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Circling The Drain is a show about the current state of the music and radio businesses as well as culture in general!
Hosted by John E. Bozeman and Jay Harper along with Jim McCarthy as Co-Host/Executive Producer.
John has had a storied career in music and talk radio, most notably as the Executive Producer for the late and legendary Phil Valentine.
Jay also has has a long career in radio as Announcer, Play-by-Play, Voice and On-Camera Actor. He was also an Artist Rep for MCA records.
Jim McCarthy ALSO has had a tremendous career in radio since 1996 and has since brought his consulting/producing skillset to the podcast world.
Circling the Drain is produced by ItsYourShow.co
Unknown: When you download a
song, and this is the most
important part you have to
understand. When you download a
song, say Spotify. While that
guy is riding around in his 100
million dollar jet, that artist
that sang that song is still
struggling, working a nine to
five at Starbucks. Yeah, that's
what pisses me off.
Welcome to a podcast about music
and entertainment before it all
goes down the disposal. This is
circling the dream.
Welcome. I'm in yes indeed,
folks, it is another edition of
circling the dream. Yes, the
podcast that features yours
truly Jay Harper, but the real
star of the show, always has
been, always will be, would be
one. Johnny B, I thought it was
Jim. John, well,
oh gosh, you know what? I guess
I messed that up again.
You forgot
I was here today.
We got
another j that we're going to
get to. Here's we do second but
Johnny B, how are you? Man, I'm
good. How are you? Jim Harper,
doing fine with you without you
for a while. I know. Boy. Boy,
that sucked, didn't it? Well,
that's what the audience said.
We missed you. Yes, we did, but
no. Man, we are enjoy. It's
finally spring. So many of the
these that we've done, you know,
we have, like, snow flurries and
all that mess. But here we are
enjoying the nice spring
weather. And yes, indeed. James
Patrick McCarthy, also here I
see, I love that. Now. I think
that is such a fine name. Yes,
it is good name, hopefully in
the news for good things. Yeah,
James, you know, every serial
killer. I'm telling you three
names, three names, yeah, James
Patrick or chop shop.
Yes. That voice. You just heard
our guest, one of our guests.
Hopefully we'll have another one
join us here shortly. But
nonetheless, we are excited to
welcome this gentleman, Jared
Rogers, in our studio here
today, making the track now
Jared is a studio audience.
Yeah, I like them. Jared a multi
talented guy that has, well some
some interesting background,
What? What? What I do know is
rather interesting. First of
all, Dr Jared Rogers, yes, I
forget about that, among other
things. But, but music, though,
your passion, I mean that Rogers
last name, we'll get to that
here in a little bit. But
nonetheless, a passion for music
that I'm guessing you've kind of
had your entire life.
You know, I was fortunate to be
surrounded by music my entire
life. You know, whether it was
from my uncle Kenny or my mom
working in the industry with
Tanya Tucker, Lori Morgan, one
of the greats, Joe Diffie,
right? Come on, guys. And so,
you know, for me growing up. It
was just, it was interesting,
because I never really looked at
musicians as, you know, how much
work time they put into their
their craft. And so I just
thought these guys woke up on a
Saturday morning and went out
and jammed and came home and,
you know, went to baseball
games. So, you know, yeah, I've
been surrounded by the music
industry my entire life, and I
think that's why my mom wanted
me to be out of the music
industry, because we were
hanging out with people like
cool people like Dave Fowler and
our producer, Kent wells and
things like that. But then being
around Kenny Rogers, my my
growing up,
man. I mean, you just kind of
obtain a love for this, for this
game, for the storytelling, for
the songwriting, for being on
stage, the whole presence, you
just kind of jump on it. And
then, of course, John Barry,
there, right there. Oh yeah,
look at that guy. Yeah,
there's our man. John. John
Barry got it to log in.
Where's your Georgia gear, man,
do you have your your Georgia
gear? But, like, he might, yeah,
he might. What's that? Where's
your Georgia gear? Where's your
Georgia hat?
Oh,
I'm working in the yard. I'm
wearing my Franklin Graham
Samaritan's Purse work shirt.
All right, well, we won't hold
the not wearing Georgia against
you today.
So John Jay Harper, here, you
know you and I have Yeah, you
know we've come in contact on a
couple of occasions. You were
kind enough to join me on WT end
here a while back for for a full
hour to talk about various
things. And of course, I've seen
you at a number of different
shows and whatnot. We've got
Jared in the studio here on our
circling the drain Podcast. I'm
joined by Johnny B Johnny
Bozeman, who you may recall was,
you know, he.
Phil Valentine were quite the
team. And, yeah, so again, you
know, we've got Jared here to
talk about a whole variety of
things, and we'll get to more of
what Jared has got in store. But
one of the reasons, and thank
you so much for giving us a
little bit of your time, one of
the reasons we wanted to have
you join us was to kind of give
us the skinny on this fine duet
that you and Jared have put
together, and it's a fabulous
song that Jared wrote.
Can you? Can you tell us how the
this duet, this pairing, this
teaming up with Jared, came
about for this particular song?
Well, Jared sent me several
songs that were on the project
that he was going to record, and
this one just stood out, you
know, and so I was thrilled to
be able to go do it and sing it
with him. And he did a great job
writing it and great production.
And it came out really nice. I
was real thrilled to be a part
of it. Yeah, yeah. Came out nice
is certainly an understatement.
Now, how long I'm guessing
you've known Jared and Tina
Rogers for a while? I mean, how
long have Have you known these,
these fine folks, just a couple
of years? You know, we they've
got the venue over there. More
Middle Tennessee, Eastern Middle
Tennessee. We've gone and played
over there a couple of times and
and done a few things with them
and, and so just past couple of
years, we've gotten to know each
other. Yeah, well, again, you
know, I've seen you there at
americanaville, the fine venue
there in Livingston. You know,
seen you perform there, and you
know, you and your Christmas
shows have certainly gotten to
be just absolutely phenomenal. I
mean, of all the wonderful
things that you've done, I mean,
you know, you've had number one
songs and so on and so forth.
But I mean that your Christmas
performances, your Christmas
albums and stuff. I mean,
really,
would you say that in one
respect, that's kind of become
kind of your, your thing, I
mean, and what you have kind of
become known for to a large
degree, and I'm perfectly fine
with that. Matter of fact, I was
in an interview about two weeks
ago, and gentlemen asked me. He
said, You know if, if your
legacy is, is singing, oh holy
night and doing a Christmas
tour. If that's, if that's what
it's going to be, are you okay
with that? Like, like, there's
something wrong with it. I guess
I said, you know, if my legacy
is singing songs about Jesus
being born, Sign me up. Yeah,
right. I'm good. Yeah. I'll tell
you one of my favorite things
when I, when I, I first worked
with John. I was running sound
for him at the americanaville
Christmas show. And I don't get
nervous too often, you know. But
when he walked in, I was like,
daggone, this dude's voice is
just the best. And so when he
walked in, I was like, Please,
God, don't let me screw this up.
And so he you didn't. Oh, I
appreciate it, man, he ended up,
I ended up working with him
again at this he did a free
event for the people in Gallatin
and and, man, I mean, he just
got up there and rocked it out.
But I'll tell you what I love
about his Christmas show. I'll
tell you what I love about John
is you can go in there and you
can talk music all day with him,
and then in two seconds you can
turn around and talk about God
all day, and he's happy to talk
about both with you. And I'm,
I'm a very spiritual man, so I
love talking about music. I love
talking about God, but having
John there to say, you know,
God, first, God will provide and
and then he comes up there and
just rocks the stage out, you
know? And he's, he's, he's open
about talking about God, he's
open about talking about a
story. That's, that's a presence
that you look up to, I look up
to John Barry, and that's,
that's somebody that you look at
and you say, this guy right here
is a legend because of who he
is, not just what he does in the
music, but who he is as a
character. And that's what I
love about that guy right there.
As soon as you got on the
camera, I was like, there's my
guy right there. I just, I love
that guy. Well, I felt the same
way I
was Johnny B here, John. But
back in 1986 I played this
place, because back when I was
playing music, I played this
place called the J and J center.
I think it was on commerce
Street in Athens, Georgia and
and I was there for two nights,
and like, the next morning, I
found this music paper, and it
had an interview with you. I
wish I could remember, I think
the name of the paper was live
or something like that, but it
had an interview with you, and
this is before you, of course,
you came to Nashville, but that
interview really, really
impressed me. And when you came
to Nashville, like when you
started getting national
prominence, I knew that was
going to happen just off that
interview. I thought that
interview was so classy, I
appreciate that. Yeah, had a lot
of fun playing in Athens, and I
played, I played clubs there for
about eight years and and saw a
lot of people come and got a
matter of fact, I run into
college graduate.
University of Georgia graduates
all over the world whenever I go
out play. So I'll be singing a
song and in Utah, and I'll look
out every somebody wearing a UGA
shirt. How cool is that? Well, I
love,
yeah, it's a great town, and a
lot of fun to play there. A lot
of great people came through, or
part of my life in Athens and
and I married a sweet girl as
Athens girl, Robin. And I've
been married for coming up on 38
years and, and Athens a
wonderful town and, and miss
living there. And who know, we
may, we may end up back there
one day. So I don't blame you.
I'd kind of like to go there.
You know, John, I was born
there. I was born in Athens.
And usually, I was usually, when
I say that, people look at me,
they're like, grease.
It was definitely, it was
definitely Georgia and so, you
know, Go Dogs, right?
Yeah, I tell you, Jared, one of
the coolest things that ever
happened in my career is getting
to know your uncle, Kenny. Oh,
yeah, and and Kenny was really a
kind man. He was really kind to
me. And when they ended up
having that wonderful event at
his farm there that was a
classic, classic weekend as a
sports and music weekend, and
some of these guys showed up
that I they showed up at the
club for a couple of nights, and
and I didn't know who they were,
and I got to know him, and and
they were, they worked with
Kenny, and they were working on
the classic weekend, and then
they had talked to Kenny, and
they invited me to come and be a
part of that weekend and to
play, kind of after dinner, kind
of, we put on a Show, and it was
a lot of fun. And, and Kenny had
me do that a couple of years,
and he was always very nice,
and, and one of the greatest
things that happened we were we
were recording a Christmas album
called My heart is Bethlehem.
And we recorded, We Three Kings
and me and my guest, Billy Dean,
was singing. My friend Billy was
singing on it. And we found out
Kenny was down the street
working on an album, and we sent
a note to him. Said, Hey, if
you're available, we're
recording. We Three Kings. We'd
love to have you come and sing
with me and Billy. And a couple
hours later, the door opens up
and Kenny comes walking in. How
cool is that? Oh, man, he came
and sang. Came and sang on We
Three Kings. It was pretty cool.
That is all you I'm gonna have
to get a copy of that recording.
I'll get you one. What. What an
unmistakable voice. And he was a
very kind he was he was a
superstar. He was just a country
movie star. He was a superstar,
but he was just as kind as you
would hope somebody like that
would be. You know, it's funny,
because I was there at the
classic week. I was there and I
was, I was six years old. I was
six years old, and I was not,
not trying to toot my horn over
here. Guys
rub it in. I walk in there, and
there's a guest house in the
back. And, you know, he had a
full NBA court brought into his
barn so they could play
basketball. And I walked down
these stairs of this guest
house, and downstairs a bunch of
guys are playing Nintendo, and
it was Larry Bird and Michael
Jordan. And was it magic?
Johnson? Was he there? Wow,
okay, I remember Michael Jordan
and Larry Bird, and these guys
are just sitting here playing
Mario on Nintendo and hanging so
I got to hang out with them for
a few and
sparkly. Was there? Was he? Oh,
my God, I couldn't get past
Michael Jordan.
But yeah, it was, it was crazy.
And I know that. I know that you
were playing there so,
but that would have been, I was
probably sitting there watching
you play, and I was, yeah, it
was, it was, it was great, man.
But it's funny how, it's funny
how life just brings you in a
circle. Because, you know, you
knew my uncle and and now here
you are just like helping me and
jumping on my album. It's just,
it's just funny how that works.
And I couldn't be more thrilled
to have sing a song with you,
man, I was just, that was just
incredible. We went into the
studio and and he walks in, and
he doesn't, he doesn't come in,
like, you would think a country
music star will walk in. He just
walks in casual. He's just like,
all right, man, let me jump in
there and let's get this done.
And so I was like, I was like,
All right, cool. So he jumps in
the booth, and he tries a bunch
of different things. And this is
what I learned the most from
John in the studio, is he tries
something and then he'll try
something else, and he'll be
like, I like that first one
better. So they just scratched
the second one, and, and, and,
but he tries different things,
and nobody questions it. They
just roll the tape, and when
he's done, we just pick out the
best one. But he just gives you
different options. And he did
this thing leading into the solo
where he jumped in and he belted
this, this, this, this line, and
I would have never thought
about.
It, but man, it sounded good.
And I was just like, yeah, and
Kent looks at me, and he goes,
and that's how legends do it,
right there.
Well, I'm glad you like, I'm not
a real ad lib singer, and so I'm
glad you, I'm glad you liked
what we got there. But it was a
lot of fun. And you know,
usually,
your uncle, Kenny used to say
that his best take was his first
take or second take. Man, I
gotta get I gotta get in my
first or second 100th take to
finally lock. Kenny just had
that gift of singing it, and it
just comes out of him, and it
was just right. It just takes me
a long time to sink in to make
it right. But I'm glad you got a
couple of ad lib lines there
that worked for you. I did, and
I've got some cool video and the
whole song just, it's the song.
When you came on it, the song
was full like that. At that
moment, it's like, that's a
song. Now, you know, so that was
fantastic, man, I appreciate you
so much, man, you and Robin both
are just just awesome gifts to
be in my life. Man, I love it. I
appreciate that. And then, of
course, Brian, Brian, we
tolerate Brian, right?
He's a good guy. He is a good
guy. He is a good guy. I got to
you guys. I saw John the other
day. He came out for an autism
an evening. What was an evening
for autism, yes, and I had
donated my time and to do
videography that night, so I'm
there with the camera, and John
walks in casual as ever, you
know, just, just walks in the
back door, and he's like, Hey,
man, what are you doing? Gives
me a hug, walks right around to
the stage. He's like, What am I
going on?
But he comes up there and he
puts on a show, and he's funny.
He's funny. There was this guy.
He goes, Uh, he said, If John
will get up there and sing this
next song on the saddle that was
sitting there, he'll donate 1000
bucks. Well, John, being John,
he called him out from stage.
And he goes, Is this a real
thing? Because he's like, I'm
not scared. I'll get on that
thing right now and I'll sing
the next song on the saddle, and
the guy gets kind of backed out
a little bit. He goes, Okay, I
guess no more money for charity.
I got that on film, by the way.
Yeah, so they're
gonna donate to the calls I sing
upside down.
Well, having a son that's
autistic, man, I appreciate
that. So that was fantastic, but
I'm looking forward to hanging
out with you again. And you
know, just being able to keep
learning from you, that was the
biggest gift for me. Well,
maybe, maybe get this, get this
album, mountain, and do a live
performance and come singing
with you. Oh, man,
okay, okay,
yeah, you don't have to twist
his arm. Yeah, seriously, man,
you really had to force me into
that
one. Well, John, one of the
things I have come to know about
you is, in we've already had
examples of it is your is your
charitable heart. I mean, you
really step up to the plate when
it comes to to helping those
whether they be less fortunate
from a financial standpoint or a
health issue or what have you.
Now, I'm sure that in many ways,
perhaps you can relate. You have
certainly faced your health
challenges that that you you
have overcome. I mean, so you
look fantastic, man. How are you
feeling these days? I'm doing
good. And you know, when it
comes to doing things and
working with charities and
things, if it's something that
we feel that my being a part of
will really have any kind of
impact, I'm really willing to do
that. I don't want to waste the
charity's time or mine. I want
to be sure it's something that
really works, that's good for
them and but I'm more than
willing to do it, because I've
been on the I've been on the
receiving end of benefits. They
threw a huge benefit when I was
recovering from cancer.
Artists friends kept calling my
manager, Brian, saying, What can
we do to help? What can we do to
help? And I was really kind of
hesitant about doing it. And
then we decided that we would go
ahead and do it and let some of
the proceeds go to music Health
Alliance, wonderful organization
that helps helps people in the
industry navigate health
insurance and getting those
health needs covered. And so we
put the we put the event, they
put the event together, and we
were able to write a big check,
big check for to music Health
Alliance to help the work that
they do help,
help their music continue, their
work continue, and it helped us,
personally, helped me and Robin,
and it benefited us and and
taking care of the needs that we
had taken coming out of
all being out of work for six
months and and it was a real
like I said, we.
Were direct benefits from the
love and the care from the
national community. So when
people ask me and Robin to be a
part of something and we can
help, we often will do that,
because we know how important it
is. Well, you mentioned your
lovely wife, Robin. I mean, you
actually perform with her. I
mean, you do a show that's kind
of a duet, if you will. Yeah,
does she? Does she travel with
you everywhere, whether she's
performing on a show or not.
She loves it. We go out and we
we've she been seeing with me
ever since I got my record deal.
I back before, before I got
signed the capital. I gone into
the studio with John vezner
Kathy mattea's husband, right?
He produced some songs on me
as a
for a demo deal for Warner
Brothers, and they passed on me.
But, but on those demos, Kathy
Kathy Mattea sang harmony with
me on the demos. Oh, wow. And so
we worked up those songs, and we
were playing them in the clubs
in Athens. And anytime we play
those songs, Robin would get up
and sing with me and and of
course, we did our Christmas
show in Athens, and she'd always
sing with me at that and then
when I did a showcase for
Capitol Records in spring of 92
and
for Jimmy Bowen and some other
folks that were there, and I got
a record deal out of that
showcase, and Robin sang with me
at that me and the band. And so
I got a record deal, and we we
cut songs, and Chuck Howard was
at the showcase, and he loved
her voice, and so they put they
had Miss, I'm trying to think of
ham rose and
Kennedy Kennedy birds. Kennedy
rose is a duo.
Remember that? Yeah, they came
and sang on the record, on your
love amazes me, and you and only
you, and all these songs on the
record. So Robin learned those
parts, and so she had a gig.
So, but she's, she's a great
thing. She sang on my albums
almost ever since then, yeah,
and the records that we've done,
and she does a great job singing
with she's, she's got the gift
of harmony. I'm telling you, she
can harmonize. She can find
harmony parts like nobody's
business, and does a terrific
job so and when. So it's a great
way that we can live our lives
together. And I don't go do my
thing and her go do her thing,
she we. We live our lives
together, whether it's out
touring and doing shows or
recording or working in the
backyard, yeah? Well, that's,
that's. Man, that's wonderful to
have that kind of relationship
where you can stand each other
that long.
Robin's a rock star, though.
Man, even her on stage. Man,
when she's on stage, she rocks
out. Oh, she is, she is not
still. And great boys she loves
it. Yeah, she does not stand
still. Well, John, we don't want
to keep you forever, man, we
appreciate your time so much.
We're going to get back to
chatting here with Jared about
all the stuff that he's got
going on. But tell folks how
they can follow you, find your
music where you're going to be
playing next, etc.
Well, John berry.com, is
more information you probably
want to know. You can find just
about anything there, and all
tour dates and music and all
those things are available
there. And then, as far as
social, social media is at John
Barry music, and there's all our
tour dates are posted, and we've
always got things going on, and
so we're looking forward to to
get back out on the road and
being busy, we got a good
Christmas tour coming up this
year. Looks like it'll be about
18 cities, and it's gonna be a
lot of fun, all right. Well,
fantastic. Well, man, it's it's
been great for me personally to
to be around you to some degree,
and your kindness is certainly
appreciated when in our past
crossings, and certainly here
today, it's been terrific to
have you join us for a bit.
Well, you got some you got a
great guest here on your show
with Jared and and so I think
the world of him and appreciate
y'all. Let me come be with you
for a little while. Oh, thank
you. Thanks, John. Tell Robin I
said hi, give her a hug and love
you guys.
Well, Jared, that's pretty
special, huh? Oh, man, he's a
rock star. He's awesome, yeah? I
mean, he is such a such a good
guy and a talented, humble
fella, you know? Yeah, yeah.
It's not what you would think.
It's when you meet him. It is
like talking to an old friend.
Yeah, it's really cool. Well,
man, I mean, you've got to have
a lot of old friends with the
life that you've had growing up.
And so obviously, I know we've
talked about your, your uncle,
Kenny. I mean, your, your
father, though, was also a
musician, correct? Was, was, is
he? Was he in the music biz to
some degree?
It, I will say that my dad has a
great voice. But when, when
you're coming up and you've got
Kenny Rogers as your brother,
you know, it's, it's not an
exact easy business to get into
at that point, because they
expect you to be Kenny, yeah,
but then they don't expect you
to be Kenny, so, but he's got a
fantastic voice, and he's always
pushing me and driving me. And
it's just like, you know? And
he's a, he's a put God first
kind of guy, too. So it's really
cool. And I want to address the
elephant in the room real fast.
He's swiping on cars right now.
Oh, yeah, okay. I
just want to address,
he's over there getting cars in
the background. I'm just, he
thinks that we have a chop shop
here. Context for the listeners,
I walked in and there's one
couch in the house, and then you
walk into this back room and
there's a whole studio, either
car shop or porno,
I'm telling you. When he closed
the doors, I was like, Oh man,
don't
ask. Don't ask me about my
business.
Yeah, Jared is wondering, you
know, so what? What has he lured
me into?
Well, you walk in, and it's
really cool.
You walk into this house, and of
course, you know, Jay's at the
door, and it was just cool. So
I'm like, Cool, a friendly face,
so now I don't feel as weird,
you know? And then there's one
couch in there, and you come in
here, and he's got everything
Marvel and a picture. Marvel
and a picture of
Jesus, absolutely. So it's I was
like, man, there's cameras
everywhere. He's swiping on
cars. I don't know what's going
on my next find out my next kill
Exactly, exactly. So well, when
you go outside and you find your
vehicle up on blocks,
and he does have three names,
yes, yeah, this is true, yeah.
Who does that these days? Man,
package ready yet
exactly there it is but a half
an hour.
Well, what's funny as y'all
think he's playing
well again, you know, you can't,
I guess, talk about your, you
know, your your musical
upbringing and influences
without, you know, mentioning a
legend, Kenny Rogers, but who
have been some other influences?
I know you have a very diverse
taste in music, certainly, oh
man,
you know. And of course, you
heard earlier, I love John
Barry.
I will say, I have, I have.
You're right, you know, it goes
from BB King David Gilmore,
yeah. I mean, David Gilmore is
just like my ultimate musical
hero, and he's the reason that I
picked up a guitar, and so Bruce
Springsteen, man. I saw Bruce
Springsteen play Thunder Road on
a piano acoustic one time, and I
was in love with singing
acoustic. From then on out, I
was just, I just want to play
piano. I want to play an
acoustic show. So he did it. And
then Jeff Beck, oh, yeah, so of
course, you got Van Halen back
here, of course, but I was van
Hagar. So we just had this
conversation, the episode that
we recorded right before this
one. We had that discussion,
yeah, okay, all right, in
between car sales,
yeah, we were jamming Van Halen.
Van halen's Fantastic and but I
would say, when it comes to
vocals, meatloaf, I was, I was a
big meatloaf fan. Great. I got
to meet him one day. How cool?
Yeah. So we went, we went to a
show, and Cindy Lauper opened
the show for him. And you talk
about a girl who just didn't
miss a beat, like she got up
there, she just sang. And I was
like, you could sing me the
phone book, and I'd be good.
She's good,
very good, yeah. And then, so
she was opening the show. We
were on the what the third row,
and we're walking out, and you,
you've been to Vegas. I know you
guys been to Vegas. Yeah, sure,
sure. Okay. So, yeah,
yeah,
world traveler,
I've been to Las Vegas, Alabama,
but
yeah, no. So you know how the
four seasons is connected to the
Mandalay Bay, right? So we're
walking out of the arena in the
Mandalay Bay, and we park next
door at the Four Seasons,
because we know how to beat
parking, right? So as we're
walking through the hallway,
sure enough, meatloaf just
casually walking by. Oh, cool.
And, man, I was like,
I'm never gonna get this chance
again, you know? So I turned
around. He gave me a hug. He was
super cool. He said he gave me
the greatest piece of advice,
never let anybody tell you no.
You keep plugging till they say
yes, and that was it. So I was
just like that was meatloaf man.
And after that, he looked at
you, and he came from the poker
tables. He said I would do
anything for a club. I.
Yeah,
it's funny. You don't hear from
him
for like 15
minutes. James Patrick, right
there, all right, so we'll see
in 15 minutes.
That's totally fine. That was a
dad
joke. Yeah, I think we all laugh
just because we're like, oh, he
gets one minute. I'm
just a producer, man. He's
back there hitting all these
cool buttons. Yes, sir. Well,
man, you know all about hitting
the cool buttons. I mean, you're
a multi talented dude in terms
of you talk about videography
and sound and so where, when it
comes to the biz, what part of
it most intrigues you? Is it the
performing? Is it the writing?
Is it the behind the scenes,
technical stuff? I mean, you're
pretty darn adept at all of it.
Man, that's a good question. You
know, my biggest respect for the
business of the people behind
the scenes, for sure, like the
crew and things. People realize
they don't. They don't.
Sometimes realize a lot of
people do. Some people don't,
that you don't just get up and
put on a show. Like, there's
hours upon hours of rehearsal,
there's learning the songs,
there's producing, there's
putting it together. And I will
say my favorite part
is
putting a song together in the
studio, like watching it come to
life, listening to it, and then
the different parts that come
in, you're like, Oh my God. And
then you get people like,
you know, Kent wells that come
in there, and he's like, Hey,
Jared, check this out. What do
you think? And He'll play
something. And I was like, I
don't think the song can go
without it now, you know. So
it's really cool watching the
songs come to life. And I've
been in the I've been able to
produce a couple things this
year, but being a co producer on
my stuff is definitely the
highlight for me, because I have
a very spiritual message in my
music. And
I don't claim to be anything
more than I am, you know. So
that's why the album's titled
sinner man. You know, it's like,
I know, I know what I am. You
know, Jim's trying to come to
facts with what he
is. But for me,
Ain't that the truth. I know
what I am, and it's and it's and
it's cool. So all of my music is
about finding your faith in the
past you have to go through to
get it and putting that together
in the studio has been my
absolute favorite part of my
musical journey. Yeah, well,
that's cool. So how many?
Well, first of all, the album
that you have, the duet with
with John Barry, whom we just
spoke with,
tell us the name of the song.
Again, we want to make sure we
get that in there and how it's a
wonderful song. I mean,
in the performance of production
is outstanding. I got to play
lead guitar and all my stuff
too. Yeah. And I tell you, Well,
you again, multi talented guy
here, but so again, tell us the
song, how it came about, and
what, what it truly means to
you. You know, I've written a
lot of songs, but this song, I
remember exactly where I was,
because my mom was driving about
coming back from
LA into Vegas, and so naturally
I start praying,
but I'm sitting there, and I was
just like, Man, I just started.
He's lived so long with a treble
mind, but his heart's in the
right place. And I've had these
lines on my in my mind for a
couple of days. So on the way
home, I wrote this entire song,
just like just wrote, I think
what about 20 minutes? I wrote
that whole thing and then, but I
couldn't figure out what to do
with it musically. So a guy
who's become a big mentor to me
in life. His name is Jerry
Williams. We call him Papa bear
country guy, right? Like, he
played country western, like,
real country western music. And
he has a old blonde
Stratocaster. He calls it
Blondie, and he's got, like, a
pin up girl on So, yeah, he's,
he's a total badass. But we, I
sent it to him, and he's like,
man, I've got an idea for this.
Do you mind if I run with it? I
was like, Cool. We had a
rehearsal the next day, and he
brought it and he played it. And
I was like, Oh my God. And
that's how that song came to be.
And that was one of my favorite
co writes of all time, yeah. And
so again, the title of the song
bridge we all must cross. Yeah,
yeah. Very nice stuff. And where
did the thought get to? First of
all, have someone else sing it
with you. And second of all,
have it be John Barry.
So I sent, I sent John a what,
three different songs I had, one
called Rhoda Bethlehem, I think
sinner man. And then, and then
bridge, wellness, cross. I kind
of knew which one he was going
to pick, because bridge almost
crosses a little more rocking.
And even though he's a country
guy, he loves that distortion,
he loves that rock and roll a
little bit. And
it was something that just it
was a song that I was like, I
need that mentor in that song. I
need that person that's been.
There that's lived it and
understands that there's a
bridge we almost cross, and
across we almost bear. And I
thought of John Barry, and I was
just like, I don't know if he'll
do this. And mom, so mom and I
knew him already. And like, I
was gonna text him and ask him,
but we went through the proper
channels. We went through Brian,
his his manager, which is a
fantastic dude. Yes, I've worked
and so I sent him the three
song. He goes, Yeah, or email
him to John, you know, I sent
him three different songs, kind
of run down, gave him the
lyrics, and he wrote back, and
he goes, Bridgeway, almost
cross. That was it. He's like,
pretty much one line answer, you
know. So I'm just like, does
that mean we're doing this or
not, you know? And so we ended
up, we ended up putting it
together. And then I called
Jerry Williams, the Papa Bear.
We called him, and I was like,
Hey, man. And he's like, What
are you doing? I was like, Man,
I got some news. You ever heard
of John Barry? He's like, Oh, my
God, I love John Barry. And I
was like, He's singing on our
song. So he was really excited.
And, I mean, there was no
hesitation. I mean, John got
right back to me, and just like,
This is a song. Let's do this.
Let's do this one. Yeah, I was
like, All right, let's do it.
That's very cool. And again, you
know, as we were saying in our
discussion with him, I mean,
he's just got a good charitable
heart, willing to willing to
help folks out. So tell us you
know someone such as yourself. I
mean, again, you've been around
the biz your entire life, but
what is it like for someone such
as yourself, multi faceted,
multi talented? What's it like
to get your to try to get your
music out there and get it
heard? I know you can speak from
that perspective, as as a, you
know, still young, for all
intent, purposes, up and coming
artist, even, you know, for
somebody that's been out there
his whole life, but still, you
know, it's, it's a struggle
these days. And one of the
reasons I wanted to have you
here is, number one, to kind of
introduce you to folks, but
secondly, to just have you kind
of express what I know a lot of
today's artists that do great
stuff, oh yeah, and try to break
through it is,
it's a struggle, man, there's so
much noise out there to try to
rise to the top. Is, is, it's a
struggle, man, you hit the nail
on the head. And first of all, I
want to pay you to just walk
around and tell me how awesome I
am.
But it is, and I'll tell you,
there's a couple things. And
one, streaming platforms are
killing songwriters. Oh yeah,
they're killing us. And you
know, we put our heart, our
souls, our blood, sweat and
tears, into these songs, they
take all the money and we get
nothing. And so it's really
hard. So and you know this,
we've talked about this. You
know how much I love radio. I
love love radio. Like radio DJs
are just the most interesting,
freaky, cool people in the
world. And,
oh yeah, we want you to come
around with us and tell us
freaky and fun we are.
You guys spin my album. I'll
follow you everywhere. But,
yeah, no, it's, it's, I believe
that the magic days of of music
were when you waited for that
song to come on the radio. Oh
yeah. Like, when you're sitting
there and you turn it on because
you're like, Okay, Jay Harper's
coming on at three o'clock. I
know he's gonna be spinning that
BB King tune today. You know,
that was magic. You know, it's
like when you used to watch MTV,
yeah, and you waited for that
one video to come out, and
you're like, where's it at?
Where is it record button? Oh,
yeah, absolutely. This is before
we had, like, iPhones and stuff
like that and stuff like but,
man, I tell you, the hardest
part for me is social media.
Social media because I'm not,
I'm not one who wants to get on
a post every day and and things
like that. I want to go on the
radio and I want to talk to you
guys. I want to hang out with
you guys. And, you know, just
figure out, you know, I didn't
realize I could walk into this
place today do a whole radio
show and get a stolen car,
you know, for me, this is the
magic this, right here is the
magic part, you know. And I want
to get into the stolen carpets.
Yeah, I'm setting you
up with my cousin Carlos, right
now.
He's down in Tijuana,
but, yeah, this is magic to me.
Like, like, when you, when you
texted me, I was like,
absolutely there wasn't a no
that was going to come out of my
mouth. And so I will go on any
and every radio station, just
because, first of all, I think
you guys are the business. I
think you are the magic of the
business, the people that were
pushing the songs, and we had to
always come out here. And, I
mean, you guys, know? I mean, we
the artist, wanted to come out
and be around you guys, because
we knew that you guys could play
the songs. But then you come
back here and you're like, oh,
man, it's like hanging with a
bunch of buddies, yeah, you
know. And that's, this is the
magic right here. This is the
magic. Soon as I walked in the
room.
And and Jim closed the doors. I
was like, this is about to get
real. I love this. And, yeah,
and all I've got is born in my
head now.
But, and I'll tell you, the
hardest part besides social
media for me, is hitting that
button to put it on streaming.
Yeah, it is so difficult for me
because I know that it cost me X
amount of dollars to make an
album, and then I'm getting
absolutely nothing back from
streaming. And I think that's
the hardest part. And you know,
record labels these days will
do, I guess, what their 360
deals, yes, and they'll take a
piece of touring and a piece of
merchandise,
and, man, they're just taking
away the magic of the business.
They're taking away the fun and
what it used to be to be a real
artist and and we've got some
great artists out there today,
but radio has been taking the
fun,
yeah, but you know what? You
guys had the power though, you
know, and that's, that's the
thing is, well, they're,
they're, you know, and it's,
you've hit upon one of the, one
of the topics that we discuss,
ad nauseam, right? You know,
because it's one of the
foundations of what this podcast
is about. We talk about radio,
Nashville, music, entertainment,
and all of the pros and cons of
every bit of those, of those
subjects, those topics, but
the what you talk about, about
radio,
you know, at one time, being the
king of Introducing folks to to
music and what we broke artists
we had, that's what I was
getting at, even though I'm
stumbling around here. What I
meant to kind of cut to the
chase here is, at one time we
did have as DJs, as announcers.
We had the latitude to pick
stuff, corporate takeover of
radio and deregulation, right
where they were the beginnings
of the end 1996 you know? Yeah,
so the corporate takeover, where
you've got one person
programming hundreds of radio
stations, and that's literally
and playing 20 artists, maybe
playing 20 artists over again,
we talk about that ad naughtium.
No reason to get into that here.
Jay, I would like to invite you
to do something right now. Okay,
we're gonna do something on the
fly. You're talking about like
the fun then the nostalgia we
all had of listening for the
song to come up in the DJ. Can
you front sell this one?
You ready? You're gonna know it
right off the bat. All right.
Ready? Here we go.
Hey, 99 5w. Whatever it's super
J, that's right. We're gonna
rock and sock him, and we are
here to rock you out for the
weekend, baby. We're living for
the weekend.
See now, after, after 1996
basically, that turned into,
oh, man, it's not working. It
turned into that working,
not working exactly, but you
know, you brought something to I
and I have fought it for a long
time now. I just cannot get into
downloading. I've got to have
the record. I want to have
either the cover the vinyl,
yeah, and I want to see who
played on it. I want to know who
produced again, that who wrote.
That was one of the magical
things about the you know, I can
remember, for example, the elk
John albums, yeah, that had all
of the lyrics in. Yes, you know,
I would sit there for hours
unfolding that goodbye yellow
brick road album, sure, and
reading all of the lyrics and
following along. And as you say,
it would, you know Davey
Johnstone on guitar. You know,
you knew who the heck everybody
it. It became more of an
intimate experience. Yes, you
became more of a lover of the
artists and the in the music,
and you were emotionally
attached
more than that, right? There's
such an emotional detachment in
so many ways, from music today,
how it's presented. Well, even
downloading, I don't even like
the quality of it compared to, I
know what you got. There's a
there's a warmth and stuff that
seems to be missing, yeah, and,
you know, let's face it, with
download, you don't even know
what these artists look like.
You don't, you don't know
anything about them, really. Not
to mention that, like when you,
when you, when you download a
song, and this is the most
important part you have to
understand. When you download a
song, say, Spotify, while that
guy's riding around in his 100
million dollar jet, that artist
that sang that song is still
struggling, working a nine to
five at Starbucks. Yeah, that's
what pisses me off and and so to
me, I have one song streaming
called God. I.
Need you, and I did it because I
was told it's the way to go, and
I listened like an idiot. And
so,
in fact, today I will be taking
it down, but it's just for me.
Y'all remember the first time,
all right, the first rock video
I ever heard was your final
count. Yeah, okay. And I was at
my dad's, and he goes, Don't let
your mom know I let you watch
MTV.
Dude. I was addicted since,
right? But the sound you get,
like, if you guys just bear with
me here and close your eyes, and
you can picture when you do that
and you that needle hits that
record, yeah, you know, it's
about to get it's on, it's
dramatic. It's it, that's it
like that. It's almost like the
the credits of a movie. Yes, you
know, with that music, that's
what that needle hitting that
record and that crackling
sounded like to me. And so I got
David Gilmore's new album, and I
got it on vinyl, by the way. Oh,
wow. And it just, it still, it
still rings different than like,
I can download it, you know, I
can download his stuff and but I
have it. I have his actual
vinyl. Yeah, we ordered it, and
it was great. In fact, Jerry,
who wrote bridge, almost cross,
he ordered it and bought it for
me. Oh, and he sent it to me
that Robert Johnson, you know,
the old Crossroads himself,
right? And so to me, there's
just something you're looking
for. The sound over there,
aren't you kind of Yeah, he
does. I'm hunting. Yes, I see
either that or he's car
shopping,
exactly. He's on scooters. Now
that's a good price. Yeah, you
got to go hybrid these days.
But man, the magic, the magic of
the music industry. I mean, even
going down Broadway, how many
times you guys been in Broadway
in the last 10 years and just
seen it dramatically change? Oh,
yeah. And they're taking away
the historic parts of Nashville,
and everything's a high rise
bar, everything's a daggum bar.
Oh, look at what they just did
with the property taxes. Oh,
yeah. I mean, that's, that's,
that's a strategy small
business. They've driven out the
soul of Nashville. Nashville
used to be
a very unique city, one that,
and that's why I fell in love
with it. And what bothers me now
is it seems like it's becoming
like Las Vegas, New Orleans
every other city. Yeah, you
know? Well, they call it Nash
Vegas. Yeah, every weekend I run
sound for, for this, for this
event center out in Livingston.
And I started out there because,
because my mom has a company
called americanaville, and
that's how we met John Barry and
stuff. And so, I mean, we've had
everyone out there from Brady
seals, Larry Gatlin came out.
Did I did his I did his
Christmas show? Didn't I? I ran
sound for him, and that dude's
funny, by the way, but anyway, I
was like, did that joke just
come out of that
guy? Wasn't expecting that and
so, but we go out there, but
this town is like a little
Hallmark town, and the one the
hardest part that we have about
building Americana Ville there
is, there's no traffic. You
know, of course, you've been
there, sure so. And that's
something it's just like, how do
we talk people into that 30
minute drive from cookville to
Livingston? How do we talk them
into it? But it is such a great,
intimate listening room, which
is a thing of the past. Let's
face it, you know, nowhere can
you go and see a Pam Tillis or a
Larry Gatlin, John Berry, Darryl
Worley and and be this close to
him, you know, while they
perform
around after the show too. Yeah,
yes.
Special, special place. Yeah.
You know, I first moved to
Nashville in 1985 to go to work
with MCA Records. And in the in
the town, well, our office, the
MCA Records Office, at the time,
was at 1701 West End. It was, it
was an office building, but we
left there and went to a big
house on Music Row for a time.
You know, is where the offices
were, yeah. And I worked for
some promotion agencies and
stuff there on Music Row. And we
were in an old house, you know,
yeah, all of them were Yeah. And
now it's, you know, these ugly
condos and all this other
they're wanting to knock some of
those down, those houses down
now, because I think it's
Belmont, yeah, or Vanderbilt.
One wants to expand. Yeah? So
I'm just like, that's all
Vanderbilt needs to do. Yeah?
Some of them are historic
landmarks, yeah? And if they're
not, they should be exactly,
well, yeah, it broke my heart
when they tore down sound shop.
I was, I was on the air at the
time, and I remember telling
Phil Valentine, because I was
watching, I said, Man, they're
destroying sound shots. That's
where Paul McCarthy recorded.
That's where Alabama record. My
God, all that buddy killing
stuff. Yeah? Oh, man, dude,
those are some great names right
there, yeah? But you see, it's
not like that anymore. And even
though we have great artists,
I'm not taken away from the
artists that are out there
today. But it.
It's hard to tell the
difference. And what you know,
it's just like, I know that
you're going to talk about three
things, you're going to talk
about whiskey, you're going to
talk about her leaving, and then
you're going to, you're going to
mention God in there somewhere,
yeah, and maybe a pickup truck,
and maybe a pickup truck, yeah.
And that's cool, but like, there
are some fantastic singers out
there,
you know, I like Laney Wilson. I
think she's, I think she's
great, and she's got a cool,
refreshing sound, you know,
something that's that wasn't
like your average country stuff.
And I like her and Ella Langley,
I like both those. Oh, Ella
Langley, yeah, that's a good
one. Yeah, she's really cool.
But, um, and then I like
watching Lindsay L, you know who
she is, Lindsay, I like watching
her rock out on the guitar. Oh
yeah. But I tell you, man, the
only way to bring back the magic
is for the artists out there to
come together as artists say, we
are the creators of this music,
and we're gonna stop feeding
streamings. We're gonna stop
feeding them, and we're gonna
bring back but on the other side
of the coin, we need more people
like you guys, who will
entertain the independent
artist, you know. And that's
another struggle, because
getting on the radio, if you're
not top 40, they don't really
want to talk to you these days,
yeah, enough to just do it on
your own, you know. And do like
the new strategy is with the
Instagram clips and showing you
play in different scenarios,
playing different parts of the
song, you know, and kind of
building your audience that way.
I it might be a longer grind,
but it's probably doable, you
know, it's doable. So, like, I
have the views on mine, you
know, there's some that I have
1000s of views, some that I have
hundreds and but getting them to
hit the like, follow, share,
that's the hard part. And so for
me, social media,
man, it's a lot. It's very
crowded and it's loud. Yeah,
that's the best way to put it.
It's crowded and it's loud. Now
they have, they have, they have
like websites called like, band
camp and and things like that,
but you got to pay. Need to be
on them and stuff like it would
be cool to have some kind of a
some kind of a musician, or
somebody who can do it, to come
on and say, Okay, here's, here's
a streaming site. You buy a song
for $1 right? 98 cents goes to
the artist. Two cents goes back
to the company, just to run the
site and just let it run itself.
You know, we don't have to make
be millionaires off of artists,
right? You know, we're artists
ourselves. So, you know, there's
a couple of people that are
trying to build some stuff, but
you still have to have a
subscription. You still have to
do, I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about you literally.
You get on there, you make a
profile for free, you know, even
if it's $1 a month, you know,
you know how many dollars you
would get, just because that's
how many artists would want to
do this. And then you can go on
there, and it's like an
Instagram for an Instagram for
artists. And you can buy their
songs. You can buy their whole
album, $15 for the album. Or you
can buy each song for $1 dollar,
25 whatever it is. And
literally, a couple pennies goes
back to the website, and the
rest goes to the artist, you
know, because it costs, I mean,
to you got in gas price. It cost
me $100 to fill up gas. Yeah,
no, that was me the other day.
Oh, dude, it's ridiculous. And
then, you know, so to get out
there, to travel, to bring your
instruments out there,
everything, it's like that old
saying, it's just like, define a
musician. You take a $5,000
guitar and you
take a $5,000 guitar and a
$2,500 amp. You stick it in the
back of a $2,000 car, and you go
to a $50 gig, yeah, you know.
And that's what it feels like
these days. And I was, I was
blessed because I had someone
like John Barry jump on board
and say, I'll do this duet with
you. So to me, that's how you
used to break artists. You
remember, you to get the new
artist. You would get a duet,
yeah? And you would come on. And
so deliveries. Here we had, we
had Deborah Allen. You know, we
had Deborah Allen as our guest A
while back, and that's how she
was broken, quote, unquote, was
they teamed her up with a
deceased Jim Reeves that made
her a star. Yeah, you know. And
yeah, they put out some Martina
for Christmas. Yeah, they put
these duets out with her and Jim
Reeves. They didn't put her name
on the record. Well, one thing
that drives me crazy, and
especially with families of
people,
because I've seen so many people
like shooter Jennings,
Tanya Montana CO is another one.
She's offbeat, but she's really
good. But when, when they have a
famous celebrity as part of
their family, a lot of times
people judge that artist on on
the famous and that drives me.
Crazy. Don't expect, don't
expect him to be like, Kenny
Rogers. He's his own man. Oh, so
that drives me crazy. Yeah, I
have a good response to this
one. So I can't tell you the
amount of times people are like,
sing the gambler. Sing this, and
I'm like, I'm not Kenny Rob and
can you do the rasp? At least?
I know,
between
he and Barry Gibbs, right? Yeah.
But I tell you, I never, I
decided to never do that because
I didn't want people to say,
Okay, well, you're just trying
to be Kenny Rogers. You're just
doing this, even though some
people wanted it. Some people
are like, seeing one of your
originals. But then you watch
people like Willie Nelson's kid,
Lucas, yes, that dude can sing
his butt off. Yes, he can. I
mean, he's a he's a phenomenon.
And and then you have other
people, and I'm not going to
mention anybody, but all they do
is come out and sing their,
their the other, their family
member songs. And so if that's
all you're going to do, then
that's all you're going to be,
yeah, you know. And so if you
want to, if you, if you want to
make it, and I'm still working
on this, so just take it for
with a grain of salt, I guess.
But if you want to make it, the
biggest thing is stay true to
you don't fold to the music
industry, and do your best to
get on radio. You know, stop
streaming. If you got to stream
one song, I did it. I regret it.
But if you got to stream one,
stream one, but get out there.
Knock on radio, radios doors,
somebody's gonna answer, right?
You know, Jay answered, you
know, well, you know, you talk
about being true to yourself.
Hank Williams, Jr, oh, yeah, I
was a great example when he was
out there just parroting his
dad's stuff. And that wasn't his
choice. And could sound like
him, yeah, you know, that wasn't
his choice. That was his mother
when he broke away and started
doing Hank, yeah, that's when he
wished he been hell bound,
right? You know that family
tradition. You know Jimmy Bowen,
you know my old boss, you know,
is largely responsible for a lot
of that change in direction. But
anyway, when he decided to be
true to himself, that's when he
exploded and became the
superstar that he became. Well,
exactly, you know, that's the
that's the thing is that
eventually, you can do it over
time, if there's something
there. But even, like, you know,
depending on, I work with a lot
of different songwriters in the
podcast space, and they are
still so highly dependent on
music radio. And it's like,
Guys, music radio's got maybe
two more nails in the coffin
before it's done. I mean, the
numbers are scaringly, scary.
Scaringly. Just make it up as
you go. Yeah, they're really,
they're really bad
in terms of, you know, loss of
audience law for loss of
revenue. I mean, that the
business model has shifted. So,
I mean, it's like, look,
technology is a freight train
that doesn't care who's standing
on the tracks. You got to figure
out how to pivot. I believe,
honestly, and it's just kind of
dawned on me that a lot of new
artists can probably and as you
guys to your Jay your point like
owning who they are in the
podcast space and then riding
both sides of that fence, if
that makes sense, you know, I
mean, podcasts seem to be almost
the new Radio these days.
So podcasts are extremely
important and,
you know, but when you get that
magical check from BMI, I got
one for 20 bucks,
dude, I think I can get, yeah, I
know exactly. I think they had
me confused with someone else,
but I took it so, but
I just, you know, to me, and it
was a direct deposit, you know?
So it's not like a BMI check
that I got, but I was just like,
dude, hell yeah. So I took that
$20 I went straight out and
bought $25 worth of tacos.
That's
what I'm gonna do with this
money. But man, I mean, that's
just, that's just magic. And you
know, what I miss also, is how
the festivals used to be, yeah,
and you know, where you could
come out, and you could come out
you guys, could could, you know,
DJ this whole festival, and you
could put it on. You could talk
about the artists you're like,
guys, I am really excited to
introduce Jared Rogers now, you
know, and even festivals are not
magical like they used to be. I
know a lot of them have
disappeared, like wheeling
jamboree man. That was jamboree
the hill, yeah, CMA fest back in
the 90s. Oh, yeah, yeah. Fan
Exactly, exactly. It was
featured on an episode of King
of the Hill fanfare. I believe
that. I believe that because
trace Adkins was in it. I
believe that, man, I'm gonna
tell you, I went to fanfare, I
don't know how many years in a
row, because my mom was, she was
working with the artist and and,
I mean, I can still remember
like, Vince Gill riding on a
golf cart, coming through the
crowd, and Linda Davis, like,
waving. And.
And, and, you know, being able
to go back there. And of course,
it was normal to me, because we
were doing it every day, because
Opryland theme park was open,
and the theater that was there.
Do you guys ever go to the
theater that was there? What was
that called? Amphitheater? What
was it? What was it called? I
can remember seeing shows. I
don't recall the name. So, you
know, the sound booth was all
the way at the top of the top of
the seats, yeah? And like, a
box, right? Yeah, he climbed
that ladder. That's where I'd
sit every single show, oh, every
show that we were out there,
that's where I was at. And we
had people like, when Lori was
playing, she had Greg Morton
that was running sound, and he'd
give me a radio because he's
supposed to be watching me.
No, no, Jared will come with me.
And he's like, Jared, climb up
the ladder. Go sit up top.
Here's a radio if you need me. I
was like, All right, cool. The
same guy that when I was 11. Mom
was on the road with Lori or
Tanya, all right. And he goes,
he would, every Sunday, he would
pick me up. Every Sunday, he
would pick me up and he would
take me to Pizza Hut. And I
turned 11, he goes, it's time to
graduate. Took me
to Hooters.
I can see what you're doing
here, you know? And and then
after, he's like, You know what,
man, you need an earring. And I
was just like, did you ask my
mom about this? He goes, Oh
yeah, she's totally cool with
it. She did not know.
But this was the crowd that we
had, like, Lori's band would
show up to all my baseball games
and and it was just everybody
had mullets, of course, right?
Yeah, they were permed.
So I don't know why you had to
go with that. The Kentucky
waterfall, yeah, well, it was
definitely falling, and
unfortunately, it's coming back.
Yeah, it is. But unfortunate
though? Oh, it's unfortunate
because nobody usually has
anything on top. I can. I can,
yeah, you know, I can kind of do
the Gallagher thing, grow it
back and yeah. Now, you know,
Gallagher didn't. He used to
open the show for Kenny and and
one of Kenny's wives was on the
front row, and she refused to
put on a raincoat, raincoat. So
when he watermelon, it just
went, she was not happy. That's
why they become an ex.
You know, it might have been
Gallagher's
fault, but, man, to answer your
question, and I'm sorry, I know
I go off on like 30 different
topics, but music, the music
industry, used to be magic. It
used to be something to be
marveled at. It used to be
something to be looked up to,
and wanted every artist wanted
to be a part of it. And there
was a reason for it. And now it
has become such a gimmick. It
has become such a a tough
industry, because, not because
it's, it's tough to break
through on social media and
things like, it's because it's,
it's, there's no magic there.
It's just like, now, what are we
playing for? You know, I want to
get my music out there, but, you
know, I mean, I'm still working
every week just to, just to pay
my rent, and even though I get
the downloads and things like
that, it's just, it's not doing
anything. How long you've been
doing it? I've been, I've been
doing music for 25 years, and
and so it's been a while, and
I've been able to, you know,
I've had the whole tour bus
experience and going on tour,
and went out with Rolling
Thunder, the motorcycle group
from Vietnam veterans, yeah, and
rode across country on a fat boy
and a tour bus, you know. And it
was cool. We played the
reflection pool in Washington
with 1000s of people there. And
you look off the front of the
stage, there's a Lincoln
Memorial. And if you take two
steps back, because the stage
was a piece of crap, you fall
into the pool.
It was and Nancy Sinatra
actually opened that show for us
that day. Oh, wow, yeah, I think
she was supposed to close it,
and she just decided she's
there, she wants to go on now.
And she ended up singing like,
30 songs. And so when I woke up,
it was like, I was like, Oh my
God, is it time to go on? It was
been like, two and a half hours,
you know. So we're, like, way
behind schedule. And did those
boots keep walking? Not far
enough, but to the reflecting
pool.
There it is. Yeah, no, no. I
mean, she was a sweetheart. But
their their band, I guess their
manager, came up and asked if
they could, she could use our
tour bus as a dressing room,
because there was a porta potty
there, you know. And so we were
like, yeah. And then they wanted
us all to get off the bus. And
I'm like, looking at everything,
and I'm like, That album says
Jared Rogers, the bus says
Jared. I just wanted to make
sure I'm on the right bus, you
know. And she was sweet, but her
manager was, or, I don't know,
maybe it was a bandleader or
something, but I can see his
face, but I can't think of his
name. Was he not so nice? He
was, he was, he was very nice,
but he was very entitled. Oh,
you know, so it was just like,
I'm gonna need you guys to get
off the bus. That's
usually the case, though. It's
always, anytime I've dealt with
an artist, they're fine. Oh
yeah, it's usually the manager
or the people around them that
can be the real it can be
difficult. That's that's their.
Job,
like for me, I'm a really nice
guy, but when you meet my mom
who manages, you
just got to look at the fan and
go, I mean, it's not me. Yeah,
they write papers about how mean
she is.
But yeah, it's but, yeah, man,
the magic's gone and and I'm
doing my best to try to kind of
lead my own path back to it and
and remember why I did it in the
first place. Remember the needle
touch in the vinyl. Remember the
sound and the crackling.
Remember how cool it was when I
first saw my first rock and roll
video and my first concert. And,
you know, used to watch Kenny. I
used to go to a lot of Kenny
shows, and he would always throw
me the first tambourine. And so
I had somewhere, I have a
collection of these things,
but it was just, and,
you know, they used to bring him
out because he did a he did so,
like, here's the stadium, and
then here's his stage, a circle
in the middle. And they used to
bring him out in a, like a
travel road case because they
couldn't get them through the
crowd. Yeah. So they would bring
and they was Dolly too. She
would get him one of those, and
they would bring her out. They'd
put her in the middle, and put
him in the middle of the stage,
and they would walk up like he's
been there the whole time. So
they did with Taylor Swift on
her errors tour. Oh no, kid.
They put her in a case so
because all the fans would be
able to see her walk it up, and
they'd go ape crap. Oh yeah, I
believe it. She's a great
entertainer, man. She doesn't
good songwriter. I'd love to
see, I'd love to see somebody in
that position try to bring back
the magic of music, yeah,
because she has the power to do
it. She does. And I think if she
were to swear off the DSPS. I
mean, that's the thing, is that,
you know, right now we're going,
I believe we're going through an
era of the walmartization of
music, you've got AI, you've got
other people who are creating
music out there that are, I'm a
songwriter now, but I'm using
suno. You know, you're having
that kind of an effect
happening. But it's the
walmartization. There's so much
content being created right now
that nobody in probably 30
lifetimes will be able to
actually watch it all. No. And,
you know, you just hit the AI
thing. I have a couple friends
that did their entire album on
AI and, like, you can listen to
and you're like, that's not you
singing, you know, and stuff,
but they're, they're pushing it.
They're pushing it. I got a
friend that,
an acquaintance, that built an
entire AI artist, Oh, yeah. And
they're promoting it like we're
actually going to do live shows.
Now, is he gonna, is he creating
an avatar in AI that he's gonna
mimic? There's, there's, there's
no mimic. It's just pushing it
on social media and streaming. I
get that, but the only, like,
the only thing that's really
left is the live performance.
You know what? I mean, there's
nothing you can do there. I
mean, there's probably merch and
all that stuff, but breaking
rust two months ago, had the
number one song, digital
streaming song on the country
charts. Oh, and that was a
completely AI composed artist
with an AI generated so I just
sent, I don't know if you saw
it, I emailed you guys
yesterday, yes, an artist,
quote, unquote, that's totally
AI. Yes, that is like number
three on iTunes. Yeah, right
now, and I forget it was, it's
kind of a sole RnB thing. Well,
it's just we're not even gonna
know what's real anymore. It's
like, eventually people are not
gonna be needed. No, you know
true. Well, it's like I was
talking to a guy in radio up in
Michigan, and he's just, he just
loving this. Ai, you know, he's
going, I have now two news
people that that aren't even,
you know, they're not human.
They're all AI, he said, This
thing's Great. I'm thinking as
he's telling me this, I'm
thinking, but do you realize
this will probably be the mean,
the end to you and your
employment there. And not to
mention that every time you come
out with something new, AI,
you're killing some kind of an
artist's dream Exactly. You
know, it's like, I can, you can
put into like, what's that one
chat? GPT, you could put in
there, Paint me a portrait of
this, and make it water colored,
look and, and kind of rough,
like, rub a good around the
edges. It'll do it. And all of a
sudden, Rembrandt doesn't mean
anything. Yeah, you know, so
Exactly, it's tough, man, it's
tough. Yeah, it's, it's, it's,
it's killing us. Man, yeah, what
I, what I said yesterday,
mysterious new blues singer
Eddie Dalton made the iTunes top
100 singles chart 11 times this
month. Is actually a fake singer
that's entirely AI generated,
and it's the work of creator
Dallas little who's based in
Greenville, South Carolina.
Well, he's named appropriate,
yeah, and reach the number three
on iTunes Top album chart. I
mean, again, you just, I mean,
believer, right? Faith and
Christianity, none of this is
mentioned in Revelation.
I mean, you know, just to kind
of get on another philosophical
bent. But, you know, a lot of
this kind of stuff is not so I'm
wondering if there's we're
worried about.
Nothing, you know, it's
disruptive at the point it's
been having. It's forcing us to
kind of pivot and rethink things
and how they're done. None of
this is
mentioned. Man, I'll tell you
this is,
you know, it, no, it wasn't
mentioned there. But I'll tell
you where it was mentioned was
Terminator and I Robot. And,
yes, those movies are serious
now, a sudden, they mean
something more than Arnold
Schwarzenegger, you know, just
shooting a bunch of people now
they mean something because it
is going somewhere. And, you
know, Melania Trump walked out
the other day with an AI robot
walking next to her. Yes, I'm
just like, and it begins, you
know, I mean, you know, that's
what's scary, man is like, AI is
meant to progress and get
smarter and smarter and smarter
and so, you know, we're pretty
much stopped learning at like,
28 so, you know, eventually,
like I said, eventually we're
not gonna be needed. The music
industry is gonna be like, maybe
the gorillas did it right at
first, where they had
characters, yes, and they just
did it like that. You know what?
They missed out, though. And it
just dawned on me with the
Terminator movies, how AI got a
hold of all the nukes that would
terminate the AI too. You would
think so that's true, because
it's an EMP that goes off. Well,
maybe that was, maybe that was
the idea, though. Yeah, if it
knocks out while they they're
the ones in the movie, they're
the AI is what's set off. Yeah,
they don't get rid of humanity,
yeah, because they took over.
Yeah. So, I mean, they'd almost
be doing themselves a
disservice, because the EMP that
is detonated when you detonate a
nuke. Why are we talking about
this? But anyway, we've gone
down this road. It's relevant.
It's a plot hole. Well, and I
think it's great that I heart if
you listen to any of their radio
stations at the top of the hour,
they say entirely human. Oh,
really, yeah. Okay. So I Heart
Radio is the one that I think
people should be trying to get
with more than other like, stay
away from Spotify Apple Music.
Stay away from all those guys. I
Heart Radio because they'll
still interview, but I think
Don't you still have to be on
like the top 20 to get an
interview on there. Oh, yeah,
yeah. So, I mean, that's
corporate radio. That's what's
corporate radio. It's gone
totally corporate. And that's
what killed, that's what killed,
you know, guys like us being
able to break new artists, yeah?
But I think ultimately, that
autonomy, eventually, that it's,
it will, should. I would think
it was going to come back
around. It'll have to, because
music radios die. It's dying,
but at the same time, the i
hearts are top heavy. They're
debt laden. They're a public
company. Cumulus just went
private again. They're
completely debt laden. They just
declared bankruptcy again. Yeah,
okay, there's only so many times
that you can rebrand, right?
Okay, until you're just done,
and eventually you got to sell
off all your assets, yeah, well,
and liquidate. And you said it
recently that young people are
really, they don't like AI, they
don't like AI. They want more
human, more authentic, plus
they're, they're liking vinyl.
If you notice, most of the vinyl
sales now are young people.
Well, that's just it, like,
like, I can come out now, and
for my merch, I won't even, I'll
probably buy 200 albums just to
kind of give away, yeah, and
then I'll buy nothing but
vinyls, you know, just to, just
to sell. It shows Yeah, because
that's what people want. They
want vinyls. It's not even CD
players in cars anymore. No,
there's no, there haven't been
for a while. But yeah, for the
first time in 2025
for the first time since 1989
I think vinyl sales outpaced CD
sales. I think it was
the hunters from that show. My
daughter loves the show. What's
it called? Demon Hunters? That
song, platinum. K Pop. Yeah, it
went platinum. And so they got,
they received their platinum, I
think on like Jimmy Fallon or
something. But you know, I mean,
I was really lucky to be able to
come on your show today, and you
know John to join us, and you
know Jay reached out, and it was
just, you know, so I'd love to
see, I'd love to, I'd love to
hear you guys on radio all the
time,
like, even when I had Reggie, or
maybe Reggie said it on our
show, or my show. I can't
remember what happened, but he
says even bringing back human
imperfection into music
production. Oh yeah, get rid of
the grid. Get rid of the click.
Let the guys just play, looking
at each other. How, with that
human connection that's
intrinsic, like, you know that
that when, when Bruce
Springsteen has got that one
note that he's got a vis hitting
the flat every now and then
he's, like,
born in the USA, yeah, that's, I
think needs to make a comeback.
You read my mind on that.
Because I was just saying, like,
how cool it is when you go out
to a show and, like, these
musicians get a wrong note, you
know? And dude, nice. I think
one of the most exciting, and I
beg anybody to argue with me
over this, but one of the most
exciting records that's still
out there was one from the 60s,
Dave Clark, five glad all over.
I mean, I'll argue with you, but
it's not gonna go anywhere,
because
you're gonna win, because that
record had so.
Much energy too, you know? And a
lot of the records today, they
just don't have that, right? I
mean, you know the old rare
earth records, yes, oh my gosh.
I mean, those things still sound
fantastic, but there's a raw
energy to that, right, that you
just don't hear. No, you know
who I really enjoy listening to,
especially on mine. Oh, Joe
Bonamassa. Yeah, dude killer.
And I was a third row in his
show in Knoxville, and I had
never seen him live, but I've
seen 1000 videos of them, and I
knew all this music and stuff,
but I'm sitting there, and my
dad calls me and goes, Hey, man,
do you want to go to Joe
Bonamassa? And I was like, why
would you ask me stupid
questions? Send me the tickets.
Tell me so we go out there, and
my wife and I, we ride out there
and and when we got there, we're
in the third row. And if you do
not leave those shows with your
ears ringing, you didn't, you
didn't do it right, right? Yeah.
I mean, your ears are supposed
to be ringing, yeah. You know,
you're supposed to wake up the
next morning just be like, I
didn't drink it all, and I'm
hungover, you know? Oh, yeah,
so, yeah, that's a rock and roll
show to me, right? Yeah? And
that dude, I mean, he can, he
can play the phone book on that
thing. Yeah, that's that. Well,
Jared man, you know, appreciate
you coming and joining us. And
of course, thanks again to to
John Barry for for joining us
for a bit, but again, we've
enjoyed getting to know you a
little more and wish you nothing
but the best. And you know, we
hope that perhaps you can
achieve that ultimate dream by
doing it your way. We're we're
gonna give it our best shot. You
know, go out as ourselves, or
did you guys want to play it?
Yeah, yes, definitely, yeah. I
think folks will, because it's a
great tune. Really enjoy this.
Jared Rogers along with John
Barry, you
he's lived so long with a
troubled mind, because often the
right place he's been too long,
on a rocky path. See the miles
upon his face he's been living
in the shadows,
hiding. From his guiding light,
he's trying to turn his life
around from
doing wrong to
doing right.
There's a bridge
we
almost cross leads
us to the choices
there.
Leads us to the choices, yes,
sir, yeah, and there's John
Barry. Pop that back up a
little bit,
almost.
Left Behind
the love of
his children and his wife, she
cried upon his shoulders.
God, please lend a helping hand.
Your voices really
compliment each other. Well, we
got in there, it was just
flowing. Yeah, sounds like he's
a rock star. I mean, John such a
pro man. Oh yeah, go in there.
Knock it out. You know, I've
been in the studio a million
times and and the one thing that
I like to be able to go in there
and do is to say I'm still
learning, y'all know, yeah. And
then when you surround yourself
with people like that, you don't
talk, you just, you just watch
and listen and and, you know,
you pop a joke in there every
now and then, just to have some
fun, build the camaraderie and
things like that. But, but never
walk into a room with somebody
of that status and assume you're
going to teach them something.
Let them take the lead, you
know, I mean, he changed the
phrasing on the song, yeah, you
know, because it wasn't me
singing it anymore. It was him
singing it. So Kent's like, Oh,
do you want to tell him the
phrasing and, and, you know, we
had to do a couple things, but
like, where it was just like,
you know, we're like, Oh no,
it's this word. And he goes,
Dad, God, I keep saying that
word, but it was, you know, for
the most part, Ken's just like,
just let John be John, you know,
and so, and I learned a lot from
Ken. I learned a lot from John
and Kevin Willis, who did the
mixing and the and the mastering
on the man, that dude just
killer. Well, it's very nice,
and best to you on it. And we.
Trashing me, yeah, of course, of
course. I want one of those
jerseys. Everybody says that.
Sell them. Yeah, you need to
except to me, because it was my
idea.
I get a free one, exactly.
Well, hey, that is gonna wrap up
this episode. Johnny B, you want
to tell them where they can find
us. Well, they can find us
everywhere. You find great
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That's right, the merch is
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