September 28, 2020 • 20 mins
It's a "Podcast Playback" featuring one of Cody's favorite conversations from 2019.
Get to know Cody Alan's work wife and CMT co-host, Katie Cook, on this Cody Cast podcast. Trust us, this is the podcast that really goes behind the scenes! Listen, as the two share on-air experiences, play the country star name game, and Katie reveals how she found her way to the host mic.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Cody Ellen's podcast. This is Cody cast O Katie.
Oh wait that's me. Yeah, clapped for yourself and it's
good to see you. Have you got an a c
M outfit picked out yet? Of course, yeah, because I
haven't picked out mine. And we kind of have to
coordinate a little well we do. Yeah, there's moments where
(00:20):
we're together obviously, so yeah, we kind of have to
look like we thought about it. Yeah, mine's Um, you
want to give it away. I mean, I'll just say
it's very geometric, it's very metallic, and I think it's
kind of retro and yeah, it kind of sounds like
that when you wore I think we've seen Team Music
Awards and maybe the first year we did that live
show together. Silver and sort of shiny and like, um
(00:41):
short shorter, I believe. Yeah, the dresses have gotten longer
over the years. As my time at the gym is
cut down, the dresses have gotten longer. Um. Yeah, I
like metallics and I love silver and yeah, so this
one's got a little bit of that going on. So
you know, you could wear space suit and we would
look perfect together. Um. I always have problem because I
wear the baseball cap like and in working out exactly
(01:04):
because too formal with the baseball cap never looks good
to me. So for me, it's always like, how can
I make it dressy and different from what I would
usually wear, but also kind of casual. Yeah, I think
you nail it. I think I know what you mean.
It's kind of an odd combination, you know, the cap
with the suit, but somehow you get it right. You
always get it right now. No one's ever done it,
and I don't want to be like I'm a trend
(01:25):
setter Katie Cook, but let's let's face it. When I
started wearing the baseball cap, all of a sudden, Luke
Brian wants to want to be you, Cody just kidding.
Uh No, it's obviously to cover up imperfections or perceived imperfections. Actually,
I've gotten so over the bald head thing because I
(01:45):
used to be really sensitive about it. Whenever he's young,
like in my twenties, I would that was really like
I'll never be a star because of that weakness. It
took some convincing over time, like people saying no, no,
it doesn't matter, like you'll you'll be a start in
spite of that, and realizing that, which was again years
(02:06):
of like letting it soak in that it was okay,
you know, made me start to believe it myself. And
when you start to believe it yourself, that's when good
stuff starts to happen. Absolutely yeah, I think it shows
off a handsome man's face even more. I used to
be a hair stylist, and I mean the men would
come in with the worst hair, like mullets, or they're
trying to comb around a few pieces that are left
on top of their head, and you know, the wind
(02:27):
blows the wrong way. It looks like somebody stuck a
split on the side of your head. And I'm like, look,
I'm going to introduce you to your new favorite thing,
and it's called clippers. You can go buy him for
twenty bucks and you'll never come see me again because
you're gonna do it at home. And I would get
these guys that just buzz their hair down. Next thing,
you know, the razor would come out and they're like, well,
I might as well go for this, and then all
of a sudden they're They're like, I'm like a chip magnet,
you know, like I don't know what's going on. It's
(02:47):
like and seriously, I think a good looking man is
just so much more handsome without the hair as a distraction.
I mean, I I really believe that very funny quick story.
One time, when I was reviewing Kenny Chesney, we you know,
we always like to throw in some kind of silly,
you know, questions, and I said, what's the dumbest thing
you've ever done with your hair? I'm thinking he's gonna
(03:08):
say perm or you know like that he goes lose it,
but hey, asn't exactly held him back. So I think
I think you're gorgeous with the shaped head than you.
I think it's become a lot more chic to like
the whole let's take a razor. And that was me
being a trend setter. I got all these men on
music road to shape their heads. You're welcome. Well, I
(03:29):
gotta say congratulations to you and your husband because you'll
I feel like your your husband's like the closest guy
in the world. By the way, he's up for a
Guitar Player of the Year at the a c M. Baby,
so um, and how do you say your last name?
Showan fell Okay, I always wanted I always mess that
up because I don't want to get it wrong. Um,
(03:50):
So will it change how you go to the a
c MS this year? Like, how will it? How will
it be because you got so many years and never
been with the spouse's nominally, So how will that make it?
I know, I thought you were gonna say it. Will
it change the way you see your husband? Like, now
I have to come in in the morning, would you
like your coffee black this morning? Nominee? Man? Um? Yeah,
(04:11):
it is kind of different. Um. Yeah, it's really exciting.
I'll be going out there this year with a with
a nominee. Uh you know whether or not I'll come
home with a winner. Well, we'll have to wait and see.
You know, he's never actually won it, but he has
been nominated a few times. Um. And he's been in
the first round of c M A S as well.
But that is a tough category to get into, and
you know, sometimes people win it for like fifteen years
(04:32):
in a row, you know. So he's kind of one
of the younger kids, you know, to even get in
the category. So I don't know, we'll see. And and
he's very sweet and humble, and he doesn't like to
really promote himself. He's very shy about that, so he's
not exactly going to be out there beating on doors
going vote for me. So I will do that for him.
You all need to know. I don't think I'm even
allowed to ask, but um, he's certainly well deserving. I mean,
(04:53):
he's played on a heck of a lot of stuff
that everybody's heard of the last few years. Guitar Player
of the Year. Get that vote in for Adam Adam Showenfield.
So I want to get to your duo in a second,
but first let's let's backtrack, because you and your husband
have a really cool duo music you're making right now.
It's so cool called Suncat. But first let's backtrack to
your roots a little bit. Because you said you were
(05:15):
a hairdresser, So what did you do before you got
to CMT. Was it that? Yeah, oh gosh, I'll make
the shortest version I can. So I always wanted to
do music, There was never any doubt about that. But
I'm I'm such a capricorn and I'm such a control freak,
and I have to be able to make a living
and I didn't want to, you know, starve, So I
went and got a hair license. So I was doing
hair for a few years and working on music row,
(05:37):
working with all the session musicians and everything, and working
on my music at night. So you know, music was
always the goal. And I got the opportunity to move
back to England for a couple of years and start
a band with my brother and back to you because
you were born there. Yes, sorry, yes, so I'm actually
actually English, but I've spent most of my life here,
which no one whatever guys that because we see you
on like American television and as such a star of CMT, Like, well,
(06:00):
I've lived in Nashville since I was five. I'm at
this point I'm probably way more a country girl than
I am an English girl. But um, anyway, so I
did that for a couple of years, got out of
the hair thing completely, and I came back here, got
a record deal here with Curb Records, and then the
band just fell apart. We all just there was in fighting.
The band fell apart, and all of a sudden, I
had no income, and but I had committed to doing music,
(06:20):
and I was like, what am I gonna do? And um,
a friend of mine who owned a hair salon, was like, well,
you can just come answer the phone. Sweet hair, wash,
hair whatever. You know, you until you figure out your
next move. And it was a hairstylist at that salon
that heard about CMT auditions and said, does anyone know
anyone at CMT? You know, I want to go audition
to be a host. And I was like, yeah, that
(06:41):
sounds like a good gig. And I knew so many
knew someone. I just picked up the phone and said,
what you know, how did they audition? Long story short,
he bailed. He decided never to audition. I had nothing
going on that day, and I was like, well, I
don't know. I gotta figure out something until my next
record comes out. And here I am eighteen years later.
I mean, I know it's totally weird. So that's kind
(07:01):
of a long answer, but all that to say, it
kind of was through cutting hair and my record deal
falling apart that I ended up here doing something. I
can't believe how much I love it still. What do
you remember about your audition day? Well, there were a few.
It was a process, um, you know, Honestly, I went
in probably the least prepared of everyone there. Everyone else
(07:22):
had an agent, They had a glossy head shot, they
had a resume, all this wonderful stuff. Um, I don't
know what. I cobbled together some little funny picture of myself.
My hair was fire engine red. I have my nose pierced.
I did that when I was fifteen. I just got
my lip pierce. You know, I'm an artist mode I'm
I'm like, how can I look, you know, the craziest
and everything. Um, but I heard they wanted something different.
(07:45):
That was definitely different, I guess, and I didn't know
any better. I didn't even know to be nervous or scared.
I didn't know what to prepare for. I I didn't
know any better, and I didn't think there's any way
in the world they would hire me. But I knew
how to talk about music, and I certainly wasn't shy.
It spent years on stage. So I just went in
and I was kind of like, hey, next up. You know,
(08:06):
I'm pointing at the camera and I'm acting silly and
I'm dancing like an idiot. And I walk out and
I thought, well, that was a fun little experiment. And
I got a call back and they said, we love you,
but we hate everything about how you look, So how
about you change all of that? And we'll give you
another shot, and I was like, I'm an artist, so
by and then a couple of weeks went by and
I got another call and then another call, and I
(08:27):
eventually I was like, I'll probably be blonde again in
a week. Anyway, I used to change my hair all
the time, so I kind of pulled out the nose
ring and lip ring and went blonde and and I
got it. And then I was like, oh wow, now
I really need to try and stay pretty normal looking
to hang onto this gig. So yeah, eighteen years later,
I still don't wear the nose ring on TV or
and I wear it on the weekends. But who was
(08:47):
your first interview on CT Gosh, that's a great question,
and I'm embarrassed to say I'm not sure. I think
it might have been Phil vass Or backstage at the opry.
Um might have been the first um Blake Shelton was
one of the first days. Oh yeah, have I ever
told you that story? Okay, So one of our first shoots.
It wasn't with any artists. It was Greg Martin, who
(09:09):
was our old co host. Um. He and I were
on camera just you know, having all kinds of cut
up stuff about artists, and somebody mentioned Blake Shelton and
I was like, oh God, that mullet is just killing me.
But he's so handsome. I love him, but the mullet.
And so like a week later, I'm at the opera
and I'm writing the Elevator and Blake Shelton gets on.
I'm like, hey, Blake, Well, I'm like, you know, looking
(09:30):
up at him, like six ft up in the air.
I'm like, hey, Blake, I'm Katie Cookieles. I know who
you are making fun of my mullet on live TV.
And I was like, oh dang, he was watching so
like right from the get go. We had this funny
back and forth, like ribbing each other, who's been yours hard?
There down like your favorite interview, But I mean, I
gotta ask because everyone wants to know, so sort of
(09:51):
pinch me moment, sort of interview. What was it? Well?
I feel like I answered the same thing every time,
but it is true, Dolly Parton every time, even if
we talked to her three times in a year, I'm
to pinch myself every single time. Um, I feel like
I learned something every time I'm around her about just
how to handle myself, how to handle the industry. I mean,
she is one of the biggest icons in all of
(10:11):
history on the planet, and she still can just walk
into any room and put everyone at ease and crack
a joke and she's just such a beautiful example of
the human being. So I I that's kind of my
go to answer always, But I like it when the
job sends me somewhere completely different, something so random. Is
working with President Obama or Orlando bloom or Charge Clooney,
(10:34):
like something that you would never expect a job at CMT,
you know, would land you in front of and and
so some of those have been pretty great on my
side of things that it's great to have, you know,
Dolly's all, these people are amazing, Reba and you know,
even like Carrie Luke, these these folks that we see
on a regular basis. But sometimes to me, the most
fun interviews are newbies getting to know someone you don't
(10:56):
know because I'm a curious person and I'm interested in,
like where they came from, how they got here. Those
sort of stories to me are almost as fun as
the Carry stuff or the Luke Bryan things. Well, you
never know who's going to be the next Carry or
Taylor Swift. I'll never forget. You know, first time I
interviewed Taylor Swift, you probably remember it too. It's like,
I think we all walked away going like She's about
(11:18):
to be the biggest thing in the world. She's so
delightful and so professional and just seems so grown up.
But I mean, you know, we didn't know the definitely
got that feeling. So I agree with you meeting the
new artists. There's just so much potential there, and I
love forging that relationship really early on in their career.
Is here an interviewed like a do over of yeah,
how long do I have? No? Um? You know, for
(11:40):
the most part, I can, I can live with it all.
But there's nothing worse than making mistake on live television.
I mean, I remember, Gosh, before it was the CMT Awards,
it was called the Flameworthy Awards. You know for a
few years. You remember, I know, not the greatest name, um,
And I was so new to television, so new to
live TV, and still a bit terrified. Josh Grayson walked up.
(12:02):
I guess I was. It's not like I didn't know
who he was. I must have just been nervous, but
I turned around live and said, I'm here with Josh Grobin.
I mean, it's just they were both really kind of
big at the same time, and you know, it's like
I've just called this new artist who's you know, trying
to make it the wrong name on live television. I
mean I just wanted to, you know, like fall through
the floor. I was so embarrassed. Did he get the joke?
(12:23):
I mean he'd laugh or no, you know what. I
kind of wondered if it was happening a lot at
the time because it's just so easy to accidentally say
that name wrong. You know. Um, he was cool. He
didn't walk away, didn't he didn't you know, throw a fit.
I love your music you're making with Adam. Um it's
called Suncat, explained first the name, because the name is
so clever. Oh well, thank you. Um well, we're very
(12:43):
like seventies music influence, and we were trying to think
of something that just sounded kind of cool and laid
back and and uh, I call him Sunny. That's always
been my nickname for him, because he's just a ray
of sunshine. It's very like Puky's sweet. But I call
him sunny, and Cat just short for Katie and he's
someone who came up with it. He because we were
trying to we're trying to put our names together and
I don't know, it's all just sounding kind of goofy,
(13:04):
and he just came out with Suncat and I'm like,
that's that's perfect, just perfect. I want to have you
and Addam back in the studio do a podcast with
me down the road. So I when I hold off
on like how and why you started the duo, but
let's talk about the music specifically, what sort of the
direction where you're drawing inspiration from. Well, um, that's a
good question. Um. We both stay so busy. Of course,
(13:25):
he plays lead guitar with Tim McGraw, so and he
does a ton of sessions and then I stay busy
with CMT. So it it's uh, it's really like we
agreed from day one. It just needed to be pure.
It's just when we're together, when we feel inspired, we're
going to write and we're not going to totally freak
out about timing when to put stuff out. You know,
we're totally indie. We don't have a record deal, and
(13:45):
so this is just such a passion project and we're
sticking to that. I mean, Otherwise I think we go
a little crazy, you know, with the schedules, like where
do we squeeze in a tour and all that. We're like,
let's just make the music from the most pure place.
We'll put it out, you know, maybe a song of
my and we'll make a video if we have time,
you know. But the main thing is we have to
do this as creative people. We will go crazy if
(14:07):
we don't do this together. We love singing together, we
love writing together. And it it sounds so cliche, but
most of these songs have been written. We're just sitting
around in bed and he's got a mandolin on his lap,
and I'm doing something on the laptop and he starts
plucking something out and I start singing, and you know,
thirty minutes later, we've got a song. It's all just
been that relaxed kind of thing. And we have a
(14:28):
recording studio in the house so we can just you know, again,
sounds very cliche, but if we have an idea at
three am, we can go down there and and and
make a record, you know. So we're just going to
keep trucking along with this and and see where we
can get it. And the feedback has been amazing, and
and that's I think we're just feeling already really satisfied
with that. As far as where it's going, we don't know.
(14:48):
We're just trying to be wide open. We're putting the
music out there and getting good feedback and that's kind
of enough for us right now. Where can people find it?
Is it on every like Spotify? And it is, yeah,
iTunes and Apple Music? And we have one song of
course that's actually raising money. So um, that's Hey Joe
Joe song that we wrote from my sister. You might
have been going there next, I don't know, um, And
(15:09):
so that's one that we you know, I mean, certainly
people want to listen on Spotify, that's great, But every
every single download we are sending the money straight to
the ARC to help people with I d d S,
as my sister had an I D D. So, so
that's when we're hoping to actually sell coffees off. And
this song is a really wonderful too, because it's, like
you say, it's a kind of a seventies kind of
feel to it, very beatles, Yeah, and it's it's it's
(15:33):
it's great. So check it out called Hey Joe Joe
out right now from sun Cat. I mentioned the bald
head earlier. I'm wondering about maybe something that you struggled with,
you had this sort of overcome to get to where
you are. Um, it could be physical, it could be UM,
something that's just been one of one of your achilles heels,
(15:54):
if you will, but something you've you can now say
I'm through that. Wow. I don't know what a need question.
But yeah, no, that's a great question. I don't know
if I'm through it. But I wouldn't. I wouldn't have
made it this long in this job if I hadn't
done a pretty good job of tackling it. And that
is I am my own worst critic, and I'm very,
very picky, very hard on myself. Um, I probably shouldn't
(16:15):
throw throw around a phrase like O C D lightly
because some people truly suffer with that. But I'm definitely,
I definitely have a touch of it. And and I
get I get to where I get so into details
of things that I can't see the forest for the trees,
and I can get myself a little tangled up. And
I do it in everything in my life. Just a
trip to the grocery store can take three hours because
I'm obsessing about one ingredient I can't find, you know.
(16:39):
And in a job like this, UM, where there's a
lot of research and everything, I sometimes just go a
little too crazy with it, um, and sometimes that can
really set me back. I can walk away from an
interview realizing I wasn't in the moment enough, I wasn't
just swept up in the emotion of the interview because
I was thinking a little too much about the details.
So that's something early on I realized could really be
(17:00):
a struggle for me in this job. UM. And I
I to this day really don't watch myself back because
I can see where my mind was was going. I
can see the wheels turning UM, and that really bothers me.
So that's just something I struggle with. It's interestingly that, uh,
that would be a struggle because I think it's also
(17:21):
one of your greatest strengths. And I think sometimes weeks again,
I can kind of relate maybe somewhat with the bald
head because it's like, Okay, it was a weakness at
one point, but somehow someone saying, oh, the baseball cap
is is kind of your thing, Like oh wait, it
could my thing, So I like, messy part of me
could be. Actually, what's the best part of me? Getting
(17:43):
caught up in crazy details is can be a lot.
It also is what makes you great because you know
the details when you're interviewing something. Yeah, it's yeah, I
see that. You're right, No, I mean, and that's the
more positive way to look at it. I do think
I don't know how anyone could do what we do
if they weren't that organized. I agree. I think it
(18:03):
would be a pretty terrible job for somebody that is
that is too sloppy and unorganized. I mean, it would
I would think that would cause a lot of stress.
And yet I'm envious with people that can walk into
something going I'm just gonna see what happens. Like I
could never be that guy. I can't, I mean with anything,
even with music. I'd rather rehearse ten times, you know,
and and just know it's all going to be perfect.
(18:24):
Maybe because I know once you're live, once you're in
an interview, or once you're up on a stage, anything
could happen. So at least if I've done all the prep,
I can fall back on the fact that I did
everything I could you know so that that's the state
of mind I need to be in. But um, but
that's something I still have to work through all the time.
I'm the person that will recheck my purse twenty times
on the way to the airport for the idea or
(18:45):
the passport. I'm just convinced I have to keep looking.
It's it's that kind of thing. I keep going back
in the house to unplug the curling iron that I've
already unplugged. It's that stuff. Yeah, let's play a little
name game here. I will name a country star. You
tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Okay,
So if I were to say Reba Dolly Blake, Shelton Mullet,
(19:13):
Tim McCraw abs, my husband's gonna get me for that one,
a right, Miranda Lambert, Fire Luke, Brian Hi, Hi, I
got it something that farmer farmer okay? Um, Nicole Kidman Tall,
(19:40):
George Clooney, m Garth Brooks generous, Cody Allen hot right,
and Katie Cook creative. Yes, I would say so. Yeah,
(20:04):
thanks for listening to Cody cast. Follow Cody right now
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on hundreds of radio stations every day, and watch Cody
on Hawk twenty this weekend, Saturday and Sunday at n
a m. Eight Central on CMT bye for now,
This is Cody Ellen's podcast. This is Cody cast O Katie.
Oh wait that's me. Yeah, clapped for yourself and it's
good to see you. Have you got an a c
M outfit picked out yet? Of course, yeah, because I
haven't picked out mine. And we kind of have to
coordinate a little well we do. Yeah, there's moments where
(00:20):
we're together obviously, so yeah, we kind of have to
look like we thought about it. Yeah, mine's Um, you
want to give it away. I mean, I'll just say
it's very geometric, it's very metallic, and I think it's
kind of retro and yeah, it kind of sounds like
that when you wore I think we've seen Team Music
Awards and maybe the first year we did that live
show together. Silver and sort of shiny and like, um
(00:41):
short shorter, I believe. Yeah, the dresses have gotten longer
over the years. As my time at the gym is
cut down, the dresses have gotten longer. Um. Yeah, I
like metallics and I love silver and yeah, so this
one's got a little bit of that going on. So
you know, you could wear space suit and we would
look perfect together. Um. I always have problem because I
wear the baseball cap like and in working out exactly
(01:04):
because too formal with the baseball cap never looks good
to me. So for me, it's always like, how can
I make it dressy and different from what I would
usually wear, but also kind of casual. Yeah, I think
you nail it. I think I know what you mean.
It's kind of an odd combination, you know, the cap
with the suit, but somehow you get it right. You
always get it right now. No one's ever done it,
and I don't want to be like I'm a trend
(01:25):
setter Katie Cook, but let's let's face it. When I
started wearing the baseball cap, all of a sudden, Luke
Brian wants to want to be you, Cody just kidding.
Uh No, it's obviously to cover up imperfections or perceived imperfections. Actually,
I've gotten so over the bald head thing because I
(01:45):
used to be really sensitive about it. Whenever he's young,
like in my twenties, I would that was really like
I'll never be a star because of that weakness. It
took some convincing over time, like people saying no, no,
it doesn't matter, like you'll you'll be a start in
spite of that, and realizing that, which was again years
(02:06):
of like letting it soak in that it was okay,
you know, made me start to believe it myself. And
when you start to believe it yourself, that's when good
stuff starts to happen. Absolutely yeah, I think it shows
off a handsome man's face even more. I used to
be a hair stylist, and I mean the men would
come in with the worst hair, like mullets, or they're
trying to comb around a few pieces that are left
on top of their head, and you know, the wind
(02:27):
blows the wrong way. It looks like somebody stuck a
split on the side of your head. And I'm like, look,
I'm going to introduce you to your new favorite thing,
and it's called clippers. You can go buy him for
twenty bucks and you'll never come see me again because
you're gonna do it at home. And I would get
these guys that just buzz their hair down. Next thing,
you know, the razor would come out and they're like, well,
I might as well go for this, and then all
of a sudden they're They're like, I'm like a chip magnet,
you know, like I don't know what's going on. It's
(02:47):
like and seriously, I think a good looking man is
just so much more handsome without the hair as a distraction.
I mean, I I really believe that very funny quick story.
One time, when I was reviewing Kenny Chesney, we you know,
we always like to throw in some kind of silly,
you know, questions, and I said, what's the dumbest thing
you've ever done with your hair? I'm thinking he's gonna
(03:08):
say perm or you know like that he goes lose it,
but hey, asn't exactly held him back. So I think
I think you're gorgeous with the shaped head than you.
I think it's become a lot more chic to like
the whole let's take a razor. And that was me
being a trend setter. I got all these men on
music road to shape their heads. You're welcome. Well, I
(03:29):
gotta say congratulations to you and your husband because you'll
I feel like your your husband's like the closest guy
in the world. By the way, he's up for a
Guitar Player of the Year at the a c M. Baby,
so um, and how do you say your last name?
Showan fell Okay, I always wanted I always mess that
up because I don't want to get it wrong. Um,
(03:50):
So will it change how you go to the a
c MS this year? Like, how will it? How will
it be because you got so many years and never
been with the spouse's nominally, So how will that make it?
I know, I thought you were gonna say it. Will
it change the way you see your husband? Like, now
I have to come in in the morning, would you
like your coffee black this morning? Nominee? Man? Um? Yeah,
(04:11):
it is kind of different. Um. Yeah, it's really exciting.
I'll be going out there this year with a with
a nominee. Uh you know whether or not I'll come
home with a winner. Well, we'll have to wait and see.
You know, he's never actually won it, but he has
been nominated a few times. Um. And he's been in
the first round of c M A S as well.
But that is a tough category to get into, and
you know, sometimes people win it for like fifteen years
(04:32):
in a row, you know. So he's kind of one
of the younger kids, you know, to even get in
the category. So I don't know, we'll see. And and
he's very sweet and humble, and he doesn't like to
really promote himself. He's very shy about that, so he's
not exactly going to be out there beating on doors
going vote for me. So I will do that for him.
You all need to know. I don't think I'm even
allowed to ask, but um, he's certainly well deserving. I mean,
(04:53):
he's played on a heck of a lot of stuff
that everybody's heard of the last few years. Guitar Player
of the Year. Get that vote in for Adam Adam Showenfield.
So I want to get to your duo in a second,
but first let's let's backtrack, because you and your husband
have a really cool duo music you're making right now.
It's so cool called Suncat. But first let's backtrack to
your roots a little bit. Because you said you were
(05:15):
a hairdresser, So what did you do before you got
to CMT. Was it that? Yeah, oh gosh, I'll make
the shortest version I can. So I always wanted to
do music, There was never any doubt about that. But
I'm I'm such a capricorn and I'm such a control freak,
and I have to be able to make a living
and I didn't want to, you know, starve, So I
went and got a hair license. So I was doing
hair for a few years and working on music row,
(05:37):
working with all the session musicians and everything, and working
on my music at night. So you know, music was
always the goal. And I got the opportunity to move
back to England for a couple of years and start
a band with my brother and back to you because
you were born there. Yes, sorry, yes, so I'm actually
actually English, but I've spent most of my life here,
which no one whatever guys that because we see you
on like American television and as such a star of CMT, Like, well,
(06:00):
I've lived in Nashville since I was five. I'm at
this point I'm probably way more a country girl than
I am an English girl. But um, anyway, so I
did that for a couple of years, got out of
the hair thing completely, and I came back here, got
a record deal here with Curb Records, and then the
band just fell apart. We all just there was in fighting.
The band fell apart, and all of a sudden, I
had no income, and but I had committed to doing music,
(06:20):
and I was like, what am I gonna do? And um,
a friend of mine who owned a hair salon, was like, well,
you can just come answer the phone. Sweet hair, wash,
hair whatever. You know, you until you figure out your
next move. And it was a hairstylist at that salon
that heard about CMT auditions and said, does anyone know
anyone at CMT? You know, I want to go audition
to be a host. And I was like, yeah, that
(06:41):
sounds like a good gig. And I knew so many
knew someone. I just picked up the phone and said,
what you know, how did they audition? Long story short,
he bailed. He decided never to audition. I had nothing
going on that day, and I was like, well, I
don't know. I gotta figure out something until my next
record comes out. And here I am eighteen years later.
I mean, I know it's totally weird. So that's kind
(07:01):
of a long answer, but all that to say, it
kind of was through cutting hair and my record deal
falling apart that I ended up here doing something. I
can't believe how much I love it still. What do
you remember about your audition day? Well, there were a few.
It was a process, um, you know, Honestly, I went
in probably the least prepared of everyone there. Everyone else
(07:22):
had an agent, They had a glossy head shot, they
had a resume, all this wonderful stuff. Um, I don't
know what. I cobbled together some little funny picture of myself.
My hair was fire engine red. I have my nose pierced.
I did that when I was fifteen. I just got
my lip pierce. You know, I'm an artist mode I'm
I'm like, how can I look, you know, the craziest
and everything. Um, but I heard they wanted something different.
(07:45):
That was definitely different, I guess, and I didn't know
any better. I didn't even know to be nervous or scared.
I didn't know what to prepare for. I I didn't
know any better, and I didn't think there's any way
in the world they would hire me. But I knew
how to talk about music, and I certainly wasn't shy.
It spent years on stage. So I just went in
and I was kind of like, hey, next up. You know,
(08:06):
I'm pointing at the camera and I'm acting silly and
I'm dancing like an idiot. And I walk out and
I thought, well, that was a fun little experiment. And
I got a call back and they said, we love you,
but we hate everything about how you look, So how
about you change all of that? And we'll give you
another shot, and I was like, I'm an artist, so
by and then a couple of weeks went by and
I got another call and then another call, and I
(08:27):
eventually I was like, I'll probably be blonde again in
a week. Anyway, I used to change my hair all
the time, so I kind of pulled out the nose
ring and lip ring and went blonde and and I
got it. And then I was like, oh wow, now
I really need to try and stay pretty normal looking
to hang onto this gig. So yeah, eighteen years later,
I still don't wear the nose ring on TV or
and I wear it on the weekends. But who was
(08:47):
your first interview on CT Gosh, that's a great question,
and I'm embarrassed to say I'm not sure. I think
it might have been Phil vass Or backstage at the opry.
Um might have been the first um Blake Shelton was
one of the first days. Oh yeah, have I ever
told you that story? Okay, So one of our first shoots.
It wasn't with any artists. It was Greg Martin, who
(09:09):
was our old co host. Um. He and I were
on camera just you know, having all kinds of cut
up stuff about artists, and somebody mentioned Blake Shelton and
I was like, oh God, that mullet is just killing me.
But he's so handsome. I love him, but the mullet.
And so like a week later, I'm at the opera
and I'm writing the Elevator and Blake Shelton gets on.
I'm like, hey, Blake, Well, I'm like, you know, looking
(09:30):
up at him, like six ft up in the air.
I'm like, hey, Blake, I'm Katie Cookieles. I know who
you are making fun of my mullet on live TV.
And I was like, oh dang, he was watching so
like right from the get go. We had this funny
back and forth, like ribbing each other, who's been yours hard?
There down like your favorite interview, But I mean, I
gotta ask because everyone wants to know, so sort of
(09:51):
pinch me moment, sort of interview. What was it? Well?
I feel like I answered the same thing every time,
but it is true, Dolly Parton every time, even if
we talked to her three times in a year, I'm
to pinch myself every single time. Um, I feel like
I learned something every time I'm around her about just
how to handle myself, how to handle the industry. I mean,
she is one of the biggest icons in all of
(10:11):
history on the planet, and she still can just walk
into any room and put everyone at ease and crack
a joke and she's just such a beautiful example of
the human being. So I I that's kind of my
go to answer always, But I like it when the
job sends me somewhere completely different, something so random. Is
working with President Obama or Orlando bloom or Charge Clooney,
(10:34):
like something that you would never expect a job at CMT,
you know, would land you in front of and and
so some of those have been pretty great on my
side of things that it's great to have, you know,
Dolly's all, these people are amazing, Reba and you know,
even like Carrie Luke, these these folks that we see
on a regular basis. But sometimes to me, the most
fun interviews are newbies getting to know someone you don't
(10:56):
know because I'm a curious person and I'm interested in,
like where they came from, how they got here. Those
sort of stories to me are almost as fun as
the Carry stuff or the Luke Bryan things. Well, you
never know who's going to be the next Carry or
Taylor Swift. I'll never forget. You know, first time I
interviewed Taylor Swift, you probably remember it too. It's like,
I think we all walked away going like She's about
(11:18):
to be the biggest thing in the world. She's so
delightful and so professional and just seems so grown up.
But I mean, you know, we didn't know the definitely
got that feeling. So I agree with you meeting the
new artists. There's just so much potential there, and I
love forging that relationship really early on in their career.
Is here an interviewed like a do over of yeah,
how long do I have? No? Um? You know, for
(11:40):
the most part, I can, I can live with it all.
But there's nothing worse than making mistake on live television.
I mean, I remember, Gosh, before it was the CMT Awards,
it was called the Flameworthy Awards. You know for a
few years. You remember, I know, not the greatest name, um,
And I was so new to television, so new to
live TV, and still a bit terrified. Josh Grayson walked up.
(12:02):
I guess I was. It's not like I didn't know
who he was. I must have just been nervous, but
I turned around live and said, I'm here with Josh Grobin.
I mean, it's just they were both really kind of
big at the same time, and you know, it's like
I've just called this new artist who's you know, trying
to make it the wrong name on live television. I
mean I just wanted to, you know, like fall through
the floor. I was so embarrassed. Did he get the joke?
(12:23):
I mean he'd laugh or no, you know what. I
kind of wondered if it was happening a lot at
the time because it's just so easy to accidentally say
that name wrong. You know. Um, he was cool. He
didn't walk away, didn't he didn't you know, throw a fit.
I love your music you're making with Adam. Um it's
called Suncat, explained first the name, because the name is
so clever. Oh well, thank you. Um well, we're very
(12:43):
like seventies music influence, and we were trying to think
of something that just sounded kind of cool and laid
back and and uh, I call him Sunny. That's always
been my nickname for him, because he's just a ray
of sunshine. It's very like Puky's sweet. But I call
him sunny, and Cat just short for Katie and he's
someone who came up with it. He because we were
trying to we're trying to put our names together and
I don't know, it's all just sounding kind of goofy,
(13:04):
and he just came out with Suncat and I'm like,
that's that's perfect, just perfect. I want to have you
and Addam back in the studio do a podcast with
me down the road. So I when I hold off
on like how and why you started the duo, but
let's talk about the music specifically, what sort of the
direction where you're drawing inspiration from. Well, um, that's a
good question. Um. We both stay so busy. Of course,
(13:25):
he plays lead guitar with Tim McGraw, so and he
does a ton of sessions and then I stay busy
with CMT. So it it's uh, it's really like we
agreed from day one. It just needed to be pure.
It's just when we're together, when we feel inspired, we're
going to write and we're not going to totally freak
out about timing when to put stuff out. You know,
we're totally indie. We don't have a record deal, and
(13:45):
so this is just such a passion project and we're
sticking to that. I mean, Otherwise I think we go
a little crazy, you know, with the schedules, like where
do we squeeze in a tour and all that. We're like,
let's just make the music from the most pure place.
We'll put it out, you know, maybe a song of
my and we'll make a video if we have time,
you know. But the main thing is we have to
do this as creative people. We will go crazy if
(14:07):
we don't do this together. We love singing together, we
love writing together. And it it sounds so cliche, but
most of these songs have been written. We're just sitting
around in bed and he's got a mandolin on his lap,
and I'm doing something on the laptop and he starts
plucking something out and I start singing, and you know,
thirty minutes later, we've got a song. It's all just
been that relaxed kind of thing. And we have a
(14:28):
recording studio in the house so we can just you know, again,
sounds very cliche, but if we have an idea at
three am, we can go down there and and and
make a record, you know. So we're just going to
keep trucking along with this and and see where we
can get it. And the feedback has been amazing, and
and that's I think we're just feeling already really satisfied
with that. As far as where it's going, we don't know.
(14:48):
We're just trying to be wide open. We're putting the
music out there and getting good feedback and that's kind
of enough for us right now. Where can people find it?
Is it on every like Spotify? And it is, yeah,
iTunes and Apple Music? And we have one song of
course that's actually raising money. So um, that's Hey Joe
Joe song that we wrote from my sister. You might
have been going there next, I don't know, um, And
(15:09):
so that's one that we you know, I mean, certainly
people want to listen on Spotify, that's great, But every
every single download we are sending the money straight to
the ARC to help people with I d d S,
as my sister had an I D D. So, so
that's when we're hoping to actually sell coffees off. And
this song is a really wonderful too, because it's, like
you say, it's a kind of a seventies kind of
feel to it, very beatles, Yeah, and it's it's it's
(15:33):
it's great. So check it out called Hey Joe Joe
out right now from sun Cat. I mentioned the bald
head earlier. I'm wondering about maybe something that you struggled with,
you had this sort of overcome to get to where
you are. Um, it could be physical, it could be UM,
something that's just been one of one of your achilles heels,
(15:54):
if you will, but something you've you can now say
I'm through that. Wow. I don't know what a need question.
But yeah, no, that's a great question. I don't know
if I'm through it. But I wouldn't. I wouldn't have
made it this long in this job if I hadn't
done a pretty good job of tackling it. And that
is I am my own worst critic, and I'm very,
very picky, very hard on myself. Um, I probably shouldn't
(16:15):
throw throw around a phrase like O C D lightly
because some people truly suffer with that. But I'm definitely,
I definitely have a touch of it. And and I
get I get to where I get so into details
of things that I can't see the forest for the trees,
and I can get myself a little tangled up. And
I do it in everything in my life. Just a
trip to the grocery store can take three hours because
I'm obsessing about one ingredient I can't find, you know.
(16:39):
And in a job like this, UM, where there's a
lot of research and everything, I sometimes just go a
little too crazy with it, um, and sometimes that can
really set me back. I can walk away from an
interview realizing I wasn't in the moment enough, I wasn't
just swept up in the emotion of the interview because
I was thinking a little too much about the details.
So that's something early on I realized could really be
(17:00):
a struggle for me in this job. UM. And I
I to this day really don't watch myself back because
I can see where my mind was was going. I
can see the wheels turning UM, and that really bothers me.
So that's just something I struggle with. It's interestingly that, uh,
that would be a struggle because I think it's also
(17:21):
one of your greatest strengths. And I think sometimes weeks again,
I can kind of relate maybe somewhat with the bald
head because it's like, Okay, it was a weakness at
one point, but somehow someone saying, oh, the baseball cap
is is kind of your thing, Like oh wait, it
could my thing, So I like, messy part of me
could be. Actually, what's the best part of me? Getting
(17:43):
caught up in crazy details is can be a lot.
It also is what makes you great because you know
the details when you're interviewing something. Yeah, it's yeah, I
see that. You're right, No, I mean, and that's the
more positive way to look at it. I do think
I don't know how anyone could do what we do
if they weren't that organized. I agree. I think it
(18:03):
would be a pretty terrible job for somebody that is
that is too sloppy and unorganized. I mean, it would
I would think that would cause a lot of stress.
And yet I'm envious with people that can walk into
something going I'm just gonna see what happens. Like I
could never be that guy. I can't, I mean with anything,
even with music. I'd rather rehearse ten times, you know,
and and just know it's all going to be perfect.
(18:24):
Maybe because I know once you're live, once you're in
an interview, or once you're up on a stage, anything
could happen. So at least if I've done all the prep,
I can fall back on the fact that I did
everything I could you know so that that's the state
of mind I need to be in. But um, but
that's something I still have to work through all the time.
I'm the person that will recheck my purse twenty times
on the way to the airport for the idea or
(18:45):
the passport. I'm just convinced I have to keep looking.
It's it's that kind of thing. I keep going back
in the house to unplug the curling iron that I've
already unplugged. It's that stuff. Yeah, let's play a little
name game here. I will name a country star. You
tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Okay,
So if I were to say Reba Dolly Blake, Shelton Mullet,
(19:13):
Tim McCraw abs, my husband's gonna get me for that one,
a right, Miranda Lambert, Fire Luke, Brian Hi, Hi, I
got it something that farmer farmer okay? Um, Nicole Kidman Tall,
(19:40):
George Clooney, m Garth Brooks generous, Cody Allen hot right,
and Katie Cook creative. Yes, I would say so. Yeah,
(20:04):
thanks for listening to Cody cast. Follow Cody right now
at Cody Allen on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Care Cody
on hundreds of radio stations every day, and watch Cody
on Hawk twenty this weekend, Saturday and Sunday at n
a m. Eight Central on CMT bye for now,
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