Never Too Late: Dennis Welch's Musical Journey at 69

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Merry (00:01):
This is the EWN Podcast Network.

Cathy (00:14):
Welcome to late boomers, our podcast guide to creating
your third act with style,power, and impact. Hi. I'm Cathy
Worthington.

Merry (00:24):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you
conversations with successfulentrepreneurs, entertainers, and
people with vision who aremaking a difference in the
world.

Cathy (00:34):
Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the
ride on each interview,recounting the journey our
guests have taken to get wherethey are, inspiring you to
create your own path to success.Let's get started. Hi. I'm Kathy
Worthington, and welcome to LateBoomers. I'm here with my

(00:56):
cohost, Mary Elkins, and we'rewelcoming a new guest to our
podcast, author, songwriter, andrecording artist, Dennis Welch,
who at 69 years old has justreleased his latest album titled
Strong.

Merry (01:12):
And I'm Mary Elkins. After composing over 500 songs,
recording and performing liveworldwide, he says that if he
could wave a wand on how theworld would remember him, he
would choose just one word,storyteller. Welcome, Dennis.
We're looking forward to hearingyour story.

Dennis Welch (01:34):
Well, thank you, ladies. Thank you for having me
on, and I love I love tellingthis story, and I always hope
that it's encouraging to people,especially of a certain age,
right, that you're really neverdone kind of thing, and so we'll
get to that, but I appreciateyou having me Thank

Cathy (01:51):
you, Dennis, and please tell us about your early years
and when you started writingsongs. Was it a family music
tradition in your family?

Well, my family loved music. They loved
particularly country music, andI grew up I spent every weekend
at my grandmother's, and she hada little green plastic radio
that she turned on it way beforedaylight, and she would get the
farm report, and she lived rightin the middle of Houston. I
thought, why is she doing this?Right? I mean, grandma, come on.

(02:22):
You don't need to do that. Buteventually she she she got a
farm. Even in her sixties shedid, but anyway and so my family
loved music, but nobody reallyplayed an instrument. And and
so, you know and I lovedlistening to the radio, and I
had certain songs that I liked,but the idea of writing songs

(02:43):
was it never occurred to me. ButI've always been a word guy, and
so I, you know, I could read andspell before I started school,
and my and my mother had metested.
So I went to University ofHouston. They tested me. They
they did some tests at the theelementary school, little inner
city elementary school that Iwent to. And I remember

(03:06):
distinctly going to theprincipal's office with my
mother before school started,and miss McRe, and I remember
her because of what she did forme. But anyway, in this moment,
she was very imposing and sheshe handed me a book and she
said, okay, read that page,Dennis, and then close the book

(03:26):
and tell me what you read.
And so so I did that, and when Ifinished reading it and telling
her what I read, she looked atmy mother and she said, he does
not need to be in the firstgrade or the second grade. He
needs to start in the thirdgrade. So let's move him up to
the third grade. My mother said,no. He already likes to play
ball and sports, and he probablywon't wanna play against kids

(03:50):
that are bigger than him.
And so maybe there's anotheraccommodation that you can do.
And so anyway, on day one of thefirst grade, I'm sitting in my
my first grade class, and youknow, I just got there. And it
was time for the reading circle,and in steps Ms. McRe, and she's
called my name and said, youknow, come with me. I thought I

(04:12):
was in trouble.
Anyway, she we went out thehallway. I thought, I just got
here. I'm already in trouble. Soshe she held my hand. I remember
this.
She held my hand as she walkedme down to the school library,
and I had never been in alibrary. And we walk into this
you know, it looked it lookedcavernous, but it was probably
just a little elementary schoollibrary. Right? And so we walk

(04:36):
over to the far wall, andthere's all of these children's
books along there, and she says,look. Every day when your
reading circle meets, come downhere, excuse yourself quietly,
come down to the library, andyou can read.
These are for first, second, andthird graders. But then this was
the real crazy thing. She turnwe turn around and we look out

(04:59):
at the library and she says, andby the way, you don't have to
read the Cat in the Hat. You canread anything in the library.
And so by the time I got out ofthe sixth grade, I had read all
the works of Mark Twain.
I read it such a gift. Know, Iread the first time I was really

(05:21):
moved by a book was Charlotte'sWeb. And I thought, wow, you can
make people feel that withwords? That's just I wanna try
to figure out how to do that,right? And so anyway, saw I was
always a word guy.
And then when I was about maybe17, I was driving home from a
date. And one of the themes,ladies, that you will hear in

(05:44):
this conversation is thatthroughout my life, you know,
people say, oh, this is justdumb luck. You know, your life
is a random sample of events andall this stuff. But for me, it's
I can't I really can't believethat, because the right person
has shown up at the right timefor me exactly when I needed

(06:05):
them. And so this is the firstexample really of that, you
know, musically was I write thissong driving home from a date,
and I was singing it in my carand trying to remember it, and
it had a had verses and achorus.
And I'm like, that's cool.That's that's kind of a song.
Now what do I do with it? Right?So the next day, I went into my

(06:27):
my little job.
I worked full time, and I wasgoing to school, you know, full
time, and the guy that I workedfor always kept his ovation
guitar under his desk. And so Isang this song all day because
there weren't there weren'tthese that you could record
something on quickly. Right? Andso Yeah. At the end of the day,

(06:47):
he says, what is that songyou've been humming all day?
And I said, well, it's a song Iwrote, you know, driving home a
date last night. And he goes,well, let's play it. And he
takes his guitar out, and heplays and sings the song with
me. And that was that. It was Iwas like, wow.
And he said, hey, Dennis, thisis a real song. And you know

(07:10):
what? You should see if there'smore of this that you can do. So
go buy a cheap guitar, learn afew chords, see what happens.
And and and I tried to learnchords, but as I learned chords,
I could hear in the air.
I heard I heard the story. Iheard the lyrics, and I started
writing songs almostimmediately. And and then

(07:33):
eventually, you know, startedrecording some of that stuff
and, you know, getting out andplaying and all that, and every
bit of that was encouraging. Youknow, was exactly what I needed.

Merry (07:41):
Story. It it sounds like you were you were born that way.
You're a musical genius. ButWell,

I don't know about a genius, but but I am musical.

Cathy (07:52):
You're tapped into where it comes from. You're tapped

into the

Cathy (07:56):
universe to hear it.

Well, and the thing is this, you know what? I
worked for the Galluporganization for thirteen years,
and right when they werechanging from being a not very
profitable polling, but wellknown polling company to the
consulting juggernaut theybecame with StrengthsFinder and
engagement, all this stuff theydid. And I was standing outside
of a meeting room one day withwith the late Don Clifton, the

(08:21):
grandfather of positivepsychology, inventor of the
StrengthsFinder. He climbedevery mountain, basically. There
was nothing left for him.
He was around 80 at the time.And and so everybody walked away
from us and went in the room andleft just me and him, and I it
was never just me and him. Hewas always had a crowd around
him. I said, hey, Don. Lookhere.
I said, it's just you and me. Isaid, tell me the most profound

(08:44):
thing you can tell me in twominutes before we walk in there.
And he got a big smile on hisface, and he held up his index
finger. He said, Dennis, everysingle person on the planet,
every single person, the guythat parks your car, the guy
sleeping on the park bench,every person can do at least one
thing better than 10,000 otherpeople. Oh.

(09:05):
He said, that's the good news.He said, the bad news is most
people don't have any idea whatthat one thing is. And, you
know, and I'm thankful I'mthankful that I I found this
stuff, but I don't think youfind it on the road of safety. I
mean, you know, everybody has ascript for their life, and they

(09:27):
go, you know, I'm gonna go tocollege. I'm gonna be a lawyer.
I'm gonna be a doctor orwhatever they're gonna be. And,
you know, or I'm gonna go towork for that company where I
get a paycheck every two weeks,and I and, you know, and I'm
never gonna have to worry aboutmoney and all that. And you
know, we've never really donethat. And stepping out like
that, there are resources andpeople and things that show up

(09:50):
to help you, and they're justinvisible when you're on the
road of safety. You can't evensee that out there.
How cool it is. Been adventurefor sure.

Merry (10:00):
That is so true. Climb climb every mountain and and,
you know, make sure that youdon't fall, but keep climbing.
Right? Yeah. Yes.
I think

I I don't want to live any other way, you know.

Merry (10:12):
So so Dennis, you talked a little about your grandmother,
but who influenced you in yourearly days? I assume some of she
was an influence, but who else?And also, who are your
influences now?

Well, one of the things I learned after I did so
I did a I did a record that waskind of a gospel record, and it
got played on the radio. InHouston, I heard it all day. If
I was driving around, heard mymusic on the radio, which is so
encouraging. But I really didn'twanna do gospel music, and so I
made a rock and roll record.Well, when that record came out,
I went to my mother's house, andand I walked in, and on her on

(10:49):
the bar was a publishingcontract, a one song publishing
contract, and she had written asong with with Floyd Tillman, a
famous singer songwriter at thetime, and she'd never told me
that.
And I said, mom, you see whatI'm doing? I said, you you you

(11:12):
could you could couldn't mentionthat you had done this? And she
said, well, and only your motherwill say this. She goes, really
didn't wanna encourage you toomuch, you know, in the music
business because it's hard. Andshe's right.
It is hard. And so but buthere's my here's my first
musical, real musical influencewas a guy named Kemper Krabbe, a

(11:33):
very unusual name. He was, andstill is, one of the most
talented people I've ever met.But and so he produced my first
couple of albums. And, you know,before we started work on the
first album, which was a miraclebecause I had somebody just give
us money to go they loved mymusic and said, this guy had

(11:54):
more money than he neededapparently, and said, just go
make a record and send the billsto me kinda thing.
So Kemper produced it, and andabout a week before we went in
the studio, I was taking voicelessons from his wife, and I had
to drive forty five minutes toand forty five minutes from like
you do in Houston sometimes. Andso it was late at night, we're

(12:15):
walking out to the car, andKemper had three albums under
his arm, and I noticed he hadthem, And he was one of the
maybe three or four people thathave ever called me Denny. You
know, my grandmother did. My 102year old author that I'm gonna
have lunch with on Wednesday,she calls me Denny, and I don't
correct her, by the way. And sohe so we get out to my car, and

(12:40):
he says he said, Denny, can Iask a question?
He goes, do you think thatyou're really doing your best
work? And I said, well, Kemper,this is a heck of a time to ask
that. We're going to the studionext Tuesday. And I said, so why
are you asking me this? And hesaid, well, look.
I trust you. He said, I I and I,you know, whatever you tell me,

(13:03):
I'm gonna I'm gonna go with. Hesaid, but I wanna give you these
three albums to take home withyou, and I want you to listen to
them. And then I want you tocall me tomorrow and tell me if
you're doing your best work. Andso he sent me home with the
first two Dan Fockelbergrecords, souvenirs, Netherlands,
really.
And, I mean, yeah, I had nochance. Right? And then he sent

(13:25):
the other record was a was aLeonard Cohen record. And and so
I went home with those, and Ilistened all the way through to
all of those. And when I gotwhen I got to the Leonard Cohen
record, I was emotional.
I was thinking, man, my stuff isnot like this. And so I called
him and I said, you know what,Kemper? First, you made me mad.

(13:45):
Okay? I said, but it took a lotof guts to say that to me.
And I said, that's ironsharpening iron. So one man
sharpens another like Proverbssays. I said, you know what? I'm
gonna remember this. And so youcall off those sessions.
I'm gonna go back and revisit mymusic and these songs and all
that. And so we we cut someother it it was so here's the

(14:06):
crazy part. So I'm 69 years oldnow. I was 22 or three when we
had that conversation. So almostfifty years later, when I'm
writing a song, I still hearKemper.
I hear his voice saying, hey,Denny, are you doing your best
work? Like, don't settle forsomething that rhymes. Settle

(14:28):
for what goes there and don'tstop until you have it kind of
thing. And so Mhmm. You know, sothat that probably was was my
earliest and maybe mostimportant musical influence.
You know, Steve Martin saidsomebody Charlie Rose or
somebody said, so do you getasked a lot to, you know, you
have people come up to you andsay, hey. I'm funny. You know,

(14:50):
let's can you introduce me toyour agent or something? And he
goes, well, sometimes thathappens, but he goes, if that
happens he said, these peopleare asking the wrong question.
He goes, because here's theright question.
He said, make yourself worldclass at something. Take the
time and don't do any shortcutsand become world class at

(15:11):
something. He said, the day youdo, he said, the polls change.
And he said you don't have towalk around with your hat in
your hand anymore because peoplestart coming to you. And you
know, you think about it, but asyou know, that guy has done it
three times.
He was the top comedian in theworld. He was top one of the top
movie stars in the world, andnow he's one of the top banjo.

(15:33):
He's a Grammy winning banjoplayer. I mean, he might be the
best banjo player in the worldright now. And so yes.
And so, you know, and so he isterrific.

Cathy (15:44):
And he's got a new show on TV that I love, Only Murders
in

the Building. Oh, yes. Absolutely. Only

Cathy (15:49):
that. You can't

seen the first two seasons, but I love it. And so

Cathy (15:53):
I love it.

You know? And so that's that's a lot of it is
that pursuit. And I think Ithink writers have a have a
switch that goes on that thatthey cannot turn off. You know,
I I mean, look, all my life,I've had people say, what are
you doing? You're sitting in aroom when dancing with the stars
is on, and you could be sittingon your couch and watching TV,

(16:15):
and you're in there parsing a aword or phrase in a song or a
musical phrase or whatever.
And look, it's compulsion. Ithink it's obsession. It's an
obsession. I'm obsessed. And ifI start thinking about a song,
I'm obsessed with it until it'sdone.

Cathy (16:36):
And who else would you consider influenced your life
that you learned some thingsfrom?

Well, I'll just tell you one more musical thing.
So I met sort of by again, itfelt like it was an accident. K?
I was at a songwriter event, andthe great Alan Chamberlain who
wrote I Can't Make You Love Meand The House Had Built Me, and
he walked on he's a hall of famewriter. And we met and became

(17:07):
great friends.
We're still I talked texted withhim today. And, you know, and he
has been a huge influence on me.And I actually got to write a
song with him. I he kept askingme. I'd known him for probably
ten years.
I'd never asked for anything. Ididn't ever I never even asked
to write with him. And he calledme one day while I was driving

(17:30):
home from Louisiana. Susie and Iwere driving back, and he said,
how can I help you with yoursongwriting career? And I said,
Alan, look.
I said, I'm the one guy whodoesn't really I wanna be your
friend. I don't I don't need Imean, I appreciate you, but I
don't really need anything. K?One week later, because I didn't
know what I was talking about.That's the truth.

(17:51):
And so one within one week, Isend a song in to this little
couple in Nashville, anindependent artist who were
looking for songs, and theywrite me this big dim the lights
email back, and they say, wow.We love this idea. We think that

(18:12):
this could be I Can't Make YouLove Me, but we also think
you're not done writing thissong yet. Are you willing to do
some more writing on it? And Ithought, well, you know what?
I've been singing this song. Ieven recorded it probably
fifteen years before that. Itwas already chronicled somewhere
in that form. So what I did isAlan said, how can I help you? I

(18:36):
thought, you know what?
I'm gonna take him up on that.So I sent that version of the
song and their note to him, andI said, you know what, Alan? I
don't I don't still need yourhelp on anything. I just wanna
know. I said, listen to thissong, read their note, and tell
me if they're crazy.
Because if they are, I'm nottearing this song apart and
redoing it. And so one weeklater, Alan Shandlin called me,

(19:00):
this hall of fame songwriter.What a gift this is. Okay? He
called me up today, and he said,okay.
You might wanna sit down. Thisis gonna take a while. He goes,
first of all, they're right.This is a great idea. The song
is called Worth My Time, and hesaid he said this song talks
about giving people who arebeing abused or verbally or

(19:24):
physically abused the strengthto say that's enough.
We're not we're not doing thisanymore. Okay? And he said, you
have to finish writing. Yes. Andthey it does need some more
writing.
So here's what he says. He goes,you know what? So I'm not gonna
I'm not gonna co write this withyou because nobody knows you.
And so but they know me, andthey're gonna think you sat in

(19:45):
the room while I while I wrotethe song. And so I'm gonna be
your editor.
And he said, I'm gonna call youevery night at 09:00, and I'm
gonna see what kind of progressyou've made on this song today.
Well, he was not kidding. And II write about this in my book on

(20:06):
communication, so what do yousay? And it's the last page I
tell the story. So so we get thefirst two verses done and the
bridge done, and then I cannotget the third I can't get the
last verse written.
And I wrote 50 last verses, andnone of them worked. And he

(20:27):
would say, no. No. You knowwhat? A great song puts you in a
trance, and your last verses aretaking me out of a trance.
You gotta figure out how tofinish it right. We went to

Cathy (20:38):
his Wow. Tough.

To their it was very tough. And, you know, and
people think, oh, why don't theyeven get paid for that? This is
just three minutes of stuff.That's they don't know. Okay.
So we go up to Nashville, and heand his wife invite us out to
their farm for lunch. And I wasthinking, man, I hope he didn't
even mention this song. I'mtired of it. We've been doing it
for six months. I had all thesesticky notes on my car dashboard

(21:03):
of ideas that I had on the waythere.
I mean, I was talk aboutobsessed. And so anyway, we get
there, and of course, hefinished lunch, and of course,
he says, hey. Let's go in mywriting room, and let's hear
that latest last verse. Right?And I get in there, and he and I
I was reluctant, but I thought,no.

(21:24):
No. This this is a this is aprivilege. Remember that. So we
get in there, and he hands me aguitar. He said, look.
Mac Davis was the last guy toplay this guitar, so don't mess
it up. K? And I sing him thelatest last verse, and he goes,
no. That's not it. And I said tohim, it's a great, great lesson.
K? I said, Alan, I said, do youguys write like this? We've been

(21:47):
writing this song for six monthsevery day. And he reached under
his writing room, his table, andhe pulled out a big, like,
dictionary thick stack of legalpaper, all in ballpoint pen, no
technology of any kind. And hepushes it across the table to
me, and he said, that is onesong I've been working on for

(22:08):
seven years.

Cathy (22:10):
Yeah. He

said, oh, you know what? We do write like that. And
he said, so stop whining and getback in there and fix this. You
finish this song, you know. Soanyway, what what I know is he
called me one day, and we hadcried on the phone.
We prayed one day on the phone.He was so put out. He was like,
you you have to do this. Well,anyway, so one day, I I had it.

(22:35):
I had enough.
And I said, you know what, Alan?I said, do you know what this
last verse might be? And hegoes, I probably do. I said,
well, then why in the worlddon't you write it and put us
out of our misery? Okay?
And he goes, okay. Give me twoweeks. He leaves the phone for
five minutes, and he comes backand he calls me. He goes, what

(22:59):
about this? Is it worth thispain And your words that bruise,
should I be the one you love touse?
If I have to ask, then I shouldknow that it's worth my time to
let you go. Are you kidding me?

Merry (23:16):
Oh.

And I said, you thought of that in two minutes?
And he said, well, my sword issharper than yours. Oh. I do
this I do this I love you, butyou know what? You don't do this
every single day like me.
And he said, so and so there,we're done. Go cut a demo of
this. Let's see if we getsomebody to record it. And so I
finally put it on a record acouple of years ago myself. But

(23:41):
he's been a huge influence.
Know, he's he's taught me how tonot try to figure out what the
market needs and all that, butto just write from the heart,
basically.

Merry (23:49):
Yeah. Is that what you learned? I mean, what is what if
can you pinpoint exactly whatyou learned from that?

Well, one thing I learned is there's no shortcuts
to greatness. You know, we livein a culture and I think humans
are sort of wired. This is whatworries me about AI, by the way,
but that's another show, is thatit's easy. It's easy to go ask
some some faceless thing thatdoesn't know you to say, could
you write that for me? And theywrite something that's pretty

(24:18):
good, and you there you go.
But but somebody said this thisweek. Somebody said that Neil
deGrasse Tyson said this, and Ithink this is really I'm still
reeling from hearing it, but hesaid if Einstein had not
discovered the theory ofrelativity, somebody would have

(24:39):
down the road. K? Somescientists would have figured it
out. He goes, but if Monet haddecided not to paint, there
would never be a Monet painting.
Isn't that profound? And and so,you know, to be really great at
something, you you can't youcan't take a shortcut. You you

(25:02):
gotta do the hard stuff. Yougotta work outwork everybody.
You gotta spend time in a roomby yourself and figure it out.
And so that's really the lesson,Mary, that I learned was was,
you know, don't no matter howtempting it is, you know, don't
just rhyme something because youwanna finish a song and go to
the next one. Figure out whathow to make that song the most

(25:24):
impactful that it can be, andthen you can be satisfied with
that, and you can move ahead tosomething else. So that's that's
a

Merry (25:33):
good lesson. Lesson for for any artist out there or
Yeah. And Dennis or project.

Cathy (25:40):
Dennis, there was a period when you didn't record,
but you wrote songs.

Yes.

Cathy (25:45):
And how did that change you and the work you're doing
now?

Well, look, you know what? I was so
disappointed. I had a chance togo out as a bass tech with a
band that was opening for BillySquire and another band. And I'd
never toured like that, and mykids were little. And I'd been
with them twenty four hours.
I was mom and daddy. You know?And my wife was working and
doing stuff trying to we're alltrying to keep the lights on and

(26:10):
all that. Well, I only lastedthree weeks on that tour, Kathy,
and I and I was like, you knowwhat? I don't think I can do
this.
And I called the manager whohired me, and the band was
King's X spectacular three pieceband, by the way. And I called
this guy, and I said, hey, man.I said, look, I don't I've never

(26:32):
been drunk, and I've never takendrugs. And I said, wanna tell
you something. I said, if I stayout here a year, which is how
long this is gonna be, I'mafraid I'm gonna be doing both,
and it's probably gonna kill me.
And I said, so I gotta figurethis out. He goes, well he was
so sweet. And he said, look, whydon't you go out the airport?
I'll have a ticket waiting onyou and come home. He goes,

(26:55):
sometimes the ladder of successis against the wrong wall.
Go home and figure it out. Oh.And he's sitting that profound
and he said, look, but I'm gonnaask you to do something for me
because you kind of owe me. Hegoes, please don't stop writing
songs. And so I I I keptwriting.
First, I didn't write. I was madabout the whole thing. And I

(27:15):
took a year, and I didn't writea word. And then I wrote a song
called Jacob's Ladder thatexplained everything to me. And
and then I made an album in '95,I made an album in February, and
I made a decision when I walkedout of the studio.
I came home and I told Susie, Isaid, I'm not going back in the
studio again until I findsomebody who can help that's an

(27:36):
arranger. I'm not an arranger,I'm a writer. A producer, a real
producer who can elevate thismaterial, I'm not gonna do it.
I'm not gonna I'm not gonna goback and do a b minus. Not that
this was b minus, but we can dobetter, right?
And so I didn't know what I wassaying because I went eighteen

(27:59):
years without that. And so oneday I came home and I I told
Susie I was in my mid sixtiesand I said, you know what? I got
a problem. I said, I'm worriedabout dying and all of this
material being in a drawersomewhere and people and these
kids just throwing it outbecause they don't really know
what it is. And she said, well,you know, you have that prayer

(28:23):
list that you pray through everymorning for an hour with all
these other people, and I wantyou to put something on there
for yourself as a novel idea.
So I did. And within ninetydays, I'm driving through
Nashville, and we went to dinnerwith a friend of ours who's a
super crazy talented guy who hadbeen the guitar player in Little
River Band for eighteen years.He was just he's just a gifted,

(28:45):
humble person who could doanything musically. And we're
sitting across the table fromeach other. I didn't make this
happen, by the way.
I'm just having dinner. And helooks at me and he goes, what
are you working on? Because Iknow you are always working on
something. And I said, well, hisname is Rich Herring. I said,
well, Rich, I got a new songSusie likes a lot.

(29:07):
She thinks it's the best thingI've ever written. And he goes,
what are you gonna do with it?And I said, well, I don't know
what to do with it. That's theproblem. And he goes, well, why
don't you sing it for me?
I said, here in the restaurant?He goes, right now. Sing an
acapella for me. And so I sangthe first verse and chorus to

(29:28):
one of me, and he put his handup, was emotional, and he said,
you stop now. He said, Susie'sright as usual.
Okay? And second of all, I'msupposed to help you with this.
Did you know this? And I said,no, I didn't. And he goes, okay,
let's cut this song.
And I said, want some hotshotNashville singer to sing on

(29:52):
this? He goes, no, I want you tosing on it. So we recorded that
song. It was immediately thebest thing I'd ever done. We did
a second song about forgivenesscalled I can't remember, and
that was also right there at thetop.
And and he called me after that,and he goes, look, I've been
doing this for twenty fiveyears. I know when something

(30:12):
special is going on. And hegoes, I didn't know you had this
kind of material. He goes, let'smake an album. So we made an
album, came out in '21, calledWhat Love Makes Us Do, and it it
was on the first Grammy ballotin five categories.
And then '23, If I Live To Be A100, also on the first Grammy

(30:32):
ballot in five categories. I'mnot gonna win a Grammy, but
somebody inside NARIS thought itwas worthy. And then and then
right now, my new album Strongis gonna so we've recorded three
albums and release them in fouror five years.

Cathy (30:48):
I wanted to ask you about that because you're in your
sixties now and having a musicalrenaissance of sorts. Yes. So
tell tell our boomer audienceyour thoughts on aging.

Well, look, I think that what most of what
we're told let me see how to saythis. If you don't proactively
plan to be doing something thatmatters in your sixties, the
momentum of the culture willsweep you out to pasture, and
that's a shame. There's a lot ofpeople, most of us are better

(31:24):
than we were when we were 30.We're wiser, we have more
contacts, more people will takeour phone calls. We know more.

Cathy (31:31):
We agree with you on that. Sure you do.

You should agree because it's the truth. And I
think a lot of what we hear inthe cultures of bald faced lie.
And so you know what? I justhave chosen not to believe it. I
go to the gym five days a weekto take care of myself.
And I'm not doing that so I canlive to be a 100. I'm doing that
so that right now while I'mdoing what I'm doing in this
world, that I can be good at itstill, that I can still feel

(31:56):
great and and, you know, feelsome energy to do it. And so,
you know, and it's it's one ofthe themes, Kathy, that comes up
every almost every interview Ido, people say, what? You're 69
years old and you're going ontour now. That's the other
thing.
We're leaving. We've discoveredhouse concerts. And I mean,

(32:16):
people have invited us. We'regoing to Maine and Connecticut,
and Nashville, and all overdoing house concerts with people
who've invited us to come totheir house, and they fill it up
with people, and we have a havea ball. So

Cathy (32:32):
So how is how

Merry (32:34):
is doing concerts now different than when you were
younger?

Oh, this is a lot more fun.

Cathy (32:41):
Mhmm. You

know? Is it a art or music playing No. Or It's
not. You know? Because here'sthe thing.
I think when you plug into thatthing that you know you're here
for, there's a lot of there's alot of energy there. You know?
And, I mean, I did one Saturdaynight in in Houston, album
release party, and there werethere were people packed into

(33:05):
the room, and they were from thewidest swath in my life. So
people from my high school werethere. People from my first
church were there.
My family, my grandkids werethere. I mean, there was just
this broad and it was justjoyful. I mean, I I did ninety
minutes, and I felt like Ihadn't done anything. And I I
think it's That's right. Ithink, you know, a lot of people

(33:27):
think, oh, I just couldn't dothat.
It's like, well, who told youthat? You know, you should you
should ignore the naysayers and

Cathy (33:35):
Yeah. Great advice. Tell us more about your album Strong
and how did that come about?

Well, Strong so we we were I mean, we're we've hit
another gear now, Rich and Ihave, because we we've done a
we've done a lot of worktogether, and he's so there's no
drama. It's so easy to do. Well,we thought we had the title
track relentlessly, which is iscrazy. What he did with that

(34:02):
song is crazy. Anyway, I thoughtthat was the title track, and
Susie did too.
So right before, we went up tocut the last three vocals, so we
go back and forth from Texas toto Tennessee. And I sat down on
my little piano, and I starteddoing some work on the piano
now, which I've never donebefore and certainly not
writing. And recently, I've beendoing more of it. And when I sat

(34:26):
down, I heard this not actualvoice, but just something in
here that said, you know, for anoptimist and a man of faith, you
sure live a fearful life. And sowhy don't you stop living a
fearful life?
99% of what you worry about hasnever happened to you and never
will. And why don't you writeyour manifesto? And so I wrote

(34:51):
strong. You know, for too long,I've been fearing the shadows
and running from the wind andfeeling like I'm bound to lose
again, you know? And so it's avery it's a and so I wrote it in
two days.

Cathy (35:06):
Those are some of the lyrics

that

Cathy (35:08):
Yep. You just Are those some of the lyrics? Okay.

Yes. Yes. Good. Good. Yeah.
And so and so, you know, and sothe first two choruses are I
wanna be strong. I wanna feelinvincible. For once in my life,
I wanna feel like the battle iswinnable. But then it has this
bridge that says, whentomorrow's sun is rising, I'll
still be standing. And with afaithful heart, I'll carry on.

(35:32):
And then it changes keys, and itsings, I'm gonna be strong. I'm
gonna be invincible. Anyway, Ican't Do tell you the

Merry (35:39):
all of your songs on Strong have to do with that type
of what you said a manifesto,your manifesto?

No, Mary, you know what I like I like to think
about even in my gigs, I like tothink about this. I have a song
called blind. It is such anunhappy love song. And I really
have to assume a persona forthat because I've been I've been
in love. I met Susie on a blinddate.
I've never gotten over it. Butthis song Blind is she's gone

(36:08):
basically. And so but what Ithink is, I think if you think
about paintings, a paintingdoesn't work if it's all bright,
and you know, it doesn't worklike that. You gotta have some
things in there to to give itsome shadow and all that. Mhmm.
And so let me just say this,it's a very hopeful message

(36:28):
mostly, and I think people willleave this album and also these
gigs. They'll they'll leavehopeful. I mean, I heard from
some people secondhand that werethere Saturday night that said,
wow. This is making me rethinkwhat I'm doing, and these were
not kids that were saying this.And so so I'm that's what I'm my

(36:49):
hope is.
Somebody asked me one of aNashville publishing person
said, what do you how would youdefine success for what you're
doing? And I said, look, successfor me is saying for people what
they can't say for themselves.They don't know how. And that
causing a conversation thathelps them get through whatever

(37:11):
it is they're getting through.And she said, wait.
You didn't mention money, andyou didn't mention hit records,
and you didn't mention charts.You didn't mention any of that
stuff. And I said, look. If thatstuff happens, I'm of course,
I'm fine with that. I said, butthat's not that cannot be the
focus for me.
I just can't. And I said, myfocus is to to to hopefully

(37:32):
touch people's hearts andencourage them.

Cathy (37:36):
That's that's a real real blessing that you feel that way
because it makes you you canfind happiness so much easier
having that as your definitionof success. You're gonna be
happy much easier. You're alwaysgonna meet people that you're
touching as you go out to theseconcerts and stuff that's
perfect. And what what do youhave to say to our boomer

(37:57):
audience out there who mighthave a lifelong dream, but maybe
they think it's too late to tryto achieve it?

Wow. Well, I'm the I'm the right guy to say it, but
I'll tell you something. I'vegot a 102 year old author, and
she called me yesterday, andshe's one of the ones who calls
me Denny, and she called me up.She said, Denny, you know, I got
a new book. Right?
Like, what? Wow. I thought youcouldn't see. She's had macular

(38:26):
degeneration, but you know whatshe did? She went to the
Association for the Blind herein Austin and said, hey, I need
some help here.
And when she found out she couldget help, Kathy, you know what
she said? This is a writer.Okay? We're sitting at her her
dining room table with herpublisher and me, and she had
written 10 books in her lateeighties and early nineties, and

(38:49):
and not early, all through hernineties that were spectacular.
She's a fantastic writer.
Okay? Babette Hughes is hername. So she goes, you know
what? I think maybe my writingcareer is over because I've got
macular degeneration I can'tsee. And her young publishers
goes, wait, Babette.
This this a society for theblind is here in town. They can

(39:12):
they can help you. And you knowwhat her first statement was?
Her first statement was, oh,this is so great because now I
don't want burn the house downwhen I cook or I won't trip and
fall or any of the things thatyou would think of. Right?
Yeah. She goes, oh, this is suchgood news. I got some short
stories I wanna do. I'm like,what? So she has written a book

(39:33):
on aging is what she's done.
And she said, you know what?Nobody else a 102. There's no
better authority than me, okay,because I've done it. And so,
you know, I

Cathy (39:44):
What think call does that book? Because I think we should
all get it

We haven't titled it Oh,

Cathy (39:50):
so it's not out yet.

Oh, it's not out yet. No, She's just I'm going
over there tomorrow to havelunch with her so she can tell
me all about it. And so I thinkit's a if you you know, look.
What you believe informs whatyou do. Right?
Mhmm. And so, you know, I'm verycareful about what I take in.

(40:14):
You know, I don't sit and watchthe news all day and hear people
argue about politics and stuffand and Facebook, people go on
rants. K? I just don't have anyinterest in that, and I don't
need that.
You know? What I need is I needencouragement. I need somebody
to tell me the truth aboutwhat's happening. And so but if
you let that stuff in, it'spoison, and it will stop you

(40:37):
from being it'll it'll stop youfrom being what you are supposed
to be. And I and look, I thissounds maybe spiritual, and I'm
okay if it does, but I thinkeverybody's here for a reason,
really, that, you know, you'reuniquely wired to do something
that nobody else can do in thisworld that needs you.
Right? And so what a what a atragedy when people get to a

(40:59):
certain age and go, well, youknow, I just I could have done
that, and I decided not to doit. I'll tell you a quick story.
My my guitar player that I thatwas my rock and roll guitar
player is the best blues guitarplayer I ever heard. K?
Well, he has not been doingwell. He's down in Houston. He's
lived with his daughter. He'sbeen having a little issue with

(41:22):
dementia and some things likethat. And I called him, and I
said, hey, Skip.
I'm playing Saturday night inHouston. I want you to come do
my our blues song. Come do NewYork City with me. He goes, oh,
no. No.
I can't I can't do that. I can'tdo it. He goes, my hands won't
do what they used to do. And hegave me all the excuses why he
couldn't. And I said, well,look.

(41:42):
What if I make you come? And hesaid he said, well, you you
can't make me, but he goes, butif you ask me, you know I'm
gonna do it. And I said, okay. Isaid, I'm asking. So he came
Saturday night, and I I calledhim up.
His son helped him set up hisamp and everything, and he sat
down at this guitar, girls, andhe started playing, and it was

(42:04):
like angels from heaven. It wasso beautiful. And when it was
over, I said to him, I said,Skip, who is telling you? I
said, you know what? You shouldbe down doing open mic nights.
You should be playing three orfour nights a week doing this
work because you you haven'tlost a single step, but
somebody's told you or youbelieve something that's not

(42:26):
true. And so a lot of it isgetting past the the the
barriers that we set up forourselves. Mhmm. And, you know,
and I've told this guy producingRich Herring produced my
records. I said, listen.
As long as I'm able to stand upand get to your house and get to
your studio and make and andsing and my brain is okay, I

(42:46):
said, you know what? I said, I'mgoing to do a record every two
years. So I mean and I and I'mthat's what I wanna do, and I I
think I I can do it. And it'smaking me write more at this
age. I'm writing a lot more nowthan I was when I was 30.
So just you have to believe theright things.

Cathy (43:06):
Well It's fabulous.

Merry (43:07):
Yes. It's just Thank you. To everyone listening. I'm
inspired, and I can't wait tohear more of Strong and all

of the you. Thank you.

Cathy (43:19):
And is Strong out now on all streaming music services?

That's a wonderful question, Kathy. You know what?
It was supposed to come out lastWednesday, and because I've
written two songs with a famousa pretty famous artist, the
distributor comes back to myrecord company and says, we're
gonna need some kind of note atleast signed by Michael Peterson
and Dennis Welch to say thatthey wrote this together so that

(43:47):
we can prove it. Because you canimagine what now with streaming,
I can say, hey. I wrote a songwith Katy Perry, and I can put
it up on streaming.
And by the time a week goes byand you sold a 100,000
downloads, they find out it'sKaty Perry, your next door
neighbor or something. And so Ican see it being a problem. And
so I understand why they did it.And so we quickly signed a

(44:08):
little thing and sent it in, andand hopefully, any day now,
today is Tuesday. Right?
So probably within the nextcouple of days, it'll be on and
this is what I love about musicnow is that you my record
company pushes a button, and itgoes to the whole world. People
you don't know are listening toyour music. And so Do you ever

(44:31):
get

Merry (44:32):
letters from them?

Yes. Yes. I do. Yes. I do.
I I I friended a guy on Facebookthat I recognized I recognized
this guy's name, but I don'tknow where from. But I I I know
that he's the top radiopromotion guy in in contemporary
Christian music now. And so hehe he accepted my friend

(44:54):
request, and and I did an albumcalled Man of Steel. That was my
rock and roll album with waswent everywhere. And and so
anyway and so I said, hey.
You wanna Zoom and and talk talkabout I just like to know what
you're doing. So we get on thiscall, and you know what the
first thing he said, Mary, tome? He looked he looked straight

(45:17):
at me. You could tell he wasemotional. He said, listen.
You don't know you probablydon't even know who I am. He
goes, I was a a young discjockey in Syracuse, New York
when the Man of Steel LP camein, and he said, I put my arm
put the arm down on that on thatLP, and he said it changed my
life. Woah. And that was youknow? Because look.

(45:40):
The artist all artists have anamp that sit on their shoulder
that says, why are you evenbothering to do this? Nobody
cares. I mean, every author I'veever worked with, every
musician, it's all that kindalike nobody really cares about
this stuff. And then you hearsomething like that. And so
yeah.
So I do hear from people fromtime to time, Mary, and it's

(46:02):
it's always a very humbling. Youknow?

Merry (46:05):
Well, I hope that all of our listeners gain that type of,
accolade from at least oneperson after listening to this
podcast. Thank you so much,Dennis.

You're welcome. Thank you.

Merry (46:20):
Our guest today in Late Boomers has been songwriter,
recording artist, and authorDennis Welch. If you want to
connect with Dennis and learnmore about him and where to see
him perform or listen to hismusic and buy his music, go to
his website,denniswelchmusic.com. And I'll

(46:40):
spell it. That's d e n n I s w el c h, music, m u s I c, dot
com. Thank you.

Cathy (46:49):
And thank you for listening to our Late Boomers
podcast and subscribing to ourLate Boomers podcast channel on
YouTube. Listen in next weekwhen you'll meet the former
first lady of Nice, France,Aileen Medecin. You can listen
to late boomers on any podcastplatform and look at our new
website lateboomers.us where youcan find all our episodes and

(47:13):
descriptions. Please follow uson Instagram iamkathywarthington
and IAMMaryElkins and atLateboomers. And thanks again to
Dennis Welch.

Thank you. Enjoyed it very much. Thank you.

Cathy (47:38):
Thank you for joining us on late boomers, the podcast
that is your guide to creating athird act with style, power, and
impact. Please visit our websiteand get in touch with us at late
boomers dot us. If you wouldlike to listen to or download
other episodes of late boomers,go to ewnpodcastnetwork.com.

Merry (48:01):
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple
Podcast, and most other majorpodcast sites. We hope you make
use of the wisdom you've gainedhere and that you enjoy a
successful third act with yourown style, power, and impact.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Never Too Late: Dennis Welch's Musical Journey at 69

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

All Episodes

Never Too Late: Dennis Welch's Musical Journey at 69

Stuff You Should Know