March 4, 2025 • 54 mins
What if you discovered your life's purpose in the most unexpected of places? Meet James, an incredible storyteller and songwriter whose journey from adoption in Newark, New Jersey, to finding success in Nashville is nothing short of inspiring. His path was marked by numerous challenges, including homelessness and even time in prison, yet his unwavering faith and passion for music propelled him forward. Through the power of storytelling, James found redemption and the courage to transform his experiences into art that resonates deeply with audiences worldwide.
During his time in prison, James unearthed a remarkable gift for writing, shifting from crafting illicit tales to weaving heartfelt narratives that captured the empathy and struggles of those around him. Encouragement from both fellow inmates and authority figures sparked a transformative journey in self-publishing, as James shared stories that touched even those in law enforcement. His vulnerability and authenticity remind us of the profound impact personal stories can have on redemption and the ability to inspire change in others.
James's tale underscores the importance of perseverance and following one's dreams, regardless of age or circumstance. From overcoming fear to managing responsibilities, he emphasizes using excess resources for the greater good and cherishing meaningful connections. As listeners, you'll discover James's music on platforms like Spotify, where his heartfelt country-based tunes uplift and inspire. Join us for an emotional exploration of resilience and the pursuit of passion, as we celebrate a unique voice that proves the power of storytelling and music to heal and transform lives.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Real People, real Life, where
everyday conversations lead toextraordinary insights.
We're all about digging intothe lives of regular people
who've achieved success on theirown terms.
This is Real People, Real Life,and now your host, ryan Sherow.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
You've done this for me, man.
It's very special to me, andnow your host.
It fits in with what we talkabout here.
Society sets up rules andpeople are expected to follow
those rules.
I suggest that rules are meantto be broken and we can make
change in our lives at any pointin time, and that's what you
(01:06):
did.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's all about redemption on my side.
I mean, you know, we all fallshort, man.
We need forgiveness, and sosometimes, well, more people are
more forgiving than others.
You know, society's not so muchforgiving as individuals.
I'm just thankful for thatthat's correct.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, and you.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So you grew up in tennessee no, I was uh born in
uh newark, new jersey, and I wasadopted at two weeks old.
I lived in a washingtontownship, new jersey, for 10
years of my life and my dad gottransferred from there to
Louisville, kentucky, and thenfrom there to Columbia, south
(01:54):
Carolina.
So I spent the majority of mylife in Columbia, south Carolina
.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
And when did you end up in Nashville?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
and uh, when did you end up in nashville?
Well, um, I moved from columbiato uh, atlanta, georgia, when I
was 17 and, um, I met a guitarplayer and he taught me
everything.
He was very patient with me andand he was very, he was like
chet atkinson, and so, uh, Ifollowed him and we went to
Atlanta.
He was working at the militarybase there as a barber and I
went with him and three daysafter I was in Atlanta I got a
(02:32):
job.
So, with him walking, this isthe motel I was living in.
So I pursued my songwritingthere in the Atlanta Songwriters
Association and just trying tolearn as much as I could from
everyone.
And just mainly, I've learnedwhat I know just from listening
(02:57):
and gleaning little secrets frompeople that would tell me
different things about how towrite a song.
But I never knew I.
I never knew I could write ashort story.
I didn't.
That was uh, I probablywouldn't still be able to write
if I hadn't never, you know,found myself in certain stances.
(03:20):
I was in because I do believethat God had for me, but I was
not going to be stable enoughand I was not going to sit still
enough for him to get throughto me, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, sometimes we have to hit rock bottom before
we start listening and payingattention to the situation
around us, in your situation,listening to what God had to do
for you.
So walk me through the rockbottom of your life that got you
started on this path of writingmusic and books.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, the music started when I was young.
When I was about 10 years old,I used to listen to a lot of
Motown records and Booker T andthe MGs.
They had a song that wasnothing but instrumental, and so
each week, I'd write differentverses for a song and I'd sing
along with it.
I spent most of my time aloneas a kid, and so I had to find
(04:24):
ways to entertain myself.
And, um, so I started.
Uh, I picked up the guitar I wasabout 10 years old and learned
a few chords, and then, uh, whenI went to south carolina, I had
a music teacher that took aspecial interest in me and
taught me a lot about, uh,playing guitar and uh, it's from
there that, uh, I usually kindof like therapy, you know, kind
(04:46):
of just calm me down, and it'suh, it's uh, uh let me get my
emotions out, you know.
And uh, I always wanted to be asongwriter.
I just didn't know how to goabout it.
And, uh, when I met this man upin columbia and he said you,
you know, I'll teach you, I hadto follow him because I had
(05:06):
prayed.
I prayed for a blessing, forsomebody to just take the time
to teach me, and then I stumbledacross this guy in the laundry
room at the room house where Istayed and you know I followed
him.
He self-destructed in Atlantaand I moved on and I just
(05:27):
continued to write songs andcontinue to pray about it too,
because I didn't want to go intothis, you know, because I was
afraid that you know I'd fail,but I would ask God for his
guidance.
I said, if you want me to dothis, this, if this is what you
want from me, then you wouldhave to open the doors.
And he opened the doors and Iset my sights on moving to
(05:52):
Nashville when I was 22, and somy wife and I moved up here and
we almost froze in our car andsome people at the church that
we were going to let us stay inthe church, that we were going
to let us stay in the churchbecause we were freezing in the
car.
And so I continued to write.
And so over the years, you know,I've probably got a couple, two
(06:16):
, three hundred songs.
I couldn't remember them allright now, but the ones that you
hear are the special ones to meand the most professional ones
that I've come up with.
You know, because it just takes, it's like anything else it
takes a series of failures tohave a success.
And you know you write five orsix songs that are no good.
(06:38):
And all of a sudden, you knowthe windows of heaven opens up
and you know you hit with ablessing, or you get in the way
of somebody else's blessing andyou get some of it.
You know the windows of heavenopens up and you know, uh, you
hit with a blessing, or you getin the way of somebody else's
blessing and you get some of it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
You know you were talking about in the early days
of writing, that you werefearful that it uh wouldn't work
out.
You know, fear is a drivingforce that many, many people
back from achieving their dreams.
And what did you do to tellyourself to continue to write,
(07:14):
even though you had the fear offailure?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
It was my faith in God and that's what he wanted me
to do.
Every time I was met with anegative response or somebody
would say well, don't quit yourday job, you need to get a trade
.
When people would say that, Iwould just say I'm different.
In my head, I'm different, I'mgoing to be one of the ones and,
(07:47):
um, and I just uh, my faithcan't be unshaken.
Um, no matter what situationI'm in, I'm still, you know, I'm
still believe.
I'm 60, I'll be 65 in january,but I still believe that I'm
going to realize what I camehere to do and it's all in God's
(08:08):
time, because I don't have anycontrol, you know, I just do
what I can do, and reaching outto people like you and reaching
out to other writers on theinternet is, right now, the best
things I can do, and sosometimes I can do and so, and
sometimes I get fortunate,somebody opens, works with me
with open arms, like you have,and other people.
(08:31):
Sometimes they push me away,you know, but I don't let it get
me down, because I know what Ihave and I know the challenge
that I have and I haveconfidence in myself, and you
know I say that.
But there is still times when Ido doubt myself, you know, and
I do doubt that what I'm doingis worth anything, because I
(08:51):
couldn't get a Happy Meal foreverything I produced.
You know all my writing and allmy songs.
I could take them to McDonald's.
I couldn't get a Happy Meal fornone, me up or not.
But I'm not going to let thatget me down, because when you
listen to the stories of otherpeople that have been in my
position, they haven't given upeither.
You know, and that's the wholething, you just can't give up.
(09:14):
If you believe in yourself andif you trust God, then you can't
doubt yourself.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
You just got to to keep going, you know, and uh, no
matter how big it is, what wetry to promote here is
overcoming the fear and, throughhard work, persistence and
determination and faith uhachieving success.
(09:43):
However you describe that inwhat you dream of doing.
The problem, james, is that alot of people have dreams with
no action behind it and thesecret to success is to keep
trying.
What's interesting, you said alot of people are telling you to
(10:06):
keep your day job and thingslike that.
They're always right untilthey're wrong.
Exactly, the naysayers are 100%right, telling you you're not
going to succeed.
You go ahead and write a song.
They close the door on you.
Guess what they're right?
(10:27):
You write a hundred songs andyou get the door closed on you.
Guess what they're right.
That's a safe place to be formost people who don't challenge
themselves to go after theirdreams, for many reasons.
Number one it's scary.
Number two you're going to getmore rejections than you get
(10:48):
doors opened and people justlike to take the safe road.
The question is is that livinglife?
Is that being true to yourself?
I love the fact and the reasonwhy we're talking is that you've
spent a lifetime pursuing thisdream.
You sent me over a playlist ofsongs.
(11:08):
I believe they're all onspotify, correct?
Yes, and we'll go ahead andpromote that later in the
podcast.
They're great, they'reunbelievable great country songs
and people need to get outthere and listen to these uh
songs written and written byjames.
You have a talent.
(11:31):
It is a very competitive field,so is podcasting, but I love
doing it and, uh, hard workbeats luck every time, don't you
?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
know, it, don't you know?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
you.
You had this easy life justwriting songs.
The whole time, according toyour story, you ran into, you
ran into some trouble that gotyou, uh, got you locked up and
uh this is where I think, basedon what you wrote, got you in a
quiet moment in your life toactually start listening to god
(12:05):
and uh diving deeper into yourfaith.
Talk, talk to me about whatthat was like and how that
didn't discourage you frompursuing this later in life well
, um, I'll tell you, it's a.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It's a, it's a story tale.
Uh, because when I went, when Iwent to prison, I had no one on
the outside sending me moneyand uh, I didn't have a job.
And uh, my cell partner told me.
He said I don't worry aboutselling, you'll figure it out,
you'll, you'll find a hustle.
He said just think about whatwe want in here and what we
(12:43):
don't have.
And he said when you figurethat out, then you'll have a
good hustle.
Well, yeah, and so you know, inprison, you know you got to
have a hustle.
You either wax floors, washclothes, fold laundry.
You know you've got to dosomething.
So, if you have no people togive you money from the outside.
(13:04):
So I looked around, um, all wehad in the pod was the bible,
and the guys in there wantedpornography.
And uh, so, um, I startedwriting pornography and I would,
I would, uh, lease it out fivepages at a time for a cigarette
or for soups or some honey bunsor something like that.
(13:26):
And I wound up having to getthe guards to make about 15
copies of the first five pages,because I had so many people
that were coming to buy it, torent them that I couldn't fill
all the orders.
And one day my celly told me.
He said you know something.
He said you're really good atthat.
He said you're really good atthat.
He said you ought to try towrite some straight stuff.
(13:47):
He said stop all this mess youknow of pornography and all this
drug dealing and shooting andkilling.
Stop writing about that.
See what you can do becauseyou've got a talent.
He said you need to check whatI'm saying.
So I listened.
This guy was like 40 yearsyounger than me and so I
(14:09):
listened to him, you know, andwhen I went to the next
institution I decided that'swhat I was going to do.
And I sat down one day and Iwrote a story called A Time to
Remember.
Part of that story is about aman that I deeply loved and I
considered him my uncle and Ididn't find him dead the way it
(14:33):
says in the story, butnonetheless he passed away and
you know I'm sad.
So that's how I got intowriting these stories in prison.
And then I would.
When I went to the other prison, I sent some of the stories to
(14:56):
the warden, you know.
I said I know you got a lot ofthings to do, but if you have
time, just tell me what youthink you know.
And he always came back withsome really uh, uplifting
opinions of the work that I wasdoing.
And so I I passed them on tothe guards and the guards would
say man, you, you know, you gota gift, you know?
And uh, so I was.
(15:19):
I was afraid to try to pursue itwhen I got out because I didn't
want the disappointment that Ihad with songwriting.
You know, that's thedisappointment, is the hardest
thing for me to get over,because it hurts so bad.
You know, you have so highhopes and and then they're all
just just dashed, you know, andit's just hard for me to get
(15:40):
over.
And so I told my counselorthere that I wasn't going to
pursue my writing when I got outand she said, I thought, she
said, I think you're making amistake.
And so when I got out and Istarted looking around and I saw
the landscape and I was like,well, self-publishing and this
kind of stuff, you know, Ithought, well, I'll do it, just
(16:03):
to see what happens, you know,and um, so that's that's how I
started pursuing and, um, Iwrite, I write stuff, you know,
at will, um, you know, evenstill today, um, it's just, uh,
it just comes out of me andusually it's it's born out of an
emotional crisis that I eithersee someone else in or that I've
(16:27):
been in myself, and I feelempathy toward that person and I
feel their pain, and then Istart writing about that.
One of the stories I think Isent you was an uneven trade by
the police officer and his sonand how his son, how his son,
(16:48):
goes on rides with him and hisfather, eventually winds up
getting shot and killed.
And I don't know where thatcame from because I don't know
anything about a policeman'slife, but I do know that it
touched the hearts of everyonein the police department in the
town that I lived in, because Isent it to the chief and I
(17:09):
printed up a bunch of copies andI passed them out to the
officers I saw on the street and, uh, you know, it touched all
of them.
It touched all of them and Icould still.
That's why, when you ask me toread one of the stories, I can't
.
I can't do it because I wind up.
I want to get too emotionalbecause I get caught up in it.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
The best artists out there.
They speak from the heart.
They speak from experience.
They live the stories and thesongs they tell.
You can see the authenticity ina star Based on their
(17:51):
projecting, the internalfeelings, the love for their art
to the public.
You know you talked earlierabout God opening doors.
All you can do is continue towrite opening doors.
All you can do is continue towrite no-transcript.
(18:12):
It turned out that was a doorthat opened up for you in two
ways based on this conversation.
Number one, it gave you time toget affirmation of your talent
from the people within theprison.
And number two, the worldchanged while you were in prison
.
You went from a pre-internetsociety where old school rules
(18:41):
held for publishing.
You come on out and all of asudden, what's this
self-publishing?
What is this Spotify?
I can just do this all on myown and let the public make a
decision if what I have istouted very similar to what you
did when you were in prison.
(19:01):
You wrote and you let thepublic judge you.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yeah, yeah, it is, because my feelings, you know,
and and part of my soul is ineverything, and so if someone
said something bad aboutsomething, it would hurt, you
know.
But over the years I'veacquired some pretty thick skin.
You know, you have to, you justhave to.
(19:28):
I mean, everybody's got anopinion and my sister has her
opinion and she's entitled tothat, and my sister has her
opinion and she's entitled tothat.
I just choose not to let thatnegativity into my head.
You know, I try to staypositive about it all the time,
because if I don't, it's veryeasy to sink into deep
(19:49):
depression, and I've been therebefore and I suffer from
depression, and so I can prettymuch tell when it's coming on
and I have to do some steps thatI take that I have to get in
front of to try to head it off.
Otherwise, if I don't, I justwon't, I won't take a bath for
(20:13):
weeks.
I'll just lay around in mybathrobe and drink.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
That's not a good pattern to get into.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
No, it's not good for a person that suffers from
depression either, because itjust makes it worse.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
People that are negative generally, in my
opinion, are projecting theirown failures or lack of action
to achieve their own dreams onyou.
It makes them feel better.
Right, it's best to siftthrough those that are garbage,
(20:48):
notwithstanding good criticismfrom people who care and want to
see you succeed.
That's beneficial and it's notnegative.
It's constructive.
Putting yourself out in publicis always going to bring the
haters, oh yeah, and generallyspeaking, it's because they're
(21:12):
not happy with their ownparticular lot in life and they
don't want to see you succeed.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Right, and you know I had to.
You know I'm unlike a lot ofother people.
You know I could see someonewho has kids and a mortgage and
a wife not pursuing their dreamsin exchange for taking care of
their family.
I didn't have that decision tomake because I don't have any
(21:42):
children.
I don't have anyone that'sdepending on me for their life,
and so it's easier for me todedicate myself to what I'm
doing because I don't have otherpeople depending on me.
If I had other people dependingon me, I might not be where I'm
(22:04):
at right now, or you could bevery creative with your time.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
A lot of people use their hectic lifestyles without
actually looking at how theirtime management is.
It's amazing how much time youcan recover in a day if you use
every moment productively andyou can achieve your dreams.
You have to give something up,though.
(22:28):
What a lot of people think thatis they can have their cake and
eat it too, right, oh, this iswhat I, is what I want.
Well, my question is what areyou willing to give up to get
what you want?
Hey, I want to lose 50 pounds.
Okay, what do you want to giveup in order to lose the weight?
Yes, and just continue to dowhat you're doing and expect
(22:50):
change.
That doesn't happen.
So get out.
You've got some affirmationfrom being in that you have a
talent.
You come out into the newlandscape of self-publication
and the ability to get on theinternet and promote yourself.
(23:12):
However, you said you werestill not going to pursue this
with the conversation you hadwith your counselor, your
exiting counselor.
What changed your mind when youfinally got out to the outside
and how did you get over thatfear of getting out there and
doing it?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Well, when I was in there, you know I had, the only
way I had to get my material, mystories, typed up was that
there was men that worked in theadministration building and
they had access to typewritersand computers and whatnot, and
so I would pay these guys totype my stories for me, and they
(23:51):
stored all my stories on afloppy disk because that's the
only, that's the only type ofcomputer they had at the prison
was a floppy disk.
When I got out I wanted toprint all my stories because I
just wanted to pass them out atrandom.
I went to this print shop inMidtown and I asked the lady.
(24:19):
I said you know, is there anyway that y'all can get this off
here?
And they said well, I don'tknow.
They don't even make thosemachines anymore, you know.
And I started panicking, youknow, and she said well, let me
talk to the guy in the back.
She said I'll call you tomorrow.
(24:40):
So she called me the followingday.
She said you know, jack backthere.
He said he's got an old floppydisk machine in his shed out the
back of his house.
He's going to take the floppydisk home.
He's going to see if he can'tconvert it to a cd.
I said well, that's great.
I said how much will you chargeme to do it?
There's nothing.
I said you're kidding me.
She said no, and uh, and when Iwent down to pick up the CD I
told the lady.
I said can I give y'all a copyof all these stories so that
(25:03):
y'all have them and y'all canread them, because I want to
tell you how much I appreciatewhat you've done?
And the lady, she teared up.
She teared up immediately andbig tears were falling out of
her eyes, hitting, hit thecountertop, splashing, and she
said I read, I read, uh, thatone story time to remember.
(25:24):
And she said that was that, wasjust that that same thing
happened to my grandfather.
You know, and you know, yeah,and in the story the guy my
granddad, the guy who portrayedmy grandfather had a pocket
watch that had been to his, beengenerations in his, in his
pocket, and when he died thepocket watch stopped.
(25:49):
So the guy in the story hetakes a pocket watch, he puts it
in his soft door at home andafter the funeral he goes home
and he just wants to look atthat watch one more time, pulls
it out of his soft door and thatwatch was.
The watch was ticking again andit was at already advanced time
(26:09):
.
He died at 7.01 and the watchstopped.
When he picked it up out of hissoft door after the funeral, it
was at 702 and the watch wasgone.
And the lady said that that waswhat happened to her
(26:32):
grandfather, what happened toher grandfather.
It tore me up and I decided thenthat I needed to share this
stuff with everybody, becausethe way it affected her, the way
it affects me, even justthinking about it, it's a gift.
(26:57):
It's not mine.
You know what I'm saying.
It's not mine to keep.
I'm just a steward of it.
And I do believe that God gaveme these gifts that I got
because he knows I'm a hard headand he knows that I'm not going
to give up, because if he givesthese gifts to someone else, I
think they would have abandonedthem, but I'm not going to
(27:19):
because they're not mine.
I'm just as stupid as all.
And so that's what her way sheacted that day at the print shop
was what changed my mind.
I figured that all thedisappointment that I could ever
experience wouldn't be.
(27:41):
It would be worth it to havejust one person say what she
said, you know and react to oneof my stories the way she did.
You know, risking thedisappointment was worth it,
just that one validation thatthat lady gave me.
So the disappointment was worthit, just that one validation
that that lady gave me.
That's what changed my mind.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I've been in business for a while and one of the
things I tell people is thatwhat we do and we're in a
service business we fix airconditioners and things but
that's not what we do.
What we do is we createrelationships with people.
We just so happen to provide aservice that fixes their air
(28:26):
conditioners and things.
Along those lines it'saffecting people's lives.
That is the true source ofbusiness.
And when you write a story or asong and you see the reaction
of people to your art, that isreally what success is defined
(28:54):
as.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yeah, if there was no money involved in it at all.
The validation is just asvaluable or even more valuable
than the dollars.
It's unfortunate that oursociety measures a man's success
by how much money he's got inthe bank, by how much money you
(29:17):
got the bank.
But but the validation ofpeople like you and and people
like my music producer and andpeople and other people in my
life, the validation that I getfrom them, is worth more than
any monetary gain I could everget from it, because it just
reinforces the, reinforces thefact in my head that I'm doing
what I'm supposed to be doingand I'm not.
(29:39):
I'm not on the wrong track, youknow I am on the right track.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
You're living your life, you're pursuing your
dreams, you're ignoring the fearand pushing forward.
I know that you mentioned youwould have a hard time reading
one of your stories, but I thinkthe audience would love to hear
even one of your short stories.
Is it possible for you to readone for us?
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Well, like I said, I'd be willing to do it, but it
would probably be better read bysomeone else.
It would probably be betterread by someone else because
I'll give it a shot.
I'll give it a shot.
I don't want to embarrassmyself because I have a hard
(30:26):
time seeing.
You can see, I've got theseglasses, I've got cataracts and
it's very hard for me to seesometimes.
But I'm willing to do that.
Um, um, I don't have anythingin front of me right now.
Um, I'd have to pull somethingup on the computer and read it
off of that.
I'd have to do that.
Maybe when you take acommercial break or something,
(30:48):
you do that well, go ahead andgrab it.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
We can uh, we can edit out.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
So go ahead and grab something and I'll wait all
right, I'll go ahead and seewhat I got here.
I'll pull something up on thecomputer so I can read it.
Let's see, I'm not going toguarantee that I'm not going to
wind up crying, because I justmight, because that's something
(31:12):
that happens to me a lotsometimes when I read my stories
, even after so many years ofhaving written one, they still
affect me that way.
It's not letting me pullanything out.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Take your time, no rush.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
I know I've got one on my phone it can access real
easy.
I recently wrote one.
I had this idea for a long time.
It was called Angel Pass.
(32:01):
Is what I wanted to is what Iwanted the title of the story to
be, and this is how it came out.
It's have you ever heard thatold saying we're not promised
tomorrow?
Let me see, yeah.
Have you ever heard that oldsaying we're not promised
tomorrow?
Well, it's true.
(32:22):
After a hard week of work wherenothing seemed to be going right
, I headed home trying to putthe week behind me.
Traffic was moving along at agood pace and it looked clear
ahead.
I set my cruise control to 65and fell in line six or eight
car lengths behind the 18wheelers that were parting the
air ahead.
It was clear in the sky, though.
(32:43):
It was clear the sky, I mean,and the sun was setting low and
it seemed to be disappearing onthe horizon.
The left-hand lane was clearand traffic had spread out.
As we passed the county line, Iglanced down at the radio for a
split second.
I took my eyes off the truckahead of me and when I looked up
, the truck had quickly movedfrom the right-hand lane to the
(33:04):
left-hand lane.
I had no time to react.
Closer than I had thought I was, I slammed into a truck that
had stopped abruptly in theright-hand lane.
As I hovered above the accident,I was confused.
Through the smoke I saw in, mycar had all but disintegrated.
(33:25):
All that was visible was thetail end of my car and seconds
later it went up in flames.
I appeared to still be hoveringabove the wreck.
I began to feel my legs, and asI touched myself I realized
that my hand went through mybody.
It was at this point that Ipanicked, and in a second I knew
(33:46):
I would not be making it hometonight, at least not home where
my wife was frantic.
I began to look my cell phone,but it was nowhere in sight.
The sinking feeling of regretwas washing over me and I began
to cry.
I don't know where I was, and Iwas no longer over the wreck,
(34:10):
but I wasn't in darkness.
I was staring into a blindingwhite abyss where my presence
went unnoticed, and I could notsee anyone.
But I still felt that I was notalone.
(34:30):
It was at this point that I felta gentle hand on my shoulder,
and as I turned, I could see noone.
I heard a gentle voice, but notin the same way you would hear
someone talking to you.
No, this voice was coming fromwithin.
It was saying have no fear,everything is all right, you're
in good hands.
And I made not a sound, but inmy mind there was an audible
(34:54):
voice, somewhat like my own, andit was saying but my wife, my
beautiful wife, and I began tocry.
I felt a comforting embrace andI felt myself hug someone and I
felt that someone's arms wasaround me.
And I could still see no one.
However, a calm, peacefulfeeling engulfed me, as if it
were a warm electric blanketconsuming me.
(35:16):
I turned my head to one sideand as I rested my head on
someone's shoulder, as if I wasa baby, I felt a gentle rocking
motion.
My tears ran down my cheeks, asif someone had turned on a
faucet, and the gentle rockingmotion was allowing me to sleep.
I don't know how long I wasasleep, but I felt rested.
(35:39):
As I slowly opened my eyes, myvision was clouded, so I rubbed
my eyes and when I opened them Icould see clearly.
I was taken aback.
I was in my car, the seatbelttightly around me, the engine
was running, sitting at the gaspumps at the gas station.
Some found it and, clearlyshaken by the events that were
(36:01):
real, I just could not believewhat had just happened.
Afraid to get out of my car butforced to because I hadn't used
the restroom, but still shaken,I climbed out of the car and
went in and on my way out Ipicked up a candy bar.
As I reached in my pocket,folded up with the bills that
(36:23):
were in my pocket.
There was a note on and it read, one Official Angel Pass and in
the corner it read Issued by LL, the initials LL.
Upon closer inspection of theAngel Pass I saw LL, louise
Lanshaw.
(36:43):
The Angel Pass was issued by mymother.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Wow, great story.
You have a talent.
Where could people find more ofyour stories, james?
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Well, they're on there.
They're on all the bookstores BDalton's and all of them and
also on Amazon.
You can pick it up there.
It's print on demand, or, ifyou have a Kindle device, you
can download it, and I'mcurrently working on getting a
(37:24):
website of my own so that Icould also give somebody who
buys a book with a download ofall my music.
That's what I'd like to do, soI'm gonna be trying to make that
happen by, you know, first ofthe year.
So I just got to put somepoints together.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
People going on to these sites like Amazon or B
Dalton et cetera, bookstores.
Would they just search you asan author, james Landshaw?
Speaker 2 (37:56):
No, they'll search for James Lennox, because that's
my pen name in honor of mymother, because my mother's
maiden name was Lennox, and thebook is entitled Life's Daily
Struggles Defined by JamesLennox.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
How do you spell the last name?
Speaker 2 (38:19):
L-E-N-N-O-X Lennox and what is the name?
Speaker 3 (38:22):
of the book.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
again Repeat it's Life's Daily Struggles Defined.
It's all about the decision.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
I encourage everybody out there to go ahead and go
onto Amazon, go onto your onlinebookstores and look for this.
I've read some of James' stuff,stuff, and it'll put tears in
your eyes, put a smile on yourface.
It's very encouraging and youwould help James out a lot.
Now you did these stories andyou also write for music.
(38:59):
You sent me over a half a dozensongs that were produced with
your lyrics, correct.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Yeah, that's right, I wrote the words and the music.
I'm the author of both of them.
The producer I have to credithim because he is so great.
Everything you hear on thereit's all my music, note for note
.
But it's the way he producesthe work, the way he produces
(39:29):
the song.
It makes it a lot more thanwhat it was prior to him getting
involved in it.
I'll give you a chance to hearhow a song sounds when it's sent
to the producer and then whatit sounds like when it comes
back.
It's absolutely amazing.
But he literally changesnothing.
He changes nothing in mycomposition at all and he's even
(39:57):
called me.
He said do you mind if we juststep it down a key?
I'm like no, no, go ahead, youcan step it down a key, you know
.
But you know he never changesanything.
So I'm very proud of that, thework that I did.
My dad passed away when I was inprison and when he died he left
me some stocks and it was forme to start a new life.
(40:21):
I waited some years before Irequested ownership to the
stocks and when I did, I decidedthat I was going to take a
portion of the money and I wasgoing to get these songs
produced and I was going to getthese songs produced.
So, for the most part, everysong that you hear on the album
(40:42):
is provided.
The funds were provided by mydad, because I probably wouldn't
have been able to do it if hehadn't done that, because it was
expensive.
I'm telling you it's not cheapto do it, but I regret it a bit
(41:07):
and I think my dad would be sohappy to uh, to hear uh, and see
how I spent his money, because,or the money he left me,
because it's uh, it's somethingthat's it's uh, it's uh, it's
never going to go away.
You know, I mean it.
That's never going to go away.
That's going to go away.
That's never going to go away.
What I hate to do is when I getmoney is to have $400 or $500
in my pocket and then, a week ortwo later, look around and go I
(41:29):
got $50.
Where did all my money go?
I don't see anything.
I don't see anything for it.
It does my heart good to knowthat I did something that was
everlasting with the money thatmy dad let me get on.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
Money is good for three things, in my opinion Pay
the bills and eat.
Invest it, like you did, intoyour dreams, your future, and
give it away.
Your future and give it awayand enjoy the response of people
(42:07):
less fortunate to receive agift.
Other than that there's notmuch else used for it.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
You know, I had a business of mine for 10 years, a
commercial drywall business inNashville.
Before my wife, my lifeexploded and I was, uh, I was
privileged to be associated withsome very kind man in the
construction business and veryChristian man in the
construction business and, uh,at one time I met someone that
(42:38):
was in a wheelchair.
She was paralyzed and I wantedto help her and I couldn't do it
on my own.
You know, she had a wheelchairthat caught on fire and she
couldn't get out of thewheelchair and it burned her,
and I was determined to not letthis happen to her again, you
know.
And so I went to one of the menthat I worked for and I said
(42:59):
look, man, I'm trying to do this, but I can't do it on my own.
I need some help.
I said would you be willing todo this?
I said I'm not going to tellher that I did it or you did it,
I just want her to pick up awheelchair down at Williams
Medical Supply on Church Street.
And he said I'll be happy toget involved with that.
(43:21):
And she called me one day.
She was blowing up.
She said James, please comedown here to Williams Medical
Service.
I got a wheelchair.
Somebody bought me a brand newwheelchair and went down there
and my friend I had $900 to putin on it.
It was quite expensive, but myfriend covered the rest of it.
It wasn't a on it.
It was quite expensive, but myfriend covered the rest of it.
It wasn't a used one.
(43:42):
It was brand new state of theart.
And I helped her there's someof the guys at Williams Medical
I helped me load her on my truckand I took her over to her room
, you know, and she was so happyman, it just warmed my heart.
When you say there's good usesfor money, you know, I mean,
that's what I think.
When you got more than you need, I think it's what you should
(44:07):
do, you know.
And I was just.
You know, that's the kind ofthing that I did, you know, when
I had money.
But I was also living a paganlife too, you know.
So I don't ever think the goodthings we do outweigh the bad
things we do, but they'reequally as good and bad as the
(44:29):
other.
That's the only thing I can say.
I never did anything like thatto try to buy my way out of the
problems that I did.
I just did it because I cared,you know, and I had more than I
needed and I wasn't doing rightwith my money anyway.
(44:49):
So it was, you know, better offspent on someone and someone's
comfort and someone's ability toget around.
So that's the kind of stuff Idid when I had a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
The only good about the past because we can't do
anything about it and regret isa waste of time is to better our
future.
We don't get a book about howto live our lives when we are
born into this world, and theworld is ever-changing as you
(45:27):
see, coming out, going intolockup and then coming out and
seeing a completely differentworld.
However, taking advantage oflessons learned and benefiting
your life going forward is allwe can do, and you seem to be
doing a fantastic job at that.
(45:48):
I like the fact that yourinvestment, as one of the three
things I say money is good for,is also enriching people's lives
.
Where can people I?
I loved the music that you sentme.
It is amazing and should becharted music.
Where can people find andsupport James Landhoff's music?
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Well, I'm on Spotify, but I'm also on all the
streaming services.
Period I got involved with thissite called DistroKid and what
they do is I paid a one-year feeand they got my music on every
(46:33):
streaming platform that there isin the world.
I mean, it doesn't matter ifit's Pandora or all the other
services, it's on everything.
It's on every service.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Do you use your name as the artist, so they would say
Dave.
Lanshoff.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
Yeah, and it's not necessarily.
I'm not the artist.
I build myself as a writer, butthe title of my build myself as
a writer, but the title of myalbum is Mind's Eye.
And when I say Mind's Eye, youknow that little peanut kind of
thing that's in your brain, thatyou know you can see if you
(47:14):
have vision.
You have Mind's Eye, because youcan see things that other
people can't see, like I'm alsoa carpenter, so I can look at an
empty site there's nothing butweeds and grass and I can, in my
Mind's Eye I can envision thathouse being there.
And so that was why I named thetitle of my album Mind's Eye,
(47:38):
because I see I already seemyself sitting at the Grammys,
you know, and I'm like I'm notgiving that, I'm not giving that
idea up.
I just just even beingnominated I'd be happy, but I'm
not giving that up either, youknow.
So that's, that's my mind's eye, I'm so, I'm looking ahead, I'm
(47:59):
seeing ahead.
I'm seeing a vacant horizonright now, but I can see in my
mind's eye.
I can see everything that'sgoing to be built there.
Speaker 3 (48:11):
Everybody.
Go out to your streamingservices and look up James
Landshoth.
That's L-A-N-D-S-H-O-F and thealbum is Mind's Eye.
I've listened to it.
It's quality.
It'll get you in the heart.
It's country music based.
(48:32):
I think that you'll be blessedand uplifted by the songs that
James has written.
Speaker 2 (48:44):
Well.
Speaker 3 (48:44):
James, I really appreciate your time today.
I'm glad I reached out to you.
I'm glad we got to meet.
You're an inspiration to allthe rule breakers out there and
know that age is not adisqualifier of following your
dreams.
People use the excuse I'm tooold.
(49:08):
Oh, I've already done too manythings in my past life.
I can't achieve my dreams I'mscared.
Yeah, the trick to being scaredand you're going to be fear is
normal.
It's natural, but you got toput that first foot out.
You have to answer the firstquestion mark of what happens.
(49:29):
When I take a step out and putmy stuff out there, whatever it
is, whatever your talent ordreams are, and when you do that
, what's amazing is the fearthat your brain.
And when you do that, what'samazing is the fear that your
brain built up and the weirdstories that your brain puts
together aren't even close toreality.
(49:49):
And that first step answers alot of question marks that allow
you to take the second step andthe third step.
And ultimately, the trick toachieving your dreams is have a
clear goal and don't give up.
Continue to move forward.
The naysayers will be right100% of the time, until they are
(50:12):
wrong, and when they're wrong,you've achieved.
Speaker 2 (50:15):
And then they'll be patting you on the back.
Speaker 3 (50:19):
And they'll be patting you on the back.
Be careful who's patting you onthe back and they'll be patting
you on the back.
Be careful who's patting you onthe back, because the ones that
were there through the struggle, those are your true friends,
those are your true supporters,the ones that gave you
constructive criticism, are theones that want to see you
succeed we talk about.
Most people look at successfrom the eye of the highlight
(50:40):
reel, but they don't see thefull movie.
They don't see what it took forJames to go from a child to
where he is now.
All the things that you had todo and overcome to conquer your
fears.
Get your name out there, getyour music out there, get your
writing out there.
Get your music out there.
Get your writing out there andwhen you're successful, they'll
(51:02):
see it as an overnight successrather than a 65-year journey to
achieve that goal you nevergave up on.
Speaker 2 (51:11):
Yeah, and nothing good comes quickly.
It always takes hard work anddedication and it takes patience
, you know, and uh, patience issomething I've always struggled
with, but uh, I'm, I'm, I'mbecoming very good friends with
it over the last, over the lastyears, I've become very good
(51:34):
friends, with you in touch andI'll continue to follow you.
Speaker 3 (51:37):
Uh, and remember that the journey is the journey and
the experiences, moreimportantly, that you're
enjoying as you go throughachieving your dreams is a lot
more important than adestination.
I encourage people to not worryso much about a destination,
(52:00):
because when you reach it, thegoalpost moves and now there's a
bigger dream and a lot ofpeople give up because they feel
they're not getting to apreconceived destination.
Stop worrying about that andenjoy the experiences and the
learning and the growth as youmove towards your dreams.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
James thank you so much for joining.
Speaker 3 (52:27):
Thank you, matt, appreciate your time on a
weekend and I wish the best foryou Again.
Everybody.
James, where can they find you,your writings and your music?
Speaker 2 (52:38):
Well, my music's on all the streaming services
Spotify, right off the bat andmy book is in Amazon, kdp and
all the brick-and-mortarbookstores.
It's print-on-demand and if youhave a Kindle device you know
it's less expensive.
It's like $14 for the book andwhen it's all cut and dry I get
(53:02):
$4 off the sale.
Speaker 3 (53:06):
Let's sell a million of them $4.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
I didn't have to start with and it's not the know
that validate me and make meyou know just confirms what my
beliefs were in myself, andthat's more precious than gold.
Speaker 3 (53:32):
And what is the remind everybody the name of the
book and the pen name you use.
Speaker 2 (53:38):
James Lennox and it's called Life's Daily Struggles,
defined and now comes.
Speaker 3 (53:47):
And then the name of the album, and that's under
James Lanshoff, correct?
Speaker 2 (53:54):
Right, and it's called Mind's Eye, All right.
Speaker 3 (53:58):
James, you have a great weekend and let's see that
, uh, we bless a lot of peoplewith your music and writing.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show and sharing your life
story and your dreams.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
Thank you for having me.
I really do appreciate what youdo, because you bring hope to
people like me, man.
Speaker 3 (54:20):
That is the goal.
Thank you, james.
Speaker 2 (54:22):
Thank you sir, bye now.
Speaker 1 (54:27):
You've been listening to Real People, Real Life.
Our passion is to have realconversations with real people
who've made it.
Real people who've made it whodid it on their own terms.
We'll be back soon, but in themeantime, catch us on Twitter or
X at RPRL Podcast and onYouTube at Real People Real Life
(54:53):
Podcast.
Welcome to Real People, real Life, where
everyday conversations lead toextraordinary insights.
We're all about digging intothe lives of regular people
who've achieved success on theirown terms.
This is Real People, Real Life,and now your host, ryan Sherow.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
You've done this for me, man.
It's very special to me, andnow your host.
It fits in with what we talkabout here.
Society sets up rules andpeople are expected to follow
those rules.
I suggest that rules are meantto be broken and we can make
change in our lives at any pointin time, and that's what you
(01:06):
did.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's all about redemption on my side.
I mean, you know, we all fallshort, man.
We need forgiveness, and sosometimes, well, more people are
more forgiving than others.
You know, society's not so muchforgiving as individuals.
I'm just thankful for thatthat's correct.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, and you.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So you grew up in tennessee no, I was uh born in
uh newark, new jersey, and I wasadopted at two weeks old.
I lived in a washingtontownship, new jersey, for 10
years of my life and my dad gottransferred from there to
Louisville, kentucky, and thenfrom there to Columbia, south
(01:54):
Carolina.
So I spent the majority of mylife in Columbia, south Carolina
.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
And when did you end up in Nashville?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
and uh, when did you end up in nashville?
Well, um, I moved from columbiato uh, atlanta, georgia, when I
was 17 and, um, I met a guitarplayer and he taught me
everything.
He was very patient with me andand he was very, he was like
chet atkinson, and so, uh, Ifollowed him and we went to
Atlanta.
He was working at the militarybase there as a barber and I
went with him and three daysafter I was in Atlanta I got a
(02:32):
job.
So, with him walking, this isthe motel I was living in.
So I pursued my songwritingthere in the Atlanta Songwriters
Association and just trying tolearn as much as I could from
everyone.
And just mainly, I've learnedwhat I know just from listening
(02:57):
and gleaning little secrets frompeople that would tell me
different things about how towrite a song.
But I never knew I.
I never knew I could write ashort story.
I didn't.
That was uh, I probablywouldn't still be able to write
if I hadn't never, you know,found myself in certain stances.
(03:20):
I was in because I do believethat God had for me, but I was
not going to be stable enoughand I was not going to sit still
enough for him to get throughto me, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, sometimes we have to hit rock bottom before
we start listening and payingattention to the situation
around us, in your situation,listening to what God had to do
for you.
So walk me through the rockbottom of your life that got you
started on this path of writingmusic and books.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, the music started when I was young.
When I was about 10 years old,I used to listen to a lot of
Motown records and Booker T andthe MGs.
They had a song that wasnothing but instrumental, and so
each week, I'd write differentverses for a song and I'd sing
along with it.
I spent most of my time aloneas a kid, and so I had to find
(04:24):
ways to entertain myself.
And, um, so I started.
Uh, I picked up the guitar I wasabout 10 years old and learned
a few chords, and then, uh, whenI went to south carolina, I had
a music teacher that took aspecial interest in me and
taught me a lot about, uh,playing guitar and uh, it's from
there that, uh, I usually kindof like therapy, you know, kind
(04:46):
of just calm me down, and it'suh, it's uh, uh let me get my
emotions out, you know.
And uh, I always wanted to be asongwriter.
I just didn't know how to goabout it.
And, uh, when I met this man upin columbia and he said you,
you know, I'll teach you, I hadto follow him because I had
(05:06):
prayed.
I prayed for a blessing, forsomebody to just take the time
to teach me, and then I stumbledacross this guy in the laundry
room at the room house where Istayed and you know I followed
him.
He self-destructed in Atlantaand I moved on and I just
(05:27):
continued to write songs andcontinue to pray about it too,
because I didn't want to go intothis, you know, because I was
afraid that you know I'd fail,but I would ask God for his
guidance.
I said, if you want me to dothis, this, if this is what you
want from me, then you wouldhave to open the doors.
And he opened the doors and Iset my sights on moving to
(05:52):
Nashville when I was 22, and somy wife and I moved up here and
we almost froze in our car andsome people at the church that
we were going to let us stay inthe church, that we were going
to let us stay in the churchbecause we were freezing in the
car.
And so I continued to write.
And so over the years, you know,I've probably got a couple, two
(06:16):
, three hundred songs.
I couldn't remember them allright now, but the ones that you
hear are the special ones to meand the most professional ones
that I've come up with.
You know, because it just takes, it's like anything else it
takes a series of failures tohave a success.
And you know you write five orsix songs that are no good.
(06:38):
And all of a sudden, you knowthe windows of heaven opens up
and you know you hit with ablessing, or you get in the way
of somebody else's blessing andyou get some of it.
You know the windows of heavenopens up and you know, uh, you
hit with a blessing, or you getin the way of somebody else's
blessing and you get some of it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
You know you were talking about in the early days
of writing, that you werefearful that it uh wouldn't work
out.
You know, fear is a drivingforce that many, many people
back from achieving their dreams.
And what did you do to tellyourself to continue to write,
(07:14):
even though you had the fear offailure?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
It was my faith in God and that's what he wanted me
to do.
Every time I was met with anegative response or somebody
would say well, don't quit yourday job, you need to get a trade
.
When people would say that, Iwould just say I'm different.
In my head, I'm different, I'mgoing to be one of the ones and,
(07:47):
um, and I just uh, my faithcan't be unshaken.
Um, no matter what situationI'm in, I'm still, you know, I'm
still believe.
I'm 60, I'll be 65 in january,but I still believe that I'm
going to realize what I camehere to do and it's all in God's
(08:08):
time, because I don't have anycontrol, you know, I just do
what I can do, and reaching outto people like you and reaching
out to other writers on theinternet is, right now, the best
things I can do, and sosometimes I can do and so, and
sometimes I get fortunate,somebody opens, works with me
with open arms, like you have,and other people.
(08:31):
Sometimes they push me away,you know, but I don't let it get
me down, because I know what Ihave and I know the challenge
that I have and I haveconfidence in myself, and you
know I say that.
But there is still times when Ido doubt myself, you know, and
I do doubt that what I'm doingis worth anything, because I
(08:51):
couldn't get a Happy Meal foreverything I produced.
You know all my writing and allmy songs.
I could take them to McDonald's.
I couldn't get a Happy Meal fornone, me up or not.
But I'm not going to let thatget me down, because when you
listen to the stories of otherpeople that have been in my
position, they haven't given upeither.
You know, and that's the wholething, you just can't give up.
(09:14):
If you believe in yourself andif you trust God, then you can't
doubt yourself.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
You just got to to keep going, you know, and uh, no
matter how big it is, what wetry to promote here is
overcoming the fear and, throughhard work, persistence and
determination and faith uhachieving success.
(09:43):
However you describe that inwhat you dream of doing.
The problem, james, is that alot of people have dreams with
no action behind it and thesecret to success is to keep
trying.
What's interesting, you said alot of people are telling you to
(10:06):
keep your day job and thingslike that.
They're always right untilthey're wrong.
Exactly, the naysayers are 100%right, telling you you're not
going to succeed.
You go ahead and write a song.
They close the door on you.
Guess what they're right?
(10:27):
You write a hundred songs andyou get the door closed on you.
Guess what they're right.
That's a safe place to be formost people who don't challenge
themselves to go after theirdreams, for many reasons.
Number one it's scary.
Number two you're going to getmore rejections than you get
(10:48):
doors opened and people justlike to take the safe road.
The question is is that livinglife?
Is that being true to yourself?
I love the fact and the reasonwhy we're talking is that you've
spent a lifetime pursuing thisdream.
You sent me over a playlist ofsongs.
(11:08):
I believe they're all onspotify, correct?
Yes, and we'll go ahead andpromote that later in the
podcast.
They're great, they'reunbelievable great country songs
and people need to get outthere and listen to these uh
songs written and written byjames.
You have a talent.
(11:31):
It is a very competitive field,so is podcasting, but I love
doing it and, uh, hard workbeats luck every time, don't you
?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
know, it, don't you know?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
you.
You had this easy life justwriting songs.
The whole time, according toyour story, you ran into, you
ran into some trouble that gotyou, uh, got you locked up and
uh this is where I think, basedon what you wrote, got you in a
quiet moment in your life toactually start listening to god
(12:05):
and uh diving deeper into yourfaith.
Talk, talk to me about whatthat was like and how that
didn't discourage you frompursuing this later in life well
, um, I'll tell you, it's a.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It's a, it's a story tale.
Uh, because when I went, when Iwent to prison, I had no one on
the outside sending me moneyand uh, I didn't have a job.
And uh, my cell partner told me.
He said I don't worry aboutselling, you'll figure it out,
you'll, you'll find a hustle.
He said just think about whatwe want in here and what we
(12:43):
don't have.
And he said when you figurethat out, then you'll have a
good hustle.
Well, yeah, and so you know, inprison, you know you got to
have a hustle.
You either wax floors, washclothes, fold laundry.
You know you've got to dosomething.
So, if you have no people togive you money from the outside.
(13:04):
So I looked around, um, all wehad in the pod was the bible,
and the guys in there wantedpornography.
And uh, so, um, I startedwriting pornography and I would,
I would, uh, lease it out fivepages at a time for a cigarette
or for soups or some honey bunsor something like that.
(13:26):
And I wound up having to getthe guards to make about 15
copies of the first five pages,because I had so many people
that were coming to buy it, torent them that I couldn't fill
all the orders.
And one day my celly told me.
He said you know something.
He said you're really good atthat.
He said you're really good atthat.
He said you ought to try towrite some straight stuff.
(13:47):
He said stop all this mess youknow of pornography and all this
drug dealing and shooting andkilling.
Stop writing about that.
See what you can do becauseyou've got a talent.
He said you need to check whatI'm saying.
So I listened.
This guy was like 40 yearsyounger than me and so I
(14:09):
listened to him, you know, andwhen I went to the next
institution I decided that'swhat I was going to do.
And I sat down one day and Iwrote a story called A Time to
Remember.
Part of that story is about aman that I deeply loved and I
considered him my uncle and Ididn't find him dead the way it
(14:33):
says in the story, butnonetheless he passed away and
you know I'm sad.
So that's how I got intowriting these stories in prison.
And then I would.
When I went to the other prison, I sent some of the stories to
(14:56):
the warden, you know.
I said I know you got a lot ofthings to do, but if you have
time, just tell me what youthink you know.
And he always came back withsome really uh, uplifting
opinions of the work that I wasdoing.
And so I I passed them on tothe guards and the guards would
say man, you, you know, you gota gift, you know?
And uh, so I was.
(15:19):
I was afraid to try to pursue itwhen I got out because I didn't
want the disappointment that Ihad with songwriting.
You know, that's thedisappointment, is the hardest
thing for me to get over,because it hurts so bad.
You know, you have so highhopes and and then they're all
just just dashed, you know, andit's just hard for me to get
(15:40):
over.
And so I told my counselorthere that I wasn't going to
pursue my writing when I got outand she said, I thought, she
said, I think you're making amistake.
And so when I got out and Istarted looking around and I saw
the landscape and I was like,well, self-publishing and this
kind of stuff, you know, Ithought, well, I'll do it, just
(16:03):
to see what happens, you know,and um, so that's that's how I
started pursuing and, um, Iwrite, I write stuff, you know,
at will, um, you know, evenstill today, um, it's just, uh,
it just comes out of me andusually it's it's born out of an
emotional crisis that I eithersee someone else in or that I've
(16:27):
been in myself, and I feelempathy toward that person and I
feel their pain, and then Istart writing about that.
One of the stories I think Isent you was an uneven trade by
the police officer and his sonand how his son, how his son,
(16:48):
goes on rides with him and hisfather, eventually winds up
getting shot and killed.
And I don't know where thatcame from because I don't know
anything about a policeman'slife, but I do know that it
touched the hearts of everyonein the police department in the
town that I lived in, because Isent it to the chief and I
(17:09):
printed up a bunch of copies andI passed them out to the
officers I saw on the street and, uh, you know, it touched all
of them.
It touched all of them and Icould still.
That's why, when you ask me toread one of the stories, I can't
.
I can't do it because I wind up.
I want to get too emotionalbecause I get caught up in it.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
The best artists out there.
They speak from the heart.
They speak from experience.
They live the stories and thesongs they tell.
You can see the authenticity ina star Based on their
(17:51):
projecting, the internalfeelings, the love for their art
to the public.
You know you talked earlierabout God opening doors.
All you can do is continue towrite opening doors.
All you can do is continue towrite no-transcript.
(18:12):
It turned out that was a doorthat opened up for you in two
ways based on this conversation.
Number one, it gave you time toget affirmation of your talent
from the people within theprison.
And number two, the worldchanged while you were in prison
.
You went from a pre-internetsociety where old school rules
(18:41):
held for publishing.
You come on out and all of asudden, what's this
self-publishing?
What is this Spotify?
I can just do this all on myown and let the public make a
decision if what I have istouted very similar to what you
did when you were in prison.
(19:01):
You wrote and you let thepublic judge you.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yeah, yeah, it is, because my feelings, you know,
and and part of my soul is ineverything, and so if someone
said something bad aboutsomething, it would hurt, you
know.
But over the years I'veacquired some pretty thick skin.
You know, you have to, you justhave to.
(19:28):
I mean, everybody's got anopinion and my sister has her
opinion and she's entitled tothat, and my sister has her
opinion and she's entitled tothat.
I just choose not to let thatnegativity into my head.
You know, I try to staypositive about it all the time,
because if I don't, it's veryeasy to sink into deep
(19:49):
depression, and I've been therebefore and I suffer from
depression, and so I can prettymuch tell when it's coming on
and I have to do some steps thatI take that I have to get in
front of to try to head it off.
Otherwise, if I don't, I justwon't, I won't take a bath for
(20:13):
weeks.
I'll just lay around in mybathrobe and drink.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
That's not a good pattern to get into.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
No, it's not good for a person that suffers from
depression either, because itjust makes it worse.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
People that are negative generally, in my
opinion, are projecting theirown failures or lack of action
to achieve their own dreams onyou.
It makes them feel better.
Right, it's best to siftthrough those that are garbage,
(20:48):
notwithstanding good criticismfrom people who care and want to
see you succeed.
That's beneficial and it's notnegative.
It's constructive.
Putting yourself out in publicis always going to bring the
haters, oh yeah, and generallyspeaking, it's because they're
(21:12):
not happy with their ownparticular lot in life and they
don't want to see you succeed.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Right, and you know I had to.
You know I'm unlike a lot ofother people.
You know I could see someonewho has kids and a mortgage and
a wife not pursuing their dreamsin exchange for taking care of
their family.
I didn't have that decision tomake because I don't have any
(21:42):
children.
I don't have anyone that'sdepending on me for their life,
and so it's easier for me todedicate myself to what I'm
doing because I don't have otherpeople depending on me.
If I had other people dependingon me, I might not be where I'm
(22:04):
at right now, or you could bevery creative with your time.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
A lot of people use their hectic lifestyles without
actually looking at how theirtime management is.
It's amazing how much time youcan recover in a day if you use
every moment productively andyou can achieve your dreams.
You have to give something up,though.
(22:28):
What a lot of people think thatis they can have their cake and
eat it too, right, oh, this iswhat I, is what I want.
Well, my question is what areyou willing to give up to get
what you want?
Hey, I want to lose 50 pounds.
Okay, what do you want to giveup in order to lose the weight?
Yes, and just continue to dowhat you're doing and expect
(22:50):
change.
That doesn't happen.
So get out.
You've got some affirmationfrom being in that you have a
talent.
You come out into the newlandscape of self-publication
and the ability to get on theinternet and promote yourself.
(23:12):
However, you said you werestill not going to pursue this
with the conversation you hadwith your counselor, your
exiting counselor.
What changed your mind when youfinally got out to the outside
and how did you get over thatfear of getting out there and
doing it?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Well, when I was in there, you know I had, the only
way I had to get my material, mystories, typed up was that
there was men that worked in theadministration building and
they had access to typewritersand computers and whatnot, and
so I would pay these guys totype my stories for me, and they
(23:51):
stored all my stories on afloppy disk because that's the
only, that's the only type ofcomputer they had at the prison
was a floppy disk.
When I got out I wanted toprint all my stories because I
just wanted to pass them out atrandom.
I went to this print shop inMidtown and I asked the lady.
(24:19):
I said you know, is there anyway that y'all can get this off
here?
And they said well, I don'tknow.
They don't even make thosemachines anymore, you know.
And I started panicking, youknow, and she said well, let me
talk to the guy in the back.
She said I'll call you tomorrow.
(24:40):
So she called me the followingday.
She said you know, jack backthere.
He said he's got an old floppydisk machine in his shed out the
back of his house.
He's going to take the floppydisk home.
He's going to see if he can'tconvert it to a cd.
I said well, that's great.
I said how much will you chargeme to do it?
There's nothing.
I said you're kidding me.
She said no, and uh, and when Iwent down to pick up the CD I
told the lady.
I said can I give y'all a copyof all these stories so that
(25:03):
y'all have them and y'all canread them, because I want to
tell you how much I appreciatewhat you've done?
And the lady, she teared up.
She teared up immediately andbig tears were falling out of
her eyes, hitting, hit thecountertop, splashing, and she
said I read, I read, uh, thatone story time to remember.
(25:24):
And she said that was that, wasjust that that same thing
happened to my grandfather.
You know, and you know, yeah,and in the story the guy my
granddad, the guy who portrayedmy grandfather had a pocket
watch that had been to his, beengenerations in his, in his
pocket, and when he died thepocket watch stopped.
(25:49):
So the guy in the story hetakes a pocket watch, he puts it
in his soft door at home andafter the funeral he goes home
and he just wants to look atthat watch one more time, pulls
it out of his soft door and thatwatch was.
The watch was ticking again andit was at already advanced time
(26:09):
.
He died at 7.01 and the watchstopped.
When he picked it up out of hissoft door after the funeral, it
was at 702 and the watch wasgone.
And the lady said that that waswhat happened to her
(26:32):
grandfather, what happened toher grandfather.
It tore me up and I decided thenthat I needed to share this
stuff with everybody, becausethe way it affected her, the way
it affects me, even justthinking about it, it's a gift.
(26:57):
It's not mine.
You know what I'm saying.
It's not mine to keep.
I'm just a steward of it.
And I do believe that God gaveme these gifts that I got
because he knows I'm a hard headand he knows that I'm not going
to give up, because if he givesthese gifts to someone else, I
think they would have abandonedthem, but I'm not going to
(27:19):
because they're not mine.
I'm just as stupid as all.
And so that's what her way sheacted that day at the print shop
was what changed my mind.
I figured that all thedisappointment that I could ever
experience wouldn't be.
(27:41):
It would be worth it to havejust one person say what she
said, you know and react to oneof my stories the way she did.
You know, risking thedisappointment was worth it,
just that one validation thatthat lady gave me.
So the disappointment was worthit, just that one validation
that that lady gave me.
That's what changed my mind.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I've been in business for a while and one of the
things I tell people is thatwhat we do and we're in a
service business we fix airconditioners and things but
that's not what we do.
What we do is we createrelationships with people.
We just so happen to provide aservice that fixes their air
(28:26):
conditioners and things.
Along those lines it'saffecting people's lives.
That is the true source ofbusiness.
And when you write a story or asong and you see the reaction
of people to your art, that isreally what success is defined
(28:54):
as.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yeah, if there was no money involved in it at all.
The validation is just asvaluable or even more valuable
than the dollars.
It's unfortunate that oursociety measures a man's success
by how much money he's got inthe bank, by how much money you
(29:17):
got the bank.
But but the validation ofpeople like you and and people
like my music producer and andpeople and other people in my
life, the validation that I getfrom them, is worth more than
any monetary gain I could everget from it, because it just
reinforces the, reinforces thefact in my head that I'm doing
what I'm supposed to be doingand I'm not.
(29:39):
I'm not on the wrong track, youknow I am on the right track.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
You're living your life, you're pursuing your
dreams, you're ignoring the fearand pushing forward.
I know that you mentioned youwould have a hard time reading
one of your stories, but I thinkthe audience would love to hear
even one of your short stories.
Is it possible for you to readone for us?
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Well, like I said, I'd be willing to do it, but it
would probably be better read bysomeone else.
It would probably be betterread by someone else because
I'll give it a shot.
I'll give it a shot.
I don't want to embarrassmyself because I have a hard
(30:26):
time seeing.
You can see, I've got theseglasses, I've got cataracts and
it's very hard for me to seesometimes.
But I'm willing to do that.
Um, um, I don't have anythingin front of me right now.
Um, I'd have to pull somethingup on the computer and read it
off of that.
I'd have to do that.
Maybe when you take acommercial break or something,
(30:48):
you do that well, go ahead andgrab it.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
We can uh, we can edit out.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
So go ahead and grab something and I'll wait all
right, I'll go ahead and seewhat I got here.
I'll pull something up on thecomputer so I can read it.
Let's see, I'm not going toguarantee that I'm not going to
wind up crying, because I justmight, because that's something
(31:12):
that happens to me a lotsometimes when I read my stories
, even after so many years ofhaving written one, they still
affect me that way.
It's not letting me pullanything out.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Take your time, no rush.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
I know I've got one on my phone it can access real
easy.
I recently wrote one.
I had this idea for a long time.
It was called Angel Pass.
(32:01):
Is what I wanted to is what Iwanted the title of the story to
be, and this is how it came out.
It's have you ever heard thatold saying we're not promised
tomorrow?
Let me see, yeah.
Have you ever heard that oldsaying we're not promised
tomorrow?
Well, it's true.
(32:22):
After a hard week of work wherenothing seemed to be going right
, I headed home trying to putthe week behind me.
Traffic was moving along at agood pace and it looked clear
ahead.
I set my cruise control to 65and fell in line six or eight
car lengths behind the 18wheelers that were parting the
air ahead.
It was clear in the sky, though.
(32:43):
It was clear the sky, I mean,and the sun was setting low and
it seemed to be disappearing onthe horizon.
The left-hand lane was clearand traffic had spread out.
As we passed the county line, Iglanced down at the radio for a
split second.
I took my eyes off the truckahead of me and when I looked up
, the truck had quickly movedfrom the right-hand lane to the
(33:04):
left-hand lane.
I had no time to react.
Closer than I had thought I was, I slammed into a truck that
had stopped abruptly in theright-hand lane.
As I hovered above the accident,I was confused.
Through the smoke I saw in, mycar had all but disintegrated.
(33:25):
All that was visible was thetail end of my car and seconds
later it went up in flames.
I appeared to still be hoveringabove the wreck.
I began to feel my legs, and asI touched myself I realized
that my hand went through mybody.
It was at this point that Ipanicked, and in a second I knew
(33:46):
I would not be making it hometonight, at least not home where
my wife was frantic.
I began to look my cell phone,but it was nowhere in sight.
The sinking feeling of regretwas washing over me and I began
to cry.
I don't know where I was, and Iwas no longer over the wreck,
(34:10):
but I wasn't in darkness.
I was staring into a blindingwhite abyss where my presence
went unnoticed, and I could notsee anyone.
But I still felt that I was notalone.
(34:30):
It was at this point that I felta gentle hand on my shoulder,
and as I turned, I could see noone.
I heard a gentle voice, but notin the same way you would hear
someone talking to you.
No, this voice was coming fromwithin.
It was saying have no fear,everything is all right, you're
in good hands.
And I made not a sound, but inmy mind there was an audible
(34:54):
voice, somewhat like my own, andit was saying but my wife, my
beautiful wife, and I began tocry.
I felt a comforting embrace andI felt myself hug someone and I
felt that someone's arms wasaround me.
And I could still see no one.
However, a calm, peacefulfeeling engulfed me, as if it
were a warm electric blanketconsuming me.
(35:16):
I turned my head to one sideand as I rested my head on
someone's shoulder, as if I wasa baby, I felt a gentle rocking
motion.
My tears ran down my cheeks, asif someone had turned on a
faucet, and the gentle rockingmotion was allowing me to sleep.
I don't know how long I wasasleep, but I felt rested.
(35:39):
As I slowly opened my eyes, myvision was clouded, so I rubbed
my eyes and when I opened them Icould see clearly.
I was taken aback.
I was in my car, the seatbelttightly around me, the engine
was running, sitting at the gaspumps at the gas station.
Some found it and, clearlyshaken by the events that were
(36:01):
real, I just could not believewhat had just happened.
Afraid to get out of my car butforced to because I hadn't used
the restroom, but still shaken,I climbed out of the car and
went in and on my way out Ipicked up a candy bar.
As I reached in my pocket,folded up with the bills that
(36:23):
were in my pocket.
There was a note on and it read, one Official Angel Pass and in
the corner it read Issued by LL, the initials LL.
Upon closer inspection of theAngel Pass I saw LL, louise
Lanshaw.
(36:43):
The Angel Pass was issued by mymother.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Wow, great story.
You have a talent.
Where could people find more ofyour stories, james?
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Well, they're on there.
They're on all the bookstores BDalton's and all of them and
also on Amazon.
You can pick it up there.
It's print on demand, or, ifyou have a Kindle device, you
can download it, and I'mcurrently working on getting a
(37:24):
website of my own so that Icould also give somebody who
buys a book with a download ofall my music.
That's what I'd like to do, soI'm gonna be trying to make that
happen by, you know, first ofthe year.
So I just got to put somepoints together.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
People going on to these sites like Amazon or B
Dalton et cetera, bookstores.
Would they just search you asan author, james Landshaw?
Speaker 2 (37:56):
No, they'll search for James Lennox, because that's
my pen name in honor of mymother, because my mother's
maiden name was Lennox, and thebook is entitled Life's Daily
Struggles Defined by JamesLennox.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
How do you spell the last name?
Speaker 2 (38:19):
L-E-N-N-O-X Lennox and what is the name?
Speaker 3 (38:22):
of the book.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
again Repeat it's Life's Daily Struggles Defined.
It's all about the decision.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
I encourage everybody out there to go ahead and go
onto Amazon, go onto your onlinebookstores and look for this.
I've read some of James' stuff,stuff, and it'll put tears in
your eyes, put a smile on yourface.
It's very encouraging and youwould help James out a lot.
Now you did these stories andyou also write for music.
(38:59):
You sent me over a half a dozensongs that were produced with
your lyrics, correct.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Yeah, that's right, I wrote the words and the music.
I'm the author of both of them.
The producer I have to credithim because he is so great.
Everything you hear on thereit's all my music, note for note
.
But it's the way he producesthe work, the way he produces
(39:29):
the song.
It makes it a lot more thanwhat it was prior to him getting
involved in it.
I'll give you a chance to hearhow a song sounds when it's sent
to the producer and then whatit sounds like when it comes
back.
It's absolutely amazing.
But he literally changesnothing.
He changes nothing in mycomposition at all and he's even
(39:57):
called me.
He said do you mind if we juststep it down a key?
I'm like no, no, go ahead, youcan step it down a key, you know
.
But you know he never changesanything.
So I'm very proud of that, thework that I did.
My dad passed away when I was inprison and when he died he left
me some stocks and it was forme to start a new life.
(40:21):
I waited some years before Irequested ownership to the
stocks and when I did, I decidedthat I was going to take a
portion of the money and I wasgoing to get these songs
produced and I was going to getthese songs produced.
So, for the most part, everysong that you hear on the album
(40:42):
is provided.
The funds were provided by mydad, because I probably wouldn't
have been able to do it if hehadn't done that, because it was
expensive.
I'm telling you it's not cheapto do it, but I regret it a bit
(41:07):
and I think my dad would be sohappy to uh, to hear uh, and see
how I spent his money, because,or the money he left me,
because it's uh, it's somethingthat's it's uh, it's uh, it's
never going to go away.
You know, I mean it.
That's never going to go away.
That's going to go away.
That's never going to go away.
What I hate to do is when I getmoney is to have $400 or $500
in my pocket and then, a week ortwo later, look around and go I
(41:29):
got $50.
Where did all my money go?
I don't see anything.
I don't see anything for it.
It does my heart good to knowthat I did something that was
everlasting with the money thatmy dad let me get on.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
Money is good for three things, in my opinion Pay
the bills and eat.
Invest it, like you did, intoyour dreams, your future, and
give it away.
Your future and give it awayand enjoy the response of people
(42:07):
less fortunate to receive agift.
Other than that there's notmuch else used for it.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
You know, I had a business of mine for 10 years, a
commercial drywall business inNashville.
Before my wife, my lifeexploded and I was, uh, I was
privileged to be associated withsome very kind man in the
construction business and veryChristian man in the
construction business and, uh,at one time I met someone that
(42:38):
was in a wheelchair.
She was paralyzed and I wantedto help her and I couldn't do it
on my own.
You know, she had a wheelchairthat caught on fire and she
couldn't get out of thewheelchair and it burned her,
and I was determined to not letthis happen to her again, you
know.
And so I went to one of the menthat I worked for and I said
(42:59):
look, man, I'm trying to do this, but I can't do it on my own.
I need some help.
I said would you be willing todo this?
I said I'm not going to tellher that I did it or you did it,
I just want her to pick up awheelchair down at Williams
Medical Supply on Church Street.
And he said I'll be happy toget involved with that.
(43:21):
And she called me one day.
She was blowing up.
She said James, please comedown here to Williams Medical
Service.
I got a wheelchair.
Somebody bought me a brand newwheelchair and went down there
and my friend I had $900 to putin on it.
It was quite expensive, but myfriend covered the rest of it.
It wasn't a on it.
It was quite expensive, but myfriend covered the rest of it.
It wasn't a used one.
(43:42):
It was brand new state of theart.
And I helped her there's someof the guys at Williams Medical
I helped me load her on my truckand I took her over to her room
, you know, and she was so happyman, it just warmed my heart.
When you say there's good usesfor money, you know, I mean,
that's what I think.
When you got more than you need, I think it's what you should
(44:07):
do, you know.
And I was just.
You know, that's the kind ofthing that I did, you know, when
I had money.
But I was also living a paganlife too, you know.
So I don't ever think the goodthings we do outweigh the bad
things we do, but they'reequally as good and bad as the
(44:29):
other.
That's the only thing I can say.
I never did anything like thatto try to buy my way out of the
problems that I did.
I just did it because I cared,you know, and I had more than I
needed and I wasn't doing rightwith my money anyway.
(44:49):
So it was, you know, better offspent on someone and someone's
comfort and someone's ability toget around.
So that's the kind of stuff Idid when I had a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
The only good about the past because we can't do
anything about it and regret isa waste of time is to better our
future.
We don't get a book about howto live our lives when we are
born into this world, and theworld is ever-changing as you
(45:27):
see, coming out, going intolockup and then coming out and
seeing a completely differentworld.
However, taking advantage oflessons learned and benefiting
your life going forward is allwe can do, and you seem to be
doing a fantastic job at that.
(45:48):
I like the fact that yourinvestment, as one of the three
things I say money is good for,is also enriching people's lives
.
Where can people I?
I loved the music that you sentme.
It is amazing and should becharted music.
Where can people find andsupport James Landhoff's music?
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Well, I'm on Spotify, but I'm also on all the
streaming services.
Period I got involved with thissite called DistroKid and what
they do is I paid a one-year feeand they got my music on every
(46:33):
streaming platform that there isin the world.
I mean, it doesn't matter ifit's Pandora or all the other
services, it's on everything.
It's on every service.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Do you use your name as the artist, so they would say
Dave.
Lanshoff.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
Yeah, and it's not necessarily.
I'm not the artist.
I build myself as a writer, butthe title of my build myself as
a writer, but the title of myalbum is Mind's Eye.
And when I say Mind's Eye, youknow that little peanut kind of
thing that's in your brain, thatyou know you can see if you
(47:14):
have vision.
You have Mind's Eye, because youcan see things that other
people can't see, like I'm alsoa carpenter, so I can look at an
empty site there's nothing butweeds and grass and I can, in my
Mind's Eye I can envision thathouse being there.
And so that was why I named thetitle of my album Mind's Eye,
(47:38):
because I see I already seemyself sitting at the Grammys,
you know, and I'm like I'm notgiving that, I'm not giving that
idea up.
I just just even beingnominated I'd be happy, but I'm
not giving that up either, youknow.
So that's, that's my mind's eye, I'm so, I'm looking ahead, I'm
(47:59):
seeing ahead.
I'm seeing a vacant horizonright now, but I can see in my
mind's eye.
I can see everything that'sgoing to be built there.
Speaker 3 (48:11):
Everybody.
Go out to your streamingservices and look up James
Landshoth.
That's L-A-N-D-S-H-O-F and thealbum is Mind's Eye.
I've listened to it.
It's quality.
It'll get you in the heart.
It's country music based.
(48:32):
I think that you'll be blessedand uplifted by the songs that
James has written.
Speaker 2 (48:44):
Well.
Speaker 3 (48:44):
James, I really appreciate your time today.
I'm glad I reached out to you.
I'm glad we got to meet.
You're an inspiration to allthe rule breakers out there and
know that age is not adisqualifier of following your
dreams.
People use the excuse I'm tooold.
(49:08):
Oh, I've already done too manythings in my past life.
I can't achieve my dreams I'mscared.
Yeah, the trick to being scaredand you're going to be fear is
normal.
It's natural, but you got toput that first foot out.
You have to answer the firstquestion mark of what happens.
(49:29):
When I take a step out and putmy stuff out there, whatever it
is, whatever your talent ordreams are, and when you do that
, what's amazing is the fearthat your brain.
And when you do that, what'samazing is the fear that your
brain built up and the weirdstories that your brain puts
together aren't even close toreality.
(49:49):
And that first step answers alot of question marks that allow
you to take the second step andthe third step.
And ultimately, the trick toachieving your dreams is have a
clear goal and don't give up.
Continue to move forward.
The naysayers will be right100% of the time, until they are
(50:12):
wrong, and when they're wrong,you've achieved.
Speaker 2 (50:15):
And then they'll be patting you on the back.
Speaker 3 (50:19):
And they'll be patting you on the back.
Be careful who's patting you onthe back and they'll be patting
you on the back.
Be careful who's patting you onthe back, because the ones that
were there through the struggle, those are your true friends,
those are your true supporters,the ones that gave you
constructive criticism, are theones that want to see you
succeed we talk about.
Most people look at successfrom the eye of the highlight
(50:40):
reel, but they don't see thefull movie.
They don't see what it took forJames to go from a child to
where he is now.
All the things that you had todo and overcome to conquer your
fears.
Get your name out there, getyour music out there, get your
writing out there.
Get your music out there.
Get your writing out there andwhen you're successful, they'll
(51:02):
see it as an overnight successrather than a 65-year journey to
achieve that goal you nevergave up on.
Speaker 2 (51:11):
Yeah, and nothing good comes quickly.
It always takes hard work anddedication and it takes patience
, you know, and uh, patience issomething I've always struggled
with, but uh, I'm, I'm, I'mbecoming very good friends with
it over the last, over the lastyears, I've become very good
(51:34):
friends, with you in touch andI'll continue to follow you.
Speaker 3 (51:37):
Uh, and remember that the journey is the journey and
the experiences, moreimportantly, that you're
enjoying as you go throughachieving your dreams is a lot
more important than adestination.
I encourage people to not worryso much about a destination,
(52:00):
because when you reach it, thegoalpost moves and now there's a
bigger dream and a lot ofpeople give up because they feel
they're not getting to apreconceived destination.
Stop worrying about that andenjoy the experiences and the
learning and the growth as youmove towards your dreams.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
James thank you so much for joining.
Speaker 3 (52:27):
Thank you, matt, appreciate your time on a
weekend and I wish the best foryou Again.
Everybody.
James, where can they find you,your writings and your music?
Speaker 2 (52:38):
Well, my music's on all the streaming services
Spotify, right off the bat andmy book is in Amazon, kdp and
all the brick-and-mortarbookstores.
It's print-on-demand and if youhave a Kindle device you know
it's less expensive.
It's like $14 for the book andwhen it's all cut and dry I get
(53:02):
$4 off the sale.
Speaker 3 (53:06):
Let's sell a million of them $4.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
I didn't have to start with and it's not the know
that validate me and make meyou know just confirms what my
beliefs were in myself, andthat's more precious than gold.
Speaker 3 (53:32):
And what is the remind everybody the name of the
book and the pen name you use.
Speaker 2 (53:38):
James Lennox and it's called Life's Daily Struggles,
defined and now comes.
Speaker 3 (53:47):
And then the name of the album, and that's under
James Lanshoff, correct?
Speaker 2 (53:54):
Right, and it's called Mind's Eye, All right.
Speaker 3 (53:58):
James, you have a great weekend and let's see that
, uh, we bless a lot of peoplewith your music and writing.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show and sharing your life
story and your dreams.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
Thank you for having me.
I really do appreciate what youdo, because you bring hope to
people like me, man.
Speaker 3 (54:20):
That is the goal.
Thank you, james.
Speaker 2 (54:22):
Thank you sir, bye now.
Speaker 1 (54:27):
You've been listening to Real People, Real Life.
Our passion is to have realconversations with real people
who've made it.
Real people who've made it whodid it on their own terms.
We'll be back soon, but in themeantime, catch us on Twitter or
X at RPRL Podcast and onYouTube at Real People Real Life
(54:53):
Podcast.
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