Joe Diffie talks about how his song John Deere Green was never a no. 1 song. He talks about moving to Nashville after being laid off, singing demos in the 80’s and what it was like to tour during the 90’s. He also talks about how a resurgence happened in his career after his name drop Jason Aldean’s “1994”.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's pouring down rain and we just finished with Joe
Diffy and I was worried because I mean, it's been
storming really bad. And he came. Joe still showed up.
Family was with them. They said over and we had
like a viewing party for the podcast that you're about
to hear there. Um, the first time I met Joe Diffie,
I don't want to bring it up to him and
and geek out in his face, trying to be somewhat professional.
(00:22):
Here was I think at the Grand Old Opry and
we were playing together. It was at the Rheyman and
I was just like, I was your biggest fan, and
he said, you know what, my daughter is a big fan.
Years can I get a picture of you? And I
was like, wait what? And so we've had a really
good relationship for the past couple of years. Um, so
it's pretty cool to talk to somebody who was a
(00:44):
big star back when big stars were still a cool
thing to you. Because now I'm so jaded and I
see people that are big stars but they're also my
friends or they're also people that I know that it's
just they're they're humans now more and big stars, and
to me, the coolest thing is when I was a kid,
(01:05):
meeting them now and if they're cool. I got on
an airplane once and I get on the Southwest flight
and I was like the last one on the flight
and there's a middle seat wide open. It's the only
seat left on the flight. And it's not gonna be
anything of you, Mike, because you're not a sports guy.
But there was Barry Switzer and Eddie Sutton now Barry
Switzer coach he played at Arkansas, coached Oklahoma National Championships
(01:27):
coach with the Cowboys one championship. Eddie Sutton coached Arkansas,
coached Oklahoma State basketball. And the seat within the middle
was open. It was the one seat on the freaking plane.
And I was an adult, but they were such big
deals as a kid, and that was so cool to me.
And I sat there in Barry Switser told me so
many good stories. He didn't have to. He didn't know
I was a guy from the radio. He was like, hey,
(01:48):
where you from, kid, I mean that was probably twenty
five or six at the time. And I told him
from Arkansas and goes, oh, man, I'm from you know
I and I you know, I coached and I recruited
kids from here and here, But it was kind of
the same feeling when I got to meet Joe Diffy
the first time, or Barry Switzer or even you know
sports figures from when I was a kid. So you
(02:10):
bet to your podcast with Joe Diffy, which obviously if
you clicked it, you knew that, um myke These new
podcast is up called Movie Mix Movie Podcast. Yeah, and
they can find it by searching search movie Mix. And
how has the response been so far? It's been really cool,
seeing like everybody enjoying it so far. I'm really excited
about that. And so you put out the first episode,
(02:31):
um if lifetime and it's about the highest what is
it again, the highest paid movie roles of all time,
of all time of anyone of anyone. So it's like
one character they played, how much they got paid throughout
those movies. And so, have you record a multiple episodes
yet or you just got the one? I have a
couple more that I've recorded. Yeah, and what's another one
coming up? Another one I have is actors who got
(02:53):
hurt on the set. Oh, that's really interesting, And like,
do you do Brandon League got killed? No? I mean,
I don't know anyone that dies. Oh, but that's a
crazy story. Yeah. I thought the gun was all but yeah,
and then he shot himself part of the movie and died. Yeah.
You know what I saw on your Twitter? I thought
was interesting that you have a no spoiler's rule, Yeah,
because I don't think. I think if you go to
(03:14):
a movie podcast and it's like spoilers, that kind of
takes away like you can enjoy a review without a spoiler.
So would you ever talk? So? Okay, I was I
would let me suggest this because I don't know how
you're doing your podcast yet, because I just want up
today and having a time to hear it. Yet, could
you ever put it? Because I would listen to podcasts
like Bill Simmons and he would talk about Game of Thrones,
(03:34):
but he would put at the very end of the
podcast any sort of spoilers. So it's like, okay, if
you don't want to hear this, you need to turn
the podcast off. Now. I think, well, I've kind of
had an idea of like maybe later down the line,
I had like another one where I do like a
spoiled thing or it's reviewing something with everything in it.
So if you want to hear a spoiler episode that
it will be all in there because I just want
to talk about too with somebody else who has seen it,
and you can go into like dive into a little
(03:56):
bit more. But I think just for reviews and what
people like, I want to hearing that you don't need
to spoilers a movie. Mike's Movie Podcast. Check it out,
search it wherever you listen to your podcasts. And here
we go. Let's get into the newest episode. It's me
talking with Joe Diffy. I welcome to episode to seventeen
with a guy I really like and we've been a
(04:17):
big fan of for yours Joe Diffy. Good to hear you,
good to see you, Thank you, thank you as well.
You know, I was looking up I know most of
the stuff about you, like I've been a fan before
we've been able to be friends. I was just a
massive fan of you growing up, and so as I
kind of went on the deep dive because I always
like to find out, you know, what do I not
know about the people that are coming over to the
(04:38):
house listen to this. I don't know if you even
knew that on this day, December six, you had the
number one song on the Billboard Country Chart with Pickup Man.
It was your longest lasting number one. I haven't spent
four weeks at number one from December to January. Did
you know that that was today? No, I didn't know
(04:59):
today the rest of that, but I didn't realize the
date of it. That's pretty cool on this day and
four number one? Yeah. Yeah. So for example, Luke Combs
just spent three weeks at number one. Um, and that's
a first for a song. The last three weeks number one,
especially today, a really big deal. When you have a
song that someone for four weeks in what's really the
(05:21):
the vibe of that? Well, I mean it was unusual
because back then, you know, they put out a lot
more songs. The frequency you have, you know, you put
out four, four or five songs a year, and now
you might have one song that stays on the charts,
lingering there at some point for almost a year, you know.
So so that was kind of the weird part we had.
We had to wait to see what how long it
(05:43):
was going to stay number one before we could put
out another record. So did you feel like that song
was going to be a number one song? I knew
it from the instant. I heard it really, I really did. Yeah.
I don't know why. I just something about it. I
just you know, have you been able to name and
nail boast of most of your big songs, but the
first time you heard them? Yeah, pretty much. Uh, there
was a couple that it didn't uh, like John dear Green,
(06:06):
I hated when I first heard it. Yeah, why, well
because the demo and now this is it's it's a
long saga, but it But when I first heard it, uh,
it was done by the writer named Dennis Lindy, and
he had a very eclectic sounding voice, and he did
all his own demos at his house, so it had
(06:27):
like a jewice harp planning like Arnie and Arnie. And
I was like, what the heck is that? You know?
And then my producer so we'll just he said ignore
the demo part. I have to add right now that
that I subsequently loved all of Dennis Lindy's demos. They
were so cool. After he got after you kind of
figured out what was what was happening, you know, then
(06:47):
my producer said, listen to the words and uh and uh,
I was like, man, I just don't like it at all.
He goes, well, he said, he said, I think this
is a hit, And I said, well, we can try it.
You know, we're going to studio and cut and if
it doesn't work out, then we scrap it, you know.
So luckily it worked out. So you go in and
at what point is it during the session? Is it
during the track when do you go, oh, there might
be something here with John der Green? Won't we tracked it,
(07:10):
you know, because obviously it was a lot different than
the demo, you know, so yeah, we once once we
started tracking. I think that's that is a pretty good
song right there. What song of yours when you play
it gets the biggest response? And you know what's funny
about that? It was not a number one song? Isn't
that weird? And it's you know, I talked with a
lot of young artists now and they're like, I just
want that number one. Like I get it, you do.
(07:32):
But and and and Keith, we're gonna have talked about
this where his a lot of his biggest songs weren't
number one, and that we were to have you know,
of course, back in those days, I mean there were
several over like four or five different charts, so I
think you did go number one and one of them,
I don't know which one, but but yeah, uh that's
always that is a strange phenomena some of your some
(07:53):
songs that do go number one don't sell as as well, etcetery.
You know. So for me when I think about your music,
like my favorite song has propped me out, and that
was not a number one song on the on the
radio chart. I mean when I think, Joe Diffy, this
is the song from me. I know every word. I
remember when it came out. I bought the CD and
(08:13):
I memorized every word so I could sing all of
I did that and third rock because the third rock
is a little hard use the words are a lot faster.
But this, this is the song for me that if
someone's like, what your favorite A matter of fact, when
you came in, I was like, Joe, you gotta play
probbed me up? And you did. And again is it
peaked at number three on the radio chart. It's weird.
There's a big record from me. The video though for
(08:35):
this song is what I really remember from this song
as well, because back in the day we used to
really watch CMT from music video a lot. Yeah, all
you know what I remember about the video, mostly filming
the video. It was so hot, man, it was. And
they had this these buckets of like sea bree remember
sea Breeze. It was kind of like a facial cleanser
or some kind of deal, and it was like but
(08:56):
it had like an aromatic kind of effect and they
were dabbing all of us with it stuff. You know.
That's judge member was so hot and and plus the
dead guy. Yeah, it was so funny, man. I mean
that that that to me is those two songs. And
again as I started deep diving, and I was like, man,
my favorite two songs number five and a number three.
And you say that John der Green gets the biggest.
(09:18):
When you do your set list, what do you start with?
What's the first song? A third rock from the sun?
You come out of high energy, huh, Which this wasn't
number one song for you. Yeah. I just would have
a problem going out and doing the fast up quick
because I'd be had of breath for the next three songs.
That has happened, like especially I said right where it
happened to me a lot as if I'm you know,
on the oprey for some reason makes you nervous and
(09:40):
bo if you ever get backwards during your breathing in
that song, You're screwed. I mean, it's it's over, you know.
Tell me about this song Third Rock? So you heard
it where you're like, what's this about it? Like? What? Um?
I always thought it was like a little mini movie,
you know, which I heard a lot of songwriters, so
you try to dude, right, try to write it a
little three minute movie, you know. But honestly, this was
(10:02):
one that I mean, even though I liked it, they
there was the same publisher had played two different songs
for us, and uh, and I like the other one
better actually, and so uh you know, so anyway I
ended up getting both of them. Had to do to
the wheeling and dealing some some guy apparently that I
don't know. I can't verify this, but I was told this.
(10:24):
Garth Brooks wanted Third Rock as well. So and how
did you get Third Rocket? What was the wheel to
cut both? We would do both of their songs. Do
you know what the other song was? It was called
uh something? But if you're having to think, I guess
that really was never there was never a single. Yeah,
did you put it on the record? Yeah, it's that
(10:44):
I'm gonna run through your number one's real quick, let's
do home. Yeah, your first the debut singers is that right,
first song out and you go number one for six,
number one, six in a row. So do you think
after let's say two or three, do you have a
figured out? Um? You know what I felt like? Such
(11:06):
I was. I felt a little bit like a rube.
I was so naive about the whole process. I mean
even though I kind of knew. I kind of knew
about stuff. But man, when you know when you get it,
when you when you start off like what I did.
I mean, I was on the road three hundred days
a year, and so I didn't really have time to
think about stuff. I was busy, you know, traveling and
doing shows and meet doing meet and greets and all
(11:28):
that stuff. You know. So what brought you to Nashville?
Meaning I know the music, I know that the thought
of country music. But there's always something where something you
get that push or you can kind of the itch. Well,
I got laid off from my job I had. I
was working on a foundry back in Duncan, Oklahoma, and
they shut the plant down, laid us all off, and
(11:50):
you know, and I've been singing a little VFWS and
twenty moved. I moved to Nashville when I also a
little bit older compared to like the nineteen two years
are moving here now exactly? So you get laid off? Yeah,
and I said, And I had been to Nashville once
before with my aunt and a friend of mine. We
had we we did this little thing as a trio
(12:11):
and we came in and my aunt had known somebody
here in Nashville, and so anyway we met with him,
and I I just fell in love with the city then.
But I didn't have the opportunity because I still had
a job at the time, you know. But when I
got laid off, I was like, well, you know what,
I think, I'm just gonna try it. So I just
loaded up everything I could get in this whole beat
up car I had, and off I went. So at home,
(12:35):
you know, you're you're playing around bar? Are you playing
on bars at home at all? Not a lot. Honestly.
My background was more of a I sang in a
gospel group than I Then I went from that to
a bluegrass group. I played blue grass for six years
with this group called the Special Edition. Were you known
as the guy that was doing music while working at
the plant by your workers. Yeah, you co workers. Yeah,
(12:56):
they always asked me to sing, you know, would you
ever sing at work? I don't remember gat them around
and be like all right boys, yeah, I mean I
just they sing that song, you know whatever. Isn't it
funny how the things at the time that seemed this
happened over my career in my life too. We're really
I put finger quotes up, unfortunate things that happened to
us turn out to really be blessing, dude, blessing, the
biggest blessing ever you have. Because if I hadn't got
(13:18):
laid off, I probably would have never left there. You know.
So when you get laid off, do you remember how
that happened? Did you did your your boss your form
and come in and go all right, you're done. No,
it was just more of a I got a phone call,
I think, and they said, yeah, play shut down, don't
go out there. And then immediately do you go all right?
Time to go to Nashville, Like was it kind of
in the chamber already? No. It took a took a
(13:40):
couple of months, you know, drawing unemployment, and I thought, well,
you know, I might as well, think of something. I
had a good friend of mine. We used to discuss
thing he wanted. He moved to Dallas and became an accountant,
and you know, that's what I want to he said,
get You know, you gotta try music. You're really good
at it and all that stuff. So and when you
got to town, did you feel like you were good
(14:01):
enough to get in the mix immediately? Um? I just
felt really lost, honestly when I first got to town,
because I just gotten divorced and I missed my kids,
and you know, and I was just in this new
place and I didn't have a place to live, and
you know, and all this kind of stuff. Would you
do what? I finally moved in with a with a musician,
a guy named David Greer, and we we rented a
(14:22):
house with no heater and for about a year. And
what are you doing when you first moved to Nashville?
Meaning are you out trying to meet people? Play right around? Like? What?
What what happened with the new artists? Me? I was
trying I needed some in council. I got a job.
I knew a guy that worked at Gifts and Guitars,
and so they hired me out there too to work
(14:42):
in the warehouse, shiving guitars everywhere. So and then after
that I would just do whatever I could. I'd go
to two showcases and you know, just go hang out,
just just to get my get out there and meet people.
You know, It's so interesting to hear about because, like
I know, you was the kind music legend. But I
love hearing like the origin story of the hustle because
(15:03):
I think so many people don't know that there's a
hustle for everyone. Man, I tell you what there was.
There was days seriously, uh you know, we didn't have
anything in the house to eat. I mean nothing. One
time I had I think I had like I don't know,
seventy five cents on me and I went by this
funny thing. Ever, I didn't know they didn't have white
castles in the duncan. So I saw instead of Hamburger cents,
(15:26):
I thought, oh, yeah, I've got I can you know?
So I yeah, so I know, I said, the guys
canna help you, I said, I like a Hamburger police.
He goes, uh, just one. I said, yeah, I didn't
know they were you know tiny. Let's talk about this
new project. So it's the first ever vinyl, right, yeah,
And so it's called Joe Joe Joe Diffy right, so
(15:48):
tell me about this. It's just a compilation of of
of some number one songs we had and uh, and
we included a new song on it. I just always
kind of wanted a vinyl and it seems to be
kind of coming back in fashion right now. So where
can people get it? Joe diffu dot com slash vinyl
And each album is individually autographed and number you sign
(16:11):
them all? Did you have the family sign them all? No?
I signed everyone stinking one all. They're all different thing. Yeah,
I was. I was trying to be meticulous about it
because you know, you signed five or anything. After a while,
you're like, man, I just don't care, you know. I
know at first, because I was like when I did
my books, the first book I wrote, I was a
little more like I'm gonna make everything so proud after
(16:31):
and you're like, you know what, I think they're gonna
even like to you start convincing yourself to sloppy's cooler
like my hearts deside. Even at one point, early early
in my career, because I was signing so many things,
I was trying to come up with a faster way
to sign my name, just like make a line and
two dots or something, you know, But I just never did.
Look right, you're living here, you you're in the same roommate.
(16:53):
Are you still together while you're working at the guitar place? Uh?
For a little while. Then I moved out. And that's
kind of how I got my first break actually in
the music business. Was I moved out with from with
him and I moved in with his brother and sister
who has worked with the brother at Gibson and uh
as it happened, Uh super you know, talented songwriter, a
(17:16):
guy who lived next door, and as as Johnny Neil
and uh and so Johnny, you know, he can't see.
He's blind. So my friend John that I moved in with,
this is not getting too complicated. Anytime John, we would
would you take him to various things too, whatever you
need to do, sessions or whatever. And then one day
John was working in so Johnny asked him. He said,
(17:39):
a man, I had somebody He called the house, you know,
and I answered the phone. He said, man, I need
John to come get me. I said, well, he's not here,
and He's like, well, wow, man, I don't know what
to do, and I said, I'll come get you. He
really so I didn't really know him, you know. So anyway,
we hit it off and we started writing songs together.
That's how I got my first publishing deals through him.
Was that a big deal to you to get paid
to write song? Oh? Lord, yes, absolutely. They paid me
(18:03):
a hundred dollars a week to write songs, and then
they paid for you know, the demos the cost of
the demos. So, and that's how I got kind of discovered.
You know, I guess, quote unquote are you singing the demo?
I was singing the demos, So then you know, the
musicians and other guys were like, hey, I gotta come
seeing my demo for me. You know. So what do
you think about your your vocal style? What do you
(18:25):
think it was that attracted people to you? Oh that's
a good question. I don't know. I really I don't
know if I can answer that. How would you classify
yourself as a singer? But pretty country? You know? I mean,
but I'm able to kind of branch out on this
new project. I did a due out with with an
incredible singer named Mark Brossard, he's like Louisiana. Yeah, he's fantastic,
(18:51):
and I just happened to get you know, I was
listening to him as we were riding along on the bus,
were listening to various music, and he happened to be
in town recording the same time. Iowa, so we contacted
you when I just want to go meet him and
say hi, you know. So I did, and he played
me some of this new album he was working on,
and so we became friends. You know, we're not like
super close friends or anything. But then I said, man,
(19:15):
I'm looking to do some do as I would you
be interested in sinking something because yeah, So he came
over and we're looking at each other like, well what
do we do? He goes, I don't know, I should
do you know, Pride and Joy? I said kinda on
r Yeah, I said kind of, I kind of do yeah,
And so you know, we said, let's do that one.
So we end up doing that. It's pretty cool. Here
it is right here, my Pride by my letter. She's
(19:50):
a handle. You're that sweetheart? You see him bad my
nuts on that the final project. Hey Mike, we see
me from Louisiana. He is okay, I just I never
want to mess it up. Like I felt like you
was Karen Karen Crowe, Louisiana and you grew up in
Oklahoma when you were growing up, and is it true
(20:12):
you were so good at all the sports that they
named you like athlete of the year of school. Yeah,
is that true? What that's the old days? But yeah,
well what was your sport? Well? Mostly I was probably
the best at football. I played like we have. It
was a small school, you know, so they both ways
played both ways. We did never really never left the
field really, you know. That was a deep gun, punched
(20:33):
and kickoffs. And then I also was like you know,
I never left the field. So you sell a big
football fan. Oh yeah, here's your team? Well, I mean,
of course I like the Pros are like the Titans,
and the course of Cowboys. That's where I grew up
around was near the cow the Cowboys. So college team Oklahoma?
Oh yeah, big center fans. Yeah. So did you watch
(20:55):
the hisman ceremony? I did not. I was working. Jalen
got third, you got third? Third? Um, great season and
but oh use in it. They're playing LS. It's four
verses one. That's gonna be a tough game that's gonna
be everyone. It's gonna be a real tough game. You're loaded, well,
so you're a good football player, your pumper shower huh yesh. Yeah.
(21:18):
I returned a few points, and I'll tell you what
I did not like with standing there vulnerable as that
ball is coming down and you can just feel without
even seeing you can you know how if you're in
a room, Joe, and you know somebody's looking at you,
and you don't have to look up to feel someone's
eyes on you exactly, but you're imagining that with nine
or ten guys coming at you hard, same kind of feeling,
and you're like trying to judge and do I run
(21:41):
waves once it looks like earte that, Yeah, because you
have to have tremendous focus, right. And once I didn't
fair catch and I thought I wanna, I'm gonna just
take off with this ball. I thought I had some
space and the ball is coming down and I get
a little little alligator arm and it hits my hand
and I bobble it. It's on the ground. And it
was the only time that I really lunged for a
(22:02):
fumble in my because I mostly played wide receiver. Um
and I didn't return a lot of punt, especially after
this story here. But I botched the ball and I
was like, I gotta go dive for it, and and
diving for a fumble was I think the most physical
part of it, because it was just everybody's piling on
diving and I was on the bottom and I was like,
(22:22):
I'm done. Do you ever hear those guys scream on
the bottom, you know, because they're down there and then
something's happening to him that hear that terrified people grabbing
twists And it's a whole thing. So you play football,
play basketball, basketball, baseball, baseball, track, golf, five sport, guy, Hunt,
did you a by playing college at all? Uh? I
(22:43):
thought about. But I never did get any star scholarship
offers for football. I actually had some small college are
from me a side on the same basketball scholarship, oddly enough,
and I wasn't that great. I mean I was okay,
but you know, but uh, but no, I have a
cousin that played at Oklahoma State and he was younger
than I, and so he I asked him and said,
(23:05):
do you think I could could have played that? He goes,
I absolutely real, not so, But I never get any
scholarship offered. I had a coach. Couple of coaches and
small colleges asked me to walk on and if it
worked out, they'd give me a scholarship. I never So
you're in Nashville, and so you're driving Jimmy right, Johnny Neil,
(23:29):
Johnny excuse me, there's John and Johnny. You're driving Johnny Neil,
and so you go pick him up the first time.
And then how does that relationship turn into something? Because
you guys started well, I had bugged him a couple
of times that I'd love to write with him. You know.
Of course I'm just a newbie, you know, I didn't
really know much about it, and he kind of gave
me the old brush off. You know, maybe one day,
(23:49):
well maybe maybe, you know, but we just hit it off.
We had a moment a few minutes that I actually
talking and you know, goofing around, and so he said, well,
come on over. So we wrote couple of songs and
and he had a little studio at his at his
house that and so we turned those demos in and
his publisher at the time signed signed me as well.
(24:11):
So that's kind of how I got started and our
want to you know, I don't think John and I
ever got We got a couple of cuss I got
one on the member of the Forester Sisters. Yeah. Yeah,
it's called Coma Hold Me. And then uh so, then
I started writing with another guy named Lonnie Wilson's great drummer,
session drummer and writer and singer. And we had first
(24:32):
first top five record with Holly Dunn had there Goes
My Heart Again was the name moment. So so a
top five song back in late eighties. Did you make
any money off that? Dude? I went to the mail
by and we're seeing that much money in my life? Really?
Like the first installment, you know, yeah, I was like,
I gotta write war songs. That's pretty cool. And how
long do those checks keep coming? Oh? They the the
(24:55):
first year is pretty good, and after that it tapers
off significantly and almost down to nothing, you know, and
you're cutting these demos and people lynchested in your in
your singing style, which we were on a minute ago.
So when did it become a thing where you go, Okay,
I think it's time for me to try to be
an artist. Well, I mean that's kind of what I
had in mind all all along. But I just knew
(25:17):
that songwriting would be a good avenue to meet people
and and you know, just because it was part of
the music, but it's such a significant part. So I
just but I always had that in my mind being
an artist. But uh, and I didn't really have any
way to that that I knew it takes somebody to
promote you, basically, And so I started doing demos for
(25:39):
these couple of guys and uh, and they knew they
were good friends with Bob mcgomery, who was Epic Records
at the time, and uh, and so after they played
him some demos, so he called me over and met
with me, and I said, uh, how would you like
to have a record deal? And I'm like, uh so, yeah,
that's pretty cool. So that was the conversation and they
(26:00):
kind of changed it off, how would you like to
have a record deal? Conversation? Yeah, exactly, that's pretty cool. Yeah,
he said. I said, a man, I wanted to do
this my whole life and he said, no, you haven't.
I was like, I looked at him, I was like,
what do you mean. He goes, you lived your whole life,
you guys, I thought, Okay, one of those guys, how
long from when you were laid off until you got
your record deal? Three years? So you spent a couple
(26:23):
of months figuring it out. You moved here, you wrote,
so three years from there to there? Right? Do you
feel like you mat sure a lot as an artist
at that time in those three years, probably just just
from the sheer volume of demos and stuff I did,
you know? They're all various styles and so you kind
of had to learn to to do that kind of
(26:44):
you know, just so yeah, I think so, you know
a lot of the artists and a lot of my
friends too that that are here that you kind of
come in in classes. You don't do it on purpose,
but when you moved to town, you start meeting other
people that moved town around the same time, and that
kind of becomes your pack that you grow up with
because you're all on a similar level exactly when you
move here. Like, who is some of the folks in
your class? Well, see there was Tricia Yourwood, Uh, there
(27:08):
was a t. Graham Brown, There was you know, Garthur
singing some demos. I don't know if any of the
others were as you know, but I mean the same
guys that there's you know in my generation, or you know,
of course the Mark Chestnuts and Tracy Lawrence and those guys.
You know. So what was Tricia doing? Was she working
(27:28):
at Mary Tullamore Music or was she singing demos? I'm
not sure. I just I had only met her a
few times when we sing a couple of demos together, Yeah,
which is cool. And then I got I got her
just saying one a chick song quote unquote that I
had written. So she's saying for me. So we've been
friends ever since. So whenever you hear or you see
someone like Gartha Tricia back then, were you like, man,
there's something special about them, like you think or there?
(27:51):
Or is it just the land of the giants where
everybody's good, most everybody was good? You know, it's it
was just you felt like it was just kind of
a cup Shoot, you know, somebody's gonna get lucky and
get that deal. And something I happened. I tell you
a weird story, and people might think this is really odd.
I've done this twice in my life. I went to
see I went to the showcase where it was Garth
(28:13):
and it was at the Douglas Corner and I was
sitting around having a beer, you know, walking talking to
some friends of mine, and I look up and he's
playing it up there and I saw an aura around him.
I'm not kidding you. So I started looking around the room.
I thought, was the lights, guys be weird, that's something
weird going on here. And I didn't find I couldn't
find any reason that he had a blew aura around him.
(28:36):
I swear to good it was the weirdest thing. And
the other time was my my wife Tara. I saw
her and she had an oar. Now do you think
that that's in your eyes? Do you think that you
saw something special? I didn't know what it was. It
was just I saw. I saw it, and I asked.
I said, y'all see that? And everybody was like no,
and I'm like, man, I was okay, I'm I'm gonna
get quiet here. So did you ever talk to Garth
in the early days where you guys didn't we were
(28:59):
super close or anything. You know, who were your buds musically?
But who did you like tour with? Who'd you like
to tour with? Well, I've had a lot of him,
you know. I like all of the people I've toured with.
But let's do this mount rushmore of your favorite tour buddies,
four and four you only get four. Oh gosh, that's
that's hard, man, I'm putting it. I'm putting the screws
to you. I mean, of course, I mean I toured
(29:21):
with Garth, so I didn't do a whole lot. We
Uh he used to open shows for me, oddly enough, yeah,
and so but we did that and I opened some
shows for him after that. Of course. You know, I'm
one of my closest buddies, Mark Chestnut, and uh, you know,
he's he's always really consistent. And uh, who else would
it be? Uh that I toured with, Uh, you know,
(29:43):
Travis Trittz and an incredible singer, did a year long
tour with him. How was that? Because I know Travis
a little bit and he's at times it's very in
your face and at times it's super is super warm,
how about you in Travis relationship? It was good. Yeah,
it was very good. Yeah. Uh, you know, we just
(30:03):
we just had a good time as me, Travis, myself
and Leroy Parnell. We're out there and it was a
good package. You know, we had a lot of fun.
You got one more on the Aunt Rushaurant, Gosh, Garth Chestnut,
Tracy Lawrence. You know, Tracy is always good, you know
when you good when you go see him. I'm trying
to say who else I toured with. I've done so many,
you know, various packages here and there that I can't
(30:26):
even remember him. You ever put a kid opening and
that kid turned out to be a big starway later on? Uh,
let me think I want to I almost said Brad Paisley,
but I'm not sure that ever happened, you know, because
I see someone other. I met a kid the other
night that uh came up and he opened for me
and Chestnut. We're doing an acoustic thing, and he came
(30:47):
up and saying, this kid was really good. You know,
remember I don't remember me. Yeah. It's a little place
in Texas we were in and man, we got him
up to saying and he was like he nailed. He's saying,
they're cold in here. My song. So here's another number one.
This is it's the Devil Danced, The Devil Dance. Do
(31:08):
you have a ball to swing in that song? Yeah?
That's is that your second number one song? I know,
I think that was like the third one. So home hits.
You have a number one? What was the second big
one for you? If you want me to? Okay, if
you want me to and then I think devil Oh,
I actually may have been need to laugh an old
(31:30):
flying I can't remember lost track? Pick up man? Which jam?
Where do you put this in the set list? Oh?
It's fourth or fifth. It's gotta be interesting to put
together set less for you because you have so many biggs.
It's really hard. Remember I remember touring? Would you? I
got the final with George Straight? But put him on
(31:51):
that Mount Rushmore? Gee? When I first started? What year
was that? It had to have been ninety one or two,
somewhere in that range. What is tour like with you
and George Straight? Well? I didn't really get to see
George very much, you know, he was he was kind
of a private person and uh, you know, and he
didn't really come to sound checks or anything. So, I
mean I saw him occasionally, and he's super super nice man.
(32:13):
He just and I just remember I was I was
pretty tickle when he finally, you know, say hey, Joe,
how are you doing? I'm like, all right, George? What
was my name? So bigger than the Beatles? Here's right here.
Number one for you, the love that the Beetles wild.
(32:35):
You know, for me, whenever I would hear you as
a kid, I always felt like you were smiling when
you were singing like that that is part of him,
you know when you're trying to I mean you do
think of that. I try to emote, you know, put
your feelings into the the songs so they could say, yeah.
I always felt like when and when I think about
your songs, I always thinking, man, Jodey becaunds like he's
he's having a good time. Yeah, absolutely that that would
(32:57):
be if I were to I talk about if someone's
what show diff sounds like it's it's not like he's smiling,
like he's having fun singing about country, saying what do
you How do you feel about these artists like the
the Luke Combs. Um, I'm setting you up here, but
but the guys that are really super traditional style again,
does that excite you? I love it? Yeah. I mean
(33:19):
country has always been a little bit secyclical, you know,
and it's a it goes from one thing to another
kind of vacillates back and forth. So I love Luke.
I got to along with Vince Gil and a couple
of other folks got to induct him to the Grand
Old Opry recently, so that was pretty cool. Whenever the
al Dean song came out and the famous lyric is
(33:40):
Joe Joe Joe diffy, did you know this was coming out? Yeah, yeah,
I actually had heard it started us. Somebody contacted me
and said, man, there's a song somewhere out there that
has your name in him. So really, so somehow we
got a copy of it. It was a demo, you know.
Thomas Rhett was one of the writers on that, and so, uh,
(34:00):
the first time I heard it was Thomas Ret's version,
you know, and it was a lot more kind of
rap feeling than than that Jason's version. Jason has a
lot more guitars and stuff. So yeah, I just like
my me and my band members were sitting around. I
said that here's that song got my name in it apparently,
so I put it in there and had all that
We're looking atach other like what the hell is that?
(34:21):
You know? So did you say bring you out all
or wait? Where was it that they doing this in
an award show? It was a c M they had
had the giant head. Is that what it was, remember
seeing it was, that's what it was. The giant head
dropped out of the sea. Did you find when that
song comes out that people were going like younger kids
(34:42):
were like, who the heck is Joe diffy? Like twelve
year old dude. I'm that's a good set up for
saying this. That that because of Jason and Thomas Rick
as Thomas does that song on his show as well,
you know, and so they're getting its being heard by
a lot of people, you know, and so we are
our crowd has just been tremendous and a lot more
(35:03):
you know, younger people and they know every day, go
more to every song. It was pretty amazing. Back in
the day, there was that the TV commercial there was
I think they did pick up man. Pick up Man
was using a maybe a car truck commercial board truck
And did they redo the words a little bit in it? Well, yeah,
or they get another singer? What was it? No, that
(35:23):
was that was actually me on camera that that's the
same one you're talking about. That that commercial actually they
aired on the super during the Super Bowl, So that's
when that commercial. You were in the Super Bowl commercial. Yeah,
that's pretty cool. Cool, I got more people, though they
had no idea who it was that saw that. They
were like, hey, you're that pickup guy. You know, people
(35:44):
would recognize you for being the pickup guy from the
commercial more because I was on camera too. Yeah yeah, yeah,
but they would see you from that. It's interesting case.
I was talking to Brad Paisley a couple of weeks
ago and I said, Hey, what are people like coming
up to you as the insurance guy? And He's like, yeah,
a lot of people don't even know that I do music,
if they don't know country music and only know me
from the I think the nationwide commercial. Yeah that's right. Yeah,
And so people were coming up to you and you're
(36:05):
the super Bowl commercial guy. Is that a nice payde
to the super Bowl commercial? Yes, it's very nice. I
loved I grew up a song though, has made me
probably more money than any of the other songs I've had.
And I didn't write the song. A couple of friends
of mine wrote it, and uh so they get paid
as well, you know, but for for the royalty publishing
(36:25):
and all that stuff. So but I was also an
Apple Beast commercial and was it there? Like cars to
Ghost Service was like, yeah, you pick up. Yeah, they
changed the lyrics on it, and uh, I'll tell you
the miracle of modern stuff. You know, I had a
studio in my house and and so somehow we got
my book and agents got they said that they were
(36:47):
interested in using pick Up Man as a part of
an Apple Beach commercial, and so they sent me a
CD of it, just the music and the lyrics changed.
That they had rewritten it basically, and uh so I
just stuck it into the thing, read the lyrics, sing
it down, tell me about an hour and I sent
(37:07):
it back. I thought it was gonna be like a
presentation or a demo for them, and they used it
and they can't renow it. But it is like, this
is great, I said, kind I guess some more of
those commercials. Is that where it is like in the
sink stuff? Yeah? Yeah, if you can get it, if
you can get a get in one of those deals,
this pretty good deal. What's that touring like for you? Now?
(37:27):
It's great? You done a much shows a lot. Yeah,
this is I've been working working a lot and uh
probably uh, you know, just staying really busy, which is
really good. I like working. You know, we were talking
earlier that the travel part gets a little old. You know,
you get tired from that. But I mean, you know,
get to sing due play around and messing around all
(37:49):
the times. Like it's like I told my guys, it's
like we're on a big camping trip all the time,
you know, so we have fun. You worked in oil
field for a while. I did. You drove a truck
a pump cement? Is that true? What does that work? Like?
It sucked? Yeah? It was for a company called Halliburton,
and uh oddly enough, who were headquartered They used to
(38:10):
be headquartered in Duncan, Oklahoma. But I had to move
to Alas, Texas to get to work for him because
I had an uncle that worked for them, and uh
so I did. I didn't do that for very long.
I was there for about I don't know, three or
four months or so, and I just it was like
you're gone all the time, and you know that the
pay was not that great, and uh so I just
(38:30):
decided I didn't like that, so I moved back to
Duncan and got a job in that foundry. So so
what about you going to medical school? I always if
you had asked me when I was a kid, that's
what I always wanted to be was a doctor, and
I used to read medical books and I followed my
parents around reading them facts and figures on that kind
of stuff. You know, what'd your mom and dad do? Uh?
They were both the teachers. My dad did a little
(38:53):
bit of everything. He had his own welding company for
a while. He had a repossession company for a while.
Was he didn't repot cars. He didn't like that in
the middle of the night and go and that's a
dangerous it's very dangerous. You got shot at a couple
of times. He said he didn't like that. So, yeah,
he had he actually built since he was a welder.
He built this rig on the like a hook that
(39:16):
that was hydraulic and it would come out of the
out of the back of the pickup and the tailgate
would lower down and he would just back up to
the cars and pick them up and drive off with him.
That's a crazy line of work and thinking. As we
get as kids, we see adults do things more like
that's just kind of normal, right, But as you get
to be an adult and you see other adults repoint
and people shooting out over that's that's. Yeah. He didn't
(39:39):
last long with that. He didn't like that at all.
So and plus you know, you're having to and he
just just the human element of it. A lot of
people who couldn't you know, they were behind on their
payments through whatever. Some of them were just bumms, and
some of them just lost their jobs or something, you know,
or we're ill. And he'd have to the bank, would
you know, telling to go get this car. You know,
So he had to work with the bank a lot,
(39:59):
and so he he didn't like that either because then
people had to come. He had to do it to
a yard, and then people came to the yard and
he had to be out there while they gathered their
belonging to other repossessed car. You know. Yeah, so he
didn't like that. You were inducted into the grandal opery.
It's a real special thing. That was one of one
of my highlights of my career. I could consider it.
(40:20):
You know, How did you get told you were going
to be in the operation? Kind of the same way
I got told by a record deal. I went out
to the opera in and I met with the guy
who I can't remember his name right now. He was
the head of it back then, and just how I
thought I didn't know why we were even out there,
and was out there with my managers and he goes,
how would you like to be remember the Grand ol Opera.
Was like, yeah, so that really really that's how I
(40:41):
got my record deal and the Grand Old Operathing. So
it's pretty cool, pretty low key, and it was yeah.
Is it true that your parents and your parents did
you could sing harmonies when you were three years old?
Now you probably can't remember three. Do you remember three?
I remember singing and we had to pick up and uh,
I had two sisters, have two sisters, and so we
(41:02):
would all be five or five of us being the
truck and to keep us occupied, and you know, from
screaming at each other, they would sing solidtle, simple songs,
you know, kids songs, and we sing along with them.
And at three you can harmonize. I just hear. I
just heard it. It was in my head. I could hear.
Were you always a really good singer as a seven
year old? Church or wherever you were singing? Are you
(41:24):
always think? I guess, you know, it's hard to value,
hard to judge it, you know, I guess were you
rewarded for your singing at a very young age? Were
people telling you why Joe. Yeah, I mean I remember
my aunt got me up in front of with her
band and I got up and singing You're my son
shine or something like that, you know, and so it's
pretty cool. What was that like in the nineties, touring
(41:46):
with no internet and no cell phone and no Google Maps.
Do you ever just end up with the bus in
a wrong talent? Absolutely? Oh you would, Yeah, you know,
of course you have to get the map at and
then you had to know, Hey, even our sadite we
did have a sad like dish, but you bus had
to be stopped and you had to like physically enter in,
(42:07):
get the atlas out and figure out your latitude and
your longitude and enter those coordinates in and then it
would raise up. Yeah. Would you ever get somewhere because
there weren't cell phones realized there was no show happening anymore,
or like you get there and like no, we tried
to get ahold of you, but they carry your pigeon,
you know. Now, unfortunately never had that happen. But what
(42:28):
kind of country ms the artists you drawn to? Now?
I guess I have a tendency to lean more towards
the country you're the country side of things, you know,
which you know, so I you know, I enjoy Luke
and you know, Brad Paisley and a couple of other
guys that that I think are good, good singers, you know.
Growing up? Who was your favorite? Oh Man, Well, it'd
(42:50):
probably have to be George Jones. Well that's who I
emulated some you know, learned a lot by emulating him.
But I mean, I I had a whole angel of course,
I had the regulars that everybody mentions, Haggard Jones, Johnny Cash,
you know, Conway there was you know, a whole plethora
of those people. But but I you know, I actually
(43:10):
like I loved Loretta Lion and Dolly Parton as well,
you know, and Connie Smith. And so I heard a
lot of those being from Oklahoma. And and I'll perhaps
it with my story. I'm from Arkansas. So it was
Johnny Cash and Conway Twitty and you can, I mean listen,
which tall Liman was so big to anybody from Arkansas
was a big deal to us because there weren't a
lot of us who made it on any sort of
(43:33):
national stage being from Oklahoma. Who was it that you
looked at and was like wow, like, this is one
of our guys doing or one of our girls doing it. Well,
I mean obviously you know, but they aren't that much
older than I am. But I mean Reba and Vance,
they were already involved in doing stuff before I ever
moved to Nashville. So that was pretty cool to see that,
(43:54):
and you know, you kinda kind of take that and
you know, feel good about it. Man, that's crazy. Like
I did the Michael was I think in DC. I
did with Reba Kennedy Honors. I did the Kennedy Honors
for Reba. I got to go, I did, went up
and did ten minutes of stand up and there was
like six of us that presented Reeve. It was me
and Brooks and Dunn and Kristin, Chenna Wyth and Kelly Clarkson.
(44:17):
But anyway, so i go up and I'm doing comedy,
but I'm also talking through as I'm doing comedy. Reba's
Oklahoma Alive where she was it was, you know, doing
uh the roadwork in the rodeos, like singing the rodeos
and you know, just singing the national anthem at the rodeo.
X Ritter, I think one who for you saw you sing?
I know, you got a record of it. Who saw
(44:39):
you randomly? If anyone, and they were like, man, I
think there could be Like you're actually pretty good there, Joe,
did you ever have one of those little drunk guy
at the bar before you go Oklahoma? He threw literally
through five dollars if he said a mood to Nashville
you're really good. So have you ever see anybody cover
your songs nowadays? And you go, man, that's a really
good version of that song. I've heard it a couple
(45:01):
of me. It sounds really good. You know, it's fun.
It's fun to me to hear him. You know. If
you can pick one of your songs to be covered
again now and be made a hit again, which which
song would you like to see a reborn? That's a
good question. Uh, well, I know my favorite song is
the Ships that Don't Come In. Oh, come on, I
love the Only Place. Let me let me listen. That's
all the Soulver Died in Bag, the Insane Lot Up,
(45:29):
and Limson, the Alls Down all Man. So everybody listening
right now, there's a lot of artists that listen to
this podcast. Ships that Don't Come In that's the cover
to dude, that's such a great song. I've I've told
the writers that David Giveson and Paul Nelson I said
that song didn't need me, but it needed somebody to
(45:51):
sing it because it's just such a great song. I
think it could have been a hit with anybody, you know,
So I was glad I got it. Anybody cool ever
come up to you that You're like, man, is they're
a fan of you? You but You're like, that's really cool.
They're a fan of me? A lot of yeah, a
lot uh some people I Revere, you know. I mean,
I walked I was gonna introduce myself to Merle Haggard
(46:11):
one time at the a c M. And I walked
up to because Joe, how you doing? Man, I'm a
big fan of her, And I'm like, Merl Hagard knows
my name. It's just blows my mind, you know. Ronnie
Millsap told me it was, you know, so yeah, those
that's a really special thing when somebody who you who
you idolize, tells you that, you know, can you go
to dinner in Nashville with are in Tennessee without being bothered? Yeah?
(46:34):
And it's people are pretty cool. They're really they are,
and and I just always feel like it's really not
a bother. I mean, the only time I never even
kind of gets under my skin a little bit is
if I'm in the middle of eating. You know, I
often say if people are eating or with their kids,
those are really the only two times, because otherwise everyone
else what they signed up for, right figure, your public figure.
(46:57):
But eating like literal food on the table, food fork
in my hand, eating something and something. Yeah, but I mean,
and of course people don't mean any harm by it,
you know, a fact fact. George Jones and I were
at to dinner one night, one evening, and and this
lady came up, and we were in the middle of eating,
and she comes up with a little boy, and she goes,
I don't mean to bother you guys, And George goes,
(47:18):
but what are you doing it for them? He was teasing.
Of course, you know. So what is it like to
be a fan of George Jones and then here you
are having dinner? Now I couldn't I don't even know how.
I couldn't even talk to him. I didn't know what
to even ask him. I'm assuming he has to invite you, yeah, yeah,
And did you got Where did that relationship? How did
it start? Just from doing a couple of shows together.
(47:41):
And uh, and I sang on on his hit song,
I don't need your rocking chair, I don't need Yeah,
you met a game. Yeah, I was one of the
most special things. Not only because of that, but I
got to take my dad. I didn't tell him where
we were going. He was George Jones, his idol, you know,
(48:02):
so I just took him. I took him and he said,
where are we going? I said, just come on, you know.
So I took him in there and and uh, there
was all he saw Alan Jackson, Clint Black and all
these people. He was like, what is this? What's going
on here? Then the limo pulls up, Georgie gets that.
He was just I've never seen he was speechless. He
just was stunned by it. You know. So that's really cool, right, Like,
of all the moments, I getting to do things for
(48:23):
the people that you care about, at least for me,
has been that kind of the coolest thing I've been
able to do. Absolutely, that's pretty cool that you're a
big fan of George Jones and the next then you're
at dinner with Really it took me a couple of times, uh,
before I was able to converse with him, because I
was just really I was so nervous and and he
was just such an icon in my eyes. But I
(48:44):
found it later on. He was he was just so
he's just so country, you know, He's like and he's
like talking to your grandpa. He couldn't hear it real good,
you know, so you say something and he goes, you know.
So then I got even sing on a on a
song with me, and it was really cool too. Jever
met Tammy. Oh yeah, Tammy was once. She loved my singing. Yes,
you asked about that earlier. She I forgot about Tammy.
(49:06):
She was a huge fan of mine. In fact, I
sang on She did an album of duets with a
lot of rock artists, and I think me and my
known over the only two country people she has to
be on there. So that was really neat to get
to sit there. I mean, you're talking about bizarre. All
of a sudden, I'm sitting there right next to Tammy
win that and we sang it live, we sang it down. Lie.
(49:28):
It was you know, there was no overdubbing or punching in.
It was that that's what it was. So were you
around when they were doing the tours of stars homes
when they would actually dry by people's houses, which nowadays
seems really weird. It's a it's a pain in the rear.
You'll be up on your lawns happen all the time. Yeah,
so you know, I'm on the d what happens. You're
(49:49):
all sweating and you know they you know, here there
comes that bus, little people and they are all taking
pictures over you, and you're sweat and dripping off of you,
got grass all over you. You know, it's like Hi Hill.
You know, how would they find your house? I don't
know how this. I don't know. I don't know how
they did it, because if they did that nowadays, that
would be the weirdest. Well. I asked him. I asked
(50:12):
me to request. I said, Look, not only it's it's
bothering me, but it's bothering my neighbors as well. To
have these busses coming and stopping in the everybody getting
out and all this day. Would get out of the
bus a couple of times I did. Yeah, and I
guess it's not illegal. No. I actually called and asked,
is there any way we can make this stop and
(50:32):
they're like no, so okay. So it was kind of weird.
So after that, literally I'll be up mowing the lawn
or doing something outside and I'd be watching because I
knew about what time of day they came by it.
So I just watched for h I go hide, you know,
run behind the shed. Everybody check it out. Joe Joe,
Joe Diffy. Each album is individually autographed and numbered, and
(50:55):
it's at Joe Diffy dot com slash vinyl. But I'm
sure if you just go to Joe Diffy dot com
there's also a link up there that says for the
vinyl right if you can't spell vinyl, I'll be honest,
not a great word to spell. B I N Y
L No, I'm not. I would have been anyone on
that um as long as there's a bar. Yeah, tell
me about that. A couple of great friends of mine
(51:17):
wrote that Gay Gall and Griffin and uh and Brian
Keith Burns who was in Trick Pony and he played
bass for me for like seven years early in my career,
and so they wrote this song. It just reminded me
of brought me up a little bit. So that's that's
that's most of the reason I did it. With a
lot of the music from when I was a kid
in the nineties where you have a bunch of your
number one songs kind of re emerging as a big deal.
(51:39):
Did that help you're touring nineties country like it was? It?
Like absolutely, it was like a whole new rebirth of
touring for you. Absolutely, yeah, helped it and tremendously And
like I say, uh, with the advent of that song
in the I got so many new art, new fans
and you know, younger fans. It's just really it's really
been pretty amazing to me. Well, I'm super happy that
(52:00):
that you came by. Good luck, hope yourself. So many
of these these vinyl records that you're so annoyed having
to sign, that's that's the greatest problem to have the best.
I would get so irritated signed these books, and I
be like, I'm so happy to be irritated. It was
the greatest irritation you gotta Sometimes, you know, you get
a little a little by yester or just worn out
(52:22):
with things over time, and you kind of it's good
to get a little uh, you know, check once in
a while. Just to kind of a little gut check
and say, okay, wait a minute, I'm doing the best.
I got the best job in the world. You know,
I could be out roof and house and I used
to do that. You know, I could be back on
doing clean I used to do clean up for roofing house,
which is even worth the roofing house. Right, so I
(52:42):
have I'm I'm just so lucky and so blessed, like
a great family, you know, and so great friends. So
you know, it's it's a it's a pleasure for me. Well,
you're always welcome. I got a Christmas card from you,
all right, Yes? Did you know that I did? Yes?
And I felt like I was giving I felt like
I was giving them news. Mike. It was like it
was like, oh, you gotta Christmas. I got a Christmas
car from a couple of days. She's a gazillion but
(53:05):
we're glad that you're on the list. So it was
news to you. Well she told me about it. Yes, okay,
good yesterday. Regardless. I thought it was pretty cool. I'm
not gonna lie to ye thought it was pretty cool.
Joe Diffie dot Com slash final Joe, good luck and
good to see you again, thank you, episode to seventeen
here on the Bobby Cat
It's pouring down rain and we just finished with Joe
Diffy and I was worried because I mean, it's been
storming really bad. And he came. Joe still showed up.
Family was with them. They said over and we had
like a viewing party for the podcast that you're about
to hear there. Um, the first time I met Joe Diffie,
I don't want to bring it up to him and
and geek out in his face, trying to be somewhat professional.
(00:22):
Here was I think at the Grand Old Opry and
we were playing together. It was at the Rheyman and
I was just like, I was your biggest fan, and
he said, you know what, my daughter is a big fan.
Years can I get a picture of you? And I
was like, wait what? And so we've had a really
good relationship for the past couple of years. Um, so
it's pretty cool to talk to somebody who was a
(00:44):
big star back when big stars were still a cool
thing to you. Because now I'm so jaded and I
see people that are big stars but they're also my
friends or they're also people that I know that it's
just they're they're humans now more and big stars, and
to me, the coolest thing is when I was a kid,
(01:05):
meeting them now and if they're cool. I got on
an airplane once and I get on the Southwest flight
and I was like the last one on the flight
and there's a middle seat wide open. It's the only
seat left on the flight. And it's not gonna be
anything of you, Mike, because you're not a sports guy.
But there was Barry Switzer and Eddie Sutton now Barry
Switzer coach he played at Arkansas, coached Oklahoma National Championships
(01:27):
coach with the Cowboys one championship. Eddie Sutton coached Arkansas,
coached Oklahoma State basketball. And the seat within the middle
was open. It was the one seat on the freaking plane.
And I was an adult, but they were such big
deals as a kid, and that was so cool to me.
And I sat there in Barry Switser told me so
many good stories. He didn't have to. He didn't know
I was a guy from the radio. He was like, hey,
(01:48):
where you from, kid, I mean that was probably twenty
five or six at the time. And I told him
from Arkansas and goes, oh, man, I'm from you know
I and I you know, I coached and I recruited
kids from here and here, But it was kind of
the same feeling when I got to meet Joe Diffy
the first time, or Barry Switzer or even you know
sports figures from when I was a kid. So you
(02:10):
bet to your podcast with Joe Diffy, which obviously if
you clicked it, you knew that, um myke These new
podcast is up called Movie Mix Movie Podcast. Yeah, and
they can find it by searching search movie Mix. And
how has the response been so far? It's been really cool,
seeing like everybody enjoying it so far. I'm really excited
about that. And so you put out the first episode,
(02:31):
um if lifetime and it's about the highest what is
it again, the highest paid movie roles of all time,
of all time of anyone of anyone. So it's like
one character they played, how much they got paid throughout
those movies. And so, have you record a multiple episodes
yet or you just got the one? I have a
couple more that I've recorded. Yeah, and what's another one
coming up? Another one I have is actors who got
(02:53):
hurt on the set. Oh, that's really interesting, And like,
do you do Brandon League got killed? No? I mean,
I don't know anyone that dies. Oh, but that's a
crazy story. Yeah. I thought the gun was all but yeah,
and then he shot himself part of the movie and died. Yeah.
You know what I saw on your Twitter? I thought
was interesting that you have a no spoiler's rule, Yeah,
because I don't think. I think if you go to
(03:14):
a movie podcast and it's like spoilers, that kind of
takes away like you can enjoy a review without a spoiler.
So would you ever talk? So? Okay, I was I
would let me suggest this because I don't know how
you're doing your podcast yet, because I just want up
today and having a time to hear it. Yet, could
you ever put it? Because I would listen to podcasts
like Bill Simmons and he would talk about Game of Thrones,
(03:34):
but he would put at the very end of the
podcast any sort of spoilers. So it's like, okay, if
you don't want to hear this, you need to turn
the podcast off. Now. I think, well, I've kind of
had an idea of like maybe later down the line,
I had like another one where I do like a
spoiled thing or it's reviewing something with everything in it.
So if you want to hear a spoiler episode that
it will be all in there because I just want
to talk about too with somebody else who has seen it,
and you can go into like dive into a little
(03:56):
bit more. But I think just for reviews and what
people like, I want to hearing that you don't need
to spoilers a movie. Mike's Movie Podcast. Check it out,
search it wherever you listen to your podcasts. And here
we go. Let's get into the newest episode. It's me
talking with Joe Diffy. I welcome to episode to seventeen
with a guy I really like and we've been a
(04:17):
big fan of for yours Joe Diffy. Good to hear you,
good to see you, Thank you, thank you as well.
You know, I was looking up I know most of
the stuff about you, like I've been a fan before
we've been able to be friends. I was just a
massive fan of you growing up, and so as I
kind of went on the deep dive because I always
like to find out, you know, what do I not
know about the people that are coming over to the
(04:38):
house listen to this. I don't know if you even
knew that on this day, December six, you had the
number one song on the Billboard Country Chart with Pickup Man.
It was your longest lasting number one. I haven't spent
four weeks at number one from December to January. Did
you know that that was today? No, I didn't know
(04:59):
today the rest of that, but I didn't realize the
date of it. That's pretty cool on this day and
four number one? Yeah. Yeah. So for example, Luke Combs
just spent three weeks at number one. Um, and that's
a first for a song. The last three weeks number one,
especially today, a really big deal. When you have a
song that someone for four weeks in what's really the
(05:21):
the vibe of that? Well, I mean it was unusual
because back then, you know, they put out a lot
more songs. The frequency you have, you know, you put
out four, four or five songs a year, and now
you might have one song that stays on the charts,
lingering there at some point for almost a year, you know.
So so that was kind of the weird part we had.
We had to wait to see what how long it
(05:43):
was going to stay number one before we could put
out another record. So did you feel like that song
was going to be a number one song? I knew
it from the instant. I heard it really, I really did. Yeah.
I don't know why. I just something about it. I
just you know, have you been able to name and
nail boast of most of your big songs, but the
first time you heard them? Yeah, pretty much. Uh, there
was a couple that it didn't uh, like John dear Green,
(06:06):
I hated when I first heard it. Yeah, why, well
because the demo and now this is it's it's a
long saga, but it But when I first heard it, uh,
it was done by the writer named Dennis Lindy, and
he had a very eclectic sounding voice, and he did
all his own demos at his house, so it had
(06:27):
like a jewice harp planning like Arnie and Arnie. And
I was like, what the heck is that? You know?
And then my producer so we'll just he said ignore
the demo part. I have to add right now that
that I subsequently loved all of Dennis Lindy's demos. They
were so cool. After he got after you kind of
figured out what was what was happening, you know, then
(06:47):
my producer said, listen to the words and uh and uh,
I was like, man, I just don't like it at all.
He goes, well, he said, he said, I think this
is a hit, And I said, well, we can try it.
You know, we're going to studio and cut and if
it doesn't work out, then we scrap it, you know.
So luckily it worked out. So you go in and
at what point is it during the session? Is it
during the track when do you go, oh, there might
be something here with John der Green? Won't we tracked it,
(07:10):
you know, because obviously it was a lot different than
the demo, you know, so yeah, we once once we
started tracking. I think that's that is a pretty good
song right there. What song of yours when you play
it gets the biggest response? And you know what's funny
about that? It was not a number one song? Isn't
that weird? And it's you know, I talked with a
lot of young artists now and they're like, I just
want that number one. Like I get it, you do.
(07:32):
But and and and Keith, we're gonna have talked about
this where his a lot of his biggest songs weren't
number one, and that we were to have you know,
of course, back in those days, I mean there were
several over like four or five different charts, so I
think you did go number one and one of them,
I don't know which one, but but yeah, uh that's
always that is a strange phenomena some of your some
(07:53):
songs that do go number one don't sell as as well, etcetery.
You know. So for me when I think about your music,
like my favorite song has propped me out, and that
was not a number one song on the on the
radio chart. I mean when I think, Joe Diffy, this
is the song from me. I know every word. I
remember when it came out. I bought the CD and
(08:13):
I memorized every word so I could sing all of
I did that and third rock because the third rock
is a little hard use the words are a lot faster.
But this, this is the song for me that if
someone's like, what your favorite A matter of fact, when
you came in, I was like, Joe, you gotta play
probbed me up? And you did. And again is it
peaked at number three on the radio chart. It's weird.
There's a big record from me. The video though for
(08:35):
this song is what I really remember from this song
as well, because back in the day we used to
really watch CMT from music video a lot. Yeah, all
you know what I remember about the video, mostly filming
the video. It was so hot, man, it was. And
they had this these buckets of like sea bree remember
sea Breeze. It was kind of like a facial cleanser
or some kind of deal, and it was like but
(08:56):
it had like an aromatic kind of effect and they
were dabbing all of us with it stuff. You know.
That's judge member was so hot and and plus the
dead guy. Yeah, it was so funny, man. I mean
that that that to me is those two songs. And
again as I started deep diving, and I was like, man,
my favorite two songs number five and a number three.
And you say that John der Green gets the biggest.
(09:18):
When you do your set list, what do you start with?
What's the first song? A third rock from the sun?
You come out of high energy, huh, Which this wasn't
number one song for you. Yeah. I just would have
a problem going out and doing the fast up quick
because I'd be had of breath for the next three songs.
That has happened, like especially I said right where it
happened to me a lot as if I'm you know,
on the oprey for some reason makes you nervous and
(09:40):
bo if you ever get backwards during your breathing in
that song, You're screwed. I mean, it's it's over, you know.
Tell me about this song Third Rock? So you heard
it where you're like, what's this about it? Like? What? Um?
I always thought it was like a little mini movie,
you know, which I heard a lot of songwriters, so
you try to dude, right, try to write it a
little three minute movie, you know. But honestly, this was
(10:02):
one that I mean, even though I liked it, they
there was the same publisher had played two different songs
for us, and uh, and I like the other one
better actually, and so uh you know, so anyway I
ended up getting both of them. Had to do to
the wheeling and dealing some some guy apparently that I
don't know. I can't verify this, but I was told this.
(10:24):
Garth Brooks wanted Third Rock as well. So and how
did you get Third Rocket? What was the wheel to
cut both? We would do both of their songs. Do
you know what the other song was? It was called
uh something? But if you're having to think, I guess
that really was never there was never a single. Yeah,
did you put it on the record? Yeah, it's that
(10:44):
I'm gonna run through your number one's real quick, let's
do home. Yeah, your first the debut singers is that right,
first song out and you go number one for six,
number one, six in a row. So do you think
after let's say two or three, do you have a
figured out? Um? You know what I felt like? Such
(11:06):
I was. I felt a little bit like a rube.
I was so naive about the whole process. I mean
even though I kind of knew. I kind of knew
about stuff. But man, when you know when you get it,
when you when you start off like what I did.
I mean, I was on the road three hundred days
a year, and so I didn't really have time to
think about stuff. I was busy, you know, traveling and
doing shows and meet doing meet and greets and all
(11:28):
that stuff. You know. So what brought you to Nashville?
Meaning I know the music, I know that the thought
of country music. But there's always something where something you
get that push or you can kind of the itch. Well,
I got laid off from my job I had. I
was working on a foundry back in Duncan, Oklahoma, and
they shut the plant down, laid us all off, and
(11:50):
you know, and I've been singing a little VFWS and
twenty moved. I moved to Nashville when I also a
little bit older compared to like the nineteen two years
are moving here now exactly? So you get laid off? Yeah,
and I said, And I had been to Nashville once
before with my aunt and a friend of mine. We
had we we did this little thing as a trio
(12:11):
and we came in and my aunt had known somebody
here in Nashville, and so anyway we met with him,
and I I just fell in love with the city then.
But I didn't have the opportunity because I still had
a job at the time, you know. But when I
got laid off, I was like, well, you know what,
I think, I'm just gonna try it. So I just
loaded up everything I could get in this whole beat
up car I had, and off I went. So at home,
(12:35):
you know, you're you're playing around bar? Are you playing
on bars at home at all? Not a lot. Honestly.
My background was more of a I sang in a
gospel group than I Then I went from that to
a bluegrass group. I played blue grass for six years
with this group called the Special Edition. Were you known
as the guy that was doing music while working at
the plant by your workers. Yeah, you co workers. Yeah,
(12:56):
they always asked me to sing, you know, would you
ever sing at work? I don't remember gat them around
and be like all right boys, yeah, I mean I
just they sing that song, you know whatever. Isn't it
funny how the things at the time that seemed this
happened over my career in my life too. We're really
I put finger quotes up, unfortunate things that happened to
us turn out to really be blessing, dude, blessing, the
biggest blessing ever you have. Because if I hadn't got
(13:18):
laid off, I probably would have never left there. You know.
So when you get laid off, do you remember how
that happened? Did you did your your boss your form
and come in and go all right, you're done. No,
it was just more of a I got a phone call,
I think, and they said, yeah, play shut down, don't
go out there. And then immediately do you go all right?
Time to go to Nashville, Like was it kind of
in the chamber already? No. It took a took a
(13:40):
couple of months, you know, drawing unemployment, and I thought, well,
you know, I might as well, think of something. I
had a good friend of mine. We used to discuss
thing he wanted. He moved to Dallas and became an accountant,
and you know, that's what I want to he said,
get You know, you gotta try music. You're really good
at it and all that stuff. So and when you
got to town, did you feel like you were good
(14:01):
enough to get in the mix immediately? Um? I just
felt really lost, honestly when I first got to town,
because I just gotten divorced and I missed my kids,
and you know, and I was just in this new
place and I didn't have a place to live, and
you know, and all this kind of stuff. Would you
do what? I finally moved in with a with a musician,
a guy named David Greer, and we we rented a
(14:22):
house with no heater and for about a year. And
what are you doing when you first moved to Nashville?
Meaning are you out trying to meet people? Play right around? Like? What?
What what happened with the new artists? Me? I was
trying I needed some in council. I got a job.
I knew a guy that worked at Gifts and Guitars,
and so they hired me out there too to work
(14:42):
in the warehouse, shiving guitars everywhere. So and then after
that I would just do whatever I could. I'd go
to two showcases and you know, just go hang out,
just just to get my get out there and meet people.
You know, It's so interesting to hear about because, like
I know, you was the kind music legend. But I
love hearing like the origin story of the hustle because
(15:03):
I think so many people don't know that there's a
hustle for everyone. Man, I tell you what there was.
There was days seriously, uh you know, we didn't have
anything in the house to eat. I mean nothing. One
time I had I think I had like I don't know,
seventy five cents on me and I went by this
funny thing. Ever, I didn't know they didn't have white
castles in the duncan. So I saw instead of Hamburger cents,
(15:26):
I thought, oh, yeah, I've got I can you know?
So I yeah, so I know, I said, the guys
canna help you, I said, I like a Hamburger police.
He goes, uh, just one. I said, yeah, I didn't
know they were you know tiny. Let's talk about this
new project. So it's the first ever vinyl, right, yeah,
And so it's called Joe Joe Joe Diffy right, so
(15:48):
tell me about this. It's just a compilation of of
of some number one songs we had and uh, and
we included a new song on it. I just always
kind of wanted a vinyl and it seems to be
kind of coming back in fashion right now. So where
can people get it? Joe diffu dot com slash vinyl
And each album is individually autographed and number you sign
(16:11):
them all? Did you have the family sign them all? No?
I signed everyone stinking one all. They're all different thing. Yeah,
I was. I was trying to be meticulous about it
because you know, you signed five or anything. After a while,
you're like, man, I just don't care, you know. I
know at first, because I was like when I did
my books, the first book I wrote, I was a
little more like I'm gonna make everything so proud after
(16:31):
and you're like, you know what, I think they're gonna
even like to you start convincing yourself to sloppy's cooler
like my hearts deside. Even at one point, early early
in my career, because I was signing so many things,
I was trying to come up with a faster way
to sign my name, just like make a line and
two dots or something, you know, But I just never did.
Look right, you're living here, you you're in the same roommate.
(16:53):
Are you still together while you're working at the guitar place? Uh?
For a little while. Then I moved out. And that's
kind of how I got my first break actually in
the music business. Was I moved out with from with
him and I moved in with his brother and sister
who has worked with the brother at Gibson and uh
as it happened, Uh super you know, talented songwriter, a
(17:16):
guy who lived next door, and as as Johnny Neil
and uh and so Johnny, you know, he can't see.
He's blind. So my friend John that I moved in with,
this is not getting too complicated. Anytime John, we would
would you take him to various things too, whatever you
need to do, sessions or whatever. And then one day
John was working in so Johnny asked him. He said,
(17:39):
a man, I had somebody He called the house, you know,
and I answered the phone. He said, man, I need
John to come get me. I said, well, he's not here,
and He's like, well, wow, man, I don't know what
to do, and I said, I'll come get you. He
really so I didn't really know him, you know. So anyway,
we hit it off and we started writing songs together.
That's how I got my first publishing deals through him.
Was that a big deal to you to get paid
to write song? Oh? Lord, yes, absolutely. They paid me
(18:03):
a hundred dollars a week to write songs, and then
they paid for you know, the demos the cost of
the demos. So, and that's how I got kind of discovered.
You know, I guess, quote unquote are you singing the demo?
I was singing the demos, So then you know, the
musicians and other guys were like, hey, I gotta come
seeing my demo for me. You know. So what do
you think about your your vocal style? What do you
(18:25):
think it was that attracted people to you? Oh that's
a good question. I don't know. I really I don't
know if I can answer that. How would you classify
yourself as a singer? But pretty country? You know? I mean,
but I'm able to kind of branch out on this
new project. I did a due out with with an
incredible singer named Mark Brossard, he's like Louisiana. Yeah, he's fantastic,
(18:51):
and I just happened to get you know, I was
listening to him as we were riding along on the bus,
were listening to various music, and he happened to be
in town recording the same time. Iowa, so we contacted
you when I just want to go meet him and
say hi, you know. So I did, and he played
me some of this new album he was working on,
and so we became friends. You know, we're not like
super close friends or anything. But then I said, man,
(19:15):
I'm looking to do some do as I would you
be interested in sinking something because yeah, So he came
over and we're looking at each other like, well what
do we do? He goes, I don't know, I should
do you know, Pride and Joy? I said kinda on
r Yeah, I said kind of, I kind of do yeah,
And so you know, we said, let's do that one.
So we end up doing that. It's pretty cool. Here
it is right here, my Pride by my letter. She's
(19:50):
a handle. You're that sweetheart? You see him bad my
nuts on that the final project. Hey Mike, we see
me from Louisiana. He is okay, I just I never
want to mess it up. Like I felt like you
was Karen Karen Crowe, Louisiana and you grew up in
Oklahoma when you were growing up, and is it true
(20:12):
you were so good at all the sports that they
named you like athlete of the year of school. Yeah,
is that true? What that's the old days? But yeah,
well what was your sport? Well? Mostly I was probably
the best at football. I played like we have. It
was a small school, you know, so they both ways
played both ways. We did never really never left the
field really, you know. That was a deep gun, punched
(20:33):
and kickoffs. And then I also was like you know,
I never left the field. So you sell a big
football fan. Oh yeah, here's your team? Well, I mean,
of course I like the Pros are like the Titans,
and the course of Cowboys. That's where I grew up
around was near the cow the Cowboys. So college team Oklahoma?
Oh yeah, big center fans. Yeah. So did you watch
(20:55):
the hisman ceremony? I did not. I was working. Jalen
got third, you got third? Third? Um, great season and
but oh use in it. They're playing LS. It's four
verses one. That's gonna be a tough game that's gonna
be everyone. It's gonna be a real tough game. You're loaded, well,
so you're a good football player, your pumper shower huh yesh. Yeah.
(21:18):
I returned a few points, and I'll tell you what
I did not like with standing there vulnerable as that
ball is coming down and you can just feel without
even seeing you can you know how if you're in
a room, Joe, and you know somebody's looking at you,
and you don't have to look up to feel someone's
eyes on you exactly, but you're imagining that with nine
or ten guys coming at you hard, same kind of feeling,
and you're like trying to judge and do I run
(21:41):
waves once it looks like earte that, Yeah, because you
have to have tremendous focus, right. And once I didn't
fair catch and I thought I wanna, I'm gonna just
take off with this ball. I thought I had some
space and the ball is coming down and I get
a little little alligator arm and it hits my hand
and I bobble it. It's on the ground. And it
was the only time that I really lunged for a
(22:02):
fumble in my because I mostly played wide receiver. Um
and I didn't return a lot of punt, especially after
this story here. But I botched the ball and I
was like, I gotta go dive for it, and and
diving for a fumble was I think the most physical
part of it, because it was just everybody's piling on
diving and I was on the bottom and I was like,
(22:22):
I'm done. Do you ever hear those guys scream on
the bottom, you know, because they're down there and then
something's happening to him that hear that terrified people grabbing
twists And it's a whole thing. So you play football,
play basketball, basketball, baseball, baseball, track, golf, five sport, guy, Hunt,
did you a by playing college at all? Uh? I
(22:43):
thought about. But I never did get any star scholarship
offers for football. I actually had some small college are
from me a side on the same basketball scholarship, oddly enough,
and I wasn't that great. I mean I was okay,
but you know, but uh, but no, I have a
cousin that played at Oklahoma State and he was younger
than I, and so he I asked him and said,
(23:05):
do you think I could could have played that? He goes,
I absolutely real, not so, But I never get any
scholarship offered. I had a coach. Couple of coaches and
small colleges asked me to walk on and if it
worked out, they'd give me a scholarship. I never So
you're in Nashville, and so you're driving Jimmy right, Johnny Neil,
(23:29):
Johnny excuse me, there's John and Johnny. You're driving Johnny Neil,
and so you go pick him up the first time.
And then how does that relationship turn into something? Because
you guys started well, I had bugged him a couple
of times that I'd love to write with him. You know.
Of course I'm just a newbie, you know, I didn't
really know much about it, and he kind of gave
me the old brush off. You know, maybe one day,
(23:49):
well maybe maybe, you know, but we just hit it off.
We had a moment a few minutes that I actually
talking and you know, goofing around, and so he said, well,
come on over. So we wrote couple of songs and
and he had a little studio at his at his
house that and so we turned those demos in and
his publisher at the time signed signed me as well.
(24:11):
So that's kind of how I got started and our
want to you know, I don't think John and I
ever got We got a couple of cuss I got
one on the member of the Forester Sisters. Yeah. Yeah,
it's called Coma Hold Me. And then uh so, then
I started writing with another guy named Lonnie Wilson's great drummer,
session drummer and writer and singer. And we had first
(24:32):
first top five record with Holly Dunn had there Goes
My Heart Again was the name moment. So so a
top five song back in late eighties. Did you make
any money off that? Dude? I went to the mail
by and we're seeing that much money in my life? Really?
Like the first installment, you know, yeah, I was like,
I gotta write war songs. That's pretty cool. And how
long do those checks keep coming? Oh? They the the
(24:55):
first year is pretty good, and after that it tapers
off significantly and almost down to nothing, you know, and
you're cutting these demos and people lynchested in your in
your singing style, which we were on a minute ago.
So when did it become a thing where you go, Okay,
I think it's time for me to try to be
an artist. Well, I mean that's kind of what I
had in mind all all along. But I just knew
(25:17):
that songwriting would be a good avenue to meet people
and and you know, just because it was part of
the music, but it's such a significant part. So I
just but I always had that in my mind being
an artist. But uh, and I didn't really have any
way to that that I knew it takes somebody to
promote you, basically, And so I started doing demos for
(25:39):
these couple of guys and uh, and they knew they
were good friends with Bob mcgomery, who was Epic Records
at the time, and uh, and so after they played
him some demos, so he called me over and met
with me, and I said, uh, how would you like
to have a record deal? And I'm like, uh so, yeah,
that's pretty cool. So that was the conversation and they
(26:00):
kind of changed it off, how would you like to
have a record deal? Conversation? Yeah, exactly, that's pretty cool. Yeah,
he said. I said, a man, I wanted to do
this my whole life and he said, no, you haven't.
I was like, I looked at him, I was like,
what do you mean. He goes, you lived your whole life,
you guys, I thought, Okay, one of those guys, how
long from when you were laid off until you got
your record deal? Three years? So you spent a couple
(26:23):
of months figuring it out. You moved here, you wrote,
so three years from there to there? Right? Do you
feel like you mat sure a lot as an artist
at that time in those three years, probably just just
from the sheer volume of demos and stuff I did,
you know? They're all various styles and so you kind
of had to learn to to do that kind of
(26:44):
you know, just so yeah, I think so, you know
a lot of the artists and a lot of my
friends too that that are here that you kind of
come in in classes. You don't do it on purpose,
but when you moved to town, you start meeting other
people that moved town around the same time, and that
kind of becomes your pack that you grow up with
because you're all on a similar level exactly when you
move here. Like, who is some of the folks in
your class? Well, see there was Tricia Yourwood, Uh, there
(27:08):
was a t. Graham Brown, There was you know, Garthur
singing some demos. I don't know if any of the
others were as you know, but I mean the same
guys that there's you know in my generation, or you know,
of course the Mark Chestnuts and Tracy Lawrence and those guys.
You know. So what was Tricia doing? Was she working
(27:28):
at Mary Tullamore Music or was she singing demos? I'm
not sure. I just I had only met her a
few times when we sing a couple of demos together, Yeah,
which is cool. And then I got I got her
just saying one a chick song quote unquote that I
had written. So she's saying for me. So we've been
friends ever since. So whenever you hear or you see
someone like Gartha Tricia back then, were you like, man,
there's something special about them, like you think or there?
(27:51):
Or is it just the land of the giants where
everybody's good, most everybody was good? You know, it's it
was just you felt like it was just kind of
a cup Shoot, you know, somebody's gonna get lucky and
get that deal. And something I happened. I tell you
a weird story, and people might think this is really odd.
I've done this twice in my life. I went to
see I went to the showcase where it was Garth
(28:13):
and it was at the Douglas Corner and I was
sitting around having a beer, you know, walking talking to
some friends of mine, and I look up and he's
playing it up there and I saw an aura around him.
I'm not kidding you. So I started looking around the room.
I thought, was the lights, guys be weird, that's something
weird going on here. And I didn't find I couldn't
find any reason that he had a blew aura around him.
(28:36):
I swear to good it was the weirdest thing. And
the other time was my my wife Tara. I saw
her and she had an oar. Now do you think
that that's in your eyes? Do you think that you
saw something special? I didn't know what it was. It
was just I saw. I saw it, and I asked.
I said, y'all see that? And everybody was like no,
and I'm like, man, I was okay, I'm I'm gonna
get quiet here. So did you ever talk to Garth
in the early days where you guys didn't we were
(28:59):
super close or anything. You know, who were your buds musically?
But who did you like tour with? Who'd you like
to tour with? Well, I've had a lot of him,
you know. I like all of the people I've toured with.
But let's do this mount rushmore of your favorite tour buddies,
four and four you only get four. Oh gosh, that's
that's hard, man, I'm putting it. I'm putting the screws
to you. I mean, of course, I mean I toured
(29:21):
with Garth, so I didn't do a whole lot. We
Uh he used to open shows for me, oddly enough, yeah,
and so but we did that and I opened some
shows for him after that. Of course. You know, I'm
one of my closest buddies, Mark Chestnut, and uh, you know,
he's he's always really consistent. And uh, who else would
it be? Uh that I toured with, Uh, you know,
(29:43):
Travis Trittz and an incredible singer, did a year long
tour with him. How was that? Because I know Travis
a little bit and he's at times it's very in
your face and at times it's super is super warm,
how about you in Travis relationship? It was good. Yeah,
it was very good. Yeah. Uh, you know, we just
(30:03):
we just had a good time as me, Travis, myself
and Leroy Parnell. We're out there and it was a
good package. You know, we had a lot of fun.
You got one more on the Aunt Rushaurant, Gosh, Garth Chestnut,
Tracy Lawrence. You know, Tracy is always good, you know
when you good when you go see him. I'm trying
to say who else I toured with. I've done so many,
you know, various packages here and there that I can't
(30:26):
even remember him. You ever put a kid opening and
that kid turned out to be a big starway later on? Uh,
let me think I want to I almost said Brad Paisley,
but I'm not sure that ever happened, you know, because
I see someone other. I met a kid the other
night that uh came up and he opened for me
and Chestnut. We're doing an acoustic thing, and he came
(30:47):
up and saying, this kid was really good. You know,
remember I don't remember me. Yeah. It's a little place
in Texas we were in and man, we got him
up to saying and he was like he nailed. He's saying,
they're cold in here. My song. So here's another number one.
This is it's the Devil Danced, The Devil Dance. Do
(31:08):
you have a ball to swing in that song? Yeah?
That's is that your second number one song? I know,
I think that was like the third one. So home hits.
You have a number one? What was the second big
one for you? If you want me to? Okay, if
you want me to and then I think devil Oh,
I actually may have been need to laugh an old
(31:30):
flying I can't remember lost track? Pick up man? Which jam?
Where do you put this in the set list? Oh?
It's fourth or fifth. It's gotta be interesting to put
together set less for you because you have so many biggs.
It's really hard. Remember I remember touring? Would you? I
got the final with George Straight? But put him on
(31:51):
that Mount Rushmore? Gee? When I first started? What year
was that? It had to have been ninety one or two,
somewhere in that range. What is tour like with you
and George Straight? Well? I didn't really get to see
George very much, you know, he was he was kind
of a private person and uh, you know, and he
didn't really come to sound checks or anything. So, I
mean I saw him occasionally, and he's super super nice man.
(32:13):
He just and I just remember I was I was
pretty tickle when he finally, you know, say hey, Joe,
how are you doing? I'm like, all right, George? What
was my name? So bigger than the Beatles? Here's right here.
Number one for you, the love that the Beetles wild.
(32:35):
You know, for me, whenever I would hear you as
a kid, I always felt like you were smiling when
you were singing like that that is part of him,
you know when you're trying to I mean you do
think of that. I try to emote, you know, put
your feelings into the the songs so they could say, yeah.
I always felt like when and when I think about
your songs, I always thinking, man, Jodey becaunds like he's
he's having a good time. Yeah, absolutely that that would
(32:57):
be if I were to I talk about if someone's
what show diff sounds like it's it's not like he's smiling,
like he's having fun singing about country, saying what do
you How do you feel about these artists like the
the Luke Combs. Um, I'm setting you up here, but
but the guys that are really super traditional style again,
does that excite you? I love it? Yeah. I mean
(33:19):
country has always been a little bit secyclical, you know,
and it's a it goes from one thing to another
kind of vacillates back and forth. So I love Luke.
I got to along with Vince Gil and a couple
of other folks got to induct him to the Grand
Old Opry recently, so that was pretty cool. Whenever the
al Dean song came out and the famous lyric is
(33:40):
Joe Joe Joe diffy, did you know this was coming out? Yeah, yeah,
I actually had heard it started us. Somebody contacted me
and said, man, there's a song somewhere out there that
has your name in him. So really, so somehow we
got a copy of it. It was a demo, you know.
Thomas Rhett was one of the writers on that, and so, uh,
(34:00):
the first time I heard it was Thomas Ret's version,
you know, and it was a lot more kind of
rap feeling than than that Jason's version. Jason has a
lot more guitars and stuff. So yeah, I just like
my me and my band members were sitting around. I
said that here's that song got my name in it apparently,
so I put it in there and had all that
We're looking atach other like what the hell is that?
(34:21):
You know? So did you say bring you out all
or wait? Where was it that they doing this in
an award show? It was a c M they had
had the giant head. Is that what it was, remember
seeing it was, that's what it was. The giant head
dropped out of the sea. Did you find when that
song comes out that people were going like younger kids
(34:42):
were like, who the heck is Joe diffy? Like twelve
year old dude. I'm that's a good set up for
saying this. That that because of Jason and Thomas Rick
as Thomas does that song on his show as well,
you know, and so they're getting its being heard by
a lot of people, you know, and so we are
our crowd has just been tremendous and a lot more
(35:03):
you know, younger people and they know every day, go
more to every song. It was pretty amazing. Back in
the day, there was that the TV commercial there was
I think they did pick up man. Pick up Man
was using a maybe a car truck commercial board truck
And did they redo the words a little bit in it? Well, yeah,
or they get another singer? What was it? No, that
(35:23):
was that was actually me on camera that that's the
same one you're talking about. That that commercial actually they
aired on the super during the Super Bowl, So that's
when that commercial. You were in the Super Bowl commercial. Yeah,
that's pretty cool. Cool, I got more people, though they
had no idea who it was that saw that. They
were like, hey, you're that pickup guy. You know, people
(35:44):
would recognize you for being the pickup guy from the
commercial more because I was on camera too. Yeah yeah, yeah,
but they would see you from that. It's interesting case.
I was talking to Brad Paisley a couple of weeks
ago and I said, Hey, what are people like coming
up to you as the insurance guy? And He's like, yeah,
a lot of people don't even know that I do music,
if they don't know country music and only know me
from the I think the nationwide commercial. Yeah that's right. Yeah,
And so people were coming up to you and you're
(36:05):
the super Bowl commercial guy. Is that a nice payde
to the super Bowl commercial? Yes, it's very nice. I
loved I grew up a song though, has made me
probably more money than any of the other songs I've had.
And I didn't write the song. A couple of friends
of mine wrote it, and uh so they get paid
as well, you know, but for for the royalty publishing
(36:25):
and all that stuff. So but I was also an
Apple Beast commercial and was it there? Like cars to
Ghost Service was like, yeah, you pick up. Yeah, they
changed the lyrics on it, and uh, I'll tell you
the miracle of modern stuff. You know, I had a
studio in my house and and so somehow we got
my book and agents got they said that they were
(36:47):
interested in using pick Up Man as a part of
an Apple Beach commercial, and so they sent me a
CD of it, just the music and the lyrics changed.
That they had rewritten it basically, and uh so I
just stuck it into the thing, read the lyrics, sing
it down, tell me about an hour and I sent
(37:07):
it back. I thought it was gonna be like a
presentation or a demo for them, and they used it
and they can't renow it. But it is like, this
is great, I said, kind I guess some more of
those commercials. Is that where it is like in the
sink stuff? Yeah? Yeah, if you can get it, if
you can get a get in one of those deals,
this pretty good deal. What's that touring like for you? Now?
(37:27):
It's great? You done a much shows a lot. Yeah,
this is I've been working working a lot and uh
probably uh, you know, just staying really busy, which is
really good. I like working. You know, we were talking
earlier that the travel part gets a little old. You know,
you get tired from that. But I mean, you know,
get to sing due play around and messing around all
(37:49):
the times. Like it's like I told my guys, it's
like we're on a big camping trip all the time,
you know, so we have fun. You worked in oil
field for a while. I did. You drove a truck
a pump cement? Is that true? What does that work? Like?
It sucked? Yeah? It was for a company called Halliburton,
and uh oddly enough, who were headquartered They used to
(38:10):
be headquartered in Duncan, Oklahoma. But I had to move
to Alas, Texas to get to work for him because
I had an uncle that worked for them, and uh
so I did. I didn't do that for very long.
I was there for about I don't know, three or
four months or so, and I just it was like
you're gone all the time, and you know that the
pay was not that great, and uh so I just
(38:30):
decided I didn't like that, so I moved back to
Duncan and got a job in that foundry. So so
what about you going to medical school? I always if
you had asked me when I was a kid, that's
what I always wanted to be was a doctor, and
I used to read medical books and I followed my
parents around reading them facts and figures on that kind
of stuff. You know, what'd your mom and dad do? Uh?
They were both the teachers. My dad did a little
(38:53):
bit of everything. He had his own welding company for
a while. He had a repossession company for a while.
Was he didn't repot cars. He didn't like that in
the middle of the night and go and that's a
dangerous it's very dangerous. You got shot at a couple
of times. He said he didn't like that. So, yeah,
he had he actually built since he was a welder.
He built this rig on the like a hook that
(39:16):
that was hydraulic and it would come out of the
out of the back of the pickup and the tailgate
would lower down and he would just back up to
the cars and pick them up and drive off with him.
That's a crazy line of work and thinking. As we
get as kids, we see adults do things more like
that's just kind of normal, right, But as you get
to be an adult and you see other adults repoint
and people shooting out over that's that's. Yeah. He didn't
(39:39):
last long with that. He didn't like that at all.
So and plus you know, you're having to and he
just just the human element of it. A lot of
people who couldn't you know, they were behind on their
payments through whatever. Some of them were just bumms, and
some of them just lost their jobs or something, you know,
or we're ill. And he'd have to the bank, would
you know, telling to go get this car. You know,
So he had to work with the bank a lot,
(39:59):
and so he he didn't like that either because then
people had to come. He had to do it to
a yard, and then people came to the yard and
he had to be out there while they gathered their
belonging to other repossessed car. You know. Yeah, so he
didn't like that. You were inducted into the grandal opery.
It's a real special thing. That was one of one
of my highlights of my career. I could consider it.
(40:20):
You know, How did you get told you were going
to be in the operation? Kind of the same way
I got told by a record deal. I went out
to the opera in and I met with the guy
who I can't remember his name right now. He was
the head of it back then, and just how I
thought I didn't know why we were even out there,
and was out there with my managers and he goes,
how would you like to be remember the Grand ol Opera.
Was like, yeah, so that really really that's how I
(40:41):
got my record deal and the Grand Old Operathing. So
it's pretty cool, pretty low key, and it was yeah.
Is it true that your parents and your parents did
you could sing harmonies when you were three years old?
Now you probably can't remember three. Do you remember three?
I remember singing and we had to pick up and uh,
I had two sisters, have two sisters, and so we
(41:02):
would all be five or five of us being the
truck and to keep us occupied, and you know, from
screaming at each other, they would sing solidtle, simple songs,
you know, kids songs, and we sing along with them.
And at three you can harmonize. I just hear. I
just heard it. It was in my head. I could hear.
Were you always a really good singer as a seven
year old? Church or wherever you were singing? Are you
(41:24):
always think? I guess, you know, it's hard to value,
hard to judge it, you know, I guess were you
rewarded for your singing at a very young age? Were
people telling you why Joe. Yeah, I mean I remember
my aunt got me up in front of with her
band and I got up and singing You're my son
shine or something like that, you know, and so it's
pretty cool. What was that like in the nineties, touring
(41:46):
with no internet and no cell phone and no Google Maps.
Do you ever just end up with the bus in
a wrong talent? Absolutely? Oh you would, Yeah, you know,
of course you have to get the map at and
then you had to know, Hey, even our sadite we
did have a sad like dish, but you bus had
to be stopped and you had to like physically enter in,
(42:07):
get the atlas out and figure out your latitude and
your longitude and enter those coordinates in and then it
would raise up. Yeah. Would you ever get somewhere because
there weren't cell phones realized there was no show happening anymore,
or like you get there and like no, we tried
to get ahold of you, but they carry your pigeon,
you know. Now, unfortunately never had that happen. But what
(42:28):
kind of country ms the artists you drawn to? Now?
I guess I have a tendency to lean more towards
the country you're the country side of things, you know,
which you know, so I you know, I enjoy Luke
and you know, Brad Paisley and a couple of other
guys that that I think are good, good singers, you know.
Growing up? Who was your favorite? Oh Man, Well, it'd
(42:50):
probably have to be George Jones. Well that's who I
emulated some you know, learned a lot by emulating him.
But I mean, I I had a whole angel of course,
I had the regulars that everybody mentions, Haggard Jones, Johnny Cash,
you know, Conway there was you know, a whole plethora
of those people. But but I you know, I actually
(43:10):
like I loved Loretta Lion and Dolly Parton as well,
you know, and Connie Smith. And so I heard a
lot of those being from Oklahoma. And and I'll perhaps
it with my story. I'm from Arkansas. So it was
Johnny Cash and Conway Twitty and you can, I mean listen,
which tall Liman was so big to anybody from Arkansas
was a big deal to us because there weren't a
lot of us who made it on any sort of
(43:33):
national stage being from Oklahoma. Who was it that you
looked at and was like wow, like, this is one
of our guys doing or one of our girls doing it. Well,
I mean obviously you know, but they aren't that much
older than I am. But I mean Reba and Vance,
they were already involved in doing stuff before I ever
moved to Nashville. So that was pretty cool to see that,
(43:54):
and you know, you kinda kind of take that and
you know, feel good about it. Man, that's crazy. Like
I did the Michael was I think in DC. I
did with Reba Kennedy Honors. I did the Kennedy Honors
for Reba. I got to go, I did, went up
and did ten minutes of stand up and there was
like six of us that presented Reeve. It was me
and Brooks and Dunn and Kristin, Chenna Wyth and Kelly Clarkson.
(44:17):
But anyway, so i go up and I'm doing comedy,
but I'm also talking through as I'm doing comedy. Reba's
Oklahoma Alive where she was it was, you know, doing
uh the roadwork in the rodeos, like singing the rodeos
and you know, just singing the national anthem at the rodeo.
X Ritter, I think one who for you saw you sing?
I know, you got a record of it. Who saw
(44:39):
you randomly? If anyone, and they were like, man, I
think there could be Like you're actually pretty good there, Joe,
did you ever have one of those little drunk guy
at the bar before you go Oklahoma? He threw literally
through five dollars if he said a mood to Nashville
you're really good. So have you ever see anybody cover
your songs nowadays? And you go, man, that's a really
good version of that song. I've heard it a couple
(45:01):
of me. It sounds really good. You know, it's fun.
It's fun to me to hear him. You know. If
you can pick one of your songs to be covered
again now and be made a hit again, which which
song would you like to see a reborn? That's a
good question. Uh, well, I know my favorite song is
the Ships that Don't Come In. Oh, come on, I
love the Only Place. Let me let me listen. That's
all the Soulver Died in Bag, the Insane Lot Up,
(45:29):
and Limson, the Alls Down all Man. So everybody listening
right now, there's a lot of artists that listen to
this podcast. Ships that Don't Come In that's the cover
to dude, that's such a great song. I've I've told
the writers that David Giveson and Paul Nelson I said
that song didn't need me, but it needed somebody to
(45:51):
sing it because it's just such a great song. I
think it could have been a hit with anybody, you know,
So I was glad I got it. Anybody cool ever
come up to you that You're like, man, is they're
a fan of you? You but You're like, that's really cool.
They're a fan of me? A lot of yeah, a
lot uh some people I Revere, you know. I mean,
I walked I was gonna introduce myself to Merle Haggard
(46:11):
one time at the a c M. And I walked
up to because Joe, how you doing? Man, I'm a
big fan of her, And I'm like, Merl Hagard knows
my name. It's just blows my mind, you know. Ronnie
Millsap told me it was, you know, so yeah, those
that's a really special thing when somebody who you who
you idolize, tells you that, you know, can you go
to dinner in Nashville with are in Tennessee without being bothered? Yeah?
(46:34):
And it's people are pretty cool. They're really they are,
and and I just always feel like it's really not
a bother. I mean, the only time I never even
kind of gets under my skin a little bit is
if I'm in the middle of eating. You know, I
often say if people are eating or with their kids,
those are really the only two times, because otherwise everyone
else what they signed up for, right figure, your public figure.
(46:57):
But eating like literal food on the table, food fork
in my hand, eating something and something. Yeah, but I mean,
and of course people don't mean any harm by it,
you know, a fact fact. George Jones and I were
at to dinner one night, one evening, and and this
lady came up, and we were in the middle of eating,
and she comes up with a little boy, and she goes,
I don't mean to bother you guys, And George goes,
(47:18):
but what are you doing it for them? He was teasing.
Of course, you know. So what is it like to
be a fan of George Jones and then here you
are having dinner? Now I couldn't I don't even know how.
I couldn't even talk to him. I didn't know what
to even ask him. I'm assuming he has to invite you, yeah, yeah,
And did you got Where did that relationship? How did
it start? Just from doing a couple of shows together.
(47:41):
And uh, and I sang on on his hit song,
I don't need your rocking chair, I don't need Yeah,
you met a game. Yeah, I was one of the
most special things. Not only because of that, but I
got to take my dad. I didn't tell him where
we were going. He was George Jones, his idol, you know,
(48:02):
so I just took him. I took him and he said,
where are we going? I said, just come on, you know.
So I took him in there and and uh, there
was all he saw Alan Jackson, Clint Black and all
these people. He was like, what is this? What's going
on here? Then the limo pulls up, Georgie gets that.
He was just I've never seen he was speechless. He
just was stunned by it. You know. So that's really cool, right, Like,
of all the moments, I getting to do things for
(48:23):
the people that you care about, at least for me,
has been that kind of the coolest thing I've been
able to do. Absolutely, that's pretty cool that you're a
big fan of George Jones and the next then you're
at dinner with Really it took me a couple of times, uh,
before I was able to converse with him, because I
was just really I was so nervous and and he
was just such an icon in my eyes. But I
(48:44):
found it later on. He was he was just so
he's just so country, you know, He's like and he's
like talking to your grandpa. He couldn't hear it real good,
you know, so you say something and he goes, you know.
So then I got even sing on a on a
song with me, and it was really cool too. Jever
met Tammy. Oh yeah, Tammy was once. She loved my singing. Yes,
you asked about that earlier. She I forgot about Tammy.
(49:06):
She was a huge fan of mine. In fact, I
sang on She did an album of duets with a
lot of rock artists, and I think me and my
known over the only two country people she has to
be on there. So that was really neat to get
to sit there. I mean, you're talking about bizarre. All
of a sudden, I'm sitting there right next to Tammy
win that and we sang it live, we sang it down. Lie.
(49:28):
It was you know, there was no overdubbing or punching in.
It was that that's what it was. So were you
around when they were doing the tours of stars homes
when they would actually dry by people's houses, which nowadays
seems really weird. It's a it's a pain in the rear.
You'll be up on your lawns happen all the time. Yeah,
so you know, I'm on the d what happens. You're
(49:49):
all sweating and you know they you know, here there
comes that bus, little people and they are all taking
pictures over you, and you're sweat and dripping off of you,
got grass all over you. You know, it's like Hi Hill.
You know, how would they find your house? I don't
know how this. I don't know. I don't know how
they did it, because if they did that nowadays, that
would be the weirdest. Well. I asked him. I asked
(50:12):
me to request. I said, Look, not only it's it's
bothering me, but it's bothering my neighbors as well. To
have these busses coming and stopping in the everybody getting
out and all this day. Would get out of the
bus a couple of times I did. Yeah, and I
guess it's not illegal. No. I actually called and asked,
is there any way we can make this stop and
(50:32):
they're like no, so okay. So it was kind of weird.
So after that, literally I'll be up mowing the lawn
or doing something outside and I'd be watching because I
knew about what time of day they came by it.
So I just watched for h I go hide, you know,
run behind the shed. Everybody check it out. Joe Joe,
Joe Diffy. Each album is individually autographed and numbered, and
(50:55):
it's at Joe Diffy dot com slash vinyl. But I'm
sure if you just go to Joe Diffy dot com
there's also a link up there that says for the
vinyl right if you can't spell vinyl, I'll be honest,
not a great word to spell. B I N Y
L No, I'm not. I would have been anyone on
that um as long as there's a bar. Yeah, tell
me about that. A couple of great friends of mine
(51:17):
wrote that Gay Gall and Griffin and uh and Brian
Keith Burns who was in Trick Pony and he played
bass for me for like seven years early in my career,
and so they wrote this song. It just reminded me
of brought me up a little bit. So that's that's
that's most of the reason I did it. With a
lot of the music from when I was a kid
in the nineties where you have a bunch of your
number one songs kind of re emerging as a big deal.
(51:39):
Did that help you're touring nineties country like it was? It?
Like absolutely, it was like a whole new rebirth of
touring for you. Absolutely, yeah, helped it and tremendously And
like I say, uh, with the advent of that song
in the I got so many new art, new fans
and you know, younger fans. It's just really it's really
been pretty amazing to me. Well, I'm super happy that
(52:00):
that you came by. Good luck, hope yourself. So many
of these these vinyl records that you're so annoyed having
to sign, that's that's the greatest problem to have the best.
I would get so irritated signed these books, and I
be like, I'm so happy to be irritated. It was
the greatest irritation you gotta Sometimes, you know, you get
a little a little by yester or just worn out
(52:22):
with things over time, and you kind of it's good
to get a little uh, you know, check once in
a while. Just to kind of a little gut check
and say, okay, wait a minute, I'm doing the best.
I got the best job in the world. You know,
I could be out roof and house and I used
to do that. You know, I could be back on
doing clean I used to do clean up for roofing house,
which is even worth the roofing house. Right, so I
(52:42):
have I'm I'm just so lucky and so blessed, like
a great family, you know, and so great friends. So
you know, it's it's a it's a pleasure for me. Well,
you're always welcome. I got a Christmas card from you,
all right, Yes? Did you know that I did? Yes?
And I felt like I was giving I felt like
I was giving them news. Mike. It was like it
was like, oh, you gotta Christmas. I got a Christmas
car from a couple of days. She's a gazillion but
(53:05):
we're glad that you're on the list. So it was
news to you. Well she told me about it. Yes, okay,
good yesterday. Regardless. I thought it was pretty cool. I'm
not gonna lie to ye thought it was pretty cool.
Joe Diffie dot Com slash final Joe, good luck and
good to see you again, thank you, episode to seventeen
here on the Bobby Cat
Host
Bobby Bones
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