Greylan James | Singer/Songwriter

We had the honor of sitting down with country music sensation Greylan James on this week's episode of Melodies N' Memories podcast. Are you ready to learn about his humble beginnings in Knoxville, Tennessee, and how meeting Kenny Chesney at age 11 shaped his journey to signing a global publishing deal and a major record deal? Greylan bares all - from the challenges of self-producing his EP and showcasing his multi-instrumental skills to the emotional stories behind his hit songs.

In a world where songwriting is a constant balance between pleasing the audience and staying true to oneself, Greylan opens up about the tension he faced. How did he manage to choose the five songs for his EP, and what's the heartfelt story behind "Next Thing You Know"? We also dive into Greylan's incredible performance with Peyton Manning at Red Rocks and the moving inspiration for his song "Young Man."

As we explore the wild world of artist riders and Greylan's unique requests, you'll get a glimpse into his dedication to his craft and his love for country music. Tune in to this unforgettable episode and celebrate Greylan James.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I got a gift from God .
Hey y'all, this is Drew Green,and you were streaming the
Melodies and Memories podcastwith Jillian and Aaron Shriver.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Welcome to the Melodies and Memories podcast
with Jillian and Aaron Shriver,brought to you by Arlo
Revolution.
Each week, they connectmelodies and memories with fans
and singer songwriters from allgenres of life.
When all else in life is gone,music will be left to leave the
legacy of life's adventures.
Please welcome your hosts ofthe Melodies and Memories

(00:34):
podcast, jillian and AaronShriver.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Hello and welcome everyone to season seven of
Melodies and Memories podcast.
I'm your co-host, jillianShriver.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
I'm your host, aaron Shriver.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
And our mission tonight is to provide a platform
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We hope everyone listeningleaves inspired with a positive
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Speaker 1 (02:00):
Alright, i'm ready for tonight, you're ready for
tonight.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
I'm excited, let's go So this one.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
I gotta give you a little backstory.
This show tonight goes backwhat?
11 years, 12 years or so,pre-kids that's for sure.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
So before Joelle and I had kids, we used to.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
We lived right between Chicago and Milwaukee.
We were like 45 minutes northof Chicago, 45 minutes south of
Milwaukee.
And so we had a good friend inNashville and she'd bring some
artists through the town.
We always put up, let me say,at the house.
Cook them a nice meal orsomething, give them a nice
place.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I know about a nice meal.
I cook food.
Well, it's probably mostly wejust ordered out or something.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
But it was like Louis Price and Jacob Stiefel.
We've had them on the podcast.
And there was a third one wehad come through one time and
I'm like one day I want to havethem on the podcast.
And a couple years ago, when westarted the show, i'm like man.
That name came around again.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, we've had everybody on the show except for
him.
I think Emily.
Yeah, he's the one.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
But I just kind of wanted to wait because I saw him
start doing some big things.
I'm like, dude, give him acouple more years, this guy's
gonna have something.
Now he has probably like my topsix favorite song I've ever
heard in my life.
He is covering on And we'regonna talk a little bit about
that song.
But, guys, tonight it's gonnabe a long intro, but I'm just
gonna let you know.
now we welcome in GraylandJames for episode 166.
We watch his career grow overthe last 11 years and his

(03:08):
dedication and passion forcountry music has always been
apparent.
From his humble beginnings inKnoxville, tennessee, to signing
a global publishing deal And,just recently, a major record
deal, grayland has become one ofthe most promising talents in
the country music scene.
He's written songs for some ofthe biggest names in the
industry, including Chris Young,blake Shelton and Chris Jansen.
They even received a call fromhis hometown hero, kenny Chesney
, letting him know that he'scutting one of Grayland's songs.

(03:30):
Grayland started releasing hisown music in 2021, and shows no
signs of slowing down hispassion, dedication unlike
anything we've ever seen andsaying.
We are honored to discuss themelodies and memories that make
up his journey.
Let's welcome Grayland onWhat's up, buddy?
What's?

Speaker 5 (03:48):
going on.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Hello.

Speaker 6 (03:49):
Wendy.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
I was like oh, i got a breather.
That one.

Speaker 6 (03:52):
That's a good intro, though I think I'm gonna be
fired up Dude.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Like I said, i've been waiting for this show for a
while and I was gonna reach outa couple of years ago when we
first kicked this thing off.
I'm like, no, let's wait, let'swait.
So perfect time to have you ondude CMA Fest week.
You got a big week going on.

Speaker 6 (04:07):
Big week, dude.
I'm trying to get stressed,dude, And it's just, it's a lot,
man.
I got some family coming intown.
We're about to be tourists forthe week And it's gonna be fun,
man.
It's gonna be busy, a lot ofcountry music And I'm excited,
man.
I'm nervous but I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
I love that you still get nervous because you've been
doing this for so long, dude.
This is how I love about it.
So we went through this wayback and kind of get your
earliest music memory dude, justkind of what was playing around
the house growing up.
I know you started young, sojust kind of tell us what your
parents were listening to.

Speaker 6 (04:37):
Yeah, man, i grew up in Knoxville, tennessee, and
it's just kind of like thehotbed for country music, man.
I mean all the way back to ChetAtkins and Roy A Cuff and Dolly
Parton.
Man, i mean it goes back a longways And even to now.
You know we got Morgan Wallinand Kelsey Ballerini And it's
just something in the water outthere.
Just country music is alwaysaround.
And even if you're in a Mexicanrestaurant, bro, they ain't

(05:00):
playing nothing.
Mariachi, bro, they're playingcountry music in there.
It's just, it's a place thatcountry music was always around
me.
So growing up, i mean that wasthat's what we grilled hot dogs
to, that's what we watched theSuper Bowl to.
We didn't have the sound, wewere listening to country.
So I just I always was aroundcountry music.

(05:21):
My family loved it, so any andall kinds the stuff that was on
the radio at the time.
But my papo had Waylon Jenningson and took me and my brother
to school listening to Waylonand Willie and some of the
greatest hits of those guys.
So I got a.
I got a good lesson on country.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Oh man, I love that He gets your first guitar too,
when you're about five, right.

Speaker 6 (05:43):
He did, man, When I was, yeah, when I was five years
old, for Christmas he bought mea like a 30 or $45 guitar by
Walmart And it was supposed tobe just like another little toy
you bought for bought for a kid,you know, was like buying a
plastic drum set But I just Itook it too far, man.
I was obsessed with it.
And when I I that's one of myfirst like core memories I have

(06:06):
as a kid was looking at thatthing Like this is my instrument
for the rest of my life And andit was, and I remember I took
it in my bunk bed That made mybrother share and I played it to
my fingers, as my family likesto tell about it.
I did, man.
I played to my fingers bloodand I was just like this is it.
And really ever since thatnight, my, my, what I'm going to

(06:29):
do, never really changed.
And yeah, it kind of allstarted with that little guitar.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, and it's awesome because you and bro I
mean just talking about it whereyou were one point was it like
the top top guitarist under ageof 21?
Was it what?
was it Guitar magazine orGuitar World magazine or
something like that Or what?

Speaker 6 (06:48):
Yeah, Yeah, guitar Center.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
Guitar, Center.

Speaker 6 (06:50):
Yeah Yeah, they found me on YouTube like playing,
just stuff that I had learned inmy.
I learned in my bedroom.
But again, you know, i tookthat, that toy guitar, way too
far.
I've never been one to dothings halfway Man.
If I'm going to eat a, if I'mgoing to eat a donut, i mean the
whole thing.
So I, i just I wanted to begood at it.

(07:10):
I don't like being bad atsomething.
And so I just I started takingguitar lessons and my guitar
teacher didn't want to teach meBrad Paisley songs And I was
like I'm quitting, dude, i'mgoing to be seeing myself in my
house.
And I just I learned every notethat I heard on the radio And
before I knew it, there waspeople reaching out saying that
hey, you're actually good at thewhole guitar playing thing.

(07:31):
And I was like am, I that'scrazy.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
Did you use YouTube at all or anything to lean on?
Oh?

Speaker 6 (07:37):
yeah, youtube.
I was Googling everything onhow to play stuff And I mean I
was on my my parents likedesktop computer at the house
downstairs And I was justpressing like play rewind, play
rewind.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
I still remember learning on tab with your books
back in like the mid 90s.

Speaker 6 (07:50):
Oh, yes, yeah I never learned to read tabs.
It's things like I neverlearned to read tabs or like
read music.
I just I just watched guysfingers and was like okay, how
are they playing that, how arethey playing that?
And yeah, before I knew it Iwas like I actually kind of knew
what I was doing And I stilldon't know, like when it clicked
.
but it clicked one day and Iwent from being just really
terrible to a guitar centermagazine It was.

(08:12):
it was pretty crazy.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
I love that dude.
So we always ask also what wasyour first concert and what kind
of experience did you just takeaway from that?
What did you remember and kindof really could take your
experience from it?

Speaker 6 (08:23):
Man, it's actually a fun story.
I was actually on a not tospoil like the later talking
points, but I was.
I was on the bus with KennyChesney a couple weeks ago and I
had a show cancel and I waslike let's just go to Kenny show
in Evansville, It's close to.
Nashville, it's like two hoursnorth here, and I was like let's
just surprise Kenny.
So texted him.
He's like, yeah, come up.

(08:43):
And I was just sitting on thebus He was playing me a couple
couple new songs And somehow wegot on.
The talking point of everybodywas on the bus What's your first
concert?
And going around the room andthere was a couple people from
his label that were like youknow really cool stories like
Led Zeppelin or something, andthen it was like it was bad And
it was like Dolly Parton, kennyRogers and all these amazing

(09:06):
people And then Kenny looked atme and was like what was?
your first concert And I waslike you were my guy, He was
like no, when I was like when Iwas seven years old at Nieland
Stadium in Knoxville, tennessee,and I think it was like 2004.
And, yeah, 2004.
And he was, he's playing thehometown stadium And he brought

(09:27):
Peyton Manning on stage, broughtUncle Cracker on stage, kid
rock Yeah, that was my first, myfirst concert.
He didn't believe me And I waslike bro, i got the picture.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
I got the full circle moment.

Speaker 6 (09:39):
Yeah, I got the extra small tank top to prove it.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
And it's cool That's like one of his biggest shows
that he plays to that stadiumbecause hometown man Yeah.

Speaker 6 (09:47):
Oh, it was bro.
And he was like you're gonnawant to play one day, aren't you
?
I'm like yes, that is the goals.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
That'll probably be one of our questions later.
And we get a thing when we dothe hot seat.
The last question we always askthe kind of a goal, so I'll
probably that'll probably pop upagain.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, cool, cool But that's cool.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
We just going into that a little bit.
I have you got to meet KennyChesney when you're younger,
right, and he kind of is thatone.
You got to meet him that time,or no, it wasn't.

Speaker 6 (10:12):
You know, that was my first time seeing him.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
Okay, we're in deep seats, man, I mean because then
he'd tell you to stay in schoolonce because you got like a seat
or something, your dad kind ofraged you out against him.

Speaker 6 (10:21):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, i was in a bluegrass bandbecause where I was taking
guitar lessons was a littlebackwards East Tennessee guitar
store And they had a all theguys that worked there and the
guy that owned the store, theyhad a little little band, little
bluegrass band.
I was one of the guitar players, man on players in that little
group And we just play like alittle corporate events, little

(10:42):
tomato festivals, any kind offruit festivals around the area.
And then we got hired to playthis brewery for like this
private party And it was forAnheuser Bush.
And so we show up, we're justplaying, you know, like the
bluegrass classics, and all of asudden, like in the back and I
was a little fellow, i was likethree foot tall, i was 11.

(11:04):
And I saw in the back of thecrowd there was like everybody
huddled up in this one littlearea And I got a glimpse of it
was Kenny Chesney walking in AndI, just that was my guy.
You know, i think at the time Iwas probably wearing pukashell
necklaces, because Kenny Chesneywore pukashells And I was just
I mean, i was trying to, iprobably peed in my jeans, i

(11:26):
just couldn't believe it.
And you know, everybody'strying to talk to him after we
got the plan And my dad kind ofweasel away or back in there.
And a couple days before thatshow I got my first C in science
class.
I was always like a straight.
A kind of kid.
But I got my first C because ofslack and just you know,
learning guitar to try to get inmagazines and stuff And my, i

(11:51):
remember I told my dad I waslike you know, it's not a big
deal that I got to see I'm goingto be a country music star.
So I didn't know what amitochondria is Like, who needs
that, and he's like he needsstay in school.
So he he got me back to Kennyand of all things to ask Kenny
like advice on the musicbusiness, anything.
My dad asked him like, hey,this is my son Grayland.
He wants to be a country musicsinger but he just got his first

(12:13):
C in class.
Like he wants to be at homeschool.
Like what, what?
what do you think?
And Kenny was like, all right,stay in school and learn how to
write songs.
And then he just turned tostart talking to the next person
And that was pretty much it Andthat was the last I talked to
him until he, yeah, But did.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Did you know anything about songwriting before that,
before, like he said that to you, you know like songwriters
existed or anything like that.

Speaker 6 (12:37):
Oh no, not at all.
Yeah, i just learned my first.
You know G chord, c chord.
A.
So I I was just kind of gettinga dabble of you know playing
shows and being in a band a band.
But you know it, it was kind ofjust all, it all kind of
happened fast for me.
But you know, right after that,you know my, my grandmother,
who was also at that show, shewas kind of who got me started

(12:58):
in like singing lessons, Andbesides me she was the one
taking my dream seriously Andshe, she passed away a couple
months later after I met Kenny,and that was the first song I
ever wrote and You know, withoutthat that interaction with
Kenny, I don't know if I wouldhave ever thought about writing
songs and putting my thoughts tochords and music, but They kind

(13:21):
of just all happen, yeah, theway it's supposed to how old are
you when you wrote that song?

Speaker 1 (13:25):
11 11, 11 years.
Well, in those 11 years fromwhen the time you met Kays, you
wrote that song.
Did you kind of do any poetry,a journaling, anything like that
?

Speaker 6 (13:35):
No other than just writing about the times that
I've been rejected by girls.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
I feel that's all my high school, like journals or
just like all my breakups.

Speaker 6 (13:45):
Yeah, yeah.
You know, i just was alwayslike I Always thought that was
gonna do this.
I mean, this, this all kind offeels like the way it was
supposed to happen.
So even back then I was likeyou know, i'll write this song
like that girl doesn't know, butit's gonna be a hit one day.
And Even I was 13, you know,right in right in stupid songs.
But Yeah, i mean, i always waskind of looking around and being

(14:07):
like I could be a song, thatcould be a song after, after
that first song I wrote.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
So when did you finally jump from Knoxville to
Nashville and finally make themove?

Speaker 6 (14:16):
Yeah, you know, i was always telling my parents like,
hey, you know, you can, mydad's a restaurant designer.
I'm like you, you could alwaysdesign restaurants in Nashville.
They make restaurants inNashville too.
Like we should move, justalways trying to convince them.
But uh, you know, really, whenI was 18 I moved officially.
When I was 18 or 19, and Youknow, i was trying to decide

(14:36):
between college and working atHome Depot.
I didn't know what washappening because, you know,
like I said, i always thoughtthis was what I was gonna do,
but it wasn't really happening.
You know, i was playing showsand I had some cool things
happen in my life, but Nothingthat ever kind of like got the
ball rolling in the sense ofactually doing it and actually

(14:59):
be on the radio or All thethings in Nashville was a
missing piece.
And so, coincidentally, when Iwas about to have to start
applying for colleges, i gotreached out to by a publishing
company, which is basically justa Company that signs
songwriters to write songs for aliving and tries to get them
recorded by bigger artists onthe radio.
And they heard some of my songson YouTube and reached out to

(15:22):
my dad at the right time.
It was a summer of like 2014 or15, and they got in touch and
brought me to Nashville like thenext day and offered me a
publishing deal.
I had no idea what that was.
I never written songs withanybody else besides myself in
my bedroom, and They're talkingall this stuff about co-writing.
I'm like, what is that?
You know, and and they justtook a chance on me, and it for

(15:46):
$12,000 a year less than peoplewere working at McDonald's make
I moved here and started writingsongs and That kind of got the
ball rolling.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Oh yeah, dude, I'm flipping through some pictures.
I just found the flyer fromwhen you played Dukes and
Kenosha over here.

Speaker 3 (16:02):
I'm trying to figure out what data.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
Is it just a 16 year old Nashville artist on it?
So I'm trying to figure outwhat the year was.
But there's no year on.
It Just says June 20th.
But, dude, that was fun whenyou came up here and played up
here And that's kind of when wefirst There's swings at the bar,
the bar.

Speaker 2 (16:22):
They do the.
What is the?

Speaker 1 (16:25):
There's a wheel.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
They have the wheel, they have the bell like they
would ring the ball of that'slike, if you like, get iced or
whatever Iced thank you like thesmear-off ice you I get down.

Speaker 6 (16:34):
I think that's what it was, my brother was with me
and we were like, what ishappening Yeah?

Speaker 1 (16:43):
yeah, yeah, yeah, you had Phil with you from Ingram
Hill too, right, yeah, i thinkhe was out there.
That was.
That was a fun time for sure.
Then we were gonna have you.
What was my 30th birthday?
I think we were gonna have you,but that that fell through at
the last minute like, all right,that's what you're, you're
gonna come up your dad's likenow, no, that's me drinking,
They're me partying.
I think I was Bryson.
Jacob came and played thatnight.
I was like, all right, we'll dothat.
It was fun, dude.

(17:05):
And like even then I know youprobably don't talk about that
single much, but if I was likeElvis, but that's something that
kind of launched your career.
I was when your first singles aactually really you put out
there.
Wasn't it that you kind of likesaid, hey, this is who I am is
one day view, even though you'reonly what 16, 17 when that came
out, or Yeah, yeah, i mean,yeah, yeah, i think I was, i
think it was 15 or 16 and Yeah,that was definitely.

Speaker 6 (17:28):
That was the song that somebody Nashville heard on
YouTube and That was.
That was kind of the song thatgot this whole thing started.
If I had to trace it back towhat, what got me here Directly
would be that that song.
So, yeah, even even now, justpeople that show the shows and

(17:48):
They're like you didn't playthat song.
I'm like no kidding.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
That's all been pulled off Spotify.
Everything Good song, though.
Back then, man, it was awesome.
It was just cool, like justlike to see like we started off
and kind of like how you percentof yourself like that back then
is this.
It was cool, man, just to seewe start growing and Crossing
paths, and it was pretty cool,let's see your career at that
point.

(18:13):
So, um, so yeah, tell me alittle bit about You got.
You got just recently, gotsigned by big machine, but this
dates back for a while you'vebeen.
You wrote a letter to Rashad atone time.
Tell me a little bit about thisand how you went about doing
that.

Speaker 6 (18:27):
Yeah, yeah, you know, i keep saying it, you know I
was.
It never wavered that I wasgonna do this and I was gonna do
it.
What I do, whatever it takes toget to this point.
And I, i was opening for thisduo called steel magnolia the.
Tennessee Valley fair in like2012 or 2013, and I Remember it

(18:48):
was like the first time I'd openfor somebody.
We got to talk to somebody thathad a record deal.
You know I'd heard about thatelusive thing called a record
deal, for you know, since I wasa baby, since I was five, you
know that was like the thingthat I, when I would Google, had
to get a song on the radio.
He has a record deal and And soI open for this.
This duo at the fair that Iplayed every year and I Got to

(19:09):
talk to him for a brief moment.
They were the first, likeheadliner that I'd gotten to
talk to and have conversationwith and I'm gonna just flat out
asking like how did you get tothis point?
You're on a tour bus.
Like you got a song on theradio that I know like what was
like the thing?
Like don't tell me how youmoved to Nashville.
Like what was it like?
what got you here?
and You know they kept talkingabout the scoppor Shadda guy,

(19:29):
like scoppor.
Shadda scoppor Shadda and Iremember googling them and
around around the same time.
You know, this young girl,taylor Swift, was like popping
off and and just a handful ofthings that like kept getting
linked back to scoppor Shadda.
And Every time I Google likehow to move to Nashville, like
scoppor Shadda would pop up andHe's just everywhere that I use
the man.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
I was here always.
He was the man.
Yeah, I was like alright,where's this guy?

Speaker 6 (19:54):
live dude, and And and so I was like I'm gonna
write on the letter and put mydemo in the letter and.
This is, this is gonna be themoment, and it felt like very
storybook, and so I wrote him aletter with, like it was
basically a one sheet ofeverything I'd ever done in my
life, which shouldn't have beenlike as long as it was this,
like this big letter like that.
I hadn't done anything enough tofill up an entire page, but I

(20:19):
Did and gave him my phone number.
I was like you'll call me ifyou want to sign me and I I
guess he never got the letter.
But yeah, he Just recently manyhe heard some music, him and
his team, and Connected the dotsand I guess the letter got lost
in transit or something.
Yeah, finally signed me to arecord deal.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
That's cool because I did.
I've run letters.
I remember one that was guyfrom capital, mike Duncan, back
when church was signed to him.
I'm like, dude, why the hell areyou promoting these people over
here at church, bitch and butwhatever?
but it's always cool, Thoseletters always get lost for a
while.
But uh, dude, it was cool tohear that though, because it's
kind of like just talking aboutfull circle moments with Kenny
and then coming back to this one, it's just really cool because

(21:07):
you sent out this letter andyou're like, you're determined,
and that's where yourdetermination showed I ended up
is taking you to finally signthis deal.
So I got asked were you workingon some new music?
Yeah, it's been what since 2000?
what 22 or so last year whenyou put out the EP.
So you got anything coming out.

Speaker 6 (21:25):
Absolutely dude.
We're actually going to thestudio in a couple weeks to do
the first major label recordingsession, and so I've actually
never done that.
everything that I put out tothis point has been just stuff I
did in my bedroom and and at myhouse, and so Getting to go
like do the full thing, likeI've dreamed up since I was a
kid, going into the studio andbeing with producer and

(21:48):
Musicians and the label there atthe same time, it's gonna be.
it's gonna be super exciting.
So you know, we've got a Yeah,new music coming out, yeah, yeah
, really.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
So the EP we were talking about, you kind of did
almost everything a little bitof yourself, because you put
multiple instruments on it.
You all songs are covered in byyou.
You did yourself produce it aswell, so I did Dude, i'm really
cheap.

Speaker 6 (22:10):
I'd say that was, that was a lot of it.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
You're resourceful, you know.
You know how to utilize yourresources.
I'm a big.
I'm a big Tucker.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
Bethard fan and Tucker Tucker released that one
one time and I saw he playedguitar drums.
Now you go, i go, dude, youplay almost every instrument.
Why He goes?
man, i'm broke.
I was like all right.

Speaker 6 (22:29):
I got a mortgage now Yeah.
I got a lot of stuff.

Speaker 1 (22:34):
He's like you were to be a musician quick.
Yeah, exactly, That'simpressive as hell.

Speaker 6 (22:40):
Yeah, I just kind of stuff is done as I wanted to get
it done And it was cool and itgot me to this point, but I'm
I'm excited to to let peoplehear what what it sounds like at
the next level.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
Oh yeah, now, since that won't, that EP was self
produced.
What was it hard kind ofpicking what songs you finalized
on it, cause only had fivesongs or so on it.
Yeah, was it hard to narrow itdown to those Cause you you've
been writing since you said 11and you're finally going to be
out of EP.
I mean five songs since 11.
It's like damn 100%.

Speaker 6 (23:07):
Well, i think a lot of it was you know, I've had a
lot of songs recorded by bigartists that have, you know, a
lot bigger fan bases and thatcould get the songs heard by a
lot more people than I can, alot faster than I can, and so a
lot of the battle was you know,we've got great songs.
but you know, we'd been talkswith with record labels and we
were like, okay, like let's,let's put stuff out to kind of

(23:29):
like just get my name out there,but let's not put our best
stuff out.
You know, let's, let's kind ofput great songs out, but not the
, not the best ones that youknow we're kind of sitting on.
So those are kind of just likethe teasers and kind of like the
intro of kind of where thingsare going and we're about to
finally open the book.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Well, now, over the last few years that you started
becoming an artist, is it hard,when you write these really good
songs, letting them go and likegetting them held by other
artists or something like that,cause you're like dude.
Now I'm starting to do this.
I want these songs Like is itreally hard, or like what's been
the hardest one to let go.

Speaker 6 (24:02):
Yeah, it wasn't really hard until you know I got
a record deal, because beforethat, you know I was, i was
making a business decision oflike, okay, you know so and so
can get the song on the radio,you know, next month, you know.
Or for me, you know, i'm stilltrying to get a record deal and
trying to get the the correctdistribution to kind of get the
song actually heard by millionsof people.

(24:23):
And you know I didn't, i didn'thave that reach at the time And
so it was a little easier, youknow, especially if there was a
big artist involved and thatwanted the song that I written.
But now it's definitely gettinga lot more tricky because it
seems like every song that Iwrite now, you know right,
probably five or six songs aweek it feels like every, every

(24:44):
song or every other song is kindof getting in that predicament
of somebody else wanting it andthey try to decide like yo, is
this, someone want to sing therest of my life, like running by
the label, running bymanagement, publishing, and then
there isn't.
It's just it's a lot morepolitical than I imagine writing
songs would be, but it's a goodproblem to have to be the the

(25:04):
other way around.
You know where nobody likesanything.
True, very true.
I love it.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
And speaking of kind of writing some songs, i
mentioned a little bit in theintro like probably one of my
top five, six songs ever, dude.
Next thing, you know, dude,where did that song come from?
man?
Because the first time we heardit I think we were you and I
were both in tears, like I thinkwe were driving down the road
somewhere.
I don't know where we weregoing, we were, it was something
.
We were already kind ofprobably emotional, anyways, i
think something was going on Andwe heard that song.

(25:31):
We're emotional, No no, that'swhy I'm trying to figure out
what was going on when we firstheard it.
But like I don't know, it wasaround my birthday last year, my
turn 40 or whenever it was.
but we heard this song, dude,and we both looked at each other
and just tears are coming outof our faces.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Holy shit, where did this song come from?

Speaker 1 (25:45):
But dude, where did?
this come from Where was it foryou?

Speaker 6 (25:48):
We know we wrote the song in the.
This is my writing studio inhere at a first hole publishing
in Nashville And it's one of thefirst songs I'd written when I
moved in this office.
And it was crazy man, it waslike it was perfectly teed up
you know that that week I thinkit was, it was around the time
last year we were actually wroteit on my.
My pap always one of the guysthat got really got me started

(26:10):
in music And he had passed awaythat that that January and and
in June it was his firstbirthday in heaven.
I remember like June 14th washis birthday.
And I remember June 14th wascoming up and I was like, oh,
that's, that's going to be a,that's going to be a tough day.
And then my publisher called meand they're like Hey, jordan
Davis is going into cut on June18th, which is my birthday.

(26:33):
And he was like you know, he'sonly got, he wants to write one
more song and he's got a slotopen and they need a hit, like
they need a smash.
Like can you do you want towrite with with Jordan and a
couple of these other guys?
And I was like obviously yeah.
And I was June 14th.
And so we showed up that dayand it was me, chase McGill and

(26:54):
Josh Osborn, which are, you know, incredible songwriters and
have ever written way more hitsthan I have, and great dudes.
And we got here and Jordan,we're like did it get
miscommunicated?
Jordan showed up like 50minutes late.
50 minutes late.
We're like, should we get alunch?
Like what do we do?
And again, you know we'resupposed to write a hit today,

(27:16):
you know.
And then Jordan shows up andhe's like y'all got to leave at
at 1 30 and he got there likenoon And so we're like, oh God,
you know, we got, we got ahustle on this, and so we got
down here and started talkingand you know it was his son's
birthday, jordan's son'sbirthday, like the Sunday before
we wrote the song.
And you know he was just talkingabout how life was just kind of

(27:37):
getting away from him and timewas getting away from him And he
was like you know, i can seehow fast like 17 of these things
can go by, you know birthdaysAnd and he just wanted to, it
was, it was heavy on his heartAnd you know he said that title
next thing.
You know, and Chase McGill kindof started like talking about
that verse and just talkingabout how, let's just say that

(27:59):
title.
You know, like in aconversational sense, and before
we knew it we were writing asong about just the progression
of life and Josh Osborn's overon this couch just crying, and
Jason McGill had tears and I'mnot even in bed, you know, and
I'm even like getting tears inmy eyes and like I don't have
kids to be sad about, you know,and it was just a special song

(28:20):
and it happened fast because itwas just right about life.
You know, we got to the, we gotto the last chorus and talked
about, you know, grandparentsand it just it felt fitting
because, you know, my, my, mygrandfather was heavy on my
heart that day and it just feltlike one of those songs that was
meant to be.
But it never felt like it wassupposed to be a hit, like we
were supposed to write that day,because everybody told us we

(28:41):
need to write a hit today.
That's what Jordan needs.
And we wrote this ballad thatnever repeated the chorus and I
never I've not heard one ofthose songs on the radio and
since I've been alive, thatnever repeats a chorus and I
thought we messed up.
We wrote a really cool song butI thought we messed up and Two
weeks later the song was out, itwas blowing up and we were like

(29:03):
, oh god, we wrote somethingspecial and people made it a hit
and It's pretty crazy to seethe, the effect of a song and
the power can have Regent peoplefor sure.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
It's insane, because it's funny, because, like when I
, that's on the minute I heardit, the line where he goes How
you doing their dad, like yeah,i remember this text.
Like right after I became a dadfor the first time I had a
picture of me holding my son,probably minutes after he was
born.
I sent a text, my dad, and hereplied call me dad.
And I was first time ever heardthat.
I was like dude.
And the minute I heard thatline it took me right back to

(29:36):
that text message.
I have a freaking lost it.
I'm done.

Speaker 6 (29:42):
But that lines are getting thrown around and You
know the funny white hat, that'sdefinitely like the line that.
That got all of us choked upand yeah, remember, i remember
how it came up, but it wasdefinitely one of those.

Speaker 1 (29:54):
We looked around like that because I was there in
scrubs.
I was, i mean even in thepicture down off the Sunday that
pictures, or that picture, thattext on time.
They're holding the baby withthe scrubs on that.
Well, the pie had the white haton everything and then minutes,
that lyric came on Like dude,it's pretty wow.

Speaker 6 (30:09):
It's cool man Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
I love that.
It was cool because then, likethe first thing I did the minute
after I heard that line, ilooked up on Spotify.
I always hit song credits tolook and dude, i saw your name.
I looked at Jillian.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
I said oh my god, oh my god, oh.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
You gotta be kidding me.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
I was like this is really in song and she's like
are you serious?

Speaker 1 (30:30):
Yeah, dude, honestly, now was like another moment
being proud, definitely come bylike damn to this guy is doing
something.
All right this guy's just camethrough a couple times.
That was fun times We stillhave.
We're gonna have to frame itnow because after all these
years We still have things likean e-by-ten or 11 by 12 post.
Poster of the.
If I was Elvis poster.
Oh you know like thanks for letme crash your and signed it.

(30:52):
Yeah, i was like that.
I still got that summer downhere.
Yeah, i'm like I got framedthat put on the ball now.
So one of the coolest storiesfor me.
Just cuz I'm Chicago guy, if Iwatch basketball, i like
watching Chicago Bulls a littlebit.
Do you wrote with Jimmy Butlerand not maybe will know he's a
songwriter, he's a hell of abasketball player too.

(31:13):
But tell me a little bit aboutwriting with Jimmy Butler man,
and that's how that came to be.

Speaker 6 (31:17):
Oh, It's crazy, bro, like again he was in the studio
and you can't tell here.
But these, these ceilings arereally small for for five nine
guy They're perfect man, theymake you feel tall, but for
somebody is, yeah, six, eight,six, nine, they definitely
shrink on you and he was havingto walk down with his head down
and and get in here.
But That was wild.
Like I was just chilling at thehouse on a like a Sunday

(31:39):
afternoon and a buddy of mine,ben Hayslop, taxing me, is like
hey, do you want to write withJimmy Butler tomorrow?
and I was like it's just like anew Country artist in town or
it's like another Jimmy Butler.
You know, we got like Jordan.
Davis you know There's anotherJordan Davis in the NFL.
I thought was one of thosesituations but I Was like the

(32:04):
NBA player and he's like, yeah,you know he's heard a few of
your songs, He loves that.
That Kenny Chessing song youwrote and he wants to write and
I'm like I Even just to meet him, even if we don't write a song,
like I thought they just likemeet him and just say that I've
met him And so I got here, dude,and he shows up with like just

(32:26):
a bunch of dudes with them.
That is just kind of his, hiscrew of guys that we help him
train like make sure his hairlooks good.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
Like a posse.

Speaker 6 (32:40):
Yeah, yeah, like five or six, seven people with him
and They just came in andcramped in this little studio
with me, ben Hayslop and JesseAlexander, and We sat down and
you know we were talking aboutsongs and he had song titles
that were awesome and It wasjust a normal, just four people

(33:00):
getting together right in thesong and Roll a couple songs,
one of which I put out and it'spretty awesome.
You know, through the playoffsI've texted them and you know I
told him I keep it going, bro,you're, you're crushing it right
now and not that that's gonnapower him up for the playoffs.
But He takes me back.
He's like, yeah, i'm gonna winone for you, bro, it's pretty,
it's pretty sick, you know,especially like you know talking

(33:22):
to like hometown buddies thatyou know It's.
It's cool to know Kenny Chessand he's cool to know some other
people, but it's really cool toknow NBA player.
So, it's, it's a flex.
No, he's.
He's hooked me up with ticketsand, and you know as much as you
know I'm entertained by what hedoes for a living.
He's, he's equally asentertained by what we do.
And you know I can.

(33:43):
I can write songs with him.
I cannot play basketball withanother.
That's not, uh, not gonnahappen.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
Have you got the shooting hoops with them yet at
all?
No, that'd be cool.

Speaker 6 (33:50):
Yeah, you know what He invited me to pick up game.
Yeah, and so when?
and I was like, i strategicallydid not wear basketball shoes,
it's like you know, i want tosee what the vibes like they
were over at Lipscomb Universityand, and so they were at the
gym over there just playing apickup game and he's, like you
know, come out like play somehoops and shit.
I was like alright, you knowI'll come out and I Went, but I

(34:11):
was wearing my boots because,like you know, that's a good
excuse to not check in if it'sif it's too intense.
And I got there and he was likeit's just a couple buddies, you
know, like you probably won'tknow any of them, And I got
there.
It's like Parker McCollum camebrown.
Like which that list justsounds like famous people.
But it's not just famouspeople's tall, famous people.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
And again, you know, it's bringing it back.

Speaker 6 (34:33):
I'm five nine, you know, and I'm like, oh god, no,
you know, like Sam will box meout in the heartbeat dude, no,
i'll shrink really fast.
So I Did not do it.
I was like more of the coach,you know.
I was like drawing up plays,but I did not check in bro.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
I did not Love that.
Well, man, we talked a littleabout, about new music.
You're working on stuff.
What was the rest of yoursummer look like to you?
It's like I don't even wow withold meme and all over the place
You're gonna be up here inMilwaukee at summer fest coming
up soon.
Yeah, dude, what else?
What are you going on thissummer?

Speaker 6 (35:05):
We got a lot of dude.
We got a yeah, we got see mayfest this week, which is it's
pretty hectic.
We're playing in a Myrtle Beachfor Carolina Country Fest this
Friday night, and so Got a lotof that going on.
And then, yeah, we've got someof the minion shows left.
We got a lake Tahoe and someshows up in the Northeast with
old dominion and then, yeah,late summer, early fall, go out

(35:26):
with on tour with Colson L andJordan Davis speaking of, and so
, and Chris Lane is another onethat we're doing some tour dates
with.
So we're we're busy and Can bemore excited.
It's gonna be fun.

Speaker 1 (35:40):
Oh yeah, yeah, we got Jordan Davis coming here, I
think next week, or he's helpingMilwaukee at the Raven walk.
Have you ever been to have anyyet?
You're gonna get a chance.
You got to check out thiscreepy pool in the basement.
You probably heard about ithere in there But, dude, it's
crazy.
So we gotta get you back toChicago.

(36:02):
I know you already played Joe'son Weed Street again.
We gotta get you back overthere.
So.
But, or, carol's pub is ourplace in Chicago.
That's been booked, and sameguy looks out Joe's on Weed
books, carol's man.
Yeah, that'd be a great placefor you.
That'd be awesome.

Speaker 4 (36:12):
I'll come through sometime, yeah this episode is
powered by Poddex.
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(36:34):
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Speaker 1 (36:39):
Well, man, we're gonna move on to a couple fun
parts of the night.
Well, first our our sponsoredpart of the night.
Powered by Poddex, i pulled acouple cards earlier.
What's the disadvantage ofplaying things safe in your
career?
Oh?

Speaker 6 (36:52):
Man, I've never been one to play things safe.
Yeah, I think taking riskdefinitely sets you apart.
You know there's a I've learned.
You know, if you go toCalifornia Pizza Kitchen in
Nashville Do you like that, thatwaiter taking your order Mac
and like sing, every run in thebook He's a talented dude.
So Everybody is talented inNashville.

(37:13):
It's just like you knowprofessional sports, everybody's
talented.
It's the it's up, What's uphere, And you know that's a lot
of it's risk-taking and doingthings a little bit different
that stands you apart.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Yeah, i love that, so this is really a fun.
While it's kind of goingthrough these second cards, it's
kind of get cards againsthumanity type type of thing
these the sponsors, so it's kindof fun.
But I pulled out this card andit was a fun one.
If you could put somethingwacky on your rider, like no
green M&Ms or something it'llalways be fulfilled What would
it be?

Speaker 6 (37:39):
Oh, God you know what like recently I was at a casino
in Denver, colorado, actuallyin black Hawk, colorado, west of
Denver, and I've always wantedto try a martini and I've never
had a martini in my life and Ifinally did it.
I ordered martini at thiscasino and I'm obsessed, and so

(38:02):
On my rider.
At the moment It's just likevodka and red bull.
I'm thinking about changing itto like some martini ingredients
.
Dude, i loved it.
I loved a martini.
Everybody told me I hate it.
I love Bart martini's for myhouse.
So like whatever it's called,vermouth or something.
Yeah that's not what it is.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
Yeah yeah, yeah, it's like drive for mooth or
whatever.
I probably got something behindthe bar over here.
I haven't drank in almost fouryears.

Speaker 6 (38:31):
Yeah, yeah.
So yeah for mooth, that wouldbe on my rider for sure, all
right, that's cool.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
I used to work at a theater and I did hospitality
and we had some some strangerider rider requests.
I think the strangest I eversaw was b-52s.
They just had some wild stuffon there.
I was like all right, i don'tknow what they're doing in the
dress room.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
I'm just gonna let them be.
I'm not right.

Speaker 1 (38:48):
This is the wildest one with the weirdest band.
I was like all right, whatever.
so All right, well, this nextone is gonna be a little fun
dude.
So I kind of why I wasresearching for this show.
I kind of pick four songs, um,i'm gonna play five seconds each
song, um, just kind of that Ithink you might have a
connection with.
So the first thing when youhear the song, the first thing
comes to mind We'll talk aboutreal quick Uh, hit that yellow
one, babe.
I had throw some Morgan wallowin there.

(39:12):
So the way I talk, morganwallow man, when you hear that
song, where's it take you?

Speaker 6 (39:16):
Uh, Tennessee ball, I'll see it.
It takes me to uh, Alabama.
I get to be by Tennessee thispast year because it's uh, it's
a lot of when I'm chewing on thevolunteers, bro In the verse.

Speaker 1 (39:24):
Oh yeah, I love that.
I I know because, man, you'regiving me one of those next
greats coming from Knoxville.
Do you got ken?
You got.

Speaker 3 (39:31):
Morgan.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
Now here comes Graylin, come out to you Hit
that green one So I had to throwa Brad Paisley song in there,
man, because, honestly, yourguitar skills, his guitar skills
are just unlike anything I'veever seen.
But you, when you hear letterto me by Brad Paisley, where
does that take you?

Speaker 6 (39:50):
Oh, it definitely takes me to like learning every
single note on the Brad Paisleyplay album, which was an
instrumental record that he didUh, i think around like 2008 or
not, and I learned every singlenote on that thing.
There was a reason I didn'thave friends that summer because
I was in the house learningevery note on that album.

Speaker 1 (40:06):
All right, and this next one I had throw on.
We just had the songwriter ofthis song on not too long ago,
but I I'm like I have to throw aKenny song on here.
Well, but all the Kenny songs,there's one that I connect to
the most.
I was like I want to see ifGraylin has a story behind this
one.

Speaker 5 (40:19):
Yeah, hit the yellow.

Speaker 1 (40:25):
The grandpa told me so okay, chezzy man, where does
that song take, you buddy?

Speaker 6 (40:29):
Oh my gosh dude.
Well, it takes me to mygrandfather, obviously, but uh,
just takes me to like, yeah, imean Kenny just having such a
long career, bro, and uh, and hehad ups and downs, man, i think
that was one of his firstrecord deals and uh, especially
going into my first, you know itfeels like a do or die thing to
make it work, but uh, kenny hada couple record deals before he

(40:51):
became the Kenny Chesney.
so uh, it takes me back in timeto my, my childhood, but also
takes me to, you know, kennyjust persevering and uh, do
whatever it took to To be acountry music star.

Speaker 1 (41:04):
Oh yeah, we had Mark Allen springer on and we tried
to get him to sing that song.
He's like, yeah, i've beensaying that song in years.
I was like dude, come on.
No, that was like one of thesongs after I lost my
grandfather in 2000.
That just connected with me, doyou know?
I just roll with that.
And shortly after he releasedit too, so it was a badass song.

Speaker 6 (41:19):
But yeah, yeah, all right, this next one.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
I think you're gonna like this one green, so turn it
home.
David, nail dude, when you hearthat song, where's it take you?

Speaker 6 (41:31):
Oh, two places, dude, that's.
That's another Kenny Chesneything, so like uh.
That song.
You know, i think it was thattrip man, when I came to see
y'all, um, i heard that song andYou know I just got
homeschooled and I just startedlike really touring, um, i was
15, 16, 17 and It was just, itwas hitting me hard.
You know, not being with mybuddies, that I grew up with

(41:53):
since I was a little kid and soI remember Just listening to
that song over and over andthinking of Knoxville and um and
where I'm from, and justwanting to get back and uh And
be with my buddies.
But you know, what's funny islike I I've loved that song
since you know like.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
I've.

Speaker 6 (42:10):
Just saying you for almost a decade now and, um,
when I was with Kenny a coupleweeks ago, i I only brought it
up to him because he wrote thatsong- He wrote that song Um.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
And KAs are here.
I mean just that many songsthat KAs co-wrote on.

Speaker 6 (42:23):
Yeah, yeah, you know, i finally brought it up to him.
I was like, bro, that was justa great song.
And uh, i was like why didn'tyou cut it?
and a lot of it was he couldn'tsing like David Nail could.
Um, david just wanted to puthis vocal on it and um, and then
Kenny's like that's your song,my guy.
And uh, it just became a DavidNail song, but it's.
It's pretty crazy to hear whatKenny wrote it about, and he

(42:44):
wrote about Knoxville, and so Ithink a lot of what was hitting
me so hard It was because Twoguys use good though It was
Travis Hill who wrote that songwith Kenny.
They're both from Knoxville andso That's.
It's crazy.
You know how songs find theright ears and, uh, that song
definitely did.

Speaker 1 (43:01):
Dude, i love that.
Yeah, Yeah.
Well, i saw that song kind ofwas in connection with you.
I was like, dude, i kind oflove David Nail.
We got to interview him, wow,six months or so ago and he's
nice dude, i ever just cooleddown to earth.
I loved it, man.

Speaker 6 (43:12):
Great dude Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
All right.
So we're gonna put you on thehot seat real quick, 60 seconds.
We're gonna try to do thesequestions and 10 quick questions
, first thing that comes to mind.
Just Go ahead and spit it out,all right, the first CD, vinyl
or CD or vinyl you everpurchased?

Speaker 6 (43:26):
Oh lord, it was Brad Paisley, american saturday night
.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
Oh yeah, Where's your happy place like?
if you're, you're gonna getsome time off where you going.

Speaker 6 (43:34):
Oh, you know what?

Speaker 1 (43:34):
north lake or lake Tahoe, um, although those two
places, was the best pizza youever had on tour or out on about
who has the best pizza.

Speaker 6 (43:43):
Oh, dude, this is gonna be controversial with two
boots.
I love two boots in Nashville.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
Oh yeah, all right.
What's your wallpaper on yourphone?

Speaker 6 (43:51):
Oh, it's me, my girlfriend Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Yeah, there you go.
What's the movie that canalways make you laugh?

Speaker 6 (43:57):
Oh, dude, towel day and nights.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
What was your first job?

Speaker 6 (44:03):
Oh lord, I worked at a guitar store.
That was my first like real jobworth at a guitar store.
So guitars.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
What's the oldest thing you own?

Speaker 6 (44:10):
Oh, lord, this guitar dude uh.
1968 Gibson heritage Nice.

Speaker 1 (44:16):
What chore do you not like doing?

Speaker 6 (44:18):
Oh dude, any kind of chore Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
I feel that what was your favorite childhood
television show to watch?

Speaker 6 (44:25):
Mmm, oh, dude, uh, let's go sponge bob.

Speaker 1 (44:29):
Really All right.
And the last one we kind ofmentioned earlier.
You're talking about kind oflike bucket list things, but uh,
what's something that's stillon your bucket list?
man, you got to do some reallycool stuff.
Did you just recently play redrocks too?

Speaker 6 (44:38):
I played red rocks.
I would like to do uh, i'd liketo do one of the The big venues
in Knoxville, either Thompsonbowling or, uh, newland stadium.
I'd like to play one of those.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
Hell yeah, dude.
How was walking on stage at redrocks and seeing that with a
crowd full of people, dude Itwas crazy.

Speaker 6 (44:53):
I still haven't processed it.
You know it's just this lastweek, but uh yeah.
I still haven't like processedit, you know.
And uh, just adding on top ofthat, you know, being a
Tennessee ball fan, bro, likethe second night, you know, i
started hearing rumblings aroundthe backstage area that paid
manning was fair.
Yeah, the backstage is not big,and um, i was like where you

(45:15):
can't miss them, and uh, it wasthe danis thing.
And then somebody came up to meand my manager, who's also old
dominions manager, he's like hey, did they run it by you?
that you're?
you're singing on stage withPeyton and I was like Oh, nope,
failed to mention that Yeah.
I would definitely remember.
Somebody told me that, um andit was just That was it was

(45:36):
already a crazy experience tojust be at red rocks, but, um,
yeah, adding Peyton Manning tothe fold definitely got me weak
in these and um, and so before,before we got on the stage, man,
uh, my one of my managers tookme back to To talk to Peyton and
introduce me to him.
And you know, luckily, um,kenny had kind of already teamed

(45:56):
me up with Peyton.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (45:57):
Uh, and they're, they were already really close and
all dominions been on tour withKenny for a long time and so uh,
peyton already kind of knew myteam, that I that I work with,
and uh, so it wasn't superawkward.
But uh, as soon as we startedtalking on, he saw my inter
monitors which have a power teaon and he's like easton oxville
and you know we started kind oftalking a little bit and uh,

(46:19):
before we knew it, you knowwe're seeing in little pink
houses on stage and I just knew,ain't that America?
and that was pretty much all Iknew.
I just heard it on like a, aChevy commercial or something.

Speaker 5 (46:31):
That's all I knew about that song and I told
Peyton I was like I'm gonna behonest with you, dude.

Speaker 6 (46:35):
I really don't know that song He's like.
I'll be honest with you either.
I don't know what either?
We were just, we were just sidestage, just like, and he had
The lyrics pulled up on hisphone and we're just like don't
do it.
And I was, and we were likegoing this like ain't that
America something to see?
ain't that America?
you know, you and me The handmotions, like we felt like we

(46:55):
were setting for a test, and soI love it.

Speaker 5 (46:58):
You know, at the end of the night.

Speaker 6 (46:59):
He asked me for a picture.
He's like, well, let's see apicture real fast, you know,
since Kenny and I'm like dude,you're asking me for one brah.
So It just it went from areally like intimidating moment
to, uh, just everything I wantedto be.
So, um, to answer your question, red rocks was just More than I
expected it to be.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
Yeah, that was a nuts in our level at school.
We're working out there one ofthese days.
We haven't been to the venueyet, but one of these days we're
gonna go see somebody.
I asked me something special.
I don't know if it's the nexttime Eric church plays out there
or something.
We'll figure it out, all right,man.
Well, hey, before we let you goquick, we get you to play one
out.

Speaker 6 (47:33):
Absolutely dude.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
I'm about to just kind of kind of let us know a
little bit about it and we'llgive you the stage, buddy.

Speaker 6 (47:39):
Absolutely, you know what I'm gonna do.
I wonder what new song?
um, this song has kind of beenuh popping off on social media
and uh, it's pretty cool towatch, because this is uh a song
that I wrote about mygrandfather, who I've talked a
lot about with y'all and.
Feels fitting, so it's calledyoung man.
Yeah, i love it.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
Let's do it.

Speaker 5 (48:30):
Next thing.
I know we've shooting more thanJack.
I said, boy, do you don't actyour age?
And he leaned back and left.
I said, young man, don't nobodygotta grow up.
Man, don't be afraid to lookdumb man, it's worth it, cause

(48:50):
only one man's been perfect.
I said young man, take it froman old man If it ain't good for
your soul Telling where to go.
Man Made crazy friends, fallencrazy love, cause that's the
stuff that keeps you young man,young man if it gets you drunk

(49:10):
man, drunk man so get in likesome man, some man watcha, keep
you young man.
Young man, about five beforemidnight The woman he called

(49:30):
baby showed up.
The forty years he talked aboutLooked like a brand new love.
See, every time she kissinglike it was just salmon roll.
I know you dance along to type40 songs.
I never said I was 22.

(49:51):
I said, young man, don't nobodygotta grow up man, don't be
afraid to look dumb man, it'sworth it, cause only one man's
been perfect.
I said, young man, take it froman old man If it ain't good for
your soul.
Telling where to go.
Man Made crazy friends, fallencrazy love.

(50:14):
That's the stuff that keeps youyoung man.
Young man if it gets you drunkman, drunk man.
So get in like some man.
Some man watcha.
Keep you young man.
Young man.
Yeah, i've got good advice frompreachers, teachers and a bunch

(50:46):
from my old coach, but the bestI ever got was from a 73 year
old young man.
See, young man, don't nobodygotta grow up man, don't be
afraid to look dumb man, it'sworth it, cause only one man's

(51:10):
been perfect.
See, young man, take it from anold man If it ain't good for
your soul.
Telling where to go.
Man Made crazy friends, fallencrazy love.
That's the stuff that keeps youyoung man.
Young man if it gets you drunkman, drunk man.

(51:30):
So get in like some man.
Some man watcha.
Keep you young man, young man,damn dude, I don't know, how you

(51:52):
do it, man.

Speaker 2 (51:53):
That is awesome dude, i love that.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
I love that dude.
Did you write a lot with yourgrandfather when he was still
around, or did you get a chanceto?

Speaker 6 (52:03):
You know what I didn't do, but he was the one
that caught me in my firstchords And picked up a sixth
string, so a lot to him.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
I bet you that song means a lot to you Cause you got
to sit down and write that withhim.
That's cool, dude.
Thank you so much for tonightAnd spending some time.
I know we ran a little bit overtonight.
I appreciate it.
Dude, this has been awesome.
Long time coming and it wasawesome Absolutely bro, i
appreciate y'all.

Speaker 6 (52:31):
Thank y'all so much And congrats on the podcast man.
Y'all crushing it.

Speaker 1 (52:35):
Appreciate it, dude, anytime you get anything new
coming out, we'll be pushing thehell out of it for you And make
sure people can hear it, dudeCause, honestly, we've been
waving that flag for a while Andwe're gonna continue waving it,
dude.

Speaker 6 (52:43):
Let's go, please, dude.
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (52:44):
Alright, brother, have a good CMA Festival.
See you soon, man.

Speaker 6 (52:46):
Appreciate y'all.
Thank y'all so much.
Have a good one.

Speaker 1 (52:49):
Bye, take care, have a good one.
That was cool, that was so coolDude.
I love that kid.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
I'm always gonna call him a kid, like I don't care if
I'm like Yeah, he's a man,though He's not a kid anymore.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
Like he was what 16, 17 when we first met him Had to
be.
I'm trying to figure it outBecause that's when I wanted to
know the date on that thing Idon't remember.
The poster said 16 year old, soI wonder if he was 16 the first
time we met him.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
I had to be Cause.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
The first time was my 30th birthday And 2012.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
That was the first time you met him.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
No, i didn't meet him then Because he was supposed to
play, but he didn't play thehouse, right, right, we went and
got Matt Meyer.

Speaker 2 (53:30):
Matt Meyer played for us After that.
That's true.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
It was shortly after that is when we met him, So yeah
, maybe it's 11 years now.
The crazy ride, crazy ride.
So yeah, let's go back.
I wanna ask we always go backand re-circle on these Poddeck
questions that we ask And justmanage playing things safe No,
if you had a rider.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
That's a good question.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
If you had a rider, if you were on a tour And you
had to fill out everything Iwanted in my dressing room, what
would be?
something you'd put on there?
You'd want every single night?

Speaker 2 (54:06):
That's a really good question.
I don't know, like food or likeanything, anything.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
Because, like honestly, when I worked at the
theater in Waukegan, i mean youcould, there would be anything
on someone's rider, Like youwould see some things and you're
like, oh, what is that?

Speaker 2 (54:23):
This is some crazy stuff.
I don't know.
I can't even think of anything.
Water, oh come on.
Cherry Coke or Dr Pepper.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
You just asked for a case of Dr Pepper.
I mean, that's terrible to saybut maybe bearded.
Bearded bad pretzels I wastrying to get you.
I'm sure you'd probably.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
Yeah, i'm sure that's why you'd be asking for a
bearded beard.
I might go make some beardedtonight.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
The funniest thing, though if you guys want a little
insider information, we'llthrow out there.
Artist riders are weird things.
It's what an artist uses torequest.
Requests, whatever they needalcohol, food, anything They
might need a bigger show One ofthe coolest things.
I think it's cool.
Now, some people think it'scrazy.
They always request socks andunderwear And you're gonna be

(55:09):
like why are they asking forsocks and underwear?

Speaker 2 (55:11):
I said that when you saw me I was like what I was
like, that's so weird.

Speaker 1 (55:15):
But if you think about it, they're not around
laundry mats Or washers anddryers a lot.
They're on a tour bus Andthey're in backstage of an area
The theater and walkie-gain.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
And the two most important things that you need
to change Is your socks and yourunderwear.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
They have laundry there, but a lot of venues don't
have laundry Where you could doyour laundry at the venue, So
they just take their socks underoff after a show Or whatever,
put the new ones on.
They throw them away.
So if it's always on the rider,they always have A bag of
underwear or whatever every week, So they have disposable socks
under?

Speaker 2 (55:45):
Didn't your mama always teach you never leave
house without clean underwearand clean socks?

Speaker 1 (55:48):
Oh my god, I mean It's hard to even get our kid to
put underwear on to leave thehouse.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Yeah, our kids, shh don't.
He'll be so embarrassed.
Don't tell that story.
I didn't say which kid.

Speaker 1 (55:58):
But speaking of kids, were you over there texting
this whole damn show, or what'sgoing on with that?

Speaker 2 (56:02):
No, just the last five minutes.
Jackson texted me that it wasextremely important that he
didn't leave me.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
He didn't burn none in the house, did he?
No, and I said what's up?

Speaker 2 (56:11):
I said what do you need help with?
He said I need help cookingchicken This is our nine year
old I'm like what do you need tocook your chicken?
So I walked him through it andhe cooked his.
He, sorry, microwaved hisleftover chicken And he got his
own dinner tonight.

Speaker 1 (56:28):
So where did the chicken come from?

Speaker 2 (56:29):
I'm super proud of him.

Speaker 1 (56:31):
Where did the chicken come from?

Speaker 2 (56:32):
From yesterday, our leftovers.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
What do we have yesterday?
Oh, culvers, Yeah, culvers,leftover culvers chicken.
He said he wanted 16 chickentenders.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
So, of course we had leftover chicken Because he
didn't eat 16 chicken tenders.
But anyway, I'm so proud of him.
I was super impressed and hesent me a picture.
He set the microwave and sentme a picture of the timer To
make sure that it was setcorrectly.
That gets crazy I told himwe're going to teach him how to
make mac and cheese.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
Next, In the microwave or on the stove?

Speaker 2 (57:04):
Probably in the microwave.

Speaker 1 (57:05):
He doesn't eat microwave mac and cheese, only
on the stove.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
What if he's hungry?
you will.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
Yeah, at least he didn't burn the house diamond.

Speaker 2 (57:11):
I'm super proud of him.

Speaker 1 (57:13):
You're the notorious one for lighting microwaves on
fire.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
Oh yeah, Been there down that stove.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Just recently in the hotel too, in Mississippi.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
Yeah, I did, didn't.

Speaker 1 (57:22):
I.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
I was so scared.

Speaker 1 (57:25):
The further department was going to Burnin'
down the house.

Speaker 2 (57:27):
Yeah, I don't know what happened there.

Speaker 1 (57:28):
I've been trying to stall it.
I don't know what I put on mywriter, because I gotta circle
back to that question now.
I don't know what.
I put on there.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
I would put I don't know.
I would like blankets andpillows and like comfortable,
like I'm, like a cozy person, iknow why A heating pad, i know
why I put on there, hmm, thanksfor watching and I'll see you in
the next video.
A new pair of flip flops thatever he locates.

Speaker 1 (57:49):
Somebody throws away their shirt or their underwear
and their boxers.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
Do you want new pair of shoes?

Speaker 1 (57:55):
I want new pair of shoes like once a week, because,
hey man, these flip flops arelike 40 bucks on Amazon.
They're perfect.
I wear them in the middlewinter.
I wear them all over.
You ever see me out on bout?
I'm wearing these flip flops.
Probably They're my favoritethings.
So you know, i got to kind ofwear other things, but I love my
flip flops.
I think I'll probably put myflip flops on there for sure, my
beat-up pair of flip flops.

(58:16):
No, guys, this has been anawesome night.
We had a lot of fun.
Like I said, we, the very firstday I ever thought up in this
podcast, we started interviewingmembers of the Eric Church's
Church Choir for the first Idon't know 20, 30 shows or so.
And then the pandemic happenedand we started singing or
getting singer-songwriters onthe show and kind of went a
different direction after thatAnd I was thinking I'm like I

(58:37):
got to get Grayland on one day.
But then I kind of dug into him, saw all the songs he was
writing, everything he was doing.
I was like, no, we got to waitbecause there's going to be a
day where it's just going tohappen.
And then I started reaching outand try to try to get a hold of
him to do it And it took alittle longer than he got signed
And I'm like, damn, i'm notgoing to get Grayland on now.
There it goes.
I'm like we won't get him on,but man, i'm so happy he was

(59:00):
able to do it.
I know we have, but you neverknow man.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
He was super excited And he was so great.

Speaker 1 (59:09):
It was really cool to be able to meet him when he was
a kid and going out Man, hewould try on that guitar.
He played the guitar all thetime.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
I guess I totally had forgotten that he was the.
What was the top whatever 121?
.

Speaker 1 (59:22):
Like top guitarist in the world or in the US under 21
for guitar.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
Yeah, it was crazy.
I remember that now but like Ihad totally forgot about that
Watching the videos on YouTubeall of his YouTube videos, and
stuff back then.

Speaker 1 (59:33):
So that was this.

Speaker 3 (59:33):
It was this crazy.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Yeah, we had a.
We said I mean we haven'ttalked to, i got to reach out.
We had a mutual friend, ashley.
I've been said.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
Yeah, she's still in Nashville.
She lived here in Chicago.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
She moved down to Nashville.
I think she's moved into well.
She does a lot of music butshe's she's a member of the
yacht club now.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
So she's doing her thing on the boat when that's
awesome.

Speaker 1 (59:50):
But yeah, very proud of her too.
If you guys were around about Ithink it's Ash Evans or Ashley
L Evans entertainers somethingshe's always.
It's probably like 615 startedby her in Nashville And that's
something she did a long timeago And she's always donating.
It was kind of donating to adifferent charity here and there
.
It was kind of inspiringbecause whenever we do our
writers rounds, we donate to StJude all the time.

(01:00:11):
So it's just something we doAnd we just pride ourselves in.
But hey, like I said, tonightwas a long time coming.
We're so happy we were able tohave Graylin on and share his
journey with everybody.
We're incredibly grateful tohave Graylin James with us this
evening.
His passion and dedication tothe art of music are evident And
we were honored to witness itfirsthand.
We have no doubt that this isjust the beginning of a

(01:00:32):
successful career And we wishhim the best of luck as he
continues to work hard towardshis goals in 2023 and beyond.
With his dedication anddetermination, we have no doubt
that he will continue to growand find success in his music
career.
We thank you guys for joiningtonight.
We hope everyone enjoyed theepisodes as much as we did.
Don't forget to catch up oneverything you missed from
tonight and past episodes atMelodiesandmemoriescom, and we
will see you, guys, next Mondaynight.

(01:00:53):
We'll have another show.
We soon know who the guest isyet, but we'll not fin out soon.
So have a good night, guys, andwe'll see you next week.

Speaker 3 (01:01:27):
On the Melodiesandmemories podcast with
Jillian and Erin Shriver.