Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: Hey, tailgate beers here.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: Hey.
[00:00:23] Speaker B: It is day three tailgating tall boys here in Clinton, Iowa, and fresh off the stage, we've got our friend Graham Barham. Hell of a job out there.
[00:00:31] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Hell of a job.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:00:33] Speaker B: Up on the. The diamond deck up top, watching your whole set.
[00:00:36] Speaker A: And I'll be up there just a minute to go see the boy. Yeah.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: You killed it. Killed it. Dylan was up there with us. You're gonna exchange a favor and go up there and watch him.
[00:00:44] Speaker A: I got to. Got to. Gonna catch some of Gavin and Lily too, so.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it was. It was an awesome set.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you all so much. I appreciate it. Yeah.
[00:00:52] Speaker C: Next week, we're gonna do it all over.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: We're gonna do it all over again.
[00:00:54] Speaker C: A little bit crazier because tonight.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:56] Speaker C: You were telling us how you played CMA Fest last night and you got off stage at midnight. You said.
[00:01:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:04] Speaker C: Got off stage at midnight. Oh, we got an ESPN update. Got off stage at midnight and then flew out at 5 or 6 this morning just to come be with us.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: And then you're getting back on the plane here just in a couple hours.
[00:01:16] Speaker A: In a couple hours. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
[00:01:18] Speaker C: Dang.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: What's. What's going on back. Back home? Are you going back to Nashville?
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Nashville is home, and I'm just doing.
Doing more CMA stuff.
Yeah. But I was. I mean, dude, I've been looking forward to this. I've never played tailgate, so I'm like. I was. I was so pumped.
[00:01:35] Speaker C: And now you get two weekends.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: Yeah, dude.
[00:01:37] Speaker C: No, I know.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: I was like, that's a good warm up. Let's go, though, you know?
[00:01:40] Speaker C: And for us, this. This festival falling on CMA weekend is.
It's always been kind of a tough one because people are trying to bounce back and forth, but it works out because Lily was just a part of it too. And you're getting ready to head back down there. But, dude, we're pumped to have you, man.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: I'm so pumped to be here. Like, obviously, I've known y' all from a minute from playing at Cruising, having a couple nights, but I'm stoked to get to come out here and you have a slot.
[00:02:08] Speaker C: You have not played. You haven't headlined Cruising yet, have you?
[00:02:12] Speaker A: I have not.
[00:02:12] Speaker C: We got to talk. We got to talk to Wayne and make that happen. I'd love to make that happen, man.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Yeah, we're doing the first headline tour this fall, so I've. I've been opening up for all the. All the good old Boys and finally getting to do our own. So we're really pumped to get to do our own thing.
We've gotten really good at opening, so it's time to get. Yeah, it's time to get in a groove on the.
[00:02:34] Speaker C: You know, your set today crushed it, man.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Well, thank you.
[00:02:36] Speaker B: Yeah, that's like an hour long set. I mean, is that a pretty. Pretty good size set for.
[00:02:40] Speaker A: For a festival? I feel like I haven't played that long ever. That was definitely.
You know, it's. It's funny because you're always trying to like, get a bearing on stuff and when you're a young. When you're a younger artist and they're just getting started, like, you got to figure out a way to keep them going because, you know, they know Gavin's music, they know Aldean's music. You know what I mean? Like, they're, you know, so it's like you gotta. You gotta show them who the fuck you are. Sorry.
[00:03:03] Speaker C: But even. No, no.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: You kind of gotta let them know. So.
[00:03:09] Speaker C: But even if you're yours as a newer, younger artist.
I was sitting there going, and I listened to a lot of music. Naturally you as, you know, one of the boys listening to a lot of it. But I'm like, oh, man, I forgot that he. Man, this is a. This is a great song. Oh, yeah, forgot this. You know, forgot he's got this one in the bag too. I don't know. You had a lot of them today. That still even caught me kind of as a.
As a fan going, oh my gosh, it's such a good. I mean, we started walking away. Went to the Merchant right towards your ending.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: I gotta get some shit too. I gotta get some merch.
[00:03:40] Speaker C: And then. And then, yes, head on over to go see Tommy and the guy. Guys see Corey and them start yelling at him. Yeah, but he.
Well, no, for you. Then the whiskey. Whiskey came on and I'm like, ah, I just walked away.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: I caught it.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: I was still up there.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: You know what I enjoy too? I mean, I've got kids. We have kids that. They're about the same age. We coach baseball together and stuff like that. But you know, the kind of. The pre talk before you went into Half Dozen Roses and talking to the kids and the screen time and being positive, you know, certainly for. For us that have kids that age and. And the generations that are coming up, that. That hits home for us. So, you know, where does that come from for you?
[00:04:21] Speaker A: You know, I feel like what it. I mean, it stems from one thing like, you know, they.
The Internet, if you follow me on the Internet, you see all the comments, all the stuff. Like, there's a lot of negativity. There's a lot. I'm like, very controversial. People like to say a lot of. About me. Positive, negative, very strong. Like, they have very strong opinions. And be honest with you. Like, it really doesn't bother me at all. I. I actually kind of. I secretly love it. I love the hate. Because, dude, if people hate you, like, that means they're sitting there, they know who you are, and they, like, you can turn them into fans.
[00:04:52] Speaker C: What's some of the hate that you're getting?
[00:04:54] Speaker A: Oh, just like, you know, doing something a little left of center. That's just not the traditional country. And it, you know, it's got 808s and I hats and it lanes. Definitely more pop and hip hop. But I mean, dude, that's what I feel like is country music to me. And if I went up there and started singing Zach Top songs, I'd fill in authentic. So.
[00:05:13] Speaker C: But we, we Talked to old 60 yesterday and they said, like, they were talking about the same thing going, we don't want to fit in a genre. Yeah, we love country. We love that we get labeled as country. But at the end of the day, like, we don't want to just be that. We want to be old 60. Yeah, we want to be, you know, you want to be Graham Barm, like, what you decide to do and artistically.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: Yeah. I think to answer the question, though, it's like the, the reason that I'm so strongly about saying that is that the Internet is so, like, influential right now. Like, these kids really take this to heart and it's just not important. Like, I'm so thankful for Tick Tock and Instagram. Like, it's giving me a platform. It's giving me. I mean, this reason I'm here, the only reason I'm here right now is because I was on Tick Tock and I've grinded on social media. But all the negativity, you know, some of these kids and even artists and they take it seriously and it's like, dude, man, it don't matter. Like, somebody's typing something into a screen. And I think it's just really important, especially in a fundamental stage of life, like you. You can't be thinking that really matters. And I just. If they're not going to. If people, the younger people aren't going to listen to their parents or their older siblings or something, I'm like, maybe they'll listen to somebody who's standing six feet higher off the ground with a mic, you know? Absolutely. And I just feel called to do that. Like, you know, I believe in God, and I believe that that's what he would want to do. And I just.
I'm grateful to be here. You know what I'm saying? I never really thought I'd have this opportunity, so I'm just trying to. To do as much as I can while I'm here and spread as much positivity and love and.
And just. The world's in a weird place, dude. So. Agreed.
[00:06:44] Speaker C: Keep. Anyway, keep making. Keep making those jams, because, short story.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Long, sorry about that. But yeah, you know what I'm saying?
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Surfside's got real vodka, real iced tea, and real lemonade. You know what's not real? That excuse you gave to skip the tailgate, grab a Surfside and redeem yourself, champ.
Now back to your regular programming.
[00:07:03] Speaker C: But you keep making that music, because here's the problem.
Just like anything I love, I love Eric Church's original music they made. We all love that original stuff, okay? We all love Morgan Wallen's double album. We all love the original Eminem. Some of the original Eminem.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:20] Speaker C: But the problem is he can't just keep putting out that same stuff over and over and over. I love John Mayer. At the end of the day, there's some John Mayer stuff that I'm going, eh, I don't know. Not really. For me, I can't get down with some. Like, the Eric Church. The two albums he made that were the.
Like the choir.
No, the.
They had two different categories. Either I love it because he's artistic and he did something he wanted to do, right? But for me, like, you just can't keep making music to make everybody happy. Eminem can't keep putting out eight mile tracks.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: Like.
[00:07:54] Speaker C: Yeah, but you know what the cool.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Thing is that he can put out whatever he wants and he can keep doing it. And if you don't like it, you don't have to listen to it. And if you do, you can. And that's the thing is that, like, also, like, if you don't. If you don't like my music, like, there's plenty other people to listen to, so go listen to them. Like, I'm not. I'm not begging you to listen to it. I'm here for the people that want to be here. And yeah, dude, you can't put the same thing over. And if you keep putting the same thing out over and over for Me as an artist, like, as a songwriter, I don't mind writing some of the same stuff. Like, but as an artist, if I'm writing for my own project, I feel like I'm dying. You know, if you're not learning and you're not growing, you're dying. So that's kind of how I feel about it.
[00:08:28] Speaker C: Do you write the bulk of all of your songs? Are you getting songs from other people? I mean, what's your. What's your percentage of writing for others versus writing for yourself?
[00:08:38] Speaker A: And I write. I write 100% of all my songs with other. Like, 100%. I don't write 100% of the song. Right. I write 100% of my songs with the help of, like, amazing songwriters who brought. Bring the songs to life. I would not be here without them. But, like, yeah, I probably write. I mean, if there's five days in a week, you know, we might write for me twice, and the other three will be for somebody else.
The three, you know, might be 60% of the time for me and, you know, the other 40. It just really depends. I mean, I'm. You know, I got the new.
I wrote a song for my buddy Tyler Braden. That was a big, big song for him. I've written for Wyatt Flores. I've written for Chase Matthew. I got Blake Shelton's new single out right now, which. Honestly, bro, like, I'm talking about that, not flexing about it. I'm just so excited because I'm such a songwriter at heart, and that's what I really want to be known as, is a good songwriter. And so I'm like. That geeks me up. Like, I'm so happy to be here and play the stage, but having.
Hearing the radio turn on, man, hearing the static, and then you hear your song you wrote and Blake Shelton singing it, that to me, I geek out as much about that as I do, like, full money blowing up or whatever it might be. As an artist, you know, do you.
[00:09:41] Speaker C: Have a pretty cool story of songwriting where it just kind of. It came to you or in an odd time. Like, one of my favorite. One of my favorite songs we talked about the other day even was should have Been a Cowboy.
[00:09:54] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:09:55] Speaker C: But if you've ever looked at the story of how he wrote that, he said he wrote it in, like, 15 minutes. They were hunting somewhere up in, like, North Dakota or South Dakota, and they were in a hotel room and, like, banged out in the bathroom in, like, 30 minutes.
[00:10:08] Speaker A: I believe it.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: Top. And it just. But it just happened. But at the same time, it was a cool, unique thing of it hit. Do you have one that, like, you were somewhere and just like. I don't know, it just all started clicking and.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: Dude. So, like, I didn't write the whole song, but I started a song when I was, like. I was playing this really shitty show.
Not shitty. That sounds bad, but I was just playing this, like, I was just getting started. And, like, there it was like a Going through the. Not. Not many people there. And, like, I was in Milwaukee, and I was, like, writing like, I was in a hotel. I was in a hotel. And actually the guy I was playing for was actually a really good dude. The venue owner was awesome. He was stoked to have me, knew my music. I'm still friends with him today. He's a great dude.
But I played and it was just kind of awkward, you know? You're like, damn, man. I didn't really bring anything to the table today.
And I got back to my hotel room, and it was freezing cold, dude. It was snow everywhere. And I'm not used to that. I'm from Louisiana, so I just grabbed my guitar and I was like, I'm somewhere in Milwaukee. There's snow covering concrete. And then I went back home, and I was writing with a buddy of mine, Wyatt Flores, and I kind of showed him. I just expressed my, you know, emotions about the song. And it fell out. And then he cut it, and it was a big song for him. I don't know if y' all listen to Wyatt. He's kind of more red dirt, but.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: He was just here.
[00:11:25] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Yeah. So I wrote that song. And, man, that song, I mean, I wrote it with him, and I wrote it with two other guys. I was a part of the song, is what I should say. But that one, I start that idea by myself. And I was not in a. An awesome place when it started, but when it ended, I was like, damn, this is sick. And anything why it puts his voice on is just awesome. So it's. I feel blessed.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: I love his. His fiddle player. I seen them live in D.C. kenzie. Oh, yeah.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: So the reason that I know him is my best friend, Cole miracle, who writes 90 of my music, as well as Bo Bailey, Cole Miracle, and bow. Right. Like 90% of my music. Cole's married to Kinsey. Yeah. And Kenzie and Cole introduced me to Wyatt, so. And she is a badass dude. I mean, she's an animal.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: I love just watching her. Like, I said, yes, she's amazing. Amazing.
[00:12:14] Speaker A: White man's awesome. Yeah.
[00:12:16] Speaker C: Our boy Dylan Schneider's on stage right now.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Let's rock.
[00:12:18] Speaker C: We got a few minutes. I'm going to consider this a part one and.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: I'm going to consider this our mellow.
[00:12:23] Speaker B: One when you headline cruising here.
[00:12:25] Speaker C: So. Yeah, no, no, but I'm going to consider this our mellow one because we have next week where you don't have to be anywhere.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:31] Speaker C: Okay. We have pro. Probably we're going to be into the sauce maybe a little bit more. Yeah. And then we have cruisins possibly at some point.
[00:12:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:36] Speaker C: But, dude, thank you for sitting down with us. We have some very burning questions that we'll ask you on another episode. We can get into some other things outside of music. But, dude. Yeah, cheers, man. Cheers.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: Thank you so much. I appreciate having me. Yeah, yeah.
[00:12:49] Speaker C: Cheers.
