October 28, 2025 • 28 mins
If you’ve been with us for a while, you know we’ve had some seriously iconic moments. But which ones *really* stuck with you? We asked, you answered! This video is a trip down memory lane, featuring the segments you couldn’t stop talking about, complete with real-time reactions from our amazing community. Prepare for all the feels as we highlight the careers of Terri Clark, Brantley Gilbert, Lainey Wilson and Tracy Lawrence!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another edition of Backstage Pass powered by the
Sports Guys Podcast with your host Brandon Morell.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And welcome inside the Backstage Pass again powered by the
Sports Guys podcast dot com and broadcasting from the Big
Timber Entertainment studios out there, presented by our friends over
at the Caadangordonshow dot com Today's best Country Mix. We
appreciate all the work that our sponsors do and now
you can hear the Backstage Pass each and every Sunday
morning from five thirty to six am or our newest
affiliate WSMAM six point fifty. And guys, we made it
(00:34):
past the five year mark of the show and getting
a chance to bring you, guys, some of the best
coverage and interviews in country music as we follow all
these great artists from their rise from the bottom all
the way to the top of the country music charts
out there, and we've got four great interviews. We decided
to go back and make a best of the Backstage
Pass and you'll be hearing from some of the great
names in country music over the next thirty minutes or so.
(00:54):
Landy Wilson, Brantley Gilbert, Terry Clark, and Tracy Lawrence. So
sit back and relax as they tell their stories, talk
about their rise in country music. Enjoy.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Hey, it's Sean Salisbury and Sean Salisbry.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Sports SAX seven ninety six to ten Mondays.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Friday in Houston, and you are listening to the best
podcasts in the business, the.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Sports Guyspodcast dot Com Music Sports.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
You don't want to miss it.
Speaker 6 (01:19):
You'll be entertaining the entire time.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And back here on the best of Backstage Pass here
on WSM Radio Am six fifty. Glad to bring you
the coverage today too, and of course you can hear
us every Sunday from five point thirty to six am
here broadcasting from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios and presented
by friends over at the Cadenbordonshow dot Com Today's best
Country Mix. You know, guys, Lanny Wilson rose to the
top in the last four years. We had her here
(01:43):
on the show. Back in December of twenty twenty, Lany
talked to us about the riding country music. Of course,
they call Nashville a ten year town. Laney has arisen
to the top over the last three or four years,
and she talked about here with us you're on the
backstage pass about a special story that are I told her,
and it talked about holding off.
Speaker 7 (02:02):
I'm super blessed and I'm just I'm not giving up.
That's my thing, you know, I man, I always this
is kind of a silly story, but I always talk
about it when people say, you know this squeaky will
getsagrease or you know, just holding on and whatever.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
But I remember.
Speaker 7 (02:22):
I grew up riding horses and my daddy he bought
this horse when I was I don't know, eight years
old probably, and the horse was too and the horse
had not been ridden.
Speaker 5 (02:34):
I mean, I think one person had been.
Speaker 7 (02:36):
On its back.
Speaker 5 (02:37):
But I remember.
Speaker 7 (02:40):
I remember Daddy put me on the horse and the
horse was bucking and I was crying and I was saying, Daddy,
I want off, get me off. You know, I was terrified,
and he was like, no, hold on, and he didn't
realize it. But that was seriously, probably one of the
biggest life lessons I will ever learn. And so just
(03:01):
when I feel like I'm about to fall off, I'm
just holding on for dear life.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
And it's all about the ride and working for what
you want.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
And indeed, it's about working for what you want in
life too, especially in the music industry, and of course
Landy Wilson had the pinnacle of her career here. In
twenty twenty four, she took on Female Artist of the
Year and the top prize of Entertainer of the Year
the twenty twenty four Academy of Country Music Awards. She
joins an exclusive category a few women to earn the
top prize. Miranda Lambert was named Entertainer of the Year
(03:31):
in twenty twenty two. In twenty twenty, Carry Under One
and Thomas rhtt tied for the title, the first time
ever for a time and the first time a woman
had won the category since Taylor Swift in twenty twelve.
Laney credits a lot earlier in her career going on
the road Justin Moore, Tracy Lawrence, and of course a
special thanks goes out to Ashley McBride.
Speaker 7 (03:49):
It's such a crazy name because a lot of these
people that I've been able to go on the road with,
other people who I've just looked up to for the
longest time, you know what I mean. I've just got
off the road where you know, the whole pandemic. Kid,
I was on road with Justin Moore and Tracy Lawrence
and I just remember listening to Tracy Lawrence when I
was a kid, and it was so crazy.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
I played a twenty minute set.
Speaker 7 (04:12):
I'm talking about just enough time to get up there,
sing a couple songs and get my butt down. And
Tracy Lawrence and Justin Moore every single night before the
tour got shut down, they sat there on the side
stage and they watched me. Literally they watched me walk
on stage and they watched me walk off.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
And it was such a.
Speaker 7 (04:31):
Cool thing for me because I was like, you know,
when I have the opportunity to be a headliner and
I have people opening the shows for me, they don't
understand how much that meant to me. And it just
made me feel like I was one of them, and
it made me feel like they supported me and.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
Have my back.
Speaker 7 (04:48):
And really it's the same thing with like Ashley McBride.
She she has my back.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
I'm telling you.
Speaker 7 (04:55):
We played a run of shows together, probably this time
last year, and she told me she was like, she said.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Laney, I believe in you, and I think you're gonna
kill it.
Speaker 7 (05:07):
She said, but you need to promise me one thing.
She said, you need to promise me that when you
find somebody who you love and believe in as much
as I do, you that you grab their hand and
you help them over the wall too.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
That just stuck with me.
Speaker 7 (05:20):
You know, when artists like that, who don't have to,
but they do, they take the time to get to
know you, and because they've been there before, you know,
they've been in the fifteen sixteen Passinger Van just trying.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
To get there, you know. And it's just I feel
like I learned something every single time I get to
go on the road with.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
People like that.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And of course our thanks to Lanney Wilson for joining
us here on the best of the backstage Past. The
next album coming out is Whirlwind August twenty third. Couple
of songs off there right now, Hang Tight Honey and
Country's Cool Again. You have to look out for that
August twenty third from the Great Landy Wilson coming up
here as we broadcast live from the Big Timber Entertainment
Studio and presented by our friends over at the Cadangordonshow
(06:02):
dot Com. Today's best Country Mix. We'll talk to the
legend Terry Clark and we'll talk about our country gold
podcasts out there too, and a credit to the songwriters.
You know, we focus a lot here on the artist
on the Backstage Pass, and it's time to get credit
where credit is due to the songwriters. Terry will touch
on that, and of course the Canadian Country Music Hall
of Fame and becoming a member of the Grand ol Opry.
(06:24):
More of that coming up here. It is the best
of Backstage Pass on six fifty am w SM.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Stay tuned, nothing but that, You're locked into the best
sports and music podcast. It's the Sports Guys and don't
forget to check them out at the Sports Guys Podcast
dot com.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
And back here on the Backstage Pass, broadcasting from the
Big Timber Entertainment Studios and beautiful Nashville, Tennessee, empowered by
the Sports Guys Podcast dot com and presented by our
friends over at the Caadangordonshow dot com. Today's best Country Mix,
you know, speaking of that, one of the all time greats,
Terry Clark Painter dues at Chetsy's Orchid Lounge in Nashville,
holding the honor of being the only Canadian female member
(07:05):
of the Grand ole Opry. Terry Clark continues to build
an unforgettable legacy Prime for the history books country music,
the multi Juno Award winner both over five million albums sold,
three RI Double A Platinum and two RI Double A
Gold certified albums, Canadian Gold, Platinum, Double Platinum and Triple
Platinum certified albums, thirteen top ten singles, including six number
(07:26):
ones in Canada and the US. Terry talked about the
songwriters from the nineties too, as well as she worked
with and she made her way up the ranks of
country music and being relatable to country music fans as
far as the.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
Early records go. You know, I was with Chris Waters
and Tom Shapiro were my writing partners for much of
the first three albums, And Keith Stegall, who signed me
to Mercury Records, actually put me in Chris waters crosshairs
and said, this girl, we're gonna make a record on her.
Would you like to co produce the record and write
(08:00):
songs with her? So Chris brought Tom Shapiro into the
writing thing, and I had been writing songs. You know,
I wrote If I Were You before I ever met
Chris Waters and Tom Spiro. I wrote that song by
myself when I was waiting tables, and that wound up
on the first album, but you know, we became this
songwriting team that we just turned out song after song
(08:20):
after song, and almost everything we wrote was really good.
I was on fire at the time. I think at
my peak as a songwriter. I think there was a
ten year period where I was really writing great songs
and the people that I was getting to write with
were really great writers. So we honed in on something cool.
(08:41):
That was My style was kind of a turbo honky
tom traditional. It was country, but it was amped up country,
and there weren't a lot of females in the mid
nineties really doing that kind of thing. There was. It
was more of a pop country thing. You know, Shania
was out there, and Faith was huge, and Martina was huge,
and I came along with this cowboy hat on, wearing
(09:03):
wranglers and kicking dust around with my boots and singing
better things to do it. It just kind of a lot
of people latched onto it, and a lot of girls
out there that were in high school at the time,
you know, and in the four Ah club who felt
like they didn't fit in, who liked country music and
lived a country lifestyle, found somebody that they could relate to.
And I've got so much feedback on letters like that
(09:24):
over the years from people that more than anything, I
think that's one thing that makes me so proud is
that so many young girls were able to relate and
didn't feel like they were, you know, a misfit or
out there somewhere, and that there was somebody out there
they could relate to.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And of course, another big impactful single in Terry's career,
When Boy Meets Girl, debut at number seventy five on
the US Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks for the
week of October twenty eighth, nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
The hook wasn't my idea, but we came in and
realized that it had never been written before. So we
sat down and I wrote Better Things to Do with
the same guys. And the fact that the title when
Boy Meet's Girl hadn't been written before, we just plowed
right into it, and I had no idea it was
(10:13):
going to end up becoming the second single, but you know,
back then, we could write a song and we kind
of thought, you know, I think this sounds like a hit,
and we were right, and I'll never forget after we
wrote Better Things to Do, tom My co writer, pulled
a dollar bill out of his pocket and started rubbing
it on his forehead and said, I love the feel
of cashable checks or something, the sound of casual. It
(10:38):
was so funny because he knew he had written forty
number one hits by then, so I think I kind
of trusted him. I'm like, you must know what you're
talking about then, because I didn't. But it was just
such a fun experience writing with those guys, and I
have very fond memories of both of them in our relationship,
and I continued to write with tom up until maybe
(10:58):
just four or five years ago. We've continued to write
together over the years.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
And after all the success that Terry Clark has had,
she always talks about the moment she'll never forget. She
was inducted into the Grand O Loprary June the twelfth,
two thousand and four, and it's currently the only female
Canadian member of the Grand Ole Loprary. Shortly after her induction,
Clark's first greatest Hits album, Greatest Hits nineteen ninety four
to two thousand and four was issued. Terry seys every
(11:23):
time she steps inside that Center Circle, it's very surreal.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Oh, absolutely. I shake in my boots every time. I'm
nervous every time. And now it's back on TV, you know,
and it lives online, so there's the added pressure of that.
But you know, you always want to just you want
to do well. It's like it's like the little kid
who is painting, doing a finger painting for his mom
for Mother's Day and he just sits there and wants
(11:50):
her to love it. And that's how you feel when
you're on the Opry. You just want the approval of Gosh,
the legends that started it, that are standing in the
wings watching it at home, and standing in that circle
is the greatest honor a country singer can ever have.
I don't care how many Grammys you have, Cmas you have,
standing in that circle is the greatest honor that a
(12:10):
country music singer can have. And I think we all
realize the gravity of that and what it means. And
I feel, you know, when I hear people talk about
the Opry people that are friends of mine life, Ashley McBrien,
and how much she revers it and how how she
holds it to such a high, high level of honor,
(12:31):
and you know, you've got to have reverence for who
came before you and how they got there, and how
the Aubrey was built, and the fact that you get
to be a part of it is amazing. And the
fact that I was asked to become a member, I
still pinch myself. It's surreal. I can't believe. I can't
believe that that I'm sitting here still the only female
(12:52):
Canadian member, and I hope in my lifetime to see
another one go in there. But you know, I'm gonna,
of course enjoy it and you know, fly the flag
proudly as long as I possibly can.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And it was great to see Terry Clark on stage
this year, performing at CMAFES twenty twenty four at Nissan Stadium.
Terry's not slowing down. Our latest album, Terry Clark Take Two,
came out May thirty, first across all the digital streaming platforms,
a collaboration with some of her best hits with Cody Johnson,
Landy Wilson, Lauren Alaina and Kelly Clarkson and a whole
lot more so Besier and check that out across all
(13:25):
those digital streaming platforms. We're not slowing down, of course,
more milestones to come here on the best of the
Backstage Pass. We're celebrating thirty years in country music. We're
doing that with the great Tracy Lawrence. Coming back here,
broadcasting live from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios and presented
by our friends over at the Caden Gordon Show dot com.
Today's best Country Mix. You're listening to the best of
the Backstage Pass on AM six fifty WSM stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Making it rain from downtown with sports and music. It's
the Sports Guys Podcast only on those Sports Guys podcast
dot com.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And welcome back here to the best of Backstage Past
podcast again broadcasting from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios, live
in Nashville and out there on WSMAM six point fifty.
You can check us out every Sunday morning from five
thirty to six am as we are powered by the
Sports Guys Podcast dot com and presented by our friends.
But we're at Thecadengordonshow dot com Today's best Country Mix.
(14:21):
You know, his distinctive voice made his music instantly recognizable,
and his incredible catalog of songs from Time March Is
On to If the World Had a Front Porch served
as the soundtrack. Too Much of Your childhood and of
course mine too as well. So when you get a
chance to meet Tracy Lawrence on the podcast, one of
the first questions you ask him is what was it
like to celebrate thirty years in country music.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
It's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that
it's been so long. You know, it doesn't build in
some respects that it's been thirty years. But then I
realized that I got a daughter that's been our second
year of college and the one that's about to graduate
high school, and it's like, man, where's the time gone?
You know, that there's been so many changes over all.
(15:03):
This is a little bit overwhelming, you know, as you
look back thirty years and remember the recording process have changed,
distribution processes have changed, you know, in the internet and
social media, and just everything about the way we tour.
I mean, it's a completely different landscape out there now,
and it's been amazing to be a part of it.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
I feel like we were probably on the front end
of it. That young country movement that kicked off in
the early nineties as everything was starting to roll, was
just such an exciting time.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Man.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I don't know if if the kids can count your
music understand how much fun we had back then, before
the before there was so many cameras on everything you do.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
We had a great time in the nineties.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
And Tracy also shared with us here on the backstage
past how special songs can make special memories. And a
song called Alibis had a special Texas connection.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
That song actually came from Randy Foudreau, who had a
lot of hits over the years.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I wish I could say that I wrote it.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
A lot of people don't realize that Tracy Bird was
performing that song at his home club down in Beaumont.
That had been part of his set list for a
long time. And when Bird got his deal, they cut
it for that first album of his and it didn't
make the record. And Boujo started pitching the song around
because he really thought it was going to be on
(16:23):
Bird's record, and I found it and fell in love
with it and wound up cutting it and we hooked
the fire out of it.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
It was just if there was something.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
About Walters for me that were really different, and I
really suck my teeth into that. And I had a
lot of Birds fans from back there. You know, my
wife from Beaumont so I know a lot of folks
back in Beaumont. There's a lot of his fans that
were upset.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
With me about that. They thought I stole his song.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
You know, it was just one of those things, and
he and I had the opportunity to get on stage
and perform that thing together many times over the years
as we've toured together, and he's one of my dearest friends.
And the second compilation of the thirty thirty collection, as
we roll through this process, the second theater he comes out,
Bird is actually doing a duet with me on the
second project alongside it about getting Sherlett s here an
(17:07):
alphas space for.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Him of the world and one of the many things
you have to do as an artist in the music industry.
Has learned to be versatile, including wearing a number of
different hats, and Tracy talked to us about a couple
of nineties songs that made his career even more famous,
Stars Over Texas and a song called Texas Tornado where
Tracy had to learn the production side of the music industry.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
So Stars over Texas was written, Gosh, I.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Believe I'm trying to remember.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
I believe I was out in Las Vegas at the
time when we wrote that, I was palling us and
Larry Boone were on the road with me, and I
believe that song was written at the same time at
how Calgirl Says.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Goodbye was written.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Both wrote both those in the same day. They wound
up on different albums for those who were written right
there together. You know. It was the great thing about
writing was really good songwriters. Once you get a good idea,
you know, they once you learn structure and all that.
If you got a good idea, you can make me
get out of one of them, I mean. And I
(18:06):
got blessed to write with some amazing songwriters that taught
me a whole lot as I was coming through the rings,
you know, to get me to the place there where
I'm now. I'm older and I know how to structure
things and I know how to take a great idea
and really make something special.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Lot of it.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Man, they taught me a lot. So that was kind
of my I say that was my college experience and
songwriting because I was learning a lot back then. I
really didn't like Texas Tornado that much.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
It was one of them.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
I really wasn't sold on it, but I made a
deal with the record label at the time because I
was wanting to produce. I was wanting to start to
produce stuff, and I made a deal with Rick Blackman, who.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Was running Atlantic at the time.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I said, Okay, I'll cut that song if you'll let
me produce part of this album. And so that was
on the I See It Now record, and there are
three songs. I got to produce three songs on that album.
I got to produce kill Billy with a Heartache, which
I do it John Anderson. I got to produce Texas
Tornado that I produced Any Cool Conceive.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Those were the.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Three songs that I got to produce on that record,
and I had two number one records off of it.
That led me to be able to produce Renegade, Rebels
and Robes, and then I basically did half the time
on his own, So it kind of opened the door.
So I had to cut a deal to get it.
I said, I'll cut your song, but I want to
produce it. So I've kind of started moving in that
direction at that particular time. Of course, now I love it.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
It turned out to be a massive record, and.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Of course that was indeed a massive record for the
great Tracy Lawrence out there to another icon not slowing
down to. In fact, Tracy just released new music on
June the seventh of twenty and twenty four, a new
six song EP called out Here. In it we got
one final interview to come here on the Best of
Backstage Past episode. It is with the great Bradley Gilbert
and of course I got to see him play during
(19:50):
CRS Week last year. In twenty twenty three he headlined
the Grandell Loprary and of course right now he's not
slowing down out there on the Off the Rails tour
with Struggle Jennings and of course it Demon Jones. We'll
talk to Brandley about some of the biggest hits he
had in his career and a whole lot more. You're
listening to the Best of Backstage Past podcast here on
WSMAM six fifty, presented by our friends over at Thecaden
(20:13):
Goordonshow dot Com Today's best country mix and broadcasting live
from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios. You're listening to the
Best of Backstage Pass on WSM Radio Am six fifty.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Stay tuned deep Pass to the end Zone. It's a
touchdown for sports and music only at those sports Guys
Podcast dot com.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
And back here on the best of Backstage Pass episode.
Of course, you can catch us every Sunday morning from
five point thirty to six am on our new station,
WSM grand ol Opry Radio Am six fifty. We're broadcasting
live from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios out there too,
and presented by our friends over at the caaden Goordonshow
dot Com. Today's best Country Mix empowered by the Sports
Guys Podcast dot com. We are at the Backstage Pass.
(20:57):
We go behind the scenes with some of the biggest
up coming names in country music and of course entertainment
and sports out there too. Our final look back today
is a recent interview we just did with country music
superstar Brantley Gilbert. Of course, his new single Off the
Rails came out earlier this year in March, and right
now he's embarking on a huge tour and we just
(21:17):
got to see Brantley back in Fort Worth, Texas at
Billy Bob's on the Off the Rails tour. And of
course he was originally signed to Colt Ford's label Average
Joe's Entertainment. He released Modern Day, Prodigal Son and Halfway
to Heaven and of course Brantley right now too as well,
has done so much in his career looking back on
twenty years and a special song that Brantley remembers very well,
(21:39):
one hell of an amen.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Absolutely man.
Speaker 8 (21:42):
And you know, I wrote that song about two people
whose whose legacies drastically changed my life, and had the
opportunity to write it with two of my favorite people
in the world, won the late great miss Mike Decu
and you know, Brian Davis. And of course, you know,
anytime you write a song with somebody, we all, you know,
draw from our own experiences. But for me, it was
(22:02):
about you know, two guys whose legacies drastically changed my
life and and their communities and their friends and family
around them, and you know, wanted to see what that
would do on a grand scale. And that song was
so special, manas it took on so many meanings, uh,
through throughout its it's time and to this day, you know,
you used to have people come up and say, hey,
(22:24):
you know that that song kind of help me through
this or come to terms with this.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
And you know, even for me it changed.
Speaker 8 (22:30):
I was I was actually on my honeymoon when we
were making the final push to make that song number one,
and Uh, I got a call from my uncle uh
telling me that my my grandfather passed away. My grandfather
was a navy vat It's one of my favorite people
on the planet. And you know, it's just it was
it was kind of strange that the song ended up,
(22:53):
you know, something that I wrote to hopefully benefit a
lot of other people ended up kind of helping me
a little bit. But you know, that song is turned
into you know, it was never really a morning or
a grievance of death. It was more about a celebration
of life. And when we play that thing live to
this day, you know, it's more of an anthem. You
don't you don't get like a somber feeling. You know,
(23:13):
there's there's lighters in the sky, and there's you know,
there's people singing at the top of their lungs to
remember people in the good things about them, in the
legacies they left behind. And you know, that song that'll
be something I think we play every show until I'm gone.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
And Brankley also talked to us about a terrific song
that also changed the landscape of his career too as well,
and it was a song that was certified platinum by
the RIBA on March twenty fifth, twenty fourteen, reached its
million sales mark in the US in June of twenty fourteen.
We're talking about country must Be country Wide.
Speaker 8 (23:50):
I wrote that with cot Ford and again the late
great Mike diekle Colt, and I called him Uncle Mike.
He he's an old school songwriter for back in the
day many roads called it fever for Kenny Roy Rogers,
and you know he had some other cuts too later
in life, like Size Matters for Joe Nichols and things
like that.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
But he wrote one hell of an amen.
Speaker 8 (24:09):
Country must Be Countrywide, wrote several songs with me that
that are some of my favorites, and we'll miss him forever.
But I remember coating by talking. It was like man.
Growing up, I didn't leave the house much. We had
family in Indiana, but we never really went very often.
But I always thought, for whatever reason, when I was young,
once you crossed the Mason Dixon line, you know, that
(24:31):
was kind of the end of the country, and everything
up north was.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
Was city people or something.
Speaker 8 (24:36):
I don't know what I thought, but you know, I
remember getting back from one of our first like Countrywide
tours and having a conversation with Cole was.
Speaker 6 (24:45):
Like, there's rednecks everywhere. They're just like us.
Speaker 8 (24:48):
They even Canada, you guys, rednecks to Canada.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
And of course country music always needs a great drinking song.
Brantley had one of those with bottoms up.
Speaker 8 (25:03):
Oh man, I'm telling you that that song had legs
and I didn't see coming. We just passed a ten
year anniversary in that song. So I'm showing my age here.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
But yeah, that that man is a special song.
Speaker 8 (25:16):
And uh, I was able to write it with some
some some of some incredible dudes and and you know,
I remember hearing the.
Speaker 6 (25:23):
Idea at first and being like, Okay, there's something there.
Speaker 8 (25:26):
But I can't say that I left the room thinking
that this is this is gonna be one of my
biggest songs ever.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Uh.
Speaker 8 (25:33):
It was one of those that man had kind of
got played for folks in the office and everybody kind
of gravitated towards it more so than.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
I saw coming. So uh, it's been a special song, man.
Speaker 8 (25:43):
We got to have some fun with it, got to
do a remix with t I, which I thought was
pretty cool, not a left field. A lot of folks
didn't understand that, but I thought it was. But yeah, man,
that that song has been great for us.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
One of your other great ones to come out there
was you don't know it like I do.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
And man, just uh just being.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
The instrumentation, the production, what you guys did with in
the studio, and I mean another one lyrically that had
to be fun just as much to sing, to record
and play live.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
Oh man, you don't know like I do? Was it
was Actually it's got to got a crazy story to it.
So my wife and.
Speaker 8 (26:17):
I had some some crazy history. We were you know,
for on and off for a few years, and then
we went, you know, six years without seeing her speaking
to each other.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
And during that time, you know, I had.
Speaker 8 (26:30):
Heard that she'd moved on, and uh, it was time
to pick a new single, and and that one was
on the table, and I knew she liked country radio
and I knew she was gonna hear it, so I
pulled some redneck stuff and and uh it was kind
of a blow to belt punch. It wasn't really something
fair to do, but it weren't that all right. I
also built a house that she had to pass when
(26:52):
she came home from college every time she came home
to visit her mom from college, she had to pass
that house, and you know that that song was all
over the race d at the same time, and it
weren't out pretty good as we're raising our two kids
in that house now, and we played that song in
our wedding, so uh well, we didn't play it.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
There was a string band.
Speaker 8 (27:10):
It was really cool up until we shot guns right
before they, you know, the pastor.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
Introduced us as mister and missus Gilbert.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
You know, uh, I kind of spun around and all
my groomsmen and I were toe and pistols and just
shot them in the airge because I thought it was awesome.
I think the string band leaned a little more left
than most of us, and I don't know if they thought.
I don't know what they thought was going on, but
they were byolins everything else, flying every direction I was running.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
It was awesome and that's what country music is all about,
right there. Great storytelling and Brandley Gilbert is still doing
it out there twenty years strong on the Off the
Reels Tour. Check him out at Brandley Gilbert dot com
and go download the latest single Off the Reels. Across
all these digital streaming platforms. Our thanks to Lady Wilson,
Terry Flark, Tracy Lawrence, and Brandley Gilbert from making it possible.
Here for the first of many best of Backstage Past
(28:03):
episodes two. We're back, of course, with a new affiliate
next Sunday WSDMAM six fifty from five point thirty to
six am in the morning, broadcasting live from the Big
Timber Entertainment Studios and of course, powered by the Sports
Guys podcast dot com and presented by our friends over
at the Cadan Bordonshow dot com Today's Best Country Mix.
We appreciate everybody that made the show possible to as well.
(28:24):
We'll talk to you guys next week on AM six
fifty WSM. Until then, take care and godless.
Welcome to another edition of Backstage Pass powered by the
Sports Guys Podcast with your host Brandon Morell.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And welcome inside the Backstage Pass again powered by the
Sports Guys podcast dot com and broadcasting from the Big
Timber Entertainment studios out there, presented by our friends over
at the Caadangordonshow dot com Today's best Country Mix. We
appreciate all the work that our sponsors do and now
you can hear the Backstage Pass each and every Sunday
morning from five thirty to six am or our newest
affiliate WSMAM six point fifty. And guys, we made it
(00:34):
past the five year mark of the show and getting
a chance to bring you, guys, some of the best
coverage and interviews in country music as we follow all
these great artists from their rise from the bottom all
the way to the top of the country music charts
out there, and we've got four great interviews. We decided
to go back and make a best of the Backstage
Pass and you'll be hearing from some of the great
names in country music over the next thirty minutes or so.
(00:54):
Landy Wilson, Brantley Gilbert, Terry Clark, and Tracy Lawrence. So
sit back and relax as they tell their stories, talk
about their rise in country music. Enjoy.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Hey, it's Sean Salisbury and Sean Salisbry.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Sports SAX seven ninety six to ten Mondays.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Friday in Houston, and you are listening to the best
podcasts in the business, the.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Sports Guyspodcast dot Com Music Sports.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
You don't want to miss it.
Speaker 6 (01:19):
You'll be entertaining the entire time.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And back here on the best of Backstage Pass here
on WSM Radio Am six fifty. Glad to bring you
the coverage today too, and of course you can hear
us every Sunday from five point thirty to six am
here broadcasting from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios and presented
by friends over at the Cadenbordonshow dot Com Today's best
Country Mix. You know, guys, Lanny Wilson rose to the
top in the last four years. We had her here
(01:43):
on the show. Back in December of twenty twenty, Lany
talked to us about the riding country music. Of course,
they call Nashville a ten year town. Laney has arisen
to the top over the last three or four years,
and she talked about here with us you're on the
backstage pass about a special story that are I told her,
and it talked about holding off.
Speaker 7 (02:02):
I'm super blessed and I'm just I'm not giving up.
That's my thing, you know, I man, I always this
is kind of a silly story, but I always talk
about it when people say, you know this squeaky will
getsagrease or you know, just holding on and whatever.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
But I remember.
Speaker 7 (02:22):
I grew up riding horses and my daddy he bought
this horse when I was I don't know, eight years
old probably, and the horse was too and the horse
had not been ridden.
Speaker 5 (02:34):
I mean, I think one person had been.
Speaker 7 (02:36):
On its back.
Speaker 5 (02:37):
But I remember.
Speaker 7 (02:40):
I remember Daddy put me on the horse and the
horse was bucking and I was crying and I was saying, Daddy,
I want off, get me off. You know, I was terrified,
and he was like, no, hold on, and he didn't
realize it. But that was seriously, probably one of the
biggest life lessons I will ever learn. And so just
(03:01):
when I feel like I'm about to fall off, I'm
just holding on for dear life.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
And it's all about the ride and working for what
you want.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
And indeed, it's about working for what you want in
life too, especially in the music industry, and of course
Landy Wilson had the pinnacle of her career here. In
twenty twenty four, she took on Female Artist of the
Year and the top prize of Entertainer of the Year
the twenty twenty four Academy of Country Music Awards. She
joins an exclusive category a few women to earn the
top prize. Miranda Lambert was named Entertainer of the Year
(03:31):
in twenty twenty two. In twenty twenty, Carry Under One
and Thomas rhtt tied for the title, the first time
ever for a time and the first time a woman
had won the category since Taylor Swift in twenty twelve.
Laney credits a lot earlier in her career going on
the road Justin Moore, Tracy Lawrence, and of course a
special thanks goes out to Ashley McBride.
Speaker 7 (03:49):
It's such a crazy name because a lot of these
people that I've been able to go on the road with,
other people who I've just looked up to for the
longest time, you know what I mean. I've just got
off the road where you know, the whole pandemic. Kid,
I was on road with Justin Moore and Tracy Lawrence
and I just remember listening to Tracy Lawrence when I
was a kid, and it was so crazy.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
I played a twenty minute set.
Speaker 7 (04:12):
I'm talking about just enough time to get up there,
sing a couple songs and get my butt down. And
Tracy Lawrence and Justin Moore every single night before the
tour got shut down, they sat there on the side
stage and they watched me. Literally they watched me walk
on stage and they watched me walk off.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
And it was such a.
Speaker 7 (04:31):
Cool thing for me because I was like, you know,
when I have the opportunity to be a headliner and
I have people opening the shows for me, they don't
understand how much that meant to me. And it just
made me feel like I was one of them, and
it made me feel like they supported me and.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
Have my back.
Speaker 7 (04:48):
And really it's the same thing with like Ashley McBride.
She she has my back.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
I'm telling you.
Speaker 7 (04:55):
We played a run of shows together, probably this time
last year, and she told me she was like, she said.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Laney, I believe in you, and I think you're gonna
kill it.
Speaker 7 (05:07):
She said, but you need to promise me one thing.
She said, you need to promise me that when you
find somebody who you love and believe in as much
as I do, you that you grab their hand and
you help them over the wall too.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
That just stuck with me.
Speaker 7 (05:20):
You know, when artists like that, who don't have to,
but they do, they take the time to get to
know you, and because they've been there before, you know,
they've been in the fifteen sixteen Passinger Van just trying.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
To get there, you know. And it's just I feel
like I learned something every single time I get to
go on the road with.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
People like that.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And of course our thanks to Lanney Wilson for joining
us here on the best of the backstage Past. The
next album coming out is Whirlwind August twenty third. Couple
of songs off there right now, Hang Tight Honey and
Country's Cool Again. You have to look out for that
August twenty third from the Great Landy Wilson coming up
here as we broadcast live from the Big Timber Entertainment
Studio and presented by our friends over at the Cadangordonshow
(06:02):
dot Com. Today's best Country Mix. We'll talk to the
legend Terry Clark and we'll talk about our country gold
podcasts out there too, and a credit to the songwriters.
You know, we focus a lot here on the artist
on the Backstage Pass, and it's time to get credit
where credit is due to the songwriters. Terry will touch
on that, and of course the Canadian Country Music Hall
of Fame and becoming a member of the Grand ol Opry.
(06:24):
More of that coming up here. It is the best
of Backstage Pass on six fifty am w SM.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Stay tuned, nothing but that, You're locked into the best
sports and music podcast. It's the Sports Guys and don't
forget to check them out at the Sports Guys Podcast
dot com.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
And back here on the Backstage Pass, broadcasting from the
Big Timber Entertainment Studios and beautiful Nashville, Tennessee, empowered by
the Sports Guys Podcast dot com and presented by our
friends over at the Caadangordonshow dot com. Today's best Country Mix,
you know, speaking of that, one of the all time greats,
Terry Clark Painter dues at Chetsy's Orchid Lounge in Nashville,
holding the honor of being the only Canadian female member
(07:05):
of the Grand ole Opry. Terry Clark continues to build
an unforgettable legacy Prime for the history books country music,
the multi Juno Award winner both over five million albums sold,
three RI Double A Platinum and two RI Double A
Gold certified albums, Canadian Gold, Platinum, Double Platinum and Triple
Platinum certified albums, thirteen top ten singles, including six number
(07:26):
ones in Canada and the US. Terry talked about the
songwriters from the nineties too, as well as she worked
with and she made her way up the ranks of
country music and being relatable to country music fans as
far as the.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
Early records go. You know, I was with Chris Waters
and Tom Shapiro were my writing partners for much of
the first three albums, And Keith Stegall, who signed me
to Mercury Records, actually put me in Chris waters crosshairs
and said, this girl, we're gonna make a record on her.
Would you like to co produce the record and write
(08:00):
songs with her? So Chris brought Tom Shapiro into the
writing thing, and I had been writing songs. You know,
I wrote If I Were You before I ever met
Chris Waters and Tom Spiro. I wrote that song by
myself when I was waiting tables, and that wound up
on the first album, but you know, we became this
songwriting team that we just turned out song after song
(08:20):
after song, and almost everything we wrote was really good.
I was on fire at the time. I think at
my peak as a songwriter. I think there was a
ten year period where I was really writing great songs
and the people that I was getting to write with
were really great writers. So we honed in on something cool.
(08:41):
That was My style was kind of a turbo honky
tom traditional. It was country, but it was amped up country,
and there weren't a lot of females in the mid
nineties really doing that kind of thing. There was. It
was more of a pop country thing. You know, Shania
was out there, and Faith was huge, and Martina was huge,
and I came along with this cowboy hat on, wearing
(09:03):
wranglers and kicking dust around with my boots and singing
better things to do it. It just kind of a lot
of people latched onto it, and a lot of girls
out there that were in high school at the time,
you know, and in the four Ah club who felt
like they didn't fit in, who liked country music and
lived a country lifestyle, found somebody that they could relate to.
And I've got so much feedback on letters like that
(09:24):
over the years from people that more than anything, I
think that's one thing that makes me so proud is
that so many young girls were able to relate and
didn't feel like they were, you know, a misfit or
out there somewhere, and that there was somebody out there
they could relate to.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And of course, another big impactful single in Terry's career,
When Boy Meets Girl, debut at number seventy five on
the US Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks for the
week of October twenty eighth, nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
The hook wasn't my idea, but we came in and
realized that it had never been written before. So we
sat down and I wrote Better Things to Do with
the same guys. And the fact that the title when
Boy Meet's Girl hadn't been written before, we just plowed
right into it, and I had no idea it was
(10:13):
going to end up becoming the second single, but you know,
back then, we could write a song and we kind
of thought, you know, I think this sounds like a hit,
and we were right, and I'll never forget after we
wrote Better Things to Do, tom My co writer, pulled
a dollar bill out of his pocket and started rubbing
it on his forehead and said, I love the feel
of cashable checks or something, the sound of casual. It
(10:38):
was so funny because he knew he had written forty
number one hits by then, so I think I kind
of trusted him. I'm like, you must know what you're
talking about then, because I didn't. But it was just
such a fun experience writing with those guys, and I
have very fond memories of both of them in our relationship,
and I continued to write with tom up until maybe
(10:58):
just four or five years ago. We've continued to write
together over the years.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
And after all the success that Terry Clark has had,
she always talks about the moment she'll never forget. She
was inducted into the Grand O Loprary June the twelfth,
two thousand and four, and it's currently the only female
Canadian member of the Grand Ole Loprary. Shortly after her induction,
Clark's first greatest Hits album, Greatest Hits nineteen ninety four
to two thousand and four was issued. Terry seys every
(11:23):
time she steps inside that Center Circle, it's very surreal.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Oh, absolutely. I shake in my boots every time. I'm
nervous every time. And now it's back on TV, you know,
and it lives online, so there's the added pressure of that.
But you know, you always want to just you want
to do well. It's like it's like the little kid
who is painting, doing a finger painting for his mom
for Mother's Day and he just sits there and wants
(11:50):
her to love it. And that's how you feel when
you're on the Opry. You just want the approval of Gosh,
the legends that started it, that are standing in the
wings watching it at home, and standing in that circle
is the greatest honor a country singer can ever have.
I don't care how many Grammys you have, Cmas you have,
standing in that circle is the greatest honor that a
(12:10):
country music singer can have. And I think we all
realize the gravity of that and what it means. And
I feel, you know, when I hear people talk about
the Opry people that are friends of mine life, Ashley McBrien,
and how much she revers it and how how she
holds it to such a high, high level of honor,
(12:31):
and you know, you've got to have reverence for who
came before you and how they got there, and how
the Aubrey was built, and the fact that you get
to be a part of it is amazing. And the
fact that I was asked to become a member, I
still pinch myself. It's surreal. I can't believe. I can't
believe that that I'm sitting here still the only female
(12:52):
Canadian member, and I hope in my lifetime to see
another one go in there. But you know, I'm gonna,
of course enjoy it and you know, fly the flag
proudly as long as I possibly can.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And it was great to see Terry Clark on stage
this year, performing at CMAFES twenty twenty four at Nissan Stadium.
Terry's not slowing down. Our latest album, Terry Clark Take Two,
came out May thirty, first across all the digital streaming platforms,
a collaboration with some of her best hits with Cody Johnson,
Landy Wilson, Lauren Alaina and Kelly Clarkson and a whole
lot more so Besier and check that out across all
(13:25):
those digital streaming platforms. We're not slowing down, of course,
more milestones to come here on the best of the
Backstage Pass. We're celebrating thirty years in country music. We're
doing that with the great Tracy Lawrence. Coming back here,
broadcasting live from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios and presented
by our friends over at the Caden Gordon Show dot com.
Today's best Country Mix. You're listening to the best of
the Backstage Pass on AM six fifty WSM stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Making it rain from downtown with sports and music. It's
the Sports Guys Podcast only on those Sports Guys podcast
dot com.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And welcome back here to the best of Backstage Past
podcast again broadcasting from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios, live
in Nashville and out there on WSMAM six point fifty.
You can check us out every Sunday morning from five
thirty to six am as we are powered by the
Sports Guys Podcast dot com and presented by our friends.
But we're at Thecadengordonshow dot com Today's best Country Mix.
(14:21):
You know, his distinctive voice made his music instantly recognizable,
and his incredible catalog of songs from Time March Is
On to If the World Had a Front Porch served
as the soundtrack. Too Much of Your childhood and of
course mine too as well. So when you get a
chance to meet Tracy Lawrence on the podcast, one of
the first questions you ask him is what was it
like to celebrate thirty years in country music.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
It's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that
it's been so long. You know, it doesn't build in
some respects that it's been thirty years. But then I
realized that I got a daughter that's been our second
year of college and the one that's about to graduate
high school, and it's like, man, where's the time gone?
You know, that there's been so many changes over all.
(15:03):
This is a little bit overwhelming, you know, as you
look back thirty years and remember the recording process have changed,
distribution processes have changed, you know, in the internet and
social media, and just everything about the way we tour.
I mean, it's a completely different landscape out there now,
and it's been amazing to be a part of it.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
I feel like we were probably on the front end
of it. That young country movement that kicked off in
the early nineties as everything was starting to roll, was
just such an exciting time.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Man.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I don't know if if the kids can count your
music understand how much fun we had back then, before
the before there was so many cameras on everything you do.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
We had a great time in the nineties.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
And Tracy also shared with us here on the backstage
past how special songs can make special memories. And a
song called Alibis had a special Texas connection.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
That song actually came from Randy Foudreau, who had a
lot of hits over the years.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I wish I could say that I wrote it.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
A lot of people don't realize that Tracy Bird was
performing that song at his home club down in Beaumont.
That had been part of his set list for a
long time. And when Bird got his deal, they cut
it for that first album of his and it didn't
make the record. And Boujo started pitching the song around
because he really thought it was going to be on
(16:23):
Bird's record, and I found it and fell in love
with it and wound up cutting it and we hooked
the fire out of it.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
It was just if there was something.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
About Walters for me that were really different, and I
really suck my teeth into that. And I had a
lot of Birds fans from back there. You know, my
wife from Beaumont so I know a lot of folks
back in Beaumont. There's a lot of his fans that
were upset.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
With me about that. They thought I stole his song.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
You know, it was just one of those things, and
he and I had the opportunity to get on stage
and perform that thing together many times over the years
as we've toured together, and he's one of my dearest friends.
And the second compilation of the thirty thirty collection, as
we roll through this process, the second theater he comes out,
Bird is actually doing a duet with me on the
second project alongside it about getting Sherlett s here an
(17:07):
alphas space for.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Him of the world and one of the many things
you have to do as an artist in the music industry.
Has learned to be versatile, including wearing a number of
different hats, and Tracy talked to us about a couple
of nineties songs that made his career even more famous,
Stars Over Texas and a song called Texas Tornado where
Tracy had to learn the production side of the music industry.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
So Stars over Texas was written, Gosh, I.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Believe I'm trying to remember.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
I believe I was out in Las Vegas at the
time when we wrote that, I was palling us and
Larry Boone were on the road with me, and I
believe that song was written at the same time at
how Calgirl Says.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Goodbye was written.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Both wrote both those in the same day. They wound
up on different albums for those who were written right
there together. You know. It was the great thing about
writing was really good songwriters. Once you get a good idea,
you know, they once you learn structure and all that.
If you got a good idea, you can make me
get out of one of them, I mean. And I
(18:06):
got blessed to write with some amazing songwriters that taught
me a whole lot as I was coming through the rings,
you know, to get me to the place there where
I'm now. I'm older and I know how to structure
things and I know how to take a great idea
and really make something special.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Lot of it.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Man, they taught me a lot. So that was kind
of my I say that was my college experience and
songwriting because I was learning a lot back then. I
really didn't like Texas Tornado that much.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
It was one of them.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
I really wasn't sold on it, but I made a
deal with the record label at the time because I
was wanting to produce. I was wanting to start to
produce stuff, and I made a deal with Rick Blackman, who.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
Was running Atlantic at the time.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I said, Okay, I'll cut that song if you'll let
me produce part of this album. And so that was
on the I See It Now record, and there are
three songs. I got to produce three songs on that album.
I got to produce kill Billy with a Heartache, which
I do it John Anderson. I got to produce Texas
Tornado that I produced Any Cool Conceive.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Those were the.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Three songs that I got to produce on that record,
and I had two number one records off of it.
That led me to be able to produce Renegade, Rebels
and Robes, and then I basically did half the time
on his own, So it kind of opened the door.
So I had to cut a deal to get it.
I said, I'll cut your song, but I want to
produce it. So I've kind of started moving in that
direction at that particular time. Of course, now I love it.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
It turned out to be a massive record, and.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Of course that was indeed a massive record for the
great Tracy Lawrence out there to another icon not slowing
down to. In fact, Tracy just released new music on
June the seventh of twenty and twenty four, a new
six song EP called out Here. In it we got
one final interview to come here on the Best of
Backstage Past episode. It is with the great Bradley Gilbert
and of course I got to see him play during
(19:50):
CRS Week last year. In twenty twenty three he headlined
the Grandell Loprary and of course right now he's not
slowing down out there on the Off the Rails tour
with Struggle Jennings and of course it Demon Jones. We'll
talk to Brandley about some of the biggest hits he
had in his career and a whole lot more. You're
listening to the Best of Backstage Past podcast here on
WSMAM six fifty, presented by our friends over at Thecaden
(20:13):
Goordonshow dot Com Today's best country mix and broadcasting live
from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios. You're listening to the
Best of Backstage Pass on WSM Radio Am six fifty.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Stay tuned deep Pass to the end Zone. It's a
touchdown for sports and music only at those sports Guys
Podcast dot com.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
And back here on the best of Backstage Pass episode.
Of course, you can catch us every Sunday morning from
five point thirty to six am on our new station,
WSM grand ol Opry Radio Am six fifty. We're broadcasting
live from the Big Timber Entertainment Studios out there too,
and presented by our friends over at the caaden Goordonshow
dot Com. Today's best Country Mix empowered by the Sports
Guys Podcast dot com. We are at the Backstage Pass.
(20:57):
We go behind the scenes with some of the biggest
up coming names in country music and of course entertainment
and sports out there too. Our final look back today
is a recent interview we just did with country music
superstar Brantley Gilbert. Of course, his new single Off the
Rails came out earlier this year in March, and right
now he's embarking on a huge tour and we just
(21:17):
got to see Brantley back in Fort Worth, Texas at
Billy Bob's on the Off the Rails tour. And of
course he was originally signed to Colt Ford's label Average
Joe's Entertainment. He released Modern Day, Prodigal Son and Halfway
to Heaven and of course Brantley right now too as well,
has done so much in his career looking back on
twenty years and a special song that Brantley remembers very well,
(21:39):
one hell of an amen.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Absolutely man.
Speaker 8 (21:42):
And you know, I wrote that song about two people
whose whose legacies drastically changed my life, and had the
opportunity to write it with two of my favorite people
in the world, won the late great miss Mike Decu
and you know, Brian Davis. And of course, you know,
anytime you write a song with somebody, we all, you know,
draw from our own experiences. But for me, it was
(22:02):
about you know, two guys whose legacies drastically changed my
life and and their communities and their friends and family
around them, and you know, wanted to see what that
would do on a grand scale. And that song was
so special, manas it took on so many meanings, uh,
through throughout its it's time and to this day, you know,
you used to have people come up and say, hey,
(22:24):
you know that that song kind of help me through
this or come to terms with this.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
And you know, even for me it changed.
Speaker 8 (22:30):
I was I was actually on my honeymoon when we
were making the final push to make that song number one,
and Uh, I got a call from my uncle uh
telling me that my my grandfather passed away. My grandfather
was a navy vat It's one of my favorite people
on the planet. And you know, it's just it was
it was kind of strange that the song ended up,
(22:53):
you know, something that I wrote to hopefully benefit a
lot of other people ended up kind of helping me
a little bit. But you know, that song is turned
into you know, it was never really a morning or
a grievance of death. It was more about a celebration
of life. And when we play that thing live to
this day, you know, it's more of an anthem. You
don't you don't get like a somber feeling. You know,
(23:13):
there's there's lighters in the sky, and there's you know,
there's people singing at the top of their lungs to
remember people in the good things about them, in the
legacies they left behind. And you know, that song that'll
be something I think we play every show until I'm gone.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
And Brankley also talked to us about a terrific song
that also changed the landscape of his career too as well,
and it was a song that was certified platinum by
the RIBA on March twenty fifth, twenty fourteen, reached its
million sales mark in the US in June of twenty fourteen.
We're talking about country must Be country Wide.
Speaker 8 (23:50):
I wrote that with cot Ford and again the late
great Mike diekle Colt, and I called him Uncle Mike.
He he's an old school songwriter for back in the
day many roads called it fever for Kenny Roy Rogers,
and you know he had some other cuts too later
in life, like Size Matters for Joe Nichols and things
like that.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
But he wrote one hell of an amen.
Speaker 8 (24:09):
Country must Be Countrywide, wrote several songs with me that
that are some of my favorites, and we'll miss him forever.
But I remember coating by talking. It was like man.
Growing up, I didn't leave the house much. We had
family in Indiana, but we never really went very often.
But I always thought, for whatever reason, when I was young,
once you crossed the Mason Dixon line, you know, that
(24:31):
was kind of the end of the country, and everything
up north was.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
Was city people or something.
Speaker 8 (24:36):
I don't know what I thought, but you know, I
remember getting back from one of our first like Countrywide
tours and having a conversation with Cole was.
Speaker 6 (24:45):
Like, there's rednecks everywhere. They're just like us.
Speaker 8 (24:48):
They even Canada, you guys, rednecks to Canada.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
And of course country music always needs a great drinking song.
Brantley had one of those with bottoms up.
Speaker 8 (25:03):
Oh man, I'm telling you that that song had legs
and I didn't see coming. We just passed a ten
year anniversary in that song. So I'm showing my age here.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
But yeah, that that man is a special song.
Speaker 8 (25:16):
And uh, I was able to write it with some
some some of some incredible dudes and and you know,
I remember hearing the.
Speaker 6 (25:23):
Idea at first and being like, Okay, there's something there.
Speaker 8 (25:26):
But I can't say that I left the room thinking
that this is this is gonna be one of my
biggest songs ever.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Uh.
Speaker 8 (25:33):
It was one of those that man had kind of
got played for folks in the office and everybody kind
of gravitated towards it more so than.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
I saw coming. So uh, it's been a special song, man.
Speaker 8 (25:43):
We got to have some fun with it, got to
do a remix with t I, which I thought was
pretty cool, not a left field. A lot of folks
didn't understand that, but I thought it was. But yeah, man,
that that song has been great for us.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
One of your other great ones to come out there
was you don't know it like I do.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
And man, just uh just being.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
The instrumentation, the production, what you guys did with in
the studio, and I mean another one lyrically that had
to be fun just as much to sing, to record
and play live.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
Oh man, you don't know like I do? Was it
was Actually it's got to got a crazy story to it.
So my wife and.
Speaker 8 (26:17):
I had some some crazy history. We were you know,
for on and off for a few years, and then
we went, you know, six years without seeing her speaking
to each other.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
And during that time, you know, I had.
Speaker 8 (26:30):
Heard that she'd moved on, and uh, it was time
to pick a new single, and and that one was
on the table, and I knew she liked country radio
and I knew she was gonna hear it, so I
pulled some redneck stuff and and uh it was kind
of a blow to belt punch. It wasn't really something
fair to do, but it weren't that all right. I
also built a house that she had to pass when
(26:52):
she came home from college every time she came home
to visit her mom from college, she had to pass
that house, and you know that that song was all
over the race d at the same time, and it
weren't out pretty good as we're raising our two kids
in that house now, and we played that song in
our wedding, so uh well, we didn't play it.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
There was a string band.
Speaker 8 (27:10):
It was really cool up until we shot guns right
before they, you know, the pastor.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
Introduced us as mister and missus Gilbert.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
You know, uh, I kind of spun around and all
my groomsmen and I were toe and pistols and just
shot them in the airge because I thought it was awesome.
I think the string band leaned a little more left
than most of us, and I don't know if they thought.
I don't know what they thought was going on, but
they were byolins everything else, flying every direction I was running.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
It was awesome and that's what country music is all about,
right there. Great storytelling and Brandley Gilbert is still doing
it out there twenty years strong on the Off the
Reels Tour. Check him out at Brandley Gilbert dot com
and go download the latest single Off the Reels. Across
all these digital streaming platforms. Our thanks to Lady Wilson,
Terry Flark, Tracy Lawrence, and Brandley Gilbert from making it possible.
Here for the first of many best of Backstage Past
(28:03):
episodes two. We're back, of course, with a new affiliate
next Sunday WSDMAM six fifty from five point thirty to
six am in the morning, broadcasting live from the Big
Timber Entertainment Studios and of course, powered by the Sports
Guys podcast dot com and presented by our friends over
at the Cadan Bordonshow dot com Today's Best Country Mix.
We appreciate everybody that made the show possible to as well.
(28:24):
We'll talk to you guys next week on AM six
fifty WSM. Until then, take care and godless.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.