April 7, 2025 • 49 mins
Jill Andrews drops by to chat about her soulful journey from the flatlands of Normal, Illinois, to the vibrant music scene of Nashville, and trust me, she’s got tales that'll tug at your heartstrings. She’s not just any artist; her music has graced the screens of "Grey's Anatomy" and "This Is Us," making us all feel those big emotions we sometimes don’t know how to handle. We dive into her new EP "Big Feelings," where she captures the essence of today’s chaos, blending personal anecdotes with universal themes. And let’s not forget the lighthearted banter between her and our hosts, David and Moe, proving that even serious topics can be sprinkled with a bit of wit and charm. So, grab your favorite drink, kick back, and let’s soak in the melodies and musings of Jill Andrews on MUCK YOU!
American Muckrakers dives into the eclectic world of music and the intricate tapestry of life with Jill Andrews, a talented singer-songwriter whose songs have graced hit shows like Grey's Anatomy and This Is Us. During our spirited chat hosted by David B. Wheeler and Colonel Moe Davis, Jill opens up about her journey from Normal, Illinois, through Johnson City, Tennessee, and finally to the vibrant music scene of Nashville. The conversation offers a delightful mix of anecdotes about her musical influences, including her time with the alt-country band Everybody Fields and her solo career that began in 2009. We dig deep into the inspirations behind her latest EP, Big Feelings, where she candidly discusses the emotional weight of parenting in today's chaotic world, and how her experiences shape her songwriting. As we banter about guitars, she reveals her love for her vintage Gibson, while Colonel Moe throws in some light-hearted jabs about the acoustic guitar rivalry in Nashville. Tune in for an episode that’s filled with laughter, insights on life and music, and a couple of live performances that will leave you wanting more.
Takeaways:
- Jill Andrews shared her journey from Illinois to Nashville, highlighting the challenges and inspirations she faced along the way, making us realize how music can be a powerful outlet for emotion.
- As a musician, Jill emphasizes the importance of expressing feelings through music, especially during tough times, showing us how art reflects life's chaos and beauty.
- Her new EP 'Big Feelings' dives deep into emotional struggles, resonating with anyone feeling overwhelmed by life's complexities—perfect for our current times of uncertainty.
- We discussed the impact of technology and social media on parenting, as Jill navigates raising her kids amidst a whirlwind of anxiety and societal pressures, which is super relatable for many parents today.
- Jill's candidness about mental health and self-care through yoga offers a fresh perspective on how artists cope with stress, and it's a reminder that taking care of ourselves is vital.
- The conversation took a turn into political waters, where Jill bravely spoke about her activism and the challenges artists face when they voice their opinions, shedding light on the intersection of art and activism.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Amazon.com
- NBC
- Avett Brothers
- Drive By Truckers
- Gibson
- Martin
- Moms Demand Action
- American Muckrakers
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:14):
Hey, it's muck you, theAmerican Muckrakers podcast where
we sling mud at the high andmighty. I'm David Wheeler, the clown
who kicked off this circus,joined by my co founder and co host,
Colonel Mo Davis, a guy sotough he penned Sovereign Oak, a
book you can snag onAmazon.com if you're into good writing.
(00:34):
We're normally here to roastphonies and rake the muck, huh? But
today we have a very specialmusical guest live from Nashville
for her introduction. Take itaway, Mo.
Well, thanks and good to beback with you. And as David said,
we do have a special guesttoday and kind of a little different
(00:54):
turn for us. You may notrecognize the name Jill Andrews,
but you probably recognize hervoice. She's originally from Normal,
Illinois, moved to JohnsonCity, Tennessee. I suppose she and
I should not get along. Shewent to East Tennessee State University
and I went to AppalachianState, which were bitter rivals,
and then ended up inNashville, where she and her husband
(01:17):
Jared, who is also an AirForce veteran and still in the Air
National Guard and their twokids live. One thing I, you know,
I, like I said, I, I don'tknow that I recognized the name when
it first popped up, but thevoice certainly did because, and
I'm not ashamed to admit this,I'm a devoted follower of Gray's
Anatomy all 21 seasons andJill's music has been featured a
(01:41):
couple of times. In fact, ifyou remember season 16, the final
episode, the one where Owenfinds out that his fiance has been
cheating on him and she's gother wedding dress on. That was the
season finale. And one ofJill's songs is featured in, in that
episode and also in this IsUs, which is another one of my, my
(02:02):
favorites was on NBC. She'splayed with the, with the Avett Brothers,
who are one of my favoritegroups. In fact, Seth Avet is on
one of her songs and she has anew EP out called Big Feelings. So,
Jill Andrews, thank you somuch for joining us.
Thanks for having me. I'mexcited to be here.
(02:23):
Well, listen, I got to startoff with, I was watching some of
your videos over the weekend.If I'm not mistaken, it looks like
your guitar of choice is aGibson J45. And I know that in that,
well, in that, in Nash, Ithought Nashville, the, the acoustic
guitar, you're required tohave a Martin. So you're, Are you
(02:44):
a heretic or what? What'sgoing on there?
Well, there's also Gibson.Gibson has a factory Here. So I.
I've been playing a Gibson forquite a while, and it is. It's a
Gibson LG one. It's a 1951.
Wow.
And I love it so, so much.It's. It's my little baby.
We've got me beat. I have AGibson. A 1970 Gibson Les Paul is
(03:09):
my. The oldest one in my collection.
That's awesome.
How about tonight? You startedout in Normal, Illinois, and then
to Johnson City to Knoxvilleinto Nashville. So how did you. How
did you get from Normal,Illinois to Nashville?
Yeah, so my dad was always inuniversity administration. He worked
(03:33):
in. He worked at IllinoisState University, which is in Bloomington
Normal. And he was intechnology, like dean of Technology
and things like that there.And so he got a job at East Tennessee
State doing more technologystuff there and quickly became like,
(03:56):
vice president ofadministrative stuff and student
affairs. It's kind of hard forme to remember all these facts because
I haven't time talked about itin so long, but. Yeah, so that's
why we moved from Illinois toTennessee, and. And Tennessee is
really where I claim my hometo be, because I was. I think I was
seven when we moved fromIllinois. It was a. It was a nice
(04:19):
life there. I remember itbeing really flat and we lived across
from a golf course, and that'sreally all I remember. So. But East
Tennessee was great. You know,I was surrounded by the mountains
and I had a lot of reallygreat friends there. And then as
(04:40):
far as moving to Knoxville, Istarted a band with some friends
of mine in Johnson City calledthe Everybody Fields. It was like
an alt country sort of bandaround the same time as Whiskey Town.
And that was. That was one ofour. Our biggest influences, that
(05:00):
band. Are you guys familiarwith that band?
Yeah, I am. I'm not sure about David.
Yep. Yeah, they're NorthCarolina band. But yeah, we did a
lot of touring and stuff, andthen a few of the band members moved
to Knoxville. So I was. I wasthe lone one still in Johnson City.
So I decided to move, move toKnoxville as well, to a bigger. Big
(05:22):
bigger city and see what wasgoing on there. And then Knoxville,
we. We stayed together as aband for quite a while and we released.
We made three albums together.Released all three of those. And
we were in the middle ofmaking the fourth album when I decided
(05:42):
to quit. So the recordingprocess wasn't really going well.
The whole creative atmospherewas kind of flatlining, I think,
for everybody. And I also waspregnant with my son Nico, who is
now 15. So I wasn't. I wasn'treally, I wasn't really wanting to
(06:07):
be in a van at 2:30 in themorning in a parking lot, outside
of a bar anymore. Just verymuch what we did. We would, we would,
we played a lot of shows andwe just, I don't know, there's a
lot of partying happening.
Well, you know, going solo canhave some big rewards. One of my
(06:29):
favorite bands was Drive ByTruckers. And then Jason is, you
know, split off and seems tohave done pretty well for himself
since he, he went solo.
No joke. Yeah, yeah, he's,he's doing great. But. Yeah, so also.
Yeah, I, so I went solo in2009 and I've been, I've been just,
you know, writing music andreleasing it ever since.
(06:52):
We know what my big connectionto Johnson City, when I was at Appalachian
State, back before you wereborn, it was a dry county where Appalachian
State was located. So we wouldgo to Johnson City. You could donate
blood there. You got 25 apint. And then you could go to the,
to the package store and getbeer for the drive home. So I have
(07:12):
a fond memories of those tripsover to Johnson City.
Two birds kind of scenario.
Yeah, it was, it was a win,win all around. So I, I can't complain.
I wonder if it's healthy todrink beer after you've donated blood.
Well, you know, you've gotless blood, so it actually takes
less alcohol to get the sameeffect. So it really was, it was
(07:34):
a win, win, win in that regard.
Nice. That's great.
Now we mentioned your, yourhusband Jared is an Air Force guy,
which, you know, for me isalways great, having an Air Force
connection. How did you twomeet? How did the Air Force guy and
a, and a musician make the connection?
(07:55):
Yeah, it's kind of a wildstory. I mean, we would have never,
ever met. I'm very much in a.Just my whole social life is. It's
all musicians pretty much herein Nashville. I don't know if you
guys have heard of thosedating apps or not, but I, I was
(08:19):
on, I had just joined Bumbleand I guess he'd been on for like
a month or so. And I, youknow, I, one of my friends was like,
you should just try this out.And I was like, okay, I guess I will.
So she'd kind of pushed meinto it. So I, I think I'd been on
there for like two weeks and Isaw this really cute guy pop up and
(08:42):
he just looked so, I don'tknow, he just looked so healthy.
Like, he looked athletic andhealthy. And he just. His profile,
he just seemed really sweet.So I clicked on it or swiped on it
or whatever and come to findout he was driving from San Antonio
(09:04):
to. Well, actually he wasdriving back from San Antonio or
back. Sorry, let me calm down.He was driving back from Clarksville,
which is where he's from, toSan Antonio, Texas, which is where
he was living because he was,he was working there at the base
at Randolph. And so it wasreally kisment that we connected
(09:26):
because it was, it was whilehe was probably while he stopped
at. There's. Trying to thinkof the name of it. There's a, a distillery
in town that he stopped at tograb a few bottles of whiskey and
matched with me there. So,yeah, it was a wild, wild match.
(09:50):
Yeah.
I've read the interview youdid a while back where you talked
about one of your songs andhow it connected up with meeting
Jared.
Yeah, yeah. I mean it's, it's,it's so cool because we, we are really
different in a lot of ways andour, our daily lives look really
different. I mean, he'sworking all kinds of shifts. You
(10:15):
know, he's doing shift work,so he switches from day shift one
month to mid shift to swingshift, you know, that kind of thing.
And so he's doing that. AndI'm, I'm just like a free spirit
over here. You know, I'm selfemployed, so I make my own schedule
and I'm writing one day andI'm going to yoga and I'm, you know,
(10:38):
I'm just doing, doing all thethings that I do, trying to, you
know, keep my own careergoing. And it's fun to have somebody
with a very, a very differentlifestyle and ways about him to come
in and, and meet me in the middle.
(11:00):
Well, listen, your, your newEP is called Big Feelings and for
folks that haven't listened toJoe, I'd encourage you to do it.
You know, I've got thisvision, you know, if I die and go
to heaven, and I know for alot of you you're saying that's very
unlikely, but bear with me ifI do. I think the angels, their voices
are going to sound just likeJill Andrews. So you got to go out
(11:21):
and listen to her music. It'sjust, just beautiful. And you know,
some of the words in yoursongs I think are really particularly
relevant today. And bigfeelings you talk about. I've got
big feelings and sometimes Idon't know what to do. I think that
describes a lot of us right now.
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.I Think there's, there's a lot of
(11:46):
anxiety happening and it's,you know, you don't really know where
to, where to put all thatenergy sometimes.
And so what are you doing todeal with it? I know with, particularly
with, with two fairly youngkids and, you know, looking down
the road, it has to be causeyou some concern, so. But how are,
(12:07):
how are you dealing with it?
A lot of exercise. That's,that's kind of my way of dealing
with everything. I, I didn'tknow that it helped me so recently
and I don't know, I, I startedgetting into hot yoga. I don't know
if you, are you guys familiarwith what that is?
(12:30):
I've never done. I'm, I'mholding out for goat yoga.
I'd love to try goat yoga.
Yeah, I, I, we had hot yogawhen I was a kid. It was called Walking
Beans in Iowa, so.
Nice. Yeah, it's, it's beenreally helpful for me. Basically,
(12:53):
they just turn the heat up andyou just sweat your ass off while
you're doing yoga. And it'skind of like being in a sauna and
doing yoga at the same time.So it's also kind of like giving
blood and being able to buybeer. Mission accomplished. Yeah,
but I think just, just beingable to like, be in a room with other
(13:17):
people and just focus on yourbreath and being able to kind of
get into a meditativeheadspace, it's not something I'm,
I'm very, I haven't done a lotof that in my life. I've done, I've,
I've been kind of a runnerhere and there and done a lot of
exercising in different ways,but, like, kind of really trying
(13:38):
to be present and focus on mybreath is a very new thing for me.
And it's also a verychallenging thing.
Yeah, I hear you loud andclear on that front. I've got three
of them, three kids myself,one of which is same name as your
son, which is so funny. Nico.Nico. Our, our two Nicos. Yeah. So
(14:01):
I, I, my, my meeting you is areally interesting story too, Jill.
I just, I'm delighted to havecome friends with you and exposed
to your music. Just like Mosaid, it kind of came at a point
in my life where I neededsomething new and something uplifting,
but still melodic andbeautiful and, and you know, I met
(14:26):
ironically, Mo has a house inBeach Mountain and we met in the
chalet there. You'd come downoff the slopes with your daughter,
who was charming and probablygoing to be president of The United
States someday. And, man, shewas funny. Oh, my gosh, she's so
smart. And the tables werefull, and I was having a beer, and
(14:48):
you were having a beer with.With your daughter, and we sat down
and struck up a terrificconversation. And then Jared joined
us and wondered, who is thisknucklehead sitting here with my
beautiful artist wife? And.But, you know, just a terrific family.
And it. It really touched methat you took some time to sit down,
even though I didn't realizeyou were an artist until we got in
(15:10):
the conversation. But I havespent a lot of time with your music
over the last couple of monthsafter meeting you, and. And just
like Mo said, I think, youknow, there's something angelic about
your voice that is also verymesmerizing, too.
I mean, it.
It kind of takes you out ofyour current space, especially if
(15:33):
you're having a shitty day oryou just watch the news or watched
Elon on Twitter or something.So you've been a. Been a vacation
for me in parts of myheadspace and want to thank you for
that. And this new album isjust. Just terrific. You must be
so proud of it. I mean, it'sreally the. It's at a crescendo point
(15:58):
for your career. I.
Yeah, I. First of all, Ireally appreciate all of that, and
I. You know, it was. It was aninteresting and strange meeting with
you. Like, not strange in aweird way, but just strange in a.
You wouldn't be the firstwoman to say that.
So I told Jared after. Afterwe left, I was like, there was something
(16:23):
about that meeting, meetingDavid that I feel like we should
have met him today. Like therewas something there. I was like,
I feel like that was meant tobe, and I don't ever. I don't feel
like that very much. So justso you know, I felt it, too. And
then when you reached outlater, I was like, ah, there he is.
It's really, really cool. Ifelt like, I don't know, just felt
(16:48):
akin to you.
I appreciate that, Jill.
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, do you have some time toplay a couple or a song for us or
two? I know, folks, we've beenhyping it, and we're putting you
on the spot. You're gonna do alittle solo song here, so whenever
(17:11):
you're ready. Fire away. And.
And what's the backstory onthis song?
Yeah.
Yeah. So I think the firstsong I'll play is. It's called Low,
and this is probably. I'vewritten some sad songs for sure in
(17:32):
my life. This is definitely.This is one of the saddest ones.
And I think. I think the daythat I wrote it, I was just really
feeling the heaviness ofeverything that's going on in our
country. And I think theheaviness, especially as a parent,
because I have two kids andI'm just. You know, I'm endlessly,
(17:58):
endlessly worrying about them.And, you know, I think that's kind
of the role of a parent insome ways, but I think it's just
been. It's been amplified somuch with technology and AI and just.
It's like there's. And thepolitics, our leadership, our current
(18:23):
leadership, just all themadness and inhumanity that's been
happening, it's very. It'svery heavy, you know, and when you
have kids and they're seeingit, too, it's just. It's like, this
isn't how it's supposed to be.People aren't supposed to be treating
(18:44):
each other this way, you know,And I. I hate that they're seeing
it. So. So this song isinspired by all that. It's called
Low.
Pull the shades down, baby Idon't wanna see the sun Pull the
(19:16):
blanket, honey Hide it allfrom everyone I need the silence
I need a quiet say I need thefeelings I feel to go away Pull the
(19:41):
shades down, baby I don'twanna see the sun Lately I've been
feeling Turn the news off,baby can't stand to hear the sound
(20:39):
Come and lay here, honey Letme lay my troubles down I need some
kindness I need some peace andcalm I need you with me to wrap me
(21:01):
in your arms Turn the newsoff, baby make it all just go away
Lately I've been feeling lowKnow which way to go I don't know
(21:55):
which way to go.
Well, that was great. Andlisten, I'm really glad you bumped
into David up at BeechMountain. Often when David bumps
(22:16):
into women, there's usuallylitigation involved afterwards. So
it's.
And sometimes the law enforcement.
So, yeah, the fact there's noinjunction yet, I think is very encouraging.
Well, ironically, I'm headingoff to Nashville to see a really,
really close friend of mineand. And Jill and the. And her husband.
(22:37):
Hopefully, Jared will be freeand. And my friend David Wilhelm
and I are going to gettogether and have a beer in Nashville.
So there's still hope.
I've got protection, though.
Okay, good.
Exactly.
My Air Force guy.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly, Colonel.
Exactly.
Yeah, I'm looking forward tothat. That'll be fun.
(22:57):
Hey, Joe. I know for a lot ofmusicians, some of them are dipping
their toe in the water onpolitics. And then there's, you know,
blowback, you know, on. Onboth sides. I mean, there's. There's
some artists that, you know, Iused to like a lot that I don't listen
to now because of theirpolitical views. I know there are
(23:19):
folks on the other side of thespectrum that. That do the same thing.
So how do you. How do you walkthat tightrope?
You know, I've been trying tofigure that out. I think it's really.
It's really tricky. I mean,it's such a divisive environment,
and I think there's a wholelot of fear involved for everyone.
(23:44):
I know there is for me, and Ithink that's the point. I think there's
a lot of fear and intimidationhappening to make us be silent, to
make us shut up, and it'sheard loud and clear, you know. So,
(24:05):
yeah, I've been trying tofigure out where my role is in all
of it, but I think. I thinkthe most important thing is, you
know, people will alwayscomment and say, just shut up and
play music, especially towomen. I've noticed. But just. I've
(24:28):
already. I anticipate thingslike that a lot when I. Anytime I
say anything. And I think forme, my. It's important for me to
remember that I'm an Americancitizen, you know, and I care a lot
about my country, and I care alot about the people that live here,
(24:51):
especially. And I, likeanybody else, whether I'm a musician,
whether I have a platform of10,000 people on Instagram or a hundred
thousand on Instagram, youknow, have the right to say, hey,
guys, I don't like what'sgoing on here. So, yeah, it's. But
(25:11):
it is tricky. It's really,really tricky. And I haven't done
a whole lot of speaking out,but here we go.
Well, I noticed, like, on. I'mstill on Twitter, which has become
a real cesspool. And it's notjust women, because I get a lot of
comments on there suggesting Ido things that I couldn't. I wasn't
(25:31):
limber enough to do when I wasyoung, but I noticed, and.
I've seen those pictures, too, so.
But I noticed you. I haven't.It seems like you've kind of backed
off of Twitter. You still seequite a bit on Instagram and some
on Facebook, but has it justgotten too toxic over there?
(25:53):
You know, I think I. I wasfading off of Twitter before Elon's
takeover, so I just. I didn'treally have a whole lot of interest
in it. So it's been a verynatural kind of moving away process
for me. But I hear that it's,it's pretty, pretty bad over there.
(26:14):
Well, the one good thing Elondid, I was an early investor in Twitter
and the stock was in the tank,but when he came along and bought
it out, actually got my headback above water. So I, I do have
to thank him for that.
How's it doing now?
Well, yeah, well, you know,it's merged now with what he murdered.
Was it SpaceX? It wasimmersed. It was some other.
(26:35):
No, with Grok, the. His AIcompany. His AI company, which is
all private.
So. Yeah, so it kind of buriesthe, you can't really tell the financials
like you could when it was astandalone. So I, I, I don't know
how it's doing.
Yeah, well, that's cool.
Yeah. Hey, your song, OldScars, I saw again, looking at an
(26:56):
interview you did, you, youexplained the backstory on how that
song came about. Could you,could you talk just a little bit
about that?
Yeah, sure, I'd love to. AndI'd love to, love to play that as
well.
Great.
Yeah. So let's see. Old Scars.Let's see. I wrote that, I wrote
(27:20):
it about a year ago, probably.I was, I was celebrating the release.
Well, I guess it was inOctober 2024. I was celebrating the
release of my new album, whichat that time was Modern age. And
I was at a venue and there wasa man there that was sweeping and
(27:46):
like, moving the, like takingthe garbage out and stuff like that.
And he was really smiley. Andwe started talking. I'm very attracted
to smiley people, justfriendly people, you know, and we
started talking and he wasasking me about my music because
he knew that I was there toplay and, and I was, you know, kind
(28:06):
of giving him the rundown andtelling him my history and stuff.
And he was like, yeah, I, Imoved to Nashville to be a musician
as well. And I was like, oh,that's really cool. How's it going?
And he was like, ah, it didn'twork out for me, you know, and, and,
and like so many, so manypeople, so many musicians, it doesn't
work out, you know, becauseit's a, it's a lot of work. There's
(28:28):
a lot of, there's a lot ofluck involved. There's, you know,
getting to, getting to knowthe people that can, the movers and
shakers and things like that.And, and so I was feeling for him
in that moment. And then lateron that evening, he was still there,
and he was. You know, he was.As he was cleaning, he was humming,
(28:53):
and I could hear his. Howbeautiful his voice was, and it made
me really happy. But later.Later on that night, one of my friends
that had hired him to cleantold me that he was homeless. And.
And I didn't know, and. And soI wrote a song. I wrote this next
(29:17):
song inspired by. By him. Andalso just, you know, a lot of it
is. I will say a lot of it isfictional because I don't really
know his story. So I kind ofimagined what it could be. And I
also just wanted to writesomething kind of about just trauma,
(29:39):
like childhood trauma andthings and how that can really affect
someone for their whole life.So this song is called Old Scars.
(30:04):
Old man rides a bus downtownevery night when the sun goes down.
He's looking for pleasure inall his pain. And it's pounding like
a hurricane. Some people gotit easy. Some people got it hard.
(30:32):
Some people bury wounds underold scars. His mother comes to him
in dreams. Tender voice in themiddle of the city. But he lost her
(30:56):
love so long ago. He lost hisway down a lonely road. Some people
got it easy. Some people gotit hard. Some people bury wounds
under old scars. You only eversee what he wants you to see. He
(31:31):
gets real tired. He goes tosleep on a park bench on a busy street.
When he wakes up in themorning air. His old friend Payne
is waiting there. Some people.Some people got it easy. Some people
(31:57):
got it hard. Some people burywounds under old scars. Some hurt
is just too deep. Can'tremember who you are. Some people
bury wounds under buriedwounds. Some people bury wounds under
(32:23):
old scars. Old man rides a busdowntown every night when the sun
goes down.
(32:50):
Oh, that's beautiful. Okay.
Yeah.
It reminds me again, I'm a bigfan of Jason Ispel, and I don't know
if you're familiar with hissong Last of My Kind. He's got a.
Oh, there's a verse in there.He talks about old men sleeping on
the filthy ground. They spendtheir whole day just walking around.
Nobody here else seems tocare. They walk right past them like
they ain't even there. So, Imean, to me, it says a lot about
(33:12):
you that this guy who was ajanitor was seen. I mean, most people
just, you know, you wouldthink in an event like that, there
were other people there thatwere probably more important, but
you saw the guy that didn'thave a place to sleep.
Yeah. Yeah, there's. There wassomething about him. I don't know.
(33:33):
He was, he, like I said, hehad the biggest smile.
Yeah.
And he, he. I've seen himaround town recently and I think
he's doing pretty well. He. Ithink he has like a full time job
now.
I agree. Yeah, we have to,yeah, we have to get you back up
to Beech Mountain. Jason Isbelis playing there this summer, so
(33:56):
I'm pretty excited about that, but.
Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.
Yeah. So we need, we need JillAndrews to. Yeah. Some of my favorite
steep canyon rangers, youknow, from here, and they played
up there last summer and wegot Jason Isbell coming this summer,
so. Yeah. Something to lookforward to.
Yeah. Tell. Tell the powersthat be that you want, want me up
(34:17):
there.
All right.
And I'll be there. I love, Ilove Beach Mountain.
Yeah, it is a special place.It, you know, I, I grew up around
here and then joined the AirForce and saw the rest of the world
and it really made meappreciate, you know, western North
Carolina in the Blue RidgeMountains. There's just no other
place like it.
Yeah, I, I grew up going therea lot because I lived in Johnson
(34:42):
City and so we skied in BeachMountain and I, I played numerous
shows in Boone and, and inAsheville and just all over North
Carolina.
So. Has that gentleman everheard the song? I assume he has.
(35:02):
No, he does.
Well, we gotta.
Well, just because I don'tknow if he would like it or not,
you know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's interesting.
Yeah, I, I didn't want tocross the boundary there, you know,
I'm inspired by certain thingsand. Yeah, I, I don't know. I don't
(35:24):
know if he would like it.Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't,
but I don't know, I just.It'll be a mystery.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, maybe he hasstarted. Who knows? Who knows? So
what, what's your favoriteplace to play? In the States or abroad?
I mean, I know you've, you'vebeen in outside of the country a
couple times. What. Where wasyour favorite concert that you remember?
(35:49):
Well, one of my favorites wasI opened for the Avett Brothers at
Red Rocks a few years ago. Itwas in July and it was hot as hell
and I just, I don't know why,but I wore a turtleneck and I just
remember my guitar was likemelting into my arms. It was, it.
(36:11):
The finish was coming off ofmy guitar. It was so hot and the
sun was just beating, beamingright on it. So. But just to be on
a stage that magnificent inthat scene, you know? It's. It's
such a beautiful place andplaying for their fans. They're.
They're always great fans andthose dudes are awesome. So, yeah,
(36:31):
that was. That was a amazingexperience for me. I mean, I. I just.
Let's see. Last fall or thispast fall, I went on a UK tour and
I brought my parents with mejust because they had never really
been over there. My mom hadnever been over there at all. My
(36:52):
dad had been to London once,but. So we rented a car and I was
driving, driving us all overthe place on the wrong side of the
road. And I was so nervousabout the whole thing, but. Because
I didn't want to kill myparents driving on the wrong side
of the road. But I'd had alittle experience and, yeah, I would
(37:14):
say that tour in general wasso fun just to. To spend that kind
of time with my parents. Youknow, it was like I was living back
at home with them again in away. You know, my kids weren't there,
my husband wasn't there, andit was just me and them and it was.
It was a really sweet time.
And did you get to play at allin the UK or.
(37:35):
Yeah, yeah, I played. I thinkI played eight shows while.
I was over there.
I played in all over Englandand Wales and Scotland and Ireland,
actually. Yeah. So all overthe place.
Wow. And I assume you had areally good response and great experiences.
Yes, yes. Yeah. The peopleover there are just lovely. For sure.
(38:00):
Yeah.
One of the places you playedwas Glasgow, and there's an event
here in Asheville called theLeaf Festival, where they bring in
bands. And there's a band fromGlasgow called we banjos3 that I'd
never heard of.
Oh, that's cool.
They just blew me away. They.You know, it's obviously three guys
(38:23):
and one of them plays a banjo,but they were really good. And they
were all from the Glasgowarea, which is a beautiful place.
It is, yeah. It's. You reallyhave to pay close attention to what
people are saying when you'rethere because it's really hard to
understand the dialect.
Yeah.
It's just wild how differentever, you know, how. How close together
(38:47):
the countries are over there,but how they retain their differences
in dialect. It's so wild to me.
Did you write anything whileyou're there?
No, I didn't. Oftentimes whenI'm touring, it's like just too hectic.
Yeah, yeah, it's just. I'mdriving all day, I'm playing all
(39:08):
night, I'm sleeping barely anddriving again. The next day. So,
yeah, not much time. But I, Ido. I do take the inspiration with
me back home, you know.
Cool. Well, we're talkingtoday with Joe Andrews from Nashville,
and you can learn more aboutjill@jillandrews.com Pretty simple.
(39:32):
And, you know, we get intopolitics a little bit here, Jill,
and we're going to try andstay away from that in interest of
your career. But, I mean, arethere people in Tennessee or in the
United States that, you know,have influenced you or politically
involved these days that youlook up to or you get inspiration
from?
(39:56):
That's kind of a hardquestion. Well, there's Justin Jones.
Yep.
Representative Justin Jones. Ithink he's very brave just to go,
you know, to go against thegrain, as he has done. And that's
(40:18):
hard. I don't know. It would.It's hard for me to imagine disrupting
in the way that he did, but Ifind that to be very, very brave.
Let's see, what else? I mean,there's organizations after the Covenant
(40:45):
School shooting here inNashville, there's folks that are
trying to make real change,you know, with the gun violence that
happens here in our countryand in our state. And so my dad and
I have taken part in some ofthat kind of stuff. We were part
(41:09):
of Moms Demand Action, whichwas really funny. I was like, do
you want, dad? Do you want tocome to this with me? He was like,
sure, I don't care. So we wentto it together. He's not a mom, but
there are a lot of non momsthere. So, yeah, I think, I do think
it's important to, you know,just to stay. To stay knowledgeable
(41:37):
about what's going on in thecountry and what's going on in your
state and try to do what youcan as an individual.
When you mentioned Mom. Mom'sDemand Action, we had. David Hogg
was on last week, a weekbefore last with us, and we're trying
to get Shannon Watts. He wasthe founder, who's a lady I've got
a lot of respect for becauseI, you know, I know she's taken a
(42:00):
lot of verbal abuse for, youknow, being a very vocal advocate
on gun regulation. But she ispersevered and, yeah, is really doing,
Doing good work.
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I, Ilistened to the David Hog episode.
That was really, really coolthat you guys had him on. I look
up to him as well.
(42:21):
I'm just curious, who do youlisten to when you, when you need
some tunes to kind of escapeto? Who do you. Who do you Put on.
Yeah. See, I've been listeningto Phantogram a lot. Have you guys
heard of them? They're morelike pop, right? Pop kind of stuff
(42:48):
I listen to. Oh, one of myvery, very, very favorite albums
of all time is the Killers.And the album called. What is it
called? It's called PressureMachine. Have you guys ever heard
that?
Yes.
Yep. Yep.
That. That is one of the most.I don't know. Every time I listen
(43:10):
to it, I just cry and cry andcry. It's just so good. That album
has inspired me a lot.
Hey, how'd you. How'd you endup connecting? You've had at least
two songs on Grey's Anatomy.How did that work out?
Yeah, so I work with. I workwith companies here. I've had a variety
(43:35):
of different companies, butthey, they pitch my songs to film
and tv. There's always, youknow, they're always looking for
songs for certain scenes andthey'll send out a request. The show
will send out a request like,here's the scene, you know, Deborah
and Pat are sitting in theliving room talking, and they'll
(43:58):
kind of lay out the wholescene and they'll say, we need a.
A pop song or we need a, youknow, self. A woman empowerment song
or whatever. And so a lot ofthe songs that I've written have
just worked for. For scenes,you know, they just. It just kind
of fit right in. And then I'vespecifically written some songs,
(44:21):
songs for scenes like I readthe brief and then I wrote a song
based on the brief. So, yeah,that's. That's always really, really
fun to hear your music used in shows.
Briefly. Grey's Anatomy again,I, you know. Yeah, probably catch
(44:41):
a lot of grief for admittingI'm a addicted to Grey's Anatomy,
but I've been watching it for21 seasons, but part of it is a strong
word. And it's renewed for a22nd season, so it's got some. Yes,
it's got some staying power,but one of the things I've always
liked about it, they have thebest music on there. A lot of times
(45:03):
when I just want something tolisten to, I'll. I'll plug in Grey's
Anatomy and the music fromthat show is just spectacular.
Yeah, it is. And it's alwaysbeen that way. You know, they purposely
purposefully, like, havereally sought out some good music.
And so, you know, it's. It'sawesome for somebody like me to find.
(45:26):
Find their music on therebecause I think I'm in really good.
I'm in good company.
It's good stuff. Well, Jill,it's been a pleasure having you on
today.
Thank you.
Yeah, it's really sweet of youto do this and, and play your beautiful
music for people or listenersand my, my colleague Mo and myself.
(45:52):
So we really appreciate havingyou today.
Whoops.
Oh my God. There it goes.
The timer.
That's my timer. Sorry, Jill,you just about got played off. I
think we'll leave that in. Butthat's a wrap for mucu. Where the
mud flies and the phonies fry.I'm David Wheeler, the ringmaster
(46:14):
the Muckfest alongside my goodfriend Colonel Mo Davis, who's tougher
than a sovereign oak and twiceas rooted. Grab Moe's book on Amazon
if you've got the taste.Again, it's sovereign oak on Amazon.com
We've taken a reprieve frompolitics this week to bring you singer
and songwriter Jill Andrewsbeautiful, gorgeous music and had
(46:38):
a lovely conversation withher. Please learn more about Jill
at JillAndrews. Catch you nexttime when we rake it up again. Until
then, muck you.
This has been Muck youk cohosted by Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville,
North Carolina and DavidWheeler in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
(47:00):
Thanks to our special guesttoday, Jill Andrews, an award winning
singer songwriter who came tous live from Nashville. The intro
and outro music on our episodetoday is courtesy of of Jill Andrews
and you can listen to the fullsongs on her newly released album
titled Big Feelings. Learnmore about Jill and listen to her
amazing Originalmusic@jillandrews.com Muck you is
produced by AmericanMuckrakers. Copyright 2025. You can
(47:24):
learn more anddonate@americanmokrakers.com Follow
us on Blue sky under AmericanMuckrakers. Again, thank you to Jill
Andrews for joining us thisweek and sharing some of her music.
(48:00):
I've got big feelings andsometimes I don't know what to do
Sometimes you don't know whatto do to I've got big feelings I've
(48:37):
got big feelings I got bigfeelings I got big feelings and sometimes
I don't know what to do andsometimes you don't know what to
(49:02):
do to Sometimes I don't knowwhat to do Cuz the tears keep coming.
Hey, it's muck you, theAmerican Muckrakers podcast where
we sling mud at the high andmighty. I'm David Wheeler, the clown
who kicked off this circus,joined by my co founder and co host,
Colonel Mo Davis, a guy sotough he penned Sovereign Oak, a
book you can snag onAmazon.com if you're into good writing.
(00:34):
We're normally here to roastphonies and rake the muck, huh? But
today we have a very specialmusical guest live from Nashville
for her introduction. Take itaway, Mo.
Well, thanks and good to beback with you. And as David said,
we do have a special guesttoday and kind of a little different
(00:54):
turn for us. You may notrecognize the name Jill Andrews,
but you probably recognize hervoice. She's originally from Normal,
Illinois, moved to JohnsonCity, Tennessee. I suppose she and
I should not get along. Shewent to East Tennessee State University
and I went to AppalachianState, which were bitter rivals,
and then ended up inNashville, where she and her husband
(01:17):
Jared, who is also an AirForce veteran and still in the Air
National Guard and their twokids live. One thing I, you know,
I, like I said, I, I don'tknow that I recognized the name when
it first popped up, but thevoice certainly did because, and
I'm not ashamed to admit this,I'm a devoted follower of Gray's
Anatomy all 21 seasons andJill's music has been featured a
(01:41):
couple of times. In fact, ifyou remember season 16, the final
episode, the one where Owenfinds out that his fiance has been
cheating on him and she's gother wedding dress on. That was the
season finale. And one ofJill's songs is featured in, in that
episode and also in this IsUs, which is another one of my, my
(02:02):
favorites was on NBC. She'splayed with the, with the Avett Brothers,
who are one of my favoritegroups. In fact, Seth Avet is on
one of her songs and she has anew EP out called Big Feelings. So,
Jill Andrews, thank you somuch for joining us.
Thanks for having me. I'mexcited to be here.
(02:23):
Well, listen, I got to startoff with, I was watching some of
your videos over the weekend.If I'm not mistaken, it looks like
your guitar of choice is aGibson J45. And I know that in that,
well, in that, in Nash, Ithought Nashville, the, the acoustic
guitar, you're required tohave a Martin. So you're, Are you
(02:44):
a heretic or what? What'sgoing on there?
Well, there's also Gibson.Gibson has a factory Here. So I.
I've been playing a Gibson forquite a while, and it is. It's a
Gibson LG one. It's a 1951.
Wow.
And I love it so, so much.It's. It's my little baby.
We've got me beat. I have AGibson. A 1970 Gibson Les Paul is
(03:09):
my. The oldest one in my collection.
That's awesome.
How about tonight? You startedout in Normal, Illinois, and then
to Johnson City to Knoxvilleinto Nashville. So how did you. How
did you get from Normal,Illinois to Nashville?
Yeah, so my dad was always inuniversity administration. He worked
(03:33):
in. He worked at IllinoisState University, which is in Bloomington
Normal. And he was intechnology, like dean of Technology
and things like that there.And so he got a job at East Tennessee
State doing more technologystuff there and quickly became like,
(03:56):
vice president ofadministrative stuff and student
affairs. It's kind of hard forme to remember all these facts because
I haven't time talked about itin so long, but. Yeah, so that's
why we moved from Illinois toTennessee, and. And Tennessee is
really where I claim my hometo be, because I was. I think I was
seven when we moved fromIllinois. It was a. It was a nice
(04:19):
life there. I remember itbeing really flat and we lived across
from a golf course, and that'sreally all I remember. So. But East
Tennessee was great. You know,I was surrounded by the mountains
and I had a lot of reallygreat friends there. And then as
(04:40):
far as moving to Knoxville, Istarted a band with some friends
of mine in Johnson City calledthe Everybody Fields. It was like
an alt country sort of bandaround the same time as Whiskey Town.
And that was. That was one ofour. Our biggest influences, that
(05:00):
band. Are you guys familiarwith that band?
Yeah, I am. I'm not sure about David.
Yep. Yeah, they're NorthCarolina band. But yeah, we did a
lot of touring and stuff, andthen a few of the band members moved
to Knoxville. So I was. I wasthe lone one still in Johnson City.
So I decided to move, move toKnoxville as well, to a bigger. Big
(05:22):
bigger city and see what wasgoing on there. And then Knoxville,
we. We stayed together as aband for quite a while and we released.
We made three albums together.Released all three of those. And
we were in the middle ofmaking the fourth album when I decided
(05:42):
to quit. So the recordingprocess wasn't really going well.
The whole creative atmospherewas kind of flatlining, I think,
for everybody. And I also waspregnant with my son Nico, who is
now 15. So I wasn't. I wasn'treally, I wasn't really wanting to
(06:07):
be in a van at 2:30 in themorning in a parking lot, outside
of a bar anymore. Just verymuch what we did. We would, we would,
we played a lot of shows andwe just, I don't know, there's a
lot of partying happening.
Well, you know, going solo canhave some big rewards. One of my
(06:29):
favorite bands was Drive ByTruckers. And then Jason is, you
know, split off and seems tohave done pretty well for himself
since he, he went solo.
No joke. Yeah, yeah, he's,he's doing great. But. Yeah, so also.
Yeah, I, so I went solo in2009 and I've been, I've been just,
you know, writing music andreleasing it ever since.
(06:52):
We know what my big connectionto Johnson City, when I was at Appalachian
State, back before you wereborn, it was a dry county where Appalachian
State was located. So we wouldgo to Johnson City. You could donate
blood there. You got 25 apint. And then you could go to the,
to the package store and getbeer for the drive home. So I have
(07:12):
a fond memories of those tripsover to Johnson City.
Two birds kind of scenario.
Yeah, it was, it was a win,win all around. So I, I can't complain.
I wonder if it's healthy todrink beer after you've donated blood.
Well, you know, you've gotless blood, so it actually takes
less alcohol to get the sameeffect. So it really was, it was
(07:34):
a win, win, win in that regard.
Nice. That's great.
Now we mentioned your, yourhusband Jared is an Air Force guy,
which, you know, for me isalways great, having an Air Force
connection. How did you twomeet? How did the Air Force guy and
a, and a musician make the connection?
(07:55):
Yeah, it's kind of a wildstory. I mean, we would have never,
ever met. I'm very much in a.Just my whole social life is. It's
all musicians pretty much herein Nashville. I don't know if you
guys have heard of thosedating apps or not, but I, I was
(08:19):
on, I had just joined Bumbleand I guess he'd been on for like
a month or so. And I, youknow, I, one of my friends was like,
you should just try this out.And I was like, okay, I guess I will.
So she'd kind of pushed meinto it. So I, I think I'd been on
there for like two weeks and Isaw this really cute guy pop up and
(08:42):
he just looked so, I don'tknow, he just looked so healthy.
Like, he looked athletic andhealthy. And he just. His profile,
he just seemed really sweet.So I clicked on it or swiped on it
or whatever and come to findout he was driving from San Antonio
(09:04):
to. Well, actually he wasdriving back from San Antonio or
back. Sorry, let me calm down.He was driving back from Clarksville,
which is where he's from, toSan Antonio, Texas, which is where
he was living because he was,he was working there at the base
at Randolph. And so it wasreally kisment that we connected
(09:26):
because it was, it was whilehe was probably while he stopped
at. There's. Trying to thinkof the name of it. There's a, a distillery
in town that he stopped at tograb a few bottles of whiskey and
matched with me there. So,yeah, it was a wild, wild match.
(09:50):
Yeah.
I've read the interview youdid a while back where you talked
about one of your songs andhow it connected up with meeting
Jared.
Yeah, yeah. I mean it's, it's,it's so cool because we, we are really
different in a lot of ways andour, our daily lives look really
different. I mean, he'sworking all kinds of shifts. You
(10:15):
know, he's doing shift work,so he switches from day shift one
month to mid shift to swingshift, you know, that kind of thing.
And so he's doing that. AndI'm, I'm just like a free spirit
over here. You know, I'm selfemployed, so I make my own schedule
and I'm writing one day andI'm going to yoga and I'm, you know,
(10:38):
I'm just doing, doing all thethings that I do, trying to, you
know, keep my own careergoing. And it's fun to have somebody
with a very, a very differentlifestyle and ways about him to come
in and, and meet me in the middle.
(11:00):
Well, listen, your, your newEP is called Big Feelings and for
folks that haven't listened toJoe, I'd encourage you to do it.
You know, I've got thisvision, you know, if I die and go
to heaven, and I know for alot of you you're saying that's very
unlikely, but bear with me ifI do. I think the angels, their voices
are going to sound just likeJill Andrews. So you got to go out
(11:21):
and listen to her music. It'sjust, just beautiful. And you know,
some of the words in yoursongs I think are really particularly
relevant today. And bigfeelings you talk about. I've got
big feelings and sometimes Idon't know what to do. I think that
describes a lot of us right now.
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.I Think there's, there's a lot of
(11:46):
anxiety happening and it's,you know, you don't really know where
to, where to put all thatenergy sometimes.
And so what are you doing todeal with it? I know with, particularly
with, with two fairly youngkids and, you know, looking down
the road, it has to be causeyou some concern, so. But how are,
(12:07):
how are you dealing with it?
A lot of exercise. That's,that's kind of my way of dealing
with everything. I, I didn'tknow that it helped me so recently
and I don't know, I, I startedgetting into hot yoga. I don't know
if you, are you guys familiarwith what that is?
(12:30):
I've never done. I'm, I'mholding out for goat yoga.
I'd love to try goat yoga.
Yeah, I, I, we had hot yogawhen I was a kid. It was called Walking
Beans in Iowa, so.
Nice. Yeah, it's, it's beenreally helpful for me. Basically,
(12:53):
they just turn the heat up andyou just sweat your ass off while
you're doing yoga. And it'skind of like being in a sauna and
doing yoga at the same time.So it's also kind of like giving
blood and being able to buybeer. Mission accomplished. Yeah,
but I think just, just beingable to like, be in a room with other
(13:17):
people and just focus on yourbreath and being able to kind of
get into a meditativeheadspace, it's not something I'm,
I'm very, I haven't done a lotof that in my life. I've done, I've,
I've been kind of a runnerhere and there and done a lot of
exercising in different ways,but, like, kind of really trying
(13:38):
to be present and focus on mybreath is a very new thing for me.
And it's also a verychallenging thing.
Yeah, I hear you loud andclear on that front. I've got three
of them, three kids myself,one of which is same name as your
son, which is so funny. Nico.Nico. Our, our two Nicos. Yeah. So
(14:01):
I, I, my, my meeting you is areally interesting story too, Jill.
I just, I'm delighted to havecome friends with you and exposed
to your music. Just like Mosaid, it kind of came at a point
in my life where I neededsomething new and something uplifting,
but still melodic andbeautiful and, and you know, I met
(14:26):
ironically, Mo has a house inBeach Mountain and we met in the
chalet there. You'd come downoff the slopes with your daughter,
who was charming and probablygoing to be president of The United
States someday. And, man, shewas funny. Oh, my gosh, she's so
smart. And the tables werefull, and I was having a beer, and
(14:48):
you were having a beer with.With your daughter, and we sat down
and struck up a terrificconversation. And then Jared joined
us and wondered, who is thisknucklehead sitting here with my
beautiful artist wife? And.But, you know, just a terrific family.
And it. It really touched methat you took some time to sit down,
even though I didn't realizeyou were an artist until we got in
(15:10):
the conversation. But I havespent a lot of time with your music
over the last couple of monthsafter meeting you, and. And just
like Mo said, I think, youknow, there's something angelic about
your voice that is also verymesmerizing, too.
I mean, it.
It kind of takes you out ofyour current space, especially if
(15:33):
you're having a shitty day oryou just watch the news or watched
Elon on Twitter or something.So you've been a. Been a vacation
for me in parts of myheadspace and want to thank you for
that. And this new album isjust. Just terrific. You must be
so proud of it. I mean, it'sreally the. It's at a crescendo point
(15:58):
for your career. I.
Yeah, I. First of all, Ireally appreciate all of that, and
I. You know, it was. It was aninteresting and strange meeting with
you. Like, not strange in aweird way, but just strange in a.
You wouldn't be the firstwoman to say that.
So I told Jared after. Afterwe left, I was like, there was something
(16:23):
about that meeting, meetingDavid that I feel like we should
have met him today. Like therewas something there. I was like,
I feel like that was meant tobe, and I don't ever. I don't feel
like that very much. So justso you know, I felt it, too. And
then when you reached outlater, I was like, ah, there he is.
It's really, really cool. Ifelt like, I don't know, just felt
(16:48):
akin to you.
I appreciate that, Jill.
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, do you have some time toplay a couple or a song for us or
two? I know, folks, we've beenhyping it, and we're putting you
on the spot. You're gonna do alittle solo song here, so whenever
(17:11):
you're ready. Fire away. And.
And what's the backstory onthis song?
Yeah.
Yeah. So I think the firstsong I'll play is. It's called Low,
and this is probably. I'vewritten some sad songs for sure in
(17:32):
my life. This is definitely.This is one of the saddest ones.
And I think. I think the daythat I wrote it, I was just really
feeling the heaviness ofeverything that's going on in our
country. And I think theheaviness, especially as a parent,
because I have two kids andI'm just. You know, I'm endlessly,
(17:58):
endlessly worrying about them.And, you know, I think that's kind
of the role of a parent insome ways, but I think it's just
been. It's been amplified somuch with technology and AI and just.
It's like there's. And thepolitics, our leadership, our current
(18:23):
leadership, just all themadness and inhumanity that's been
happening, it's very. It'svery heavy, you know, and when you
have kids and they're seeingit, too, it's just. It's like, this
isn't how it's supposed to be.People aren't supposed to be treating
(18:44):
each other this way, you know,And I. I hate that they're seeing
it. So. So this song isinspired by all that. It's called
Low.
Pull the shades down, baby Idon't wanna see the sun Pull the
(19:16):
blanket, honey Hide it allfrom everyone I need the silence
I need a quiet say I need thefeelings I feel to go away Pull the
(19:41):
shades down, baby I don'twanna see the sun Lately I've been
feeling Turn the news off,baby can't stand to hear the sound
(20:39):
Come and lay here, honey Letme lay my troubles down I need some
kindness I need some peace andcalm I need you with me to wrap me
(21:01):
in your arms Turn the newsoff, baby make it all just go away
Lately I've been feeling lowKnow which way to go I don't know
(21:55):
which way to go.
Well, that was great. Andlisten, I'm really glad you bumped
into David up at BeechMountain. Often when David bumps
(22:16):
into women, there's usuallylitigation involved afterwards. So
it's.
And sometimes the law enforcement.
So, yeah, the fact there's noinjunction yet, I think is very encouraging.
Well, ironically, I'm headingoff to Nashville to see a really,
really close friend of mineand. And Jill and the. And her husband.
(22:37):
Hopefully, Jared will be freeand. And my friend David Wilhelm
and I are going to gettogether and have a beer in Nashville.
So there's still hope.
I've got protection, though.
Okay, good.
Exactly.
My Air Force guy.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly, Colonel.
Exactly.
Yeah, I'm looking forward tothat. That'll be fun.
(22:57):
Hey, Joe. I know for a lot ofmusicians, some of them are dipping
their toe in the water onpolitics. And then there's, you know,
blowback, you know, on. Onboth sides. I mean, there's. There's
some artists that, you know, Iused to like a lot that I don't listen
to now because of theirpolitical views. I know there are
(23:19):
folks on the other side of thespectrum that. That do the same thing.
So how do you. How do you walkthat tightrope?
You know, I've been trying tofigure that out. I think it's really.
It's really tricky. I mean,it's such a divisive environment,
and I think there's a wholelot of fear involved for everyone.
(23:44):
I know there is for me, and Ithink that's the point. I think there's
a lot of fear and intimidationhappening to make us be silent, to
make us shut up, and it'sheard loud and clear, you know. So,
(24:05):
yeah, I've been trying tofigure out where my role is in all
of it, but I think. I thinkthe most important thing is, you
know, people will alwayscomment and say, just shut up and
play music, especially towomen. I've noticed. But just. I've
(24:28):
already. I anticipate thingslike that a lot when I. Anytime I
say anything. And I think forme, my. It's important for me to
remember that I'm an Americancitizen, you know, and I care a lot
about my country, and I care alot about the people that live here,
(24:51):
especially. And I, likeanybody else, whether I'm a musician,
whether I have a platform of10,000 people on Instagram or a hundred
thousand on Instagram, youknow, have the right to say, hey,
guys, I don't like what'sgoing on here. So, yeah, it's. But
(25:11):
it is tricky. It's really,really tricky. And I haven't done
a whole lot of speaking out,but here we go.
Well, I noticed, like, on. I'mstill on Twitter, which has become
a real cesspool. And it's notjust women, because I get a lot of
comments on there suggesting Ido things that I couldn't. I wasn't
(25:31):
limber enough to do when I wasyoung, but I noticed, and.
I've seen those pictures, too, so.
But I noticed you. I haven't.It seems like you've kind of backed
off of Twitter. You still seequite a bit on Instagram and some
on Facebook, but has it justgotten too toxic over there?
(25:53):
You know, I think I. I wasfading off of Twitter before Elon's
takeover, so I just. I didn'treally have a whole lot of interest
in it. So it's been a verynatural kind of moving away process
for me. But I hear that it's,it's pretty, pretty bad over there.
(26:14):
Well, the one good thing Elondid, I was an early investor in Twitter
and the stock was in the tank,but when he came along and bought
it out, actually got my headback above water. So I, I do have
to thank him for that.
How's it doing now?
Well, yeah, well, you know,it's merged now with what he murdered.
Was it SpaceX? It wasimmersed. It was some other.
(26:35):
No, with Grok, the. His AIcompany. His AI company, which is
all private.
So. Yeah, so it kind of buriesthe, you can't really tell the financials
like you could when it was astandalone. So I, I, I don't know
how it's doing.
Yeah, well, that's cool.
Yeah. Hey, your song, OldScars, I saw again, looking at an
(26:56):
interview you did, you, youexplained the backstory on how that
song came about. Could you,could you talk just a little bit
about that?
Yeah, sure, I'd love to. AndI'd love to, love to play that as
well.
Great.
Yeah. So let's see. Old Scars.Let's see. I wrote that, I wrote
(27:20):
it about a year ago, probably.I was, I was celebrating the release.
Well, I guess it was inOctober 2024. I was celebrating the
release of my new album, whichat that time was Modern age. And
I was at a venue and there wasa man there that was sweeping and
(27:46):
like, moving the, like takingthe garbage out and stuff like that.
And he was really smiley. Andwe started talking. I'm very attracted
to smiley people, justfriendly people, you know, and we
started talking and he wasasking me about my music because
he knew that I was there toplay and, and I was, you know, kind
(28:06):
of giving him the rundown andtelling him my history and stuff.
And he was like, yeah, I, Imoved to Nashville to be a musician
as well. And I was like, oh,that's really cool. How's it going?
And he was like, ah, it didn'twork out for me, you know, and, and,
and like so many, so manypeople, so many musicians, it doesn't
work out, you know, becauseit's a, it's a lot of work. There's
(28:28):
a lot of, there's a lot ofluck involved. There's, you know,
getting to, getting to knowthe people that can, the movers and
shakers and things like that.And, and so I was feeling for him
in that moment. And then lateron that evening, he was still there,
and he was. You know, he was.As he was cleaning, he was humming,
(28:53):
and I could hear his. Howbeautiful his voice was, and it made
me really happy. But later.Later on that night, one of my friends
that had hired him to cleantold me that he was homeless. And.
And I didn't know, and. And soI wrote a song. I wrote this next
(29:17):
song inspired by. By him. Andalso just, you know, a lot of it
is. I will say a lot of it isfictional because I don't really
know his story. So I kind ofimagined what it could be. And I
also just wanted to writesomething kind of about just trauma,
(29:39):
like childhood trauma andthings and how that can really affect
someone for their whole life.So this song is called Old Scars.
(30:04):
Old man rides a bus downtownevery night when the sun goes down.
He's looking for pleasure inall his pain. And it's pounding like
a hurricane. Some people gotit easy. Some people got it hard.
(30:32):
Some people bury wounds underold scars. His mother comes to him
in dreams. Tender voice in themiddle of the city. But he lost her
(30:56):
love so long ago. He lost hisway down a lonely road. Some people
got it easy. Some people gotit hard. Some people bury wounds
under old scars. You only eversee what he wants you to see. He
(31:31):
gets real tired. He goes tosleep on a park bench on a busy street.
When he wakes up in themorning air. His old friend Payne
is waiting there. Some people.Some people got it easy. Some people
(31:57):
got it hard. Some people burywounds under old scars. Some hurt
is just too deep. Can'tremember who you are. Some people
bury wounds under buriedwounds. Some people bury wounds under
(32:23):
old scars. Old man rides a busdowntown every night when the sun
goes down.
(32:50):
Oh, that's beautiful. Okay.
Yeah.
It reminds me again, I'm a bigfan of Jason Ispel, and I don't know
if you're familiar with hissong Last of My Kind. He's got a.
Oh, there's a verse in there.He talks about old men sleeping on
the filthy ground. They spendtheir whole day just walking around.
Nobody here else seems tocare. They walk right past them like
they ain't even there. So, Imean, to me, it says a lot about
(33:12):
you that this guy who was ajanitor was seen. I mean, most people
just, you know, you wouldthink in an event like that, there
were other people there thatwere probably more important, but
you saw the guy that didn'thave a place to sleep.
Yeah. Yeah, there's. There wassomething about him. I don't know.
(33:33):
He was, he, like I said, hehad the biggest smile.
Yeah.
And he, he. I've seen himaround town recently and I think
he's doing pretty well. He. Ithink he has like a full time job
now.
I agree. Yeah, we have to,yeah, we have to get you back up
to Beech Mountain. Jason Isbelis playing there this summer, so
(33:56):
I'm pretty excited about that, but.
Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.
Yeah. So we need, we need JillAndrews to. Yeah. Some of my favorite
steep canyon rangers, youknow, from here, and they played
up there last summer and wegot Jason Isbell coming this summer,
so. Yeah. Something to lookforward to.
Yeah. Tell. Tell the powersthat be that you want, want me up
(34:17):
there.
All right.
And I'll be there. I love, Ilove Beach Mountain.
Yeah, it is a special place.It, you know, I, I grew up around
here and then joined the AirForce and saw the rest of the world
and it really made meappreciate, you know, western North
Carolina in the Blue RidgeMountains. There's just no other
place like it.
Yeah, I, I grew up going therea lot because I lived in Johnson
(34:42):
City and so we skied in BeachMountain and I, I played numerous
shows in Boone and, and inAsheville and just all over North
Carolina.
So. Has that gentleman everheard the song? I assume he has.
(35:02):
No, he does.
Well, we gotta.
Well, just because I don'tknow if he would like it or not,
you know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's interesting.
Yeah, I, I didn't want tocross the boundary there, you know,
I'm inspired by certain thingsand. Yeah, I, I don't know. I don't
(35:24):
know if he would like it.Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't,
but I don't know, I just.It'll be a mystery.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, maybe he hasstarted. Who knows? Who knows? So
what, what's your favoriteplace to play? In the States or abroad?
I mean, I know you've, you'vebeen in outside of the country a
couple times. What. Where wasyour favorite concert that you remember?
(35:49):
Well, one of my favorites wasI opened for the Avett Brothers at
Red Rocks a few years ago. Itwas in July and it was hot as hell
and I just, I don't know why,but I wore a turtleneck and I just
remember my guitar was likemelting into my arms. It was, it.
(36:11):
The finish was coming off ofmy guitar. It was so hot and the
sun was just beating, beamingright on it. So. But just to be on
a stage that magnificent inthat scene, you know? It's. It's
such a beautiful place andplaying for their fans. They're.
They're always great fans andthose dudes are awesome. So, yeah,
(36:31):
that was. That was a amazingexperience for me. I mean, I. I just.
Let's see. Last fall or thispast fall, I went on a UK tour and
I brought my parents with mejust because they had never really
been over there. My mom hadnever been over there at all. My
(36:52):
dad had been to London once,but. So we rented a car and I was
driving, driving us all overthe place on the wrong side of the
road. And I was so nervousabout the whole thing, but. Because
I didn't want to kill myparents driving on the wrong side
of the road. But I'd had alittle experience and, yeah, I would
(37:14):
say that tour in general wasso fun just to. To spend that kind
of time with my parents. Youknow, it was like I was living back
at home with them again in away. You know, my kids weren't there,
my husband wasn't there, andit was just me and them and it was.
It was a really sweet time.
And did you get to play at allin the UK or.
(37:35):
Yeah, yeah, I played. I thinkI played eight shows while.
I was over there.
I played in all over Englandand Wales and Scotland and Ireland,
actually. Yeah. So all overthe place.
Wow. And I assume you had areally good response and great experiences.
Yes, yes. Yeah. The peopleover there are just lovely. For sure.
(38:00):
Yeah.
One of the places you playedwas Glasgow, and there's an event
here in Asheville called theLeaf Festival, where they bring in
bands. And there's a band fromGlasgow called we banjos3 that I'd
never heard of.
Oh, that's cool.
They just blew me away. They.You know, it's obviously three guys
(38:23):
and one of them plays a banjo,but they were really good. And they
were all from the Glasgowarea, which is a beautiful place.
It is, yeah. It's. You reallyhave to pay close attention to what
people are saying when you'rethere because it's really hard to
understand the dialect.
Yeah.
It's just wild how differentever, you know, how. How close together
(38:47):
the countries are over there,but how they retain their differences
in dialect. It's so wild to me.
Did you write anything whileyou're there?
No, I didn't. Oftentimes whenI'm touring, it's like just too hectic.
Yeah, yeah, it's just. I'mdriving all day, I'm playing all
(39:08):
night, I'm sleeping barely anddriving again. The next day. So,
yeah, not much time. But I, Ido. I do take the inspiration with
me back home, you know.
Cool. Well, we're talkingtoday with Joe Andrews from Nashville,
and you can learn more aboutjill@jillandrews.com Pretty simple.
(39:32):
And, you know, we get intopolitics a little bit here, Jill,
and we're going to try andstay away from that in interest of
your career. But, I mean, arethere people in Tennessee or in the
United States that, you know,have influenced you or politically
involved these days that youlook up to or you get inspiration
from?
(39:56):
That's kind of a hardquestion. Well, there's Justin Jones.
Yep.
Representative Justin Jones. Ithink he's very brave just to go,
you know, to go against thegrain, as he has done. And that's
(40:18):
hard. I don't know. It would.It's hard for me to imagine disrupting
in the way that he did, but Ifind that to be very, very brave.
Let's see, what else? I mean,there's organizations after the Covenant
(40:45):
School shooting here inNashville, there's folks that are
trying to make real change,you know, with the gun violence that
happens here in our countryand in our state. And so my dad and
I have taken part in some ofthat kind of stuff. We were part
(41:09):
of Moms Demand Action, whichwas really funny. I was like, do
you want, dad? Do you want tocome to this with me? He was like,
sure, I don't care. So we wentto it together. He's not a mom, but
there are a lot of non momsthere. So, yeah, I think, I do think
it's important to, you know,just to stay. To stay knowledgeable
(41:37):
about what's going on in thecountry and what's going on in your
state and try to do what youcan as an individual.
When you mentioned Mom. Mom'sDemand Action, we had. David Hogg
was on last week, a weekbefore last with us, and we're trying
to get Shannon Watts. He wasthe founder, who's a lady I've got
a lot of respect for becauseI, you know, I know she's taken a
(42:00):
lot of verbal abuse for, youknow, being a very vocal advocate
on gun regulation. But she ispersevered and, yeah, is really doing,
Doing good work.
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I, Ilistened to the David Hog episode.
That was really, really coolthat you guys had him on. I look
up to him as well.
(42:21):
I'm just curious, who do youlisten to when you, when you need
some tunes to kind of escapeto? Who do you. Who do you Put on.
Yeah. See, I've been listeningto Phantogram a lot. Have you guys
heard of them? They're morelike pop, right? Pop kind of stuff
(42:48):
I listen to. Oh, one of myvery, very, very favorite albums
of all time is the Killers.And the album called. What is it
called? It's called PressureMachine. Have you guys ever heard
that?
Yes.
Yep. Yep.
That. That is one of the most.I don't know. Every time I listen
(43:10):
to it, I just cry and cry andcry. It's just so good. That album
has inspired me a lot.
Hey, how'd you. How'd you endup connecting? You've had at least
two songs on Grey's Anatomy.How did that work out?
Yeah, so I work with. I workwith companies here. I've had a variety
(43:35):
of different companies, butthey, they pitch my songs to film
and tv. There's always, youknow, they're always looking for
songs for certain scenes andthey'll send out a request. The show
will send out a request like,here's the scene, you know, Deborah
and Pat are sitting in theliving room talking, and they'll
(43:58):
kind of lay out the wholescene and they'll say, we need a.
A pop song or we need a, youknow, self. A woman empowerment song
or whatever. And so a lot ofthe songs that I've written have
just worked for. For scenes,you know, they just. It just kind
of fit right in. And then I'vespecifically written some songs,
(44:21):
songs for scenes like I readthe brief and then I wrote a song
based on the brief. So, yeah,that's. That's always really, really
fun to hear your music used in shows.
Briefly. Grey's Anatomy again,I, you know. Yeah, probably catch
(44:41):
a lot of grief for admittingI'm a addicted to Grey's Anatomy,
but I've been watching it for21 seasons, but part of it is a strong
word. And it's renewed for a22nd season, so it's got some. Yes,
it's got some staying power,but one of the things I've always
liked about it, they have thebest music on there. A lot of times
(45:03):
when I just want something tolisten to, I'll. I'll plug in Grey's
Anatomy and the music fromthat show is just spectacular.
Yeah, it is. And it's alwaysbeen that way. You know, they purposely
purposefully, like, havereally sought out some good music.
And so, you know, it's. It'sawesome for somebody like me to find.
(45:26):
Find their music on therebecause I think I'm in really good.
I'm in good company.
It's good stuff. Well, Jill,it's been a pleasure having you on
today.
Thank you.
Yeah, it's really sweet of youto do this and, and play your beautiful
music for people or listenersand my, my colleague Mo and myself.
(45:52):
So we really appreciate havingyou today.
Whoops.
Oh my God. There it goes.
The timer.
That's my timer. Sorry, Jill,you just about got played off. I
think we'll leave that in. Butthat's a wrap for mucu. Where the
mud flies and the phonies fry.I'm David Wheeler, the ringmaster
(46:14):
the Muckfest alongside my goodfriend Colonel Mo Davis, who's tougher
than a sovereign oak and twiceas rooted. Grab Moe's book on Amazon
if you've got the taste.Again, it's sovereign oak on Amazon.com
We've taken a reprieve frompolitics this week to bring you singer
and songwriter Jill Andrewsbeautiful, gorgeous music and had
(46:38):
a lovely conversation withher. Please learn more about Jill
at JillAndrews. Catch you nexttime when we rake it up again. Until
then, muck you.
This has been Muck youk cohosted by Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville,
North Carolina and DavidWheeler in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
(47:00):
Thanks to our special guesttoday, Jill Andrews, an award winning
singer songwriter who came tous live from Nashville. The intro
and outro music on our episodetoday is courtesy of of Jill Andrews
and you can listen to the fullsongs on her newly released album
titled Big Feelings. Learnmore about Jill and listen to her
amazing Originalmusic@jillandrews.com Muck you is
produced by AmericanMuckrakers. Copyright 2025. You can
(47:24):
learn more anddonate@americanmokrakers.com Follow
us on Blue sky under AmericanMuckrakers. Again, thank you to Jill
Andrews for joining us thisweek and sharing some of her music.
(48:00):
I've got big feelings andsometimes I don't know what to do
Sometimes you don't know whatto do to I've got big feelings I've
(48:37):
got big feelings I got bigfeelings I got big feelings and sometimes
I don't know what to do andsometimes you don't know what to
(49:02):
do to Sometimes I don't knowwhat to do Cuz the tears keep coming.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
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