Episode 32 - Joe Stamm

[00:00:00] Speaker A: We're not on the Jumbotron and Times Square or anything. Not yet. [00:00:06] Speaker B: Right after this podcast. [00:00:07] Speaker A: Yeah, after this pod. Don't worry, guys. I looked up your numbers. I'm under no illusions over what this podcast is going to do for my. For my metrics. [00:00:28] Speaker C: Hey, welcome to Tailgate Beers here. As normal, we've got off Austin and Ryan here. Hey, we're again on location. We have been graciously invited out to our friend Joe Stam's shop. Garage. What do you. What do you call it? [00:00:43] Speaker A: Just the garage. [00:00:45] Speaker C: The garage. [00:00:46] Speaker B: I didn't call that we got invited. I. I very well could have invited. [00:00:49] Speaker A: Well, it was. It was the difference of me having to drive and me not having to drive. And in that. In that case worked out well. You guys came here. Yeah, but yeah, we're. [00:00:59] Speaker C: We're over at Joe Stam's garage and we're set up and. And gonna have some. Some great conversations here with Joe. Joe is an artist here around central Illinois, but certainly travels regionally too. We've got some show announcements he's talking about up in. Up in Minnesota and South Dakota too. We'll get into in a little bit. But very graciously opened up his garage for us to come out and do Tailgate Beers episode. So again, thank you and you bet. [00:01:25] Speaker A: Good to have you, man. [00:01:26] Speaker C: Welcome to the show. [00:01:27] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you. Thanks for being. Thanks. Wait, do I say thanks for being here or do you guys say thanks for being here? [00:01:32] Speaker C: Thanks for inviting. [00:01:33] Speaker A: Thanks. [00:01:33] Speaker C: Thanks for coming. [00:01:35] Speaker A: Thank you. Let's do cheers. [00:01:37] Speaker B: Let's just. Thank you. [00:01:38] Speaker C: Cheers. [00:01:39] Speaker A: My house. Your podcast. Yeah. [00:01:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:41] Speaker A: Where's Luke? I texted him. He didn't reply. [00:01:44] Speaker B: We just announced Cruising's birthday show. Fifth annual. [00:01:47] Speaker A: Fifth annual. I've been doing it five for four times and this is gonna be the fifth. In fact, I have the first annual. No, that was second annual. [00:01:55] Speaker B: How'd that come about of doing a birthday show? [00:01:58] Speaker A: Just a nice local because I. I want. We travel so much and on my birthday weekend, I didn't want to be traveling away from home, but I still wanted to make money. [00:02:06] Speaker B: Right. [00:02:07] Speaker A: And especially when we started this thing five years ago, I couldn't really afford to take weekends off. So the solution was, well, let's just do one close to home. Then I don't have to travel, but I can still work. And so we started doing them at. At Cruisings down there. And we were still doing it because it's been working. Yeah, yeah. People seem to come and enjoy it. [00:02:30] Speaker B: We were talking about the artwork earlier and I'm always fascinated by it. I mean, I actually liked. Which one was it? I mean, the cat had one is pretty good. [00:02:39] Speaker A: That was a birthday show weekend. Yeah. [00:02:41] Speaker B: But I did like the, the second annual one. I thought that one was kind of simple in its own way, but sharp. [00:02:47] Speaker A: I think the bird, the. The horse and the cat. That was probably the third annual. It doesn't say. It wasn't enough. It's funny how the second annual was enough years to say that it was a thing. But the third year, evidently we didn't think it was enough of an annual thing to list that it was a third annual. [00:03:04] Speaker B: And all of that was done by your wife? [00:03:06] Speaker A: Yes. She's done all these designs. She's done all the record designs that I've got on the wall. She does all our T shirt designs. She did tap out for a couple designs last year right after giving birth. But other than that, she has designed everything for us since I think 2017. [00:03:24] Speaker B: Who comes up with the ideas of like that one having just kind of a nature looks like a little Bambi thing? [00:03:29] Speaker A: Yeah, she came, she came up with that one. She calls it came up with the horse and the cat. [00:03:35] Speaker B: I feel like that one, she got time kind of to the last minute was like, I don't know. Here's what I got to. [00:03:40] Speaker A: All the birthday ones tend to be like that. But I mean, as a horse and a cat drinking beer or some good drink, you know, with human hands, it makes a lot of sense. [00:03:51] Speaker B: And you were just, you weren't even surprised. You're like, whatever you want. [00:03:54] Speaker A: No, yeah, I think that's great. But, but really it's, it's. It's both sometimes. I have the idea for the scooter boot tour there. It was going to be the Running Around Tonight tour, which is what this spring is going to. Is going to be because right when that tour was kicking off, I tore my Achilles last year. And so I was on a scooter. Yeah, my Achilles. And I was on a scooter. So I was like, what do we get? Like a basset hound in a. One of those doggy wheelchairs and so that, you know. Yeah, we were just worked together on it. [00:04:29] Speaker B: How'd you tear your Achilles? [00:04:30] Speaker A: Trying to play basketball. Where? Riverview Grade School. They have, they have a Wednesday night thing. I went twice. I played once. I played. So last year about this time. I'd been wanting to play basketball again for years and we first met at basketball Metamora Basketball camp. You're a cocky little shit. No, nothing's changed. [00:04:52] Speaker B: Nothing's changed. [00:04:53] Speaker A: Trying to shoot the three and dribble behind your back and stuff. And. Anyways, so I wanted to start playing pickup basketball again for years, and so I finally went to Facebook and was like, what are the places men gathered? Men of a certain age gather to play pickup basketball. And there's Riverview, which is not far from my house, played on Wednesday nights. So I went a couple times, and the first time I went, man, I was balling out. I mean, this, this one kid literally compared me to Dennis Rodman. [00:05:26] Speaker B: Come on. [00:05:26] Speaker A: Yeah. These kids don't know how to box up. They don't know how to reach up and grab a ball and slam it against the other hand and make a big, loud snap. Come down with your elbows swinging. [00:05:36] Speaker B: I teach. [00:05:36] Speaker C: I teach that now. [00:05:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:38] Speaker C: Because they have no idea now. [00:05:39] Speaker A: The second time I played, I went up for a rebound and, and, and, and thought somebody came up behind me and kicked me in the back of the leg. But what happened was Nobody was within 10ft, and my Achilles just snapped. [00:05:51] Speaker C: Felt like a loud pop. I've heard with those. [00:05:53] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. I don't think anybody else can hear it, but you can hear it in your own. In your own body. [00:05:57] Speaker B: I, I, that was a fear of mine right around Covid time, because even around covet, I was playing almost three times. [00:06:03] Speaker A: I don't think that snapping an Achilles was a symptom of COVID No, no, no. [00:06:08] Speaker B: It could have been in the. [00:06:09] Speaker A: Maybe I had Covid last year. [00:06:12] Speaker B: For whatever reason, I thought it was. [00:06:13] Speaker A: Just because I was old. [00:06:14] Speaker B: For whatever reason. Mine. Mine was super, super tight, and I had a major fear of tearing my. [00:06:20] Speaker A: Achilles, and it's a legitimate thing. A man of a certain age. [00:06:23] Speaker B: Well, and Luke. [00:06:25] Speaker A: Speaking of Luke Torn, everything. We're talking about Luke Ma, by the way, for you listeners who don't. And for you listeners who don't know who Luke Ma is, he is a childhood friend of mine, local legend. Look. Really? Are we using that a little? [00:06:35] Speaker B: You don't think so? [00:06:36] Speaker A: In what circles? He's not here to defend himself. He was gonna be here. I think I, and he just. [00:06:43] Speaker B: I think I ended his basketball career. [00:06:44] Speaker A: He flaked out. [00:06:45] Speaker B: He tore his Achilles on my ankle. [00:06:48] Speaker A: No, he tore his acl. [00:06:50] Speaker B: I thought he tore his. [00:06:51] Speaker A: Oh, he did tell. [00:06:52] Speaker B: Tear his Achilles at Metamora High School, he. When we used to all go up there and play, and I was. [00:06:58] Speaker A: When was this? [00:06:59] Speaker B: I mean, I was in my. I was in my 20s at this point. [00:07:02] Speaker A: Huh. [00:07:03] Speaker B: When they used to have those open Gyms and stuff up there. And you used to come up on the Sunday. [00:07:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:09] Speaker B: With Kerner, with Ronnie. Jesus hair would always. [00:07:13] Speaker A: Ron would always be. Had be like six. A six pack in. [00:07:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:07:17] Speaker A: And. [00:07:18] Speaker B: But those used to be some fun times. We used to. [00:07:19] Speaker A: Those were great. Yeah. [00:07:21] Speaker B: Up at Metamore High School and that league ran for like 20 some years. [00:07:25] Speaker A: Yeah, that was. Those were great. [00:07:27] Speaker B: Those are good days. But again, Covid, for me, really on all those leagues. And for the first time at 31 years old, I'm like. I don't remember going two days without touching a basketball. Mine like my entire life until Covid. [00:07:41] Speaker A: No kidding. I stuck with it that long. [00:07:43] Speaker B: I played three times a week up until Covid. [00:07:46] Speaker A: Man, I wish. [00:07:47] Speaker B: Now I play Sunday mornings at Washington. Try to get him to come up. They play Wednesday nights also over the Central. [00:07:56] Speaker A: See, a year ago I would have been like, where? When I'm there. [00:07:59] Speaker B: Now you're over it. [00:08:00] Speaker A: Well, I. Man, I don't want the other one to go. [00:08:02] Speaker C: You've also got a. A younger, younger kid at home. [00:08:05] Speaker A: Well, I also had to, you know, I had to end up. I had to put off surgery so that I could play two shows with Charles Wesley Godwin last year that were scheduled in front of sellout crowds in Minneapolis and Madison and on a scooter and then have surge. I mean it. And we had to cancel 11 shows. It's just. It's not worth it anymore. [00:08:27] Speaker B: It's not worth it at this point to get into and then all the things that's going to come. Not to mention, I love it. [00:08:32] Speaker A: Not to mention when I did come back, it was miserable. I'm up there on a. On a scooter, one knee up, got the scooter in park, you know. And then even when the scooter. I didn't need the scooter anymore. It was. It was a month or two before I could stand up there comfortably. So we're talking about like five, six months until I could even perform comfortably. Yeah, it was. It's just not worth it anymore. [00:08:56] Speaker C: Both of you were Metamora grads, both athletes. [00:08:58] Speaker A: Yeah, he was a camper at Metamora Basketball's. The Metamora's basketball camp. [00:09:04] Speaker B: No, no, ours goes back further than that because you were my seventh grade youth group counselor. [00:09:11] Speaker A: What a miracle camp. [00:09:13] Speaker B: Miracle camp. [00:09:13] Speaker A: Oh, I didn't. [00:09:14] Speaker B: When I was in junior high. [00:09:15] Speaker A: I didn't remember. [00:09:15] Speaker B: We've talked about this. Well, dude, it's so funny because I think we knew each other before and this is. [00:09:21] Speaker A: I wasn't counselor I was a waterfront director, so I. But I probably subbed in. I had to sub in once a week for the counselors on their night off. So that's probably what was going on. [00:09:30] Speaker B: No, I. I swore that it was the whole time that you had to deal with us because something happened with a counselor and you. You had to deal with us for, like. [00:09:39] Speaker A: I had to fill in for a longer period of time. [00:09:41] Speaker B: I feel like. Yeah, I was. You just didn't give a shit. [00:09:44] Speaker A: I was probably one of the worst Miracle Camp employees in the history. Like, I applied the next year after being the waterfront director. [00:10:07] Speaker C: What does a waterfront director do anyway? [00:10:09] Speaker A: It was a. It was a. Yeah, it directs the waterfront. There was a. There was a lake, and. And so it was like the head lifeguard. [00:10:17] Speaker C: Okay. [00:10:18] Speaker A: And there was a. Took as a boat. You'd take kids, you know, around the lake on a tube, and there was a blob, and you lifeguarded and managed the lifeguards and stuff. But once a week, the counselors would get off for a night and you would have. And you'd have to fill in, which. I hated working with the kids. [00:10:36] Speaker B: I was. It was not a fan. And I honestly, I can't even remember, really, the grade that I was. But I'm not even kidding you. Like, you were with us for a certain period of time and then going to Metamora. Yeah, you know, I. I'm. I'm about 10 years younger than you. [00:10:56] Speaker A: Okay. [00:10:56] Speaker B: Yeah. So I think you were so kind of in the scene of basketball, you know, athletics in the area at that time. And I started going to Metamora in 2003. Time frame, 2004. And so I think you were just around. So I think that's how we kind of came to me, I just. [00:11:17] Speaker A: I remember you from basketball. [00:11:18] Speaker B: Right. That's. That's how a lot of that came about. [00:11:21] Speaker A: And you would have been in grade school at the time or junior high at the time. [00:11:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:11:25] Speaker A: That was long before. That was long after. That was long before 20. 23. 22,003. [00:11:31] Speaker B: But then. And again, these are all foggy memories. [00:11:34] Speaker A: These people don't care. [00:11:34] Speaker B: No, they don't care. These are all foggy memories. [00:11:37] Speaker A: But I would say when me and Austin met anyway, but. [00:11:39] Speaker C: Right, right. [00:11:40] Speaker B: I will say so me as a. As a high school or even around that point, you know, Dude, I don't know. I looked. I looked up to you. You were an athlete at Metamora. I'm trying to be an athlete. You know, going there. You drove me home in your red. [00:11:54] Speaker A: I don't know that red Toyota Tacoma truck. Awesome. [00:11:58] Speaker B: A couple times, you know, and because your brother worked up at Miracle camp. [00:12:05] Speaker A: Okay. So that was probably the. That was probably the year I was just a lifeguard. My brother was a waterfront director. [00:12:11] Speaker B: Okay. Honestly, then you'd come up to basketball and you and I would. You would talk or that we're out. And at one point you were working at the. That gravestone place I think by the oh, Mastercraft memorials. [00:12:24] Speaker A: Yeah, there's. I mean you're making some pretty big leaps in the timeline here, but. Yeah, I know. [00:12:28] Speaker B: But I'm trying to go through my brain of really our only connection. These are just my blips. And then from there we've just known mutual people and it's always great to. [00:12:36] Speaker A: Meet the fans, Austin. [00:12:39] Speaker B: And then aside from that, then it kind of went MIA for a while and. [00:12:42] Speaker A: Yeah. And then you popped up working for USA Concerts. And now we've been working together for several years on shows and whatnot and. [00:12:50] Speaker B: That'S kind of our history. [00:12:50] Speaker A: When I have complaints, I text you and about why shit's not up online. [00:12:55] Speaker B: Yeah, that's always fun. [00:12:58] Speaker C: But I hear too that you're pretty good quarterback for. I was Metamora football team as well. [00:13:04] Speaker A: It was a long time ago ago. If you search hard enough around this garage, you'll see some. Some artifacts. [00:13:11] Speaker C: And then went on to college play for. [00:13:13] Speaker A: Went on to college and never played. I had a shoulder injury from high school that. That never did. Never quit. So I still. I was playing. I was playing fetch with my dogs. Today I still play. I still throw the ball underhand. I can't. Can't throw overhand or anything anymore. So. So yeah, fortunately you don't. I don't have to play guitar overhand though, right. I can do that. [00:13:34] Speaker C: Makes it a little bit easier. [00:13:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. [00:13:35] Speaker C: So then when did you take the. Being quarterback at. At Northern and. And into the music. [00:13:43] Speaker A: It was less a leap and. And more of a slip. Just kind of a slip on an icy pavement. I had to take a. An arts course to graduate college, so I took an intro to guitar course and I was really into music at the time as a listener and so it. And I really liked songwriters like Chris Knight and Reckless Kelly in Pat Green stuff. And so I. I Kris Kristofferson and so I Once I could put a couple chords together, I just started writing my own songs and they were. They were terrible, but it was a start. [00:14:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:19] Speaker A: And then in the last 20 years now they've gotten. They've Gotten incrementally better, so to the point where I'm able to make a living writing songs. [00:14:34] Speaker B: So now are you, I was thinking of this on the way here even. I mean, are you, you, you're full time nothing but music, right? [00:14:42] Speaker A: I have been for eight years now. September was eight years. So I, when I quit my job and it was a very good job there at Mastercraft Memorials on Lord's Road there in, In German Town Hills. [00:14:54] Speaker B: Shout out. [00:14:55] Speaker A: Yeah, shout out. Yep. [00:14:57] Speaker C: I'm sure they're natural. [00:14:58] Speaker B: That was your last. [00:14:59] Speaker A: If you did go get your stone there. [00:15:01] Speaker B: Yeah. If you're watching this, if you're watching. [00:15:03] Speaker A: This and you're dead, you need a gravestone. [00:15:06] Speaker B: If you're in the market for a. [00:15:07] Speaker C: Gravestone, you have a new sponsor. [00:15:10] Speaker A: Yeah. If you're watching this and you wish your radio dial wasn't broke or you were dead, it's never too early to plan ahead. No, I, I, what was the question? [00:15:23] Speaker B: That was the last job you had? [00:15:25] Speaker A: Yeah, that was the last job I had. And, and I was gonna give it one year and just see how it went. And I figured at that point in my life, you know, I'm, I'm pretty young and I've always found a way to land on my feet. Ish. Throughout life. So I just figured, you know, why not try it? I didn't think I could continue to wait and then still say, maybe someday I'll pursue music full time. And yeah, I haven't, I haven't looked back. Every year's improved upon the, the previous. So Achilles tears notwithstanding, it's been, that's been a good, a good run so far. You know, we're not, we're not on the Jumbotron in Times Square or anything. Not yet. Right. [00:16:10] Speaker B: After this podcast. [00:16:11] Speaker A: Yeah, after this podcast. Don't worry, guys. I looked up your numbers. I'm under no illusions over what this podcast is going to do for my, for my metrics. No, but, no, all jokes aside. Yeah, no, it, you know, and we found, we found a comfortable spot in, in, in the, in the ecosystem that is out there for, for independent artists. And we're just kind of working at. [00:16:37] Speaker B: It, you know, how far are you traveling on any given year? I mean, what's your kind of radius? Are you going all across the country? [00:16:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And I didn't, you know, I didn't exactly notice that Ryan called me a regional artist or anything, but we do get out to Idaho and Wyoming and Montana and Arkansas and, and camera in all defenses. [00:16:59] Speaker C: He did, he did say that that, that's where I picked that up from. So I wouldn't have even known that. I mean, as far as that, that terminology. [00:17:05] Speaker B: But he did, he called himself a regional. [00:17:07] Speaker C: Well, earlier when we were, you know, setting up, there was, there was at least. And maybe he meant, you know, 15 years ago he was a regional artist. [00:17:14] Speaker A: So 15 years ago I was selling gravestones. [00:17:17] Speaker C: I apologize. [00:17:18] Speaker A: 15 years ago. [00:17:19] Speaker C: Edit that part out. [00:17:20] Speaker A: I was selling gravestones and had just moved back into this place. So I was definitely not a national nor regional artist. And I'm totally busting your balls anyways. I don't care. You can just, you can call me whatever you want. This year. As far as shows that are on the books this year, I don't know how many states. [00:17:40] Speaker B: So it's expanding each year. You're kind of. [00:17:42] Speaker A: Yeah, our model is. And this starts, starts right here. I mean, when I started playing in a band back in 2013, my first band, it was like, all right, well, you know, we'll start in Washburn and we gotta. That was. Our first gig was in Washburn, Illinois. And then it was all right, if we can just get like to Chillicothe in Washington and Peoria and, and just kind of grow our circle a little bit bigger. Which was, which was practical in the sense that, you know, I had a full time job, so it's not like I could just go out and hit the road. And also practical because, you know, you can't just go out and hit the road and say, all right, man, I'm going to get a gig in Texas, right, And be a Texas, you know, artist. Because nobody's going to know who you are. You're going to drive all the way there. You're not going to be able to charge any money because nobody's going to know who you are. Nobody's going to show up. And so we've just kind of tried to widen our circle as we go and that's gotten us like this year we have shows in the books in Idaho, Wyoming, that's probably the farthest west. Colorado, of course, everywhere in the Midwest. And then we've got some in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas in a couple weeks. [00:18:50] Speaker C: Much more than regional. [00:18:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, the first band you were in. We're still not coast to coast, though. All right, so I'll give you the. [00:19:00] Speaker B: First band you were in. Were you. What, I mean, what was it called? I mean, were you. Did you go into it as like the lead singer, as the, as the person? Were you the. Just a guitar player? [00:19:11] Speaker A: Yeah. No, I'm not a very guitar player. Good guitar player. So that would have been. [00:19:15] Speaker B: You've always been the singer. [00:19:17] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's really the only thing. Like, you know, I can write songs, and I can sing, and then I can play guitar, acoustic guitar, serviceably enough, as long as there's some. Some other folks backing me. [00:19:30] Speaker B: And where did that work? So at what point did it transition to hey, Joe Stam Band like this? We put our stamp on it. [00:19:37] Speaker A: We were just. Well, the first time I played a show was in Washburn, Illinois, at this place. At the time it was called. It was the Corner Corral, but it was on a curve, so everybody called it the Dirty Curve. And. And we pulled up, and on the banner outside, it was a paps banner. I still have said Joe Spam Band, like the Processed Meat Joe Spam Band. And the thing about it was we weren't even the Joe Stam Band at the time. We were Joe stam and the 26ers. So it was just all different levels of disrespect. And. And we were the Joe stan of the 26ers for about nine months or so. And then the guys that I was in the band with, there was some dissension, some discord, and we split up. And they had come up with the idea for the 26ers. They took the name and started their own Facebook page called the 26ers. And so at that point, I was like, well, this. I'm. I'm not gonna go through having to create a whole new Facebook page again, you know? So I just. That's when it was the Joe Stam Band. And it's. And I've been just the boss ever since. So that nobody can say, well, I'm splitting up. We're splitting up the band. Well, no, you're not. You're. You're just gonna quit, and then I'm gonna hire somebody else. So it. That's. That's when that became. And that was 20. That was the end of 2013. So we've been Joe Stamban for, I guess, 11 years. Yeah. [00:21:01] Speaker B: Like, so it's kind of funny because I had text you when the Clinton announce came out, and you were. You were. [00:21:06] Speaker A: When the what came out? [00:21:07] Speaker B: When the Clinton announcement came out, and you were Jose Clinton, Iowa. You're playing a music festival. [00:21:12] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I thought you were talking about, like, when Bill Clinton was elected. [00:21:14] Speaker C: Too much presence. [00:21:15] Speaker B: When you were. When you were Jose. When you were Jose. [00:21:19] Speaker A: Strong man. Yeah. I love how they fixed it, but Then they just said, Joe Strom Band. [00:21:25] Speaker B: So I'm like, well, you just. I had to email him four times. And then I was like, dude, I'm definitely making a shirt with Joe Strom. [00:21:32] Speaker A: No, it has. If you're going to do. It has to be Jose St. Band. [00:21:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Jose St. Band. [00:21:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:37] Speaker C: We're going to have those for the birthday now. [00:21:38] Speaker A: They're huge down. Down in South Texas. [00:21:41] Speaker B: And it was. So what's even more ironic about it is the fact that I was in Texas, I get off my flight, I see all these messages I'm getting. Like, I. I see the announce and I'm getting these emails and then I see this shit and I'm messaging him laughing kind of about it. But then I'm emailing this person saying, hey, you got to fix this. And then I get to Chris's house and then in the room I'm staying in was that picture I sent you. [00:22:10] Speaker A: Oh, wow. Yeah. [00:22:12] Speaker B: Of. And tell us something about this and we'll post a picture of it. This is something you recently started to do or have you always done it? [00:22:20] Speaker A: For years I've gotten a little bit more involved with them. So I sell on our website, you can order handwritten lyric sheets and I write out. You can choose the song, you can choose who to dedicate it to. And then I like to doodle. I wouldn't call myself an artist or a drawer. So I'll write out the song and then I'll come up with some kind of little doodle that fits with the lyrics of the song. And then. And then I do that. So. So that's what, that's. That's what you were looking at in your friend's house. [00:22:48] Speaker C: So how do you go like around here? I mean, we're. We're outside of Lake in Illinois. I don't feel me to say that out loud or not, but outside of Lake in Illinois, which I'm from Henry. And we've had that conversation on camera. But how do you find people that. [00:23:01] Speaker A: Thanks. [00:23:01] Speaker C: You know, as far as band guys, drummers and whoever to. [00:23:05] Speaker A: I've been really fortunate. It's just kind of like a follow the bouncing ball thing, you know, like you have somebody in the band who knows somebody when an opening opens up and. And then you bring them in. Yeah. I wouldn't consider Peoria, Illinois, and the greater, greater Peoria, Illinois, a mecca for musicians that want to do this full time, either whether they're capable or whether they wouldn't want to, because it's demanding. You know, we got Five. Five guys, including me in the band that, that do this full time. And everybody has side jobs. I'm the only one who doesn't. But you could say that running a merch is merch game side job. You know, there's a lot of stuff I do other than performing shows that generates income for us. But, you know, but I got. I got fortunate with some really good guy. I mean, Dave Glover's our guitar player, has been in the band since October of 20, since September, I think. He started rehearsing us 2016. And Bruce are now bass player. Started with us as a drummer that same month. So those guys have been in the band for eight and a half years. And when we lost our longtime bass player, Bruce moved over to. Over to bass from drums because we found a drummer before we found a new bass player. And Tim Cramp is from Bloomington. He's just a great drummer. He toured with Backyard Tire Fire for years all over the country. We're very fortunate with the folks we got particularly, like I said, and no disrespect to the Peoria area as musicians, but it's not like a Nashville where you've got a community. It's not like a Chicago or Nashville where you've got this. Just these whole communities of people that are musicians, that are starving, artists looking for gigs. It's just not like that here because there are some great artists in Peoria, for example, that they're just not gonna. They're not gonna bum around the country on for three or four days a week for 10 months, a year, you know. [00:24:58] Speaker C: Right. [00:24:58] Speaker B: So into that comment, and I honestly, truly don't know the answer that you'll have to this. [00:25:06] Speaker A: But I don't either. [00:25:07] Speaker B: Speaking of this, speaking of this area versus Nashville, I mean, what is your thoughts or I guess why have you never uprooted and took the journey to Nashville? Like you hear of every artist because you have been grinding in this area for a long time. Yeah. And here you sit, talk about, you know, you've gone from a regional artist to, you know, really a national artist right here out of, you know, central. [00:25:32] Speaker A: Illinois local artists for a long, long time. [00:25:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:36] Speaker A: And still am in. In a sense. But it started first one. It started for a couple reasons. And then it's over time, it's turned into a different reason. The initial reasons were just very practical. One, I had a job that. A very good job. And I wasn't very good at doing this. Certainly not good enough to go down there and expect to hit. To hit pay dirt. You Know, and, and two, I love central Illinois. I didn't want to leave, so that's, that's why I originally didn't do it. But as I continued to not do it, the people in central Illinois and then that ever increase, that ever widening circle I was talking about, which has now turned into Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and, and now even beyond there, those are the people that are, that are paying my bills. So, so there's, there's just no reason for me. I think the model for success in this business is different than it was say 20 years ago, 30 years ago, when, when you had to go down to those places in order to plug in and meet the people that could help you make a living. You know, I did this when in social media and all that stuff. It's harder now to create presence as an independent artist than it was when I was starting to do it. It was easier. 10 years ago. You didn't have all the algorithms determining who you were going to reach as much. You got more reach, you got more attention. You could build it up locally and create more hype locally. Then, then I think you can now. You had more control over that stuff. And so I was able to kind of in, in that stage, I was able to kind of build a local following through social media when you kind of had more control over that. And, and then it's. I've just never had any reason to leave at this point. If I, I could work with people in Nashville at this point and still not have to leave, leave again. I haven't had the privilege of anybody ever coming to me from Nashville or anything and saying, hey, we want to, we want to make you successful. That's never happened to me. There's opportunities I haven't have, largely because I haven't been down there. But I do know some of these. I mean, I have some of these people's numbers, I have some of these people's emails. There's people I gotta harass down there to do it, whether they would or not. I don't know if the cost is having to move to Nashville at this point in my life for success, success, then it would have to be a pretty big step of success because right now I've been paying my bills for eight years, doing this full time without having to go there. So it's just. [00:28:17] Speaker B: And you've made improvements every. And you made improvements every year. You said. [00:28:20] Speaker A: We've been following, you know, growing. It's kind of like putting on weight or losing it. It's like you don't feel like you're getting fatter every day you wake up. But when you see a picture of yourself from a couple years ago, it's like, shoot, I, I've put on £20. It's like looking at these, some of these tour posters from a few years ago, and it's like, oh, man, we're playing a lot better shows than we were then. You know, it's those small incremental steps to improvement that we've noticed. But, but there's never been a big, there's never been a big leap. [00:28:54] Speaker B: But tell me I'm wrong in the fact that is that not the stereotypical. And every person we've interviewed has a story, whether they moved from Canada, whether they came from any other part of the country and drove to Nashville, got their, you know, got their break, and they tell us these stories and. I don't know, I've just always wondered. I mean, you sit here steadfast, you know, kind of growing, doing your grind and I don't know, I just, I've always wondered from even a fan perspective or even a promoter's perspective of how that connection or your thoughts on Nashville art. Because I mean, being in Nashville, on Broadway, and the people have played bars for their whole life trying to find some break, and it always seems to stem around Nashville to make a life. But then here you've made a living for eight years and enjoyed, you know, doing it and. Yeah, dude, you're not even connected at all. Or you're not even. You have no ties. [00:29:47] Speaker A: Really. Not. I don't. And, you know, that could explain, you know, I think I was very fortunate to meet a guy named Matt Glass, who's my booking agent several years ago. And he's just an enthusiastic music lover who liked our band. [00:30:07] Speaker B: And is he, where's he. [00:30:08] Speaker A: He's out of Chicago. [00:30:09] Speaker B: Okay. [00:30:10] Speaker A: Suburbs of Chicago. And he just, he just took on our booking several years ago and he's, he's been doing it for years and he's just a guy. He's like me. He's just a guy who decided to do it. He's not, can. He's not in an agency. He, he has a full time job and he's been such a huge blessing for us. And it's just, you know, that's been our grassroots approach. Could we take different approaches? Could we, could we hunt down, you know, Matt would probably be glad to hunt down somebody to take it back over for him, you know, but, but, you know, could we hunt down agencies? Could we hunt down Management, maybe. I don't know. I have no idea at this point in our lives, but we've done it this way. Not because we had all these options and chose it. It was just. We've done it this way because the only option was to do it ourselves. [00:31:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:08] Speaker A: And. And that's what we keep trying to do. We just kind of try to keep doing it better. [00:31:12] Speaker B: You also have the, you know, again, you kind of did the air quotes of, you know, success. I mean, you also have the people that have success, but they've also sold their soul. They've also pretty much signed over everything and hey, they're having success. But at the end of the day, it's also changed a lot for me. Yeah, I don't see that all the time. [00:31:29] Speaker A: I can't, I can't speak for anybody when it comes to that. I can just say that at this point for us, our. My model of success is can. Can I live comfortably which, which we are. And keep doing this. So, so. [00:31:44] Speaker B: And you're having fun doing. [00:31:45] Speaker A: So far so good. [00:31:46] Speaker B: So far we're crushing it. [00:31:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I heard that. I watched the Magnificent Seven. Have you heard. Seen that movie with Chris Pratt and Denzel Washington? [00:31:55] Speaker C: I have not. [00:31:55] Speaker A: Last night. And Chris Pratt tells this joke, he's. And in the movie and he talks about this guy who jumped out of a fifth story window. And everybody in every story on the way down heard him yelling, so far, so good. [00:32:09] Speaker B: What story are you on? [00:32:12] Speaker A: Well, I'm more the guy that's falling from the fifth story window yelling so far. [00:32:17] Speaker B: Right. So what story are you on? [00:32:22] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:32:22] Speaker B: Is it a 30 story building? Still to be determined. [00:32:26] Speaker A: What size. [00:32:27] Speaker C: So sticking with like the industry and, and where country music is at today, where do you feel like your, you know, your music fits in there, if at all, or, you know, some of your influences that, that brings you to what, what you do. [00:32:43] Speaker A: I have no idea where my music fits in. That's just not something for me to ever decide. I can tell you that my influences are guys like Chris Knight, Kris Kristofferson. Those are my really early influences because the thing about music that draws me in is lyrics. And I think those guys are two of the greatest to ever put pen to paper when it comes to just meaningful stories and meaningful lyrics and, and, and interesting lyrics, interesting stories. Currently, guys that are doing it right now that really inspire me are Jason Isbull and Charles Wesley Godwin. I think they're probably my two favorites that are actively writing and releasing music these days. But where mine stuff fits in, it's like trying to say what, what genre you, what sub genre are you? I don't know that that's for people. [00:33:36] Speaker B: They're going to place you wherever. [00:33:38] Speaker A: Yeah, that's for listeners and, and, and people writing periodicals to, to talk about. I, I, I just, I don't know, I hope, I hope that people would consider me a good lyricist and a competent writer around that stuff. That's, that's what I'd like to be. [00:33:57] Speaker B: Have you wrote for anybody other than yourself? [00:34:00] Speaker A: No, never. [00:34:01] Speaker B: And you have no interest in ever. [00:34:03] Speaker A: Sure. If somebody wanted to say, somebody wants. [00:34:06] Speaker B: Publishing ye our stories and the people that Ryan and I have got to meet. [00:34:10] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:34:11] Speaker B: Are very interesting where sometimes it is, it is interesting how people have taken the story or story. They have taken the writers route and then turned into artist or went artists that turned into writers. [00:34:24] Speaker C: Or do it on the side. [00:34:25] Speaker B: Or do it on the side. And that's again, another very fascinating thing that, you know, you said Jason Isbell, there's somebody who is not mainstream but has hits. He's a writer that is tied to a lot of different stuff when it comes to writing. [00:34:39] Speaker A: Jason is a unicorn in the sense that a lot of songwriters aren't necessarily great musicians. And he is both. He's, he's, he's just, he's a savant in both respects. [00:34:51] Speaker B: I look at the lyric side of things on every song I listen to. I always click the credits to see who wrote it and who. How many artists are writing their own stuff. And I think once you do travel down that path of these behind the scene people in mainstream country music, let's just say. [00:35:09] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:35:10] Speaker B: It is crazy how many people have just hit after hit after hit and they have never been on a stage. [00:35:15] Speaker A: Well, because, because once you get that hit, like, once you get that, then everybody wants your song because they, well, you're, He's a proven rep. He's a proven winner, you know. Now I say that as somebody who has absolutely zero experience in that world. Right. You know, you, it's, it's the same we're talking about with Nashville and working with agencies and managers and stuff. And you asked me, well, have you ever, Would you ever let anybody, you know, has anybody ever cut one of your songs? Would you let them. Blah. Yeah, I would. You know, if there was somebody who wants to cut my song, whether he's popular or not, you're welcome to it. You know, making a living in this business is like putting change in a jar. The change that's in your pocket at the end of the day in a jar. And. And people, for instance, people bitch about Spotify rates and things like that. It's like when you get home every day, you take the change out of your pocket and you put it in a jar. And after a year or so, when the jar is filled, you take to the bank and you got a few hundred bucks. Well, this business is like that too. I would absolutely be up for it if people wanted to cut my songs. That opportunity has not presented itself. So, again, it's similar to what I was talking about with agencies and management in Nashville and all that stuff. Now. Have I. Have I pursued that? No, you know, because that. That's not what charges me up. What charges me up. Like, I love the creation process. I love writing. I love recording what I've written, and I love putting it out there with merchandise. Like, and. Because I love the creation of each of those stages. And I just. I. I don't have a desire to pursue the. The. The publishing deal. I don't have the desire to pursue meeting people in Nashville who could scale my career. I have the desire to write. I have the desire to record. I have the desire to release music. I have desire to release artwork that my wife generates that I can contribute ideas towards. Like, those are the things that charge me up. Thinking about pursuing somebody to cut my songs, thinking about somebody pursuing somebody to sign me, that's the kind of. That drains my energy even just thinking about it. So if those things came along, I would entertain them. I would certainly, you know, I would probably do them. It's just nothing that. That I'm gonna spend my time and energy pursuing. [00:37:37] Speaker B: Because you. [00:37:37] Speaker A: Because there's only have so much time in the day, especially with a toddler in the house. [00:37:41] Speaker B: Well, you also hear people that once they do get signed, then there's this pressure of now. There's. You have to, you know, follow through with, you know, whether it's writing so many songs coming out now. And now there's a timeline and there's these. These expectations that are. They can be tough, but. [00:37:58] Speaker A: Yeah, and I probably. I don't need any. I don't need any. I don't need any more of that than I put on myself. I was finishing up a record right now that we record in December, and I've been going back and forth with Al Torrance, who's the producer with the mixes. He's been sending me mixes, and we've been talking about them and reviewing them and blah, blah, blah, and as this. I've had this time off for the last two months, and I'm kicking myself like, man, I haven't really written shit. Maybe one or two songs in that time. Finished them, you know, but they were started already. I just haven't been sitting down and writing, and I have to step back and be like, I'm. Because I'm finishing a record. You know, it's okay if this is a small period in my life where I'm not writing because I'm focusing on finishing, you know, stuff that I've already written. So much of this business is just, how do you keep people paying attention to what you're doing? And if you're not writing, if you're not. If you're not producing content for them, whether that is. Whether that is making interesting social media posts or whether that is releasing records, the latter being the most important, then they're gonna move on. And not. They're gonna stop thinking about. They're not gonna buy tickets, they're not gonna buy merch, because. [00:39:10] Speaker B: But you can't just force those songs out. I mean, it's got to come when you can. No. Yeah, but I'm saying, like, you can't. [00:39:16] Speaker A: Because as you do it longer, it just becomes something that. That's work. It's a great kind of work. But it's a matter of just sitting down. No, you can't sit down and say, if I don't write a hit song today, a hit song is if I would know anything about hit songs. [00:39:29] Speaker B: So you think you could push yourself and just be like, I'm gonna write two songs a day? [00:39:31] Speaker A: No, no, I don't write at that rate. But I could sit down and I could sit down for a week for. For an hour each day and work on one song until it was done. That. You can absolutely do that. And because. Because it's. It's not this mystic. Everybody wants to chase that unicorn where the song drops out of the sky and it's done in 20 minutes. And those happen every once in a while. But the own. The only way those happen. The only. Typically, the only way those happen if you want them to happen on any regular basis is if you're still. If you're showing up on a routine basis and working at it. And that's what writing a song is. It's work. And you'll. I'll sit in here and I'll say, all right, I'm gonna. I want to write one verse. And by the time it's done, you might not keep 25% of the words that you wrote on that page. But if you show up every day and you just keep doing it and doing it and doing it, you can write a song. The writer's block is. I don't want to say it's a myth. It's a real thing for people, and it's. At least conceptually, it's a real thing for people. They think that's what's going on. And I'm probably going to get cursed with it after saying this, but I think, yeah, it's a matter of just showing up and doing the work. And even if you think you're blocked, if you just write, then you know what happens. You. You write, and then you just revise and revise. This is what I do. It takes me month, a month or two to finish most songs. But it's just because you go back and you visit and. And you'll find that certain lines, certain words, they're just not hitting right. And you go back and you go back and you go back, and that. That. That process is fun. The pro. What's intimidating is just the act of sitting down to do it. [00:41:15] Speaker B: See, and I've never wrote a song, but I. I have struggled with. When I write, let's say even in manufacturing and stuff, when I write long, let's say big, big proposals, all this stuff. And I had a mentor and a boss, really. He's like, Austin, you're trying to spit out the perfect words. [00:41:36] Speaker A: Yeah. You just. [00:41:37] Speaker B: In the first crack, he goes, just diarrhea of the mount on the page. [00:41:41] Speaker A: Just literally just start somewhere. [00:41:42] Speaker B: Just put it out there. I mean, you can always delete it, right? And just. And then ever since he's ever told me that, I really tried to not. I've just tried to just let her rip. Sentence, sentence. Here's a thought, here's facts, here's bullet points. And it's just like. [00:41:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:58] Speaker B: By the time he was done with it, though, I was like, holy shit. That really turned into something. [00:42:02] Speaker A: There's a. There's a book I read by Anne Lamott. It's a book on writing. It's called Bird by Bird. And she tells a story about when she was a kid. Her brother had this report that he waited to the last minute to write. So it's the night before this report is due, and he's got to write like a paragraph on this big old list of birds. And he's sitting there at the table and he's. He's paralyzed because. And upset because he's got to write this huge report on all these different birds. And his dad comes over and says, son, bird by bird. And that's the thing that's so intimidating about sitting down to write. You sit down to write at any particular moment, and it's like, fuck, man, I gotta come up with a song. It's like, no, come up with a line. Line by line, by verse, by verse bridge, you know, and if you start to just allow yourself to. And you can apply this to all kinds of things in life, but it works so good for writing. And just big projects that are intimidating, just bird by bird, just start with one thing and then work on the next thing. [00:43:10] Speaker B: I just think I thought of our viral little moment we could do is we could show up here and pay Joe to teach us how to write. We could write our jingle. We could write our intro. What song? You know, every show or every podcast has like a. Maybe a catchy tune at the very beginning. [00:43:29] Speaker A: You guys are looking for a catchy tune? [00:43:31] Speaker B: Well, right now we use Lake Views. We use Lakeview Song, you know, but we were just talking. I don't remember who we were talking to, but I'm like, man, wouldn't it be cool to, like, write our own little, like, jingle that everybody relates to this? [00:43:42] Speaker A: But trying to write a little jingle that everybody relates to this? I mean, that's what I do. That's what I try to do for a living. I'm still working on it. As far as the viral part, that's the catch. [00:43:51] Speaker B: Well, I'm saying what's funny would be funny is if you were. If we were here and you were, like, teaching us like you were. We were at class. Yeah, like at class. [00:43:58] Speaker C: All right. [00:43:58] Speaker B: You know, we got a chalkboard up here. [00:44:00] Speaker A: You know, it's whiteboards. Whiteboards, man. You guys are so out of touch. [00:44:04] Speaker B: We could do chalkboard. [00:44:05] Speaker C: But do you primarily write by yourself? Any of your. Your band guys do any writing or. [00:44:10] Speaker A: Anything like that band is writing? Dave, the guitar player has a couple writing credits because, like, he'll start some lick during soundcheck that I'll end up writing a song around, you know? [00:44:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:44:21] Speaker A: Nobody in the band has written a single lyric to anything ever again. Part of this is a product of just being isolated, very much isolated up here in central Illinois, that I'm not plugged into a community of musicians. Like, for instance, if I was living in Nashville, Right. So I haven't done a lot of co writing. I have written a couple songs with Charles Wesley Godwin. We wrote one called Flower the Everglades that released on my Allegheny record. We just finished another one back in December together. I think I. Those are. And I'm not just saying that because Charles is famous and having a bunch of success right now, but he's literally. I think I wrote. Maybe I co wrote one other song in my life that was with Nick Sizemore, who's a local guy here. But I. Yeah, I just have written by myself pretty much. This is where you used to have a room in the house where. Where I would write, but that has been been turned into a nursery. [00:45:25] Speaker C: That's important. Just. Just as important. [00:45:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:27] Speaker C: Not more important. [00:45:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. Yeah. So this is. This is my spot, man. A couple of years ago, I just. We just decided to put some money into the garage and we. We insulated the ceiling and put the furnace air conditioner in and moved this couch from the old writing room to this place. And I built the. The workbench and put up a TV and. And this is where we practice. And this is. This is where I'll write. So if it's a day where I'm planning to write, I'll typically come out in the morning, I'll read for a while, and then I'll sit here with. With usually this guitar, and I'll mess around with ideas. [00:46:04] Speaker C: And a dog friend too. I don't know where he or she went. [00:46:07] Speaker A: He went inside, I think. I think the door got left open. And he saw. That is his opportunity. He's not very social, and I think he probably realized that the couch was going to be mistake. By the way, Austin, that is dog droll, in case you were concerned. No, I didn't know it was there before. I just wanted you to feel. I just didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. [00:46:30] Speaker B: Kids were conceived. [00:46:32] Speaker A: No, no, no, no. Clearly not. It's all over the couch. [00:46:35] Speaker B: That's true. [00:46:36] Speaker C: Not. Not the one that's inside. [00:46:37] Speaker B: Anyway, so we're. We're at about 58 minutes right now, which is crazy. When we. When we started this off. [00:46:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I thought. I thought we were at least three hours in by now. [00:46:47] Speaker B: Well, when we started this off, and I'm, you know, you tell us whenever you want to stop, but what's funny is Ryan and I were talking like, man, how are we gonna get 30 minutes? And I've said. At this point, I said, ryan, you and I have been on the phone for an hour and 20 minutes talking about. [00:47:03] Speaker A: Okay, 30 minutes. You kidding me? [00:47:05] Speaker B: Well, no, because at the time when we had never done a paper, I. [00:47:07] Speaker A: Bring Up a random topic. And I talk. [00:47:10] Speaker B: When you're talking about interviewing an artist. [00:47:12] Speaker A: Are you talking about when you were first starting the whole idea, the whole. [00:47:14] Speaker B: Podcast and never done it? And I'm like, dude, what's crazy is as we've done this, we have, trust me, never been short of topics or never been. [00:47:22] Speaker A: You're working with it. You're working with a. You're working with a kind of person who loves themselves. So they will sit here. And if you. As long as the topic is the artist, the artist probably wants to sit there and talk about it. That topic, that story quite a bit. [00:47:36] Speaker C: That's. That's a good point. [00:47:37] Speaker B: Because even George Burgess camp was like 15 minutes, you know, top at like 25. I mean, we could have gone for another 30 something. [00:47:44] Speaker C: And I think he was enjoying the conversation as the camp was like, hey, let's wrap this up. [00:47:48] Speaker B: You like George Burge? He wrote what was his biggest cowboy. [00:47:51] Speaker C: Songs is out right now. That's big on the radio. [00:47:54] Speaker A: Beer. [00:47:55] Speaker C: Beer truck. Truck. [00:47:56] Speaker A: If it's a radio, I. And I don't say this as. As in a snotty way. [00:48:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:01] Speaker A: I say this as an in. As an. In an ignorant way. I just don't listen to the radio. So if it's on the radio, I have no idea. [00:48:07] Speaker B: Neither do I, because I don't listen to any radio at all. [00:48:11] Speaker A: And the old dad who doesn't know what you're talking about. If it's popular, what do you think. [00:48:17] Speaker B: The most popular artist that you actually know or like, maybe you even thought you weren't gonna like them, but who do you think you actually like? You're like, I never thought I would. Or this is probably the most pop, you know, country or popular band. It doesn't have to be country that you like. No, I know them and I like this. And because I sat at tailgates and I said a comment about somebody that was playing and you go, austin, I don't know who that is. And I said, I mean, they're pretty popular. I don't remember who it is. I remember who it is. And I don't. I'm like, I don't know if it's like, you're sick. I don't listen to radio. [00:48:54] Speaker A: Did I tell you this about speaking of a very popular person right now? Now, did I tell you this story? There's a certain popular person who was on that same day with us last week last year at. At Tailw and Tall Boys before the whole night got cancelled. [00:49:06] Speaker B: Okay. [00:49:07] Speaker A: All right. And so and so all day, there's the. The forecast. Was the forecast. And so the artists were kind of going back and forth like, is this going to happen? Blah, blah. And this dude's TM was like, hey, guys, if you hear anything, will you let us know? And then vice versa. I was like, yeah, no big deal. So this was when I was still in a. I couldn't walk around. This was still. When I was. I was. Maybe I might have just gotten my boot off from the Achilles tear surgery. [00:49:34] Speaker B: Okay. Because I don't even think I talked to you at all that day because of all the crazy. [00:49:37] Speaker A: Yes. [00:49:38] Speaker B: I don't even think I saw you. [00:49:39] Speaker A: So I just gotten out of my boot that week. But your staff knew that. And she were like, hey, anytime you need a, you need a golf cart, take one, whatever. So I, I went out just to get some air. We were, you know, we were in that green room like all day waiting for. To figure out whether we're gonna play or not. And I go out and just to do a tour of the grounds just to kill some time. And I'm on the golf cart and I. And I see this artist and one of his bandmates walking around. And so I, I and I, we had just heard that an announcement was gonna be made at like 4:00. And so I, I pulled up to him and said, hey, letting you guys know, we just heard they're going to make a decision at 4:00. And he's like, okay, thanks. Thanks. By the way, can you get me one of these golf carts and a couple security guards? It's like, well, I'm actually, I'm actually an artist playing right before who it is. No, I'm not. I don't want to give them. But I'm actually an artist playing. But this is, you know, but, but, but, but of course. Because I don't know anybody in Nashville. [00:50:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:44] Speaker B: That's funny. So you haven't said who. So who is your most popular person that you do know? That's. [00:50:51] Speaker A: Oh, that I do know that you. [00:50:53] Speaker B: Actually would say, hey, you know what? [00:50:54] Speaker A: I like this person, like, personally or I like their music? [00:51:00] Speaker B: Both or music wise, Because I do feel like you can be a tough crit. Even the few times I've talked where you're like, I don't listen to that shit. This is what I listen to. [00:51:08] Speaker A: Say I don't listen to that. Whatever. People's, People's opinion. I mean, people. Everybody likes different stuff. And there's nothing wrong with anybody's. Whatever. You like any music you like? I'm down with it, man. For you, I'm just not necessarily going to listen to it. But if the artist is out there that's just doing it for money, well, if people are buying it, then, you know, there's worse jobs. [00:51:30] Speaker B: So who's the most mainstream person you like? [00:51:33] Speaker A: Probably Zach Brian. And it took me. [00:51:35] Speaker B: I would have never guessed. [00:51:36] Speaker A: It took me a while. First, I think, because I liked more. I think I. I started liking more of his stuff a couple albums in. But I also think I was a little resentful. You know, it's like this just makes these shitty YouTube videos and just. And I've been out here in this dignified world of traveling around, playing in these shitty bars, and nobody gives a. And this guy turns on a phone and makes these shitty videos, and he's instantly a star. And he's never had to go through any of the things yet. [00:52:11] Speaker B: Never played clubs. [00:52:13] Speaker A: No. No. But that said, you know, after a couple of records and after hearing enough of it, I was like, well, these are really good songs, you know, more power to them. I. I do have a friend in the band, in his band, so I guess that's. That's why I say that. That's like the closest connection I guess I have to somebody that famous who I really like. And my nieces are. Are big Zach Bryan fans. And so when. When they realized that I knew that I'm. I'm friends with one of the guys in the band and that I'm. And then I've hung out with his dad a couple times. You know, it just made me that much more cool in my niece's eyes, which was. [00:52:52] Speaker B: Which before that, my niece, I actually really was never. I still wouldn't say I'm a big Zach Brian fan, but my kids. Luke, my son, he started just listening to him all the time and really, you know, liked it. I got more beats. [00:53:06] Speaker A: Did I? I was gonna say, I thought you brought me a new one. And then that new one was. [00:53:10] Speaker B: You can put a koozie on if you'd like. [00:53:12] Speaker A: Oh, sure, sure. We got to do our promotion for. [00:53:15] Speaker B: We don't have. [00:53:16] Speaker A: Aren't you a part of. Aren't you a part of some festival or something? [00:53:19] Speaker B: Yeah, you don't have to put the koozie on it. I just. Before it got limp and it was hard to put on. [00:53:23] Speaker A: When's tailgate and tall boys gonna wrap my trailer and pay for the trailer? [00:53:26] Speaker B: I don't know. We should figure something out, though. [00:53:28] Speaker A: It seems like it seems like USA concerts would be. Yeah. Is there somebody we can call? [00:53:33] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll call somebody. [00:53:36] Speaker A: So that's probably the closest person. I mean, anything else, man, I don't know that I could name a song in country radio. And again, that's not me being a pompous ass and saying. And saying I'm above it in any way. It's just not something I tune into, you know? [00:53:48] Speaker B: Well, on that topic, we'll go ahead and jump into our Surfside segment. [00:53:53] Speaker A: Surfside, although you've been telling me all about. [00:53:56] Speaker B: Try one of these. These a little bit ago. [00:53:58] Speaker A: Natural flavors and non carbonated. [00:54:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:01] Speaker A: So you don't get bubbles. [00:54:03] Speaker C: No, bubbles. [00:54:03] Speaker A: Crack it. [00:54:05] Speaker C: I think you should shoot it. [00:54:06] Speaker A: Are you two fist in that thing. [00:54:07] Speaker B: That you just go ahead crotching it. I think right now, if you guys. [00:54:10] Speaker A: Had mic stands, shotgun that you could have one in each hand. [00:54:14] Speaker B: If we had mic stands, we could. So anyways, we'll do a segment here with Surfside. I've asked this question. I'm sure you've seen it on our podcast. You know, I'm sure you've watched. [00:54:22] Speaker A: I've. Every. Every single one epis. [00:54:25] Speaker B: So you're on the Joe Stam Band private jet flying to Minnesota or, you know, possibly the east coast someday, and you just so happen to have every album known to man on the plane and a parachute. It's going down. You're about to be on a deserted island for the rest of your life. You can listen to five albums for the rest of your life. That's all you're taking out of the plane. What five albums are you going to listen to? [00:54:57] Speaker A: Chris Knight, Jealous Kind, Charles Wesley, Godman, how the Mighty Fall, Credence Clearwater Revival Chronicles. Kris Kristofferson, Silver Tail singer, Silver Tongue Devil. Fifth one, probably. Chris Knight, Enough rope. [00:55:24] Speaker B: Two Chris Knights on there. [00:55:25] Speaker A: Yeah, he's my hero. [00:55:27] Speaker B: All first. [00:55:28] Speaker C: Yeah, that's. All of them. [00:55:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Those would be the ones that could get me through a lot. [00:55:35] Speaker B: Do you have. Do you have a vinyl player? [00:55:38] Speaker A: I do, I do, I do. Yeah. It's. It's kind of. It's kind of been decommissioned for. For now because it's in the living room and Katie keeps. Wants to go up to the receiver and. And with the knobs all the time. So we got the knobs like off of the receiver and. And then we've got the, the lid on the vinyl player taped down. Yeah. And. And we can't take, you know, we can't take vinyls out and put them up on Display while the one's spinning because she wants to take that. Like she's just into everything right now. It's not convenient. No, no, she's in that for casual vinyl listening. [00:56:14] Speaker B: Do you think that vinyl is still one of, like, the purest ways of listening to music, or are you nostalgia with those? Are you into that type of stuff or. [00:56:23] Speaker A: No, I mean, I think it is not the best way sonically to listen to music. You know, CDs are. Are much better. [00:56:34] Speaker B: Okay. [00:56:35] Speaker A: Wav files are much better. But there is a nostalgia to it. And the thing I like about it is the it. It takes an. It's a way of listening actively. So you can sit there with the album art. You have to get up every 20 minutes and flip the side so it's not like something you can put on a playlist and then, you know, clean the house. Yeah, you do have to be engaged with it to a certain extent, so it's fun in that respect. So. And I, and I do love it, but it just has, it has its. [00:57:05] Speaker B: Place, you know, and so you're writing this album now that you were talking about. [00:57:10] Speaker A: I'm not writing it. Yeah, we. We record it. We're finishing up post production. [00:57:16] Speaker B: Okay. So as you wrote that or as you're placing those songs and I, I still love, you know, album start to finish. I still live in that. [00:57:26] Speaker A: Me too. [00:57:27] Speaker B: General. We live in a world of random music and singles and all that stuff. I mean, I love when somebody does put an album together from front to back, cover to cover. Do you. Was it pretty easy for you to place all the songs and feel like I, you know, from start to finish or do you even put much thought into. [00:57:47] Speaker A: I put a ton of thought into it and it's not easy. When we started the demo process last January, we rented a place up in Northern Illinois and, and just immersed ourselves in starting to figure out what songs we wanted to do. And we did a bunch of demos and we. I think we started with like 16, 17 songs. And we cut that down to, I want to say 12 or so that we thought were the better songs. And then we ended up writing. I ended up writing a couple more, and so we even dropped a couple off there. We ended up recording 13 songs. [00:58:20] Speaker B: Why is that the number? I always wonder that what makes it to where you need to stop it. 12 or 13, why couldn't you just. [00:58:27] Speaker A: Put 16 on a vinyl record? It's an actual physical thing and, and, and, and the grooves are what make in the record, are what make the music and so those grooves, you, they. There's only so much room on a record. So it accounts. You can do about 20 to 22 minutes on, on a side. [00:58:47] Speaker B: Okay. [00:58:48] Speaker A: And get. As the highest fidelity that you can get. If you get too much, then you start to lose the content. I don't, I don't know the science of it. I just know that on a vinyl record you have about 20 minutes ideally per side. And so I think that's originally why the 10 to 12 song format was what worked and became the standard. Now nowadays, you know, you got Zach Bryan who wants to put 20 songs on a record. And for example, and if he's going to put on vinyl, he just has to press two vinyls in one. And you know, people do that. They can do that. But that's, that's traditionally why it's a 10 to 12 song format. But I think it's, it's, it's. It. There's. It that is such a good. Like that. To me, I love. They love albums because that's a package that, you know, probably just because I grew up with that, that's what a package is like. That's the full painting, that's the full. [00:59:48] Speaker B: Work coming through, the artwork and. [00:59:50] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And that's what's fun about records, man. I'm so glad that they've come back because it gave a re people a reason to buy a physical product again for one. So for merchandising purposes, it's great, great for me, but also because it is, it's just such a, you know, and it's a souvenir. You go to a. There's so many times we'll be at a show and be like, we don't even have a record player. But we just, we just wanted to have a record because we had such a good time and it was so great. Yeah. [01:00:18] Speaker B: Put on the wall. [01:00:19] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's. Yeah. I have a friend who doesn't. Who does that and he just still is not a record player, but he buys records at every show he goes and he puts them up on a wall. [01:00:28] Speaker B: See, I love my record player and I still like the, the process of doing that. And I have old records from over the years, but I also have like records that you wouldn't even think, like super hard rock records. But someday my kids, you know, maybe get it and you know, hey, this was dad's. These are chapters of dad's life. [01:00:50] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Heirlooms, you might say. Yeah. [01:00:54] Speaker C: So you've got some shows coming up this weekend. So as this gets released on, on Tuesday, you've got, you've got a run coming up. What, this weekend? Where are you heading? [01:01:06] Speaker A: Are you talking about the week with Charles Wesley Godwin? Yes, yes. We're going to be in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Thursday, I believe, and then on Valentine's Day in Minneapolis and then that we got a, we're doing two in Minneapolis, the same place because Friday sold out. And so we're doing Saturday at the Uptown Theater in Minneapolis as well with Chuck and the boys. [01:01:28] Speaker C: And you mentioned before we came on camera too, that that, that Minneapolis or Minnesota overall has kind of taken off for you that over time. Has that just been, you know, what, what do you attribute that followership to? [01:01:42] Speaker A: Yeah, and by, you know, taking off, I mean, you know, they're a core group of a couple hundred people up there that really love us. But I, I just attributed to it. We, we started playing at a place called Ryder's Saloon in Henriette, Minnesota, which I think is about an hour north of the cities or whatever. And, and we just built a core following of really enthusiastic people. And sometimes it just takes a few ambassadors to get talking and create a community around them. And that's what those folks did up there. Minnesota's been good to us. [01:02:14] Speaker C: That's great. And so they can go check out on your socials and get connected. [01:02:18] Speaker A: That way you can find us anywhere you can find anything. I don't do a lot of tick tocking, even though my agent tells me I need to do more of it. I stopped by about once a month to hang out there for about five minutes and then I get off. It's, it's just, you know, I, I only got, there's only so much time in a day. I only have so much bandwidth for that kind of stuff. But I'm on Facebook and, and Instagram and occasionally I'll stop by. I believe they call it X these days. [01:02:44] Speaker B: You make some funny videos though. Every now and again I catch it one and every. [01:02:48] Speaker A: I'm also, every, every once in a while I'll, you know, a blind squirrel finds a nut. [01:02:54] Speaker B: Because I, I, with our business and all of our stuff, I mean, I don't know, I kind of get tired of it too. And I don't go in there scrolling and when it comes to like, you know, Facebook and stuff, but then I'll catch it, catch one of yours, you know, and just, I don't know. [01:03:07] Speaker A: And you'll sit there and just appreciate it. [01:03:09] Speaker B: I do, I really do. [01:03:10] Speaker A: Well, they, they want these Every and every day. You know, all these events and venues and festivals, they want this video liner from you. Like, hey, hey, I'm Joe Stamm, and I'm reading off a script. And this is where I'm going to be on this date. I hope you guys will be there. I hate those. It's always like some guy with their phone in their face. Like right there. [01:03:31] Speaker B: You can see Gabby's hounding you, telling you to make the video. [01:03:35] Speaker A: I wasn't gonna mention her name, but yeah, she's great at her job. [01:03:38] Speaker B: Oh, she. [01:03:38] Speaker A: She count how many nose hairs they have and stuff. It's usually up here. [01:03:43] Speaker B: Yours was fun. Yours was good for ours. I liked it. [01:03:45] Speaker A: And so I try to sit. I try to think of something a little more creative for those dumb things. And usually what ends up happening is it's like three weeks after they won it because I'm sitting there trying. Not sitting there, but like in my casual, brainless time, trying to think of something that's slightly more interesting. [01:04:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:03] Speaker A: Than my. How many eyebrows you can count because the phone is right up here in my face. So I just hate doing that. I, I don't hate. I, I hate, I don't hate it for the sake. It's just they're all the same. [01:04:16] Speaker B: So. And again, we're. We're probably need to wrap up here soon. But like, something on that topic though, that I feel like since being in this. And I look at these artists that are, again, big up and coming artists. Okay. With several million followers, let's say on Spotify monthly listeners. [01:04:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:39] Speaker B: And they send me a mediocre picture and nothing else to promote their artist. Okay. [01:04:49] Speaker A: Because they don't need you. [01:04:50] Speaker B: But at the same time, if you have this artist that you think is gonna be something, come you. You send out videographers with them all the time. You've got content. You're telling me you couldn't put a one pager together? Here is Joe Stam. Here's three pictures. Here's some videos from show. [01:05:08] Speaker A: From shows that's not hard to promote. [01:05:11] Speaker B: You know what I'm saying? And it's just crazy to me. I'll go as big as the biggest eye opening was in 2022. Morgan Wallen. Hey, guys, can we get a picture of Morgan Wallen, like, of what you want to use? They email over. And in an email, you know how sometimes it compresses the. You know, they kept doing it. I'm like, guys, every time you email us over, it's very low quality. So then they finally emailed over a solid one. Then I had to ask for logo. You're telling me you can't just take an hour to put together a nice little pack of. Here's a couple photos, here's some videos. Here's our socials. [01:05:50] Speaker A: We have a Dropbox folder that's filled with those. [01:05:52] Speaker B: You guys do a great job. [01:05:53] Speaker A: Just, why can't everybody do this Writer. You got your tech writer, you got your house, you got your stage plot, you got your logos, you got your folder of. Of. Of current band photos. [01:06:05] Speaker B: But it's to promote you. [01:06:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:06] Speaker B: So what I do now. [01:06:07] Speaker A: Easy to do. [01:06:08] Speaker B: So what I do now is I've resorted to. I just go on people's socials and I steal the best video I think that you've posted because you've posted it, Right? So I'm like, well, what's the worst. [01:06:17] Speaker A: You can do if you posted it? Yeah. [01:06:19] Speaker B: But I'm like, I need content. I need something. Because some people do not know who Joe Stam is. Or they've heard you. [01:06:26] Speaker A: There's a few of them that don't. [01:06:27] Speaker B: Or they've heard you. Really? And then they're like, oh, I've heard this song before. And so that's what us, as a festival try to do. Of like, no, no. You actually have heard this person. More than likely. Maybe you just don't know the name. Or they're like, I've never heard of Joe Stan. She sounds wonderful. I'd love to go. I'd love to go to the band to see Jose Strom. [01:06:48] Speaker A: Jose Strom BAND No. All joking is tambourine, too. [01:06:52] Speaker B: I appreciate the hell out of you doing this. And I don't mean I thought this would be fun. I mean, hopefully you had fun doing it. [01:06:58] Speaker A: I think the main thing to take out of this was it was a solid as a rock excuse for me on a Wednesday to spend the entire evening out in my garage drinking beer. [01:07:14] Speaker C: We're tailgate beers here. And we want to thank Joe Stam for inviting us out somewhat. Inviting us. [01:07:20] Speaker A: Austin might have invited us out for accepting the invitation. You mean you invited yourselves. But I accepted that invitation and with. With open arms. [01:07:30] Speaker C: But we're out here in his garage. We found out, too, during the podcast, this is his writing area. This is where he does all the magic scene stuff. So there's a lot of magic that happens on this couch right here. [01:07:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Use the term magic loosely. [01:07:44] Speaker B: Have we heard from Luke? [01:07:45] Speaker A: Yes. So Luke, who said he was going to be here tonight, told his buddy he would go to men's Bible study with him. And then he didn't. He didn't. He didn't remember that when. When he told me he was coming out here before. [01:07:59] Speaker C: Well, I said, we got a cheers. [01:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Here's the Luke. Here's the podcast. Here's a Joe. Joe Stam. I almost said Jose Strom, but Jose Strom. Cheers. [01:08:08] Speaker A: And to Luke Maurer. We miss him. And like I said, it gave me a reason to drink beer in my garage. Not that I really. [01:08:16] Speaker B: No. But need that as a disclaimer. As a disclaimer, though. That's an hour 20 money, too. You're never going to get back. We don't pay a verse for that.