Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This was for the home team.
This was for the home team.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Hey, Tailgate Beers Ryan here. Austin is still out on assignment today and we'll be back next time. But hey, I want to thank Surfside Surfside. I've got an iced tea and lemonade and vodka and Stateside vodka here. Thank you those guys for sponsoring Tailgate Beers. We really appreciate the time and effort that you put into helping us put this together. So today I'm sitting down, we're talking with Taylor Berniga who is playing here at Cruisins tonight, Peoria, Illinois. So welcome Taylor.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Hey, thanks for having me, man.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. So Taylor is a local boy and we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna dive into that and all the localness of being from Central Illinois and, and some of your, your background and history but, but looking to, looking forward to just sitting down and chit chatting with you. So I met Taylor. It's been probably a month or so ago now you were here and we're open up for another artist we had coming through and got to a chance to listen and see on stage. And then when you got booked for tonight, I was like, I need to get ahold of him and see if he's willing to sit down with us. So. So welcome, welcome back.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Thank you. Good to be back.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: So where exactly are you from in central Illinois?
[00:01:38] Speaker A: I'm from Mapleton, Illinois. So it's from Cruisins 20 Minute Drive.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: Like that. So kind of right outside of Peoria area.
[00:01:45] Speaker B: Born and raised Mapleton.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: Born and raised. Born and raised. Been there my whole life.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: So you, you're a big basketball guy. I know that and I think we'll dive into that a little bit too here. And so probably played basketball at Mapleton growing up. What year did you graduate?
[00:01:59] Speaker A: Graduated 2017. So I went to Atlanta Bliss High School, Mapleton, Glassford, Kingston Mines, all really small towns. Kind of all feed into that school there.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: And if you can't tell just because we're sitting on the set here at Tailgate Beers, Taylor is A tall guy, 6 8-6868. College, played basketball here at Illinois State University. Tell us about that. You know, how was that upbringing to where you were in that basketball realm?
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So like I said, went to Atlanta Bows High School and stuff. Was always a pretty solid basketball player. Kind of grew quite a bit going from my sophomore to junior year and that kind of propelled me, I guess up to college. College looks, I guess you want to call it that. So went to Illinois State out of high school 2017, graduated there and man, the first year was. It was awesome.
Played a lot, great time, made it to the Missouri Valley championship, lost to Loyola. That was the year Loyola went to the final four. So that was cool to, you know, play against high quality teams like that. Going into my sophomore year, though, obviously, basketball, summer workouts. We were there all summer.
I'm going to say it was the end of.
End of July, maybe going into August. Had a. It was just, you know, routine practice, you know, and felt a little something pop in my foot. I was like, oh, hell, you know, you hear your. You feel things pop all the time playing sports and stuff like that. Really didn't think anything of it. Kind of just kept going, kept rolling with it. About a month later, I think really kind of still felt the same. And I was like, well, I guess it's probably time to, you know, check this thing out. And had a little stress fracture in there. You know, stuff happens all the time with basketball players, stress fractures. I was like, well, you know, they put you in a boot until you don't walk on it for a little bit of time. I think like six weeks. Came back, try to practice again. Still didn't feel right. And they said the fracture started out small. Explain a little bit how to get surgery on that. And from there, man, it was a. It was a roller coaster, I guess if you want to call it that. The rest of my college career there had the surgery, missed that whole sophomore year, tried to come back my junior year and just never. The surgery. They told me going into the surgery, it's one of those ones where there's a 50% chance it heals right, everything's fine. Sunshine, rainbows are 50% chance. You know, it only like that. And, you know, I caught the short end of the stick there, I guess didn't quite heal as I'd hope. And that's kind of the end of that. And so that was your junior year? Junior year, yeah. So kind of played a few games my junior year, up and down. And then my. My senior year is called like a medical exemption. I was still part of the team there, helping out and stuff, but obviously didn't play or anything. Like.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: So that had have been right around Covid time too.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: Right around Covid time. So yeah, so my senior year it would have been right.
Actually my senior was during COVID 2020, so got done with that and then, you know, make lemon or lemonade out of lemons or whatever. I was a decent baseball player. So I went down to siue outside of St. Louis there and played baseball for a couple years.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Okay. Pitcher.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: Pitcher, yeah.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: So were you playing baseball or keeping up on that the whole time you.
[00:05:18] Speaker A: Were, um, in college, really? No, when I first got to college, it was mostly it was just basketball. Focus on that. And then kind of once that foot injury happened after my junior year, kind of that senior year when I had that medical exemption, I was like, well, you know, like to be something I could get back into. So I started throwing again and stuff like that. And luckily the foot, I injured my left foot. So right handed left foot, you're just your plane and foot. So really not a lot of, not a lot of force coming down on it or anything like that. So it held up well, everything was going good there. Got a pretty bad car wreck.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: Oh no.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: Like halfway into the season. Yeah, I messed up my back really good. And that was kind of, that's kind of where I made the started. I didn't know it, but kind of started to make the shift, I guess from sports to music, I guess.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: So has music always been like been there or kind of in the background or was it just something you kind of picked up?
[00:06:06] Speaker A: You know, I always love music. You know, I'm always saying, like, I'm a human jukebox, I guess, play a song, I can probably pick out who it is, who plays it, you know. And my dad, he actually plays the drums with our band, man, so it's pretty cool. Yeah, so he taught me how to drum when I was younger, so I've always been able to drum and stuff like that. But kind of once those injuries happen and stuff like that. I was at college still, so it's like, you know, you can't really bring a full drum set into a college apartment.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I'm sure you could.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: You could. You probably piss a lot of people, you know. So I got the, I got a guitar, taught myself how to play it, then kind of started writing songs shortly thereafter. And kind of that's how it took.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: Off, I guess, growing up Central Illinois, you know, six, eight, like you said, between your sophomore and junior year, you grow and you know, now all of a sudden you're getting some attention from college, you know, recruiters, you know, you get through a good freshman year and all of that happens and you know, you're thinking about the future and then there's gotta be some mental health too. That kind of goes in there a little bit to figure out, hey, you know, you've got all these, all these big plans with, with basketball and then There's a chance at baseball. How did that feel? What. What was your. Your. Your mental.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: Yeah, no, yeah, it's definitely a. Draining, I guess, is the best way to put it.
A lot of highs, a lot of lows, I guess, and kind of that's what, you know, I was saying. My college career didn't go as I had planned, as I'd hoped. I guess the biggest thing it taught me is just, you know, how.
How to keep rolling them, you know, and take some punches, keep rolling with them. And that was. I tell you what, that's the biggest thing that college taught me. Just kind of. I grew up a lot just. Just from those injuries, I guess.
[00:07:51] Speaker B: And then from there, you start to take some of what you've learned and those feelings and, you know, disappointment, if that's what the feelings were, and kind of turned it into your love for music.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So kind of what I love about music, man, is it's still. It's a. It's competitive, I guess. So you're always trying to, you know, get bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, you know, and that's what I love about it. You know, when I got done with sports, it's like, that was the one thing I miss, you know, being out there. Competitiveness and, like, just trying to. Trying to get top the next guy, I guess, if you want to call it that. You know, make friends along the way. But obviously it's competitive. So when I got in with sports, I was like, you know, I always love music. And then kind of just naturally started kind of writing songs, just stuff I had bottled up from, I guess, college experiences and all that stuff. So that's kind of how that took off.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: So what did. What did your parents think? You know, kind of going from that, hey, you know, basketball's over. I'm gonna do a stint in baseball, and now I'm gonna go do some music.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Yeah. So when it first started, I think everybody was kind of questionable of it, I guess. You know, I graduated with my bachelor's at ISU and then my master's at siue, and come back. Come back from school, and people are like, all right, so what are you gonna do? And I think, well, I think I'm gonna do a little run at this music stuff. And everybody just kind of looks at you like, is that really the smart thing to do here? And at the time it's like, probably not, you know, probably, you know, getting a 9 to 5 is a security thing to do. But I've kind of always had that wild hair in Me, that music's kind of. When I started, I was like, you know, this is what I want to do, and just kind of. Kind of brace the storm, I guess, here at the beginning and kind of just ride it till you can't write it anymore. But back to your question. My parents, at first, they were. They're a little skeptical of it. You know, my dad loved it because, you know.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: Busted drum set back. Yeah. But when you come home and you tell your parents, you know, I think instead of using my master's degree, I'm gonna. To start playing music. It's. It's a little like, okay, whatever, you know, what.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: What's your degrees then?
[00:10:05] Speaker A: So my undergrad's in ag business, and then my master's is in leadership, you know.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Kind of just a little something.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: When you're playing baseball on the side.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: There you go. There you go. So. So was the. The thought going into, you know, ag that, you know, kind of do the. The farming, Central Illinois kind of thing.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Yeah. So obviously being from around Central Illinois, hotbed for farming. So, you know, I have a lot of friends, parents, you know, seed salesman, crop insurance and stuff like that. So that was kind of my plan when I got back, get into something like that. But, you know, the. The music thing's gone well enough, I guess, especially, you know, I've only kind of since I got back. I started doing acoustic stuff last. Last summer, and then once.
Once about the new year hit. I think February or March is kind of when we started to form the. The full band sound and stuff like that. And since then, it's kind of. Especially around this area, obviously taking off kind of like wildfire and stuff like that. So it's going well enough to where it's like, you know, I think. I think I made the right decision. I think we're moving in the right direction here. Right.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: When did the locks come.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: Oh, man, I've seen your pictures. Yeah.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: ISU basketball.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: Yeah. No, I didn't. I did. I didn't have it playing basketball. I think it was kind of when I started to play baseball is when I started to grow the hair out. Yeah.
[00:11:17] Speaker B: Thought yeah, I might look all right.
[00:11:19] Speaker A: Noah center guard or something like that. Yeah.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: So what's. What's. What's on the horizon? What's. What you have planned? What's. What's. What's the hopes and dreams here?
[00:11:39] Speaker A: Yeah, man. So obviously hopes and dreams make it as big as you can. Stuff like that. Right now we just started. Just recorded three. Three songs probably release them as singles and stuff like that. Start getting music out there is the biggest thing. We don't have any music release yet, or I don't at least, you know.
So start getting music out there is the biggest thing. Obviously. Social media is so big nowadays. Start. Start getting stuff on there, promoting it on there, and then, man, we play. I can't tell you how many shows we've played. Probably somewhere between 80 to 100 since we got this full band thing going. So just keep the full band thing rolling, play as many shows, start getting music out there, and then eventually, you know, I'd like to make the transition over to just full time. Full time. Well, technically full time music right now, work a few side jobs, but technically make the transition over full time music. Original music as well, you know, like 90 sets, all originals and stuff like that.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: So what is a 6, 8 guy, long blonde hair, musician on the weekends. What kind of side jobs?
[00:12:43] Speaker A: Man, I do it all, I guess.
Mo yards. I live out in Lake Kamala, so Mo yards in there. Bartend at Coyote Creek Golf course. Yeah, shout out to Coyote Creek.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:12:54] Speaker A: Uh, and my bass player, he actually, he remodels houses. So we started this week remodeling one out in Peoria Heights. There you go.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: That'll keep you busy.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Anything and everything. Yeah. To kind of kill time during the week so we can. So I can at least still focus on this. So.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: So are you primarily playing right here in central Illinois? How far are you expanding out?
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Yeah, so right now kind of mostly central Illinois. We've been down to Missouri a couple times and hopefully within. I'm planning on maybe within the next year to kind of start branching out more. Kind of hitting. Hitting the regional areas. Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri. Down farther in Missouri, I guess. So that's kind of the plan. And any.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Any bigger plans like Nashville area or anything along those lines.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: You know, I always say, like, all roads lead to Nashville eventually. So eventually, yes. I kind of think starting out right now, I just want to get my. Get my hours in on the stage and stuff like that. Form kind of the sound I want, you know, I think it's the best way to say it. Kind of ours is my sound is like Southern. Southern rock mixed with country, red dirt, stuff like that. Kind of like the edgier, you know, rock, country stuff. So kind of form the sound how I want it. But obviously all roads lead to Nashville, so. Yeah, definitely. Definitely on the horizon there.
[00:14:13] Speaker B: So a lot of song writing happening or you.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: What's.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: What's a Show. A show is a lot of covers.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: So a show for us, I'd say usually play like right now, you know, the three hour sets, obviously the opening sets, they're nice, you know, get on there for an hour, beat them down with a good, healthy dose of originals, a couple covers, and get out. But right now, you know, it's like three hour sets. I'd say a third of it is original material that we play. And, you know, usually it goes over really well. You know, you don't have any people throwing beer bottles at you, telling them to turn that, turn that off or anything like that. So that goes well. And then obviously the other portion of its covers, you know, Alan Jackson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, stuff like that.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: So what's, what's, what's like your favorite part of being up on stage?
[00:15:02] Speaker A: Honestly, it's just an adrenaline rush, you know, it's. I think that's part of why I love it too. You know, you have that adrenaline rush. I don't know if it's nerves, but it's almost like, like basketball and stuff like that. You get the, you get the feeling in you before you got on the court and stuff, and it's the same before you go up and play on stage and all that. So I think that's probably the most part I love about it.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: You ever have like those blackout moments, like you walk off stage or like, what. What just happened and then, you know, everybody's around like, oh, that was.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. Just the adrenaline rush. Yeah, I love it. Yeah.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: What's. What are some of the, I don't know, the things that cross over from being a basketball player, baseball player at the higher levels in college and what kind of crosses over what you've seen of the music industry?
[00:15:51] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely, like I said, definitely the competitiveness, at least for me. Always trying to either outdo yourself, outdo you don't want to out. It's competitive. You want to put on the best show possible and all that. So definitely the competitiveness, I think. And also, you know, like, our band were super close, man. And it's kind of just like having teammates in college and stuff like that. So I'd say those are probably the biggest things.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: You guys all travel to shows and stuff like that together.
[00:16:18] Speaker A: So, yeah, we've got to know ourselves like each other pretty well and stuff like that.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: Talking about, you know, 2025 and, and goodness, we're already in middle of November and 2024.
What's, what's, what's coming out in 2025 for you?
[00:16:34] Speaker A: Definitely original music is the biggest thing. Healthy dose of that, man. Like I said, kind of what I do in my free time is write music. So definitely a healthy dose of that. I'm going to try and do the thing where you just keep. Keep pumping out, feeding people, feeding them, feeding them, and eventually, you know, one catches on, I think, right?
[00:16:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:16:57] Speaker A: So that's the biggest thing for 2025 for me is that. And then obviously the, I guess the level of shows keep playing bigger shows, bigger shows, bigger shows, bigger stages and stuff like that. So that's definitely, I guess, on the horizon, I think, for me.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Who do you like, look up to musically?
[00:17:14] Speaker A: I get like from this era. Yeah. Would you say kind of this era? I'd say I'm a. I'm a big co. Wetzel guy. I love how he kind of, man, just started out playing small bars down there and just kind of did it on his own almost and then kind of worked his way up. Bigger stages, bigger venues, booking agents, management. And then obviously now he's signed to labels out of Nashville and stuff like that. So that, that's kind of the footsteps I'd like to follow. And he obviously, he has a distinct sound. It's like when it comes on, it's like, oh, yeah, you know who that is. So that's really who I look up to. And man, just kind of how he does it, just build it from the ground up.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: So someone who's played. Played here at Cruis'ns previously, do you see yourself growing with. With that kind of crowd? And you know, like I said, you were here a month, six weeks ago, you know, wanting to see obviously the crowd continue to come back, but then see new people winning them over. You know, that. Is that. That kind of the hope every time that you're out?
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Exactly, yeah. Yeah, that's the biggest hope. And I think obviously with releasing original music and stuff like that, I think that's gonna pay dividends, I guess. You know, getting that out, getting.
Getting that out on all the social medias and stuff to where people can see it. You know, we even started doing some of like, you know, the Tick Tock videos and stuff like those ready to put on there. So I think once that kind of gets out, I think that'll help a ton as well.
[00:18:39] Speaker B: I was talking about this lecage here tonight here in Peoria, Cruising as well. And we were talking about on a podcast earlier today about how important social media is and almost having to be an influencer in today's world with the way that social media works, where the algorithm works and all that kind of stuff. I mean, are you experienced in that or you have some folks that are behind the scenes kind of helping you with that?
[00:19:05] Speaker A: Honestly, I'm terrible with social media.
I've never really been big on social media, anything like that. I always say I wish I was born back in the 80s or something like that, you know. Yeah, you get some good songs together, you go. Go to a label or something like that and pitch it to them and see. See what their response is. But, you know, the day and age we're in social media, it's so big. So, you know, I'm terrible with it. I got a few people that are helping me with it, you know, especially the editing and all that stuff. Stuff. And then once I kind of get stuff rolling, I think I'd like to get with somebody that's good with the algorithm, figure out when to post what to post, all that good stuff.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: Oh, it's all about hashtags.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: Exactly. Oh, my God. Timing. It's crazy.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: And yeah, we were, we were talking about it before the podcast, before you came in and. And yeah, the whole, the whole world is.
[00:19:54] Speaker A: Yeah, it's ridiculous.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: It's crazy. And you know, obviously, as you've seen, and some of the biggest names in music today are born from.
[00:20:03] Speaker A: From social media.
[00:20:04] Speaker B: TikTok or social media.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:20:05] Speaker B: You know, YouTube back, you know, a few years ago. And that certainly is. Is a platform that can be used to get your music out, get your name out, you know, all that kind of stuff too.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: 100%. Yeah.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: Yeah, you almost, you almost have to.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: It's a day and age where, yeah, you have to. If you want to be successful now, you have to do it. So I'll, you know, I always say keep riding the train till there's no more track. So I'll find somebody to help me figure all that stuff out and, you know, obviously cross that bridge once we get rolling on that, you know.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: So what are you. What are you looking forward to, you know, playing any festivals this year? Anything along those lines?
[00:20:43] Speaker A: We don't have anything lined up yet. You know, obviously we'd love to play some festivals, you know. Tnt, right? Yeah.
[00:20:49] Speaker B: Tailgating tall boys.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: Yeah, baby. But, you know, we have some big around here. Bike nights and stuff is the big thing, the big seller around here. So we got a bunch of Bike O'Reilly's we'll be at next summer and all that. So we're looking forward to all that stuff.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: Have you have you gone as a patron or a fan to tailgate and tall boys?
[00:21:06] Speaker A: I have, yeah. I was there.
I actually went when it was in Peoria one time, and then I went the man, I'm trying to think what year that was. We played this year. So I didn't make it out this past year, but it would obviously two years ago. Was it when like, Riley Green was there more wall and all that? Yeah.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: So that was a year.
[00:21:29] Speaker B: Bloomington.
[00:21:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:30] Speaker B: What. What. What kind of childhood? I mean, and again, coming and really stemming into the central Illinois and being right here, you know, do you. Do you bring in a lot of your family? The families come to your shows and support you that way?
[00:21:49] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. A lot of family, friends. And then obviously this past year built up a pretty good fan base of just, you know, people you've never, never met in your life and stuff, which is also cool, you know, like, being from around here, it's like, you know, you know, a good handful of people, but we've met a lot of people I've never met in my life. And, you know, it's. That's cool as well.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Going into. From, again, from basketball to baseball, I don't even know about the baseball part, but going from basketball to baseball to, you know, dabbling into the music industry and the crossovers of the things that you've seen from a competitiveness and. And things along those lines. I mean, do you still have contacts, do you still have friends that, you know, you played, you know, college basketball or college baseball with that, you know, they kind of support you now as a musician.
[00:22:38] Speaker A: Yeah. So my college roommates from ISU were still super close. Talk every day. One of them is down in Florida now. One of them's in Arkansas, and one of them is in Ottawa, Illinois. One of them is in Florida, you know, so, you know, they're all over the map. And then my roommates from siue, there was four of us and the other three got drafted. So it's kind of. It's kind of, yeah. One of them's with the White Sox, one of them's with the Blue Jays, one of them is with the Phillies. So it's cool to kind of keep up with them. They keep up with me. So, yeah, that's fun.
[00:23:12] Speaker B: Baseball. So Austin and I, you know, Austin, we. We coach or have coached our kids. Our boys are the same age, 11 years old this year, coming up for next year. And so we certainly are into the pitching and stuff like that. What kind of pitches did you throw?
[00:23:29] Speaker A: So I had forcing fastball slider curve and change up.
[00:23:33] Speaker B: When did, when did you introduce yourself or who at what type of age for, for the, the curveball.
[00:23:38] Speaker A: Oh man, that's, that's one you don't.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Want, you don't want to teach them to.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I want to say I was probably, probably middle school age, like seventh grade or high summer.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: Somewhere around that age. Yeah.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: We're getting, we're getting closer and you know, obviously we didn't start coach or we didn't start kid pitch until 9u so we're only a couple years into it. But, but yeah, so a lot of fastballs obviously trying to get the right grips and then you throw in the change up every once in a while and then you get into stiffer competition. You know, you get a little farther away from Peoria. We've been to a few tournaments where, you know, kids are throwing sliders and everything else.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: I don't doubt it.
[00:24:17] Speaker B: Yeah, it's just, it's, it's, it's a whole, that whole world is just a crazy world on its own. So you played baseball growing up as well?
[00:24:24] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yep. Around here.
Travel teams and all that good stuff. So. I know exactly. Yeah. The summer grind, it is.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: And then you get into school and then you're doing it, you know. And baseball, I tell our youth and our parents, whatnot. Baseball is almost a year round sports.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah.
[00:24:43] Speaker B: And I don't know if all the other sports are. I think they're still behind that as far as the year roundness. But you're still doing some workouts, I'm sure.
[00:24:52] Speaker A: Oh yeah, yeah.
[00:24:53] Speaker B: Did you grow a massive amount between that? I mean obviously, you know, to get up to six eight. Yeah, you would think that there's like a foot, you know.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: Yeah, no, mine was kind of gradual, I guess.
I was short when I got to high school. I was really. Yeah, I wasn't even 6 foot. I was like a little tiny freshman. Kind of grew to like, I think I was like six two, six three maybe my sophomore year. And then kind of just like an inch or two every year after that.
[00:25:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And eventually just you got up into where you're probably, you know, line I bluffs. It's not a huge school, but it's not small by any means.
[00:25:25] Speaker A: Not at all.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: So I went to Henry, which is a little bit farther north, about 45 minutes north or whatnot. And very small single A at the time. A lot of different classes now, but back in my day, yeah, I mean I was 6:1 and played basketball, but just so small a school.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: Exactly 6:1. Probably one of the biggest guys on the team. Yeah.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: Thinking about, you know, just a huge jump that I made just from, you know, probably five, six at one time, and then went to six one. I can only imagine that, you know, mom had to buy new jeans.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:58] Speaker B: You know, every month for you, for jean shoes.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: I still have to buy new jeans, man. I feel like I keep. Hopefully I'm not grown anymore, but I feel like I got to get new jeans every month.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: What size kicks you wear?
[00:26:09] Speaker A: 15. 15.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: Is that special order yet, or is that, like, on that cusp of having to go. Special order.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: No, you can get most of it. Not in stores at all, but obviously you have to order it online. But thankfully it's not like anything like special order or anything like that.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Trying to picture behind a drum kit, too. Of.
[00:26:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Like Donkey Kong, breaking heads and picking.
[00:26:33] Speaker B: The bass drum in.
[00:26:33] Speaker A: It's exactly what it's like. Yeah.
[00:26:35] Speaker B: You still play drums at all, too?
[00:26:37] Speaker A: Or mostly focus more on, you know, the acoustic and songwriting and singing stuff. But, you know, every now and then when I want to let the beast out of the cage, I get back there. There you go.
[00:26:46] Speaker B: There you go. And you said your dad plays. Plays drums for you.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's fun.
[00:26:51] Speaker B: I bet. Just getting that. That time with him.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:54] Speaker B: So you guys do some writing together now? Do you write it all?
[00:26:57] Speaker A: Usually, yeah. No, usually it's just me and the acoustic.
[00:27:00] Speaker B: Your writing process, I mean, you're going through something in life, and you kind of jot that down or you spend some time in reflection.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Yeah. So kind of what I got, I got just a long list of just, like, song. I just. It's called song ideas in my phone, and something pops in your head or something. Throw it on there. I got. You go through my camera roll. There's a bunch of just, like, me humming melodies and stuff like that. And then obviously, you take that and put it on the guitar, and it's just like a puzzle almost starts piecing stuff together.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: Do you write with anybody else or just primarily by yourself?
[00:27:33] Speaker A: Mostly by myself. The guitar player that's with me, Alex Sams. Me and him, we're kind of. We click pretty well, know each other, kind of what each other are thinking. So me and him will do some stuff together, but primarily it's kind of just me.
[00:27:45] Speaker B: Dog or a cat guy?
[00:27:46] Speaker A: Dog for dog.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: What kind of breed?
[00:27:49] Speaker A: So right now I got a golden doodle.
[00:27:51] Speaker B: Golden doodle.
Little. Little poodle. Got short curly hair.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: Curly hair.
[00:27:56] Speaker B: All right, all right. I've got a Aussie doodle.
[00:27:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: Then I've also got a black lab, so I'm. Oh, yeah, I got the black lab. I told my wife that I needed it for duck hunting.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
[00:28:07] Speaker B: Of course, I don't do anything with, you know, the. You gotta train. That's. That's a big commitment. Right, so.
[00:28:12] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, it was.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: It was a thought at one time.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:14] Speaker B: You know, but that training is. Is crazy. You do any hunting?
[00:28:18] Speaker A: No. Well, when I was younger, I did once. I kind of got into sports and stuff. Ran out of time.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: And then. Yeah. Now music and stuff. So time consuming with that on the weekends that really kind of. I'm really. I haven't hunted, man, probably since middle school, I'd say.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:28:38] Speaker A: And then I'm a big fisherman, though, so obviously. And that's a little less time consuming. You can find a little time, go out and fish.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: So cast a line here, here and there.
[00:28:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: What.
What kind of fish do you like.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: To fish for, man?
For fun, you know, Largemouth bass. But I'm a big crappie guy. I love eating crappie. So.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Ever go up north, like Wisconsin?
[00:29:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. When I was younger, we'd go every year up north. Wisconsin. Balsam Lake.
[00:29:05] Speaker B: No, it's. It's always fun to go out and I don't do as much hunting as I'd love to today even. But, you know, I've got a couple of kids that enjoy just being out in a duck blind or a goose pit. And it's just so fun to take them out and let them enjoy that too, for sure. But I used to deer hunt a lot more deer hunting growing up. But deer hunt is so tough around here. Just because you have to have a place, obviously, for sure. You know, even waterfowl, you can kind of go around to some of the natural public places around here, here and get in fairly. Fairly easily.
But. Yeah. What other hobbies? What else is Taylor into?
[00:29:44] Speaker A: Big golfer.
[00:29:45] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:29:45] Speaker A: Really big golfer.
[00:29:46] Speaker B: Big clubs.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: Big clubs, yeah. Irons are 2 inch longer drivers.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: Special order, I assume.
[00:29:53] Speaker A: Special order, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, It's a big golfer, man. That's in my free time, especially in the summer. That's what. That's what I'll be doing. Where you golf at around here usually, man? I've golfed probably every course around here, but primarily at Coyote Creek over there.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: Yeah, Definitely my favorite course around this area.
[00:30:11] Speaker B: And pretty good at it or have gotten good.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: Pretty solid. Yeah. You know, like, probably a 8, 9 handicap, high 70s, low 80s, usually.
[00:30:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't know what that means, but.
[00:30:20] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Solid golfer. Yeah, Nothing. Nothing great. Like I'm never gonna win the masses or anything like that, but I can go out and play.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: Well, I am a.
A beer drinking golfer. Yeah, that's how I golf. I enjoy driving the golf cart.
You need to get into the cruisins golf outing.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: Cruisins puts on a golf outing every year too, and it's a lot of fun.
[00:30:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: Not as much on the golfiest side. Right. But still a lot of fun.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: I love to do that too. Go have buddies and just have fun doing it.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: Some of the artists as they're coming in too, they say, hey, can we go golfing? We went out golfing with Lily Rose and her team a few weeks ago and. And yeah, just so much fun just to get on the course and be able to have these types of conversations with artists as they're coming through. Yeah, definitely playing here at Cruis'ns tonight. So it's, you know, middle of the afternoon now. We're doing the podcast, you know, you're opening up for Locade, who's. Who's here with us today as well. You know, what do you do, you know, between now and then? Obviously you've got a soundcheck and that kind of stuff, but sound check.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: Might go over, watch some of that arm wrestling that's going on today.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, Cruisin's. Peoria's got an arm wrestling competition. I was over there earlier and there's a lot of big guys.
[00:31:34] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sure. Yeah.
[00:31:35] Speaker B: But the crazy part is there's a lot of little guys in there.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: And some of those little guys. Oh, goodness.
[00:31:41] Speaker B: Goodness. Probably the farmers. You know, the guys are just, you know, out there, you know, throwing bales of hay all the time and just have that strength from that.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. So I'll go over there, catch some of that, grab some food.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: There you go.
[00:31:54] Speaker A: Probably just hang out, hang out until you go on, come back in here, crank a crank, a few cold ones. There you go.
[00:32:02] Speaker B: There you go. So, yeah, I'll pitch Surfside too, if you ever. Have you had a Surfside before?
[00:32:07] Speaker A: I had a little bit here once we got started. It's a good stuff.
[00:32:10] Speaker B: So it's. It's kind of taken the start on the east Coast. We've gotten to know Matt from. From Surfside and actually he does Stateside vodka here as well and is a sponsor for tailgate beers and some other things happening. Certainly here in the Midwest and the Nashville. Getting involved in the. In the music scene a little bit. But great guys and very, very good drinks.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: As far as, like, rtd, I'd drink that golfing for sure.
[00:32:36] Speaker B: Oh, that's exactly where I.
[00:32:38] Speaker A: Perfect drink for it.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: That is it. I bagged a few on the golf course and they are phenomenal out there. So shout out to Surfside and Stateside Vodka. So thank you guys for sponsoring. Let's talk about food.
Taylor goes to Cruisins next door. I don't know if you've been over to Ducks yet.
[00:32:59] Speaker A: I was at Duck's this past week.
[00:33:01] Speaker B: What do you order?
[00:33:03] Speaker A: I went to Ducks. I'm trying to think what I got. I got like, the Southwest burger, I think. Yeah. Burger guy, Big burger guy, Burgers. Hell, you know, I'm not picky. I'll eat anything, but.
[00:33:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, a six, eight, you kind of gotta feed the beast, right?
[00:33:17] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. I'm really, you know, I don't really push anything away. It's usually.
[00:33:23] Speaker B: You clean up the cleanup, everybody else's finish. Right, Absolutely. I know what that is. I know what that is.
[00:33:29] Speaker A: But, yeah, I like the. The Philly rap at Cruising Wings. You know, pizza.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: I'm a wing guy. I eat quite a bit of wings myself.
What about pizza? And it's been kind of a thing on Tailgate Beers podcast about, do you think that pineapple belongs on pizza?
[00:33:47] Speaker A: Every now and then.
[00:33:47] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:33:48] Speaker A: You know, I can't eat it on it every time I get pizza, but I don't. I don't mind it.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: So it. Would it be like the Hawaiian?
[00:33:54] Speaker A: Definitely. Yeah. A little Hawaiian. Some ham on there.
[00:33:56] Speaker B: So I've heard some other folks talking about, like, jalapenos and almost like a barbecue, but also with. Yeah.
[00:34:02] Speaker A: With some chicken.
[00:34:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Pineapple, too.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: I don't mind that. It's good.
[00:34:06] Speaker B: A little bit more on the spicier side, my thing. And like I said. And I've said it on podcast before, I mean, if it was in front of me and that's all I had, you know, I'm gonna eat it.
[00:34:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
[00:34:16] Speaker B: But warm pineapple isn't. Isn't necessarily my favorite.
[00:34:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: But I like it. I enjoy pineapple.
[00:34:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:22] Speaker B: You know, just. Just regular pineapple.
[00:34:24] Speaker A: Yeah. I actually had an omelet this morning. Hawaiian omelet with some pineapple.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: I didn't know that was a thing.
[00:34:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: Something at home.
[00:34:30] Speaker A: No, I went to a Bartonville diner.
[00:34:32] Speaker B: Okay. I've been to Bartonville Diner before.
Yeah, absolutely. That's Just something that. That you would just order.
[00:34:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: On a regular basis.
[00:34:39] Speaker A: Look good. Yeah. I gotta try it.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: That's interesting. Another type of conversation that comes up on. On Tailgate Beers quite a bit is Austin asked this question of all of our guests, and I don't do a total justice, but I do my attempt, especially since he's gone. But. So you're on a plane, right? Plane's going down.
[00:34:59] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: You have a parachute, so you're safe as far as that is concerned. You're going to be able to jump out with the parachute. You have access to all albums ever created. Okay. And I'll let you cheat a little bit, too, if it's just an artist or, you know, certain, because we're in the day and age of streaming songs. You know, not a ton of people listen to full albums anymore, even download full albums, but you have access to all of them. You're getting ready to jump out. You're gonna spend the rest of your life and on an island by yourself. Okay, what. What are you grabbing? What's. What's your. Your.
[00:35:36] Speaker A: Your five, man. Five artists.
I'd say one of them Waylon Jennings, one of them Lynyrd Skynyrd, for sure.
[00:35:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:48] Speaker A: Toby Keith, Alan Jackson. Man, that fifth one's tough.
No, I like to Wetzel. So there you go. So if I need to, you know, get ramped up on this island or something, I'll bring him along.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: But for the most part, you're strictly country guy.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: Country guy? Yeah, with a country guy. And, man, I love, like. Like Southern rock and stuff, too, like Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot, stuff like that.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: You ever get into more of the rock scene or rap or hip hop or anything along those lines growing up.
[00:36:26] Speaker A: A little bit, a lot of the rock scene, not much of the rap scene at all. But, you know, I was a big, like,'80s hair metal guy.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:36:35] Speaker A: Like Motley Crew, Def Leppard stuff. I listen to that, you know, more. Mostly rock. Country and Southern rock is. I don't stray too far from that.
[00:36:44] Speaker B: Have you ever ran into or have any sightings of, like, a Sasquatch?
[00:36:49] Speaker A: No, but it's actually funny. Down on Mapleton, like, a couple weeks ago, there was a Sasquatch sighting. Supposedly somebody saw one from the road.
[00:36:57] Speaker B: Really?
[00:36:58] Speaker A: And I had my phone, like I was sitting there, and all of a sudden, like, I had like five or six messages.
Everybody thought it was me walking, like, down. Walking on the side of the road, man. Where you at right now?
[00:37:10] Speaker B: I promise that's not where I am, yeah.
[00:37:11] Speaker A: No, I was like, no, it wasn't me.
But no, I like where we fish a lot. Banner Marsh. If there's a Sasquatch around this area, it's somewhere down in there.
[00:37:24] Speaker B: We were talking stories earlier and located. Had a story about his grandfather that had some sort of run in with something, you know, and it's just because I've heard the same similar type of stories here in central Illinois.
[00:37:40] Speaker A: Oh yeah, yeah.
[00:37:41] Speaker B: That, you know, there, there's, there's. There's something else out there. And certainly if it's. It's because his wasn't even in central Illinois.
You know, Is there something that, that, you know, is the government trying to hide something from us? Do you think that they know about it?
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Probably. If anybody does, they. Sure, they definitely do.
[00:37:58] Speaker B: And even like bobcats.
[00:38:00] Speaker A: Oh yeah, yeah.
[00:38:01] Speaker B: Bear.
[00:38:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Around here, a lot of bobcats, you know, but it's something a lot of people like, un. Like kind of know your, you know, your wildlife and stuff around here. There's a lot of bobcats in central Illinois.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: But my own ignorance on this. Have they been here, bobcats been in central Illinois for a long time or is this somewhere like they're just like starting to come into.
[00:38:20] Speaker A: I think they've been here.
[00:38:20] Speaker B: Have they?
[00:38:21] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:38:21] Speaker B: Yeah, because I've hunted, you know, I've been on a deer stand, But I've never, you know, ran into a bobcat, you know, fox and coyotes and stuff like that. But I just. It seems like the bobcats just have moved in and now everybody, you know, is seeing bobcats running around central Illinois.
[00:38:39] Speaker A: Yeah, actually, I think I. Man, it was over the summer. I think I was driving home late one night from a gig somewhere. About hit one ran across the road right in front of me.
[00:38:49] Speaker B: So I used to live in Colorado. I was in the military and lived in Colorado and right at the base of the Rocky Mountains Air Force Academy. I mean, it would be nothing to walk out and just see a whole herd of elk or, you know, a bear just, you know, walking through the yard, you know. Do you think that migration will ever come this far over study much of migration?
[00:39:12] Speaker A: That's a good question, but I don't think so.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think it's possible if they ever get like, so overpopulated, you know, but then you run into things like, you know, taking some of the woods away.
[00:39:23] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:39:24] Speaker B: And infrastructure being built and stuff like that. You just kind of wonder if, you know, they'll ever get this far east.
[00:39:33] Speaker A: Yeah, but that would be it Would be something if it was. Yeah.
[00:39:37] Speaker B: I mean, it could come from the east though too. I mean, think about black bear and, you know, Tennessee area and some of the mountains. Down. Down.
[00:39:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Every once in, once in a while you get a black bear off this way.
[00:39:47] Speaker B: I haven't seen one around here.
[00:39:48] Speaker A: I have. I haven't personally seen one, but, you know, every once in a while one strays up this way.
[00:39:54] Speaker B: Going back to music a little bit. You talked about Coetzel and kind of looking up to.
To him as far as, you know, the way he carries himself and stuff like that. Is there is that stage presence. How big a stage presence for you?
[00:40:12] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, I don't get quite as wild as I'm on the stage. You know, I'm kind of a more.
I like to have fun, but I keep it kind of and check and check a little bit more, which I. By all means. Man, he kicks ass. I mean, what he's doing. Keep doing it. But if I had to bet your.
[00:40:31] Speaker B: Dad probably wouldn't be very impressed if at the end of your show, you know, you're tearing up his drum set.
[00:40:35] Speaker A: Yeah, no, definitely not. I wouldn't think so. That might cause. Cause a few issues, but I guess.
[00:40:39] Speaker B: If you're buying a new one, you know.
[00:40:41] Speaker A: Exactly. If I buy him a new one, you know, surprise beat his drum set to death. But you know, kind of the. About Kurt Wetzel, what I like, kind of the thing that I like about him is just kind of just how he built it up from the. From the ground up. You know, release his own music from the get go and then, you know, bigger, bigger, bigger he gets, climb the ladder each year. And then, you know, obviously you see where he's at now. So that's kind of as far as he goes. That's kind of the big thing that I like, admire about him.
[00:41:09] Speaker B: You know, his. His song he's got with Jesse Murph, one of my favorites.
[00:41:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:14] Speaker B: His fan base wasn't, from what I've read anyway.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:18] Speaker B: Wasn't a huge fan of Jesse Murph being on that with him, really.
Which was odd to me. I mean, I've seen Jessie Murph and Tailgate and Tall Boys in Michigan this year and. Phenomenal. I just love her. Just like the raspiness of her voice. And she's also kind of that.
I don't know if you'd say rebellious kind of girl, but certainly isn't afraid to speak her mind, but very petite at the same time. I never really understood what they Kind of had his following had against her.
[00:41:54] Speaker A: But, you know, I have no idea.
[00:41:56] Speaker B: Anything along those lines.
[00:41:57] Speaker A: Yeah, my. I think my biggest favorite album by him, that second album. I don't know if you listen to a noise complaint.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, yeah, Yeah.
[00:42:05] Speaker A: I can name.
Sing about every song off of that from, you know, start to end. That's a blast of that album quite a few times.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: So you. Are you a radio guy? Are you like, more of a streaming.
[00:42:17] Speaker A: More of a. Definitely more of a streaming guy, yeah. And just to tell you, yeah, and it's like kind of the stuff I listen to. Obviously, it's a lot of older country, like I said, like Waylon Jennings, Toby Keith and stuff like that. And like, kind of what I. I like getting into, like, deep dives and like, listening to, like, people's first album, second albums and stuff like that. You know, back when. Back when it was raw, you know, they were still, you know, fighting to kind of get to where they're at and stuff. So I love going back and listening all that stuff.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: Are you a lyrics guy? You listen to the lyrics and analyze, try to figure out what the songs are about?
[00:42:48] Speaker A: Definitely talk to us about one of.
[00:42:49] Speaker B: One of your songs that you've written that, you know, and you go to whatever detail you feel comfortable with. But, you know, that. That point in time, that point in your life. And I've always said that music, to me, a song I can remember of, you know, where I was at or, you know, military or family or whatever was happening in my life at that time.
[00:43:11] Speaker A: Yeah. So, man, I got a few of them like that. But let's see one of them. One song we play, Revolving Door. I wrote that one.
It was kind of when I. It was last year when I was kind of starting to get into this music thing and obviously being from a small town and stuff like that. Like I said, you get back, everybody's. They kind of ask you, like, all right, you're back from college now, what are you going to do? And it's like, well, I think I'm going to do this. This music thing. And it's like they kind of just look at you and stuff like that. And I was like.
I sat down, started writing stuff, and it came to me, revolving door. It's like, you know, small towns and stuff like that. Like, where I'm from, I always say they're kind of just revolving doors. You know, you go out, go to college, something like that. You come back, but there's a revolving door. Keep spinning, spinning, spinning. You almost get Trapped in it, doing the same thing that your parents did or something like that. Take the same job. And then I was kind of, you know, almost like pissed off, you know, writing it and wrote it. And it's kind of just about, you know, breaking the revolving door down and kind of getting out, starting your own path and doing what you want to do.
[00:44:13] Speaker B: That's awesome. So how do you put music to that, then? I mean, you start with the lyrics and does that music come with it or is that something that. That comes later on in the progression of it?
[00:44:22] Speaker A: For me, I guess I kind of do a little bit of both. You know, obviously, sometimes you're just picking on your guitar and you find a couple chords, a little progression that you like, and it's like, all right, we'll roll with that. And then sometimes you have some lyrics pop in your head, and then you. You take that and roll with it from there.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: And then adding. Adding all the other layers to it. I mean, that comes over time.
[00:44:40] Speaker A: You're starting to record. Exactly, yeah. So then kind of recording wise, what we did this past time, I just took the band, you know, my band, and we went in and just hit record and let it rip, played it live. And obviously you go back in, overdub the vocals and stuff like that. But, you know, like I said, me and my guitar player, Alex, we. We kind of. We see eye to eye, kind of like the sound we're chasing and what we want to achieve and stuff like that. So usually I can take whatever I have, throw it to him, and he kind of. You can see the gears turning. He's like, all right, well, I'm gonna put this here, this there, and stuff like that. So it's. It's. It. That's kind of how we do it.
[00:45:15] Speaker B: You do your recording around here.
[00:45:16] Speaker A: So this first batch. Yeah, we actually. We went to Rock Solid Studios out in Dunlap, Illinois. Oh, really? Yeah.
[00:45:23] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:45:24] Speaker A: So, yeah, they did a. Did a good job there. For those.
[00:45:26] Speaker B: They do all the. The mixing and engineering stuff for you, producing. That's awesome.
[00:45:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I didn't even.
[00:45:32] Speaker B: Didn't know that was even out there.
[00:45:33] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, eventually, you know, like, you know, they did an awesome job. I was, I was. I was happy with it. Yeah. Shout out to them, man. They did a great job with it. You know, obviously, as you kind of progress your career and stuff, you want to record, you know, bigger. Bigger studios and stuff, you know, where people. You kind of. The sound you're chasing, you kind of. I've done it before. You know, look up, like, where was this album recorded at? And stuff like that, and kind of try and get into places like that and kind of chase that sound that they. That they have or that you want, you know?
[00:45:59] Speaker B: Well, I want to thank you for taking the time. I know we want to get over and watch some of the arm wrestling before it's done, too, but Taylor was gracious enough. I reached out to him and said, hey, you know, I'd love to get you on the podcast, Tailgate Beers and talk a little bit about you and some of your background. Again, I knew you were a basketball player. I didn't know you did the baseball stuff, too. But I see you around town. I like a lot of your Facebook stuff and know you're out there grinding in central Illinois. So we're proud of you and certainly want to lift you up for everything that you're doing.
[00:46:36] Speaker A: I appreciate it.
[00:46:37] Speaker B: Doing here in the homeland.
[00:46:39] Speaker A: Thank you, man. Yeah, so, you know, like I said, it'll be. Hopefully it just keeps spreading like wildfire and, you know, we can look back on the podcast here in a few years or something. Be like. And be like, man, that's. That's cool how it's kind of. It's transformed from that. So. Yeah, I appreciate you having me. Always, always good seeing you guys coming.
[00:46:56] Speaker B: In the cruisins and always bring that hometown crowd. We need to get that hometown crowd out to tailgate and tall boys, for sure.
[00:47:01] Speaker A: Yeah, we do here soon, too.
[00:47:02] Speaker B: So thanks for coming in there a little bit earlier today and hanging out with us.
[00:47:06] Speaker A: Of course, man. Thank you.
[00:47:07] Speaker B: Do a quick cheers for sure, and looking forward to see you on stage.
[00:47:11] Speaker A: All right, man. Thank you. Absolutely.
