WEBVTT - #389 -Sunny Sweeney Getting Nominated for ACM Three Months After Getting Dropped From Label + Wanting to Quit Music to Being Featured in Country Music Hall Of Fame + Being Prepared To Be Alone + Writing A Letter To Emmylou Harris 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:06.520 When I got dropped from Big Machine, I gave myself 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:10.480 fourteen days. On the last day, at five pm the ACMs, 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:12.640 he said, we're not supposed to call you right now, 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:14.520 but I just felt like you needed to know this today. 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:17.439 We're not announcing it till like mid January, but you've 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:23.119 been nominated for an ACM. I saw our massive van 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:28.280 slash almost tour bus slash. I don't know, it was 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:30.200 just awesome, Like I need one of these. I don't 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:32.280 know why. It's like a mini home on wheels. Yeah. 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:36.000 I saw it drive into the driveway and I was like, 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:38.559 who is that? And it turns out it was Sunny Yeah. 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:40.360 And it's got like a big battering ram on the 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:42.520 front of it, and she talks about kind of why 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:44.839 but not a real battering ram, but it does have 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.440 a look, you know, something on the front there that 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:49.280 if anybody messed with her, she can just drive into you. 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:53.080 But Sunny Sweeney is our guest episode three eighty nine, 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.480 and so there's a lot we get into. Really enjoyed 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:58.680 this and it's rare that I get to talk to 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.080 somebody that back in the day I bought tickets to 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.360 watch and so I guess tickets. I think I just 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:07.080 paid at the door for her shows. Yeah, whatever it was. 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:08.920 It was in Austin, and she was in Austin, so 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:10.120 I would just go pay at the door and we 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.759 went in. So but regardless, I paid money to watch 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:17.440 her sing. And Sonny Sweeney talks a lot about, you know, 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.039 how her career started in Texas and then she came 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.600 to Nashville, and she talks about getting dropped and how 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:25.759 hard that was for her, like dropped from a label 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.600 and you know what's happened, Like she got signs that 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:31.959 you know, she's this person who believes in signs from 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.680 the universe. I don't know that I'm that person. The timing, though, 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.000 is yeah, I agree, yeah, the timing with those and 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:40.920 they're not just like a leaf blows in front of 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:43.119 you signs. She's like, give me a sign and that's 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:47.880 something massive happens. So I really enjoyed this Sonny Sweeney. 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:51.840 She's at getting sweenered on Instagram. By the way, we 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.560 always linked to socials in those notes where if you 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:57.080 gets a little drop down you can see it in there. 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.120 But she's got a couple of new songs. There is 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.440 Red Dirt Girl. It's an Emulu Harris cover that we 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:11.240 talk about here you go. When I say new, I 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.079 mean she put out a record in September last year, 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.519 so newish. But she's also got a whole dealt to 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:19.160 cut your music Hall of Fame, which we'll talk about. 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:21.639 So here we go. Also, let me shout out Jamie 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:23.800 Lyne Wilson because she's also on Red Dirt Girl with 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.639 Sunny Sweeney. There, but let's do it. She's on tour 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.680 right now. Got to Sunny Sweeney dot com. It's episode 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.280 three eighty nine. Here she is, Sonny Sweeney. Sonny, when 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.040 did you live in Austin. That's a funny question. Well, 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:38.520 my stuff is still in storage there right now. I'm 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.359 kind of not living anywhere. But I moved there in 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.600 ninety six for college, and you were there until kind 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.720 of like the last the last couple of months. Yeah, 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:52.360 I was thinking about just you. And I've listened to 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:54.600 your music for years, and I lived in Austub for 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:56.600 twelve years. I listened to you when I were there, 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:58.680 and I've been to a couple of your shows, but 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.800 I never met you. So weird. Yeah, And when I 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:05.040 walked in, you said, and I was thinking the same thing, like, 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:07.480 I don't think we've ever met. I've been to at 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.680 least two of your shows. That's so weird, and so 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.680 until now, I don't think we've ever actually spoken to 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.519 each other. We've been in the same city in the 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.760 same place a couple, and I literally listened to you 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.560 like as a fan. Oh you did in Austin. Well 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.399 that's so at some point this was going to happen. Yeah, 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:29.919 of course it was fine. So the big van out there, 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:36.800 that's mine, baby, that's a that's a big, awesome van. Okay, 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:41.960 So that's our touring van and UM. In June of 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:49.040 this past year, we were driving UM from Ohio. We 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.080 were in my car though, thank god, but we were 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:56.120 coming from Ohio to Nashville and an eight like eighty 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.480 miles an hour driving down the interstate, and this deer 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.200 decides to commit suicide and walked in front of us, 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.560 blew the deer up. It was terrible. It totaled the car. 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:07.120 It was really bad, really tragic. So my dad and 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.560 my stepdad bought me that big grill guard on the 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.400 front of it for the van. So it looks like 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.279 it's got a like some sort of protection system on it. 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.960 It is, and my dad and my stepdad are like, baby, 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.479 if you're driving down the road, you are protected, not 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:24.840 just from deer, like I think you can run through 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.200 a building with that thing and of those transformers. Yeah, 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:31.320 did you have trouble get that thing in the gate? No? Okay, 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.320 Oh I can park that in a regular spot. I can't. 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.960 I can't park my car in a regular spot. I'm terrible. Also, 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:39.080 here's what I was thinking about you. I went to 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:41.200 the country He's to Call of Fame four days ago, 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.159 and some of your stuff is there listening. If you 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:45.560 didn't know this, I'm telling you now, I think you 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:47.520 do know. But we saw we saw some of your stuff, 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:48.640 and I knew you were coming in and I was like, oh, 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.560 I should bring that up. Oh, trust me, I knew 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.239 and had like a shen dig around it. Um. So, 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.119 I've been doing this for a long time, like eighteen years, 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:01.560 and there's been so many times where I've just been 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.200 like I'm quitting, Like I can't do this anymore. It's 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.680 too hard, which of course is not ever going to 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.240 be the case. Something will always pull me back in 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:10.920 and I love it. And it's the only job that 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:18.440 I've ever loved. However, getting validation like that after eighteen 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.720 years and having them just randomly call when it was 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:25.480 I have a story for you that I'll tell you later, 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:27.560 but like, this is one of the moments in my 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.400 life where my mom was like, you know, I bounce 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.240 things off her all the time, and I was like, Mama, 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.080 I'm just done. I can't do this anymore. COVID was 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.960 too hard, like all this it just it sucked, Like 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:40.679 I don't want to do it anymore. She's like, baby, 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:44.159 please don't don't do this yet. Just you need to 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:46.240 say a prayer and you need to like beg for 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:48.760 a sign that you're supposed to keep doing this. This 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:50.880 is the second major thing that's happened in my life 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.600 when I've done this. They called me. They had already 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.760 mailed me a package with all of the invite and 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.640 everything saying they're going to put my stuff in there, 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:03.039 but I never got it because I moved. So then 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.520 the guy just randomly calls me one day and says 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:08.200 the curator or whatever, and he goes, hey, I don't 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:11.040 know if you ever got this message, but I said, 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:13.000 I didn't ever get a message. I never got an email, 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.360 I never got anything. Well that's why I was calling you. 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:17.400 I thought you would be excited about this. But it 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.480 was literally two days after I had told my mom 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:21.960 I was quitting. And so then I thought, O, well, 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:23.720 now I've got stuff in the country music Call of Fame. 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:26.680 Now this was just like last weekend. So my whole 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.280 family came up to Texas. Yeah, there was a sort 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.920 a hat there. There's one of my hats, like a 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:36.200 cool looking hat. Yeah, standard hat works from Waco, Texas. Um, 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.440 it's my friend Cameron. He makes the best hats. He's 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.240 like the only hat that I'll wear, probably because he 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.520 just he knows how big my like actually circumference, not 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:49.360 how figuratively big my head is, but like the circumference 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:51.800 of my head and um, and so he just will 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.640 sometimes just bust out like a really cool hat. And 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:56.600 he made one for me to wear to that with 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.280 these cactuses on the side. It was really cool. But anyway, yeah, 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.000 he's got one in I've got in the display. There's that, 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.320 and then my guitar did I have a bunch of 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.440 signatures on and then um, a piece of woodwork that 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:09.760 my dad made in reference to one of my songs 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:14.920 called Poets prayer and then um my, because I'm trashy, 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:16.680 I guess, but I have like a dream holder that 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:20.640 goes into my mic stand and I put that in there. Well, congratulations, 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.960 that's super cool. And we were going through my wife's grandpa. 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:27.160 I had never been to the opera or the country 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:28.960 means to Call of Fame, so we did all that 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.400 this weekend. I love that, And what's cool is it? 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.360 You know, sometimes myself I take it for granted because 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.160 it's here and I work at the opera and I 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:39.960 perform at the opera. And then we did the countries 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:41.320 to Call of Fame and walk through everything, and I 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.520 saw your and I knew you were coming in, and 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:45.680 I was like, dang, I should remember the teller I saw. 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:50.160 That makes me so happy. American the American American Currents 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:54.480 are the really cool new room build out. Yeah, congratulations. 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:55.880 So was that a sign to you? Was that the 0:07:55.920 --> 0:08:00.280 sign you're absolutely? I mean yes, absolutely. And you know 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:05.760 the other one that happened so dramatically was I'm a 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.320 very open book with my life and how this whole 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:13.200 like music thing has transpired over the years. But in 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.320 two thousand and twelve, at the end of We'll get 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:18.080 into this later, I'm sure, but what I call my 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.360 time on the Artist Protection Program. When I got dropped 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:25.840 from Big Machine, I was devastated. I was like, I 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:27.520 didn't know what to do. I didn't. I was like, 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.200 do I feel like a loser? Do I feel proud 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.199 that they thought I was too country? Like? I mean, 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:34.559 what are my feelings? You know? And I couldn't never 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.640 get really my head wrapped around anything. I just knew 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.920 that I was super depressed and I couldn't I couldn't 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:46.040 really figure out what my plan was. And I was like, 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.400 am I Am I gonna need to like get a job, Like, 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.440 am I gonna need to like go I have a 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.040 college degree. I don't know if I can get a 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:54.760 job doing that. But I mean, what do I do? 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:56.640 And I was just like panicking. And I told my mom. 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:58.559 This was in two twelve, and I was like, Mama, 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:00.760 I just I'm gonna quit, you know whatever. She's like, 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.760 please beg verst sign, Please beg for a sign. She goes, 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.120 give yourself like a date, you know, like give yourself 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.400 fourteen days. And if you don't get that sign, she goes, 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:11.240 you know that I will stand behind you no matter 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:13.679 what you do, but please do this for me because 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:16.400 I know this is what you're supposed to do. It's like, okay, fine, 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:20.760 you know, roll my eyes. So I gave myself fourteen 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:24.320 days and um, this was in December, and you know, 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:29.480 the music business like shuts down. And on the last 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:34.240 day at five pm, um, the ACMs called me during 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:37.720 everything being shut down and said that I had a 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.120 They weren't. He said, we're not supposed to call you 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:41.679 right now, but I just felt like you needed to 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.320 know this today. Um, we're not announcing it till like 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:47.480 mid January, but you've been nominated for an ACM without 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.199 a label, without a song on the radio. It was 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:54.800 wild twelve. So for this after you've been dropped the 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.320 two three months after I got that quick wow. Yeah. 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:00.520 And they called you when they weren't I supposed to 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:03.720 at a time where you were giving yourself fourteen days 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.600 and it was on the fourteenth day at five pm. Two. 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.520 So what do you do when you hang up that call? Well, 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:16.880 I was sobbing hysterically first, and I immediately called my 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:21.240 mom and I was like, well, you're not You're not 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.160 gonna believe this. Actually, you are going to believe this 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:26.000 and I told her what happened, and she just she 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:29.000 was so excited and she's like, I told you, And 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.720 for you know, honestly, for for years, that little thing 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:36.160 carried me through, knowing like all the hard nights and 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.920 all the hard because this is a hard business, like 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:40.520 I mean, you know as well as I know, like 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.880 it is is not for the faint of heart. And 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.360 I ultimately kind of think maybe I'm like a cockroach 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:51.559 because I just I keep like people keep trying to exterminate, 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.600 you know, like use different extermination methods and all this. 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:58.240 But I think my love for music just honestly like 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:01.240 keeps me going a lot of times. And then those 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:03.319 two events like the Hall of Fame thing and then 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:07.120 that ten years apart. By the way, you know, most 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.600 people probably wouldn't admit that they tried to quit. But 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:11.920 also like it's hard. I don't want people to think 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.360 this is easy. You know. There's too many people that 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.560 are trying to do this that come up and ask 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:20.800 for advice, and they say, like, what's your advice for 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:24.200 getting started in the music business. I'm like, well, there's 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:28.440 two things. Either don't or be prepared to work harder 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.800 than you've ever worked in your life at anything, and 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.480 be prepared to be alone even though you're with people 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.400 all the time. Put your head down and just focus 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:41.000 on what you want to happen, and then prepare. You know. 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:44.080 It's like I saw a meme once that said, like 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.439 grind now so that your dog can have a good 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.920 yard later, sort of like that, like grind now, you know, 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.360 and then enjoy the fruits of your labor, like later 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:55.680 after you have been busting your ass for however long 0:11:55.880 --> 0:12:00.240 you said something, be prepared to be alone even though 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:03.240 there will be people around you. What do you mean 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.280 by that? I mean like working, Like I have a band, 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:08.920 I have employees, I have all of that, and my 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.160 partner is actually in my band. He's my guitar player. 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:14.560 So I'm you know, I'm not alone so to speak. 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:18.280 But in theory this is the joke. And my band 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:20.360 is name on the door, so they're like your name's 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:22.800 on the door, Like if there's like a bad promoter 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.840 or something, you know, and I have to go deal 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.000 with something, it's me that has to go deal with something. 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:31.000 So like you know, and I still do my own merch, 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.559 I ship my own merch, I store my own merch 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:37.720 like I do literally everything. I'm back a trailer better 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:42.079 than anyone ever in the band, and like I want 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.160 to kind of have like a contest. I've thought about 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:47.080 having a contest because there's all these like men that 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.120 are pretty chauvinistic, not in my band, but where they're like, 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:52.920 y'all gonna let that little lady drive the band, and 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:58.440 they're like, letter let her my dad would My dad's 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:00.480 been teaching me how to drive a band. I was, 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:05.280 you know, seven, So anyway, like I do, it's on me. 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.640 Your job is on you, no matter who your employees are, 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.080 no matter it's always on you. Your name is the 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:12.880 one that's on the door. If they mess up, it's 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.960 your responsibility exactly, and if they do something bad, it 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.320 comes back on you, which is why I don't have 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:21.800 people that party too hard or do weird shit on 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.120 the road or whatever, you know, Like I don't do that. 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:27.880 This is a business. It's a business like first and foremost, 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:29.920 and it always has been, and I've always looked at 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:34.480 it like that, and I just feel like, honestly, I 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.480 mean even this morning I was over there ship and 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:39.719 March I was just like, I don't want to give 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:42.520 twelve percent of the merch away just because someone I'm 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.600 capable of doing this, So it's all on me. That's 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:47.760 what I mean by being alone, like in the sense of, 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.959 you know, I'm doing I'm doing the things that are 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:56.760 making the thing work, you know, and I've been doing 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.760 it for eighteen years. Yeah, you're the CFO, the CEO. 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.080 You're also the face. You're all I mean. And if 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.160 anybody messes up, it's also on you. You can't really 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.600 blame anybody else either. They don't come to you and 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:10.960 say if some drunk drummer or whatever is being a 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:15.439 jerk someone. They don't say the drunk drummer from this band. 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:17.880 They go, we're not having Sunny Squeeney's band back. That 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.760 guy was an asshole, you know, like or whatever. That 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.840 comes back on me, and that is never going to happen. 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.840 So I choose to put wonderful people around me. And 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.560 the people that I have around me are, oh my gosh, 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.040 you found a good group. Now. It's everything is so 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:37.200 good right now. So I let everyone go fifteen months 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.000 ago and started again from the ground up, new, all 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:41.880 the way across, all the way across. Why do you 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.000 think or what I'm gonna ask you this, and this 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:46.800 may make you have a little bit of a big head, 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:48.720 but you really it won't sound like that. But why 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:52.240 do people believe in you in your band? Um? Honestly, 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:56.520 I feel like, you know, I heard I heard Rick 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.400 Rubin do an interview before, and you know, he doesn't 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:02.440 play in intruments, and people are like, why do you 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.960 think that you are so sought after as a musician 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:08.720 or as a producer, And He's like, because people believe me, 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.680 they believe in my vision. And I feel like that's 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.120 what it is with me too, because I have been 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:18.920 doing this for so long and I will give anyone 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:20.800 advice if they ask for it. I'm not one of 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:22.520 those people that just like puts it out there, but 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.920 they're Lately, there have been a lot of young women 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:28.120 that are in this business that have like that I 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.280 don't know, that have reached out to me and asked 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:36.520 like crazy, like kind of weird, intense questions, and I'm like, oh, 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:38.880 let's go. Let's like I want to give you. I 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.000 want a corner cut for you if I can, in 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.200 any way, shape or form. And I just feel like, 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:46.520 you put good out into the world, and you get 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:48.800 good back. That's what I think it is. Did you 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:52.520 have anybody that helped you like that? Oh? Absolutely when 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.520 you were young you said, hey, help me out or 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:56.040 let me know what you know, and that would help 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:57.840 me out. Who was that for you? I have like 0:15:57.880 --> 0:15:59.800 a couple of them and I call them my corner creditors. 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.680 Red Vulcart, he's a guitar player in Austin Or he 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.160 moved to Virginia now, but he was one of the 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.280 guys that I would share a Tuesday night with him 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:11.040 at Egos and he taught me guitar a little bit, 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.280 and he was just a really good friend. And he 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:15.600 was he played with Merle Haggard, which is my hero, 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.360 and so I was kind of like, man, this guy's 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:20.960 so cool and he's he's willing to help me and 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.240 give me advice, you know, unsolicited sometimes him. And then 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:29.880 Dallas Wayne, who's a radio DJ now also on series 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.360 Sex in which I do that also. But he was 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.280 actually at my first gig ever, first gig ever, Like 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:40.600 he randomly showed up at my first gig ever because 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:44.880 he was old, oh, twenty seven and how does he 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:47.760 randomly show up? He was playing after me. I was 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:50.200 like the band that was playing, and he came up 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:54.440 to me, Dallas did, and he said, he goes, I 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.720 don't know how long you've been doing this, but you 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:00.480 have really good potential and I'd love to help you 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.200 anyway that I can. And I said, oh, tonight, it's 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:07.520 my first gig. And he's like, oh, like your first gig. 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.159 I go, no, like really, this is like my first 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:14.120 gig ever. And it was at the Carousel in um Austin, 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:16.679 you know, across from that halfway house. And I know 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:18.640 exactly where Egos is, and I worrying. I'm sure we're 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.120 talking about things that, yeah, Mike and I know really well. Yeah, 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:24.280 I mean I lived there twenty years, so I mean 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.879 or twenty some years, so yeah, yeah. I was like, 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.640 I didn't. I didn't get into music until my first 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:34.639 gig was two thousand and four, which, yeah, which is 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:38.600 older than most to do a first gig. YEP. I 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:41.359 think definitely you had something inside you that made you 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:49.879 sound really educated quickly music music wise, because when I 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:54.600 saw you, it wasn't two maybe two years after what 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:56.879 you just said. I didn't know you don't be doing 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:58.600 a couple of years and I educated. I mean it 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:00.280 felt like you had just learned a whole lot in 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.520 a short period of time. Then I feel like when 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.920 you're starting all the way with this song, I feel 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:07.720 like songs are written with who they're supposed to be 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:11.399 written with. I feel like, you know, things that you 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.040 learn are learned when they're supposed to be learned. I 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:16.400 could have learned guitar. When I was twelve. My stepdad 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.240 and you know, begged me to let him teach me guitar, 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.080 and I was like, oh, it's for old people. It's 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.040 because him and my uncles would sit around and play guitar, 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:25.160 and I thought it was for old people. So when 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.040 I went to college, I went to Southwest And then 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.720 when I went to college, I graduated and had a 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.199 job for like twenty one day something like this is 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:36.679 not what I worked at UM. I worked in a 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.440 cubicle at this place called Support Kids, and it's basically 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:42.400 where you would get deadbeat parents to pay their child support. 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.760 It was, it was rough, and it was it broke 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:48.760 my heart more than anything, like dealing with some of 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:51.400 the parents that just wanted nothing to do with their kids. 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.119 And I, I, thank god, have never had to deal 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:56.439 with that, but I have plenty of friends that you 0:18:56.480 --> 0:19:01.040 know have parents in similar situations, and it just broke 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:05.119 my heart, like it's really tragic, and so I just 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:07.760 I just called my stepdad and was like, hey, man, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:10.960 I think I'm ready to learn guitar. Wow. What did 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:12.919 he say to that? He said, I'm sorry, could you 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:17.040 repeat yourself? And so he went and bought me a guitar, 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:21.240 taught me three chords, and we were coincidentally going on 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:25.399 a family vacation that weekend. So from Austin all the 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:29.080 way to red River, New Mexico or wherever we were 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:31.880 going skiing, I played those three chords in the back 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.159 of the suburban, just over and over, and they laughed 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.439 now because they were like, you were literally driving us crazy, 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.520 but we were so happy that you found something that you, 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:43.040 you know, enjoyed doing. And and I've always sang like 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.240 I would sang in church and you know, choir and 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:47.920 all that, and then a minor or. I was going 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:52.919 to minor in musical theater, but then I moved to 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:56.280 New York for two years tool side note, and I 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.360 wanted to be a Broadway star. And that's a lot 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:02.800 harder than seems. Everything is, honestly, of course, especially when 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:08.600 you have to be a creative yes, consistent, and different, 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:13.640 because to do all of those to do one of them, 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.119 all right, you can be creative, but how are you 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:18.040