You you have some cool hats.
(37:49):
A lot of your hats are custom made.
Oh, yeah, Yep. We, we get our hats built over
there at Standard Hat Works in Waco.
Buddy of mine, Cameron Morris, he's, he's been putting hats on
me since probably since the first record.
I can always count on him and build me a good one.
And he, he has, he's built some Dang good ones over the years.
(38:12):
A lot of Beavers. I've got a mink.
I've even got a chinchilla that don't hardly get wore as much.
I know he'd like me to wear it awhole lot more, but man, it's
it's just too Dang nice of a hatfor me to go out there and screw
up in about 15 minutes because I'm pretty good at doing it.
I'm I'm excited for this new album though.
(38:33):
It you you mentioned the accident and COVID this, this
album's been like 4 years in themaking, right?
Yeah, it's, it's been a long time coming, right at four
years. And Dang, we didn't know, you
know, I mean, we didn't know thewhole world was going to set
down. We didn't know, you know, I was
going to get throwed off. You know, I can honestly tell
(38:53):
you that me, myself, the, the spiritual man that I am, I mean,
it's all in God's timing. If you want to ask me.
That's, that's the way I look atit.
And maybe it wasn't time for me to put out that record.
We can blame it on the economy or whatever, but there's a
reason this record's special. It took everything that I had to
(39:19):
put it together. It took everything that I had to
write the songs. It took everything that I had to
come back from that. And we're finally getting to see
it. Every song that that is on that
record, myself, Drew Hall, KerryWest, we produced that record.
(39:41):
So if there's a flaw, if there'sa glitch, if there's whatever,
it's on us. I can say that about this record
and not being boastful at all, because I'm the most humble guy
you'll ever meet. But that's my work.
And if it's a flaw in there, I'll admit that I did it.
But me listening to it, the restof the people that's got to hear
(40:04):
it, it's pretty Dang special. It's the first record I've been
able to. Sat down and listen to in its
entirety without skipping it being my own record because it's
like, OK, you dive into records,you start hearing what you wish
you would have done right. This one here is just it it's
(40:29):
special. The guys that played on it, Nate
Kuhn from Aaron Watson, I mean you, you name it that we, we
call him the A list cutting crew.
I mean all all the boys from Aaron Watson's camp was on in.
Travis Bishop plays keys for Neil McCoy, man, guitar player.
(40:51):
Bryce. He was with Aaron's band.
I mean, we, we even brought Steve Murray in.
I don't know if you remember. Perfect stranger.
You have the right to remain silent.
That song. I've heard of it.
I don't know if I've heard the song, but I've heard do.
Do do yourself a favor and download download Perfect
Stranger the hits. That is country music right
(41:14):
there. Steve Murray is the lead singer,
was the lead singer Perfect Stranger And this guy playing
acoustic guitar is like a freaking Rolex watch.
He is put together and his timing isn't off.
And I got to invite Uncle Steve back in and he played rhythm
(41:34):
guitar on the back part of the record.
And I was man, I, I just, it's like all the stars aligned.
Every puzzle piece was there. And I'm like, this record is,
it's everything that I ever thought it'd be.
So that's my little, my little rant, my brag on my own record.
But it ain't bragging. It's just being proud of it.
(41:54):
It sounds like this is a new chapter for you.
It is, it's a whole new big chapter, a lot of different
ways. You know, we're, we're seeing
doors open that we've never never had open before.
So got a great band. You know, everything's clicking
down the road Good and prayers are being answered.
Heck, that's all you can ask for.
(42:16):
I mean, if we go hit a lick thisyear and you know, we can, we
can do better than we did last year, I'm happy if we can go hit
a lick. And, you know, somebody wants to
sign me to a major deal. You never know the answer to
that. You know, I've, I've known guys
that signed deals that sit thereand was like, you know, best
thing I ever did. There's guys that say I don't
(42:37):
know why I did. I just know that that if
something good comes along, I ain't going, I ain't going to
turn my nose up at it. But it's due time, I guess.
Good Lord willing in the Creek don't rise.
We'll have something good at theend of the year.
With the stories that you've shared, it seems like the title
track Same old cowboy, Differentrodeo.
(43:00):
That must have a very deep meaning for you.
Yeah, it's in my mindset. I'm still 18.
I might not do what I used to. I might not do what I used to as
well anymore. But same old cowboy, different
rodeo. I mean, we still got a song.
We still got a show that just living your life day-to-day,
(43:24):
living right, trying to do rightby you and everybody else.
For people that are excited about this album, 3 songs are
already out. Dancing with the Devil, Same Old
Cowboy, Different Rodeo, and Loving where it's going.
Those three are already out and then you're going to be putting
out a couple more right before the actual release date.
Right before the actual release date we'll get, we'll have this
(43:49):
one that's out right now. Same old cowboy, different rodeo
here. In the next shoot, probably next
four or five days, we will release another one that's going
to be honky tonk time that Jake Worthington and I wrote the last
one in December before the full length record drops in January
is going to be better on a bar stool.
(44:11):
And that's the song that Bryce Long and Randall King had
written that I got a hold of. That's pretty beard joint anthem
song. So we're getting to open up the
NFR there, the National Finals Rodeo here in December and
that's going to be our opening song.
So it's going to tie in well with with the release of with
(44:33):
that single and and the rest release of the record.
You have some pretty impressive Co writers on some of these
songs, right? Oh, yeah.
I mean, I, I think they're some of the best riders in the world.
Wyatt Mccubbin, he's he's from alittle town, Selma, Ohio, and he
lives in Nashville now. He and his wife and two new
(44:55):
babies. Now, this guy is the one of the
best rider riders that I've I'vehad the privilege of riding
with. And a friend of mine, Jake
Worthington, introduced T and I together and first time we ever
wrote, flew up there to his mom and dad's house.
And there's about 3 foot of snowout on the ground and I ain't, I
ain't never seen any snow like that.
(45:16):
So they welcomed me in like family and shoot me and White
went out there, that little cabin and rode, I think, think
we rode 6 off that whole record had a damn good time.
And I mean, I, I've got Bryce Long, Terry McBride, I mean Sam
Banks, so many Jacob Boyd, the the list goes on on these guys.
(45:41):
I mean, they've, they, they're good at their craft and they're
young guys too. Guys like Ronnie Vines.
I mean, I wrote together with Ronnie Vines and he's just a
great writer too. I mean, I've, I've literally
have had the, the pleasure of surrounding myself with some of
the greatest writers ever. And it's when you when you get
(46:06):
to ride a good one and it does good, they don't mind coming
back and writing a few more. You know, you make lifelong
friends by doing that. So I was on the phone with
Carson Chamberlain today talkingto him about a Zach Top song
that he had sent me a while back.
I told him I said, I said, hey, I know that Zach's blowing up
(46:26):
pretty good, but might need you to check on that song for me
because I'm I'm pretty interested in cutting it.
Just wanted to make sure Zach didn't have hold on it because
he's doing pretty, pretty Dang good for yourself.
Yeah, he's awesome. Yeah.
You have a tattoo I want to ask you about.
You have a tattoo that represents hitting rock bottom
(46:46):
and coming back. Yeah, it's the phoenix wings.
Phoenix wings with a, with a Lone Star in the middle of it.
You know, everybody knows the story about the phoenix and fell
into the fire, fell into the ashes and like a rebirth, you
know, that's kind of kind of my been been my career off and on
(47:09):
for for many years. And it's, it's, it's really,
really digging down deep in yoursoul, figuring out how much of
this that you want. And I love it.
I love the challenge. So, yeah, to, to fall down to,
to, to take a break, set back and evaluate what's going on was
(47:30):
probably one of the hardest things I ever did in 2011.
That didn't last very long. I had to get back to playing
music because I missed it that much.
Yeah, I mean, it. It does it.
It symbolizes falling into the fires and rising from the ashes.
I really connect with you on on the Tattoo because I have a
(47:50):
phoenix as well and it's holdingup a pocket watch to represent
Life is Short. Hey, live it, brother.
That's it. What did old Matthew McConaughey
say? Livin brother Live.
Is there anything else that you'd like people to know about
(48:10):
the the new album? Man, just the you know it drops
January 17th is the full length record.
I mean, just share it, share it,share it, share it, share it
with your Mama, share it with you auntie, share it with the
grandkids. We want to.
We want to do good this year. We got a lot of folks that that
(48:32):
worked hard on this record that deserve it.
So yeah, man, share it. Give it away.
Be be that, buddy. That, that, that that jumps in
your partner's pickup truck and hijacks his radio.
Be that. Well, Josh, I think we had a
(48:53):
successful Josh and Josh show. You bet, buddy, we'll have to do
it again soon. Absolutely.
It was a blast being able to chat with you and share
information about this new albumwith people in in New England.
Man, I can promise you this much.
I will do everything in my powerin 2025 to try to get us a New
(49:14):
England date. That would be awesome.
We, we want to come up there andsee you guys.
We just got to let it thaw out alittle bit.
Yeah, don't come now. It's getting cold.
Yeah. Well y'all be good man, thank
you so much. You're very welcome.
I, I got some homework to take care of.
I got to look up that song. Thank.
(49:35):
Thanks so much for coming on man.
You bet, we'll see you soon. That's going to do it for this
reposted episode of Country on Deck.
Thanks so much for joining us. I really appreciate that.
We'll be back with new episodes.Get ready for that.
I'm really pumped. Thanks so much for listening.
I'm Josh Maddie, and this is country on Deck.
(50:04):
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 phone heart the wonder hearts
(50:32):
that a bone from dirty Rhodes, she writes.
Angelines Capture the Journey shares their fights.
Country on this, We're tuning in.
Well, the new star stories are coming in and the small town
(50:55):
dreams they're gonna take you away.
Country on day with drunk man 8.Thank you so much for listening
the Country on Deck with Josh Maddie.
Josh is back at his desk every Thursday talking with a new
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(51:17):
Follow country on deck on socialmedia.
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This week on Country on Deck. There's a reason this record's
special. It took everything that I had to
put it together. It took everything that I had to
write the songs. It took everything that I had to
come back. And we're finally getting to see
(00:22):
it. Discover the stories of rising
country stars Country on Deck with Josh Maddie.
Kick off your boots and settle him country on this.
(00:45):
About to begin. Josh Maddie's here stars on the
rise, voices of hope, dreams in their eyes, singer songwriters
stories on phone. Hearts are wandered hearts that
(01:05):
are bone dirty roads, she writes.
Angelines captures her journey shares their fights country on
this we're tuning in well the new star stories are coming in
(01:27):
from a small town dreams they'regoing to take you away country
on date with. Hello and welcome to another
episode of Country on Deck whereI sit down with today's rising
country stars and help you discover the stories behind
(01:48):
their music. I'm your host, Josh Maddie, and
we're taking a fall vacation. I really hate taking weeks off,
but I'm going to try to enjoy it.
And I hope you enjoy these reposted episodes, a couple of
episodes from the past that we're really excited to share a
second time. Excited to put the spotlight on
(02:09):
these artists once again. Artists that we've talked to in
in the past. Don't forget our writers round
is coming up at the Barn in Groton, CT on November 12th
starting at 7:00. It's a free event, no cover
charge. All about community, all about
celebrating songwriters and their music.
(02:30):
Nick Bossy on this lineup. Isabel Spears.
Alex Medeiros. Raquel.
Raquel Hawkins. It's going to be a really,
really great night of original music.
We're doing it just like they dodown in Nashville, so consider
coming out and spending the night with us on November 12th.
It's a Wednesday again at 7 in Grotten at the Barn.
(02:52):
In the meantime, sit back and enjoy this reposted episode of
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The ultimate experience on this week's episode.
This guy is an absolute superstar out in Texas and he's
had quite the musical journey. When you think of this guy, you
think of him as country music, traditional country music and
(04:20):
rodeo. And he's got a brand new album
coming out. It's four years in the making.
It's a new chapter for for this guy.
I'm so happy to to have him on the show and help share his
story and help you learn a little bit more about him.
The new album coming out January17th.
Same old cowboy, different rodeo. 3 songs already released
(04:44):
so far. Dancing with the Devil, that
title track, Same old cowboy, different rodeo.
And loving where it's going on the show this week.
Josh Ward. Josh, thanks so much for for
coming on man. You bet man, thanks for having
us. Absolutely.
It's the this week. It's the Josh and Josh show,
Yeah. Yeah, the the double J.
(05:10):
Of course, I'm, I'm sure you're,you're well aware of this.
Earlier in the week it was veteran's day.
We celebrated veteran's day. What does a day like that mean
to you? Means the world man.
Those boys and girls are over there fighting for what we love
the most. That's our country.
Without them we wouldn't get to lay our head down on a pillow at
night with with these that we get to.
(05:32):
Has anyone in your your family served?
Yeah, I've got a couple cousins that served I, I never got to
serve myself. Lots of buddies, though.
Lots of friends that have serveddifferent branches in the
military. You know, some of those came
home, some of them didn't. So that's that's why it is very,
very important to me. Veteran's Day, any, any time
(05:53):
that we can celebrate our military is big to me.
Music. You've been doing music like
your entire life, since you werea little kid, right?
When you were in church? Oh yeah, my grandmother had me
in church choir at a very young age.
My grandpas and uncles, they listen to Merle Haggard and
George Jones and Straight and all those guys.
And, you know, my memo was firstFirst Baptist Church, Sunday
(06:18):
prayer meetings and everything else.
So I was very, very influenced by music.
A lot of, lot of different music, too.
You know, I was a sponge when I was, I was a kid, man.
I just loved it. You know, radio always had to be
on, you know, if I was in car. Yeah.
It's been a big part of my life for a long time.
(06:39):
When did you discover that you wanted to pursue it
professionally? As a kid growing up, I mean, I
always wanted to always wanted to have that opportunity.
You know, every kid dreams aboutputting in a band together and
getting out on the road and going and playing the big shows.
But I guess is in my early 20s, I mean, I was, I was still
(07:02):
rodeoing and stuff and my hauling partners, my buddies
that I rodeoed with, they were some of my first audience.
And it was I, I got told a lot that I sucked.
You know, my, my, my buddies helped me through the fire, you
know, So they made me get better.
They made me want to strive to learn and, and get better at
(07:22):
playing guitar and all that. But yeah, man, I'd sit behind
any bucket shooter on a tailgateof a pickup truckery on a
bonfire and play the play a songto anybody who'd listen.
Heck, man, somehow that turned into somehow that turned into
making a living at it, which I wouldn't trade anything for all
the amount of money in the worldif you'd told me to do things
(07:44):
different, man. I mean, I've, I've lived a
pretty good life of seeing the world rodeoing and oilfield and
music's taking me down that samepath.
So I did Pretty Dang good if youask me.
Man, those must have been some tough first performances with an
audience like that. Yeah, they were.
Your buddies are always tough onyou.
(08:05):
But man, it you know what I'm I'm, I'm thankful that I had
every experience when it comes to music.
You know, I've had the I've had the hey, man, you need to go
back to the drawing board or heyman, you're a natural.
So I mean, all of those things made me who I am today as a
singer, having those buddies that holds your feet to the
(08:26):
fire. And then you you realize that
you graduated up to a different caliber of musician than those
musicians that are around you are holding you accountable to
be disciplined as a musician. So yeah, man, it's a, it's a,
it's a lot, but we come out all right.
(08:48):
You're a big celebrity out in Texas.
You're a big deal out there. Oh, shoot, man.
I wouldn't say a big celebrity. I always tell people I'm one of
the most normal guys you'll evermeet.
I just have a really cool job title.
But no, man, I mean, we've we'restapled down here in Texas.
I mean, we've been doing it forever.
(09:09):
Texas is home base and you know,you got greats like Cody Johnson
and Jake Worthington, Braxton and all these guys.
And I mean, Texas is a, Texas isa big old state and it's got a
lot of talent in it. You know, it has for very many
years going all the way back to the Houston days and the George
Strait days and all that stuff. I mean, Texas has put out some,
(09:31):
some pretty heavy hitter musicians and I'm, I'm proud to
be part of that group. What's it like?
You said Texas is your home base.
What's it like living in Texas and then making trips to
Nashville rather than like beinglocated full-fledged in
Nashville? It must be a little different.
Well, I mean it, it is, but, butI love it.
(09:51):
I go up there and, and write my songs and, and, you know, visit
with, with our people and I, I come on back home.
I love everybody up there. I mean, they've been so great to
me, the writers and people I've met a long way from Nashville.
And it's a very interesting town, man.
It's got a lot of history, especially if you start getting
out past Nashville, you get intoFranklin, you know, you get into
(10:14):
all these Civil War stuff. And I'm a big history buff too.
So I mean, I like all that stuff.
But man, traveling back and forth, that's, that's pretty
much what I'm going to continue to do.
I mean, I'm, I'm looking at a pretty good view right now on
the front porch, so. It must come with some pretty
fun Rd. stories going back and forth.
(10:36):
Oh, you know, they are. I mean, you spend that much time
on the road, you see a lot of weird stuff.
I made it fun on the road. You know, I try to, we stick
with the business and we're all about business and making sure
we can make the best music ever night.
But you know, you got to break it up every once in awhile.
You got to get out there. You got it.
You still got to have fun doing what you doing what you love for
(10:58):
a living. And I had a old fella one time
tell me that if you find your job that you absolutely love,
you'll never work another day inyour life.
So I've tried to live by that, you know, do do what I love, do
what I want to do. And keeps me pretty Dang happy.
You also live by the mantra All grit, no quit.
(11:21):
Where did that come from? All grit, no quit man.
That's that's something I've lived by for a long time, just
digging down deep within yourself, you know, finding
yourself and, and, and trusting,trusting in yourself.
Get knocked down, get up, dust it off, get up, do it again.
Eventually it's going to work. I promise you.
(11:41):
I just man, I've, I've never been one to back up or lay down,
no matter what it is, whatever kind of music that I write, how
I play my shows, you know, I'm not saying I'm some outlaw
because I'm not. I just have a certain way of
doing things and that all grit, no quit that goes into
everything that I've ever done with it, rodeoing or working
(12:01):
cows or working on pickup or or playing my show.
I go out at full force and I expect nothing different from
the people that I surround myself with.
Do you have any real life examples where you've kind of
had to put that quote or mantra into play?
Yeah, a few times. A few times here lately, I've
(12:23):
had to tell myself, hey, come on, let's get it.
Live by what you live by what you preach.
And three years ago, August had a pretty Dang bad horse
accident. It put me down for several
months. And truth be told, even after a
year and a half, almost two years, it still wasn't right.
(12:44):
But I was outperforming. I had a horse step on me at my
place and by the time I got to the hospital I'd almost bled
out, bleeding internally, didn'tknow it, waited around, finished
up chores and said Dang I betterget to the hospital.
So they got in there, they opened me up and cut 1 foot of
small intestine out and then putme back together.
(13:06):
And two months later I was back on a horse.
And about that same time I got back to playing music, playing
shows. I knew that if I took off any
more than what I had to, that that my band and my crew would
suffer. That's not that's not something
that I take lightly. My band and my crew, they're my
(13:26):
family and everybody's got to eat.
So when you got to pull yourselfup by your bootstraps and go,
hey, it stings a little bit, butwe can make it through a 90
minute show, so let's do it. I lived on, you know, the canned
oxygen. We'd my, my stage manager would
(13:47):
wrap them in black gas tape. That way they're not seen from
the crowd. And I would sing a song, go back
there and take a puff of a couple of puffs off that fresh
air can and get back at it. But we are, I'm proud to say
that we are back at it full force.
I'm healthier than I've ever been, you know, looking at life
(14:08):
a lot different. There's been quite a few times
I've had some close calls like that.
But that one, that one really opened me up to, Hey, you're not
18 anymore. You're not invincible.
So let's, let's slow down, kind of look at the look at the finer
things in life and, and, and live a little, you know, live a
little longer, I guess. That, that accident definitely
(14:32):
showcased how tough you are because your doctors compared
that accident to a really bad car accident and you were
already like, right away, like how do I get out of this bed
and, and get back to work? Yeah, I mean, it was, I was, I
was asking the next morning, youknow, whenever I come to, you
know, how long is it like when, when we getting back to work and
(14:53):
I was telling my tour manager atthe time, hey, man, I'm going to
dust this off. We'll be back at it next week.
Keep the fires on. Unfortunately, it it didn't work
out that way, which I don't sit very well either.
So I'm it, it I was steadily chomping at the bit to to get
back to normal, get back to whatmy life was all about.
(15:14):
And you know, that was sitting on the back of the horse being
able to ride again and getting back to playing music, writing
music, putting records out. COVID got us on this, this
record that we just released. It set us back a while.
And then we had the the horse wreck in August and it set us
back another small patch. And that's the way it is, man.
(15:35):
I mean, just to live by the all grit, no quit and to try to put
out the best music that we can. I mean, this, this new record
coming out, it's going to be, it's going to be something else.
After you healed up from the therodeo accident, one of your
nurses came to see you in concert.
Yeah, Miss Dan, she, she was my nurse that walked with me all
(15:58):
the time. And that was the big deal.
You know, you got to get out of bed and you're going to go for a
walk. Sometimes a stubborn man will
push his limits. And you know, this little old
nurse, no bigger than, you know,maybe 5 foot, she come in there
and said, hey, we're going to walk today.
And I said, I don't, I don't think so.
Well, they will get you out of bed and they will make you walk.
(16:22):
And we became very good friends and and my short stay there.
And I told her, you know, every time that she would walk in, it
was during COVID and all you seen was the mask, but she seen
their eyes and you can tell thatthey were tired.
Just a lot going on at that time.
And we had a lot of talks. You know, what it was like rodeo
(16:44):
and what it was like being a horseman, what it's like being
an entertainer. You know, what's it like being a
nurse? What's it like?
You know, all these things. And I promised her the day that
I left, I said, next time that you see me, it won't look like
this. Sure enough, she came to my
second show back with which was the Conroe Cajun Catfish
Festival. I, I rounded the edge of the bus
(17:06):
there and I, I literally, I seenher eyes and I knew exactly who
it was because I never got to see her face.
That was a pretty big moment forme.
I mean, it was, it was one of those deals that that person
took care of me. They cared for me long enough
to, long enough to get me all patched up and back to normal.
(17:28):
And, you know, I just, I just give them a little bit back.
And that was with the show. That must have been pretty cool
to see each other in in a different way.
Like she saw you in your elementperforming and then you were
able to see her kind of finally relaxing out of work and just
kind of being her. Yeah, yeah, it was, it was very
(17:48):
different and but it it's one ofthose things that a lot of times
those nurses never get to see the outcome.
Definitely, yeah. And, you know, they, they work
on you, they put you back together and, you know, away you
go and they that it's just another face.
You know, they just did a job. Just like we were talking about
(18:08):
our military buddies earlier. My buddies tell me all the time
and thank them. Hey, man, thank you for your
service. They said we just went and did a
job. And that's the same way that
these nurses think. But when one of them actually
gets to see the reward of a healthy patient, somebody that
pulled through something that death was looking him in the
(18:29):
eye, and we bounced back from it.
I thank the good Lord every day that I had nurses like her
around me, doctors like that, that that put me back together.
Yeah, it's it's real special. Your your son.
He's following in your rodeo footsteps.
Yeah, he's he, he's on the otherside of things.
(18:50):
He's on the team roping side. You know, he's he's doing pretty
good and got him two good horsesgoing down the road.
And you know, I'm awful proud ofhim.
He's he stepped up. He's become a a great young man.
I'm hearing from from multiple people, you know, his bosses
that he worked for and he's guiding these days and stuff,
(19:12):
bird hunting and all. And just to hear that you did a
good job raising him, that's pretty special to me.
But yeah, he's he team ropes. He's on the head and the
hillside. He's better at it than I ever
was. Has he ever had any interest in
music? I'll shoot.
Yeah, man, he's a he is what I would call the natural.
(19:34):
Not just because he's my kid, but he picked up the guitar and
I showed him three chords and that was it.
And I left him alone, truth be told.
He and I fought like cage Badgers over over what chords
write chord and how to play a song correctly and stuff like
that. But I turned him loose.
I said you figure it out on yourown.
And he has become a exceptionally well guitar player
(19:57):
and writing some songs, him and some some guys down here,
younger artist, younger artist, writer, they've teamed up.
They've started writing songs together and all that.
He told me a long time ago, he said, Dad, I don't want to have
to do this like you did. You did this for a living.
I don't know if it's the living that I want.
(20:19):
I told him I said I'm I'm perfectly fine with that.
That way you follow your own path.
You, you carve out whatever you want to.
And musician, being a singer-songwriter might not be,
you know, the path he wants to go down.
He might want to go rope. He might want to be a fireman.
I had to make my own way. So it's kind of one of those
(20:40):
things I want to give him the opportunity to to do his,
although being supportive at thesame time.
These these kids, I mean, they get a lot of pressure put on
them, especially rodeo. And all that I could do is just
like I told him, I could be yourcheerleader back here.
One that one that cheers you on.You know, I can't go out there
and do it for you. But same way with music, I mean,
(21:01):
play your guitar, play your rig,practice your craft, get better.
Truth be told, that's just me and dad.
One-on-one, I guess. I I interviewed Matt Mason a
couple weeks back and he has a song with his daughter.
That'd be pretty cool if you guys had a song together one
day. Yeah, one of these days we might
(21:22):
collaborate on something. I did write one on this record
about him. It's called Walking in My Boots.
It's funny, you know, like how how these songs get written.
You know, that's not one that I left home with in my head that
I'm just going to go right. It was during the the middle of
the the pandemic stuff and I couldn't fly because my license
(21:44):
had expired. Well, you couldn't go to the dot
and get your license back. So I took the bus to Nashville
to go right. On my way up there, I called
Jason, asked him. I said, hey, man, you know, did
you get your boots ordered? We're sponsored by Finolio Boots
there in Fort Worth in the Kona.And he said, yes, Sir.
(22:05):
I said, well, what time did you get?
He said I had to get a 12. I was like, Dang, so you're big
enough to be walking in my bootsnow, You know, just kind of
small talk and get in the writing room with White Mccovey
and Carson Chamberlain and thought, man, what do you want
to write about? You know, we're just throwing
things up against the wall. And I told them that story.
And they were like, there's yoursong.
(22:27):
It just, it came out walking in my boots, doing what I do
everywhere I've been is where he's headed to.
Just like, that's what the song's about, really becoming a
young man. But yeah, it's on the, it's on
the new record. And I think, I think any, any
daddy that's got a son will relate to the song some way,
(22:47):
somehow. Yeah.
I mean, the day that he and I collaborate on something,
that'll be a cool day, I promiseyou that.
I really enjoyed watching the the video that the Opry put out.
It was a a tour that you went onbefore you had your Opry debut.
That was a lot of fun watching you take that tour and you were
like lighting up like a little kid looking at all the monuments
(23:09):
and names on the walls of some of your idols.
Man, I mean, that's as a kid, you know, going back to growing
up around music or whatever, as a kid, I mean, you grew up
watching Austin City Limits in the Grand Ole Opry.
For my chance to, to even be, you know, mentioned in that
(23:30):
realm was huge to me. It's something that that I
worked hard for all of my career, all, all of my life,
I've dreamed about it. And to get to go backstage and
walk in Little Jimmy Dickens dressing room and Porter
Wagoner's dressing room and seeing stuff that I had only
seen in a book, our own TV, and I'm getting to walk the halls
(23:55):
was one of the coolest things I've ever done.
To get to step in the circle. I mean, I was nervous during
sound check. I made them cover it up with a
rug because I didn't want to step in that circle until I sang
to that audience. I noticed that.
I thought that was neat. Mark Wills told me that night.
Buddy of mine. God, such a talented individual.
(24:19):
He was there that night and kindof, you know, introducing me
around and and which the the members of the Opry, they do.
And Mark told me, he said, listen, he said don't, don't
rush it. Love it a little.
Stay there for as long as you can.
Soak it all in before you just go up and sink.
(24:43):
And I'm telling you right now, I'm lying If I'm dying, I'm
dying if I'm lying. There's a force within that
circle that you feel energy. I don't know if it's the nerves.
I don't know what it is, but it's Dang near spiritual.
And we had a great crowd. My debut Opry, Opry debut, you
(25:06):
know, heck, half of Texas showedup.
Friends, family, all it, it, it was a, it was a, a dream come
true to get to play the Opry. You know, was, was one of the
big dreams. And now the next on the list is
playing the rhyming and going and playing Red Rocks in
Colorado. Everybody has red rocks on their
list. Well, that seems like that's a
(25:28):
special place if you've never been my man, that's I got to
stand on the deck a few years ago on stage and look up, you
know, just being a, being a, being a tourist, stopping in
just to see what it was about. And man, it's just amazing.
It's it's, it's huge. I thought the the song choice a
(25:50):
cowboy can. I thought that was a fitting
song choice for your Opry debut too.
Yeah, why not? If you're going to ride for a
brand, you know, stick with it, You're going, you're going to
talk to everybody about being a cowboy and pulling yourself up
by your bootstraps and all that kind of stuff.
Like sing the song for. I love how you compare and
(26:11):
contrast like everyday life to rodeo life in in that song.
Well, it's, it's, it's one of those things that I've, I've
lived pretty hard and fast all my life, even from a very young
age, you know, I've learned thatnobody is going to give you
anything in this life. Buckles, participation awards,
(26:37):
all those kind of deals, you gotto earn them.
Yeah, I, I kind of revert back to the rodeo or the cowboy way.
And you know, that's just grit that's bear down.
Get a gut full of gravel and go get it.
If you want it bad enough, you can have it, but you don't have
to work for it. That's kind of where that that
(26:57):
motto and all of that stems from.
Go to work earning, you know, work hard for everything that
you got. So what's the story?
Did you attend ski school at Music Fest or no?
No, I did not. So, oh man, I can tell everybody
I got my old knees. I don't.
(27:18):
I don't know if I could set a set of skis and much less a
snowboard. I mean, I think it would be
really cool to do it. But myself at this age now, and
I'm not sounding like an old man, I'm just being smart.
Yeah. I don't need any Torrey CLS or,
you know, hip hopped out of socket or, you know, I've, I've
had all that stuff before ridingbucking horses.
(27:40):
So I don't, I don't want to go do it, you know, like that.
But it's it's always fun to go up there to Steamboat.
I mean, you get to hang out withyour pals and and all that, but
no ski school for me. I mean, no snowmobile.
Yeah, I'll, I'll do that. Maybe even the dog sled.
(28:03):
The dog sled look really cool. Horses in the Backcountry, you
can't beat. You can't ever beat that.
I've got buddies, band members and close friends of mine.
They're like, come on, dude, it's easy now.
Now I know better. I'll be like Chevy Chase in that
movie. Where where where he greased up
(28:23):
that old disk and shot down there.
That's that's that's what I'd ride.
I'd ride a inner tube probably. Let the dogs do all the work
you. Know I mean that I think that'd
just be a beautiful setting behind some some sled dogs and
going through the Backcountry. Hey, man, you're, you're seeing
stuff that nobody, nobody's seen.
You, you mentioned Cody Johnson a little bit while back, you
(28:47):
made a trip to the East Coast onhis tour, right?
Oh yeah, Went West and went E that gum man.
I think that year we were, we did a lot of dates with them.
I got to do some pretty, pretty cool stuff with Kojo.
You know, I got to play the the Troubadour there in California.
That's where Guns and Roses got their start.
(29:08):
And Elton John when he first came to the states, that's,
that's one of the biggest clubs he'd played, you know, so that
was a feather in my hat. And thanks to Cody for dragging
me around. You know, we went up and played
Cal Poly up through there and wehad a lot of good times on the
road. I've I've cut, cut a Cody
Johnson song and had some reallygood success with it in my on on
(29:29):
one of my records and hell, we still play it today.
Broken heart. But yeah, Cody and his family
are, are some great folks. They really are very giving
person and yeah, I'm I'm proud to call him friend.
How close to New England did youguys get on that tour?
New England. Let's say we were Norfolk.
(29:51):
That was that was the last placethat I remember being E Far
East. Man, that's it's been a minute.
Have you ever been to any of theNew England states before?
No, I haven't. I'm hoping this year that we
can, that we can venture out further that way.
(30:13):
It's kind of weird, but you know, I'm getting to this whole
social media game kind of late, which, you know, it's in my
truth, never. Too late because you could blow
up in like 5 seconds. You could, and then they'd say
you're an overnight success, right?
That's true. That's true.
That's a good point. But yeah, man, I mean, if the
(30:36):
heck, if it was up to me, I'd still have a flip phone, you
know? But I'm just that old school.
I mean, I'm not, I'm not illiterate by any means, but
it's like it, it's just a lot for me to keep up with.
And I'm pretty Dang simple. But I have been dabbling in the
videography stuff. It's been fun.
(30:57):
I've got to be me, you know whatI'm saying?
They're like, don't act, don't, don't put on this front of what
you got to be. Be you.
And you know, at first you're nervous because you you know
that you've you've worked so hard on the brand and you won't.
You want yourself portrayed as this, this good person.
And I just, I get nervous when when videos are in other
(31:21):
people's hands, you know, but weall should.
It's fun. It's really fun.
We get to interact with each other, get the, we get the fans
involved, which is fun. But yeah, I'm hoping with that
we stretch our wings out a little further east, get up here
and see you guys. I mean, if I knew that I had a
(31:42):
string of a string of clubs up there that would accept us in,
we'd probably be gone in a heartbeat.
So it's just, it's just buildingthat following up there, man.
And we've reached out to the West Coast, not got as far as
you guys, but on the east side. But heck, we've covered every
part in between, I can tell you that.
But we'd love to come up there. Really would would love to come
(32:04):
up there and and grow our fan base and just spread country
music around everywhere that we can.
When you do it, make sure it's in the summer because I'm on a
night like tonight, I'm startingto freeze my butt off.
I'm I? I was wishing I was in Texas.
It gets a little little chilly up there on you guys a little
sooner than than we do down. Here.
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it's it.
(32:26):
It was 81 when I pulled up and the temps dropped a little bit.
Means it's evening time. It's actually peaceful to set
out on the back porch and not sweat your butt off, you know?
That sounds nice. Yes, Sir.
Did you really find your song Whiskey and Whitley on Myspace?
Yes, Sir, I sure did. It was it was Buddy Owens,
(32:49):
Myspace. Oh wow.
Yeah, that was the only clean version that I could find of
that song. I I heard, I heard Kevin Denny
do it. It was like on a YouTube deal.
It was at this bar and it just, it wasn't good audio, hearing
beer bottles in the back clinking and people talking and
stuff. And I'm like, man, I really like
(33:10):
the lyrics of this song. I just, I can't hear it good
enough to know what it is. And I started digging and stuff
and ran across Buddy Owns Myspace Whiskey and Whitley, and
it was Kevin Denny doing the demo.
And I was like, wow, that was the Best Song that I had heard
(33:30):
ever. And man, it's, it's crazy how
things work. That was, I mean, that was my
space days. You know, that was what early
2000s, right? And literally I, I was paddling
around with two of my buddies, former singer-songwriter Jodie
(33:50):
Booth and John Slaughter. They, they both had Texas
careers. And we, we were coming back from
an acoustic show. We used to do a little trio show
and all right, man, we're going to write 1 called Whiskey and
Whitley. And I was like, I'm in the back
seat of the van and I'm like, Nope, can't do, it's already
been done. So I had to pop their bubble,
right? Let them listen to it.
(34:11):
And that was kind of a funny part of that story.
Fast forward years, few years, Iguess.
I was in Nashville up there writing.
I was writing with a guy named David Chamberlain.
He wrote, am I blue? What's going on in your world?
A lot of George Strait hits, man.
We just, we, we couldn't get nothing done that night.
(34:33):
You know, it, it wasn't, it wasn't working.
And David's a great rider, though.
My buddy said, hey, Singletary is playing in town, Darrell
Singletary. And shoot, I couldn't close my
guitar case up fast enough. And we jumped in the truck and
went down there. It's cold and it was cold.
It was freezing outside and walkin and about the time Darrell
(34:57):
said, I'm going to I'm going to do a few more songs.
I'm going to let my buddy KD close it out.
Well, come to find out, Kevin Denny was there in the crowd.
And I I asked the gentleman, youknow, that he was there with.
I said, you think if I bought Kevin a beer that he'd sing
whiskey and Whitley, the guy waslike, yeah, I bet you would.
(35:19):
You know, he kind of looked at me and you know, I went up there
and made the request and that ended up being Buddy Owens.
We we got talking and they were like hey man, you should cut
that song. And I about fell out.
You know, I mean Kevin gave me this blessing on the song as
well and I came home and I cut it.
(35:41):
That proved to me Broken Heart and Whiskey and Whitley are the
2 songs that proved to me that country music is not dead.
Country music is still being played on the radio and it will
still sell. Those two songs right there, if
you ask me, is what put me on the map.
(36:03):
Don't change the recipe, you know what I'm saying?
So I've been, I've been country as long as I can remember.
And it just took those couple ofsongs to kind of push it of what
you really are, what you're really about.
And now, you know, you, you lookback on those records there and
(36:23):
look at what we have now. We're still pounding out the
same message. Good country ballads, sad
heartbreak songs, rocking beer joint, you know, beer clinking
anthems. That's what's selling right now.
Everybody's doing really well doing this.
Zach Top, Braxton, Keith, you name it, country is cool.
(36:45):
My buddy actually, me and Terry McBride wrote a song with me,
Terry and Bryce Long. It's on his new record.
It's called cool to be country again.
I mean, heck, you can't get no better than that.
I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm proud to be country and right country
music. But man, right now is a good a
good spot for all of us to be in.
(37:07):
Hey, I thought you said you wereslow to the social media thing.
Myspace put you on the map, man.Well, yeah, I get it.
I'm good enough at chicken pecking around on that on that
keyboard. You know, I'm a I'm a one finger
warrior. If if I can't voice text, it
(37:28):
more likely I'm not returning that e-mail.
Oh man, I'm a big voice texter too, but it always gets it
wrong. Oh, I know it.
I know it. I, I can send some stuff and I'm
my buddies will be like, what are you talking about?
And I'm like, well, I guess it just didn't pick up on my
country. Country slang.
Yeah. You you have some cool hats.
(37:49):
A lot of your hats are custom made.
Oh, yeah, Yep. We, we get our hats built over
there at Standard Hat Works in Waco.
Buddy of mine, Cameron Morris, he's, he's been putting hats on
me since probably since the first record.
I can always count on him and build me a good one.
And he, he has, he's built some Dang good ones over the years.
(38:12):
A lot of Beavers. I've got a mink.
I've even got a chinchilla that don't hardly get wore as much.
I know he'd like me to wear it awhole lot more, but man, it's
it's just too Dang nice of a hatfor me to go out there and screw
up in about 15 minutes because I'm pretty good at doing it.
I'm I'm excited for this new album though.
(38:33):
It you you mentioned the accident and COVID this, this
album's been like 4 years in themaking, right?
Yeah, it's, it's been a long time coming, right at four
years. And Dang, we didn't know, you
know, I mean, we didn't know thewhole world was going to set
down. We didn't know, you know, I was
going to get throwed off. You know, I can honestly tell
(38:53):
you that me, myself, the, the spiritual man that I am, I mean,
it's all in God's timing. If you want to ask me.
That's, that's the way I look atit.
And maybe it wasn't time for me to put out that record.
We can blame it on the economy or whatever, but there's a
reason this record's special. It took everything that I had to
(39:19):
put it together. It took everything that I had to
write the songs. It took everything that I had to
come back from that. And we're finally getting to see
it. Every song that that is on that
record, myself, Drew Hall, KerryWest, we produced that record.
(39:41):
So if there's a flaw, if there'sa glitch, if there's whatever,
it's on us. I can say that about this record
and not being boastful at all, because I'm the most humble guy
you'll ever meet. But that's my work.
And if it's a flaw in there, I'll admit that I did it.
But me listening to it, the restof the people that's got to hear
(40:04):
it, it's pretty Dang special. It's the first record I've been
able to. Sat down and listen to in its
entirety without skipping it being my own record because it's
like, OK, you dive into records,you start hearing what you wish
you would have done right. This one here is just it it's
(40:29):
special. The guys that played on it, Nate
Kuhn from Aaron Watson, I mean you, you name it that we, we
call him the A list cutting crew.
I mean all all the boys from Aaron Watson's camp was on in.
Travis Bishop plays keys for Neil McCoy, man, guitar player.
(40:51):
Bryce. He was with Aaron's band.
I mean, we, we even brought Steve Murray in.
I don't know if you remember. Perfect stranger.
You have the right to remain silent.
That song. I've heard of it.
I don't know if I've heard the song, but I've heard do.
Do do yourself a favor and download download Perfect
Stranger the hits. That is country music right
(41:14):
there. Steve Murray is the lead singer,
was the lead singer Perfect Stranger And this guy playing
acoustic guitar is like a freaking Rolex watch.
He is put together and his timing isn't off.
And I got to invite Uncle Steve back in and he played rhythm
(41:34):
guitar on the back part of the record.
And I was man, I, I just, it's like all the stars aligned.
Every puzzle piece was there. And I'm like, this record is,
it's everything that I ever thought it'd be.
So that's my little, my little rant, my brag on my own record.
But it ain't bragging. It's just being proud of it.
(41:54):
It sounds like this is a new chapter for you.
It is, it's a whole new big chapter, a lot of different
ways. You know, we're, we're seeing
doors open that we've never never had open before.
So got a great band. You know, everything's clicking
down the road Good and prayers are being answered.
Heck, that's all you can ask for.
(42:16):
I mean, if we go hit a lick thisyear and you know, we can, we
can do better than we did last year, I'm happy if we can go hit
a lick. And, you know, somebody wants to
sign me to a major deal. You never know the answer to
that. You know, I've, I've known guys
that signed deals that sit thereand was like, you know, best
thing I ever did. There's guys that say I don't
(42:37):
know why I did. I just know that that if
something good comes along, I ain't going, I ain't going to
turn my nose up at it. But it's due time, I guess.
Good Lord willing in the Creek don't rise.
We'll have something good at theend of the year.
With the stories that you've shared, it seems like the title
track Same old cowboy, Differentrodeo.
(43:00):
That must have a very deep meaning for you.
Yeah, it's in my mindset. I'm still 18.
I might not do what I used to. I might not do what I used to as
well anymore. But same old cowboy, different
rodeo. I mean, we still got a song.
We still got a show that just living your life day-to-day,
(43:24):
living right, trying to do rightby you and everybody else.
For people that are excited about this album, 3 songs are
already out. Dancing with the Devil, Same Old
Cowboy, Different Rodeo, and Loving where it's going.
Those three are already out and then you're going to be putting
out a couple more right before the actual release date.
Right before the actual release date we'll get, we'll have this
(43:49):
one that's out right now. Same old cowboy, different rodeo
here. In the next shoot, probably next
four or five days, we will release another one that's going
to be honky tonk time that Jake Worthington and I wrote the last
one in December before the full length record drops in January
is going to be better on a bar stool.
(44:11):
And that's the song that Bryce Long and Randall King had
written that I got a hold of. That's pretty beard joint anthem
song. So we're getting to open up the
NFR there, the National Finals Rodeo here in December and
that's going to be our opening song.
So it's going to tie in well with with the release of with
(44:33):
that single and and the rest release of the record.
You have some pretty impressive Co writers on some of these
songs, right? Oh, yeah.
I mean, I, I think they're some of the best riders in the world.
Wyatt Mccubbin, he's he's from alittle town, Selma, Ohio, and he
lives in Nashville now. He and his wife and two new
(44:55):
babies. Now, this guy is the one of the
best rider riders that I've I'vehad the privilege of riding
with. And a friend of mine, Jake
Worthington, introduced T and I together and first time we ever
wrote, flew up there to his mom and dad's house.
And there's about 3 foot of snowout on the ground and I ain't, I
ain't never seen any snow like that.
(45:16):
So they welcomed me in like family and shoot me and White
went out there, that little cabin and rode, I think, think
we rode 6 off that whole record had a damn good time.
And I mean, I, I've got Bryce Long, Terry McBride, I mean Sam
Banks, so many Jacob Boyd, the the list goes on on these guys.
(45:41):
I mean, they've, they, they're good at their craft and they're
young guys too. Guys like Ronnie Vines.
I mean, I wrote together with Ronnie Vines and he's just a
great writer too. I mean, I've, I've literally
have had the, the pleasure of surrounding myself with some of
the greatest writers ever. And it's when you when you get
(46:06):
to ride a good one and it does good, they don't mind coming
back and writing a few more. You know, you make lifelong
friends by doing that. So I was on the phone with
Carson Chamberlain today talkingto him about a Zach Top song
that he had sent me a while back.
I told him I said, I said, hey, I know that Zach's blowing up
(46:26):
pretty good, but might need you to check on that song for me
because I'm I'm pretty interested in cutting it.
Just wanted to make sure Zach didn't have hold on it because
he's doing pretty, pretty Dang good for yourself.
Yeah, he's awesome. Yeah.
You have a tattoo I want to ask you about.
You have a tattoo that represents hitting rock bottom
(46:46):
and coming back. Yeah, it's the phoenix wings.
Phoenix wings with a, with a Lone Star in the middle of it.
You know, everybody knows the story about the phoenix and fell
into the fire, fell into the ashes and like a rebirth, you
know, that's kind of kind of my been been my career off and on
(47:09):
for for many years. And it's, it's, it's really,
really digging down deep in yoursoul, figuring out how much of
this that you want. And I love it.
I love the challenge. So, yeah, to, to fall down to,
to, to take a break, set back and evaluate what's going on was
(47:30):
probably one of the hardest things I ever did in 2011.
That didn't last very long. I had to get back to playing
music because I missed it that much.
Yeah, I mean, it. It does it.
It symbolizes falling into the fires and rising from the ashes.
I really connect with you on on the Tattoo because I have a
(47:50):
phoenix as well and it's holdingup a pocket watch to represent
Life is Short. Hey, live it, brother.
That's it. What did old Matthew McConaughey
say? Livin brother Live.
Is there anything else that you'd like people to know about
(48:10):
the the new album? Man, just the you know it drops
January 17th is the full length record.
I mean, just share it, share it,share it, share it, share it
with your Mama, share it with you auntie, share it with the
grandkids. We want to.
We want to do good this year. We got a lot of folks that that
(48:32):
worked hard on this record that deserve it.
So yeah, man, share it. Give it away.
Be be that, buddy. That, that, that that jumps in
your partner's pickup truck and hijacks his radio.
Be that. Well, Josh, I think we had a
(48:53):
successful Josh and Josh show. You bet, buddy, we'll have to do
it again soon. Absolutely.
It was a blast being able to chat with you and share
information about this new albumwith people in in New England.
Man, I can promise you this much.
I will do everything in my powerin 2025 to try to get us a New
(49:14):
England date. That would be awesome.
We, we want to come up there andsee you guys.
We just got to let it thaw out alittle bit.
Yeah, don't come now. It's getting cold.
Yeah. Well y'all be good man, thank
you so much. You're very welcome.
I, I got some homework to take care of.
I got to look up that song. Thank.
(49:35):
Thanks so much for coming on man.
You bet, we'll see you soon. That's going to do it for this
reposted episode of Country on Deck.
Thanks so much for joining us. I really appreciate that.
We'll be back with new episodes.Get ready for that.
I'm really pumped. Thanks so much for listening.
I'm Josh Maddie, and this is country on Deck.
(50:04):
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 phone heart the wonder hearts
(50:32):
that a bone from dirty Rhodes, she writes.
Angelines Capture the Journey shares their fights.
Country on this, We're tuning in.
Well, the new star stories are coming in and the small town
(50:55):
dreams they're gonna take you away.
Country on day with drunk man 8.Thank you so much for listening
the Country on Deck with Josh Maddie.
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.
(51:17):
Follow country on deck on socialmedia.
All social media links can be found by going to LINKTR period.
EE slash country on deck.
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