December 2, 2025 • 35 mins
Forget everything you think you know about how country hits are made. Michael Peterson is finally pulling back the curtain on the previously unheard Nashville songwriting scene, revealing the raw, unfiltered moments and surprising anecdotes that define the creative process for artists you love.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey all, this recording artist Michael Peterson and you're listening
to a grand slam of music, sports, and entertainment. It's
the award nominated Backstage Past podcast with Brandon Morell on
KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area broadcast network.
Stream the show anytime on iHeartRadio podcast. You can also
(00:20):
stream at THHWN dot.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Org and welcome inside the Backstage Past KYBN ninety eight
point one, your bay Area broadcasting network and of course
powered by the sportsguyspodcast dot com. And if you like
me and you play music, bingo out there too. Sometimes
you get a chance to rediscover artists across your Bengo
card and we're doing that today, bringing back nineties country
great Michael Peterson to the Backstage Past. Michael, How you doing, sir?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm doing great. How are you doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's doing good man, And happy holidays to you and
the family, and thank you. I'm glad I got to
get into bingo again.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Well that's really fun. And you know what, sometimes we
all get fun surprises like that, So thank you for sharing.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
In that, no doubt too.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Hey tell us as the holidays approach, I guess kind
of a two part question you're working on a lot
of new music out there too, and definitely looking forward
to probably spending some time with the family too.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yeah, My wife and I and about one hundred dogs
that she watches. She has a fun dog watching business.
That would be our holiday. She's doing house sitting and
and you know, we're just gonna hunker down for Thanksgiving,
you know, go to go to Costco and get some
fixings and you know, be lazy about it all. Or
we might even go to Kentucky Fried Chicken. I don't know,
I'm not sure, but you know that's that's a that's
(01:35):
the sort of the lazy way of doing Thanksgiving, but
that's what we.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Like to do.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Hey, tell us about all these new projects. Working on
some new music too, and we'll get into all the
great hits of the nineties and no doubt about it,
and of course play one of my favorites off there,
drinks were Stealing Live. But tell us about what's kind
of going on with some of this new music you're
putting out there now.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Well, thanks for asking. We have a new single that
we put out October twenty fifth. It's it's a record
of a classic sixties hit that was a huge hit
all over the world by the Hollies, but it's a
new version of that song that probably many of your
listeners know, the song he Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother,
(02:13):
and I recorded it with the Gospel Hall of Fame
group and multiple Grammy Award winning singers, the Imperials. So
we recorded that song together, and it's been out now
for three weeks in the European country music market and
I just stunned really at how this has happened. But
(02:35):
it went to number one this last week and it's
third week on the European Country music Top forty, so
getting a lot of airplay in Europe and just starting
to get some airplay here in the US. And we're
just really excited about it. It's a call the unity
and a call for us to share a little more
empathy and brotherhood with our you know, with our family
(02:58):
around the world. You know, people that we may not
have even met, but it's so much division these days.
If we can tone that down a little bit and
share a little more empathy, I think we can make
the world a better place. And that song is really
a call for that, just caring more, reaching out and
supporting each other more.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
You know, it was kind of cool to watch, you know,
this past month of November the CMA Awards always kind
of cool to you know, get country music's biggest night
there too, and it's just kind of really a fine thing,
I think now to see some of the ladies, you know,
getting their calling now for country music, and I mean
the Queen Bee, Lady Wilson. Give me your take on
kind of the You've been doing this a long time,
you know, well over two decades now when you look
(03:37):
back to the calling of music and of course how
it's changed ever since you got started that first recording contract,
putting out these great hits, and now the shape of
country music now when you look back at it from
when you started to where it's at now, give me
a take on that.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Well, when I came out, there was a lot of
people that said that the music that was being made
in the era that I came out in wasn't real
country music. To them, real country music was George Jones,
Merle Haggard, you know, the older artists. And I think
this has always been the case that the format is
(04:11):
always growing and accommodating what the fans of that era,
whatever particular era, you're in really like and what they want.
And so it's just interesting now some thirty years later
to look and say that that's still the case. Is
(04:31):
that there's people now that say, why, nineties music was
real country music and now the stuff they're doing isn't.
But you know, like I said, in the nineties, people
were saying that about what we were doing because it
was something new. So I think it's important to have
that perspective. I think, you know, when you can sit
back and look at it from that point of view
(04:53):
and try to find things that you don't enjoy. I
think it was great Duke Ellington who said there's only
two kinds of music, the kind you like and the
kind you don't. You know, and and country music it
has a tradition and it also has a tradition of
moving forward. And so there's a lot of young people
(05:15):
today who think country music is the you know, the
top ten or the top twenty, the top forty that
is current on the charts. To them, that's country music.
And they look at stuff that you know from my
era and they say, well, that's old time country music.
So I you know, I think it really for me,
I like to settle back to there's music that you
(05:35):
like and there's music that you don't like. I used
to say I don't like rap music, you know, and
then I heard some songs that were raped that I liked,
and then I had to say, well, wait a minute.
You know, there's music that you like and there's music
that you don't. So I think, you know, the invitation
for all of us is to look for music that
we like, and the music that we don't, we just
don't listen.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
No, that's true, no doubt. And like I said, there's
a little bit of something for everybody right now too.
We're gonna give you the latest to single here from
Michael Peterson, the Backstage Pass.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
He Ain't Heavy.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
He's my brother the one we just talked about here
on the show again. K YBN ninety eight point one,
your Bay Area broadcasting network and powered by the sports
guys at podcast dot com at TWN dot org and
our friends at iHeartRadio Podcast.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Back in the Flash, stay tuned.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
They're olds with many.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
Turn that leads us to.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Knows a way? Who knows that answer true?
Speaker 6 (07:04):
Strong enough to kick.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Him?
Speaker 6 (07:14):
He ain't heavy, He's my brother, So on we go.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
He is Welfare is my.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Concern, no bird, and is he to be?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
We'll get there.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
For I know.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And know.
Speaker 6 (07:58):
He would not come. Read he ain't heavy. He's my brother, Oh,
(08:18):
the family.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Leader and a.
Speaker 7 (08:26):
Leader we said ni.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Naddy read one.
Speaker 7 (08:39):
He is a fis.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
With the glass nas of a lord sweet full ho.
Speaker 5 (08:57):
It's a long, long.
Speaker 6 (08:59):
Room from which there is no return.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
While we on? Are we.
Speaker 6 (09:16):
To the.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Why not sha? And doesn't away me? Dam and he
(09:41):
ain't heaby?
Speaker 7 (09:43):
No, he's not prob.
Speaker 8 (09:55):
Oh oh and the.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Don way me day.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Head.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
He ain't heavy? No, No, he's my brother.
Speaker 9 (10:25):
Yes, Hey, guys and gals, this is Kolby Cala and
(10:53):
you're listening to the award nominated Backstage Pass with Brandon
Morrell on KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area
broadcasting network. Stream the show anytime on the Sports Guys
podcast dot com and on iHeartRadio podcasts. It's a grand
slam of music, entertainment and sports.
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Speaker 12 (12:13):
Well's up, guys, this is Colin Style and you're listening
to a grand slam of music, sports, and entertainment. It's
the award nominated Backstage Past Podcast with Brandon Morell on
KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area broadcasting network.
Tune into the show on iHeartRadio podcast at on the
Sports Guys Podcast dot com, and at THWN dot org.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
And welcome back here to the show again. Michael Peterson
joining us here ninety's country bringing back some of those
big hits there too, and also talking about some of
the new projects today as we kind of reminisce here
on the backstage pass our friends KYBN ninety eight point one,
your Bay Area Broadcasting network too. You mentioned how special
that song with you too. I want to go back
to your first you know record there, to the self
(12:58):
titled album that you had to and so many great there.
We'll get to Drinksquare Steel Lie but you know one
of my favorite soft of there too, And I'm sure
for the live shows it's always fun to play and
weddings and things like that from here to eternity. When
you look back at that one man, such a special tune,
wasn't it.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Well, it was a special song, and it was a
special song, I think for lots of reasons. One of
the reasons I think it became a special song and
to this day is considered one of the top country
music wedding songs of all time, is because it wasn't
a song that was designed for the actual wedding ceremony.
It was designed for the proposal, and there aren't very
(13:37):
many songs like that. So it was one of those
songs that when we wrote it, we said, Wow, wouldn't
it be great if the person that's proposing who's maybe
a little nervous and didn't quite know how to pop
the question because they were so nervous, could say to
the person they're proposing to, Hey, would you just listen
to this song, and then they could play it for him,
(13:58):
and the song basically asks or pops the question, and
then at the end of the song they could show
the other person they're proposing to the ring and it
kind of helped them get through the proposal. So I
think because of that, it became a unique song. It
stood apart from other wedding songs, and I think to
this day is still the case.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know, off that same record too. I remember listening
to the too Good to Be True title of that
song too as well. Love that one and it just
got people up on the dance floor. Back in my
early DJ days playing a radio here in Beaumont, Texas,
where I was at for different stations, working at affiliates
of that time, and I remember going out to dance
halls right here in Mark Chestnut and Clay Walker and
(14:40):
Tracy Bird Country down here Beaumont too. You go out
to some of the big dance halls and that would
be one of the crowd's favorite to come on to
dance to.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Well, that's great. You know again, that song was a
bit of a groundbreaker because at the time, I believe
that you have to go back and check the history
on this, but there hadn't at that time been much
influence from the hip hop and the dance community on
(15:08):
country music. He hadn't had any real hit records that
had had that yet. And you know, here came Shania
Twain with Mutt Lang and they had a song off
of per Big Big. It wasn't her debut album, was
her second album, but the first one that Mutt produced.
There was a song on there that had this kind
of a rhythm or a beat to it. And you know,
(15:29):
I was at the YMCA one day and I heard
a song by a band called TLC. It had had
a kind of a hip hop beat to it, and
I remember thinking, I've got a writing appointment this afternoon.
I wonder if anybody who's ever written a song, a
country song with that kind of beat or that groove.
And so, you know, I showed up that day my
(15:51):
writing appointment with the great Gene Pistilli. Your listeners might
know Gene as being the writer of songs like Sunday
Will Never Be the Same for Bank in Our Gang,
or Too Gone for Too Long, which was a be
a my song of the Year for Ry Travis. Lots
of big hits, and Gene was a mentor of mine.
(16:11):
He was a producer of Jim Croche, He was one
of the founding members of Manhattan Transfer, just a real gem.
Speaker 12 (16:17):
Of a guy.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
And so we wrote this song too Good to be
True to this hip hop beat, and then of course
when it came out, it was I think ours record
came out before Shanias that had that groove. So in
a sense, probably some people could blame us for being
on the cutting edge of ushering this whole era of
hip hop influence into country music. I think we were
(16:40):
the first hit record that had that kind of a
groove to it. But it was that appeal of that
groove that I think would cause people to want to
get out and dance, because it just kind of invites
you to want to move.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, it really does too. That's that upbeat field, kind
of a nineties country sound. And of course, like said,
I love the Grievingus too, and it leads me to
like the collaborations. Now you see in these days too.
Like I said, when you watch all these award shows
too and you hear all the different genres of music
that are really making their way into country. Now. You
mentioned about it's either good you listen to it or
if it's not, you don't listen to it. But I
(17:15):
think there's some good things that can be found too
with the way you see some of the artists collaborating
today too, with all the different genres of music, right.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I think it's fabulous, you know. I think it's wonderful
when the current generation tips their hat to the shoulders
of the people that they're standing on their shoulders who
paved the way for them. So when I see Shenandoah
coming out with their single with Luke Bryan, and I
(17:45):
can remember the other artist current, Arsenal Jason Aldem. When
I see that, I just think, wow, that's fabulous. And
there's been other examples of that of nineties artists collaborating
with new artists who are currently you know, on the charts.
I just think it's really nice. You know, everybody's fan
club gets involved. People get to remember and feel good
(18:06):
feelings of songs they remembered and loved, and it's a
compliment from the current artist to remember this is the
music they grew up with, because these young artists, you know,
this is the music their parents played while they were
growing up, you know, and so it's music that they love.
And I think that's a beautiful.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Thing when it comes to, like you mentioned, going into
a write, you know, for you guys, whether it's a
co write type thing or just something you're gonna, you know,
pin yourself to. What do you look forward most to
when it comes to maybe a hook, an idea, Where
do those kind of come from? Draw the inspiration? Does
it have to be you know, personal experience? What are
you enjoy most about the writing process?
Speaker 3 (18:44):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:45):
I heard one of my mentors was a guy named
Dwayne Blackwell. And Dwayne wrote, among other things, Friends in
Low Places. So as a guy that knows a thing
or two about writing hit song, and Dwayne said to
me one day that if you want to be a
superstar as an artist or as a songwriter, then make
your then write songs or sing songs that make you
(19:06):
a spokesperson for millions of people.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Beautiful statement. Darren Will said, I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, And I think that that's when you go into
a co write hopefully, you know, especially these days, a
lot of people are writing on Zoom, you know, because
I live in Las Vegas now, I don't live in
Nashville anymore, and so a lot of my co writs
are with people around the country, and I try to
make sure before we start even start to write together,
(19:32):
that we have a couple of song ideas that would
make whoever sings it become the spokesperson for millions of people.
So singing a song or saying something that millions of
people feel but haven't known quite how to put into words,
that that's a really good target, you know. And I
think the other really good target is is to ask yourself,
(19:54):
is this idea T shirt worthy?
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Like?
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Would you see somebody wearing this on their T shirt?
Where you you know, you see people wearing T shirts
that have sayings on them. People don't wear those shirts
because they don't like what's on there. They wear it
because they feel like it says something for them. So
those are two really hallmarks I think of a great
starting point for a great song.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Love that too as well.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
I'll tell you what time and take people back to
a little bit of nineties country too as well. And
they were words that we lived by back then, and
we probably you know what we still do today.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Drink, swear, steel and live.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Michael Peterson here the backstage past KYB in ninety eight
point one, your Bay Area Broadcasting Network and our friends
THWN dot orgon also out there the sports Guys podcast
dot com.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Back in the flash, they tuned.
Speaker 13 (20:52):
I was twelve and Natties said to me, don't take
to drinking blot in our own, don't leave no way, and.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Don't you ever let me hear you swear?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Don't you dare.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Told miss stealing is a lazy Land's way. Something for
nothing leaves you hell these don't.
Speaker 8 (21:19):
Lie, then you can look for the whole world.
Speaker 13 (21:24):
And ye, honey, I'm tied.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
Let's sence I met you, girl. I'm breaking never rule.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I must confess.
Speaker 14 (21:35):
I'm just step back, sliding food away from.
Speaker 7 (21:39):
Your loving rug swear I'll never give you, Stephen, Lord,
your chest is rounder me.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Now lie here for still you Lord. You have made
me through all your reason why I have to.
Speaker 8 (21:56):
Make swear stealing life. I started through the twelve steph boot.
I finally fast back that I am pooped on me.
There's nothing more that I can do.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
Him as.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Because every time I see your pains of things, and
I hate little disappears without its rage.
Speaker 9 (22:30):
I swear.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Your lad that I haven't got.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
A red, but I don't care.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
For I move to say.
Speaker 14 (22:41):
Exactly poun was raised. But even help me, honey, I
ain't changing my ways. I want the nature from your
love and cut twelve. I'll never give you a stein.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
Lord.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Your chest is putting me to come now.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
On my here stell even vat Nick dun Don you
the reason why had to read swear stealing lie.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Come from your loving swell? I'll never give you steal
your chess is London on a way to steal you loved?
Don you other reason.
Speaker 8 (23:27):
Why had to make it swear stel lied, swear steal Lie.
Speaker 15 (23:42):
Hey, y'all, this is Nashville recording artist Karen Waldrop and
you're listening to the award nominated Backstage Pass on k
y b N ninety eight point one, your Bay Area
broadcasting network and at the Sports Guys podcast dot com.
Stream the show any time on iHeartRadio podcast and at
(24:03):
TWN dot org.
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Speaker 17 (24:37):
Hey y'all, this is recording artist Kelsey Maine and you're
listening to the Grand Slam of music, sports, and entertainment.
It's the award nominated Backstage Past podcast with Brandon Morrell
on KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area broadcasting network.
(24:57):
Stream the show anytime at the Sports Guys podcast dot
com and on iHeartRadio podcasts. You can also stream at
THWN dot org.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
And welcome back here to the show again. Michael Peterson
kind enough to join us here on the backstage PAS.
So you look back at this one here and you're
right about changing careers and all this what that first
album did, and I mean all over Billboard Hot Country
charts everything back in the day this was, and even
my day back there, early DJ days. Wait every time,
once a week, if not six times a day, sometime
(25:31):
in rotation. This never gets old singing it live, does it?
Speaker 8 (25:35):
No?
Speaker 17 (25:35):
You know what?
Speaker 1 (25:36):
It's one of those songs that just has a lot
of stickiness to it. It puts a smile on your
face when you hear it, puts a smile on your
face when you sing it. It's a great play on words,
and it's unique. There's not been another country song like
it that I can think of.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
No, I never can, and I'm not trying to compare
it because it was your song, your version, and it
had to be special for this one. To to write
this into pennant or to co write it, this had
to be a special song. When you guys got your
version back from the studio, that just something was special
that you knew about it.
Speaker 10 (26:08):
Well.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
You know. It's funny when, at least for me, when
I was making this first album, you don't know it's
going to be a hit. You just know what you
like and what you don't you know, and that's why
you have a team of people around you who are
experts at you know, they're part of the process of
introducing a record to the country and to the world.
See a marketing people, and you have you know, radio people,
(26:29):
and you know, everybody kind of weighs in and you know,
shares their opinion about what they think the single should be.
And you know, it's hard to find ten people who
will agree on what that would be. So you have
to have a couple of strong leaders. And I just
could see when I would play this song for people
live that they would smile and they would tap their toes.
(26:49):
So I had a feeling that it could be a hit,
But you never know.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Sure, no doubt about it too.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Let me ask you this said, you never chose music
as a profession, what other career path might you have followed?
Speaker 1 (27:01):
You know, I was going to be a coach and
a teacher because when I was a young person, I
had a difficult childhood and it was coaches, sports athletic
coaches and school counselors and teachers that just so dramatically impacted.
It influenced my journey into a positive a lane instead
(27:24):
of what might have been a not so positive outcome.
So that's what I was thinking I was going to do,
is be a coach and a teacher and maybe a
school counselor.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, it's kind of a ironic you mentioned that too,
because by day I do that school teaching thing.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
I love it so much.
Speaker 17 (27:41):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
That's great radio stuff the last twenty five years. So
I got the best of both the world's there too. Yeah,
well it's it's always fun to do it too. Like
you said, hey, put your degrees to work.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
That's what I say.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Went to school, Dad paid, all parents paid for those
college degrees, so able to use them both every day.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
I'm very, very blessed. That too.
Speaker 17 (28:00):
Great.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
You've shot a lot of music videos in your career.
Is there one that.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Kind of stands out for you? That was the time
to place the setting all that good stuff for like
the best music video.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, you know, for me, from Here to Eternity stands
out above all the others. It was just it was
just a beautiful setting. I had a beautiful co star
if you will love the video, a young actress that
we had selected to be in the video with me.
It was a romantic setting. It was a romantic scene
and it was quite frankly a romantic time in my life,
(28:34):
just with all that was happening with my career, and
it's a beautiful just I mean, the scenery, the ocean,
the mountain, the lighthouse, the trees, the sun, the food
that we ate in that fun little market area in
that little town on the coast. It was just really special.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Went back to the young artists of today kind of
you know, doing their thing there too, which is great.
Anybody kind of you're getting into when it comes to
either the old style neo traditional country like you came
up in, or a little bit of the bro country movement.
Who are you kind of interested in or listening to
right now from a sound standpoint.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Well, you know, I hate to single out anyone in particular,
but one that I will single out is Zach Topp.
And part of the reason I'm singling him out is
because Zach Top and I grew up about thirty miles
away from each other in the same part of the
state of Washington, separated, you know, by forty years and
(29:32):
forty miles. You know, he grew up basically in the
same place that I grew up, and I have to
think that Zach Top must have heard my music while
he was growing up and must have known that I
grew up just down the road from him. So I'd
love to meet him someday. And I don't know, maybe
he and I could record a song together, but I
really like what he's doing. But you know, truthfully, I've
(29:55):
always been a bigger fan of songs than I have
of artists, you know, So it's really the songs that
get me, and then I kind of go, well, who's
that singing? So, you know, there's just a lot of
great songs out and if I had to pick one
artist today, I'd say I really I'm interested.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
In Zach top so good on a single out, no
doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
We mentioned the newest a single out there too.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
But as you look forward, you mentioned the holidays and
kind of getting a little bit of aren't our time?
As you progress into twenty twenty six, what are you
most excited about going into the new year.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Well, we have another song that's going to follow He
and Heavy is My Brother, which you know, well, we'll
be promoting that song for the next several months, and
we shot a music video for the for the follow
up in September and over this next year, you know,
every quarter or so, maybe maybe even a little more
(30:47):
aggressive than that. I'm going to be putting out new releases.
So you know, it's been a number of years since
I aggressively released new music. So I have a great
team now, a great management team and a real strong direction,
and we're getting a lot of momentum with he Ain't
Heavy Is My Brother, especially in Europe, but starting to
(31:08):
get more momentum of that here in the US. He
Ate Heavy as My Brother was the most downloaded song
on CDX the week that it came out, which, for
your listeners, what that means is there's a platform which
radio program directors go to discover new music, and it
was the most downloaded song of the week that it debuted,
(31:32):
So you know that it's out there and people are
going to start playing it. So I'm excited about that,
and I'm excited about, you know, really aggressively beginning to
release a lot more music over the next couple of years,
just because I miss being with people and playing shows
and sharing those moments.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Well, I got to definitely put it on my list
to come to a Michael Peterson show live show, and
I would love that in Nashville, or wherever is that
all over the country. Check it out out there too.
Would love to be your guest and definitely see one
of my favorites live in action there too.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
All right.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
When it comes to the sports side of things, I know,
for me it's like you know, I say, sports is
a drug, no doubt about it. So I give you
like college football, some NFL stuff, you know, baseball's offseason
right now. I kind of follow a little bit here
in their high school football for me, and my market
is like the thing right now because it's huge right
down here in Texas.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
What do you get into? What teams do you root for?
What do you like to watch?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Well, you know, I grew up in a household where
my father was from Wisconsin, so I grew up barey
being a big Green Bay Packer fan. And then my
grandfather played on the very first Pittsburgh Steelers football team,
which a lot of your listeners may not know that
the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first three years were actually
called the Pittsburgh Pirates, and my grandfather, James Tangway, was
(32:52):
a punter on their very first team. So I have
roots with the Steelers, and I have roots with the Packers,
So those are kind of been my teams over the years.
And in our household, my wife is a big Steelers fan,
so on the days that Steelers are playing the Packers,
you know, we sit on opposite ends of the couch,
so but we have a lot of fun with that.
(33:14):
As far as college football goes, you know, I grew
up in Washington State and I've always been a big
fan of the Washington State Cougars. I know, you know
that they don't have as big a following and haven't
had as great a track record as other great teams,
but I've never been a fairweather fan. And i just
want to say to everybody who's listening, go Coogs.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Say that the same thing down her, because I'll follow
the Houston I'm from too, which is always a fun time.
And then my college is the Lamar Cardinals and the
UTSA Roadrunners. And in my wife, you know, she's obviously
a Texas A and and Magnie fan, so she's definitely
looking forward to the big games and also those college
football playoffs coming up over the next few weeks and
that kind of thing too.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Can you believe there's how quickly they're upon us, like
is it really Christmas next week. I mean, you know
what I mean, not literally, but it's just so fast.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
A few weeks out. It's crazy how time does fly.
No doubt about it too as well. I'll tell you what,
I love this new music. It is fantastic too as well.
And hey, I want to say just congratulations on all
that you've achieved in your career. It's so great to
have someone of your magnitude back here doing what you
love to do, being in front of people, and those
songs are agetting. Those great classics we had back in
the day will always be around us too. Michael, and
(34:26):
I can't thank you enough for thank using time here
on the show. We appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Thank you, Brandon, God bless you and best of luck
and congratulations on all your great, great accomplishments. And I'll
be rooting for you.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Man, you got it, my friend.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Looking forward to having you back here on the show too,
and getting out to a live Michael Peterson show too.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
At the same time.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
We're done for today, no doubt about it, and of
course more great artists coming up over the next few
weeks too. We'll talk to you guys soon here on
the backstage past KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay
Area broadcasting network, and of course our friends out there
THHWN dot org and powered by the Sports Guys podcast
dot com. We'll see you, God bless, take care and
happy holidays. We'll see you soon.
Speaker 16 (35:03):
Hey, y'all, this is recording artists Morgan Miles and you're
listening to a grand slam of music, sports, and entertainment.
It's the award nominated Backstage Past Podcast with Brandon Morele.
Speaker 15 (35:14):
On KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area broadcasting Network.
Tune into the show on iHeartRadio podcasts and on the
Sports Guys Podcast dot com, and be sure to follow
me at my website morganmileslive dot com
Hey all, this recording artist Michael Peterson and you're listening
to a grand slam of music, sports, and entertainment. It's
the award nominated Backstage Past podcast with Brandon Morell on
KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area broadcast network.
Stream the show anytime on iHeartRadio podcast. You can also
(00:20):
stream at THHWN dot.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Org and welcome inside the Backstage Past KYBN ninety eight
point one, your bay Area broadcasting network and of course
powered by the sportsguyspodcast dot com. And if you like
me and you play music, bingo out there too. Sometimes
you get a chance to rediscover artists across your Bengo
card and we're doing that today, bringing back nineties country
great Michael Peterson to the Backstage Past. Michael, How you doing, sir?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm doing great. How are you doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's doing good man, And happy holidays to you and
the family, and thank you. I'm glad I got to
get into bingo again.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Well that's really fun. And you know what, sometimes we
all get fun surprises like that, So thank you for sharing.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
In that, no doubt too.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Hey tell us as the holidays approach, I guess kind
of a two part question you're working on a lot
of new music out there too, and definitely looking forward
to probably spending some time with the family too.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yeah, My wife and I and about one hundred dogs
that she watches. She has a fun dog watching business.
That would be our holiday. She's doing house sitting and
and you know, we're just gonna hunker down for Thanksgiving,
you know, go to go to Costco and get some
fixings and you know, be lazy about it all. Or
we might even go to Kentucky Fried Chicken. I don't know,
I'm not sure, but you know that's that's a that's
(01:35):
the sort of the lazy way of doing Thanksgiving, but
that's what we.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Like to do.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Hey, tell us about all these new projects. Working on
some new music too, and we'll get into all the
great hits of the nineties and no doubt about it,
and of course play one of my favorites off there,
drinks were Stealing Live. But tell us about what's kind
of going on with some of this new music you're
putting out there now.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Well, thanks for asking. We have a new single that
we put out October twenty fifth. It's it's a record
of a classic sixties hit that was a huge hit
all over the world by the Hollies, but it's a
new version of that song that probably many of your
listeners know, the song he Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother,
(02:13):
and I recorded it with the Gospel Hall of Fame
group and multiple Grammy Award winning singers, the Imperials. So
we recorded that song together, and it's been out now
for three weeks in the European country music market and
I just stunned really at how this has happened. But
(02:35):
it went to number one this last week and it's
third week on the European Country music Top forty, so
getting a lot of airplay in Europe and just starting
to get some airplay here in the US. And we're
just really excited about it. It's a call the unity
and a call for us to share a little more
empathy and brotherhood with our you know, with our family
(02:58):
around the world. You know, people that we may not
have even met, but it's so much division these days.
If we can tone that down a little bit and
share a little more empathy, I think we can make
the world a better place. And that song is really
a call for that, just caring more, reaching out and
supporting each other more.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
You know, it was kind of cool to watch, you know,
this past month of November the CMA Awards always kind
of cool to you know, get country music's biggest night
there too, and it's just kind of really a fine thing,
I think now to see some of the ladies, you know,
getting their calling now for country music, and I mean
the Queen Bee, Lady Wilson. Give me your take on
kind of the You've been doing this a long time,
you know, well over two decades now when you look
(03:37):
back to the calling of music and of course how
it's changed ever since you got started that first recording contract,
putting out these great hits, and now the shape of
country music now when you look back at it from
when you started to where it's at now, give me
a take on that.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Well, when I came out, there was a lot of
people that said that the music that was being made
in the era that I came out in wasn't real
country music. To them, real country music was George Jones,
Merle Haggard, you know, the older artists. And I think
this has always been the case that the format is
(04:11):
always growing and accommodating what the fans of that era,
whatever particular era, you're in really like and what they want.
And so it's just interesting now some thirty years later
to look and say that that's still the case. Is
(04:31):
that there's people now that say, why, nineties music was
real country music and now the stuff they're doing isn't.
But you know, like I said, in the nineties, people
were saying that about what we were doing because it
was something new. So I think it's important to have
that perspective. I think, you know, when you can sit
back and look at it from that point of view
(04:53):
and try to find things that you don't enjoy. I
think it was great Duke Ellington who said there's only
two kinds of music, the kind you like and the
kind you don't. You know, and and country music it
has a tradition and it also has a tradition of
moving forward. And so there's a lot of young people
(05:15):
today who think country music is the you know, the
top ten or the top twenty, the top forty that
is current on the charts. To them, that's country music.
And they look at stuff that you know from my
era and they say, well, that's old time country music.
So I you know, I think it really for me,
I like to settle back to there's music that you
(05:35):
like and there's music that you don't like. I used
to say I don't like rap music, you know, and
then I heard some songs that were raped that I liked,
and then I had to say, well, wait a minute.
You know, there's music that you like and there's music
that you don't. So I think, you know, the invitation
for all of us is to look for music that
we like, and the music that we don't, we just
don't listen.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
No, that's true, no doubt. And like I said, there's
a little bit of something for everybody right now too.
We're gonna give you the latest to single here from
Michael Peterson, the Backstage Pass.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
He Ain't Heavy.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
He's my brother the one we just talked about here
on the show again. K YBN ninety eight point one,
your Bay Area broadcasting network and powered by the sports
guys at podcast dot com at TWN dot org and
our friends at iHeartRadio Podcast.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Back in the Flash, stay tuned.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
They're olds with many.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
Turn that leads us to.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Knows a way? Who knows that answer true?
Speaker 6 (07:04):
Strong enough to kick.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Him?
Speaker 6 (07:14):
He ain't heavy, He's my brother, So on we go.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
He is Welfare is my.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Concern, no bird, and is he to be?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
We'll get there.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
For I know.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And know.
Speaker 6 (07:58):
He would not come. Read he ain't heavy. He's my brother, Oh,
(08:18):
the family.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Leader and a.
Speaker 7 (08:26):
Leader we said ni.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Naddy read one.
Speaker 7 (08:39):
He is a fis.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
With the glass nas of a lord sweet full ho.
Speaker 5 (08:57):
It's a long, long.
Speaker 6 (08:59):
Room from which there is no return.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
While we on? Are we.
Speaker 6 (09:16):
To the.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Why not sha? And doesn't away me? Dam and he
(09:41):
ain't heaby?
Speaker 7 (09:43):
No, he's not prob.
Speaker 8 (09:55):
Oh oh and the.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Don way me day.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Head.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
He ain't heavy? No, No, he's my brother.
Speaker 9 (10:25):
Yes, Hey, guys and gals, this is Kolby Cala and
(10:53):
you're listening to the award nominated Backstage Pass with Brandon
Morrell on KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area
broadcasting network. Stream the show anytime on the Sports Guys
podcast dot com and on iHeartRadio podcasts. It's a grand
slam of music, entertainment and sports.
Speaker 10 (11:14):
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Speaker 12 (12:13):
Well's up, guys, this is Colin Style and you're listening
to a grand slam of music, sports, and entertainment. It's
the award nominated Backstage Past Podcast with Brandon Morell on
KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area broadcasting network.
Tune into the show on iHeartRadio podcast at on the
Sports Guys Podcast dot com, and at THWN dot org.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
And welcome back here to the show again. Michael Peterson
joining us here ninety's country bringing back some of those
big hits there too, and also talking about some of
the new projects today as we kind of reminisce here
on the backstage pass our friends KYBN ninety eight point one,
your Bay Area Broadcasting network too. You mentioned how special
that song with you too. I want to go back
to your first you know record there, to the self
(12:58):
titled album that you had to and so many great there.
We'll get to Drinksquare Steel Lie but you know one
of my favorite soft of there too, And I'm sure
for the live shows it's always fun to play and
weddings and things like that from here to eternity. When
you look back at that one man, such a special tune,
wasn't it.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Well, it was a special song, and it was a
special song, I think for lots of reasons. One of
the reasons I think it became a special song and
to this day is considered one of the top country
music wedding songs of all time, is because it wasn't
a song that was designed for the actual wedding ceremony.
It was designed for the proposal, and there aren't very
(13:37):
many songs like that. So it was one of those
songs that when we wrote it, we said, Wow, wouldn't
it be great if the person that's proposing who's maybe
a little nervous and didn't quite know how to pop
the question because they were so nervous, could say to
the person they're proposing to, Hey, would you just listen
to this song, and then they could play it for him,
(13:58):
and the song basically asks or pops the question, and
then at the end of the song they could show
the other person they're proposing to the ring and it
kind of helped them get through the proposal. So I
think because of that, it became a unique song. It
stood apart from other wedding songs, and I think to
this day is still the case.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know, off that same record too. I remember listening
to the too Good to Be True title of that
song too as well. Love that one and it just
got people up on the dance floor. Back in my
early DJ days playing a radio here in Beaumont, Texas,
where I was at for different stations, working at affiliates
of that time, and I remember going out to dance
halls right here in Mark Chestnut and Clay Walker and
(14:40):
Tracy Bird Country down here Beaumont too. You go out
to some of the big dance halls and that would
be one of the crowd's favorite to come on to
dance to.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Well, that's great. You know again, that song was a
bit of a groundbreaker because at the time, I believe
that you have to go back and check the history
on this, but there hadn't at that time been much
influence from the hip hop and the dance community on
(15:08):
country music. He hadn't had any real hit records that
had had that yet. And you know, here came Shania
Twain with Mutt Lang and they had a song off
of per Big Big. It wasn't her debut album, was
her second album, but the first one that Mutt produced.
There was a song on there that had this kind
of a rhythm or a beat to it. And you know,
(15:29):
I was at the YMCA one day and I heard
a song by a band called TLC. It had had
a kind of a hip hop beat to it, and
I remember thinking, I've got a writing appointment this afternoon.
I wonder if anybody who's ever written a song, a
country song with that kind of beat or that groove.
And so, you know, I showed up that day my
(15:51):
writing appointment with the great Gene Pistilli. Your listeners might
know Gene as being the writer of songs like Sunday
Will Never Be the Same for Bank in Our Gang,
or Too Gone for Too Long, which was a be
a my song of the Year for Ry Travis. Lots
of big hits, and Gene was a mentor of mine.
(16:11):
He was a producer of Jim Croche, He was one
of the founding members of Manhattan Transfer, just a real gem.
Speaker 12 (16:17):
Of a guy.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
And so we wrote this song too Good to be
True to this hip hop beat, and then of course
when it came out, it was I think ours record
came out before Shanias that had that groove. So in
a sense, probably some people could blame us for being
on the cutting edge of ushering this whole era of
hip hop influence into country music. I think we were
(16:40):
the first hit record that had that kind of a
groove to it. But it was that appeal of that
groove that I think would cause people to want to
get out and dance, because it just kind of invites
you to want to move.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, it really does too. That's that upbeat field, kind
of a nineties country sound. And of course, like said,
I love the Grievingus too, and it leads me to
like the collaborations. Now you see in these days too.
Like I said, when you watch all these award shows
too and you hear all the different genres of music
that are really making their way into country. Now. You
mentioned about it's either good you listen to it or
if it's not, you don't listen to it. But I
(17:15):
think there's some good things that can be found too
with the way you see some of the artists collaborating
today too, with all the different genres of music, right.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I think it's fabulous, you know. I think it's wonderful
when the current generation tips their hat to the shoulders
of the people that they're standing on their shoulders who
paved the way for them. So when I see Shenandoah
coming out with their single with Luke Bryan, and I
(17:45):
can remember the other artist current, Arsenal Jason Aldem. When
I see that, I just think, wow, that's fabulous. And
there's been other examples of that of nineties artists collaborating
with new artists who are currently you know, on the charts.
I just think it's really nice. You know, everybody's fan
club gets involved. People get to remember and feel good
(18:06):
feelings of songs they remembered and loved, and it's a
compliment from the current artist to remember this is the
music they grew up with, because these young artists, you know,
this is the music their parents played while they were
growing up, you know, and so it's music that they love.
And I think that's a beautiful.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Thing when it comes to, like you mentioned, going into
a write, you know, for you guys, whether it's a
co write type thing or just something you're gonna, you know,
pin yourself to. What do you look forward most to
when it comes to maybe a hook, an idea, Where
do those kind of come from? Draw the inspiration? Does
it have to be you know, personal experience? What are
you enjoy most about the writing process?
Speaker 3 (18:44):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:45):
I heard one of my mentors was a guy named
Dwayne Blackwell. And Dwayne wrote, among other things, Friends in
Low Places. So as a guy that knows a thing
or two about writing hit song, and Dwayne said to
me one day that if you want to be a
superstar as an artist or as a songwriter, then make
your then write songs or sing songs that make you
(19:06):
a spokesperson for millions of people.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Beautiful statement. Darren Will said, I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah, And I think that that's when you go into
a co write hopefully, you know, especially these days, a
lot of people are writing on Zoom, you know, because
I live in Las Vegas now, I don't live in
Nashville anymore, and so a lot of my co writs
are with people around the country, and I try to
make sure before we start even start to write together,
(19:32):
that we have a couple of song ideas that would
make whoever sings it become the spokesperson for millions of people.
So singing a song or saying something that millions of
people feel but haven't known quite how to put into words,
that that's a really good target, you know. And I
think the other really good target is is to ask yourself,
(19:54):
is this idea T shirt worthy?
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Like?
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Would you see somebody wearing this on their T shirt?
Where you you know, you see people wearing T shirts
that have sayings on them. People don't wear those shirts
because they don't like what's on there. They wear it
because they feel like it says something for them. So
those are two really hallmarks I think of a great
starting point for a great song.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Love that too as well.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
I'll tell you what time and take people back to
a little bit of nineties country too as well. And
they were words that we lived by back then, and
we probably you know what we still do today.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Drink, swear, steel and live.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Michael Peterson here the backstage past KYB in ninety eight
point one, your Bay Area Broadcasting Network and our friends
THWN dot orgon also out there the sports Guys podcast
dot com.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Back in the flash, they tuned.
Speaker 13 (20:52):
I was twelve and Natties said to me, don't take
to drinking blot in our own, don't leave no way, and.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Don't you ever let me hear you swear?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Don't you dare.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Told miss stealing is a lazy Land's way. Something for
nothing leaves you hell these don't.
Speaker 8 (21:19):
Lie, then you can look for the whole world.
Speaker 13 (21:24):
And ye, honey, I'm tied.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
Let's sence I met you, girl. I'm breaking never rule.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I must confess.
Speaker 14 (21:35):
I'm just step back, sliding food away from.
Speaker 7 (21:39):
Your loving rug swear I'll never give you, Stephen, Lord,
your chest is rounder me.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Now lie here for still you Lord. You have made
me through all your reason why I have to.
Speaker 8 (21:56):
Make swear stealing life. I started through the twelve steph boot.
I finally fast back that I am pooped on me.
There's nothing more that I can do.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
Him as.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Because every time I see your pains of things, and
I hate little disappears without its rage.
Speaker 9 (22:30):
I swear.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Your lad that I haven't got.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
A red, but I don't care.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
For I move to say.
Speaker 14 (22:41):
Exactly poun was raised. But even help me, honey, I
ain't changing my ways. I want the nature from your
love and cut twelve. I'll never give you a stein.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
Lord.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Your chest is putting me to come now.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
On my here stell even vat Nick dun Don you
the reason why had to read swear stealing lie.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Come from your loving swell? I'll never give you steal
your chess is London on a way to steal you loved?
Don you other reason.
Speaker 8 (23:27):
Why had to make it swear stel lied, swear steal Lie.
Speaker 15 (23:42):
Hey, y'all, this is Nashville recording artist Karen Waldrop and
you're listening to the award nominated Backstage Pass on k
y b N ninety eight point one, your Bay Area
broadcasting network and at the Sports Guys podcast dot com.
Stream the show any time on iHeartRadio podcast and at
(24:03):
TWN dot org.
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Speaker 17 (24:37):
Hey y'all, this is recording artist Kelsey Maine and you're
listening to the Grand Slam of music, sports, and entertainment.
It's the award nominated Backstage Past podcast with Brandon Morrell
on KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area broadcasting network.
(24:57):
Stream the show anytime at the Sports Guys podcast dot
com and on iHeartRadio podcasts. You can also stream at
THWN dot org.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
And welcome back here to the show again. Michael Peterson
kind enough to join us here on the backstage PAS.
So you look back at this one here and you're
right about changing careers and all this what that first
album did, and I mean all over Billboard Hot Country
charts everything back in the day this was, and even
my day back there, early DJ days. Wait every time,
once a week, if not six times a day, sometime
(25:31):
in rotation. This never gets old singing it live, does it?
Speaker 8 (25:35):
No?
Speaker 17 (25:35):
You know what?
Speaker 1 (25:36):
It's one of those songs that just has a lot
of stickiness to it. It puts a smile on your
face when you hear it, puts a smile on your
face when you sing it. It's a great play on words,
and it's unique. There's not been another country song like
it that I can think of.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
No, I never can, and I'm not trying to compare
it because it was your song, your version, and it
had to be special for this one. To to write
this into pennant or to co write it, this had
to be a special song. When you guys got your
version back from the studio, that just something was special
that you knew about it.
Speaker 10 (26:08):
Well.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
You know. It's funny when, at least for me, when
I was making this first album, you don't know it's
going to be a hit. You just know what you
like and what you don't you know, and that's why
you have a team of people around you who are
experts at you know, they're part of the process of
introducing a record to the country and to the world.
See a marketing people, and you have you know, radio people,
(26:29):
and you know, everybody kind of weighs in and you know,
shares their opinion about what they think the single should be.
And you know, it's hard to find ten people who
will agree on what that would be. So you have
to have a couple of strong leaders. And I just
could see when I would play this song for people
live that they would smile and they would tap their toes.
(26:49):
So I had a feeling that it could be a hit,
But you never know.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Sure, no doubt about it too.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Let me ask you this said, you never chose music
as a profession, what other career path might you have followed?
Speaker 1 (27:01):
You know, I was going to be a coach and
a teacher because when I was a young person, I
had a difficult childhood and it was coaches, sports athletic
coaches and school counselors and teachers that just so dramatically impacted.
It influenced my journey into a positive a lane instead
(27:24):
of what might have been a not so positive outcome.
So that's what I was thinking I was going to do,
is be a coach and a teacher and maybe a
school counselor.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, it's kind of a ironic you mentioned that too,
because by day I do that school teaching thing.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
I love it so much.
Speaker 17 (27:41):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
That's great radio stuff the last twenty five years. So
I got the best of both the world's there too. Yeah,
well it's it's always fun to do it too. Like
you said, hey, put your degrees to work.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
That's what I say.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Went to school, Dad paid, all parents paid for those
college degrees, so able to use them both every day.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
I'm very, very blessed. That too.
Speaker 17 (28:00):
Great.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
You've shot a lot of music videos in your career.
Is there one that.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Kind of stands out for you? That was the time
to place the setting all that good stuff for like
the best music video.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, you know, for me, from Here to Eternity stands
out above all the others. It was just it was
just a beautiful setting. I had a beautiful co star
if you will love the video, a young actress that
we had selected to be in the video with me.
It was a romantic setting. It was a romantic scene
and it was quite frankly a romantic time in my life,
(28:34):
just with all that was happening with my career, and
it's a beautiful just I mean, the scenery, the ocean,
the mountain, the lighthouse, the trees, the sun, the food
that we ate in that fun little market area in
that little town on the coast. It was just really special.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Went back to the young artists of today kind of
you know, doing their thing there too, which is great.
Anybody kind of you're getting into when it comes to
either the old style neo traditional country like you came
up in, or a little bit of the bro country movement.
Who are you kind of interested in or listening to
right now from a sound standpoint.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Well, you know, I hate to single out anyone in particular,
but one that I will single out is Zach Topp.
And part of the reason I'm singling him out is
because Zach Top and I grew up about thirty miles
away from each other in the same part of the
state of Washington, separated, you know, by forty years and
(29:32):
forty miles. You know, he grew up basically in the
same place that I grew up, and I have to
think that Zach Top must have heard my music while
he was growing up and must have known that I
grew up just down the road from him. So I'd
love to meet him someday. And I don't know, maybe
he and I could record a song together, but I
really like what he's doing. But you know, truthfully, I've
(29:55):
always been a bigger fan of songs than I have
of artists, you know, So it's really the songs that
get me, and then I kind of go, well, who's
that singing? So, you know, there's just a lot of
great songs out and if I had to pick one
artist today, I'd say I really I'm interested.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
In Zach top so good on a single out, no
doubt about it.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
We mentioned the newest a single out there too.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
But as you look forward, you mentioned the holidays and
kind of getting a little bit of aren't our time?
As you progress into twenty twenty six, what are you
most excited about going into the new year.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Well, we have another song that's going to follow He
and Heavy is My Brother, which you know, well, we'll
be promoting that song for the next several months, and
we shot a music video for the for the follow
up in September and over this next year, you know,
every quarter or so, maybe maybe even a little more
(30:47):
aggressive than that. I'm going to be putting out new releases.
So you know, it's been a number of years since
I aggressively released new music. So I have a great
team now, a great management team and a real strong direction,
and we're getting a lot of momentum with he Ain't
Heavy Is My Brother, especially in Europe, but starting to
(31:08):
get more momentum of that here in the US. He
Ate Heavy as My Brother was the most downloaded song
on CDX the week that it came out, which, for
your listeners, what that means is there's a platform which
radio program directors go to discover new music, and it
was the most downloaded song of the week that it debuted,
(31:32):
So you know that it's out there and people are
going to start playing it. So I'm excited about that,
and I'm excited about, you know, really aggressively beginning to
release a lot more music over the next couple of years,
just because I miss being with people and playing shows
and sharing those moments.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Well, I got to definitely put it on my list
to come to a Michael Peterson show live show, and
I would love that in Nashville, or wherever is that
all over the country. Check it out out there too.
Would love to be your guest and definitely see one
of my favorites live in action there too.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
All right.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
When it comes to the sports side of things, I know,
for me it's like you know, I say, sports is
a drug, no doubt about it. So I give you
like college football, some NFL stuff, you know, baseball's offseason
right now. I kind of follow a little bit here
in their high school football for me, and my market
is like the thing right now because it's huge right
down here in Texas.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
What do you get into? What teams do you root for?
What do you like to watch?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Well, you know, I grew up in a household where
my father was from Wisconsin, so I grew up barey
being a big Green Bay Packer fan. And then my
grandfather played on the very first Pittsburgh Steelers football team,
which a lot of your listeners may not know that
the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first three years were actually
called the Pittsburgh Pirates, and my grandfather, James Tangway, was
(32:52):
a punter on their very first team. So I have
roots with the Steelers, and I have roots with the Packers,
So those are kind of been my teams over the years.
And in our household, my wife is a big Steelers fan,
so on the days that Steelers are playing the Packers,
you know, we sit on opposite ends of the couch,
so but we have a lot of fun with that.
(33:14):
As far as college football goes, you know, I grew
up in Washington State and I've always been a big
fan of the Washington State Cougars. I know, you know
that they don't have as big a following and haven't
had as great a track record as other great teams,
but I've never been a fairweather fan. And i just
want to say to everybody who's listening, go Coogs.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Say that the same thing down her, because I'll follow
the Houston I'm from too, which is always a fun time.
And then my college is the Lamar Cardinals and the
UTSA Roadrunners. And in my wife, you know, she's obviously
a Texas A and and Magnie fan, so she's definitely
looking forward to the big games and also those college
football playoffs coming up over the next few weeks and
that kind of thing too.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Can you believe there's how quickly they're upon us, like
is it really Christmas next week. I mean, you know
what I mean, not literally, but it's just so fast.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
A few weeks out. It's crazy how time does fly.
No doubt about it too as well. I'll tell you what,
I love this new music. It is fantastic too as well.
And hey, I want to say just congratulations on all
that you've achieved in your career. It's so great to
have someone of your magnitude back here doing what you
love to do, being in front of people, and those
songs are agetting. Those great classics we had back in
the day will always be around us too. Michael, and
(34:26):
I can't thank you enough for thank using time here
on the show. We appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Thank you, Brandon, God bless you and best of luck
and congratulations on all your great, great accomplishments. And I'll
be rooting for you.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Man, you got it, my friend.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Looking forward to having you back here on the show too,
and getting out to a live Michael Peterson show too.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
At the same time.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
We're done for today, no doubt about it, and of
course more great artists coming up over the next few
weeks too. We'll talk to you guys soon here on
the backstage past KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay
Area broadcasting network, and of course our friends out there
THHWN dot org and powered by the Sports Guys podcast
dot com. We'll see you, God bless, take care and
happy holidays. We'll see you soon.
Speaker 16 (35:03):
Hey, y'all, this is recording artists Morgan Miles and you're
listening to a grand slam of music, sports, and entertainment.
It's the award nominated Backstage Past Podcast with Brandon Morele.
Speaker 15 (35:14):
On KYBN ninety eight point one, your Bay Area broadcasting Network.
Tune into the show on iHeartRadio podcasts and on the
Sports Guys Podcast dot com, and be sure to follow
me at my website morganmileslive dot com
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