Episode Transcript
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Hey, welcome to Tailgate Beers. Ryan and Austin here, we're on site and our mobile site here at Tailgate and Tall Boys in Bloomington, Illinois and we've got a friend with us, Wesko. Wesco. Thanks for joining us.
[00:00:33] Speaker B: What's going on you guys?
[00:00:35] Speaker A: So out here, you just got done off the stage. What do you think?
[00:00:39] Speaker B: Man, Tailgate has a crowd like no other. I've never seen so many tore up country ass people in the middle of afternoon. In the middle of the afternoon at 4 o' clock, these people are ready to get down, down with it.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: So a lot of them, as you can see, are camping here. I mean they probably woke up eight, nine, maybe noon and they just immediately.
[00:01:00] Speaker C: Started over again today, crawled out of their mud covered bed.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: As I'm sure you heard, we had a lot of rain here last night and so everybody here was just soaking wet. And I can't imagine the number of people that just woke up in puddles of, of rainwater this morning.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: Look, man, country fans are one of a kind. Say that, one of a kind.
And I feel like a festival, like this is one of the only times other than like on like a golf course or something where somebody can justify day drinking.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Or morning drinking. Yeah, I'm sure some of them, you know, morning drinking, no shame. That's all right.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: Oh, I walked around yesterday and did some interviews out there in the campground. I mean they're playing beer pong and all kinds of stuff that I'm too old to even know what they're doing at about 9, 10 o' clock in the morning and they're shotgunning beers and they're taking shots and I'm like, man.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: Have a bush light with your biscuit. Oh, it's a hell of a combo, man.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Now they're making their sausage gravy.
[00:01:57] Speaker C: Did you grow up going to festivals where you're from?
[00:02:01] Speaker B: So back home there really aren't any in the last.
I'm from Keenansville, North Carolina, which is eastern. So last few years they've started ccmf. But know growing up we didn't have festivals. We had my little town of 600 people, man. We've got an event center which is unreasonably big to be such a small town. I think it seats like four or five thousand people. There aren't that many people in the town. There's hardly that many people in the county. But I mean, I think I saw Jason Aldean there growing up. Nine years old, that was as close as you get. Willie Nelson came one time and got arrested for pot or something. Like one of his band members got a pot ticket at the thing. So that shut down. That shut down the live music scene in Dublin County, North Carolina, there for a little while. So, yeah, man, I got most of my music growing up on Spotify. You know, when I turned 16, downloaded Spotify or whatever. That. That's where it really comes from.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: You know, because we're out in the middle of nowhere, so truly out in the middle of nowhere. So you got to get your music where you can get it.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: So how did that music start for you? I mean, were you pretty young when you.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: I was 20.
I was 20. I was twenty years old when I started playing music.
Just kind of. I was working a blue collar job doing hydro seeding with a few boys from Illinois, West Illinois. So I got bored on my days off between college and working my supervising job, man, and just figured I needed something to do. So I picked up a guitar down, like, got some lessons on YouTube, just kind of started. Started writing songs a little bit after that.
Started, like, professionally pursuing music when I was 21. I'm 25 now, so.
[00:03:42] Speaker D: 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.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: So professionally looking for music there, is that like going to Nashville? Is that posting stuff online, social media, getting your stuff out there?
[00:04:04] Speaker B: That's what I meant is like playing little dive bars back home in the middle of nowhere that don't have a liquor license. They can serve you canned beers, and there's like a 95% chance you're gonna watch a fight playing an acoustic set.
And I don't know if you guys know what it's like to be playing Wagon Wheel while you watch a fist fight.
It's pretty. Pretty damn chaotic. But, you know, it's just one of those things when you're playing music in a dive bar out in the middle of fucking nowhere with the heathens of the county, that's what you get, man.
I'll tell you one thing. When I was coming up, you know, in the music business, first getting started, I never had to book a ufc. Like, I never had to buy a UFC match because I could just go play a show and watch a couple fucking rednecks fresh. Fresh out of the chicken houses, go at it. Just go at it, slinging Bud Light everywhere, and I'd just be sitting there playing my Bob Dylan and carrying on, man.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: So what was the next step from there? You're playing the smaller venues. You're watching that, seeing that.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: And then, I mean, what's. What's. What's the next step?
[00:05:10] Speaker B: So after that, I did. I did American Idol.
That didn't. That didn't go too well for me, and that didn't go very well for me. So I took to TikTok after that and kept playing.
[00:05:23] Speaker C: When you say it didn't go well for you, what happened?
[00:05:26] Speaker B: One particular person on the show gave me some not so friendly feedback. Oh, really? Yeah. That I've used to kind of fuel my career.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: Yeah, I love it. It's not been televised anywhere, thank God.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: So you made it to. You made it to Hollywood or whatever.
[00:05:44] Speaker B: And, no, I didn't even get there. I got to the. I got to the first stages where I met the judges and everything. Yeah, yeah. It was as far as I got. I was on the same season as Evan Hohner, Eli Winders, Sam Barber. We were all on the same season of American Idol and all kind of right there. Yeah.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: I'm American Idol fan. So I go back and look at that now.
[00:06:04] Speaker C: See, I don't. I don't see any of that. Yeah, I don't get into. I don't follow.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: I do a lot of reality tv, so I enjoy all that stuff.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: Where do you get a lot of your inspiration from? Like, who do you follow? Who do you. Who do you like to listen to?
[00:06:19] Speaker B: So my inspiration list kind of changed as time has gone on.
I grew up listening to, like, My Chemical Romance and Green Day and stuff like that, and I honestly didn't start listening to real country music until I turned maybe 15 or 16, so. But when I started there, I went down Eric Church's catalog from album one centers, like me all the way to the current one and learned everything. So I. I pull my influences from everywhere, whatever corner you want to call it, from folk and Americana stuff to. To Eric Church and Luke Combs, you know, but we're working on new music, so it leans more toward, like, a contemporary sound.
But we talk about real stuff, you know, we're not throwing out the meaning of songwriting and making these songs that are gonna be a little more commercially viable. You know what I'm saying? We're not throwing out the meaning. Cause I feel like.
Not to throw shade at the industry, but I feel like a lot of people sacrifice their soul, what they put into the music, their heart, to make a buck.
[00:07:35] Speaker C: Saw your soul. The devil.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: Yeah. I've never been into.
I've never been in it for the money, because as a singer, especially, you know, singer, songwriter, you're not gonna make any unless you're like Luke Combs level. That's where the money starts coming in, and you live comfortably.
But at this stage right now, we're all broke, so it's not about it for the money.
And I'll be damned if I'm ever gonna. Gonna sacrifice saying things. I mean, saying things that mean something to me to make a quick dollar. That's just not. It's not me.
[00:08:06] Speaker C: Good for you, man.
So I'll ask. And this will lead into a question. We haven't really asked a lot this weekend, but when you start getting to that Luke Combs level and the money rolls in, sure, you guys are going to end up, you know, with a nice little private jet, something like that.
But, you know, as all things happen, you know, things go wrong and it starts going down.
But you just so happen to have every album known to man with you. What five albums are you grabbing for the rest of your life?
[00:08:33] Speaker B: For the rest of your life on your deserted island?
Let's see, I would probably take Guitar Town, Steve Earl.
I would take whatever album Feeling Good Again is on by Robert Earl Keane. I take centers like Me by Eric Church. Carolina by Eric Church. And I would take Growing up and Getting Old by Luke Combs.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Those would be the ones I gotta ask because.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Oh, can I have an honorable mention, by the way?
[00:09:05] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: Southeastern Jason Isbell.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: So my question was gonna be, so did you take into consideration anything that she wants to listen to on this deserted island?
[00:09:14] Speaker B: No, my music tastes better.
My girlfriend. My girlfriend, her movie taste is better. But when it comes to music, I gotta lock down. I gotta lock down. With those five or six albums. We'll be good. We'll be great.
[00:09:26] Speaker C: Do you think you could even get three of her five top albums?
[00:09:30] Speaker B: No, probably not. We listen to my music a lot. I'm the DJ of the car. When we go on road trips or wherever, I do the DJing.
Yeah.
[00:09:41] Speaker C: I can't stand one of those.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: She listens to, like, house music. Yeah, like the house music.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Oh, there you go.
[00:09:47] Speaker C: Just straight.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: Yes, sometimes. Yes, she does. She. She's not in her head. She does off camera.
[00:09:52] Speaker C: She's disagreeing.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: Throwbacks to throwbacks. Yeah.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: As a very happily married man, I would say you might want to at least, you know, give her one of the five. Just, you know, Just to what.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: What album would you pick? Well, no, that's a Pretty good one.
[00:10:08] Speaker A: That is a good one.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: That is a good one. Yeah, that's a good. We could. We could throw that in there. Yeah. We can agree to disagree. We know we can throw that one in there. We can. We can bring that one along. Yeah.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: Have a few singles you can take with you. You don't need a whole album.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: I mean.
[00:10:21] Speaker C: I mean, brought up that there's maybe only one parachute on this plane. We got to figure out who's taking it.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: I'll let her have the parachute because I got good. I got good music to go down with, so I let her have the parachute.
[00:10:32] Speaker C: You know, that's funny stuff.
No. So you guys. So how often are you. So you're in North Carolina? You guys reside there now?
[00:10:40] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:10:41] Speaker C: How often are you back and forth from Nashville?
[00:10:44] Speaker B: I'm in Nashville once a month for mostly most. Most of the time. A week at the time. Writing music, recording music.
I always coordinate it with show runs. So, you know, every time I'm in town, it's work mode. And then I get to go home to my little pad out in the woods and sit there and do nothing for a while, get away from all those people.
[00:11:04] Speaker C: Oh, Nashville's crazy.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: It is.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Little la, Hunting, anything, like, outdoors.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: All the above.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: That's all we got to do. That's it. You work and you hunt. And if you ain't working or you're hunting, you're doing something that's probably going to land you in jail, so.
[00:11:20] Speaker C: Never thought of it that way.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: And sometimes. So my dad, growing up, my dad's a game warden, so sometimes hunting and fishing can also get you thrown in jail if you don't do it the right way. You just gotta be a little slicker than the rest.
[00:11:34] Speaker C: How far are you guys from, like, Rockingham?
[00:11:38] Speaker B: Three hours. Oh, wow.
Yeah. It's the Speedway, right? Yeah, they revive.
[00:11:42] Speaker C: We did a festival down there, and a good friend of ours, Brian is. He was supposed to be here right now, but he's not. But he's. I mean, he's probably one of the only. Him and Matt are about the only couple people we know.
[00:11:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:11:53] Speaker C: North Carolina. I go to.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: Go to the Charlotte airport every once in a while. That's about as far as I go.
[00:11:59] Speaker B: Yeah, that place is a madhouse.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: It is. They got that little barbecue joint that. That Brian is one he mentioned that I both enjoy. I forget the name of it off top of my head right now, but, yeah, if you.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: If you want this one to do, like, really well, like go viral or so in North Carolina. You should just title it different kinds of North Carolina Barbecue.
[00:12:18] Speaker C: There you go.
[00:12:18] Speaker B: And you will start one hell of a discussion from all North Carolina because.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: They all think that this is better.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: We have three different kinds of barbecue.
[00:12:25] Speaker C: What are the kinds?
[00:12:26] Speaker B: You got the Eastern Carolina barbecue, which is like vinegar base. It's the best. Then you got the middle of the state, which is like a tomato base or something. And out there in the mountains, it's, it's real sweet. Your sweet tasting. Yeah. North Carolinians are very passionate about barbecue. And pickles. Never knew that, like mountain olive pickles.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: About moonshine.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: That also.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I enjoy some moonshine.
[00:12:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I, I would indulge.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: I know that moonshiners itself have, have at least a couple of moonshiners on TV show.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
Popcorn Sutton.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:59] Speaker B: Yeah. My great, my great, great granddad made moonshine back in the 60s using swamp water.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Really?
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Yeah. So it was a, it was all over the state. Yeah.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: I may or may not have a little bit of a 5 gallon still at home that Austin and I have made some.
[00:13:15] Speaker C: Some may or may not have.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: May or may not.
[00:13:18] Speaker C: Allegedly.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Any ale agents watching this? He's joking.
[00:13:21] Speaker C: Allegedly.
If we had, if I knew somebody that had one, it would be cool to do.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It would be Sunday morning. It was Sunday morning.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:32] Speaker C: If we had that opportunity.
If, if only.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Disclaimer.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Fictitious story here, but yeah.
[00:13:40] Speaker C: And last time we saw you played with Austin Snell.
I don't know. Are you guys, how did that come about? Are you guys, you guys just know each other?
[00:13:49] Speaker B: Is it me and booking agent? Yeah, yeah, we got the best booking agent in the business, man. Yeah. Chris Burris with caa. Shout Out.
[00:13:56] Speaker C: Shout out. Chris. I hope he sees this. I, I, I will.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: He will. Okay.
Yeah. Best one in the best one in the business, man.
[00:14:03] Speaker C: And we, I, I love Austin. I mean, not just because he stole my name, but he's a good dude. I love his music. I love, you know, I think it was a good combo, you guys together. And yeah, that night at Cruising was a fun time. We didn't get to have the podcast, so.
So thankful for you to join us here, man.
I hope you glad to be here when you're headlining this festival, man.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Of course, man. I hope, I hope we get there soon. Sooner. Sooner rather than later.
[00:14:29] Speaker C: I agree, dude. Well, hey, and cheers to you. Have you told us right before we came on you got a new song out right now?
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yes, Pretend. Just came out.
[00:14:36] Speaker C: Just came out Thursday night.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: Yep. Thursday night.
[00:14:39] Speaker A: What's the name of that one?
[00:14:40] Speaker B: Pretend.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Pretend.
[00:14:41] Speaker C: All right, so go check it out.
[00:14:43] Speaker A: Download again.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: You're.
[00:14:44] Speaker C: You're now part of the family, man.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: Awesome. Sick.
[00:14:47] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: Yes, sir, of course.
