March 31, 2025 • 43 mins
Connor Daly brings fresh perspective to Nashville's music scene as an Americana artist who made the leap from Virginia to Music City just eight months ago. Despite being relatively new to the area, he's already conquered some of Nashville's most revered songwriter venues, including the legendary Bluebird Cafe.
The contrast between these iconic venues reveals much about Nashville's songwriting culture. As Connor explains, "The Bluebird felt very casual... like I was playing in a living room somewhere," noting how the venue's unassuming strip mall location belies its worldwide fame. Meanwhile, The Listening Room placed him under bright lights on an actual stage—both experiences offering different creative energies while sharing an audience that truly listens to the lyrics.
Connor's debut album "Colors Fade" showcases his songwriting talents developed long before his Nashville move. Recorded across prestigious studios including Reba McEntire's Starstruck and the renowned Castle Studios, the album represents years of creative development. His songwriting process offers fascinating insight into how songs naturally evolve: "I like to start out with just playing chords... start humming a melody... try not to think too hard, try to leave my brain out of it and just start thinking of words and feelings that the melodies are bringing out."
Nashville has introduced Connor to the collaborative art of co-writing after years of creating alone in Virginia. This adjustment highlights the relationship-like dynamics between songwriters who must find creative chemistry. His duet "Fake One Tear" with Mary Heather Hickman demonstrates how social media connections can lead to meaningful artistic collaborations in today's music industry.
Ready to discover an authentic voice in Americana music? Follow Connor Daly Music on all social platforms and visit connordalymusic.com to stay updated on new releases and performances as his Nashville journey continues to unfold.
Links
- Jay Franze: https://JayFranze.com
- Connor Daly: https://connordalymusic.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tony Scott (00:05):
Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a
behind-the-curtain look at theentertainment industry, with
insights you can't pay for andstories you've never heard.
Now here's your host, JayFranze.
Jay Franze (00:33):
And we are coming at you live.
I am Jay Franze, and with metonight is the Rachel to my Ross
, my beautiful co-host, MissTiffany Mason.
Tiffany Mason (00:42):
Hello Jay.
Jay Franze (00:48):
So if you would like to join in, comment or fire off
any questions, please feel freeto visit jayfranze.
com.
All right, folks, tonight wehave a very special guest with
us.
I said it once, I will say itagain we have a very special
guest.
We have a country music orAmericana recording artist All
depends on how you want to lookat it Hailing from the great
state of Tennessee, we haveConnor Daly.
Connor, sir, how are you?
Connor Daly (01:11):
Good, how's it going?
Thanks for having me on.
Jay Franze (01:14):
All right, let's just jump in.
Let's start with it.
You're from Virginia, you'reliving in Tennessee.
Which do you like better?
Connor Daly (01:21):
Oh man, that's a loaded question I know.
Tiffany Mason (01:23):
That's why we're starting yeah, how are you gonna
make him?
Jay Franze (01:26):
choose.
Let's start right out of thegate, buddy it's a strong start.
Connor Daly (01:30):
Well, obviously you know I love, love virginia and
my family's still there, so Ialways love going back to visit
them and virginia is obviously abeautiful state with the
appalachians and the trail goingalong the Western side of
Virginia.
You know, for what I'm doingright now in the music business,
nashville is definitely abetter place to be for that.
(01:53):
So definitely good things aboutboth places.
I don't know if I can pick orchoose.
Jay Franze (01:59):
All right.
Well, you're playing politicswell.
Tiffany Mason (02:03):
You said Nashville is good for what
you're doing now.
What are you doing now?
Connor Daly (02:07):
Let's see what am I doing now.
I've been doing, you know, abunch of co-writes, writers,
rounds and trying to play someshows, and then I'm recording
some music.
So pretty much all that stuff.
It helps if you're in Nashville.
Jay Franze (02:20):
How long have you been in Nashville?
Connor Daly (02:22):
I've been in Nashville for eight months now.
Jay Franze (02:25):
Okay, so you're still a baby.
Connor Daly (02:27):
Relatively new.
Jay Franze (02:28):
What part of town did you land in?
Connor Daly (02:30):
12 South area.
Jay Franze (02:32):
Not too shabby, huh, yeah, right there in the thick
of things.
Connor Daly (02:36):
Yeah, the location's perfect.
Jay Franze (02:38):
Are you down in the gulch itself?
Connor Daly (02:40):
No, it's a couple streets off of actual 12 South
area.
All right, you can like walk in.
Tiffany Mason (02:46):
Now correct me if I'm wrong.
Out of the Gulch makes it soundlike you're out of the flood
zone.
Is that what that is?
Jay Franze (02:53):
No, it's not quite the flood zone.
Think of numbers being goingfrom one from the river.
So you're going from one allthe way up to 12.
He's far enough out, but thegulch is a trendy area.
It's beautiful and a bunch ofrestaurants and stuff.
Connor Daly (03:10):
Wasn't always like that, but it is yeah, that's,
that's what I've heard, but itlooks nice now.
Yeah, that's all that matters.
Now it's the time you're there.
Jay Franze (03:18):
When I, when I was there, it was not like that yeah
that's all right.
So you're making your wayaround Nashville itself and
you've had a chance.
Within eight months, you'replaying some iconic venues,
including the Bluebird, so weknow the Bluebird is a place you
go to listen to music.
You get your hand slapped ifyou talk during a show.
What?
Was your experience likeplaying at the Bluebird.
Connor Daly (03:41):
It was very unique.
I thought that I was going tobe more nervous just because of
how you know much of a stapleplace it was to play and you
know it obviously was a dream toplay there.
But it felt so casual at thesame time, because the writers'
rounds it's just four or sopeople just in the center of the
room, just in a circle, andthen just the sound system was
(04:02):
so good and it was a packedhouse the night that I was there
and for like a packed house forthe Bluebird, that's like maybe
70 people.
So it's not like too many, butit felt very cool to play there.
It was definitely a bucket listkind of place to play.
Jay Franze (04:19):
It definitely is.
How nervous were you?
Connor Daly (04:22):
A little bit.
In the beginning I was a littlebit nervous but, like I said, I
wasn't as nervous as I thoughtI was going to be, just because
the setup was so casual and itjust kind of felt like I was
playing in a living roomsomewhere.
Jay Franze (04:35):
It essentially is right.
Connor Daly (04:37):
Yeah, and you can't really see everybody looking at
you because they're all aroundyou, so I guess that made it a
little bit easier.
Tiffany Mason (04:45):
I imagine it's like a speech right, like you're
super nervous before it, butyou, you know, strum those first
few chords or you sing thefirst few words and it's kind of
off to the races in yourcomfort zone yeah, yeah, pretty
much.
Connor Daly (04:56):
I mean obviously I don't get, you know, as nervous
as I used to just because I'vedone it a good amount, but
there's always going to be thoselittle nerves in the beginning,
no matter where I'm playing.
Jay Franze (05:07):
Yeah, were you surprised where the Bluebird was
?
Connor Daly (05:10):
Yeah.
Yeah, it was in like a littletiny shopping center with like.
Jay Franze (05:15):
A little strip mall.
Connor Daly (05:16):
There's like a wedding dress shop and then like
a haircut place or something,but it was very understated, oh
yeah.
Jay Franze (05:23):
But then the line goes around the corner down the
street there yeah, exactly it'sa pretty main street for a line
to be going down the side, likethat and stuff.
But yeah, it's pretty cool.
Tiffany Mason (05:33):
I like it yeah I feel like it must be like going
to the white house.
Have you ever seen like on tv?
You know they show this massivebuilding and then you go to dc
and you see the front of it andit's like that's the capital,
the white house.
And then you go to the back andthen you see what you see on tv
.
But yeah, same idea where it'slike this big, iconic place and
(05:54):
you're so excited and you getthere.
You're like huh, not what Ithought.
Connor Daly (05:59):
That's exactly how it was just like a little hole
in the wall.
Jay Franze (06:01):
It was cool it's a awesome place I I mean it really
is and the fact that the peoplego there to truly hear the
stories behind the songs andthey sit back and listen.
It is also a tourist place, sopeople go because they want to
go see it, but most people aregoing because they want to meet
the people who wrote the songsand hear the stories behind them
.
So did you notice a differencebetween that audience compared
(06:25):
to your normal audience?
Connor Daly (06:27):
Well, I guess, like the main shows that I'm doing
nowadays are like kind of threeor four hour gigs, so the
audience of those shows aregoing to be a lot different than
like a writer's round or like alistening room type kind of
place.
Jay Franze (06:42):
Well, that was my next question for you is you've
had a chance to play both theBluebird and the Listening Room,
so what was it like playing atthe Listening Room, and which do
you prefer?
Connor Daly (06:53):
the Listening Room.
I was nervous for and even whenI started playing I was nervous
what made that different?
There's a lot of people, sothere's more people in the
listening room and you'reactually on a stage and the
lights are just super bright andit's so quiet.
But you know that there's abunch of people out there, which
was a weird feeling and, yeah,it just felt like a little bit
(07:14):
more like I was in the spotlightliterally.
I mean, they're so different.
Describe the differences to us.
Tiffany Mason (07:22):
Yeah, I've never been to either, so help our
listeners paint the scene for usyeah, for sure.
Connor Daly (07:28):
So you know I'm not a professional on them, but
I've played one time at eacheach of the venues.
The bluebird, I I guess, likepeople think, is more like an
iconic type place, like you kindof know where it is, even if
you're from a different country.
Jay Franze (07:42):
It's been on tv so many different times yeah, for
sure, and it's.
Connor Daly (07:47):
It's just been around so long and so many
amazing legendary players gottheir start at the bluebird cafe
, so I feel like that's kind ofthe main thing about the
bluebird the listening room isstill new.
Listening room is yeah, it's,it's, it's newer.
It's tough to get into thelistening room.
It's hard to get around.
Tiffany Mason (08:06):
As a spectator or as a performer, as a performer.
Connor Daly (08:11):
If you want to spectate, the listening room is
much easier to get into Than theBluebird.
They're both good shows to gowatch.
Jay Franze (08:20):
The Bluebird has been on TV.
It's been on the TV shownashville.
It's on every documentary thatever has anything to do with
nashville.
Tiffany Mason (08:28):
So it's got a very, very tourist heavy crowd
and it's a very small venue, soit's it's a lot harder to get in
there, especially on a goodnight yeah, now, connor, were
you able to make your demands asa celebrity that you are in
both venues and who accommodatedthose demands better?
Connor Daly (08:52):
I didn't really have many demands when I was
playing there.
Jay Franze (08:55):
She wants to know what color the M&Ms were.
Connor Daly (08:58):
Yeah, well, the listening room had a green room
and the Bluebird does not have agreen room.
Tiffany Mason (09:02):
Okay.
Connor Daly (09:03):
So I guess the listening room wins that one
just by default yeah, bluebird'ssmall it's.
Uh, you just kind of have tojust wait around, you know, with
everybody else, and then you gosit down, which is cool because
it's kind of unique, yeah, thelistening room.
I felt very professional towalk into the green room, have
snacks, get drinks and thenwe'll just walk out like onto
(09:24):
the stage so which one did youlike better?
guys are asking tough questions.
They're.
They're both cool, I think.
The bluebird, honestly.
I mean, it was just like justthe experience of playing the
bluebird.
I think I'd rather play thereagain.
Nice, it's the ambiance of it,it's all right were you the only
one that played that night.
No, so I was on a round withthree other people.
(09:46):
What does?
Tiffany Mason (09:47):
it mean to be on a round?
Do you all take one song at atime?
Or you play, then somebody elseplays, then somebody else plays
.
Connor Daly (09:55):
Yeah, so writer's round, there's typically three
or four people and they just godown the line.
You start with one person, youplay a song, and then the next
person, next person, next person, next person, and then, if you
have like an hour-long slot, ifyou have four people, you play
three songs.
If you have three people, youplay four songs.
Tiffany Mason (10:13):
Very cool.
Jay Franze (10:13):
Yeah, sometimes it gets pretty interesting when
they start playing with eachother.
So he'll get up there and play,and then someone will start
singing along with them orplaying along with them.
Connor Daly (10:23):
Yeah, sure, I mean people.
Tiffany Mason (10:26):
I feel like that would like.
No, let me have my turn.
Jay Franze (10:31):
Yeah.
Connor Daly (10:33):
A lot of people do kind of just start playing,
especially if they like know thepeople up there and like they
know the songs that they'replaying.
Did that?
Tiffany Mason (10:41):
happen with you.
Connor Daly (10:43):
Yeah, sometimes If there's a really good guitar
player or somebody like that onthe stage, they'll just figure
out the key right away and juststart playing along.
It's always fun.
Jay Franze (10:54):
It is pretty cool.
Most of them will play thelittle lead parts throughout the
song.
It's not like they're trying tobe distracting.
If somebody is good atharmonies, they'll pick up on
what he's singing throughout thechoruses and they'll jump into
a little harmony part.
Tiffany Mason (11:10):
Yeah, nice, I would think it would calm the
nerves a little bit too, just tohave someone kind of you know,
figuratively put their armaround you and say, hey, I'm
here on stage with you, buddy.
Connor Daly (11:19):
Yeah, pretty much, especially if they're playing
like guitar alongside you and itdoesn't make you as nervous to
like mess up, because if they'replaying it might block a bad
note or something like that.
Tiffany Mason (11:30):
And you just say it was them.
Jay Franze (11:32):
Yeah, of course that's a good point.
What kind of challenges did youhave that night playing at the
Bluebird?
Connor Daly (11:41):
I'm sure for songwriters that the hardest
thing to do is to like play to aroom of people who are truly
listening to your song.
Whether they have to listen,like are forced to listen to the
Bluebird or not, it just feelsgood to have people actually
listening to your song.
That's like the main thing thata lot of people do is
songwriting.
I put, you know, my heart and alot of time into my songs and
(12:02):
people take the time to actuallylisten to them makes me feel
good.
Yeah, of course.
Jay Franze (12:07):
Now compare that to the festivals you played,
especially the ones in yourhometown Crossroad Festival.
Connor Daly (12:13):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (12:14):
What's it like playing a festival versus
playing a venue like these?
Connor Daly (12:18):
Festivals are longer and I don't want to say
more fun, but there's moredrinking that goes along with
festivals.
Sometimes that makes it alittle bit more fun.
The few festivals I've done,I've done short sets.
I go up and play four songs andgo back to having fun.
Jay Franze (12:40):
What's it like playing the one in your hometown
.
Connor Daly (12:43):
It was cool.
I grew up in Loudoun County inVirginia and they had a loudon
county music festival and I knowthe guy who, like, runs it
every year and it it's becomelike a really big festival in
loudon county and, uh, I playedit last september it was like
two months after I moved down tonashville, so it was like my
first, first festival playing aslike a Nashville musician.
Jay Franze (13:06):
Alright, and how does that compare to the other
festivals you've played?
Connor Daly (13:11):
It was cool.
It was at like a winery, so itwas kind of half about the wine
and half about the music.
Jay Franze (13:16):
I'm starting to notice a pattern here.
Connor Daly (13:19):
Yeah, music and alcohol go hand in hand, so this
is where the challenges come in.
I got it.
Jay Franze (13:26):
No, it makes more sense now, exactly yeah.
Tiffany Mason (13:29):
This is making me think of a festival we're
getting ready to have in ourtown and I'm dying to go and
just hear all the songwriterstories, like that's what I
really want to get from it.
But every time I go with afriend they end up talking to me
the whole time and gettingdrink after drink after drink,
and I'm like, no, no, I don'twant to go and have a drink fest
.
I want to go and have, you know, a think fest.
(13:50):
I want to go and, like, feelthese words that these artists
have taken time to, you know,develop these songs and evoke
emotion out of us and say thethings that we can't say, you
know, like I just want to hearall this, all the songs.
Connor Daly (14:02):
But apparently, connor, you as well like to have
fun too, yeah you know, yeahyou know what they say simple
answer folks simple answer yeah,period, yeah, for sure yeah,
there's definitely differentpeople that go to music
festivals and stuff people thathow many?
Tiffany Mason (14:22):
people were able to show up that you know like
family members or friends, oryou know, do you?
Obviously, I would think, inyour hometown or your home
county that you have, you know,a lot of local support, so did
you feel like a lot of peoplecame out?
You know what was that like?
Are you a local celebrity to?
Jay Franze (14:38):
you know your family and friends, and even strangers
maybe I am not a localcelebrity as of now okay, we're
working on it yeah, other thanlike after tonight will be
that's what I was gonna sayafter tonight for sure, yeah,
thanks again sorry, connor yeah,other than, like my friends and
(14:58):
family, not many strangers areshowing up to my shows quite yet
, but that's gonna change forsure that's gonna change.
I, I see it yeah, how did youend up on the news?
Connor Daly (15:11):
he had a couple of drinks and he was having fun
yeah, I think like the biggestlike news thing that I've
thought was pretty cool was aloudon county.
They have a magazine calledLoudoun now and uh, they did
like a an interview and theinterviewer came out to like a
show and took pictures and thenI was on the front page of
(15:32):
Loudoun now, which like goes allover Loudoun County like right
before I moved down.
So that was like one of thecoolest things.
Jay Franze (15:39):
Well, weren't you on news too?
Connor Daly (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, I wasn't sure which one you're
referring to.
Jay Franze (15:44):
And before you go to that, though, is Loudon now the
same as Maverick?
Connor Daly (15:49):
It is not.
Jay Franze (15:50):
So you're on the cover of Maverick as well.
Connor Daly (15:52):
Yes.
Jay Franze (15:53):
Yep.
So what you're saying is you'rea cover boy.
Connor Daly (15:56):
Yeah, I guess so.
Okay, that's awesome, there'sno way around it.
Jay Franze (16:02):
So how'd you get on the news itself?
Connor Daly (16:05):
So when I was, I put out my debut album last
summer Colors Fade, Colors, fade, yep, yep, it's a 12-song album
.
It's my debut album and likearound that, putting singles out
and around putting the albumout, I was working with a PR
team so they were kind ofgetting me interviews and news
stations and all that sort ofthing.
(16:27):
That was really cool to do allthat stuff supporting the album.
Did you like it?
Yeah, I enjoyed most of it.
I like writing songs, I likeplaying my songs, I like
recording songs.
I'm going to be honest, I likethat stuff a little better than
talking about it, but I'm sureevery artist feels that way.
Jay Franze (16:49):
I would hope so, dear God, I would hope so.
Connor Daly (16:52):
Yeah, but I enjoyed it as much as the next person.
I mean, I was lucky to get alot of stuff Very nice.
Jay Franze (16:59):
I mean it's pretty impressive especially to be
there in Nashville and be on thenews, have a couple cover shots
and stuff.
I mean it's pretty impressiveespecially to be there in
Nashville and be on the news,have a couple of cover shots and
stuff.
I mean it's pretty good.
Connor Daly (17:07):
Yeah, it felt very cool.
Jay Franze (17:09):
So we mentioned the album.
Where did you record the album?
Connor Daly (17:13):
The album was kind of pieced together in a few
different teams like I wasworking with and a few different
studios, but most of the songsgot recorded at Castle Studios.
Jay Franze (17:28):
Franklin.
Connor Daly (17:28):
Yeah, Franklin, and then Dark Horse.
A few of the songs wererecorded there.
Jay Franze (17:34):
So two really crappy studios.
Connor Daly (17:36):
Yeah, yeah, super, super low, low bar.
Jay Franze (17:39):
Yeah, yeah.
Connor Daly (17:39):
But the songs turned out great, you know,
surprisingly.
Jay Franze (17:43):
So they were recorded in the greater
nashville area.
Did you write?
Connor Daly (17:48):
them in the greater nashville area, the songs that
came out on colors fade, thefirst album I put out last
summer.
It takes a while to uh, writesongs, make demos, organize them
, go, record them, mix, masterand master and then, you know,
do the whole plan to put themout on social media and all that
(18:09):
sort of thing.
So it takes a long time to putout singles in an album, as I'm
sure you guys are aware of.
So at the time like pretty muchall the songs on there were, by
this point at least like twoyears old.
So I wrote them all back inVirginia.
Tiffany Mason (18:25):
Connor.
I think I read somewhere thatit took you like six years
writing songs, right?
So this is something you'vebeen doing for a while in
Virginia, right?
Connor Daly (18:34):
Yeah, so I got my start just playing guitar in
school.
I started singing guitar inseventh grade and then played it
in school all throughout highschool and then during college,
my freshman year, I tried towrite a song, just for fun.
You know, I was, you know,bored in my room and you know
what else am I gonna do?
okay are sitting like right inthe corner.
I was like I'm gonna try towrite a song.
(18:55):
I know how to play some chords,so might as well try to write a
song.
And uh, I enjoyed it a lot morethan I thought I was going to
and it turned out.
It obviously is not my bestsong.
It's it's never gonna see thelight of day, I hope, but it was
not it's like many people'sfirst podcast episode.
Connor, it's okay yeah, like Ihaven't listened to it in years
(19:15):
and I'm gonna keep it up, but itturned out good and kind of got
me the itch to keep going.
Tiffany Mason (19:21):
I personally, you know I say all the time when we
do our wednesday night episodesthat I really appreciate when
the words are just so clever,and so you know I've been
listening to a couple of songsand the brown leaves clinging to
the tree.
But she's clinging to you, butin the end she couldn't even
fake a tear for you like I.
Just such great words and um youknow, yeah, what is the song,
(19:47):
uh, where he says if you stoptelling lies about me, I won't
tell the truth about you.
It made me think of that, youknow, like, just such, like,
kind of like a slam, but like,just like a sentimental slam,
yeah so I really I think thatyou do a great job with the
songwriting and good imagery andgreat words.
Connor Daly (20:08):
Yeah, thank you so much.
I appreciate that.
Jay Franze (20:10):
Well, let's start there for a second.
What is your songwritingprocess like now?
Connor Daly (20:17):
I wrote a song today, so normal day, so it
should be fresh in my mind.
So typically I just sit downwith my guitar I like to start
out with, just like playingchords, you know, lay the
groundwork on the song, I guess,in my mind, and then I put my
phone down, hit record on myvoice memos so like I don't lose
anything if I forget it, and uh, just start playing the chords
(20:38):
and start humming a melody.
And then by that point, likeonce I get a melody that I like,
I try not to think too hard,try to leave my brain out of it
and just start thinking of wordsand feelings that the melodies
are bringing out Gets a littlebit different every song from
there.
But that's pretty much how thebeginnings of the songs are
(21:02):
formed.
Jay Franze (21:02):
So you're starting with picking up a guitar and
playing some chords, thenforming a melody around that and
then forming the words aroundyour melody.
Connor Daly (21:10):
Exactly, yeah, a lot of people have to have a
title or a hook or something tostart writing.
I've just never done it thatway.
Jay Franze (21:18):
So when you co-write , then are you able to adapt to
different styles.
Connor Daly (21:23):
Yeah.
Yeah, that part's beeninteresting, but I've cause I've
, like, pretty much only writtenby myself.
You know, being from Virginia,like, where I spent most of my
time writing not many musicpeople around there to co-write
with, so co-writing wasdefinitely a new kind of thing
for me, but I've really enjoyedit so far.
I think it's cool to sit downand be creative with another
person what was the biggestdifference to you?
(21:48):
having somebody else like in theroom just present.
Yeah, exactly because I feellike most of the time I probably
sound crazy, you know recordingsomething in my voice memos,
but I don't really care becauseI'm all by myself.
So it's kind of I I find myselflike having to think a little
bit more before like putting aphrase down or something like
that, when somebody else is likelooking at the same google
(22:11):
sheet so does that make you morehesitant?
well, yeah, I guess so, but italso makes me think a little bit
more, I guess.
So maybe it would get me to thesame point, as if you know my
normal writing style.
Jay Franze (22:26):
Do you think that once you get a deep enough
connection with somebody, thathesitation will go away and
you'll be more like you are whenyou're by yourself?
Connor Daly (22:35):
Yeah, for sure, it's kind of like a.
I found that co-writing is kindof like a relationship, whereas
some people write really welltogether.
Some people are great atmelodies, some people are great
at words and lyrics.
Jay Franze (22:51):
Some people are just Tiffany.
Tiffany Mason (22:53):
Well, that brings up an interesting thought I was
having.
Oh boy, um, oh boy.
Have you written with women andmen and was there one that was
easier?
Is one more gentle with wordsor feedback, or you know?
Have you noticed a differenceor not an issue?
Connor Daly (23:14):
um, I've had two co-writes with no three
co-writes, no four co-writeswith Linda.
Jay Franze (23:19):
So far now.
Connor Daly (23:21):
You're just making things up there's four I had to
like.
I'm just counting one after theother in my head, I don't know.
I feel like it's kind of like aweird dynamic, almost I don't
know.
I feel like girls tend to be.
There's like a differencebetween what girls write in
their songs and what guys writein their songs.
Tiffany Mason (23:42):
Yours was about a truck and she said it was about
a breakup.
Connor Daly (23:46):
Most of the guys' songs are about trucks and beers
.
I don't really write much aboutthat sort of thing.
There's definitely a differentstyle depending on who's going
to be singing the song, whetherit's going to be from a girl
perspective or a guy perspective.
Jay Franze (24:01):
We mentioned the style of your music earlier
being country, but I said it'skind of got that Americana type
flair to it.
I'm assuming that's because ofwhere you grew up and the type
of music that you'reexperiencing in that area.
And you said there's probablynot enough people, like there
are in Nashville, to co-writewith.
But I would say that that areahas plenty of people to write
with.
But I would say that that areahas plenty of people to write
with.
It's just kind of a differentstyle of music to to probably
(24:23):
work on and it's probably adifferent type of writing
process.
Connor Daly (24:26):
Yeah, no, that's for sure.
Tiffany Mason (24:28):
Jay, do you know how?
How do you?
Okay, so let's say he was stillup and coming and he wasn't in
Nashville on his way.
How would he have found aco-writer?
Is that something?
He just put an ad in thenewspaper.
Jay Franze (24:43):
Co-writers are us.
Tiffany Mason (24:45):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (24:46):
Craigslist.
No, I mean, obviously you getyour local music scene and you
want to tap into it.
But then there's also theheavyweights.
And if you try to make a careerout of it, even if you don't
live in the area, you're goingto want to make your way to
Nashville, make a career out ofit, even if you don't live in
the area.
You're going to want to makeyour way to Nashville.
You're going to want to findthe other professionals.
It's not just Nashville.
I mean, la has co-writers, newYork has co-writers, but if you
(25:08):
want to be the co-writer incountry music, you're going to
want to be in Nashville for sure.
Is that where you see?
Tiffany Mason (25:16):
yourself Connor Country music.
Connor Daly (25:19):
Yeah, sort of Well, describe your style to us.
Yeah, I'm really bad atdescribing my style All right,
well, that's done, you got this.
Tiffany Mason (25:27):
You got this, connor.
Connor Daly (25:29):
I'm just going to try to use some keywords.
You know, I say that my genreis Americana, but I don't really
know what Americana is.
Dude Blunt to you guys.
Jay Franze (25:42):
It's acoustic instruments written in the heart
of the US of A yeah, prettymuch.
Connor Daly (25:47):
It's like a big umbrella over a bunch of sub
genres, like people that don'tnecessarily fit specifically in
one genre or another.
Like it has some R&B, some folk, bluegrass country like singer
songwriter stuff.
So I think I fit like americanasinger songwriter kind of style
right yeah, it's, you know realinstruments acoustic guitar,
(26:12):
heavy and um, just likestorytelling I mean it could
even include rock music.
Jay Franze (26:17):
I mean it's anything to in my, in my opinion it's
yeah, it's traditionalinstruments performed from the
heart, for sure.
Connor Daly (26:26):
Exactly, I like that definition.
I'm going to stick with thatone.
There you go.
Jay Franze (26:30):
Glad I could help you out tonight.
Tiffany Mason (26:32):
Write it down, Connor, so you have it later.
Put it in your voice notesquick.
Jay Franze (26:37):
All right, you've written these songs over a
period of time.
Then you get to take them intothese amazing studios.
So I'm sure you didn't just goknocking on the door of these
amazing studios and saying, letme in.
There has to be somebody whoconnected you, some producer so
who produced your project foryou.
Connor Daly (26:55):
Like I said, Colors Fade was kind of piecemealed
together a little bit.
I worked with one team and thena different team over the span
of two years to record thatproject.
All right well, let's startwith the first team.
So I worked with Todd Tidwelland Kyle Lewis.
They both co-produced half ofthe song six songs.
Todd Tidwell is a very talentedproducer.
(27:16):
He works at Starstruck Studiosin Nashville Reba's place.
Yeah, yeah, he knows Rebapersonally and he was a very
cool guy.
He's super talented.
Jay Franze (27:28):
Tiffany, just for backstory, Starstruck is Reba
McIntyre's studio and when shefirst built that studio in
Nashville, right on Music Row,right next to Sony, and she has
a helicopter port on the roofand she used to fly in in her
helicopter and then leave andthey had to make her stop it
because it was interruptingevery other recording studio in
(27:49):
the area for sure.
Oh my goodness, that's funnywow a little backstory he works
at a starstruck, but took yousomewhere else.
So why did he take yousomewhere else?
Connor Daly (28:02):
oh, we recorded in star stroke, so that was.
That was six of the songs thatwere recorded in star stroke
okay, so star struck as wellyeah so did he hire the
musicians as well?
so he co-produced it with a guynamed kyle lewis who uh, if you
know magg Rose, he's theguitarist in Maggie Rose's band.
We kind of got a connection,like a mutual connection,
(28:27):
through a friend in Virginia whoknew Austin Marshall, which is
Maggie's husband.
So we got into it.
We were lucky to connect withthem and we were lucky for them
to work with us for six of thesongs.
They turned out great.
I worked with a team calledCharlotte Avenue Entertainment.
Jay Franze (28:45):
Oh yeah.
Connor Daly (28:45):
Yep, an artist development team down here in
Nashville.
They were great to work withand um Will Golly produced the
other six songs on the album.
Jay Franze (28:57):
All right, and which studio did he take you to?
Connor Daly (29:00):
Uh, that's the group that we've went outside of
.
Starstruck, so Starstruck, andthen the other other two places.
Jay Franze (29:06):
They split their time between Dark Horse and
Castle.
Connor Daly (29:09):
Yeah, they're, they're.
They're really good at getting,uh, some cool spots to record
around town Definitely cool.
Jay Franze (29:15):
All three of those are amazing places.
Anybody would be lucky to setfoot in one of those studios,
and you've been in all three, sothat's awesome, but tell us
about the musicians who playedon the project.
Connor Daly (29:28):
Yeah.
So, like I said, it was a veryunique way to record an album,
but the six songs that Irecorded with Todd Tidwell and
Kyle Lewis Maggie Rose's bandactually played on the six songs
recorded there and then theother six songs with Will.
We just had some very talentedstudio guys come in and play on
(29:54):
the tracks.
Jay Franze (29:55):
Do you remember any of their names?
Connor Daly (29:58):
I've never played with names.
I know Chris Knoll played keys.
He's been playing for his wholelife.
He played with John Denver backin the day.
Jay Franze (30:07):
I get it.
I've worked as an engineer inNashville for almost 30 years
and I can tell you when theartist comes in.
They're coming in typically tosing maybe one or two songs
within a book of a day.
The musicians are just churningthrough and through and through
and through.
So the artist is lucky if theyeven get introduced to the
musicians half the time.
Tiffany Mason (30:28):
Yeah, that is so crazy to me that I mean I get it
.
This whole studio thing, youknow you want the talented
people taking over whatever, butI just don't get how the music
comes alive when the banddoesn't have a relationship.
Clearly it works.
Clearly there's no issue.
Jay Franze (30:50):
Well, you know what I would say?
They have a relationship, Imean they play with each other
almost every day.
Tiffany Mason (30:56):
Well, the studio musicians, right, but they don't
have that relationship with theartists.
And so that's what always kindof just blows my mind Like when
you see people on stage, itseems like you know you're kind
of singing to one of theguitarists, or you know, know
you're kind of singing to theone of the guitarists, or you
know you're kind of looking overto backup vocals or whatever,
and it seems like there's somekind of connection and there's
this great chemistry on stageand they're pulling you in and
(31:19):
they, they likely do.
Connor Daly (31:21):
they've been on the road and they've, you know,
formed these relationships,whereas it's interesting to me
that the, the music, stilltranslates void of that
relationship yeah, it's kind ofa unique thing for studio guys,
the, the great studio musiciansin nashville like they make
their living playing in thestudio, playing on however many
(31:42):
songs like every single day it'samazing, it's just amazing.
Jay Franze (31:46):
They don't watch I mean, they record an entire song
from start to finish in underan hour.
Connor Daly (31:51):
Yeah, they try to do like a song an hour.
They just put like the sheet infront of them and just start,
you know, doing like two orthree takes and that's about it.
Jay Franze (32:00):
Yeah, it's absolutely amazing to watch.
But I think, tiffany, to yourpoint there, you get a band like
you know, a rock band like aBon Jovi or whoever where they
travel and play you know worldtours and travel with each other
.
It's the friend relationshipand the charisma that they have
together.
It's not necessarily themusicianship, because a lot of
(32:21):
times those type of bands maynot even be the best musicians
out there.
I mean in that particular bandyou had some good musicians,
some musicians out there.
I mean in that particular bandyou had some good musicians,
some.
However, it's the friendshipand the charisma that that band
has together from being on theroad and so forth.
Where in Nashville thosemusicians have that friendship
and camaraderie?
Because they're in the studiowith each other almost the same
musicians in different pocketsfor day after day after day, but
(32:46):
their musicianship is withoutflaw.
So I mean, if you want them toplay something with a little
more swing, you can just ask formore swing and they'll give it
to you.
You know more edge and you gotit so.
I think the difference betweenthe two is just raw passion for
your art and then your rawtalent to be able to produce
(33:08):
whatever somebody tells you.
Connor Daly (33:10):
Yeah, that's a great way to explain it.
Jay Franze (33:12):
Well, let me ask you another question, sir.
You have a song Fake One Tear,not intended for a duet, but
somehow ended up as a duet.
So why don't we start bytelling us how it ended up as a
duet, Sure?
Connor Daly (33:27):
So that was one of the songs I wrote in my
apartment in virginia which islike pretty much all the songs
that I wrote were was in there,and I initially had it like
strumming and uh, just like bymyself, and I had a, had a
second verse and stuff.
I came down to nashville like ayear and a half ago at this
point to do like a week ofco-writes and stuff.
(33:50):
So I was sitting down in theAirbnb like the night before the
, the co-write, the, the nextco-write the next day, and I was
with a girl named Jennifer Hartand then her husband, rob
Ricotta Robert Ricotta, Iremembered his name.
So I was kind of like scrollingthrough my songs.
I was like I wonder what song Ishould try to bring in.
(34:11):
I would just start like fingerpicking the song and it sounded
like really pretty.
You know, I was going goinginto right with a girl, so like
well, I could get the girl'sperspective on the song to try
to, you know, write it from herside and um, I went in with that
idea and they loved the song,they loved the melody and we
just kind of ran with it and itturned out great.
(34:34):
I had this great duet.
It may or may not go on thealbum, but I really wanted to if
we could find somebody to singon it.
Jay Franze (34:43):
All right.
Well, that's my next question.
How did?
You meet her, mary HeatherHickman.
How did you?
Connor Daly (34:49):
meet her?
Yeah, hickman, how did you meether?
Yeah, so I just knew her fromsocial media and, um, yeah, we,
we like followed each other fora while and um, there you go,
tiffany.
Jay Franze (34:58):
That's how you find people these days.
Connor Daly (35:00):
Yeah, exactly yeah.
I thought her voice was likereally organic and it felt like
very real.
Tiffany Mason (35:17):
I thought it would fit the song.
You know exactly what I washoping it would sound like.
We reached out to her and shewanted to be on the song and
turned out great.
Now, after you record that song, who is the first person you
call?
Or after you write?
You do this collaboration,you're co-writing the song and
you're like man, we freakingnailed it.
Who gets the first call?
Connor Daly (35:29):
um well come on connor my parents are very
involved.
Um, I think my mom would beupset if I said my dad oh, but
it's like a she's verysupportive.
I don't want to say my dad's alittle bit more musical than she
is, but my dad, you know, triesto help out with a lot of the
(35:49):
musical decisions, like goinginto studios and stuff like that
.
Jay Franze (35:53):
He's, he's a big part of it so which one of them
do you like better?
Tiffany Mason (35:59):
not fair jay.
Which one of your daughters doyou like better?
Connor Daly (36:02):
lucy, answer that.
Um, I I texted them before Iwas jumping on here, so they're
probably watching right now.
Oops, sorry guys.
Hey, mom and Dad, mom and DadDaily, I'm sorry we're having
technical difficulties andthey're both very supportive and
I'm lucky to have them.
Jay Franze (36:20):
Fair enough, we'll let you slide on that one.
Tiffany asks those hardquestions all the time I tell
her not to do it.
Tiffany Mason (36:29):
I was going to ask did you use any of those
studios?
I mean, they all look so coolWere any of them in your videos?
Connor Daly (36:37):
No, no One of the things like going forward I've
always been really bad at socialmedia and like planning ahead
on like getting content whileI'm doing like musical things
yeah that's, that's kind of theplan for this year.
So I'm going in the studio nextmonth and I'm gonna I'm gonna
record a bunch of like video,but yeah, exactly a lot of
(37:00):
content yep things move way toofast when you're in the studio
for you to divide your yourattention.
Jay Franze (37:07):
You would need somebody else to do it for you.
Connor Daly (37:09):
Exactly, it goes by so fast, especially when you've
got a bunch of studio guys.
Jay Franze (37:15):
Yeah, if you've got a room booked for, say, 15 hours
, 15 songs you're going to knockout in that day, and then
you're only three of those songs.
You can't stop that train frommoving.
You just can't.
You've got to gotta go in, beright there ready for that light
to turn red and go yeah, it'sdefinitely a well-oiled machine
(37:35):
that it's hard to stop well,maybe your dad, who you clearly
favor, could come up and helpyou because, what do the moms do
?
Tiffany Mason (37:45):
the moms do nothing.
Jay Franze (37:46):
I was saying he favors his mom, so I get that.
We're trying to help you outhere, See, it obviously appears
as if you favor them equally.
Yeah, all right.
As Miss Tiffany talks aboutbackdrops for your videos, you
have another video, workedHarder, and it's in front of a
(38:07):
cabin.
So where did you find the cabin?
Connor Daly (38:12):
Uh, we found it on Airbnb and uh, yeah, we, we got
it for a night, but nobodystayed the night there.
We just went in the afternoonand uh recorded like at sunset
and then like a little bit intonight, yeah, it was uh Johnny
Cash.
It was like a, a Cash's cabinor something like that.
Nice.
(38:32):
I think it was like actuallyhis that he had or something
that's awesome.
It was like all decorated withJohnny Cash stuff on the inside
it was cool.
Jay Franze (38:41):
So, sir, what's it like being in your 30s?
Connor Daly (38:46):
I'm not in my 30s, not quite Two days ago.
Tiffany Mason (38:50):
Wasn't it your birthday two days ago.
Connor Daly (38:52):
I turned 26.
Jay Franze (38:53):
26?
Tiffany, man, you're way offgirl.
Tiffany Mason (38:58):
I'm pulling up your.
Jay Franze (38:59):
Instagram right now.
Connor, that is not even close.
Connor Daly (39:00):
I was worried people were going to get
confused because I said anotheryear closer to 30, hashtag four
to go and I was like I don'tknow if people are going to
understand that, but Tiffany,you're fired, you are out.
Jay Franze (39:17):
You may as well just go away.
Tiffany Mason (39:18):
Tiffany, you're fired, goodbye.
Jay Franze (39:22):
Oh, Tiffany.
Tiffany Mason (39:23):
You heard the man .
Jay Franze (39:26):
All right.
Tiffany Mason (39:27):
Well, happy birthday.
Jay Franze (39:28):
No, forget his birthday now, come back in four
years.
He said it should be happybirthday.
Yeah, well, no, forget hisbirthday now, come back in four
years.
Happy birthday no four yearsand he's 30 happy birthday,
connor happy birthday wait, wereyou in kentucky?
Tiffany Mason (39:43):
uh no again in your story, you, you had Jack
Daniels.
Connor Daly (39:50):
Yeah, it's in Tennessee.
Tiffany Mason (39:54):
Oh, I didn't realize any of that was in
Tennessee, because that'swhiskey, not bourbon.
That's why.
Connor Daly (40:00):
Yeah, it's like they're making.
That's like the one plant wherethey make all their whiskey.
Tiffany Mason (40:05):
Guys, I pay for this blonde but.
Jay Franze (40:09):
You really don't have to.
Oh, I love you so much.
All right, we mentioned yourparents earlier.
We do this thing here we callUnsung Heroes, where we take a
moment to shine the light onsomebody who may have worked
behind the scenes or supportedyou along the way.
Is there anybody you'd like toshine a little light on?
Connor Daly (40:30):
Yeah, of course Can I say both my parents again.
Jay Franze (40:35):
You can absolutely Don't get yourself in trouble
now.
Connor Daly (40:39):
All right.
They've both been supersupportive and helpful to get me
to this point.
I definitely wouldn't be doingmusic probably even if they
weren't there to support me andlisten to a lot of the bad songs
that I've written along the wayI would drive home from school
I lived like 35 minutes away, soI'd drive home, my mom would
(40:59):
cook some dinner and I'd playsome new songs, so they kept me
motivated to keep writing andkeep going.
Yeah, and I wouldn't be herewithout the both of them.
Jay Franze (41:10):
All right.
Well, we have done it.
We've reached the top of thehour.
We've actually blown past thetop of the hour, which does mean
we have reached the end of theshow.
So if you've enjoyed the show,tell a friend if you have not
Miss Tiffany.
Tiffany Mason (41:21):
Tell two.
Jay Franze (41:22):
Tell two.
You can reach out to all of usover at jayfranze.
com.
We will be happy to keep thisconversation going.
Miss Tiffany, my friend, youhave anything you'd like to
leave us with?
Tiffany Mason (41:34):
Yes, looking forward to seeing Connor Daly on
Daly's Place stage inJacksonville, florida.
Book it first place.
Let me know We'll be there.
I'll be following on social soI'll already know you're going
to be there.
Nice, okay, sounds good.
Connor Daly (41:45):
Connor, sir, Nice, Okay sounds good, Connor.
Jay Franze (41:46):
sir, we'd like to leave the final words to you.
Connor Daly (41:51):
So you can find me at Connor Daily Music on pretty
much any social platform andthen I've got a website,
connordailymusic.
com.
If you want to be up to date onmusic and shows and stuff like
that at Connor Daily, I'll seeyou guys there, Awesome All
right folks On that note have agood night.
Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a
behind-the-curtain look at theentertainment industry, with
insights you can't pay for andstories you've never heard.
Now here's your host, JayFranze.
Jay Franze (00:33):
And we are coming at you live.
I am Jay Franze, and with metonight is the Rachel to my Ross
, my beautiful co-host, MissTiffany Mason.
Tiffany Mason (00:42):
Hello Jay.
Jay Franze (00:48):
So if you would like to join in, comment or fire off
any questions, please feel freeto visit jayfranze.
com.
All right, folks, tonight wehave a very special guest with
us.
I said it once, I will say itagain we have a very special
guest.
We have a country music orAmericana recording artist All
depends on how you want to lookat it Hailing from the great
state of Tennessee, we haveConnor Daly.
Connor, sir, how are you?
Connor Daly (01:11):
Good, how's it going?
Thanks for having me on.
Jay Franze (01:14):
All right, let's just jump in.
Let's start with it.
You're from Virginia, you'reliving in Tennessee.
Which do you like better?
Connor Daly (01:21):
Oh man, that's a loaded question I know.
Tiffany Mason (01:23):
That's why we're starting yeah, how are you gonna
make him?
Jay Franze (01:26):
choose.
Let's start right out of thegate, buddy it's a strong start.
Connor Daly (01:30):
Well, obviously you know I love, love virginia and
my family's still there, so Ialways love going back to visit
them and virginia is obviously abeautiful state with the
appalachians and the trail goingalong the Western side of
Virginia.
You know, for what I'm doingright now in the music business,
nashville is definitely abetter place to be for that.
(01:53):
So definitely good things aboutboth places.
I don't know if I can pick orchoose.
Jay Franze (01:59):
All right.
Well, you're playing politicswell.
Tiffany Mason (02:03):
You said Nashville is good for what
you're doing now.
What are you doing now?
Connor Daly (02:07):
Let's see what am I doing now.
I've been doing, you know, abunch of co-writes, writers,
rounds and trying to play someshows, and then I'm recording
some music.
So pretty much all that stuff.
It helps if you're in Nashville.
Jay Franze (02:20):
How long have you been in Nashville?
Connor Daly (02:22):
I've been in Nashville for eight months now.
Jay Franze (02:25):
Okay, so you're still a baby.
Connor Daly (02:27):
Relatively new.
Jay Franze (02:28):
What part of town did you land in?
Connor Daly (02:30):
12 South area.
Jay Franze (02:32):
Not too shabby, huh, yeah, right there in the thick
of things.
Connor Daly (02:36):
Yeah, the location's perfect.
Jay Franze (02:38):
Are you down in the gulch itself?
Connor Daly (02:40):
No, it's a couple streets off of actual 12 South
area.
All right, you can like walk in.
Tiffany Mason (02:46):
Now correct me if I'm wrong.
Out of the Gulch makes it soundlike you're out of the flood
zone.
Is that what that is?
Jay Franze (02:53):
No, it's not quite the flood zone.
Think of numbers being goingfrom one from the river.
So you're going from one allthe way up to 12.
He's far enough out, but thegulch is a trendy area.
It's beautiful and a bunch ofrestaurants and stuff.
Connor Daly (03:10):
Wasn't always like that, but it is yeah, that's,
that's what I've heard, but itlooks nice now.
Yeah, that's all that matters.
Now it's the time you're there.
Jay Franze (03:18):
When I, when I was there, it was not like that yeah
that's all right.
So you're making your wayaround Nashville itself and
you've had a chance.
Within eight months, you'replaying some iconic venues,
including the Bluebird, so weknow the Bluebird is a place you
go to listen to music.
You get your hand slapped ifyou talk during a show.
What?
Was your experience likeplaying at the Bluebird.
Connor Daly (03:41):
It was very unique.
I thought that I was going tobe more nervous just because of
how you know much of a stapleplace it was to play and you
know it obviously was a dream toplay there.
But it felt so casual at thesame time, because the writers'
rounds it's just four or sopeople just in the center of the
room, just in a circle, andthen just the sound system was
(04:02):
so good and it was a packedhouse the night that I was there
and for like a packed house forthe Bluebird, that's like maybe
70 people.
So it's not like too many, butit felt very cool to play there.
It was definitely a bucket listkind of place to play.
Jay Franze (04:19):
It definitely is.
How nervous were you?
Connor Daly (04:22):
A little bit.
In the beginning I was a littlebit nervous but, like I said, I
wasn't as nervous as I thoughtI was going to be, just because
the setup was so casual and itjust kind of felt like I was
playing in a living roomsomewhere.
Jay Franze (04:35):
It essentially is right.
Connor Daly (04:37):
Yeah, and you can't really see everybody looking at
you because they're all aroundyou, so I guess that made it a
little bit easier.
Tiffany Mason (04:45):
I imagine it's like a speech right, like you're
super nervous before it, butyou, you know, strum those first
few chords or you sing thefirst few words and it's kind of
off to the races in yourcomfort zone yeah, yeah, pretty
much.
Connor Daly (04:56):
I mean obviously I don't get, you know, as nervous
as I used to just because I'vedone it a good amount, but
there's always going to be thoselittle nerves in the beginning,
no matter where I'm playing.
Jay Franze (05:07):
Yeah, were you surprised where the Bluebird was
?
Connor Daly (05:10):
Yeah.
Yeah, it was in like a littletiny shopping center with like.
Jay Franze (05:15):
A little strip mall.
Connor Daly (05:16):
There's like a wedding dress shop and then like
a haircut place or something,but it was very understated, oh
yeah.
Jay Franze (05:23):
But then the line goes around the corner down the
street there yeah, exactly it'sa pretty main street for a line
to be going down the side, likethat and stuff.
But yeah, it's pretty cool.
Tiffany Mason (05:33):
I like it yeah I feel like it must be like going
to the white house.
Have you ever seen like on tv?
You know they show this massivebuilding and then you go to dc
and you see the front of it andit's like that's the capital,
the white house.
And then you go to the back andthen you see what you see on tv
.
But yeah, same idea where it'slike this big, iconic place and
(05:54):
you're so excited and you getthere.
You're like huh, not what Ithought.
Connor Daly (05:59):
That's exactly how it was just like a little hole
in the wall.
Jay Franze (06:01):
It was cool it's a awesome place I I mean it really
is and the fact that the peoplego there to truly hear the
stories behind the songs andthey sit back and listen.
It is also a tourist place, sopeople go because they want to
go see it, but most people aregoing because they want to meet
the people who wrote the songsand hear the stories behind them
.
So did you notice a differencebetween that audience compared
(06:25):
to your normal audience?
Connor Daly (06:27):
Well, I guess, like the main shows that I'm doing
nowadays are like kind of threeor four hour gigs, so the
audience of those shows aregoing to be a lot different than
like a writer's round or like alistening room type kind of
place.
Jay Franze (06:42):
Well, that was my next question for you is you've
had a chance to play both theBluebird and the Listening Room,
so what was it like playing atthe Listening Room, and which do
you prefer?
Connor Daly (06:53):
the Listening Room.
I was nervous for and even whenI started playing I was nervous
what made that different?
There's a lot of people, sothere's more people in the
listening room and you'reactually on a stage and the
lights are just super bright andit's so quiet.
But you know that there's abunch of people out there, which
was a weird feeling and, yeah,it just felt like a little bit
(07:14):
more like I was in the spotlightliterally.
I mean, they're so different.
Describe the differences to us.
Tiffany Mason (07:22):
Yeah, I've never been to either, so help our
listeners paint the scene for usyeah, for sure.
Connor Daly (07:28):
So you know I'm not a professional on them, but
I've played one time at eacheach of the venues.
The bluebird, I I guess, likepeople think, is more like an
iconic type place, like you kindof know where it is, even if
you're from a different country.
Jay Franze (07:42):
It's been on tv so many different times yeah, for
sure, and it's.
Connor Daly (07:47):
It's just been around so long and so many
amazing legendary players gottheir start at the bluebird cafe
, so I feel like that's kind ofthe main thing about the
bluebird the listening room isstill new.
Listening room is yeah, it's,it's, it's newer.
It's tough to get into thelistening room.
It's hard to get around.
Tiffany Mason (08:06):
As a spectator or as a performer, as a performer.
Connor Daly (08:11):
If you want to spectate, the listening room is
much easier to get into Than theBluebird.
They're both good shows to gowatch.
Jay Franze (08:20):
The Bluebird has been on TV.
It's been on the TV shownashville.
It's on every documentary thatever has anything to do with
nashville.
Tiffany Mason (08:28):
So it's got a very, very tourist heavy crowd
and it's a very small venue, soit's it's a lot harder to get in
there, especially on a goodnight yeah, now, connor, were
you able to make your demands asa celebrity that you are in
both venues and who accommodatedthose demands better?
Connor Daly (08:52):
I didn't really have many demands when I was
playing there.
Jay Franze (08:55):
She wants to know what color the M&Ms were.
Connor Daly (08:58):
Yeah, well, the listening room had a green room
and the Bluebird does not have agreen room.
Tiffany Mason (09:02):
Okay.
Connor Daly (09:03):
So I guess the listening room wins that one
just by default yeah, bluebird'ssmall it's.
Uh, you just kind of have tojust wait around, you know, with
everybody else, and then you gosit down, which is cool because
it's kind of unique, yeah, thelistening room.
I felt very professional towalk into the green room, have
snacks, get drinks and thenwe'll just walk out like onto
(09:24):
the stage so which one did youlike better?
guys are asking tough questions.
They're.
They're both cool, I think.
The bluebird, honestly.
I mean, it was just like justthe experience of playing the
bluebird.
I think I'd rather play thereagain.
Nice, it's the ambiance of it,it's all right were you the only
one that played that night.
No, so I was on a round withthree other people.
(09:46):
What does?
Tiffany Mason (09:47):
it mean to be on a round?
Do you all take one song at atime?
Or you play, then somebody elseplays, then somebody else plays
.
Connor Daly (09:55):
Yeah, so writer's round, there's typically three
or four people and they just godown the line.
You start with one person, youplay a song, and then the next
person, next person, next person, next person, and then, if you
have like an hour-long slot, ifyou have four people, you play
three songs.
If you have three people, youplay four songs.
Tiffany Mason (10:13):
Very cool.
Jay Franze (10:13):
Yeah, sometimes it gets pretty interesting when
they start playing with eachother.
So he'll get up there and play,and then someone will start
singing along with them orplaying along with them.
Connor Daly (10:23):
Yeah, sure, I mean people.
Tiffany Mason (10:26):
I feel like that would like.
No, let me have my turn.
Jay Franze (10:31):
Yeah.
Connor Daly (10:33):
A lot of people do kind of just start playing,
especially if they like know thepeople up there and like they
know the songs that they'replaying.
Did that?
Tiffany Mason (10:41):
happen with you.
Connor Daly (10:43):
Yeah, sometimes If there's a really good guitar
player or somebody like that onthe stage, they'll just figure
out the key right away and juststart playing along.
It's always fun.
Jay Franze (10:54):
It is pretty cool.
Most of them will play thelittle lead parts throughout the
song.
It's not like they're trying tobe distracting.
If somebody is good atharmonies, they'll pick up on
what he's singing throughout thechoruses and they'll jump into
a little harmony part.
Tiffany Mason (11:10):
Yeah, nice, I would think it would calm the
nerves a little bit too, just tohave someone kind of you know,
figuratively put their armaround you and say, hey, I'm
here on stage with you, buddy.
Connor Daly (11:19):
Yeah, pretty much, especially if they're playing
like guitar alongside you and itdoesn't make you as nervous to
like mess up, because if they'replaying it might block a bad
note or something like that.
Tiffany Mason (11:30):
And you just say it was them.
Jay Franze (11:32):
Yeah, of course that's a good point.
What kind of challenges did youhave that night playing at the
Bluebird?
Connor Daly (11:41):
I'm sure for songwriters that the hardest
thing to do is to like play to aroom of people who are truly
listening to your song.
Whether they have to listen,like are forced to listen to the
Bluebird or not, it just feelsgood to have people actually
listening to your song.
That's like the main thing thata lot of people do is
songwriting.
I put, you know, my heart and alot of time into my songs and
(12:02):
people take the time to actuallylisten to them makes me feel
good.
Yeah, of course.
Jay Franze (12:07):
Now compare that to the festivals you played,
especially the ones in yourhometown Crossroad Festival.
Connor Daly (12:13):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (12:14):
What's it like playing a festival versus
playing a venue like these?
Connor Daly (12:18):
Festivals are longer and I don't want to say
more fun, but there's moredrinking that goes along with
festivals.
Sometimes that makes it alittle bit more fun.
The few festivals I've done,I've done short sets.
I go up and play four songs andgo back to having fun.
Jay Franze (12:40):
What's it like playing the one in your hometown
.
Connor Daly (12:43):
It was cool.
I grew up in Loudoun County inVirginia and they had a loudon
county music festival and I knowthe guy who, like, runs it
every year and it it's becomelike a really big festival in
loudon county and, uh, I playedit last september it was like
two months after I moved down tonashville, so it was like my
first, first festival playing aslike a Nashville musician.
Jay Franze (13:06):
Alright, and how does that compare to the other
festivals you've played?
Connor Daly (13:11):
It was cool.
It was at like a winery, so itwas kind of half about the wine
and half about the music.
Jay Franze (13:16):
I'm starting to notice a pattern here.
Connor Daly (13:19):
Yeah, music and alcohol go hand in hand, so this
is where the challenges come in.
I got it.
Jay Franze (13:26):
No, it makes more sense now, exactly yeah.
Tiffany Mason (13:29):
This is making me think of a festival we're
getting ready to have in ourtown and I'm dying to go and
just hear all the songwriterstories, like that's what I
really want to get from it.
But every time I go with afriend they end up talking to me
the whole time and gettingdrink after drink after drink,
and I'm like, no, no, I don'twant to go and have a drink fest
.
I want to go and have, you know, a think fest.
(13:50):
I want to go and, like, feelthese words that these artists
have taken time to, you know,develop these songs and evoke
emotion out of us and say thethings that we can't say, you
know, like I just want to hearall this, all the songs.
Connor Daly (14:02):
But apparently, connor, you as well like to have
fun too, yeah you know, yeahyou know what they say simple
answer folks simple answer yeah,period, yeah, for sure yeah,
there's definitely differentpeople that go to music
festivals and stuff people thathow many?
Tiffany Mason (14:22):
people were able to show up that you know like
family members or friends, oryou know, do you?
Obviously, I would think, inyour hometown or your home
county that you have, you know,a lot of local support, so did
you feel like a lot of peoplecame out?
You know what was that like?
Are you a local celebrity to?
Jay Franze (14:38):
you know your family and friends, and even strangers
maybe I am not a localcelebrity as of now okay, we're
working on it yeah, other thanlike after tonight will be
that's what I was gonna sayafter tonight for sure, yeah,
thanks again sorry, connor yeah,other than, like my friends and
(14:58):
family, not many strangers areshowing up to my shows quite yet
, but that's gonna change forsure that's gonna change.
I, I see it yeah, how did youend up on the news?
Connor Daly (15:11):
he had a couple of drinks and he was having fun
yeah, I think like the biggestlike news thing that I've
thought was pretty cool was aloudon county.
They have a magazine calledLoudoun now and uh, they did
like a an interview and theinterviewer came out to like a
show and took pictures and thenI was on the front page of
(15:32):
Loudoun now, which like goes allover Loudoun County like right
before I moved down.
So that was like one of thecoolest things.
Jay Franze (15:39):
Well, weren't you on news too?
Connor Daly (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, I wasn't sure which one you're
referring to.
Jay Franze (15:44):
And before you go to that, though, is Loudon now the
same as Maverick?
Connor Daly (15:49):
It is not.
Jay Franze (15:50):
So you're on the cover of Maverick as well.
Connor Daly (15:52):
Yes.
Jay Franze (15:53):
Yep.
So what you're saying is you'rea cover boy.
Connor Daly (15:56):
Yeah, I guess so.
Okay, that's awesome, there'sno way around it.
Jay Franze (16:02):
So how'd you get on the news itself?
Connor Daly (16:05):
So when I was, I put out my debut album last
summer Colors Fade, Colors, fade, yep, yep, it's a 12-song album
.
It's my debut album and likearound that, putting singles out
and around putting the albumout, I was working with a PR
team so they were kind ofgetting me interviews and news
stations and all that sort ofthing.
(16:27):
That was really cool to do allthat stuff supporting the album.
Did you like it?
Yeah, I enjoyed most of it.
I like writing songs, I likeplaying my songs, I like
recording songs.
I'm going to be honest, I likethat stuff a little better than
talking about it, but I'm sureevery artist feels that way.
Jay Franze (16:49):
I would hope so, dear God, I would hope so.
Connor Daly (16:52):
Yeah, but I enjoyed it as much as the next person.
I mean, I was lucky to get alot of stuff Very nice.
Jay Franze (16:59):
I mean it's pretty impressive especially to be
there in Nashville and be on thenews, have a couple cover shots
and stuff.
I mean it's pretty impressiveespecially to be there in
Nashville and be on the news,have a couple of cover shots and
stuff.
I mean it's pretty good.
Connor Daly (17:07):
Yeah, it felt very cool.
Jay Franze (17:09):
So we mentioned the album.
Where did you record the album?
Connor Daly (17:13):
The album was kind of pieced together in a few
different teams like I wasworking with and a few different
studios, but most of the songsgot recorded at Castle Studios.
Jay Franze (17:28):
Franklin.
Connor Daly (17:28):
Yeah, Franklin, and then Dark Horse.
A few of the songs wererecorded there.
Jay Franze (17:34):
So two really crappy studios.
Connor Daly (17:36):
Yeah, yeah, super, super low, low bar.
Jay Franze (17:39):
Yeah, yeah.
Connor Daly (17:39):
But the songs turned out great, you know,
surprisingly.
Jay Franze (17:43):
So they were recorded in the greater
nashville area.
Did you write?
Connor Daly (17:48):
them in the greater nashville area, the songs that
came out on colors fade, thefirst album I put out last
summer.
It takes a while to uh, writesongs, make demos, organize them
, go, record them, mix, masterand master and then, you know,
do the whole plan to put themout on social media and all that
(18:09):
sort of thing.
So it takes a long time to putout singles in an album, as I'm
sure you guys are aware of.
So at the time like pretty muchall the songs on there were, by
this point at least like twoyears old.
So I wrote them all back inVirginia.
Tiffany Mason (18:25):
Connor.
I think I read somewhere thatit took you like six years
writing songs, right?
So this is something you'vebeen doing for a while in
Virginia, right?
Connor Daly (18:34):
Yeah, so I got my start just playing guitar in
school.
I started singing guitar inseventh grade and then played it
in school all throughout highschool and then during college,
my freshman year, I tried towrite a song, just for fun.
You know, I was, you know,bored in my room and you know
what else am I gonna do?
okay are sitting like right inthe corner.
I was like I'm gonna try towrite a song.
(18:55):
I know how to play some chords,so might as well try to write a
song.
And uh, I enjoyed it a lot morethan I thought I was going to
and it turned out.
It obviously is not my bestsong.
It's it's never gonna see thelight of day, I hope, but it was
not it's like many people'sfirst podcast episode.
Connor, it's okay yeah, like Ihaven't listened to it in years
(19:15):
and I'm gonna keep it up, but itturned out good and kind of got
me the itch to keep going.
Tiffany Mason (19:21):
I personally, you know I say all the time when we
do our wednesday night episodesthat I really appreciate when
the words are just so clever,and so you know I've been
listening to a couple of songsand the brown leaves clinging to
the tree.
But she's clinging to you, butin the end she couldn't even
fake a tear for you like I.
Just such great words and um youknow, yeah, what is the song,
(19:47):
uh, where he says if you stoptelling lies about me, I won't
tell the truth about you.
It made me think of that, youknow, like, just such, like,
kind of like a slam, but like,just like a sentimental slam,
yeah so I really I think thatyou do a great job with the
songwriting and good imagery andgreat words.
Connor Daly (20:08):
Yeah, thank you so much.
I appreciate that.
Jay Franze (20:10):
Well, let's start there for a second.
What is your songwritingprocess like now?
Connor Daly (20:17):
I wrote a song today, so normal day, so it
should be fresh in my mind.
So typically I just sit downwith my guitar I like to start
out with, just like playingchords, you know, lay the
groundwork on the song, I guess,in my mind, and then I put my
phone down, hit record on myvoice memos so like I don't lose
anything if I forget it, and uh, just start playing the chords
(20:38):
and start humming a melody.
And then by that point, likeonce I get a melody that I like,
I try not to think too hard,try to leave my brain out of it
and just start thinking of wordsand feelings that the melodies
are bringing out Gets a littlebit different every song from
there.
But that's pretty much how thebeginnings of the songs are
(21:02):
formed.
Jay Franze (21:02):
So you're starting with picking up a guitar and
playing some chords, thenforming a melody around that and
then forming the words aroundyour melody.
Connor Daly (21:10):
Exactly, yeah, a lot of people have to have a
title or a hook or something tostart writing.
I've just never done it thatway.
Jay Franze (21:18):
So when you co-write , then are you able to adapt to
different styles.
Connor Daly (21:23):
Yeah.
Yeah, that part's beeninteresting, but I've cause I've
, like, pretty much only writtenby myself.
You know, being from Virginia,like, where I spent most of my
time writing not many musicpeople around there to co-write
with, so co-writing wasdefinitely a new kind of thing
for me, but I've really enjoyedit so far.
I think it's cool to sit downand be creative with another
person what was the biggestdifference to you?
(21:48):
having somebody else like in theroom just present.
Yeah, exactly because I feellike most of the time I probably
sound crazy, you know recordingsomething in my voice memos,
but I don't really care becauseI'm all by myself.
So it's kind of I I find myselflike having to think a little
bit more before like putting aphrase down or something like
that, when somebody else is likelooking at the same google
(22:11):
sheet so does that make you morehesitant?
well, yeah, I guess so, but italso makes me think a little bit
more, I guess.
So maybe it would get me to thesame point, as if you know my
normal writing style.
Jay Franze (22:26):
Do you think that once you get a deep enough
connection with somebody, thathesitation will go away and
you'll be more like you are whenyou're by yourself?
Connor Daly (22:35):
Yeah, for sure, it's kind of like a.
I found that co-writing is kindof like a relationship, whereas
some people write really welltogether.
Some people are great atmelodies, some people are great
at words and lyrics.
Jay Franze (22:51):
Some people are just Tiffany.
Tiffany Mason (22:53):
Well, that brings up an interesting thought I was
having.
Oh boy, um, oh boy.
Have you written with women andmen and was there one that was
easier?
Is one more gentle with wordsor feedback, or you know?
Have you noticed a differenceor not an issue?
Connor Daly (23:14):
um, I've had two co-writes with no three
co-writes, no four co-writeswith Linda.
Jay Franze (23:19):
So far now.
Connor Daly (23:21):
You're just making things up there's four I had to
like.
I'm just counting one after theother in my head, I don't know.
I feel like it's kind of like aweird dynamic, almost I don't
know.
I feel like girls tend to be.
There's like a differencebetween what girls write in
their songs and what guys writein their songs.
Tiffany Mason (23:42):
Yours was about a truck and she said it was about
a breakup.
Connor Daly (23:46):
Most of the guys' songs are about trucks and beers
.
I don't really write much aboutthat sort of thing.
There's definitely a differentstyle depending on who's going
to be singing the song, whetherit's going to be from a girl
perspective or a guy perspective.
Jay Franze (24:01):
We mentioned the style of your music earlier
being country, but I said it'skind of got that Americana type
flair to it.
I'm assuming that's because ofwhere you grew up and the type
of music that you'reexperiencing in that area.
And you said there's probablynot enough people, like there
are in Nashville, to co-writewith.
But I would say that that areahas plenty of people to write
with.
But I would say that that areahas plenty of people to write
with.
It's just kind of a differentstyle of music to to probably
(24:23):
work on and it's probably adifferent type of writing
process.
Connor Daly (24:26):
Yeah, no, that's for sure.
Tiffany Mason (24:28):
Jay, do you know how?
How do you?
Okay, so let's say he was stillup and coming and he wasn't in
Nashville on his way.
How would he have found aco-writer?
Is that something?
He just put an ad in thenewspaper.
Jay Franze (24:43):
Co-writers are us.
Tiffany Mason (24:45):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (24:46):
Craigslist.
No, I mean, obviously you getyour local music scene and you
want to tap into it.
But then there's also theheavyweights.
And if you try to make a careerout of it, even if you don't
live in the area, you're goingto want to make your way to
Nashville, make a career out ofit, even if you don't live in
the area.
You're going to want to makeyour way to Nashville.
You're going to want to findthe other professionals.
It's not just Nashville.
I mean, la has co-writers, newYork has co-writers, but if you
(25:08):
want to be the co-writer incountry music, you're going to
want to be in Nashville for sure.
Is that where you see?
Tiffany Mason (25:16):
yourself Connor Country music.
Connor Daly (25:19):
Yeah, sort of Well, describe your style to us.
Yeah, I'm really bad atdescribing my style All right,
well, that's done, you got this.
Tiffany Mason (25:27):
You got this, connor.
Connor Daly (25:29):
I'm just going to try to use some keywords.
You know, I say that my genreis Americana, but I don't really
know what Americana is.
Dude Blunt to you guys.
Jay Franze (25:42):
It's acoustic instruments written in the heart
of the US of A yeah, prettymuch.
Connor Daly (25:47):
It's like a big umbrella over a bunch of sub
genres, like people that don'tnecessarily fit specifically in
one genre or another.
Like it has some R&B, some folk, bluegrass country like singer
songwriter stuff.
So I think I fit like americanasinger songwriter kind of style
right yeah, it's, you know realinstruments acoustic guitar,
(26:12):
heavy and um, just likestorytelling I mean it could
even include rock music.
Jay Franze (26:17):
I mean it's anything to in my, in my opinion it's
yeah, it's traditionalinstruments performed from the
heart, for sure.
Connor Daly (26:26):
Exactly, I like that definition.
I'm going to stick with thatone.
There you go.
Jay Franze (26:30):
Glad I could help you out tonight.
Tiffany Mason (26:32):
Write it down, Connor, so you have it later.
Put it in your voice notesquick.
Jay Franze (26:37):
All right, you've written these songs over a
period of time.
Then you get to take them intothese amazing studios.
So I'm sure you didn't just goknocking on the door of these
amazing studios and saying, letme in.
There has to be somebody whoconnected you, some producer so
who produced your project foryou.
Connor Daly (26:55):
Like I said, Colors Fade was kind of piecemealed
together a little bit.
I worked with one team and thena different team over the span
of two years to record thatproject.
All right well, let's startwith the first team.
So I worked with Todd Tidwelland Kyle Lewis.
They both co-produced half ofthe song six songs.
Todd Tidwell is a very talentedproducer.
(27:16):
He works at Starstruck Studiosin Nashville Reba's place.
Yeah, yeah, he knows Rebapersonally and he was a very
cool guy.
He's super talented.
Jay Franze (27:28):
Tiffany, just for backstory, Starstruck is Reba
McIntyre's studio and when shefirst built that studio in
Nashville, right on Music Row,right next to Sony, and she has
a helicopter port on the roofand she used to fly in in her
helicopter and then leave andthey had to make her stop it
because it was interruptingevery other recording studio in
(27:49):
the area for sure.
Oh my goodness, that's funnywow a little backstory he works
at a starstruck, but took yousomewhere else.
So why did he take yousomewhere else?
Connor Daly (28:02):
oh, we recorded in star stroke, so that was.
That was six of the songs thatwere recorded in star stroke
okay, so star struck as wellyeah so did he hire the
musicians as well?
so he co-produced it with a guynamed kyle lewis who uh, if you
know magg Rose, he's theguitarist in Maggie Rose's band.
We kind of got a connection,like a mutual connection,
(28:27):
through a friend in Virginia whoknew Austin Marshall, which is
Maggie's husband.
So we got into it.
We were lucky to connect withthem and we were lucky for them
to work with us for six of thesongs.
They turned out great.
I worked with a team calledCharlotte Avenue Entertainment.
Jay Franze (28:45):
Oh yeah.
Connor Daly (28:45):
Yep, an artist development team down here in
Nashville.
They were great to work withand um Will Golly produced the
other six songs on the album.
Jay Franze (28:57):
All right, and which studio did he take you to?
Connor Daly (29:00):
Uh, that's the group that we've went outside of
.
Starstruck, so Starstruck, andthen the other other two places.
Jay Franze (29:06):
They split their time between Dark Horse and
Castle.
Connor Daly (29:09):
Yeah, they're, they're.
They're really good at getting,uh, some cool spots to record
around town Definitely cool.
Jay Franze (29:15):
All three of those are amazing places.
Anybody would be lucky to setfoot in one of those studios,
and you've been in all three, sothat's awesome, but tell us
about the musicians who playedon the project.
Connor Daly (29:28):
Yeah.
So, like I said, it was a veryunique way to record an album,
but the six songs that Irecorded with Todd Tidwell and
Kyle Lewis Maggie Rose's bandactually played on the six songs
recorded there and then theother six songs with Will.
We just had some very talentedstudio guys come in and play on
(29:54):
the tracks.
Jay Franze (29:55):
Do you remember any of their names?
Connor Daly (29:58):
I've never played with names.
I know Chris Knoll played keys.
He's been playing for his wholelife.
He played with John Denver backin the day.
Jay Franze (30:07):
I get it.
I've worked as an engineer inNashville for almost 30 years
and I can tell you when theartist comes in.
They're coming in typically tosing maybe one or two songs
within a book of a day.
The musicians are just churningthrough and through and through
and through.
So the artist is lucky if theyeven get introduced to the
musicians half the time.
Tiffany Mason (30:28):
Yeah, that is so crazy to me that I mean I get it
.
This whole studio thing, youknow you want the talented
people taking over whatever, butI just don't get how the music
comes alive when the banddoesn't have a relationship.
Clearly it works.
Clearly there's no issue.
Jay Franze (30:50):
Well, you know what I would say?
They have a relationship, Imean they play with each other
almost every day.
Tiffany Mason (30:56):
Well, the studio musicians, right, but they don't
have that relationship with theartists.
And so that's what always kindof just blows my mind Like when
you see people on stage, itseems like you know you're kind
of singing to one of theguitarists, or you know, know
you're kind of singing to theone of the guitarists, or you
know you're kind of looking overto backup vocals or whatever,
and it seems like there's somekind of connection and there's
this great chemistry on stageand they're pulling you in and
(31:19):
they, they likely do.
Connor Daly (31:21):
they've been on the road and they've, you know,
formed these relationships,whereas it's interesting to me
that the, the music, stilltranslates void of that
relationship yeah, it's kind ofa unique thing for studio guys,
the, the great studio musiciansin nashville like they make
their living playing in thestudio, playing on however many
(31:42):
songs like every single day it'samazing, it's just amazing.
Jay Franze (31:46):
They don't watch I mean, they record an entire song
from start to finish in underan hour.
Connor Daly (31:51):
Yeah, they try to do like a song an hour.
They just put like the sheet infront of them and just start,
you know, doing like two orthree takes and that's about it.
Jay Franze (32:00):
Yeah, it's absolutely amazing to watch.
But I think, tiffany, to yourpoint there, you get a band like
you know, a rock band like aBon Jovi or whoever where they
travel and play you know worldtours and travel with each other
.
It's the friend relationshipand the charisma that they have
together.
It's not necessarily themusicianship, because a lot of
(32:21):
times those type of bands maynot even be the best musicians
out there.
I mean in that particular bandyou had some good musicians,
some musicians out there.
I mean in that particular bandyou had some good musicians,
some.
However, it's the friendshipand the charisma that that band
has together from being on theroad and so forth.
Where in Nashville thosemusicians have that friendship
and camaraderie?
Because they're in the studiowith each other almost the same
musicians in different pocketsfor day after day after day, but
(32:46):
their musicianship is withoutflaw.
So I mean, if you want them toplay something with a little
more swing, you can just ask formore swing and they'll give it
to you.
You know more edge and you gotit so.
I think the difference betweenthe two is just raw passion for
your art and then your rawtalent to be able to produce
(33:08):
whatever somebody tells you.
Connor Daly (33:10):
Yeah, that's a great way to explain it.
Jay Franze (33:12):
Well, let me ask you another question, sir.
You have a song Fake One Tear,not intended for a duet, but
somehow ended up as a duet.
So why don't we start bytelling us how it ended up as a
duet, Sure?
Connor Daly (33:27):
So that was one of the songs I wrote in my
apartment in virginia which islike pretty much all the songs
that I wrote were was in there,and I initially had it like
strumming and uh, just like bymyself, and I had a, had a
second verse and stuff.
I came down to nashville like ayear and a half ago at this
point to do like a week ofco-writes and stuff.
(33:50):
So I was sitting down in theAirbnb like the night before the
, the co-write, the, the nextco-write the next day, and I was
with a girl named Jennifer Hartand then her husband, rob
Ricotta Robert Ricotta, Iremembered his name.
So I was kind of like scrollingthrough my songs.
I was like I wonder what song Ishould try to bring in.
(34:11):
I would just start like fingerpicking the song and it sounded
like really pretty.
You know, I was going goinginto right with a girl, so like
well, I could get the girl'sperspective on the song to try
to, you know, write it from herside and um, I went in with that
idea and they loved the song,they loved the melody and we
just kind of ran with it and itturned out great.
(34:34):
I had this great duet.
It may or may not go on thealbum, but I really wanted to if
we could find somebody to singon it.
Jay Franze (34:43):
All right.
Well, that's my next question.
How did?
You meet her, mary HeatherHickman.
How did you?
Connor Daly (34:49):
meet her?
Yeah, hickman, how did you meether?
Yeah, so I just knew her fromsocial media and, um, yeah, we,
we like followed each other fora while and um, there you go,
tiffany.
Jay Franze (34:58):
That's how you find people these days.
Connor Daly (35:00):
Yeah, exactly yeah.
I thought her voice was likereally organic and it felt like
very real.
Tiffany Mason (35:17):
I thought it would fit the song.
You know exactly what I washoping it would sound like.
We reached out to her and shewanted to be on the song and
turned out great.
Now, after you record that song, who is the first person you
call?
Or after you write?
You do this collaboration,you're co-writing the song and
you're like man, we freakingnailed it.
Who gets the first call?
Connor Daly (35:29):
um well come on connor my parents are very
involved.
Um, I think my mom would beupset if I said my dad oh, but
it's like a she's verysupportive.
I don't want to say my dad's alittle bit more musical than she
is, but my dad, you know, triesto help out with a lot of the
(35:49):
musical decisions, like goinginto studios and stuff like that
.
Jay Franze (35:53):
He's, he's a big part of it so which one of them
do you like better?
Tiffany Mason (35:59):
not fair jay.
Which one of your daughters doyou like better?
Connor Daly (36:02):
lucy, answer that.
Um, I I texted them before Iwas jumping on here, so they're
probably watching right now.
Oops, sorry guys.
Hey, mom and Dad, mom and DadDaily, I'm sorry we're having
technical difficulties andthey're both very supportive and
I'm lucky to have them.
Jay Franze (36:20):
Fair enough, we'll let you slide on that one.
Tiffany asks those hardquestions all the time I tell
her not to do it.
Tiffany Mason (36:29):
I was going to ask did you use any of those
studios?
I mean, they all look so coolWere any of them in your videos?
Connor Daly (36:37):
No, no One of the things like going forward I've
always been really bad at socialmedia and like planning ahead
on like getting content whileI'm doing like musical things
yeah that's, that's kind of theplan for this year.
So I'm going in the studio nextmonth and I'm gonna I'm gonna
record a bunch of like video,but yeah, exactly a lot of
(37:00):
content yep things move way toofast when you're in the studio
for you to divide your yourattention.
Jay Franze (37:07):
You would need somebody else to do it for you.
Connor Daly (37:09):
Exactly, it goes by so fast, especially when you've
got a bunch of studio guys.
Jay Franze (37:15):
Yeah, if you've got a room booked for, say, 15 hours
, 15 songs you're going to knockout in that day, and then
you're only three of those songs.
You can't stop that train frommoving.
You just can't.
You've got to gotta go in, beright there ready for that light
to turn red and go yeah, it'sdefinitely a well-oiled machine
(37:35):
that it's hard to stop well,maybe your dad, who you clearly
favor, could come up and helpyou because, what do the moms do
?
Tiffany Mason (37:45):
the moms do nothing.
Jay Franze (37:46):
I was saying he favors his mom, so I get that.
We're trying to help you outhere, See, it obviously appears
as if you favor them equally.
Yeah, all right.
As Miss Tiffany talks aboutbackdrops for your videos, you
have another video, workedHarder, and it's in front of a
(38:07):
cabin.
So where did you find the cabin?
Connor Daly (38:12):
Uh, we found it on Airbnb and uh, yeah, we, we got
it for a night, but nobodystayed the night there.
We just went in the afternoonand uh recorded like at sunset
and then like a little bit intonight, yeah, it was uh Johnny
Cash.
It was like a, a Cash's cabinor something like that.
Nice.
(38:32):
I think it was like actuallyhis that he had or something
that's awesome.
It was like all decorated withJohnny Cash stuff on the inside
it was cool.
Jay Franze (38:41):
So, sir, what's it like being in your 30s?
Connor Daly (38:46):
I'm not in my 30s, not quite Two days ago.
Tiffany Mason (38:50):
Wasn't it your birthday two days ago.
Connor Daly (38:52):
I turned 26.
Jay Franze (38:53):
26?
Tiffany, man, you're way offgirl.
Tiffany Mason (38:58):
I'm pulling up your.
Jay Franze (38:59):
Instagram right now.
Connor, that is not even close.
Connor Daly (39:00):
I was worried people were going to get
confused because I said anotheryear closer to 30, hashtag four
to go and I was like I don'tknow if people are going to
understand that, but Tiffany,you're fired, you are out.
Jay Franze (39:17):
You may as well just go away.
Tiffany Mason (39:18):
Tiffany, you're fired, goodbye.
Jay Franze (39:22):
Oh, Tiffany.
Tiffany Mason (39:23):
You heard the man .
Jay Franze (39:26):
All right.
Tiffany Mason (39:27):
Well, happy birthday.
Jay Franze (39:28):
No, forget his birthday now, come back in four
years.
He said it should be happybirthday.
Yeah, well, no, forget hisbirthday now, come back in four
years.
Happy birthday no four yearsand he's 30 happy birthday,
connor happy birthday wait, wereyou in kentucky?
Tiffany Mason (39:43):
uh no again in your story, you, you had Jack
Daniels.
Connor Daly (39:50):
Yeah, it's in Tennessee.
Tiffany Mason (39:54):
Oh, I didn't realize any of that was in
Tennessee, because that'swhiskey, not bourbon.
That's why.
Connor Daly (40:00):
Yeah, it's like they're making.
That's like the one plant wherethey make all their whiskey.
Tiffany Mason (40:05):
Guys, I pay for this blonde but.
Jay Franze (40:09):
You really don't have to.
Oh, I love you so much.
All right, we mentioned yourparents earlier.
We do this thing here we callUnsung Heroes, where we take a
moment to shine the light onsomebody who may have worked
behind the scenes or supportedyou along the way.
Is there anybody you'd like toshine a little light on?
Connor Daly (40:30):
Yeah, of course Can I say both my parents again.
Jay Franze (40:35):
You can absolutely Don't get yourself in trouble
now.
Connor Daly (40:39):
All right.
They've both been supersupportive and helpful to get me
to this point.
I definitely wouldn't be doingmusic probably even if they
weren't there to support me andlisten to a lot of the bad songs
that I've written along the wayI would drive home from school
I lived like 35 minutes away, soI'd drive home, my mom would
(40:59):
cook some dinner and I'd playsome new songs, so they kept me
motivated to keep writing andkeep going.
Yeah, and I wouldn't be herewithout the both of them.
Jay Franze (41:10):
All right.
Well, we have done it.
We've reached the top of thehour.
We've actually blown past thetop of the hour, which does mean
we have reached the end of theshow.
So if you've enjoyed the show,tell a friend if you have not
Miss Tiffany.
Tiffany Mason (41:21):
Tell two.
Jay Franze (41:22):
Tell two.
You can reach out to all of usover at jayfranze.
com.
We will be happy to keep thisconversation going.
Miss Tiffany, my friend, youhave anything you'd like to
leave us with?
Tiffany Mason (41:34):
Yes, looking forward to seeing Connor Daly on
Daly's Place stage inJacksonville, florida.
Book it first place.
Let me know We'll be there.
I'll be following on social soI'll already know you're going
to be there.
Nice, okay, sounds good.
Connor Daly (41:45):
Connor, sir, Nice, Okay sounds good, Connor.
Jay Franze (41:46):
sir, we'd like to leave the final words to you.
Connor Daly (41:51):
So you can find me at Connor Daily Music on pretty
much any social platform andthen I've got a website,
connordailymusic.
com.
If you want to be up to date onmusic and shows and stuff like
that at Connor Daily, I'll seeyou guys there, Awesome All
right folks On that note have agood night.
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