1 00:00:00,300 --> 00:00:03,750 Unknown: Hey guys, we've got a very special episode of Circling 2 00:00:03,900 --> 00:00:07,080 the Drain. In fact, it's going to be a couple of episodes for 3 00:00:07,170 --> 00:00:11,340 you with a very special guy. I'm talking about a country music 4 00:00:11,490 --> 00:00:13,110 legend, Trace Atkins. 5 00:00:13,769 --> 00:00:18,419 Man, what? What a treat that everybody is going to be in for. 6 00:00:18,539 --> 00:00:22,549 We talked to this man for three episodes worth 7 00:00:22,849 --> 00:00:24,019 at least, at least, 8 00:00:25,130 --> 00:00:29,360 so gracious in giving us all of that time, and man, the stories, 9 00:00:29,810 --> 00:00:33,860 and the well, you're just gonna have to stick around and check 10 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:34,160 it out, 11 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,520 yeah, because he's the, he's probably the nicest hostage 12 00:00:37,610 --> 00:00:45,460 you've ever seen, so I hope you enjoy it. 13 00:00:46,180 --> 00:00:51,700 Welcome to a podcast about music and entertainment. Before it all 14 00:00:51,850 --> 00:00:56,620 goes down the disposal, this is Circling the Drain. 15 00:01:00,190 --> 00:01:02,790 Welcome back to Circling the Drain. It's Johnny Bozeman, but 16 00:01:02,820 --> 00:01:05,310 you know me as Johnny B. J. Harper, right there. 17 00:01:05,490 --> 00:01:15,150 Hello, mr. Bozeman. John Earnest Bozeman, little hidden, a little 18 00:01:15,270 --> 00:01:19,080 secret there. And, of course, we have the.. I'm not even gonna 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:21,950 say, I'm not gonna say James Patrick, even though I just did, 20 00:01:22,430 --> 00:01:23,810 but Jim McCarthy. 21 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:24,230 Thank you. 22 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:26,360 Running the running the show here, 23 00:01:26,630 --> 00:01:30,770 yeah, he does. He pilots it to keep it from smacking into the 24 00:01:30,770 --> 00:01:32,660 into the sand to 25 00:01:32,690 --> 00:01:35,780 do something. Yeah, whatever. I'm smacking 26 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:39,260 into something. Please forgive me, man. I've just got out of 27 00:01:39,260 --> 00:01:40,840 the hospital, so you know, 28 00:01:41,020 --> 00:01:42,040 so many good things going on, 29 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,150 yeah, there are, there's so many things going on, but we this 30 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:49,000 time, and we've had guests on the show, you know, a lot of 31 00:01:49,030 --> 00:01:52,480 musical guests, a lot of people in the music industry, but this 32 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,260 time we've got a legitimate country legend, ladies and 33 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:56,800 gentlemen, and 34 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,780 he walked right in like it was superstar, like it was just like 35 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,600 we're old butts. Well, he is no presumptions. He is that way, 36 00:02:03,630 --> 00:02:03,930 and that's 37 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,290 why I have a lot of respect for this man. Not only do I dig his 38 00:02:07,380 --> 00:02:10,890 music, but I dig him as an individual. And it's an honor to 39 00:02:10,950 --> 00:02:14,010 have Trace Atkins with us. Yeah, you doing, brother? Good to be 40 00:02:14,100 --> 00:02:14,760 here, man. 41 00:02:15,390 --> 00:02:22,940 Hitting the big time, Johnny B, always. Yeah, you don't 42 00:02:23,030 --> 00:02:24,140 see the audience, they're over there. 43 00:02:26,150 --> 00:02:28,340 Come on, treat, you never, you never get tired of hearing that 44 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,460 applause, though, right? I mean, the audience, I mean, that's 45 00:02:32,270 --> 00:02:35,060 kind of the one of the one of the reasons you do what you do, 46 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,360 right, is you enjoy making people happy. 47 00:02:38,989 --> 00:02:42,249 Well, you know, hopefully, yeah, you know, but that applause, 48 00:02:42,339 --> 00:02:46,149 yeah, that's that's that's the only tangible result you get 49 00:02:46,299 --> 00:02:49,569 from what you do in this business, and, and the weird 50 00:02:49,629 --> 00:02:53,259 thing is, I mean, you know, it's great, but it lasts about as 51 00:02:53,349 --> 00:02:58,779 long as that did, and then you go back to the bus and go, well, 52 00:02:58,959 --> 00:02:59,919 what was that all about, 53 00:03:02,110 --> 00:03:02,170 no. 54 00:03:03,269 --> 00:03:07,109 I miss you. That's the reason I work like I do. You know, when 55 00:03:07,169 --> 00:03:10,409 I'm not on the road, I'm on the farm. I just.. I came over here 56 00:03:10,529 --> 00:03:14,129 from.. I've been working. I'm sorry, but no, I live right down 57 00:03:14,189 --> 00:03:17,519 the road from here. So, anyway, so I worked right up until the 58 00:03:17,579 --> 00:03:21,949 time I had to get here, and then I came on over, but I like to do 59 00:03:22,129 --> 00:03:25,459 physical stuff, and then at the end of the day I can look back 60 00:03:25,519 --> 00:03:29,989 and say I can tell what I did today. I have tangible results 61 00:03:30,079 --> 00:03:34,309 from what I did, and I need that, you know. So that's what 62 00:03:34,459 --> 00:03:38,389 you know having to farm gives me, and that's the way I grew up 63 00:03:38,479 --> 00:03:42,339 with blue collar jobs. I still need that in my life, but this 64 00:03:42,489 --> 00:03:46,509 other gig is just, yeah, you know, tangible results are not 65 00:03:46,749 --> 00:03:49,629 there. You just get off the stage and go to the bus. 66 00:03:50,439 --> 00:03:55,029 Well, the thing is, I one time I looked at Twitter, or I guess, 67 00:03:55,089 --> 00:04:00,629 which is X now, and Victoria had put up your wife and put up this 68 00:04:00,779 --> 00:04:03,779 video. Now, see, this is the thing with Trace. I always.. I 69 00:04:03,929 --> 00:04:07,349 feel like a man, you know, at this point in my life, but every 70 00:04:07,409 --> 00:04:10,379 time I get around this guy, I feel like a little boy. Listen, 71 00:04:10,829 --> 00:04:14,789 I feel like a.. but I'm looking at this video, man. This dude's 72 00:04:14,909 --> 00:04:19,439 taking down this huge, huge ass tree. Yeah, and I'm thinking, I 73 00:04:19,619 --> 00:04:22,999 don't do that, you know, I feel like country boy, but yet this 74 00:04:23,119 --> 00:04:24,199 guy's doing the hard work. 75 00:04:24,710 --> 00:04:28,280 Well, there was a reason I was doing that, though. I don't post 76 00:04:28,340 --> 00:04:30,260 stuff of me working in there. No, you do 77 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:31,340 not. But 78 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:37,490 this guy, this regional rep for Steel, had given me this big, I 79 00:04:37,610 --> 00:04:41,710 mean, a big chainsaw. Oh, it was cool with like 42 inch bar on 80 00:04:42,100 --> 00:04:44,440 it, or something big, huge change, though. Because after 81 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,190 the Beatles came through a few years ago, killed all the ash 82 00:04:48,370 --> 00:04:48,820 trees. Oh yeah, 83 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,840 you know, and man, I got some ash trees on my place, they're 84 00:04:53,050 --> 00:04:57,220 massive, and I had a 24 inch bar, but it wasn't quite big 85 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:02,070 enough to handle, so you know. Reached out to the steel guy, 86 00:05:02,370 --> 00:05:04,470 and he said, "Yeah, I'll hook you up. So he hooked me up with 87 00:05:04,470 --> 00:05:07,770 this saw, and then I was like, "You know, I should do voiceover 88 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:11,670 stuff for steel. And so my wife was like, "Well, let's just do a 89 00:05:11,700 --> 00:05:15,810 little video of you cutting down one of those big hash trees with 90 00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:19,020 that new steel saw, and then we'll give it to them, and 91 00:05:19,530 --> 00:05:22,490 they'll probably give you a gig, is you know, voiceover stuff, 92 00:05:22,580 --> 00:05:25,880 and I was like, yeah, let's go. So we did it, and I thought the 93 00:05:26,030 --> 00:05:28,700 steel people would be able to use it, but they couldn't, you 94 00:05:28,730 --> 00:05:32,420 know why? And I thought I had everything right, man. I had, I 95 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:38,450 had the helmet on, and the face guards, I had all the stuff, but 96 00:05:38,450 --> 00:05:43,570 I didn't have on glove, and so they wouldn't, they couldn't use 97 00:05:43,690 --> 00:05:45,790 it. That's what the dude said. He said, "We can't use it. You 98 00:05:45,790 --> 00:05:50,980 didn't have gloves on. Sorry about that. I didn't get the gig 99 00:05:51,010 --> 00:05:53,470 anyway. And then I heard it the other day, they got this new 100 00:05:53,590 --> 00:05:56,080 commercial with this gravelly voice. Dude sounds kind of like 101 00:05:56,230 --> 00:06:02,130 you made me mad. I told Victoria, I said I'm gonna go 102 00:06:02,250 --> 00:06:06,420 take that saw and throw it in the pond, because I didn't get 103 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:08,520 the voiceover still, man. 104 00:06:09,539 --> 00:06:11,999 But, man, you've had a good run with Firestone, though, right? 105 00:06:12,029 --> 00:06:12,209 Had a 106 00:06:12,270 --> 00:06:19,560 great run, I think I was almost 1214, years. Yeah, yeah, they 107 00:06:19,710 --> 00:06:22,370 let me go, and every year when they kept re-upping the 108 00:06:22,430 --> 00:06:25,700 contract. I thought surely these guys are going to this campaign, 109 00:06:26,270 --> 00:06:28,040 they're going to go in a different direction at some 110 00:06:28,130 --> 00:06:32,720 point. So I had, I had probably seven or eight years more than I 111 00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:35,570 thought I was going to get, and the contract just ran out this 112 00:06:35,690 --> 00:06:37,670 past year, and they didn't re-up, and I was like, it's 113 00:06:37,700 --> 00:06:38,690 about time, man. 114 00:06:40,100 --> 00:06:42,340 But you did some stuff for KFC too, didn't you? 115 00:06:42,609 --> 00:06:47,109 Long time ago. Yeah, I did a little KFC stuff. Yeah, that 116 00:06:47,319 --> 00:06:50,859 didn't last too long, but you know, I've done things over the 117 00:06:50,979 --> 00:06:55,629 years. There was a fast food chain in Southern California, 118 00:06:55,989 --> 00:07:00,299 Farmer Boys. I did that for a while, and so I've been 119 00:07:00,389 --> 00:07:03,359 fortunate to do a lot of that stuff, and I still do a lot of 120 00:07:03,389 --> 00:07:07,379 voiceover stuff for Wounded Warrior Project. Right, right, 121 00:07:07,439 --> 00:07:08,579 yeah. I've seen you on. I 122 00:07:08,580 --> 00:07:10,290 appreciate you doing that kind of work. 123 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,400 Amen. I love those guys. That's a great ordinance. Yeah, 124 00:07:15,389 --> 00:07:16,769 anything for the vets, brother? 125 00:07:17,070 --> 00:07:21,110 I kind of see Lululemon in your future, you know? Maybe, oh my 126 00:07:21,290 --> 00:07:29,750 gosh, you know what they owe me. I've got five 127 00:07:30,050 --> 00:07:35,690 daughters, and they love, and I mean, they'll go in there, and I 128 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,950 can't believe it, they'll buy a pair of tights, right? Yeah, I 129 00:07:39,980 --> 00:07:43,120 mean, just regular, like $80 a pair, right. Oh my god, like, 130 00:07:43,210 --> 00:07:46,540 are you kidding me? It's unbelievable how much this stuff 131 00:07:46,630 --> 00:07:47,260 costs in there. 132 00:07:47,619 --> 00:07:49,869 But the funny thing is, is that, of course, I'm joking, but I 133 00:07:49,899 --> 00:07:52,449 mean, as I'm thinking about it, that's actually not a bad idea. 134 00:07:52,479 --> 00:07:56,019 If Lululemon, or a brand like that, is listening to have a 135 00:07:56,079 --> 00:08:00,459 voice like yours, like the juxtaposition, I mean, yeah, you 136 00:08:00,489 --> 00:08:01,659 know, right? Exactly. Plus, 137 00:08:01,750 --> 00:08:05,430 you've got five daughters, man, right? Always makes me think, 138 00:08:05,670 --> 00:08:10,230 too. Every time I hear about your daughters, have you had fun 139 00:08:10,350 --> 00:08:14,970 with the boyfriends? I mean, can you share some of those stories 140 00:08:15,270 --> 00:08:18,480 with us? Yeah, please. I know I don't want to embarrass your 141 00:08:18,540 --> 00:08:19,080 daughters, or 142 00:08:19,500 --> 00:08:24,890 no, my oldest when she was in college, she had a boyfriend one 143 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:29,600 time that he wanted to hunt out on my place, and I was like, oh 144 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:35,330 yeah, okay, so I didn't normally let people do that, but I went 145 00:08:35,420 --> 00:08:38,810 out in the woods with him, and I took him back in the back where 146 00:08:38,870 --> 00:08:42,190 there was this huge white oak tree, and I was like, you know, 147 00:08:42,580 --> 00:08:44,860 this would be a good spot for you to put a stand, and we were 148 00:08:44,950 --> 00:08:47,350 just out in the middle of the woods, and I turned to him, and 149 00:08:47,380 --> 00:08:52,330 I said, you know, I could kill you right now, nobody would 150 00:08:52,390 --> 00:08:56,680 ever, ever even know what happened to you, I just run your 151 00:08:56,740 --> 00:09:00,160 truck off in the pond, and then I'd just go, I ain't seen him, 152 00:09:01,180 --> 00:09:06,840 I'll take my backhoe, dig a big old hole, bury you in, and I 153 00:09:06,930 --> 00:09:10,170 was, he was nervous looking, you know, but I was like, I'm just 154 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:14,100 kidding, you know, yeah. And then later that night I was 155 00:09:14,190 --> 00:09:16,500 sitting at the dinner table in the house, and my daughter came 156 00:09:16,590 --> 00:09:19,800 home from college, she was going to MTSU at the time, and she 157 00:09:20,010 --> 00:09:23,990 came into the house just since she came in the door. You're a 158 00:09:24,500 --> 00:09:32,240 psychopath. Yeah, he didn't stay around, and there was another 159 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,500 one one time that you know, I can't remember his name. I don't 160 00:09:36,590 --> 00:09:39,470 even remember what he looked like, but he.. I just.. he'd 161 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:42,580 been around a few times, and I could just tell it was like, you 162 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:47,680 know, he's not gonna make it, she's not, he's not gonna make 163 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:47,920 it, 164 00:09:48,070 --> 00:09:48,400 right? 165 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,780 You know, and so I just told him, you know, like, dude, I'm 166 00:09:52,870 --> 00:09:59,770 trying to help him right now, you should just go ahead and. 167 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:05,460 Just get out, you're not gonna make it, you know. Yeah, 168 00:10:06,090 --> 00:10:09,630 you're just not gonna make it. So, you need to cut your losses 169 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,710 and get out, yeah. Brother out, and he did, 170 00:10:13,890 --> 00:10:15,420 yeah. Well, he's smart, he listened to you, 171 00:10:15,660 --> 00:10:19,440 yeah. Well, you know, he, you know, he should, he should be 172 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:23,780 grateful. I knew he wasn't gonna make it. He wasn't gonna make 173 00:10:23,810 --> 00:10:24,080 the cut. 174 00:10:25,670 --> 00:10:29,060 So, do you understand women more having five? No, I tell 175 00:10:29,150 --> 00:10:34,430 people all the time, you know, having five daughters and three 176 00:10:34,550 --> 00:10:40,100 ex-wives. You know, I'm more confused. I'm five times more 177 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,240 confused about women than you are, because I have five 178 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,480 daughters, and it's just.. I don't understand them. I still 179 00:10:46,750 --> 00:10:46,870 don't 180 00:10:46,990 --> 00:10:49,720 see.. I still don't either. I've been married a couple of times, 181 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:49,960 and 182 00:10:50,590 --> 00:10:50,890 yeah, and 183 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,300 at one time was even a stepfather to some girls, and 184 00:10:56,290 --> 00:11:00,270 girls were sweet as can be. They were ornery, but I'm like you, 185 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:02,070 man, I still don't understand. 186 00:11:02,610 --> 00:11:03,240 Yeah, well, 187 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,440 I love them, but I don't understand. I don't 188 00:11:07,530 --> 00:11:09,300 understand them either, man. I don't. 189 00:11:10,620 --> 00:11:14,370 So, when you got started, you grew up in Serepta. Am I 190 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,680 Louisiana? What got you into music? What, what drew you 191 00:11:22,740 --> 00:11:28,250 well? well, my first memory of music appreciation was standing 192 00:11:28,310 --> 00:11:32,810 beside my granddaddy in church, and he, he had a beautiful, rich 193 00:11:33,050 --> 00:11:36,470 bass voice, and he would always sing the bass parts on all the.. 194 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:39,560 that was back in the day when the whole congregation knew 195 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:40,520 their parts, 196 00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:40,750 yeah, 197 00:11:41,620 --> 00:11:45,190 and when they would sing, it was everybody was singing parts. My 198 00:11:45,310 --> 00:11:49,240 mama sang alto, my granddaddy was singing the bass part. You 199 00:11:49,270 --> 00:11:53,290 had a few tenor singers around, you know, and the sopranos, and 200 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,600 it was just beautiful. But I remember standing by my 201 00:11:55,690 --> 00:11:59,410 granddaddy and just listening to him sing and thinking, man, 202 00:11:59,650 --> 00:12:03,180 that's what I want to do, I want to sing bass like my granddaddy. 203 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:08,130 And then that's what I started doing in a gospel quartet early 204 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,270 on. I was 17, I started singing bass in a gospel quartet. Did 205 00:12:12,300 --> 00:12:16,380 that for a few years, and I absolutely loved it, you know. 206 00:12:16,890 --> 00:12:22,250 And that was when I kind of started to realize, oh my gosh, 207 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:29,150 man, the chicks dig the bass. Oh yeah, they do. Chicks dig, 208 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:31,670 they don't 209 00:12:31,730 --> 00:12:36,590 care about the tenor singer, they like the bass. Oh yeah, so 210 00:12:36,770 --> 00:12:40,690 that, that, that started it, man. It was over after that, you 211 00:12:40,750 --> 00:12:43,180 know, I really, that's what I wanted to do. So, 212 00:12:43,390 --> 00:12:46,180 well, as far as country music, what'd you get into at that? 213 00:12:46,270 --> 00:12:50,470 I was doing little, like, you know, Saturday nights around 214 00:12:50,530 --> 00:12:53,380 where I grew up, there were all those little hay rides and 215 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:56,920 jamborees, right, where they had a house band, and you just go in 216 00:12:57,010 --> 00:13:02,310 and, you know, get up and do haggard tunes or buck Owens or 217 00:13:02,370 --> 00:13:06,030 whatever, and you know that's what I kind of, what I started 218 00:13:06,090 --> 00:13:12,390 doing, but I didn't get a break until I was working offshore on 219 00:13:12,390 --> 00:13:16,320 a drilling rig, and I would take my guitar out there, and you 220 00:13:16,350 --> 00:13:19,440 know, when I worked my 12 hours, I'd go up to the wheelhouse up 221 00:13:19,500 --> 00:13:23,840 at the very top, where it was quiet, and I'd try to write and 222 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,010 stuff, and then guys started coming up there wanting me to do 223 00:13:28,940 --> 00:13:33,410 certain songs, whatever. And then I met this dude out there 224 00:13:33,650 --> 00:13:36,890 that knew a guy that was in a band in Lafayette, Louisiana, 225 00:13:36,950 --> 00:13:39,410 and he said, "Me introduce you to him when we have our two 226 00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:45,430 weeks off, and he was on my crew, and so you know I liked 227 00:13:45,430 --> 00:13:49,630 him a lot, and so I said, "Okay, man. So we went on our two weeks 228 00:13:49,750 --> 00:13:53,350 off, and I went down to Lafayette and sat in with these 229 00:13:53,470 --> 00:13:57,370 guys in a club one night, and then it just went from there, 230 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,220 man. They said, "We're doing this competition, we've already 231 00:14:00,370 --> 00:14:03,030 won the locals, we're going to the regionals in Dallas. Want 232 00:14:03,090 --> 00:14:06,960 you to go with us and sing some, and so we went out there, and we 233 00:14:07,110 --> 00:14:08,430 actually won. The thing 234 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:10,440 was that the country showdown, 235 00:14:10,620 --> 00:14:14,850 it was the Wild Turkey battle. Okay, Wild Turkey 236 00:14:14,940 --> 00:14:16,200 had won, that's right, yeah, 237 00:14:16,410 --> 00:14:20,160 a long time ago. So we came to Nashville for the finals, and we 238 00:14:20,610 --> 00:14:24,050 didn't win, but it was, it was a good experience. But when we 239 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:26,690 played in Dallas, there were some booking agents in the 240 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,620 audience. They booked us to start playing clubs in Texas, 241 00:14:31,070 --> 00:14:34,400 and so that's what I took a leave of absence from Global 242 00:14:34,610 --> 00:14:39,200 Marine, and when did that for about four years, just played 243 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:44,560 the club circuit in Dallas, New Mexico, he went as far as 244 00:14:44,770 --> 00:14:48,010 Arizona, and then we played a couple of places in Louisiana, 245 00:14:48,130 --> 00:14:52,000 and one in Mississippi, and Jackson, but we just ran that 246 00:14:52,210 --> 00:14:55,630 circuit, you know, where you'd start on a Tuesday night and 247 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,470 finish on a Saturday night, it's five nights a week, four hour 248 00:14:59,620 --> 00:14:59,920 dance. 249 00:15:00,060 --> 00:15:07,800 Years, that's some dues paying, right? Yeah, you know. 250 00:15:07,980 --> 00:15:11,040 Well, I, you know, I was doing a lot of drugs and staying drunk 251 00:15:11,250 --> 00:15:14,070 all the time, and it was just, man, it was a nightmare. 252 00:15:14,490 --> 00:15:17,100 Finally, I just had to get away with it. I knew I was getting 253 00:15:17,100 --> 00:15:21,710 away from it. I was, I knew I was going to kill myself. I 254 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,470 quit, but you know it was a great experience, but I said 255 00:15:25,610 --> 00:15:30,380 once I've moved up here and, and, and got lucky and got a 256 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:33,650 record deal. I said, you know, I've all the thing that I have 257 00:15:34,730 --> 00:15:38,810 is I've, I've learned everything that you're not supposed to do, 258 00:15:38,810 --> 00:15:39,140 right? 259 00:15:39,530 --> 00:15:42,700 You know, and I think those lessons are just as if not more 260 00:15:42,730 --> 00:15:48,130 important than what to do, I'd already learned what not to do, 261 00:15:48,550 --> 00:15:52,480 you know, and the way that you shouldn't conduct yourself and 262 00:15:52,540 --> 00:15:57,310 everything, so yeah, I got all that out of my system back then. 263 00:15:58,150 --> 00:16:02,010 Well, you know, you say you kind of got the itch singing with 264 00:16:02,100 --> 00:16:06,510 family in church, I mean, in terms of instruments, I guess 265 00:16:06,690 --> 00:16:08,370 was the guitar the first one you picked up. 266 00:16:08,490 --> 00:16:11,010 Yeah, my daddy bought me a guitar when I was 10 years old, 267 00:16:11,070 --> 00:16:14,580 and I don't even remember. I never talked to him about it 268 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,760 either. I don't, I didn't get a chance to ask him why he did 269 00:16:17,850 --> 00:16:23,780 that, but one Christmas I had a guitar, and then I was 10 years 270 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:28,580 old, and a couple of weeks later I started taking guitar lessons 271 00:16:28,700 --> 00:16:32,510 from this guy in Spring Hill, Louisiana. Took guitar lessons 272 00:16:32,570 --> 00:16:35,810 for a few years, and that's how it started. 273 00:16:36,650 --> 00:16:40,460 Were they like guitar gods that kind of you drew influence from? 274 00:16:40,580 --> 00:16:42,620 Any rockets listened to? No, 275 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,000 man. man, I'm a lazy guitar player. I got to the point where 276 00:16:46,060 --> 00:16:47,590 I could accompany myself, 277 00:16:48,010 --> 00:16:48,190 right, 278 00:16:48,550 --> 00:16:52,120 and I knew I knew the chords and everything, and I could just, 279 00:16:52,180 --> 00:16:55,750 you know, I could learn songs and, and pretty much accompany 280 00:16:55,870 --> 00:16:57,970 myself, and that was good enough for me. Three 281 00:16:58,090 --> 00:16:59,980 chords and the truth, yeah. I didn't, 282 00:17:00,610 --> 00:17:05,340 I didn't have a dream of shredding, you know, I wasn't 283 00:17:05,460 --> 00:17:06,210 going to be that 284 00:17:06,510 --> 00:17:11,340 too late when, then when, when I 285 00:17:11,430 --> 00:17:15,330 cut this finger off, you know, there's cords I can't even make 286 00:17:15,420 --> 00:17:19,200 anymore, I can't reach up the neck, you know, and just there's 287 00:17:19,350 --> 00:17:22,700 stuff I can't do right now, so, and plus, I don't have any 288 00:17:22,850 --> 00:17:24,890 feeling in this finger, you know. So, 289 00:17:25,550 --> 00:17:28,670 well, you brought up something interesting, too, that man, 290 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:34,280 you've had a lot of, I mean, a lot of accidents, a lot of 291 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,600 things happen to you. I mean, you even got shot by a wife, I 292 00:17:38,660 --> 00:17:40,220 mean, that's, and you survived, 293 00:17:40,910 --> 00:17:42,940 yeah, obviously, you're a tough, 294 00:17:45,580 --> 00:17:49,540 you're one tough sob, Johnny. Yes, sir. 295 00:17:49,930 --> 00:17:53,290 In this life, I have been a participant, not a spectator. 296 00:17:55,810 --> 00:18:00,700 That's why I'm scarred from one end of my body to the other, you 297 00:18:00,730 --> 00:18:04,260 know, because I have been in the game, dude. Well, 298 00:18:04,410 --> 00:18:06,750 you have. I mean, you like I said, you got shot by an 299 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,560 ex-wife, which might.. and you didn't press charges, which 300 00:18:10,740 --> 00:18:12,540 was.. I thought big of you. 301 00:18:12,930 --> 00:18:13,020 Well, 302 00:18:14,610 --> 00:18:18,660 well, I mean, if it were me, very honorable, because I mean, 303 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,720 if someone shot me, yeah, you're going to jail. 304 00:18:26,030 --> 00:18:29,150 Well, you know what, man. Though, I mean, this is somebody 305 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:36,620 that supposedly loves you, and I love you. And when that happens, 306 00:18:36,740 --> 00:18:40,930 it's like, oh my, you know, of course she didn't mean 307 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:42,070 to do it. No, 308 00:18:42,190 --> 00:18:44,950 you know what I mean, right? It's like she didn't mean to do 309 00:18:45,070 --> 00:18:48,940 that. Yeah, I'd never seen her shoot a gun ever. Yeah, I knew 310 00:18:49,060 --> 00:18:52,270 she had one, but I'd never seen her shoot one. And so, 311 00:18:52,750 --> 00:18:54,400 boy, when you did, she.. yeah, 312 00:18:54,940 --> 00:18:56,080 it was.. it was 313 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:58,300 glad you survived it. 314 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,010 Yeah, well, if it hadn't been for Life Flight and Vanderbilt 315 00:19:02,100 --> 00:19:06,060 Medical Center, I wouldn't have, I swear, if I'd been anywhere 316 00:19:06,180 --> 00:19:06,840 else, you know. 317 00:19:07,950 --> 00:19:10,350 And by the way, Vanderbilt, if you'd like some, you know, 318 00:19:10,530 --> 00:19:15,000 people to do some commercials for you. A couple of guys right 319 00:19:15,030 --> 00:19:18,570 here, there's your guys. Yeah, you can. Yeah, 320 00:19:18,660 --> 00:19:21,170 I got on a Life Flight, they picked me up in Mount Juliet and 321 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:25,790 took me to Vanderbilt, and so I've stayed in ICU for a long 322 00:19:25,910 --> 00:19:30,290 time, and they didn't really expect me to make it. I don't 323 00:19:30,380 --> 00:19:30,740 think. 324 00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:31,520 Wow, 325 00:19:31,910 --> 00:19:35,000 you know, I mean, the bullet went in under this army, came 326 00:19:35,180 --> 00:19:39,050 out under this arm, that's crazy. Wow, went through my 327 00:19:39,290 --> 00:19:42,550 straight through my heart, went through both lungs, and so it 328 00:19:42,580 --> 00:19:44,080 was, it was bad. So, 329 00:19:45,100 --> 00:19:47,740 what was.. I mean, what's the feeling like that? I mean, as 330 00:19:47,860 --> 00:19:50,170 you know, you're being shot at the time. Is it kind of.. do you 331 00:19:50,290 --> 00:19:50,650 feel it? 332 00:19:50,740 --> 00:19:57,550 Oh, I knew. I knew I had been shot. I just remember getting up 333 00:19:58,150 --> 00:20:02,220 off the kitchen floor. And I walked down to, I don't even 334 00:20:02,250 --> 00:20:04,590 know where I was going, I was just in complete shock, you 335 00:20:04,650 --> 00:20:09,090 know, and, and I had this house we were in, there were two steps 336 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:11,400 that went down from the kitchen and went into this living room, 337 00:20:11,460 --> 00:20:13,800 and we had just put this new Berber carpet in there, and I 338 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,700 remember I went down those two steps, and I looked at that 339 00:20:17,790 --> 00:20:21,380 carpet, and I went, "Oh my god, I can't bleed on this new Berber 340 00:20:21,470 --> 00:20:29,360 carpet, so I went straight through, and we had a room off 341 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,420 the back of the house, and it's kind of a atrium kind of thing, 342 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,130 had tile floor, and we had plants, and they had a glass 343 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,330 roof, and you know, it was just a little atrium with a lot of 344 00:20:40,420 --> 00:20:43,840 plants and stuff, and I saw that tile floor, and I was like, this 345 00:20:43,870 --> 00:20:48,070 is a good place to bleed. So I laid down there, and easy to 346 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,620 clean. Yeah, that's all I remember, 347 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,100 really. You know, I don't remember the paramedics loading 348 00:20:54,130 --> 00:20:57,580 me up and putting me in the ambulance and taking me to that 349 00:20:57,700 --> 00:21:01,650 church parking lot, which is where we got on a helicopter and 350 00:21:01,740 --> 00:21:04,230 went, went to Vanderbilt. I don't remember any of that. So, 351 00:21:04,350 --> 00:21:06,210 how old were you when that happened? 352 00:21:06,750 --> 00:21:09,780 I see I was 32 Okay, 353 00:21:10,050 --> 00:21:12,960 so you were still a relatively young, strong. That's the only 354 00:21:13,110 --> 00:21:13,200 thing 355 00:21:13,260 --> 00:21:16,230 that saved me. I was working construction at the time, I was 356 00:21:16,350 --> 00:21:26,120 still young and strong, right? Yeah, and you know I don't think 357 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,850 the devil was looking forward to the way I was going to run the 358 00:21:28,940 --> 00:21:37,760 place, you scared him, so 359 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:41,500 he said, keep him up there, will you? 360 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,870 seems that you have a lot of trade tattoos, that's what I 361 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,720 call them, when you cut your hands open, I mean, I just did 362 00:21:49,780 --> 00:21:53,590 it last time we recorded them open, you knew that cutting your 363 00:21:53,650 --> 00:21:56,590 thumb opening, almost lobbing your thumb off, adventures in 364 00:21:56,650 --> 00:22:00,540 podcasting, right? Yeah, but I've, like, I said, I don't want 365 00:22:00,540 --> 00:22:03,630 to have it stitched. I want it to scar, because that's a, oh 366 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,200 yeah, I like my scars. Oh yeah, I got my electrical days. 367 00:22:07,350 --> 00:22:10,740 See, I've got this hand, you can't see him too much now, but 368 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,640 I got really pissed off. It's back when I was doing music, 369 00:22:14,850 --> 00:22:17,820 yeah, but they kept me off a gig that I was supposed to be on, 370 00:22:18,090 --> 00:22:21,860 and I got mad, and I was in the Hank Williams' house, my parents 371 00:22:22,670 --> 00:22:26,420 had to Hank Williams house at one time, and it had these big 372 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:31,670 doors that they had double, you know, paying glass in, and not 373 00:22:31,820 --> 00:22:36,110 thinking, and plus back in those days I was doing drugs, and so 374 00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:40,750 I, you know, was on cocaine high, and I mean I took my fist 375 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:45,160 and ran it right through one of the panes of glass, and it hit 376 00:22:45,220 --> 00:22:50,200 me. I thought, "Why did I do this? And as I pulled it out, I 377 00:22:50,260 --> 00:22:53,560 mean, blood just flying out like a.. so, yeah, 378 00:22:53,739 --> 00:22:54,789 hands are very vascular. 379 00:22:55,030 --> 00:22:58,300 Yes, they are. Yeah, I've 380 00:22:58,420 --> 00:23:01,980 cut my hands all up. I got scars all over my hands, you know. 381 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,090 Well, you all over too. I've broken both my arms, both my 382 00:23:06,210 --> 00:23:06,900 legs. Oh my 383 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:07,440 gosh, 384 00:23:07,770 --> 00:23:11,070 busted my ribs several times. Hell, 385 00:23:11,250 --> 00:23:14,700 you, you had a didn't.. didn't you flip a tractor? Or 386 00:23:15,540 --> 00:23:23,000 yeah, that just separated my sternum. That's all it was. was 387 00:23:23,150 --> 00:23:27,620 on top of me, and then you know, and I had my phone right here in 388 00:23:27,770 --> 00:23:32,060 my overalls, and everything else was just that's the only thing I 389 00:23:32,150 --> 00:23:35,120 could reach. Wow, and I could only move one arm. This one was 390 00:23:35,420 --> 00:23:38,150 pinned, somehow I don't remember, but then I just got my 391 00:23:38,270 --> 00:23:40,130 phone out, and I called my neighbor down the street, 392 00:23:40,130 --> 00:23:42,250 because he had a backhoe, and I said, "Bobby, get on your 393 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:47,950 backhoe and come down here and get this damn track girl. And I 394 00:23:47,949 --> 00:23:50,349 remember when that happened, a friend of mine that worked at 395 00:23:50,469 --> 00:23:57,039 KDF did some kind of comedy bit about that. Well, you're a brave 396 00:24:02,109 --> 00:24:02,169 new. 397 00:24:02,740 --> 00:24:04,740 he's like, 'Hey, you just, you know, busted a sternum open. 398 00:24:05,130 --> 00:24:10,770 What's he gonna do to me? Yeah, even worse than a bullet wound. 399 00:24:11,700 --> 00:24:14,400 Yeah, that bullet didn't hurt really. Now, I guess it kind of 400 00:24:14,430 --> 00:24:16,680 cauterizes it as it goes through. I guess, no, no, 401 00:24:16,830 --> 00:24:19,830 you just in shock. Yeah, the body shuts down and protects 402 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,790 you, and you just don't feel it, you know, yeah, that was my 403 00:24:22,850 --> 00:24:27,590 experience anyway, you know, the healing process hurt, 404 00:24:27,830 --> 00:24:28,970 yeah, I could see that, oh 405 00:24:29,180 --> 00:24:32,480 yeah, that hurt when they crack you open, you know, 406 00:24:32,810 --> 00:24:32,870 yeah, 407 00:24:33,890 --> 00:24:36,860 when it's a trauma surgery and they don't take their time, they 408 00:24:36,980 --> 00:24:41,980 just rip you open and pull it back, it hurts once you heal up 409 00:24:42,070 --> 00:24:45,640 from start healing from that, yeah, it really hurts. The 410 00:24:45,850 --> 00:24:48,520 second open heart I had didn't really hurt that bad, because 411 00:24:48,610 --> 00:24:51,370 they took their time and they were very careful and gentle, 412 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,360 and so I walked out of the hospital a couple days after my 413 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,950 second open heart, but that first one was bad because of. 414 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,820 Was trauma surgery, and they're just, you know, digging. 415 00:25:04,230 --> 00:25:09,420 Yeah, I mean, have any of these wild experiences contributed to 416 00:25:09,930 --> 00:25:14,430 your songwriting in one way or another? I don't 417 00:25:14,550 --> 00:25:19,350 write about that stuff. I mean, just, well, you 418 00:25:19,350 --> 00:25:23,480 know, just the maybe the pain, figuratively, or whatever, maybe 419 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:23,870 just 420 00:25:24,500 --> 00:25:28,760 I flip my tractor. Your love is like a torn open sternum. 421 00:25:33,290 --> 00:25:35,870 I would think just maybe about mortality and things of that 422 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:36,560 thing. Maybe you know 423 00:25:36,770 --> 00:25:40,010 consciously some of it is found its way in there, but not 424 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:41,140 consciously. I don't, 425 00:25:41,500 --> 00:25:42,730 yeah, no, you 426 00:25:42,820 --> 00:25:49,180 broke my heart. Then you shot it, quite literally. Well, you 427 00:25:49,630 --> 00:25:53,110 got started. It was Capitol Records. What is Scott Hendrix 428 00:25:53,350 --> 00:25:56,590 that always did? He seemed to be a cool guy. I 429 00:25:57,790 --> 00:26:03,120 love Scott, always have you. I met him at the baggage claim at 430 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:08,730 the airport, and I was introduced to him, and he asked 431 00:26:08,730 --> 00:26:13,230 me, you know, where I was singing, and I said, I've got a 432 00:26:13,260 --> 00:26:17,550 little weekend gig at a little joint in Mount Juliet Hermitage, 433 00:26:17,850 --> 00:26:24,110 actually, and we told him when it was, and come on out, and I 434 00:26:24,170 --> 00:26:27,770 didn't expect him to, but that Friday night he was out there, 435 00:26:27,890 --> 00:26:31,610 and I did my first set, turned around, put my guitar down to 436 00:26:32,330 --> 00:26:35,420 take a break, and when I turned back around, he was standing on 437 00:26:35,450 --> 00:26:35,900 the stage, 438 00:26:36,260 --> 00:26:36,320 wow, 439 00:26:36,890 --> 00:26:39,440 and he said, "I'll give you a record deal, just like that, 440 00:26:39,650 --> 00:26:41,950 yeah, pointed right in my face, and he said, I'll give you a 441 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:42,430 record deal. 442 00:26:42,610 --> 00:26:42,820 Oh, wow. 443 00:26:43,510 --> 00:26:46,900 And I said, Where the hell have you been? Yeah, wait for you. 444 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:53,530 I've been looking for you for five years longer. Yeah, but and 445 00:26:53,530 --> 00:26:56,440 then he told me later, he said, he said, when I met you at the 446 00:26:56,500 --> 00:26:59,830 baggage claim, he said it was the timbre of your voice, and I 447 00:26:59,980 --> 00:27:02,910 thought, man, if this guy can actually sing on pitch, I want 448 00:27:02,910 --> 00:27:06,510 to hear that. Yeah, that's why it came out. And, 449 00:27:06,540 --> 00:27:08,910 of course, you know, you're such a big striking guy. I mean, 450 00:27:08,970 --> 00:27:12,960 you've got such a presence. I mean, I would think that that 451 00:27:13,050 --> 00:27:14,940 would also play into it to some degree. 452 00:27:15,630 --> 00:27:16,470 I don't know. Yeah, 453 00:27:17,010 --> 00:27:21,470 I mean, you know, from a, from a visual standpoint, up on stage 454 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,290 again, you know, that's that's quite a presence up there. 455 00:27:24,380 --> 00:27:29,210 Well, you know, if it is, then nothing. I didn't do anything to 456 00:27:29,270 --> 00:27:38,480 deserve that. It was just how I am now. Did you come from a 457 00:27:38,570 --> 00:27:40,180 family of giants? My 458 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:45,190 granddaddy on my daddy's side was tall. My dad was about 6263 459 00:27:46,420 --> 00:27:49,240 something like that. So, you know, I ended up a little 460 00:27:49,450 --> 00:27:53,770 taller, you know, six six, but I don't know how. I'm not six six 461 00:27:53,830 --> 00:27:58,300 anymore. I've shrunk. I didn't even stall, because, yeah, the 462 00:27:58,540 --> 00:28:02,100 cartilage in your joints and in your spine, and everything 463 00:28:02,250 --> 00:28:06,060 starts to compress, and, and what I was at the doctor a while 464 00:28:06,180 --> 00:28:09,810 back, you know, and and they asked me how tall I was. I used 465 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:12,750 to be six six, but I don't think I am anymore. And my wife was 466 00:28:12,810 --> 00:28:15,660 like, yes, you are, and I was like, no, I'm not. And I, they 467 00:28:15,810 --> 00:28:19,680 measured me, and I was like, six five, I've shrunk an inch, man. 468 00:28:20,100 --> 00:28:21,230 It's unbelievable. It 469 00:28:21,230 --> 00:28:30,620 sounds like everything's shrinking, you know. We were 470 00:28:30,710 --> 00:28:33,230 talking about Scott Hendricks, but it seemed like after Scott 471 00:28:33,350 --> 00:28:37,670 was.. and it really, to be honest, it really made me mad 472 00:28:37,910 --> 00:28:41,860 the way they were handling you on Capitol after Scott left, I 473 00:28:41,950 --> 00:28:47,470 thought you did. You ever just want to hang those people out 474 00:28:47,470 --> 00:28:50,350 the window? For it just didn't seem like they were promoting 475 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,420 your stuff, not doing what they should. 476 00:28:52,780 --> 00:28:53,410 They weren't. 477 00:28:53,890 --> 00:28:55,060 Yeah, I mean it was obvious. 478 00:28:55,690 --> 00:28:59,350 Yeah, Scott was my cheerleader. Out, see, when he got named, 479 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,420 that was when Jimmy Bowen left Capitol, Scott got named the new 480 00:29:03,690 --> 00:29:07,170 president of Capitol Records. I was the first person that he 481 00:29:07,620 --> 00:29:10,890 signed to Capitol after he became president of Capitol 482 00:29:11,010 --> 00:29:14,970 Records, and he, he had to put the juice behind me, 483 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:15,780 right? 484 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,320 You know, his first signing had to be successful, and so I 485 00:29:19,500 --> 00:29:22,880 enjoyed that kind of support for the first two albums, 486 00:29:23,030 --> 00:29:23,090 yeah. 487 00:29:23,750 --> 00:29:28,670 You know, and then, yeah, and then politics reared its ugly 488 00:29:28,790 --> 00:29:32,270 head, and you know, things happened, and Scott got let go, 489 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:36,140 and they brought in some other guy, and it was just like, yeah, 490 00:29:36,350 --> 00:29:40,220 I didn't like that dude at all, man. Then we ended up, there 491 00:29:40,310 --> 00:29:43,720 were a couple of years where I didn't even go back to there 492 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,030 were two years that I didn't go back in the building, 493 00:29:46,690 --> 00:29:47,410 don't blame because 494 00:29:47,500 --> 00:29:50,020 there was nothing that I needed to talk to him about, because 495 00:29:50,170 --> 00:29:56,470 they're, you know, there was a point where we were on that 11th 496 00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,870 floor at that building that Capitol used to be. End on West 497 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,350 End, West End. Yes, yeah. And I was up in his office, and, and 498 00:30:04,980 --> 00:30:07,500 my man, one of my managers was there with me, and we were 499 00:30:07,590 --> 00:30:10,650 having a meeting, and it got to the point where we were yelling 500 00:30:10,740 --> 00:30:15,450 at each other, and she was crying. And then he was like, 501 00:30:15,570 --> 00:30:19,530 'Who you think you are? And I said, 'I'm gonna tell you who I 502 00:30:19,650 --> 00:30:22,910 am. I'm the Confederate son, bitch is gonna throw your Yankee 503 00:30:23,090 --> 00:30:29,630 ass out that way. Wasn't this the same 504 00:30:29,750 --> 00:30:34,040 guy, too, that he wanted to have Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline as 505 00:30:34,130 --> 00:30:34,160 a.. 506 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,190 he wanted to do it. He wanted Patsy Cline to sing on 507 00:30:37,790 --> 00:30:40,930 somebody's record, yeah, Nashville, and he asked 508 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,160 somebody to get in touch with her. Yeah, tell him that she was 509 00:30:45,700 --> 00:30:48,970 dead. I don't want to personally hear that, but the people that I 510 00:30:49,090 --> 00:30:49,270 heard 511 00:30:49,330 --> 00:30:52,990 it from that were in the room, he did say that. 512 00:30:53,170 --> 00:30:53,710 Yeah, he 513 00:30:53,830 --> 00:30:54,520 did say that. 514 00:30:54,670 --> 00:30:58,360 Shows how how in touch he was with country music. 515 00:30:58,630 --> 00:30:59,500 Yeah, well, 516 00:30:59,830 --> 00:31:02,340 well, at least things worked out well after that, and then you 517 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:02,880 start, yeah, they 518 00:31:02,970 --> 00:31:06,090 brought Mike Dungan in, and I love Mike. I'd known him from 519 00:31:06,090 --> 00:31:09,720 the early on in the Arista days, because Arista Rickards was the 520 00:31:09,870 --> 00:31:12,450 first ones that signed me, Tim Dubois signed me to a 521 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:13,140 development deal, 522 00:31:13,500 --> 00:31:13,560 yeah, 523 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:20,100 but I had a very cagey lawyer that had been recommended to me, 524 00:31:20,220 --> 00:31:24,590 and he, you know, he was like, 'Look, dude, you know you're 32 525 00:31:24,860 --> 00:31:27,710 years old, you can't be. He said, 'I, you know, artists 526 00:31:27,740 --> 00:31:31,790 sometimes stay in development for years on these labels, and 527 00:31:32,540 --> 00:31:35,420 so we're gonna, we're gonna sign with them, but we're gonna have 528 00:31:35,810 --> 00:31:40,130 this clause that says this is a six month deal, if you can't 529 00:31:40,340 --> 00:31:43,600 find what you want to do with him after six months, you got to 530 00:31:43,660 --> 00:31:48,070 cut him loose, and that's what we did, and, and so I stayed in 531 00:31:48,130 --> 00:31:52,240 development at Arista for six months, and then you know they 532 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,410 didn't ever do anything with me, so they cut me loose, and that's 533 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,450 when Scott came in, just right after that, 534 00:31:58,900 --> 00:31:59,500 very cool, 535 00:31:59,740 --> 00:32:04,020 and actually Tim talked to Scott, you know, about me, and 536 00:32:04,590 --> 00:32:07,770 said I really believe in this guy. I think he's great. I think 537 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,010 he's got a lot of potential. I just had a full roster over 538 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:15,990 here, didn't have any place to put him. So, yeah, so I thank 539 00:32:16,110 --> 00:32:16,740 Tim for that. 540 00:32:17,670 --> 00:32:20,420 Well, you came up with some great stuff too, like Chrome. I 541 00:32:20,630 --> 00:32:22,880 love that album. I love the tune. 542 00:32:23,690 --> 00:32:24,950 Yeah, it was.. that was a 543 00:32:25,010 --> 00:32:27,650 cool video too, with you. Now you're always on a bike. It 544 00:32:27,710 --> 00:32:31,700 seems like you, you played some bikers in movies like Girls 545 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:33,800 Night Out and Lincoln Lawyer. 546 00:32:34,340 --> 00:32:34,940 Yeah, and 547 00:32:34,970 --> 00:32:37,130 you do a good job, because I've known a lot of bikers in my 548 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:37,790 time, and 549 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:45,910 there's two styles of acting that I have two methods, one is 550 00:32:45,910 --> 00:32:51,640 on a motorcycle, another one's on a horse. I'm a method actor. 551 00:32:53,350 --> 00:32:53,920 Two methods. 552 00:32:56,170 --> 00:33:00,520 Oh no, I've seen you in the one with Mark Wahlberg. Oh 553 00:33:00,790 --> 00:33:01,590 yeah, that was funny. 554 00:33:01,770 --> 00:33:05,040 Yeah, I mean, it was at the end. I'm trying to think of the name 555 00:33:05,100 --> 00:33:07,680 of the.. it's.. it was about the Deepwater Horizon. That's right, 556 00:33:07,890 --> 00:33:09,150 that's right. See, I was 557 00:33:09,210 --> 00:33:11,730 supposed to be the crane operator in that movie. 558 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,700 Oh, you played a pissed off parrot, and I was like, holy.. I 559 00:33:14,730 --> 00:33:15,570 mean, it comes through. 560 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:17,940 They were gonna.. well, I'll tell you what happened. 561 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,850 Like, oh my gosh, so Peter Berg, Peter 562 00:33:22,910 --> 00:33:25,580 Berg was direct in that movie, you know, Peter Berg did, yeah, 563 00:33:25,580 --> 00:33:32,420 and all, yeah, so anyway, I was supposed to play the crane 564 00:33:32,510 --> 00:33:36,290 operator, but something, my itinerary, I just couldn't do 565 00:33:36,350 --> 00:33:39,500 it, they wanted me, they wanted too much of a time commitment 566 00:33:39,530 --> 00:33:42,130 from me, so I couldn't do it, and they said, well, we still, 567 00:33:42,220 --> 00:33:44,830 we were, you know, one of the consultants on the movie, 568 00:33:45,790 --> 00:33:50,560 actually the guy that Wahlberg was portraying in the movie, he 569 00:33:50,620 --> 00:33:53,890 was a consultant on the movie, and he wanted me in the movie 570 00:33:54,010 --> 00:33:56,260 because he knew that I had worked in oil field for 10 571 00:33:56,380 --> 00:33:59,980 years, and so he wanted me in that movie, and I'd worked on a 572 00:34:00,010 --> 00:34:02,100 drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. I knew, you know, 573 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,390 anyway. So they said we'll just let you do this little thing 574 00:34:06,510 --> 00:34:08,880 here, and you'll only have to be here for one day. And I was 575 00:34:08,940 --> 00:34:11,370 like, cool, I can do that. And they put it on a day that I 576 00:34:11,460 --> 00:34:14,850 could do it. So, so we get in this hotel where it actually 577 00:34:14,910 --> 00:34:19,050 happened, where this scene actually took place when 578 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:22,700 Wahlberg comes in, and there are all these people waiting to hear 579 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:26,060 about their loved ones, whether they had been killed or were 580 00:34:26,210 --> 00:34:31,010 okay or what, and so I was supposed to grab, grab Wahlberg 581 00:34:31,010 --> 00:34:33,470 and put him up against the wall and go, "You're going to tell me 582 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:37,160 what's going on? You know, so we did the scene a couple of times, 583 00:34:37,220 --> 00:34:41,500 and then Peter Berg comes out from behind the cameras and 584 00:34:42,010 --> 00:34:44,620 comes up to me, and just looks at me, and he just stands. He 585 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:48,850 goes, "What are you doing? I said, "Well, I'm just doing the 586 00:34:48,850 --> 00:34:51,730 thing. And he goes, "No, you're not. That's not why we brought 587 00:34:51,850 --> 00:34:55,360 you here. He said, "We brought you here. I want you to grab him 588 00:34:55,450 --> 00:34:58,270 and throw him up against the wall battery. And I was like, 589 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,050 "Dude, I don't want to hurt the guy, you know. Oh, and he goes, 590 00:35:01,170 --> 00:35:05,970 you can't hurt him, and I said, oh yeah, and then he started 591 00:35:06,090 --> 00:35:09,330 poking me in the chest with his finger and pushed me up against 592 00:35:09,330 --> 00:35:12,060 the wall, and he had me up against the wall, just dog 593 00:35:12,150 --> 00:35:15,750 cussing me in front of all those people, and then I was, and it 594 00:35:15,810 --> 00:35:18,810 finally, it was just like, hey, man, I don't care who you are, 595 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:24,230 you know, and he goes, action, you know, he just ran off and 596 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,080 yelled 'action' and then Wahlberg came in, and I grabbed 597 00:35:27,110 --> 00:35:30,500 him, and you know it 598 00:35:30,559 --> 00:35:33,619 was like, 'What are you doing? Say hi to your mother for me. 599 00:35:34,849 --> 00:35:38,059 I couldn't believe that, man. How long was he in the hospital? 600 00:35:41,449 --> 00:35:45,009 I didn't really hurt him, but they slung him around pretty 601 00:35:45,099 --> 00:35:45,849 good. Was it 602 00:35:45,850 --> 00:35:51,490 because he was from Boston? Is that the Yankee guy? He was a 603 00:35:51,610 --> 00:35:53,200 good guy. He seems 604 00:35:53,260 --> 00:35:54,970 like a really cool. They all 605 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:55,510 do, really. 606 00:35:55,540 --> 00:35:55,600 Yeah, 607 00:35:56,020 --> 00:35:57,100 he's a nice Kurt Russell. 608 00:35:57,190 --> 00:35:58,180 Seems like a hell of a dude. 609 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,670 Yeah, that was my highlight of the day, was meeting Kurt 610 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:04,560 Russell, man. Yeah, now he seems like a 611 00:36:04,650 --> 00:36:07,590 really down-to-earth guy. Yeah, it was strange because 612 00:36:07,710 --> 00:36:11,790 he was all made up, and he had, you know, closed prosthetics on 613 00:36:11,820 --> 00:36:15,900 his face, and he was like, "Dude, it looked real. Yeah, 614 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:17,040 have you guys seen 615 00:36:17,070 --> 00:36:17,400 that movie? 616 00:36:17,969 --> 00:36:18,869 Have not. Oh, it's 617 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,260 great, but it's one I've probably seen about four times, 618 00:36:22,100 --> 00:36:24,920 so if I see a movie that likes multiple times, it's a good 619 00:36:24,950 --> 00:36:25,610 movie. It 620 00:36:25,910 --> 00:36:29,390 was well done, and it was, and you could tell, too, that that 621 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,920 one, that the main consultant on the on the movie was a real 622 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:35,210 oilfield guy. 623 00:36:35,749 --> 00:36:35,809 Yeah, 624 00:36:36,109 --> 00:36:37,639 you know, he got that stuff right. That's 625 00:36:37,700 --> 00:36:38,210 Peter Berg. 626 00:36:38,630 --> 00:36:38,870 Yeah, I mean, 627 00:36:38,930 --> 00:36:43,720 he really, it's like almost like Taylor Sheridan, the detailed 628 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,390 studies that they do on these shows, and everything you watch 629 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,150 Land Man, I mean, what a show. Well, who 630 00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:52,449 would be more perfect for it, Taylor Sheridan, or 631 00:36:52,629 --> 00:36:56,469 even Dutton Ranch, the new one that came out? Yeah, he's got a 632 00:36:56,559 --> 00:36:59,439 smile on his face, you've been reached out to, or you got a 633 00:36:59,499 --> 00:37:00,869 scoop, you should be, I know. 634 00:37:01,469 --> 00:37:11,879 Yeah, but it's not what you think. No, I've kind of been 635 00:37:12,089 --> 00:37:17,129 told that Taylor and I probably wouldn't get along too good. 636 00:37:17,490 --> 00:37:17,850 Oh, really? 637 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:20,370 Well, he looks like he'd be kind of. 638 00:37:21,060 --> 00:37:21,560 he's a big dude. 639 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:22,670 No, he's not. 640 00:37:23,510 --> 00:37:26,120 Oh, really? No, he's not big. I thought he was like Musk. He's 641 00:37:26,450 --> 00:37:27,980 big, yeah. He's built not 642 00:37:28,070 --> 00:37:28,280 big, 643 00:37:28,819 --> 00:37:29,809 okay? But he looks like, but he 644 00:37:29,870 --> 00:37:30,590 wants to be big, 645 00:37:30,890 --> 00:37:31,040 right? 646 00:37:31,130 --> 00:37:32,990 Well, he looks like he'd be an ass. 647 00:37:33,350 --> 00:37:36,050 I don't know, man. I haven't met the guy. I don't know, but I 648 00:37:36,109 --> 00:37:38,959 mean, it's just that's just like get out of me, and that's not 649 00:37:39,109 --> 00:37:42,639 fair, because I'm judging it on what he's played on and what 650 00:37:42,639 --> 00:37:44,019 you've heard, yeah, and the land 651 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:48,010 man thing, yeah, you know, I mean, you know, Billy Bob's a 652 00:37:48,130 --> 00:37:53,350 friend of mine, and we talk, and he likes doing the show, but you 653 00:37:53,380 --> 00:37:56,440 know, he's kind of frustrated right now, you know, the amount 654 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,990 of time that it's taken between season two and season three, 655 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:05,790 because you know, Taylor, he loves to start projects, and he 656 00:38:05,970 --> 00:38:09,900 puts his heart and soul into that first season, puts a little 657 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:11,610 bit of it into that second season. 658 00:38:11,970 --> 00:38:12,030 Yeah, 659 00:38:12,629 --> 00:38:15,689 but then after that, he's on to something else to move 660 00:38:15,780 --> 00:38:17,040 on to, right? He's 661 00:38:17,159 --> 00:38:21,049 got a new shiny toy over here, you know, the Dutton Ranch 662 00:38:21,229 --> 00:38:23,929 thing, and now Land Man's sitting over here going, "We're 663 00:38:24,079 --> 00:38:25,639 waiting for a script for season three. 664 00:38:26,030 --> 00:38:26,510 Yeah, where 665 00:38:26,599 --> 00:38:30,229 is it? Well, I'm doing this thing. Oh, well, you know, never 666 00:38:30,319 --> 00:38:35,419 mind us. We got the biggest show on television right now, and you 667 00:38:35,449 --> 00:38:37,369 know, we just need season three. What's 668 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:40,630 kind of like lioness? You had two seasons, and then all of a 669 00:38:40,630 --> 00:38:42,130 sudden, where's the third 670 00:38:43,300 --> 00:38:45,910 Yellowstone? I think, well, I mean, if Yellowstone was his 671 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,270 baby, yeah, that's what made him, but all of a sudden it kind 672 00:38:49,450 --> 00:38:52,660 of, you know, it kind of lost its energy, and yeah, it did, 673 00:38:52,720 --> 00:38:53,590 you know, it 674 00:38:53,980 --> 00:38:54,220 did. 675 00:38:54,399 --> 00:38:57,159 Matt is certainly not going to Marshalls, that's for sure. No, 676 00:38:59,110 --> 00:39:02,940 I haven't seen that one. Yeah, actually, I know that one of 677 00:39:02,940 --> 00:39:06,900 those ladies that's in that show, she was in that I Can Only 678 00:39:06,930 --> 00:39:11,610 Imagine Part Two. Yeah, she played Tim's wife, she was 679 00:39:11,790 --> 00:39:14,460 sweetheart, but she was telling us about that show and how 680 00:39:14,610 --> 00:39:18,630 excited she was about it. I can see that, man. Anything that 681 00:39:18,660 --> 00:39:21,230 Taylor Sheridan does these days, I mean, he's got the Midas 682 00:39:21,380 --> 00:39:24,440 touch. Yes, he does. Whatever he puts out there, it's gonna blow 683 00:39:24,710 --> 00:39:27,590 up. And if you get an opportunity to be in one of 684 00:39:27,620 --> 00:39:31,010 those shows, you should take it. When you were in a movie, too, 685 00:39:31,220 --> 00:39:37,100 that I happened to watch, and it was more of a chick flick, but 686 00:39:37,220 --> 00:39:40,370 you were great in it. It was girls, was it girls' night out? 687 00:39:40,610 --> 00:39:43,240 Mom's night out, Mom's night out. That was, oh, but see, I, 688 00:39:43,630 --> 00:39:48,250 they tricked me on that move, did they? Now that I got, I 689 00:39:48,310 --> 00:39:51,520 didn't even get the whole script, I just got my sides that 690 00:39:51,580 --> 00:39:55,330 I was supposed to, you know, look at and see if I wanted to 691 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:59,410 do the part, and it was a biker, and it was funny, and you know, 692 00:39:59,650 --> 00:40:02,250 I was like. Go, this could be fun, you know, kind of a comedic 693 00:40:02,970 --> 00:40:04,140 little twist. You were 694 00:40:04,259 --> 00:40:04,919 bones that 695 00:40:04,950 --> 00:40:08,400 I haven't had a chance to do, and so let's, let's do this. And 696 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:12,900 so went down to Birmingham, and the first day I was on set, CMT 697 00:40:13,050 --> 00:40:16,320 was there, and they had a room set up, and they wanted, they 698 00:40:16,350 --> 00:40:19,170 were doing interviews with people, and they took me in, 699 00:40:19,350 --> 00:40:21,830 won't do an interview, and I was like, yeah, sure. So I go in, 700 00:40:22,340 --> 00:40:25,970 and the first question that dude asked me, he was like, Trace, 701 00:40:26,090 --> 00:40:29,570 what, what, what, you know, led you to do a faith-based movie? 702 00:40:29,780 --> 00:40:33,620 And I was like, what are you talking about? I didn't know 703 00:40:33,770 --> 00:40:36,470 this was a faith-based movie. I just, I thought I was playing a 704 00:40:36,590 --> 00:40:40,160 biker, you know, and because that's the signs I got, I didn't 705 00:40:40,220 --> 00:40:43,030 read the whole script, I didn't know, so I didn't know what the 706 00:40:43,090 --> 00:40:46,930 whole movie was about, but man, it was a lot of fun, and I've 707 00:40:47,290 --> 00:40:52,270 since done three or four movies with those guys, man, I love the 708 00:40:52,300 --> 00:40:55,090 way they make movies, they did the I Can Only Imagine stuff, 709 00:40:55,210 --> 00:40:59,350 and they're great people, and they do good work, and I've 710 00:40:59,620 --> 00:41:03,090 never been embarrassed by one of the movies that I've done with 711 00:41:03,390 --> 00:41:07,740 them, I can't say that about everybody. I've done some real 712 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:12,810 stinkers, but you know, I just sometimes they just, some, 713 00:41:12,900 --> 00:41:15,630 they'll call me up and they'll go, "Hey, man, we need you on 714 00:41:15,690 --> 00:41:18,060 this movie, you'll be here for three days and you'll ride a 715 00:41:18,090 --> 00:41:20,810 horse and shoot a guy and we'll pay you this, and I'm like, I'm 716 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:22,580 in. Yeah, put me in. Let's go. 717 00:41:23,420 --> 00:41:27,500 Thing is, even on the stinkers, I like your.. I just like your 718 00:41:28,190 --> 00:41:30,830 acting. You just command the screen, yeah? 719 00:41:31,009 --> 00:41:34,849 You do. You got a cool persona on screen. I've known a number 720 00:41:34,969 --> 00:41:38,059 of musicians and entertainers over the years that have 721 00:41:38,179 --> 00:41:41,229 transitioned over and done acting, and they've all said 722 00:41:41,439 --> 00:41:44,799 that, you know, the hurry up and wait thing kind of takes some 723 00:41:44,859 --> 00:41:47,499 getting used to. I mean, how was that for you? 724 00:41:47,740 --> 00:41:50,410 That's why Toby quit doing it, you know. And I always thought, 725 00:41:50,590 --> 00:41:54,760 man, the movies that I, that Toby did, I thought he was good, 726 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:58,420 man. He was great. He had acting, he had acting chops, he 727 00:41:58,510 --> 00:42:02,460 could do it. Yeah, he just didn't want to, and he hated. He 728 00:42:02,550 --> 00:42:07,020 just got so frustrated because of that, the hurry up and wait, 729 00:42:07,140 --> 00:42:10,860 just sitting around all day, wasting time between one shot to 730 00:42:10,980 --> 00:42:15,690 the next, waiting on them to set everything up, and you know, and 731 00:42:15,720 --> 00:42:18,930 I get that, man. But that's just how it is, you know. You just 732 00:42:18,990 --> 00:42:22,280 got to take the good with the bad, you know, or the bad with 733 00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:26,870 the good, and you know, I just.. I guess I've just had the 734 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:31,250 patience to not fret about that stuff, you know. It's just.. it 735 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:34,070 is what it is. It takes them as long as it takes them to light a 736 00:42:34,370 --> 00:42:38,240 scene, and you just got to wait on them to do it, and you know, 737 00:42:38,450 --> 00:42:42,040 so yeah, that doesn't bother me. 738 00:42:42,279 --> 00:42:45,039 Has it intrigued? Does that experience intrigued you enough 739 00:42:45,189 --> 00:42:49,569 to maybe want to direct something one day? No. Yeah, you 740 00:42:49,629 --> 00:42:50,079 just want to be 741 00:42:50,410 --> 00:42:53,440 that's like the guy producing. You don't want to do. I've seen 742 00:42:53,470 --> 00:42:56,830 the producer's job, I don't want it, you know. Same with the 743 00:42:56,950 --> 00:43:00,670 director, I've seen the director's job, I don't want it. 744 00:43:00,820 --> 00:43:04,860 You know, no, no thanks. Kind of like a 745 00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:06,390 producer's job in radio. 746 00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:06,779 Yeah, 747 00:43:07,110 --> 00:43:12,660 I don't want tremendous perspective. Yes, I do. Well, 748 00:43:12,720 --> 00:43:13,020 you spent 749 00:43:13,050 --> 00:43:15,570 considerable time in the oil field, like doing a lot of trade 750 00:43:15,660 --> 00:43:18,270 work and stuff like that. I mean, is that that gives you a 751 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:21,110 basis of comparison? Hey, it beats.. I mean, unless you 752 00:43:21,170 --> 00:43:24,200 enjoyed that kind of work. I loved it, I bet, because you 753 00:43:24,230 --> 00:43:26,540 know, honestly, Deepwater Horizon really made it 754 00:43:26,540 --> 00:43:28,820 attractive. I was like, you know what, I could, I could see 755 00:43:28,910 --> 00:43:29,630 myself doing that. 756 00:43:30,230 --> 00:43:33,860 I just liked, especially, you know, working on a drill crew, 757 00:43:34,310 --> 00:43:38,090 you know, working on a drilling rig, it's it's a team sport, 758 00:43:38,390 --> 00:43:41,230 camaraderie, and it's dangerous. Yeah, that roughnecking 759 00:43:42,430 --> 00:43:43,480 is, yeah, it is. It's 760 00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:47,350 dangerous. I got hurt several times, and busted my head, and 761 00:43:47,380 --> 00:43:51,700 busted some ribs, and my elbows, and you know, and cut my finger 762 00:43:52,060 --> 00:43:54,220 off. And I mean, there were things, you know, you got hurt a 763 00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:57,490 lot, but, but that was back in the day when it was still 764 00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:02,400 throwing tongs, and you know, it was still real oil field work 765 00:44:02,850 --> 00:44:09,420 nowadays, it's all so robotic, not a lot of that stuff anymore, 766 00:44:09,540 --> 00:44:13,770 but I don't know, man, I just like that whole, you know, being 767 00:44:13,860 --> 00:44:16,620 on a crew like that, and then being the cock of the walk, at 768 00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:19,320 least that's what everybody wanted to be, yeah, you know, 769 00:44:19,710 --> 00:44:25,460 and and that's that's what I, that's what I was, man. I was, I 770 00:44:25,700 --> 00:44:29,060 really believed was, I was still, are I was the best Derek 771 00:44:29,060 --> 00:44:31,670 can in the Gulf of Mexico. And if you don't believe it, let's 772 00:44:32,060 --> 00:44:35,300 come on, yeah, let's bow up and see which one of us can do it 773 00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:38,480 the best, because I think it's me, and that's the attitude I 774 00:44:38,540 --> 00:44:41,290 had, and I just, I loved it, man, and it kind of, you know, 775 00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:47,170 because I played football for too long, and but I still had 776 00:44:47,230 --> 00:44:52,000 that competitive nature about me, and it just kind of bled 777 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:52,990 over into the oil field. 778 00:44:54,010 --> 00:44:56,320 It also bleed over in the music business, where you did you 779 00:44:56,320 --> 00:45:00,090 have, is there, is there even like a competitive nature. Sure, 780 00:45:00,839 --> 00:45:04,829 you know, I suppose there is, but nobody really talks about 781 00:45:05,069 --> 00:45:12,089 it, right? If it is, it's nobody acts like that, you know. And 782 00:45:12,299 --> 00:45:15,839 I've, I've never really thought about that. I don't begrudge 783 00:45:15,959 --> 00:45:19,619 anybody's success, anybody that's, you know, been more 784 00:45:19,679 --> 00:45:23,419 successful than I am. Good for you, man. You know, I like where 785 00:45:23,479 --> 00:45:28,009 I am. I'm content. I'm happy with my career, and that's good 786 00:45:28,009 --> 00:45:30,229 enough for me. I don't worry about what anybody else is 787 00:45:30,319 --> 00:45:30,589 doing. 788 00:45:31,579 --> 00:45:32,239 It's way it should be. 789 00:45:32,870 --> 00:45:33,590 Yeah, you know. 790 00:45:34,189 --> 00:45:37,369 So, this 30th anniversary tour that you're on, did you ever 791 00:45:37,489 --> 00:45:40,509 think you would get to a 30th anniversary tour? I 792 00:45:40,689 --> 00:45:47,499 thought, if I lived long enough, I would, but you know, it's.. 793 00:45:47,679 --> 00:45:50,829 I've been, I've been really fortunate, and I, I believe, 794 00:45:50,979 --> 00:45:57,189 too, that my relevance is due to the fact that I have done as 795 00:45:57,369 --> 00:46:03,989 much as I have done in, in other genres and other other mediums, 796 00:46:04,139 --> 00:46:09,449 you know, I'll never forget my first manager in the business 797 00:46:09,569 --> 00:46:10,409 was Gary Borman. 798 00:46:10,950 --> 00:46:11,250 Oh yeah, 799 00:46:11,490 --> 00:46:16,110 Borman Entertainment, and I went to his office in Santa Monica, 800 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:19,830 and I remember we were sitting up in his office interviewing 801 00:46:19,950 --> 00:46:24,290 and each other, I was seeing if I liked him, and he was seeing 802 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:28,040 if he liked me, and there was a television sitting on the desk 803 00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:30,590 over there across the room, and he said, "You won't know the 804 00:46:30,590 --> 00:46:35,000 secret to being successful in this business, and he said that 805 00:46:35,750 --> 00:46:39,020 he said, "You every time you get an opportunity to be on that, 806 00:46:39,890 --> 00:46:44,560 you do it every time, and I never forgot what he said, and 807 00:46:45,310 --> 00:46:49,330 I've, I've employed that philosophy over my whole career, 808 00:46:49,420 --> 00:46:52,870 and I, and I think, you know, shoot, I don't, I don't even 809 00:46:52,900 --> 00:46:57,610 remember the last top 10 record that I had. Oh my gosh, it could 810 00:46:57,610 --> 00:46:59,350 have been 15 or so years ago. 811 00:46:59,709 --> 00:46:59,769 Yeah, 812 00:47:00,550 --> 00:47:02,670 but it's that, that television, 813 00:47:02,910 --> 00:47:03,750 oh, sure, and 814 00:47:03,780 --> 00:47:06,870 the movies, and all that stuff, that's what's kept me relevant, 815 00:47:06,990 --> 00:47:11,670 really, you know, you think you know, you think people go to see 816 00:47:12,210 --> 00:47:16,860 Kevin Costner's band because he's a great singer, no, no, 817 00:47:17,970 --> 00:47:19,140 because he's not, no, 818 00:47:19,650 --> 00:47:20,130 he's not, 819 00:47:20,249 --> 00:47:24,019 he's okay, yeah, you know, they go sing him, because you know 820 00:47:24,530 --> 00:47:25,850 Kevin Costner, all those actors 821 00:47:25,940 --> 00:47:27,080 want to be singers, man, they 822 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:27,890 do, don't they, 823 00:47:28,070 --> 00:47:31,040 and all singers and musicians want to be athletes, yeah, won't 824 00:47:31,220 --> 00:47:35,870 be ballplayers or actors or actors, because some 825 00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:38,990 of them, I mean, God bless them, you know, Waylon Jennings and 826 00:47:39,050 --> 00:47:44,890 Johnny Cash, two of my favorite country legends, besides this 827 00:47:45,010 --> 00:47:51,430 guy, but man, when it came to acting, I'm sorry, but for me, I 828 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:55,390 just thought they were kind of weak. No, they really weren't, 829 00:47:55,690 --> 00:47:57,910 especially Waylon. Oral Wayland, Willie 830 00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,660 was pretty good at it. Yeah, Willie was.. Willie would have 831 00:48:00,780 --> 00:48:04,350 certain roles where he was just knock it out of the park, yeah. 832 00:48:04,830 --> 00:48:08,430 But the first opportunity I had back, whenever we were doing 833 00:48:08,460 --> 00:48:12,300 music videos, and music videos meant something, and the label 834 00:48:12,390 --> 00:48:15,120 would put a lot of money into them, and all that. Anyway, all 835 00:48:15,210 --> 00:48:20,130 those video directors wanted to be movie directors, and you 836 00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:23,150 know, and then when one of them got a shot to make a movie, 837 00:48:23,330 --> 00:48:28,550 Stephen Goldman, he wanted me to come be in his movie, and that 838 00:48:28,610 --> 00:48:34,100 was the first shot I got at it, and he sent me the script, and I 839 00:48:34,220 --> 00:48:37,670 was just playing the man, and it was really, I was playing the 840 00:48:37,730 --> 00:48:40,930 devil, you know, or a demon, or something, I don't know, anyway. 841 00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:46,000 So, the scene that I read about, I didn't even have a line, it 842 00:48:46,030 --> 00:48:48,430 wasn't even a speaking part, but it said that I was standing in 843 00:48:48,460 --> 00:48:52,330 the middle of a field, and I was peeing, and where the pee was 844 00:48:52,420 --> 00:48:55,450 hitting the ground, smoke was coming up, and I said, I'll do 845 00:48:55,510 --> 00:48:57,670 the movie just to do 846 00:48:58,690 --> 00:48:58,930 that. That's 847 00:49:00,580 --> 00:49:04,020 awesome. That's like life on the farm, man. I love it, man. So 848 00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:04,260 I'm 849 00:49:04,350 --> 00:49:07,380 standing out in that field, and they had this hose that, well, 850 00:49:07,380 --> 00:49:12,270 they had some PVC pipe, and then a hose came up my pants, and 851 00:49:12,390 --> 00:49:17,100 then they had this blood red stream coming out, and you know 852 00:49:17,310 --> 00:49:20,370 it was awesome. So I was peeing, and then they had another pipe 853 00:49:20,490 --> 00:49:23,180 that down on the ground, and the smoke would come up, and it 854 00:49:23,690 --> 00:49:29,270 was.. I stood there for five minutes. Best scene I've ever 855 00:49:29,450 --> 00:49:32,870 done in my whole career. You guys 856 00:49:32,930 --> 00:49:36,140 are saying that's not normal. It happens all the time. 857 00:49:39,890 --> 00:49:43,900 I was watching one day, it was hilarious. I was watching, I 858 00:49:43,960 --> 00:49:46,900 don't know why, but I was binge watching, binge watching Gene 859 00:49:46,990 --> 00:49:52,240 Simmons' Family Jewels, and all of a sudden he's in Nashville, 860 00:49:52,990 --> 00:49:57,010 like producing some country rock band, and all of a sudden his 861 00:49:57,100 --> 00:49:59,950 studio said, I got somebody over here that is going to guide you. 862 00:50:00,090 --> 00:50:02,760 Guys, if you got out walks trace 863 00:50:04,829 --> 00:50:06,569 Gene, man, that dude's a trip, 864 00:50:06,660 --> 00:50:07,650 boy, he is, isn't he? 865 00:50:07,950 --> 00:50:14,310 Gosh, I was on the apprentice with him, and I just.. the times 866 00:50:14,370 --> 00:50:16,980 that I spent with Gene Sim.. Gene Simmons was the one that 867 00:50:17,130 --> 00:50:22,430 changed the way that the celebrity apprentice, the way 868 00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:23,900 the game was played. 869 00:50:24,229 --> 00:50:24,289 Yeah, 870 00:50:24,799 --> 00:50:28,489 I didn't. Nobody knows the story, you know. Whenever, 871 00:50:28,969 --> 00:50:32,089 whenever Trump and them decided they were going, because they 872 00:50:32,119 --> 00:50:34,729 had done The Apprentice for years, and then they were going 873 00:50:34,729 --> 00:50:38,599 to do Celebrity Apprentice, but they were going to do it the 874 00:50:39,019 --> 00:50:45,579 same exact way that they did the apprentice, you just are our 875 00:50:45,879 --> 00:50:49,449 ideas better than your ideas, and let's see who wins. It 876 00:50:49,509 --> 00:50:52,839 wasn't about money, it wasn't about, but the very first task 877 00:50:52,869 --> 00:50:55,899 that we had when I was my first season on the Celebrity 878 00:50:55,929 --> 00:50:58,839 Apprentice, we were going to stand down on the street corner 879 00:50:58,899 --> 00:51:04,319 and sell hot dogs from a hot dog vending thing, you know, and so 880 00:51:04,919 --> 00:51:07,319 we're all talking about, okay, where are we? Where are we going 881 00:51:07,319 --> 00:51:10,889 to put the cart, and Stephen Baldwin knew where the most 882 00:51:10,979 --> 00:51:13,919 traffic was, supposedly, and that's where we were going to 883 00:51:13,949 --> 00:51:17,699 put it, and so we're all talking about that, and then we look, I 884 00:51:17,819 --> 00:51:20,989 look over, and Gene is sitting in a chair in the corner, and 885 00:51:21,019 --> 00:51:24,199 he's got a little black book out. He had actually a black 886 00:51:24,319 --> 00:51:27,859 book. It wasn't a phone, it was a black book. And he was, and he 887 00:51:28,189 --> 00:51:31,519 picked up the phone, and he called Steven Tyler, and he 888 00:51:31,789 --> 00:51:35,269 said, "Steven Gene, hey, I'm going to be down here at this 889 00:51:35,329 --> 00:51:38,869 address at this time today, and I need you to come down there 890 00:51:38,869 --> 00:51:43,989 and give me $5,000 cash for a hot dog, okay? All right, 891 00:51:44,139 --> 00:51:48,459 thanks. And he hung up, and I was just going, and then the 892 00:51:48,519 --> 00:51:53,229 producers rushed into the room and stopped everything and said, 893 00:51:53,379 --> 00:51:58,119 what did you just do? Because the goal was it was just us 894 00:51:58,209 --> 00:52:00,869 against the ladies, we were going to see who raised the most 895 00:52:00,929 --> 00:52:01,139 money? 896 00:52:01,349 --> 00:52:01,409 Yeah, 897 00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:04,650 well, Gene had an idea how to raise the most money. 898 00:52:06,300 --> 00:52:07,020 That's smart. And 899 00:52:07,170 --> 00:52:10,230 so that's when they came in, and they were like, what'd you just 900 00:52:10,260 --> 00:52:14,490 do? And he told them. And then the light bulb went off above 901 00:52:14,550 --> 00:52:17,460 their heads, and they went, oh, wow, we didn't even think about 902 00:52:17,550 --> 00:52:22,310 that. We can raise a lot of money for charity stuff, if we 903 00:52:22,550 --> 00:52:25,940 take this and start doing it like that, and then that's when 904 00:52:25,940 --> 00:52:29,570 the whole thing just kind of blew up, and it became, you 905 00:52:29,600 --> 00:52:33,920 know, how much money can you get in here from from your friends, 906 00:52:34,070 --> 00:52:37,880 and and Gene Simmons changed the game, he changed the rules of 907 00:52:37,880 --> 00:52:38,750 the game that day, 908 00:52:39,170 --> 00:52:40,190 like he does everything, 909 00:52:40,490 --> 00:52:45,580 yeah. Oh my gosh, and one day we were, we were all stressed out, 910 00:52:45,700 --> 00:52:48,850 you know. And Gene comes over to me, and he goes, 'You okay, man? 911 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:52,300 I was like, 'Yeah, I'm fine, you know, fish out of water, kind of 912 00:52:52,360 --> 00:52:54,310 thing. Here, this New York thing's starting to freak me 913 00:52:54,730 --> 00:52:57,820 out. He goes, 'You know what? You need to do, need to go back 914 00:52:57,880 --> 00:53:02,490 to my room. Here's the number, go knock on the door, spend a 915 00:53:02,550 --> 00:53:05,040 couple hours there, and then come back, and you'll be, you'll 916 00:53:05,100 --> 00:53:07,590 be great. I was like, what are you talking about? What are you, 917 00:53:07,860 --> 00:53:11,460 what you know? He goes, yeah, just go to my room and knock on 918 00:53:11,460 --> 00:53:16,740 the door, come back in a couple hours. I said, well, what's in 919 00:53:16,830 --> 00:53:23,990 your room? He goes, don't worry about it, and so I went over to 920 00:53:24,110 --> 00:53:26,960 one of the producers who was like the talent wrangler guy, 921 00:53:27,200 --> 00:53:29,570 and I was like, "Man, Gene just said blah blah blah, and he 922 00:53:29,630 --> 00:53:34,010 goes, "Don't go. I was like, "Well, I wasn't going to, but 923 00:53:34,070 --> 00:53:36,920 what's he talking about? He goes, "That's a couple of ladies 924 00:53:36,980 --> 00:53:40,510 in there. I was like, "No, there's not. He goes, "Oh, yes, 925 00:53:40,630 --> 00:53:40,720 there 926 00:53:41,830 --> 00:53:43,870 is. It seems like there's ladies around him all the time. I 927 00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:45,970 swear, man, that dude's a 928 00:53:46,030 --> 00:53:47,320 magnet. Yeah, he didn't. 929 00:53:47,440 --> 00:53:48,880 He walked the walk, that dude. 930 00:53:49,060 --> 00:53:49,510 Yeah, he did. 931 00:53:49,930 --> 00:53:52,390 Yeah, it wasn't just talk. Now, what'd you 932 00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:54,970 think of? Because you got to be around him some. What'd you 933 00:53:55,030 --> 00:53:55,990 think of Donald Trump? 934 00:53:56,649 --> 00:54:03,209 Ah, man, he's just. he's whatever he is, what he is, I've 935 00:54:03,329 --> 00:54:07,709 told people for years, what you see on television, you know, 936 00:54:08,100 --> 00:54:08,820 that's him, that's 937 00:54:08,940 --> 00:54:12,090 what he's like, he's authentic, it's not an act, 938 00:54:12,569 --> 00:54:14,789 he's off it, no, it's an act, that's what he's 939 00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:19,380 like, so whether you based on that, based on what you see and 940 00:54:19,440 --> 00:54:25,040 hear from him, whether you like him or you don't. Well, that's 941 00:54:25,250 --> 00:54:29,360 that's real, because that's that's who he is. Yeah, so if 942 00:54:29,420 --> 00:54:32,030 you don't like that, then you don't like him, right? You know, 943 00:54:32,480 --> 00:54:34,700 so you know you've had 944 00:54:34,790 --> 00:54:37,610 an opportunity to sing the national anthem at a number of 945 00:54:37,730 --> 00:54:41,770 really cool and high-profile events. Is, uh, has any of that 946 00:54:41,860 --> 00:54:44,740 ever has there been an event or two that have kind of made you 947 00:54:44,830 --> 00:54:45,820 nervous to sing that? 948 00:54:45,970 --> 00:54:48,250 Always the national anthem makes me nervous, 949 00:54:48,640 --> 00:54:50,920 I would think. So, I mean, trying to get the words right, 950 00:54:51,130 --> 00:54:51,850 that's really the 951 00:54:52,150 --> 00:54:55,570 only thing that still makes me nervous, man. Well, playing at 952 00:54:55,570 --> 00:54:58,270 the rhyming and playing at the Opry House still makes me 953 00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:01,830 nervous. I don't know why. You walk out on that stage, and it's 954 00:55:02,010 --> 00:55:06,060 just the gravity of it, and the history of the place, and it's 955 00:55:06,300 --> 00:55:10,350 just, you know, it just gets all over me. I've never, never 956 00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,410 really gone on stage at the Grand Ole Opry, and felt like I 957 00:55:13,560 --> 00:55:17,280 did my best performance, and it's because the juju gets on 958 00:55:17,370 --> 00:55:21,950 me, and you know, it's yeah, but singing the national anthem 959 00:55:22,220 --> 00:55:24,140 still makes me nervous. It doesn't matter if it's the 960 00:55:24,470 --> 00:55:28,430 opening of a new used car lot or it's the World Series, it makes 961 00:55:28,520 --> 00:55:31,970 me nervous, because if you mess that one up, you're on YouTube, 962 00:55:32,570 --> 00:55:37,040 or what, you know, and so you can't live that down. So that 963 00:55:37,130 --> 00:55:41,140 still kind of makes me nervous, and plus I have such respect for 964 00:55:41,590 --> 00:55:47,020 the material, of course, you know, and for the moment, it's 965 00:55:48,340 --> 00:55:52,150 yeah, the weight of that's never lost on me. It always means a 966 00:55:52,180 --> 00:55:52,630 lot to me. 967 00:55:53,050 --> 00:55:57,370 Yeah, I mean, Ingrid Andrus, you know, she kind of messed up the 968 00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:00,930 anthem at a, at an event here a couple of years ago, you 969 00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:02,250 had Vince Neil, and she, 970 00:56:02,849 --> 00:56:06,479 man, she caught hell for us, you know. Yeah, it's 971 00:56:06,540 --> 00:56:10,560 not an easy song to sing. No, it's not. No, it's a rangy song. 972 00:56:10,830 --> 00:56:15,660 You have to, you know, and I start out in the basement. Oh, I 973 00:56:15,690 --> 00:56:19,050 mean, if you can start there, then Land of the Free ain't 974 00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:22,920 gonna hurt you, yeah. 975 00:56:23,300 --> 00:56:27,290 Rockets' red glare is that go higher than the end, is that the 976 00:56:27,410 --> 00:56:29,450 middle of the song? Is that that hits Land of the Free? 977 00:56:29,899 --> 00:56:33,289 Is the high note that's the highest note, and it's like an 978 00:56:33,380 --> 00:56:36,110 octave higher than the starting note. I want to say, 979 00:56:37,010 --> 00:56:37,670 yeah, two two 980 00:56:38,569 --> 00:56:39,049 octaves, or 981 00:56:39,169 --> 00:56:42,699 three. That's why not everybody can do it. You got to have the 982 00:56:42,939 --> 00:56:47,049 range, you know, it's a rangy song. So, 983 00:56:47,470 --> 00:56:51,490 yeah, in fact, the way I saw that it was rangy was Jimi 984 00:56:51,550 --> 00:56:55,480 Hendrix. It was Land of the Free when he hit that on the guitar 985 00:56:55,540 --> 00:56:59,590 and let it kind of ring. Yeah, that's the high, that's the high 986 00:56:59,740 --> 00:57:00,010 point. 987 00:57:01,450 --> 00:57:03,930 I don't think guitar players worry that much about range. 988 00:57:04,320 --> 00:57:11,730 Johnny, no, typically not. I can play you up here on the neck. 989 00:57:13,830 --> 00:57:14,730 I'm not scared. 990 00:57:16,710 --> 00:57:19,800 So, Trace, do you read music? Are you a three number system 991 00:57:20,070 --> 00:57:22,130 Nashville number system guy, yeah, you know, 992 00:57:23,509 --> 00:57:29,449 yeah, yeah, but yeah, I don't really read notes anymore. I've 993 00:57:29,629 --> 00:57:32,959 forgotten all that stuff, you know. I used to play trombone in 994 00:57:32,989 --> 00:57:37,639 high school band, but I don't remember any of it. Yeah, 995 00:57:38,030 --> 00:57:42,670 if you're like me, you're trying to forget it. Play trumpet, is 996 00:57:42,700 --> 00:57:43,120 that your first 997 00:57:43,210 --> 00:57:45,790 instrument? Yeah, it was saxophone, really. 998 00:57:47,799 --> 00:57:56,019 Instrument, it was that little flute thing. Do they even do 999 00:57:56,169 --> 00:57:57,969 that anymore? They do that 1000 00:57:58,089 --> 00:58:00,279 anymore. They did for my kids, really. 1001 00:58:01,210 --> 00:58:02,850 I think it depends on where you go to school. A 1002 00:58:03,150 --> 00:58:06,540 lot of the music stuff has been cut out of public school. I hate 1003 00:58:06,720 --> 00:58:09,660 that. Yeah, that's that's that's terrible, man. That we shouldn't 1004 00:58:09,660 --> 00:58:10,500 have let that happen. No, 1005 00:58:10,620 --> 00:58:12,990 we shouldn't. Well, now you can be anybody, could be a musician, 1006 00:58:13,290 --> 00:58:13,500 soono. 1007 00:58:14,339 --> 00:58:15,269 Yeah, well, it's true, 1008 00:58:15,749 --> 00:58:15,929 you know. 1009 00:58:16,289 --> 00:58:17,399 Yeah, speaking 1010 00:58:17,670 --> 00:58:21,410 of musicians, who, who were your heroes like as far as country 1011 00:58:21,470 --> 00:58:24,230 music goes, when you were growing up, I mean, the 1012 00:58:24,469 --> 00:58:27,769 ones that my daddy listened to, you know, he had, he had a, he 1013 00:58:27,829 --> 00:58:30,649 was a country music fan, and he had a good collection of stuff, 1014 00:58:30,769 --> 00:58:35,929 and so, you know, I heard George Jones, Merle Haggard, and, you 1015 00:58:35,959 --> 00:58:42,699 know, and then Waylon, and on and on, you know, so just that 1016 00:58:42,819 --> 00:58:45,849 stuff, that's that's what I started listening to, you know, 1017 00:58:46,959 --> 00:58:47,409 early on, 1018 00:58:48,520 --> 00:58:51,760 and you, you've done some great duets too, and one of my 1019 00:58:51,940 --> 00:58:55,930 favorites has to be Hillbilly Bone with Blake Shelton, you 1020 00:58:55,990 --> 00:58:58,420 guys are you guys are hilarious together, 1021 00:58:59,410 --> 00:59:02,040 we have a lot of fun together, and it looks like you know Blake 1022 00:59:02,160 --> 00:59:06,900 isn't Blake, is one of those guys too, that much, much like 1023 00:59:07,020 --> 00:59:10,230 Trump. What you see, that's what he's like. Yeah, that's what 1024 00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:13,260 he's.. well, he's always going for the joke. He's when we're 1025 00:59:13,350 --> 00:59:15,780 together, he's just.. he's always trying to make me laugh. 1026 00:59:16,050 --> 00:59:16,110 Yeah, 1027 00:59:16,410 --> 00:59:18,660 you know, he feels like.. I don't know, he just.. it's a.. 1028 00:59:19,500 --> 00:59:23,690 it's a compulsion that he has, he just, he can't not do it. 1029 00:59:23,690 --> 00:59:26,960 Yes, he feels like it's his job, he's supposed to make you laugh, 1030 00:59:27,260 --> 00:59:31,100 you know. He's fun to be around. Yeah, we had a good time. 1031 00:59:31,249 --> 00:59:33,709 He looks like he looks like the kind of guy, too, you'd have to 1032 00:59:34,399 --> 00:59:39,169 bail out at times, you know. Oh yeah, oh yeah. No, Blake, not 1033 00:59:39,349 --> 00:59:41,799 there, shelter. shelter, 1034 00:59:43,990 --> 00:59:44,740 yeah, that's him too. 1035 00:59:48,249 --> 00:59:50,619 Hey guys, thanks so much for sticking around, for circling 1036 00:59:50,739 --> 00:59:55,059 the drain, and enjoying this podcast episode. The second part 1037 00:59:55,119 --> 00:59:58,809 is coming next time, so be right here, get your bedonka donk 1038 00:59:58,929 --> 01:00:02,309 ready, because. Have more Trace Atkins on circling the drain, I.