WEBVTT - Why can’t I remember? 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:05.560 Hey, guys, welcome to the Granger Smith Podcast. I'm glad 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:08.200 you're with me today. I'm glad you're watching. I'm grateful 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.639 that you're listening. I'm grateful that I have this platform 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:15.680 to talk about the way that I feel in life 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:18.880 and talk to some of my great friends and tell 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:21.000 you where I came from and where I want to 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.040 go and what's going on with ye ye. This is 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:26.720 one of my favorite things that I do content wise, 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:28.520 and we do a lot. We do the Smiths every 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:32.360 Tuesday and Thursday. We do restoring Earl Dubbles Junior's old truck. 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:36.520 We do live at the EEE Farm, live stream shows 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:40.479 with the full band. We do a Rise with Amber 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:43.880 every Sunday morning on the Smith's YouTube channel, and that's 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.600 just that's just the stuff we do every single week. 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:51.280 So I do this podcast on Mondays early Mondays. And 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.600 I'm grateful for this because I get to sit here 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:57.760 and really dig deep into some stuff that I that 0:00:57.840 --> 0:00:59.560 I can't I don't have the time to do on 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:01.400 a radio interview, and I don't have the time to 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:06.600 do I'm the Smiths, and so you know, I want 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:09.680 to thank you guys for even it indulging in something 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.920 long form like this, like a podcast. Maybe some of 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.560 you are driving, maybe some of you spend time with 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.760 this watching it on YouTube. Either way, thank you for that. 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:22.160 I actually met a guy at the gym today and 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.640 we were walking out and he said, hey, man, and 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:26.240 you stopped me and I've never met him before, and 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:28.039 he said, I just want to tell you I listened 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:31.720 to your podcast. I'm on episode eleven, and I'm going 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:33.479 to turn my wife onto it. I'm going to show her, 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.520 and man, that just means it means so much to me. 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.440 It's one thing for someone to say I love her music, 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:44.600 and I hope that it starts with that, and it 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.240 has evolved now into different things like I love watching 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.240 the Smiths, or I love listening to your podcast, and 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:53.480 that just makes me feel so good. It makes me 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:55.360 feel good because here I am at the EG Farm, 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:58.440 in my in my office, in my studio, all by 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.200 myself here right now and talking to a camera and 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:06.160 a dead microphone. And it's nice to know that there 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:08.480 are a lot of people that actually follow this and 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:12.520 follow the journey along. And if you haven't gone back 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:14.720 and heard some of the earlier podcasts, maybe you're a 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:17.359 brand new listener. I encourage you to start all the 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:20.560 way back at episode one, and the reason it started 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:22.359 was when we were touring like crazy. I was on 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:24.520 the back of my bus Wildflower, and I wanted to 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:28.240 tell everybody in long form the story of where I 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:31.560 came from. And that started with so many times doing 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.080 interviews and media and TV and radio where they said, 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:37.720 tell us a little bit about yourself. Where'd you come from, 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.720 how'd you get your start? Where are you from? And 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.080 that then answering that question kind of gets exhausting because 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.760 I have to answer it in short form, right I 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:51.840 have to say, well, you know, from Texas and I 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.360 started a band, and you know, I have to speed 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:55.919 my way through it. But if you go back to 0:02:56.000 --> 0:03:00.520 podcast episode one, you could actually feel the whole journey 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.600 throughout and now here we are every episode thirty eight 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:08.040 and this episode, like so many others, is brought to 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.600 you by EE Apparel, and I want to talk to 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.600 you just for a second about YE Apparel and my 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.240 favorite thing about this company that my brothers and I 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:20.000 run together, and that is our Shirt of the Month club. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.520 This is something we started this year. It's become a 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:26.840 huge passion project. For me and my brothers alike. It 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.440 is a new shirt that we put out once a month, 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.480 exclusive to this club. Right, so, if you sign up 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.560 for this club, you're going to get shipped out automatically 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.960 in your size a new shirt the first of every month, 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:44.240 and that shirt cannot be found anywhere else. We're not 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:45.480 going to sell it. We're not going to sell it 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:49.320 on the road on tour. And we handpick these. We 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:52.119 design these and put a lot of work into these 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:54.480 designs so that they are all a little bit different 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.760 and are all very exclusive, and I love them. I 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:00.640 wear EE Apparel every single day. It's pretty much all 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:02.640 I have in my closet. And some people have asked 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:04.640 me if I wear it just because it's my company. 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.640 Not really, I mean kind of, but I really wear 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:11.120 it because I love the stuff. I'm biased, but it 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.960 fits really good, it feels really good. And so my 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.359 brother Parker sent me a little promo for you guys 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:21.920 today on this podcast for the member's only Shirt of 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.080 the Month club. You could sign up between the first 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.320 and the twentieth of every month, use for this podcast, 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:31.960 use the promo code Shirt of the Month, and you're 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.000 gonna get your first shirt for just ten bucks with 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:37.599 free shipping. You can cancel it anytime, and that sounds 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:40.400 like a really good deal. Sounds like a really good deal. 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:46.160 We are still plowing through the state of the world 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:49.920 right now. And if you're listening to this podcast years 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:52.840 from now and you look on the ticker and it 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:56.000 says that this was two years ago or three years ago, Man, 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:57.919 I wish I could talk to you, the person in 0:04:57.960 --> 0:04:59.480 the future. I wish you could tell me how this 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:04.400 all pans out, because it's still crazy. The world started 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:09.039 getting so much better and then it started getting worse 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.120 all at the same time. So we started getting these 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.000 tour dates coming in and then now everything is kind 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.440 of unknown again. We still have several dates in July, 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:21.279 including July fourth, and that's in Round Rock, Texas, and 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:25.400 then we have like Nebraska in Iowa and South Dakota 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.680 something like that. We have a run up that direction 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.159 in July, and in August there's more. In September there's more, 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:37.599 and God, I hope they stay. I really do. It's 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:42.000 my whole livelihood. Touring is my livelihood, and it's more 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.520 than a paycheck. And I've said this many times, but 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:48.000 I'm okay. I could pay the bills. I have multiple 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:51.160 ways of paying the bills, whether whether it's cameos, which 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.400 I do these cameos where you could sign up and 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:55.880 get me to give you a shout out at birthday 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.400 or anniversary or send someone a personal video message. I 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.560 do that every day on cameo dot Com. I have 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:08.160 this podcast, I have Dismiss, I have my songwriting company, 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:14.880 I have Ye Apparel. But what really messes this whole 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.279 thing up is my band. You know, you know, you 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.479 look at my guys, and just the way that this 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:22.800 is set up and this is with anything, is like 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:29.520 I can't constantly support them and all their families and 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:33.800 their health insurance and their entire livelihood. And we're talking 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:38.719 fourteen people here, and so this whole shutdown has really 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:44.440 affected the band members more than anybody. And I know, 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:46.559 I say more than anybody. I know that there's bar owners, 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:49.720 and there's venues, and there's theaters, and it's just it's 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:51.320 got a lot of things messed up, and we could 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:55.680 just the best thing we could do is I could 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.240 keep making content, and we can keep trying to, you know, 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.680 do live stream shows and getting tips. But the most 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.440 importantly we just be patient, and this is a little bit. 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.320 We're in a little bit of suffering right now, and 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:11.400 suffering suffering, as Paul says in the Book of Romans, 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:16.400 Paul says that suffering leads to perseverance. Perseverance leads to character. 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:20.200 Character leads to hope. So that's where we are. And 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.320 I don't mean to get that deep with something like this, 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:24.560 but it really is. This is something that keeps us 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:26.920 up at night. And it's been months and months of this. 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:29.760 So that's that's the state of the world, and that 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.560 kind of ties me into my guest today. This is 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:37.360 a I would say, a dear friend, and that is honestly, 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.920 that's saying it lightly. I'm going to bring on Mitch 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:44.960 Connell uncle Mitch. For some reason a long time ago, 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:46.920 I started calling him uncle Mitch, even though he's not 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.240 family relation. But he's as good as family. Family is not. 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.520 Family is not exclusively blood to me. I don't feel 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.560 that way. I feel like I have a bond with 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:59.560 many people that I consider family, and Uncle Mitch is 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:04.080 one of them. I've never known anyone on this planet 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:07.920 that's ever met Mitch that didn't love him right away, 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:11.680 that didn't become friends with him. He has more friends 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:17.160 than anyone I've ever met, and you'll know exactly why. 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.360 He's just salt of the earth, one of the nicest 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:24.160 guys on the planet. He's a really good businessman. He's 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:28.920 had car dealerships in Colleen, Texas his whole life and 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:32.800 it will continue to pass down through his kids. And 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.280 he's an incredible musician. And that's how I originally met him, 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.080 because he's a keyboard player. And I met him through 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:40.120 the band I was in and they brought him in 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:44.320 and he started playing keyboards just I mean, the most 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:48.280 beautiful stuff you've ever heard. I started recording all of 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:56.480 my studio albums from two thousand and four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:02.199 all of those is Mitch Connell on keyboards twenty thirteen, 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:05.960 twenty fourteen. It keeps going after that and assaulted the 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:10.280 Earth guy, amazing musician. I can't even come up with 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:14.040 better words for this guy. You're just gonna have to 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.520 hear it from him yourself. It's an honor, guys, to 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:22.680 have Mitch Knell on this podcast. Sit back, relax, Thank 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:57.800 you for listening. Welcome to the Greater Smith Podcast. Did 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:21.520 time and longline fo up and down, going back, rangey colation. 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:27.839 A lot of times on this podcast, I've talked about 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.520 old band stories. Oh god, a lot of them have 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:34.520 been off the top of my head, and I have 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:38.960 forgotten a lot of them too, and you Mitch seem 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:42.120 to remember them all. Oh gosh. You guys ever have 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:44.439 that friend that when you get back with him and 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.160 he starts reciting some old stories and you think God 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:52.439 forgot all about that. You don't forget those stories. No, 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.679 They're fun stories though, And I wanted to bring you 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:59.760 on here partly because of that. We could tell some 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:04.559 of these old stories that possibly I've even forgotten, and 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:08.880 then also talk about how you've been in since the 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:13.679 very beginning of the Texas version of my band and 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:21.480 not only touring and being part of my first intrastate touring, 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:24.640 but also part of those early albums that I was 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:27.880 recording at my house. Yeah, those are That was a 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.560 lot of fun. So if you heard any keyboard at 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.320 all on any of those early albums, four or five 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:37.640 of them, that was all you and singing harmony. So 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:41.839 something I thought about when I was coming in here today, 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:47.400 Bug Eye and Trick Gosh, I wasn't in a real 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.640 good mood when that deal started, anyways, because little Asa 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:52.920 and I had ridden our motorcycles all the way down 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.719 there in the rain. It was a rainy I was 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.760 wetter than I've ever been. It was Asia's first motorcycle ride. 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:02.760 And and by the way, you might not remember, but 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:05.360 he had just gotten his black belt in karate. I 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:09.480 did not know that. And bug Eye and Shrek had decided. 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.600 So if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.199 let me back you up a little bit. Two thousand 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.719 and four, I moved from Nashville back to Texas. I 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:25.240 moved to College Station. I formed a little band based 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:29.520 on my uncle knew a drummer. This sounds like a 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:32.000 bad story already. My uncle knew a drummer that had 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.400 a band. The singer had just moved to Florida working 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:39.680 for the DEA, right, right, something like that. Now, what's 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:41.760 awesome is if you could put a if you could 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.280 have a band that's already used to playing with each other, 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:47.439 that's half the battle. Then all they have to do 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.319 is learn the new songs. Now, the huge advantage I 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.839 had was you guys were also older than me. You're 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:57.120 what fifteen twenty years older than me, all of you were, 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:03.040 so that also brings fifteen twenty year years of extra experience, which, 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:06.320 by the way, you were as old as I am now, Ben, 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.840 which is funny, right, right, So you bring ten years, 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:14.319 fifteen years, twenty years of experience on the road and 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:21.120 in the studio and playing music in what walks. Mitch 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:28.640 Connell a car salesman. You own several dealerships in Central Texas. 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.480 That has allowed you and you've done that your whole life. 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:33.720 Your daddy did that, right, That's always supported my music 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:39.679 habit exactly. So that allowed you to own these dealerships 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:42.520 and free up a little time and to drive from 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:46.600 Colleen to college station or wherever we were digging. All 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.520 of these things were incredible for me as a young 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:52.959 musician because young musicians are used to dealing with bands 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.199 that can't get off from working at the fast food shop, 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:00.440 they can't get off from delivering pizzas, or they're in school, 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.719 are there going through a divorce or something. But you 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:09.720 guys all we were okay to say Friday, leave at 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:14.959 two pm. I'm down, yep, and even better, not not 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:20.240 as good as you're playing but a little bit close 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:23.160 to it, which you had an RV. You had an 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:28.120 r V, yes, And we got to ride around an 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.400 RV uh and pretend like it was a big old 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.200 tour bus, and to us it was. It was pretty big. 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.520 We had a coffee maker in the morning that was 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:44.760 replaced by Margarita blender Friday afternoon. And I you remember 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:49.200 the smell, yes, the stink bush. Yeah, oh yeah, that's 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.040 It's not a true RV unless it has some kind 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:57.200 of strange sewage smell. But but needless to say, I 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.640 was having so much fun. And I like to talk 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:04.360 about this a lot because it's fun in the music 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:08.720 business and gratification, and it's all relative to where you 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.120 are at the time. Right. What I mean is, I'm 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:14.000 not having any more fun now than I was then. 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.680 It's all relative. We had a good time, so good, 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:21.320 so going to bug Eye and Shrek. Okay, Well, we 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:25.000 played a gig and somewhere on the coast, and I'd 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:28.280 ridden there in the rain all the way there, and 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.160 then we got to the venue and we set up 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:34.560 and did our sound check and everything was fine. It 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:36.760 was a pretty good It was awful terrible, but I 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:38.120 was in a good mood. We're about to play some 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.640 music and that always makes me happy. And uh so 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:43.320 we start playing and there's a guy in the audience 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:47.720 it's not amenable to the choices of songs that we're playing, 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:52.040 which is, you know, a nice mix of George Strait 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:57.040 and my originals right right. And finally, and I've never 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:01.480 seen you get upset with anybody. And finally that guy listen, 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.400 I'm gonna give you my website and you go there 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.760 and find out where I'm playing, so you'll know where 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:14.440 not to go. Well that upside. Yeah, he was the 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.200 brother in law of the club owner. That was bug Guy. 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:22.320 I said, my website is graterspit dot com. Go there 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.160 and find my tour dates, so that I could make 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.640 sure I'd never see you again, right ri the microphone, 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:31.480 yes to all fifteen people that were there. Well, the 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.000 guy got mad and he his brother in law was Shrek, 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.320 the owner of the club, and Bug Eye and Shrek 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:39.120 decided they were going to team up on us, and 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:41.440 they quickly got nicknames from us. And that's what they 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:45.040 look like, bug Eye and Shrek. Yes, yes, anyways, so 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:49.560 at the end of the night, when we were done playing, Uh, 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:51.760 Granger comes up to says, hey, owcle man, they're not 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.560 trying to pay me. I'm going what So I just 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:56.920 walk over next to him, next to Shrek, and I 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.840 crossed my arms trying to look like mister clean. My 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.080 son is about this tall, but he can kick your 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:07.159 button nine way from Sunday and nobody ever even suspected 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.800 that from him. So uh, I sit there and cross 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:11.920 my arms, and the bug guy decided to go ahead 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:13.280 and give us our money, and we got out of 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:15.840 there with the quickness. I believe it was five hundred dollars. 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:18.160 Might have been found right, might have five or six, 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:22.000 five or six hundred dollars and I and that was 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.560 average for me. It was. There was five of us 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.280 in the band, or six of us in the band, 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.919 maybe those five of us five total, and we typically 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.320 got about five hundred bucks. Now you can do the 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.960 math quickly that that doesn't hardly pay for lunch and 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.520 dinner and fuel on the way there. I got to 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:41.320 hand it to you, though. You you made sure that 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.159 we got at least one hundred bucks. Yeah, yeah, I 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.440 left you was nothing. That That's the way it was. 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:48.640 But a lot of times it left me with nothing. 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.159 And then occasionally we would play like a wedding and 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.560 I'd get fifteen hundred dollars or something, and I'd get 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:55.520 to burn a little bit of that myself. Oh yes, 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.520 but that that night with bug Eye and Trek, that's 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.600 that's a typical night. And those were we never knew 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.600 what we're getting into. Tyler was booking these shows, these 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.720 dead end bar gigs with no one there, but we 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.400 were grateful to play and we had fun even though 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:13.760 no one was there. We had fun within ourselves on 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.200 the stage. We had a good time. We had a 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:18.760 good band. We did. It was it was. I was 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:21.520 very lucky to have a band that was far above 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:25.360 my musical knowledge, and so I had to quickly learn 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:28.000 to keep up. You did. That was the story of 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.600 my life back then. And I could let you guys 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.440 vamp around or play take solos. I can go to 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:38.639 the bathroom and you could sing and uh. Because a 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:42.159 lot of times we were playing long sets and and 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:46.600 the nights like that, when we found out the guy 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:50.119 I was chewing out on the microphone was the owner's cousin, 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:52.880 they could easily just decide, you know, I'm not I'm 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:55.000 not gonna pay these rug rats I'm not gonna pay 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:58.520 them anything, get out of my bar. And and that 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:02.040 five hundred dollars was there's a lot of money. Oh yeah, 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:04.280 even if you had stay in a hotel that night, 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.400 exactly exactly. That reminds me of another time b Beeville, 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:13.680 Texas well, that was was that the worst hotel you've 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:17.320 ever even heard of? It was either that one or 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:22.200 the one in Oklahoma. I forgot the name of the 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:25.440 lot of bad ones in Oklahoma. Anyways, we wouldn't stay 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:29.240 at the one in Oklahoma. We went on to Oklahoma City. Rather. 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.640 Have you ever decided to I'm speaking to the listeners here, 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.720 have you ever decided that sleep is not worth the 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:38.399 bites and the bugs that you're going to get in 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:40.040 the bed sheets, so you might as well just skip 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:44.399 asleep that night. Yeah, But we stayed in Beeville, in 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:46.879 or Belleville or Bville or whatever that place was when 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:50.080 that was awful place that was awful? It was it 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:55.960 was there was I I attribute so many of my 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:03.119 my I guess the fortitude that we have now as 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:06.560 a band when we run into problems now, sometimes the 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:08.200 guys will come to me and go, well that they're 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:10.159 asking for this, and they're saying we can't do this, 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:12.560 And I kind of go back to those old days 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:16.640 in my mind when we thought we thought we had problems, 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.120 and we think we have problems now, and how relative 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.679 it is, and how really in the end, we're all 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:26.080 just out trying to play some music. That's all it is. 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:28.159 That's all it boils down to. That's what we love 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:30.400 to do. Yeah, And the cool thing about you mentioned 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:34.600 is that, besides you have sold pretty much everybody in 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:38.200 my band a truck or including my brown truck I 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:41.000 still drive. And You've had a thing about ten years 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:45.520 or so. I've lifted it twice. You've lifted it twice, 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:49.760 You've put tires and wheels on it. You have, You've 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:52.359 tried to get me out from under it many times. 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.680 Get me in a better truck. Yeah, he won't go truck. 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:00.800 One time you said a man of your status needs 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.239 to drive at a better vehicle. Remember when you tell 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:06.879 me that I was referring to a Ram instead of 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:10.920 that other off brand model that you choose to drive. Well, well, 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:12.760 I want to get to your dealerships at a second. 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:16.760 And and how you have you pretty much made a 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:20.479 living with with veterans at Fort Hood. Yeah, I live near. 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.280 There have been. They've been your lifeblood and you have 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:26.240 been theirs. I think it's a mutual feeling there. It is, 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:28.680 it is. But what I wanted to say too, is said, 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:37.720 how you saw the You saw our rise from absolute nothingness, 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:42.439 from a literal open mic night at Bourber Street Bar 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:48.640 and College Station two to sold out crazy shows. Yes, yes, 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:51.359 I remember playing for twelve thousand people one time. And 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:55.720 I remember playing for the bartender at the San Antonio Rodeo. 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:58.800 It was so close, it was so cold, and it 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:02.760 was it was an a tent and it was so 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:05.840 cold my hands wouldn't move, and the bartender was in there. 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:09.280 It was just him and us, nobody else in the 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:14.639 entire bar, no or tent, tent, but one bartender. It 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:17.960 wasn't even a bartender. It was a beer tub tender. 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:22.040 Beer tub tender, that's what he was, right, So did 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:24.200 you see it? Did you know that we would be 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:29.200 playing pack shows in those beer tub tender days? I 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.560 always knew that you would get there. Someday. It might 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:35.240 you might outlive me before you did it, But by god, 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:36.520 I knew you were going to get there. I knew 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:39.080 you had the talent, you wrote a good song. I 0:22:39.119 --> 0:22:40.719 knew you. I always knew you were going to get there. 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:44.440 You just saying that because this is my podcast. Oh no, 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:46.560 I said that to my mom way back then, who, 0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:49.200 by the way, thought it was we wi instead of 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:54.080 ye yee. I'm much happy with ye than we Wei. 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:57.200 I don't. He goes, what are you laughing for? And 0:22:57.280 --> 0:22:59.120 I said, hold on, when I get done laughing, I'm 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:02.840 gonna tell you yee yee, not we we. So you saw, 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:05.639 you saw the part. Because you played with a lot 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.200 of bands and a lot of people, you still do. Yes, Yes, 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:11.440 I've played for people who been nominated for Grammys. And 0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:15.160 is it just because I've I've I've always been real 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:17.320 nice to you. Well, you've been nice. It was a 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:21.920 nice guy. But I remember, uh you may not remember this, 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:29.879 but we had found a hearing test, a relativity test, yes, online, 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:32.639 and you and I both took it, and Manny took it, 0:23:33.440 --> 0:23:36.159 and I think Mike took it as well. And you 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:38.359 know I pride myself in having the best ear in 0:23:38.400 --> 0:23:42.440 the band. Yeah, well, I mean I scored way up there, 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:44.159 and then you took the thing. And you've tied me. 0:23:45.640 --> 0:23:47.680 Was that a rhythm test though it was a it 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:50.320