WEBVTT - New Managers and Iraq Dangers 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:19.360 What's up. It's Granger Smith. This is the Granger Smith Podcast, 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:23.200 Episode ten. I love making these and I'm glad that 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:27.040 you care enough to listen. In a world of crazy 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:30.800 fast social media post sometimes we all just need to 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:38.040 hear the whole story. I'm in North Carolina today, Charlotte, 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.559 and it has been crazy as it always is. But 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:45.919 we came from yesterday. We came from let me think 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:50.840 about it, San Jose, California, all the way across the US, 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:55.279 and we have been all over Canada. We've been all 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:59.720 over California and Oregon and that's only been in the 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:03.720 last twenty days. So if I haven't done a podcast 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:06.399 in a little bit, I have a pretty good excuse. 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:08.839 And I promise I need to do them more because 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.560 it's like therapy for me. And like I said, it's 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:15.360 sometimes you need to hear the whole story. And I 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.960 have a lot of stories. Hopefully there's a lot of 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.760 you that want to hear them now. Last episode, I 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.440 was talking about the year two thousand and seven. I 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:25.640 have just written a song called we Bleed Maroon that 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:28.600 changed everything for me because it gave me this regional 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:31.400 hit that gave me kind of a Catapult and I 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:33.120 didn't know it yet, but two thousand and seven was 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.000 about to go out with a huge bang. If you 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:38.360 want to talk about this podcast on social media, just 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.720 hashtag Granger Smith podcast. That way I could search it 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.200 and answer any questions you have, kind of keep a 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.600 pulse on what you're digging. So I've got Twitter up 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.400 right here, and I searched hashtag Granger Smith podcast and 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:55.080 I found a question from Jesse and Kara, and this 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:56.800 is an interesting question. I want to read it because 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.800 it says who determines and or how does your next 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.639 number one song get chosen? Do you, as the artist 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:09.520 get to pick hashtag gyee nation? So obviously this process 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.840 is different for every artist. Every musician has a different situation, 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.200 different people that they work with. So I can only 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:19.520 speak for myself, but the short answer is yes, absolutely, 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:22.920 it is me that decides the next single. Now, the 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:25.200 deeper question is you might be wondering what is a 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:27.600 single like you see it. You see a song on 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:29.960 iTunes and it goes up the chart on iTunes, you 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.240 see it on CMT Countdown, and you hear it on 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:37.359 your local radio station. So that is a song that 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.520 the artist and the people around him have chosen. They 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:44.400 pick one, and the reason they pick one is because 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.679 you could put all your strength into one song typically right, 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:51.000 Because if Portland, Maine was playing their favorite song off 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.959 your album, and Albuquerque, New Mexico was playing their favorite 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.120 song and so on and so on, you would you 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.640 wouldn't get a collective force going anywhere on any of 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.760 your songs. So the way we saw that is we 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:06.480 pick the song and then we'd send it to radio 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.080 and we go, this is our single. I hope you 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:10.960 love it. I hope you play it. Then it's up 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.520 to them if they actually do play it. Does that 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:17.880 make sense? That's the short answer. And to be clear, 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:21.600 I decide the single, but I put trust in the 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.480 people around me, and so we have big discussions and 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:26.680 we talk about it, and I take all the input 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.600 from all the people that know a lot about this, 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.160 that have done this for a long time, and I 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.400 put trust in them. I've built a team around me 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:38.480 of people that I trust. But ultimately it's my gut feeling. 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.560 So I'll collect that data, but I'm gonna go with 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:45.440 my gut. The reason I'm talking about this and the 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:47.520 reason I think this is an interesting question for me 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:51.280 right now is because I'm currently in the process of 0:03:51.400 --> 0:04:10.520 launching a brand new single. Here's a front door swing 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:14.000 at Jamma's house and a little stream up in the mountains, 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:18.240 a shot gun set and an ocean breeze. There's a 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:22.320 fairest wheel just spending around midnight moon I shining down, 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:27.680 a red sunset and a cotton dress. You read it 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:32.160 every single good time. We're in a press rey ride 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:37.440 in my mind, jamp you read it every thought of 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:40.360 what could be. All I see is you in me 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:46.080 not reading everything. I don't know what the future holds. 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:56.320 All I know is girl, You're You're in. It is 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.040 the next single. And this is exciting for me because 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:01.880 one of the one reasons I pick this song is 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.919 it feels so good on stage. It translates so well 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:07.640 in our live show, and that's a big deal. And 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:09.880 that's not always the reason you pick a single, but 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.720 anytime you're going into summertime and you have something that's 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:17.279 just a good country story in my opinion, that has 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:21.280 a really good beat, and it translates no matter if 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.120 you know the song or not. If you're in the 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.520 audience and we play that song, it just feels good. 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:28.600 At least I think so. At least that's my opinion. 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:32.000 So going into the summer twenty eighteen, will be planning 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.840 music videos and different promotions to go along with it, 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.359 and I think it's it's gonna be really exciting. I 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.440 can't wait to see what this does at country radio. 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.280 It's always exciting. It's always the challenge. And isn't that 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.120 what life is all about? You know, not knowing, not 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:52.680 knowing the result. You could set out with your aspirations 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:54.719 and you could make your goals and you could have 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:58.120 a plan, but the fact that you don't know what's 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.680 gonna happen. You don't know everything's going to completely flop, 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.440 or if everything is going to line up and you're 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.240 going to have another number one song. You just don't know. 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.479 And because of that, I think that's so much of 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:15.200 what drives me, the risk of failure. Can I recite 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:20.080 to you one of my favorite quotes Theodore Roosevelt. He said, 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.320 far better is it to dare mighty things, to win 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:27.440 glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:31.039 with those poor spirits who neither enjoyed nor suffer much 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.000 because they live in a gray twilight that knows not 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:39.520 victory nor defeat. That means so much to me. I 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:43.600 have a tattooed on my left arm says dear Mighty Things. 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.400 So with launching the brand new single You're in It, 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:50.080 I think it's only appropriate on this podcast to kind 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:53.040 of look back at my singles that I've had, and 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:55.599 most of you probably couldn't guess if I told you 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.440 right now that You're in It is my eighteenth radio single. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.640 Now that's only my fourth national radio single. So if 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:06.240 you go back too far, you have to be from 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:10.160 Texas and Oklahoma to hear it on regional radio. But 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.840 I can name them. I can go backwards. You're in 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.960 It happens like that if the boot fits backroad song, 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.320 bury me in blue jeans, if money didn't matter, silver oda, 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.720 bench seat, miles and mud tires, we do it in 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.280 a field. I'm wearing black, sleeping on the interstate letters 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:30.040 to London five more minutes. I almost am superstitious. Seventeen 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:34.040 Gypsy Rain, don't listen to the radio. And my very 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.640 first single, exactly ten years ago summer two thousand and eight, 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:43.160 was Colorblind. I want to be color blind, and I 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:49.400 would never think about your soft green eyes, sweedln here 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:54.920 would never cross my mind. The beano black gown you 0:07:55.080 --> 0:08:02.160 slillp into and night. Maybe I'd forget about your round 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:09.680 skin and stop dreaming about the taste to sounding I 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:14.600 wouldn't be heard now and listen you. I would know 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:22.520 a single thing bound you. The Colorblind peaked at number 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.000 nine on the Texas Music Chart, and that was a 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.320 really big deal for a nobody guy like me. Now, 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:30.760 that time period in my music career, that short period 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.480 right there was critical in my music development. So besides 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:38.520 releasing my very first radio single, learning about how a 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.240 single works, and how a radio tour works, and how 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.160 I could get my pick up and travel around and 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:48.160 meet different radio personalities and get to know them so 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.600 that we had a personal relationship, so that if they 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:53.679 were thinking about playing my song, if they knew me, 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:55.439 it would be a little bit easier to say, I'm 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.160 gonna play my Buddy Granger as opposed to some kid 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.120 that I have no idea who he is. Now. The 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:03.080 major thing that happened in two thousand and eight for 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:05.880 me had to do with my manager. You see, that 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:08.880 year I left a huge music management firm called Red 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.760 Light Management, and that was difficult because I left what 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:16.200 was a pretty good thing. You know, they had huge 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:18.079 power and I was a nobody artist and I was 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.880 lucky to be on that roster. But I left them 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.199 for something much more risky. And it kind of goes 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:28.199 back to that Teddy Roosevelt quote, dare mighty things, And 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:30.880 at this time in two thousand and eight, I was 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:39.240 definitely daring mighty things. If you're new to this podcast, 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.560 I got to tell you that my sponsor is EEE Energy. 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.320 Now that's not some big corporate sponsor. That's actually my 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.600 energy drink that me and my brother's made. Now I'm 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.160 very biased because we chose the recipe and we were 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.439 hands on and making the cans and the boxes and 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:55.439 all the way that it's marketed. It's all done right 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:57.960 out of our farm in Central Texas. Now you can 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:00.840 get it on Amazon Prime, grangersmith dot com. You could 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.280 also get it on tour, which is the coolest place 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:05.280 to get it because you could watch my show and 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:08.200 drink ee Energy In most places we play sell it 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.120 right there at the bar. It's perfect. Now to find 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.920 me on tour, go to Grangersmith dot com, Forward Slash 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:18.640 Tour We're going everywhere this year, fifty States, Canada, Australia, 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.320 and through all of those shows you could actually get 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.760 a vat pass where you could meet me. Now, that's 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:25.760 one of my favorite things about touring is getting to 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.040 know the fans that are coming to the show. So 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.320 go to grangersmith dot com. Grab you some merch, grab 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:32.920 you some tickets, grab you some EEE energy, and I'll 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:35.880 see you down the road. I want to call my 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.480 brother Tyler on the phone here. Please enjoy this Verizon 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:42.480 ringback Joon while your party is reached. Hey, what's up? 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:47.040 What's going on? Govin? What's up with you? You busy? 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.760 Right now? All right now? I'm looking at what chicken 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.720 rest I'm going to get at the grocery store. I'm 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.080 making a podcast. Yeah, you're actually on it right now 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:00.240 or I'm recording. I'm talking about two thousand and eight, 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.319 and the biggest thing that happened in two thousand and 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:07.800 eight was when you became my manager. I mean that's 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:14.480 when everything happened right pretty much for whatever the reason, 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.880 but you were behind it and so color Blind, which, 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.040 by the way, it's been ten years since we released 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:23.840 color Blind. The summer of two thousand and eight. It's 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:26.199 cool to be talking about a new single and you're 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.959 in it as number eighteen since Colorblind. But this all 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.720 started when you became my manager and I wanted to 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:40.040 talk about eighteen. Sorry, that's hilarious, like George Strait over there, 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:45.160 eighteen singles. Yeah, I mean I could tell the story, 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:46.800 but it's better if you tell it. What were you 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.440 doing and why did you decide to manage me when 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.360 there was really no money to be made at all? 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.920 I wasn't really getting paid and you know, even to 0:11:56.960 --> 0:12:00.840 this day, I'm blessed to be able to pay the bills. 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:06.720 But it's this you make more than me right now. No, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.080 that's not what I'm saying. Is it's great, it's fun, 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.360 but it's not about the money. Yeah, I know, I 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.080 know never has anything you do. You know, it's never 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.320 been things obviously have changed. I don't know if I 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.680 should be talking like to you, obviously to them since 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:21.679 you know all this, right, how does that work? Yeah? 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.320 Just talk to me, but just like you're doing, tell 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:28.280 the story. I was working at Compass Bank, uh, doing 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:32.360 underwriting loans for commercial real estate, so that's what I 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:34.080 thought I was gonna do. You kind of had your 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:35.840 own music thing going, and I was trying to figure 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.040 out what I wanted to do. I just got done 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.920 playing football, wanted to go to the NFL. That didn't happen, 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.199 So I was trying to figure everything out. And pretty 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.240 much from day one at the bank, I absolutely hated it. 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.000 And so I literally talk to Dad and I said, 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:51.920 WI should I do? And he said, basically, give them 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:53.760 a year. You committed to it. You got to be loyal. 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.160 So during that time, you know, I have my little cubicle. 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:00.079 You know, each time my boss would walk by, I 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.720 would change screens real quick because for the most part, 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:07.040 I was on MySpace working on your stuff, you know, 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.160 getting it together, and I think I was. I was 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:12.840 booking you know when I could. But basically it got 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:14.600 to the point, you know, when I realized what I 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:17.920 wanted to do, when I realized that you were with 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.080 a huge management company. You you know, you had good 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.840 people on your team, but nobody was doing anything for you. 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:28.800 And you know, I basically said, screw this. I'm going 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:30.800 to jump in full time with music. I'm gonna go 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:32.920 sell your merch, I'm going to book you. You know, 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.439 I'm gonna tour manage you. I'll drive the van and 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.760 they basically manage everything from top to bottom. And so 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:41.520 that's what I did. When I turned to my two weeks, 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.600 it was like I never sent music business and has 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:48.000 been ever since then. So the thing that happened around 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.600 that time that changed everything besides booking, because you were 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.520 booking shows and you're booking a lot of shows for 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:58.080 the first time ever. I was playing Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturdays. Dude, 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:03.240 speaking of I found the Holy Grail. I was moving yesterday, 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.560 you know. Yeah, and I've been looking for years from 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:09.480 my booking bible that I had. It was a little 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:13.640 spiral notebook that had all my notes. Oh my gosh, 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:17.640 I found it, dude, and it has like this guy answered, 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:19.920 This guy didn't. He told him to call back at 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.120 five pm on Tuesday. This guy doesn't want to give 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.760 us any money, but he said, if we can come 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:27.840 play for free and so merch and then like all 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:32.840 the guarantees were like five hundred bucks. Anyway, it's awesome. Wow, 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:37.880 you should frame some of the best ones in there. Yeah, 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.080 you were booking a lot of those shows. But we 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.000 were going to those shows and no one, there was 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.640 no crowd. Yeah, so we were playing a ton but 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.920 no one was coming. So that's when I think we 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:54.480 kind of had this idea that we could either work 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.520 our asses off touring like this and it would take 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:02.480 twenty years to build any any or we could start 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:06.160 working on videos and trying to get some viral videos 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.280 on social media that people could share. And we realized 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:12.960 we could reach thousands and thousands of people compared to 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.120 forty five people on a Saturday night in a dance hall. 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:20.080 So that's kind of where the video ideas started. You know, 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.440 you're right, and we did realize that we're spinning our wheels. 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.880 But at the same time, we were forming relationships, and 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:28.240 you know, I would go talk to the owner and 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.000 nobody would show up, but I'd go become best buddies 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:32.480 with him and he'd be like, you know, you didn't 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:34.120 when I call back, you know, he'd be like, I 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:38.160 know you don't bring anybody, but I like Tyler, you know, 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:40.960 and you know, the guarantee might be three hundred bucks 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.120 instead of six hundred, but he'd give me a Saturday 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.280 night and we'd go hustle and so merch and yeah, 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:48.600 I wouldn't trade those days for anything. It was. It 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.760 was a huge part of my learning for sure. And uh, 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.520 you know there was before that I hadn't really done 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:57.880 consecutive tour dates where you actually go out of town 0:15:57.920 --> 0:15:59.960 and stay in a hotel and get up, you know, 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:03.720 like there's rats in the hotel room and you go 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:06.320 out and your trailer tire's blown and you got to 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:09.480 find a new tire and some no no man's land town. 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:11.400 And it was a huge part of learning for both 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.800 of us. Yeah, And that's where contracts came from, remember, 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.720 because we would show up sometimes and if we didn't 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.560 have a signed contract, then they wouldn't even know we're 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:23.680 playing sometimes and so we had to learn how to 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.960 advance shows and get get signatures or if there was 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:30.040 a problem in the contract that say we need to 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:32.440 go talk to this person. I'm be like, dude, I 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:37.360 wrote the contract. You're talking to him. It's changing right now. Yeah, 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:43.040 remember Arizona, you and me were having that argument with 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:45.640 him but changing something on the contract, and he's like, 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.720 I got to take this back to Tyler, And I 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:52.720 was like, I am Tyler. I wrote the contract. Oh 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:56.000 my gosh, yep, all right, I guess that's all I 0:16:56.000 --> 0:17:00.000 got for this podcast. Okay, cool, sounds good, all right, 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:04.520 all right? So I took a huge risk and I 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:07.720 left a big management company and I went with my brother, 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:10.359 And there was a stigma that went with that, where, 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:12.600 you know, it was like people looked at me like 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.800 I was failing, like oh, you're got your brother, or 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.159 people would say who's your management and I would say, 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:23.040 you know, TS management and they would say I've never 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:24.560 heard of it, and I'll say, well, it's my brother. 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.000 And then instantly they would feel like I was a 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.840 nobody because I had my brother as a manager. But 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:34.639 then over years people realized the dude's actually one of 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.320 the best in the business. And uh, you know, I'm 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.560 better because of it, because who better can you trust 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:42.600 as an artist than your brother When he's out there 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.719 fighting for you and he's out there trying to do 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.399 the best things for your career and your name. Who 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:50.840 better to trust than your brother. Now we've had our 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.880 fights over the years, no doubt we've had We've had 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:57.639 some brawls on the road, but it has been so 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:00.240 worth it, and it was the best career move I've 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:04.639 ever made. I just got a text from my wife 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.159 and she just opened up a fan letter of mine 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.720 at home, and I should read it to you. It says, 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.800 dear Granger Smith. Hi, my name is Emily and I'm 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:19.440 in the fourth grade. I love your music so much. 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.439 My dad and my mom have been divorced since I 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:26.560 was one years old. I usually listen to your music 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.000 just to clear my head. I almost know all the 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.560 words to all of your songs on the Remington album. 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:34.240 Every day I listen to your music, and I go 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.520 to sleep listening to your songs. I love you and 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:42.760 keep on writing awesome, amazing and spectacular music. Love Emily, 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:51.320 your biggest fan. Man. That's something. Those are Those are 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.000 the things I need to hear. Those are the things 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.600 that remind me that we're doing something right, that people 0:18:56.640 --> 0:19:01.719 are listening, and that it matters. So thank you, Emily. 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:19.640 Your letter means more to me than you know. We've 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:24.760 been lost in streets and me on and concrete creep 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:29.720 then and somewhere up there is a sky full of stars, 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:35.359 but we can't see how easy enough, let's pack up 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:44.280 in point this truck. So around this time, I have 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:47.479 a new manager. We're making videos like crazy, putting out 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.400 all kinds of content, and something else really happened, though, 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:54.399 that changed me and changed the course of what I 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:58.280 would be doing in music forever. See. I went to Texas, 0:19:58.320 --> 0:19:59.880 A and M and I was in the Core Cadet stre. 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.840 I had a lot of buddies that went into the military, 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:08.359 and they went overseas, and I felt guilty that they're 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:13.960 overseas on deployment, ensuring the freedom that guys like me 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.359 get to enjoy and pick a dream like music for 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:20.240 a living. And I'm not going to lie, it bothered me. 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:24.680 I felt very blessed. I'm very lucky to have fun 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:29.159 and go to bars and play music. And my buddies 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:34.280 were in the desert going through hell, and so I 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.119 made it a mission to do everything I could to 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:40.440 go over there and to play music and to bring 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:42.560 a little piece of home to them, to my buddies, 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:46.520 but ultimately to everyone deployed. And people ask me, how 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:50.960 did you get those entertainment tours in Iraq? I don't know, really. 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:54.399 The honest answer is I emailed every single person I 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:57.240 knew in the military and I said, my name is 0:20:57.240 --> 0:20:59.720 Granger Smith. I'm a musician. I want to go to 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:03.280 ira I want to play music for the troops. Do 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:05.960 you know anybody, and most of the time nobody replied, 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.120 and I think sometimes people forward it to a commanding officer, 0:21:11.320 --> 0:21:14.639 And eventually one day I got a call from a 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:18.320 military entertainment company and they said, do you want to 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:21.720 go to Iraq? And I said, my bags are freaking packed. 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:26.760 There's a flag that I fly in my yard. I 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:30.320 know the price paid for those stars. It's a flag 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:35.600 made a fly high and the wig. Yes, the that's 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:39.160 what I do with it. I've been along and afraid, 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:43.800 I've seen the dog. I've made it through. Okay, I'm 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:47.640 better for my scars last the wheel at it fall. 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.520 I want to know how to supply for a chance 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:55.480 to swing for the fence. So when the fitch jumps 0:21:55.520 --> 0:22:03.440 going in, that's what I do with it. I ended 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:06.600 up taking three tours to Iraq, and all three times 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:10.120 I was just I could not believe that music got 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:13.239 me there, first of all, but my intention was to 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:16.120 go bring a little piece of home to these men 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:19.280 and women, and I had no idea how much I 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:22.760 was going to get in return. It gave me such perspective, 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:27.320 not only that music is a gift that I'm responsible 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:31.840 for sharing, but how precious life is and how valuable 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:35.440 freedom is and how blessed we really are to have it. 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:39.040 Each tour was about two weeks long, and every day 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:41.919 we would travel to a new location, a new forward 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.320 operating base. We would play two of these a day, 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:48.800 traveling by helicopter. And it was my choice to play 0:22:48.800 --> 0:22:51.639 the smaller fops, the places that are farther out there, 0:22:51.880 --> 0:22:55.000 the places that don't see the Dallas Cavloy cheerleaders you know, 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:58.040 every six months, The places that have never seen entertainment, 0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:01.320 the places that don't have running water, have toilets, you know. 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:05.200 The best food that they have is cold ham sandwiches 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:07.440 out of a cooler. Those are the places we wanted 0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:11.359 to play. And those are the places where a little 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:15.240 strip of concrete was the stage and the bleachers were 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:17.880 a tank, and they would climb up on the tank 0:23:17.920 --> 0:23:20.880 to get a good vantage point. No one knew my songs, 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:24.320 no one knew who I was. It didn't matter. They 0:23:24.600 --> 0:23:27.919 just wanted to hear some American music. And I learned 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:31.080 then that music can transport you three minutes at a 0:23:31.119 --> 0:23:35.199 time to another place. You could forget everything, and that 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:38.480 was a valuable lesson for me. Now, for the record, 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:41.480