WEBVTT - Find Your Gift 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:19.560 Hey, it's Granger Smith. This is the Granger Smith Podcast, 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:22.639 Episode nine. I had to learn a lot of things 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:24.919 in the music business the hard way, through a lot 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:26.920 of miles, a lot of years, a lot of failure, 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:28.960 and in this episode, I want to talk about a 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:32.920 fundamental time when everything changed for me. I saw things 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:37.760 differently for the first time. Twenty eighteen's here. The tour 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:41.919 is going awesome. We're in Ohio today halfway through this day, 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.680 so I'm probably not going to finish the podcast until tomorrow. 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:48.559 In Pennsylvania, it's so awesome to go out on stage 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:52.440 and see ye Nation. And that's what we call our fans, 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.440 our people. They wear the Yee hats and shirts and 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.560 hold flags and signs. They're so passionate about the music, 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:01.960 and that is what keeps me going. That's what fuels me, 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:05.000 the fans. That's where it starts to me, and that's 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.120 where it's going to end. One day, when I don't 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:09.839 have any fans left, that's when I'll have to quit. 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:13.639 But I didn't always think that way. It wasn't always 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:17.800 about the fans. It was about, at one point climbing 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:21.760 the ladder of music and making making songs and hopefully 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:27.279 getting a record deal. But amazingly enough, you don't realize 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.680 until later that it's the fans that provide all of 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:32.720 that for you. And I learned it the hard way, 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.920 and I'll tell you all about that. So once again, 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:39.000 I'm in the back of my bus wild Flower, and 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.400 it is cold, really cold in Ohio today. I'm looking 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.600 out the window and there's about six inches of snow 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:50.560 covering the parking lot of this empty venue, and that 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:53.440 seems to be to be chasing us around. The cold 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:57.040 weather is oh I mean, we are playing the Northeast 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.120 and the Upper Midwest, and so you would expect this 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:01.920 time of year it's going to be really really cold. 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.840 You know. I asked you guys on the last few 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.200 podcasts if you needed a question answered, then it would 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.840 be easy. Asked the question on social media and then 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:15.480 hashtag Granger Smith podcast and we'll keep on doing that. 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:18.040 And I'm pulling them up right now, and I have 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.800 a question from Matthew Porter. It says, why did you 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:25.360 choose to rap the song B twenty four? I know 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.000 your grandpa flew them, but would love to know why 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:31.040 you made it into a rap song. Hey, it's a 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:34.000 great question. Oh yeah, I got my clap down. I 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:38.120 let it give right stuff, Granger Smith coming to your 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:43.760 team thousand, I got my trigger cop and you won't 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:49.960 lock me up. Round propellent, gold, boom and booming round round. 0:02:50.160 --> 0:03:03.239 That's how we fellow in the sky. And I'm sick 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:06.440 and tired of contempt of every means of travel, every day, 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.160 same game, with the same battle, bumpa bumpa traffic jam 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:12.959 on the inter state. Back in forty one, they did 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.080 it roll that way. I'm going back like that to 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.880 the way they were when all the ladies look flying 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.000 the min first you think of cadillacsy the only way 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.680 to ride. If you want to find me, be looking 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:28.760 in the sky and be twenty four running and be 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:35.200 twenty I'm never gonna uss going more because now I'm 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:37.840 flying in a B twenty four. So there's a lot 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.040 of people that are probably wondering what the heck is 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:42.920 going on. And that was a release by me in 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:47.520 twenty ten, and there's a reason. It's not because I 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:49.760 was trying to do a side project and try to 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.440 be a famous rapper, especially with how terrible I am 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.680 at rapping. Let me start at the beginning. My grandfather, 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:00.320 as I've talked about a bunch, was a a B 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:04.600 twenty four bomber pilot in World War Two in nineteen 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:07.680 forty four. I found out a lot about this later 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:09.760 in life because he never talked about it. But it 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:13.120 wasn't until after he passed away that I read his 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:17.359 flight diary and my dad put a lot of his 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:20.240 stories together, and I was just I just could not 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.920 believe what he went through as a twenty four year 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:28.040 old young man in those skies in Western Europe. I 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.320 actually wrote a song about just that. It's called five 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.359 More Minutes. I get a call after I wrote the 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:34.960 song five more Minutes, I get a call from this 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:40.760 organization that actually had the last existing, still functioning B 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.320 twenty four aircraft, and they wanted me to be able 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:46.240 to go up and fly in it. Now that's I 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:49.360 looked at that as an amazing opportunity, not only for 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.839 me to experience that feeling in those sounds that my 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:55.640 grandfather must have known so well, but so that other 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.280 people could learn about the B twenty four as well. 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.440 So I remember it very clear. One day I was 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:05.919 outside and I was mowing the grass, and at the time, 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:09.520 in twenty ten Lonely Island from Saturday Night Live was 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:11.680 very popular, and they had a song out called I'm 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:20.840 on a Boat? Does anybody remember that? And that's when 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:22.680 it hit me that I could either go in and 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.520 make this little video about me touring of B twenty 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.400 four and talking about how majestic the plane is, and 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:31.320 that video would get a few views. Or I could 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:33.520 try to make a splash and I could try to 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.160 make a song like I'm on a Boat and call 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.560 it B twenty four and write a rap song and 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:44.120 make this ridiculous music video from a country singer, and 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:46.120 hopefully that would get a lot of views and would 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.640 get a lot of eyes on the B twenty four. 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.320 And we had a great time making it. The song 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:53.720 was easy to write. I did it right there as 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.039 I was mowing the grass. And you know what the 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:59.560 plan worked, because here I am eight years later talking 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.719 about it on a podcast, because you guys are wondering, Hey, 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:30.000 what's up with that B twenty four songs? Last podcast, 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.800 I left off with a story I was telling you 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.800 about me putting out my very first album that I 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:41.080 recorded completely in my own house in College Station, Texas. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.080 It was called Living Like a Lone star and I 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.479 was very, very proud of this album. As you can imagine, 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:48.560 I started from the ground up and I built everything, 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:50.600 wrote all the songs, built, you know, everything from the 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:54.039 kick drum to every guitar was right there with my 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.760 hands on it. And so this was a piece of 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.400 me that I really wanted to do good, and it 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:06.120 really didn't. I think the album was centered around the 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:10.360 song Colorblind. It was one of the first songs I 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:13.360 wrote for it, and to this day, I think my 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:17.240 favorite song I've ever written. And just hearing this now, 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.240 it just kind of takes me straight back to where 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:21.760 I was in my life in college station. I want 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.920 to be color blind, and I would never think about 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:34.360 your soft green eyes, Sweetland. Here would never cross my mind. 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:39.760 There'd be no a black gown you slip into at night. 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:47.680 Maybe I'd forget about your own brownskin, stop dreaming about 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:53.920 the taste to sounding I wouldn't be heard now and 0:07:54.280 --> 0:08:09.240 listen you, I wouldn't know a single thing about It. 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.080 Wasn't just that I worked hard on these songs in 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:14.840 this album. It was that I poured my heart into it. 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:18.920 I was telling stories that were mine, that were real 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.600 emotions I was going through and when it was finished, 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:24.520 I felt like it was a snapshot of my life. 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:27.679 And I don't know why. At the time, I thought 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:31.160 that just because I was doing that, people would hear it, 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.760 latch onto it, and come to the shows. But they didn't. 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:38.240 No one was coming to the show still, and I 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:41.240 even had what I thought was good music, and that 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:46.000 didn't matter. It's funny because now I'm sitting here, however, 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.880 many years later, at a sold out show in Ohio, 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.079 in between meet and greets, doing a podcast talking about 0:08:52.559 --> 0:09:00.600 not having fans. It's been a long journey, and I 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.240 think I could pinpoint one specific time when it started 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:10.400 to change. Back on the bus after meet and greet, 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.480 and I brought a letter with me that I got 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.120 from a fan, and I get letters a lot. Then 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:17.480 I encourage them because I read every word. They mean 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.000 a lot to me. And I found this paragraph in 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:23.200 here in this letter that's very relevant to what I'm 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.560 trying to say here in this podcast. Then it says next, 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:28.560 I need to thank you for devoting so much time 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.480 and energy into connecting with your fans. I've been a 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.200 country music fan, going to twelve concerts a year since 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.320 I was a twelve year old girl. No one has 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:41.360 ever appreciated their fans the way that you do. And 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:46.480 you know what, that is the compliment that I want. 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:49.760 That's what I'm looking for. If I could stand out 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:51.480 in any way. I want to be the guy that 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:56.680 appreciates the fans more than anyone else. And I do 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.400 that because of these days, these early days when I 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:02.679 was making me music in every fan mattered, one at 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:05.160 a time. I want you to remember a name, because 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:08.320 this is the guy that first got me on the 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.400 path of thinking this way. His name is Benjamin Knox. 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.960 He's an artist, a local artist in college days in Texas, 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:17.400 and he's a kind of a local legend. He draws 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.040 pictures for Texas A and M and he's very good 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.719 at it. And he liked my music. So he was 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:24.440 a fan, and he would be one of the few 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.160 fans that would come and watch me play. And after 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:30.360 one show he said, hey, man, could I buy you 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:32.160 a beer? I want to talk to you a little 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:34.000 bit about what you got going on. And here I am, 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:37.560 this young kid, and I said sure, And what he 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:40.480 told me led me down a path that I'll never forget. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:45.520 This podcast is brought to you by the brand New 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.560 album when the good guys win. I hope you guys 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:50.840 hear it and let me know what you think. Let 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.600 me know your favorite songs. That's really important. It helps 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:55.320 me build a set list and know what you guys 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:58.360 are really digging. It's also brought to you by eeee Energy, 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:01.040 my energy drink that me and my others created, and 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:03.559 I love this drink with you. In fact, it's almost 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:06.920 showtime here and I'm about to crack one myself. And lastly, 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:10.840 there's EEE Apparel, the badge of VEE Nation. Very soon, 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.040 we'll have a brand new line of tanks and t 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.880 shirts for the spring and summer. Go to grangersmith dot 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:19.880 com for all that stuff. I always feel like I 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.559 need to apologize for that low rumble of the Generator, 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:24.800 but I guess that's the best I could do with 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.720 a tour bus podcast. This is what Benjamin Knox told 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:30.800 me that night when he bought me a beer, and 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.080 I tell this same story over and over to opening 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:35.680 bands that we tour with. So if you're an aspiring 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.360 singer songwriter, are you no one that you'd like to 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.199 share this message with? I think it's really important advice 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.840 to hear now. Benjamin has a very successful business in 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:48.120 College Station, Texas. He's a very talented painter. But he 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:52.000 told me that he donates a huge portion of his 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:56.560 proceeds to charities back into the community, the community that 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.800 provides the career for him, the community that supports him 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:04.640 and allows him to live out his dream as an artist. Now, 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.200 he told me, not only was that important to give 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:10.640 back to the community financially, but it was also important 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:14.280 to him creatively. It was good for his soul, good 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.320 for his heart to know that he was helping out 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.560 the very people that are helping him. Now. It's easier 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:22.560 said than done. It has to come from the right 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:26.880 place right. It can't be manufactured. It has to be real, genuine, 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:29.760 And it's not a new concept. I mean, Saint Francis said, 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:32.840 for it is in giving that we receive. But what 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:34.880 if you were like me and you didn't have any money, 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.120 what can you possibly give? So I said, well, what 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.360 does a guy like me do. I'm a starving artist myself, 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.160 I have nothing. And he said, you have your music. 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.280 That is your gift. And before you make any money 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:50.360 in music, if you ever do, you have that that 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.560 is your gift. And I said, well, that's easy to say, 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:55.720 but how do I give it? No one goes to 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:58.679 my shows, and he said, it's all around you. You 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.240 got to open your eyes. And he's right, and to 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:07.559 anyone listening now, I say, find your gift. Find your gift. 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.760 And sitting there with Benjamin, he said, you know I 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:13.720 got something for you. He said, I was having lunch 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:15.680 today and I was checking out and there was a 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:18.760 jar on the table and it said help Mendy walk. 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:21.000 And the story was there was a girl that was 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.960 in a car accident. She was paralyzed from the waist down, 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.840 and she was going through rehab so that she could 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.839 walk across the stage to get her diplomat graduation. It's 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:31.839 a great cause and that was a good place to start, 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.680 he said, Grater, you'll never believe how motivated this will 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:39.000 make you, how happy it'll make your soul to be 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:40.920 able to do stuff like this, and to keep your 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.760 eyes open because it's not just Mindy, it's all around us. 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.679 There's people that need our help, and all we have 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.520 to do is be aware of that. He said. If 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:53.520 you do that, if you give back, he said, I 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:56.920 promise you, it will come back to you and your 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:17.840 career tenfold, and I believe Tom. Here's a front floor 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.840 swing at Jemima's house, and a little stream up in 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:25.280 the mountains, a shot gun seed and an ocean breeze. 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.880 There's the fairest wheel, just spending around a midnight moon, 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:33.960 I shining down, a red sunset and a cotton dress. 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:37.760 So here I am in Pennsylvania. We've arrived for the 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:41.080 show tonight. Last night was great in Ohio. If you 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.960 want to catch up with me, go to grangersmith dot 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:47.400 com Forward Slash Tour. We'll be at a place very 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.160 close to you soon, I promise. And if you want 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.760 to meet me up close and personal, we offer VIP packages. 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:56.600 We have gold and silver, and gold gets to go 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.000 on the bus and get some solid time with me 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.080 hang out. If you just want to meet me and 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.800 take a picture, we have that option too. I love 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:05.840 being able to meet you guys, and so those are 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:10.120 really important parts of my day. Back to the story, 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:14.520 Benjaminnox's words really resonated with me, And actually I went 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:17.120 to that place that he had lunch and I looked 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:21.000 up Mendy and I called them and asked if I 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.400 could donate a concert, a benefit concert to help Mendy 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:28.160 walk and I never heard back. But that wasn't the point. 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.320 It wasn't about that. It was about me learning, me 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.440 learning how to be a public figure, because a person 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:36.560 that survives on the community needs to give to the 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:41.840 community and think about community and genuinely care about their community. 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.280 That's the price of the dream. It's easy to me, 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.000 it's an easy concept. My mind changed from how do 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:50.840 I get people to listen to this new album too? 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:55.240 How do I get people to care enough to listen 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:58.800 to this new album? And those were two very different things, 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.520 and it wasn't eat. But as I started giving more, 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.880 as I started becoming more aware of people around me, 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:11.040 things started changing slowly, very slowly, but they started changing 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.600 until something really big happened. At least for where I 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:17.480 was at the time. It was the biggest thing that 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:21.560 had ever happened to me in music period. And it 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:32.560 was such a simple idea. Some of you listening to 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:36.080 this might know the song we Bleed Maroon, some of 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:40.040 you might not. But the truth is, in two thousand 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.440 and seven, if you were a fan of me at all, 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.560 it was because of we Bleed Maroon. It all started 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.920 late one night, driving home from a show in Arkansas, 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.160 and no one came to this show like usual. And 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:57.280 as I was driving through the rain middle of the night, 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:59.640 band to sleep, and I was thinking, I go out 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:03.280 on the weekends and I play concerts, and I leave 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:05.680 all the people that know the most about me. It's 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:07.840 a small pocket of them, but I leave them to 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.560 go out and try to win fans in other places. 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.000 I'm forgetting about my own community. So I got to 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:18.040 work and I wrote them a song. It's upon a penny. 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:23.720 Old sully En wished me some luck in your farmer's fight. 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:28.400 Were a boys or battle? Oh you're arm drown each 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:36.720 other seeing how blocause that's what we do when we leave. 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:44.800 This is how it all went down. I got home, 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.840 I wrote the song. I recorded it, very simple, me 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.520 and a guitar. I emailed it to a few people 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.359 at the university and said, hey, here's this song. I 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.000 wrote it. I know you don't know who I am, 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.119 but maybe you could use it for something, a charity 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.320 or some kind of fundraiser. And I didn't hear back 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.680 from it, and that didn't surprise me until the next day. 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.680 I'm driving down the road and I hear it on 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:12.400 the radio. That version. I freaked out, pulled a U turn, 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:14.719 went straight to the radio station and walked in there 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.679 and said, hey, guys, please please that song you just played, 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:19.919 don't play it anymore. They looked at me like I 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.199 was crazy, and I said no, I'm going to go 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.280 record that with my band. So I went home, called 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.040 the band, They met me, and one day we had 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.520 the full version recorded and I sent it back to 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:35.040 the radio stations and the song went crazy. I'd never 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.200 seen anything like that. I'd never experienced a quote hit. 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:42.760 Now it was small time. Nonetheless, I'd never experienced anything 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.800 like that, and everything changed. My shows went through the roof. 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.760 People were singing along and all because I was focusing 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:54.560 on them. I was playing music to them specifically, and 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.159 it wasn't just that song. The other song started picking up. 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:00.520 Traction two I Living like a lone star album favorite song, 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:02.720 color Blind, that I had written, all of a sudden 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.879 kind of started becoming popular. And after I donated the 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:08.280 song to the university and gave them all the proceeds, 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:11.600 my shows increased. And so, just like Benjamin X told me, 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:14.720 everything came back to me tenfold. I was able to 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.720 pay off all my music debts. I was able to 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.119 take that next step in my career, and if I 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:20.840 hadn't been for that, I would have been in a 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:24.640 lot of trouble. We Bleed Maroon saved me. No fans 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:43.440 saved me. Somepon a penny. See how the hag sas line? 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:51.440 We do, Yeah, bastline, we do right here after Dixie 0:19:51.520 --> 0:20:07.359 Chicken too, we Blabe Kyla season has made history with 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:17.040 me and forever, and it's true. I'm forever grateful for 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:20.680 that town. It gave me a dream, and I still 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.199 had a lot more dream left. I still have a 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:27.159 lot more story after that, because I wasn't even close 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:31.639 to understanding the full potential of embracing the community, and 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:34.920 I hadn't put on a combat boot yet. I hadn't 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.159 traveled to the other side of the world to truly 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:41.520 understand the healing power of music and to learn that 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:44.399 as a musician. It was my responsibility to share that. 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:47.840 But I would very soon, and I'll tell you that 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:52.080 story very soon. Meanwhile, it's been a long tour. I'm 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:54.240 going to play this show in Pennsylvania and head back home. 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:57.600 I've got an anniversary date with my wife tomorrow night. 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.680 You know when we believe Maroon came out. I hadn't 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:04.280 even met Amberg yet, but I was close. It was 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:06.359 actually music that brought us together. It was actually a 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:10.640 song called Don't Listen to the Radio, and that too, 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:14.399 in more ways than one, changed everything. I found my gift, 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:19.280 what's yours? It happens side that. Out of the blood 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.760 scat lost in her food last year. When it happens 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:27.240 like that, nothing to Lowes turns right into you, Judy. 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.080 All you can do just to keep her around till 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:32.800 the moon goes down in her back into your house, 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:36.160 one thing leaks to another. You love each other when 0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:40.920 looking you never loved back. It happens like that. Thank 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:43.560 you for listening to this podcast. Come find us on 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:47.400 tour Grangersmith dot com Forward Slash Tour. We'll see y'all 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:48.120 down the road.