July 4, 2023 • 49 mins
Melodies N’ Memories: The Podcast | Show Notes
Welcome aboard as we journey through the melody-infused life of singer-songwriter, James McNair. We begin in South Carolina, trace his steps to Nashville, and delve into the profound influence his dad's vinyl collection had on his musical journey. James generously shares the intimate details of his journey into music - notably the time he got his first guitar and the spark that ignited his songwriting journey during his high school years.
Our conversation steers towards the exciting and the unexpected as we explore James' plans for a European adventure, the memories that certain songs evoke for him, and the snack items he'd grab from a gas station during a long drive. We even get into a bit of trivia, discussing his favorite spots to unwind, his ultimate pizza experiences, and his first paying job. We also get to know James on a more personal level, discussing the song he'd love to be remembered by and the oldest thing he owns.
As we wrap up our conversation, we express our sincere gratitude to James for sharing his journey. We reflect on his innovative vision and talent that's left an imprint on the country music industry. Not just that, we're also eager to see what his future projects hold for us. Engrossing, enigmatic, and sincere, our conversation with James McNair is not one you'd want to miss. So, tune in, and be part of this melodious journey.
Catch up on James McNair’s journey and Connect His Melodies & Memories with Melodies n’ Memories: Music Media
Help Support & Grow the Podcast
Our Patreon is what keeps the show going, we have tiers starting as low as $1, & Save When you sign up for a full year!
Find Your Tier Today!
https://www.patreon.com/melodiesnmemories
Show Links:
Sponsor Links:
Guest Links:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hey, this is Brian Simpson, and you're listening to
Jillian and Aaron Shriver onMelodies and Memories Podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Welcome to the Melodies and Memories Podcast
with Jillian and Aaron Shriver.
Brought to you by ArloRevolution Each week, they
connect melodies and memorieswith fans and singer-songwriters
from all genres 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
(00:35):
Podcast, jillian and AaronShriver.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Hello and welcome everyone to Season 7 of Melodies
and Memories Podcast.
I'm your co-host, jillianShriver.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
I'm your host, aaron Shriver.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
And our mission tonight is to provide a platform
for the motivatedsinger-songwriters, passionate
fans or someone who's making adifference in and around the
music community.
We hope everyone listeningleaves inspired with a positive
outlook and begins connectingtheir own melodies to memories.
Tonight we're presented by ourgood friends at Arlo Revolution
cinematic wedding films, musicvideos and promos.
Find them at ArloRevolutioncomIn One Tree Planted.
(01:10):
For every 1,000 downloads ofthe show we plan to treat with
One Tree Planted.
Download the show on yourfavorite podcast app And Poddex.
Poddex are the hottest tool toget your great next interview
questions at the palm of yourhand.
Our non-screen sponsors are Arton a Higher Wire by Joelle,
original and custom artworkinspired by your life moments,
treasured photos and memories.
(01:31):
Looking for ways to support orsponsor melodies in memories
music media?
Then head on over to ourPatreon page, where tiers start
at just $1 a month.
The next best way to supportthe show is to like, share and
review on all podcast platforms.
Remember, you can join us liveevery Monday night at 7pm
Central on Facebook and YouTube,where you can interact with the
(01:51):
show, ask questions or join inon our live chat with your
favorite guests.
Visit our websiteMelodiesandMemoriescom for music
news, cancer reviews, photos,playlists and more.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
You made it through with all the distractions.
You made through.
You know, I love you tonight.
It's a good night Guys.
I am very excited for this showtonight, even though it's been
crazy.
We live in a zoo.
I do apologize, but I've beentalking with James for I don't
know some time now about gettinghim on And we want to wait till
the right time and I'm kind ofglad we waited because huge news
(02:23):
this fall coming up for himGetting him to go out on tour of
the Loot Combs is amazingthings and we're going to get
into that and so much more.
But tonight we welcome in JamesMcNeer for episodes 170.
Straight out of South Carolina,this talented singer-songwriter
has taken the music industry bystorm.
James' hard work and dedicationto this craft have led us led
his songs being cut by some ofthe biggest names in country
(02:44):
music, including Loot Combs andMorgan Wallam.
But it's not just hisimpressive credentials that make
him so captivating.
It's the passion, emotion heinfuses and each and every song
he writes.
James is a true testament to ahard work and determination.
He's the kind of artist whoputs his heart and soul into
everything, every note he writesand every lyric he sings.
Tonight he'll be sharing aninspiring journey and some
(03:05):
exclusive insights into thishome writing process.
We are honored to discuss themelodies and memories that make
up his journey.
You're welcome, james McNeer.
On What's up, buddy, how youdoing, i told you it gets fun
Being a dad gets fun.
After a while Our six-year-oldcame down and started poking his
head around and making noisedown here and got the dog all
(03:26):
wild up.
So welcome to the family zootonight, i love it.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I love it.
Well, it's the same over heretoo.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
We are as authentic as authentic can be We're not
hiding nothing here.
I mean, we're doing.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
We do it out of our basement.
We try our best, but having asix-year-old and a nine-year-old
in the house is hard man.
So, dude, like I said, we'vebeen talking for a while to get
you on.
I'm so excited to finally justtalk to you about your journey,
man, just kind of South Carolinato Nashville and see where I
went for you.
But tell me about just growingup, man, your earliest music
memory, maybe, what your parentswere playing around the house
(04:01):
and just what you remember, man,for music Just being a part of
you.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, so I would say my earliest memories would be my
dad was always playing vinyl.
He was a huge, you know,collector of pretty much
anything from the 70s through,you know, early 90s and it was
anywhere from Led Zeppelin toSkinner to Earth, wind and Fire
(04:31):
And honestly, the earliercountry that I listened to it
wasn't even that old but he wasreally into like Kathy Matea and
Mary Chaffin Carpenter, just abunch of like, very like, unique
, and he was into Chesney andMcGraw and stuff.
But I think it was just themixture of that music in the
house all the time reallyinspired me in the 90s growing
(04:54):
up.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Dude, i love when I was researching this and you
brought up your dad's vinyl andstuff, kind of how he's still
yelling at you to not mess upthe needle back in the day, man,
i still have.
When my parents first moved towe live outside of Chicago when
they first moved here in 69,they bought one of these old
cabinet record players with thewhole turntable and I still have
it.
It's upstairs in the house.
I play vinyl on it all the time.
(05:15):
I still remember him telling me, yelling me don't touch that
needle, you can't touch thatneedle.
So I was reading that.
It's kind of connected a littlebit and I love that.
Man.
Of all the vinyls you rememberhim having, what's the couple of
the covers that just kind ofstuck to you like damn, what is
this?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Oh, i would say like as a kid I think the Boston
covers were always like prettycrazy because they had
spaceships on them and they feltvery I don't even know the word
, but it reminded me of a videogame kind of like almost like
you'd find like space invadersor something.
So Boston always hadinteresting ones.
(05:51):
But I'm pretty sure he had likethe original street survivors
by Skinner, because they only, ithink they pulled them off the
shelves and he had one of thoseand he had some of the Zeppelin
ones like and I'm trying tothink of it was Zeppelin 3 or
Zeppelin 4, but it had a guywith an older guy like a
(06:13):
hunchback with sticks out theback.
I remember that.
And yeah, there was a ton ofthem, man, And he had all of the
Springsteen stuff which ismostly just Bruce looking pretty
on the cover.
You know, either with theguitar or you know how he
bandana out the pocket.
Yeah, yeah, that's right,that's right.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
I love that man.
My dad had the old Cheech andChong albums and years later I
found out that they weresupposed to have rolling papers
inside of them, but they neverhad rolling papers in them, so I
think my dad used those.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I'd heard that too.
My dad had the doobie brotherscover and it was just like this
nasty looking joint.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I love that dude.
What was the first concert youever went remember going to?
and it was there.
Anything you took away fromthat?
It's kind of saying that thisis something I want to do
believe it or not.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It's funny.
You say, like my first, likeofficial concert.
Like I, i remember being reallyyoung and there would be some
bluegrass Accent would comethrough my hometown in Aiken,
south Carolina.
But like my first, like pack upthe car, we're going to stay in
a hotel to see a show isactually Boston, at Chastain
Park.
My dad was just a big SantaBoston.
(07:21):
I don't know why, i can't tellyou why, but he wanted to take
me there because he just feltlike It would be a rock show
without the dope smoking.
He's like oh, chastain Park,you know it's outside, it'll be
out.
And he was right.
I mean it was a kind of acheese and wine crowd because I
feel like Chastain Park wouldsell Like a season you know,
(07:42):
past for a lot of those folksthat would go to those shows.
So, they'd probably go see likea string quartet and then when
Boston would come through,they'd see them too.
So it was a mild crowd, but Iremember being hooked Just by
the guitar work and just I mean,the sound in there is
incredible.
So that was one of my firstmemories of just being like oh
(08:02):
man, this live music is just,you know, got it, got me hooked.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
So I love that man.
So at the age of seven you knewyou wanted to do music.
What happened around that timewould just made you decide.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
This is why I want to do well, i didn't know if I,
you know, wanted I didn't know,maybe trying to think it's seven
, i knew I wanted to play music.
I didn't know if I I didn'thave an idea I'd do it
professionally or anything.
But I think the era music wewere in when I was seven, you
know in the 90s, it was such agreat era, music between country
(08:36):
obviously, but then Alternativeand grunge and rock and radio
was so strong then that I wouldmajority of my like finding my
music would be FM radio and therock station in the country
station.
And I remember like Really youknow, when you're seven and
eight when you hear somethingthat just kind of blows your
mind.
You know you're just all aboutit.
(08:58):
At that time I remember I heardrage against the machine for
the first time and I think I wasa little bit older than seven,
but I remember like I begged andI begged my mom like to take me
to It might have been Sam Goodyat the time or one of the shoot
even Walmart to go by the evilEmpire album and she I remember
it was parental advisory and shewas like I'm not getting you
(09:21):
this.
I think I ended up paying a guythat worked for my dad to like
go get it for me, and I ended upgetting the Cassette that was
back.
I mean, this is before I waseven rocking CDs, man.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
You know, like.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I got like the cassette because it's a little
bit cheaper.
And Yeah, I remember rageagainst the machine blowing my
mind when I was like eight ornine years old.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
What was that?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
Was your first thought of Pantera when you
first heard of them.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Oh, Well, i got into.
I got into pantera a little bitlike penny wise and kind of
like the punk Rock scene andanthrax and all that stuff.
And yeah, when I heard I guesswas it dime back Daryl?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
and all his guitar work.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I remember being blown away by that too.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
Hell, yeah, man, i love that.
Yeah, we got.
I think we got like a three orfour second delay, so I'll have
to play.
Play that into the factor We do.
All right, buddy.
So when did you first pick upyour guitar, man, and how?
I always ask how you acquirefirst guitar, but I heard a
serious here's robot catalogcame into play a little bit A
little guitar from that age.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
It did.
Yeah, my grandma.
I was at her house and I thinkshe was just like cleaning out
her attic at one point And shefound an old Sears robot catalog
guitar and it was basicallylike just a piece of plywood
with a Lipstick pickup on it andI still have it at my parents
house and I remember, you know,taking the dust off of it and it
(10:51):
didn't have any strings on it.
It was just sitting in herattic and I remember just
praying.
You know, at that age you findsomething like that and you're
just like, oh gosh, i hope thisworks, you know.
So we put some strings on itand I remember It tuned up, okay
.
But what really changed the gameis when, i think, i ended up
(11:11):
getting like a little practiceAmp for my birthday that year
and when we plugged it in, thepickup worked and that just sent
me down the spiral of Wantingto play guitar and that's when I
started like learning powerchords and just Simple songs,
probably seven, eight, nineyears old.
And then I really got into itWhen I was probably 11 or 12 and
(11:34):
13 and got, got a better guitarand a better amp and like
really kind of woodshed it fromthere.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Hell yeah, man.
So I mean growing up like inthat era Probably you're
probably early 80s, cuz, 82, andwhen you said like eight or
nine in the 90s, it's like Iknow I feel like I grew up
through the same era.
But did you use to, when youhad those cassettes and
everything, you used to pullthem out and look at who was
writing these songs?
Do you even know who asongwriter was back then?
Speaker 2 (11:59):
No, it's funny you say that I just assumed that
every Artist that I waslistening to wrote those songs.
And you know, for the most part, with just the dummy rule of it
, for what I was listening to,and it came down to like Nirvana
and obviously Springsteen andEven Skinnerd and all that, yeah
, they were writing their ownsongs and but I never got that
(12:21):
far.
I just I just assumed they,everybody, wrote their own songs
, you know, whoever the artistwas.
I didn't learn aboutSongwriting and and people
actually getting their songsrecorded by artists until, but
right before I moved toNashville Which was, i mean, i
had heard obviously, like, oh,this person recorded this song,
(12:43):
but I didn't know about thecommunity that we have in
Nashville till about 2011 and Imoved in in the beginning of
2013.
So, like I lived a lot of lifeliving in a bubble.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
So I read you start kind of dabbling with
songwriting in high school a bit, but did you have like, did you
keep a journal, did you writepoems or anything?
or you just kind of just sayhow I was gonna put some
thoughts on a piece of paper.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
You know I never journaled or didn't he poems or
anything like that.
I I really did not like school.
To be honest, I wasn't the beststudent.
Math was not my Strong suit,but English was always pretty
good when I was in school.
But I think what drew me moretowards writing was melody.
(13:30):
So I would always have somechords or have some weird risks
And I try to just do a coolmelody over it and then just
plug words in.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
So alright, guys, we're gonna try to see what
happens.
I don't know what happened.
We lost something here, sowe're gonna see we get James
back on.
All right, buddy, you hear meagain.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
OK, I can hear you.
I can hear you now.
OK, all right.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Yeah, i don't know what happened.
I just I was telling Jen Iswear our house is haunted.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
but Well, i'm just wondering if it's the platform
tonight Everyone's we get aweird issue with the platform
too.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
So Yeah, ok, so All right.
so we were talking a little bitin high school how you didn't
really like school and stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
And you were.
We talked about your writing.
Yes, when you started writing.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
So you got serious about it in college, man.
You went to college in Alabama.
What you go to college for Youknow I had no idea.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
To be honest, I, my aunt, went to Alabama And ever
since I was a kid she was likeyou should go to Alabama, you
should get out of South Carolina.
And when I was in school, likeI said, i didn't do well.
I played on the golf team and Iwas really focused on that And
so I didn't really study as muchas I should.
(14:43):
But it got to the point wheresenior year comes around, i'm
like, ok, i have to like makesome good grades or I'm not
going to get out of my hometownand I really wanted to leave.
So I ended up making a three,nine because I applied myself.
Wow, senior year, and I gotinto University of Alabama And
(15:04):
yeah.
So I ended up going there justto find a major.
I think my first, my first yearI just did like general studies
kind of thing.
And then I got intocommunications and I could never
really find a major in AlabamaAnd I was on the fishing team
and just kind of partying andand trying to figure it out.
But I made great grades inAlabama.
(15:25):
I always had like above a three.
Oh, so I was able to transferto South Carolina after I left
Alabama.
But that was my story of how Igot there.
It's really just my auntpushing me to go and get out of
my hometown.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Hey, that happened to me.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Sometimes you got to do you got to do, man?
I'm glad I got my hometown gotaway from things for a little
bit.
That's what you need to do, So.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I'm awesome.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
But I love that dude.
So when did you finally say allright, I'm going to Nashville,
I'm making the jump, I'm doingthis.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
It was 2012, i remember.
So I was in a band and we weplayed about 50, 50 originals
and covers and my buddy, drew,had some songs that we would
play.
And then we played my, my songs, and I would just have people
come up to me and be like, hey,what's that four song that you
played?
(16:14):
And I would be like, oh, iwrote that.
And they would say, hey, youknow, kenny Chesney could record
that.
And that's when I went down the,the rabbit hole of just looking
up songwriters in the communityAnd when I found out that there
was actually people making aliving writing songs.
I looked more into NashvilleAnd it came, you know, at a good
(16:34):
time in my life, because my dad, like I said, was trying to
just put me on salary and Ididn't want to work in the golf
business for the rest of my lifeAnd I was young enough to to
make the move and I didn't knowanyone in Nashville.
I just knew that I could alwayswork in the golf business, just
mowing grass, just kind of.
it wasn't a plan B, because my,obviously you can't have a plan
(16:55):
.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
B.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
But just knowing that I could go get a minimum wage
grass mowing job.
And that took me up toNashville in 2013.
And I worked at BrentwoodCountry Club for like the first
six months and then went on toHillwood, but it was able to to
get me in the door and I wasable to go out and play at night
(17:16):
, because we were done by two,30 or three every day when I was
first moved to Nashville.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
I love that.
Did you ever visit Nashvillebefore you moved there Is?
that was usually your firsttime kind of being introduced to
the city.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I visited in 2012.
I actually got on Facebook backbefore.
It was, i guess, super creepyto do this, but I just got on
Facebook and I was like, do Iknow anyone that lives in
Nashville?
And I found a buddy of minethat was friends with the next
girl from a man from college andhe lived in Nashville and he
(17:48):
let me crash on his couch andshowed me a good time and went
to Broadway, did the whole thing, and I just had that, that
energy and magic.
I was able to catch it and Ijust loved the feeling of the
city.
So I visited it once then.
And then I came back because mymom made a call and we and she
had a friend that she knewgrowing, growing up, and I was
(18:10):
able to meet with her and shehelped me out a ton early on And
I was able to stay with her acouple of times and get settled,
and then I was able to get ajob and then I found some
roommates on Craig's list Andthat's a whole another story And
in that's what got me here in2013.
So I visited probably threetimes before I moved.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Roommates on Craigslist could make a really
good horror movie, I think.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
It's so funny.
You know the things we used todo and didn't worry about.
I think there's already stuffon Netflix.
I'm sure a story has startedout that way.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
You gotta help a song .
So you talked a little bitabout the golf, about golf
business, and your dad your dadand grandpa was both in the golf
world.
So when he said Salary, you'relike all right, i'm out, but
something I saw, you know, ithink you were a Sony or
something You got to do.
We're huge Eric church fans butyou got to do their golf
tournament one year.
How was that whole situation orhow that the whole term ago?
(19:06):
how did that?
how was that?
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Oh, that tournament's amazing, so I think it was
called the club in my hand kindof charity event And so a lot of
his crew guys play and bandguys will play.
I don't know if Eric playedthat year, but I was able to
play that because Eric was atthe time signed with Sony music
publishing that I'm signed withnow, and so they had a team and,
(19:31):
luckily, like I've carried onsome decent amount of golf
skills since I, you know, wasplaying all the time in high
school, so I get asked a lot toplay in tournaments, which is
really nice.
And so they asked me and it wasan amazing tournament.
I'm obviously a huge chief fantoo, so it was fun going out
there and playing in his eventand supporting charity.
But it was a great.
(19:52):
It was a.
It was a great time.
I remember we drank a lot ofbeer.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, i've heard that about that tournament.
A lot of beer drinking outthere And I heard this is a lot
of good, a lot of good times andgreat charity too.
They have cool auction itemsthey put up, so I think they
used to do every year.
I don't know if they've done inthe last couple of years, but
yeah.
So when you're doing thewriting, you're in the creative
process and everything.
How do you incorporate feedbackand critique into your creative
(20:19):
process?
Like, how do you take that andput it forward?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Oh, i, i love it.
To be honest, i think you knownot to go down a whole tangent
on this, but I didn't reallybecome the writer that that
everyone says.
Sometimes I say I have impostersyndrome, but the writer that
people say that I am withoutother people, basically not
(20:44):
teaching me.
But in co-writing I learned somuch from other people's craft
and how they approachsongwriting and how they
approach songs and ideas andmelodies and phrasing that, and
I still learn every day, LikeI've learned something new today
or I learned something new lastweek.
And I think with critique andeverything that comes along with
(21:07):
with writing songs is nothing'sever perfect And no one knows
the you know the absoluteformula of writing a song and it
being a hit.
There's a lot of timing andthere's a lot of patience that
you have to have And it just hasto be the right time for the
right artist.
But I love, you know, there'sso many songs I heard this the
(21:31):
other day that are at like 90 to95 percent And I love when my
publisher is like, hey, thishook isn't landing for me or hey
, you think you need to put abridge in here.
Hey, this melody falls a littleflat or you're losing me here
And half the time if you just goback and tweak those little
spots and the song goes from a Cplus song to an A song and then
(21:51):
, heck, it might get recorded.
So I always welcome it.
We do this so much.
We write every day, so you'realways going to.
You might miss something ormiss an angle, or so I always
love hearing it for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
That's great, that's amazing.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
That is.
That's cool.
How do you stay grounded andmotivated and often challenging
and competitive in industry,because I mean there's new
people moving to Nashville everyday by the dozens now.
But how do you stay grounded inknowing that?
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, it's funny I, to be honest, i think I I've
kind of just gone along with theflow of my life and kind of
where it's taken me.
But when I first moved toNashville I ran off a pure
adrenaline because I just wantedto be in the scene so badly and
I wanted to just be able to domusic full time.
(22:42):
I saw a lot of people thatmoved around the same time as I
did get publishing deals orpeople that I'd met get deals or
get cuts or singles andhonestly, it was like super
inspiring to actually know thatit could work.
And so I always try to keepthat feeling inside my heart.
And it's very, very, very, veryhard because when you do it for
(23:04):
long enough and then you get ahold, and then you get a cut,
and then you get a single andthen you get a hit, it kind of
just drones on and on whereyou're kind of living your life
and not taking a look around andbeing like, oh, wow, i've made
it a long way, i have apublishing deal that provides
for my family and I can writesongs for a living.
(23:25):
when I first moved to town Iwould have killed it just get a
meeting.
So I think that's what keeps megrounded and inspired is just
to realize every once in a while, be like, hey, you're doing a
job that not many people areable to do, and also just know
that I'm not digging ditches formy dad anymore mowing grass,
(23:48):
and so I try to just keep thatexcitement of today.
I could write a hit song, or Icould walk into my next right
and write a hit song, and Ithink that's what keeps me
plowing.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
Hell yeah man.
That's exciting, yeah, dude.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
You got to.
I was going to say you kind ofhave to.
you know You always got to beinnovative and you never know
what's going to happen.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
You said we talked about church a little bit ago.
Look how he is always evolving.
Every time he does a new albumhe involves into something else.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
So you learn to grow.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
I love seeing that Learn from each other.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
So a few of your favorite, or a few of my
favorite songs that you put outlately Damn Love by Kit Moore
You got part of that Loving OnYou, Luke Combs Going Going On
and Our Luke Combs, But I've allthe songs I think you've had
cut.
My favorite is Runway by DrewParker.
So tell me a little bit aboutdoing that song, writing that
song with you.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Oh man, yeah, i love that song man and I love Drew
And obviously Drew's going to beout on the road with us in
Europe, drew, and obviously RayFulcher, great buddy of mine.
But I think that was one of theprobably first few times that
(24:56):
I'd written with Drew in MattMcGinn, who's also a great
writer.
I think it was an afternoonthing and we got together And I
forget who had the idea, but itwas a very just, easy write man.
I just remember it feeling sogreat and that melody came out
And when we were able to spinthat hook of you know I'll be
(25:19):
the runway, like you can go butyou can come back.
I think that was like the lightbulb moment And I've always
loved that song and I've alwaysjust messed with Drew like that.
That should have been a hit.
Man, come on, you should, youknow, gotten them to take that
radio.
But we always do that with ourbuddies.
But I think he still plays itlive and I think he gets some
good.
You know, i think fans love it.
(25:39):
So I'm pumped that you dig it,because that is one of my
favorites too.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Yeah, i do.
We're Drew and Ray's both beenon the show or huge fans of both
of them, and my first heardthat song dude, i just having
kids and stuff.
I just connected right to itbecause that's I mean, it's so
true.
So if you guys not heard thatsong, go check out Drew Parker
Runway, one of my favorites.
So I wanted to ask you kind ofwhat the rest of the year look
like for you.
You've put out two singleslately Fly on the Wall with
(26:06):
Hardy, which co-wrote with Hardy, i mean, and then Party and
Degree.
You put that out on May, butyou're getting ready to go out
on tour and fall with Ray andDrew.
They're doing dude.
That song Rang around is goingto be freaking awesome before
the Luke Holmes show.
Tell me what you're lookingforward to going over to Europe
and what else you got on thecalendar this year, man.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Yeah, europe's going to be amazing.
So I I'll probably release one,maybe two more songs before we
go over there, but I'll drop theentire album in September
before I make it across the pond.
But as far as other stuff Ihave going on, i just I'll be
out on the road right in somewith.
(26:47):
I always try to do that in thesummer.
I'll probably go out with Lukeat some point and I've been
right with Nate Smith on theroad some.
And obviously I always go outwith the Cadillac three because
I love Jaren He's a great buddyof mine and Neil as well.
But honestly, just being a dadand trying to write great songs
(27:07):
in town and write them on theroad and just prepare for for
Europe and make sure I have, i'msure we're only going to be
able to get two or three songs,so just kind of work in figure
out what three are going to gowell, you know, together And and
obviously we could figure thatout as night after night and see
what the crowds are reacting to, but basically preparing for
(27:29):
Europe and dropping the albumbefore then and just seeing what
happens, man.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
Have you ever been to Europe before or been overseas
it?
And if you haven't, where areyou looking forward to maybe
trying to get to see I know,tour you don't get to see much
but tour buses and backstagehallways, But anything you're
looking forward to maybe beingable to check out.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Absolutely.
Now.
I've never been across the pond, so and to do it with, with
some buddies that you know we'vebeen friends for a long time.
We both moved to the national,we all moved to national pretty
much the same time.
I think that's going to bespecial.
I, you know selfishly, i wantto check out some golf courses
in Scotland and Ireland whileI'm over there.
(28:08):
I want to see Amsterdam and thein the red light district.
But I also want to.
You know, my grandfather foughtin World War II.
So I would love to, you know,go see some some.
Really it'll be tough And Iknow it's, it's not going to be.
We'll have to pick a day wherewe have the, the summit for it.
(28:30):
But I'd love to like go see,like the Anne Frank hideout
house and then really dive intosome World War II stuff And just
if we're able to, just becauseI heard my grandfather just go
on and on about it when I wasreally little.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
So yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
That's amazing.
Yeah, my dad was stationed inGermany late sixties and I've
always wanted to go over thereand just kind of see things.
I love to take him one day.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
But a place with the stories, yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:56):
Just kind of cause he always tells me these cool
stories.
That'd be kind of cool to seethat over there one of these
days.
But man, that's, that'sfreaking awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
I'm excited for you guys, yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
I'm really excited for this for you guys.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Yeah, we're pumped.
Hell yeah, man.
This episode is powered byPoddex.
Poddex are unique interviewquestions and episode starting
prompts in the palm of your hand.
So, whether you're a newpodcaster or an existing
broadcaster looking to take yourinterviews and podcast episodes
to the next level, you're goingto want to check out Poddex.
(29:28):
Visit poddexcom to get yourPoddex today.
All right.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
We're going to move on to our, our sponsor part of
the night.
It's called powered by Poddex.
We drew a couple of cards outof the deck earlier And the
first one is you're probablygoing to be on a few of these
over in Europe, but if you're onan eight hour drive between
shows and you stop at a gasstation for snacks, what three
items are you always going tograb?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
All right.
Well, i would have to say andthis might gross people out, but
I don't care, i'm, i'munashamed about it I love pork
rinds, like got to give me, gotto give me some pork rinds, but
preferably the spicy con.
And as far as other two items,i would say, if we're including
drinks and snacks, i would sayI'm a diet coke guy.
(30:10):
It's terrible, I know, but Ilove some diet coke.
So be diet coke, pork rinds andthen probably something sweet
which should be, i would say,like a Heath bar or some
Skittles.
To be honest, Skittles are good.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
I love it, All the songs you written up to this
point.
which one of your songs wouldyou most want to be remembered
by?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Oh man.
Yeah, that's a good question.
Up to this point, i would say I, you know, um, oh man, i would.
There's a couple, but I used toyou and I know I.
Everyone asked me what's yourfavorite song.
I would just say that one Iwould love to be remembered by
(30:57):
For the fact of what it's donefor for folks and I was on
another podcast the other dayand it is true, i've signed so
many lyric sheets and had somany kind and sweet messages
about People that really connectto that song because they lost
a loved one.
And I feel like I moved toNashville wanting to do what my
(31:20):
heroes did and They're moving,their music move me.
So if, like I'm making musicthat's moving people, i think
that's like I can, you know, youknow, go live my life and be
and be happy with that, and so Ithink that song I would say,
just For lack of some other ones, i could say like, oh, it's
(31:42):
because you heard them on theradio, but I feel like that one
connected with a lot of peopleand I think that's super special
, especially to me.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Hello, definitely My favorite to that one and we're
gonna try.
this next section is gonna be alittle bit interesting because
we are, i know, that little bitof a delay.
but I got four clips of a songof songs I think you might have
a memory, with I don't knowresearch and for the show these
are songs that kind of popped up, so I'm gonna play on each
quick little clip of them.
first memory you have, we'lltalk about the other one.
(32:11):
Many cravits fly away, man,when you hear that song.
was it take you?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Man, it takes me to this bonus room of you know what
?
growing up we we lived abovethe pool that my, my mom ran and
I would stay in that bonus roomand try to learn that song.
That was like the first song,that.
I that I learned on guitar and Iremember just playing it back
On cassette rewind, play, rewind, play to figure out that riff
(32:42):
on guitar And I finally learnedit and I'm old enough to wear
like there was no.
I'm sure there was some musictablet your out, but like mid
90s, like it was hard to find,like Internet was so slow that I
learned everything by ear.
so that's a, that's a goodmemory, yeah.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
Yeah, i was doing guitar lessons.
I have the tab books andprobably like 95, 96, 97 around
there.
I have a few tab books, but Iwas about to.
All right, let's hit that greenone, alright.
Nirvana heart shaped box.
Man, when you hear that song,was it taking you?
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Oh man, my grandpa had a Cadillac and I remember he
took he used to drive me aroundwhen I was a little kid all the
time to run errands and stuffmy mom didn't want to take me to
do.
And I remember I bought thatcassette And he asked me what
did you buy, you know?
and I played that it isCadillac and he kind of looked
(33:38):
at me funny and I remember thatone.
Yeah, that whole record is justincredible.
But that's about what Iconnected to my grandfather's
disappointment.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
That reminds me of my grandmother running his
Cadillac to you, man.
Speaker 5 (33:53):
Buy a good sound system though.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah, it was an older one.
I want to say this is, you know, in the 90s.
It's probably an early 80s, butit's still.
You know, he kept it reallynice.
I think it's probably good.
Speaker 5 (34:10):
Alright, hit that yellow one.
He says you're a skinner fanman.
Simple man by skinner man.
When you hear that song, was ittaking you?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Oh man, when I was in high school we used to cover
that song and it takes me backto where I we've had that in a
set of about four songs and weplay the pool that my mom ran,
where they used to have a fourthof July, and that's coming up,
believe it or not, so no wonderit's on my mom.
they used to have a party andwe basically forced them to
(34:39):
listen to us because we wouldjust set up our equipment and
play.
it wasn't like they were comingto see us and that was one that
was in the set And yeah, that'sone of my favorite skinner
songs, just melodically in thefeel and that and that smell we
used to try to work up to andyeah, man, skinner.
Speaker 5 (34:58):
I'm the best first time ever pissed her off was
with that smell man was.
We met her at a music festivaland we got there the night
before and set up our tent lateat like 12 one.
We were drunk, whatever, but wewere loud as hell.
Playing skinnered on repeat andthat smell kept playing.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
She's playing it over and over.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
She's trying to sleep in her tent next to us.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
I hadn't even met him yet and I hated him.
Now look where we are.
Speaker 5 (35:24):
That country thunder Wisconsin back in 2005.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
It's been 2004.
Speaker 5 (35:31):
That's been a minute.
All right, we're going to dothe last one, the green one.
This would be a good one, soI'm on fire.
Bruce Springsteen man, i'm sureit takes you back to your dad's
vinyl, but when you hear thatwe're at.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Oh man, yeah, it takes me back very, very young,
i mean that.
and so my dad, you know he, hewas a huge or still a
springsteen fan, and so I'm onfire.
and then I got into Nebraskabut I was like too young to
really just understand how darkthat album was but I love
Nebraska and I love AtlanticCity.
(36:11):
There was just so many of those,you know, kind of like left the
center Bruce on that wouldn'tsay I'm on fire is left to
center.
It's a little bit more popularnow but, yeah, it takes me to
the our living room and justgoing through those vinyls and
my dad being like, well, if youwant this side of Bruce, here's
this record and here's, you know, born to run, and here's the
river, like it was anencyclopedia of the boss.
(36:34):
So yeah, man, so it takes meback living room, probably five,
six years old.
Speaker 5 (36:40):
I love that man.
Alright, man, we'll wrap thingsup tonight.
Before we let you go, we gotput you on the hot seat.
Normally we do like 60 secondson the clock, play a little
music in the background sayingit's gonna be a little harder.
So we have that delay.
But your first CD or vinyl or,in our case, your first cassette
you ever purchased with yourown money.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
First cassette I have .
this is funny.
I'm pretty sure it was a LannisMorse set jagged little pill,
yep.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
That was my damn.
I love that.
I was a solo asylum.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
Grave dancers union was mine.
Had runaway train on it.
Never forget that.
Where is your happy place?
where do you go to kind of justkind of cool down for a little
bit?
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Hmm, i would say I'm a beach guy.
I like to go, you know, back inthe day I like to go fishing
down in Charles, charleston,folly beach.
But lately I mean my wife I'vebeen lucky enough to marry into
a family that has a lake houseand Lake Michigan and it kind of
(37:43):
reminds me of the beach, but Ilike to be near water.
For sure They're on a boat.
Speaker 5 (37:48):
Nice to nice, cause anywhere across the lake
Michigan we live right on thelake, we're in winter harbor.
So we're right there like amile from the lake.
Illinois, wisconsin border.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Oh yeah, so they have a house in egg harbor.
Speaker 5 (38:03):
Okay and North Yep, it's a great place to a great
place.
What's the best pizza you'veever had?
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Oh geez, it was probably some pizza that I had
on the road in New York, andthen Chicago was like a close
second, and I can't remember whoit was.
I know that.
I know the freaking name offthe top of my Chicago be my head
, but we had.
Speaker 5 (38:30):
What Chicago?
probably Luma and Adis.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Yes, yes, and I'm trying to think.
As far as Nashville, we hadsome.
I'm about to holler at my wife.
You're going to laugh, katie.
What was the pizza we have?
the only?
And there's this new placecalled Dicies in Nashville And
they the pizza is great, butthey do like a honey glaze with
spice on top of the pepperoniand I don't know what they do
(38:57):
with it, but it's unbelievableAnd I'm pretty sure I smoked
that like entire pizza night up.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Didn't even have any to say it.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
So I would say, if you're in Nashville Dicies,
check it out.
Speaker 5 (39:08):
It's legit for sure We're going to be there in a
couple of weeks.
We might have to check that out.
So what's the wallpaper on yourphone?
Speaker 2 (39:15):
So my, my daughter going crazy after she got out of
her bath like her hair's allnuts And she's like ah yeah, you
got to have that being a dadfor sure.
Speaker 5 (39:25):
What's a movie that can always make you laugh?
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Oh man, i would say I have so many.
I would say Dumb and Dumber.
I know that's super stock, butDumb and Dumber, like I can turn
that on at any moment and be ina bad mood in in within 10
minutes, be you know, in tears.
I would say the Wolf of WallStreet.
I just love the story of it.
That one, you know, isentertaining, um, and I would
(39:54):
say what's another one that Imean there's so many?
I do love some, some goodcomedies, but I would say, yeah,
dumb and Dumber is like thenumber one, like if you need a
laugh, the whole thing, you know.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
I love that man.
Obviously I gotta show the kidsthat movie.
I don't think we've shown thatmovie.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
I don't know that we want the kids to watch that.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
Just yeah, it's a funny movie, though What was
your first paying job you everhad?
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Oh, probably working for my dad, and he was paying me
like $2 or $3 an hour to gowash some golf carts or or, uh,
no, grass.
I remember I was mowing.
I was mowing grass on a ridingmower by the time I was five or
six, which is definitely notsafe.
They're super dangerous.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
And there's real going The mom and me is like oh.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, definitely for my dad.
I love that man.
Speaker 5 (40:42):
Oh, what's the oldest thing you own in your house,
right, you some?
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Oh, the oldest thing I own.
Well, um, so my aunt gave methis, um, this mandolin, uh,
this Martin.
Not, sorry, not, it's not amantel, it's a Martin ukulele
And it's so old that, like I hadto like look up the serial
number and like go through allof Martin.
It's been passed down in herfamily for like three
(41:08):
generations, but pretty sureit's like mid 1800s, like
something crazy like that, andso that's probably the oldest
thing I have in my house is anold Martin ukulele, oh man
that's awesome.
Speaker 5 (41:21):
I think ours is definitely that vinyl record
player or that old vintagerecord player we have.
This might be a more of aquestion for your wife, but uh,
what chore do you not like doing?
What chore?
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Oh chore, pretty much all of them buddy.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
Uh, no, but um.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
I would say the chore that, uh, that I don't like
doing the most, um would be.
At this point I would sayvacuuming is not very and that
is my job.
I'm the vacuum guy and.
I'm also the kitchen cleaningguy, um, not a big bathroom
cleaner, so I don't really likethat either.
(41:57):
but uh, we make, do.
you know?
it's funny when you have a,have a kid, you try to try to
just do the best you can.
My wife, my other room, shakingher head if she hears me say
this.
but uh, we, we team up prettywell, we make a good team.
Speaker 5 (42:11):
Yeah, hell yeah, man, you got to.
It's awesome.
Uh, what was your favoritechildhood television show?
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Oh, childhood TV show Man, it was hard to beat Nick
back in the day And I'm prettysure there was a show on Nick um
called legends of the hidden.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
Yeah, and it was I'm telling you that show would come
on and I wanted to be on thatshow.
So that, like it was such anadventure in the sets that they
made that out of was one of myfavorites.
Yeah, i would say that one forsure.
Speaker 5 (42:44):
I love that.
I thought you're going to gosalute your shorts at first, but
all right, i'll go with thehidden temple.
All right, man.
And last one you get to go toEurope here soon, uh, so you
cross that off.
but what's something that'sstill on your bucket list that
you want to achieve in music orjust in life?
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Oh man, um, this is a lofty one and I don't know, uh,
if if it'll ever happen, but Iwould love to, to play Red Rocks
as an artist in some capacity,even if it's just like a pinning
or it's just been a venuefavorite of mine, um, for a long
time, and it's beautiful there,so I would say, just playing it
(43:26):
in an artist capacity, or evena songwriter, who I mean, you
know who's counting, but beingable to be on that stage and not
in the stands would be amazing.
Speaker 5 (43:35):
Dude, i love that You ever we'll have to be there
We'll have to go to that showand do W awesome man.
Red Rocks I've here is abeautiful place.
We have not been yet.
We're kind of saving that forone of these days, for a special
show We'll see.
Well, dude, uh, thank you somuch.
I know we ran over a little bit.
Thank you for bearing with uswith all the sound issues
tonight It was.
This is the craziest we've everhad.
(43:56):
I don't know what's going onwith our internet or whatever
tonight, but, dude, we wish younothing but the best of luck
with everything coming up andcannot wait to hear about this
Europe trip.
Man, You definitely have to dosome videos while you're over
there or something post on somesocial so we can follow along
with you.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Absolutely.
Thank you guys so much.
This has been fun.
Speaker 5 (44:14):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
We'll hopefully see you out on the road at some
point.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
Hey, anytime you come to Chicago, let me know.
Man, i also do photos on theside too, so if you ever need a
guy doing his photos in Chicago,holler at me.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Okay, sounds good.
Speaker 5 (44:26):
All right, buddy, have a good one.
Have a good night.
All right, you too.
Bye.
Oh, that was a fun one.
Guys, let's see, there we go.
Man, that was wild, it was fun,it was wild.
The only thing I didn't likeabout tonight's show is it
didn't feel like a conversation.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Well, we're having tech issues.
Speaker 5 (44:41):
I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 1 (44:41):
Yeah, that's because our tech issues We've been
frozen like our videos going inand out tonight, So we do
apologize, it felt more like astraightforward interview
tonight where we were just kindof asking questions and waiting
for the response back.
The things for hanging in thereand watching with us.
So we do apologize.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
I don't know why our bars, our internet has.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
Our connection is terrible tonight.
We're going to have to checkthat out, so we'll figure that
out.
We're hardwired in too, sothat's strange.
Speaker 5 (45:06):
Exactly That was the strangest I've ever had.
I've never had that big of adelay.
No, that was a lease of fiveseconds.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
And he was a ton of like.
He was fantastic.
Speaker 5 (45:13):
Yeah, it was a fun He was fun.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Yeah, i mean, it was a great I loved.
Yeah, i loved listening to him.
Speaker 5 (45:20):
If you're overseas and you get to check out that
Luke Combs show with the songright around.
Drew Parker, ray Fulcher, jamesMcNair all three of them
together- on stage It's going tobe a riot.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
That's going to be amazing, so really cool things
All right.
Speaker 5 (45:32):
Well, before we let you guys go and we wrap up
tonight, we always like tocircle back to our pod deck
questions, and I don't know ifwe've ever answered this one
before.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
I don't even remember what they were.
Speaker 5 (45:42):
I'm going to bring Jackson up on this one too,
because Jackson gets to answerthis one too.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
Let Jackson answer it .
Speaker 5 (45:45):
Well, three of us can .
Sorry, jackson, if you're in acar and you're driving from
Chicago to West Virginia, youstop at a gas station.
What three items are you goingto grab from that gas station?
Speaker 1 (45:58):
You get three, only three.
Speaker 5 (45:59):
Talkies.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
Talking the mic, talkies, prime and Talkies.
What flavor prime, oh memoryPrime and Prim hydration.
Speaker 5 (46:12):
Get right up on the mic.
Buddy, There you go There yougo.
So you said talkies and whatelse.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Prime and.
Speaker 5 (46:22):
Something sweet Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
Like chips or something.
Speaker 5 (46:25):
Oh, chips are like talk.
Okay, so kind of the talkiesare too spicy, i'll eat the
chips and All right.
All right, what are you doing?
Where are you going?
Where are you grabbing?
Speaker 1 (46:35):
I want to know if you know what I would get.
You know, i know, you know whatI get.
Speaker 5 (46:39):
Probably Mon Dieu Gardettos And coming bears.
Speaker 4 (46:43):
So Gardetto ride trips and coming bears, you got
it.
Speaker 5 (46:47):
See folks, that's what happens after, See I don't
know if you know mine, becausemine changes every single time
Almost 20 years.
Every single time I walk into agas station and buy some of the
different.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
No, it would be something sour, like a sour
chewy candy, something So sourpatch kids or Probably.
Speaker 5 (47:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
And then you would get those, those liquorish,
something like that, and thenyou would get an energy drink.
You like those Celsius drinksright now.
Speaker 5 (47:11):
No, it'll be a third item I grab.
I don't say have you really, doknow me, because you got the
first two right, i did.
That's surprising.
I didn't think you'd get them,and this one's the most obvious.
how all of it.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
I would say some kind of nut like peanuts or like
what.
Speaker 5 (47:31):
Thanks for laughing Like peanuts or something like
that.
You know, dude, what's the onething I always get every time we
go to a gas station normallyThe biggest jug of water they
have.
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Oh yeah, a big water, that's true.
Speaker 5 (47:44):
So I get one of the biggest waters Celsius and like
a sour patch, kid or something.
That's my three, my eight hourtrip.
Well, guys, we want to thankyou guys again.
It was awesome tonight HavingJames on.
Sorry, so much about any of thetechnical difficulties.
This can be a really fun showto edit tomorrow when I do start
editing and put it together forall of our streaming platforms.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
But go back and listen to it on the streaming
platform.
It'll be, it'll be good Ohit'll be crisp, it'll be nice.
Speaker 5 (48:11):
So, as we come to the end of this episode, i want to
take a moment to express myheartfelt gratitude to our
guests tonight.
James McNair, your passion,dedication to the craft and
music have inspired so many.
Your words have resonated withour fans and touched your hearts
, and insights You shared aboutyour creative process,
challenges and successes havealigned and motivated our
listeners, including me, topursue their artistic dreams
with perseverance andauthenticity.
(48:33):
As you embark on your upcomingprojects, i have no doubt that
you will continue to pushboundaries and explore new
frontiers.
We talked about that earlier,about evolving and pushing
boundaries.
But yeah, in country music,your inner innovative vision and
exceptional talent willundoubtedly shape the industry's
future and leave a lastingimpact on fans and inspiring
artists alike.
(48:53):
Don't forget to catch up oneverything you missed from
tonight and past episodes overat MelodiesandMemoriescom, and
we're going to see you tomorrownight with another amazing show,
and just be a fun one too.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
So we'll see you guys then.
Thanks for watchingMelodiesandMemories podcast with
Jillian and Erin Shriver.
Hey, this is Brian Simpson, and you're listening to
Jillian and Aaron Shriver onMelodies and Memories Podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Welcome to the Melodies and Memories Podcast
with Jillian and Aaron Shriver.
Brought to you by ArloRevolution Each week, they
connect melodies and memorieswith fans and singer-songwriters
from all genres 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
(00:35):
Podcast, jillian and AaronShriver.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Hello and welcome everyone to Season 7 of Melodies
and Memories Podcast.
I'm your co-host, jillianShriver.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
I'm your host, aaron Shriver.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
And our mission tonight is to provide a platform
for the motivatedsinger-songwriters, passionate
fans or someone who's making adifference in and around the
music community.
We hope everyone listeningleaves inspired with a positive
outlook and begins connectingtheir own melodies to memories.
Tonight we're presented by ourgood friends at Arlo Revolution
cinematic wedding films, musicvideos and promos.
Find them at ArloRevolutioncomIn One Tree Planted.
(01:10):
For every 1,000 downloads ofthe show we plan to treat with
One Tree Planted.
Download the show on yourfavorite podcast app And Poddex.
Poddex are the hottest tool toget your great next interview
questions at the palm of yourhand.
Our non-screen sponsors are Arton a Higher Wire by Joelle,
original and custom artworkinspired by your life moments,
treasured photos and memories.
(01:31):
Looking for ways to support orsponsor melodies in memories
music media?
Then head on over to ourPatreon page, where tiers start
at just $1 a month.
The next best way to supportthe show is to like, share and
review on all podcast platforms.
Remember, you can join us liveevery Monday night at 7pm
Central on Facebook and YouTube,where you can interact with the
(01:51):
show, ask questions or join inon our live chat with your
favorite guests.
Visit our websiteMelodiesandMemoriescom for music
news, cancer reviews, photos,playlists and more.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
You made it through with all the distractions.
You made through.
You know, I love you tonight.
It's a good night Guys.
I am very excited for this showtonight, even though it's been
crazy.
We live in a zoo.
I do apologize, but I've beentalking with James for I don't
know some time now about gettinghim on And we want to wait till
the right time and I'm kind ofglad we waited because huge news
(02:23):
this fall coming up for himGetting him to go out on tour of
the Loot Combs is amazingthings and we're going to get
into that and so much more.
But tonight we welcome in JamesMcNeer for episodes 170.
Straight out of South Carolina,this talented singer-songwriter
has taken the music industry bystorm.
James' hard work and dedicationto this craft have led us led
his songs being cut by some ofthe biggest names in country
(02:44):
music, including Loot Combs andMorgan Wallam.
But it's not just hisimpressive credentials that make
him so captivating.
It's the passion, emotion heinfuses and each and every song
he writes.
James is a true testament to ahard work and determination.
He's the kind of artist whoputs his heart and soul into
everything, every note he writesand every lyric he sings.
Tonight he'll be sharing aninspiring journey and some
(03:05):
exclusive insights into thishome writing process.
We are honored to discuss themelodies and memories that make
up his journey.
You're welcome, james McNeer.
On What's up, buddy, how youdoing, i told you it gets fun
Being a dad gets fun.
After a while Our six-year-oldcame down and started poking his
head around and making noisedown here and got the dog all
(03:26):
wild up.
So welcome to the family zootonight, i love it.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I love it.
Well, it's the same over heretoo.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
We are as authentic as authentic can be We're not
hiding nothing here.
I mean, we're doing.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
We do it out of our basement.
We try our best, but having asix-year-old and a nine-year-old
in the house is hard man.
So, dude, like I said, we'vebeen talking for a while to get
you on.
I'm so excited to finally justtalk to you about your journey,
man, just kind of South Carolinato Nashville and see where I
went for you.
But tell me about just growingup, man, your earliest music
memory, maybe, what your parentswere playing around the house
(04:01):
and just what you remember, man,for music Just being a part of
you.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, so I would say my earliest memories would be my
dad was always playing vinyl.
He was a huge, you know,collector of pretty much
anything from the 70s through,you know, early 90s and it was
anywhere from Led Zeppelin toSkinner to Earth, wind and Fire
(04:31):
And honestly, the earliercountry that I listened to it
wasn't even that old but he wasreally into like Kathy Matea and
Mary Chaffin Carpenter, just abunch of like, very like, unique
, and he was into Chesney andMcGraw and stuff.
But I think it was just themixture of that music in the
house all the time reallyinspired me in the 90s growing
(04:54):
up.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Dude, i love when I was researching this and you
brought up your dad's vinyl andstuff, kind of how he's still
yelling at you to not mess upthe needle back in the day, man,
i still have.
When my parents first moved towe live outside of Chicago when
they first moved here in 69,they bought one of these old
cabinet record players with thewhole turntable and I still have
it.
It's upstairs in the house.
I play vinyl on it all the time.
(05:15):
I still remember him telling me, yelling me don't touch that
needle, you can't touch thatneedle.
So I was reading that.
It's kind of connected a littlebit and I love that.
Man.
Of all the vinyls you rememberhim having, what's the couple of
the covers that just kind ofstuck to you like damn, what is
this?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Oh, i would say like as a kid I think the Boston
covers were always like prettycrazy because they had
spaceships on them and they feltvery I don't even know the word
, but it reminded me of a videogame kind of like almost like
you'd find like space invadersor something.
So Boston always hadinteresting ones.
(05:51):
But I'm pretty sure he had likethe original street survivors
by Skinner, because they only, ithink they pulled them off the
shelves and he had one of thoseand he had some of the Zeppelin
ones like and I'm trying tothink of it was Zeppelin 3 or
Zeppelin 4, but it had a guywith an older guy like a
(06:13):
hunchback with sticks out theback.
I remember that.
And yeah, there was a ton ofthem, man, And he had all of the
Springsteen stuff which ismostly just Bruce looking pretty
on the cover.
You know, either with theguitar or you know how he
bandana out the pocket.
Yeah, yeah, that's right,that's right.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
I love that man.
My dad had the old Cheech andChong albums and years later I
found out that they weresupposed to have rolling papers
inside of them, but they neverhad rolling papers in them, so I
think my dad used those.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I'd heard that too.
My dad had the doobie brotherscover and it was just like this
nasty looking joint.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I love that dude.
What was the first concert youever went remember going to?
and it was there.
Anything you took away fromthat?
It's kind of saying that thisis something I want to do
believe it or not.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It's funny.
You say, like my first, likeofficial concert.
Like I, i remember being reallyyoung and there would be some
bluegrass Accent would comethrough my hometown in Aiken,
south Carolina.
But like my first, like pack upthe car, we're going to stay in
a hotel to see a show isactually Boston, at Chastain
Park.
My dad was just a big SantaBoston.
(07:21):
I don't know why, i can't tellyou why, but he wanted to take
me there because he just feltlike It would be a rock show
without the dope smoking.
He's like oh, chastain Park,you know it's outside, it'll be
out.
And he was right.
I mean it was a kind of acheese and wine crowd because I
feel like Chastain Park wouldsell Like a season you know,
(07:42):
past for a lot of those folksthat would go to those shows.
So, they'd probably go see likea string quartet and then when
Boston would come through,they'd see them too.
So it was a mild crowd, but Iremember being hooked Just by
the guitar work and just I mean,the sound in there is
incredible.
So that was one of my firstmemories of just being like oh
(08:02):
man, this live music is just,you know, got it, got me hooked.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
So I love that man.
So at the age of seven you knewyou wanted to do music.
What happened around that timewould just made you decide.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
This is why I want to do well, i didn't know if I,
you know, wanted I didn't know,maybe trying to think it's seven
, i knew I wanted to play music.
I didn't know if I I didn'thave an idea I'd do it
professionally or anything.
But I think the era music wewere in when I was seven, you
know in the 90s, it was such agreat era, music between country
(08:36):
obviously, but then Alternativeand grunge and rock and radio
was so strong then that I wouldmajority of my like finding my
music would be FM radio and therock station in the country
station.
And I remember like Really youknow, when you're seven and
eight when you hear somethingthat just kind of blows your
mind.
You know you're just all aboutit.
(08:58):
At that time I remember I heardrage against the machine for
the first time and I think I wasa little bit older than seven,
but I remember like I begged andI begged my mom like to take me
to It might have been Sam Goodyat the time or one of the shoot
even Walmart to go by the evilEmpire album and she I remember
it was parental advisory and shewas like I'm not getting you
(09:21):
this.
I think I ended up paying a guythat worked for my dad to like
go get it for me, and I ended upgetting the Cassette that was
back.
I mean, this is before I waseven rocking CDs, man.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
You know, like.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I got like the cassette because it's a little
bit cheaper.
And Yeah, I remember rageagainst the machine blowing my
mind when I was like eight ornine years old.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
What was that?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
Was your first thought of Pantera when you
first heard of them.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Oh, Well, i got into.
I got into pantera a little bitlike penny wise and kind of
like the punk Rock scene andanthrax and all that stuff.
And yeah, when I heard I guesswas it dime back Daryl?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
and all his guitar work.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I remember being blown away by that too.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
Hell, yeah, man, i love that.
Yeah, we got.
I think we got like a three orfour second delay, so I'll have
to play.
Play that into the factor We do.
All right, buddy.
So when did you first pick upyour guitar, man, and how?
I always ask how you acquirefirst guitar, but I heard a
serious here's robot catalogcame into play a little bit A
little guitar from that age.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
It did.
Yeah, my grandma.
I was at her house and I thinkshe was just like cleaning out
her attic at one point And shefound an old Sears robot catalog
guitar and it was basicallylike just a piece of plywood
with a Lipstick pickup on it andI still have it at my parents
house and I remember, you know,taking the dust off of it and it
(10:51):
didn't have any strings on it.
It was just sitting in herattic and I remember just
praying.
You know, at that age you findsomething like that and you're
just like, oh gosh, i hope thisworks, you know.
So we put some strings on itand I remember It tuned up, okay
.
But what really changed the gameis when, i think, i ended up
(11:11):
getting like a little practiceAmp for my birthday that year
and when we plugged it in, thepickup worked and that just sent
me down the spiral of Wantingto play guitar and that's when I
started like learning powerchords and just Simple songs,
probably seven, eight, nineyears old.
And then I really got into itWhen I was probably 11 or 12 and
(11:34):
13 and got, got a better guitarand a better amp and like
really kind of woodshed it fromthere.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Hell yeah, man.
So I mean growing up like inthat era Probably you're
probably early 80s, cuz, 82, andwhen you said like eight or
nine in the 90s, it's like Iknow I feel like I grew up
through the same era.
But did you use to, when youhad those cassettes and
everything, you used to pullthem out and look at who was
writing these songs?
Do you even know who asongwriter was back then?
Speaker 2 (11:59):
No, it's funny you say that I just assumed that
every Artist that I waslistening to wrote those songs.
And you know, for the most part, with just the dummy rule of it
, for what I was listening to,and it came down to like Nirvana
and obviously Springsteen andEven Skinnerd and all that, yeah
, they were writing their ownsongs and but I never got that
(12:21):
far.
I just I just assumed they,everybody, wrote their own songs
, you know, whoever the artistwas.
I didn't learn aboutSongwriting and and people
actually getting their songsrecorded by artists until, but
right before I moved toNashville Which was, i mean, i
had heard obviously, like, oh,this person recorded this song,
(12:43):
but I didn't know about thecommunity that we have in
Nashville till about 2011 and Imoved in in the beginning of
2013.
So, like I lived a lot of lifeliving in a bubble.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
So I read you start kind of dabbling with
songwriting in high school a bit, but did you have like, did you
keep a journal, did you writepoems or anything?
or you just kind of just sayhow I was gonna put some
thoughts on a piece of paper.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
You know I never journaled or didn't he poems or
anything like that.
I I really did not like school.
To be honest, I wasn't the beststudent.
Math was not my Strong suit,but English was always pretty
good when I was in school.
But I think what drew me moretowards writing was melody.
(13:30):
So I would always have somechords or have some weird risks
And I try to just do a coolmelody over it and then just
plug words in.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
So alright, guys, we're gonna try to see what
happens.
I don't know what happened.
We lost something here, sowe're gonna see we get James
back on.
All right, buddy, you hear meagain.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
OK, I can hear you.
I can hear you now.
OK, all right.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Yeah, i don't know what happened.
I just I was telling Jen Iswear our house is haunted.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
but Well, i'm just wondering if it's the platform
tonight Everyone's we get aweird issue with the platform
too.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
So Yeah, ok, so All right.
so we were talking a little bitin high school how you didn't
really like school and stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
And you were.
We talked about your writing.
Yes, when you started writing.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
So you got serious about it in college, man.
You went to college in Alabama.
What you go to college for Youknow I had no idea.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
To be honest, I, my aunt, went to Alabama And ever
since I was a kid she was likeyou should go to Alabama, you
should get out of South Carolina.
And when I was in school, likeI said, i didn't do well.
I played on the golf team and Iwas really focused on that And
so I didn't really study as muchas I should.
(14:43):
But it got to the point wheresenior year comes around, i'm
like, ok, i have to like makesome good grades or I'm not
going to get out of my hometownand I really wanted to leave.
So I ended up making a three,nine because I applied myself.
Wow, senior year, and I gotinto University of Alabama And
(15:04):
yeah.
So I ended up going there justto find a major.
I think my first, my first yearI just did like general studies
kind of thing.
And then I got intocommunications and I could never
really find a major in AlabamaAnd I was on the fishing team
and just kind of partying andand trying to figure it out.
But I made great grades inAlabama.
(15:25):
I always had like above a three.
Oh, so I was able to transferto South Carolina after I left
Alabama.
But that was my story of how Igot there.
It's really just my auntpushing me to go and get out of
my hometown.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Hey, that happened to me.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Sometimes you got to do you got to do, man?
I'm glad I got my hometown gotaway from things for a little
bit.
That's what you need to do, So.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I'm awesome.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
But I love that dude.
So when did you finally say allright, I'm going to Nashville,
I'm making the jump, I'm doingthis.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
It was 2012, i remember.
So I was in a band and we weplayed about 50, 50 originals
and covers and my buddy, drew,had some songs that we would
play.
And then we played my, my songs, and I would just have people
come up to me and be like, hey,what's that four song that you
played?
(16:14):
And I would be like, oh, iwrote that.
And they would say, hey, youknow, kenny Chesney could record
that.
And that's when I went down the,the rabbit hole of just looking
up songwriters in the communityAnd when I found out that there
was actually people making aliving writing songs.
I looked more into NashvilleAnd it came, you know, at a good
(16:34):
time in my life, because my dad, like I said, was trying to
just put me on salary and Ididn't want to work in the golf
business for the rest of my lifeAnd I was young enough to to
make the move and I didn't knowanyone in Nashville.
I just knew that I could alwayswork in the golf business, just
mowing grass, just kind of.
it wasn't a plan B, because my,obviously you can't have a plan
(16:55):
.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
B.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
But just knowing that I could go get a minimum wage
grass mowing job.
And that took me up toNashville in 2013.
And I worked at BrentwoodCountry Club for like the first
six months and then went on toHillwood, but it was able to to
get me in the door and I wasable to go out and play at night
(17:16):
, because we were done by two,30 or three every day when I was
first moved to Nashville.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
I love that.
Did you ever visit Nashvillebefore you moved there Is?
that was usually your firsttime kind of being introduced to
the city.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I visited in 2012.
I actually got on Facebook backbefore.
It was, i guess, super creepyto do this, but I just got on
Facebook and I was like, do Iknow anyone that lives in
Nashville?
And I found a buddy of minethat was friends with the next
girl from a man from college andhe lived in Nashville and he
(17:48):
let me crash on his couch andshowed me a good time and went
to Broadway, did the whole thing, and I just had that, that
energy and magic.
I was able to catch it and Ijust loved the feeling of the
city.
So I visited it once then.
And then I came back because mymom made a call and we and she
had a friend that she knewgrowing, growing up, and I was
(18:10):
able to meet with her and shehelped me out a ton early on And
I was able to stay with her acouple of times and get settled,
and then I was able to get ajob and then I found some
roommates on Craig's list Andthat's a whole another story And
in that's what got me here in2013.
So I visited probably threetimes before I moved.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Roommates on Craigslist could make a really
good horror movie, I think.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
It's so funny.
You know the things we used todo and didn't worry about.
I think there's already stuffon Netflix.
I'm sure a story has startedout that way.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
You gotta help a song .
So you talked a little bitabout the golf, about golf
business, and your dad your dadand grandpa was both in the golf
world.
So when he said Salary, you'relike all right, i'm out, but
something I saw, you know, ithink you were a Sony or
something You got to do.
We're huge Eric church fans butyou got to do their golf
tournament one year.
How was that whole situation orhow that the whole term ago?
(19:06):
how did that?
how was that?
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Oh, that tournament's amazing, so I think it was
called the club in my hand kindof charity event And so a lot of
his crew guys play and bandguys will play.
I don't know if Eric playedthat year, but I was able to
play that because Eric was atthe time signed with Sony music
publishing that I'm signed withnow, and so they had a team and,
(19:31):
luckily, like I've carried onsome decent amount of golf
skills since I, you know, wasplaying all the time in high
school, so I get asked a lot toplay in tournaments, which is
really nice.
And so they asked me and it wasan amazing tournament.
I'm obviously a huge chief fantoo, so it was fun going out
there and playing in his eventand supporting charity.
But it was a great.
(19:52):
It was a.
It was a great time.
I remember we drank a lot ofbeer.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, i've heard that about that tournament.
A lot of beer drinking outthere And I heard this is a lot
of good, a lot of good times andgreat charity too.
They have cool auction itemsthey put up, so I think they
used to do every year.
I don't know if they've done inthe last couple of years, but
yeah.
So when you're doing thewriting, you're in the creative
process and everything.
How do you incorporate feedbackand critique into your creative
(20:19):
process?
Like, how do you take that andput it forward?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Oh, i, i love it.
To be honest, i think you knownot to go down a whole tangent
on this, but I didn't reallybecome the writer that that
everyone says.
Sometimes I say I have impostersyndrome, but the writer that
people say that I am withoutother people, basically not
(20:44):
teaching me.
But in co-writing I learned somuch from other people's craft
and how they approachsongwriting and how they
approach songs and ideas andmelodies and phrasing that, and
I still learn every day, LikeI've learned something new today
or I learned something new lastweek.
And I think with critique andeverything that comes along with
(21:07):
with writing songs is nothing'sever perfect And no one knows
the you know the absoluteformula of writing a song and it
being a hit.
There's a lot of timing andthere's a lot of patience that
you have to have And it just hasto be the right time for the
right artist.
But I love, you know, there'sso many songs I heard this the
(21:31):
other day that are at like 90 to95 percent And I love when my
publisher is like, hey, thishook isn't landing for me or hey
, you think you need to put abridge in here.
Hey, this melody falls a littleflat or you're losing me here
And half the time if you just goback and tweak those little
spots and the song goes from a Cplus song to an A song and then
(21:51):
, heck, it might get recorded.
So I always welcome it.
We do this so much.
We write every day, so you'realways going to.
You might miss something ormiss an angle, or so I always
love hearing it for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
That's great, that's amazing.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
That is.
That's cool.
How do you stay grounded andmotivated and often challenging
and competitive in industry,because I mean there's new
people moving to Nashville everyday by the dozens now.
But how do you stay grounded inknowing that?
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, it's funny I, to be honest, i think I I've
kind of just gone along with theflow of my life and kind of
where it's taken me.
But when I first moved toNashville I ran off a pure
adrenaline because I just wantedto be in the scene so badly and
I wanted to just be able to domusic full time.
(22:42):
I saw a lot of people thatmoved around the same time as I
did get publishing deals orpeople that I'd met get deals or
get cuts or singles andhonestly, it was like super
inspiring to actually know thatit could work.
And so I always try to keepthat feeling inside my heart.
And it's very, very, very, veryhard because when you do it for
(23:04):
long enough and then you get ahold, and then you get a cut,
and then you get a single andthen you get a hit, it kind of
just drones on and on whereyou're kind of living your life
and not taking a look around andbeing like, oh, wow, i've made
it a long way, i have apublishing deal that provides
for my family and I can writesongs for a living.
(23:25):
when I first moved to town Iwould have killed it just get a
meeting.
So I think that's what keeps megrounded and inspired is just
to realize every once in a while, be like, hey, you're doing a
job that not many people areable to do, and also just know
that I'm not digging ditches formy dad anymore mowing grass,
(23:48):
and so I try to just keep thatexcitement of today.
I could write a hit song, or Icould walk into my next right
and write a hit song, and Ithink that's what keeps me
plowing.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
Hell yeah man.
That's exciting, yeah, dude.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
You got to.
I was going to say you kind ofhave to.
you know You always got to beinnovative and you never know
what's going to happen.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
You said we talked about church a little bit ago.
Look how he is always evolving.
Every time he does a new albumhe involves into something else.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
So you learn to grow.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
I love seeing that Learn from each other.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
So a few of your favorite, or a few of my
favorite songs that you put outlately Damn Love by Kit Moore
You got part of that Loving OnYou, Luke Combs Going Going On
and Our Luke Combs, But I've allthe songs I think you've had
cut.
My favorite is Runway by DrewParker.
So tell me a little bit aboutdoing that song, writing that
song with you.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Oh man, yeah, i love that song man and I love Drew
And obviously Drew's going to beout on the road with us in
Europe, drew, and obviously RayFulcher, great buddy of mine.
But I think that was one of theprobably first few times that
(24:56):
I'd written with Drew in MattMcGinn, who's also a great
writer.
I think it was an afternoonthing and we got together And I
forget who had the idea, but itwas a very just, easy write man.
I just remember it feeling sogreat and that melody came out
And when we were able to spinthat hook of you know I'll be
(25:19):
the runway, like you can go butyou can come back.
I think that was like the lightbulb moment And I've always
loved that song and I've alwaysjust messed with Drew like that.
That should have been a hit.
Man, come on, you should, youknow, gotten them to take that
radio.
But we always do that with ourbuddies.
But I think he still plays itlive and I think he gets some
good.
You know, i think fans love it.
(25:39):
So I'm pumped that you dig it,because that is one of my
favorites too.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
Yeah, i do.
We're Drew and Ray's both beenon the show or huge fans of both
of them, and my first heardthat song dude, i just having
kids and stuff.
I just connected right to itbecause that's I mean, it's so
true.
So if you guys not heard thatsong, go check out Drew Parker
Runway, one of my favorites.
So I wanted to ask you kind ofwhat the rest of the year look
like for you.
You've put out two singleslately Fly on the Wall with
(26:06):
Hardy, which co-wrote with Hardy, i mean, and then Party and
Degree.
You put that out on May, butyou're getting ready to go out
on tour and fall with Ray andDrew.
They're doing dude.
That song Rang around is goingto be freaking awesome before
the Luke Holmes show.
Tell me what you're lookingforward to going over to Europe
and what else you got on thecalendar this year, man.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Yeah, europe's going to be amazing.
So I I'll probably release one,maybe two more songs before we
go over there, but I'll drop theentire album in September
before I make it across the pond.
But as far as other stuff Ihave going on, i just I'll be
out on the road right in somewith.
(26:47):
I always try to do that in thesummer.
I'll probably go out with Lukeat some point and I've been
right with Nate Smith on theroad some.
And obviously I always go outwith the Cadillac three because
I love Jaren He's a great buddyof mine and Neil as well.
But honestly, just being a dadand trying to write great songs
(27:07):
in town and write them on theroad and just prepare for for
Europe and make sure I have, i'msure we're only going to be
able to get two or three songs,so just kind of work in figure
out what three are going to gowell, you know, together And and
obviously we could figure thatout as night after night and see
what the crowds are reacting to, but basically preparing for
(27:29):
Europe and dropping the albumbefore then and just seeing what
happens, man.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
Have you ever been to Europe before or been overseas
it?
And if you haven't, where areyou looking forward to maybe
trying to get to see I know,tour you don't get to see much
but tour buses and backstagehallways, But anything you're
looking forward to maybe beingable to check out.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Absolutely.
Now.
I've never been across the pond, so and to do it with, with
some buddies that you know we'vebeen friends for a long time.
We both moved to the national,we all moved to national pretty
much the same time.
I think that's going to bespecial.
I, you know selfishly, i wantto check out some golf courses
in Scotland and Ireland whileI'm over there.
(28:08):
I want to see Amsterdam and thein the red light district.
But I also want to.
You know, my grandfather foughtin World War II.
So I would love to, you know,go see some some.
Really it'll be tough And Iknow it's, it's not going to be.
We'll have to pick a day wherewe have the, the summit for it.
(28:30):
But I'd love to like go see,like the Anne Frank hideout
house and then really dive intosome World War II stuff And just
if we're able to, just becauseI heard my grandfather just go
on and on about it when I wasreally little.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
So yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
That's amazing.
Yeah, my dad was stationed inGermany late sixties and I've
always wanted to go over thereand just kind of see things.
I love to take him one day.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
But a place with the stories, yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:56):
Just kind of cause he always tells me these cool
stories.
That'd be kind of cool to seethat over there one of these
days.
But man, that's, that'sfreaking awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
I'm excited for you guys, yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
I'm really excited for this for you guys.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Yeah, we're pumped.
Hell yeah, man.
This episode is powered byPoddex.
Poddex are unique interviewquestions and episode starting
prompts in the palm of your hand.
So, whether you're a newpodcaster or an existing
broadcaster looking to take yourinterviews and podcast episodes
to the next level, you're goingto want to check out Poddex.
(29:28):
Visit poddexcom to get yourPoddex today.
All right.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
We're going to move on to our, our sponsor part of
the night.
It's called powered by Poddex.
We drew a couple of cards outof the deck earlier And the
first one is you're probablygoing to be on a few of these
over in Europe, but if you're onan eight hour drive between
shows and you stop at a gasstation for snacks, what three
items are you always going tograb?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
All right.
Well, i would have to say andthis might gross people out, but
I don't care, i'm, i'munashamed about it I love pork
rinds, like got to give me, gotto give me some pork rinds, but
preferably the spicy con.
And as far as other two items,i would say, if we're including
drinks and snacks, i would sayI'm a diet coke guy.
(30:10):
It's terrible, I know, but Ilove some diet coke.
So be diet coke, pork rinds andthen probably something sweet
which should be, i would say,like a Heath bar or some
Skittles.
To be honest, Skittles are good.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
I love it, All the songs you written up to this
point.
which one of your songs wouldyou most want to be remembered
by?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Oh man.
Yeah, that's a good question.
Up to this point, i would say I, you know, um, oh man, i would.
There's a couple, but I used toyou and I know I.
Everyone asked me what's yourfavorite song.
I would just say that one Iwould love to be remembered by
(30:57):
For the fact of what it's donefor for folks and I was on
another podcast the other dayand it is true, i've signed so
many lyric sheets and had somany kind and sweet messages
about People that really connectto that song because they lost
a loved one.
And I feel like I moved toNashville wanting to do what my
(31:20):
heroes did and They're moving,their music move me.
So if, like I'm making musicthat's moving people, i think
that's like I can, you know, youknow, go live my life and be
and be happy with that, and so Ithink that song I would say,
just For lack of some other ones, i could say like, oh, it's
(31:42):
because you heard them on theradio, but I feel like that one
connected with a lot of peopleand I think that's super special
, especially to me.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Hello, definitely My favorite to that one and we're
gonna try.
this next section is gonna be alittle bit interesting because
we are, i know, that little bitof a delay.
but I got four clips of a songof songs I think you might have
a memory, with I don't knowresearch and for the show these
are songs that kind of popped up, so I'm gonna play on each
quick little clip of them.
first memory you have, we'lltalk about the other one.
(32:11):
Many cravits fly away, man,when you hear that song.
was it take you?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Man, it takes me to this bonus room of you know what
?
growing up we we lived abovethe pool that my, my mom ran and
I would stay in that bonus roomand try to learn that song.
That was like the first song,that.
I that I learned on guitar and Iremember just playing it back
On cassette rewind, play, rewind, play to figure out that riff
(32:42):
on guitar And I finally learnedit and I'm old enough to wear
like there was no.
I'm sure there was some musictablet your out, but like mid
90s, like it was hard to find,like Internet was so slow that I
learned everything by ear.
so that's a, that's a goodmemory, yeah.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
Yeah, i was doing guitar lessons.
I have the tab books andprobably like 95, 96, 97 around
there.
I have a few tab books, but Iwas about to.
All right, let's hit that greenone, alright.
Nirvana heart shaped box.
Man, when you hear that song,was it taking you?
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Oh man, my grandpa had a Cadillac and I remember he
took he used to drive me aroundwhen I was a little kid all the
time to run errands and stuffmy mom didn't want to take me to
do.
And I remember I bought thatcassette And he asked me what
did you buy, you know?
and I played that it isCadillac and he kind of looked
(33:38):
at me funny and I remember thatone.
Yeah, that whole record is justincredible.
But that's about what Iconnected to my grandfather's
disappointment.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
That reminds me of my grandmother running his
Cadillac to you, man.
Speaker 5 (33:53):
Buy a good sound system though.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah, it was an older one.
I want to say this is, you know, in the 90s.
It's probably an early 80s, butit's still.
You know, he kept it reallynice.
I think it's probably good.
Speaker 5 (34:10):
Alright, hit that yellow one.
He says you're a skinner fanman.
Simple man by skinner man.
When you hear that song, was ittaking you?
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Oh man, when I was in high school we used to cover
that song and it takes me backto where I we've had that in a
set of about four songs and weplay the pool that my mom ran,
where they used to have a fourthof July, and that's coming up,
believe it or not, so no wonderit's on my mom.
they used to have a party andwe basically forced them to
(34:39):
listen to us because we wouldjust set up our equipment and
play.
it wasn't like they were comingto see us and that was one that
was in the set And yeah, that'sone of my favorite skinner
songs, just melodically in thefeel and that and that smell we
used to try to work up to andyeah, man, skinner.
Speaker 5 (34:58):
I'm the best first time ever pissed her off was
with that smell man was.
We met her at a music festivaland we got there the night
before and set up our tent lateat like 12 one.
We were drunk, whatever, but wewere loud as hell.
Playing skinnered on repeat andthat smell kept playing.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
She's playing it over and over.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
She's trying to sleep in her tent next to us.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
I hadn't even met him yet and I hated him.
Now look where we are.
Speaker 5 (35:24):
That country thunder Wisconsin back in 2005.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
It's been 2004.
Speaker 5 (35:31):
That's been a minute.
All right, we're going to dothe last one, the green one.
This would be a good one, soI'm on fire.
Bruce Springsteen man, i'm sureit takes you back to your dad's
vinyl, but when you hear thatwe're at.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Oh man, yeah, it takes me back very, very young,
i mean that.
and so my dad, you know he, hewas a huge or still a
springsteen fan, and so I'm onfire.
and then I got into Nebraskabut I was like too young to
really just understand how darkthat album was but I love
Nebraska and I love AtlanticCity.
(36:11):
There was just so many of those,you know, kind of like left the
center Bruce on that wouldn'tsay I'm on fire is left to
center.
It's a little bit more popularnow but, yeah, it takes me to
the our living room and justgoing through those vinyls and
my dad being like, well, if youwant this side of Bruce, here's
this record and here's, you know, born to run, and here's the
river, like it was anencyclopedia of the boss.
(36:34):
So yeah, man, so it takes meback living room, probably five,
six years old.
Speaker 5 (36:40):
I love that man.
Alright, man, we'll wrap thingsup tonight.
Before we let you go, we gotput you on the hot seat.
Normally we do like 60 secondson the clock, play a little
music in the background sayingit's gonna be a little harder.
So we have that delay.
But your first CD or vinyl or,in our case, your first cassette
you ever purchased with yourown money.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
First cassette I have .
this is funny.
I'm pretty sure it was a LannisMorse set jagged little pill,
yep.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
That was my damn.
I love that.
I was a solo asylum.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
Grave dancers union was mine.
Had runaway train on it.
Never forget that.
Where is your happy place?
where do you go to kind of justkind of cool down for a little
bit?
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Hmm, i would say I'm a beach guy.
I like to go, you know, back inthe day I like to go fishing
down in Charles, charleston,folly beach.
But lately I mean my wife I'vebeen lucky enough to marry into
a family that has a lake houseand Lake Michigan and it kind of
(37:43):
reminds me of the beach, but Ilike to be near water.
For sure They're on a boat.
Speaker 5 (37:48):
Nice to nice, cause anywhere across the lake
Michigan we live right on thelake, we're in winter harbor.
So we're right there like amile from the lake.
Illinois, wisconsin border.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Oh yeah, so they have a house in egg harbor.
Speaker 5 (38:03):
Okay and North Yep, it's a great place to a great
place.
What's the best pizza you'veever had?
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Oh geez, it was probably some pizza that I had
on the road in New York, andthen Chicago was like a close
second, and I can't remember whoit was.
I know that.
I know the freaking name offthe top of my Chicago be my head
, but we had.
Speaker 5 (38:30):
What Chicago?
probably Luma and Adis.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Yes, yes, and I'm trying to think.
As far as Nashville, we hadsome.
I'm about to holler at my wife.
You're going to laugh, katie.
What was the pizza we have?
the only?
And there's this new placecalled Dicies in Nashville And
they the pizza is great, butthey do like a honey glaze with
spice on top of the pepperoniand I don't know what they do
(38:57):
with it, but it's unbelievableAnd I'm pretty sure I smoked
that like entire pizza night up.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Didn't even have any to say it.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
So I would say, if you're in Nashville Dicies,
check it out.
Speaker 5 (39:08):
It's legit for sure We're going to be there in a
couple of weeks.
We might have to check that out.
So what's the wallpaper on yourphone?
Speaker 2 (39:15):
So my, my daughter going crazy after she got out of
her bath like her hair's allnuts And she's like ah yeah, you
got to have that being a dadfor sure.
Speaker 5 (39:25):
What's a movie that can always make you laugh?
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Oh man, i would say I have so many.
I would say Dumb and Dumber.
I know that's super stock, butDumb and Dumber, like I can turn
that on at any moment and be ina bad mood in in within 10
minutes, be you know, in tears.
I would say the Wolf of WallStreet.
I just love the story of it.
That one, you know, isentertaining, um, and I would
(39:54):
say what's another one that Imean there's so many?
I do love some, some goodcomedies, but I would say, yeah,
dumb and Dumber is like thenumber one, like if you need a
laugh, the whole thing, you know.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
I love that man.
Obviously I gotta show the kidsthat movie.
I don't think we've shown thatmovie.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
I don't know that we want the kids to watch that.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
Just yeah, it's a funny movie, though What was
your first paying job you everhad?
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Oh, probably working for my dad, and he was paying me
like $2 or $3 an hour to gowash some golf carts or or, uh,
no, grass.
I remember I was mowing.
I was mowing grass on a ridingmower by the time I was five or
six, which is definitely notsafe.
They're super dangerous.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
And there's real going The mom and me is like oh.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, definitely for my dad.
I love that man.
Speaker 5 (40:42):
Oh, what's the oldest thing you own in your house,
right, you some?
Speaker 2 (40:45):
Oh, the oldest thing I own.
Well, um, so my aunt gave methis, um, this mandolin, uh,
this Martin.
Not, sorry, not, it's not amantel, it's a Martin ukulele
And it's so old that, like I hadto like look up the serial
number and like go through allof Martin.
It's been passed down in herfamily for like three
(41:08):
generations, but pretty sureit's like mid 1800s, like
something crazy like that, andso that's probably the oldest
thing I have in my house is anold Martin ukulele, oh man
that's awesome.
Speaker 5 (41:21):
I think ours is definitely that vinyl record
player or that old vintagerecord player we have.
This might be a more of aquestion for your wife, but uh,
what chore do you not like doing?
What chore?
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Oh chore, pretty much all of them buddy.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
Uh, no, but um.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
I would say the chore that, uh, that I don't like
doing the most, um would be.
At this point I would sayvacuuming is not very and that
is my job.
I'm the vacuum guy and.
I'm also the kitchen cleaningguy, um, not a big bathroom
cleaner, so I don't really likethat either.
(41:57):
but uh, we make, do.
you know?
it's funny when you have a,have a kid, you try to try to
just do the best you can.
My wife, my other room, shakingher head if she hears me say
this.
but uh, we, we team up prettywell, we make a good team.
Speaker 5 (42:11):
Yeah, hell yeah, man, you got to.
It's awesome.
Uh, what was your favoritechildhood television show?
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Oh, childhood TV show Man, it was hard to beat Nick
back in the day And I'm prettysure there was a show on Nick um
called legends of the hidden.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
Yeah, and it was I'm telling you that show would come
on and I wanted to be on thatshow.
So that, like it was such anadventure in the sets that they
made that out of was one of myfavorites.
Yeah, i would say that one forsure.
Speaker 5 (42:44):
I love that.
I thought you're going to gosalute your shorts at first, but
all right, i'll go with thehidden temple.
All right, man.
And last one you get to go toEurope here soon, uh, so you
cross that off.
but what's something that'sstill on your bucket list that
you want to achieve in music orjust in life?
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Oh man, um, this is a lofty one and I don't know, uh,
if if it'll ever happen, but Iwould love to, to play Red Rocks
as an artist in some capacity,even if it's just like a pinning
or it's just been a venuefavorite of mine, um, for a long
time, and it's beautiful there,so I would say, just playing it
(43:26):
in an artist capacity, or evena songwriter, who I mean, you
know who's counting, but beingable to be on that stage and not
in the stands would be amazing.
Speaker 5 (43:35):
Dude, i love that You ever we'll have to be there
We'll have to go to that showand do W awesome man.
Red Rocks I've here is abeautiful place.
We have not been yet.
We're kind of saving that forone of these days, for a special
show We'll see.
Well, dude, uh, thank you somuch.
I know we ran over a little bit.
Thank you for bearing with uswith all the sound issues
tonight It was.
This is the craziest we've everhad.
(43:56):
I don't know what's going onwith our internet or whatever
tonight, but, dude, we wish younothing but the best of luck
with everything coming up andcannot wait to hear about this
Europe trip.
Man, You definitely have to dosome videos while you're over
there or something post on somesocial so we can follow along
with you.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Absolutely.
Thank you guys so much.
This has been fun.
Speaker 5 (44:14):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
We'll hopefully see you out on the road at some
point.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
Hey, anytime you come to Chicago, let me know.
Man, i also do photos on theside too, so if you ever need a
guy doing his photos in Chicago,holler at me.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Okay, sounds good.
Speaker 5 (44:26):
All right, buddy, have a good one.
Have a good night.
All right, you too.
Bye.
Oh, that was a fun one.
Guys, let's see, there we go.
Man, that was wild, it was fun,it was wild.
The only thing I didn't likeabout tonight's show is it
didn't feel like a conversation.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Well, we're having tech issues.
Speaker 5 (44:41):
I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 1 (44:41):
Yeah, that's because our tech issues We've been
frozen like our videos going inand out tonight, So we do
apologize, it felt more like astraightforward interview
tonight where we were just kindof asking questions and waiting
for the response back.
The things for hanging in thereand watching with us.
So we do apologize.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
I don't know why our bars, our internet has.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
Our connection is terrible tonight.
We're going to have to checkthat out, so we'll figure that
out.
We're hardwired in too, sothat's strange.
Speaker 5 (45:06):
Exactly That was the strangest I've ever had.
I've never had that big of adelay.
No, that was a lease of fiveseconds.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
And he was a ton of like.
He was fantastic.
Speaker 5 (45:13):
Yeah, it was a fun He was fun.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Yeah, i mean, it was a great I loved.
Yeah, i loved listening to him.
Speaker 5 (45:20):
If you're overseas and you get to check out that
Luke Combs show with the songright around.
Drew Parker, ray Fulcher, jamesMcNair all three of them
together- on stage It's going tobe a riot.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
That's going to be amazing, so really cool things
All right.
Speaker 5 (45:32):
Well, before we let you guys go and we wrap up
tonight, we always like tocircle back to our pod deck
questions, and I don't know ifwe've ever answered this one
before.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
I don't even remember what they were.
Speaker 5 (45:42):
I'm going to bring Jackson up on this one too,
because Jackson gets to answerthis one too.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
Let Jackson answer it .
Speaker 5 (45:45):
Well, three of us can .
Sorry, jackson, if you're in acar and you're driving from
Chicago to West Virginia, youstop at a gas station.
What three items are you goingto grab from that gas station?
Speaker 1 (45:58):
You get three, only three.
Speaker 5 (45:59):
Talkies.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
Talking the mic, talkies, prime and Talkies.
What flavor prime, oh memoryPrime and Prim hydration.
Speaker 5 (46:12):
Get right up on the mic.
Buddy, There you go There yougo.
So you said talkies and whatelse.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Prime and.
Speaker 5 (46:22):
Something sweet Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
Like chips or something.
Speaker 5 (46:25):
Oh, chips are like talk.
Okay, so kind of the talkiesare too spicy, i'll eat the
chips and All right.
All right, what are you doing?
Where are you going?
Where are you grabbing?
Speaker 1 (46:35):
I want to know if you know what I would get.
You know, i know, you know whatI get.
Speaker 5 (46:39):
Probably Mon Dieu Gardettos And coming bears.
Speaker 4 (46:43):
So Gardetto ride trips and coming bears, you got
it.
Speaker 5 (46:47):
See folks, that's what happens after, See I don't
know if you know mine, becausemine changes every single time
Almost 20 years.
Every single time I walk into agas station and buy some of the
different.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
No, it would be something sour, like a sour
chewy candy, something So sourpatch kids or Probably.
Speaker 5 (47:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
And then you would get those, those liquorish,
something like that, and thenyou would get an energy drink.
You like those Celsius drinksright now.
Speaker 5 (47:11):
No, it'll be a third item I grab.
I don't say have you really, doknow me, because you got the
first two right, i did.
That's surprising.
I didn't think you'd get them,and this one's the most obvious.
how all of it.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
I would say some kind of nut like peanuts or like
what.
Speaker 5 (47:31):
Thanks for laughing Like peanuts or something like
that.
You know, dude, what's the onething I always get every time we
go to a gas station normallyThe biggest jug of water they
have.
Speaker 1 (47:42):
Oh yeah, a big water, that's true.
Speaker 5 (47:44):
So I get one of the biggest waters Celsius and like
a sour patch, kid or something.
That's my three, my eight hourtrip.
Well, guys, we want to thankyou guys again.
It was awesome tonight HavingJames on.
Sorry, so much about any of thetechnical difficulties.
This can be a really fun showto edit tomorrow when I do start
editing and put it together forall of our streaming platforms.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
But go back and listen to it on the streaming
platform.
It'll be, it'll be good Ohit'll be crisp, it'll be nice.
Speaker 5 (48:11):
So, as we come to the end of this episode, i want to
take a moment to express myheartfelt gratitude to our
guests tonight.
James McNair, your passion,dedication to the craft and
music have inspired so many.
Your words have resonated withour fans and touched your hearts
, and insights You shared aboutyour creative process,
challenges and successes havealigned and motivated our
listeners, including me, topursue their artistic dreams
with perseverance andauthenticity.
(48:33):
As you embark on your upcomingprojects, i have no doubt that
you will continue to pushboundaries and explore new
frontiers.
We talked about that earlier,about evolving and pushing
boundaries.
But yeah, in country music,your inner innovative vision and
exceptional talent willundoubtedly shape the industry's
future and leave a lastingimpact on fans and inspiring
artists alike.
(48:53):
Don't forget to catch up oneverything you missed from
tonight and past episodes overat MelodiesandMemoriescom, and
we're going to see you tomorrownight with another amazing show,
and just be a fun one too.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
So we'll see you guys then.
Thanks for watchingMelodiesandMemories podcast with
Jillian and Erin Shriver.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.