Talkin' About the Weather | Steve Helms

Show Notes

This week, country roads lead us straight to Texas music royalty.

Mike Rhyner welcomes singer, songwriter, and all-around honky-tonk hero Steve Helms to Your Dark Companion—and let’s just say, this one’s got a little twang and a whole lot of heart. From Cleburne to center stage, Steve has spent more than four decades writing, performing, and winning over fans with his blend of grit, melody, and good ol’ Texas charm.

You’ve heard his anthem "Nowhere But Texas" blaring at every Texas Rangers home game for the last 18 seasons—but now you’ll hear the stories behind the song, the career that birthed it, and the man who still lives for that Friday night fever.

Steve talks about his musical roots, co-writing mishaps, life on the road, and waking up mid-dream to jot down lyrics before they disappear with the sunrise. Oh, and did we mention he performs three acoustic tracks live? This one’s as much a concert as it is a conversation.

So pull up a barstool, grab your favorite drink, and enjoy a good ol’ yarn with two legends—one behind the mic and the other behind the music.

⏱️ Chapters:

0:00 – Lightning, World Series, and… Steve?
1:10 – Welcome to the podcast—Here’s what we’re doing
2:20 – Meet Steve Helms: Texas through and through
4:08 – Early gigs, cover bands, and learning the ropes
9:30 – First songs and finding a place in the Texas scene
14:55 – How "Nowhere But Texas" became the anthem
18:40 – Life on the road and the modern-day music hustle
24:15 – George Strait, family ties, and finding your people
30:00 – Acoustic performance: “Talking About the Weather”
35:14 – Acoustic performance: “Nowhere But Texas”
40:45 – Baseball stories, ballparks, and band memories
46:49 – Acoustic performance: “Friday Night Fever”
51:05 – Songwriting secrets, co-writing chaos, and dream scribbles
54:50 – Final performance: “Can I Buy You a Country Song?”

Whether you’re a die-hard country fan or just wondering how a guy ends up singing at every Rangers game for nearly two decades, this episode delivers. Tune in and two-step through the stories behind the songs. 🤠

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Creators and Guests

Host

Mike Rhyner

Mike Rhyner… "a little on the bumpy side, but rather likable"…so stated famously by a grade school teacher in Oak Cliff, where Mike grew up. A complicated guy, yet a guy who can do long division and remember call strike three to A Rod. Probably best left unattended. Don't expect assistance from him if a medical situation arises.

What is Your Dark Companion Podcast?

"Whatever I want it to be about on a given day; is what it is." Your Dark Companion couples your familiar friends from radio, Mike and Grubes! Mike brings his classic interviews that draw you in, and Grubes—The Devil—drops…well the drops, and throws the occasional grenade. Mike likes to draw on his fascinating acquaintances and friends allowing them to tell their stories as you've never heard them. But he also goes outside his network, sharing Grubes' network, and often outside of both, to bring you those they don't know, but believe have a story that will make you laugh, make you think, think differently, or just entertain you…"that's what we are trying to do here."

0:00:00 - (Mike Reiner): Nobody would have thought that I would be the one. Reiner. Sports talk. Baseball, baseball, baseball, baseball. Oh, with the big mic. Oh, okay. All right. Yeah, okay, now I get it. We got a lightning strike, boys. What happened over there, Grego? We had a little lightning strike right outside the window.
0:00:25 - (Grego): The Texas Rangers win the World Series.
0:00:30 - (Mike Reiner): All right, all right.
0:00:31 - (Steve Helms): Here's a tip, right?
0:00:32 - (Mike Reiner): All these Americano League teams don't.
0:00:34 - (Steve Helms): Wait, you said tip?
0:00:35 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, tip with a P. Keep jamming the ticket, colon. Nothing but a big Gen X jerk off session. This is a cool night or what? Although somebody would hear that.
0:00:46 - (Steve Helms): Go.
0:00:47 - (Mike Reiner): I'm back. Well, hello out there. We're on the air. No, no, we're really not on the air. I don't know what we're on, but.
0:01:07 - (Ashley): We'Re not on the Internet.
0:01:08 - (Mike Reiner): We're not on the air.
0:01:09 - (Ashley): The Internet.
0:01:10 - (Mike Reiner): What goes on here today is not under the auspices of the Federal Communications Commission, which means we are not on the air. We are on the Internet. And this is what you call a podcast. And the name of this podcast is your Dark Companion. And we are very glad to have you with us. Those of you who are live by the channel. I know this is a little bit different. It's not normally the time of day in which we do these, but I'm told that it's about to be.
0:01:45 - (Mike Reiner): So we're getting things started for you. Like today. We're kind of breaking this in. Anyway, good day to you all. I would be Mike Reiner. It is the 30th of July today, Wednesday. It's getting really hot out there. We are about to head into the worst month of the year, that being August, for a multitude of reasons. I mean, when you think about it, not much good comes out of August at all. Famous people die in August.
0:02:19 - (Ashley): Well, at least a couple famous people were born in August. And you and Brad. Sham.
0:02:24 - (Mike Reiner): That's right. We were. We were, but.
0:02:26 - (Ashley): And sweet Jillian and Becca's mom, and.
0:02:30 - (Mike Reiner): Mine too, for that matter. My late, great, sainted mother was also an August birthday. But we're not there yet. So everybody just stand down with all that. We'll get to that when the time comes around. Because today we are here inside the nurturing biosphere of the mothership. This is episode number which.
0:02:51 - (Steve Helms): 138.
0:02:52 - (Mike Reiner): 138, I'm told. Do we hear 139? Or possibly 137?
0:02:57 - (Steve Helms): 139.
0:02:58 - (Mike Reiner): 139. Okay, we'll go with 139 till we find out otherwise.
0:03:04 - (Ashley): Might be at 138. Yes. Sorry, math.
0:03:09 - (Mike Reiner): Okay, Ashley, why don't you guys arm wrestle for it?
0:03:12 - (Ashley): We'll go with 138 for the moment.
0:03:15 - (Mike Reiner): All right, 138 it is. And today we're gonna get into the music. There are two things that I really like to get into. One is sports, and the other is music. And today we're going to mine that vein a little bit. And in here with us today, we have a singer, guitar player, songwriter of stout notoriety, local and otherwise. You probably seen him around. He gigs quite a bit around this part of the world.
0:03:54 - (Mike Reiner): He is Steve Helms.
0:03:55 - (Steve Helms): Oh, wow. I thought it was somebody else, the way you were building that up.
0:04:01 - (Grego): I'm a little let down now.
0:04:02 - (Mike Reiner): Did I get all. Did I get all that right?
0:04:04 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, basically. I've been doing this a long time. I mean. Yeah.
0:04:08 - (Mike Reiner): How long have you been out there?
0:04:10 - (Steve Helms): I've been getting paid to play music for 45 years, sir, I gotta tell.
0:04:14 - (Mike Reiner): You that your name is one that I've heard for about that long.
0:04:19 - (Steve Helms): Well, there you go. Yeah. If. If Reiner's heard of me for 45 years, that can't be a bad thing.
0:04:25 - (Mike Reiner): I don't know if it's full. The full 45, but I've heard of you for a long time. I know that you're out there. You gig a lot. When you're out there and you gig a lot, that means people come to see him a lot.
0:04:35 - (Steve Helms): That's the point. It doesn't always happen. But that's what we hope for. Every night.
0:04:40 - (Mike Reiner): Sure. Every time you mount up, that's what you hope for. That people are that. There are fannies in the seats out there.
0:04:46 - (Ashley): Fanny.
0:04:47 - (Grego): Yeah.
0:04:48 - (Steve Helms): If you've seen my demographic, they're pretty good sized.
0:04:51 - (Ashley): Okay.
0:04:52 - (Mike Reiner): You ought to see my demographic. So how are you doing these days, man?
0:05:00 - (Steve Helms): I'm good, sir. We're getting ready for August. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:05:04 - (Mike Reiner): That's right. You got to get ready for August.
0:05:06 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. Just came back from our. We have a music trip every year. We go to Mexico called Guitars and swim up bars and myself and Tommy Alverson started that 15 years ago, and it felt like August for seven days down there. It really did.
0:05:18 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, I'll bet.
0:05:19 - (Steve Helms): It really did. But it was a great trip. Yeah.
0:05:22 - (Mike Reiner): Now exactly what goes on down there?
0:05:25 - (Steve Helms): Myself and five other singers go to Mexico every year with a plane full of people and they all get drunk in a swimming pool and we sing to them for three or four days. Yeah. And I mean, don't get Me? Wrong. I'm drunk as well, but I'm not in the pool with them. I'm singing.
0:05:40 - (Mike Reiner): That sounds like fun. Who are the other guys that went with you?
0:05:44 - (Steve Helms): Jamie Richards, who is a Oklahoma singer but big in the Texas scene. Aaron Copeland, Texas singer. Bo Phillips, another Oklahoma guy. And Ben McPherson, who plays the fiddle and sings as well. And I think we had, I don't know, 130 or 140 people go with us this year.
0:06:02 - (Mike Reiner): It's pretty good.
0:06:03 - (Steve Helms): A good trip. Yeah, we had a fun time.
0:06:05 - (Mike Reiner): So we're. I don't know just a whole lot about you. Yours is a name that I've heard many times over the years. I've heard a good bit of your stuff.
0:06:17 - (Steve Helms): Right.
0:06:17 - (Mike Reiner): But I don't know a whole lot about the guy. Steve Helms, where'd you grow up?
0:06:22 - (Steve Helms): Born and raised in the big metropolis of Cleburne, Texas.
0:06:28 - (Ashley): Shoopy's got some history there now.
0:06:30 - (Mike Reiner): You do realize you are indeed talking to the one time voice of the Cleaver Yellow Jackets.
0:06:38 - (Steve Helms): Oh, my. I was a Cleveland yellow jacket from 1981-84, sir.
0:06:43 - (Mike Reiner): I was about three or four years behind that.
0:06:46 - (Steve Helms): Gotcha then.
0:06:47 - (Mike Reiner): In fact, the year that I was there, they were actually pretty good.
0:06:52 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was. I think it was my sophomore year that Chuck Curtis came to town and tried to turn it into a college. Yeah, a college town. That's when I stopped playing football. It went straight into baseball. I wasn't getting a Corvette or anything, so I thought, this is not worth it for me.
0:07:11 - (Mike Reiner): Okay, so now you're playing football, you're playing baseball, you're hoping for Corvettes, you're in high school. You're probably trying to impress girls and stuff like that.
0:07:23 - (Steve Helms): I played the guitar better than I could throw a curveball or throw a pass, so I went with that.
0:07:28 - (Mike Reiner): Even back then you were playing music, huh?
0:07:29 - (Steve Helms): Yes, sir. Yeah, I got my first guitar when I was 13. My dad had a record deal in the 70s. He had a 45 out of Leon Helms from Cleveland, Texas. And that gets confused a lot with Lavon Helm from the band.
0:07:42 - (Ashley): Yeah, that's what pops up when I.
0:07:44 - (Steve Helms): Got me in a lot of backstages, though, you know?
0:07:46 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, well, I bet it did.
0:07:47 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my gosh, you're Levon's Helms is so tonight I am.
0:07:51 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever you say.
0:07:53 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. But yeah, my dad had a record deal back in the 70s, had a couple of the 45s out. So I just grew up in the middle of it. So I was always playing music. Somebody. There was so many uncles and cousins, everybody played music. That's just what we did.
0:08:07 - (Mike Reiner): So just a big, larger, extended musical family.
0:08:10 - (Steve Helms): Yes, sir. It was the Helmses and the Burgesses in Cleburne, Texas. So if you've ever heard of Sonny Burgess, that's my cousin. So we both kind of grew up. Sonny played guitar for my dad. When Sonny got old enough to have his own band, I was old enough to play guitar for him. And we all just kind of grew up in Cleburne and played music. That's what we did.
0:08:30 - (Mike Reiner): So how old were you when you started, you know, playing for people?
0:08:34 - (Steve Helms): 15, probably. Yeah. Yeah, I was 15 years old playing guitar in a band with a bunch of guys that were in their 60s in VFW halls.
0:08:44 - (Mike Reiner): All right.
0:08:44 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:08:45 - (Mike Reiner): That must have been a little bit of a trip for you.
0:08:46 - (Steve Helms): It was, because they were giving me 100 bucks at a time, and I thought that was the greatest thing ever. Yeah.
0:08:51 - (Ashley): Some of us still hope for that.
0:08:53 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, there's. There's nuts. I Wish I had 100 bucks. Yeah.
0:08:56 - (Mike Reiner): So did you play country all your life, or did you come up through rock and roll or tell us about your musical journey as far as getting.
0:09:05 - (Steve Helms): Paid to play music? It was always country music. Yeah. People were dancing, so you had to play Merle Haggard and George Jones and George Strait. But, yeah, I mean, I grew up listening to Kiss and ACDC and Def Leppard and all that other stuff, too. Yeah. Ozzy.
0:09:22 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:09:22 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:09:23 - (Mike Reiner): May he rest in peace.
0:09:24 - (Steve Helms): May he rest in peace.
0:09:25 - (Mike Reiner): Along with all the others.
0:09:27 - (Steve Helms): Yes.
0:09:27 - (Mike Reiner): Who have passed on to the next plane here recently.
0:09:30 - (Ashley): It's been a rough time lately.
0:09:31 - (Mike Reiner): Boy. It's been a very rough time here lately.
0:09:34 - (Steve Helms): We actually did an Aussie tune in Mexico. That's how many. That's how many tequilas I had one night, sir. Maybe.
0:09:42 - (Ashley): Oh, hell, yeah.
0:09:42 - (Steve Helms): Oh, yeah.
0:09:43 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:09:43 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:09:44 - (Ashley): We can hear a little snippet. We got time.
0:09:48 - (Steve Helms): We did. We. We played Crazy Train by the pool on acoustic guitars. It was okay, I think. Yeah.
0:09:54 - (Mike Reiner): That must have been kind of. Kind of fun and kind of interesting for everybody.
0:09:59 - (Steve Helms): It was, but. But, yeah. I've been doing this a long time, buddy.
0:10:03 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:10:03 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. Long time. Very blessed to get to do what I do.
0:10:07 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah. I mean, anybody that can do it as long as you've done it is number one. Very lucky. Number two. They got to have something.
0:10:16 - (Steve Helms): I mean. Thank you.
0:10:18 - (Mike Reiner): You don't just do it and have people come see you do it for as long as you've done that.
0:10:23 - (Steve Helms): Without. It's hard to suck. It's hard to suck for 45 years and still get paid, I guess.
0:10:27 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, it is. So when did you start writing your own stuff?
0:10:33 - (Steve Helms): Probably when I hit around 25, maybe like that. Because before that, it was just playing music for other artists and, you know, getting on the bus or the suburban, whatever we had at the time, and doing your instrument. But I started doing my own thing with my own band, probably around 25, 26, and playing cover tunes and all that. And that's right before the. The Texas music scene really took off. I mean, there was always a Jerry, Jeff Walker and those guys, and they were awesome what they did. But we were playing all over the country, going to Denver and Vegas and Nashville and Orlando, playing these big clubs like Billy Bob's. But they wanted you to play cover, you know, they want you to play top 40. Everybody's trying to dance.
0:11:18 - (Steve Helms): They don't. They didn't care if you wrote a song. And then once. Once we got to a point of, I don't know, maybe 25, 26 years old, something like that. Then. Then we came back and there was, wow, who's it? Who's this Pat Green guy? What's going on here? You know, who's this Robert Earl guy? What are they doing? And then, you know, and everybody's like, man, you should start writing your own stuff. People want to hear what you have to say. You know, it's like, okay, so we. We tried it, and that was six albums ago.
0:11:47 - (Mike Reiner): What was the first song you ever wrote?
0:11:50 - (Steve Helms): First song I ever wrote. The time has come I'm happy to say we stayed apart until today I'm becoming yours and you are mine I don't remember all of it. It's a long time ago, but that was the first. Yeah, that was. That was the first.
0:12:23 - (Mike Reiner): That was pretty good for a first outing, man.
0:12:26 - (Steve Helms): But that was. That was the first cassette that we ever went and recorded. There was a studio in Dallas called Check A Sound, and it was on. Golly. Who owned that? I don't even remember the producer's name now. That did it. But. But he heard us at a venue on that, and he's like, y' all should come record some stuff. And. And we did. We went and put eight or 10 tracks down on a cassette tape, and that was our first thing.
0:12:53 - (Mike Reiner): Do you remember when you first started to get the vibe that, hey, there's something going on here? Yeah, I got a shot. I got a shot at doing something.
0:13:00 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. And that was later, too. That was maybe like 2005 or so when. When I really first saw that, the Texas scene. And these guys are out here making money. This is real, you know.
0:13:11 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah. Now, when you say the Texas scene, who all do you mean?
0:13:14 - (Steve Helms): Roger Cragar, Pat Green, all those guys, you know, Wade Bowens, Stoney LaRouse.
0:13:21 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:13:21 - (Steve Helms): I mean, they're going to these venues and crap. They're selling 2,000 tickets at 15, 20 bucks ahead and get in the door. That's a pretty good paycheck for a couple hours, you know.
0:13:31 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:13:31 - (Steve Helms): And then everybody, you know, buying hats and shirts and koozies and CDs, and that's when it really got serious for me. Of, man, I really need to hammer down and try to do this. And that's when I came out with the Nowhere But Texas cd. And that's kind of where it all started for me as, okay, this guy's here.
0:13:51 - (Mike Reiner): That was your breakthrough.
0:13:52 - (Steve Helms): That was the breakthrough for me. And Nowhere But Texas is, you know, I hate to say it, tooting my own horn, but it's kind of become a state anthem almost. I mean, the Rangers have played that song at every home game now for 18 seasons. Yeah, every home. Oh, yes. Crazy. You know, I go to a game tomorrow and hear my song, and it's like, it still freaks me out. It's like, holy shit, these guys are playing my song. And what's cool is actually, you know.
0:14:15 - (Ashley): What'S cool is I found out the origin story of how it got into the ballpark. Obviously, Chuck Morgan had been the, you know, PA Music, all that for years at that time. But it was actually John Judge, who works on, like, the. The Scoreboard Crew and all that has for years, like 30 plus years. But he was driving home from a Rangers game one night and turned on a country station, heard that song and immediately came in the next day.
0:14:44 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:14:44 - (Ashley): Told Chuck, dude, like, you need to find room for this.
0:14:47 - (Steve Helms): Listening to the local Fort Worth, Texas.
0:14:49 - (Ashley): Country must have been like 2 or.
0:14:50 - (Steve Helms): 3 in the morning or something.
0:14:51 - (Ashley): Yeah. And brings it in. Chuck started playing it, and he played.
0:14:55 - (Steve Helms): It the very next game.
0:14:56 - (Ashley): Yeah. From then till my time. And now Chris Statzer is the. The dj. I have not heard that. I've not been to a game or worked a game or anything where that hasn't been played.
0:15:07 - (Steve Helms): Right. Yeah, I still remember. And I didn't know they were doing this, and it was the next day, but my phone rang and I had a buddy in Cleburne, Darren Johnson. My phone rang and I answered it, and it was just all this noise. He goes, dude, I go, what? He goes, they're playing your song.
0:15:25 - (Grego): I'm like, who?
0:15:28 - (Steve Helms): He goes, the Rangers. They're playing your song. And I said, dude, what are you talking about? And he goes, idiot, they're playing your song at the ballpark. And I go, are you kidding me? And he goes, no, know. He goes, listen. And I know he's holding his phone up, but I couldn't hear anything but screaming, you know. But it started that next day. And it's been 18 years. Yeah.
0:15:47 - (Mike Reiner): What was it like for you? Do you remember how you felt when he told you that they're playing your song at the ballpark? Once you were able to come down and. And think that maybe this really is happening?
0:15:58 - (Steve Helms): Oh, it was amazing. Yeah, the ranks right up there with the first time I heard my song, any song on or on the radio. Yeah, the first song.
0:16:07 - (Mike Reiner): Can't imagine what that must be.
0:16:09 - (Steve Helms): Oh, it was incredible. The first. The first song on that CD that I released is called Lying Here. While I'm lying here, I'm just lying here thinking about another girl. Those kind of things. And I was in Cleburne, Texas, got up to go get some taquitos at Whataburger. It was about 9 o' clock in the morning, and Jim Nash from 1069 out of Corsicana. I could pick it up in my truck in Cleveland sometimes, and I knew they had it.
0:16:32 - (Steve Helms): And so I was listening to that radio station, you know, and all they're playing all my buddies that morning, and I go through the line, I've got my tequilas, and I'm driving home by the rock there in Cleburne, going back, and my song come on the radio. And they didn't introduce it or anything, it just started playing. And I looked at the radio to make sure that I turned it up. And it's like, oh, my God, that's really them playing my song. And I had to pull over. I pulled over in a parking lot. I couldn't even tell you what business it was. Pulled over and cried right there with a tequila in my hand, listening to me sing on my.
0:17:03 - (Ashley): Yeah. Did you finish the taquito?
0:17:05 - (Steve Helms): I did, yeah. Yeah. I wiped the tears and then ate the tequila.
0:17:07 - (Ashley): Okay, good.
0:17:08 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:17:09 - (Mike Reiner): But, yeah, we really hate to see a good taquito.
0:17:13 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, yeah.
0:17:14 - (Ashley): They're not a sponsor, but they're. They're epic.
0:17:18 - (Steve Helms): But. But it was. Yeah, it was incredible.
0:17:22 - (Mike Reiner): You know, stations like that. Then there are, you know, a lot of smaller stations like that, Right. That play artists like you guys Is it a big dream of yours or something? You really want to get on to bigger stations that generally don't play. Artists like yours, like KSCS or the.
0:17:43 - (Steve Helms): Wolf played on those stations before. Yeah, yeah. I've gone on and done the Sunday shows, and Hawkeye's a buddy of mine, so I've had radio. Radio play there. And, you know, back in the Terry Dorsey days, I knew Terry, so I got a little bit of airplay out of those guys, but. But that was, you know, mainstream radio and, you know, that's the next level, and I wasn't there, but. But they did give me some.
0:18:05 - (Steve Helms): Some love on that. That station, you know, locally.
0:18:08 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, that's really cool. So are you there yet? Do you. I mean, do you get played on mainstream radio these days?
0:18:14 - (Steve Helms): You know, honestly, all over the country, there's some stations that do, and then there's some that don't. And I get radio play all over the world. We go to Ireland, we go all over the place, and I'll. I'll get emails or whatever from stations like in Ireland that are big stations, and, you know, they've put me on their Tuesday night, whatever show, you know.
0:18:34 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:18:34 - (Steve Helms): And. Yeah, so, I mean, we're getting radio play still.
0:18:37 - (Mike Reiner): So what's your gig scene like these days?
0:18:42 - (Steve Helms): Rest homes. No, I'm just kidding. We're playing.
0:18:49 - (Mike Reiner): No, no, that's my gig.
0:18:50 - (Steve Helms): See, y' all should connect now. We're. The phone still ring and we're playing all over, you know, I got a show Saturday. We're going to Weatherford.
0:19:00 - (Mike Reiner): Do you book it yourself or do you got an agent or how's that work?
0:19:03 - (Steve Helms): I've got agents, but I've been doing this so long, though, rather that people know me and they've got my number and. Or email and, hey, Steve, are you booked on September? Whatever, you know, and it's like, yeah, I'm open. You let us talk, you know, So, I mean, I do a lot of it myself just because I know these people.
0:19:17 - (Mike Reiner): Sure.
0:19:17 - (Steve Helms): But I have other agents, too, though, that'll call me and go, hey, dude, do you have this date open either? Yeah, I do or I don't, you know. Yeah. Do what?
0:19:27 - (Ashley): Charity events?
0:19:27 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, charity events. Yeah.
0:19:30 - (Ashley): What's.
0:19:30 - (Mike Reiner): Sorry, groups ever put, like, you know, really big tours together where they get three or four really big bands? You like. Like the festival scene and stuff.
0:19:40 - (Steve Helms): That's still a thing. And. But the festivals anymore, though, I mean, there's so many of these young kids coming up, Mike, that are just hot right now, dude, that they're selling so many records that that's kind of their thing now. Like who, Like Kojo will do something and he'll have three or four of the dudes that are getting all these followers and selling records and I mean. Yeah, it just, it's. I'm not in that scene right now. Yeah, I've stepped back because I don't have to work that hard anymore, you know, I really don't. My phone still rings a lot.
0:20:10 - (Steve Helms): I can go. I can be as busy as I need to be. That's good, you know, or as don't want to be, you know.
0:20:16 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, yeah. When you've done that, you. You're winning the game, man.
0:20:20 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, yeah. I'm just. I'm to the point where I can be a little more picky, you know.
0:20:24 - (Ashley): What is your touring setup? Like, where is it? You got multiple buses? Is it kind of, I don't know, one little van or 20 foot preos.
0:20:36 - (Steve Helms): And trailer and all that. And we went down the highway and anymore it's pick up and I'll meet you there, dude. Or a plane ticket, you know?
0:20:44 - (Ashley): Yeah, yeah.
0:20:45 - (Steve Helms): And yeah, that's pretty much. Now Those, Those buses are so expensive, man. They're incredible. They really look good. And it's all smoke and mirrors till that sucker breaks down. You have to replace a transmission, you know, just. They're not so cool anymore.
0:20:59 - (Ashley): Probably not.
0:21:00 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, yeah, it's. It seems like, you know, you gotta have be really big operator with a really big overhead to take on something like massive.
0:21:11 - (Steve Helms): Those things are probably at the it to. To date, they're probably 12 to 15,000amonth to operate. Damn. Yeah. And then you got six other dudes riding on there with you that you're. That you're supporting their families. So I mean. Yeah, just. Just stacking on top of each other, you know. Wow. So, yeah, and it's a big undertaking. It's a huge undertaking. And if it's hitting, it's freaking hitting. It's the lotto.
0:21:38 - (Steve Helms): But when it gets to a point where it's not, you scale back a little bit. Me and my fiddle player, Ben. Ben McPherson, he's got a new CD out, by the way, a new song out on the radio. Just hit his very first one and he and I do a lot of duo stuff and we stay as busy as we want to be. And it's fun, it's simple, it's easy. And we're going all over the country in the world. Yeah, that's good, man. Yeah, it's fun.
0:22:00 - (Mike Reiner): I have Won the game when you can do that.
0:22:01 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:22:01 - (Mike Reiner): Just do it on your terms.
0:22:03 - (Steve Helms): Yes, sir.
0:22:04 - (Mike Reiner): And still, you know, make a decent buck at it.
0:22:06 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, but you also. But you got to high five these guys that are out there killing it.
0:22:10 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, yeah, for sure.
0:22:11 - (Steve Helms): They're selling records, man. It's awesome. Good for them. I'm 59 years old. I'm past that. You know what I mean? I just. Yeah, I'm having fun. And the electric bill still paid and it's all good.
0:22:21 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, yeah. And, you know, you look at those guys and you hope they remember that, you know, this is all great right now, but these things don't last forever.
0:22:29 - (Steve Helms): They don't. They don't. It's, you know, it's like the old saying, be careful. Be careful what steps you step on going up that ladder. Because you got to step on the same ones coming back down on the way down. Yes.
0:22:42 - (Mike Reiner): We may invoke the words of the great Lowell George for that.
0:22:48 - (Steve Helms): Of Little Feet.
0:22:51 - (Mike Reiner): So who are the guys in country music right now that you really look up to, that you really admire and you really think that, you know, if I could be like any of these guys, he's the one I'd want to be like.
0:23:03 - (Steve Helms): Oh, man. You know, growing up and even to this day, though, everybody wanted to be George Strait. Yeah, he's the king. There's a reason why they call him the King. He is the guy. The new king is Cody Johnson. Back in the day, man, we would go on stage and you'd have your Justin boots on with the little George Strait, you know, embroidery on the side. And you resist all hat had George Straits name in it, you know, and the shirt you got from Panhandle Slim or whatever had George Straits name. And now Cody Johnson's that guy. He's got the shirts and the hats and the boots and the.
0:23:33 - (Steve Helms): And, yeah, he's the. He's the new guy. He's going to be around for another 40 years, and that's cool to be. Cody's one of my buddies. I love that guy.
0:23:40 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:23:40 - (Steve Helms): And that's so cool to me. His guitar player Jake's from Cleburne, Texas. He played with me when he was 18 years old. You know, it just. Yeah, they're a bunch of good dudes and they are killing it right now.
0:23:52 - (Mike Reiner): So this is like a circle of players that you guys all. All draw from. Is that how it works?
0:23:58 - (Steve Helms): It's a massive world, but it's so small.
0:24:00 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, boy, I'll bet it is.
0:24:02 - (Steve Helms): It's so small. Everybody's played with everybody, or. You know what I mean? Just.
0:24:05 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:24:05 - (Steve Helms): Are you cousins with that guy? And he needs a bass player, so you call him. And he knows this guy and that, you know. Well, yeah, it's.
0:24:12 - (Mike Reiner): Everybody know all of each other's songs.
0:24:14 - (Steve Helms): And stuff like that, for the most part. Part, yeah. It's. It's funny. We'll have a gig and somebody requests Roger Krager or, you know, Robert Earl Keane and. And people don't understand that in the Texas scene, we don't do each other's songs. It's weird. I don't do a Wade Bowen song. Wade don't do any of mine. But somebody requests Burl Haggard, we'll sing them together. You know, it's. Yeah, it's a weird. It's weird vibe about that.
0:24:38 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, I guess. You know, when you talk about Merle Haggard or somebody like that, that's a guy that's had, you know, like a massive national following for many, many years. Yeah.
0:24:51 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:24:52 - (Mike Reiner): He's got a. He's got a massive library to a massive catalog to draw from.
0:24:57 - (Steve Helms): Right.
0:24:58 - (Mike Reiner): And I don't know that that's kind of on a whole nother level altogether, you know?
0:25:03 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. But, yeah, somebody like a Merle. I mean, that. That guy. I remember my dad doing Merle tunes, you know, that's how I got turned on it. Listen to my dad. Yeah. Sing Merle Haggard, you know.
0:25:18 - (Mike Reiner): So your dad played.
0:25:19 - (Steve Helms): Oh, yeah, yeah. My dad had a record during the 70s. He had songs out. Yeah, he played guitar and sang. He's an incredible singer. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.
0:25:27 - (Ashley): How much do you feel like he. I don't know if pushed is the right word, but do you think he kind of influenced you into getting into it, or you kind of found it on your own?
0:25:37 - (Steve Helms): Of course he influenced me, but. But it wasn't because, you know, he was like some pageant parent or something. You know, he was just. That's just what he did on the weekends. And mom and dad were divorced, so when I was with dad on the weekend, that was my turn. We were at the vfw. I mean, that's where we had to go. We had a gig, you know, So I would sit with my aunt or whoever and sit there and watch them play.
0:25:58 - (Steve Helms): And then it got to the point where I would watch them on play, and then we'd go home and I'd pick up the guitar and I'd do what they did, you know, and everybody's like, did your dad teach you how to play guitar? And it's like, No, I taught myself. Hell, by the time I was 15, I was showing my dad stuff on the guitar. Here's what you should be doing on that song, dad. You know, and he's like, oh, wow, that sounds better.
0:26:17 - (Ashley): Flat the five, you idiot.
0:26:18 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:26:23 - (Mike Reiner): Well, why don't you play something for us? You got any new tunes or.
0:26:27 - (Steve Helms): Nothing really new. I'll play. I'll just play you some rando stuff I've written. How's that?
0:26:31 - (Mike Reiner): Sure, let's do it.
0:26:32 - (Steve Helms): You want happy, sad or slow, fast or half?
0:26:35 - (Mike Reiner): I want whatever you want to give us, Steve. All right, here he is, the great Steve Helms.
0:26:40 - (Steve Helms): I'll do you this one right here. It's called Talking about the Weather. I wrote this about my grandpa, okay? And everybody always gets to this song a little bit.
0:26:54 - (Grego): Every week I go see my granddad. We sit and talk for hours on the swing. I love the time we spend out on the front porch. He'll see, get out your guitar board and sing. Granddad never ceases to amaze me.
0:27:23 - (Steve Helms): At.
0:27:23 - (Grego): The conversation he gets me into. But there ain't nothing that makes that man feel better Than sitting out here just talking about the weather. Whether the yard should be mowed or whether the mailman's gonna show. Whether the dogs have been fed or whether the sports page has been rid. Whether Sarah's going to the prom. Whether I've called and said hi to Mom. Talking about everything when we're together.
0:28:03 - (Grego): But mainly we just talk about the weather. They closed down the domino hall and all his friends have passed. So there's really not much left for him to do. But lately all that doesn't seem to matter now. Cause early last spring, the Lord called Grandma, too. As we sit here, I think about the future. How time flies. You blink and then it's gone. I know he won't be around forever. So thank God for all this talking bout the weather.
0:29:01 - (Grego): Whether the yard should be mown or whether the mailman's gonna show. Whether the dogs have been fed or whether the sports page has been read. Whether Sarah's going to the prom. Whether I've called and said hi to Mom. Talking about everything when we're together. But mainly we just talk about the weather. I help him button up his sweater.
0:29:37 - (Steve Helms): He's still talking about the weather.
0:29:46 - (Mike Reiner): Wow.
0:29:48 - (Steve Helms): Thanks, y', all.
0:29:52 - (Mike Reiner): Man.
0:29:54 - (Steve Helms): I, I, I have literally walked off stage. I'm serious, y'. All. And put my guitar down and walked out and. And went and gave somebody a hug because I could catch them from the stage. And they're Just out there wiping their eyes. And it's like, that's. That's what it's about. That's what music does.
0:30:08 - (Mike Reiner): You like the weather? Wow, man. I'm not a. I'm not a big crier, but that's strong.
0:30:19 - (Steve Helms): Thank you, buddy.
0:30:20 - (Mike Reiner): That hits you.
0:30:21 - (Steve Helms): Thank you. The guy that I co wrote that with is Cary Curt Phillips out of Nashville, and he's had a ton of hits. And I was honored to get to write with Kerry. Kerry's written tons for George strait and Tim McGraw and all these people. And I've been buddies with him for years. And we were on a golf course, and I had that hook in my brain, and I'd never pitched a song to Carrie, and I was nervous about doing it. We got to about hole seven or eight.
0:30:47 - (Steve Helms): I said, carrie, I got a song. I did. He goes, yeah, let's hear it. You know, I said, talking about the weather, whether she stays or whether she goes. He thought for a minute. We went to the next hole. I could tell. Excuse me. He was in deep thought. About two holes later, he goes, dude, don't ever come to me with a hook that good on a golf course. But I flew to Nashville and we wrote that and. Yeah, and I had it as a love song kind of thing. But we wrote all day and it just wasn't gelling.
0:31:16 - (Steve Helms): And it was Carrie's idea of, wait, what if. What if it's your grandpa? He's just talking about all this stuff, grandpa say. And we just started writing notes of everything you'd hear your grandpa say in the next morning. I took five or six pages of those notes, and I wrote that in about 15 minutes out of our notes.
0:31:31 - (Mike Reiner): That is so good, man. Have you recorded that?
0:31:34 - (Steve Helms): Oh, yeah, that's on one of my CDs.
0:31:36 - (Mike Reiner): Okay.
0:31:36 - (Steve Helms): Yes, sir. Okay. There's a. I have a CD out there called Red Wine in Copenhagen, and it's on that cd. Yeah.
0:31:43 - (Mike Reiner): Awesome.
0:31:43 - (Ashley): Great combination.
0:31:46 - (Mike Reiner): All right. This, of course, the great Steve Helms with us on your dark companion today. And we got more coming up with Steve. Maybe another tune, maybe another two tunes. Who knows? But what we have for you right now, the dreaded and feared mid show read.
0:32:08 - (Ashley): Don't be scared, Steve.
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0:33:17 - (Mike Reiner): She gives you the knowledge to care for yourself. That's their whole ultimate goal. That's what they're all about. That's what they want to do. They want to show you what might work for you, but they want to teach you how to care for yourself. So find your relief from the aches and pains, the emotional stress and drain and sleep again. CBDDallas.com is where you'll find them on the Internet, but in real life you can find them at 8550 Plano Road, Suite 101 in Dallas. That is in the Northeast quadrant of the burgeoning intersection of Plano Road and Northwest Highway.
0:33:55 - (Mike Reiner): Begin your healing at the House of Healing and sleep again. Have we got more here? Okay, your dark companion, which is what you're listening to right now and watching. We and all the shows in the Sunset Lounge are at the Frisco Rough Riders Thirsty Thursday games all season long. Get your ticket preloaded with $6 good toward your first Thursday Thursday drink or for use at concessions, go to writersbaseball.com
0:34:28 - (Mike Reiner): specials use code let's ride25 to access this offer. Is that it?
0:34:35 - (Ashley): Yeah.
0:34:36 - (Mike Reiner): Okay.
0:34:36 - (Ashley): All right, back to Steve.
0:34:39 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, that's us.
0:34:41 - (Ashley): Okay.
0:34:42 - (Mike Reiner): Oh, do I don't need to read that. Okay. See how informal this all is?
0:34:49 - (Grego): I feel like.
0:34:50 - (Steve Helms): I feel like we should get a treat or something for that. He nailed that.
0:34:52 - (Ashley): Yeah.
0:34:56 - (Steve Helms): Oh, okay.
0:34:58 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, you ought to see what happens when I don't nail it.
0:35:03 - (Ashley): It's pretty much every other time.
0:35:04 - (Steve Helms): Shot collar.
0:35:05 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, something like that. You got another tune to play for us?
0:35:10 - (Steve Helms): I got all you want, buddy. I do.
0:35:13 - (Mike Reiner): Okay, hit us with one.
0:35:14 - (Steve Helms): We talked about Nowhere but Texas. I'll do that one for you. Okay, let's do that. I co wrote this with a couple of guys in the Texas scene and I'm very thankful for the Rangers for doing this for me. At the 10 year anniversary of the song I redid it acoustically and put a video out there and had a bunch of my buddies come sing it with me and had, like, Troy Aikman in the video. And Troy's always been so supportive of me. He's a great dude. I love that guy.
0:35:42 - (Steve Helms): He sang this with me a couple times on different occasions. So I'll do this one.
0:35:57 - (Grego): Blue bonnet's a yellow rose Remember the.
0:36:01 - (Steve Helms): Alamo Chisholm Trail Longhorn steers, Luke and Bach Abilene Texas Rangers and Judge Roy.
0:36:13 - (Grego): Bean and ice cold Texas beer Nowhere but Texas well, that's where I be and holds the answers to all my dreams well, I know one thing when God calls me Nowhere but Texas is where I'll be We got cowboys, cowgirls.
0:36:44 - (Steve Helms): Too Green hall and Billy Bob's Tex Mex and Barbecue Robert Earl, Gary P. You can hear some Willie down on.
0:37:01 - (Grego): 6Th street nowhere but Texas that's where I'll be It holds the answers to all my dreams well, I know one thing when God calls me no. Wherever Texas is where I'll be.
0:37:26 - (Steve Helms): There's.
0:37:27 - (Grego): No way I'd ever leave Everything I'll ever need is right here Right here When I'm gone you can bury me six foot deep in the heart of nowhere between Texas, that's where I'll be It holds the answers to all my dreams I know one thing when God calls me Nowhere but Texas is where I'll be Nowhere but Texas is where I'll be In W. Texas.
0:38:27 - (Steve Helms): Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
0:38:29 - (Mike Reiner): Oh, strong to quite strong man.
0:38:32 - (Steve Helms): Big applause. I like that.
0:38:33 - (Ashley): They were standing in everything.
0:38:34 - (Steve Helms): I like that.
0:38:37 - (Mike Reiner): How old is that song is that in?
0:38:39 - (Steve Helms): A fairly new one for you was. Oh, six. So it's almost 20 years old. Yeah. Yeah, almost 20.
0:38:46 - (Mike Reiner): Never get tired of playing your older.
0:38:48 - (Steve Helms): Stuff, you know, I was never. I was told to never drop names, but Willie Nelson always said, be careful what you write because you might have to sing that sucker the rest of your life. Yeah.
0:39:00 - (Ashley): Blessing and the curse of making a great song.
0:39:02 - (Steve Helms): But you know what I mean? People want to hear it. I'll keep singing it, you know, I'm. Again, I'm blessed to get to do what I do. And as long as they want to hear it, I'll sing it, you know?
0:39:12 - (Mike Reiner): Wow, that's. That's interesting. Willie Nelson's about the last guy that I thought would think it was stuff like something like that, but he's been doing it longer than anybody else, so I guess he will. He would know.
0:39:25 - (Steve Helms): One of my. One of my buddies is the bullpen catcher for the Rangers, Josh Frazier. And again, they've played it at every home game. And Josh is a big Texas music guy. He loves it. You know, we were at his place one night and I said, josh, you ever get tired of hearing that? He goes, steve, I gotta tell you, buddy, I've heard it a lot. One of the coolest things that ever happened to me, though, with the Rangers is on social media. I get this message from Jeff Bannister's wife, Coach Bannister. She sent me a personal message, and it was a video of Jeff had a glass and he had a cigar, and they were sitting by the campfire and he's singing my song at his house.
0:40:05 - (Steve Helms): And she goes, jeff loves your song. And I was like, oh, my gosh. Thank you all so much. And me and that guy have become best friends. Just he. When. When they're in town, the Diamondbacks are in town, we'll go fishing or whatever on their day off. And I love that guy. Bannister has been so supportive of me. Yeah.
0:40:20 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah. Always. I always liked him. You know, he. He was. He was a good. He seemed like a guy that. If you know him, like, you know him.
0:40:29 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:40:29 - (Mike Reiner): That he is a great dude.
0:40:30 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. And again, I didn't play sports for the guy, so I don't know what it was like in the locker room. I could care less. He. He's a great dude to me.
0:40:37 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:40:37 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. And the same way with Maddox. Mike's one of my great golf and fishing buddies, and he's been so supportive, too. Just a good dude.
0:40:45 - (Mike Reiner): Man, that.
0:40:45 - (Steve Helms): Love those guys. That.
0:40:46 - (Mike Reiner): That guy's incredible. And I don't know what's going to happen in the off season. I don't know if Boji is going to go back to California and get out of the game or not.
0:40:57 - (Steve Helms): I just want. I want him to win more. One more ring, and then they can all high five and go. Go fishing the rest of their lives. It'd be so awesome.
0:41:05 - (Mike Reiner): I just hope, though, that if he does and the Rangers have to go on a search of another. For another manager, whenever they start focusing in on somebody, they tell him that. Now, you do know, don't you, that you're going to inherit a pitching coach?
0:41:23 - (Steve Helms): Yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But you know what? I just. I don't know. I've never heard it out of Maddox's mouth, but I've got a feeling that if he won one more ring, he'd go play golf and fishing. He's got a new grandson, and he just I got a feeling if he got one more ring, he would just go, thank you all, man.
0:41:40 - (Mike Reiner): It's hard for me to imagine Rangers baseball without him in it.
0:41:43 - (Steve Helms): I know, but he was retired when they got Bochy, though.
0:41:46 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, I know, I know. That's. That's what's crazy about it. I mean, the. The Mike Maddox trip to the mound is. Is that. I just love.
0:41:57 - (Ashley): He started doing the double.
0:41:58 - (Steve Helms): Gotten that on the golf course. I have. I've gotten that. I was like, mike, what am I doing? He got out of the golf cart, came over and put his hand on my shoulder, and he put his hand over his mouth and he said, steve, I want you to pull your head out of your ass. I said, all right, Coach. Stakes. And he turned around, went back to the golf cart. It was the greatest thing ever.
0:42:17 - (Mike Reiner): That's probably a conversation he's had with a pitcher or two.
0:42:23 - (Steve Helms): To hear his story, though, of when they called him to come back to the Rangers. Is it great? It's an awesome story because he was retired. He told me. He said, steve, they call me and they go, hey, we're looking at getting three of the top five pitchers. He goes, ah, it sounds great. You're not going to get them. He goes, damn it, they got them. He said, found out they got him. And it was like, I can't sit on the couch and watch TV now. I got to go back, you know? He said, I was excited. And then one. It was incredible, you know?
0:42:49 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, that's awesome. He's a great guy.
0:42:52 - (Steve Helms): I love him. Yeah.
0:42:54 - (Mike Reiner): You got another song, man? Yeah, I'm. I'm kind of feeling this a little bit. I mean, I got a lot of stuff I want to talk to you about, but I'm kind of feeling the song thing.
0:43:04 - (Steve Helms): I'll. I'll do you one of these that I. That I covered, actually. I've got a CD out there called Can I Buy youy? A Country song, and Benny MacArthur produced it for me. Benny has played guitar for George Straight for 45 years. Benny, when he was 18 years old, he played guitar for my dad. And we ran into each other in Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo. And Benny didn't know who it was, but I walked up to him because I saw him at MGM and I knew he was there. So I went to go see him, actually, and I said, benny, I'm Steve Helms. I'm Leon Helms son from Cleveland, Texas.
0:43:37 - (Steve Helms): And he put his cigarette down and his whiskey and, you know, it's 2 o' clock in the Morning at Casino. And he stands up and just grabs me, gave me a hug. He goes, oh, my God. And he said, what are you doing? And I said, well, I'm playing music. I'm out here for the rodeo. And we struck up a conversation. And he goes, I'm producing records. We need to do a record together and dedicate it to your old man. Because my dad passed away years ago.
0:43:59 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:44:00 - (Steve Helms): And I go, are you kidding me? And he goes, no, I'm serious. And he got all of George's band to play on the record. For me, that entire CD is all George Straits band playing. I'm their ace, the whole band. I just couldn't call them that because they're not with George. But when they're not with George or the Texas Jam Band. And I said, you know what? If I got you guys in the studio, I'm going to cut one old George straight tune. And I did Friday Night Fever.
0:44:23 - (Steve Helms): And I'll do that one for you. I love the sound of a jukebox playing. So I sit here while she's staying home Watching reruns on tv.
0:44:44 - (Grego): I love.
0:44:45 - (Steve Helms): The taste of whiskey straight but the strongest thing she ever takes Is a sip from a small glass of Chablis.
0:44:55 - (Grego): Though it burns of a different feather Our love keeps us together and she knows what's wrong with me tonight I got that Friday night fever. Sometimes a man just needs a breather. She knows I love her and I need her And I'm no cheater. I just got that Friday night fever.
0:45:27 - (Steve Helms): She wouldn't change me if she could I wouldn't change her she's too good. Sometimes a man needs a change of pace.
0:45:38 - (Grego): I've heard all those Come on lines.
0:45:40 - (Steve Helms): But I go home at closing time I know no one could ever take her place.
0:45:48 - (Grego): Now she's taking down her hair. Cause she knows I'll soon be there to give her the love she needs tonight I got that Friday night fever. Sometimes a man just needs a breather. She knows I love her and I need her and I'm no change cheater. I just got that Friday night fever. I got that Friday night fever. Sometimes a man just needs a breather she knows I love her and I need her and I'm no cheater. I just got that Friday night fever.
0:46:49 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:46:51 - (Steve Helms): Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
0:46:53 - (Mike Reiner): Excellent.
0:46:54 - (Steve Helms): Thank you, buddy.
0:46:55 - (Mike Reiner): One other thing I wanted to get into with you is. Is something that I like to get into with everybody who write songs.
0:47:04 - (Steve Helms): Yes, sir.
0:47:05 - (Mike Reiner): And that is your process, or if you have one, a lot of Guys tell me they don't have one.
0:47:11 - (Steve Helms): Well, it's, it's several. I mean, I've woken up in the middle of the night dreaming about a hook. I've got a pencil and pad in my dresser, plus I got my phone with notes. And I've woken myself up writing a song in my sleep. Oh, crap, I gotta write that down. And, and, or I'll be lunch and hear somebody behind me in the booth. But they'll say something clever and it's like, that was funny or that was pretty cool. And I'll write it down in my notes, you know.
0:47:38 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:47:38 - (Steve Helms): And most of the time when I'm writing something, I've got a melody in my head. I'm doing it at the same time. If I'm coming up with words, then I'm putting a melody together because I'll have somebody come to me with a poem or something, something they've written, but they don't do music. And they're like, hey, can you put music to this? And my wife's even done it. My wife's a great writer. And that is the hardest thing in the world for me to look at somebody else's words and put music to that.
0:48:05 - (Steve Helms): Because a lot of times I do it simultaneously while I'm writing something. I'm thinking of a melody, you know, so. But it just, it varies. It just, golly, just writing something down. I might hear you say something at a restaurant or just, you know, or see a billboard and go, that's pretty clever, you know.
0:48:23 - (Mike Reiner): Do you ever sit down and try to write?
0:48:25 - (Steve Helms): Oh yeah, that's a, that's a thing. I mean, in Nashville, that's their business. They'll call up their co writers and they'll, they'll schedule to Tuesday, 9 o', clock, let's go write a song.
0:48:35 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:48:36 - (Steve Helms): And you take your portfolio of different, you know, ideas you have and pitch two or three to you and you do the same to me until we both go, yeah, let's, that's cool, let's write that. I mean, but, but yeah, I mean that's, that's what they do in that town. That's their job. Got a, got a 9:30 appointment to go write a song. Like, holy crap. You know? Yeah.
0:48:57 - (Mike Reiner): Have you written, have you co written with a lot of guys? And if so, who are some of your favorites to do it with?
0:49:02 - (Steve Helms): I've written, I've co written with a lot of the Texas artists. And then, and then I've like, I talked about Carrie, Kurt Phillips out of Nashville. Carrie's had over 100 cuts. He's had 17 number ones like sleep on it, Tim McGraw, I don't need your rocking chair, George Jones, she let herself go, George Strait. I mean, he's had a ton. So. Excuse me. Getting to write with a guy like that, I learned so much. You know, just.
0:49:26 - (Steve Helms): I mean, you think you're cool and you write songs, all that. Then you get with one of those guys and they're, they're showing you why you put the preposition here and do this, that, and it's like, wow, I didn't even think about that. You know, he's like, you've said the twice in this line when you should have said holy crap. You know, in. But it. Man, I grew so much getting a ride with that guy. And I've written two or three with Carrie. Yeah, but, but I've co written a bunch with the Texas guys and, and they put stuff on their CDs and that's, that's cool to me to have an idea and write a song and somebody else want to cut it.
0:49:58 - (Steve Helms): That's cool to see my name on somebody else's cd. That's even cooler to me than having my own song out there. Somebody else thought that my stuff was awesome enough that they wanted to record it.
0:50:07 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:50:07 - (Steve Helms): Well, that's a great honor to me.
0:50:09 - (Mike Reiner): You guys have such a community. Yeah, you mentioned that. And, and you know, that should not be taken lightly by anybody because. Because it's been that way forever. Back in the days when, you know, Ray Wiley Hubbard and all those guys were coming up.
0:50:26 - (Steve Helms): Willie and Ray.
0:50:27 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:50:27 - (Steve Helms): Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. Waylon and all those dudes. But it's always been that it's, it's a massive, large community, but it's so small. It's so tight, you know?
0:50:37 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:50:37 - (Steve Helms): Everybody knows everybody or, you know, everybody's like, well, do you know, so and so if I don't know him, I can make two phone calls and, and catch them. You know what I mean? I've just. It just. It's such a tight community. It really is. Is it giving community? Everybody takes care of each other.
0:50:54 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:50:54 - (Steve Helms): Yeah.
0:50:55 - (Mike Reiner): Is it hard for new guys to crack the code?
0:50:58 - (Steve Helms): Not really. I mean, it, it's hard for the new guys to figure out sometimes that, you know, just be cool about it, you know, don't come in there like you're owning the joint. Don't be a little butthead, you know?
0:51:09 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:51:10 - (Steve Helms): And, and we've all, we've all remember, you know what I mean? We all thought we Were cool at one time and. And you learn, you know, just wow. You gotta pay your respects a little.
0:51:21 - (Mike Reiner): Bit and let the game come to you.
0:51:22 - (Steve Helms): Yes, sir.
0:51:23 - (Ashley): Yeah, I still haven't learned that.
0:51:26 - (Mike Reiner): No, you haven't at all. I mean, I've been yelling at him about this for how many years?
0:51:31 - (Ashley): About 23.
0:51:32 - (Mike Reiner): About 23 years. And he still hasn't learned, but he still loves me.
0:51:35 - (Steve Helms): But I got lucky. Like I told you. I was 15 years old playing with a bunch of 55 and 60 year old dudes. And they would tell you quick, dude, sit back and shut up, you know?
0:51:43 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:51:45 - (Steve Helms): They had one steel guitar player, he had something mean to say to me. Every show, if you're gonna be the loudest idiot on stage, at least hit the right chords, you know, just like God almighty, we've been playing for four hours. You just now telling me I was too loud, you know, just. You did good, kid. Tomorrow we'll get you in the mix, you know, just. Oh, dude, come on.
0:52:04 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah, some guys like that will let you hang yourself if you want to, you know. Yeah, it's crazy like that.
0:52:10 - (Steve Helms): But it's the same in sports though. You get these young kids come up and these old veterans just treat them like dog crap, you know. But it you learn, you know the.
0:52:20 - (Mike Reiner): Rules of the road, man.
0:52:21 - (Steve Helms): Rules of the road.
0:52:22 - (Ashley): You don't know what you don't know.
0:52:23 - (Mike Reiner): That's right.
0:52:24 - (Ashley): I was that 16 year old with about a. You're probably about 45 or so at the time, maybe about. But yeah, like I definitely had to get yelled at a couple times by 45.
0:52:34 - (Mike Reiner): Once.
0:52:36 - (Steve Helms): They, they had radio back then.
0:52:38 - (Ashley): I know. Yeah, it's just the tin cans in the stream.
0:52:44 - (Steve Helms): Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:52:45 - (Mike Reiner): Well, you got any gigs or anything you need to promote or any, any records coming out or anything?
0:52:51 - (Steve Helms): Every, everything I have is Steve Helms Band. H L M S Steve Helms Band. That's the website, that's the social media, that's the. Anywhere you stream music. Any of that stuff, everything is Steve Helms Band. If you just come follow me on all that stuff and you can know where I'm at.
0:53:06 - (Mike Reiner): And you got a band of guys that play with you all the time?
0:53:09 - (Steve Helms): Yes, sir, most. Like I said, most of the time it's me and my fiddle player Ben. But we have a six piece band.
0:53:14 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:53:14 - (Steve Helms): And I know so many musicians, somebody will call me and they're like, hey dude, we got four dates and so and so. And it's a six band or six piece band thing and I'm like, let's go. You know, like, a few phone calls, and we're all there, you know?
0:53:27 - (Mike Reiner): That's cool.
0:53:28 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. And it's just. But, you know, we're at the point now where you got grandbabies and soccer games and all that, you know, so you make sure everybody's available.
0:53:35 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:53:35 - (Steve Helms): Yeah. And that's why I like doing the duo thing so much, because Ben and I know where we are, we know our schedules, and we'll go do it, and everybody's happy with it.
0:53:44 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah. The reality is you do it duo, that's a lot less people you have to worry about.
0:53:49 - (Steve Helms): The overhead is really small. Your cut gets a lot bigger when there's just two of you.
0:53:55 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah. Well, you got a upcoming gigs you want to promote?
0:54:01 - (Steve Helms): Saturday, I'm playing in Weatherford, Texas. Go to stevehelmsband.com you can see where. Where we're at. I promise. It just. I did hear, though, that we're putting together another Ireland trip in 2026 to be my fourth time to go to Ireland, and I love that place. It's so awesome going over there.
0:54:18 - (Mike Reiner): You go over good there, huh?
0:54:20 - (Steve Helms): Oh, yeah. But. But Ireland is so big into their music that they love music.
0:54:24 - (Mike Reiner): Yeah.
0:54:25 - (Steve Helms): And then they, you know, you're from Texas. Then it's, you know, even cooler, you know, because we all have horses and oil wells and dirt roads and, you know. Yeah. We're all part of the J.R. ewing family, you know? Yeah. It's funny, too, because all the trips would go over there. You know, if you're in the Fort Worth stockyards and some dude comes over and grabs your hat, that's a no. No. You don't do that, you know, but we have to tell our people going with us.
0:54:50 - (Steve Helms): We land in Ireland, we get to Europe. They don't have hats over here. That's the coolest thing they've ever seen in their life. They just want to touch one or they want to take a picture with it. So if somebody grabs your hat, don't deck them in the street. They're just in awe, you know, and it's the truth. They just, oh, my God. Can I get a picture with you? Can I wear your hat? You know, this. It is awesome.
0:55:08 - (Mike Reiner): I guess that happening over there is nowhere near like it is when it happens in Fort Worth.
0:55:12 - (Steve Helms): No, sir. No, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah. In Fort Worth, it's a no. No.
0:55:16 - (Ashley): You probably don't want to fight an Irishman anyway.
0:55:18 - (Steve Helms): No, sir. No, no, no. Ever.
0:55:21 - (Mike Reiner): Well, Steve Helms, this has really been awesome. Getting to meet you and getting to talk to you and. Would you like to send us out with another song?
0:55:28 - (Grego): I can.
0:55:29 - (Mike Reiner): Well, I'd love that.
0:55:30 - (Steve Helms): Let's do it.
0:55:41 - (Grego): I've been watching you all night long from across the bar Every gift, any guy that hits on you has been wrong so far Blowing smoke, buying you drinks of this and that I'm pretty sure I know what you need As a matter of fact Can I buy you a country song or not? A sad one of love gone wrong Makes you smile when you turn it on Can I buy you a country song? Ain't gonna get us a drink just, just yet I'm not a gambler but I'm willing to bet that neither one of us will be alone When I buy you a country song Just like me, you know you can't believe that.
0:56:29 - (Steve Helms): We'Re in this place the guy on.
0:56:33 - (Grego): Stage is talking way too fast and.
0:56:34 - (Steve Helms): There'S too much bass let's go find.
0:56:38 - (Grego): A bar with a spot Stew, guitar.
0:56:39 - (Steve Helms): And you can sing along Can I.
0:56:42 - (Grego): Buy you a country song? Not a sad one of love gone wrong Makes you smile when you turn it on Can I buy you a country song? Ain't gonna get us a drink just yet I'm not a gambler But I'm willing to bet that neither one of us will be alone When I buy you a country song Neither one of us will be along When I buy you a country song.
0:57:18 - (Mike Reiner): All right. All right. The great Steve Helms.
0:57:22 - (Steve Helms): Thank you all so much.
0:57:23 - (Mike Reiner): Hey, can't thank you enough for doing this, man.
0:57:25 - (Steve Helms): I appreciate you.
0:57:26 - (Mike Reiner): Really appreciate it. All right. That is your Dark Companion for this week. Thank you all for watching. If you like what we're doing, we'd appreciate it if you'd drop a line to us. Let us know about it, what you like, what you don't like, what you're into, what you're not into. Just whatever it is. We want to know these things. That's how we make your Dark Companion better for you and for the world and for everybody and all that implies.
0:57:54 - (Mike Reiner): Thanks to Ashley shooping Becca, everybody, all the rest of you, thanks for watching. Bye. All right, I'm gonna go take my pants. Your Dark Companion is a stolen water Media presentation.